Apparently outside didn't mean just outside of Sky's room, it meant out of the whole building. Cody followed Sky's Dad silently, hiding his fear and his anxiety behind the calm mask he was so used to wearing, but inside he felt like he was walking towards his execution.

Hell - Dr. O'Brian had caught them in the bed! No father would want to see their daughter being fucked by some dude, so it was no wonder that Sky's Dad was pissed. There was nothing new there. Cody had been yelled at by parents before - it wasn't the first time he was caught red-handed with someone's daughter - but this was the first time he actually cared what followed. In fact, he noticed that he cared a lot.

He loved Sky. And Sky loved her Dad. Cody was smart enough to know it would be a very bad thing for him if Dr. O'Brian hated his guts - which now seemed to be the case.

Defeated, Cody pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they walked out of the front doors, and reached the yard. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was still way over the horizon, the wind was warm, it smelled like the Ocean but none of that lifted Cody's spirits.

It was bad enough that the sex had been interrupted - the sweet release had been robbed of him, which left him restless and agitated. But even worse was the way Dr. O'Brian was looking at him.

Like he was a cockroach he was about to crunch under his heel.

"I'm sorry," Cody said as soon as they stopped outside the front doors. "I know you didn't wish to see that."

"Damn right I didn't," Dr. O'Brian huffed angrily. "I feel like I need to gauge out my eyes! That's my daughter you were—"

Dr. O'Brian stopped talking mid-sentence and his fists clenched tight on his sides. Cody feared he'd start throwing punches - what was he gonna do if that happened? He couldn't fight back - that much he knew. If he ended up punching Sky's Dad - well, Sky would never want to see him again.

"Were you even using protection?" Dr. O'Brian asked, making Cody's cheeks burn.

He swallowed, turned his eyes away. "Yes, of course."

"Well, there's that at least." The older man muttered. "Tell me, how old are you?"

"Almost eighteen."

"So, old enough to know better. Still, not old enough for me to punch you in the face. Because make no mistake - I would if you weren't underage."

Cody didn't answer. There hardly was anything to say to that. He knew Sky's dad was right - he deserved a punch. If not for having sex with Sky, then for sure for getting her in trouble. It was his fault Sky was kicked out of rehab, and that guilt lay heavily on Cody's chest.

Maybe Sky was mad at him too? Maybe she wanted nothing to do with him now that he had brought this disaster on her.

"What on Earth were you thinking?" Dr. O'Brian seethed, pointing an angry finger at Cody's chest. "There is no excuse for your behavior. Sneaking into a rehab facility, taking advantage of a severely disturbed girl who is fighting an addiction—"

His words felt like a blow.

"I wasn't taking advantage of her," Cody groaned. "It's not like that."

"It is exactly like that. Things aren't looking too good for you right now, young man, so quit lying. It was you who gave her the drugs, wasn't it?"

"What? No."

Cody's eyes evaded Dr. O'Brian's death stare, but he hoped he managed to keep a calm face nevertheless. He leaned his back against the wall and let out a slow exhale. It wasn't the first time he was being looked at like this, like he was the most worthless piece of shit on Earth. His foster parents had a special talent for that - for letting him know how much of a disappointment, an embarrassment he was to their family, just by looking at him the certain way. But they had never been able to break him. No one had. Hell, he had been able to stand tall even in front of Carol and JD. Even when JD had picked up the baseball bat, and—

Cody stopped that thought. He couldn't afford to go there now. He needed to stay cool and figure out a way out of this bloody mess.

Anger flashed in Dr. O'Brian's green eyes.

"Bullshit," he stated, his whole posture tense with barely controlled rage. "Do you even understand the severity of your situation? You forged my name on an official form. You sneaked in here pretending to be someone else, with a fake ID. To manipulate my daughter into giving you sexual favors? Or what? To sell her more drugs?"

