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Junior Wheeler's hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles turning white as he drove down the street. He hadn't been here in over three years and yet, the town was still as familiar as breathing. It even looked the same, nothing having changed. It made his chest tighten and he wanted nothing more than to turn the rental car back around and head straight back to the airport. The past few years had been good for him after he'd been taken in by his maternal aunt, Davina and her wife, Cecilia. He'd gotten therapy in Santa Monica, California, he'd made friends there, joined the drama club, gotten really into music, even gained a boyfriend. He'd been absolutely thriving. He wouldn't even be back here in Hackensack if it hadn't been suggested by his therapist who believed he should confront his past. Now though, he was struggling with the very idea, even with people he cared about by his side. He knew there'd be questions if he went to see the people he left behind. He'd tried to keep in touch with them at first. He written to them once every week for around two months before he really began to thrive and his letters, emails, and texts to them began to dwindle down until it stopped. They'd all tried to keep in touch with him at first, sending countless letters and emails before they'd gotten the message.
"So this is where you grew up?" The voice of his boyfriend, Aiden Harrison asked from beside of him, gazing at the buildings that they drove past.
The boy in the driver's seat nodded. "It is." He said, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Thanks for coming with me, by the way. I'm sure this isn't how you want to spend summer vacation."
Aiden shook his head and gave Junior a reassuring smile. "Hey, I wouldn't have come if I didn't want to be here. I want to be by your side while you deal with this, okay? We all do." He told told the other boy, speaking of his boyfriend's aunts who were back at the hotel, resting up.
"I know. I know, and I'm so grateful for that. It's just harder than I thought being here and knowing what I'm going to have to do." Junior answered carefully as he parked in front of the pizza place to pick up the food they'd ordered.
"Have you tried to contact any of them?" The other boy wondered, speaking of Jake, Devon, and Lexy. He may never have met any of them, but he felt as if he knew everything about them. His boyfriend had told him who they were.
Junior shook his head. "Of course not. I don't even know if they have the same numbers or email addresses, much less if they'd be willing to talk to me. I mean, I kind of abandoned them." He admitted.
Aiden reached out to cover his hand with his own, squeezing it gently. "Hey, you didn't abandon them. You did what was best for you."
"I can't believe we'll be seniors this year!" Lexy exclaimed taking a bite of pizza and looking at Jake and Devon who sat across from her.
"Me neither." Devon said, taking a long sip from his soda before setting his glass back down. "It just doesn't feel real." He turned his head to look at his ex boyfriend, Jake who was staring straight ahead with wide eyes. Furrowing a brow, Devon exchanged a look with Lexy and they both turned their heads to see what he was looking at.
"You guys are seeing that, right?" Jake asked, gaze locked on an all too familiar looking boy who was holding hands with another guy, a few inches taller than him.
Lexy stood up abruptly, walking with purpose towards the boy she was sure was her ex. She reached out to wrap her hand around his forearm, turning him around to face her, meeting his shocked brown eyes. "What the hell are you doing back here?" She asked fiercely, crossing her arms under her chest protectively and glaring up at him.
Junior stared at her with a stricken look on his face, leaning closer to Aiden and clinging to his hand. "Lexy." He breathed out. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and his gaze flicked to Jake and Devon who came to stand on either side of Lexy.
"Why did you just stop writing to us?" The words spilled from Jake's mouth before he could stop them.
Sighing, Junior shared a look with Aiden and then said, "Look, how about you three meet us at Hotel Rowan tomorrow? It's just five minutes outside of Hackensack. Aiden and I have to get our pizza and go meet up with my aunts tonight. I promise, I'll explain everything then."
Devon frowned and nodded. "Okay. But we expect real answers. We kind of deserve them." He said it firmly, fixing Junior with a look that told him there was no escaping this. Not after what Junior had put them through after ignoring them for the past few years.
Junior's hands shook as he pulled his keycard from his wallet. He was grateful that Aiden was carrying the pizza because he was unsure if he'd be able to keep hold of it.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Davina came out of the bathroom and gave them a smile that quickly slipped off her face as she noticed how pale her nephew looked and how his hands were trembling. Throwing Aiden a look of concern, she hurried over to feel the boy's forehead with the back of her hand and cup her cheeks. "What happened?" She asked worriedly, leading him over to sit on the edge in a chair.
"We ran into some people Junior knows when we went to pick up the pizza. They're pretty upset with him." Aiden answered quietly, knowing his boyfriend was in no shape to say anything.
