Title: Resolution for Better
Rating: R
Warnings: Character Bashing, Discussion of Child Abuse, Discussion of Abuse
Fandom: 9-1-1
Relationships: Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley/Lou Ransone, Evan Buckley & Tommy Kinard
Tags: Angst, Getting Together, Happy Ending
Summary: Evan left in what amounted to the middle of the night, fleeing Hershey when his family was on vacation, to hopefully find a new life in Los Angeles with the friend he made years before.
Word Count: 20,715
Beta: Grammarly

2019

Evan Buckley dropped his bag onto the bed of the room he was staying in. It was all because of a friend he had made while at his job. The man had befriended Evan when he had been in a very shitty mood and not worth having anyone make friends with him.

When Tommy Kinard had left Hershey, Pennsylvania, it had been with a promise that he would always have a bed for Evan to crash on when he was finally ready to step out of the shadows of his family.

It took two years, but Evan had to be careful about his actions. His parents were well-connected all over the town and even part of the state, so Evan had to do it slowly and steadily.

It wouldn't take long for them to try and track him once he was gone, and they couldn't find him. It was why he had run as soon as his parents, Maddie, her husband, and their kids, as well as Daniel, had gone on a vacation.

Normally, Evan would be going to make sure that someone watched the kids so that Maddie didn't have to, but her husband had decided that they could take care of the kids on their own, and Evan wasn't needed to suck the fun out of the trip.

They were all in Florida and wouldn't be back for another week and a half.

Evan had packed up everything he cared about from the apartment he rented and made sure that someone else would take care of his things and then deposit the money into the new bank account he had made and finally transfer the rest of the money out of his old one.

Despite everything, he didn't trust that his parents wouldn't somehow sweet-talk someone at the bank into tracking him using the old account.

LA felt like a new beginning.

He just needed to find a way to be here that wasn't the same as what he was back home.

"You okay?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. I promise. I'm just musing about my life. I talked to the police, and I'm going in to make a statement so that they understand that I don't want anyone to know where I am, and if I am considered missing in Hershey, I don't need anyone telling them where I am."

"I know a cop that will be good to talk to. She's a sergeant, and she does good work. I have worked with her before."

"I..." Evan trailed off before he rolled to the side to grab the sheet of paper he had written everything on. "I'm meeting Detective Lou Ransone. I think Sergeant is a little low for what I need. I have no idea what they are going to tell my parents. I did leave them a note, but then they won't have their punching bag to do anything with once I'm gone."

"Look, you know you can stay here for as long as you like, Evan. I'll make sure you are safe. You worry about what you want to do for a job and focus on that instead of paying me rent. You are in a bad place."

"Yeah, you keep saying that."

"And I mean it. You can pay it forward to help others at a later time when you are more financially stable to be able to do it."

Evan nodded his head. He looked at his hands and then up at Tommy again. "Why?"

"Let's go down and work on dinner. I know you said you liked tacos, so that's what's for dinner tonight. The three others who live here want to meet you."

"Three? You said there was Lily, Mia, and Misha, as well as your boyfriend."

"Derek's working right now. He'll meet us after dinner at the bar I wanted to take you to. He stayed late with a patient who needed treatment but had a family emergency, so a few of them stayed over to make sure that he got what he needed. So you'll meet the others, and then we can go from there."

"So the twins are on the same floor as you, and Lily has the basement. Then I have the attic. It's massive up here."

"It is. We used it for storage for a while but then started to work on it when I had spare time. I found a few people willing to help me. I paid for certain things to be done by professionals, like the plumbing and the electrical. It'll be good for you to stay here for a while. I mean that."

Evan nodded. He knew that Tommy was saying it over and over again to make sure that he knew that he wasn't going to kick Evan out at some point.

"So tacos," Evan said as he stood up.

Tommy smiled at him and waved for Evan to go first.

---

Evan had been to beaches on the Atlantic a lot. He hadn't ever been to California before this, and he loved the beach. He wished he had been there before when he was happy.

"This is the strangest place that I have ever had a meeting with a psychiatrist."

"You are the kind of person who needs something a little different. I looked at the forms you filled out for intake and knew that being stuck in a room with me wouldn't do anything good after our first meeting. You have been stuck in a box your entire life. You went from being born to save your brother, to being kept in a gilded cage to make sure that you were there to give it to him if your brother needed something else. Then, when your sister had her first child at nineteen, you took care of the child. You were nothing but shoved into a box and only taken out when it was time. So, sitting on a couch in what is basically a box won't do it for you. After a few sessions, we can see about doing something online. I have a portal for that, but I need to see you and see what you do right now. I can't treat you if I don't know you, and when we did the intake, you were like a stone to me."

Evan chuckled, but it wasn't a good one. He felt like his world was up on its head. Tommy had pushed a meeting with a therapist of some kind on him, and he had done it to make the man happy, but even after his first meeting, just the intake meeting, Evan thought that maybe it was a good thing.

"So, why have you never done therapy before?"

"My parents always seemed to make it something only worthless people needed. I didn't realize that I might have internalized that until I first visited with you."

"You would be shocked by the amount of people who say that kind of thing. There are still some who think it after they are forced into something to keep their job. I'm good with doing what is needed for the patient to get better. So you were talking about trying to find a job when we talked. You said you wanted something that made you happy, but you didn't need to have a purpose."

Evan looked out at the waves again, seeing the glint of the sun on them. "No, I've had a job with a purpose for a long time. I went through college, doing what my parents wanted, which was a degree to be a nurse. I worked in the ER, and then they started to push me into being a nurse in the cancer ward. I did it because it was just easier to do what they wanted. I loved the job that I did, but I think in the end, I need something that's less than that. I might change my mind one day, but right now, I want to do something that makes me happy."

"What was the job you always wanted when you were a kid?"

"I didn't really have anything. I read a lot, but it was science fiction and fantasy. I doubt that being a Jedi was a job I could say I wanted after about ten years old."

"Why not?"

"They aren't real."

"But there are things that are close; you don't strike me as military-minded, so that's out. You don't seem like a cop, either. You have the build for a firefighter. I think that one could make an equivalence between Jedi and firefighter."

"That would run too much of a risk of me being seen by my family or someone else. That's a maybe, but I would have to work on it."

"Okay. So what else?"

"I did a little bit of waiting tables, so I don't like that one. I tried bartending, and it was good."

"During college?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So what else did you try in college?"

"A lot of things, honestly. There was a little bit of freedom while I was there. I applied at the places my parents told me to, and I got into the one that was furthest from home, so while I was at college, they didn't really bother me unless it was summer. They didn't want to pay to have me fly to and from, and I didn't have a car for the first two years. After that, they expected me home whenever they told me to come home, and I couldn't do the jobs."

"Okay, so is the whole service industry off?"

Evan shrugged. "I am not sure. I liked bartending, but I like the connecting with people part of it more than anything else. I will be applying to a lot of jobs, anything that I think I want to try. I can't know if I will like it unless I try it, right?"

"Yes. You did the hardest part before you ever came to me, Evan. You left the place where you were unhappy."

"I took the coward's way out."

"No." Doctor Copeland waved her hand at the people all around them, and then she pointed at a woman who was sitting closer to the water in front of them. "If I told you that she left an abusive relationship in the middle of the night in fear of her life, would you call her a coward?"

"I wasn't in an abusive relationship."

"You weren't? You had no life beyond work because your family used you up. You did what they wanted when they wanted it, not what you wanted. You were bound to them, not unlike a slave. You were abused."

Evan blinked as he thought about it. Doctor Copeland let him have that time to go over her words, not even trying to make him talk, not even about what he was feeling.

The timer went off on Doctor Copeland's phone, and Evan looked at her.

"It's okay. You were thinking your life was rearranged. I normally wouldn't be so blunt, but I think it's what you need. So your homework over the next few days is to take care of yourself and do something you find fun for no other reason than it is fun."

"And to think about my life before this?"

"That was, I assumed, a given of what you would do no matter what I said. Are you okay with me leaving you here?"

"Yes, I'm not going to walk out into the water and kill myself. I've never been suicidal, and I've never even passingly thought about it. It didn't seem like something that would be good."

"Why not?"

"We are out of time," Evan said.

"Ah, we are touching on something I think we need to do."

"I knew that I was useful to my parents, but the one time when I was a teenager, I had a passing thought, but then I thought about how my parents, in the end, wouldn't miss me. They wouldn't care that I was dead. So, staying around bothered them more than having me gone. Of course, they would have to find new babysitters, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't. I am not sure what I feel like doing, so I just...stayed."

"It's a good way to look at it. I'm glad it was the only time you have thought about it. There are people who think about it much more but would never do it, so I wasn't worried about that. You are happier today than you were at the intake meeting, so I'm not worried. Next time, we will settle on a time and place like we did here, and you will tell me about your childhood in depth." Doctor Copeland stood up, brushing the sand she had gotten on her pants off before reaching down for the bottle of water she had brought with her.

"Until next time, Evan."

Evan stayed silent as the people around him enjoyed their day at the breath. He hadn't thought about his life as abuse. He knew he had been used a little more than most people, but he never framed it that way in his head.

After about ten minutes, a kid walked over to him.

Evan looked at him with a smile on his face.

"Should you be over here?" Evan asked.

"No, but you looked sad, and Dad said you were talking with a lady a while back. Did she break your heart?"

"No, she didn't break my heart. She's a doctor, a psychiatrist whom I talk to. She didn't think I would like to talk in her office, so we did it out here. She left me with a few things to think about."

"Oh. Do you want to play?"

"Chris!" a man yelled. He came running over. "I swear you are going to give me grey hair." The man stopped behind Chris and laid his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Sorry for him bothering you. I should have known how he was."

"It's fine. He pulled me out of my thoughts. Are you two having a good day?"

"Yes. We are. You?"

"He had to talk to one of those people like Tommy forced you to talk to," Chris said.

"Therapist? That's who the lady was. I thought it was your girlfriend who had dumped you with how you looked at her when she walked away. That makes a lot of sense. Let's leave him alone, Chris."

"No, I want to stay," Chris said, and he started to drop down to sit on the blanket beside Evan, but he was caught by his father stopping the crutches from moving.

"You have to ask first, Chris," the man said.

"Oh, yeah. Can we stay?"

Evan couldn't help but laugh at the we part of things. It was kind of cute.

"I don't know. I think I should ask a few questions first. What is your favorite food?"

"Dad's tacos. He makes them better than grandma but not better than Abuela, but he lets me help cook them, so that makes them better."

"I love tacos as well. What is your favorite video game?"

"Dad's been letting me play Ocarina of Time on his really old Nintendo 64, so it, or Mario Kart."

