It was approaching an six months. For the band, that meant demo's and gigs.  For Richard and Tommy, that meant anniversary. Things had been going well.

    "We're far too young for this," Tommy announced as he stared down a poster that he'd torn from a school bulletin board. "This is a private school; we shouldn't even be having dances. What we should be doing is concentrating on our studies."

    Liam burst out laughing, "Yeah, you concentrate on studies? You're too feckin' busy screwing Richey's brains out for that. You're just arsed because the girls have to ask the blokes, and you can't decide which one of you is the bigger girl."

    "No, I'm arsed, because what if somebody asks me," Tommy fretted. He was seated next to Liam, waiting for Nigel to join them for lunch.

    "Do you want to go?" Liam asked.

    "It might be fun." Tommy shrugged. "I'd rather be with Richey, but you know him. He never wants to do anything. I'm, I'm..."

    "An attention seeker?" Liam supplied. "An arrogant little attention seeker, who needs to have showers of gratuitous praise heaped upon him in order to function properly?"

    "Yeah." Tommy scowled at him. "That's just it, or maybe I like to have fun and I don't like being locked away in a room, because he..."

    "Doesn't want his head bashed in on his way to the bus depot?" Liam offered. "Or lose his inheritance? Face it Tom; that kid is money. That's the only thing anybody sees in him, and don't bang on about love. I'm sure he doesn't want to throw that away for you. You're the pity prize winner, remember? You shouldn't even be here. What do you possibly have to offer? A cock and a lifetime of queer jokes? 'Backs to the wall!  Here comes that Richard Blume.' He don't want that."

    Tommy grumbled and twirled his fork around in his mashed potatoes. He knew on some level that maybe Liam was right, and maybe he wasn't worth more than the billion pound business his parents might leave in Richard's hands.

    He was asked the next day, and it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be to say no.  He'd just finished taking a volley of abuse from a group of older kids, including a short lived barrage of slushy grey snowballs. Tommy handled it with aplomb and was dutifully brushing heaps of snow from where it was lodged between his jacket and his neck.

    "Can I help you with that?" Richard approached with a slightly angered scowl.

    "No thank you," Tommy replied as he shook the remaining snow loose. "You can warm me up later on tonight."

    "If you say so," Richard replied. "I saw what they did to you."

    "It's just a bit of snow." Tommy shrugged. "No harm, no foul."

    "No dignity?" Richard brushed some snow from Tommy's shoulders. Despite his help not being needed, it made them both feel better.

    "I've got plenty of dignity." Tommy turned around and faced him. "But what about you?"

    "Don't even start," Richard pushed him away.

    Rita Gully interrupted them then. She was a tiny girl and not very popular around the campus. She was nice though. She always went to all of their gigs, and Tommy went out of his way to converse with her on numerous occasions. Even though most people said they liked him, he knew what it was like to get picked on, and he knew what it was like to be talked about behind his back.

    "Hello, lovely Rita." Tommy greeted her in his usual fashion and she smiled nervously back at him, saying hello to Richard as well.

    "So..." Tommy ventured after a long silence. "Can I help you with something, Rita?"

    "Did you want to go to that dance with me?" She blurted out, and then noting the shocked expression on his face, immediately backtracked.

    "Oh, you've probably already been asked. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even bothered."

    Tommy was genuinely stunned. Out of all the people he imagined would ask, Rita was the hardest to deny, even though his boyfriend was standing next to him radiating opposition.

    "I think you're busy, aren't you, Tom?" Richard spoke. "Aren't you?"

    "Back off, Richey," Tommy snapped in return.  Then he confronted the poor girl.

    "I'll have to think about it, Rita," he said. "I wasn't planning on going."

    "You're holding out for someone," she muttered unhappily. "Way to go, Rita, at least he tried to let you down easy."

    "Hey, I don't think that person is going to ask me anyway."  He eyed Richard. "So I'll think about it."

    Richard glared at Tommy and made a snorting noise of disbelief and displeasure before stalking away nearly pushing Tommy into a small pile of dirty snow as he went.

    "I've got to go." Tommy sighed once he regained his balance.

    "Richey seems a bit upset."  She looked after him. "Was it something I said?"

    "No, no," Tommy said. "Don't worry about him."

    "He's really cute," she noted. "I might've asked him, but he's sort of...scary and inaccessible."

    "Sort of?"  Tommy said.  "They've got his picture underneath those terms in the dictionary."

--

    "You're not listening to me!" Richard slammed his pen down on the desk.

    "Who cares about maths?" Tommy nuzzled his boyfriend's neck and ran his hand up and down his leg. "Your parents aren't here. You're butler is not here. I don't know why you want to study anyway. This is our night.  You're usually are begging me to tie you up to the bedposts by now."

