Barriers

Authors Notes: Hello folks. Here were are two weeks later and I barley finishing this chapter. Work is currently 60 hour weeks so I've had about a fourth of the time I would normally spend on writing. Good news is it's slowing down so everything should return back to normal.

I'm still getting emails about the weekend trip so I know now I was paranoid for nothing.

Thanks for reading as always. Enjoy the chapter!

I might do a 8.5 and a 9. Meaning I would release 8.5 next week and 9 the week after. You'll see why.

• Frank

Barriers 8 – A Crash Course in Adulting

"What do you want from Chipotle?" I asked Ken as I laid on my bed.

"I shouldn't be spending..." He was on my computer and his voice was cracking from the second he opened his mouth.

"Shut up. What do you want?" I repeated as I put in my order on my phone.

"Chicken Burrito I guess."

"Ok cool, getting guac on it. Ok orders placed lets go." I got up and grabbed my keys and Ken followed along.

It had been a pretty dull weekend. Jon decided to work a double on Saturday and Sunday as this was his last weekend before the Basketball season started. He wanted to give his mom the weekend off before he would become occupied with sport. It worked out because I worked on my opinion piece all of Saturday. Ken called early Sunday because his mom wanted him out of the house so he just fucked around on my computer while I watched some terrible action movie on Netflix.

After I picked up the food I decided to get a coffee because Jon said he was coming over after he closed up. I offered Ken one but he adamantly declined saying that dinner was more than generous.

"This thing sucks." I whined after hitting the vape on Ken's recommendation. The head rush wasn't nearly anything I was used to and it just made me cough.

"You get used to it." He rummaged through the bag and handed me my burrito. "Do you get everything? This thing is a child.

"It's two meals this way." I shrugged knowing I would never actually eat the other half

"We need to get you to the gym. You have such a sick frame you'd be ripped in like a week."

"I'll pass." I went to my cabinet and pulled out the vodka I bought. There's this shady ass store two towns over that charged me like twenty-five bucks extra for a couple of bottles and that was a deal I gladly took. It was nice to get buzzed after a week of not drinking. "Ima sit outside. You can head down if you want."

"Yeah sure. You have more darts right?" We had come to this mutual agreement that Ken and I would smoke cigarettes when Jon wasn't in the vicinity. I guess he missed it as much as I figured I would.

"Of course." I grabbed a fresh pack out of the carton and we made our way outside. With the early sunsets you get a really nice view of the school around this time. It was nice to be able to enjoy it with someone who wasn't Jenna.

"So you really have a deal worked out with the school to just work on your machine?" I finally had the chance to ask Ken about his project.

"Yeah it's such a sick deal. It happened because we managed to make such a sick run in our league last year. I put in so much work with a stupid laptop my mom bought me for Christmas that I got all this funding and equipment. Coach vouched for me and Johnny did all the talking." He spoke in such earnest about his support group that you couldn't help but me captivated as he moved his hands. `So now I have half a semester to showcase all this cool stuff that I've figured out. Now your setup is even better than the one I have at school so I'm able to run the Playoff footage from last year through the program. I'm not worried about Johnny because he goes wild during playoffs but I worry about Joe as he was our biggest liability. The dude is so good when he's on but ever since I got this gig as the assistant coach of sorts he seems to not listen to me."

"Uh...you do know he doesn't like you right? He said you hang on Jon like you two are together."

"Oh nah, that's just how Joe is." He quickly dismissed.

"Ken I don't think that's the case here." I wasn't going to let him walk away from this one.

"I can't be worried about it man. I know we aren't on best terms but I think he'll come through in playoffs especially if its my future on the line. I'm not you. I don't have parents that will pay for my college degree. I'm in serious trouble if I don't get a scholarship." He looked over the school at the sun and sighed. "I don't have time to mess around with petty drama. Coach will bench him if it's not worth the trouble anyways."

"You're right sorry." Day after day Ken proved to be the kind of guy you could trust your life with. He deserved the world for his efforts and I all I could do was hope it worked out for him.

"Speaking of projects. What about your column for the paper? How's that coming along?" He finished up his burrito and walked to the can to throw out the trash before he lit up.

"It's been written. Now I need to go over it twenty times before I'm in any way happy with it. We're not going to a party tonight since Jon has work at Ten tommorow so I'll probably finish it tonight."

"Damn it's still a head rush that you two are together." Ken said as he took another drag.

"Pretty sure that's the nicotine." I replied as I lit a smoke of my own. We took the next ten minutes to just stare out towards the school. It was nice to be at peace for once in my life. I still had my addcitions but everything seems so much more manageable when you have good people around to enjoy it with. Ken has quickly become one of those people. Our silence was broken by a door slamming. It was way too early for Jon to be out of work, my uncle wasn't due till Tuesday and my parents were due even further back so I had no idea who it was.

"JASON!" An all too familiar voice screeched. "YOU WERE RIGHT MARK IS SUCH A PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT."

Ken and I stumbled back into my house to continue to hear Jenna rant.

"I'm so FUCKING done with him. He just expected me to drop everything so we could hang out with his stupid friends. I don't see him for a week and he thinks he can just cram me in with his stupid meathead friends and everyone will just fucking go along with it." She finished it with a frustrated groan, slamming my cabinet open and taking a swig from the open vodka bottle. "You were right. He's just a selfish piece of shit...wait what's Jon's sidekick nerd boy wonder doing over here?" She pointed to Ken with an annoyed look on her face.

"Ken, do you mind going downstairs? Me and Jenna need to talk." I waved my hand. Towards the basement but didn't take my eyes off her.

"I think I'm gonna leave you two look like you need time alone." Ken said tacitly sensing my rising anger.

"No you're staying here and going over the playoff footage. Your mom wants you out of the house for the day so you're staying here." I wasn't about to kick Ken out just because Jenna finally decided I was good enough to hang out with. I hadn't seen her all week and knew she was pissed off I got Houston in trouble. "This will be quick Ken just head downstairs."

"Yikes mama good luck." I saw Ken's fear in the corner of my eye before I did as I told him.

"So nerdo there is my replacement?" She scoffed after Ken was downstairs.

"You are never to insult him like that ever again." My mom's side in me immediately took over. "Not to mention who the fuck are you to be mad at who I hang out with. You avoided me all fucking week because Houston's mom grounded him."

"I didn't avoid you..." She trailed off looking away.

"Yeah ok. You just happen to not show up to my place for an entire week and come here when Houston pisses you off. I'm sure you weren't avoiding me. Is that all I am to you? A liquor cabinet and a place to get trashed when life doesn't work out for you?"

"You're so damn self-centered." She crossed her arms and chuckled. "I had to pick up two shifts. You're right though I did go to the gym with him every day. I have to admit it's been nice but now he's being an asshole now so whatever." She grabbed the bottle and a glass and jumped into my recliner. "Hows fuckhead?"