"Wow, that's great. I have been playing the newest Pokemon game." Evan thought about how Tommy tossed the system at him when he sat in the living room bored. He said it was one he didn't use anymore, but Evan wasn't sure he believed that.

"Do you like Pokemon?"

"Never played it before."

The man let go of Chris' crutches and let him sink down onto the blanket.

"I give up. Name's Eddie; this is my son, Chris."

"Evan, it's wonderful to meet you. I don't know many people in LA. I just moved to town two weeks ago."

"If you don't know many people, why did you come here?"

"Well, I needed to get away from home, and I knew one guy here. And he promised me a place to stay while I got my feet under me."

"Abuelita did that with us. We stayed with her while Dad found a place to live so we could leave El Paso."

"I was in Hershey, Pennsylvania."

"You left the chocolate city to come here?" Chris asked. The bewildered look was cute on him.

"I did. I had lived there since I was about two; I think I was two when we moved there. I don't remember it."

"I lived in El Paso my entire life," Chris said.

"All your long years," Eddie said.

Chris laughed and shoved his father. He looked at Evan again. "Are you hungry? Dad was just about to go and get us dinner. There is a taco truck over that way. Now I can stay with you, and he can get us all the food."

"You are-" Eddie stopped and shook him ahead. "I wasn't going to get tacos because this one here might turn into a taco or a chicken nugget if I allowed him to eat them as much as he wanted."

"There is nothing wrong with those things."

Chris started to laugh.

"What do you want to eat?" Eddie asked.

"Whatever tacos you wanna get me that have chorizo in them. Maybe chips and guacamole."

"Okay, I'll figure something for you to eat."

Evan rolled to the side to get out his wallet, and he handed over a twenty. Eddie looked like he wasn't going to take it and then thought second about it. He nodded and then smiled before taking off.

"You get your way a lot, don't you?" Evan asked.

Chris smiled and nodded his head so fast his glasses nearly flew off his face. He pushed them back up when he stopped.

"I don't beg for a lot of things but just stuff I really want."

"That's good. I never had something like that." Evan thought about it for a few seconds before he pushed it away and tried to think of something fun. He was hopefully making friends, so he didn't want to drag it all down.

"Why not?"

"MY parents didn't like me. It's why I left. It's why I'm here. I'm looking to be happier in my life."

"Dad and I came here to be happy too. He hated it in El Paso, and I wanted him to be where he might be happy. This place might make him happy."

"Did he want to come here?"

"Abuelita and Pepa are here. It's why we came here."

"Ah, you have family here already. That's good. I got close with my friend, but I honestly thought that I was going to get turned away. He didn't. He took me in, and everything was good."

"It's nice when you can rely on people."

Evan turned the topic to something fun while he waited for Eddie to come back.

It wasn't until Eddie was coming back that Evan realized that Eddie had left his kid with a stranger. He swallowed as he looked around, but he saw that there were a lot of families around. He assumed that Eddie figured that if something happened, someone would stop Evan from leaving with Chris.

Eddie was carrying a lot of food, so Evan wasn't sure what would happen, but Eddie looked happy.

"Dad, Evan ran away from his family as well!"

"What, mijo?"

"Evan, he ran away from his family," Chris said.

"Did he? That's good. Maybe we should make a club," Eddie said. He handed over the food and then sat down himself.

Evan started to open boxes, and he found that all of the tacos had chorizo on them. A second look showed that they were all the same. He handed one set to Chris, who took it with a smile before he started to squeeze lime onto the taco.

It was fascinating watching how fearfully he did it. Eban got lost in it until Eddie tapped his leg.

"Sorry. I don't even think I have ever put lime on a taco with such precision."

"I like to have just enough all over," Chris said before he tossed the lime into the box lid. He reached for the bag that his father was hiding over to him.

It was chips and cheese, while there was a larger bag that had a massive bowl of guacamole. Eddie picked up a chip and got more than a normal amount of guacamole on it.

There was nothing to do but eat and watch the two guys he had just met eat.

"What is your last name?" Evan asked, between tacos one and two. It was something he hadn't thought about. "Mine is Buckley."

"Diaz."

"Sweet. Eddie and Christopher Diaz. I like it. Well, I mean, it's not like you can change...well, you could." Evan just shoved his second taco into his mouth to stop himself from making a bigger idiot of himself.

Eddie was smiling at him with a look that said he found it kind of cute. Evan wasn't sure what would come of this, but he hoped he left with a number. Even just having someone else to talk to would be good, even if they only remained friends. It was the kind of thing that Evan could use more of in his life at the moment. Friends were in low numbers. He had Tommy and the household, and that's it. There had been no one whom he considered friends in Hershey. He had people he was close with at work, but he never did anything with them; his entire life was wrapped in his family.

There was also the fact that he knew deep down that no one would leave him alone when it came to how his family was. He hadn't ever put those thoughts into anything. There was so much about his life that he hadn't looked at on good terms. He had to look at things differently because there had to be changes, even more than just fleeing Hershey.

---

"So, you have a date?" Tommy asked. He leaned in the doorway from the storage area of the attic. It wasn't really used, so Evan had put the things he didn't need at the moment there, mostly his clothes, as he sorted out what he didn't need because of the weather.

"No, no date. I'm going to a guy's house, well, his grandmother's, to help him with a few things that he needs another strong person to help with. His kid will be there. He had planned on having a cousin of his help him, but the guy had an issue today, so I was roped into helping."

"And it's not a date, even though you are standing in the closet looking at your clothes?"

"Oh, that. I'm trying to find a pair of jeans that I won't rip. I have been working out a little too much with you. I think I need more clothes."

"More clothes?"

"Well, not much of what I brought with me works with the weather, or they are too small, or at least getting there."

"Okay, well, that explains a lot of this then. I can take you to some places that I know who have good clothes and will swap the clothes with you. There might also be a few other things you can pick for cheap. What do you have planned for tomorrow?"

"I have nothing planned for tomorrow other than kicking Lily's butt at Mario Kart. She's been trying to get better."

"You are the one that jumped from sucking at it to being the best in the house. It's a little weird."

"I have good hand-eye coordination. I don't mind getting better at it, either.

"How does the job hunt go?" Tommy stepped fully into the room with a smile on his face.

"That's not as good. Why?"

"So, there is a friend of mine who works at a bar who needs help. I'll text you her address, and you can head over there in the morning. She'll be in because it's a converted warehouse, not like the new-age warehouses but one of the old-time ones. The bottom floor is split in two. There is the music hall on one side and then the restaurant and bar on the other. Above are all of the hotel rooms. Usually, it's people who have come into town for the weekend for whoever is playing. She needs help in the bar and, overall, just needs a good head in the place. You have a good head, and there will be chances for you to get higher up in the chain if you keep that head on you."

"That sounds good, but I have to interview, right? I'm not just being handed the job."

"No, you are not being handed it."

Evan came out of the closet and grabbed the last pair of jeans he had to try on. He went back to the closet and listened as Tommy did a few things in the room.

Evan wasn't sure what Tommy was doing, but he didn't care. It wasn't like the man didn't have access to the whole house when Evan wasn't there. At the moment, he was the only one not working, so he worked on making sure that he kept up with the rest of the house. There was not a lot going on in his life, and Evan wasn't sure it was going to change.

"If you don't like the sound of the job, you can decline. I think you'll like Amy."

"I hope that I do. You'll go with me?"

"Sure. I can. I can do the introduction. We can head there for breakfast. The meal is usually served in the rooms, but the restaurant doesn't serve it to customers. I'm sure Amy will make the kitchen give us a meal."

Evan laughed, and he swatted at Tommy with a pair of pants. He shoved him out of the way after a few seconds and started to clean up what Tommy had made a mess of.

There were a lot of clothes thrown everywhere, but not all of that was the clothes that Evan had thrown about.

"How is the station?"

"Good. Good. There is a newer guy there. He's been there for a year, so he will be going off his probation period, and things will be a little different since we will be getting a new one. The guy is a little bit standoffish, but he's been opening up a little more. I would call it that he's just finally settling in, but I think it's more of a whole Stockholm Syndrome thing. We haven't tried to make him feel left out, but I think that in the end, we just made him want to stay with us. He's staying, which is better than the last two probies we got in there. Of course, there are a few stations that sometimes have that kind of issue. I know a few places have that going. There is a station that has that issue with captains at the moment. My captain is worried that they will try and pull him there and promote someone else in the station. I don't have the stuff needed for it yet. I nearly have everything, but he wanted a couple of years to get me trained up. It's why I transferred over because of the track I wanted to take."

"Would they pull him if there is no one to replace him?"

"I have no clue. Or we will get a temporary float captain; we have a few who do that kind of thing. It depends on what the issue is. I've only heard gossip, and I've heard a lot of it. I have no idea what the issue is."

Evan waited for Tommy to head out before he followed him down the stairs to where the rest of the house was up and moving around.

The sounds of Mia and Misha making a lot of noise in the kitchen as they worked on a meal of some kind made Evan laugh. He wasn't sure what meal they were cooking; it smelled like burgers, but it was supposed to be breakfast.

"So, is he keeping you all day?"

"Most of it. Dinner's out on Eddie for helping him while his grandmother is going to be feeding us lunch. I look forward to it because I have heard that she had changed the menu after Eddie got a hold of me."

"That is always good. I like that kind of food. I'll have to see what kind of invite I can snag if you come back and tell us that it was good."

"You just love food," Misha said.

"I do, and my workout allows me to eat what I want of it. So we are on our own for dinner tonight." Tommy headed over to get coffee from the coffee pot. He poured out two cups before he handed over one to Evan.

"There are too many perfect men in this house," Lily said.

"There are three," Derek said as he came into the kitchen. He looked a lot worse for the wear.

"And three perfect women. So the ratio is even," Tommy said. He waited for Derek to come to him and give him a kiss.

Derek then stole his coffee with a smirk on his lips.

Evan loved watching the two of them. From what he had been told, it had been love, but maybe not a lust that had been denied for several years. Mia had been the first one to find them in bed together after a while, but they had denied it being more than just sex, at least for a little while.

"Plans today?" Derek asked.

"Evan's leaving us for food and manual labor after his freakout that his thighs don't fit into his jeans anymore."

"That is sometimes an issue when working out like you have been. Okay, so we will do thrift store shopping soon. Is that one place still there?"

"Yes. It is. I was already telling him about it. So we can make that plan for later. Tomorrow, he's got a job interview with Amy."

"OH, that would be a good place," Mia said. She handed over a slice of toast with some kind of jam on it.

Evan looked at it for a few seconds.