Davina wrapped her nephew in a warm hug and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. "I'm guessing you are talking about Devon, Jake, and Lexy?" She asked with a tiny frown.
Junior sniffled and nodded. "Yeah. They were really hurt to see me here after I've ignored them for so long. I don't even know if they'll understand me when I tell them why I just....pushed them away."
Aiden set the pizza on the table near the window and moved to take a seat next to his boyfriend. "Junior, you went through hell when you lived here. If they don't realize what you went through then they don't deserve you."
Celina walked into the room from the joint bathroom that connected Aiden and Junior's room to the one that she shared with Davina. "Aiden is right, Junior. Maybe you could've kept in contact with them, but you dealt with a lot and you were flourishing. Besides, we'll be by your side. You aren't going through all of this alone."
"I can't believe he's back." Jake said, slouching in his seat on the couch. Running into his cousin was the last thing he'd expected, especially after not seeing him or hearing even a single word from him in literal years.
In front of him, Lexy kept stalking back and forth, hands clenched tightly at her sides and her blonde hair flying around her with each movement. "He ignored us for three years!" She seethed, still walking around the room in agitation. "And then he just comes back as if nothing happened?"
"Guys, come on. Whatever reasons Junior had for ignoring us, they must've been good ones." Devon told them reasonably with a shrug of one slim shoulder. He didn't exactly know what the reasons may be, but there were obviously some that his former best friend was willing to explain to them.
The blonde laughed harshly at that and whirled around. "I thought he was going to die!" She snarled, face pinched. "He was bleeding out on the floor of that theater and even after he was taken to the hospital, it was touch and go. Then his aunts showed up and took him away and he decided he was too good for us!"
Jake nodded from his position. "Lexy is right. Why does he suddenly want to talk to us now?" His voice was full of suspicion and behind that, hurt. Junior had been his only living relative. Before Junior's maternal aunts had shown up, Jake had at least thought that he'd have him to count on and bond with, but that just wasn't to be.
Devon kept quiet after that, knowing that his friends weren't likely to listen to anything he had to say, too stuck in their stubbornness. He could understand their hurt, he was hurt too. However, he was also extremely curious about what Junior had been up to over the years and who the boy who'd been with him was. He wondered what the other boy's life was like in California and if he enjoyed it, if he'd made friends and really opened himself up. The idea of finally having answers to those questions was exciting and he genuinely couldn't wait for the next day.
Junior was a nervous mess as he got ready to meet Jake, Lexy, and Devon the next day. He could hardly eat the breakfast sandwich that had been picked up for him at McDonald's and he'd drunk more than one cup of coffee. Now he was sitting on his bed, completely dressed as he ran a towel through his damp hair.
"Hey." Aiden said soothingly, kneeling in front of him. He took the boy's hands and gave them a comforting squeeze. "Everything is going to be fine. You aren't dealing with any of this alone."
The boy in question nodded. "I know. It's just a lot harder than I thought it would be. What if they hear my story and think I'm week?"
"Then you don't need them!" Aiden replied emphatically. "You have a good life back home, Junior full of people who love you and care for you. You don't deserve anything less than that."
A sudden knock on the door made them jump and Junior sucked in a breath as his aunts came into room. Aiden went to the door to let the people they'd been waiting for in before going right back to Junior, taking a seat beside of him as close as possible.
The three of them stood together in the middle of the room awkwardly, not seeming to know what to say. Their eyes flickered over to Cecilia and Davina and then back to Junior and Aiden, staring at the couple with questions in their eyes.
"You can sit down." Junior spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
It was Devon who sat first on the small sofa in the room, grabbing the back of Lexy's shirt and pulling her down beside of him. Jake stood frozen for a few minutes, eyes locked on his cousin and his arms crossed over his chest. "Jake..." Devon hissed quietly, reaching out to make the other boy sit down.
Jake sat reluctantly, not taking his eyes off of Junior still.
"I know it was probably shocking to run into me yesterday." Junior said, swallowing hard. "I knew I might bump into you three at some point, but I didn't think it would be that soon."
"What if you hadn't run into us? Would we have even found out that you were back in town?" Lexy questioned, fixing him with a look.
Junior shifted uncomfortable. He stared down at his and Aiden's clasped hands, trying to gain some strength. "I understand why you're upset, Lex." His eyes went to Devon and Jake. "I get why all of you are upset, but can I please explain?"
"Okay." Jake spoke up for the first time. "You need to explain things to us. You ignored all of us for years and now you're back."