"He's been great thanks for asking." I stood there with my crossed arms trying to figure out what to do. "He'll be here later if you want to get dinner."

"Nah, I have work soon. Besides I don't want to be around Nerdzilla down there." She started flipping through her phone non-chalantly before attempting to pour another shot.

"What the fuck did I just say about talking about Ken like that."

"Oh boy, using the first name." She continued her perky annoying ass tone as she continued the snark. "Is he blowing Jon too? Is that why you're both so close now?"

"Out." That comment was the line for me. There are few people in the world I will defend like this and Ken was absolutely on that list. Jenna had quickly fallen off it with how she was talking about the guy. I after hearing how Kelber was talking about Ken was bad enough but to hear it out of someone who I thought was my best friend was the limit.

"What? You can't be serious." She looked very confused not realizing what she did wrong.

"Get the FUCK out before I throw you out." I snarled ready to scream in her face.

"Yeah, I figured Jon Hand would change you." She put the bottle down on the ground and picked up her bag. "Whatever babe. This was getting boring anyways. Have fun with that open relationship I guess." She flipped her hair and walked right past giving me one last smirk for good measure.

"GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU CONCIETED BITCH." I yelled as I heard the front door open and close. I facepalmed as I walked over to the cabinet and mimicked Jenna's last action and took a nice long drink from the bottle. My hands were still shaking and I was still furious. I hate getting mad. It's so hard for me to calm down and I didn't want to go downstairs like this. After another drink and a few minutes I felt good enough to make my way down.

"Well you were certainly right. That ended quickly." Ken spun around as I stumbled downstairs. I may have hit the bottle a bit too hard after. "You good?"

"Don't wanna think." I mumbled as I made it back to my bed.

"Jason..." He started.

"Hm?" I doing everything not to snap at ken as he didn't deserve it.

"Nevermind. Lemme know if you need help getting up." He looked at me and it was clear he knew I was defending him upstairs. After a minute of staring he turned around and went back to work.

I laid there for a couple of minutes mindlessly screwing around on my phone before passing out. I woke up to a door slamming causing a light headache. I knew that had to be Jon so I took a puff from my vape and sat up despite my body not wanting to do so.

"Man, doubles are so rough. How are my two favorite people doing?" Jon came down wearing his black slacks and his varsity jacket covering his dark blue dress shirt that made him look incredible. His hair was drooping from the product sweating off during the day and I couldn't be happier to see him. It had only been two days but it felt like an eternity.

"I'm doing ok. Missed you a bit." I slurred not realizing how drunk I was still.

"You ok?"

"Yeah im fine." I mentally straightened myself out before opening my mouth again but Jon wasn't having it.

"Alright Kenny out with it. What happened?" Jon turned to his best friend who now looked like a rabbit about to be mauled by a Lion.

"Uhh...well you see.." Ken stammered as he fought a losing battle to not tell him about the events that proceeded a few hours before.

Jon took a good hard look at Ken and after a minute or two he found the word he was looking for in Ken's eyes. "Jenna was here wasn't she?"

"Sorry..." Ken mumbled before turning around to save whatever he was working on.

"What did she do? I swear to god." He flipped up his jacket ready to head out.

"Can we not do this today? I missed you too much to have you be angry for an hour over this." I pouted and held my head as the headache was getting worse.

I didn't look up but I heard some shuffling and after about thirty seconds I felt Jon's arm around my shoulder and heard Ken's footsteps as he ascended my staircase. After we heard the second door close I felt his lips on my forehead and instantly felt much better. I grabbed his waist and held him tight.

"Can you please tell me what's wrong? You're only like this when you're triggered into drinking too much." He pat my head softly as he tried to look into my eyes but I continued to keep my head down not wanting to say anything. He was right. The only time I had ever been this shut off was on the first day of school when everything went to shit. "Come on please." He begged once more time, this time forcing my chin up to look at his pleading eyes to open up to him about what was bothering me.

"She talked shit about Ken and pissed me off. I hate being that angry. It makes me shake and I can't control myself. I need to be in control." I pulled away from his hand and dug into his chest again. Other than liquor, Jon's scent was the only thing that calmed me down. I took a whiff between his pecs and got that wonderful combination of body spray and sweat that he seemed to produce at work. My head felt better as he continued to brush my hair.

"Do you want me to tell you what I think or do you just want to lay down and watch something?"

All I could do was pout and dig into his chest more. I just wanted to drink my problems away some more but I knew he wouldn't let me touch the stuff.

"You're right. I'm not letting you. I'm never having you like that ever again."

"I just want to feel normal." I finally spit out.

"What is normal?"

"You know, like you. Confident, brave, proud. Kinda like a Lion." I said chuckling into his chest a bit.

"I'm brave for the people around me. They expect me to be strong and I don't want to let them down. You're so much different. You get to surprise and show people who you really are."

"My big stupid lion." I traced his shoulder down to his ass pulled him in and turned around.

"That's me. "He growled as he took off my shirt and went right for my shoulder like he always does. I tensed up as he touched me and he must have noticed. "Don't worry, I'm here now to protect you."

We didn't do much past this for the rest of the night and while it was nice, I couldn't help but wonder when Jon would ask for more. For a guy who had sex pretty much every other day before we started dating, he didn't seem to miss it. I would need to talk about it sometime this week.

I was the first one to wake up to the rain on Monday morning. At some point in the night we turned over and ended up on separate sides of the bed so getting out without waking him was easy or so I thought. I stripped off my remaining clothes and hopped in the shower. As I checked myself for any bite marks, I heard the door open and knew I had once again failed in sneaking away from Jon.

"Good Morning Sexy." I shivered from feeling his morning wood graze my hole and he brought me in for a kiss. "You feeling better?"

"Now that you're here with me yeah." I moaned as he rubbed it harder against me. "God, you feel so fucking good."

"You want it huh?" He whispered in my ear as he ground his dick into my hole. "You want my big dick in your perfect hole. You want to feel every inch inside of you."

I spattered out a couple of gasps and moans before he pulled me back and shoved his tongue down my throat. God could Jon Han kiss. He had this incredible calculated aggression to him. The way he rubbed my nipples as he pressed down hard sucking up every sound I could muster. Before I knew it he was gently jerking my how rock hard dick as he thrusted into me. He finally released my mouth and for the next minute all I could do was cry and he inched me closer to my climax. With a few heavy tugs he get me over the finish line as I gave out one last cry as my knees buckled and my seed splattered all over his hand and the floor.

Jon held me up as I recovered. I couldn't help but notice his dumb satisfied grin. I would make sure to make him pay for it later.

"You want me to fuck you. I know you do."