"Just try it. Tell me what you think."

"Are you making jam again?"

"Yes." Mia looked at Evan with a raised eyebrow and a smile on her face.

Evan took a bite, happy to notice it looked like a mixed fruit jam. He could taste the strawberries, but he wasn't sure what the other was.

"Black raspberries. I grow them in the back."

"My grandmother started them, but Mia's been taking care of them. I love to eat them, but that's about it." Tommy pulled Derek back to him for more kissing.

Evan looked away, but he was smiling. He just wanted to have someone like that, but he knew it was going to take time. He needed to work on himself.

"So, how do you have the same number, but your parents aren't calling it?"

"I don't have the same number. I got a new number before I left Hershey. One of the people in a store in Harrisburg was nice enough to allow me to get an LA number before I left there. I blocked my family just in case they got the new number. They could call from anywhere, but still, I'll block anyone who calls me that I don't want."

"And you really don't have anyone you miss back home?"

"No, I wasn't allowed to have friends. Friends meant that I wanted to do things. If I did things, I would get injured, and it might make it to where I couldn't help Daniel, if needed, or even Maddie. So, I wasn't allowed to do anything, really."

"We are happy you came here," Misha said.

"Agreed," Lily said.

Evan looked at her to see she looked pissed off. It was quite a sight to see her looking so pissed off. He knew that all of them had a soft spot for the people that Tommy brought home to give them a family, even if it was a family they chose instead of a blood family. It was something that drew Evan to him two years before and had started him on the path to leaving his family behind.

---

Evan picked up his bowl of ice cream and looked at where Eddie and Chris were planting a few things in Pepa's backyard. He still wasn't sure why he had been told to come for this.

"So, Evan," Pepa said as she sat down at the table with him. She had finished off her ice cream, it seemed.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Hush on that; call me Pepa. Now, Eddie brought you here because I asked him to. He is a good boy who wants to help. I found where your family has been looking for you. I am not sure what kind of response you want. The office I work for has offices all over the country that we work with. We can draft something and have it come from their office. No one would face the kind of wrath that would happen if it was leaked where you are."

"Doctor Copeland and I have been working on not being that worried about them finding me, but right now, since I'm so new at the job with Amy, I'm worried about having to deal with harassment. My mother is more than willing to come here and try to make people think I'm incompetent."

"Yes, that's the way that news back in Hershey and across the whole state has been. Your friend who took care of selling your things and depositing the money is hiding behind her brother's law firm. He's more than willing to spend all of his pro bono hours to protect her and, therefore, you."

"He and I were boyfriends for a short time; I broke it off when my family started to notice that I was happy. I was fucked up, excuse my language, and I still am, but I am working on it."

"It's all any of us can do." Pepa slid a sheet of paper over to Evan. "This is part of the file that I have gone ahead and started for you. We also do pro bono work, which is the kind of thing that pisses off one of the partners in the family law area. He hates when people try to claim that someone is not able to take care of themselves but use them up."

"What has Eddie told you?"

"Probably more than you would like, actually. He gave me enough that I am worried about you, Evan. He's also worried about you."

Evan took his time reading over the whole thing. It read like shit, and Evan wondered if his mother realized that it made it sound like the hospital he had worked at had been liable for having him work there in contact with patients, given that he sounded like he couldn't wipe his own ass without help.

"Can I keep this?"

"Yes. I have an email that I'll send to you with the links to where they are from in case you want to see them for yourself or have your therapist look at them."

"Thanks. I'll take that. I am ashamed of them, so they are not going to stop until I come back and tell the world that I was stupid for leaving my worried and loving family."

"Do you have anything that would work as blackmail? It's the kind of thing that would stop them if it was threatened to be released."

"I have emails from when I was at camp one summer. It was something I had won for being good in a class, and it would have looked bad on them if they had stopped me from going. I saved them and even emailed copies to an email they couldn't access. Those I got when I was about fourteen years old. It was a lot of horrible stuff."

"Good; email those to me, and I'll make sure that they were backed up in ways that make it impossible for your family to tell us that you faked them."

"I was at camp, and I could only check my email once a day; they were always sent when I didn't have access." Evan closed his eyes and he sighed. "Could telling them where I am work in my favor?"

"Not at the moment. I'll work on something. We have paperwork that you need to sign so that the client-lawyer confidentiality is working in your favor on things. So, that can happen tomorrow before you work."

"Okay. Thank you. I have no idea what I did to make people want to help me."

"It was Chris, honestly. He's made a few friends here, but he's been in a shell. You brought him out of it. He also feels like he needs to protect you, like he thinks he protected his father by saying he wanted to come here. He's a little caretaker, but given how his father was when he was around, I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I was married before, and I had to divorce him. I was afraid to marry again, but my Paco made me believe in love again. No one blamed me for the abusive man I was married to before. You were raised by abusive parents, and you cannot be blamed. You had a friend who made you see what it was, and you changed it at a good and safe pace. Much is said the same of women who are in abusive relationships. You left when you could. Let us help you make sure that you are taken care of."

"Okay. Before work tomorrow, I'll come to your office."

"Ev, look!" Chris yelled as he held up a worm that was nearly a foot long.

Evan shuddered and made a face that made Chris laugh. The boy shoved his glasses up on his nose again.

"This is why Eddie told me I had to come, isn't it?"

"I wanted to talk to you and hope you didn't care about me shoving my nose into your business."

"I do forgive you, just...let me tell you what to do next based on what I talk with my therapist about and how things go.'

"Of course."

---

Evan heard the noise of the party that was just getting started. It had something to do with the ending of a soccer league in England, but Evan hadn't gotten enough knowledge about it yet. He was still learning about the overseas sport and the teams who played.

The shift had run over by a lot the night before as Evan had ended up having to go to the local police station to give his statement on the fight that had broken out in front of the restaurant. It had taken hours since the cops were dealing with fifteen people who had seen it. Evan had been called out to deal with it, but by the time that happened, the first guy had already been stabbed, and Evan had just tried to keep the person doing the stabbing from stabbing someone else.

After getting home, he had left a note that he would wake up when he woke up and that anyone who woke him up for anything was going to get it.

It was just after two in the afternoon, so he had gotten about seven hours of sleep, which was better than he thought. It would screw his sleeping schedule if he got more than that.

There was nothing to worry about, really, but Evan still was worried. Tommy had most of his team from the station there and even some of Derek's co-workers he was friends with.

Evan wasn't going to know anyone there, and while the people he lived with liked him, there was no reason to think that anyone else was just going to like him. The parties he had been to in the past were all about him watching the kids so that the parents could have fun. He had never been to a party where he was supposed to just have fun.

Tommy talked about a few people bringing their kids but that they expected no one to watch them but them. There was one guy that Tommy was closer to at work, the probie who was no longer a probie.

"Nothing is going to happen as long as you are standing here," Evan said to himself as he looked in the mirror at himself. He gave a smile before he realized that was as good as it was going to get. He had bags under his eyes, and that was from nightmares. Therapy was helping, but in the end, he was afraid of his family finding him. Pepa was handling most things and making sure that his family was cut off at their knees by claiming that he wasn't allowed to take care of himself.

The smell of food was the thing that drew Evan out of the bathroom. He went to leave his attic and took a deep breath.

Evan slowed down on the stairs from the second to first floors when he heard voices.

"But Tommy said I could play," Chris said.

"And you can when you have eaten something more than watermelon," Eddie said.

Evan smiled to himself and stayed where he was, embracing the few minutes. It seemed that Tommy had invited Eddie and Chris, probably stole the number off his phone.

"He always lets me play when I visit the station."

Evan slipped on the stairs and caught himself, but both voices stopped, and he looked into the eyes of a shocked Eddie.

Chri was turning around, a pout still on his face, until he realized Evan was standing in front of him. "Ev?"

"Hey, guys...so...you work at the 217?" Evan asked.

"I do. You are the guy that Tommy is helping. I should have connected that."

"Tommy only calls you Diaz, and well, it's not like it's not a name I recognize from other people. I didn't connect it either. I wonder if he did." Evan made sure his legs were going to work before he headed to where they were.

Tommy came into the living room from the kitchen. "Ah, sleeping beauty awakes. Good. Eddie Diaz, this is Evan Buck-'' Tommy stopped when Chris wrapped his arms around Evan for a hug. "Huh."

"These are my beach buddies," Evan said.

"Really? You went to a beach for therapy and ended up meeting my probie? I know you have the weirdest luck, but holy hell. Okay, well, good. That makes today better. Eddie will keep the ladies from hitting on you."

"Ladies?"

"Derek's co-workers," Eddie said.

"And they will just hit on me?" Evan knew people found him attractive, but he had never really put himself out there. He had tried to date a few times, but it had always been guys.

Women were nice, but there was something about a guy that just drew Evan in. Evan wondered more than once if he had just pushed women away because of his mother and sister. They were the ones that ruined his life more than once.

"So, that means that I can trust that you are going to protect him?" Tommy asked as he looked at Chris.

Chris nodded his head.

"Good. Though I think a cute kid and Evan together might make people hit on him more."

"Dad can protect him, too."

Tommy laughed at that, and Evan started to blush. There was a lot of stuff that was going on with that.

Evan wasn't anywhere near ready for a relationship of any kind. He wasn't even sure he would ever be ready. He wanted to have someone who loved him, but he knew he needed to deal with everything in his head first.

"I'll protect him," Chris said.

"That's because you are great. Okay, Chris, how about you and Ev stay in here and play games, and then when the food is actually ready, we can pull you and him out? Give him time to get woken up there the rest of the way. I'll get him some coffee. He had a late night with the cops."

"Are you okay? Eddie asked.

"Yeah, there was an altercation outside of the restaurant, and I was part of making sure it didn't get to be worse than it was. It was a lot of paperwork and giving my statement a few times. I was the one who wasn't drunk, so I was kept on ice while others gave their stuff over first."

Evan headed toward the couch, and he picked up the controller to turn the TV and swapped it to the Switch that was hooked up.

Eddie came over with Chris and sat down to keep Evan between them. It felt good, nearly too good, to have people who wanted to protect him.

Evan would never let Chris protect him outside of using the kid as a shield to keep unwanted advances away. He wasn't above using Chris for that.

"Pepa says your family is nearly as bad as my mother and father. She's not sure, but they might be worse."

"To each their own set of parents who are monsters."

Chris handed over the remote to Evan and looked at the screen.

Evan looked to see if it was already in the game. Breath of the Wild, which was a Zelda game, had h not started yet. He figured it wouldn't hurt to start up a game.

It would at least entertain him and Chris.

---

"Hello," a woman said as she sat down at the bar. She looked Evan up and down before she smirked at him.

