please read a/n at the end. I have some pretty important stuff to talk about. and no, it's not just about the cover change.

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"You know what I just realized?"

It was the Sunday before Liam had to appear in court, basically to figure out who he was going to live with for the next two months before he was 18, and Zayn and Liam were watching a movie and cuddling on the couch. "What's that?" Zayn said warily, noticing Liam's tone. "Neither of us have a family." He finally said, after a long silence. "Li. Don't say that. I have a family. My family is you, Louis, Harry, and Niall. And I hope you feel the same." Zayn said sternly, causing Liam to nod. "Yeah, you all are my family, but you know what I mean, Zee."

"I think your expectations are too high. You and the other boys are perfectly fine for my standards." Zayn remarked, and Liam shrugged. "I see you've gotten some of your sassiness from that family of yours." He answered. Zayn huffed, snuggling into his boyfriend's chest. "I love you, baby." Liam mumbled sleepily, as Zayn fell asleep in his arms.

This is just what Liam loved about their relationship. They could be super lovey-dovey and super sassy at the same time, but they never seemed to skip a beat. It was perfect for Liam, and he was really going to miss it over the summer. The taller of the two thought about this as he lifted his boyfriend and brought him to their bed, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. Zayn made grabby hands at Liam as he started to walk away, whining as his eyes were still closed. Liam chuckled as he climbed into bed, pulling Zayn to his chest, as his back was pressed against it. Zayn sighed contentedly as he put his hands over Liam, holding onto his fingers slightly.

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"Today's the day. Did you call the school?" Zayn asked Liam, fixing his boyfriend's hair in the bathroom. Liam shook his head, pulling out his phone. "Careful!" Zayn reminded the boy, so he wouldn't mess up his hair. "Hey, Mrs. Jones." Liam said. In the past few months, he has learned all the names of everybody in the office. Mrs. Jones was his favourite. "I'm just calling to say, um, I have to appear in court today to see who I'll live with. So yeah, I won't be at school today." Liam explained, and the woman made a noise. "Alright, well good luck, Liam."

"I don't know if any of the outcomes are good. But thank you." Liam said, hanging up his phone swiftly. "Who do you think you could end up with?" Zayn asked after a while, and Liam shrugged. "I have this cousin in Pennsylvania who is like 30. Maybe him. I also have this Great Uncle that lives just a couple cities down. Hoping for him." He explained, and Zayn nodded. "It's only for the summer." He reminded himself, though Liam nodded along anyways.

"What about you? What's gonna happen?" Liam asked, and Zayn shrugged. "I'll just keep under the radar until January." He said. "But where are you gonna stay?"

"Maybe Louis'. I'll ask. I'm just gonna miss you so much." Zayn pouts, wrapping his arms around Liam's waist, resting his head on his back. "It's only for a couple weeks, baby. We'll make it work. I just hope I end up with the great uncle." Liam gives the boy a small smile through the mirror, though Zayn couldn't see. As the boy turned around to hug him, he noticed tears in his eyes. "Awe, babe, don't cry. I love you so much. No matter what happens. Never forget that." Liam says, smiling. He wipes a tear that had escaped from his boyfriend's mesmerizing eyes. "I love you too." Zayn says, barely above a whisper, as Liam pulls him to his chest.

Just a couple hours later, Liam is seated in the court room, the judge deciding his next 3 months of a future. She has contemplated all the details of his life, and had finally decided who would be right for him to live with. "For the next 3 months until Liam Payne turns 18, he will live with his great uncle, Richard Payne." Liam smiled, but the smile just got wider as he realized who it was walking towards him.

"Uncle Ricky!" He exclaimed, giving the man a hug. "Man, I missed you so much. I didn't know it would be you!" Liam said, smacking his uncle playfully on the arm, since that was just the kind of relationship they had. "What's up, Li?" His uncle answered, tousling his hair. "I thought you barely knew this guy..." Zayn trailed off, standing up as he looked at the tall man in front of him. "I thought it was Uncle Jon, or Joe, or whatever. But no! It's really you!" Liam grinned, fist-bumping Uncle Ricky. "Yeah man. So you gotta tell me what the hell is going on with the family. I just got this random call this morning." He said, and Liam sighed. "I'll tell you later."

"And is this the famous Zayn I've heard so much about?" Ricky asked, turning his attention away from the subject. Zayn blushed, and looked down at his feet as Liam slung an around his shoulders. "Yup." Liam said proudly, showing him off like an award. And if Zayn was being completely honest, it did make him feel pretty good about himself. "Hey!" Liam's uncle said as though they were long time friends just reconnecting, sticking out his hand for Zayn to take. Zayn immediately understood why Liam liked this guy. What wasn't there to love?

"Hi." Zayn said quietly, taking the tall man's hand. Ricky grinned, leading Liam towards the car. "Are you coming, Zayn?" He asked, and Zayn shrugged. "I mean, can I?" He asked, hopefulness burning in his golden eyes. "Of course you can."

