=Normal POV=
[Friday, 4/13/2018; 2:00 pm]
[Archian City; Gabriel's Apartment]
After a relaxing, nice lunch together; Gabriel and Hayden headed into the city, which was about 45-50 minutes from Berk. Hayden ended up falling asleep in the car while texting Trayden, who had asked if Hayden was having a good time with his uncle. Reaching the apartment of his Godfather; Hayden felt an overwhelming sense of sadness as he woke up and realized he was only 10 minutes away from his parents' home.
"It's alright, laddie," Gabriel assured.
"Just…Hard. I-I haven't been this close since…" Hayden trailed off.
"Almost a year now; I know," Gabriel nodded. Hayden sighed and closed his eyes. "Come on, let's get inside," he suggested. Hayden unbuckled; then he and Gabriel exited the vehicle and headed for the 3-story, multi-family home. Gabriel lived on the 3rd floor, but Hayden didn't mind walking the stairs. Gabriel unlocked the door, and the two of them walked in. Gabriel's place was small, but perfect for one, single male; it was more like a studio.
"Feels like forever since I've been here…" Hayden looked around.
"Been a while, yes," Gabriel replied. "Go on, relax a little. Your aunt and uncle know you're with me, and if you wanna spend the night; you can. I think I still have some of your clothes here. It doesn't look like you've changed much," he chuckled a little.
"Not really," Hayden shrugged. Sprouted a little between 16 and 17, but been about the same this past year," Hayden shrugged.
"So, you've decided indefinitely that you want to stay with me?" Gabriel inquired. Hayden nodded to him. "Well, then I guess we better figure out the living situation," he smiled. "Can't very well stay here; too small for you, me, and the animals," he added.
"So what do we do? Find another place?" Hayden questioned.
"Yes, and in Berk too. I don't want to take you out of the school when you're almost through with Junior Year, and then going on to Senior. Plus; it's close to family and your friends," Gabriel informed. "I was thinking about buying a house," he smiled.
"That's…Up to you, Uncle Gabe…" Hayden responded. "I can get a job to help you pay for things,"
"Never you mind, laddie. You focus on you, don't worry about old Gabriel. I said I'd look after you, not you help me," Gabriel laughed a little. "Besides, you inherited your parents' money, cars, and everything in the house. Hell, I think you even got the house,"
Hayden's eyes widened a little. "I-I did?"
"You didn't know?" Gabriel stared. "You can't claim the house until you're 21, but everything else was legally yours at 18, kiddo. And I believe that if you don't want to keep the house for whatever reason; you do have the rights to sell it and collect the money from the sale," he informed gently. "I'm surprised you didn't know about that,"
"Why would I? I was rushed out so fast when the police came that I barely had time to think about anything else…How did you know?" Hayden asked now.
"I'm your Godfather, legally, as I told you before. It means that in the event of your parents' untimely death while you were under 18, it is my responsibility to care for you. When I learned of everything; I called the lawyer to get things taken care of. Your parents left you everything, and were able to claim it after any time March 1st, 2018 and beyond," Gabriel explained. "It is likely that Child Services and the Jorgensons wouldn't have been made aware since everything was all jumbled with your dad and uncle Silas's choices to remove one another from their lives. I still don't agree with it, but it wasn't my decision," he shrugged.
"I don't think Child Services' top priority is reading through a will and stuff; it just removes the child and finds them a family to stay with," Hayden muttered.
"Right you are. The police focused on the case, which is still open. Then there is your aunt and uncle, who haven't seen your parents since you were. Been about 9 or so years," Gabriel said. "Your father and uncle stopped talking altogether, so I was the only one who got entrusted with the information and how to obtain such if anything happened," Hayden nodded to him, understanding. "Are there things still at the house you want to get?"
Hayden nodded again. "Plenty…But I…Don't know if I'm ready to go there after everything," he looked down. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready to do that. And them leaving me the house…For what? I don't think I could live there again,"
"You will, one day. Once you start healing, and time passes; you'll be able to. Don't worry about it too much right now. And don't work yourself up about having to live there just because they left it to you. There is time to decide that course of action. You can't even claim it as a residence until you're 21 years of age. I only brought this up in case you wanted to go back and collect things that you couldn't take before. Living with me, you can have a lot more," Gabriel smiles lightly, putting a hand on his back and rubbing it a bit. "And hey…We can do it together,"
"Okay…" Hayden nodded as he checked his phone, seeing a message from Trayden.
Tray's Cell, 2:07 pm
Study Hall is so dull when there's no work to do from other classes. What are you up to?
Gabriel saw Hayden start typing back and send the message off.
