**Real quick before you start reading, the next few chapters have caused me a lot of grief and have been the source of my block. Sadly, I can't change what happens, I tried, but it messed with the story. So... Advanced apology now. Sorry and please don't hate me. >_

Audrey looked up from her spot at the table, Reegan and Aiden stood next to each other, hands held tightly, staring at the sliding glass doors Kale had disappeared through. Guilt ate away at her, if Kale and his parents wound up fighting it would all be her fault. When she had called Rita, she had figured that Kale had already told her about his relationship with Aiden and Reegan and had invited them to the cookout. Rita's stony silence on the other end of the line, proved her wrong. Apparently Kale hadn't told her about anything and hadn't been calling or visiting. She had slipped up when Rita asked where the gathering was taking place.

"This is all my fault. I am so sorry," she spoke to Aiden and Reegan with remorse in her voice. "I didn't think they would be upset with him."

Aiden turned to look at her, worry and concern evident in his eyes. "It's not your fault, Audrey. I should have made sure he was talking to them. Even if he had to keep us a secret. He shouldn't have to be dealing with this."

Reegan couldn't speak, her mind was in torment. Her poor, sweet, little Synie was alone in a room with two people he adored and by their body language before they had left, that adoration was going to be desecrated. His parents had looked at him with such scorn, it broke her heart to think of what might be happening or what might be said while they were talking.

"Audrey, how were you supposed to know that they wouldn't be happy for their son?" Mick stood behind his wife with his hands rubbing her shoulders. "They've always been so proud of him, you didn't think this would be any different."

"I know, Mick, but did you see the look in their eyes? God, I fucked up."

Everyone outside threw out consolations to her, no one blamed her for the shit storm that was about to break loose.

***********************************************

Kale sat facing his parents, waiting for one of them to speak. He was beating himself up for not ever giving his parents a second thought. Why? Why didn't he at least call them once in a while to let them know how he was?

John was the first to speak, his tone borderlined on hostile, "We know that you were dating a guy. A male! Do you know how shocked I was when your mother told me that you not only dated a guy, but he also knocked you around enough for you to have to get a protective order?"

Pain shot through his heart. Regret for his decision overwhelming his thoughts. "Sorry," he said while focusing his attention on the carpet.

"Sorry doesn't make up for what you've done to us."

Kale's head popped up and he looked at his mother. What he did to them? What exactly had he done besides keeping his sexual preferences private, like he thought they should be?

"Not only did you date some guy, but now you're living with people half your age and according to Audrey, dating them both. Do you not realize how morally wrong that is? How disgusted I am to know our son is a deviant?"

Got it, love is immoral. Fan-fucking-tabulous.

"Well, son? What have you got to say?"

Absolutely nothing. It's not worth the wasted breath on defending himself, or his immoral feelings.

"They're not half my age. Aiden's thirty-nine and Reegan's thirty-two. The biggest gap is... Okay so Aiden is old enough to be my dad if he reproduced at eighteen."

"That's not the point here, son. He could be older or younger and it wouldn't change his gender. Are you picking up on the pronoun? He. You are parading around town with another man, not caring what people will think of you," Rita seethed under her barely contained disappointment.

John went to reach for his son's hand, an old habit from comforting his child as he grew up, apprehension stopped him and he pulled back. "When you pierced your lip, your mother and I were upset, but didn't say anything. We thought it was a phase that would quickly pass. When you quit college to work at Bishop's full time, we sat back and prayed that it was just a short break, that you would eventually go back to school. But this, son, this we can't overlook. You're ruining your life and we aren't going to sit idly by while you pave your way to Hell."

What. The. Fuck?

Kale was breaking on the inside. Never in his twenty-one years, had his parents ever told him he was going to Hell. Never. What hurt the most was the condemnation of love. Love was going to send him to Hell? What the fuck made sense in that statement? He couldn't speak. The aching burn from holding tears rendered him mute. He feared moving. Breathing. Shit, he feared just being still would rattle the gates loose and he would break out into uncontrollable tears.