"No, I—"

"It only takes one phone call from me, and you are arrested. And as you are so close to being 18, you are likely to be tried as an adult. The forged signature is one thing, but selling drugs to minors is something else. That means jail time. So stop lying to me, son. Tell me the truth, or I will call the police."

Something in Cody's chest broke. A shaky breath left his lips as the depressing truth sank in. Dr. O'Brian was right. He couldn't lie his way out of this mess - no amount of acting would save his ass this time. If Dr. O'Brian called the cops, they would find the black gym bag full of drugs in his room, they would find his second phone and search it, they would find the gun on the upper shelf of his closet, they would find the money he kept hidden under a false bottom of a drawer. And he would go to jail - a real one, no juvie for him. He would lose everything - not just Sky, but everything else too: David and Leigh, Tom and the drama club, his dreams of becoming an actor, of getting out of here, of having a life—

"Oh, God," he groaned and brought a hand to his lips. "Please, no police. I— I will tell you what you want to know."

"Good, we are on the same page, then." Dr. O'Brian crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Cody with an icy stare. "Now, tell me, did you give drugs to my daughter?"

To answer truthfully to that question, was the hardest thing Cody had ever done. He barely got the word out of his mouth.

"Yes."

Dr. O'Brian's fists clenched on his sides and for a heartbeat or so, Cody was sure that now he truly would punch him, no matter that he was underaged. He took a sharp inhale and prepared himself for the hit, for the all too familiar pain and shame that always followed a fist on the face.

That punch never came. Instead, Dr. O'Brian took a deep breath, let it out slowly and unclenched his fists, rubbed his hands together as if to repel the ache for the violence he still held in them. The warm sunlight fell on his blond hair, bringing out a slight hint of red in it. There were freckles on the bridge of his nose, on his cheeks. He looked so much like Sky, that it was eerie.

"Why?"

Cody looked up, surprised by that simple question.

"Because she asked me to," he replied hesitantly. "She was heartbroken after what had happened with Hawk and wanted something to get her mind off that. I thought nothing of it. At first— she was just another client."

"At first?"

"Things… changed. Since Halloween."

Dr. O'Brian was silent for a short while, he turned his gaze away. His jawline was hard, sharp, and Cody had no idea what was going through his mind.

"Sky's tests have been clean all this time," Dr. O'Brian said then, turning his eyes back at Cody. "So I take it you haven't been bringing the drugs here."

"I— I stopped selling to her even before she got to rehab. If you don't believe me, ask her. I doubt she has any reason to lie about this, not now that we got caught anyway."

Dr. O'Brian gave Cody a skeptical glance. "Now that makes no sense to me. Why would you stop selling to Sky? Because it's clear to me that She wasn't going to stop using."

Cody let out a strangled sound that was half a laugh, half a sob. He brought his trembling fingers to his lips. When he had promised to tell the truth, he hadn't imagined he would have to tell this.

"You want the truth?"

Dr. O'Brian didn't bother to answer, just glared at Cody in a way that made his gut clench in a tight knot. He felt like he would be sick.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He was damned already, his fate lay in Dr. O'Brian's hands, so what was there to do, but to give away everything? He looked up and met Dr. O'Brian's eyes, tilted up his chin.

"I stopped selling to her because I couldn't live with myself knowing I caused her harm. Dr. O'Brian - I am in love with your daughter."

Dr. O'Brian's large, green eyes widened and he threw his hands in the air.

"What?" He groaned, shaking his head. "You too?"

You too?

First, there had been Matt, then Hawk, now him.

Just another asshole in the line of assholes who had claimed to love Sky but had brought nothing but misery and death into her life. He couldn't blame Dr. O'Brian for thinking so, and yet Cody felt like he had punched him. Suddenly he wanted to cry - the tears had a salty taste in the back of his throat, but he forced them down, swallowed until he couldn't taste them anymore.

