Travis spent the rest of the day pissed off. It must have shown because no one dared to even look in his direction for the rest of the day. Not even Wes, who sat with him in their classes but kept to himself. Neither said a word to each other or anyone else. Wes looked as miserable as Travis felt, which somehow only made him feel worse. He wanted to take delight in knowing the blond was also hurting, but it just made his heart ache more.

Travis wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know how to tell Wes exactly what he had done that had hurt him as much as it did. Normally it wasn't something he would even consider. Letting things blow over was how he and his brothers let disagreements go between them. It was practically how they were all raised. It had always worked before, but this...not this. Not with Wes.

Wes had let rumors almost break their relationship. When Travis had to be the one with the level head, they were in trouble. Travis couldn't help but feel if Wes really trusted him, really knew him and his feelings for him, they never would be in this situation. But he did have issues. Not only had Wes said it, but Travis could see it. Anyone with eyes could look at Wes and know he was a little broken inside. It made him wonder if people looked at him and could see the same thing.

When the final bell rang, Wes grabbed his stuff and bolted from the room without so much as a glance. It both pissed Travis off and made him feel relieved all at the same time. Their classmates were too distracted with the knowledge of going home to notice, and so for the first time since the incident, Travis allowed himself to just sit and sulk. He pulled himself together as the last students were heading out and quickly did the same. He wasn't sure what he would do if Ms Percy decided to speak to him, but was convinced it would be anything but good.

"Maybe I should see if Dr. Ryan is available now..." Travis mumbled the words to himself as he saw Peter and Dakota walking in the opposite direction, hands together at their sides. Just then, Peter looked up and caught his eye. He smiled, but Travis could see the look of sympathy behind it.

"Hey, man," Peter let go of Dakota to pull Travis into a hug. "Listen, I can't stay long, but party at my house Saturday night. Bring Wes. I invited him, too, but ya know."

Travis nodded, laughing a bit. The idea of Wes at a party was kind of adorable but also almost impossible to imagine. "I'll see what I can do." He gave Dakota a hug, slapped Peter on the shoulder and then shuffled off towards Dr. Ryan's office before they could ask any questions. He would just check to see if she was there.

The counseling office was unlocked, but the receptionist there had gone home. Dr. Ryan's office was the first to the left. The door was slightly open and the light was on. He knocked once, and waited silently. He almost turned and ran away when the door opened more.

And he was staring at Wes.

"Hello, Travis," Dr. Ryan called from her desk, smiling knowingly. "Wes...is this okay?"

The blond only shrugged and sat back down in one of the chairs. Travis hesitated a moment, but stepped in when Dr. Ryan waved him forward. "Please, take a seat Travis. Let's have a talk, shall we?"

…

"I'm a little broken," is what Travis said the moment his butt made contact with the chair. It stung coming out but Wes looked defeated and sad and suddenly Travis will do whatever he can to make it better. Damn, he loves him. He wanted Wes to know he understood. He wanted him to know he wasn't alone, even if it meant saying things he never thought he would.

"Travis…" Wes spoke up in response, reaching out for him and then stopping, like he wasn't sure it was allowed anymore. Travis reached out and took his hand in his own, smiling.

"I am, Wes. Maybe we're both a little broken."

"Maybe."

"Maybe that's okay?"

"I like to think so."

Dr. Ryan looked down at her desk with a small, sad smile. She looked back up and clasped her hands together. "This may be easier than I originally thought. I want you both to remember something, okay? Most people are a little broken in one way or another. It is sad but it is a fact of life. This shapes parts of our personality and our habits. Can either of you identify those habits about yourself?"

Travis was about to speak, if only to stop Wes from having to do so, but the blonde squeezed his hand.

"I don't trust people because of my mother. With Travis and my parents making up, I finally felt like my life was together. Then I overheard my dad this morning and when I got to school, I was told Travis was leaving me."

"What did you overhear this morning?"

Wes sighed, "It's stupid. I overheard my father talking to his divorce lawyer."

"That isn't stupid, Wes!"

"Travis is right, Wes," Dr. Ryan said, her voice low, eyebrows knitting together. "That can be earth shattering. Your feelings are valid and worthy to be heard and understood."

"I should have known." He talked like he hadn't heard Dr. Ryan speak.

"I don't understand," Travis shook his head. "They were...happy, it seemed. I mean, Christmas…" He stopped then, not wanting to upset the blond more.

"I thought so too, but I should have known. She's been cheating on him for most of my life, Travis. How can my dad look past that?"

Travis didn't know how to respond so he learned forward and kissed Wes' hand.

"It was all just a front for the holidays. And then the rumors...I just wanted to avoid you and shut you out. That's what I do. Sometimes I get these thoughts in my head and no matter how illogical I know them to be, they won't leave."

