Part Twenty-Three
Vincent listened to Jesse’s conversation on the phone, then, once the boy had left, he made a quick phone call.
“Iam, how are you doing?”
“ ‘M fine. Why do you ask?” Iam quirked an eyebrow at Giles.
“Well, you seemed upset last night.”
“No, I was fine.”
“I see. You’re certain?”
Iam looked at his uncle for a few minutes, trying to decide whether or not to confide in him. Finally, he realized there was no one who could help him better. “Uncle Rupert?”
“Yes?”
“What ever happened to Uncle Ethan?”
Giles was taken aback by this. “He left to become the chief editor of a newspaper in New York. Why do you ask?”
“I dunno. You were so in love and then he left. I thought maybe it was because of me.”
“Oh, Iam. That was never because of you. Ethan decided he needed space. But I still don’t see how this has anything to do with you feeling upset.”
Iam picked at the arm of the couch for a minute. “Xander kissed me. A-and I think I liked it.”
“I see.”
“But,” Iam looked up at Giles, “I’m scared. I don’t want Xander to leave too!”
Giles pulled Iam into a hug. “Xander’s not leaving, Iam. He’s part of our family now.”
“But so was Uncle Ethan, and he left,” sniffled Iam, wondering to himself when he had started crying.
“That’s true,” conceded Giles. “But you mustn’t worry about Xander leaving. At least not until he has graduated high school and is choosing a college. Now, why don’t you tell Xander this?”
Iam pulled away and looked at Giles as if he’d gone mad. “I can’t tell him! What if I did, and it was just a fluke?”
“Then life would go on.”
“But Xander would hate me!”
“No, I very much doubt that, Iam.”
“So, I… should talk to Xander?”
“Yes. I think that would be a good idea.”
Iam started picking at the edge of the couch again. “Well, I’ll think about it.”
Lindsey woke slowly, curled around a warm body. He opened his eyes and smiled sleepily at the figure that was clutching at him. Lindsey moved one arm slightly and nudged at Jesse. “Jesse. Baby, wake up.”
“No, sleep. Sleep good.”
“We have to be at the office,” replied Lindsey, rolling away from Jesse.
Jesse muttered under his breath and opened his eyes. “Fine, but we could just stay here, then they’ll have to postpone the trial.”
“I doubt it,” said Lindsey thoughtfully. “They’d probably send someone here and force me to go.”
“Hmm, I guess you’re right. What time is it?”
Lindsey groaned as he rolled over to look at the alarm clock. “It’s seven thirty,” he said, yawning.
Jesse abruptly sat up. “Seven thirty! But that’s what time Father gets to the office! We were supposed to get there before him.”
Lindsey chuckled a little and pulled Jesse down onto his chest. “Relax. We’ll just say we stopped for some breakfast.”
Jesse snuggled a little closer to Lindsey, “You think he’ll buy it?”
“Of course.”
“Good morning, Mr. McDonald, Mr. Cambridge.”
Lindsey watched, a little sad, as Jesse hid a flinch at the aide’s use of his adoptive father’s last name. He knew Jesse didn’t like it, but he had figured the boy would be used to hearing that by now.
“Mr. McDonald, your presence has been requested by the Senior Partners. Please, allow me to escort to the meeting.”
Iam kept giving Xander furtive glances during the carride, but Xander seemed to be oblivious.
“Stop looking at me,” said Xander, a bit miserably and definitely with irritation.
“ ‘M not looking at you. I was looking out your window,” snorted Iam, covering desperately.
“Well, quit it either way,” grumbled Xander. “Look out your own window.”
“Fine. I will then.”
“Fine.”
“Ah, Mr. McDonald, please come in.”
Lindsey nervously stepped into the room.
“Now, I know you were told that you’d have a couple weeks to prepare for you case, but… we lied. It has always been scheduled for today. If you win this trial, it will prove that the potential we saw in you has merit. If you lose, you will be disgraced and humiliated, never able to gain a job in law again.”
Lindsey stared at the seven people in the room, aghast. The man who had been speaking smiled smugly at the young man’s shock.
“Well, once the knowledge of your highly illegal affair with your aide comes out, you’ll never be able to show your face again. Seducing the fifteen year-old son of your boss. My, my, Lindsey, what will people think? And not only that, but the poor boy had just been placed in a new, loving home after being rescued from his abusive, drug-addict parents. Not looking good for you.”
Lindsey blanched, unable to say a word.
“Now, I believe the trial’s about to start.
“Why are we here again?” asked Xander. “I thought we were going twice a week.”
