“That’s Jay,” Jackson insisted, still staring at Mark. “I’ve met Jeremy.”

“No,” Mark said, shaking his head as he took another retreating step back. “Jeremy.”

Jay cleared his throat intentionally, dusting himself off as he stood up off the ground. “Jeremy,” he agreed, not bothering to look at Mark or Jackson as he checked to see that his camera wasn’t damaged. “That was Jeremy Horn you met. We’re in the same class; he’s older, so I got the nickname. Everyone’s been calling me Jay since second grade.”

Jackson looked at the panicked look on Mark’s face, the disgustingly calm one on Jay’s, and realized that it didn’t matter what name should be used as he suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Jay by the shirt and shaking him. “Why the were you spying on us?” he demanded.

“Hey, watch it!” Jay retorted, shaking Jackson off and shoving him away.

“Answer me!” Jackson ordered.

“Oh, you!” Jay snapped, then suddenly glared at Mark. “And you too, you retarded- freak!”

Jackson stepped in front of Mark quickly, his temper nearly breaking over Jay’s insulting words. But, he managed to hold it in check long enough to look back at Mark, who was clearly shaken by the encounter. “Mark,” he said quietly. “Go home.”

“Jackson...”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Jackson said. “I promise.”

Mark frowned, looking torn. It was obvious he didn’t want to be anywhere near Jay--or Jeremy--but he didn’t want to leave Jackson, either. “Right behind me, Jackson?” he asked.

“I promise,” Jackson said again; and then quickly added, “Don’t tell your mom about this, Mark.”

Jackson was looking at Jay again as he heard Mark’s footsteps fade away somewhere behind him, not liking the way that Jay seemed to be watching Mark go with some obvious contempt. “Why are you spying on us?” Jackson repeated, drawing Jay’s attention back to himself.

Curiously, when Jay looked at Jackson he didn’t appear nearly as hostile as he seemed when it came to Mark. “I saw you heading over here a while ago. Thought I’d see what you were up to.”

Jackson’s shoulder’s stiffened as he took a threatening step towards Jay. He was in no mood for games, but it seemed that Jay was determined to make things hard for him as he straightened and smirked, subtly reminding Jackson that they were evenly enough matched, and Jay didn’t find him intimidating at all.

“Hiding in the bushes with a camera?” Jackson demanded, eyeing the piece of equipment. “What’s on the film?”

Jackson reached for the camera, but Jay held it back. “Hey, hands off!”

“Fine,” Jackson retorted. “I’ll just let the cops take it after I tell them where to find pictures of my little sister!”

“Hey!” Jay said, looking offended. “You’ve got it wrong, Jackson.”

“You were outside my house,” Jackson stated. “My twelve-year-old sister’s window!”

“Yes,” Jay said flatly, but then spoke quickly when the look on Jackson’s face turned murderous. “But I didn’t know it was her window. I saw someone moving inside, and snapped the picture. She was never supposed to see me, and I’m sorry if I scared her.”

“What were you doing there in the first place?”

“I was curious.”

“You attacked us!”

“Only because I was cornered.”

“No,” Jackson said, shaking his head. “You weren’t cornered. We were about to walk away!”

“I didn’t attack you!” Jay retorted, beginning to sound irritated.

“No. You went straight for Mark!” Jackson snapped. Luke was right. It was Mark who Jay had been there spying on; Mark who Jay had attacked. Jackson just happened to have gotten in the way.

“So the what?” Jay finally snapped.

“So the what?” Jackson angrily moved forward, giving Jay a hard shove to the chest that failed to knock him down. “Mark wouldn’t hurt anyone! Why would you want to hurt him?!” At the moment, it didn’t matter to Jackson that he knew there was a side to Mark that perhaps did deserve a good beating. All that mattered was that Mark was innocent. He didn’t deserve any of this, and it infuriated him. “What the hell’s the matter with you? I swear to god, if you don’t stay away from him...”

“Hey, that was the first time I ever came close to hurting him!” Jay responded, sounding as if he knew it was wrong, but had no apologies for it.

“But you’ve been watching him!”

