I had somehow ended up at Micah's house before returning home from Fox's. Thoughts of what happened with Landon earlier in the day pushed me to feel like I had to discuss it with the Hanson's. Or at the very least, I had to discuss it with Micah.

Landon's outburst wasn't all that surprising looking back on it, but I was still curious as to what had led to it. Mr. Hanson must have confronted Landon's father, but I wondered what had actually happened.

Without much more thought, I heaved myself out of the driver's seat and made my way up to the Hanson household and knocked on the door. Mrs. Hanson was the one to answer.

"Elijah," she said, surprise evident on her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Is Micah home?" I asked, looking past her into the house.

She nodded, moving aside so I could step into the house.

"He's in his room," Mrs. Hanson told me. "You can go on up."

It had been a while since I had ascended these steps. Growing up, I had spent a lot of time here and it seemed as if another memory popped into my head with every step I took. Although my relationship with Micah would never be the same, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic as I walked down the familiar hall to his bedroom.

I knocked twice on the door and paused briefly before landing three more swift knocks. This was how Micah and I always knocked on each other's doors when we were friends, so we would always know who was on the other side.

"Elijah?" Micah answered as he whipped open the bedroom door.

"Can we talk?" I asked to which Micah nodded, allowing me into his room and shutting the door behind us.

"What's going on?" Micah asked with concern lacing his tone as he sat down on his bed.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

"Landon came to my school today," I confessed, Micah's eyes widening. "And he was angry. Really angry."

"My dad talked to his parents," he told me. "He told them that if they weren't happy having a gay son, then he could come live with us instead of going with Dave and Susan."

Micah's words surprised me. I didn't know what I thought Mr. Hanson would do for Landon, but I didn't expect him to offer up his home.

"He'd really let him stay here?" I wondered, sitting down beside Micah on the bed.

He nodded, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "He's doing for Landon what he wished he did for you."

I stared at him in silence.

"He feels guilty for not sticking up for you when Susan kicked you out," Micah continued, looking down at his lap. "We all do."

I looked forward, leaning back on my hands. "That's not important right now. What's important is that we may have made things worse for Landon."

"My dad still thinks he can convince them to leave Landon with us," he replied, causing me to turn my gaze toward him. "I'm thinking convincing Landon to stay with us will be the hard part."

I nodded in agreement. "Probably."

"Things will work out," Micah assured me.

We sat in silence for a few moments. I hadn't thought about how weird it was to be sitting alone with Micah in his bedroom until our conversation ceased. The last time I had been in here was months ago, though it felt like a lifetime.

"How are things at your new church?" I asked, breaking the tension that was nearly suffocating us in the room.

Micah cleared his throat. "It's good. I really like it. It's a lot more of a tight-knit community."

"Are any of the guys mad you left?"

He shrugged. "I only talk to a few of them now and we're still friends. Landon's buddies are being their usual obnoxious selves and they obviously have no idea what's actually going on with Landon."

I just nodded.

"Things have been kinda weird since the tournament," Micah continued. "A lot of the guys are at odds because some of them want to go along with Landon while others don't like that he was trying to mess with you and blame him for getting us suspended."

It was surprising to hear that any of my old teammates cared about Landon messing with me. They had their time to show any amount of care for me and when it really mattered, they didn't do it.

"How has Landon been at school?" I wondered.

"A little distant but it's not noticeable to most people," Micah replied. "My dad will take care of him. You don't have to worry."

We didn't say much else before I decided to head back to my house where I noticed Josh had finally made it home.

"That took you a while," Dad commented when I walked inside, handing him back his keys.

"We just talked for a little bit," I mumbled, suddenly feeling insecure about any marks left by Fox visible on my skin.

"Is that's what it's called nowadays?" Dad teased, hanging his keys up on the hook above the microwave. "I'm just teasing you, Elijah."

I let out a light laugh. "I know. It's still embarrassing."

