I walked into class, desperately searching for Hero.

"Hey, Mrs. Thompson, have you seen Hero?"

She looked up at me, her lips parted. "N-no. I haven't."

"Fuck, where is he?" I muttered, walking backwards through the classroom as I looked around for him.

I bumped into something, making me turn around. "Sorry-"

I froze when I saw Zach, a small smile on his face.

"You're good," he said, "maybe be a little more mindful of where you're going?"

"Y-yeah," I muttered, nodding.

He smiled and brushed past me, making me sit down at our table. We hadn't had much of an exchange at all since the party, and I was left in a state of confusion and honestly, embarrassment.

Hero walked into class, making me open my arms and lean back in my chair. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Woke up late," he said, his eyes dragging down Mrs. Thompson's body as he walked past her.

He threw his bag down and collapsed into his seat, rubbing his hands down his face.

"We've got a game tonight, man," I said, cautiously looking over at him.

"Yeah, I know," he said, rubbing his extremely tired looking eyes.

Zach walked back to our table and sat next to me, earning my eyes.

"Good morning," he greeted, looking over at me.

"H-hey," I said.

He smiled, looking forward.

"Listen," I said, looking around to make sure no one was near, "I-I'm sorry, for you know. What happened at the party."

"What happened at the party?" He asked, looking over at me.

"Well, you know," I began, searching for the correct words, "you know."

He smirked. "No need to apologize. I'd be lying if I said I'd never gotten hard from Henry King."

My eyes went wide, making me watch as he leaned forward.

I followed his movement shortly after, bracing my arms on the table. "A-are you for real?"

He looked over at me, his eyes boring what felt like holes into my own.

"Yeah," he whispered, his eyes darting down to my lips for a split second.

"Since when are you two friends?" Mrs. Thompson asked, grinning down at us as she held out our packets.

"Oh, we hate each other," I teased.

"Yeah, that's the look of hatred," Zach said, earning a small giggle from Mrs. Thompson.

I looked over at Hero, seeing her standing at his table.

"We need to talk after class," she whispered down at him, barely even loud enough for me to hear. I knitted my eyebrows together, but chose to stay out of Hero's business. Because that's what he hated most- someone being in his business.

"I broke up with her."

I looked over at Zach. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He doodled on his packet, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No, you're not."

"Well, is she okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "you know, I never pegged you to be so caring."

"You never got to know me," I said, smiling over at him.

He nodded, jutting out his bottom lip. "Fair."

I rested my head in my hand, my eyes glued to him. "You should come to my game tonight."

"Yeah, I actually have to," he said, "I'm filling in for the usual photographer."

"Oh," I said, "nice."

"I'll make sure to get your good side, no worries," he said.

"You seem a little excited," I said.

"There's nothing else I'd rather do than spend my night with the extremely rude soccer team."

"Hey, they're good guys," I said, "despite what they might seem like."

"You're acting like you're not one of them."

"You told me I was caring," I said, "so you kind of led me to believe-"

He cut me off with a chuckle, looking over at me. "Touché."

"So I'll see you tonight," I said, nodding.

"You'll see me tonight," he said, smiling over at me as the lights went out.

"But don't flatter yourself," he said, "I'm not going for you."

"Right," I whispered, smiling over at him.

~*~

I was slowly stepping into trusting guys again. Slowly, but surely.

I smiled and brushed my hair away from my face, resting my chin in my hand as I watched the trees pass by me quickly.

"I love this road," Brian said, "I didn't know you guys lived out here."

"Yeah," I said, smiling at him from over my shoulder.

He smiled and looked back at the road. "Are you sure Hero's fine with this?"

I leaned back against my seat, looking over at him. "With what?"

"You know," he said, "me coming to your house."

"Well, it's to study," I said, "and Hero's brought people over with less pure intentions."

He smiled, nodding towards the window. "Do you want me to roll it up?"

I shook my head, smiling over at him.

He kept his eyes locked on mine as he continued to drive down the winding road, making me smile.

"There's a stop sign coming up," I said, never taking my eyes away from his.