“Yes, well, that’s together, son,” said Giles. “You’ll also each see Dr. O’Malley separately once a week as well.”
“But that’s got to be so expensive!” protested Xander.
Giles laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, Xander. Money is definitely NOT a problem. Not for me, ergo, not for you.”
“But, you don’t have to do that for me.”
“Of course I do,” said Giles, a bit indignantly. “You are my son now.”
“Wow. I guess I am, huh?” Xander fell silent after that revelation.
“I’ll never harm you, Xander,” Giles spoke quietly into the silence.
Xander jumped, slightly startled. “I-I know. It’s just a little scary to think about.”
“Yes, and that’s part of why you need to see Dr. O’Malley by yourself. So that you can talk to him about these kinds of things.”
Jesse huddled in a miserable ball in the corner of Vincent’s office. After Lindsey had been taken off somewhere, he had been brought here and left alone for hours. Where Vincent was now congratulation him on placing Lindsey in exactly the situation they wanted him in.
“Ah, Jesse. I knew you would be perfect. What better way to keep Lindsey than to set him up for downfall? He was ready to leave, you know. Was just biding his time. And now he’s ours.”
“So what happened?” Jesse finally spoke.
“Hmm?”
“At the trial? How is he doing?”
“Perfectly. The boy’s a natural. He’s going straight to the top once he loses that conscious of his.”
“So, Xander, how are things going in your new home?” asked Liam, shifting a little in his chair.
Xander watched the older man’s movements and barely remembered to answer the question. So caught up in gazing at Liam, he didn’t think about what he said. “Frightening.”
“Frightening?” echoed Liam, leaning forward. “Why is that?”
Xander shook his head a little, then started babbling, “Not frightening, no. Good, good, real good. Rupert is nice and Iam’s good. And no one yells at me.”
“Xander, calm down.” Liam reached forward and placed a comforting hand on Xander’s shoulder. “It’s okay, you can tell me what you’re really thinking. That’s why I’m here. If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help you.”
Xander stared at the dark-haired man for a few minutes, then sighed. “Rupert wants to be my dad, and that scares me. What if he really ends up being like my real dad?”
“I’ve known Rupert for years and he’s always been a caring man. And when he loves someone, he’ll do anything for them.” He removed his hand from Xander’s shoulder. “I know that you know this. It’s going to take time, and you have every right to be cautious. But if you never take risks, you won’t grow or learn, or make anything of your life. You’ll stagnate.”
“I’ll try to let him be my dad,” said Xander hesitantly.
“Good,” said Liam. “Now, don’t be surprised or upset if you still feel nervous or scared. It will take a while to do this. But you can do it, Xander. Now, how do you feel about Iam?”
Xander looked up, startled. “How did you know?” Then blushed at Liam’s questioning gaze. “Oh, you were, you didn’t mean…”
Liam raised an eyebrow at this response, making deductions and scribbling in a notepad that was resting on the desk off to one side.
“It’s just…” said Xander.
“It’s okay, Xander. Nothing you say in here will leave this room. Let go.”
“He’s so pretty. I wanted to kiss him. So I did! And now he hates me and he won’t talk to me and he probably thinks I’m some kind of a freak!” Xander started to cry slightly.
“Shh, he doesn’t hate you,” soothed Liam, settling his hand on Xander’s back and rubbing slowly. “He’s probably confused and a bit unsettled, that’s all. Once he’s had time to get used to what happened, he’ll start talking to you again.”
“Not if he hates me,” Xander sobbed.
“He doesn’t hate you. I suspect that this could make your friendship stronger.”
“It will?” asked Xander, wiping his eyes.
“‘What doesn’t kill you always makes you stronger.’”
“I guess.”
“So tell me a little about how you met Iam.”
Lindsey left the courtroom, exhausted but wired. Jesse met him outside the door. Where Lindsey immediately pulled him into a deep kiss. When they finally separated, Jesse backed away a couple steps. “I can’t see you anymore.”
“Why? We’ll get though this trial and everything will be fine,” said Lindsey, a bit confused.
“No! They’re using me to keep you here! They want you to be like them! I can’t let that happen!” cried Jesse, before turning away from Lindsey.
Lindsey immediately followed the boy and grabbed his arm. He spun Jesse, forcing the boy to look at him. “No. I won’t let you leave. I need you. I don’t care what ‘they’ say, I want you and I know you want me. The rest of the world can just go fuck themselves.”
Jesse sagged against Lindsey in relief, enjoying the feeling of a warm chest and arms holding him close. “Never let go.”
“I don’t intend to.”