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"Okay," Devon said, interest clear in his voice as the four of them got in the backseat of the Uber. "Who was that guy you were talking to?" He looked at Junior, noting how his cheeks turned red, accented by the Christmas lights that highlighted him as they passed by all the houses and quaint little stores.
Junior blushed deeper and pushed some hair out of his eyes. "His name is Zander. I met him when you two were off wherever you were and Lexy was with Kaitlin." At the mention of Kaitlin, he saw Lexy look away, small smile on her lips and cheeks tinged pink. "Apparently the two of them are brother and sister. He noticed how uncomfortable I was getting with the crowds and suggested we go somewhere private."
At that, Jake raised an eyebrow, looking ready to say something before he seemed to think better of it.
"Oh! Kaitlin told me that she had a brother! I'd never met him, though. I guess that explains why he looked familiar." Lexy said, thinking of some of the pictures she'd seen in the other girl's room. In them, she and Xander had looked a bit younger. "It's cool that you two are getting along so well."
The boy in question bit back a smile as he stared down at his legs, tracing circles on his knee with his fingers. "Did you know that he knows how to play a bunch on instruments?" He asked, tone full of awe. "Those guitars all over the walls were his."
Devon's eyes widened at that and he sat up straighter, exchanging a look first with his boyfriend and then with Lexy who was on Junior's other side. "Really?" He asked. "That's cool." Of course, he was aware of how much his friend enjoyed music. It was a secret that he didn't tell many people, something he'd kept hidden when Logan Wheeler was still around.
Junior nodded. "Yeah. He saw how interested I looked and offered to teach me. He said we could plan to meet next week." The smile that lit up his face was blinding and it caught his friends and his cousin off-guard.
"That's great." Jake managed, struck by how much that simple offer had obviously meant to his cousin. His heart ached for what seemed to be the hundredth time at the realization as to just how much of himself Junior had hidden away.
"It really is." Lexy whispered softly, her wide eyes on her ex boyfriend, turned best friend. Not for the first time, she wished she could bring Logan Wheeler back to life, just to kill him herself with her bare hands. Her hands clenched into fists, nails digging into the meat of the palm of her hand. Of course, she'd always known that Logan wasn't the best man. In fact, one of the things that had actually drawn she and Junior together, beyond her mother and his father pushing for it, was that they understood that about each other. Whereas Lexy's mother was the type of awful where she refused to see any of the good in her daughter and only noticed her when she acted out, Logan had only "cared" about his son when he'd do his bidding. Becoming this huge cross country star when it was something Junior hated to becoming Mr. Popular to dating the mayor's daughter.
When the Uber car eventually got back to Miss. Fairchild's place, the four teens got out. On the sofa in the living room, Miss. Fairchild sat with her girlfriend, Tabitha Louis curled up into her side.
"Did you four have fun?" The woman asked of the teens as soon as she saw them, taking a sip of her red wine.
Junior turned to her then, giving her a smile. "I did. I'm glad that I went, it felt good to get back out there." His eyes flickered to Tabitha then. "Hey Miss. Louis!" Then, he hurried up the stairs, leaving everyone else standing in the living room, sharing looks of shock.
"What the hell happened in a few hours?" Rachel mused in disbelief.
Devon shrugged. "Junior met someone at the party. His name is Zander Abbott. The two of them ran into one another at the dessert table and began talking. We eventually found them in a music room, talking as if they'd been friends forever. Apparently, the two of them are going to meet sometime next week. Zander offered to teach him how to play the guitar because Junior showed an interest."
Tabitha pulled away from Rachel a bit, brows furrowed. "I didn't know he was into music." She said.
Lexy sighed. "It was something he always showed an interest in, but his father never allowed it." She said grimly.
Rachel frowned at that. Logan Wheeler's control had always been one of Hackensack's best kept secrets. Everyone knew what the man was like, but there was really nothing anyone had been able to do to stop him. He was too rich and too powerful. Most of the town couldn't comprehend how a woman as nice as Bree had gotten with the man. Neither Junior nor Bree had ever seen happy around him, their real smiles only shining when they were away from him and with one another. "You know, I hate how none of us were able to stop that jackass?" She asked with a shake of her head. "I know that it sounds awful, but I really can't feel bad that he's dead."
