"Oh my God, Addison, why are you so old?" Uncle Connor asked as soon as he opened the door to my house. He said the word "old" as if it left a terrible taste in his mouth, which was ironic since he definitely fit the "old" description better than I did. However, I didn't have a chance to open my mouth to produce a smart-ass response before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. "I missed you, Addison. Now stop growing up. It's not fair and you're starting to make me feel old!" He whined like a child, causing me to chuckle. Oh, Uncle Connor, still a big child in a man's body.

"I missed you too, Uncle Connor," I said with a laugh as the hug broke. He held me at an arm's length away and looked me up and down as if I'd changed drastically since he'd seen me last Christmas. In all fairness, I had changed a bit: I'd grown, realized I was bi, dumped my girlfriend for my boyfriend. But that didn't mean he had to act like he hadn't seen me for decades.

"Man, you're really growing up fast. Wow."

"Thanks," I said as I walked into the apartment, taking Tyler's hand in one hand and my suitcase in the other. "Speaking of, Uncle, this is Tyler, my boyfriend. Ty, this is my Uncle Connor, one of my dads' childhood friends."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Tyler greeted as he extended his hand out for my uncle to shake.

But Uncle Connor, being the crazy man he was, shooed Tyler's hand away before he brought him into a hug. "Sorry, I'm a hugger," he said, though he showed no remorse for the shocked look on Tyler's face due to the sudden action. After he'd gotten over the initial shock, he let out a small chuckle and hugged my uncle back, though not with nearly as much fever as my uncle was holding him with.

"It's okay, sir."

"Oh, and stop calling me sir. I'm not that old, you know. You can call me Uncle Connor, too."

"Yeah, but, you kind of are," I said in a sing-song voice, causing my uncle to kick me.

"Ow!" I cried out just as the hug broke, but my uncle ignored me.

"I saw the both of you at the game on TV. You were both incredible. And Tyler, the last play you made...wow. I mean, you were literally like the wind. Beyond fast and unstoppable. It was amazing and you should be very proud of yourself."

"Thank you," Tyler beamed before he shot me a glance that made me want to roll my eyes. He'd been getting a big head from all of the compliments from teammates, spectators, and college scouts alike. But I couldn't blame him. After all of my years of getting the same, it still felt fresh and exciting every time someone told you that you played well or that some college wanted you.

To say I was proud of him for playing so well at the game despite everything that he was going through would be a massive understatement.

"Where's Aunt Abbi and the little ones?" I asked as we made our way deeper into the apartment.

"They're all asleep. I mean, it is like eleven pm."

I hummed in understanding and reminded myself to introduce Tyler and Abbi before Tyler went back to live at his house. I had to admit that some selfish part of me didn't want to let him go when he told me on the bus back that he was ready to move back with his dad. Though he'd assured me that it had nothing to do with my family but rather his healing process, and that he'd still come and visit all the time, I knew that my bed would feel extremely empty and lonely without him. I wouldn't wake up to feeling his body against mine, I wouldn't hear his melodic hums as we bathed together, I wouldn't feel his arms around my waist as I cooked breakfast. And yeah, I had to admit that there were moments when I really wanted my personal space or that the small things he did irritated me, but now that I was actually having to face time alone without him, I felt kind of down.

I didn't let him know that, of course.

I just told him I understood and vowed to make the most out of our last night together for who knows how long. He had his own demons and issues to deal with and so did I, and it wouldn't be fair for either of us if the other dragged us down. "Alright, Uncle C, I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm still exhausted." Tyler pitched a questioning brow at me as if he was saying Really? Had I cuddled up with Tyler and virtually slept the whole way back? Yeah. But did that negate the exhaustion that I still felt? Not at all.

"Yeah, okay, I think I'm ready to tucker in for the night too–"

"–are you sure you're not old, because I swear only old people say 'tucker in'–"

"Addison, shut up," Uncle C said before he gripped me into a headlock and started aggressively noogying me. "Who's old, Addison? Tell me, Addison Michael Bruno-Williams, who's old?"

"Okay, okay, I yield," I said with a laugh as I tried in vain to pull myself from his grip. "You're not old. You're not old."