"I'm almost ready. I swear." I looked away from him. I wasn't sure what was holding me back from giving him all of me. I still needed to figure it out. I was more or less hoping it would fall in my lap because despite all the soul searching I had done up to this point, I was still drawing a blank.

"Just let me know. I'll make your first time perfect." He grabbed the body wash started a lather to start the cleaning process. A few minutes later we both stepped out of the shower and dried off.

"You want breakfast?" Jon asked as he always does when he thinks we have time to get it. Thankfully the deli was only two blocks away.

"Yeah sure." I answered surprising him. Between skipping dinner and our sexcapades this morning I needed something to get me through the morning.

We got dressed and to the deli without incident. We would fight over who was paying but I managed to get my card into the reader before him. It was raining so we couldn't chill on his car like we normally did so we parked in the lot and ate in his car.

"So your first games Friday? How you feeling?"

"I'm not concerned." I had picked up on a twinge in his voice whenever he wasn't confident. I had first noticed it with Suzy. Crazy to think that was over three weeks ago at this point.

"You're not fooling me."

"Oh so you can read my mind now?" He huffed knowing I was right.

"It's natural to be nervous. There's a lot on the line this season for you."

"You don't get it babe. This is it. This is everything me and Kenny have worked towards."

"Save the speech, Ken gave it to me yesterday." The momentary guilt of my consequence free lifestyle hit but I brushed it off to attempt to prop off my stupid lion. "It's only the first game. It's not like the recruiters are going to be there already."

"You never know."

"It's nice that you're letting your guard down with me finally." I decided to give Jon the out to a conversation that he clearly wasn't interested in having.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't like being wrong Jon. This is the first time I've seen you doubt yourself." I crumbled up the foil my sandwich was in and threw it in the bag. "I knew the prideful idiot routine was a front and I was wondering when you would drop it."

"I could do without the psychoanalyzing right now."

"You never talk this little, you always have something to say. I want to be there for you but you have to listen to me." I replied probably a bit too forcefully.

"Alright you can get out of the car now." He turned to me and I saw quite a bit of anger in his eyes. "I'm not dealing with you right now."

"Jon..."I didn't understand what had gotten into him.

"Nah. You think you get to put labels on everything and have everyone figured out all the time. What gives you a right to tell me that I have to listen to you when you won't even listen to me?" Jon's voice was getting louder as he spoke. "Get out of my fucking car before I say something I regret."

"Alright as you wish." I put up my hoodie and threw my backpack across my shoulder before flipping him off. "I just wanted to help you dumbass."

I stomped through the halls furious. That dumbass has the nerve to tell me I'm being a judgmental piece of shit when I'm just trying to help. I hate when people are so insecure they start projecting. Like how the fuck am I supposed to help him when he won't listen to me? I found a hallway in the corner of the school and hit my vape as I leaned against the window. The head rush immediately calmed me down and I was infinitely grateful for it. After I managed to be presentable, I told Mr. Kelber that I had to take care of newspaper club shit and he waved me off telling me not to worry.

I walked into my first period room to see my favorite teacher was in fact already here. I knocked lightly to get her attention and as soon as she realized it was me she motioned her hand telling me to come in.

"Here you go." I said handing her my Opinion prompt not being able to make eye contact with her. After about a minute of reading she finally spoke.

"You're right. This is much better than the one from Friday. I'll be happy to publish this."

"Whatever." I spit out trying to front.

"Yes Jason. You don't actually care. Whatever you want." She rolled her eyes as she went back to whatever she was doing.

"It's just ya know, I need to do something with my time and if you'll have me then that's cool." I lied.

"Well as I said on Friday. If I turned you away after you produced good work then I have failed as a teacher. You can come in whenever in the morning if you need help. It's actually perfect since you're in my morning class."

"Ok thank you." I mumbled as I made my way to my seat. The next hour and a half was the most uncomfortable I had been in Ms. Cantera's class in a long time. The thoughts were racing again and all of them sucked. I expected Jon to be back to normal by the time first period ended but he was nowhere to be seen. I even sent him a "?" text and he didn't respond to that. The first person to talk to me after would end up being Eric Smith. I had to stay on my toes though because I knew if Kelber wasn't friendly to Ken then Eric wasn't too far behind.

"Trouble in paradise?" Smith punched me on the shoulder as I took my seat getting my attention.

"He'll be over it." I said hoping it would be true.

"Sounds like you need some time apart. You know we never got to hang out at the party." He cocked his eyebrow trying to gauge how friendly we actually were with eachother.

"I mean, I don't have anything to do today." I carefully answered back.

"Sweet. How about you me and Joe get dinner at your place? Ken said it's insane and I wanna see it."

"What about Ken?" I asked innocently.

"He'll be busy with his project. It'll be great. You were hella cool at the party last week. I know we'll get along." As I predicted he moved right past Ken.

I decided to play along for now, you never know what you're going to learn and getting on the good side of Jon's other friends couldn't hurt. The rest of class went well. Smith got yelled at by our teacher for being a smartass and it was then I learned that our teacher was the basketball coach. After class I wandered around school for a bit hoping Jon was looking for me and obviously that didn't come to fruition. I thought about going to the gym and seeing Ken but I decided to cut my losses and went home.

The housekeeper was on the way out as I walked up my steps. We exchanged pleasantries and she told me about how her son was getting ready to start going to Wilson High. I wished him the best and told her that he would have a great time. After our quick conversation I threw my bag on the ground and went straight for the bottle ignoring the formalities and taking a quick drink from it. I looked at my phone and saw he still hadn't replied since I sent him the question mark. I pondered the possibility of us being over already and was ready to coma myself when I got a text from a new number.

"This is Jason right? It's Eric."

"How'd you get my number?"

"Kenny gave it to me."

"Makes sense."

"Me and Joe will be over after practice. 10 Peace right?"

"That would be my address."

"Cool, see you in a few hours."

I decided to take one more drink then nap it off so I wouldn't be completely gone by the time I would have to show my face. I woke up to some knocking, hit my vape and shook myself awake as I walked to the door. Sure enough the two bozo's were there looking dumbfounded that I lived here.

"Johnny told us, but to see it in person..." Smith started

"Yeah that's everyone else's reaction." I waved them in as I looked at my phone to order some burgers. "I'll toss you my phone to order. I don't feel like going out to eat right now. You want a beer?"

"Nah, crunch time my dude." The other one replied as I walked towards the backyard. I might as well get all it out of the way and I needed a dart. This damn vape isn't doing shit for me.

"Alright your loss." I snagged a beer from the cabinet as I ushered them into the back.

"DUDE WHAT?" Smith shouted as he looked at my covered pool. "When are we throwing a party here?"

"We'll have the sickest fucking party after homecoming. Johnny was totally right!"

"You two need to reign it back a bit." I finally put in my order and tossed it to Smith. "Johnny and I might be through."

