"It's weird, right?" Alex asks, when Clay sits down next to him, not long before the game is about to begin. "I used to avoid these things, and now here I am…"

"To cheer on your boyfriend?" Clay suggests, recognizing the uncomfortable look on Alex's face all too well. "Did Zach tell you to come?"

"No, he actually told me not to, because he knew I'd hate it. Justin?"

"He basically blackmailed into coming. If I didn't, he would…"

"Yeah, don't even finish that sentence," Alex says, having heard enough details about Clay and Justin's sex life already. "Do you remember that party at Jess'?"

"Yeah, of course," Clay laughs nervously, still remembering how everyone had found out about his crush on Justin that night.

"Did you think we'd be here, just a few months later…"

"Dating Justin and Zach?" Clay asks, and Alex nods, still looking more than just a little uncomfortable. "Hell no. I didn't think Justin even knew who I was, and you…"

"I was dating Jess," Alex says. "I'm pretty sure I still hated Zach back then."

"How the fuck did we end up here?" Clay laughs, but they both know the answer to that.

"As much as I hate to say it, if Bryce and Monty hadn't come for me that day, and Zach hadn't stepped in…"

"And Bryce hadn't kicked Justin out… I doubt I ever would have gone up to Justin if that hadn't happened."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Hannah was planning on setting up a date or something. She would have made sure you guys would have ended up living together anyway," Alex laughs. "You know she wouldn't have given up, right?"

Before Clay can answer, Hannah joins them, the biggest smile on her face, and she gives them both a big hug, before wedging herself in between them.

"Oh my god, you guys, I'm so glad you're both here!" she exclaims, the guys sharing a knowing look which she completely ignores, as she rambles on about how excited she is about the game.

"Is it always this tense?" Alex asks, feeling more uncomfortable with every minute that goes by. He isn't an expert on the game, but he is pretty certain that the guys aren't supposed to fight with their own team mates. Yet even from where they are sitting, he can tell that the coach has been struggling to keep them all apart ever since they have stepped onto the field.

"I have no idea what's going on," Hannah admits, no longer excited, but now also looking uncomfortable, as another scuffle seems to be breaking out on the field. "Jess said…"

"What the…," Clay blurts out, but before he can even say whatever else he had been meaning to say, they see Monty jumping Justin, the rage in him almost animalistic.

The three friends jump up, but by the time they get down to the field, Monty has already been pulled off Justin. Zach and Jessica are kneeling down with Justin, who is still lying down in the grass, but Clay still expects to find him with a bloody nose, or a black eye. He expects him to get up, be angry for a minute or two, and then they will laugh it off.

But when he kneels down with him, he sees that the color is drained from Justin's face, and it takes him a moment to realize why he isn't speaking. But when he looks down, he sees what has happened, what Monty has done to him.

"That son of a…," Clay spits out, ready to jump up and fight Monty himself. But Justin grabs his hand, and he looks up at him, shaking his head.

"Don't."

"He broke your fucking leg!" Clay says, a wave of nausea washing over him, when he sees the angle in which Justin's leg is laying. "He can't get away with this!"

Zach had seen how angry Monty was before the game, he had seen the vengeful look in his eyes. He had chosen to ignore it though. Again he had chosen to keep the peace and not to bring it up, hoping that staying out of it would be better for everyone. Yet Justin had ended up with a broken leg, and he had been so angry with himself for keeping quiet again, that he had spent the rest of the day arguing with everyone and anyone. It hadn't done anyone any good though, because Monty had still gone unpunished. It had been written off as an accident, and that was that.

"It wasn't your fault," Justin says, when Zach apologizes yet again for not warning him about Monty's anger before the game. "You couldn't have stopped him."

"I could have. I knew he was going to do something."

"Did you know he was going to break my fucking leg?"

"No, but…"

"Exactly. Even if you had told me he was up to something, I wouldn't have known he was going to come after me." Justin shrugs, giving Clay a warning glare to keep quiet, because he knows that Clay is blaming anyone and everyone for what has happened. "I tried to help him, you know?"

"You did what?" Clay asks. "Why?"

"I warned him about Bryce, and I told him to get out."

"So he broke your leg? What the fuck did you say to him?"

"That Bryce doesn't care about him," Justin says. "I was trying to help, but maybe Jess was right, maybe we should just let it go. I thought I could make him see sense, but…"

"He isn't you, Justin," Clay says, frustrated that his boyfriend has gotten into trouble again. "What happened with you and Bryce… he isn't like you. Why can't you see that?"

"I know that, okay? But it could have been me."

"You have got to stay away from him. One more fight…"

"I didn't fight him, Clay. He fucking jumped me!" Justin spits out, and Zach almost gets up and leaves, because he feels like he shouldn't be here when the two of them are fighting. But when Clay sighs, before grabbing his boyfriend's hand, Zach realizes that this is nothing more than frustration.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"I know you were only trying to help. But you have got to stay away from him."