"That's what I thought," he triumphantly said as he let me go.

I looked at Tyler with a pout, who had a very amused look on his face. "Why didn't you help me?"

He put his hands up in surrender. "You know what they say about poking sleeping bears and all. You poked, the bear bit."

Uncle Connor smiled as he slung an arm across Tyler's shoulders. "See, I knew I liked you, Tyler. You're smart, way smarter than Addison."

I rolled my eyes before I grabbed Tyler's hand and pulled him out of my uncle's grip. "Whatever, we're going to get settled in."

Uncle Connor laughed. "Alright you two. Goodnight. Oh, and make sure you call your parents, Addi."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, old man," Tyler and I said at the same time, causing my uncle to narrow his eyes at me, yet he made no move to come after me for my snide comment.

Once we made our way upstairs, we threw our suitcases to the side before Tyler started a shower for us. As he brushed his teeth while the water warmed up, I sat on my bed and dialed my Papa's number to check up on them.

After a few dial tones, my Papa picked up. "Hello?" As the simple word traveled through the phone, his voice sounded almost unfamiliar. It was heavy, as if each letter took a physical toll on him as they slid past his lips. He sounded tired in more ways than one, yet I could tell that he wasn't planning on going to sleep anytime soon.

"Hey, Papa. I just wanted to check up on you. How's Nona? Can I talk to her yet?" I asked and I could practically feel him shake his head through the phone.

"Addi, I know you want to talk to her and I'm sure she'd want the same but right now just...it isn't a good time." The way he spoke made my heart race. Every time I'd ask to talk to her, my fathers would make up excuse after excuse: she's in the bathroom, she's asleep, she's not feeling well. But this time I didn't even get the courtesy of an excuse, which increased my already worried state.

Nevertheless, I swallowed down my suspicion and annoyance and nodded. "Okay...well how are you doing? Both of you."

"I'm doing," he said. "I really miss you and your siblings. We both do. Your father isn't...feeling well at the moment and he's in a lot of pain. It's taking a heavy toll on both of us, but I know seeing you kids always makes us feel better. We should hopefully be able to see you all soon."

I bit my bottom lip. "Papa, I know that there's something wrong. Why don't you just tell me? I'm sick of guessing and letting my thoughts run wild with a million what-ifs. I promise I can handle it, but you're really worrying me with all the secrecy and vagueness."

"Listen, Addi, now just isn't–" He was cut off by a loud noise in the background that sounded like Padre. Was he crying? No, was he screaming?

"Papa, what's–"

"I gotta go, Addison. Keep looking after everyone. We love you." Then the line went dead. My hand was shaking as I lowered the phone from my ear. I felt emotionally overwhelmed, and Padre's distant scream rang in my ears.

What the fuck was going on down there?

"Hey, the water's– hey, what's wrong?" Tyler asked as he stuck his head out of the bathroom.

I shook my head as I stood up, trying to hide my shaking hands and willed my weak knees to keep me upright. "Still worried about my Nona."

He nodded in understanding as he wrapped his arms around me. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "I understand. Take your time and process as you need to."

I shook my head. "I know your therapist would probably scoff at what I'm about to say, but I think I'd rather distract myself at the moment instead of thinking about it too much."

Tyler's lips pulled up into an adorable grin. "Distraction? You've got it."

He led me into the shower and much like he had all throughout our trip, he gently washed me, kissing my shoulders or my neck every now and then. I would do the same to him, loving the vulnerability and intimacy he displayed as I moved the towel over his sculpted body. The action felt natural like it was ingrained into my body after doing it for years instead of mere months. Nevertheless, we finished up and within ten minutes, we were laying on my bed, our bodies tangled up in one another's and our minds wandering. "Do you ever wonder why Goofy in the Disney franchise is like a fully developed dog-person but Pluto is just a dog?" Tyler randomly asked as we both looked at the ceiling.

I raised a brow at him. "What?"

He looked at me. "Deadass. Like, think about it: both Goofy and Pluto are dogs, right? But Goofy can talk and dance and all that other stuff whereas Pluto is just a dog. But they're the same species."