"Son, you need to pack up your things, from here and Raven's house, you're moving back in with your father and I, so we can get you back on the right track."

Fuck. That.

Tears slowly leaked out of the corner of Kale's eyes, he went to speak, but no words came, the control to not cry clogging his throat. His mouth opened again and he whispered, "no."

"Yes. You obviously aren't capable of making good decisions, so you're coming home, where we can guide you to the right path."

"And what's the right path?" His voice broke, the tears gaining momentum and rolling out of his eyes and landing on his clasped hands. "Why's my idea of love the wrong path?"

His mother sucked in a sharp breath, her version of an incredulous snort. "Love? You don't love these people, Kale. That's a ridiculous notion."

"Yes, I do. And if you would get over yourselves, you'd see that they love me too."

John wasn't liking Kale's defiance, his hands fisted at his side and he tried to control the anger welling deep within him. His only child was being brainwashed by perverts and they were leading him into a life of debauchery. He wasn't the son that he and Rita had raised. That child knew right from wrong, the person in front of him was a stranger. "They don't love you Kale, they love their dengerancy. You'll be tossed to the side when they tire of you and want to debase another person. You're just a game to them."

No. No, that's not Aiden and Reegan. They weren't like that. They couldn't be, they loved him and told him so every day. Right?

"It's not like that." He hated himself for the uncertainty he heard in his own voice. "It's not about sex with them."

"Please son, I am having a hard enough time with the fact that you're attracted to men, don't mention sex and those people together." Rita's voice inflected in disdain when she said, 'those', almost as if Reegan and Aiden were Satan himself. "This isn't up for discussion, you're coming home with us whether you want to or not."

"Why can't you be like Raven's parents? They didn't condemn me, they were happy that I found love, as unconventional as it may seem. Why can't you just be glad that I'm loved and taken care of?"

"Because Raven's parents are hippies with a skewed sense of decency." Well, that was news to Kale, he had never heard his mother say such a hateful thing about Mick and Audrey. "Look at their daughter and you can tell that. She dyes her hair in unnatural colors and gallivants around with every guy that sends her a nice compliment."

Great, now his best friend was being attacked. Anger rose within Kale, mixing with his distress over upsetting his parents. He stood from his spot on the table and paced around the room. He desperately tried to tamper the conflicting emotions, telling himself to chill the fuck out. It didn't work, but at least he could say he tried. John and Rita never took their eyes off of him as he moved around the room. What demon had possessed their son? How were they going to get him to see the error of his ways? They both came to the same conclusion. When Kale's back was turned, John rose from the couch and grabbed him around the waist, his arms locked Kale in place. Rita was up in seconds and leading a fighting father and son through the house to the front door.

She turned to look as Kale flung his body, trying to escape his father's hold, tears streamed down his face, while he screamed at both of them. "This is for your own good, son. Quit fighting against us, we only want to help."

"Fuck you! Put me the fuck down right now!" His hand pounded against any part of his father he could touch. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

***********************************************

Reegan's body tensed when she heard Kale's screams. She didn't know what he was screaming out, but that didn't matter. The sound was all the information she needed. Aiden released his hold on her and barreled through the house. He didn't care if the screams were just Kale's way of fighting with his parents or not, he was not leaving him alone a second longer. He and Reegan raced through their house and stopped in their tracks when the front door slammed shut.

"Where is he?" Reegan looked around, listening to see if Kale made any sounds, so she would know where to go.

Aiden on the other hand went straight for the door, flinging it open and hating what he saw. Kale was pushing against his dad, fighting to get out of the backseat, screaming at the top of his lungs, as his mother calmly got in the drivers seat, her face set in a determined grimace. Her eyes landed on Aiden standing inside the open doorway, anger and disgust emanating out of her eyes as she curled her lip up at the sight of him.

"Doll, get the keys, we're leaving," he tossed over his shoulder as he ran out of the house.