2:08 pm
With my uncle in the city. Does everyone want to know why I bailed so fast at lunch?
"So, who is Tray?" Gabriel decided to ask.
"J-Just a friend from school," Hayden replied. "Syrus and Alicia introduced me to their friends when I started there, and I'm still not close to any of them…But Trayden sort of takes more of an active role to get me engaged in stuff with them. He, uh, reunited me with Cloudjumper, Skullcrusher, and Toothless, woke me up from a nightmare, held me when I broke down…Helped with something at school. He's just a terrific friend who has been trying to get me to open up, promise that I can trust him and the others because they won't hurt me,"
"Well, that's not a bad thing. And nice of him to bring your pets back to you," Gabriel mentioned as Hayden rechecked his phone when it vibrated.
Tray's Cell, 2:10 pm
I told them u went with your Godfather who u haven't seen in bout a year. Nobody said anything after that. No hw 4 History, just so u kno.
Hayden smiled a little.
2:11 pm
Figured as much. Thanks for tellin them, was emotional to get surprised like that…
Tray's Cell, 2:12 pm
No worries. They didn't take it personally after I said he was your Godfather & parents' best friend. It's all good, Hayden. You havin a good time?
2:13 pm
We just talkin rn, catchin up a bit & reminiscing.
Tray's Cell, 2:14 pm
Im glad. U gonna join us 4 sleepova this week?
Hayden thought about it for a few moments. "Think about something, lad?" Gabriel wondered.
"The friends do these sleepovers on their breaks from school, and they asked if I'd join them for one or two," Hayden replied.
"That sounds like fun," Gabriel chuckled.
"Eh…Don't know if it's a good idea for me to join with all my issues," Hayden sighed.
"You worried about going into attacks and stuff with them?" Gabriel inquired as Hayden nodded.
"They've…Seen it before. I…Feel asleep during Trayden's 18th birthday party, and I guess I had a nightmare there…Syrus told me about it," Hayden shrugged.
"How did it go?" Gabriel wondered.
Hayden sighed. "Brokedown against Tray. Don't know why; just happened. I ended crying myself to sleep again, was out the rest of the night until late the next morning,"
"Well, it's going to happen until you work through everything, kiddo. Won't be instant, but eventually; things will feel semi-normal again," Gabriel offered. Hayden nodded to him; he trusted Gabriel's word no matter what. Still, Hayden was apprehensive in the others. Maybe Syrus, Alicia, and Trayden for sure wouldn't hurt him, but he didn't know about the rest of the group. Only Trayden among all of them knew about Hayden being gay, and Hayden wasn't sure he'd share with the others either.
Hayden finally snapped himself out of his thoughts and looked at his phone again. Tapping the text box, he went to reply but hesitated on what to say. "Say yes, and if you start feeling overwhelmed; you call me, and I'll come to get you, but at least give it a try," Gabriel smiled.
"You live an hour away…I'm not going to do that to you," Hayden sighed. "I'll go for one night and see how it goes…" he gave in, starting to type back.
2:20 pm
I'll come to one that is either at your house or Sy and Alicia's…Not comfortable with anyone else's yet.
Hayden thumbed over send, then finally pressed it. Seconds later; there was a reply.
Tray's Cell, 2:21 pm
Great! I'll let u know when we hash out the deets of who is hosting when :)
2:22 pm
Awesome. Let me kno. Ttyl!
After that, Hayden slipped his phone away. "So, shall we plan this move?" Gabriel asked.
"That's…Your call," Hayden said.
"Hayden, come on. Gimme a little something here," Gabriel chuckled. "I think it's easily established that we should go to Berk, keep you in the same school with people you know and close to other family members,"
"Seems fair," Hayden nodded.
"Do you want to stay close to where you are now? Or do you have a neighborhood you prefer?" Gabriel inquired.
"Either is fine…My favorite place in Berk is probably Raven Point; it's close to everything and out of central town. Only about 10-15 minutes from where I'm at now. I guess I like it because Mom and Dad used to take me camping to The Cove every Summer…" Hayden replied calmly.
"I'll see what's available there for apartments or houses," Gabriel informed, nodding. "You have a favorite style-house?"
Hayden shook his head. "No, anything works. The only thing I would want is a backyard for the dogs," he smiled a bit.
"I agree," Gabriel said. "One level, two? How many bedrooms? Garage? Anything else at all?"
"Come on, Uncle Gabe…You know I'm not a guy who needs a lot of extras," Hayden laughed a little.
"Aye, that I do. You've always been pretty simple in things you want or need," Gabriel agreed. "Now…Obviously; this move won't be instant and since you're still in school…I want you to stay with your aunt and uncle through the rest of Junior Year. I still gotta visit the bank and get the financials situated; then the searching for a place. You know the process already, but I promise that before you start Senior Year; things will be taken care of. Okay?"