I scoffed as I rested my head back on his chest. "Dude, you've thought about this way too much."

"Have I, though?" Tyler pushed, letting me know that he was about to get into another one of his ridiculous adorable rants. "I'm being forreal, Addison, literally think about it. It would be as if I kept Serenity as a pet or you kept your younger siblings as pets. Y'all are the same species and live in the same family, but you'd literally be, like, owning another human. And what makes it worse is that no one in the Mickey Mouse universe bats an eye at it or even addresses it! Same thing with that Peppa Pig episode where they go to the zoo. Addison, they're all animals! How do they discern the wild ones from themselves? Is it a commentary on how people let superficial differences, disabilities, et cetera separate them and create a social hierarchy even though we're all the same, or is it pointing to how we all have wild sides to us that we just refuse to acknowledge?"

By the time he'd finished, I was in a bout of uncontrollable laughter.

"Addison, these are serious questions!" He pushed, causing me to laugh harder.

"Y...Yeah, babe. I'm...I'm sure they are," I made out between laughs.

"Addison, if we're going to run away to Florida and become Disney-themed exotic dancers, we need to know the lore."

I momentarily sobered myself up, though I was still struggling with the laughter that desperately wanted to escape. "Yes. The lore. Yes."

He narrowed his eyes at me, causing me to smile up at him before I gently placed my lips on his. For the first few moments, he stubbornly didn't kiss me back. I pulled away and quirked a brow at him. "I'm sorry, baby. You're right, it is an extremely thought provoking concept about social issues and unnecessary division among us people."

"I don't think I believe you fully."

"Then how can I prove myself to you?" I asked in a flirtatious tone.

He shrugged. "You tell me, Addison."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up and kiss me, Tyler." To my delight, he didn't put up any fight as I kissed him. Once again, he let me take full control as I teased him by touching him just the way he liked. Before long, we'd shifted so that I was on top of him as I kissed down the side of his neck. I basked in the moments as he slowly allowed himself to slip away and gave in to me. We were getting really heavy really quickly, though neither one of us seemed to mind. I knew that I for one needed some kind of distraction, and there was no better distraction than hearing Tyler breathlessly say my name and tell me to keep going as I kissed his body or moved my hips against his or teased him just right.

It was exactly what I needed.

I moved my lips across his bare chest and down his toned body. Goosebumps covered his arms and his breathing was already shaky before I'd even gotten to the best part. Once again, I'd made it to the edge of our safe zone: the brim of his briefs. The thing that would determine what the rest of our night would look like. I looked up at him, asking him the silent question, and I got my answer in the form of one swift movement as he simply took them off.

"Mi fai impazzire (you drive me crazy)," I softly said as I kissed across his waist where the brim had been. He let out a soft groan as his body tensed beneath me and now I had nothing hiding his excitement from me. Opposite of last time where he'd had the power, I had it now and it was buzzing in every cell of my body. And though I wasn't going to go as far as we had that night, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

So, I continued kissing down his body until I got to my final destination, and listened to him crumble beneath me.

***

"Hey, that is not what happened!" I protested with a pout.

"Well that's how I remember it," Tyler countered with an innocent shrug.

"Well you must have dementia because that's definitely not how that happened, and I think that deep in your heart, you know that."

Tyler's father gave us amused looks as we bickered with each other across the table. Tyler and I had spent our last day together before I helped him pack up all of his things and take them back to his house. His father was home, of course, and invited me to stay over for dinner. One thing led to the other until Tyler and I were telling him the story we'd wanted to tell before Tyler's "mother" had come and ruined everything in her path: we were telling him the story of how we came out.

"Yeah, son, I love you, but I doubt Addison ran across the field, picked you up, and Disney-princess kissed you in front of everyone as fireworks went off in the background," Mr. Barnett admitted, causing Tyler to shrug again.

"Well that's what it felt like to me," he nonchalantly countered, making my heart flutter. I'd done something right if Tyler remembered that moment as a scene straight out of a Disney movie.