“Yeah. All of them... and you, because you keep hanging out with him! Do you even have any idea what you’re doing?”

“I’m more worried about what you’re doing! Where I come from there’s a word for it, : stalking!”

Jay had the nerve to look offended over that, too. “There’s a difference!”

“Why?”

“Because I’m waiting for someone in that house to up!” he shouted, suddenly breathing heavily as he looked through the woods, towards the Tuan house. “There’s something off in that house, Jackson... something isn’t right with that family. I can’t prove it yet, but when I do...”

Jackson swallowed hard, wiping the sudden outbreak of sweat away from his top lip. His nerves were causing him to feel nauseous, and for a long, suffocating moment, he tried to figure out what Jay was talking about. Mark. If he’d been watching, then Jay knew something was wrong with him. Maybe he’d seen Luke do something--something terrible--that would cause him to hate Mark so much. But then, Jay wouldn’t know that it hadn’t been Mark. He’d be out to hurt him, anyway, and if he acquired proof of Luke doing something else... Mark could be punished. Mark would be the one who suffered, and faced with this, Jackson decided that he’d do anything to stop it from happening. The Tuans were right. Luke had to go. And at the moment, so did Jeremy “Jay” Bethard.

“Listen to me, Jay,” Jackson said, attempting to sound reasonable. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve gotta leave them alone. I don’t know what you think the Tuans are capable of... but you’ve got it wrong. They just wanna be left alone. That’s it.”

Jay regarded Jackson as if he were speaking another language. “I can’t,” he finally said, and then let out a breath as he met Jackson’s eyes. “Not until I find the truth. Can you give me that, Jackson?”

Jackson stared at Jay for a hard moment before he shook his head. “No... but I can give you one hell of a hard time if I catch you sneaking around again.”

Jay actually smiled at that. “We’ll see.” He looked down at his camera, fidgeted with it for a moment, and then slid it into his pocket before he suddenly turned and started walking away. But, he didn’t go before he turned to look back at Jackson. “You don’t seem like a bad guy, Jackson. You don’t belong being mixed up with those people... Just don’t forget I tried to warn you.”

***

Jackson would have been unable to explain why he felt it was urgent to get back to Mark. It wasn’t as if Jay had headed back towards the Tuan house; he’d gone in the opposite direction. But Jackson still ran, not sure if he felt better or worse about learning the identity of the person doing the spying. He didn’t even know if he felt better learning that it wasn’t his family who was drawing unwanted attention. All he knew was that he was worried, and had no idea where to go from here.

Involving the local law had been an empty threat when he’d attempted to warn Jay off. He doubted that Edward Flexman could help him in any way, and unfortunately, Jackson was pretty sure that Jay knew that, too, which is why he didn’t seem to care what Jackson did in that area. In fact, Jay didn’t seem very concerned with a lot of things... except perhaps discovering the Tuans’ secrets. That’s the part that worried Jackson. He wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened, but it came to mind that he’d made himself responsible for Mark--for protecting Mark. He didn’t know if it was due to his feelings for the boy, or against Mark’s parents. Perhaps it was a little of both. But either way, Jackson didn’t like the threat that Jay presented, and he felt like he was on his own to stop it. For the briefest moment he’d entertained the idea of warning the Tuans about Jay. But, something in his gut warned him against it--something that he couldn’t explain, but became more disturbing each time he thought of Dorine and Raymond Tuan.

Jackson wondered if he should warn Mark when he got back to him. He felt like he should say something, even if Mark wouldn’t provide any insight into the situation. That was the most frustrating thing to Jackson. He knew that Mark wasn’t telling him everything that he knew. He just wished that he knew if that was because Mark didn’t want to, or if he couldn’t.

“Jackson!”

The Tuan house hadn’t even come into sight before Jackson stopped abruptly, turning in circles as he sought out the voice that had called his name. “Mark?”

“I’m right here, Jackson,” Mark said, and when Jackson turned again, he nearly stumbled backwards Mark was so close.

“I told you to go home!” Jackson snapped, annoyed even though he had to admit that it was probably good that Mark didn’t. Once inside his house, Jackson wasn’t sure he’d be able to get Mark away from Dorine again.