"Clay is right," Zach agrees. "Monty doesn't want to hear it. So fuck it. If he wants to go on like this…"

"He'll figure it out eventually." Clay shrugs. "But he is not our responsibility."

"How is Justin?" Alex asks, when Zach crashes down onto his bed, after having visited Clay and Justin. "How is his leg?"

"It's pretty bad, but they're hoping he won't need surgery," Zach says, before letting out a tired and frustrated sigh. "I should have stopped him."

"We've been over this, Zach. It wasn't your fault. If you're just going to lie around, feeling sorry for yourself again, I'd prefer it if you go home."

"Thanks."

"I mean it. I appreciate that you feel bad for Justin, but if you had tried to stop Monty, he probably would have broken your leg instead. He was out for blood, and you know it."

"I guess…"

Zach looks up, and he can't help but smile when he sees Alex staring down at him with a knowing, slightly irritated look on his face.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah," Zach chuckles, and he sits up, pulls Alex into his lap, and kisses him. "I've been thinking…"

"I don't want to know."

"Yeah, you do," Zach laughs. "You know this dance that is coming up?"

"I don't dance," Alex groans uncomfortably, already fully aware of where this is going. "I mean it."

"That's fine. We don't have to dance."

"We… I did not agree to go with you. I just said…"

"That you don't dance. So we won't."

"Zach…"

"Yeah?" Zach asks, his arms still wrapped tightly around Alex's waist. "It'll be fun."

"Fun? It's a high school dance. That's not fun."

"Alex." Zach grins. "Come on!"

"Fine, but I am not dancing."

"We'll see."

"Can I ask you something?" Clay asks, when he and Justin are on the couch watching a movie, while Clay's parents are away for the weekend visiting family.

"Why does that sound serious?"

"Because it is."

Justin turns the tv off, before turning to face his boyfriend, his heart beginning to beat faster. Because sure enough, things have been going well between them, apart from the little arguments here and there. But they were to be expected, seeing as they went from not knowing each other to living together. But other than that, Justin has to admit that his life has only gotten better since he has moved in with the Jensens, so he isn't sure if he is ready for a serious conversation, because he doubts it will mean anything good.

"It's about what you told me," Clay says. "About what happened to you when you were a kid."

"Right…"

"Do you think maybe you should talk to someone about it?" Clay suggests, but he can tell by the look on Justin's face that he is already beginning to close off. "We haven't talked about it since you told me, but I know you are having nightmares. I hear you."

"I'm not… it's not like…," Justin tries, but he knows that Clay is right, so there is no point in denying it. "I'm fine, okay?"

"I don't think you are. What that guy did to you… you can't just keep it to yourself and hope that it will go away one day. It won't."

"And how would you know, huh?" Justin spits out, but Clay won't be scared off. "With your perfect fucking family, and your…"

"Perfect? You know that I talk to someone about my shit too, right?" Clay asks. "I am not perfect, Justin. I know that I didn't go through what you went through, but my life has been far from perfect."

"I know," Justin mumbles, remembering Clay's ex-girlfriend, who had ended up in hospital after a suspected suicide attempt, and who moved away not long after. "I'm sorry."

"But I talk to people, and it helps."

"I talked to you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. But I don't know how to help you," Clay admits. "I've been here before. I've watched someone I love, refusing to get help."

"Skye?"

"She almost died," Clay says, struggling to hold back his tears, because he can tell that so much of Justin's outgoing personality is a front, only there to hide the pain that he is carrying with him still. "And I am not willing to lose you, Justin. So please talk to someone."

"Will you go with me?"

"Of course." Clay nods, and he grabs Justin's hand. "I'll be there, okay? But please just… just talk to me. I am not Bryce. You don't have to pretend with me."

"I know," Justin says, staring down at their hands.

"It got worse, didn't it? After he got arrested?" Clay asks, and Justin nods, still avoiding facing his boyfriend. "Bryce being a rapist…"

"I should have known!" Justin spits out. "He hurt those girls, Clay. Just like that guy…"

"Did you know?"

"No, of course I didn't know!"

"Then it's not your fault. None of us knew," Clay says, but he can see the pain in Justin's eyes. "You are not to blame for what Bryce did, Justin. Or for what that guy did to you."

Justin can hear Clay's words, he can even hear that what he is saying makes sense, yet everything inside of him is telling him that Clay is wrong. That he is to blame for this, that somehow he should have been able to recognize the signs, that he should have been able to stop Bryce. That he should have been able to stop his mother's boyfriend.

"It's not your fault, do you hear me?" Clay repeats, but all Justin can do is nod. "Talk to me."

"I can't."

"I love you, and I want to help, okay?"

Justin looks up, the smallest, shyest smile on his face, and it makes Clay let out a nervous chuckle.

"What?"

"I love you, too."

"You don't have to say that," Clay quickly says. "I know you're not…"

"I do, Clay. I love you."