Annalise took a few days to herself before her next date. During this time, she had met with a lawyer in secret, careful to make sure that Rupert didn't know that she was going to fight for her son back. She went to Jeffrey's room, and found the boy sitting in bed reading a book.

"Hey, can you put that down for a second?" Annalise asked.

Jeffrey nodded as he set the book down beside him on his bed.

"I know that this has been really rough on you." Annalise said as she sat next to him on the bed. She wrapped an arm around him and was surprised when her son leaned into the touch. She smiled and kissed his head. "How has Rupert been treating you?"

Jeffrey shrugged.

"Jeffrey, if he's hurting you, I need to know," Annalise said. Joel had told him that he saw Rupert shoving Jeffrey, but Annalise wanted to hear it from her son.

"He's not," Jeffrey said quietly.

"Jeffrey, if he is you need to tell me, Joel told me that he saw Rupert push you," Annalise said firmly.

"Why does it matter? You can't do anything about it." Jeffrey said, annoyed as he pulled away from his mother.

Annalise sighed, "Don't tell your uncle this, but I'm fighting this bill. I already have a lawyer working on the case. I know this is going to be hard for you, but I am going to get you away from your uncle."

"But he said if you fight it you won't be able to see me again!" Jeffrey protested.

Annalise nodded, "He said that, but that won't matter when I win you back, which I will. I promise you, I will get custody of you back." She said as she stroked his hair. "I need you to trust me on this, so is he hurting you?"

Jeffrey nodded, "Sometimes."

"Hurting you how?" Annalise asked trying to keep the anger from her voice. How long had this been going on for? Why hadn't Jeffrey told her sooner?

"He pushes me and hits me sometimes…" Jeffrey trailed off as he stared at his blankets.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Annalise said, she placed a gentle hand on Jeffrey's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Jeffrey shrugged, "I thought it would make it worse. I'm sorry, mom."

"You have nothing to be sorry for this isn't your fault." Annalise assured her son. "Once I get custody of you again you won't be seeing your uncle again. I'll see to that."

"What do I do until then?" Jeffrey asked as he played with his blankets. "He's getting worse, I'm tired of it."

Annalise sighed, "Just…try not to get on his bad side, okay? He shouldn't hit you and I'm not saying it's your fault, but until I get this all sorted out there's nothing I can do to protect you."

"Okay," Jeffrey said quietly.

Annalise kissed her son on the head, "I love you, Jeff."

"I love you too, mom," Jeffrey said.

Annalise hugged Jeffrey tightly, "Be good…I'll see you later."

Annalise kissed her son on the head before she left the room. She debated confronting Rupert on her treatment towards her son but decided against it. She didn't want to risk angering him and making things worse for Jeffrey.

That afternoon, Annalise went on a date with Jerry. They went for a walk in the gardens and Jerry spent the time telling Annalise about each type of flower. Annalise listened with an amused smile; it was nice to see him share his passion with her.

"Flowers are like friends; they bring colour to your world," Jerry said.

"They are really beautiful." Annalise agreed with a smile. They stopped near a bench and Annalise sat down and Jerry sat down beside her.

"How are you holding up?" Jerry asked.

Annalise sighed, "I'm worried about Jeffrey and what Rupert's plans with him are," She admitted.

"I'm still in shock that he would ever do that." Jerry said as he placed his hand on her's. "If there's anything I can do to help you, just say the word and I will."

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Annalise said as she gave his hand a little squeeze. "But enough about Jeffrey, as bad as it sounds, I don't want to think about it anymore."

Jerry nodded, "I understand, when my wife had cancer that was all I could think about, but it did little good. There's only so much you can do about cancer."

"That must have been very difficult for you, I'm sorry for your loss," Annalise said.

"Thank you, I know it wasn't a rebel attack, but cancer kills just as quickly. I'm sorry that you had to lose your husband as well."

Annalise smiled slightly, "Thank you, but Darren wasn't the perfect husband, and our marriage wasn't as happy as it seemed."

"What do you mean?" Jerry asked, in public they seemed like the perfect couple, and they always had smiles on their faces.

"We fought a lot, we weren't really that compatible, we were too different. He wasn't a good father, sure he spoiled Jeffrey but he pretty much ignored Callum, it drove Callum crazy, he used to have a lot of fits trying to get his father's attention, but Darren always left Callum for me to handle. Like Rupert, he only had eyes for his heir. We fought about that a lot, and politics as well. He later revealed that he only married me because he thought I was pretty and I was popular with the public."

"I'm really sorry to hear that, you deserve so much better than that," Jerry said. "Rosie was the love of my life, and I was devastated when she passed."

Annalise squeezed his hand, "I truly am sorry for your loss, I couldn't imagine going through that."

"Thank you," Jerry said. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke, "I'm really not entirely sure that I'm ready to move on if I'm being honest. I just thought that since you moved on five years I could do the same after fourteen."

Annalise smiled slightly, "It was easier for me, I never really loved him. But he made it clear there would be consequences if I didn't go through with the marriage, and my elevated status would make life so much for my family, so I agreed to marry him." She said as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I understand how this could be overwhelming for you, so if at any time you decide you're not ready to move, just let me know and I'll dismiss you. I'm not going to keep anyone here against their will."

