A month had past and the mood in the palace was somber, as it was the anniversary of King Darren's assassination. Breakfast was a rather silent affair, Callum who was normally full of energy was fairy reserved. Jeffrey forced himself to eat his breakfast, knowing he'd need his energy for hunting with his grandfather. After breakfast Greg approached Annalise.

"How are you and the boys holding up?" Greg asked.

Annalise sighed, "As well as to be expected."

"Yeah, Callum doesn't seem like himself." Greg said. "Look, there's something I wanted to talk to you about…you might want to spend more time with Jeffery once in a while."

"Jeffrey's a teenager, he doesn't want to spend time with his mother," Annalise said. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing serious, but Jeffrey needs you even if he you even if he thinks he doesn't." Greg replied.

Annalise frowned, "I need you to tell me what happened, Greg. I can't help him if I don't know what's going on."

"Annalise, from one parent to another, more time with our children can never hurt," Greg said, avoiding the question.

"I'm going to ask you one more time and you're going to tell me… what happened?" Annalise said tersely.

"I think that Jeffrey is feeling more depressed than usual," Greg said with pain in his voice. "I don't know how to help him, and he doesn't want my help. I am just trying to help him anyway I can, and you know him better than I could ever hope to."

"What did he do now?" Annalise asked, touching his shoulder. "Greg, I need to know."

"He's been cutting himself, Annalise," Greg said looking her in the eye. "You can't tell him that I told you, I promised him I wouldn't."

Annalise nodded with a sigh, "Thank you for telling me. Next time don't make promises to a fourteen-year-old that aren't appropriate to keep, keeping this from me would have done no good, not for me or for him. Do you understand me?"

"I understand." Greg said as his eyes began to tear up. "But you don't understand. I am afraid Annalise! You are the most amazing woman that I ever met, and Callum is a terrific kid, but Jeffrey…he has been fighting all of this since day 1 and I lie awake at night, thinking that if I can't get him to like me, he'll try to get me eliminated somehow. I finally managed to make some headway with him. We've agreed to be civil to one another for as long as I am here, but if he finds out I broke my promise, all this progress I've made is gone! Annalise, I really care about you and the idea of losing you…it hurts so much…."

"Jeffrey has been fighting everyone since day one, Greg, this isn't news to me. I'm a little insulted that you think I'd let my son come between us or myself and any of the Selected. I've only eliminated two of you on behalf of my children, and only once I knew their claims to be true." Annalise said as she brought a hand to her temple. She didn't know what to do about Jeffrey.

"I apologize…Your Majesty." Greg said as he bowed his head in respect and turned to leave.

"Greg, you did the right thing by telling me, and I appreciate that. How bad are the cuts?" Annalise asked.

"He said that it's a superficial cut, the worst he'll have is a scar for a few days or so." Greg said as he turned back to her. "It's all the cuts after that I'm worried about. No one gets seriously hurt on their first cut or even their tenth, it's that one cut, when someone thinks that they've perfected self-harm down to a science. That's the cut that can kill."

"So you didn't actually see them?" Annalise asked.

Greg shook his head, "I doubted he would have showed me."

"Well, you're about to," Annalise said. She exited the room and got a guard to fetch Jeffrey. Jeffrey entered the room a few moments later.

"What?" Jeffrey asked.

"Show me your cuts," Annalise said sternly.

Jeffrey turned to Greg, "You said you wouldn't tell her!"

"I know you don't care about me, but believe it or not, I do care about you. I am not going to lie to a mother about her son," Greg said.

"Now, Jeffrey," Annalise ordered.

Jeffrey glared at Greg as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal several healed cuts on his wrist. Annalise frowned as she ran her fingers along them, they had formed into little scars like Greg said they would.

"I'm telling your therapist about this," Annalise said firmly.

"Whatever," Jeffrey said.

"Watch the attitude, Jeffrey." Annalise snapped. "This is serious! You could kill yourself."

"It's not that bad…" Jeffrey said as he pulled his sleeve down. "They aren't even that deep!"

"I can't do this right now." Annalise said as she turned to leave. "Just…go hunting with your grandfather."

"Mom!" Jeffrey protested.

"Not now, Jeffrey. I need to think." Annalise said, then left the room.

"Jeffrey, you can't keep pushing Annalise away." Greg snapped as he started down the boy. "That woman loves you more than anything in the world, I've seen it in her eyes. Yet, she decides to do one thing for herself and it's like you're ready to flush all her sacrifices down the toilet!"