"You know I was wondering why he was playing like a maniac today." Kelber shook his head and walked down the steps to get a gauge on the size of my yard.

"What do you mean?"

"He crushed everyone in scrims today. Dude was mad from the second he stepped into first period. You want a salad?" Smith had assumedly put in his order and was asking Kelber.

"Whatever you got. Holy shit. This grill is brand new!"

"Yeah nobody uses any of the shit around here. My mom bought it for looks and is always in Philly." I lit up a cigarette a waved the smoke away from Smith on instinct.

"We're doing Homecoming here no doubt. Don't worry about Johnny, we'll get him back on his good side."

I rolled my eyes at the idea but again this was about the long game. It helped that these guys were being as I thought Jon's friends would be over the emotional nonsense Ken spewed. "So you were saying Jon was playing well because he was mad today?"

"Yeah, we tried to get him to talk about it but all he said was "Tell Jason I'm waiting to hear sorry." After practice. Whatever you said to him really set him off."

"I didn't even say anything." I stubbornly defended. "I told him it was nice he let his guard down around me."

"I'm not interested in the drama honestly." Kelber took a seat at my stone table and I found it just a little harder to not tell these idiots off. I needed another drink so I told them I was running to the door for the food and made my was inside as they continued their asinine conversation about how sick the party they were going to throw here was going to be. I reached for the cabinet but before I could open it up I heard the front door open and thought Jon had finally come to his senses. However, it was definitely not Jon and I had completely forgot today was the 30th of September.

"JACE YOU IDIOT I HOPE YOU'RE DRESSED DOWN THERE." Calvin bellowed throughout the house, wasting absolutely no time getting into protective uncle mode. "I'M GIVING YOU TWO MINUTES TO GET DRESSED BEFORE I OPEN THIS DOOR."

"Uncle, I'm in the living room." I piped out shocked that he was here already.

"So you order all this food but you don't care about your poor starving uncle who just came in from your motherland huh?" He came around rolling his suitcase in one hand and carrying my delivery order in the other. Uncle Calvin looked as I remembered him. About Six Feet, wearing his grey seamed down feather jacket he was very fond of. His chest had grown a fair bit since I saw him last month and his arms matched the same. He had his travel sweats on, he had a bit of a beard and his short black hair wasn't styled as it usually was but that's typical airport fashion for the Andrews. For a man of just over thirty, he looked much younger. You see where Melvin was the academic genius, his brother was the athlete of the family. He ended up not pursuing sport and just going to college out of high school because of the whole gay thing but he still kept his body from those days.

"Uncle, I have company over. That's why theres so much food there."

"Figures. You were never one for rabbit food." He pulled out the salads and my burger and put them out on the counter. "Alright haveatit, get your friends in here so I can meet them."

"Uncle, I don't even know them I don't need you scaring the living shit out of them immediately."

"What you mean scare them?" He crossed his arms and tapped his foot not pleased to hear me talking back so soon.

"Uncle, you're very overbearing." I protested. "You can do whatever you want to the boyfriend but don't scare off literally everyone."

"Jace, it was a joke. I'm not going to ruin your friendships as soon as you suddenly become this social butterfly. It was about damn time too. Tell them to come in here so you don't eat out in the cold."

"You can have the burger uncle. I have leftovers in the fridge."

"Nonsense, I have to go shopping anyways, lord knows all you've cooked since I've been here was noodles and eggs." He opened the fridge to find his assumptions were wrong.

"The boyfriend made himself at home." I answered as I rolled my eyes and walked to the door to the back to get the two idiots still in their own world talking about their plans for homecoming.

"I like him already!"

I introduced Kelber and Smith to my uncle. He put on a face and listened attentively as they ate and he fixed himself up an old fashioned with the cabinet and my mixers despite my protests. All I could do was sit at the table and quietly eat my burger, mortified my uncle would say something to break the spell. He surprisingly didn't and after the meal he saw them out telling them to come back soon. He then dragged me out of the house demanding I drive him to the local market so he could properly stock our kitchen for his stay here.

"Uncle you don't need to do this. I can just order out." I whined as I drove him.

"Nonsense, you need to take care of yourself."

"Uncle I am fine."

"You called me having a panic attack about not being able to breathe with your toy on you." He reminded me. "I meant it when I said I'm doing what my shithead of my brother should have done years ago. I'm getting you in shape and we're cutting all the bullshit out."

"Is that why you're here? To babysit me?"

"No, that's just a byproduct. I had time off and I need to be part of your life more than just when you come to visit." He ruffled my hair until I pushed him away. Thankfully we were at the market.

"So go on, tell me about your man." Here it comes, the dreaded conversation.

"I don't even know if we're still together."

"Aww and here I thought I was going to have fun on this trip. What'd you do?"

"Why do you think I did something?" I asked indignantly as he looked through the meat section.

"Because I know you. God, no wonder you don't cook. This selection is fucking terrible. How my brother decided on this shit of a town is beyond me."

"What do you mean you know me?"

"If I had to guess, you probably said something dumb and didn't realize what you said and he's waiting for you to catch on and apologize."

"Well he did say to those two idiots you met earlier that he was waiting for me to apologize."

"Well go on then, your phones right there."

"I don't even know what I'm apologizing for."

"Did it ever occur to you to ask if you don't know? Bloody fucking teenagers I swear to god." He shook his head and looked through the produce section shaking his head once again. "I wouldn't feed this to my dogs let alone myself. Are you sure this is the high-end store in the area?"

"Yes uncle."

It's always annoying when he comes over to the states. He has access to fresh markets back home so everything he finds here isn't good enough for him. I'm convinced he's just doing it to be dramatic. He begrudgingly filled his cart and complained to the poor cashier as she checked us out. I think she was a freshman at my school. We got everything in the car and he continued where he left off about Jon.

"I'll drive and you can call him." He took the keys out of my hand before I could argue and left me standing there.

"Uncle, he's working. I can't just call him and take up his time."

"Well sport, looks like we're making a visit." He motioned to get into the car and I knowing my uncle he was well prepared to sit there until I told him where to go.

"I fucking hate you."

"Yeah yeah, for your own good all that nonsense." He chirped happily as we drove towards the Han restaurant.

"I don't even know what to say!"

"You're smart enough to figure out."

"What do you even get out of this?!" My patience was wearing thin and I could feel my head starting to hurt.

"I told you already. Your worms for brains father didn't teach you anything about relationships so I'm here to set you in line."

"You know I was perfectly fine before Jon and I'll be perfectly fine after."

"Yeah, all the drinking till you pass out sure is a healthy coping mechanism."

"How do you know how much I drink?"