"Oh, Lord," Sky's dad sighed leaning his back against the wall next to Cody. He took a long look at Cody's face, and something softened in his eyes, the tightness of his jaw eased as if his anger was slowly melting away in front of Cody's agony. "Please enlighten me, what is it about my infuriating daughter that drives you boys this crazy?"

Cody let out a shaky half-sob, half-laugh.

What could he say to that? That surely Sky was a sorceress who had put a spell on him, because when he woke up in the morning, she was the first thing in his mind, and when he laid his head on the pillow at nightfall, she was the last thing he thought about before falling asleep? That since meeting her, nothing had been the same for him? That the love he had for her had changed his entire world, and even more, it had changed him, so that the core of his being was different than before, his soul had changed its shape so that sometimes he felt as if it no longer fit the space he was used to carrying it?

But how could he say those words to her dad, when he had yet to say them to her? And surely, Sky was the one he should be confessing these things first.

"Is there ever a rational explanation for love?" he asked softly, his voice breaking at the last word. "All I know is that I love her. She is perfect. For me, there is no one else."

Not once in his life had Cody confessed anything to an adult this truthfully, and it filled him with fear unlike he had ever felt before. He hardened himself the best he could, waiting for the reply he knew would be cruel. Dr. O'Brian would laugh at his face, he would tell him he was never going to let a guy like Cody near his daughter. He would punch him in the face, he would yell, he would call the cops on him.

Instead, Sky's Dad let out a long sigh and shook his head silently, as if all anger and scorn had left him.

"Does Sky know?" he asked, after a short silence. "About how you feel?"

"I– I imagine she has guessed. But she doesn't— she doesn't feel the same about me."

"How do you know that?"

I love you too, Eli.

Those words lived in the back of his mind 24/7, and every time they surfaced they caused such pain that he felt like he was shot through the heart. It didn't matter that they had been told a month and a half ago - he still felt the pain as fresh as if it was a wound that was still bleeding.

Had her feelings changed? He hoped they had. Surely Sky cared about him, and yes, there was undeniable passion and sexual tension between them, but… But in his heart, he knew she wasn't in love with him the way he was in love with her.

He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and started kicking the pebbles with his sneakered toes, to avoid looking at Dr. O'Brian in the eye.

"I just know."

The other man muttered something inaudible, then fell silent for a while as if searching for the right words.

When he finally spoke, his voice was stern, but there was no anger in it anymore. "Cody, you must tell her how you feel. You have to be honest about it. It is not fair to Sky, to keep this kind of a secret and continue this… this relationship you have with her."

Cody's throat went tight. He tried to clear it, but still, his voice came out thin when he spoke. "But what… what if she tells me— what if she tells me it's over? What if she never wants to see me again?"

"Then you must accept her decision."

Dr. O'Brian was right of course. If Sky told Cody he had to go, there was nothing to do but accept that - but oh God - even the thought of that was a dagger to his heart, the pain took his breath away. How could he ever live without her? If he lost her, even the brightest day would turn into a starless night. He would never feel joy again, he would never smile. She might as well dig a grave for him with her own hands if she ended things between them.

"This is not right, this situation you are in," Dr. O'Brian continued, almost gently, maybe noticing the extreme emotion that was crushing Cody's chest. "You are lying to my daughter. She has a right to know how you feel, so she can decide what to do with that."

"I… I know that. But… I thought it would be better to wait until she's not in rehab anymore. I didn't want to upset or burden her with that kind of a conversation, and I just… I'm sorry." Suddenly the words were just pouring out of him, confession after a confession. His voice was shaky, but he went on, knowing he had to do this now, or he never would, that he had to place his hopes and his trust on this man, who against all odds, had treated him with kindness when he had absolutely no reason to do so. "I'm sorry about everything. Especially about forging your signature, Dr. O'Brian. I shouldn't have done that, but I— I had to see Sky. I knew it was my fault she was in here, and I couldn't stop thinking about how lonely she must be, how scared. I swear I meant no harm to her, I only wanted to make her feel better. I was trying to keep her happy. And now I have ruined everything - I had no idea they'd kick her out of here because of me—"

"The signature," Nicholas gave a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his blond hair. "Looks almost exactly like mine. How did you do it?"

