There were voices right next to my right ear. What were they thinking, talking so loudly when I wanted to sleep? What were my parents doing in my room, anyway? They hadn't come in here ever since they had seen the video.

When after a few seconds they still didn't stop talking, I let out a quiet groan.

They fell silent immediately, then I heard my mom's voice again, even closer to my ear now. "Is he awake? Jules, baby, can you hear me?"

Why wouldn't I be able to hear you? Why are you calling me baby? Why do you sound so worried? You don't worry about me anymore.

"Come on, honey, open your eyes. Look at me."

A cold hand ran through my hair, finally startling me awake. My eyes opened reluctantly, blinking into the bright light.

There was too much white in this room. The walls, the curtains, the sheets, all of it was hurting my eyes.

It took a few seconds for me to realize that I was in a hospital.

"Mom?" I muttered and looked up at her ashen face.

Her eyes were red and swollen, her quivering lips pressed into a thin line. She looked at least ten years older right now. "Jules," she breathed and pressed a wet kiss onto my forehead. "God, I was so worried about you."

My head felt too heavy when I lifted it to catch a glimpse of my father, who was sitting in an armchair by the window. He looked just as tired as my mom, but instead of relief, there was irritation evident on his features. For a second, I wondered why he was wearing a suit, but brushed the thought off as unimportant.

"What happened?" I rasped.

"You wrecked your mother's car and interrupted my business meeting, that's what happened," my father snarled.

I winced and sank back into the pillows to hide from his angry stare.

"Andrew," mom snapped. "Now is not the time." Her tone was softer when she turned back to me and said: "You got into a car accident. You hit your head on the steering wheel, so you have a mild concussion and a small cut on your forehead, but nothing worse. We can take you back home after a quick check-up, alright?"

I nodded numbly. Something was off. How had I gotten into a car crash? As hard as I tried, I couldn't remember anything that had happened last night. I knew that I had been going out with Hunter, but-

"Hunter," I choked out and gripped my mother's arm. "Mom, where is Hunter? Is he alright?"

Mom's reassuring smile slid from her face as soon as I spoke his name. Her voice was strained when she shortly answered: "He's fine."

"Not for long," my father said. "When I get my hands on that bastard-"

"Dad, no. It wasn't his fault!"

"You're right. It's yours. This is what you get for acting against our rules."

I didn't have the energy nor the will to argue, so I just turned my head and stared at the ceiling in silence.

Mom inhaled sharply and spun around to face my father. "Don't say such things. You don't really mean that."

When he just stared at her, unyielding and unaffected, she took his arm and led him out of the room.

As soon as the door fell shut behind them, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. My mom's suddenly new-found affection was almost as unsettling as my father's repulsion. At least I was used to the latter.

I didn't have much time to dwell on my thoughts as only two minutes later, the door opened again. A small gasp fell from my lips when I saw who was standing there.

Hunter was by my side in five strides and almost crushed my hand when he gripped it, as if he was scared I'd vanish as soon as he let go. "You're okay," he whispered. It sounded almost incredulous.

My hand shot forward and grabbed his chin on its own accord. "Are you?" I asked with equally as much concern and turned his face from side to side to check for any bruises. The weight on my chest lifted a little when I didn't find any.

"I'm alright." Hunter looked at me for a few seconds with a weird look on his face. There was insecurity and relief and something else... guilt? His voice was barely more than a whisper when he asked: "Is it... Can I kiss you?"

I blinked up at him in bewilderment. Why is he asking? He knows he doesn't have to do that.

Instead of answering, I propped myself up on one arm and pulled him into a short kiss.

As soon as his lips grazed over mine, I noticed that something was different. He seemed almost scared to touch me and left his hands by his sides instead of holding me close. He was being careful and let me take control instead. Not once did he push or take initiative.

After a few seconds, I let it go in favour of concentrating solely on the feeling of him. He was probably just being careful because I had gotten one to the head.

"You need to go," I whispered when we eventually separated. "My parents will be back soon."

Hunter looked like he wanted to say something, but then he just nodded. Only when he already had one hand on the door handle, he turned around and smiled tentatively at me. "Thank you."

Before I could say something and ask what the hell he was thanking me for, he disappeared in the corridor outside, leaving me alone with dozens of questions and my lips still tingling from the weight of his mouth against them.

