The time between this chapter and the last has been ridiculously long but school has been hectic. Updates are going to get pretty slow until further notice but another chapter should be up relatively soon. (this one is mostly drabble)

Thanks to everyone for waiting and reading :)

On with the story!

We had been driving around for a while but something felt off. I thought that he had something serious to talk about but he acted like nothing was wrong. I guessed it was Shay's way of delaying. "You still haven't told me what you wanted to talk about."

"We can talk about it later," he was avoiding it, "However, it's been a while since I've seen you. I think you should tell me what you've been up to lately." I narrowed my eyes out of habit. Normally I thought it was pointless to talk about myself but with having to explain every aspect of my life to my father I was getting used to this.

"I started going to school again."

"Ah, is it one of the public or private high schools?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just curious. I went to public school and it was okay but I think your dad would send you to private school."

It was weird that he thought I was that young. Normally I was mistaken for being older than I was. "You don't understand. I got my GED when I dropped out a few years ago. I meant I'm going to college." He glanced at me incredulously.

"Hold on boy," he said as he pulled into a parking lot, "Why in the world did you drop out of school to get your GED instead of just finishing up? It's a respectable option and I've known a few people who did it but I don't see why you would." He turned off the engine and waited for my response.

I've had this conversation with my father already but explaining it again wouldn't kill me, "I was too busy with work. I spent more time rebuilding Davenport Shipping than paying attention to classes. I started making changes from the old practices and contacting clients and finding workers. Don't get me wrong, Achilles still handled most of the paperwork but I had to do more than what I could if I stayed in school."

He his shoulders dropped slightly. "It's nice that you were so dedicated but why was that more important than your future?"

I looked away from him. It was uncomfortable to bring up but I managed to ask, "Do you remember that place we lived in?" He nodded and I continued, "I took up… a lot of things. Working with Achilles was one of them. After he helped with moving out I realized I had a full time job and was paying close to half the medical bills. We needed the money to stay in the new house and I wasn't going to let anything send us back to the place we were." Something in my voice didn't sound right but I didn't think I was giving away any emotions. "I know I was the child and I should have let others take care of it but being passive wasn't an option. I would have done anything to make sure my mother was alright."

There was a long pause after that.

I don't know what I expected to see but him smiling at me wasn't it. "Thank goodness, I thought you got someone knocked up or had a cartel situation gone wrong." That made me immediately regret saying anything. He laughed a little at my expense but quickly stopped. Then he put an arm around my shoulders and lowered his voice, "You're always going to be your mother's watch dog and that's good. It shows how much you'd do for the ones you love." He looked down like he was confused on what to say next. Then he looked back at me with warmth in his eyes, "Just don't ever let anyone say your good intentions were mistakes."

I wish I could have told him how that was wrong. I wanted to tell him not all the mistakes I made could be justified because I meant to do well. I wanted to tell him what I told my father but I bit my lip and the words withered with my courage.

He let his hand linger on me for a moment longer and asked, "By the way, did you almost break Paul's hand for touching you?" And with that he made me smile.

Shay was confusing. He changed the mood so quickly I couldn't understand what his intentions were. I had no idea what he wanted to say or where I was but it didn't feel like a big deal. He never talked about himself but I've told him a lot about me. Not a moment of our time together has made sense but something about the look in his eyes makes me trust him.

"Look, Paul was irritating from the beginning. I wasn't going to deal with him touching me. "

"Do you not like anyone touching you?"

"No, some people are okay." Normally I would say it's unwelcome but he's had his arm around me for a while now. "Like mom and Achilles. Sometimes I got pats on the back from the neighbors or a couple friends." It didn't make sense that these were only people that were close to me and somehow Shay was able to do the same.

"And is this okay?" he moved his hand around my shoulder. Now that he called attention to how I should be acting I noticed how odd it was. I should have tensed up but I didn't. Instead it made my heart beat faster.

"It doesn't bother me," I said as I ran my hand through my hair, pushing back the sections that hung around my face. I wanted to know why it didn't bother me but nothing reasonable came up. I couldn't be thinking he was special, could I?

At first I was thankful that he pulled his arm back but then he put his hand on my head. He started pushing it the way I did. His eyes flicked around my face as he said, "Huh, you look more grown up with your hair back." Then he locked eyes with me and I felt my cheeks get warm, "I like it." I felt somewhere between embarrassed and overwhelmed. It felt good but somehow unpleasant. It felt like something unresolved but I just broke away from looking at him and bit my lip. My heart pounded as I started to put together why he was different.

"Connor, can we step out of the car? It's getting foggy and hot in here." We had been in here so long that all the windows were opaque. I nodded. I didn't know how to processes what I was thinking but thankfully the moment passed as the cold Autumn air greeted me.