The others in the room said nothing to refute that, all of them in silent agreement.
The next day, Rachel knocked on Junior's door and smiled at him as she came into the room. She took the computer chair and dragged it over to the bed so she faced her foster son. "I just wanted to see how you were doing after last night. I know it was your first real venture out into the public, besides therapy and school."
Junior looked up from his laptop, setting it aside. "I'm doing good. At first, I was hesitant about going out last night until Lexy convinced me. I was afraid all I'd see was looks of pity. That people would look at me and just see the kid who lost both his parents. That didn't happen though."
"Devon told me you met a boy at this party." She said carefully, not wanting to push the boy away or scare him off.
His flickered down then, staring down at his bedspread. A soft grin curved his lips. "I did." He admitted. "Zander and I really connected and if Zander realized who I was, he didn't say anything. I just felt....normal."
Rachel reached out to tousle his hair. "That's a good thing then." She told him with a soft look. "You know, Devon told me that Zander offered to teach you how to play guitar. If I'd have known you were so interested in music, I'd have gotten you lessons."
Junior swallowed hard at that and met Rachel's eyes. "I'm sorry. I just...I've gotten so used to hiding the sides of me that my father never approved of."
"Well you don't need to hide that side of you anymore, okay? Not ever again." With that, she stood to her feet, patting his foot. "I'm going to go and get some milk. Jake apparently used the last of it last night and didn't tell me. Just remember what I told you, okay?"
The boy watched her leave his room. Rachel's words had made him feel at ease. Of course, he'd known she'd be far more understanding than his own father, however, he'd really needed to hear what she'd said to feel reassured.
The next week found Junior back at the Abbott home, just about to knock on the door when it swung open and he was met with Zander's smiling face.
"Hey!" Zander said, leaning against the door. "I was waiting for you to show up. Just so you know, when my parents found out you were coming, they planned this whole dinner. I hope you don't mind."
For a moment, Junior's heart clenched in discomfort. He was extremely comfortable with Zander, but he didn't know how he would do with authority figures he didn't know, especially a guy. "That sounds great!" He lied, trying to hide the fear rising up in him. He didn't want to mess this up and make Zander realize that he suddenly wasn't worth it. He'd only just met the other boy and he was already attached.
Zander reached out to take Junior's hand, squeezing it reassuringly when he saw the emotions flickering over the boy's face. "Hey, it's going to be fine." He soothed. "My parents are pretty great. They love my friends. They're going to adore you." He studied Junior carefully, waiting for the tension to subside from his new friend's shoulders before he smiled once more and led Junior into the house, still holding his hand. He slammed the front door shut with his other hand and led him to the kitchen where his parents were laughing as they made dinner. He rolled his eyes good naturedly as he saw his parents dancing together closely, looking lovingly in one another's eyes as Dolly Parton played on the Alexa.
"Oh!" His mother gasped, finally realizing that they had company. Calling out for Alexa to stop, she turned towards Junior and gave him a warm smile. "You must be Junior. Zander has told me so much about you. I'm his mom, Rayna Abbott. I hope you like lasagna."
Junior smiled at her, immediately taken by her. She reminded him of his mom. He was positive that if she were still around, the two women would get along well. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Abbott. Lasagna sounds great." He took note that she had the same dimples in her cheeks as her son and her hair, tied back in a ponytail was a shade or two lighter than Zander's.
Mr. Abbott came over then, giving Junior a friendly smile. "I'm Damien. Zander's told us a lot about you." He told Junior, shaking his hand gently and trying to seem as non threatening as possible.
"Dad!" Zander whined, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit. Beside of him, he heard Junior laugh and immediately felt warmth fill him, loving how relaxed the boy next to him seemed around his family.
"I hope they were good." Junior managed to say, throwing a teasing smile Zander's way.
Damien snickered at that. "Oh, all good things. He's been waiting for this day since last week. When we said we wanted to meet you and have you have dinner with us, he insisted that we have my family's famous lasagna."
