"How did all your legal stuff go?" Nathan asked Donovan as they walked to the basketball court.

Donovan was in a heavier jacket than he used to wear with how cold it had gotten in late fall. Playing in wife-beaters would get them killed in this weather, so they had all added a few layers. Most of them had started playing with gloves too to keep their fingers warm.

"Well." Donovan smiled in an abnormally upbeat manner. There had always been a sad, remorseful undertone to Donovan's gaze even when he was happy, but it didn't appear there was now, and it molded Nathan into happiness for him.

"It must have gone really well," Nathan said with a smile and nudged his arm. Surprised by the action, Donovan nudged him right back.

"Yes. I got to see my son for the first time in a while. It was nice to see him walking around. The last time I was around, he was banged up."

Donovan had been happy to see his son? That was the same one that had lied and condemned him. There really was something to be said about his parental affection. It wasn't as if all parents just loved their children unconditionally, but Donovan loved his son even when he'd betrayed him.

Did Nathan's mother still love him? After he'd hospitalized that boy and ended up in jail, did she still feel the same affection for him? There hadn't been a lot of time for him to think about it, but he hadn't called his mother since he'd arrived here, though he knew he could have asked.

Allowing himself to be distracted by everything going on had seemed like a better idea than hearing his mother's disappointed voice on the other side of it. Inside of himself, he wondered if he didn't frighten his mother now, like how the men here frightened him. What sort of person did he look like to her now?

It wasn't as if she had reached out and tried to call him either. That frightened him too much to consider speaking to her. Not knowing was better than finding out that she no longer loved him.

"Nathan." Donovan elbowed him, and he looked up, though tears were lining his eyes. "Hey, come here." Donovan's arm was light on his shoulder, but welcome. "If you're worried about anything, you can talk to me. I'm here for you."

The offer was nice, and Nathan would certainly take him up on it, but later. They were already at the gate, and the boys in Rachel's gang who didn't go to school were already roughhousing up ahead of him. The rock that landed on Nathan's shoulders and almost tore him from his feet was easily identified as Rachel as she drew him into a headlock.

"Hey, Rachel." Donovan greeted her with his normal groan, and she cackled, but Donovan focused back on his not a moment later. "How has today with Ian, by the way?"

Donovan never saw him in the morning, so Nathan frequently conveyed his horrors with Ian to him, though he hadn't mentioned the last incident. It made him wonder if he hadn't jumped the gun, and then he felt bad that he even thought that. Ian had taken it too far, and Nathan's kindness made him doubt his better reasoning.

"Aside from Rachel jumping on me and giving me half a heart attack, I've had a pretty good afternoon," Nathan answered with a smile.

"Come on! I'm not that bad." Rachel shoved him as she and Tim went into the court to join their gang, the latter looking more comfortable with his sling.

Tim had been getting a lot better, and he used the sling to relax his chest muscles instead of supporting his arm. The gang greeted their two leaders with cries of excitement. A few of them jumped on Rachel while another punched Tim in the arm. Nathan wasn't sure if they were happy to see them or trying to kill them, but they appeared close.

"Oh, um, Donovan, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor."

"Anything." Donovan smiled with eagerness.

Nathan looked away from him, embarrassed. "Reserve that for after you hear what it is. It's in regards to Ian," Nathan elaborated, and though Donovan's expression fell to concern, he waited patiently to hear him out. "I was wondering... well I..." Nathan tried to compose his thoughts so he would stop stuttering. "I'm not comfortable spending time with Ian alone most of the time for obvious reasons, but I would still like to remain friends."

"Okay." Donovan waited for the rest.

"Would it be okay if I... invited him... to play... here?"

"You want Ian, the gay rapist, to play basketball with a bunch of high school boys," Donovan said in a flat tone, but with some chastisement.

"Hey, my guys aren't boys." Rachel bristled, returning to his side with a basketball. They had three of them now that there were so many people. "Ian wants to play with us? That would be cool. You should invite him." Rachel was too inviting of everyone at the pen.

In the back of his head, Nathan wondered if she wouldn't just crawl right into Julian's room if she knew she could.

"I think that's not your choice for the whole group, Rachel," Donovan argued, but Rachel shrugged.

"Sure it is." Rachel leaned back to the guys inside the gates and whistled. They quieted immediately and looked to her with their full attention. It made Nathan jealous of their reverence for her. "Do you guys mind if the homosexual rapist from the pen comes to play with us?"

There were immediate snickers, and Nathan frowned. That was not what she should be yelling in an alleyway, to anyone. There had been so many better ways she could have phrased that.

"Maybe," one of the boys said, dribbling the ball, its sound echoing with the lack of any other noise. "Can we offer up Tim as sacrifice so he doesn't come after us?" The entire lot of them laughed and mumbled other things as Tim shoved the boy with his good arm.

"I doubt he'll come after any of you anyway. I barely want to look at you." Rachel's insult started a discussion amongst them of who was the ugliest, and Nathan smiled. "Besides, I think he has a thing for Nathan anyway. Bring some flowers or something when he comes, that way he can have a proper date with Nathan."

They all laughed again and went back to playing without really answering in words. Their reaction was answer enough.

"I told you, they do whatever I want usually. Even if Ian did touch them, they'd kidney punch him. None of my guys are half the wuss Nathan is, so I don't really think you have anything to worry about. They're really friendly, and if you want to bring Ian into the games, I'm sure they would enjoy it. They do poke fun though, so make sure Ian knows before he comes here. Nothing malicious, just normal guy stuff. None of them are homophobes or anything."

Donovan didn't look convinced and glanced back over to him. "Are you sure, Nathan?"

"Well, I want to spend time with him, but doing it alone is sort of daunting right now. I also think it would be nice to get him out of the house and have him not focus on me every second."

"You know he'll probably still do that," Donovan said. "You can go ahead and invite him. It'll take some getting used to, mostly for me, as I have been avoiding him since I came to the pen."

"Ian's nice," Nathan insisted, though it flattened Donovan's expression to clear denial.

"Uh huh," Donovan said as he grabbed the side of Nathan's head and pulled him off onto the court.

Word count: 1320 -- Edited July 12th, 2020