Hey guys, sorry this chapter took me so long to write. I've been pretty sick and I'm just starting to get over the fatigue, which became even more of a struggle after I went back to work. Currently most of my time has been dedicated to either working or sleeping, meaning I just didn't have the energy most of this month to keep up.

Thank you to my readers and my reviewers for staying with me for so long and for your patience and sorry for what I don't believe is one of my best chapters… the flow is a bit off but I figured I would give it to you now instead of making you wait even longer so that I could go through it a few more times.

At the end of the day you guys truly keep me going!

I ended up just turning my phone off that night. Tyson had tried calling me several times and to be completely honest, there wasn't a single person who I was comfortable having this conversation with. Everyone who read the article that I was currently starring in knew that I had been caught in a sexual act… they wouldn't look at me the same way again after this…

Honestly, I didn't understand how Wyatt handled it so well, it was a level of public humiliation I didn't think I could ever survive.

"The article said that Hiwitari was giving him a blow job." The less than quiet mumbling filled my ears along with an assortment of giggles that I knew were intended for me to hear.

"Dude, I don't even wanna know how many STD's are probably creeping around Smithwrights dick, his body count must be in the triple digits at least, I hear he's even blown a few of the teachers."

"I always knew that Kai was secretly a slut. Why else would he hang out with him?"

"I heard that they went back to their hotel room afterward and Kai took it up the ass. I think they've been fucking each other all year, that's why Kai is always in the stairwell."

"He peeps in the showers too, Haru said that he's caught him jacking off to him in there. Hiwitari is so desperate, I don't think Wyatt is the only person he's fucking, the guy may have fame but he's a fucking loser, his own teammates don't even like him."

"He seriously has no friends. He's pathetic."

I closed my textbook, deciding that my homework assignment could wait until I got back to my dads.

"Where are you going?" Avery asked me, chewing on his pencil eraser and slouched over, chin rested on the palm of his hand.

"I can't concentrate..." I mumbled.

Putting my things away, I threw my messenger bag over my shoulder and pocketed my hands before doing the inevitable walk of shame through the study, keeping my eyes down where I wouldn't need to look at anyone.

Realistically, this should have made it easier to see the foot slide out in front of me, but alas I was caught off guard anyway, tripping and falling on my face to a room suddenly erupting in laughter.

"You could at least wait until you get a guy alone before automatically getting on all fours, Hiwitari." A voice I recognized as Haru bellowed out loudly.

Avery and Dmitri were at my side now, helping me to my feet and walking with me to the door.

"Thanks." I mumbled sadly, dusting myself off. "Have either of you seen Wyatt today?"

"His parents got here this morning. I don't think he's on school grounds right now." Avery clenched his teeth when he spoke, making it clear that Wyatt's mom and dad weren't people who should be taken lightly. "I would call him but try and be on the down low when you talk. His folks are nuts."

I nodded at him before saying a quiet goodbye and leaving my friends behind, thankful that being a day student meant that I no longer needed to fear being caught off school property. I was allowed to leave whenever I wanted now outside of school hours and it wasn't anybodies business where I was going.

Sighing to myself, I took a seat on a public bench and pulled my phone out, turning it on. I had several missed calls ranging from my father, to Tyson, to Wyatt… ignoring them, I went instead to my text messages, catching notice of one in particular.

Call me

Wyatt was the one who had sent it, causing me to click on his name and bring my phone up to my ear.

"Hey," He answered in an oddly cheerful matter. "Let's find somewhere to meet up."

"My dad gave me the okay to invite you over." I said. "Do you wanna just meet at the house?"

"Sure, text me the address and I'll get there when I can. I need to try and sneak away from my parents."

"Are they pissed?"

He didn't respond at first, sighing awkwardly between a long and drawn out pause.

"You don't need to be worrying about them right now." He said. "Right now I just want to be able to see you."

"This is all my fault..." I mumbled.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. There was no way you could have possibly known they would interview that bouncer or that we would end up being on the cover. I'm the one who brought you back to the same club that I fucked up my reputation at."