"Mindy and I were thinking of doing a family night tomorrow," Dad started. "You should invite Fox."

I nodded, letting a smile quirk up on my lips.

Afterward, I dragged myself up the stairs to Josh's bedroom. There was a reason he was MIA after our hockey meeting and I was determined to find out what it was. I placed three rapid knocks on the door and waited for his answer before letting myself in the room.

Josh sat on his bed, leaning up against the headboard, as he intently focused on a video game displayed on his TV. I had rarely ever gone into Josh's room for anything and I couldn't even remember the last time I was in here.

I sat down beside him on the bed, leaning over to press the pause button on his controller. It was only then that he turned to look at me.

"Where did you go after school?" I asked him.

"Just hung out," he vaguely answered, causing me to raise my eyebrows at him in question.

Josh looked away from me briefly before bringing his eyes back to my face and letting out a long sigh, putting his controller down next to him.

"Fine," he started. "I hung out with Trevor."

My eyes widened at the revelation and excitement coursed through me at his confession.

"So you guys are good now?" I asked, my tone upbeat.

"Working on it," Josh replied with a soft smile.

"And you guys hung out...? Like—"

"Just hung out," Josh cut me off. "As friends."

I was about to ask him more questions when Ava barged into the room and threw herself down on the bed in front of us.

"Are you guys hanging out with out me?" she wondered with a glare.

"Now we're not," I answered, earning myself a kick in the leg from my sister.

"You better be nice to me," she warned. "Because I can start making fun of you for the vampire bites on your neck."

Her words caused me to instinctively bring my hand up to my neck, causing both of my siblings to laugh at me.

"Make it two player," Ava commanded as she leaned over to grab Josh's other controller from his nightstand.

The three of us spent the rest of the night on Josh's bed as Ava kicked his ass at whatever game they were playing.

***

The next day at school, I didn't see Fox until he limped his way into English class with Ian by his side. Then he sat in his usual spot in the back of the room, placing his hand on my shoulder as he walked by.

"Holy fuck," Nadia excitedly whispered as she watched Fox go by us. "You fucking topped him?"

"Sh!" I hushed her, holding my finger to my lips.

"I knew one of them had to be gay," Lexa commented with a sly smile. "And you snagged the hottest one."

Nadia scowled at her girlfriend who held her hands up in defense while I shook my head at her.

"Hey, just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't tell that he's hot," Lexa defended.

As Nadia and Lexa started chatting, I heard laughter coming from the back of the room. I turned to see the hockey guys chuckling among themselves, lightly shoving Fox while he sat there with a glare on his face.

I could only imagine the things they were saying to him about the obvious pain he was in this morning. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the pain was from.

As soon as class ended, Fox was quick to meet up with me at my seat, earning amused stares from Nadia and Lexa.

"I'm going to kill those assholes," Fox hissed, sending a scowl back to where our friends were laughing at him.

Even Ian, who I was worried would be in a sour mood today, was chuckling as he stood up from his seat.

Before I could say anything, Fox grabbed my hand and led me out the classroom, leaving our friends behind.

"Is your car fixed yet?" I wondered, remembering he had been late again this morning.

Fox shook his head. "My dad had to order a battery for it because the store was out. Wren let me take his car today."

"He let you take it?" I asked, astonishment clear in my voice.

"Yeah, you know how he's been being weirdly nice lately," Fox replied, still holding onto my hand as we walked down the hall. "Plus I think Robin is off from work today so they can just take his car if they do anything."

Fox and I walked together until we had to split up to go to our respective classes. Before departing, Fox placed a chaste kiss on my lips then walked in the other direction.

It wasn't until lunchtime when I saw him again, coming up to where I sat at the GSA table.

"Can I sit here? Those idiots are still annoying the shit out of me," Fox said, sitting down beside me and placing his tray down on the table.

None of the other GSA kids had made it to the table yet, but I didn't have to sit alone for long since Fox was now accompanying me.

