"All packed?" I ask Alex while double-checking that I have everything I need for Winter Break with my family. I shove the prenatal vitamins into my bag. Thankfully, I remembered to pick up them up on Sunday since I knew we are leaving early Monday morning.

Alex rolls out a small carry on luggage case. "You know, I never asked how we are getting there."

"Driving. It's only an hour and a half away. I was kind of glad Liam got a scholarship to a college that wasn't that far from home. I'm not a big fan of planes." Of course, right now, I would love to have the excuse of being too far away to come home. Suck it up, Cat. You can't avoid this forever.

"A road trip," Alex says. "Awesome. Yeah, I'm all packed. You?"

"I think so," I tell him, though I know I'm notorious for always forgetting something. My phone rings and I see my Mom's picture on my screen and answer the call.

"Hey, Mom! Yep, all packed and ready to go. Just going to grab a quick breakfast before heading out. Yeah, I imagine I should definitely be there before lunch. Okay. See you then. Love you. Bye."

All right, the obligatory call from home done. Alex looks at me strangely as I put my phone away. "You didn't tell them about me coming," he states.

"Best to just spring you on them," I say, "then they can't say no to you staying."

He shrugs. I guess it's in acceptance of the fact that I know best. Then he looks at me again. "Are we having breakfast here or do you want to go out for breakfast?"

"Good question," I tell him. "Here sounds good, as we have all the fixings for French toast and by the time we get back everything will be expired."

He grins. "You know I will never say no to your French toast." He moseys on over to the kitchen island and takes a seat at the counter. I am extremely happy about that because my mind and body have a hard time forgetting our encounters, most of which have been in this kitchen.

"I'm thinking of kicking it up a notch. You game?" I ask.

"You mean there is something better than your French toast? I find that difficult to believe. Well, unless you're planning on adding bacon because let's face it, everything tastes better with bacon," he muses.

I beam at him. "Oh, you're in for a treat, baby. You just wait and see."

Alex's eyes glimmer with mischief. "Baby?!"

I didn't even realize I said it until he brought it to my attention. I shrug but feel the heat in my cheeks. "Don't read too much into it. It's just an expression."

"Uh-huh. I don't know Cat. We did sleep together the other night and now you're calling me baby..."

"Ha-Ha!" I say, pulling out all my ingredients from the fridge. "Falling asleep on the same sofa while watching an Anime marathon of Fullmetal Alchemist does not count as..." I say with finger quotes, "sleeping together."

"Were we not sleeping?"

"Yes," I say, with a giggle, knowing where he is going with this.

"Were we not together?"

"Not in the sense you are trying to imply," I say, mixing things up in the bowl as I turn to look at him.

"And in what sense would that be?" His smile grows wider, flashing me those pearly whites.

"In the sense that sleeping means something entirely different," I tell him. Alex had a field day with me Sunday morning when he realized we had fallen asleep while watching the show, only to find ourselves curled up together like two teens in their parent's basement.

"I never said..." he begins, batting those innocent eyes at me.

"Uh-huh. Save it, Bragin. We'll see how good you are talking yourself in and out of trouble when you meet my family." I warn him.

"You make them sound so..."

"Strict, hard-edged, crazy? Well, they are," I tell him while continuing to make our breakfast.

"So, describe your dad to me."

"A big guy who loves football and who is in love with Liam."

"In love with?" Alex asks, his look guarded.

"Yes, Liam and my father have had a very strong bromance going on for several years now."

"Can't imagine your dad would be happy with the way Liam has treated you?" Alex says, and I shrug as I set about putting the French toast in the pan.

"What aren't you telling me?" Alex asks. He has gotten really good at reading my moods and sometimes I find it annoying, like now, when I really don't want to talk about my dad.

However, since Alex is about to see for himself anyway, I say, "My Dad and I... well... we don't exactly see eye to eye on most things and are usually butting heads. Even though I graduated as high school valedictorian, got a full scholarship here, and have kept up a 4.0 GPA for the last 4 years, I have yet to hear him say he's proud of me."

I go about mixing up my special addition for the French toast. "My choice to leave Liam will just be one more thing for him to be disappointed about, as I sincerely believe that my dating Liam is the only thing my father thought I did I right."

"Wow!" Alex replies, playing with his fork and knife. "I'm so sorry, Cat."

I take my time to assemble everything, so the presentation is perfect. I place in front of him my French toast stuffed with strawberry cream cheese, drizzled lightly with some chocolate syrup over a few more cut strawberry slices.

His eyes widen and then he laughs when I slide over a small plate of bacon on the side. "Cat, this looks ... amazing!"

I laugh too, and I take my seat next to him. He looks over at my plate and frowns. "You're not having any of this?" My plate contains just plain French toast.

"The jury is still out on cream cheese for me. It's one of my favorites, but I know it's a soft cheese. I think there is some rule about it being okay if it's pasteurized, but I figure there's no reason for you to miss out, just because I'm not having it. Go on. Try it," I encourage.

He looks like a little kid about to open a present at Christmas. He slices into it, puts a forkful in his mouth, and moans. "This is SOOOO good!" he exclaims with his mouth still full.

I just chuckle. He makes me feel so appreciated. I would make meals like this for Liam, and he'd just woof 'em down and put his plate in the sink. Never once did he say a word about whether he liked it. I just assumed he did because he ate everything that I made him.

"So when are you going to tell them," Alex asks, sighing as he eats his French toast. "So good," he whispers to himself.