Mark crossed his arms, frowning. “I didn’t want to go home,” he said defiantly, and then looked worried. “Did you tell him, Jackson? Did you tell him it wasn’t me that hurt his dog?”

Jackson frowned, not sure how to respond to that. If anything had happened with Jay’s dog, he had a feeling that Jay was almost right to threaten Mark over it, especially if Jay didn’t know about Luke.

“We didn’t talk about the dog,” Jackson said. “Look... Mark, have you noticed Jay--Jeremy; have you noticed Jeremy around here before? Anywhere near you?”

Mark cocked his head. “I see him sometimes, Jackson... but then I don’t let him see me. He gets mad when he sees me.”

True, Jackson agreed, but obviously Jay had more control than that. “He said he’d been watching you. You, and your family.” Jackson looked up to meet Mark’s eyes, wishing that he could see something other than confusion there. “He knows you have secrets, Mark... he could find out about Luke. If he does that.”

“He can’t do that,” Mark suddenly said, his serious tone surprising Jackson. “He can’t do that, Jackson.”

Jackson stared at Mark for a long moment, deciding that Mark didn’t mean it was impossible. He just meant it would be a seriously bad thing if it happened. Jackson took a step closer to him. “So you do understand,” Jackson said, more to himself than to Mark. He felt like he’d just discovered something important, but it was short-lived as he was distracted by the way Mark suddenly grabbed his head, as if he were in pain.

“We can’t let him do that, Jackson!”

“Then help me!” Jackson stated, grabbing Mark’s shoulders, shaking him until Mark looked him in the eyes again. “I think Luke knew what Jay was doing. He knew something. Mark, I think Luke did something... I don’t know if it was to Jeremy’s dog, or something else, but he isn’t going to let this go, and I think Luke knew it.”

“I know,” Mark whispered.

“What? What do you mean?” Jackson demanded. “You know what Luke did, or you know he knew about Jeremy?”

“Jackson...” Mark suddenly frowned, pulling away, but Jackson was quick to catch his hand and pull him back.

“Talk to me.”

“He wanted Jeremy to know. He wanted everyone to know. But he can’t, because it makes my parents mad, Jackson. That’s why they made him go away, Jackson,” Mark said, dropping his voice into a secretive whisper. “He can’t tell. No one can. There are things you’re not supposed to see, Jackson. No one can see.”

“Like what? What did Luke want Jeremy to know?”

Mark took in a deep breath as his eyes darted anywhere but towards Jackson’s face, and his red eyes began to water as he shook his head. “The bad things.”

Jackson felt a chill work up his spine. He almost didn’t want to ask his next question. Luke could be violent. He already knew that. What he didn’t want to know, was that Luke was dangerous. He really didn’t want to know that Jay could be right, that he had a real reason for his apparent disdain for the Tuans. “The things that Luke did?” Jackson knew the answer as soon as he asked the question; it was written all over Mark’s face. But he wasn’t sure he understood. Luke wanted to tell. He wanted to be caught. It didn’t make sense to Jackson. But then again, nothing made much sense to Jackson anymore. Perhaps Luke thought that telling someone of his wrongdoings was what he wanted because it would make him real. Maybe he wanted people to know he existed--the Tuans were doing everything they could to make him disappear. Maybe telling would be his way of winning. To hurt them.

“No one can know, Jackson,” Mark said quietly. “If he tells, he’ll get in trouble. I don’t want him to get in trouble, Jackson. He’s not bad.”

Jackson closed his eyes for a moment, unable to face the desperation Mark was directing at him. It was as if he needed Jackson to agree with him. Jackson almost wanted to, because in a sense, if Jackson said that Luke wasn’t bad, then he was saying that Mark wasn’t bad. He wondered if that was what Mark was thinking. Mark had always referred to Luke as a different person. Jackson believed that he saw Luke as a different person. But, Jackson was beginning to wonder if deep down, Mark understood what he was. Maybe he simply wanted Luke to exist as much as Luke did. But, Jackson couldn’t tell him it was okay. Instead, he reached out and pulled Mark to him, wrapping his arms around his neck, allowing Mark to lean on him as he considered what he should do.