I blushed slightly at his words as I thought back to what some of our classmates were saying today, rumors that he had been with at least one hundred people… there was no way it was true.

"I'll see you later. I'm gonna walk to my dads..."

Hanging up the phone, I shoved it in my pocket, kicking at a stone on the sidewalk and keeping my gaze down. I felt humiliated, and to make matters worse I had taken Wyatt down with me. He had worked hard to get into this school and thanks to me, he wouldn't even be able to graduate from it.

He would be better off without me…

Everyone would.

Xxx

My father's house was empty when I got home, him and my step mother were still currently at work and he had informed me that Riku went to daycare after school and was now starting full time due to the summer season. He had finished school earlier than I did and would be off for ten weeks instead of eight, similar to what Tyson and Kenny's school currently did.

Although I didn't want to be here, I still felt the need to be respectful in the house, meaning that I cleaned up after myself and made sure that my outdoor shoes were placed in the rack outside. I was at least glad they weren't the type of family who expected indoor shoes to be worn in the house, as I was more comfortable in socks.

Hanging my things up in the closet, I made my way to the room I was currently staying in, closing the door and sitting quietly on the bed.

I wasn't sure when anyone would be home, or when Wyatt would be able to get here, meaning now might be a good time to try and figure my family's schedule out in order to see if Wyatt and I might be able to snag some alone time together one of these days, when no one else was around.

The thought sent a tingling sensation through my body and my pants tightened around the crotch as I remembered going into the sex shop during our field trip. Double checking that no one had pulled into the driveway that I could see through the window, I grabbed a bag I had yet to unpack from under the bed, rummaging through it until I found what I was looking for.

The silicone dildo that the man had given me wasn't anything I would call fancy or porn star worthy, it was average size and average girth, meaning my hand fit nicely around the shaft as I ran my fingers across it, leaning my head back on my pillow and touching the tip to my lips.

Reluctantly, I opened my mouth enough for my tongue to graze the head, flicking it gently before making a wide circle around it.

It didn't feel anything like a real one had felt in my mouth and it tasted mostly of rubber and my own saliva; I had to really concentrate in order to imagine Wyatt kneeling on the bed above me, grabbing onto my hair as he gently thrusted in and out of my mouth.

He had mentioned that he liked being dominate, meaning that I would be the one expecting to take it… a thought that made me ever more nervous about the prospect of losing my virginity. I was always seen as a leader, as someone who took charge, yet with Wyatt I had grown accustomed to the opposite.

Was I ready to have sex? For him to have me in such a vulnerable position?

Struggling with multitasking as I attempted to unbutton my pants, I put the sex toy aside before slipping a hand into my waistband, grunting and squeezing my eyes shut as I touched myself while trying to remember the movements Wyatt's tongue made when he had taken me in his mouth. Arching my back to the rhythm of my own hand, I moaned quietly with a thin gasp as I finished faster than I had intended.

Just thinking about him made me squirm…

Cleaning myself up, I undressed and made my way to the bathroom, drawing myself a bath and deciding to take the next few moments to relax while still focusing on the time and how long I could expect to be home alone each day. I didn't bother washing my hair, instead leaning my head back on a towel and resting my eyes as I allowed the lukewarm water to wash over me.

Although my hormones had now relaxed themselves, Wyatt's presence still made its way into my head, the idea of his body pressed against mine in a home we could someday live in together. He was the only familiar romantic relationship that I had, meaning that I knew absolutely nothing of planning for a future or the prospect of marriage or living together.

It wasn't legal for us to marry.

I also wasn't sure it was what I wanted.

Either way I couldn't help but wonder what my grandfather would think of me now, of the person who I had become while not under his care. Same sex relationships weren't a topic that had ever really come up while I was under his roof, not that it made a difference in regards to his opinion, I still knew he wouldn't approve. Even the idea of him having a wife at some point felt foreign. I had never met my grandmother and honestly, I couldn't see my grandfather as anything but power-hungry and cruel, a twice divorced millionaire who's wives had an ironic habit of going missing, just like my mother had.

