A/N: It's going to be a busy weekend (going out of town, visiting some friends who just had a baby), but I'm going to do my best not to skip an update this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

*****

Vallery's POV

"Of all the opportunities you had to take care of us, you chose this one and this way."

My father turned his gaze from where Nat used to be to me. He sank into the sofa and let out a long exhale, his hand running over his face.

"I'm doing the right thing, Vallery," he insisted. "Your mother needs help; this will help her."

"Well," I moved to the edge of the couch, "maybe she wouldn't need help if somebody wasn't always absent. Maybe she wouldn't need help if we didn't have to move twice a year. Maybe she wouldn't need help if somebody didn't leave her to raise two children on her own."

"Oh, and you've been such big help with that!" He snapped at me, his voice rising. "How many times did we have to pick you off from school because you've been suspended? How many times did we have to pick you off from the police station because you got into a fight? Or because you were in possession of alcohol? Or because you stole a car?"

"I've never stolen a car! I just went for a few joyrides."

"That's not the point, Vallery! You are far from an exemplary daughter so you can't blame this all on me."

I clenched my jaw and turned away. It was true that I was far from being labeled prim and proper, but I wouldn't get into half the trouble I did if I didn't hate being at home so much. Mom always found something to nag me about and dad always regarded me with extreme disappointment.

Not much to look forward to!

As for the company I usually kept: it was easier to be around people I wouldn't miss when we left and selfish partygoers and wannabe tough guys were definitely people I could leave behind and forget all about.

"The only one who hasn't let her down so far is your brother," he went on, his voice back to normal. "I guess that will change if she finds out about this infatuation of his, but then again, she doesn't have to find out."

"Infatuation?" I repeated, shaking my head. "This is more than an infatuation, dad, and she will have to find out about it because in case you missed it when Nat said it: they are dating," I enunciate slowly, emphasizing the last three words. "Not an infatuation; dating."

"Look," he clasped his hands before him, "your mother can't deal with this right now..."

"Oh, so Nat should just keep quiet?" It was me who amplified the volume of her voice this time. "Do you have any idea what this was doing to him until now?"

He clamped his mouth shut.

"He is under such constant pressure to please you two that it's a surprise mom is the only junkie in the house."

Dad grimaced, but I was not finished.

"He keeps his grades up, he keeps out of trouble, he does his chores without a single complaint and only hangs around the people you and mom would approve. He isn't sure he wants to date a girl, but mom is ecstatic about her? He'll date her."

My father's eyes rounded and I gave him a lopsided grin.

"You didn't know? Well, you would've if you paid more attention to us. He went out with two girls because mom insisted. And now he's going out with someone he wants to..."

"But your mother isn't ready..."

Ignoring my father, I interrupted him in turn.

"... And he could really use the support. He is dating a guy, dad. Do you have any idea how hard it was for Nat to admit that he likes someone from the same gender? And you want him to keep it a secret? And today of all days, when he finally gathered up the courage to come out to our classmates."

My parent kept opening and closing his mouth without a word. His hands twitched in his lap and he took in a deep breath, but the exhale was short, just a brief puff.

"If your brother really is..."

"Gay," I offered helpfully and he nodded.

"If he is, your mother shouldn't know about it... Just yet." He added, raising his hands before him when he saw I was about to protest. "She is in a very fragile state right now, Vallery, and we should be careful what we do and say around her. And we are moving. If this relationship of their continues, it will be a long-distance one so it will be easier to hide, especially with your mother staying in the Norville Addiction Clinic. And who knows?" He tried to smile. "With some land between them, Nat might realize it was a temporary thing and the boys might go back to being just friends. It happened with..." A crease formed on his forehead as he tried to remember. "Irene, was it?"

I kept shaking my head.

Irene had been a temporary thing because Nat didn't love her. Not in the way she did him.

Dad just wasn't getting it.

*****

Nathaniel's POV

I didn't bother to knock or ring the bell; I ran inside Hunter's house and towards his bedroom.

I tripped on the stairs twice, but got up, sniffing, and kept running, opening the door just as he was putting on a t-shirt; his hair was wet and a towel was thrown over the back of a chair.

"What happened?"

He was right in front of me in an instant and I hugged him, my tears damping the clothing he'd just donned on.

"Shhh, shhh." He wrapped his arms around me and slung us left and right. "Calm down, Nathaniel, and tell me what happened."

I looked up towards his worried face.

"Mom is..." Was all I could say before I began sobbing again and buried my face in his chest.