"Hi, what can I get you?"

"I'm waiting on a friend to get here, but he just texted that he was going to be late, so I'll order food later, so a whiskey sour to start and then whatever drink is on special right now that you think is best but no one else does."

"Sure." Evan knew the drinks like the back of his hand. He didn't want to rush through making the drink as the woman was hot, and while he was working on himself, he was a little lonely.

Sex had never been something he had allowed himself. Yeah, he had fumbled around in high school, but he had never really touched it after that. It had been for times when he needed another body touching his because as much as his family needed him, there was never touch. It was like he was damaged, and they were afraid that they would catch it.

The woman took the drink when Evan had it made, and he moved down the bar to help another couple of people, checking on the woman as he did so. When her drink was about three-fourths of the way gone, he started to make the drink he thought was the best, but no one seemed to like. He hoped that she did.

"So, Evan Buckley, you are not what the media is making you out to be," the woman said.

Evan swallowed and looked around to make sure that someone was close by if he needed them, a woman because he wasn't so stupid that he didn't know that it might end badly if he didn't take care of himself in this instance.

"Taylor Kelly, Mister Buckley. I had a friend of mine contact me about a curious case in Pittsburgh about a missing man who the cops are trying to hide from his family. The Buckley family is, of course, trying to make a big deal out of it. I looked up the story and saw your picture. I knew that I knew you from somewhere when I was here last weekend for a hookup."

"Taylor Kelly, as in the one who does the traffic report?"

"Yes, I work on other things when I'm allowed, and I wanted to know if you wanted to get your word out about this. Do you want your word out there?"

"No, thank you. Anything that I say to the press will be through my lawyer on the matter."

"Did you want to have sex?"

"No." Evan looked at Macy, who was looking at him like she was worried. He gave her a smile that said everything was okay but then beckoned her closer with his hands. He didn't want to deal with Taylor Kelly alone.

"Hey, Evan, there is a special order at table ten that Marco just can't get right. Wanna go and talk to the customer?"

"Sure." Evan gladly handed over the last order that had come through the POS system.

There were a few people who didn't like to take no for an answer. They thought that because he was hot, he needed to be ready to have sex with everyone. It was the worst part of his job.

Once Evan was done with the order, which was strange but not that hard to make. Marco just freaked out with special orders when it came to drinks; Taylor was gone.

"You okay?"

"She was just digging into something personal for a story to make herself big."

"Oh, she's that Tylor Kelly. Damn. Okay, well, Amy will be here in a few minutes to get a few things set up for the dinner rush, so we can let her talk to you about this. You don't need to worry about this all night. She'll kick her out of here, and you know it."

Evan nodded and looked around for a few minutes before getting back into the swing of things.

"You okay?" Amy asked as she stepped up to stand beside him as he made seven margaritas on the rocks for the party up on the deck above part of the restaurant.

"Do you want to work to just cover the part on the deck?" Amy asked.

"Sure, that would be great." Evan was glad of it. The ladies might hit on him, but it was a massive group of lesbians. They weren't going to grab him and touch him in ways that would be a bad touch. No, Evan could easily just do his job and serve them with no issue.

There was nothing to do but work, and once Evan had thrown the encounter with Taylor Kelly out of his head.

When it was time to finally leave, Evan was the last there from the front-of-house staff. He always was. There was always going to be someone in the kitchen to do room service since it ran all night long. The doors to access the place would be shut and locked so it would be safe for the staff. They didn't need to worry about anyone but possibly guests making it down, but there was someone on the desk all night on the next floor up.

Evan went out the back door, grabbing the bag of food he would eat for breakfast in the morning. It had been an order that had been made twice on accident, so it had been up for grabs, and he had gladly snagged it. It would be really good when he finally woke up.

"You okay?" Claire asked as she put out her cigarette as she walked with him toward the parking lot. There was just enough activity in the area that Evan wasn't shocked she waited on him when she hadn't made it out with the rest of the ladies.

"Yeah, just...family shit."

"Family shit sucks. You got family here who make it better?"

"Not blood. I have started to build a found family."

"Good. My family is shit as well. I ran away at sixteen and never looked back. Came out here because my boyfriend at the time wanted to try and make it on the music scene. He didn't and ended up going back home; I stayed because I found some nice people here. So, even if your dream doesn't happen out there, stay for them. You can't go wrong unless they go wrong." Claire kissed Evan on the cheek before she broke off to walk around her car.

Evan didn't move to get into his vehicle until Claire started her car, and the doors were locked. She backed out while Evan was getting himself ready to leave. The car was new; he had bought it from a guy whom Tommy worked with. They had been upgrading to something for their growing family, and Evan needed a car. It had been bought with what little bit of money Evan had arrived with.

The savings account was going up again since he was working, and the tips were nice, but half of them were for him to have fun with, while the other half went into the savings account along with a little bit of his paycheck. He was paying full rent now at the house, which was good. Tommy would only accept the money once Evan had been at the job for a month.

A knock on his window had Even looking to the side. The guy who was standing there looked a little like he needed a few days of sleep. Evan cracked his window and made sure that his doors were locked. "Yes?"

"Roll your window down all the way," the man said. He turned a little, and Evan realized he was in a suit despite his face looking haggard.

"I'm sorry, I will not be doing that. I just need to head home after a long day at work," Evan said.

Evan looked to the side to make sure he had something he could use as a weapon when there was a tapping on his window again. He looked to see the man tapping a badge on the glass. But it was one for Hershey, not LA. He grabbed his phone and dialed 9-1-1. Evan rolled up the window.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" a male asked.

"Hello, my name is Evan Buckley; I'm outside of my work." Evan gave over the address. "I've got a man here who is telling me to open my window to him, and the only ID he has given is an outside-of-state detective's badge. He's from Hershey, Pennsylvania."

"Hold on, and I'll dispatch an officer to your location, Mister Buckley. Are you safe?"

"I'm in my car, but that doesn't mean he won't get inside if he tries to break the glass. I rolled down the window only a crack to allow easier conversation." The detective looked pissed off.

"Do you have any reason to fear an officer from another state, sir?"

"I have pending action using my lawyer to make sure that my family back home can't come and claim that I am not competent enough to make decisions in my life. They are well connected back home financially."

"I see. I'm going to stay on the line with you. I have another worker here giving your description based on the driver's license you acquired."

"Thank you for taking this seriously."

"Sir, roll the window down and get off the phone," the detective said.

The sounds of sirens told Evan that someone was getting closer. The detective looked around and seemed like he was going to take off, but the cop car pulled in, and a woman got out that looked a little pissed off at the moment. She was honestly beautiful. She was older, probably closer to someone who was old enough to have had Evan as a kid.

"Sir, step back from the car."

"I'm on the job."

"I have asked my on-shift commander, and there is nothing about a detective from Hershey announcing his presence in the city as a courtesy. We also ran the gentleman who called, and he came up clean. So unless you want to explain while in cuffs, I would back off and let me talk to Mister Buckley."

"He's mentally ill and slow, Sergeant. He cannot be here, and he ran away from home."

"That's for the courts to decide. He got here."

"Yes, because a man seduced him and used him for sex," the detective said.

"How about you back away, and I'll determine that for myself."

The sergeant walked around the car and tapped on the passenger window. Evan rolled it down about two inches.

"Mister Buckley, I would like to take this downtown. I have someone else coming who would gladly ride with you, and then the detective can come with us."

"I-" Evan huffed, and he looked at his phone. "Thank you, 9-1-1. I'll have to hang up to call someone else, but I thank you for getting me help as soon as possible."

"Of course, Mister Buckley. My name is Josh, and I am happy to help. I hope that your night goes better."

"Who are you calling?"

"My friend, Lily. I live with her and a few other people." Evan didn't want to tell them who else he lived with at the moment. It didn't need to be known. He wasn't sure what the sergeant thought of Tommy or the Stone twins.

"And she is...."

"A lawyer. She's a family lawyer, but she can at least advise me until things go further."

Evan didn't want to bother Pepa either. She would be the best to handle this, but that would happen at a decent hour since he assumed that no one would turn him loose to some random detective from the other side of the country.

"Can I drive myself in?" Evan asked.

"Of course, I just thought that an officer in the car with you would make you feel better about the detective doing something stupid."

The sergeant looked over the car, and the detective huffed.

"Look," the detective said, "I have the paperwork needed for me to leave with him declaring that he's not fit to be out of the company of his family."

"And we will be validating that ourselves because, from the way I see things, this guy is doing pretty well. He knew to call 9-1-1."

"He's good at that."

Another cop car pulled in, but instead of an officer getting out of the passenger seat to come over to where Evan was, it was a man in a suit.

"Oh, okay. Well, Mister Buckley, this is Detective Lou Ransone. He's a good man. He'll ride with you back and talk to you."

"And your name?"

"I'm sorry. I forgot that part due to the issue at hand. Sergeant Athena Grant, badge number 1275."

"Thanks."

"Detective Grace, please get back into your car," Detective Ransone said as he stepped closer. Officer Bethany will ride with you so you do not get lost."

"You are making a mistake, and this is going to blow up on you," Detective Grace said.

"I doubt it. Now, Mister Buckley, do you consent to me riding with you?"

"Sure."

Evan waited until the other detective got into his car before he unlocked the car to allow Ransone inside it.

"Before this, how was your evening going?"

"Pretty good. I had a reporter show up at the bar and wanted my side of the story, and then she asked me for sex. So, I was not the best, but after that, I worked at a party for lesbians. They were happy to look and not touch, which made my day. You?"

"I was working a case late, looking into things, and got the call to come and help. I jumped in when I heard there was a detective from another state here trying to harass a resident of LA; I don't like that. So why don't you tell me in your own words what is going on?"

"I need to call Lilly first. I'll unlock my phone, and you can call her, then put her on speaker so we can get that done while I drive. Is that okay?"

The call took only a few minutes, and it sounded like Lily wasn't going to be coming alone. He wasn't sure who would be coming with her, but it had to be Derek because he was the only one there. Tommy, Mia, and Misha were on shift.

Once that was done, Evan laid out everything that had happened from the moment he met Tommy, whom he only gave a first name for, and the two years of getting himself ready to leave, then what had gone on since he got there as well as what Pepa's law firm was doing for him and how he didn't want to involve them until morning.

"But you are okay bothering Lily?"

"She works for the same law firm, and she's on tap to be the close help on things even though it's not her area of law. I was told to call her if needed. I know that this is going to be a lot, and it'll come out of Lily's hands soon. So she can lose a little sleep, and the others will be good to go."

"Do they have paperwork?"