"Alright…" Hayden responded. "You know you can do searches for houses and apartments right here from home, don't you?"
"You know I don't have a computer and my phone is just for calls and texting," Gabriel chuckled. Hayden went through his backpack and pulled out his tablet; then flipped the keyboard down, powering it on and letting it connect to the tablet via Bluetooth. "Huh, that's handy,"
"Mom and Dad got it for me when I finished Sophomore Year…" Hayden said softly. "I tried to not leave behind any of my electronics. I know the house is locked up…But that doesn't stop people from looting and stuff…"
"Don't you worry about that, laddie. Director Raseri, your father's former boss in the department set up motions sensors around the property. Anyone tries to break in; cops will be there in seconds. And there's always police patrolling the station," Gabriel assured as Hayden's eyes widened a bit.
"Di-Director Raseri ordered that?" Hayden asked.
"Yes, of course; he didn't want anything happening to the house and figured after you turned 18 and was out of the foster care system, you'd go back to collect what you were unable to before," Gabriel nodded.
"Wow…Small world…" Hayden remarked.
"How so?" Gabriel inquired curiously.
"The, uh," Hayden paused, clearing his throat a bit. "The friend I was talking to…Tray, from earlier…His full name is Trayden Raseri…And Dustin is his father…"
"Wow, small world indeed," Gabriel blinked. "Out of curiosity, lad…"
"Hm?" Hayden looked at his Godfather.
"Do you, uh, have a thing for Trayden?" Gabriel asked.
Hayden stared. "What? No. Why would you think that?"
"You always seem to get a little hesitant and nervous talking about him, and mentioned being closer to him than the other friends. I saw you look down when you mentioned the things he's done for you," Gabriel informed. Hayden tensed a little, but relaxed.
"We're friends, and that's it, Uncle Gabriel…" Hayden replied.
"You know it's okay to-," Gabriel started.
"I know, Uncle Gabe…But I don't like Trayden, at least not like that. He's just an excellent friend to me. I mean…Don't get me wrong; he's good looking and gay like me…But we're only friends, nothing more. Even if I did like him…I'm in no shape to be seeing someone," Hayden looked down a little.
"And that will change with time too, Hayden. You can't keep letting yourself believe that what happened to you will prevent you from being happy or moving forward. What took place is hurtful, but wounds heal, son. You might never truly forget, but like I live by; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The more you accept and move past what happened; the easier things will get. Just don't deny yourself, okay? That's all I'm saying," Gabriel reminded.
"I won't…But still, having feelings for someone or dating is the farthest thing from my mind right now…I'm…Trying to focus of me," Hayden admitted.
"That's a good outlook to have," Gabriel kissed his forehead. "But don't ever forget that sometimes; you can't help how you feel. That's how it was for your parents; couldn't keep them away from one another, and they couldn't fight their feelings no matter how hard they tried. Turned out for the better," he chuckled. "Now…How do you work this thing?"
Hayden smiled some, nodding and setting up his tablet; then showing Gabriel how to use it. Fifteen minutes later, Gabriel began to understand. "And that's it," Hayden said to him.
"Never knew such a small thing could do so much," Gabriel mentioned.
"Technology has come a long way," Hayden laughed a bit. He liked this; he already felt a little like his old self. Not entirely, but having Gabriel back in his life gave him back a bit of security like when Trayden reunited him with Skullcrusher, Cloudjumper, and Toothless. It didn't make things perfect, but there was a little comfort and more belief that eventually, things would be alright and Hayden didn't have to be so scared and nervous anymore. There was still a long way to go, but this was a good start, and things might improve over time.
"So I can use this to search for houses and apartments?" Gabriel asked.
"That's right. Here," Hayden typed in a website. "This is the most recommended site to use. Just put in all your criteria, like price, how many bedrooms, stuff like that and then start scrolling and searching. There's usually pictures, square footage, and all sorts of details. Oh, and numbers you can call to set up showings and what not,"
"Well, I'll start peering around and seeing what we have to work with," Gabriel chuckled. "Want to help?"
"I think I might take a nap," Hayden admitted with a yawn.
"Go on, kiddo. Use my room," Gabriel smiled softly.
"Thanks, Uncle Gabe," Hayden said as he got up and left the room; using the restroom first, then lying down in Gabriel's bed. Hayden knocked out a few minutes later as Gabriel remained on the couch and using Hayden's tablet to see what was available in Berk for housing or apartments, next to him was a notepad and pen to write down possible choices, phone numbers, and showings.
. . .