"Intrusive thoughts," Travis mumbled loud enough for the others to hear. They had talked about his issues before but Travis had done a lot of reading on his own.

"Sometimes parents do things because they think it's for the best, even if it isn't. I'm sure your father thought he was doing what was best."

"That doesn't make it hurt less!"

Dr. Ryan sighed, "you're right, Wes, it doesn't."

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry I avoided you after and got angry. I'm used to being abandoned and I thought, I thought you were letting something dumb break us up."

"I almost did. I should have talked to you, not run away like a coward."

Wes closed his eyes and Travis kissed his cheek. "You are not a coward."

"This talk is honestly amazing." Dr. Ryan smiled. "You're being honest and open and that's what a relationship takes. You can sit here all day and talk about what you should have done but I want you to talk about what you will do right now and what you will do when something like this happens again."

With that, she left the two alone and closed the door behind her. They sat in silence for a long moment, both staring at their entwined hands. Eventually, Travis broke the silence with a small chuckle.

"I guess...we're both in this together. Really, I mean."

Wes nodded, a little smile at his lips. "I'm sorry, about my...thoughts."

"It's okay." Travis shrugged, "I'm sorry about mine too. Next time...let's just promise each other now that next time, we will talk about it."

Wes nodded again. "Half a year ago I had my whole life planned out and it wasn't anything that I actually wanted."

"And now?"

Wes looked Travis in the eye. "I'm happy now. I have you, and I'm going to be working towards the career I actually want. I have friends…" Wes shrugged. "I just don't know how I'm going to move forward at home."

"I don't know what's going to happen but remember that no matter what does, you can come stay at mine if you can't stay at home. We'll both graduate soon, college is right around the corner. It won't be long before you can put this in the rear view and I'll be with you."

"Thanks, Travis."

"Always, baby."

Wes smiled. "You have always called me that, even before. I don't think I've heard you call anyone else it."

"That's because it's always been for you." Travis shrugged, remembering how once he used it as a pet name for Wes he couldn't use it on anyone else.

"You wanna go?"

"Wherever you want."

The two said their thanks and goodbyes to Dr. Ryan before making their way back to their lockers and eventually out of the school. Wes was focused on his phone but Travis didn't mind. He figured the others were checking in with him and since Travis himself had been painted as the bad guy with the rumors, he would let Wes set the record straight.

"Let's get some food, then we can study for midterms?"

"Come here."

Travis stopped and walked back over to Wes. The blond positioned his phone in front of them and rested his chin on Travis' shoulder. "Smile."

Happy to, the dark skinned man did as he was told. They didn't take too many pictures together. Dakota and Money snapped photos all the time but this was a first. A second later a notification popped up on his phone saying Wes had posted something on Facebook. He took a quick peek at it as they got into Wes' car together and saw that Wes had changed his profile picture to the two of them and with the status had tagged him with a heart and People shouldn't believe rumors.

It already had several likes and loves. Travis 'loved' it.

"A reminder," is what the blond said when Travis looked up at him.

Wes' phone rang then. It was his mother but he ignored it. Over the last couple of weeks, her mood varied, especially regarding Travis. Wes had never thought she would mind, especially since his father had come to adore Travis, but for some reason Sheryl came off hot or cold but usually cold when it came to the other young man. She was probably calling about the picture, she sometimes talked like Travis was a phase and Wes didn't want to argue with her now. Wes didn't know if his mother was aware of her impending divorce and didn't want to talk to her until after she knew.

Travis reached forward and brought his lips to Wes' "What do you want to do?"

Wes gave him another peck. "We really should study." Travis nodded in agreement but was still slightly disappointed. "But after…"

The dark skinned man perked up, "yeah?"

"Did you have plans for spring break?"

Travis had completely forgotten about spring break, if he were being honest. He had still been riding high after Christmas break before today. The last two years he'd gone to one of the popular spots and partied a bit, usually with older foster siblings. This year the idea of it seemed pointless, maybe because he couldn't imagine partying for days straight anymore or because he knew Wes would hate it and all he wanted to do was be with his boyfriend.

"Just...being with you, why? Are you guys going anywhere?"

Wes made a face and shook his head no. "The family? No. But I was thinking...maybe we could take a trip, the two of us?"

Travis smiled so hard he thought he split his lip. "Any idea where?"

Wes shook his head. "Thought we'd plan that together. Have about 6 weeks. Figured...since we're both going to be working in the summer…"

"It's perfect, baby. Can't wait."

Smiling, Wes turned on the car and started off down the road where they were most certainly argue over what type of food to eat, his mind racing a little with possible destinations. He shook his head for the time being, wanting to get Travis' opinion on everything. Travis turned the radio to his favorite station but Wes only smiled more.