+++

"It's just a mild concussion and a small cut on your forehead. You might feel dizzy and nauseous and have a headache, but that should wear off in a few days. It's important that you rest and avoid too much physical effort."

I nodded slowly. Somehow it was kind of hard for me to follow the doctor as she was running through all the results of her check-up.

She seemed to notice and smiled warmly at me. "It isn't unusual that the brain will process new information a little slower for a few days. You might also experience memory loss of recent events, but in most cases, it's temporary."

So that's why I can't remember last night.

"You're really lucky nothing worse happened to you, young man," the doctor then said with her hands on her hips. "Take this as a lesson to drive more carefully in the future."

"He won't drive at all," dad said before I could answer.

I spun around to him with an incredulous stare. "You're joking, right?"

"The time for jokes is over," he answered, stone-faced. "Your car is getting fixed right now. When we get it back, I'll sell it to someone else."

"Dad, you can't-"

"It's for the best, sweetie," mom interfered and slung an arm around my shoulders. "You're clearly in no condition to drive lately."

The doctor awkwardly clearing her throat to direct the attention back to the matter at hand interrupted the tension between us. "Well, I hope you feel better soon, Julian. If you experience any type of physical discomfort during the next few days, don't hesitate to call. Have a nice day."

I nodded and forced a smile onto my lips.

As soon as she was gone, my father gripped my arm, hard enough to hurt, and dragged me out of the room.

We didn't get very far. Only a few steps down the corridor, a door opened and out stepped-

"Victoria," I hissed.

Victoria looked different than usual. Instead of being dressed to the nines, she was clad in sweatpants and a baggy shirt. Without tons of makeup on, she looked like an entirely different person; for the first time I could see the dark circles under her eyes and how pale she actually was.

"Oh. Hello, Jules," she said.

I raised a brow when I heard her voice. She didn't even bother to lace her words with disgust or anger, like she usually did. Her tone was flat and tired. Exhausted, almost. "What are you doing here?"

"Hunter hasn't told you?" she asked incredulously.

I shook my head, taken aback by that comment. For some reason I felt like I was supposed to know why she was here, but even when I concentrated, I came up with nothing.

You might also experience memory loss of recent events, but in most cases, it's temporary.

"Well, I'm not gonna steal his thunder then. He's got some explaining to do. I'm sure you'll be delighted when you find out." One corner of her mouth quirked up in a tiny sneer.

"Right," I muttered absentmindedly, still trying to remember what this was about.

"I guess Jules will never find out then," dad cut in. "This is not going to happen again. From now on, we'll do everything necessary to keep him away from that boy."

Victoria nodded and smiled brilliantly at my parents. "Of course I'll try my hardest to assist with that. It's as much in my interest as it is in yours, after a recent turn of events."

"Thank you so much, Victoria. You truly are a blessing," mom said warmly.

I couldn't hold back a snort, ignoring my father's grip tightening around my arm.

"No worries, Mrs. Hatcher. I like to help where I can, especially when it means helping a friend. Hunter told me about the car accident. They both could've gotten seriously injured last night. I think that's just another sign that they clearly aren't good for each other."

"Because you're always so careful when it comes to Hunter's well-being, right?" I asked. Keeping my voice calm was one of the hardest things I had done in weeks. "I could see how great he was after he'd been with you."

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you should be damn careful what you're doing to him," I hissed and stepped as close as my father's unforgiving hold on me allowed. "You should've seen him Friday night, after you left him there. He... he wasn't okay."

"It's not my problem that he can't handle the news," Victoria said with a shrug.

Still not knowing what she was talking about, I pointed at the door at the end of the corridor. Through gritted teeth I pressed out: "Get out of here."

Victoria's lips curled into a scornful smile. "I was on my way out anyway." With that, she walked off and only turned around once more when she had almost reached the exit. "I'm so glad nothing happened to you, Jules. Have a nice day, Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher."

I stared after her, not even bothering to try and conceal the disgust on my face.

"We're leaving," my father declared and dragged me after him, out of the exit Victoria had just disappeared through.

I searched the parking lot for her, since she couldn't have come far yet. My eyebrows shot up in surprise when I saw her getting into a car. Only when I got a good luck through the windshield, I saw that it was Sean's. He was gesticulating animatedly between them and seemed to be shouting, but Victoria seemed entirely unimpressed.