Just as Reegan was heading to the car, John slammed the back door shut, while Rita threw the car in reverse and sped out of their driveway. Black tire marks marred the street, Reegan stared in disbelief as she watched a vital piece of her life disappear. Aiden's shout to hurry, had her jumping at the command and jerking the car door open. Fuck seat belts, fuck saftey, fuck everything. Her boy was gone and all that mattered was getting him back.

"Doll, I need you to talk me down right now." Aiden said in a tight voice. His knuckles were turing white with the grip he had on the steering wheel. "I want to kill two people right now. Calm me down, because this won't end well."

Reegan searched for something, anything she could say to ease him, but her outrage over what was happening kept her brain from functioning properly. Her gaze never left the twin tail lights that led them through town. For the first time in years, she was just as pissed as Aiden.

Her attention was distracted when Aiden's cell started ringing. He lifted a hip and reached behind him, pulling the phone from his back pocket, he didn't have the time to answer, or the patience. The phone was taken out of his hand, he barely caught the sound of Jeremy's voice, before Reegan started explaining what was going on. His attention was diverted for a single second, but that second would forever be imprinted in his brain.

***********************************************

Rita had kept a steady speed as she drove away from the delinquents house, but the longer they drove, the closer the delinquents got. She got brave, the overwhleming need to separate her son from his corrupters, over ruled the need to drive safely. Her foot pushed the gas pedal down as she tried to speed through a red light.

***********************************************

Reegan watched in horror as the car in front of them was side swipped by an oncoming truck. Kale's position in the backseat taking the brunt of the impact. The phone fell from her hands unnoticed, as her hands rose to cover her mouth in shock. The screeching of tires, shattering glass, and metal on metal grinding filled her ears.

"No, no, no, no, no, nooooo." whispered past her fingers like a prayer. "Please, no. This isn't happening. Wake up. Wake up!"

Aiden's foot slammed on the breaks, he paid little attention to what he was doing, when the car stopped he put it in park and flew out, running to save his Shorty. Never once noticing the cars or people around him, or the dread that filled his soul and shattered his heart. It couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it.

His feet stopped cold when he reached the mangled metal that was once a car, Kale's body laid across his father's lap, his legs pinned under the crumpled door and front seat, not moving and not making a sound. Not that Aiden would have heard if he did, his senses were shutting down, revolting against him little by little, until he was cold, deaf, and suffering from tunnel vision.

He and Reegan waited in Hell while they waited for the police and ambulance to show up. Hatred for the woman that moaned out in pain, consumed them. Hatred for the people responsible for taking away their heart, raged away in their stoic bodies.

"Owwwwww." The sound was low and full of pain, but had hope springing within them. Kale's long, skinny fingers, covered in blood, reached up to touch his forehead. He started to move, but stilled when his legs refused.

"No baby, you have to be still." Reegan warned him. "Just be still or you could hurt yourself even more."

"It hurts." he whined. "It hurts so fucking bad."

"I know, Shorty, but help is coming and the best thing you can do is hold tight and move as little as possible." The relief in Aiden's voice mixed with Reegan's deep, calming breaths. Their hands found each other and held on tightly, praying to a God that they didn't believe in, that their favorite Syn would be okay.

***********************************************

The waiting room for ICU was occupied by a group of people that couldn't sit still. Discarded magazines littered tables, empty paper coffee cups lined the trash cans, and the dull carpet showed signs of past abuse. There was a nervous energy that permeated the room. Any time the door would open, the occupants would freeze and wait for any kind of news.

"How much longer do you think it will be?" Raven's red-rimmed eyes pleaded with her father. "It's been ages and we still don't know anything."

There was no response to her question, after three hours of waiting, the answer was the same as it was the first time she asked.

We don't know.

It was a waiting game, one that nobody wanted to play. Mick and Audrey had barged to the nurses station demanding answers and were kindly shown back to the waiting room with nothing but apologies. They weren't listed as next of kin, which translated into being told next to nothing. They all had to wait on John or Rita for word on Kale's progress and so far neither one of them had stepped foot in the room.