"I know," he whispered.

I looked back at the road, letting out a sigh.

"Have you ever felt like you were being forced to grow up?" I asked, brushing my hair away from my face.

"Yeah," he said, nodding, "when my parents divorced. I had to keep things together for my little siblings. I forgot how to actually be a child after long enough."

I bit down on my lip. "I mean, mine's not as heavy as yours-"

"It doesn't matter," he said, "no one needs to be forced to grow up."

"I feel like everyone is so grown," I said, "Hero, Henry, Josie. Specifically Josie."

"And you feel pressured into being the same way."

"Yeah," I said, looking over at him.

"Well, the beautiful thing about life is that you don't have to be like everyone else," he said, "I think Fran is quite enough."

I bit down on my lip, looking out of my window. "I don't wanna grow up so fast."

"Don't," he said, "it's overrated."

"Take a left," I said, clearing my throat as I leaned forward.

He rolled up our windows and stopped at the gate, looking over at me with a confused look on his face.

"It'll open on its own, just give it a second," I said.

"How?" He asked.

"It opens automatically between ten and five," I said, nodding over at him.

"Wow, being rich is so cool."

I bit down on my lip and we drove through, making his eyes go round. "Woah."

I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. "There's my room. With the balcony."

"Wow," he said, "this is awesome."

"Just park anywhere," I said, grabbing my backpack from the back of his car.

He parked behind Dad's car, letting out a chuckle. "Whose is this? Tell me it's not Hero's."

"It's my dad's," I said, opening my door. I stepped out of the car and he followed, gawking at the house.

"I mean, I knew you were rich," he said, jogging to catch up to me, "but I didn't know it was this level of rich."

"I'm not rich," I said, turning my key in the door.

"I'm home," I softly said, smiling over at Mom, who was in the kitchen.

"Hello, love," she greeted, "hey, Brian, right?"

He nodded, smiling. "Hi, Mrs. King. It's nice to see you again."

"You guys know each other?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Mom smiled. "He drove your brother to the hospital when he broke his arm."

I looked back at Brian, tilting my head over. "I didn't know that."

"And he even asked for you," Dad said, "hi, princesa."

"Hi," I said, "we're just going to study. Probably on the deck, it's nice out today."

Dad pressed a kiss to the top of my head, making Mom stop what she was doing. "Brian, make yourself at home. Drinks are in the fridge, snacks in the cabinets."

Dad lifted an eyebrow, watching Brian's every move. I smiled up at him, shaking my head. "He's actually one of the good ones."

"I can choose any of the water in here?" Brian asked, peeking over the door of the fridge.

"I say Fiji," Mom said.

He walked out of the kitchen, obviously proud of his water. "Let's go."

I smiled up at him before leading him through the house and to the patio, making him let out a chuckle and shake his head.

"This amount of money should be unattainable."

I shrugged out of my sweater and smiled, sitting in one of the pool chairs.

"Your parents must work really hard," he said, looking over at me as he sat next to me.

I nodded, squinting at the sun. "Yeah, they do."

"I mean, Fiji water? Come on, I've only ever gotten this at the gas station. And that was once. Normal people don't have this in their house."

I looked over at him. I was curious about Brian's situation, but I didn't know how to ask.

"Dad left, completely," he said, looking over at me, "Mom works her ass off. I work at the mechanic shop by that deep-dish pizza place."

I knitted my eyebrows together. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Builds character. And I'm a hell of a mechanic."

I smiled, looking over at him. I knew Brian was more than just that.

"Is that why you work so hard in school?" I asked.

"So I can get a shit ton of scholarships to maybe go to a school good enough to possibly make something out of myself one day? Yeah."

I bit down on my lip, feeling guilty, and for no real reason. Hero was a smart kid, but he didn't have to work day in and day out just to be able to afford to go to a good college. He didn't have to worry about that at all, actually.

"You're gonna make it."

He looked over at me. "Yeah, I can only hope."

I bit down on my lip, feeling an urge to get to know Brian Baker better than I currently did.

