Start the song. It's So Good At Being in Trouble by Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Tyler made sure to protect Josh on his second day of school. He followed up on his promise from the day before, kissing Josh every time he saw him and going out of his way to run into him more often. By fourth period, Josh's eyes lit up whenever he saw Tyler. He didn't seem as anxious when his husband was there to walk him to class.

At lunch, Tyler didn't eat with his team or go home for lunch. He found Josh and Ashley sitting together. Ashley was trying to explain history homework to Josh, but Josh couldn't wrap his mind around World War I not really being the entire world.

Instead of taking his own seat, Tyler slid behind Josh in his chair, making Josh blush as Tyler wrapped his arms around his husband's waist and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, cutie pie. How's class?" Tyler asked him with a smile.

"Okay," Josh replied shyly.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Don't cushion it, little spoon." She looked at Tyler then with a wide smile. "Josh gets to be moved back into honours English. Which means-"

"We have a class together!" Tyler cheered, hugging Josh tighter.

People were staring, but Tyler couldn't bring himself to care. Josh was his husband and his best friend. He could handle the judgment of people he didn't care about if it meant letting Josh know he was completely and utterly adored.

Josh laughed when Tyler kissed his cheek again. "So now I have one with both of you."

"Lucky us," Ashley commented.

Tyler grinned, high-fiving their wife. "Hell yeah. Now Ashley and I just need a class together." A thought struck him then. "Wait, I thought English was your class with Josh."

"And history," Ashley corrected. "Which is a blessing in disguise because this one could tell you the entire history of Satanism and The Family backwards and forwards, but a couple of things were missing from his homeschool curriculum." She reached over and pinched his cheek, making him laugh. "But he's still so smart that I know he'll do just fine in this class."

Josh stiffened when Brad came and sat down next to them, speaking to Tyler in a tense whisper. "I heard from Mark who heard from Kasey who heard from Dylan who heard from Jon that Rick's coming for your boy again at fifth period."

Clearly uncomfortable having another large unfamiliar boy near him, Josh shrunk back against Tyler. Unlike yesterday, though, Tyler was here to protect Josh from anything and everything that scared him. He tangled his fingers with Josh's.
"What class do you have fifth, honey?" Tyler asked Josh gently.

Josh looked anxious about saying it in front of Brad, but powered through anyways. "Chemistry."

Tyler nodded, kissing Josh's shoulder. "I'll walk you there, okay? And if he bothers you, I'll kick his ass."

"Dude, we're sort of already on it," Brad told Tyler. "My class is next to Josh's and Mark is in the same one, so we'll be around. If that piece of shit tries anything, I'll just knock him out so you don't get in trouble and neither does Josh. You cool with that?"

A smile tugged at Tyler's lips when he realized Brad was asking Josh for his permission. It seemed to take Josh by surprise too.

"Why would you want to help me?" He asked Brad in a small voice.

Brad shrugged. "We look out for our team, man. That means we've got Tyler's back in everything, so if his family is being fucked with, we'll take care of it. Besides, bro, we owe you. We were shitty to you the last time you went to school here. You didn't deserve that shit. We can't make that up to you, but we'll try."

It was very clear that Brad had no idea how monumentally those words would affect Josh. Josh hid his emotions like he'd been taught to, but Tyler could see how much that had meant to him. He nodded, fiddling anxiously with Tyler's fingers.

"Cool. We got your back, dude," Brad assured Josh easily before looking to Tyler. "We're playing that annoying Christian school again tonight."

Tyler groaned at the reminder. When Josh looked worriedly at him, he explained, "We've never been able to beat them. It's so annoying. Then they always tell me they're going to pray for me and look at me weird. I hate them. They think I'm still in a cult or something. It sucks."

Josh smiled slightly. "Yeah, I can sympathize."

Tyler laughed, wrapping his arms more firmly around his husband's waist. "Well, I'm glad because they can't. They all think there's something wrong with me, but they pretend they don't."

His husband was quiet for a minute, turning Tyler's hand over and tracing the cross scarred into the flesh of his forearm. "They say they'll pray for you?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, but it's in an underhanded way, like they think it's going to offend me when they say that."