They knew that John was in worse condition than Rita, she had only suffered a mild concussion and an AC separation. After getting treated, she was allowed to stay in the room two floors down that John was assigned for observation. Both were in the clear and would be no worse for the wear in a matter of weeks.

Kale, they knew even less. He was injured, badly, and was in surgery with Gods knew what wrong with him. So they paced and waited. Some even cursed Rita for her chicken shit behavior.

Audrey had had enough with the waiting routine, Kale was her baby as much he was Rita's and she deserved to know what was going on with him. She quietly excused herself, ignoring the questioning glance from Mick, and left the waiting room.

The brightly lit hallways burned her eyes as she wondered through the hospital in search of the elevator she had used earlier that evening. She found it and rode down two floors and followed the signs to the patient wing. The nurses sat at their station, looking tired and overworked, they didn't pay much attention to her as she walked past the desk with an appearance that she knew where she was going. She sent up a silent thanks and went in search of John's room.

After checking three corridors of rooms, she finally found the right one. The room was dark and quiet, the TV on the wall casting John's body in high relief and shadowing Rita's slumped figure in an uncomfortable hospital chair. The door clicked shut behind her and announced her presence.

"How's Kale?" she asked in agitation.

At her words, Rita's shoulders shook, a look of pain crossing her face with each movement. Serves her right, echoed in Audrey's mind.

"He's in surgery, their repairing the damage to his legs and hip bone. The impact gave him quite the bump on his head and shortly after he arrived he passed out, after his surgery, they're hoping he wakes up."

"Why couldn't you come and tell us this? My daughter is on the verge of a mental breakdown worrying about her best friend. Aiden and Reegan are damn near insane with fear, while you sit up here, content in knowing what's happening. Do you know the pain you have caused everyone?"

"Well everyone doesn't need to know. This is a family problem and only family members are going to know what's happening."

"You bitch." Audrey spoke in quiet outrage. "You damn near killed your son."

"I didn't almost kill him, he brought it on himself, along with the trash he was associating with."

Audrey forced herself to not act on instinct, barely restraining herself from strangling the woman, after Kale was fine and allowed his information to be given to someone other than his parents, then she would strangle her.

"Please leave, Audrey, I don't want you waking my husband, he needs to rest."

"I hope you burn in Hell for what you've done Rita, I really do." And with that Audrey left the room, shaking with pent up frustration at the bitch she had once considered a friend.

*~*~*~*

Days passed in agony as Aiden and Reegan waited to hear anything about Kale. They had planted themselves in the waiting room, refusing to leave until they knew something. Damn hospitals and their privacy policies. They were fighting a losing battle, none of the hospital staff would tell them a thing. It was almost as if they had been blacklisted.

Mick and Audrey were finally able to convince the two, to go home and rest. If they found anything out, they would call them immediately.

Audrey called Rita's phone every hour on the hour, not caring if she got annoying or not. She had tried going back to John's room, but she wasn't as lucky as she was the first and only time. The nurses threatened her with security and told her she wasn't permitted to visit their patient.

If she was ever near Rita again, she couldn't be held responsible for what ever happened to the woman.

*~*~*~*

For the second time in a week, Kale was surrounded by darkness. Only this time pain accompanied the darkness, his entire body ached and felt stiff. He thought hard trying to remember what happened to him. The last solid memory he had was fighting with his parents in the car. The rest was blurry, he remembered hearing Reegan and Aiden telling him to be still, but he didn't remember why.

Maybe he was in bed after his fight with his parents? Had Aiden's 'be still' been because they had playtime to calm his nerves? His body didn't have that euphoric floaty feeling that came with playtime. Instead he felt like his body was wrecked.

Wrecked?

They had been in a wreck, that was why Aiden said to be still.

Were his parents alright?

Why couldn't he open his eyes?

"His vitals look good, everything seems