Jake jerked back, his eyes wide as he looked up at his father. "D – dad, what are you.. I don't understand." He whispered as his eyes searched his father's, trying to find some explanation of why he kissed the boy like he had.

"You're mine, Jake. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me. You love me, right?" The boy nodded without hesitation. "Then you'll do this for your father. This is normal, this is right." To put an end to the confusion on the boy's face, he placed a closed mouth peck to the boy's lips. "I love you too, baby." With that, the man stood from the table and casually tossed that he was going to the supermarket for some groceries over his shoulder.

Jake sat at the table, eyes flickering across the kitchen. Looking down at his hands he noticed that his fists were clenched and his knuckles white. He shook his hands gently and flexed them, slowly gaining feeling in them again. His father said that the kissing had been normal, so that means other people do it, right? Other fathers and sons? He just wanted to show him how much he loved the boy, that's okay.

He had never heard any of the kids at school talking about kissing, not like that at least. He knew that Abby had kissed Jason on the cheek once at school on a dare and that everyone made a huge fuss about it, but maybe this was one of those unspoken things that father and sons were supposed to do together.

'Like playing catch or all those other bonding things Dad makes me do.' Jake thought.

It wasn't as if Jake had anyone to talk to about this, he had no close guy friends at school because they all made fun of his clothes, hair and even the games he liked to play during recess. He highly doubted that any of the girls did that sort of thing, they were still complaining about getting cooties and most of them barely held hands with any of the boys. So, Jake would keep it to himself. If he had no one to share with, he'd just accept it. His father undoubtedly loved him a lot, why should he question how he shows it.

Jake got up from the table, having pushed the awkward kiss to the back of his mind, and went to his room. He pulled out one of the warn books from the bookshelf and read quietly on the bed, until he heard the front door slam shut.

"Jake! Come help me put these away, please." With the call of his name, the boy leaped off the bed and quickly jogged toward the kitchen. He began unpacking the brown bags, dancing around the kitchen with what looked like an almost practised routine. Ducking under his fathers arms and placing the items in the proper cupboards he could reach. He got to the last bag and felt around the bottom, he grasped a small bottle and in the other hand, a small box like item. When he pulled them out he looked at them, studied them. What were the two items in his hands? He'd never seen his father purchase them before. He raised his head towards his father who was still stacking cans in a high cupboard. His eyes followed the man's moves. Pick up, make space, place and repeat. Should he ask what the items in his palms were or should he place them back in the bag where he had found them. Finally after a couple of silent minutes, curiosity got the best of him.

"Hey Dad?" The man turned slightly to glance at the boy, not paying attention as he continued his task.

"Yeah?"

"Um, what are these?" He said carefully, thrusting his arms up and out as far as he could.

"What is wha - " The man turned around and stopped in his tracks. He had really thought that Blaine would just scurry off after the majority of the food was done being put away, as he always had before. He watched as his son held out the box of cheap condoms and lube he had purchased at the grocery store. He blinked slowly, opening and closing his mouth several times trying to find the right words.

"Jake, um, well they're for later on." He settled with the words and rested against the counter.

"What do you mean?" The boy continued to ask, scrunching his nose in confusion.

"They're things that will help me tell you how much I love you." The man slowly said while walking to Jake and taking the items out of his hands. "But you'll have to wait to see what they're for, you'll have to be a good boy." He placed a firm kiss to the top of the boy's head and placed the items in one of the cupboards out of Jake's reach. The boy shrugged and started walking back to his room, sparing only a few glances over his shoulder at the cupboards.

March 15, 2005. Westerville, Ohio.

Inside of 442 Glennwood Crescent, a normal home on a normal suburban street, Sophia Anderson sat in Blaine's room. It had been 5 years since the kidnapping and there were still no leads. The police kept telling the Anderson's that they were searching, always trying to collect more clues on who took the boy, but Sophia knew that was untrue. Her baby boy's case was stone cold and would most likely stay that way. As she stared at the dark navy blue and red on his walls, she thought back to her little boy. How he requested to have the Dalton school colours on his walls because he thought it would make his mommy and daddy happy. How he promised them that he would be the smartest boy in the whole school even though he was in Deligan Day, the kindergarten-elementary school level of the Dalton branch. She smiled through the silent tears running down her face. She looked down and petted at his matching comforter that hid his super hero bed sheets.

Sophia looked up, finding Mark standing in the doorway. His tie loosened, the two top buttons of his blue shirt undone, hair a mess. He slowly walked towards her, sat on the edge of the bed. Mark rested his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his face quickly before straightening and pulling Sophia to him, her head fitting snugly under his chin.

"We're going to get him back, Soph. I promise. We're going to bring him home." He repeated softly against her dark hair. She sobbed openly into his shirt as he tried to hold back his own.