The bad things. Those words could have meant anything, but in Luke’s case, they frightened Jackson. He didn’t want to know. He wanted to forget about Luke. Luke hadn’t made an appearance since Jackson had discovered the truth, and Jackson wanted it to stay that way. The problem was, Jackson didn’t know how long that would last. And he had to know. He needed to know what he was dealing with because the questions were becoming too much, and if he didn’t find answers soon, he was afraid that the only place he’d have left to go would be crazy.

Jackson took in a breath against Mark’s neck, inhaling the scent of lemons as he held the other boy tighter. “You’re right,” he said firmly. “We can’t let Luke tell, Mark.” His fingers moved through Mark’s hair for a moment, feeling the scars before he pushed him back to see his face. “I want to tell him that, Mark. I want to make him understand why he can’t tell. We don’t want him to get in trouble, right?” He was being manipulative, but Jackson wasn’t about to apologize for it. His last attempt to talk to Luke had failed miserably, but this time, Mark was actually regarding him thoughtfully. Perhaps a little cautiously, too, but he was at least thinking about it.

“Maybe he won’t listen, Jackson,” Mark finally said.

Jackson frowned. “But maybe he will... Does he listen to you, Mark?”

Mark frowned as he took one of Jackson’s hands in both of his and stared down at it for a long moment.

“I’m not supposed to talk to Luke anymore, Jackson. I have to wait.”

“Until it’s safe?” Jackson asked, remembering the conversation that Mark had had with the Luke he couldn’t see in his own bedroom.

Mark nodded.

“You know you’re safe with me, don’t you?” Jackson asked.

Mark looked around them as he used his free hand to wipe his remaining tears away. “Not here, Jackson,” he whispered. “We have to go to the place.”

“What place?” Jackson asked. But, once again, he didn’t get a straight answer.

“It’s a secret, right Jackson? You have to promise.”

“I promise,” Jackson said, and then fell nervously silent as Mark started walking, leading him by the hand. Jackson wanted to know where they were going, or why they had to go anywhere at all, but he didn’t dare ask. He didn’t ask anything, fearing that Mark would change his mind.

They’d been walking for about five minutes when Mark abruptly dropped Jackson’s hand and Jackson looked at him, feeling on edge. He almost expected to see some sort of transformation: Luke’s cold stare, or condescending smirk. But the wide eyes and searching glances were still Mark. The fear was Mark, and Jackson took notice.

“What’s wrong?” Jackson asked.

“Will you be there again, Jackson?” Mark asked. “If they put me in the dark?”

Jackson felt his stomach knot. “No one’s putting you in the dark, Mark... I thought you said you don’t remember how you get there. Do you now?”

Mark’s brow knotted, and he looked ahead. “I don’t know if Luke will talk to you, Jackson,” Mark said, and Jackson raised an eyebrow over the obvious subject change.

“I’m patient,” Jackson replied shortly. “But I’m confused, Mark. About the things you can’t remember... Do you forget after bad things happen? Is that why you can’t remember? Because you don’t want to?”

Mark heaved a breath, as if Jackson was the one exasperating him. “My head doesn’t work right sometimes, Jackson. “There are things, Jackson. The things we’re not supposed to see.”

Jackson walked faster, to keep pace with Mark’s agitated one. Those words seemed to be becoming a theme. “Who told you that?” Jackson asked.

Mark glanced at Jackson sidelong for a brief moment, his eyes seeming cautious. “Luke did.”

***

Ricky Wang stood in front of what he refrained from calling the ruins his children lived in, watching his youngest splash around waist deep with her friend. She seemed happy enough. But then, Shayla had always been able to find something to be cheerful about.

Jackson used to be like that, Ricky thought bitterly. And it wasn’t Jackson who he was bitter towards. The situation, himself... that sounded about right. Of course, it wasn’t necessary for Ricky to remind himself that it was his own fault Jackson had become so insufferable towards him. He had his ex-wife on standby to remind him of that, and everything else he’d done wrong, it seemed.  Not that he didn’t deserve it. He definitely had it coming after the first thing he did upon his arrival was criticize her and the way she was living. It had been a defense mechanism. To make himself feel better about his wrongs, he’d tried to point out all of hers. But apparently, Ricky had been away from Sophia for too long, because he’d foolishly forgotten that she could see right through all of that, and now he’d unfortunately managed to get on her bad side.

