Kwan's mom has always welcomed me into their home like a second son, and tonight is no different. She comes to the door when Kwan opens it and gestures me inside, folding her robe closed when the night air reaches her.

It's just the three of us and I don't know how to ask why his mom's still awake. We awkwardly make our way into the kitchen amidst broken small talk about this weekend and the game. His mom insists on making me an omelet and I don't fight her that hard. It's just past ten and the last thing I've had to eat was those waffles with Danny…shit.

With everything that happened with dad, I kind of forgot about the argument Danny and I had. Which is probably why I spend the first ten minutes in Kwan's house staring down at my phone. I'm busy wondering if Danny would be angry with me if I were to text him anyway.

"Sweetie, do you want cheese?"

I glance up at the question, seeing Mrs. Young with her hand poised over a bag of shredded cheddar, waiting to drop a handful into a bowl. She raises her eyebrow at the question and the simple gesture seems more mom-like than all the things my mom ever did.

"Y-Yes," I respond and she continues adding ingredients and stirring as she goes. Kwan joins me at the table and exhales softly, glancing my way. We both know that we don't talk about my shit in front of adults so we stay silent. I guess we're both waiting for each other to come up with something to talk about.

I almost want his advice about the whole Danny thing but it's not something I can bring up with his mom here. Even if she knew about my shit, I don't think I could bring up everything about him in front of her. I don't know if I'll be able to talk about him with just Kwan.

"So, your weekend was good?" his mom asks, flicking her gaze between the two of us with a gentle smile. I have no clue if Kwan told her why his was cut short but it's probably not hard to guess that he didn't mention Keith.

I shrug, leaning back in the chair. "Yeah, it was. We were celebrating the first game of the season so my team was obnoxious and crazy like every year." I meet her gaze and force a smile onto my face. If she believes that this weekend was fine, maybe she won't ask about my face. I know as soon as that thought crosses my mind that it's all that's running through hers.

Mrs. Young's gaze rakes over the starting bruises and split lip and I glance away from her. She'll probably ask before the night is up but I can't answer those questions. I can't be under anyone's scrutiny right now. I'll fucking crack and tell them everything.

"How's Keith?" I ask softly and Kwan glances up at the question. I spoke quietly enough and his mom is distracted by cooking, but Kwan still checks over my shoulder before leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh.

Kwan shakes his head, his gaze straying around the dining room. "He was a wreck on the way home," he whispers, shaking his head again before looking my way. "Even now, he's still really… fragile."

I can only imagine what seeing a sibling in the hospital is like but I'm guessing it's pretty traumatic. Or at the very least, it's gotta be frightening. "Yeah… I doubt this weekend was as relaxing for him as it was for the rest of our team."

He nods and it falls silent, a thousand things we could each say hanging like tangible thoughts in the silence between us. I know as soon as we're upstairs, he'll ask and I'll have to tell him about my dad. He'll ask if my face is all and probably won't believe me when I say yes, even though this time, it's the truth. When did my life turn into a goddamn soap opera?

Kwan abruptly pushes away from the table, signaling for me to follow after him. His mom casts a curious look our way but she doesn't stop us, just keeps on cooking. There's a sinking feeling in my gut and I'm pretty sure I know why I'm being led away.

We turn into his parents' bedroom and he directs me to the attached bathroom. "Sit," he says, opening a cabinet and rifling through a plastic container. I take a seat on the edge of the tub and watch my best friend dig through their make-shift first aid kit. His posture is tense in general but I'm starting to think it's not entirely because of me.

He turns to face me before I can ask him anything and he wets a cloth with some alcohol. "Probably gonna hurt," he tells me, placing his hand under my chin. He tilts my head back and gently runs the cloth down the side of my face. Or at least I assume that he's trying to be gentle. It feels more like he's using a cheese grater and I'm sure he knows what I think with the sharp inhales I make.

"Hold still, it needs to be cleaned," Kwan tells me, continuing on his grating crusade. There's nothing I can really do to stop him so I just have to grit my teeth and wait for him to finish. Feels like it takes for-fucking-ever but he finally lets go of my head and steps back.

Kwan tilts his head to one side as he takes a look at the damage. "I doubt you want to put a bandage over that," he says, tossing the cloth in a laundry basket underneath the sink. He closes the cabinet before he crosses his arms and leans his back against it. "You want to tell me what happened?"

