"Yo, Robins, you coming to—" Omar stops short, taking in the scene. Jamal's right behind him, and they both seem to assess the situation in about half a second.
"Everything okay here?" Jamal asks, his voice carefully neutral.
Troy looks at them, two extremely large, athletic men with expressions that suggest they wouldn't mind an excuse to intervene, and his posture shifts. Backs down when he's outnumbered.
Bullies always do.
"We're done here." He points at Gavin. "But this isn't over. Wait till Dad hears about this."
"Tell him whatever you want." Gavin's voice doesn't waver. "I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not just to make him happy. Never fuckin’ worked anyway."
Troy's mouth twists. He looks at me one more time, a look that says this is my fault, all of it, and then he's walking away, Clint trailing behind him with one last sneer.
Silence.
Then Gavin turns to us, and his whole demeanor changes. The rigid tension melts away, replaced by something softer. Worried.
"Hey. Come here." He opens his arms, gathering all three of us into a group hug. Max goes easily. JP is stiff but allows it. I let myself be pulled in, face pressing against Gavin's chest, breathing in the scent of clean soap and fabric softener.
"You guys okay?" he murmurs against my hair. His lips press against the top of my head. "I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry you had to hear that."
"We're fine," JP says, his voice slightly muffled.
"Are you?" Gavin pulls back just enough to look at each of us. "Seriously. Max? JP? Doc?"
"We're okay," I manage. "Are you?"
He laughs, but it's hollow. "I will be. I just—" He shakes his head. "God, I hate them. I hate that they came here. I hate that they talked to you like that."
"It's not your fault."
"Feels like it is."
Omar clears his throat. "Hate to interrupt, but... You good, man?"
Gavin nods. "Yeah. Thanks for the backup."
"Always." Jamal steps closer and puts a hand on Gavin's shoulder. "Family shit is rough. But you've got us, alright? You've got the team."
Omar puts his hand on Gavin's other shoulder. And then, somehow, impossibly, they're including us in the gesture. Omar's hand lands on Max's shoulder. Jamal's on JP's.
A circle. A team. A family that has nothing to do with blood.
"We've got you," Omar says simply.
Gavin's eyes are bright. He blinks hard, clears his throat. "Thanks, man. I… thank you."
I should be happy.I should be grateful for this moment, for these guys, for Gavin's arm around me, and his teammates accepting us without question.
But all I can think about is Troy's face. Clint's sneer.'Wait till Dad hears about this.'
Gavin's family is horrible. Truly, genuinely, horrible. And he's going to lose them if he stays with me. Not might lose them… will. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when.
He introduced me as his friend.
And maybe that's all I should be. Maybe that's all I can be if I want him to have any chance of keeping the people who are supposed to love him unconditionally.
Maybe I should?—