"What did she do?"

His voice was harsh and I pushed away from him.

"She didn't do anything to me, Hunter," I assured him, but his eyes remained narrowed.

"She's... addicted."

My words seemed to startle him only for a moment. He then nodded.

"That would explain the mood swings. What's her poison?"

"Some kind of prescription drugs; dad didn't go into details." I wiped my nose. "She's even been in a clinic for that."

"When?"

"When Val and I thought she was visiting our grandmother in England. Remember? Right after..."

"... Your birthdays, yes." He nodded again and I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't wail.

"Nat, I'm sorry..."

"He wants to send her to another one," I shot out. "Dad, I mean. To send mom to another clinic."

"If he thinks that would help..." he said slowly, studying me as if he knew there was more to this matter.

"The clinic is in Norville," I whispered.

His face drained of color and his jaw clenched. He tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke:

"Is everyone moving to Norville?"

"Yes." My voice was barely audible.

His nostrils flared as Hunter took a deep breath through them. He turned around and walked away, running a hand over his soggy hair, making it stick up.

Hunt sat on his bed, elbows on his knees, and steepled his fingers. His gaze was on my face.

"Do you want to go to Norville?"

"No." It was another muttered word. When he raised an eyebrow at me, his lips pursed, I repeated, louder:

"No."

"Are you going to go to Norville?"

My palms covered my face.

"I don't know, okay?" My voice was muffled behind my fingers. I let my arms drop beside me and took a deep breath before I continued:

"I'm seventeen and they are my family, Hunter; I can't leave them."

"But you can leave me." His voice was low and cool.

"I don't want to." I rushed towards him and kneeled before him.

"I want to be with you, but if I leave mom, she's only going to get worse. You know she adores me; I can't..." I felt my voice cracking so I took another slow inhale.

"She needs me, Hunter."

"So do I."

I gaped at his honesty.

I could never imagine him needing someone, let alone admitting it. He was Hunter Harris, for crying out loud! He always seemed so confident and in control. What could he possibly need a meek weakling like me for?

I knew he cared for me, but he wasn't in love with me... Was he?

I shook my head; he couldn't be.

Hunter squinted and I realized he'd taken the movement of my head as a response to him.

"No! I mean... I want to be with you," I insisted.

"But you wouldn't even tell your parents about us."

"Parent," I corrected. "I already told dad so that's one parent down, one to go."

For a second time today, I seemed to have taken him aback.

"And you intend to tell your mother?"

"As soon as possible without upsetting her to the point of overdosing," I assured him.

He nodded.

Again.

I really wish he would be more verbal.

"Look, Hunter," I placed my hands around his. "I don't want us to break up, but I don't want to put you through the hardships of a long-distance relationship either. I'm not sure if we could make it work; we'd probably make things worse by..."

"Do you have a point?" His voice shook with irritation.

"Would you wait for me? Until I'm eighteen and can move out." I could feel my whole body trembling. I must've looked pathetic on my knees and with my beseeching inflection, but I kept talking; I didn't want to lose him.

"Please wait for me, Hunter."

He pulled his hands out of my grip.

"I've already waited for you for quite a while, Nathaniel. First to admit to yourself who you are, then to be with me and then to not hide. And now you are asking me to wait more."

I looked down as my eyes began to water again, pain constricting my chest.

Hunter was putting an end to us.

And he had every right to.

I'd thought that it would be him leaving me because one day he'd wake up and realize he could do better than someone like me, but now I was the one who was leaving; how could I ask him to put his life on hold for almost an entire year?

Who was to say if we would feel the same about each other in a year?

His thumb and index finger lifted my chin up to face him. His grey eyes were focused on mine and I couldn't look away.

"How about this instead: I'll come with you to Norville?"

I blinked rapidly and my jaw went slack.

"You are going to... what?"

His expression softened and for maybe the first time since I'd met him, I saw vulnerability etched on his face.

"You are right that you have to go with your family and that your mother will worsen if you stay behind. So if you want me to come with you, I'll come with you."

He leaned down, his lips just inches from mine. I felt his breath on my mouth when he said:

"Just say you want me and I'll come with you."

My eyes drifted almost shut as I drowned in the softness of his tone. No one had ever spoken to me with such gentleness, passion, and longing before.

"Nathaniel?"

*****

A/N: So what do you think of the chapter?

VOTE if you enjoyed it or if you want Hunt to follow Nat to Norville!