It's still so fresh in my mind, I don't really want to talk about it. I shake my head, my gaze dropping to the tile. It's quiet between us and I know he's waiting for me to give in. But I don't want to talk about it yet. I'm afraid if I start talking, my eyes will water and then his mom will want so many answers that I just can't give.

"Not really," I say, glancing up at my best friend with a shrug. "Gimme a while to process it." I'm still picturing dad's angry face and his words and his fists. I don't really want to dissect my feelings on it so I don't. I just stop thinking about it.

He pushes away from the counter with a shrug. "Okay." He turns to leave and he's definitely not just tense cause of me. I know Kwan. He'd never let me off that easily.

"Hey, wait." I stand from the tub and grab his arm before he can exit the bathroom. Kwan lets out an exhale but glances at me with one eyebrow raised. I don't know why he's upset but something's definitely bothering him. "What's up with you, man?"

Kwan holds my gaze for a few seconds before shaking his head with a smile. "Nothing. Come on, mom's probably done with your food."

He turns to go and I let him. But the smile never reached his eyes and I know he was faking it. Normally, that's my job. There's something eating away at my best friend. And I wish I was good enough with words to let him know that he can tell me.


Kwan's mom is one of the best cooks in the world. I've said it before and I stand by it. Holy shit, I barely breathe as I consume the omelet she's prepared for me. It brings a smile to her face when I tell her how much I love it and I'm sure, me practically licking my plate clean acts as another compliment.

When I'm finished eating, she takes the plate from me before I can move. I offer to help clean up but she just waves me upstairs. Kwan's already dressed for bed but I feel like I should take a shower before I crawl in bed.

"Towels are under the sink, I'll get the mattress ready in the meantime," Kwan says, reminding me that he doesn't have to ask to know what I'm thinking. We've known each other so long, we can communicate through glances and purposeful silences now. To anyone else, that's probably fucking creepy.

I drop my bag in Kwan's bedroom and dig through it to find the outfit I washed at Star's house yesterday. While Danny was still sleeping off the hangover and didn't know that I'd seen the bruises. Too bad we couldn't go back to that day, pretend for a little while longer.

"Do you need something to sleep in?" he asks, getting a look at the jeans and t-shirt I've pulled out. He shakes his head before crossing over to his closet, pulling out a pair of pajama pants and a shirt for me, along with a pair of boxers. "Here, this'll be more comfortable."

I mumble my thanks and move into the bathroom, turning the shower water on. I glance in the mirror and honestly, my face has looked worse. I can tell my eyes are gonna be bruised by the morning, my nose is set at a god-awful angle, and my split lip is crusted over with blood. But still. I've seen worse.

The shower water is warm and I don't ever want to leave it. I feel like I should cry or something, expel all these feelings twisted up inside of myself but I don't. Tears don't come and it's not like I'm gonna force them. So I just shower and get out, toweling off before I dress.

I'm almost across the landing when I hear Mrs. Young call out to me. Shit. I turn back to the sound, offering up a small smile as she finishes climbing the stairs. "Yes?" If she thinks I'm okay, maybe she won't ask. As it is, my tone of voice makes her hesitate.

She crosses her arms over her chest and lets out a soft breath, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Honey, if… if there's something going on, you can talk to me. You know that, right?" she asks, glancing toward her son's closed bedroom door. I wonder if she's thinking about all the time lost between them when she didn't know he wasn't interested in girls.

I'm not exactly the most attentive person in the world but even I picked up that Kwan wasn't really paying attention to any of the girls we go to school with. And the more parties we went to, the more often he'd end up alone outside.

I don't even know which one of us finally brought it up but it ended with him hysterically sobbing against my chest and begging me to tell him what was wrong with him. I think we crashed at Blake's that night but I don't know. All I remember is laying side by side in a bed that was definitely not mine while I told him stories to keep his mind distracted.

Mrs. Young flicks her gaze back to me, shrugging a shoulder. "If you change your mind… you know where to find me." Her touch is gentle when she rests her hand on my shoulder, an even gentler smile on her face. "Goodnight, Dash."

"Night," I mumble, waiting until she starts down the stairs before I turn the knob.

Kwan's on his phone when I step into his bedroom. Like he said he would, the air mattress is blown up, with bedding already on it. He glances up and clicks his phone off. I drop my clothes from today on top of my duffel bag and close the door behind me.

