There was silence in the car for several long, unbearable moments until Alex said, "I love him. I think I've loved him for the last ten years, but it's terrifying. The more I learn about what's going on, the more it seems like he's the only thing I have to hold onto." And there was a small, secret part of him that wondered if it was enough.

If it was enough, would he have kept pushing Michael away at every chance he got? Maybe if he hadn't, he'd know what was going on, but maybe he wouldn't. Maybe it would always be like this between them. Michael was his whole world and he couldn't be Michael's. Not with everything else he had going on.

A stray thought latched on and he glanced over at Kyle. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if you and I had never stopped being friends." Maybe nothing would have changed. Kyle's dad would still be dead and Alex's father would still be responsible. And now, all these years later, they were still friends of a sort.