"I don't even care about the stupid fucking Selection anymore, if you want to marry my mom go ahead, I'm so over this shit." Jeffrey snapped back as he formed his hands into fists.

"One, that's not up to me, that's up to her and two you are going to that therapist because you need help to deal with these feelings because slicing yourself is not the right way to do it." Greg said sternly.

"Yeah, I know, I go to therapy every fucking day." Jeffrey said, annoyed.

"I bet you don't talk; you just sit there." Greg shot back. "I tried it your way kid, it doesn't work. Take it from someone who's been there: you are going to get out of therapy exactly what you put into it. If you do nothing, that's what you'll get; nothing!"

"Don't act like you know me, or like you even care!" Jeffrey yelled his eyes filling with tears of frustration.

"Just what exactly is going on in here?" Atticus asked as he stepped into the room.

"Nothing," Jeffrey said bitterly as he blinked away his tears.

"I wasn't asking you." Atticus said sternly.

"I was telling your grandson that it's up to him to carve out a healthy future." Greg replied. "No one can do it for him, he has to want it for himself."

"Did something happen?" Atticus asked as he eyed Jeffrey.

"Ask your grandson, sir," Greg said, then left the room.

Atticus gave Jeffrey as stern look, "We'll talk this afternoon, go get ready to go hunting."

"I don't wanna go." Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms.

"Go get ready," Atticus repeated sternly.

Jeffrey frowned as he left the room. He really didn't want to spend the afternoon with his grandfather and had been trying his best to avoid him in the week since he had asked him to legalize same sex marriage.

Annalise was walking in the gardens, thinking about what to do about Jeffrey. Greg had taken Callum to a soccer game, and she found herself alone with her thoughts. She had the guards search his room for anything he could use to harm himself. She sighed as she ran her hand through a bush, what was she going to do with the boy? Nothing seemed to be working and he wouldn't open up to her.

"Hey," Joel said, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Hey Joel," Annalise said with a small smile.

"How are you holding up?" Joel asked. "I know today must be hard for you."

Annalise sighed, "I'm okay, thank you. Darren and I weren't as close as we had the public believe."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Joel said. "But still, you must have had feelings for him."

Annalise nodded, "I did."

"I know how hard it is to lose a spouse, hell I've lost two of them, moving on is hard, but I know you know that already," Joel said.

"I don't really want to talk about Darren, if that's okay," Annalise said.

Joel offered her his arm, which she took. "That's perfectly okay, you seem stressed."

"Jeffrey's out of control again, and I'm just at my wit's end with him." Annalise said. "I just wonder if this was all too much for him, if maybe I should have waited."

"I honestly don't think there ever would have been a good time for a Selection, unless you wanted to be alone until he turned eighteen." Joel said as they walked through the gardens. "I think he's just going through a lot, and he seems too stubborn to talk about his feelings."

Annalise sighed, "I just can't do this alone anymore, raising two boys is harder than I thought it would be, especially with Jeffrey acting the way he is. I just wish he'd open up to me."

"I think he will, when he's ready, you just have to give him time. He has been talking to Cypress a bit, but of course my son won't tell me what they talk about," Joel said with a chuckle.

"I remember when Jeffrey would tell me everything, but now he's just so distant…" Annalise trailed off.

"It's harder for men to open up about their feelings, especially with everything that he's been through, you just have to be patient with him." Joel said as he wrapped an arm around Annalise. "How are the boys doing with today?"

Annalise sighed, "Greg took Callum to a soccer game to keep him busy and Atticus took Jeffrey hunting. I'm not sure I exactly trust him with a gun, but I know Atticus will keep an eye on him."

"I think Jeffrey will be fine," Joel said to reassure her. "And now that I know the boys are taken care of, I'm more concerned about you."

Annalise smiled, "I'll be fine, thank you though."

"Anytime," Joel said with a smile. "The anniversaries will get easier as time goes on, but it's important to honour them."

"I'm debating taking the boys to his grave, but I don't want to make today harder on them," Annalise said.

"I think you should, it would give them a chance to talk to their father," Joel said.

Annalise nodded, "I think I will. Thanks, for checking in with me."

"Anytime," Joel said.

Annalise smiled, "I know it's not exactly the most exciting date, but do you want to watch a movie and drink some wine with me?"

