It was early Thursday morning and Seth found himself laying awake staring up at the ceiling. His body still ached but it was in much less pain then it was a few days ago. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was after four. Sighing he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair before getting up and walking down the hall to Randy's room. Reaching up he softly knocked on the door. A few seconds later the door cracked open and Randy's face appeared. "Hey, sorry if I woke you?"

"You didn't actually, I've been up since four." Randy says opening the door. "Are you okay?" He could tell that Seth wasn't. "Do you want to come in and talk?"

Seth nodded and walked into the room. Randy laid back on his bed and he sat on the edge, his knees pulled to his chest.

"So what's going on?" Asked Randy. "Are you nervous about going back to school?"

Seth rested his head on his knees. "I honestly don't want to go back, I don't want to face them. My life at school wasn't any better then it was at home."

"Well maybe now that you're out of that place things will get better." Randy sat up against his headboard.

"Maybe." Seth says looking down. He got curious when he heard Randy's phone beep. "Who are you texting this early?"

Randy smiled and picked up his phone. "Ashley?"

"Ashley, do you still have a crush on her?" Seth asked smiling.

"I didn't think you remembered but I do." Randy says. "We've been chatting back and forth but I haven't asked her out yet." After he texed her back he sat it back down. "So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is there anyone that you've been crushing on?" Randy smiled when he saw Seth's face darken. "There is, who is it?"

Seth shrugged. "It doesn't matter, he'll never in a million years look at me that why."

"Well how do you know that if you don't even try to talk to him?" Randy says. "Is he in one of your classes?"

Seth paused a moment. "Um he's not...actually."

"You're not going to tell me who this guy's are you?"

Seth slowly shook his head. "Sorry, don't hate me."

Randy laughed. "It's okay you don't have to tell me but I was wondering if you'd hang out with me after school. I have practice but it might be better then sitting home alone."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

...

Later that day Randy and Seth were sitting in the school parking lot watching the other students as they walked around and chatted with eachother.

"Are you ready for this?" Randy asked looking over at Seth.

"Not really." Seth reached into the back seat and grabbed his book bag. "Okay let's go." As they walked through the school he could already feel eyes on him. He kept his eyes on the ground and followed closely behind Randy.

"Welcome back princess."

Seth stopped and turned to find the Wyatt brothers standing behind him.

"Don't start Bray." Randy says turning as well.

"Aww come on don't be like that." Bray says starting to circle them. "After everything that happened I just wanted to say how sorry I am for you. I mean no one should ever have to endure all that pain." He suddenly smiled. "I mean all the horrible stuff your own father did to you it's just awful." The bell started ringing and he shook his head. "Well that's the bell, so great that you're back Seth."

Randy watched as they walked off then turned to Seth who was clutching the strap to his book bag. "Seth."

"This is going to be a long day."

The Wyatt family continued to harass and torment Seth. When the final bell started ringing he was emotionally drained. He waited until the class emptied before gathering his thing and leaving the classroom. He stood in the hallway a few seconds before walking off. He went to Roman's office and knocked on the door. Roman said to come in so he did.

Roman was packing his things to leave but stopped when he saw Seth. "Hey Seth."

"Hi um I know you have an important meeting to go too and-"

"No it's okay." Roman says sitting his bag down. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you had a second to talk." Seth says.

"Anytime." Roman says leaning on his desk. "So how was your first day back?"

"It was a little rough." Seth says. "But I kinda expected it to be, glad the day is over."

"I'm sorry." Replied Roman. "Other then how are you feeling."

"Okay." Seth looked down. "I'm actually going to hang out with Randy while he's at football practice."

"That's great." Roman says. "I think that will be good for you, being around others."

Seth smiled. "Me too." He shifted on his feet before stepping closer to Roman and wrapping his arms around him. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me."

Roman's hands stayed by his side briefly before circling them around the teen.

...

Before heading to practice Randy went looking for Seth. After coming up short he headed to Roman's office to see if he would be there. When he got there he saw Roman and Seth hugging eachother, his eyes grew slightly wide. A few seconds had now passed and they were still embraced so he back away from the door. Feeling his phone vibrating he pulled it out. It was a text from John saying if he was late he would have to stay late and do laps. He looked back at the door briefly before heading to the locker room to change. Once he was done he headed out to the field just as his teammates were kneeling on the field. he slipped in between Phil and John.

"Dude where were you?" Phil asked.

"Nowhere." Randy looked around and saw Seth heading towards the bleachers. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had just seen though. As practice went on he soon came to the conclusion that it was nothing. After practice he jogged off the field and over to Seth. "Hey glad that you could make it. Where'd you go after last period?"

"Oh um just to talk to Mr. Regins." Seth says looking away. "You looked good out there."

"You should try out." John says joining them. "We do need a few more WR out there."

"I don't think that's a good idea but thanks anyway." Seth grabbed his book bag.

"Hey, few of the guys are coming too my house tonight." Dolph says. "And as in a few I mean...John and Phil. We're just going to sit around and play some Halo, nothing to serious."

Seth looked "I don't know."

"Come on Seth." Randy says. "I'll be there too so you won't be alone."

"Alright I guess that would be okay." Seth says.

"Come on Seth we better go." Randy says. "I guess we'll see you later."

The ride home was somewhat quiet. The music played low and Randy tried to distract himself from what he had seen earlier. His fingers tapped the steering wheel and had been doing that since they left the school.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." Replied Randy. "Why do you adk?"

Seth shrugged. "You just seem like something's on your mind."

"It's nothing." Randy says chewing on his bottom lip.

"It's obvious that it is, what is it?"

Randy pulled into his driveway and turned off the car. "I was looking for you after last period ended and I found you in Mr. Regins office. You two were hugging and I know it was probably nothing but-"

"I was just thanking him for all he's done for me." Seth says looking down at his hands. "I feel like he's the only person I trust besides you and it's nice to have someone else to talk too, someone else I can call a friend. That's all it is I promise."

Randy sighed and looked away. "Seth you know that you can talk to me about anything right? It'll always stay between you and me."

"I know." Seth says but he wasn't sure about telling Randy that he was having feelings for his counselor. "Hey is that offer to hang out at our friends house still good."

"Of course it is." Randy says. "But I have too warn you that Dolph can be a little hyperactive sometimes."

Seth laughed. "That's okay." Randy got out and headed for the door but he stayed in his seat. He didn't know if it was a good idea to tell Randy that he was developing feelings for Roman and it scared him. Grabbing his book bag he got out and headed inside.