"Thanks for the clothes," I mumble, crossing the room to get to the bed. I ease down onto it and drop my phone on the patch of carpet between Kwan's bed and the air mattress.

Kwan scoots down on his bed, mirroring my position with his elbow crooked and his head in the palm of his hand. He nods toward my face and my gaze falls. I know what he's asking and it's not exactly something I'm eager to talk about.

I let out a breath and roll onto my back, my gaze turning to the ceiling. "Y'know how it is. Dad was dad." There's no point in trying to make up an excuse for why dad felt the need to get his anger out on me, it's nothing new.

My best friend meets my gaze when I turn my head toward him and my swallow is loud in the silence. I let out a shaky exhale, looking away from him again. "I don't know man… it was weird this time." I don't really want to explain the whole 'dad was so fucking angry, I thought I was gonna die' part cause Kwan basically already knows that. He got a front row seat to that shit-show two summers ago. Dad swaying and throwing punches is really something.

"What do you mean?" Kwan asks, his phone vibrating softly against his mattress. He flips the ringer off and his attention returns to me. I almost wish I'd stayed with dad tonight. Sure, he woulda worked me over and tomorrow would be way more fucking painful but at least then I wouldn't be having this awkward conversation. Ah, fuck that, Kwan would ask these questions as soon as he got a look at my face.

I run through everything that happened today, from leaving the beach house to the argument with Danny, to this conversation in my head. It's hard to believe all of this shit has happened in one twenty-four-hour period. Kwan clears his throat and I know my time with my thoughts is up.

"He uh… he was just… it was like he was angry for no reason," I finally say, turning back to Kwan with a shrug. "S'weird, he's never been that pissed off without me doing something to piss him off." I let my gaze fall again and Kwan roughly exhales.

Kwan moves from his position stretched out on the bed to sitting up again. "Maybe it's weird for you because you're finally having to see the fact that he's a dick regardless of what you do," he says, glancing my way with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but it's true."

I groan softly and he looks toward me. I wish there was something I could say to get Kwan to realize that dad's not always bad. Yeah, my dad gets drunk and pretty pissed off but I think… underneath all of the bullshit, he still cares about me. Fuck, maybe I just like thinking that cause it'd be too painful to assume anything else.

"I'll be fine, Kwan," I say, rolling my eyes as soon as he scoffs. "Seriously, it barely hurts."

Kwan raises an eyebrow when he looks at me, nodding toward the starting bruises. "Is your face all?" He doesn't look convinced when I nod but he doesn't push it, turning his gaze to his bed.

He finds the remote for the television and clicks it on, letting me know that I don't have to talk about anything unless I want to. And while I'd love to let our heart-to-heart end there, all this shit with Danny is still bugging me. It's not really fair of me to talk to anyone else about whatever the hell's going on with him but… I've gotta get it out of my head. And Kwan's definitely the safest person to talk to.

"Hey man, listen…" I start, my eyes flicking down to the television. There's some news report going on that Kwan dials the volume down on to let me speak. "There's uh… Something else."

"Something else with you?" he asks, leaning back against his headboard.

I shake my head and look toward him. "No, with Danny." I can see the momentary surprise on his face before I start talking. "S-So, we drove down to the beach together, right? And it was fine, we were making jokes and having a good time. But he reached for some CDs or some shit in the backseat. And I-I don't know why but I looked toward him and I could swear I saw something, right? Something purple and ugly and…"

My hands clench into fists as I sit up on the mattress, kicking the covers off. I hate that his body is marked the way it is. And he probably returned home to it, same as me. He'll probably end up black and blue before the day's over.

"It looked so much like a bruise, Kwan," I say, my hands curling tighter. I hate that out of all my classmates, he's the one that shares a similar story. He's the one who understands this pain. I'd rather no one get the way I feel than it be him. "But whatever, we get there. And he gets so fucking drunk he's stumbling and vomiting all over himself."

I look toward Kwan and his eyebrows are drawn down. I exhale heavily, shaking my head. "Anyway, when you and Keith left, I was at my car cause I was getting his bag. When I helped him get changed, I saw these ugly-ass bruises all across his upper body like someone kicked the shit out of him. It looked painful as fuck."

My thoughts return to the look on Danny's face when he told me it didn't hurt anymore. How the more he drank, the less it hurt or some shit. God fucking dammit, he doesn't deserve this shit. And I pushed him further away. "I don't know how to help him but I want to," I say softly, my gaze on my lap. If I hadn't been such an idiot, maybe he would have been honest with me.