"Do you think I'm stupid Jace? Your shithead of a father told me he keeps the cabinet stocked because he thinks you have friends over and are having a great time in high school. I nearly clocked him because he wouldn't listen to me." I tried to interject but he kept going. "I'm the reason you've been coming to Scotland since you were fourteen. If I didn't say anything, he would of let you rot in that damn empty house all day and die of a liver disease at the ripe old age of seventeen. I get it. Nobody gave a shit when your best friend dumped you and not even your fucking parents were listening. I know I should have done more but I was dealing with my own shit so now here I am."

"Uncle..." I put my head in my hands and wanted to cry.

"Jace, you're actually a legal adult now. I'm going to give you a crash course on how to pretend to be one and step one is not fucking ruining the one good thing you have going for yourself right now. Do you understand you're dating a fucking the point guard? Do you know how astounding that would be if you were a girl? Let's not even mention that he's Bi and openly out with no consequence so you don't need to hide shit. I couldn't do sport anymore because all the fucking losers I was shagging behind the scenes were so bloody paranoid of being outed."

"He's not the perfect specimen you think he is uncle."

"That may be so but at the very least he's the only person since Mark to get you out of your shell and I'm not going to stand by and let you piss it away because you're afraid of your stupid fucking feelings." We finally pulled into the parking lot and it was as packed as it probably should be for a Monday night. I wasn't even sure If I would be able to see him. "Go in. Talk to him about what the fuck went wrong and move on Jace it's not that fucking hard."

"If I do this will you lay off?"

"Absolutely not. You're going to hate me at the end of all of this but it's for your own damn good." He really wasn't having it as he got out of the car, dragged me out and set me straight before turning me towards the front door. "Now get. I might go find a decent butcher around here if one even exists in this shit hole. I'll know if you're lying so don't try and fake it."

All I could do was sigh and walk into the building I hadn't be in since my first date over six months ago..

"Hi, is Jon around?" I asked meekly after I made my way to the front desk.

"Oh hi Jason! Let me get him!" She seemed way too happy to see me. I don't know how she was always so happy working so many hours here. She must really love her job. She walked into the kitchen and came out dragging a Jon protesting in his native tongue. After about a minute of arguing he gave up and signaled to come out to the back with him.

"I didn't think you would actually come and see me." He clearly didn't want to look at me, probably afraid of what was going to come out of my mouth after this morning.

"I don't even know what I'm doing here."

"Can you not put up the front? I've been nothing but understanding and patient and it sucks that you're still doing this after a month." He snapped back immediately

"What do you mean a front? My uncle literally dragged me here to find out what I did wrong! So what have you just been waiting for me to put out this entire time?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took about a minute of silence before he said anything else. "This is what I meant this morning about saying something I'd regret. The sex means nothing to me I thought I had shown you this by now. What I don't appreciate is how you tell me exactly how to think when I can't tell you anything without you freaking out on me."

"Look I'm sorry if I did that." I put my hands up admitting my guilt as clear as possible. "This is my first relationship and I don't know shit I admit but you can't just shut me off like that. I seriously had no idea what I did and you're telling me you're waiting for an apology."

"You're seriously telling me you had no idea."

"No Jon!" I yelled on the verge of tears. "I'm a fucking moron. I can't hold friends. I drink myself into a coma when you're not around and I have no prospects for the future. I'm a fucking LOSER. I don't know anything!"

"Babe..." He reached out to grab me and I wasn't in a position to fight it.

"I promise I'm sorry. I don't like being like this and It's bad but..."

"Shhh..."He closed my lips as held me. "You can stop now. I didn't need the dramatics." He chuckled.

"I'm a fucking mess. There's no reason you should be with me. I'm so lucky..." I admitted.

"Nah, you've been great up until today. I should know better."

"I don't need the fluff." I huffed feeling like things were quickly returning to normal.

"No I mean it. I know I'm your first, I should of communicated better too."

"Fine." I finally composed myself and pulled off him. "Seriously though, if I'm an idiot you need to tell me."

"You mean I get to point out what you're doing wrong and you don't get to be mad."

"Jon." I crossed my arms.

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Like I say, everything's a process." He grabbed my hand, kissed it and led me back towards the front. "I have to get back to work but we'll talk about this tommorow."

"Ok...wait Jon I can't let you be seen with me right now."

"Why?"

"Ah so here he is. The boy I owe all my thanks to." My uncle spoke as he stood against the wall right as we turned the corner.

"I knew you would listen." I scowled at my smug as fuck uncle.

"Wait, He's your uncle?" Jon's eyes and index finger went between me and my attractive uncle who had his hand out to shake. "But he's.."

"Pleasure to meet you. Calvin Andrews, the athletic one. My brothers a nerd and Jace didn't take advantage of the Andrews genes." He cracked getting a frustrated groan out of me.

"I tried to drag him to the weight room once but he wasn't having it."

"We'll change that in time." He cracked again as my boyfriend and uncle shared a laugh. "Anyways about you..."

"Uncle..." I attempted to interject again.

"How about you come over for breakfast tommorow? Figure out what your schedule looks like so we can get to know each other."

"That sounds nice but I really must get back in there before everything go to shit." He said shaking my uncles' hand and bowing simultaneously.

"Understandable. It's nice to see you are in fact the responsible one here. I'll make Jace here less of a child while I'm here."

"He's been great up until today." I was getting increasingly annoyed as these two spoke with me right in front of them. "We got over it though."

"Good. Good. Alright... Jack, right?"

"It's Jonathan sir."

"I could have sworn Jace said it was Jack..."

"No Uncle I corrected you twenty times and for some reason nobody in the family can remember Jon's name." I said as I finally got a word in.

"Well Jon, I'll see you tommorow." They shook one more time. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes sir?" He asked as he turned around.

"I expect to know if you're ever in the house from here on out. You know boundaries and all that nonsense."

I threw my hands up in surrender as I walked back to the car. He was adamant about embarrassing me as much as possible. They exchanged a few more words and then went separate ways.

"Uncle, that was terrible."

"Quiet you. I'm not going to deal with your sass. I know that's from your mother but you are to treat me with respect."

"Yes uncle..." I grunted as I drove us back. Uncle made it a point to call my father after we put away the food and he took it on the balcony finally leaving me alone. I knew this wouldn't be the end of my interactions with him tonight but it was nice to have a break. After an episode of some terrible nature documentary on Netflix he came back down to pick up where he left out.

"Alright kiddo. Do you have a GP?"

"What are you on about?"

"Need to get your health checked out. Your father was clueless as always and your mother was unreachable." He shook his head. "I don't understand how they can just ignore you like this. He's so damn smitten with her too but she's such a bitch."

"Mother had me to go the doctor before they left." I turned off my tv and hopped over to my computer as he walked over.

"Ok so she gives an iota. Everything is in good standing then? Ok good. Now to find you a therapist."

"I don't need therapy uncle."