~*~

I held my cup of coffee in my hands, leaning against the doorframe of the patio doors.

I kept my eyes glued to Hero. He was working on schoolwork, his headphones over his ears, and everything seemed normal.

But I knew Hero was going through something, I just wasn't quite sure what. He was good at putting on a front for everyone, something he got naturally.

I felt warm, big hands on my hips, making me look over my shoulder at Jo.

"Hi."

"Hi," he greeted, pressing a kiss to my lips.

"Coffee breath," he whispered, pulling away.

I laughed, letting out a sigh as I looked back at Hero.

"Hey, I want a baby," he said, leaning against the other door.

"Well, with the rate Hero's moving at, you might have a grand baby soon enough."

He chuckled, folding his arms over his chest.

"He's not okay," I softly said, shaking my head.

"I know," he said.

"Do you think he'll talk to me about it?" I asked, looking over at him.

Obviously contemplating his answer, he shook his head as he dragged his thumb across his bottom lip. "I don't know, L."

I placed my coffee on the table next to the door, wrapping my arms around myself.

"He's his father's son," he said, "which is not the best thing he could be."

I looked over at Jo, tilting my head over.

"There's no way in hell I would've talked to someone about shit when I was seventeen," he said, shaking his head as he folded his arms over his chest, "I wanted to be a man. For everyone, all the time."

I sighed. Jo was right- Hero didn't want to show weakness, and there's no way I could get what was going on out of him.

"It doesn't hurt to try," I softly said, walking outside.

I gently tapped Hero's shoulder, making him pull his headphones off and look up at me.

"Hey," he said, smiling up at me.

"It's getting late," I said, sitting on the edge of his chair.

He moved his legs over, nodding. "Yeah. I'm almost done with this."

"What are you working on?"

"This assignment for development," he said.

I nodded, keeping my eyes locked on him.

"What is it?" He softly asked, his eyes meeting mine.

I shook my head, grabbing his hand. "You're not you."

He closed his laptop, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "I promise, I'm fine."

"I don't believe you," I said, shaking my head.

"I don't know what else you want from me, Mom," he said, shrugging, "I mean, I'm fine."

"I want you to be okay," I said.

"Mom, look at me," he said, and I could tell he was getting irritated with me, "I am okay."

I bit down on my lip, choosing to not push any further. I couldn't make him tell me anything he didn't want to.

"You know you," I said, letting go of his hand.

"Yeah, I know me," he said, grabbing his laptop.

"Hero," I said.

He looked back at me as I began to walk away, his tongue in his bottom lip.

"Go to bed soon," I said, nodding.

He clenched his jaw and averted his attention back to his computer screen, making me sigh and walk inside.

Jo held up an L to his forehead, making me laugh and walk into the kitchen with him.

"Nothin'," I said, leaning against the counter.

"If I'm not mistaken, I told you that'd happen," he said, washing off a plate.

I sighed, raking my hands through my hair. "I mean, I know he's struggling in certain ways."

"Yeah," Jo said, "he is, and he'll let us know when he's ready to bring up the others. Until then, you just have to trust he can work through it himself."

"That's the thing, Jo," I said, folding my arms over my chest, "I mean, did you look at him today? He looks exhausted. Those things eat you alive after a certain point."

"Okay, well, just don't push. It's not going to end well, not with this hereditary temper he's unfortunately stuck with."

I looked over my shoulder towards the patio, seeing Hero still sitting outside with his back to us.

"I miss my boy," I whispered, looking over at Jo.

He sighed and turned off the water, wrapping his arms around me. "He's at an extremely confusing age."

I nodded, gently rubbing his back.

"And this, too, shall pass," he said, pulling away from me to look down at me, "isn't that what you always tell me?"

I smiled up at him, nodding. "Yeah."

He pressed a kiss to my lips, pushing my sweater back. "I could go run you a bath."

"Talk dirty to me," I joked, looking up at him.

He pulled me into him, pressing a kiss to my lips. "And I could join you."

I smiled, tilting my head over. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

~*~

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