a/n: Look at me putting up a chapter when I said I would. I'd also like to clarify before anyone asks, Annabelle is Kayden's stepsister, she just hasn't come up much because she doesn't go to Antisto. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and have a wonderful week if I don't post again sooner than that.

Christmas came and went, it wasn't all that spectacular. Kayden got a new laptop and phone, which he was happy about, but then again, he knew it was just because his mom didn't know what to get him and she'd probably had Greg find something expensive so she could pass it off as meaningful when it was really about as imaginative as getting him a new calendar or some pencils. It wasn't that he didn't like it, it was that anyone would like it, so really, his gift had nothing to do with him.

He was in his room curled up playing a game of solitaire on the floor when his mom opened his door without knocking. "Kayden, sweetie, I just wanted to let you know that you'll be going over to Aunt Erica's house today. Annabelle is over at a friend's house and Greg and I are going out for the day."

"Okay." He said, hardly looking up from his cards.

He wasn't upset about it, he liked his aunt. She always asked him for updates on his life and they sometimes talked for hours over milk and cookies. She was the kindest woman he'd ever met and she seemed so content. She'd never married, she wasn't interested in it, and she always had foster kittens along with her two house cats.

"She'll be here in twenty minutes so make sure you have your things together."

"Mhm."

"Kayden, when are you going to start talking to me again?"

"When you start caring about what I say," He said simply, placing a red queen on a black king.

She didn't say anything else, and he didn't look up, he just heard her footsteps grow further away and creak down the stairs.

---

Kayden did eventually get his things together by the time his Aunt Erica arrived. He was just pulling on his shoes when he heard the doorbell ring and almost tripped over his laces to get to it.

"Hey, honey, how've you been doing?" His aunt asked and he immediately burst into a smile when he saw her standing there wearing one of her signature Hawaiian shirts unbuttoned with a white tank top underneath and black trousers with dark red boots. She always seemed to have a new tattoo every time Kayden saw her, and at this point, she had little tattoos all up her arms of cats, plants, and various lines from poems or songs that she liked. She was a year away from thirty but she never seemed to dress or act any particular age, it was like she was timeless and Kayden liked that about her.

"I missed you." He said quietly and she hugged him back, running her fingers through his mop of hair.

"You gotta get this cut at some point, it'll hang in your eyes." She said, but it wasn't in the way his mother would say it, it was said with a smile and he just shook his head to mess his curls up again as they had been.

"I like it long." He said with a shrug.

"Do you or do you just not wanna get it cut? 'Cause I can cut it for you, wouldn't even have to go to the hassle of getting an appointment with the barber and all that."

"...Would you?"

"Yeah, no problem, I'll just clean it up a bit, it'll be great, you'll see." She said with a smile and he nodded. "Alright, let's get going, I wanna be gone before Jess gets back...don't tell her I said that." She said and Kayden smiled, giving her a little 'scout's honor' sign.

"I haven't been talking to her anyway." He said after a moment as he stepped out the door to walk to her car.

"What'd she do?"

"I'll give you the story on the way." He said, already tired just thinking about it.

---

"So then she goes 'I forgot to tell you we're actually going on a cruise so you'll just be staying here over the holiday' Like who the fuck even pulls something like that? I've mostly known that she doesn't really care about what I think and she signs me up for shit I don't want to do, but that was low even for her." He said, trying to stay still as his aunt snipped off bits of his hair, though she scoffed when she heard that.

"I can't believe she would do something like that, I mean, come on, she could have even dropped you off at my house. If I'd known I would have driven out to pick you up," Erica said. "Call me next time, alright? I really don't mind, even if I'm busy, I wouldn't want you to spend a holiday alone like that."

"Well, I wasn't entirely alone," Kayden said, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, though he caught himself before he did because he knew she'd scold him for messing up her scissors. "I had a friend there too." He smiled a little.

"Oh, tell me about this friend. Are you two close?"

"Kind of, I mean, okay, so his name's Elias, and uhm...he tutors me in History, and I didn't like him at first, y'know, he just seemed really preppy and shit, but I guess he isn't too bad and he's nice to talk to. I think you'd like him, he likes poetry...He's weirdly tall though, like, would probably have to duck down to get in your door kinda tall, I guess it's fine though, because he's not usually an asshole about it. He is an asshole about other things, but I don't mind it much...because we're friends and all," He said, reaching up to scratch his cheek instead.

She stopped cutting abruptly and spun the chair around, seeming to stare the redhead down for a moment, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" He asked, his face tinting pink. She sometimes had a way of looking at him and he felt like she was staring into his soul and could tell exactly what he was thinking.

"Is this boy perhaps...a crush?" She asked with a smile and Kayden sputtered.