"You get annoyed easily," I reminded him, opening up my water bottle and taking a sip.

He rolled his eyes. "I know, but they've been extra annoying today."

Claudia rushed over to the table once she saw that Fox and I were sitting there.

"So when's our double date?" she asked with a sweet smile, sitting across from us and resting her elbows on the table with her cheeks in her hands.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Fox asked her, his eyebrows pinching together.

"You, Elijah," Claudia answered, gesturing toward us. "Me, Holly. Date. Together."

"No," Fox denied, shaking his head.

Claudia sat down in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest and staring Fox down like she was waiting for him to give in. He wasn't budging, turning to face me and effectively ignoring Claudia's outburst.

"Come on, Fox!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I can't get away from annoying people today, no matter how hard I try," Fox said to me, causing me to chuckle as I glanced at Claudia's irritated glare.

I figured he would eventually give into Claudia's request if she bugged him enough about it. Despite being exes, the two of them still cared deeply for each other and considered each other close friends.

Claudia let the topic go when Holly made her way to the table and stole all of her attention.

"Uh, oh, now we've got three couples at this table," Austin said as he sat down with his lunch, Trevor and Johnny sitting on either side of him. "Though, this one I wouldn't mind seeing make out."

"Austin," Johnny complained.

It still surprised me that Fox found Austin amusing as he sat beside me, laughing at his words. I felt warmth in my chest at the thought of Fox becoming more and more comfortable with his sexuality.

"Is everyone treating you two alright?" Trevor asked, ignoring Austin's crude remarks.

"Other than some staring, I think it's gone pretty well," I replied, looking to Fox for confirmation.

Fox nodded. "Besides our own team being annoying about it, it's been fine."

Trevor laughed. "Josh was telling me that the whole team was super shocked when you came out at the tournament.

Not very subtly, Fox's eyebrows shot up on his forehead as he turned to give me a look due to Trevor's mention of Josh. I lightly kicked my boyfriend under the table.

"It was a heat of the moment thing," I said, trying to distract from Fox's hiss in pain. "No one was really expecting it."

With that, the conversation drifted to something else and lunch seemed as though it was over as soon as it started.

***

Finally being able to get back on the ice felt amazing, even though the coaches were making practice as grueling as possible. They said it was to keep us fresh since we wouldn't be able to compete for five games, but I was sure they just liked seeing us suffer.

We were all growing tired from the drills we had been running, and Fox was getting increasingly frustrated when his glasses kept fogging up in his helmet.

The coaches gathered us at center ice toward the end of practice, Alex out of breath and leaning on Fox for support. Fox appeared to be too tired to even bother shoving him off.

"Alright boys. I think you've had enough for today," Coach Silva announced, glancing around at all of us. "We'll have a lighter practice tomorrow. You guys can go."

"Lighter practice my ass," Jude complained from behind me as we made our way to the locker room.

Fox and I stood next to each other at our lockers, getting ready to change out of our gear when Ryan came up behind us.

"Bruins game at my house Friday?" Ryan asked, a hand on each of our shoulders.

"We have to go out with Claudia and Holly," Fox grumbled, sitting down to pull his skates off.

Fox had told me at the start of practice that Claudia had ended up convincing him to go on the double date in one of the classes they had together after lunch.

"Come over for the Sunday matinee then," Ryan responded with a grin, patting Fox on the shoulder and walking away.

"You're still coming over tonight, right?" I asked Fox, sitting down beside him. "For family night."

Fox glanced up at me, his lips quirking up slightly. "Yes, I'm coming."

I grinned at him, then turned my gaze down to my lap until Ian plopped down beside me and shook the bench. He didn't say anything as Fox and I stared at him while he took off his equipment.

Once he had the lower half of his equipment off, Ian stood up and took off his jersey, pads, and under shirt. That was when I noticed the nasty red mark on his arm.

"Woah, are you okay?" I asked him without thinking.

"Elijah," Fox whispered, placing his hand on my arm and shaking his head at me.