"Maybe you should wait for him to bring it up, Dash… think how you'd feel if he just walked up to you and asked about your dad," Kwan says softly. Fuck. I knew I should have talked to him first.

I scoff and glance his way with a shrug. "Too late for that, I already fucked it up." Kwan's eyebrows draw down again and I flick my gaze toward the television. Some building is surrounded by police vehicles and officers are swarming the scene. One of the officers is speaking into his radio and the building he's in front of looks like the museum downtown that mom and I used to go to when I was a kid.

"Hey… that looks like my dad. Turn this up, will you?" I ask, leaning forward to catch what's happening. Kwan turns the volume up and the newscaster's voice suddenly fills the room.

"…earlier tonight. Police are still unable to identify the suspect but similar to the previous times, most of the items taken from the museum were returned within an hour of being missing." On screen the police are talking into the radio and the camera zooms in on the front door as the newscaster continues. "There was no clear sign of break-in and the alarm wasn't tripped until the suspect took hold of one of the high-profile artifacts. It's the only thing still missing from the items taken."

The screen switches back to the newscaster behind her desk and she gives the camera a grim look. "At the current moment, the police are not at liberty to disclose the item stolen or their current suspects."

Kwan glances toward me and presses mute on the remote as the news fades into commercials. "That's weird… stuff like that never happens here." He clicks the television off after a few seconds and looks down at his phone.

I flop back onto the mattress with a groan, finally feeling the exhaustion of the day hit me. Was it really just this morning that Danny and I were leaving Star's house? God, I really fucked that up. I turn to stare up at Kwan and he notices within a few seconds.

"Y'think I royally fucked things up with Danny?" I ask, my voice softer than I thought it was gonna be. I think I'm trying to come off like I don't care but I actually do. I care a lot about Danny and I barely know him. I just know that I'm gonna miss his remarks when I'm working on a car or when he's riding shotgun next to me or introducing me to foods I would never have found without him.

Kwan sighs, dropping his phone next to him on the mattress. "I don't know, Dash. It depends… maybe he's the kind of person that can let something like this go and maybe he's not. Just talk to him tomorrow, maybe he'll come around." He offers me an encouraging smile before scooting to the edge of his bed and crawling off.

I'm alone while he moves to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He's left his door open a crack so I can hear the water running and the sound of him spitting occasionally. I close my eyes to the sound just as someone on the stairs joins the ambience.

The water's cut off and I strain my ears to catch the conversation happening just outside the door. His mom's wishing him a good day at school tomorrow and I'm about to roll over to tune them out but I catch my name. She asks him how I am.

I know the silence is because Kwan's trying to figure out how to say the truth without giving away my secret. His mom isn't an idiot. She probably figured it out the first night I ever crashed with Kwan, eyes swollen from crying and face bruised up.

My gut twists uncomfortably when Kwan speaks because I know it's not what I want him to be saying about me. I don't want to hear him talk about me like I'm not in the next room. And I really don't want to hear the tone of his voice when I'm the topic of conversation.

"He's terrible, mom," Kwan says and I can hear his mom sigh softly before my best friend continues. "But he'll be okay. He always is. Dash is… he's really good at picking himself back up."

Damn fucking right. I've had a lot of practice with it.

I don't care to hear what else they're gonna say about me. I know Kwan won't tell her my shit cause I've asked him not to. It's not really the same thing but I swore to keep his sexuality between us forever. It's only been this year that he's started to come out to people and every time he does, he gains a little more confidence. I wish that could work for me but it doesn't. The more people I tell, the worse I feel. Cause I know I'm dragging them down into my shit. It's not a place I'd wish on anyone.


Something's buzzing over my head. I don't know what the fuck it is but it sounds like my phone. I fling out an arm to shut the stupid thing off but it doesn't stop. I actually wrap my hands around my phone and squeeze the volume buttons but the noise continues. I'm pretty sure a whine leaves me. Goddammit, I just want to sleep.

I hear Kwan's quiet laughter and I blink an eye open. It takes me a minute to figure out where the hell I am. I'm sure the expression is on my face because Kwan doesn't say anything, just lets me figure out why the fuck I'm passed out in his bedroom.