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The three men were all in the car, Liam and Zayn in the backseat with Uncle Ricky driving, when the topic of Karen was brought up again. "So like, how come I am just taking you in for the summer? Not that I'm complaining, these next few months are gonna be way more fun. But I just don't get it. What happened to mom?" He asked, and that's when Liam realized. Uncle Ricky was close to his only family left, so it made sense that he didn't know, somehow.

"Um. She died." Liam said. He had gotten used to saying it by now. Now, it was just a dull, aching pain that he felt all the time, instead of a stab in the heart that it felt like for those first couple weeks. "Oh my fu.cking god are you serious?" He asked after a moment of silence, pulling up to a red light. He looked behind to see Liam's face and saw that he wasn't joking.

"Holy shit." He muttered under his breath, and everyone took some time to think after that, until eventually Liam spoke up again. "So like, here's the whole story."

Liam then told Uncle Ricky what had happened, not leaving out a single detail. He started to choke up at the part about the grocery store, where he had last seen his mother. Zayn had to tell that part, holding his boyfriend's hand the whole way through. "They couldn't even tell me the cause of the accident, since we were all still minors." Liam said, wiping his eyes. "First of all, I'm so, so sorry Liam. Karen was an amazing woman. Sure, she made some mistakes. We all do. And I'm sure you forgive her for what she did, and vice-versa. And if you want, we can go by the police station or something and find out what really happened." Uncle Ricky finally answered, and Liam nodded.

The rest of the car ride was quiet. No one really noticed, though. Liam being too wrapped up in his thoughts, as was his Uncle. Zayn was busy trying to be a good boyfriend to notice the silence, either. Not that he would care. Zayn was a man of few words, so he actually quite enjoyed no noise.

They pulled up to the house, both the Payne family members acting like it wasn't just a really emotional car ride. Zayn knew Liam, though. And he was guessing his Uncle was similar. Ricky opened the door for both the boys. "Welcome to casa de Ricky." The uncle said with a painfully American accent, grinning from ear to ear.

"Damn, Richard. You got a fancy-ass house." Liam said to his Uncle, feasting his eyes around the well-decorated home. He smiled. "Yeah. I actually kinda built it. Like, I planned it out and stuff. There's a pool!" He added the last part excitedly, and Liam joined in on his excitement, while Zayn's facial expression didn't change. Everyone knew he couldn't swim. "Yay, Zee. Now I an finally teach you how to swim!" Liam says to the boy, grabbing his hands. "Yay." Zayn says sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Alright well, there's a hella nice guest bedroom upstairs if you guys want it. I don't know what base ya'll are on, but don't be canoodling unless I'm not home or asleep. I'm a deep sleeper." Uncle Ricky said, causing Zayn to blush. Liam just laughed. "Alright. I'll go put my stuff upstairs."

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

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alright, it's time for my emotional, long ass A/N.

I actually have a couple things to say.

1. yeah, there will be a cover change. probably after I end the book. so don't flip out, it's still me. just will a better cover.

2. sorry this is late, I had a lot of shit to deal with and I was just tryna sort through it all, ya know

3. let's get into the juicy details.

I just want to start off by saying thank you. you guys don't even know what I'm saying thank you for, but ill get into that. you all don't know how much you mean to me. and ive already said thanks for reading this book and shit, but I want to get into some real stuff with you all, cuz I think you guys can handle it. I just want to say how glad I am that I joined this fandom. you all are some of the most caring, accepting, funny, beautiful, kind people I know. and ive made so many amazing friends through this app that mean the world to me. I just wanna say how thankful I am. im sorry this is really stupid but I don't know how else to say it. you guys made me realize who I am. and you made me the happiest ill ever be. I started this account about a year ago, and I never though this story would get any reads. I really don't deserve it, you guys. I don't. but anyways, back to the topic at hand. you all have made me confident in who I am. you all have accepted me no matter what, and I don't think you'll ever know how much that impacted my life. I wouldn't be here without you. so yeah, I finally know who I am. or at least, right now. for about a year now ive really been questioning everything i thought I new, cuz I started like getting attracted to this girl. it was really fu.cking weird at first, like not even weird that a girl was liking a girl, weird because nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I just assumed I was straight, because that's what you do in elementary school. im sorry to say, but I associated being gay with being bullied and stuff, so I didn't really want anything to do with it. but being a directioner and shipping all these gay people and reading and writing fanfiction has really opened my eyes, and let me be who I truly am. so here I go. I'm bisexual. might be gay, not really sure about the technicalities yet. all I know is that im definitely not straight. and one of the reasons im coming out to you guys is I know how accepting you'll be, and that's really what I need right now. thank you for those of you who have supported me since the beginning, and to those of you who are just now reading this for the first time. you all mean the world to me. you are all beautiful and amazing human beings that i couldn't have done this thing called life without. so thank you, you all saved me. and now im confident and proud of who I am. I love you all so much. as always,

-zales.