[2:30 pm]
[Berk High School]
The final bell of the day rang as the students broke from their classes and hurried to get to their cars or busses.
"Sy," Trayden pulled him aside as Alicia ended up following.
"What's up?" Syrus inquired.
"Don't tell the others because I don't want them getting their panties in a wad, but I heard from Hayden in Study Hall," Trayden informed. Syrus and Alicia's eyes widened.
"You did? How?" Alicia asked.
"I have his number," Trayden mentioned.
"How…He doesn't give that to anyone," Syrus blinked.
"Back in February, after all that Olivia stuff happened. I gave Hayden my number and told him if he ever needed a friend, I was here for him. But the day he stuck up for me against Fungis; Hayden texted me a few minutes after telling me that after all I've done for him, he couldn't let Milton be that way to me and that he was here for me too," Trayden said, pulling up the message for them to see. "I didn't say anything to the others because I don't want them getting all butt-hurt that Hayden gave me his number, or to find out that we talk pretty often,"
"How often?" Alicia wondered.
"Every day," Trayden scrolled through his and Hayden's messages in text. "All that aside; wanted to let you know that he's good with his Godfather, and…He said he'd take part in one of the sleepovers, but only if it's at my house or yours," he added.
Alicia and Syrus shared a look before glancing at Trayden. "Tray…Do you like him?" Syrus asked.
"Well, yeah; you have to like someone to be their-," Trayden began.
"Not like that, Trayden. You know what we meant. Do you like Hayden as more than a friend?" Alicia inquired.
"I mean; you've been…Very involved since he started living with us," Syrus added. "Even somehow got his dogs and cat back. You let him breakdown against you at the birthday party, you helped him with the Olivia thing…And somehow you know about Gabriel being his Godfather,"
"Hayden and I talk a lot. I don't know why; I guess maybe he feels like he can open up with me," Trayden shrugged.
"Trayden…He won't even open up to us, his family. You're doing more behind the scenes, and I want to know if it's because you like him," Syrus demanded.
"Look, I'm not saying this to be a dick…But you don't do that much for him," Trayden admitted. Of course, not too far away; the friends were listening in and watching the scene before them.
"Excuse me?" Alicia glared a bit.
"It's the truth. You tell him it'll be okay, and you help him out of the panic attacks…But what do you do to show him that everything is alright?" Trayden questioned, leaving the Jorgenson siblings a bit shocked at Trayden's words. "I didn't see either of you two holding Hayden after what happened with the Olivia situation. I didn't see either of you two holding him after he woke up from the nightmare during my birthday party. You two didn't try to get him to come to the celebration, and you don't assure him that we're not going to hurt him; that he can trust us. You go through the motions; I go the extra obstacles to try and help him not just recover from his attacks, but heal too,"
"Tray, do you like him; yes or no?" Syrus asked.
"Fine. Yes, I do. I don't know when or where; it just happened. Hayden and I talk every day in texts, and he's opened up to me about what happened with Olivia. That day in the gym…He wouldn't tell even my father, but when I made everyone step out, and it was just us; he told me. I know a lot about him because I take the time to get him to see he can trust me, and we have real conversations about whatever. And I showed you that proof on my phone. I like him a lot, but even if the time comes when I tell him, and he doesn't feel the same. It doesn't change that I'm his friend and so I'm doing whatever I can to help him get past things and know that we aren't like those people who abused and hurt him. I don't want to see him suffer or be scared the rest of his life," Trayden stated before checking his watch. "I gotta go," he turned and headed off.
The others popped out of hiding, still a bit shocked. "Wait…So Trayden and Hayden talk in text messages?" Rylee asked.
"Guess so," Alicia nodded. "Tray gave Hayden his number once, and after the History thing with Fungis trying to fail Trayden; Hayden texted Trayden, and they've been chatting ever since,"
"You think it's possible that Hayden might like Trayden back?" Ford wondered.
"That…Depends on Hayden's sexual orientation; he would have to be bisexual or gay to feel something in return. At the same time, I don't think Trayden plans on revealing his feelings unless he knows for sure what Hayden is. Either way…Hayden does seem to be a bit more relaxed around Trayden; it's possible that Trayden is doing more than us," Hailey admitted.
"He did get Hayden to come to the party, the reuniting with his pets, the next morning thing…Trayden did know that the guy from earlier was Hayden's Godfather too…" Mindy added. "I think we need to do more to show Hayden we're his friends too,"
"I think you're right," Katie nodded in agreement. "Well, time for vacation," she smiled.
"We'll keep in contact about the sleepover thing," Bryan informed. The friends nodded and split off to get to their buses or cars; heading home for the next week of their Spring Break.