Junior winced at that and licked his lips, taking in the encouraging looks his aunts gave him and feeling his boyfriend shift that much closer. "I was really messed up when I moved in with my aunts. With all that had happened with my mom's death and how my dad treated me, the fact that I nearly died Aunt Davina and Aunt Cecilia decided that I should be put in therapy. That was one of the first things they did for me after taking me shopping to fix up my room there. And then I was put into school and things were so...different. I made some friends and I joined the drama club, my aunts encouraged my love of music. It was the exact opposite of life under my father's thumb. I felt as if I could finally breathe and it felt good to get to know my mom's family. I tried to keep in contact with all of you, but at some point, I got so busy and I guess I really didn't want to think about my past or all that I'd been through in Hackensack. I was finally living. I'd been so lonely when I lived here and now I had everything I'd ever needed or wanted. I didn't want to lose it."
"You could've told us that in a text or a call. Even a letter. I'm not saying that none of us would've been hurt, but at least we wouldn't have thought that we'd done something wrong for you to suddenly cut off contact with us completely. The only way we knew you were doing well was because Lexy found your instagram and tik tok." Devon told him, not judgmentally. He was being honest more than anything. He still recalled the day, a few months after Junior had quit writing to them. Lexy had let out a startled scream and shoved her phone in his and Jake's faces to show pictures of Junior, looking happier than they'd ever seen them, dressed up in costumes, hanging out with his aunts, or his friends. Or the tiktok dances he'd do with people.
The other boy swallowed hard. "I'm sorry that I made you guys worry. I honestly didn't know you'd care that much."
Lexy frowned at that, giving him a questioning look. "Why wouldn't you think that we cared?" She wondered.
Her ex boyfriend gave a shrug. "I mean, you guys ignored me for awhile when everything was going on. I tried talking to you, but all of you brushed me off. None of you would tell me what was going on either."
Jake and Lexy's heads duck down at that, shame filling them. The fact that they'd ignored Junior and kept the dangerous secret of Chucky's existence from him had haunted them both since the boy had been stabbed. For weeks afterward, they'd wondered what would've happened if they'd listened to Devon and told him the truth and let him in. Maybe he wouldn't have been stabbed and on the edge of death then.
"I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty." Junior quickly assured. "It's just how I felt. I'm not saying it was logical."
"Still though. We shouldn't have ignored you and we should've told you the truth. I'm sorry that we didn't." Jake told him apologetically.
Junior gave them a warm smile that lit up his face. "Thank you for saying that." He answered.
Lexy felt her heart ache at how happy he looked. Better than she'd ever seen him back when he lived here and was stuck under his controlling father's thumb. It made her hurt and anger dissipate. "I'm glad you're happy!" She blurted out, seemingly catching him by surprise. "You've always deserved it and I know how awful your dad was. It's good that you're free now." She picked at a string hanging from her jean shorts, twisting it around the tip of her finger nervously Part of her wished he'd have been able to have that her with her, Jake, and Devon but she couldn't fault him for finding that in Santa Monica, with his aunts and the friends he seemed to make, or the boy who had stuck close by his side this entire time. She looked at the boy with questions in her eyes, not asking anything yet.
"So...." Devon started casually, leaning back on his arms. "Are you going to tell us who your friend is?" There was a teasing lilt to his voice that caused Junior's face to flush. He smirked at the sight.
Junior ran a hand through his hair, blushing an even deeper red and exchanged a look with Aiden. "This is Aiden Harrison. My boyfriend." He replied shyly.
Aiden released his hold on Junior to shake the other teens' hands. "Hey! Junior's told me about you guys, I feel like I already know you."
"If he's your boyfriend does that mean you're....." Jake trailed off.
The boy gave a laugh at that. "I'm bi, if that's what you're asking. Aiden and I have been dating for a little over a year, but we've been best friends since I first moved to Santa Monica. He lives a few houses down from me."
"I'm glad you're happy." Lexy offered, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "And I hope that even after leave, you'll keep in contact with us."
It was Cecilia who spoke then. "You know, we're planning on staying for a few days. Maybe you three can spend time with us. And if you want, all of you can come and stay at our house later this summer or during the holidays."
Devon grinned. "That sounds great." He replied, Lexy and Jake nodding in agreement.
The rest of the day was spent catching up over Thai food from a local restaurant as the people from Junior's past got to know those of his present. He felt happy about how well things had actually gone after they'd all been honest with one another and aired out their grievances.