"If there was paperwork, I wasn't there for it. It had to happen after I left. So, I would say that they used their influence to do it without me ever seeing a judge or the inside of a courtroom."

"Why do you they want you like that?"

"Because they pretty much just want me as free childcare and, of course, on hand for any body part that someone might need. I am something they think they have the right to control because they made me."

"I know a lot of parents like that."

"Well, in this case, they literally did make me. I'm a Savior Sibling. They didn't want me, and I've come to accept that with the therapy I've been in. It's slow going as it's years of being abused by my family without realizing it was what it was."

"Okay, well, we will have access to get restraining orders and other things in place to make sure that your family can't come to you. Of course, those are sometimes only as good as the paper they are printed on, but you live with a few other people, so it would be easy to help protect yourself."

Evan let Ransone direct them where they needed to go. He was happy with making sure that he was safe as he drove, and he kept his eyes on the cruiser that Sergeant Grant was inside of it. The other cruiser was behind him.

When they entered the station, the detective was kept away from him, and Evan was led to a desk while the other guy was taken back to the rooms where Evan thought the interrogation rooms were.

"Sergeant Grant here will talk to you about what we need to figure out who you are and be able to help us resolve this as fast as possible. It's nothing that would need to be under the direction of your lawyer," Ransone said before he headed to the back to where he could talk to the other guy.

"Did you consume alcohol while at work?"

"Yes, but it was hours ago, and it was about three sips of a cocktail the one bartender was working on getting just right. I ate after it. I would gladly blow into a test if you wanted."

"No, it's fine. You don't act like you have drunk anything, but I wanted to be sure. Let's get this all out of the way, and we can go from there. Lou will do good for you."

It was an hour before Ransone came back, and he frowned as he exited the interrogation area. Lily had arrived and was dealing with talking with someone in Pennsylvania about the documents that had been submitted to the LAPD about Evan not being able to take care of himself. Evan had his back to where Ransone was looking, so he had to turn to see what was going on.

Evan shrunk down in his seat when he saw Tommy and Eddie headed for him.

"Kinard, Diaz, what can we do for you?" Grant asked.

"Athena," Tommy said, but his gaze was focused on Evan. "What happened?"

"A detective ambushed me outside of work, but I didn't go with him and called the cops instead. He said he had paperwork from Pennsylvania that said he was to return me there as I am not allowed to make decisions about my life."

"That's a crock of shit," Eddie said.

"And how do you two know him?" Ransone asked.

"Evan lives with me."

"This is Tommy you met years ago?" Ransone asked.

"Yes."

"Way to bury the lede there, Evan. I thought I recognized Lily. Now I get it. He's fine, Kinard. He drove his car here, and Lily will be taking him home. He's not incompetent, and the paperwork that was found on the detective was created after it was established that Evan had left Hershey; the paperwork might be dated from just before, but the electronic paper trail in the system doesn't start until after you have left. So there is a lot that is going to happen with this. The detective submitted, and he honestly thinks that he is on the side of good. So it'll be the person who handed it over and the courts in Pennsylvania that will deal with most of this."

"So I can take him now?"

"How did you even escape?" Grant asked.

"Eddie and I were on a call when Lily texted me. So, when it was done, the captain let us come here."

"Good. Good. Yes, you can take him back with you. We are done with him. He gave his statement. He's got everything on this end done. I hope that you all can get some sleep."

"You are coming to the station. Derek's going to take Lily home."

"She said he left."

"Nope, he's in the parking lot. I'm going to drive you to the station, and Eddie's going to drive the engine back with the rest of the guys."

"You left them in the engine?" Evan laughed.

"No, I didn't. They came in and got snacks." Tommy was smiling as he waved toward where Evan could see a few heads giving someone hell.

He figured he wouldn't get out of Tommy or Eddie's eyesight for a while.

---

Evan relaxed back on Eddie's couch, looking at the man as he glared at his phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. My sister is freaking out about something, but she's afraid to say something to our parents. I think she might be pregnant again. It's her fourth kid, and my mother tried to insert herself into Adriana's life after the birth of her third, but she couldn't take care of them, given that she had two other kids. Which my sister threw in her face since there was more time between one and two as well as two and three than mom had between my sisters and me."

"Am I pretty much under house arrest now?"

"No, Pepa just didn't want to have to chase you down, so sticking you here is the best option. You can go home if you want, but you don't seem to want to be alone."

"No, I got enough sleep at the station. That couch is the best."

"Thanks," Eddie said with a laugh.

"You had something to do with it?"

"No, not...okay, yes. Two weeks into being at the station, I had heard a lot of complaints about it. It was horrible to even sit on. My back ached the one time I did. So I might have made it to where I got food all over it...soup that smelled because C-shift didn't clean out their fridge, and it was disgusting."

"So you dropped it on the couch to get a new one?"

"Yes. It took a week of all shifts complaining. Then we found out the couch was about fifteen years old and needed to be replaced, but then it was decided that it was okay. Which is why we all had back problems, or we sat on the floor."

Eddie sat down on the couch and relaxed back into it, leaning against Evan a little.

"Pepa will be here in a little bit with coffee and breakfast, then she'll take you with her to the office, and things will be dealt with in a legal manner. This was the kind of thing that pissed off a lot of them. The partner who works your case is livid. According to Pepa, I think that even Hershey heard the fit he threw this morning."

"I don't...I'm not used to people caring about me."

"And that's shitty. Chris will expect you here when he gets back if he hears any of this, and Abuela is the one who will end up spilling the beans. It's like that woman can't keep a secret like that. She does well at things that will hurt, but she likes you."

"She told me last time if I call her Isabel, she's going to not talk to me for a week and not teach me how to make your favorite version of tres leches cake."

"Well, she tried to teach me, and it failed. I can't make it without fucking it up. It tastes good, but it just looks like shit and doesn't stay good for longer than like a few hours before it's just destroyed. It sucks." Eddie tipped his head onto Evan's shoulder, and he hunkered down before turning on the TV.

Evan hadn't even seen Eddie grab the remote. He wasn't sure what kind of thing Eddie liked to watch. It wouldn't be long before Pepa was there, so they wouldn't be able to get into anything, really.

"I'm gonna sleep a little. Pepa will let herself in, so don't worry about that. Sleep with me."

Evan swallowed because Eddie's words were something he wanted to read more into, but the man hadn't acted like they were anything other than friends. Or at least not that Evan could tell, but then he had never dated before, so Eddie could be throwing a lot of signals at him, and he would never know it. He needed to work on that. There was a lot of stuff that Evan had no idea what was what when it came to anything personal. He would have to talk to Doctor Copeland. They were meeting at a park the next day before he went on shift, and this would take up a lot of his time talking to her.

There was stuff that wasn't even on his mind as far as a relationship came. He needed to be happy with himself. Which was something he had never felt before. He had existed for his family for far too long.

"I'm going to get a tattoo," Evan said.

"You don't have any?"

"I always wanted one, but I never got up the nerve to do it. My mother hated them, and while the act of rebellion was something I had been debating for a long time, I also didn't want to be thrown out of the house. I loved...there is a part of me that does love my family, but I can't be around them. I hate them, but I love them."

"Well, you figure out the tattoo you want, and I'll go with you to get it. I could do with some more ink myself."

"You have a few tattoos; Tommy said something to that effect."

"I do, and I can show them to you later."

The sound of the door opening and shutting said they didn't have time for that nap. Evan was okay with that. He liked this right here as it was, honestly.

Pepa came in with a grim smile on her lips. She looked like she was dressed for war.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, this has opened a can of worms back in Hershey. Your former boss is up in arms, and there is a huge thing going on. Your parents tried to state that the job let a man seduce you into leaving your job when the job knew you were not competent to make those decisions."

"I got a nursing license and even got an extended degree!" Evan tried to sit up, but Eddie pulled him back.

"Yes, well, the hospital is not taking the defamation of its name by saying they hired someone who has such mental issues. There is also the whole thing that your family knew where you worked. Your family visited all the time. Why, all of a sudden, are you so unable to live your life? Given the high profile of all of this, we are going in front of a judge in a few hours. I'll help you pick out clothes to wear."

"I don't have a suit. I never needed one, and I am not sure I would fit in one if I did have one."

"Yes, you have been bulking up. Working out with your friends has helped. We have a few suits at the office that we use for other pro bono cases. We can use one of those; you only need to look good from the waist up. Eddie, help him make his hair look good. The curls are cute and will help us without making him look wrong."

"Si, Pepa. Let's go, Buckaroo," Eddie said.

"Buckaroo?"

"Eh, Chris really likes calling you Ev, and there aren't a lot of good nicknames for Evan. I thought about just Buck, but Buckaroo sounds better to me."

"If anyone else hears you, they are going to want to do it too," Evan said. He felt warm inside that Eddie even wanted to have a nickname for him. No one had ever done that. He had been Evan his entire life until people called him Ev, which was a nickname of sorts, but he hadn't really been called it until recently. Buckaroo took a little thought; it wasn't just a shortening of a name.

"Are you ready for this?" Pepa asked.

"Not really, but I have to be, don't I? So how is this going to go?"

"Well, we will be at the courthouse because there will be a judge overseeing this side of things; he's just there to make sure that, per California, everything is good and the arraignment for the detective happens. Until it can be proved that he didn't know the paperwork was false, he's going to be here. If we all have to go back to Hershey for something, we will, but the hope is that we can do it all over the Internet for now since things are fluid, and back and forth would not be good for anyone in this case. You may end up in a room with your lawyer and a judge alone to do a competency hearing of sorts. Nothing is going to work in their favor; I promise you that. They will not like it at all."

"Okay."

Pepa smiled as Eddie finally corralled Evan out of the living room toward the back of the house.

---

Evan knew that no one knew what was going to happen, but the FBI showed up and then a few others as well to take the judge in Hershey into custody since he was a federal judge and things were interstate, which was not what he expected to happen. His parents were under arrest as well. Maddie had screamed for several minutes before the judge in California cut the feed and allowed the FBI into his courtroom.

"I'm sorry; repeat that, please," Evan asked.

They were still in the courtroom, and the judge had gone out to lunch.

The FBI agent smiled at Evan, and she nodded. "I said that the judge your parents used was well known in the state to be one who granted parents and even siblings control over others. There are at least four different families who lost their kids in his court. So, he's going to be looked at hard. It wasn't on our radar until your lawyer approached us about this all. We have already worked through things on a higher federal level, and you will not have to worry about your family again."

A man stepped up and handed over a sheet of paper.

"What's this?"

"That's the list of items and trusts that are in your name," Pepa said.

"What?"