"Don't embarrass your son, Damien!" Rayna scolded lightly, nudging his shoulder with her own before she turned her attention to the two boys. "You two can go to the music room for a bit. I'll call you back in here when dinner is ready."
"Your parents are pretty awesome." Junior said as soon as he and Zander were in the music room.
Zander beamed at that. "I'm glad you think so. They've always been incredibly caring people. Kaitlin and I have been lucky."
"Is Kaitlin going to be at dinner too?" He asked curiously, taking a seat in one of the cushy chairs in the room.
The other boy nodded, laughing a bit. "She is. She actually went to go see that friend of yours, the one you came to the party with? When she found out that you were staying for dinner, she decided she wanted mom and dad to meet Lexy too."
Junior snorted at that but really, he felt happy for his ex. She hadn't really said anything, but from what he saw the other night, Lexy really liked Kaitlin. It was a relationship her mother surely wouldn't be the happiest about if it were to happen, but the blonde deserved all of the happiness in the world and Kaitlin made her smile in a way that Junior had never really seen before.
Zander grabbed a guitar, the same one he'd learnt on when was younger and moved closer to Junior. "This is the guitar I started on." He said, reaching out to take Junior's hands, placing them over the strings. "You aren't going to learn it all in one day, but it's a start."
They were sitting so close that Junior could smell the light cologne that Zander wore and when he looked closely he could see the faint freckles on the boy's nose and across the apples of his cheeks. His soft hair fell messily over his forehead, making him look handsomer than ever. Junior swallowed hard, slightly confused by these thoughts. Of course, this wasn't the first time he'd found another boy attractive, not at all. However, he'd tried his hardest to hide those feelings after his father showed clear disapproval when he'd once caught Junior holding another boy's hand. It hadn't been long after that that he'd pushed Junior to begin dating Lexy, seeing his son dating the mayor's daughter as this great thing.
Zander watched Junior out of the corner of his eye as his fingers played over the cords of the guitar, clumsy at first until he slowly began to get more comfortable and confident. If Zander had liked Junior last week and during their conversations through texts and online, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. There was a mesmerizing smile upon Junior's lips and his dark eyes sparkled. He looked positively gorgeous to Zander.
Suddenly, Rayna called out that dinner was ready, breaking the two boys out of their spell.
When the two came into the small dining room, Lexy and Kaitlin were already seated beside one another, heads tilted together.
Lexy's head shot up when she spotted the two boys come into the room and she immediately threw a knowing smile Junior's way, gaze flickering between he and Zander.
Junior paid her no mind instead turning his attention to Mrs. Abbott who'd just stepped into the room. "Is there anything I can help with, Mrs. Abbott?" He asked of her.
She rewarded him with another one of her warm smiles. "Oh, no honey! It's sweet of you to ask, but you can just sit on down. I know you said that you liked lasagna, but I hope you like cherry pie as well." She looked from Junior to Lexy.
"That sounds great, Mrs. Abbott." Lexy chirped, smile curving her lips. A real smile, not one of the fake ones she'd learnt to perfect over the years.
The six of them sat at the table, passing around plates and pouring themselves drinks before they finally began eating.
"So how are the lessons going?" Mr. Abott asked, looking at his son and Junior who sat on the right side of the table.
Zander gave a grin. "Pretty good! Junior's actually a natural."
Junior's cheeks heated up at the compliment and he caught Lexy giving him a teasing grin from across the table. He ignored it and spoke up, "I was really messing up the chords at first, but it helped as I got more comfortable with it."
Rayna nodded. "That's great! A musician will be made out of you." Her attention turned to Lexy who seemed caught off guard. "So, do you two have any plans?" She asked her daughter and Lexy.
Kaitlin bit her lip, twisting some of her chestnut hair around her finger nervously. "We were going to go see a movie tomorrow night." Her gaze went to Junior and Zander. "We were going to ask if you two wanted to come. We were planning on seeing the new Spiderman movie."
"That sounds fun." Junior offered, trying not to sound too eager as he looked at Zander out of the corner of his eye.
Conversation continued and both Lexy and Junior felt more comfortable than they'd ever thought possible as they ate dinner and had some of the pie Rayna had made. When the two of them were about to leave in their shared Uber, Mrs. Abbott came out of the kitchen with Tupperware containers with slices of cherry pie and lasagna in the them. She handed two containers each to the two teens before her with promises of having them over for dinner again soon.
