The door closed behind him and he ran with those cutting words still screaming in his head.

"Freaky Boy. Freaky Boy. Freaky Boy."

His feelings about the phrase and the man who had thrown it at him were mixed. Part of him wanted to scream at The Godfather that he was not a freak. Another part believed him, the part that knew how socially awkward he was. Another wished he could have punched out the man and made his own threat. "Leave me alone or I'll have you arrested for harassment." After all, Spinelli had been in the office, which was no longer Sonny's, but Jason's.

Sonny had thrown him out like a playground bully deciding that he wanted to use the swing he was using and pushing him off, which made another part of him feel like that child who always got pushed around by the other kids. It brought back memories of his childhood in Oakfield and he was glad that his Granny couldn't see her adult grandson still being pushed off the swings by the bigger kids. Another part just wanted to talk to someone; he needed a friend.

His friends were preoccupied; Maxie with work, Lulu with The Dark Prince and Stone Cold with the man who had just thrown him out of the office and humiliated him in front of his mentor. Spinelli knew Jason would defend him privately to Sonny and he appreciated the fact that he would defend him at all, but he still felt like a total wimp for not defending himself. But what could he do? He couldn't fight Sonny Corinthos; he would end up dead or in the hospital, if not in prison.

He finally stopped running when he reached the peer and tried to catch his breath. He felt so alone. He wished he could talk to Georgie, the only person in the world who really understood him, the only person in the world who thought he was special.

But Georgie was gone, taken by someone who really was a freak. Diego Alcazar had been an insane, vengeance-crazed murderer and Spinelli was Freaky Boy?

Georgie had loved him and he'd been too blind to see it. He could never fix it; he could never let her know now that he would gladly have accepted the honor of her choosing him if he'd known.

The other girls didn't want him; he was doomed to be a brotherly friend to all the women who paid attention to him. Georgie had seen something in Spinelli that he didn't see in himself. Why couldn't he be normal? Why couldn't he be worthy of a woman's love?

"Are you OK?" someone asked gently.

He looked up at Nurse Leyla Mir and shook his head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He thought about how to tell her what was wrong. He didn't want to start babbling; he knew it annoyed people when they couldn't understand him.

"I could use a friend," he said quietly.

"You've found one," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled gratefully.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"The Jackal is, yet again, in love with someone who will never love him back. On top of that, I have been beaten up once and humiliated in front of one of my best friends once, both within a couple of weeks, by a man who hates me and considers me a freak and has the power to literally terminate my very existence."

"Why did he beat you up and how did he humiliate you?"

Spinelli chose his words carefully. He couldn't let her know it was Sonny; he couldn't risk exposing potentially deadly secrets. Sonny wasn't part of the mob anymore, but if he found out Spinelli was talking about him, The Former Godfather would kill him.

"He slammed my head into a post because I told him something he didn't wanna hear, especially from me. I suppose I deserved it; I'm not one of his friends, but I wanted to help somehow. Unfortunately, as is usually the case outside Cyberspace, I only managed to cause myself bodily harm and emotional humiliation; to add insult to injury, it happened in front of the girl I love. She was great; she took me to her house and monitored me that night to make sure I didn't have a concussion. Unfortunately, I didn't remember anything that happened the next day between the time he beat me up and the time I woke up in her bed with her. I thought we had- been together. That is The Jackal's greatest desire, but she only sees him as a friend. But her father walked in and thought the same thing and he threw me out of their house."

Leyla winced in sympathy.

"Ouch! Didn't she explain?"

"She told me to go and then explained after I left; she didn't want her father to have me arrested. But then she was angry with me later because I did a favor for someone and it hurt someone she cares about. The Jackal meant no disrespect towards this person; he was only repaying a debt."

Leyla thought she knew what he was talking about, but didn't press him for confirmation or more information. She respected his privacy and was beginning to suspect who the man was, as well as the girl he loved. If Sonny Corinthos was the man who hated Spinelli, then Mr. Jackal had every reason to be cautious about the way he revealed what he was telling her, even in a venting session.

"Did she eventually forgive you?"

"Yeah, she had me make up for it by fixing something for her at work, a computer situation. The problem was that we walked in on something we shouldn't have, something private, and if I tell you what it was-"

"It's OK; you know what it was. What happened?"

"The man we spoke of before, the one who slammed ,my head into the post, threatened to kill me."

"You, but not the girl you love."

"I'm the one he hates; I don't think he cares one way or another for her. I tried again to apologize for what we walked in on when I saw him earlier today. That's when he let me know in no uncertain terms that I am a freak and he does not want to see The Jackal anywhere near him or his girlfriend again."

"Just because you walked in on something? If it's what I think it was, he shouldn't have been doing that where he was doing it in the first place!"

Leyla felt hypocritical for saying that, but she had learned her lesson. No more supply closet or exam room sex for her.

"I should have knocked first. He told me to show more discretion or The Jackal would be extinct."

"He's doing that in someone's work place and you're the one who needs to show more discretion?"

"The Jackal is very awkward socially, as I'm sure you well know."

He looked away from her again and she could see his face reddening.

"That doesn't give him the right to bully you, and as for what you said before about deserving to have your head slammed against the post for voicing your opinion, that's not true either. No one has the right to hurt you, physically or otherwise, just for having your own mind and your own thoughts. You're a kind, intelligent man who has a lot to offer if someone has the brains to listen to you. I hope the girl you love stood up for you; no real friend would allow someone to call you a freak just for walking in on something you shouldn't have, especially when you were trying to apologize."

"She wasn't there. This was after I'd been banned from her work place for-"

He broke off again. This was going to be embarrassing. He took a breath and looked back at Leyla.

"Someone else gave me advice on how to win My friend's heart and it went badly. I told this other person of my friend's reaction to what we unintentionally saw; she was intrigued by it. She said she could go for a man like that, dark and dangerous."

