Love Is Always Write Volume 4

didn't have any friends."
    Zeb snorted. "You know, I don't think he did. He had people he hung out with but I don't remember him having one damn friend. The funny thing is, I never thought that was strange back then."
    "What was your dad like?"
    "I really don't want to talk about him right now." Nick gave him a sideways knowing look. "No, I don't mean it like that. Just that he's not the one on my mind and I'd rather keep it that way."
    "So, who is? Chad? You never said anything else after that night."
    "I just don't know what to do. Or if I should do anything at all." Zeb admitted without really admitting anything. Nick waited patiently, a brow raised.
    Zeb thought about it and maybe, just maybe, Nick had a point. Because it really did feel like it was eating him alive. And talking to Nick Saturday night hadn't been so bad. So, in the back of the bus heading down the freeway towards Chicago, Zeb let it all spill. Not necessarily on purpose, but once he started he couldn't seem to stop. He didn't look at Nick for a reaction, just kept his focus on the back of the empty seat in front of him. It seemed to be easier that way. Almost like he was talking to himself.
    It was almost an hour with the only sounds around them the droning engine and Zeb's quiet voice. Nick would ask a question every now and again, but mainly just let Zeb talk.
    "….So I spent the last few months breaking my ass trying to make myself more respectable, getting a day job, telling myself I didn't really need music to breathe as long as I had him. And you know what he tells me the other day?" Nick shook his head. "That those may have been his brother's opinions, but that if he had to choose between his family and me, he'd choose me. That as far as he was concerned, I was his family."
    "From what you said, it sounds like when he lied to you about his family's trip he'd already made his choice."
    "Exactly! That's what I thought back then too. And now, I don't know. I think it's the one thing about all this that's still bugging me. That it makes it a little hard to believe him when I know he lied about it. I mean, he claimed he was protecting me, but he obviously had to care about what they thought too. And even if he wasn't intending to hide me he still…"
    Nick interrupted him with a hand actually covering his mouth, shocking Zeb. "That's not what I meant. He'd already made the choice of you over them." When Zeb just scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion Nick rolled his eyes. "How did you guys spend Christmas that year?" Nick asked like it was just a simple curiosity. Zeb was still confused.
    "Hmmm, he planned this romantic thing at home for Christmas Eve." He smiled to himself at the memory. Even pissed he'd had to admit it was sweet. "We stayed up making and decorating cookies. I'd never done that before. Then he insisted we stay up and open our presents to each other exactly at midnight," Zeb looked over at Nick with a little smirk. "Cuz, you know you can't open gifts till it's technically morning. Or at least that's what Chad insisted. I was still upset, and reluctant I guess, and I never gave him his big present." Zeb's smile fell at that. "He still doesn't know that. Then we went to volunteer at the shelter Christmas morning and brought all the cookies with." Zeb had to think a minute, knowing there was something he was forgetting. "Oh. And then that night there was a big Christmas feast a bunch of friends were having."
    Nick looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged. "Yeah man. He definitely chose you. Think about it. His family's a bunch of snobs that he says he was worried would ruin Christmas for you because (a) they wouldn't accept you (b) they'd try to make you feel unwelcome and inferior and (c) they probably wouldn't give you any respect as his partner."
    "Damn, you are sooo a teacher." Zeb interrupted.
    "So… instead he spends his entire holiday with you and ignores them. I bet they still had a big family to-do, he just didn't want to be there if it meant it could hurt you. Sure, he lied about them not being in town, but it's not like he snuck off to still spend part of the holiday with them without you, right?" Zeb shook his head, feeling like a complete idiot. "So, yeah. You spend the special days with your family. He spent it with you… his family."
    "Shit." Zeb mumbled under his breath. "Do you think you could make me feel like any more of an ass?"
    "Nope. You do a good enough job of it on your own." Zeb shoved