Ian sported a surprised expression as he shared a glance with Fox, as if he was shocked Fox hadn't told me anything about why he had gone over the night before.

"I'm fine," Ian replied, his expression turning impassive. "My mom smacked me with her stupid iron. She claims she didn't know it was still hot."

My eyes bulged at his words. The burn on his arm was considerably large, looking like it must be throbbing.

"Wipe the concern off your face, Ellis," Ian said in an even tone. "I'm fine. I'm not being abused. She's just a little annoying lady with a temper."

With that, he turned to face his locker and finished undressing before grabbing a towel and heading to the showers.

My eyes slowly drifted to Fox, the shock still clear on his face.

"Don't ask," he said, shaking his head.

After we finished getting dressed and showering, I went with Fox for the ride to my house after throwing my hockey bag in the trunk of mine and Josh's car.

"So you didn't really tell me what went on with Wren after I dropped you off," I pointed out as we left the school's parking lot.

"Not much really," Fox replied, resting his right arm on the center console. "We just talked a bit after I made sure Ian was settled."

I let out a hum and nodded my head.

"It wasn't really anything," Fox continued. "I was just saying how I didn't know how I was going to get to and from school and he told me to just use his car."

I smiled over at him. "That's progress."

Fox scoffed, his eyebrows furrowing. "If that's what you want to call it."

We pulled up to my house a few minutes later. Josh had beat us there, but he was just getting out of the car as we pulled up.

Dad and Mindy were in the living room with their dinner plates, watching TV when we walked in.

"I made a new chicken alfredo recipe I found," Dad said when he saw us all. "Please eat it. It made so much."

We didn't have to be told twice. After the practice we just went through, I knew we were all starving.

The three of us finished our dinners at the kitchen table and went into the living room where Mindy, Dad, and Ava sat waiting for us. I had no idea what this family activity would be, but I hoped it wouldn't be yoga again.

"Teams of two, everyone!" Mindy announced, clapping her hands together.

"That's not fair," Ava complained, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're going to stick me with Josh."

"Why don't you want to be on a team with me?" Josh asked, looking slightly offended.

"You don't have the competitive edge that Elijah and I do," she answered, causing me to chuckle.

Josh shook his head at her.

The teams were obvious: Mindy and Dad, Fox and me, Josh and Ava.

"We're going to be doing charades," Mindy said excitedly, a wide grin on her face.

I tried to show enthusiasm as I shared a look with Fox. He was willing to do just about anything to ensure my family didn't hate him, even if it meant pretending to be excited about playing a game.

It turned out that charades could get a lot more competitive than I thought. Ava had already screamed at Josh for not getting that she was acting out opening a present. Dad and Mindy were currently in the lead since Dad had guessed correctly that Mindy was acting out reading a book. That one was too easy, and Ava complained about that too.

Fox was currently acting something out for me to guess and sending me a glare every time I said the wrong thing. Our time ran out and Fox threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

"It was Serena Williams!" he yelled, coming back to his spot beside me. "How did you not guess that? You didn't even guess tennis!"

"Maybe you weren't acting it out good enough," I retorted, earning another glare from my boyfriend.

"Maybe I should've teamed up with Fox," Ava commented, Fox nodding in agreement.

I sighed, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check the time, only to see I had nine missed calls from my mother.

"She's calling you again?" Fox asked in a hushed tone.

I just nodded. Fox looked at me with a hard expression and glanced over at my Dad, silently urging me to tell him what was going on.

"Is everything alright?" Dad asked when he noticed the sudden mood change.

I took a deep breath, turning my phone around so he could see the screen. Dad's face darkened for a moment before going back to normal.

"Let's just forget about that for now and enjoy the night," Dad suggested with a smile.

Fox glanced back to me as if he was silently trying to communicate something.

We took Dad's advice and continued the night, placing my mother in the back of my mind.

I couldn't wait for the day that she would stop showing up in my life.

**