"W- No, that's absurd, I'm not even- I mean, he's nice and all, but come on, I just-"

"Kayden, baby, just listen to me." She said and he quieted. "Maybe you don't like him, that's okay, and you don't have to tell me either way, but I want you to know that I will love you and support you no matter what. And with this, if you don't wanna talk, you give the word and I'll never ask again." She looked him in the eye when she said it and he just sat there for a moment, paralyzed. He'd never come out to anyone before, the thought had always terrified him. Even with Grant it'd only been by accident. There was one thing he knew for sure though, if he was going to come out, he didn't know who better to start with than his aunt.

She had always been one of the most loving and supportive people in his life, and she was bisexual anyway so he didn't think she'd take it badly if he told her he was gay. The whole family knew about Erica's sexuality, but Kayden's mom didn't really care because she didn't see lesbians as a real thing to begin with so she still let Kayden hang out with her.

"I-I think I might...just a little...like him." He said softly, looking away and fiddling with his hands in his lap. She smiled warmly.

"Well then tell me more about this boy, he sounds lovely," She said and Kayden grinned, giggling quietly, and he did, he spent the whole afternoon telling her about Elias, and his friends at Antisto, and the midterms fiasco. He told her about their late-night talks, the Christmas party, and Grant walking in on him kissing Henry even though he actually wanted to be kissing Elias. It was just so nice to finally tell someone, to have a person he could spill his secrets to and know that they'd be safe.

"You know what, I can't believe all this has happened and I haven't even gotten a phone call." She said with a smile as they sat at the kitchen table later eating cookies and drinking coffee.

"Sorry, I hardly remember to call anyone who doesn't call me first." He said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, shit, we have the same problem then." She said and he laughed softly.

"I'll try to call you more." He said, though a moment later Erica's phone dinged and she checked it, seeming to stare at the notification for a second before she set it down. "Who was that?"

"Oh, I just have a date scheduled this Friday, not a big deal, and I don't want to cut into my time with you by texting." She said, and Kayden wished so badly that Erica had been his mother because he knew his mom would take any chance she could to stop talking to him.

"You have a date?" He asked, curious now and She smiled.

"I do, with a lovely lady named Louise. Isn't that such a pretty name? I thought so. Anyway, she seems interesting, she's the crystal-collecting type," She said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Did she start off the conversation asking where and what time you were born?" Kayden asked jokingly and she scoffed softly.

"No, she's very respectful, she didn't even ask what my sign was until the second week of texting."

"You've been texting her for two weeks and you haven't gone out yet?"

"We haven't had time," Erica said with a shrug. "How I wish I could go to boarding school with her and see her every second of every day, but alas, I do not find myself so lucky," she said, giving a playful grin to Kayden.

"He's not an easy person to make a move on, and besides, I don't even think he's into me,"

"I don't know how he couldn't be, you're so darn cute, I bet he's falling head over heels for you and you're oblivious." She said, resting her chin in her hand.

"Impossible," Kayden said, rolling his eyes. "He's so far out of my league anyway-"

"Kayden, the concept of the league only serves to put people down and make them insecure. It doesn't matter what you look like, confidence and humility are the most attractive qualities a person can have and they far outshine physical attributes, so I better not hear you talking bad about yourself." She said and he looked at her.

"I know, I know." He said softly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"With your personality and humor and charisma, any fish in the sea would be lucky to have you," she said to finish off her thought. "Now, it's almost time for the kittens to have their lunch, would you like to help feed them?" She asked and he smiled, about to agree when a knock sounded at the door and Erica got up to answer it.

"Hey, sorry I'm a bit late, you know how it goes." Kayden's mother said with a smile.

"Yeah, of course, we were just having some cookies," Erica said and Kayden got up, stuffing his phone in his pocket as he did. "Well, Kayden, I guess I'll see you soon. Call me or send me a letter or something. I'll even take a smoke signal." She said and Kayden laughed.

"I will, I promise." He said, giving her one last hug before he left and he ruffled his hair before he could get away.

Once they were in the car, Kayden's mother sighed. "You know, you really should call everyone back more, some people worry about you."

He scrolled through social media on his phone, liking a picture before he switched apps, already bored of it, though still keen on ignoring his mother.

"You're my son, if you like my sister so much maybe you should get her to adopt you." She said with spite in her tone.

"That sounds like a spectacular idea, Jessica."

"Don't you dare call me that, I am your mother, I'm the one who raised you and took care of you, where do you think you'd be without me, huh? I could have put you up for adoption, I was nineteen-"

He was sure his mother had more to say, but by the time she'd said it he had his music blasting on full volume with no intention of hearing her rant about how awful her life was after he came along. He understood why Elias hated the holidays, and Kayden thought he might start to too, not because he didn't like Christmas, but just because he knew there would probably come a day where he hated his mother more than he loved his favorite holiday.