"I don't know. I am hoping the right time will just sort of reveal itself to me, you know?"

"Well, when you do, I'd like to be there. If that's okay with you, of course."

I smile. "I'd like that," I say honestly. "This is definitely not something I wish to do alone." 

"Good, that's settled then."

Soon we finish our meal, clean up and get on the road. Alex is a blast to have on a road trip. The time flies by. He has us singing pop songs and playing anime trivia the entire ride up.

"I am seriously impressed with your level of knowledge in Anime. What got you interested?" he asks me.

"I have always loved the artwork and, well... the emotion. There's such passion in every story. I've always loved writing and so, it just fit, I guess."

"Again, impressive."

I let out a vast sigh, and he turns to look up ahead, his glance landing squarely upon my family's home. "We're here," I say. He reaches over and rests his hand on my leg. I look over at him briefly.

"You've got this. And I've got your back. We'll get through this together, okay?"

I simply nod, too emotional to speak at the moment. I park the car and we get out, but before I even reach the front door, it's thrown open.

"KittyCat! You're here!"

It's my Mom, and she's already pulling me in for a huge hug and then I feel her stiffen. She must have noticed Alex, who is getting the bags out of the trunk of my car.

"Who's that?" she asks, her voice about 2 octaves higher.

I wait for Alex to catch up so I can introduce him properly. "This is Alex. He's a friend of William's and something happened leaving him with nowhere to go on break, so I offered for him to come with me."

"Oh," she says, looking over at Alex. "Well, that's my KittyCat, always looking out for others. Of course, you're welcome to stay, Alex. We'd love to have you with us here over the break."

Although she says the words, it is clear they're forced. Then a miracle happens. Alex smiles at her, saying, "Thank you ever so much, Mrs. Fischer. You don't know what this means to me, to have a proper home to go home to for the break. It's been quite a while." Then he reaches out and hugs her and she actually lets him! I'm stunned into silence. She's smiling back at him, and almost, dare I say, blushing.

"Oh, it's quite alright, dear. The more the merrier, I always say. Come on in."

Alex follows me with our bags.

My father walks into the foyer. He looks at me and says, "Made it home okay, I see." Then he notices Alex and frowns. "Who the hell is this?"

"This is Alex. He is a friend of Cat's from college, sweetheart," Mom intervenes, looking totally embarrassed by my father's rudeness. "He'll be staying with us during the break."

I can see my Dad's temper rising. He's about to erupt when my mom adds, "He's a friend of William's and needed a place to stay."

"Ah! William!" He replies like this explains everything. "Well, guess there's no sense in asking you about the game last night then, huh, Alex?"

Now I'm the one who's thoroughly embarrassed. He's so prejudiced when it comes to gay people. He thinks they all fit into the same mold. Of course, that's not entirely his fault, as his only exposure to a gay male has been William, who is rather flamboyant, but still.

"I'm afraid I missed it, Sir, but I saw that the Wild Cats beat the Falcons 14 to 20 and I caught the highlights online. What an upset. Do you think the Falcons still have a chance at the playoffs?"

I think my father is going to have a heart attack, as he seriously looks like he has stopped breathing for a moment. "You follow college ball?"

"Sure! I believe it's important to show school spirit and the Falcons are our team."

My Dad nods then turns to me. "Liam made some spectacular plays in that game. Pro Bowl is definitely in his future, Cat. You got yourself a real winner there."

Just the mention of Liam hits me hard. I quickly turn to get my bag to cover the fact that I need a second to fight the sting of tears threatening to overcome me.

"I'm going to take Alex to get settled in the guest bedroom," I say, picking up my bag, not wanting to remain much longer around my parents. It's a cowardly retreat, but a necessity.

"Oh, no can do, KittyCat. Your brother has that room. He's back from traveling in Europe." Then my Mom covers her mouth like she said something she shouldn't to say.

"Thanks for spoiling my surprise, Mom." I look up the stairs and see my brother on the landing. I drop my bag and he takes the steps two at a time to reach me. He picks me up in a hug and swings me around.

"DILLION!" I cry, now free to let the tears loose.

"Hey there, Tiger," he says, giving me another quick squeeze before letting me go.

I swipe my tears away. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Well believe it, cause here I am. So is uh... anyone going to introduce me to Bright Eyes?"

I laugh. I like the nickname. It fit Alex perfectly. "This is Alex Bragin. Alex, this is my big brother, Dillion."

Dillion holds out his hand, and Alex shakes it. "Good grip," he says.

"Thank you." Alex smiles. "Tiger?" Alex questions.

"Eh, that's just what I call her. Cat always seemed too tame a name for my little sis," Dillion answers with a shrug.

"I like it. It fits," Alex agrees.

My mom interjects with, "Honey, why don't you take Alex up to your room and once you're both settled, you can come down and we'll have some lunch and catch up."

"My room?" I question, suddenly freezing to my spot on the floor.

"Is that a problem? You and William have shared that room," Mom says, looking puzzled by my reaction to her suggestion.

"Nooo!" I say, shaking my head vehemently. "No problem. Why would that be a problem?" My brother's eyes narrow on me, and I glance down quickly and grab my bag again.

"You sure?" my mom asks, probably also picking up on the strange vibe I am sending out.

"Absolutely!" I say, a little too enthusiastically. With my forced smile firmly plastered on my face, I look over at Alex. "Come on, Alex. I'll show you to my... our room."