When Junior arrived back at Miss. Fairchild's with Lexy by his side, they said hello to Rachel before they hurried upstairs to tell Devon and Lexy about their day.
Junior knocked on his cousin's bedroom door before he opened it to find the boy in question and Devon curled up together with a laptop between them, both of them wearing headphones.
Jake looked up, catching sight of the other two teens. "Hey! You're back! How'd it go with Zander?"
Devon sat up then, pulling off his own headphones and turning his attention to his friends.
Lexy pulled Junior over so the could sit across from the couple on the bed, giving a smile. "I'd say it went pretty well. Kaitlin ended up inviting me over when she found out that Junior was having dinner there. Junior and Zander were in the music room when I showed up. Mr. and Mrs. Abbott sent us both off with some extra cherry pie and lasagna if you two would like to try some."
Junior nodded. "Their parents were really nice." He told them.
Devon's eyebrow rose at that. "It's great that their parents are good people, but we wanted to know how things went with Zander. You seemed pretty taken with him last week and you've been texting him a lot since then."
Jake nodded in agreement. "And he seemed pretty interested in you too."
The other boy's eyes narrowed at that and Junior immediately tensed up. "What do you mean by that?" He shot out, sounding defensive.
Jake exchanged a look with Devon and Lexy before turning his attention back to his cousin. "I mean, you don't have to hide yourself anymore. Your dad isn't around and Rachel has a girlfriend, for God's sake. No one here would judge you."
Junior looked away. "It's not as easy for me. I know there's nothing wrong with not being straight, but dad made me think there was." He locked eyes with Jake. "I know that he acted okay with you being gay, but that's because you weren't his son. I was and he wanted me to fit into all of these boxes and be a miniature version of him. He wanted to live through me. I mean, the bastard freaked out when he caught me holding hands with a boy."
Devon looked startled at that. "When did that happen?" He inquired.
The boy was quiet for a moment, throwing a small, thankful smile Lexy's way when she moved closer to him, wrapping a comforting arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "It was a month before I began dating Lexy." He swallowed. "We had to work in pairs for English class and I was put with Daniel Marks. The boy who moved during the summer? We'd gotten pretty close as we did our project. Danny was upset because he'd found out that he'd be leaving Hackensack once he was finished seventh grade. I grabbed his hand to comfort him and it just became kind of a thing for us to do when one of us was upset or anxious." He gave a helpless shrug. "Mom thought it was cute, but dad didn't know until he came home early and wanted to talk to me about a race I'd recently one. He caught Danny and I holding hands. I'd confessed to Danny that I hated cross country and hated my dad for forcing me into it. I don't know if dad had overheard that or not, but he told Danny he should be getting home. And then he didn't talk to me for the rest of the evening. The next day, he started talking about the girls I should be dating."
When he was finished his story, Devon, Jake, and Lexy were frozen in stunned silence, none of them knowing what to say.
"Wow." Lexy whispered, eyes wide. "Did you and Danny ever....talk after that?" She tried to recall if she'd ever seen them hanging out, but she really couldn't recall it.
Junior shook his head miserably. "We talked long enough to finish our project, but that's it. Danny wanted to talk to me and continue to be friends, but I pushed him away and ignored him until he just....gave up."
Jake sat in silence for a few moments, playing with the rings on his fingers before a determined expression painted his face and he leapt forward to wrap his cousin in a hug. It took a few moments for the other boy to respond but when he did, he clung to him desperately.
Devon and Lexy exchanged a look before they moved forward to hug Junior and Jake as well, wanting to be there for the two boys.
It was Junior who pulled away first, giving them a smile. "Thanks for being here for me, guys. I know it's probably annoying that I'm still struggling with getting away from everything dad put into my head, but I'm trying."
Lexy squeezed his hand. "Hey, there's nothing annoying about it. You're getting better and you're learning that you can be yourself. That's important."
Junior looked at Jake and Devon who nodded in agreement and felt warmth fill him, grateful for the people around him who cared.