"Yes you do." He started typing on his iPhone. "Need to get these addictions sorted out."

"I'm not..."

"I looked at that cabinet and all the bottles are at half."

"What was Jenna..." I fibbed.

"Like fucking hell it was. Jace, don't lie to me. It's a wonder you don't have a liver disease."

All I could do at this point was roll my eyes and "Yes Sir" every question. The asshole had the nerve to confiscate my last carton of cigarettes for himself too. Fucking hypocrite. He let me keep the vape at least but seeing my uncle was not the warm welcome I was expecting. After being forced to clean up the place and an admittedly fantastic dinner I took a shower and laid in bed expecting Jon to text me when he got out.

"How did the trial by fire go?" He finally sent a little after Ten.

"No more Darts. I can't drink. He's finding a therapist. Worst of all, I've been told I need to work out with him starting this Wednesday."

"Sounds great!"

"This affects you too. We can't just do shit whenever now."

"A fair tradeoff to see you get better."

"Just date my uncle if you like his methods so much."

"I wouldn't mind it. Seeing what you could look like if you hit the gym makes me want you there that much more."

"I hate you. I'm going to bed."

"I'll be there nice and early."

"Don't fucking let yourself in."

"And Piss off your uncle? Of course not."

"Good to hear you wouldn't do it for me."

"What can I say? He and I think alike." He send some kissing emojis and I turned over and went to bed.

"JACE. YOUR MAN IS HERE. GET UP. YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES." My uncle shouted as waking me up. I groaned, scratched my head and went back to bed only to be pounced on by a stupid cat.

"You heard your uncle. Get up." Jon dragged the covers off of me and gyrated his hips to wake me up.

"I'm leaving the country. You two are too fucking much." I got up and pushed him off of me.

"Grouchy this morning." He got off my bed and sat in my computer chair as I went to get dressed.

"Wasting no time listening to my blood I see."

"What can I say? Sometimes all you need is a leader to follow."

"I can't wait till he stops me from blowing you and you start to hate him." I decided to shake it up with a black band shirt and a black hoodie.

"You enjoy the sex more than me." He countered.

"Alright, we'll see how long you last without it then." I said not looking at him and quickly walking up the stairs.

"Oh come on!"

"Good morning Jace. Sausage is ready, eat up before you leave." My wonderful uncle was wearing a black tank top just a bit too tight for him and some grey striped shorts. "You too Jon."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Jon pushed me out of the way to enjoy the spread In front of him.

"It's too early for this. Is there coffee at least?" I groaned before hitting my vape.

"Jace, not at the damn table. Ill take it away if you do it again." My uncle pointed the spatula at me much like Jon had done a few days ago. "Coffee's in the French Press like it always is"

"I didn't even think we had a French Press."

"You didn't. I remembered to buy one before I flew over." He finished up the beans and poured them into a bowl before sitting down next to Jon.

I saw down with my Coffee watching my boyfriend eat at the same pace as my uncle as if they had known eachother for years. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how alike they were. Bone-headed idiots who are so confident they know whats best in the situation they have no problem asserting dominance.

"Jace, eat." My uncle said breaking the spell my thoughts had over me.

"Thank you so much for the food Mr. A." Jon chimed in immediately taking another serving of beans.

"Good to see Jace picked someone who can appreciate it." Calvin took a sip of his black coffee before putting food on my plate. "Go on now, you need to leave for school in twenty."

I realized arguing wasn't going to end well for me so I shut my mouth and ate. After my stupid boyfriend insisted on helping with the dishes, we grabbed our bags and were finally out of the clutches of my overprotective uncle.

"Thank FUCKING GOD." I yelled as we approached the school taking another hit of the shitty vape that wasn't doing nearly enough for me this morning.

"You're being dramatic."

"Figures you two get along. He gets along with Houston too." My eyes opened slightly to the realization that my uncle had basically developed my type for me over the years and I suddenly hated him more.

"You need to relax he's great." He broke off holding hands as more eyes were on us. It had been a month and you'd think that people would be less interested in the emo kid and the jock but it was about the same.

"Wait..." I grabbed his hand and dragged us towards the closest door.

"Oh Hohoho. What's this?" He said with too much amusement in his voice as I opened the door.

"I missed you yesterday. I'm making up for lost time." I huffed not walking to talk about it more.

"Yes babe." He said knowing any more words about the topic would just end what courage I currently had. "We have to go see Kenny though. He's in the tech room freaking out over his project I'm sure."

We switched places and he lead the way, never breaking contact with me despite the whispers around us.

"Damn he's over being seen with you already?" The voice of the of Houston stopped us in our tracks and turned Jon around.

"What's it to you Mark?" He said with a bit too much fire for Seven in the morning.

"No, it's nice to see." He replied.

"Well how about you don't ruin it for me."

"Look man, I just want to talk about Jenna."

"You always just want to fucking talk." I spit out immediately. Not wanting to look at him. I immediately dragged Jon away as I got in my last words. "Fuck off."

"Babe you need to settle this shit eventually." Jon said as I dragged him away.

"What makes it so pressing to everyone?"

"Well your uncle will probably drag you two together soon enough no?" Jon pointed out.

"How the fuck..."

"We think alike. If I had the option I would have done it weeks ago but it's not my place. It's most certainly his though." We finally made it to the other side of the school and heard Ken typing away in the tech room. "KEN I'M HERE."

"Doors open." We heard faintly and we entered. Wilson High had some crazy technology thanks to the exorbitant property taxes going into the school. Several setups of state-of-the-art laptops were all charging as well as some robots from the club. Ken was all the way in the back furiously typing away.

"Thank god you're here. I need your help convincing Joe to look at the footage from last year. I got it all uploaded last night and it should be ready by the time we have practice today." Ken spoke as he finished up typing. "I put so much work in this weekend if we lose the opening game I have absolutely no faith we'll make another miracle run this year."

"Ken, you're doing it again." He broke off from me to rub his taller friends back. "You asked me last night to talk to Joe and I told you he agreed to work with you today on your elective period. You are working yourself into the ground."

"Can't help it. This is it Jon." He said crestfallen as if there wasn't even a chance of all of his work actually going as planned.

"You do your Job and that's all the scouts will pay attention to. Win or Lose I promise. Right babe?" He included me in the conversation so Ken knew I was here.

"Oh, hey little bro." He waved. "What are you doing here?"

"You won't believe it but he wouldn't let me go this morning. I think his uncle put the spooks into him."

"does that mean I can't just show up whenever?" He said a bit sad he thought he was losing access to my computer.

"No, I don't think you have anything to worry about." I thought out loud. "I think he only cares if Jon and I are fucking around in the basement so you should be good."

"I'll find my ways." Jon said moving Ken towards the door. "Come on you big oaf. It's time for homeroom."