"Oh yeah," I absentmindedly mutter, letting my eyes fall closed again with a sigh. The noise stops and Kwan laughs again, shaking my shoulder. I shove his hand away and roll over. "Fuck off, I'm tired."

Kwan doesn't give in to me, yanking off my covers in a particularly brutal fashion. I turn to glare at him but he only responds by grinning. "Come on, get up. I'm going for my run and unless you want to be subjected to my mom's questions, you're gonna want to come with me."

I let out a long groan, rubbing a fist over my eye. My eyelid throbs almost instantly so I drop my fist. "Man, I'll just leave if she starts asking too much," I mumble, sitting up anyway. I really don't want to go in today. I don't know what the fuck my face looks like but it hurts. And judging from the pain, I'm pretty sure my left eye is swollen. Sure as hell feels like.

Kwan's still smiling when I turn to look at him but his expression changes when I gesture to my face. "Does it look bad?" I ask, already knowing the answer when the skin around his eyes tightens. I exhale, dropping my gaze to the floor. "Never mind."

I don't want to get up and I really don't want to go for a stupid run but I need to get a look at my face. Assess the damage and see if I can even go into school today. I ungracefully crawl from the air mattress and somehow manage to stagger out the door and across the landing without tripping. It takes actual effort for me to stay upright some mornings.

Maybe it's the lighting in the bathroom. Or maybe it's the fact that it's five in the morning or it could be because I'm really, really tired. But my face looks fucking disgusting.

Kwan makes a soft noise in the back of his throat as I examine my face in the mirror. Good god, it looks like someone hit me in the face with a sledge hammer. Which is also what it kinda feels like. My left eye is swollen and Jesus Christ, it's puffy as hell.

"Ugh, I look like roadkill, man," I mumble, more at my reflection than at Kwan. He still makes a face when I meet his gaze in the mirror. I can feel the tension between us as his mind's probably running through the same conversations we've had multiple times. I don't like tension between us so I stick my tongue out and he cracks a smile.

"Come on, I know you haven't been keeping up with your running." Kwan leaves the bathroom, probably too hard for him to keep looking at my face. I still remember when he told me he'd rather be on the receiving end of my dad's hands than see the aftermath on me. Cause it hurts him to see me like this.

I turn away from the mirror and follow after my best friend, taking the track shorts and sleeveless shirt he holds out to me. Kwan's already dressed so I push my pajama pants down, the shirt he loaned me last night quickly following.

"Huh…I thought you were lying," Kwan says softly and I look toward him. He shrugs as he grabs his phone from his bed. "I thought your ribs were bruised again." He sinks down onto his bed as I pull the shirt over my head with a shrug.

I smooth the fabric down and let out a breath, gesturing to my face. "Y'think I can go in like this?" I don't really want to deal with anyone's questions and Coach might have several for me if I show up looking like this.

Kwan stares at my face, taking in the bruises again before he shrugs, standing up from his bed. "That's up to you. Come on." He pats me on the arm as he passes by, heading for the stairs. I grab my shoes before I follow behind him. I can't believe I'm actually going for a run at five in the morning. Goodbye sleep, it was nice knowing you.


Holy shit, I'm out of shape.

Kwan's barely breaking a sweat while I'm having trouble just keeping pace with him. Our feet pound the concrete in quick succession of each other's and I'm sure he can hear my panting breaths in between our footsteps.

We don't talk as we run and maybe it's cause I'm trying to hang onto oxygen. But my mind's keeping pace with my feet and I'm going through yesterday's events. I hate that I'm constantly reminded of the painful expression on Danny's face when I asked him if his parents were abusing him. I wish I could rewind to that moment and change it. Say my words better or not push as hard. Or… something else. Say something or do something else to change the way it played out. So he doesn't keep his distance today and I don't have to live with the knowledge that I fucked up something good before it could be something great.

Kwan's quiet beside me and I don't think it's cause he knows I'm panting. I know my best friend and I can tell when his mind's running a thousand miles a minute. He's wondering and something's bothering him. I don't like him getting lost in his own mind so I slow my pace down to jog.

He glances toward me before slowing down too and within a couple minutes, we're just walking beside each other. I keep my gaze on the pavement moving under us as I speak, more to give him some semblance of privacy than anything else.

"So, I uh… I noticed your dad's not home," I say softly and Kwan stops. There's no falter in his walk or hesitation between steps, he just stops. I look at him and his expression is downcast. He sucks in a breath, flicking his gaze to the sky with a heavy exhale. Shit. I don't know what I just stepped into but from his reaction, it's serious this time. "What is it?"

