Author's Note: It took me a while to form this chapter, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. There's very little Jesse/Adam in this chapter :( but I think it's an important chapter nonetheless.

P.S.: I don't believe the name of Jesse and Terry's dad was ever given, so I decided to name him James.

The rest of summer vacation progressed much like the earlier part of it had. Adam stayed home practicing in front of his house and Jesse went out to practice in the neighborhood.

Only, they were both even more miserable.

After getting so much closer during their trip to California, not to mention being able to go to sleep together every night, they both were slammed with the reality of having to go back to how things were before.

Adam's parents didn't notice anything different about him; of course, that was most likely because they didn't pay much attention. Jesse's father, however, knew something was up. He saw how Jesse would still try to maintain the same attitude he always had, but when he thought no one was looking, he would slip back into feeling and looking so depressed it tore at his father's heart.

James wanted to say something to his son, but he wanted to wait until he had a better idea of exactly what was wrong. So, though it pained him to see his son hurting but not do anything, he continued on silently, watching Jesse extra carefully for any clue to what was going on inside of him.

It didn't take long for him to notice a few things.

He noticed that when Tammy would be over at the house, as she often would be, watching TV or simply hanging out with Terry, Jesse would cast them subtle glances, looks that James only caught because he had been watching Jesse so closely. Depending on what type of mood he was in, the look Jesse would give would range from sadness to anger to sometimes even a sad smile. James didn't understand this, but he knew it was probably important.

He also noticed other times that same sad smile would appear on his son's face.

Like the times he dragged Jesse out of the house in an attempt to not only cheer him up, but also to try to get at what was bothering him.

The smile came during the time he decided to take Jesse on a drive around the city, just the two of them. Terry and Tammy were out at a movie and James felt it was the perfect opportunity. Jesse seemed to appreciate the thought and they were both just relaxed in each other's company when they got to one of the nicer looking neighborhoods. Then that sad smile appeared and James had no idea what had brought it on.

The other time he really noticed it was when he had taken Jesse to the mall, thinking buying him some new music or something might cheer him up. The look came and left quickly, but James definitely caught it. It appeared as they were passing a clothing store. James looked over at it and only saw a display of polo shirts on mannequins in the window. He knew Jesse never dressed like that, so he didn't know what was going on.

James Hall was confused.

It came to him at the oddest of times.

He had been lying in bed one night, tossing and turning, when suddenly everything clicked in his mind's eye.

He remembered the times Adam Banks would come over and work on schoolwork with Jesse. He always wore clothes typical of a kid with a good amount of money.

He wore polo shirts a lot.

All the looks Jesse had been giving Terry and Tammy finally made sense. They all came from a common place.

Jealousy.

Jesse was at times happy for his brother and his girlfriend, but he was jealous, too.

If his suspicions were correct, Jesse had a thing for the Banks kid.

He decided to make sure to talk to Jesse in the morning. He wanted to talk to him right then, the high of possibly solving what had been driving him mad giving him newfound energy, but he was able to control himself. He knew that if he were to burst into the boys' room and tell Jesse they had to talk right then, he would probably scare both boys to death.

So, his new theory in place, secure until the morning, James finally settled down for the night, drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

He caught Jesse the next morning. He was almost out the door, on his way to go play hockey, when his father asked if they could talk for a minute. Terry, who had been watching TV, looked wearily between his father and his brother. He watched them enter their dad's bedroom and continued to stare worriedly at the closed door.

As Jesse followed his dad down the hall, he felt terrified, and he didn't know why. He hadn't done anything wrong, but his dad's voice had been so serious he still had a bad feeling.

Once they were inside the room, his dad asked him to sit down. This did nothing to soothe his nerves.

"Son, I know there's been something wrong lately. I've watched you walk around, acting like everything's normal, but I can tell it's not. You seem so depressed. I've been trying to avoid having this talk with you until I had a good idea what was wrong and last night I think it came to me. Now, if I'm wrong, tell me, but please, just let me know what's wrong so I can help."