Joel grinned, "Anything I can do to help."

Jeffrey and Atticus returned home from hunting late that afternoon. Atticus took Jeffrey to find Greg, who they found alone in the Men's Parlor.

"Jeffrey has something he'd like to say to you," Atticus said and gave Jeffrey a stern look.

Jeffrey sighed, "I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier." He said quietly.

"Thank you and I apologize if I betrayed your confidence in any way." Greg replied solemnly.

You did, Jeffrey thought.

"Go get ready for dinner, Jeffrey," Atticus instructed.

Jeffrey nodded and left the room, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he left.

"Why do I feel like there's something you and Annalise aren't telling me?" Atticus asked Greg as he took a step closer to the veteran.

"I feel as though it's not my place to discuss family matters since I'm not family, at least not yet sir," Greg explained. "Perhaps you should talk to Annalise."

"So, there is something," Atticus said. "I think we both know that if Annalise wanted me to know, she would have told me…you have to understand that I'm shaping Jeffrey to be a leader of this country, so if you have any doubts about his capabilities, I expect you to share them with me."

"If I have any doubts, you can be assured that I will come to you, sir." Greg replied respectfully.

"Good." Atticus said, then left the room.

Ethan and Jeffrey were in the palace's game room, playing arcade games, though Jeffrey's heart wasn't really into it. He stopped the game he was playing and leaned against the machine.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked.

"Everything." Jeffrey said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Do you miss your dad?" Ethan asked.

Jeffrey shrugged, "Yeah, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. My grandfather doesn't approve of us…of me. And I had to spend all afternoon listening to him lecture me about treating those ass holes with respect."

"They all can't be that bad," Ethan said.

"I'm just, so over everything…" Jeffrey trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Ethan said.

"Can we just…go get something from the kitchen?" Jeffrey asked, if he couldn't smoke pot to cope, he at least wanted to eat his feelings.

"Sure," Ethan said.

They walked to the kitchen where they raided the baked goods section. Jeffrey grabbed a couple of brownies and a mini tub of ice cream, while Ethan grabbed a couple of brownies. They sat at the table where Jeffrey rested his head on Ethan's shoulder.

"Are you okay? You don't seem like yourself…" Ethan said.

"I'll be fine," Jeffrey said. He immediately pulled away when Joel entered the room. Shit, Jeffrey thought as he stared down at the counter.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Joel asked.

Jeffrey shrugged a shoulder.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Joel asked with a smile. He extended his hand towards Ethan. "I'm Joel, nice to meet you."

"Ethan." The sixteen-year-old said as he shook Joel's hand.

"Those look good, I might have to grab some." Joel said as he nodded towards the brownies the boys were eating. "Do you mind if I talk to Jeffrey alone?"

Ethan looked to Jeffrey who gave him a pleading look, not wanting to be alone with the man.

"I think I'd rather stay." Ethan said as he held Jeffrey's hand.

"All right," Joel said, a little confused. He turned his attention to Jeffrey. "I can't begin to imagine the challenges you're going to face because of your sexuality, but I just want you to know that I support you."

Jeffrey smiled slightly and nodded to Ethan, indicating that he could go. Ethan gave Jeffrey a kiss on the cheek, then left the kitchen.

"I think my dad would've hated me if he knew…" Jeffrey trailed off.

"Given enough time, some people's views might change," Joel said as he leaned against the counter. "We'll never know what your father would have thought, but I'm sure he'd still love you."

Jeffrey nodded, looking unconvinced.

"It happened with me, believe it or not, people are capable of change." Joel said as he placed a hand on Jeffrey's shoulder. "Does your mother know?"

Jeffrey shook his head, "My grandfather does…he doesn't approve."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Joel said. "But I think your mother will be different, you need to give her a chance."

Jeffrey nodded and looked down, "I'm just not ready to tell her yet…"

"Don't worry, this will stay between us for the time being, but you really should consider telling her."

"I'll think about it," Jeffrey said.

"Good," Joel said. "You should let your mother in more, I'm sure she'd love to hear about what's going on with you."

Jeffrey nodded as he stood, "I'm gonna go catch up with Ethan."

"Have fun," Joel said.

"Thanks." Jeffrey said, then left the room. He was relived that Joel seemed to be on board with his relationship with Ethan, but he still didn't feel ready to come out to his mother quite yet.