-CHAPTER 11-

-Same Scene; Shaun and Zach's Condo

Shaun and Zach stood at the door as Gabe was getting ready to leave for the night. Dinner went well, as well as could be expected. It was still awkward for all three. Shaun hopped the drift between Gabe and Zach had been repaired that night.

"I'm sorry." Gabe whispers to Zach.

Zach nods. "Me too"

"Tell the little playboy, I said hello." Gabe said while leaving.

Zach and Shaun nodded while closing the door.

Zach sighed. "We should probably go and pick Cody up. It's getting late."

Shaun pulls Zach in for a hug and whispers in his ear. "You know he can stay over there a little longer. Kristy said she can keep him late." He stops and begins kissing Zach. Zach slides his hand up and down Shaun's stomach.

Shaun pulls away and gets to the bottom of the staircase but Zach pushes him down and passionately kisses him, caressing his body. Shaun finds a moment to tell Zach that he loves him and that only makes Zach even more eager to please him. Zach drew Shaun close, and then lightly brushed his lips and pulled away. Shaun was getting more and more turned on. Shaun felt Zach's hands on his body. Shaun gently stroked Zach's thigh as they kissed. Zach went into overdrive trying to please Shaun, so much so that Zach began to get out of breath during their lovemaking.

"Slow down. I'm not goin anywhere." Shaun says with a laugh.

Zach nods. "You wanna finish this up stairs?"

Shaun smiles and gets up. He collects the clothes at the bottom of the staircase and they both walk upstairs towards their bedroom.

They finished what they started downstairs, and at the end of it both were so thoroughly tired that they fell asleep within moments of finishing. Shaun is awakened by the doorbell but Zach continues sleeping.

Shaun yawns as he wakes up startled. "Babe." He says tapping Zach's back. "Babe. Zach. Zach." He says tapping with more force.

Zach turns over. "What?"

"The door." Shaun says while getting his clothes together off the ground, throwing Zach a shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Shit. That's probably Kristy. What time is it?"

Shaun looks at the alarm clock. "1:33am."

"Fuck." Zach hops out of bed, throwing on his clothes. "We were supposed to pick him up at least 2 hours ago."

Shaun and Zach raced down stairs and open the door to find Kristy looking annoyed, and Cody looking unhappy.

Shaun was the first one to break the tension at the door. "I'm sorry Kristy. We uh fell asleep." Shaun hands Kristy money, and Cody runs inside.

Kristy nods. "It's okay. He was sleeping for most of the night, but once he woke up for some reason he got pretty upset."

"He doesn't like waking up in different places… I'm sorry. We shouldn't have…" Zach says but gets cut off.

"It's ok." Shaun says looking at Zach before turning to Kristy. "Thanks Kristy. It won't happen again."

Kristy smiles and walks away. Shaun closes the door and both of them walk into the living room to find Cody sitting on the couch.

"Why did you forget me?" Cody yells. Such a simple question, but no reason would be able to calm him.

"Codes, we're sorry. We fell asleep." Zach says while sitting down next to the boy.

Cody shakes his head. "I wish Mommy was here. I hate you." He says while running up the stairs towards his bedroom.

Zach looks at Shaun. "I…" They then hear the slam of Cody's bedroom door.

Shaun shakes his head. "I'll go talk to him. He doesn't mean any of it babe."

Zach nods his head as Shaun walks up the stairs to Cody's room. The door is shut. Shaun knocks on the door, but Cody doesn't respond.

"Cody." Shaun says but no response. "I'm coming in." Shaun says opening the door.

Cody is crying, sitting at the foot of his bed.

"It's okay to be sad, and even to let people know you're sad." Shaun says trying to comfort him. "But, you know you can't say those things to Zach. He loves you."

Cody nods, while Shaun wipes away some of his tears.

"You're going to have to tell him you're sorry. Alright Cody?" Shaun says.

"Ok" Cody says as he gets up, but Shaun stops him. "It's late kiddo. You can do it tomorrow." Shaun says.

Cody has stopped crying.

"You want me to tuck you in?" Shaun asks.

Cody smiles. "Yes."

Shaun tucks him in and turns off the light. "Good night. I love you." Shaun says while closing the door.

Shaun is on the other side of the door and hears "I love you too." And Shaun smiles walking back down stairs.

"Hey." Shaun says to Zach who is still sitting on the couch."

"How'd it go?" Zach asked.

"Great. He's sorry. You know he didn't mean it."

Zach nods. "Yeah." He said not very reassuringly.

"Babe. He's 6. This is just the start of it. I can't even tell you how many times I told my parents I hated them, or wished I could run away when I was a kid. It's a part of showing your independence, testing his limits." Shaun said.

"What if he really believes it? Jeannie hasn't signed over guardianship yet. He's hers, when she comes back he might want to leave." Zach says.

Shaun shakes his head. "Don't even worry about that. He won't go back with her. Everything will work out Zach."

Zach yawns. "Yeah, I hope so."

Shaun reaches for Zach's hand and pulls him off the couch. "Let's go to bed. To sleep!" Shaun says.

Zach kisses Shaun. "Thanks…for everything."

Shaun smiles.

-The next day.

Jesse is standing in the waiting room of a Free Health Clinic.

"Jesse Walker." The nurse calls.

Jesse makes his way back. The nurse makes no pleasantries.

"Your results came back. You have Gonorrhea." The nurse says.

Jesse looks stunned. "Ok."

"It's pretty easy to treat. A shot and antibiotics and good as new." The nurse says with a pause. "But you need to contact all your recent sexual partners. They need to be tested, so that it doesn't spread."

Jesse nods his head. "Ok. I will contact them."

"And it's important that you refrain from any sexual intercourse until you get cleared from your follow-up appointment. It's important to always practice safe-sex."

Jesse wants to roll his eyes, but he cracks a smile to shut her up. "Thanks."

Jesse leaves the clinic and gets in his car. "This should be fun." He thinks to himself as he pulls out his phone and dials the first number.

"Hello." The voice answers.

"Hi – uh it's Jesse."

"What the fuck do you want now?" Zach asks.