Women were beneath him, in his opinion, and people like me probably fell to a bar even lower.

So why did I miss him?

My grandfather was the closest thing to a parent that I had in my life, remaining with me when my father left, even after throwing me to the dogs outside. I wasn't sure if he had played a part in my survival or if he would have even cared had I not made it out.

I was ten when we left the Abbey behind and I knew better than to bring up the abuse that had happened while I was under his care. He knew what they did to me, he could have stopped it if he wanted to… besides, he himself was fully capable of giving me a beating if he felt like it was deserved.

He didn't hit me often, but that didn't mean it never happened.

Hoping to get the memories of my past out of my head, I washed and dried myself, wrapping a towel around my waist before going back into my bedroom in order to get dressed.

Throwing on sweat pants and a tank top, I checked my phone to find that Wyatt still hadn't messaged me. Tyson, on the other hand, did.

Are you doing okay?

I sighed, shaking my head at the screen while trying to figure out how to respond to everything that had happened in the past few days. I could lie and claim that I was fine, that is, if I decided to answer him at all. It would be easier to just ignore him. It really wasn't his business how I was currently doing.

Either way, I didn't have time to say anything before the sound of the garage door opening grabbed my attention along with the clanking of my step mothers shoes as she removed them inside, Riku's less than silent feet stomping along beside her.

Whoever coined the term 'the pitter patter of tiny feet' when referring to children had clearly never actually met a child.

Quickly, I shoved the dildo into my suitcase and stashed it under the bed before either of them came into my room, Riku barging in loudly as his mother scolded him about the importance of knocking, giving me an awkward look as though the only reason a teenage boy would have their door closed is to jack off, which was honestly fair.

"I apologize." She said with a polite bow. "I was under the impression that you would be at school until dinner time, I would have offered to pick you up."

Until now I had greatly lacked any communication with my step mother, who I had learned quickly was awkwardly proper and clearly had idea how to handle me being pushed into her life at sudden notice. My father must have had at least ten years on her age wise and I couldn't help but feel bad that she was suddenly expected to take on the role of caring for a teenager she had no relation to. It was obvious that she wasn't sure how to speak to me.

"It's fine." I said quietly. "I like walking. I'm not required to stay after school as a day student so I can leave whenever I want once classes are over."

"If you're sure." She said with a slight nod. "I'll be in the kitchen getting dinner ready if you need anything. Rikuto, come put your things away, please."

Riku was currently sprawled out on my bed and rolling around like a log, lacking the ability to stay still for more than a few seconds at a time, a trait most children of six appeared to share. Although I bore very little resemblance to my father, it felt strange to me how much Riku looked like him, having very few features that would cause you to guess he was Japanese at all. The gray strips that coated his hair were beginning to bleach in color, making me curious if his bangs would eventually turn white like our grandfathers instead of gray like our father and like me.

"I invited Wyatt over so that we can figure some things out." I mumbled as the two of them were about to leave. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me to do without asking. We won't be disruptive."

She chewed on the inside of her lip, clearly uncomfortable either with the idea of me having a boyfriend, or at me inviting someone over without asking.

"Will he be staying for dinner?" She asked. "I may need to run back to the store."

"No, he won't be here long."

My plan wasn't to be an inconvenience or a burden to any of them, honestly I just wasn't used to the concept of asking permission before I did things.

Although she appeared like she was about to say something else to me, she stopped herself; instead giving an awkward smile and nodding before taking Riku back into the kitchen.

I guess I wasn't the only one who this was awkward for.

Xxx

Wyatt didn't manage to make it to the house until well after we finished dinner. My father was home by that point and Riku was now sporting pajamas and bare feet, something I distinctly recalled not being allowed as a child, which may explain why my feet chill so easily.

"You're a cutie." Wyatt giggled, ruffling Riku's bangs as he sat plopped into my lap, something that had become a normal part of his nightly routine by the end of my first day with him.

"I am not." He grunted, causing Wyatt to have to stifle his laughter while giving me a knowing glance.