"I was made aware about an hour ago when I was handed the list. We are already working on getting access for you and everything."

"This has just been days," Evan said.

"We move fast when it's corruption that we can use your information to easily track back to what happened. Then we just had to find another, and from there, it was like dominos. We also have a lot of good people who do this. Your law firm knows how to get a hold of us if anything else happens. On a federal level, there is a restraining order on your family and from the detective who is in custody. They are not allowed to hire anyone to approach you, so if someone does about all of this, call the cops. We don't play with this, and they will see further charges of harassment if they continue."

Evan had no idea what to say, so he just nodded as he looked at the paper again. It wasn't a lot, really. The house that was strangely enough in LA that had been given to him by his maternal grandparents was the only interesting thing. He could see the small picture, and he knew that place. The last time the rest of his family had gone to LA to stay, they talked about renting a house. It looked like it was the house that was in his name. He was going to put a stop to that. It was a two-story house, so Evan figured he would end up selling it. Even if he was in a place for a relationship, and he and Eddie weren't together, he wouldn't want to live in a place long term that would not allow Chris to go everywhere. The house with Tommy was a little different as Chris had a room on the first floor; it was one that was used mostly when someone was sick or injured and couldn't take the stairs or people just stayed over after a party.

"I think that I'm done for today," Evan said.

"Of course," Pepa said as she started to rub his back.

"Let's get you out of here. There is a little press outside, and that one reporter you were talking about is out there as well, so we can take you out the side," the judge said.

"Thank you for today, for helping as much as you could along the lines of your job."

"I wasn't going to see someone abused here and not put a stop to it. I would have made sure you weren't to leave LA if the judge in Pennsylvania pushed it. I would make sure it didn't have to. I dislike when the courts are used to abuse people even more."

"Thank you." Evan had no idea what to say to anything. No one had ever cared about him, and that sent him into a spiral of sorts.

"Eddie's waiting on you," Pepa said.

Evan nodded. He hadn't wanted Eddie in the room, but he was in the hall waiting to take him to Doctor Copeland's office. Despite being better at visits that weren't in the room, Evan thought that maybe he needed the clinical side of things right now.

Pepa led Evan out to where Eddie was. Only it wasn't only Eddie. It was everyone from the house as well.

"You are supposed to be working," Evan said as he looked at Lily and Derek.

"Eh, we thought that maybe you could do it with some support. So, we are going to get lunch after your visit. Eddie's going to take you, and then we are all going to find a place to invade so that we can get a room or something," Derek said.

Evan couldn't help the tears. Eddie was the first to wrap Evan in his arms. The rest of them followed. It was a horrible thing to be crying over people liking him, caring for him, and whatever else they felt about him.

Evan resolved to get better for himself as well as everyone else around him.

---

Evan rolled over, and he groaned before he realized that someone still had their arm around him. He wasn't sure what was going on. The night before had been movie night at his house, and therefore, he had no one who should be in bed with him.

"Stop wiggling," Derek said.

Evan opened his eyes and saw that it was Tommy in front of him. He swallowed before he closed his eyes. He knew it was Derek behind him. He wasn't even in his bed. He felt like he had gotten drunk and stayed drunk for hours.

"What happened?" Evan had been so tired he was afraid of what he had done.

Therapy had been intensive, and he had been on the edge of a breakdown. Doctor Copeland was happy with his progress, but it was a thing he was pretty sure he needed to break fully before getting any better.

"You were so tired and afraid of going to bed alone, so we pulled you up here, and then you had a breakdown. I think it was the one that you warned us you were going to have. At least, I hope it was. It was rough, but it's okay." Tommy pulled Evan closer.

"I feel...hungover, really," Evan said.

"That's to be expected. You were pretty bad off, but you weren't horrible. Just cried a lot and used the pillow as a tissue. We got rid of that one. I might end up burning if there is no saving it. Which is fine."

Evan laughed, and he stretched as Tommy finally let go of him. Derek followed just a few seconds later.

"You meet with the financial planner today, don't you?"

"I do. The house here in LA is going to be sold. It's nothing close to what I want. They know a guy who buys houses to flip them, and it needs a lot of work to get done, so I can get it off my hands quickly for 10% about what it would go for to get their hands on it, given its location. The two trusts were something my parents couldn't touch, and I'm glad of that. I never knew about it, and well...if I turned thirty and hadn't touched it, it would go to Daniel and Maddie. Which I haven't done yet."

"So that's why they were all about getting you out of here."

"Yes. I was never anything but money to them. It's not even a lot of money. They are all pretty well off. Maddie's husband does well for himself. Daniel brings in a lot of money. I doubt my grandmother ever thought that they would ever tell me about it."

"To people who value money, any amount of it that they have to do nothing to get, they will take it. This was easy: abuse you and get it," Derek said. He sat up and looked down at Evan. "Also, I didn't bring this up last night, but I heard you have a date tonight."

"Yes. I...I wondered why Detective Ransone was taken off my case. He had picked up a few others that were more his speed, but still, he was so careful with me that night. Then he saw me out and about with Chris the other day and asked me out. I wasn't even sure what he was asking at first. I am not sure what to think of it, honestly. I'll have to think about what I do to do. He said that it was up to me." Evan waited for Derke to get out of bed before he followed him. He was in a pair of shorts that were not his, but he wasn't shocked to be like that. He probably had put them on, but even if not, it wasn't like Derek and Tommy hadn't seen him in skimpy clothes before. The last time he had gone to the beach, he had been in trunks that were more revealing than these.

"Breakfast plans?" Tommy asked.

"I am heading to the place that Pepa told me about that is close to the financial guy's office. I'm hoping that it's as good as Pepa says it is. I do not want people around either."

Tommy nodded and smiled. He got out of the bed, looking like he was doing something he hated.

Derek had to get ready to head to work a little earlier than normal since Tommy needed to be dropped off. His truck was getting serviced, and a part had been close to breaking, so the repair guy had kept it, and the part had come in late the day before. So when Tommy was off shift tomorrow, he would pick it up.

"Worried?"

"No. I mean...if it fails, it fails, and I hopefully never have to see him again. If it doesn't, I'm actually more worried about that part of it."

Evan knew it was strange for someone his age to have never really dated before and grown up as part of normal society, but he had been ingrained to not want anything for himself.

"Well, just remember that he's a cop, and that means that he should stop when you tell him to, and if not, then report his ass, no matter how pretty he is."

"He is pretty," Evan said.

Derek laughed and shoved Evan toward the door so he could head out.

"We tossed your clothes in the bins here; once they are clean, I'll put them in your ante-chamber," Derek said.

Evan stuck his tongue out at Derek but was happy they loved little jokes like that.

The attic area had been so big that Evan had gone thrift shopping to find screens that he could use to make up a couple of rooms. There was a small library that was just boxed off with the shelving units.

It made the place a little smaller but made it easier for people to come up and not invade his bedroom. The first room was what Evan called his living room, but Derke had started to call it his ante-chamber.

Getting ready for the day, Evan enjoyed just standing under the water for a few minutes before he started to clean up. The morning ritual had evolved over time.

The move to LA had been for the best, and Evan loved it. He had gotten out of his shell and felt like he was finally finding himself. He was happy to know himself finally.

The date with Lou was something he was looking forward to, but the after, the actual having a relationship, was the thing that scared him the most.

Evan did have a tinge of guilt about not going on a date with Eddie, but there was something blocking that. He wasn't sure if it was just that Eddie didn't see him that way or if there was something else. Evan had dropped a few times that he was ready to start dating.

"Heading out!" Tommy called from a floor down. There was little chance that Tommy would hear him over the water, so Evan just hoped that Tommy wouldn't come up into the attic.

Evan waited to make sure before he started to wash the soap off. There was something good about the feel of the soap sliding off. It didn't take much for his mind to conjure the image of Lou that Evan had last seen when agreeing to the date.

Lou had been the picture of someone that Evan wanted to strip clothes off. The man was taller than him, but he was good-looking. He was also kind.

Evan groaned as he realized he was aroused. Sex with his hands was about the only sex he had for years. Picking up random people had never felt good the few times he tried it, and dating was impossible, so he had just learned how to pleasure himself to the best of his ability, usually in the shower, as it was the only time he was sure that no one would walk in on him.

The lube in the shower was something Evan had used for years, and he was glad that it was carried in LA as well. He had been going through more than normal of it.

Evan had always been submissive when sex was on the table, but he wasn't sure if it was a by-product of his growing up or not. He hoped to figure that kind of thing out with Lou or maybe someone else if Lou found him to be too much.

He wouldn't be shocked if he ended up being too much for people. There was only so much people could handle.

The slick feel of his hand on his cock drew Evan to the forefront of what he was doing. He didn't need to focus on anything but his own pleasure.

Images of Lou laughing when they had visited together before came over his mind, and he tried to imagine that with them in bed.

Lou pinned him down to the bed and held his hands as they kissed, keeping things slow and steady so Evan didn't get overwhelmed. The feeling of being held down didn't bother him in his head, and he liked the thought that Lou wanted him to feel it all. To feel something good and know he was allowed to want what he wanted.

Evan came, not muffling the cry at all. Even if any of the houses heard it, they wouldn't care. He had heard Tommy and Derek going at it in the shower more than once since his room was pretty much right above theirs. Mia had brought someone home once, and she had not been quiet at all. They were all adults who could manage their own lives and what they heard or not.

---

The bar that Evan walked into was not one that he ever thought he would step into. It looked like something out of one of those movies he had seen a little bit about set during the twenties and thirties. The outfit he had been told to dress in that was approved by Lily matched the theme as much as possible. The dress pants were a little too tight, but Evan could do with that.

For a few seconds, he was afraid until he realized there were very few heterosexual-seeming couples.

"You look good," Lou said as he stepped over toward Evan with a glass of wine in his hand. He handed it over before nodding toward where there was a table that was empty except for a glass of what was possibly scotch.

"You do as well."

Lou was dressed in a suit that wasn't something Evan could see him wearing to work. It was pinstripes and was a soft gray, with the stripes being purple. It was custom.

"There is a fun show tonight, but we can leave before it or after it. The restaurant you wanted to go to has a reservation for us. We can make that with either option; if we leave early, we can go on a walk around the park close to here."

"Sounds great." Evan debated for a few seconds before he kissed Lou on the cheek.

Lou drew him back and kissed him on the lips carefully and gently.

"I'm not going to break," Evan said.

"No, but I know how you have reacted to things that you are a little unsure of yourself in this, so I am treating you like you matter."

"Is this date part of the reason why you stepped back from the case?"

"Yes, and no. I was asked to take on something else that was more in my wheelhouse, but I could have easily kept both if I needed to, but I was drawn to you the moment I first saw you at the bar."