Jesse immediately felt guilty for making his dad worry. He thought he had hidden his sadness well, but he should have known his dad would see it. His dad could always read him like an open book.

"Do you have a crush on Adam Banks?"

That he hadn't expected.

"I've seen the way you look at things that would probably remind you of him, the way you watch your brother and Tammy when they're together, and I remember how happy you were when Adam was here when you guys had to do your schoolwork. Now, if I'm right, there's nothing wrong with that, but I just want you to tell me."

Jesse was stunned. He had no idea how his dad had connected his recent mood to Adam, but he had. He figured he might as well come clean now. He felt bad for doing this without telling Adam first, but he really didn't have a choice. He'd talk to him about it later.

"Well, Dad, you see, it's not so much that I have a crush anymore...It's that we're dating."

Now that he hadn't expected.

He had been ready for Jesse to confess that yes he had a crush on Adam Banks and he was having some trouble dealing with it...but they were already dating? How had he missed that? And why was Jesse so depressed, then?

He listened as Jesse started from the beginning, from the days when the Ducks were District 5 and Adam was on the Hawks. Apparently a crush had begun then. Then they grew to really like each other and were dating by the day after the Ducks had won the Pee-wee State championships.

James got flashes of when Adam would be at their apartment, studying or hanging out with Jesse. He remembered them both being equally happy to be around each other. It wasn't because they both had crushes like he had thought; they were already dating by then. They were just happy to spend time together.

Then Jesse told him about their time in California; about how much closer they got and how he had helped Adam when he hurt his wrist. He told him how worried they both had been; Adam worried about his father and scouts and Jesse worried about Adam, both about his wrist problems and his obsession with getting his father's approval.

James had to smile when Jesse admitted that holding Adam at night in one of their beds was about the only thing that would calm him down. It was the same way for his wife when she was alive. Whenever she was scared or worried or stressed, he just had to hold her and she was calmed.

Once Jesse finished talking, he let out one long breath. He was obviously relieved, both that it was now out in the open and that he was done. They were both silent before a thought came to James.

"Jesse, how come Adam hasn't come by here since...well, since school let out?"

"His dad's really strict, as I'm sure you've seen. Without schoolwork as an excuse, he's basically stuck at his house."

"And that's why you've been depressed lately. You miss him."

With Jesse's silent nod, it seemed all the pieces had fallen into place for James, but that still left the problem of Jesse's depression. He couldn't bear to think of Jesse carrying on like he had been for the rest of the summer.

He'd start working on that today.

"So are you okay with this? You're not upset?"

His son's rarely timid voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Of course I'm not upset, Son. I love you. I do wish you had told me sooner, but I guess I can forgive you," he finished with a smirk, making Jesse laugh.

"Thanks, Dad. I knew you'd be okay with this...I just didn't know how to tell you. Oh, but Dad?"

The sudden look of panic Jesse had completely caught James off guard.

"Don't mention this to anyone, okay? Especially Adam's family. We're not ready for a lot of people to know yet and he's worried about his parents' reaction. He doesn't think they'll react nearly as well as you did."

James eyed his son hesitantly, but he slowly nodded.

"Okay, Son, I won't say anything, but I don't know how I feel about you hiding who you are. You've always been so proud; it's one of the things I've always admired about you and I'd hate that some boy, no matter how you feel about him, was making you change that."

Jesse rushed to reassure his father.

"It's not that, Dad. Adam's proud of me; he is. It's just that when his father finds out, it'll probably have some serious consequences and we want to be prepared for that."

James relented, giving his son a nod.

"Okay, Son, I believe you. Now get out of here," he finished with a laugh and a playful shove.

"Okay, I'll be back later. Thanks again, Dad."

"Don't thank me, Jesse. This is what I'm supposed to do."

With that, Jesse left to go play hockey and James began to think.

TBC