A/N: This is a collaboration with @vballr147
Enjoy!

Gray jumped a little when she heard the knock at her bedroom door.  She'd been hoping her stepfather, Lin, would have left her alone for the evening, holed away in her room.  However, he'd noticed her sullen mood during dinner and couldn't just leave her moping all night.  But Lin didn't speak teenage girl.  His wife was away at a conference, leaving him home alone with three kids.  Usually Gray was his right-hand man with the younger two, but she'd just wandered away to her room after dinner.

"Come in," Gray mumbled into her pillow, in her pitch black room.  Lin adjusted his eyes as he stepped in and closed the door.  Seb and Franky were both asleep now and he'd decided to chance it.  Hopefully it wasn't a plumbing issue.

"Hey, kid," Lin greeted her gently as he clicked on her bedside lamp.  They were still getting used to each other after about six months together.  Lin knew she'd been through a lot with her father and wasn't ready to completely trust him just yet.  However, they'd bonded over piano and Lin's easy banter was loosening the teenager up.

"Hi," she said softly, not looking at him, as he pulled out her desk chair.  He'd noticed that she seemed to get a bit uncomfortable if he tried to sit on her bed, so he steered away from that.

"You seem a little off tonight," he observed quietly, taking in the sight of her deflated face, messy hair, and the fact she'd been in her pajamas from the minute she got home from school.  "Anything wrong?"

She sighed and closed her eyes tighter.  Part of her really wanted to confide in him, but a big part of her was reticent.  This was all still so new.  A year ago, he would've been the same as a stranger on the street.  Now she was living with him.  That little voice in her head was always telling her, don't trust him, don't trust him.

"No," she said, unconvincingly.  Lin was silent for a moment as she turned around, her back facing away.  Despite her body language, Lin could sense she wanted to talk.  She just needed a little more convincing.

"I know I'm not V," he offered.  "I'm not that hot.  Would you rather talk to her about it?"

"She's busy," Gray reminded him.  Before Vanessa had left, she reminded her daughter to call if she needed anything.  This was the first time she'd be away from Gray for an extended period.  They'd made strides in their relationship and Vanessa didn't want to feel like she was being abandoned.

"Not too busy for you," he corrected her gently.  "And neither am I.  We're busy people, but you and the boys are our first priority.  I hate to see you so upset.  Did something happen at school?"

"I already said I don't want to talk about it."

"Actually," Lin sat back into the chair, " You only said that nothing is wrong, which that response would possibly indicate otherwise."

Gray rolled over onto her side, remnants of mascara flakes were around the rims of her eyes, "Isn't your mom the one who's the psychologist?"

Lin replied with a sheepish grin and a shrug of his shoulders, hoping the teen's sarcasm was an indicator that the prodding was working. "I may have picked up a thing or two over the years."

"Touché," Gray ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a deep sigh, "Yeah, something happened at school."

"Want to elaborate?"

Gray sat up in her bed, and leaned her back against the headboard. Did she want to? No. She wanted to crawl back under her covers and stay there for the foreseeable future. Despite her reservations,however,  she inhaled a deep breath, and exhaled out the first thought that came to her mind, "It's about a boy."

"Oh." The extent of the boy problems he was used to these days was when Sebastian would throw a tantrum whenever Franky would mistake his prized toy, Chase the police dog, as a teething ring. He would have preferred to watch Paw Patrol incessantly if it meant avoiding the idea of Gray and boys. But he also knew, regardless of his own discomfort, he had to be here for Gray. "Okay. What about a boy?"

"It's about Brett," Gray felt a lump in her throat as she said his name, as if her body had been reprogrammed to react at the sound of her, now, ex-boyfriend's name.

Lin's face softened at the sight of his stepdaughter. To his knowledge, the couple had only been dating for around two months. He had learned not only as a teenager himself, but as a junior high teacher that any amount of adolescent dating could feel like an eternity.

"He hasn't texted me since yesterday morning when I asked about our plans for next weekend," Gray continued, "I knew that something was up last night because he didn't even respond to any of the pictures that I sent him."

"Pictures of?" Lin's words came out in syllables, as he tried to externally remain as calm as possible at the thought of what type of photos the fifteen year old may have sent. He wasn't sure what type of conversation he had volunteered himself for.

"What - oh my god," Gray's demeanor quickly switched from sorrowful to irritated, when she realized what his tone of voice was insinuating, "Pictures of the Red Sox schedule, Lin! They're his favorite team, and I was trying to see if he wanted to go to a game in the next few weeks."