"At the...before that night?"

"Yes. Being smacked in the face with you being the one who was there that night on that call, I was kind of upset about that. Then, I was given a pass. I trusted the detective they put on your case after that."

Evan let Lou take him over to the table. The glass of wine was good, but Evan wanted to have something a little stronger.

"I was a little upset about it all, but I understood. You were working on a case that needed you, and my case was pretty open and shut. It was easy to hand it off to someone you trusted."

Lou took a sip of his drink before he waved the waiter down when he made a pass close to the table.

"Anything you don't like?"

"I haven't really eaten many things I outright hated. However, I have a few things I ate that I didn't like that much, but I don't remember much about them other than I would know them by taste. Why?"

"They have a lovely little appetizer platter here that is mostly cold things, and I like it. It wouldn't fill us up by any stretch, and it would be good to soak up a little alcohol."

"Sure. If there is something I don't like, I just won't eat more of it."

"The platter, and can we get a drink menu for the table? My date has not been here before to know what is on offer, and after the wine, he'll want something else."

"Of course."

"This place is fun. I look forward to what you want to show me about it."

"Later, they will open up an area for dancing, but it's not late enough yet."

"What kind of dancing?"

"Whatever kind. The songs will range from fast to slow, so we could dance to any of them. Nothing too crazy like the throwing people over shoulders and stuff, just typical club dancing. We don't have to either; we can talk, and I would be fine with that."

"I have never danced like that, so maybe some slow songs? School dances were not allowed, and please don't let me drag the date down too much."

"Nonsense. I understand what kind of things that have been kept from you. It's your life, and I'm not going to tell you that you cannot tell me the things that impact it unless you are droning on and on about it and unable to let go."

"Doctor Copeland tells me a lot of the same. But my family abused me for years, and I don't understand what trust is."

"I can see why. You seem to trust Tommy, but I also know from what I heard that it took two years for you to finally go to him, and then once you did, you seemed like you were going to be kicked out. I can't even fathom what has gone on in your life. I can only try and listen and help you work through it, as a friend or as more."

"Dating is weird. I took girls out on dates in high school, usually like double dates and such, when my parents weren't able to stop others from inviting me in front of them, and they couldn't say no or be deemed weird. I am paying for myself. For this part and dinner later."

"That's fine. I don't mind at all. What is something you want to do for a date at some point?"

"Disneyland," Evan said.

"Disneyland...oh," Lou said. He swallowed, and the pain in his eyes was readily visible. "That might work as a date, but I would think that group effort would be good. I'm sure that Eddie and Chris would love to go. We could all work out something and do it over a weekend when the firefighters are on their long shift off. We could break off and do date-like things a few times, but I think that it's best if you did that kind of thing with other people."

"I didn't think of it like that. I have tried not to go alone. It's a place to go with other people. I didn't want to just ask people to go with me."

"If you are afraid of asking, I can do it and cage it as a date, but I do not want to exclude Eddie, Tommy, and Chris from them all seeing you there. I'm sure that Eddie's taken Chris a few times, so there might be a few things Chris wants to do, but I think he would cater to what you want."

Evan smiled and finished his wine as the waiter brought the drink list. The tray in his other hand was full of drinks. Evan peeked at them and smiled as he saw a few there that were good. His alcohol tolerance had been rising as he worked at the bar. He didn't drink to being drunk most nights, but he realized that despite his size, he was a lightweight when it came to drinking before starting to work there. He was happy to do what he needed to get better at his job, and sometimes, that was working on new recipes and drinking what he made if needed.

"So, what do you like about working with Amy?"

"You know her?"

"She worked at a bar that got a lot of calls because they didn't allow shit to happen in there before she got that place up and running; it was on my patrol path when I was a uniformed officer. So, I got to know her well. She ran a good place and didn't let shit happen there from the start."

"I like working for her. She's a good boss and lets us stretch our wings. Next week, I will take a few days off from the bar and work in the kitchen. I taught myself to cook since my family never did. One of the guys from the kitchen wants to know how to work the bar, so I'm going to work with him one night, and then he'll cover for me. He wants the hours if people call off. He can use all the money he can get, and so Amy's willing to train him all over to work for anyone who calls off as much as he wants as long as he doesn't work more than six days a week. She doesn't want him burning out."

"That sounds like a good boss. I knew she would be. So you like working there. I'm glad. I thought at first when I saw you working there one night that you seemed too nice to work there, but you really do know how to be stern."

"I learned that in the hospital. I was good at what I did there as well, and I loved it, but the job is tainted a little bit. I might go back one day and get some classes to be able to work here, but right now, I like working for Amy. I think Tommy wants to try and get me to join the LAFD one day, and the idea is nice, but I am just not sure I want that kind of life. I have no idea what I want, really. It's just the kind of thing that takes a lot of talking."

"How did you get into nursing?"

"It's what my parents wanted, and I wouldn't go against them back then. Even working there as long as I did, I didn't get the kind of jolt I needed until Tommy came around. I still never figured out what he was doing there beyond vacation. He got injured, and I met him. He opened my eyes."

"How?"

"Should we be talking about this?" Evan asked.

The waiter came back and got their next drink orders and promised to bring them when he brought the appetizer.

"Yes, it's fine. We can talk about whatever, and I want to understand you, Evan."

"He heard the way that Daniel talked to me. Daniel worked in the same hospital. Then Maddie came by; she also worked there at one point until being a stay-at-home mother was too important for her after she had her last kid. That kid looked a lot like Daniel as a baby, so I assumed it was why she cared more about staying with the kid. Anyway, Tommy didn't like how Daniel talked to me about personal things and what I had to do to make him happy. So, he waited for Daniel to leave and then vented his spleen. I wasn't sure about it at all, really, but then he left and came back the next day to get the cast put on his arm after the swelling had gone down. I had not been able to stop thinking about it. He asked me out in front of the others, and then just two hours later, Maddie was there bitching about me going on a date with someone when she needed me because she and her husband were going out. Tommy hadn't left, and I thought he had. When I left that evening after my shift, I went to Maddie's and watched her kids. But Tommy had known I would, so the next day, he was at the hospital again, ambushed me in the parking lot, and we made plans for that evening without anyone else hearing about it. It wasn't a date; it was just letting me talk to him about what I thought."

"And it was born, and you took a couple of years to get things set up. Why?"

"I knew they would never let me go if they even thought I was leaving. I didn't expect anything like this. I was a tool for them. They hated to lose it."

"Do you miss your nieces and nephews?"

"Yes and no. I miss seeing them, and I hope that one day I can explain to them why I left like I did. I wrote them letters, and I will be sending them with Pepa. There is no one who is on my side there, so I doubt that it will do any good. They will be what their parents make them. I don't miss feeling like I was just there to watch them. I never got to do things I wanted to do with them. Maddie has their life structured out."

"They don't get to be kids?"

"Not really. Even Chris, with the limits he has, is more of a kid than they are. It's hard to think about, honestly, how they are. I hope that one day, they break out. The family lawyer will know I don't mind if they come to me. I would shelter them to save them."

"And what else?"

Evan started in on things he had planned years ago that he would do with his own kids and how he had been thinking of doing with his nieces and nephews if they came to him.

The food and drinks came, and they both just talked. It was a very low-key date, and Evan was kind of happy about it. Lou wanted to know him, wanted to understand him, which was something that he had never really thought about someone wanting.

"What's wrong?" Lou asked.

"Just a thought. It's not about you."

"It might not be about me, but I want to know you, Evan."

"You want to know me, and while Tommy and Eddie are like that, it's still a strange feeling for me. I'm getting used to it. Doctor Copeland tells me that I need to get used to it. I'm working on it."

"Well, I do want to get to know you, and while there are many who might think that this kind of thing is a heavy topic for a first date, we didn't really have a normal meeting at all."

"Dance?" Evan asked once he had finished off his drink and half of the appetizers were gone.

"Yes." Lou stood up, and he held out his hand, and the music shifted to something slow and steady, with a tune that made Evan want to dance close to Lou.

Evan wasn't used to giving in to what he wanted; for once, he wanted to just let go.

---

"I am going to take Derek over there, and you guys have fun with that," Tommy said.

Evan laughed and gave Tommy a look of shock before Lou drew him along with him.

Eddie and Chris were already heading toward the line for the Tower of Terror.

Not all of them ever wanted to ride the same ride, so if Chris couldn't get his crutches on the ride safely, whoever wasn't on the ride would wait for them at the exit point with them and anything else.

The day had started off pretty well, and Evan was having the time of his life. It was their second day in Disney, and they had the next as well. Chris had a day off school, so they had planned to make the most of it.

"Dad, next time we have a two-person per-seat ride, can I ride with Lou instead of you?"

"Of course, mijo," Eddie said.

Lou and Chris had become fast friends, which was good as Evan wasn't sure that he could be happy with someone whom Chris hated. Eddie didn't seem to have made a decision about him yet, but he at least trusted Chris with Lou.

Derek and Tommy were slipping off all the time, and it was evident that they were just having fun people-watching more than riding the rides and such.

The people were having fun, and even the ones who were not acting like they were having fun were fun to watch.

"You okay?" Eddie asked as Evan drew even with him.

"Yeah, just enjoying this, honestly. I...the last time that my family went to a theme park beyond Hershey Park, I had to sit with the kids who were too small to ride things. I never got to do anything. I had to sit and watch, and while I'm watching a lot here as well, I'm enjoying it because I know I can go on it."

"Good. If you need a little time alone, I can take Chris somewhere."

"You are not taking him to Star Wars alone, Edmundo."

"Who told you?" Eddie asked before he bumped his shoulder against Evan's.

"Pepa said it once. I am not sure if she meant me to hear or not, but I laughed when she winced a little. It was like she didn't realize I was there. I wanted to save it for a good moment, and I think I did."

"I won't take him to Galaxy's Edge without you, Evan. He would throw a fit on his own, much less the one you would throw afterward."

Evan laughed and looked at Lou, who was giving a strange look. Evan raised an eyebrow, but Lou just smiled at him and shook his head.

He wanted to push a little, but he didn't think he should, given Eddie was there and even Chris, who was still about ten feet in front of them. The line wasn't too long, which was good. They were about to get into the inside part, so Chris waited for them.

"Have you been on before?" Evan asked.

"No," Chris said. He looked at his father and smiled.

"Neither have I. We meant to when we were here the first time, but then Chris got tired, so we saved that for the next time. I'm glad there are more than enough of us to carry him when needed. It made yesterday a heck of a lot better." Eddie smiled at Evan and then looked at Lou and did the same.