Josh glanced self-consciously at Brad before looking to Tyler again. "Because they think you're a Satanist?"

"Yeah."

"So use that against them," Josh suggested.

Tyler opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment and laugh it off before Brad interrupted.

"Oh my God. That might actually work. It'd throw them off." When Tyler gave him a disbelieving look, he shook his head and continued. "Think about it! They know you have ties to Satanists, but no proof you are one. That's why they still act like shitheads around you. They think they can get away with it and that it's a joke. If you convinced them you are a Satanist, it might scare them enough that we could win."

It actually made perfect sense to Tyler. He looked at Josh with wide eyes, earning a shy smile back. He returned it widely. "How would we convince them?"

"Devil's eyes," Josh replied simply.

Ashley shook her head. "Absolutely not. You almost died when you had those."

Brad's eyebrows raised slightly, but otherwise he covered his surprise quite well. Tyler really liked Brad.

"I'm not going to poison Tyler. We're just going to put the eyes on him before the game. We can sanctify them while the other team is there. It'd be perfect," Josh explained.

A blush crawled up Tyler's cheeks. "Does that mean you're coming to watch the game?" He asked quietly.

Josh smiled. "Do you want me to?"

"So badly," Tyler confirmed.

"I'll be there," Josh promised. "Besides, you need a prophet's blood to sanctify the paint. Luckily for you, you have that at your disposal."

Brad's eyes widened. "You kept your dad's blood?"

"No, he just inherited the title," Ashley explained. "He doesn't do anything with it, but technically he does have it."

Brad nodded, seeming satisfied with that response. "Cool, I guess. So how do devil's eyes work? Am I allowed to ask that?"

Instinctually, Tyler wrapped his arms tighter around his husband, placing his chin on the older boy's shoulder. His husband melted back against him, and Tyler smiled when he realized Josh was holding Ashley's hand under the table.

"The elders always said it was to bring Satan into your body so he could do what needed to be done in bad situations, but we kind of know now that they basically just gave us a bunch of belladonna, which makes you hallucinate," Josh explained nervously.

Brad looked sad as he nodded. "Dude, you're such a fucking badass for getting out of there. That must've been scary as shit. My brain can't even process that."

Tyler glanced at Ashley in surprise. Her expression mirrored his. After spending so long having no one understand or try to understand what they all went through, Brad was taking everything in stride. He wasn't prying for information or trying to unsuccessfully relate past experiences of his own to theirs. He was just listening and offering Josh reassurance.

"Thanks," Josh replied quietly, looking down at the table top.

Ashley cleared her throat. "Josh, what if they all had devil's eyes? They wouldn't have to actually go through the ritual or anything, but wouldn't that scare the other team more?"

"I'm pretty sure my dad would rise from the grave and slit my throat, but it's worth a try," Josh replied. "Ash would have to teach us how to paint them on. They only ever taught girls how to do that. Abigail might know too, but I'm not sure."

Tyler grinned. "Wait, are you actually going to let us do this?" He asked Josh.

"This game is important to you. I'll help however I can," Josh replied easily.

Tyler turned Josh's head, studying his eyes for any hints of obligation or hesitation. When he found none, he pressed his lips to Josh's softly before smiling at him.

"I love you," he reminded Josh, making him smile.

"I love you too."

There was a hint of protectiveness in Josh's eyes, which made Tyler smile. His baby was learning to find his strength again. Pride swelled within his chest as he pecked Josh's lips one more time.

"And you swear this is okay with you? You're not agreeing to something you're uncomfortable with just because you want me to be happy?" Tyler asked carefully, knowing full well that his husband had a tendency to do exactly that.

His heart seemed to grow in his chest when Josh picked up Tyler's hand and linked their pinkies together. "I swear."

Tyler kissed Josh's forehead before looking back to Brad, who looked a little less comfortable than before, but was clearly still really trying to be here for Tyler. "Okay. If you protect my husband today, we'll make sure the whole team is painted up and ready to scare the shit out of those private school jerks. Deal?"

Brad held out a hand for Tyler to shake, which he did. "Deal. For the record, though, we'd still be protecting him even if there wasn't anything in it for us."