"Rikuto," My father called to him, peeking in the room as though worried we were currently in the process of making out in front of a six year old. "Come brush your teeth and get ready for bed, let your brother be for while, he's trying to spend time with a friend."

I couldn't help but notice that he didn't like using the term 'boyfriend' when it came to my relationship with Wyatt, either due to his own discomfort of an impression that saying my reality out loud would not be an appropriate topic.

After a mild tantrum, he agreed to go with our dad in order to get ready for bed.

"He's like a little clone of you." Wyatt snickered, no longer needing to hold back. "Especially the attitude."

"I think he's gonna be taller than me when he grows up. He's really bulky."

Although he smiled, Wyatt averted his gaze now, sighing uncomfortably at the idea of needing to switch the conversation to a more relevant topic.

"My parents think I'm cleaning out my dorm." He said sadly. "I would be in a lot of trouble if they knew I was over here."

"I can imagine they don't like me very much."

It was something that I was used to, given my family name and history. The sins of the father didn't stop when you went down a generation and even the fact that my apparent accent was of Russian decent had caused me trouble from time to time, which might be why I denied it so strongly. I had no say in who I was or where I was raised, yet the world still seemed to want me punished for it.

"I'm the one they don't like."

"How can you be sure?"

"They think I'm doing this for attention, just like everything that happened with my sisters friend when I was younger… to them, everything I do it just some publicity stunt in order to get attention from them or to make them look bad."

"They can't hate you for being raped."

"They hated me for trying to tell… I was a preteen boy, after all, I must have wanted it… by trying to tell them what happened all that I was doing was putting our family at risk for bad publicity. Now they think that's what I'm doing now, that I'm doing all of this just to get attention."

"But you aren't."

"You are the only thing stopping me from ending it right now..."

I paused, taken a back by the things he was saying. In a way I understood, but I couldn't quite figure out how serious he was being at the moment.

"You shouldn't say things like that."

"Why not? You do."

Fair point.

"So what's this idea you came up with?" I asked, deciding it would be a good way to change the topic and be a terrible boyfriend by not even bothering to have him elaborate on possible suicidal tendencies.

Fuck, I was an absolute shit human being…

Wyatt smiled, excitement suddenly filling his face as though he had been waiting for me to bring it up. It was the main reason he was here, after all.

"There's a tournament coming up near the end of summer, correct?"

Although he said it in the form of a question, he knew the answer. The small scale junior tournament would be starting about a month before the new school year and I should have been working much harder than I was to practice.

"Yeah, Kenny is working on making us a training regiment. I think we're all currently a bit out of shape."

"I'm going with you."

"Excuse me?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, not completely sure what it was that he was trying to say.

"Let me join your team. I know I'm not very good, but I can get better, I could train under you guys. You don't even need to put me in if you don't want to, you hardly fought any battles last year."

Yeah… thanks for the reminder of how much of a dead weight I was during last years world tournament.

"I can't just make that decision on my own."

I was trying to be polite, I didn't just want to tell him no, but there was absolutely no way this was happening. I wasn't letting him be a part of the dangers we had put ourselves in last year.

I thought back on how close we had come to losing Rei… Bryan had fully intended for him not to make it out alive and by winning that world tournament we were facing threats that we didn't yet understand. Tyson had already found himself in danger this year.

"It's the only way." Wyatt continued. "My parents would allow it, I know they would. It would be great publicity for them and that's all they care about."

He pulled me into a hug as my heart began beating rapidly. How was I supposed to respond to him?

"We need to think this over." I stated, pulling myself out of his grasp and staring awkwardly at my fidgeting thumbs.

Wyatt's face dropped at my less than enthusiastic response, clearly he had been expecting me to be as excited as he was about his current plan.

"Kai-"

"I'm not saying no, okay…?" I lied. "We just… need to take some time to think about what we're doing. I think you should go back to your hotel, your parents are going to start wondering where you are."

He didn't look at me, instead awkwardly getting up and swinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Okay." He said sadly.

I got up silently with him, leading him to the door and seeing him out without a hug goodbye. I knew I had upset him, but he didn't understand…

I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him.