Evan tried to figure out what was going on, as it seemed things had changed even over the last few minutes. He wasn't sure what.

"So what are we going to do for dinner?" Lou asked once they were all in line.

"There is a place that Chris wants to eat at close to the hotel we rented," Eddie said.

"Oh, yeah. That sounds good. Whatever he wants. I just want to have fun," Evan said.

"That sounds wonderful," Lou said. He pulled Evan a little closer, and for a few seconds, Eddie's eyes shuttered, and then they were clear again.

Evan looked up at Lou and then back at Eddie again.

"Everything okay?" Evan asked.

"Yes, dear, it is," Lou said before he kissed the top of Evan's head.

Evan felt like he was in the middle of something that he wasn't sure what it was.

---

"How are you?" Evan asked as he stepped outside onto the balcony before looking at Eddie.

"Good. It's been a day."

"What's wrong?"

Eddie sighed, and then he laughed. "You know, as much as you miss certain things, there are some things you catch, and I hate it. Lou and I are fine. We will work through this. It's been a little bit of a learning curve with him and you dating."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, there isn't."

Evan could hear the unsaid words at the end of it, and he wasn't sure what Eddie was saying about that. He stepped back inside to see Lou standing off to the side with a bottle of beer in his hand. He stepped up and passed the beer over.

"Stay here, dear. Let Eddie and I work this out. You can't help on it."

"I want to. I don't like it when my friends don't get along."

"You can't change this; only he and I can. Don't worry about it. We are going to talk, and things are going to change. Don't worry."

Evan stayed where he was as Lou stepped out onto the balcony and shut the door. Chris was already asleep. Tommy was out getting something for breakfast for all of them in the morning. Derek was getting ready for bed. It was nothing like what he wanted to be doing at the moment.

Lou was the first to sit down on the balcony, and Eddie followed right after. It was strange to see Eddie laughing a little a few seconds later. Lou kept looking at Evan every few minutes. Evan didn't like it, but he needed to watch. He didn't think the two of them would ever get into a physical fight. There were a lot of things that both of them could lose if they did something like that. So they just sat there and talked.

Before he knew it, Evan had the beer gone. It was something to think about, and he wasn't sure that drinking more at the moment was a good idea. He hoped that he didn't lose Eddie over this. He knew that Lou said he wouldn't, but it wasn't Eddie who had said it.

"You okay?" Derek asked.

"I have no clue what is going on out there, and I'm worried."

"Ah, the catfight over you."

"What?" Evan jerked his gaze away from Eddie and tried to read Derek's face. "Catfight? Over me?"

"I know what's going out there is the two of them figuring out a way to be friends when Eddie wants you just like Lou does."

"I went from no one wanting me ever outside of sex because I'm hot to this? You have to be wrong."

"Nah, Tommy would probably kill me for telling you, but Eddie was upset that Lou beat him to the punch, and Tommy wanted to make sure that Eddie didn't take that out on you or Lou. I mean, he had his chance long before this, and we all know that you were a little off while doing a deep dive into therapy for a while. You were getting your feet under you, and things were strange. Then you started to come out of it, and even Eddie knew that you kind of liked him like that, maybe. Then Lou came into the picture. I knew it would blow up, but they are trying not to stress you. I think it was crazy for Eddie to ask to come along."

"I asked him and Chris."

"Did you ask him around Chris?"

"No, I asked him first as I didn't want to get Chris' hopes up if Eddie couldn't do it. Eddie agreed with no issue."

"And that's why he's a dumbass."

"Couldn't I just date them both?" Evan asked.

"You want to go from never dating anyone to dating two guys in a month?" Derek asked.

"I...don't want to lose them, and Lou was the first to step up, but I had thought there was something there with Eddie as well. I wasn't going to just accept it was going to be. So I went with Lou. I felt something there as well. I just...I can't wait around forever for someone."

"No, you can't, especially if they would not ever make the first move or you weren't sure that they felt the same about you. So, I understand, but how does that go from dating one to dating both?"

"Have you looked at them?"

Derek looked out at where Lou and Eddie were now talking more animatedly, and it was obvious they were laughing as they did so. "Okay, I see that they are a little on edge even though they are laughing. How can you tell that?"

"I learned some things over the years. Just not a lot when it was focused on me. Of course, this is nothing if they don't want to do something like that, and I might lose them both."

"I would say make a leap, but then you are not settled into life yet. Maybe this will be too much. Don't do anything stupid."

Evan was about to say something when Lou and Eddie looked at him through the door. Lou waved for Evan to come.

"Wish me luck," Evan said. He stood up and walked to the door. Evan paused for a few seconds before he opened the door. He stepped out onto the balcony and shut the door; he didn't move to sit down.

"We've been talking. It was a little hard, but in the end, we think that you deserve to know what you are feeling."

"Can we just all date?" Evan asked as soon as Eddie stopped to breathe.

Lou's eyebrows shot up, and he seemed to falter a little bit. It was just a few seconds before he was turned to face Evan fully. Eddie was still just speechless and looking at Evan like he had said he wanted to fly to the moon in a ship made of macaroni.

"That is...not something I expected from your mouth. Sit down, Evan," Eddie said.

Evan looked at the pair of them before he walked over to sit down. He turned the chair around to where he could be facing the both of them and also see Derek on the couch in the living room area. Tommy would be back soon, and Evan hoped this was over with.

"You really want to date both of us?" Lou asked.

"Yes. I think so. I want to have both of you and don't want to lose either of you. When you asked me out, Lou, I was honest when I said I needed time to think. This is why. I was debating if this was something I was willing to try and maybe lose my chance with Eddie. I decided in the end that Eddie probably wouldn't ever make a move. So it was the choice between what was on offer and what I might never get."

"And so now you think you can get us both?"

"I mean, I can tell that you two have something going on there. I want to say that you will get along, but we know things might change. I can't lose either of you. I don't want to. I want to have my cake and eat it, too, but I also want to change things up. Can we do that? Please? Can we try?"

"And if one of us doesn't like it?" Lou asked.

"We can go back to being friends, and I hope this didn't ruin who we are, but if it did, it wasn't meant to be."

Eddie sighed, and he looked between them. "I need time to think about this."

"Of course, we can table it for later. I don't want to push. Let's have a good day tomorrow, and then we can all just take some time to think."

Lou nodded his agreement, and Evan wasn't sure what this would become, but he hoped he got what he wanted in the end.

---

The soft knock on the door to his room had Evan looking. No one in the house knocked like that. Even Lou didn't knock like that the one time he had come over a little early for their date. Evan grabbed a shirt and slipped it on before he walked to answer the door at the bottom of the stairs. He opened it to see Eddie standing there. Evan looked behind him but saw no Chris. The look on Eddie's face said this wasn't fully a social visit or at least not a fun one.

"Wanna come in?" Evan asked.

"Si."

Evan stepped back to allow Eddie to go up the stairs first. He looked around to see if anyone was looking out of their rooms, but no one was. He shut and locked the door so that no one just came into the room.

"Everything okay?"

"I want to hate you," Eddie said.

Evan had wondered since he had heard from Lou, but even Lou hadn't heard from Eddie yet. They were mostly waiting to hear from Eddie before any decisions were made.

"Which sounds like you don't," Evan said.

"No, I don't. You are so earnest, and you look at like with a kind eye even if you haven't actually had someone be kind to you until recently. I want to take you by the hand and hide you away from the world so it can't hurt you anymore."

"And that's why you want to hate me?"

"No, I want to hate you because I could have accepted being in love with you. I could have accepted whatever you wanted out of me, but then you had to utter the words about just all three of us dating. Polyamory was never something I thought about, but it's all I have thought about. The only real exposure I have ever had to it was one man with many women, and it never sat right with me. They can make their own decisions, but we know that religion fucks people up."

Eddie started to pace, so Evan let him. It wasn't hard to see the way that he was reacting to all of this. He was freaked out and freaked out people did strange things.

"My parents will never accept me if I am dating two guys."

"And you want them to?"

"No. I woke up this morning, and I knew I was going to say yes, and I knew that it would make it impossible for my father and mother to be nice to me anymore. I'll have to go no contact and let Pepa or Abuela take care of visits. Pepa told me when I asked her that she would be willing and that she would also make sure that if they started to alienate him from, she would make sure they regretted it."

"Parental alienation is usually only in divorce cases, but it can come up in other ways. A girl I went to school with had her mother lose all rights to her because of it. She tried to turn her against her father. The rest of the family was helping as well." Evan stepped closer to Eddie, but the man was still pacing. He didn't get in Eddie's way but just didn't want him to feel like he was alone in this.

"I messaged Lou to come over. I heard you lock the door."

"I can text him to get the key from someone else once they let him in. Just in case, there is a key in the kitchen to all bedrooms. We all know the risks of not having another way into the bedroom. Well, I've been told about them." Evan held out his hand, and Eddie stopped pacing and took it.

"I have no clue what I am doing."

"Neither do I, but what I have read about it all since I started to look into it, I know we all need to talk. It's probably going to get tiring to talk so much, but I would rather get tired of talking than to end this because none of us did."

Eddie pulled Evan in close, brushing their cheeks together. It was intimate in a way that made Evan gasp a little. Eddie chuckled softly, and then he pulled Evan in a little before wrapping his arms all the way around him. They stood like that for several minutes.

"Well, that answers that question," Lou said.

Evan laughed, but he didn't pull out of the hold. Lou came up behind him, laying a hand on the small of Evan's back.

"Tommy said that the door was locked, but he assumed since Eddie incited me over that you would both not mind me coming up. He unlocked it and then took the key with him. I locked the door back."

Eddie finally let go of Evan and stepped back, his face flushed with a blush. "I'm sorry it took me a while."

"Catholic upbringing," Lou said.

"You wound like you know it well."

Lou shrugged at Eddie's statement. "I was raised that way until I was twelve, and I told my parents that I would throw an unholy fit if they took me back there. The priest wasn't even paying undue attention to me or other kids as far as I could tell, but the way they were was not the kind of person I wanted to be. So, I just made sure that I became who I wanted to be. Let's sit down."

Evan looked at the loveseat and two chairs before he chose a chair to sit in. Despite the money that was now his, he didn't feel like he wanted to move out of Tommy's place. At some point, he figured he would be moving in with a boyfriend, but it seemed maybe it would be two. He was happy with having the time for them to get to know each other better and work on what would be between them.

It seemed like it was going to be a trip for them to get to know if they were going to work together, but Evan was going to be along for the ride. He felt like he deserved two hot guys who he liked after the life he had.

"So, let's talk about what we resolve to do," Evan said.

The End