He seemed more than a little surprised when Ashley leant across the table and kissed his cheek softly before sitting back down. "Thank you," she told him sincerely.

Colour rose to Brad's cheeks as he nodded before waving quickly at Tyler and leaving their table. Tyler grinned at Ashley, and she blushed.

"Was I not supposed to do that?" She asked, smiling almost shyly.

Tyler snickered, leaning over and kissing her lips softly. "He's just used to admiring you from afar. You just made all his dreams come true."

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a ziplock bag of mini powdered donuts before handing them to Josh, whose eyes lit up.

"You're beautiful, Ashley," Josh explained for Tyler. "You've always had a ton of people who wanted to date you hanging around. You just never noticed because for some reason you don't realize that there isn't a single girl on earth who even comes close to being as beautiful as you."

Ashley was speechless for a second as Josh popped one of the donuts into his mouth, completely unaware of how her eyes lit up in a way Tyler hadn't seen in a very long time.

"I look like a mom," Ashley said then, the light dimming again.

Josh's eyebrows drew together as he looked up from his donuts. "So? What's wrong with that?"

Ashley shrugged. "I'm fatter now."

Tyler rolled his eyes, but Josh's approach was much more gentle. He climbed out of Tyler's lap before sitting in the chair on the other side of Ashley. She didn't look at him as he took one of her hands in his before sliding his other hand up her shirt and resting it on her stomach.

"Did I ever tell you about when I was homeschooled inside the community?" Josh asked Ashley.

It wasn't what Tyler was expecting him to say, but it definitely caught their attention.

"No," Ashley replied quietly.

"Well, one of the things they taught us was that after your wife has her first child, she becomes a full goddess. She's created and carried life, which is something men can never really do unless Satan gave them the blessing of a stronger body than other men. They taught us that once she's had that first baby, you have to worship her like a goddess," Josh explained.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked curiously, and Tyler smiled when he realized she was starting to look less self-conscious already.

Josh smiled slightly. "I mean that all my life I was told that this was when you'd start becoming the most beautiful to me. The Family got a lot of things wrong, but they were right about that. Lately, all I ever want to do is look at you. You're gorgeous, Ashley. You're a goddess."

The blush the painted itself across Ashley's freckled cheeks made Tyler smile. She looked so overwhelmed with happiness that he couldn't help but feel the same.

"You really are," Tyler confirmed, resting his head on her shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to her neck.

"I love you," Ashley said softly, looking to Josh and then to Tyler.

"Love you too," they both promised her.

The bell rang, and Josh looked a bit nervous. Tyler reached into his backpack and pulled out the one thing that he always drew strength from, even when Josh had been gone. He took Josh's hand in his before setting the charm from the amulet in his palm. Josh's face softened as he looked at the crest.

"You're safe, sweetheart. Nothing's going to hurt you. I'll pray for you all day, okay?" Tyler told him gently.

Josh smiled up at Tyler, and there were tears gathering in his eyes. "You kept this?"

"Of course I did. My little spoon gave it to me," Tyler replied, and Josh smiled even wider.

He hugged Tyler tightly, wrapping one arm around Ashley as well. They all held each other for a second, building up the strength they needed before they broke apart.

Brad and Mark came back over then, and Tyler wondered if they'd been waiting for Tyler and his spouses to stop fawning over each other before approaching. The thought made him smile. His teammates were weirded out by this, but they were still trying. Just to prolong his team's suffering, Tyler kissed Ashley softly before doing the same to Josh, who was then kissed by Ashley.

"I'll see you after school, okay?" Tyler promised them.

They both nodded. Josh slipped the amulet charm into his pocket before standing. He picked up his backpack before allowing Brad and Mark to lead him out of the cafeteria. Ashley sighed as they watched him leave.

"I hate that he always feels scared, and there's only so much we can do to help," she said sadly.

Tyler nodded, picking up his backpack as well as hers. Their classes were by each other, and no goddess should have to carry her own stuff when someone else was available to carry it for her.

"He's learning. It just takes time," Tyler reassured her.

She nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm really proud of him."

Tyler smiled as well. "Me too."