Kwan's eyes fill with tears and his hands clench into fists at his sides. "He left."

Fuck. I feel like the sidewalk drops out from under me with those two words. Cause as fucked as shit got in my life, one of the most stable things was Mr. and Mrs. Young. I've known Kwan since we were in daycare together and when he found out about my dad, their place was like a second home to me growing up.

"Because of me," Kwan continues, flicking his tear-filled stare toward me. He sniffles and in the early morning, it sounds more fragile. "H-He and mom started arguing when I came home after dropping Keith off at the hospital. M-Mom asked me where I'd been and when I said Keith's name, dad assumed we were seeing each other."

I don't know what to say but I put my hand on his shoulder. He looks like he could use the comfort and no words are coming to me. He squeezes his eyes closed at the touch and draws in a breath that sounds incredibly shaky.

"D-Dad said he didn't want to hear about me and a guy again and mom lost it. She t-told him that the way I felt wasn't that big of a deal and he needed to let it go." He opens his eyes with a small sniffle but a smile is pulling at one corner of his mouth. "Well.. a-actually… what she said was, 'So our son likes dick, is it really that big of a deal?' I couldn't believe it," he laughs softly, but his expression quickly turns sad again.

Kwan meets my gaze, sniffling softly. "He left, Dash… he said that mom was always taking my side and that I didn't need to be babied anymore…" He looks completely heartbroken and I can't even begin to imagine that kind of pain. It's one thing for my dad to beat the shit out of me but it's another thing for them to just leave. To give up on you. It reminds me of when mom left and I don't want my best friend to feel that kind of pain.

I close the distance between us and tug him into my arms. "It's gonna be okay, everything will work out." I'm lying my ass off and he knows it. Nothing's going to be the same for him now and it really fucking sucks that his dad chose now to walk out on him. It's only gonna make Kwan think he's a terrible person for the way that he feels about guys.

"Kwan, there's nothing wrong with you," I say softly and a whimper tumbles from him. It tears at me that he's hurting so badly and I didn't pick up on it yesterday. Maybe it's cause I was still hungover when I saw him or maybe it's just a fucking excuse. "You don't have to hide who you are because some people don't like it."

He lets out a strangled noise like he's trying to hold it in but he can't. He starts breaking apart in my arms, letting out broken whimpers and asking me why it has to be this way and there's nothing I can say. There are no words to speak that'll suddenly make it better. He's hurting and the only thing I can do is hold him. In the middle of the goddamn street, I let my best friend cling to me, knowing that for once, I need to be the strong one. So he has someone he can cling to.


A/N:

Yoooo readers! How's it going? And how has only a week passed between now and my last update? How time flies. And speaking of time flying, it's like 26 days till Christmas! How. I feel like yesterday was Halloween. Then again, I probably feel that way since I've been so wrapped up in the annual tradition of selling my soul to write. Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. WHICH BY THE WAY. I finished a couple days ago. I added 50k more words to this fic. Be proud of me, guys.

So last chapter, in addition to be lengthy af, we got to see some angst between Dash and Danny. I've seen in the comments/reviews that a lot of you feel like Dash should have reacted differently. That maybe he should have let up on Danny instead of pushing him? I mean, you're totally right but too late for that ;P

Poor Danny though. He just wanted a nice trip to the beach with Dash and co. He didn't expect to get bounced like that. Danny's just a precious boy that needs to be protected from me

Since I gave the angst to Dash and Danny last chapter, I felt like it was only fair to give some of it to Kwan as well. (We can pretend that I didn't have Kwan's angst planned from chapter one but we all know that's a lie.)

What'd you guys think of this chapter? I'd love to know your thoughts, you guys will probably never know how much I grin when I read your comments and reviews. You're all lovely and deserve cookies (conveniently I just baked some irl yesterday… I'd send you all some if I could, they're delicious af)

One more thing and I'll let you guys get back to hating me for the angst I'm putting these characters through. I track "jaegersoul" on tumblr if any of you want to leave your thoughts on tumblr or drop something for me to look at – doesn't have to be Stay related, just in general too.

Thanks for reading this chapter, I really appreciate those of you that are sticking around for this story. I hope you all have a wonderful week (possibly two) and I'll see you next chapter!