Leyla felt a pang of sympathy. Spinelli couldn't be dark and dangerous if he tried; he was too sweet. If the girl he wanted was into that kind of man, then poor Mr. Jackal didn't stand a chance with her.

"This other woman told me to emulate what we had walked in on, so I tried and her employer walked in on us."

"Oh no!"

He nodded.

"My friend thought I was saving her job; she misinterpreted my actions. She was looking at something she wasn't supposed to and I distracted her; she thought I was doing it so her employer wouldn't see. Her employer banned me from the office, and then the man who considers me a freak forbad me to go anywhere near him or the employer of my friend. He's her boss's boyfriend."

Leyla nodded. It was as she'd thought; Maxie was the girl he was in love with and the man and the employer were Sonny Corinthos and Kate Howard. Sonny was a loose cannon under the best of circumstances and even worse now that his son was in a permanent coma. Spinelli had unintentionally gotten himself into a real mess.

He looked away again, but not before Leyla saw the shame in his eyes.

"What is it? Why do you look as if you've done something wrong?"

He looked back at her and confessed his darkest feelings about Mr. Corinthos, Sir. He felt ashamed of these thoughts because he was not a violent person by nature.

"Part of me wanted to punch him for calling me a freak; after all, he beat me up first, but I'm not a violent person. The Jackal is a lover, not a fighter. I caused all this in the first place, first by giving him unwanted advice and second by walking in on what I did."

"You didn't deserve what he did to you. I believe you have every right to want to punch him for calling you a freak, and you had every right to try to defend yourself when he slammed you into that post. You're not less of a man because he beat you up; he's less of a man for humiliating you and acting like a child. Someone like that needs a good kick once in a while."

"I can't fight back; he's too strong, and powerful."

"He's not above the law."

Spinelli said nothing. Sonny may not be a mobster anymore, but Spinelli didn't believe the law could protect him if Mr. Sir lost his temper.

"Whoever this person is, he obviously doesn't know you. I do know you from the hospital and you're very sweet and charming. You'd never intentionally hurt anyone, would you?"

He shook his head, but looked at her sadly.

"But I did hurt someone for months without even knowing. Did you know Georgie Jones?"

"I did; she was a sweet person. Her death was tragic."

"She was my dearest friend. I found her lifeless body, and then a few days later I found out that she'd been in love with me."

"I'm so sorry. But again, you didn't hurt her intentionally. From what I knew of her, I don't believe she'd want you to beat yourself up over what you didn't see. She would have been grateful for your friendship."

"Thank you," he said gratefully. "I was wishing I could talk to her when you found me. It's almost as if she sent you to comfort me since she couldn't."

"Maybe she did. She really knew you, really understood you, didn't she?"

He nodded.

"How well does this other person know you, the one who thinks he has the right to beat you up and call you names?"

"He thinks he does. I suppose he does; I mean, he's seen me enough."

"Is he friends with any of your friends?"

"Yeah, but he has his own opinions."

"Well, obviously his opinion of you is dead wrong."

He smiled, feeling better.

She thought back to the previous October, to something Epiphany had said to Spinelli the day after Jolene had been shot. He had visited her frequently after that, hoping she would wake up and tell him why she'd saved him after hurting all those innocent people. Epiphany had told him it was because Jolene had nothing else to lose and had basically taken the coward's way out. She knew she'd been caught. Spinelli was feeling lonely now; he was feeling unworthy of being loved, the most basic human need. Maybe Leyla could make him see that he was worthy, no matter what immature idiots like Sonny Corinthos wanted him to think.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"For what it's worth, I don't believe what Epiphany told you last October. I think Jolene saved you because she really did care about you."

"Thank you," he said, surprised and gratified.

"Don't pay any attention to people who don't really know you but think they do, Mr. Jackal. Only those who really know you know your heart."

She put her hand on his shoulder again and he wanted to hug her. That sounded exactly like something he would tell one of his friends.

"Feeling better?"

He nodded.

"Thank you, Fair One. If there's anything I can ever do for you, don't hesitate to let me know."

He turned and started to walk off, heading in the direction of Kelly's.

"Actually, she called after him, "there is something you can do for me."

He turned back eagerly, happy to repay her kindness.

"I have to go to a wedding party tonight that my mother's hosting and I don't have a date."

He walked back to her, looking surprised.

"It seems inconceivable to The Jackal that one so kind and lovely would be unattached."

She smiled.

"Well, I was supposed to go with Dr. Julian, but he was called into emergency surgery. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me?"

"The Jackal would be honored, but I must warn you, my social skills are inadequate at best."

"I don't know; I saw you at the Black and White Ball, before everything turned tragic, and you did pretty well then."

He thought back to that night. He'd been absolutely terrified. He had even called Jason and begged him to go with him. Then Nadine had appeared, looking incredible, and all his fears evaporated. Leyla was beautiful; maybe if he concentrated on her alone it would be OK.

"From what Nadine told me," she continued, "you handled yourself well after everything went wrong, too. She said you were very brave. She said you saved her life."

He blushed.

"I couldn't let the Demented Dennison of Darkness harm Fair Nadine."

"I promise, you won't embarrass yourself, or me. I'll help you."

"OK, then, it's a date."

"Good," she said sincerely, smiling as she gave him the information on where the party was being held.

They agreed to meet there and separated to go get ready. As he left the peer, he realized she was right. Sonny didn't know the first thing about him; he only knew what he wanted to see. There was much more to Spinelli than the awkward computer hacker. He was a good friend and a good person. He still had his doubts about everything, including the party he'd just agreed to attend, but he would not let his fear stop him. Leyla had been kind to him. He would return her kindness by standing in as her escort. He would make her proud.