"No wait just give me like ten..."

"Kenny, everything is fine. You will be fine. You can do this shit in elective. You don't need to do this every second of your life." Jon coached him like the big brother that he was. "Babe, I'll see you after first. Love you." He dragged Ken out not realizing he left me alone in the tech room. I eventually figured out how to lock the door and went my own way, barely making it to homeroom. After the waste of thirty minutes I made my way to English and my favorite teacher was eager to see me.

"Jason! Leena loved it as much as I did! We just made a few adjustments to make it more palpable to the common reader, I hope you don't mind." She handed me a piece of paper with the revised column and with a quick scan I nodded in agreement and made it to my desk.

"Alright everyone. I have exciting news!" My teacher beamed halfway through class. "You won't have any exams this semester because we were selected for an experiment!" This obviously caused a huge commotion in the classroom and after a while we quieted down to hear the stipulation.

"Alright Ms. C whats the catch?" I asked unamused.

"Well you're all going to be assigned a twenty-page paper. The good news is it can be ANYTHING you want. The bad news is it's going to be graded by the state like your yearly exams so I can't save you."

Everyone seemed happy now but I know these idiot's won't start their projects until like a week before the end of the semester and fuck themselves. Me? I like writing. It's one of the few things I can do well. I never have any issues writing papers. Not only can I do it on my free time I can churn out page after page if I find the topic interesting. Now the only issue was finding a suitable topic for one of the last papers for my high school career...

After class Ms. Cantera made sure I would be at newspaper club and after I promised I met up with Jon and told him the little experiment my class had been chosen for. He looked at me in horror. He hates papers and would gladly take exams over doing them. The rest of the day went smoothly. I made my way back home expecting my uncle to start screaming about something asinine as soon as I saw my house, I noticed my father's Benz was missing meaning the obvious.

I sighed in relief as I walked over to my cabinet but was immediately stopped by a paper sign and all my bottles marked with a sharpie.

"You touch this I take the vape." The sign read. I see why the bottles were marked now. Fucking asshole is too smart for his own damn good. I groaned in frustration and peeked my head in the kitchen to find something to snack on. With no luck I picked up my keys and drove my way to my favorite establishment for lunch. On my way back my phone rang and I picked up knowing my uncle would have something to say.

"I see you found the sign." He chirped.

"Very funny. I'm on my way home since I know that's what you're wondering."

"Ah very good. You eat lunch?"

"No, I have my lunch on me though."

"Ok good after lunch we can go over your therapist tommorow. See you soon champ."

I wanted to throw my phone in frustration. Like fuck. I don't even have a second to myself between Jon and Calvin. Everyone keeps expecting me to make something of myself to do something with my life and I'm just trying to survive. I wanted some time alone but I knew my uncle would hunt me down if I didn't get back so I parked my car in the driveway and met my fate.

"Ah there you are." My uncle had his glasses on and was reading a book on parenting. Wonderful, more worthless techniques he can use on me. "Alright I got you an appointment with the person who mediates your mother and father so you don't need to explain your back story."

"Mother and Father go to therapy?" I asked trying to process everything he says.

"Have you been under a rock? She wants to leave him but he's a blubbering mess so he begs her to stay. It's actually so pathetic, but your father was never exactly a social guy so he probably doesn't think he can do much better." He shrugged. "I also found a gym that's up to my standards half an hour west and we'll be going there every other day starting tommorow. You're already signed up so no excuses."

"Uncle. You are going way too fast." I started. "You push me too hard I'm going to burn out."

"Only have so much time. I know you're more than capable. Time to work." He crossed his arms as his eye narrowed at me.

"I cannot handle all of this, especially not without a damn drink which I haven't had in like two days." The sudden realization made me realize the source of my mental problems.

"Ah yes, I was afraid of this." He walked over to me and handed me a bottle of pills. "They're benzos. Don't ask how I got them just take them when your head hurts. Take one now with your food." He pat a seat at the table as he sat down.

"Uncle I'm going to eat downstairs."

"Absolutely not you're going to sit here with me and be an actual human being."

"You really are laying it on thick you know?" I said resigning to my seat.

"I refuse to let you become an unholy combination of the worst traits of your parent's. Sorry kiddo." He went back to his book keeping me in sight was I ate.

"You know, Jon usually comes over in half an hour to see me."

"Ah good, we can confirm dinner plans after his practice." He said a bit too happily as he turned the page.

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Oh relax, I already like the lad. I just want to know more about him. I still can't figure out what he sees in you."

"Oh gee thanks. That's what I want to hear from my flesh and blood."

"Jace. I'm not going to sugar coat it. You're a brat. Brats like you would get sent to boot camp if your grandfather was still alive. I'm being kind."

"Well I'm happy grandpa Andrews is rolling over in his grave because of me then."

"My point is that Jon could have anyone so it's better I sort this out now before one of you gets hurt."

"I can take care of myself uncle."

"Yes the benzo you just had to take sure shows that." He countered.

"I give up." I threw my hands in the air after I finished my burrito and threw out the trash. "If you need me I'm in the back."

"Yes yes, I'll send your boyfriend out there once I'm settled with him about tonight." He said unperturbed by my dramatics.

I took a deep breath and hit my vape as I lounged outside. I tried not to think and just enjoy the silence. It was a warmer day than it had been as of late so I was able to open my hoodie and just relax. Maybe this is what I needed, to be able to just sit here and exist with the world for a while. Before I knew It I dozed off and was gently awaken by Jon sneaking being and wrapping us his jacket.

"Good morning babe." He said kissing my cheek as I woke up.

"When did you get here?"

"Twenty minutes ago. We talked about it and since I'm free tonight we're just going to have dinner here." He rested his head on my shoulder and his body heat was more than welcomed.

"God, it's all going so fact." I shook my head before resting back.

"I want to make a good impression."

"You two are already getting along I don't see the point of trying to show off is all."

"Your uncle is a powerful man babe."

"Just fucking bone him already geez."

"I would think about it if he offered."

"You're so gross."

"Just think, you're going to look like him after a couple of months and I get that all to myself."

"You're the worst." I got off of him and walked to the door and he followed.

"If you two are going downstairs keep the door open. No snogging under my watch." My uncle remarked not looking up from his book.

"I figured as much."

We ended up watching some terrible sports movie on Netflix for the hour we had. Nothing crazy happened with my uncle watching me like a hawk. Just some light kisses and cuddling. Before I knew it, Jon was getting me up dragging with him.

"Come on babe. Time for more school shit."

"Oh Joy." I groaned walking up the stairs.

"And where are you two off to?" My uncle asked as he prepped the steaks for tonight.

"Well I have practice and I got Jason involved in the school paper."

"He's in a club because of you? Simply incredible." My uncle once again put Jon on an infallible pedestal.