"Oh. Baseball. Of course," Lin tried to come off as nonchalant as possible, but he was simultaneously regretting pestering the teen to talk to him without Vanessa here. She was, afterall, the brains of this operation. "With my extensive knowledge of baseball as a New Yorker, he sounds like an asshole based on his team of choice."

Gray didn't even try to stifle her chuckle. Half of her wanted to laugh but the other half desperately needed to cry. Despite her laugh, tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Despite his caution with personal space the sight of his stepdaughter crying was too much. He was next to her in an instant, draping his arm around her.

"Oh, sweetheart," he cooed as she began to let it out. Surprisingly, she leaned into him as he hugged her. "Boys are stupid. So stupid."

Lin didn't know many teenagers but Gray seemed pretty amazing. She was sweet and responsible, got good grades, and stayed out of trouble. She was smart as hell, just like her mother. Gray was a catch and he couldn't see how any boy could just ghost her.

"But I really, really like him," she confessed, dabbing at her eyes with her hoodie sleeve.

"I know he seems like the only guy right now," Lin sympathized. "But if he's ignoring you then he's not worth your time. That's just shitty."

Lin had been a father for about five years but he still let swear words slip. "Sorry. Crappy."

Gray chuckled again, despite her heartbreak.

"No. Shitty," he decided. "It's shitty. Say it."

"He's a shit bag," Gray declared.

"Good girl," Lin praised, kissing the top of her head. "Now, V and Lifetime movies have taught me one thing about broken hearts."

Lin extracted his arm and Gray looked at him, her face less pained. "We need ice cream and comedy movies."

"But I have homework," she said, ever the over achiever.

"Screw homework," he declared, standing up. He held out his hand. "Don't tell Seb I told you that. Kitchen. Now."

Gray grinned and let Lin stand her up. She followed him to the kitchen where he opened the freezer. "Peanut butter or rocky road?"

"Peanut butter," she said, sitting at the bar. Lin nodded and got out two bowls. He dished out a generous portion and found the chocolate syrup. He drenched his own bowl and Gray applied a reasonable amount.

Lin walked to the living room and Gray followed. They both propped up their feet as Lin found the remote. He signed into Netflix and found the comedy section. They agreed on Airplane from the 80's. It was ridiculous and just what they needed.

"So this is the fix?"

"Terrible movies and calories? Of course."

As the opening credits began, Gray settled into the couch, ice cream bowl in hand, "I somehow don't think it's that easy." She had experienced hard things before: the years spent with her father, finding her birth mother, learning the truth behind her conception. They had been unbearable at times to get through. The pain in her chest, however, that felt like a permanent weight whenever his hazel eyes popped in her mind was different.

Lin looked over at the young girl he had grown to view as a daughter over the past few months. "Maybe not completely, but at least now when you see him you can think of how an inflatable dummy can successfully fly a plane and that shit bag isn't even smart enough to realize what an idiot he is." He mimicked Gray's words, which successfully gained a laugh from the teen.

Gray mustered up a small smile, "What was your worst heartbreak like?"

Lin leaned back, "My worst heartbreak?" he mused, "It sucked. In fact, I was dreading it so much I ended up at the doctor's thinking I had injured my shoulder."

"You're joking,"

"Swear to God." Lin nodded, taking a scoop of his ice cream as he pondered on a relationship that was more than a decade past, "It was with the girl I had been with since high school, and there was something in the back of mind that I couldn't shake. It just wasn't right anymore."

Gray listened, neither of the pair paying any attention to the television in front of them, "Do you think that's what Brett thinks of me? That it just isn't right?"

"For the record, I still think he's an asshole, but maybe," Lin admitted honestly, "There is something really amazing about heartbreak though."

"What?"

"It's the end of a chapter; not the entire book."

Gray's eyes shifted from the screen to Lin, tear-filled but not for any reason of sadness. "I guess your next chapter was pretty good, then?"

Lin nodded over towards the collection of photos on their fireplace mantel. One photo, in particular, taken of the family of five after one of Gray's most recent volleyball championship games. "Even better."

Gray smiled with the hope that even though the dull pain in her chest was still there it may, eventually, go away. And even if it didn't, she was confident that she'd have a safe place to turn to.

"Thanks Lin,"

"Anytime, kid."