A sudden wave of shame hit Cody - but there was nothing he could do, except to tell the truth. After all the things he had confessed already - what was one more?

"I… I bought a signed copy of your Cicero biography on eBay and copied it from there."

Dr. O'Brian let out an incredulous laugh. "You purchased a signed copy of my book to get my signature?"

"Yeah," Cody shrugged. "I couldn't just ask one of you, could I? The book was excellent, by the way. Amazing work, Dr. O'Brian."

"You're telling me you read it?"

Cody felt his cheeks burning. "Why not? It seemed interesting, and I like to read."

"Of course you do," Dr. O'Brian let out a resigned sigh and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "A teenage drug dealer and a delinquent with a taste for literature."

Cody couldn't help a small smile at that.

There was something very likable about Sky's Dad - and not just his dry sense of humor. He had walked into Cody having sex with his daughter. He had found out Cody was responsible for selling her drugs, and still, after all that—

Dr. O'Brian had talked to him as if he was a human being. As if even after all he had done, he still was worthy of respect, even compassion.

Cody wasn't used to adults treating him like that - not when it mattered. Sure, the teachers in school loved him, but that was different - they only loved the part he played. The straight A student, the star of the school plays, the polite kid who always opened the doors for them and volunteered to carry their things. It wasn't him they loved, it was just an image, a lie. They knew nothing about who he really was.

No one who knew the real Cody had ever shown him kindness. No one but Sky - and now her Dad.

A sudden, fierce longing hit Cody, taking his breath away. What wouldn't he give to have a father like that? A family like that? Someone who saw good in him, even when he had done nothing to deserve it.

He looked away, to hide that sudden emotion. So stupid. He was almost eighteen - he didn't need parents anymore - it was childish, pathetic, to want for something he would never have.

"You should go home now," Dr. O'Brian's voice drew Cody back to the moment. "Your parents must be wondering where you are. And I should go and get Sky. I'm sure there is still paperwork that needs to be done before we can hit the road."

Cody glanced at the other man, his heart still heavy in his hollow chest. "Can I— can I tell her goodbye before I go?"

"Don't push your luck, kid." Sky's Dad replied rather sharply. "Just because I didn't call the cops on you, doesn't mean you're off the hook. You're still a drug dealer and my daughter is an addict. I will not have you anywhere near her, not as long as you keep selling that stuff. You want a shot with her? Then do it the right way. Quit the drug business, tell her honestly about how you feel - and then, if she wants to - you'll have my permission to see her. But not a moment before that. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Cody swallowed and turned his eyes down, as a sudden wave of hopelessness hit him.

It wasn't like he hadn't thought about quitting the drug business. He had. In fact, it had been a growing weight on his chest ever since he had fallen in love with Sky. His former hate and dislike towards all addicts now felt stupid, childish even. He had thought that dealing drugs was a way to easy money and that he could get some kind of revenge on his past while at it, but now—

He knew he was selling death to people who didn't deserve it. It was by luck only, that Sky was still alive, that her dad had interfered and sent her to rehab.

But how was he going to just quit?

It wasn't as easily done as Dr. O'Brian seemed to think. He still had a large gym bag full of weed and pills and other stuff in his room, worth thousands of dollars, and if he didn't sell them, there would be Hell to pay. In this line of business, you did as you were told, or you might end up with a bullet in your head - if your boss was feeling generous. Cody knew there were far worse ways to go than that.

He couldn't tell that to Dr. O'Brian, though. He couldn't tell that to anybody, not even to Sky. This fear, this shame, they were his alone. And he alone would have to figure out a way of this mess.

There was no one who could help him.