Before I could find out what all of it was about, dad opened the door to the backseat for me and told me to get in. I did so, albeit reluctantly.

The twenty minutes it took for us to get home were the longest twenty minutes of my life. There was a tense silence only interrupted by my father's occasional swears at other cars. Mom reached to turn on the radio once, but after glancing at dad's stony face, she dropped her hand back into her lap and stared out of the window instead.

When we finally arrived, dad wasted no time and stormed into the house with my mom and me in tow. "Go to your room," he said, barely looking at me.

I figured that resistance was pointless, especially since my head had started pounding again, and headed towards the stairs. The way to the second floor took longer than it should have, since I was feeling dizzy and had to cling onto the banister to stop myself from tripping.

Mom, who had been watching me worriedly from her spot next to the door, noticed and hurried towards me. I struggled to stop myself from flinching when she slung an arm around my waist and helped me the rest of the way.

Instead of letting go of me at the top of the staircase, she led me to my room as well, despite my protests.

I stopped short as soon as I set foot into the room. Someone had been in here and hadn't even bothered to be sneaky about it.

Finally shaking my mom's hand off, I slowly turned in a circle to take everything in.

They clearly had searched through my stuff, things were laying differently than I had left them. Even the drawer with my underwear had been thoroughly rummaged through, as I could tell after a quick look into the wardrobe.

The drawings I had worked on were still scattered across my desk, but I knew after a few seconds of going through them which of them were missing. One night a few days ago, the feeling of missing Hunter had been overwhelming, and since I didn't have any photos of him, I had gone to work and started to sketch him. They weren't here, but I had a pretty good idea what my parents had done with them.

After a few more minutes of assessing the situation, I moved to look out of the window so I wouldn't have to face my mother, who was still hovering in the doorway with a pitying smile.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw the new addition there. In my absence, my father had installed a window lock that prevented it from opening without a key.

I knew that it was in vain, but I tried to open it anyway. After a few seconds of rattling and yanking, I finally gave up and leaned my forehead against the cold glass.

Over the ringing in my ears, I didn't hear my mom approaching. Her hand stroking over my back in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, made my entire body go rigid.

"You can't do this," I said tonelessly as I closed my eyes. "This is insane."

"Shh, it's okay, baby," she cooed into my ear. Her hand travelled up my back and began carding through my hair instead. "This is going to help you get over it."

I didn't have enough energy left to tell her that taking away my last bit of privacy and locking me in could never help me get over my sexuality. Instead I shakily asked: "Is dad really going to sell Froggy?"

"Yes. He just wants to make sure you won't be seeing that boy. He's not good for you."

"No, you don't understand," I said frantically and finally looked at her. "He's the best thing for me."

Mom looked at me in silence for a moment. Then she raised a hand to my forehead as if to check my temperature. "Oh dear, I think you might have a fever as well. You're a little confused right now, that's all. Better go to bed, alright?"

I stared at her incredulously. "Mom, please, you need to listen-"

She wouldn't let me finish the sentence. Instead she got onto her toes and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Sleep well, Juley." With that, she turned around and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

I swallowed against the nausea and sunk onto my bed to prevent my knees from giving away. Then I just sat there for what felt like hours, staring numbly at the opposite wall.

It was only then, that I noticed that something was missing from my book shelf, too. I didn't need to check to know that it was The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

The ringing of the door bell interrupted my thoughts.

I didn't bother getting up, it was probably just the babysitter bringing Maya home.

Only when I heard my father calling for me, I got to my feet and hurried down the stairs as fast as possible without tripping.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who was standing next to my dad.

"You have five minutes," dad announced and left us alone in the corridor.

I gulped and stared at the unannounced (and unwanted) guest.

"Sean?"

"Jules," he drawled and took a moment to look me over. "We need to talk."

"We do?" I asked, puzzled. "Last time I checked you hated me."

"I do. But not as much as I hate people stealing my things."

When he didn't elaborate, I looked at him in confusion. "So, what do I have to do with this? I didn't touch anything that's yours."

Sean flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture. "You touched Hunter, but that's beside the point. I couldn't care less about you dimwits anymore."

He stepped closer until I could almost feel his breath and looked down at me with carefully studied calmness. "I need to talk to you about Victoria's baby."