"Thank you, Annalise." Jerry said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Annalise said as she stood. "We should probably get back inside, dinner will be served soon."

Jerry stood and offered Annalise his arm, which she took with a smile. She was glad that Jerry was understanding of her situation, and she felt bad for him, a man that sweet didn't deserve to lose his wife like that. She wondered whether or not he would want to stay long or decide that he wasn't ready and pack his bags. Annalise made a mental note not to get too close to him, in case the latter happened.

Jeffrey was in his room, reading through articles that Rupert had assigned to him. He sighed, he was frustrated and overworked under his uncle's care, but he knew that there was nothing he could do, so he gritted his teeth and did the work. The door to his room opened and Ethan stepped inside, holding a plate that had pecan pie on it. Jeffrey smiled at the sight of his boyfriend and pushed the article away from himself.

"Hey," Jeffrey greeted as he approached Ethan.

"Hey," Ethan said with a smile, it had been a few days since he had seen Jeffrey, but he figured that his boyfriend could use a little pick me up.

"Thanks," Jeffrey said as he took the plate from Ethan and set it on the table.

"How are you doing?" Ethan asked. He knew he was taking a risk by visiting Jeffrey, he knew that Rupert was homophobic and wouldn't approve of their relationship, things had been easier before Rupert had stolen Jeffrey away. Annalise approved of Ethan, even if she didn't know that he was actually her son's boyfriend.

"I'm fine," Jeffrey lied.

"That's good," Ethan said as they sat down on Jeffrey's bed.

"I missed you," Jeffrey said. He rested his head on Ethan's shoulder and the older boy wrapped an arm around him.

"I missed you too," Ethan said.

"I don't think Rupert would be too happy with you being here…" Jeffrey said. He remembered how furious Rupert was after he returned home from the musical festival.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Ethan said, then kissed Jeffrey on the head. "You're allowed to have friends."

"Not according to my uncle," Jeffrey said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, do you want to talk about it?" Ethan asked.

Jeffrey shook his head, "There's nothing to talk about. He has custody of me and can do whatever he wants to."

"That's bullshit," Ethan said. "How the hell can he even do that?"

"He's regent, he's basically king until I turn eighteen, he can do whatever he wants to." Jeffrey said as he laid back on his bed. "I hate him."

"I know," Ethan said as he rested his hand on Jeffrey's knee. "If you need anything, just let me know."

Jeffrey nodded but knew that there was nothing Ethan could do to help him, he was stuck with his uncle until his mom got him out of it, and he didn't know how long that would take.

"Do you have a joint?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said as he dug in his pocket, then passed the joint to Jeffrey.

"Thanks," Jeffrey said, putting it in his pocket, he would smoke it later. Right now, he couldn't risk it. "My uncle's going to come check on me soon, you should probably go."

"Okay," Ethan said as he stood. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Jeffrey said quietly.

Jeffrey sighed as Ethan left, he wanted to spend more time with his boyfriend, he did but Rupert kept him far too busy to be able to that. He hated that his uncle had custody of him but there was nothing he could do about it.

That evening, Jeffrey smoked his joint outside, just out of sight of the guards. He was halfway through and already feeling the effects when Noah approached him. Shit, Jeffrey thought, but didn't bother to hide the joint.

"Marijuana's bad for you, you know." Noah said, as he held his hand out for the joint.

Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "It's natural."

"You know, I had friends who used to smoke, one of them ended up with drug induced psychosis," Noah said as he snatched the joint away from Jeffrey. He put it on the ground and stomped on it, effectively putting it out. "I'm pretty sure you don't want that to happen to you."

"You're killing my vibe." Jeffrey said as he rolled his eyes.

"Where did you even get that from?" Noah asked.

Jeffrey shrugged and chuckled, "Does it matter? What are you gonna do? Tell my mom, she can't do anything she doesn't even have custody of me anymore." Noah could hear the bitterness in his tone, even if Jeffrey was shrugging it off with a laugh. He felt bad for the kid and wanted to get through to him.

"Is that why you're doing this?" Noah asked. "Look, your mom is going to fight tooth and nail to get you back. But I'm pretty sure she wouldn't approve of you doing this."

"I don't care!" Jeffrey snapped. "You're not the boss of me and apparently neither is she."

"Hey, it's okay to be frustrated," Noah said, softening his tone. "But this." He added, pointing to the joint on the ground. "Isn't okay. And I think you're smart enough to know that."

"Whatever." Jeffrey said moodily as he crossed his arms.

"Now, I'm not going to tell your mother, but don't let me catch you doing this again," Noah warned. He knew he should probably tell Annalise, but he didn't want to rat the kid out quite yet.

Jeffrey laughed, "I don't care what you want, you're not my father." Without another word, Jeffrey turned and returned to the palace, slamming the door shut behind him. Noah sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, he wasn't sure what to do Jeffrey was clearly dealing with a lot of stress, but he knew that if he told Annalise about this it could just make everything worse, there was little the Queen could do to protect her son from her brother-in-law. He just hoped that the lawyer would be able to find a way to repeal Rupert's law.