"What had actually happened was that at the end of the game, as I already said, we won. Before that we'd talked about how we wanted to come out in a grandiose way surrounded by people we loved and knew would support us. And at that moment surrounded by our teammates and stands of people cheering for us, I don't know, it just felt right. So, long story short, I asked him if I could kiss him and he said yes so it just...happened."

"And you guys are safe, I presume? What ever happened with that girl?" At the second question, Mr. Barnett's eyes landed directly on me, and I felt the burn of shame take refuge on my cheeks. His father knew about the compromising position I'd put us in. That I'd put his son in. I wouldn't blame him if he still held a bit of resentment and anger toward me for the pain I'd put Tyler through. I still didn't completely forgive myself.

"Yeah, we're safe, dad," Tyler said, sensing my internal shift. He gently brushed his foot with mine under the table as if promising me that he was still by my side.

"As for Kyra," I started before I cleared my throat in order to get rid of the bitter taste of guilt that was climbing up my throat. "As for Kyra...I'm sorry, Mr. Barnett. I truly am. For everything I put Tyler through during my stupid 'hero' phase, I'm really sorry. I was being stupid and naive to how my actions, and more importantly my inactions, would affect him.So again, I'm truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. But Kyra isn't a threat to us anymore. She was just trying to get revenge on me, but since we took away the only leverage she had against us, she's given up. She tried to apologize to me, but I'm not the only one she hurt. Anyways, yeah, I haven't seen or heard from her in a while since everything went down."

Mr. Barnett nodded before he took a sip of his water. "And I can presume that you're taking good care of my son?"

I instantly nodded. "I try my best to, sir."

His eyes darted across the table to Tyler who nodded in agreement. "Yeah, dad. Trust me, Addison takes great care of me. He sticks up for me, listens to me–"

"–listens to your crazy Disney rants and conspiracies," I jokingly interjected.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Addison. Don't act like they're not valid."

Mr. Barnett grinned. "Well, Addison, I have to admit that after Tyler told me everything that happened with you and that Kyra girl, I didn't like you. I mean I really didn't like you. But seeing you two together and seeing how happy you two are– and the way you stuck up with him when Dorthia came... I can see why my son likes you so much. I can see that you're a positive change in his life, something that he's been needing for a long time. So, as long as you treat him right, keep him happy, and keep him safe, you're good in my book. And I expect him to treat you the same."

A relieved grin spread across my face. "Thank you, Mr. Barnett. I truly do appreciate it."

Tyler's lips spread into a smile as well as he nudged my feet under the table once more.

"I also wanted to thank you and your family for taking Tyler in while the craziness was happening over here," Mr. Barnett continued as I started digging into the salad I had in front of me. "I can trust that you two were safe, right?"

"Dad!" Tyler whined as I nearly choked on my food.

Mr. Barnett looked between us with a steely look in his eyes. "What? If you two have been, then there shouldn't be a problem with the question, right?"

A flustered expression took place on Tyler's face. "Right," he muttered as my mind flashed back to the previous night. Had we gotten extremely intimate with each other? Yes. Did I have to cover Tyler's mouth a few times to keep him from saying my name too loudly? Maybe. But were we safe? Definitely, in every sense of the word.

Mr. Barnett's eyes landed on me, daring me to crack under pressure. So, instead of allowing myself to crumble under the pressure, I expelled all of the tension in my body and swiftly nodded. "Yes, sir. Of course. I said I would keep him safe in every sense."

Mr. Barnett hummed in response, seemingly satisfied with my answer and pleased that he'd gotten such a flustered reaction from his son.

I was just glad that I wasn't technically lying.

The rest of the night flew by far quicker than I would've liked it to. Before long, I was giving Mr. Barnett a friendly hug before I kissed Tyler goodbye and made my way back to my house.

As I rode the elevator up to my apartment, I peeled the beanie I'd been wearing off of my head. My tastebuds were fixed on the amazing hot chocolate that only Azalea could make. I was buzzing to tell her about everything that had happened while I was away, I just hoped she was at home and not out with Josh or something.

Once I made it out of the elevator, I made my way down to our door before I slid in the key and let myself in. "I'm home," I announced as I slid in and took off my shoes. I fully expected my Uncle Connor to respond or even my Aunt Abbie