"He's smart. He just never had any reason to prove it."

"Don't I know it. Alright Jace, you can fuck off for a couple hours, tonight right?"

"I refuse to leave you alone with him."

"I already told you I like the lad You have nothing to worry about."

"No I'm more worried about the damn schemes you two are going to plot without me in the room."

"Well that's tough. This is between me and him, not you."

"Don't worry sir. I'll have my boys distract him for a couple of hours."

"Fantastic. I expect you here around 6. Sound good?"

"Not a problem sir." He gladly accepted as he dragged me away before I could protest. After about a block he finally let go and knew he was in for a verbal lashing so he let me go off

"I don't even want to fucking date you if you're going to be like this holy fuck." I yelled before hitting my vape.

"You could have told me to fuck off, still can in fact." He said as he walked me back to school.

"Maybe I fucking will."

"No, you won't. You love me too much." He said with a mixture of sarcasm and cuteness.

"Shut it." I threw my hands up and distanced myself as we passed everyone leaving school for the day.

"You'll thank me in a month when everything stops sucking." He turned me around and laid a fat one on me, before I could protest further, he shoved his tongue into my mouth forcing me to surrender to the beast that was Jon Han. After a minute of getting lost in the kiss he broke it off with a giggle. "Have fun with Leena!" He said before leaving me with a bunch of people still staring at the kid who just made out with the point guard.

"Take a damn picture it'll last longer." I scoffed as I walked my own way into the school.

As soon as I walked into the newspaper room Leena had that dumb look on her face and a comment to match. "Making out with Jon Han in front of everyone already? You've gone soft."

"How the fuck do you even know that?"

"I know everything that happens at this school. It's why I'm the president of the paper." She turned around and pointed to a seat. "We're going over the finishing touches on the paper for October and I want your input."

"Good lord." I was regretting ever signing up for this but I knew especially now with my uncle that I was stuck for good. "You know I know why everyone else has an interest in me but why do you?"

"Honestly, I find you cute." She said bluntly as she turned on the projector. "You're like an abandoned puppy looking for a home and I figured I could get some interesting prompts out of it. Turns out I was right."

"I need to stop surrounding myself with smug assholes." I thought out loud as I took my seat. People trickled in and I felt the need to formally introduce myself but apparently literally everyone in the club knew who I was and what I was doing for the paper already. Eventually the teacher rounded out the group and closed the door to get started.

"Alright guys," Ms. Cantera started as she took over the computer. "Here's the final copy of the first edition of the year." She scrolled through the front page and the article read "Ten Tips for Academic Success in the School year" and I couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it.

"Jason do you have a comment?" Leena asked innocently taking a seat right next to me.

"That's a filler main article, right? Like that's not actually the first thing people see when they pick up the paper."

"See, someone else agrees it's boring." Leena spit out relieved that someone said what she was thinking.

"Leena, I know you enjoy the drama and excitement but..."

"I didn't become the front-page editor to write boring fluff about academics. Do you know how many crazy things happened today alone? People want to pick up the paper and read something INTERESTING." Leena spoke with passion getting out of her seat.

"Well then Leena. Do you have another article you would want to put at the front?"

"I wanted to put the basketball article that Artie wrote but apparently we couldn't confirm all the information." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Basketball article?" I interjected perking up.

"THAT'S RIGHT! HOW COULD I FORGET WE HAVE THE BOYFRIEND OF THE POINT GUARD IN HERE." She ran over to a computer on the side and pulled up what I assumed was the article. "Judy refuses to let us post anything without fact checking after SOMEONE lied about half of the football team getting benched mid-season."

"I still maintain that I was about sixty percent confident and we didn't need to publish it that month." Some girl who's name escaped me remarked.

"Can you confirm any of this?" Leena moved out of the way for me to see the title. "Wilker's tenacity Wanes in his Final Season."

"Uhh...i don't feel comfortable..." I stammered realizing it was about one of the few people who had been good to me.

"Ok, so somethings definitely up. I want to publish this." She quickly turned to Ms. Cantera expecting a yes.

"I mean as far as I know they all like Ken. In fact, I think Kelber is working with him right now if you want to ask..."

"They won't answer to any of us after the football incident. It's why we don't talk about sports. Wait. YOU can go ask them. I'm sure they'll answer you."

"I don't feel comfortable..."

"Oh, come on You want to make the first Edition exciting right? Come on, please." She begged trying to sway me a bit too forcefully.

"Lenna! That is enough." Ms. Cantera saved me from her wrath. "it's his first day here and you're trying to exploit him to no end and I will not stand for it."

"But Judy we can have such a great year if we just."

"Absolutely not. He is here to write the opinion column and that is it for now. Maybe down the line but you're expecting way too much out of him."

"Fine." She groaned as she took her seat back next to me. "But you'll think about it right?"

"I mean I guess." I fibbed. I was never going to use my basketball connections to help them.

"Great, I'll ask in a couple of weeks. I guess we'll be boring and academic for now." She clearly wasn't happy but the room was against her so she had to stand down.

By a nearly unanimous decision the paper was finalized and we broke up into groups trying to figure out what the next edition was going to have in it. Leena obviously grabbed me and tried to pull me into another sports article but Ms. Cantera stopped that immediately and I couldn't be more grateful. I had to admit, it was fun giving my opinions and having everyone listen to me. Before I knew it, it was time to pack it up until Thursday. A couple of people asked if I wanted to grab dinner but Jon made good on his promise as I found two jocks waiting outside of the school for me.

"Jason!" Smith said far too cheerfully. "We've been told to distract you for a couple of hours while Johnny meets you dad."

"Uncle." I corrected as I looked at Ken and nodded. "Where's Kelber?"

"He said he couldn't be bothered to play babysitter. Good riddance, he's been playing like shit anyways I can't stand to be around him lately."

"Now now. Let's not talk shit about him when he's not here." Ken said with the purity of a new born child.

"Oh, fuck off Kenny. You spent two hours with him and he still made the same damn mistakes in scrims."

"He might be a slow learner you don't know dude."

"I'm done talking about this. Let's go." Smith pointed to his car parked out front.

"Hey Ken, don't you have to take care your mom?"

"Nah I took her between elective and practice. We just need get her meds and bring them to her. They should be ready by now." Smith nodded as if this was routine. I guess he did know about Ken's mom. "She won't let me wait on her anymore anyways. She says she's doing much better and she doesn't need me around as much."

"That's great to hear man!" I beamed as I hopped in the back. As we drove off Smith and Ken started talking about their game plan for Friday and I found myself unable to follow. That left me to think about how dinner between my uncle and my boyfriend was going. I didn't have much say at this point so I just told myself It was time to relax and get to know the people that I would be spending a lot more time with. Honestly, it really didn't seem that bad.