But, it seemed that Sophia’s opinion of him wasn’t as important to Ricky as Jackson’s was, and he’d completely underestimated how well his son could hold a grudge. All things considered, Ricky should have seen this coming. It wasn’t as if Jackson had given him any hint that he’d be happy to see him. Hell, he’d downright refused to speak to him on the phone, and it seemed that now, every minute that Ricky was present, Jackson made sure that he was not. Or at least, he was making sure that he didn’t have to endure a moment alone with his father, and it was making it rather difficult for the two to have a conversation, Ricky noticed.

“I want to take Jackson on a little road trip tomorrow... or something like that. I want to get him away from here, where he has fewer places to run away to,” Ricky said ten minutes later as he walked into his ex-wife’s bedroom as she finished tying back her curtains to better keep an eye on Shayla.

Sophia frowned as she faced him, but it wasn’t just because of what he was saying. Ricky had made himself at home in her house since he’d arrived, despite his initial criticisms of it, something she wasn’t so sure how she felt about yet. But one thing was certain: entering her bedroom was crossing the line.

“Well that’s something you’re going to have to talk to Jackson about,” she responded as she advanced in a way that forced him to backpedal until he was standing in the hall.

“I want you to talk to him about it,” Ricky said. “He’ll listen to you.”

Sophia’s mouth curled into a humorless smile. “Not about this, he won’t. I can talk to him, but I won’t force him, Ricky... besides, I’m not the one he needs to talk to. You broke it, you fix it.”

Ricky sighed as Sophia passed him, and he followed her to the living room. “I’m trying.”

“I know you are.”

“But it’s not working.”

“That’s because you came here assuming a few apologies would make up for everything else,” Sophia said simply.

“Because he’s angry,” Ricky said, frowning; and then in poor taste, added, “I see he’s developed your temper.”

Sophia turned to face him sternly. “He’s hurt, Ricky. You’re upset that you can’t get him to talk to you, but don’t forget that you’re the one who stopped talking to Jackson first. He doesn’t trust you anymore, and it’s not something you can change overnight. That’s something you have to earn back, and I’ll tell you right now that me talking to Jackson won’t make a difference in whether or not he forgives you. Talk to him yourself.”

“Well that’s not exactly easy to do when he’s never here!” Ricky said hotly, but then released a breath and calmed his tone. “I don’t want to leave things the way they are now, Sophie. I know I’ve made mistakes, and I’ll probably never stop being sorry for them, but... I need to make things right with the kids again. I miss them.”

Sophia frowned. “I believe you, Ricky... but you’re saying it to the wrong person. Listen, all of this is going to take time, especially with Jackson. If you don’t have that.... This just isn’t something you can do over a weekend, Ricky. These are children--your children! If you want it to work, you’ll have to make a commitment to them, and not one that expires as soon as you decide they’re an inconvenience!”

“Jesus!” Ricky cursed, dropping onto the sofa behind him.

Sophia frowned. She hadn’t meant for this conversation to turn into a lecture. Although, she did think it was called for. She didn’t like that Jackson felt driven away from his own home, and she didn’t like that Jackson had a point when it came to staying away. He didn’t want to get hurt again, and the simple fact was, Sophia didn’t want to see him hurt again. “I’m sorry, Ricky, but if you ever hurt one of my kids again...”

“I was a father once,” he suddenly cut her off. “I mean...I was really their father. Wasn’t I?”

Sophia sighed and took a seat on a chair across from him. “Not a half bad one, either,” she reluctantly admitted. “But you walked out on them, Ricky, not the other way around. It’s going to be up to Jackson, whether or not he forgives you for that... and you’d better make him want to, Ricky, because the thing is, he needs you. Both of them do... but right now, especially Jackson.”

Ricky sat back on the couch and studied Sophia for a long moment before he asked the question he should have been asking all along. “How is he, Sop