    "I care about maths." Richard pushed Tommy away. "Do you want to lose your scholarship?"

    "I'm not going to lose my scholarship." Tommy giggled. "I never study."
    
    He kissed Richard, but the boyfriend didn't seem to be interested. He couldn't concentrate on maths, and he couldn't concentrate on sex. All he could think about was Tommy's noncommittal response to Rita Gully's request. He stood up from the desk and marched over to his couch.

    "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Tommy scowled after him.

    "Nothing," Richard grumbled.

    "Yes there is," Tommy said. "You're mighty cold tonight; any colder and you could freeze water."

    "I'll have you know that Cherrie Miller asked me to that stupid dance, and I told her no."

    "Cherrie the Slapper?" Tommy nodded. "She's fit, and Rita thinks you're cute too."

    "Not the point." Richard shook his head. "The point is you didn't say no."

    "I didn't say yes," Tommy countered.

    "I didn't think you want to see other people," Richard muttered.

    "I wouldn't be seeing her." Tommy rolled his eyes. "I can attend a dance with a friend and not want to sleep with them. If you want me to, I'll ring her right now and say no."

    "I don't want you to say no because I want you to. I want you to say no because you want to."

    "Richey, you're such a fucking woman. You make my head spin." Tommy stood up from his spot at the desk and aproached Richard.

    "You'd better not even think about touching me," Richard warned. "I'm too angry."

    "Rita's a nice girl." Tommy sighed and sat down. "We'd only be going as friends. I told you. We'd even dance a ruler's length apart; a meter stick apart! I'd just feel horrible saying no. That poor girl has no self-esteem. She's lonely and sweet."

    "Fine." Richard turned away. "Why don't you just leave if you don't want to be with me?"

    "Excuse me?" Tommy slapped his shoulder, causing him to wince involuntarily and spin around.

    "Richey, I love you. Fuck the dance. I don't want to go if you're not there."

    "No you're right." Richard changed his mind. "You should go. I mean, I couldn't ask you. You haven't gone to any of these stupid things all year because of me, and it isn't really fair. I know you enjoy it.  Besides, maybe it'll do us some good to be seen around school with a girl..."

    Tommy let his hand drop, and he stared at Richard completely and utterly perplexed.

    "Richey..."  He sighed and leaned onto him. "Richey, Richey, Richey."

    "I'm sick, I know." Richard pulled him closer and kissed him playfully on tip of his nose. "But how can I stay angry at someone as adorable as you?"

    "You can't." Tommy grinned. "I can melt icebergs."

--

    "Wow, you look knackered," Liam noted as he handed Tommy his cup of coffee.

    "I am." Tommy yawned. "Do you think this will stunt my growth?" He trudged over to a table in the small trendy coffee shop.

    "I don't know."  Liam followed him.

    "Because I am short enough as it is." Tommy sipped his drink and looked out the window at the busy Saturday shopping crowd.

    "I hate the way I look." Tommy admitted. "I'm so runty, and girly."

    "You're not either," Liam stated. "The only thing girly about you is the way you dress sometimes, and I thought you liked causing a stir?"

    "I know," Tommy said. "It's just...it just..It gets difficult sometimes. I don't know."

    He didn't know how to put what he was feeling into words, and even if he did, he wasn't sure that Liam would ever understand the issues he was grappling with.

    "So where is the old ball and chain?" Liam asked. "He's usually right next to you every moment of the day...bein' an arsehole."

    "I don't know." Tommy shrugged. "I'm his boyfriend, not his fucking keeper. He was fine last night, but this morning he was angry again. He has more ups and downs than my mother when she's on the rag."

    "He's on medication isn't he?  That's gotta mean somethin'," Liam said.

    "Yeah," Tommy replied. "He's insane. We've established that already. It's part of his appeal, isn't it?"

    "Don't ask me," Liam said. "I'm just here for a cuppa and moral support. I know nothing about being in a relationship let alone a...uh...gay one."

    "I shouldn't expect you to," Tommy noted.

    "Though I did get a blow job from Cherrie Miller once." He noted the amused expresion on Tommy's face and elaborated. "That's actually true, but I don't think that counts as a relationship, because I mean who hasn't? Probably you and Richey..."

    "You know, we shouldn't talk about her like that," Tommy said.  "People say the same things about me, and it's not true..."

    "But it is true," Liam replied.  

    "She's going with Richey to the dance," Tommy muttered.

    "Seriously?  When did you become a comedian? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, and you wouldn't mind if he got it on with someone else? Man, I need to find myself a girl like you..."

    "Don't get your hopes up," Tommy said. "She can try and try with all her might, but she's in for a cold, cold night."

    "I thought he'd turned her down anyway," Liam chuckled. "She was banging on about it all yesterday afternoon. It was rather annoying. I really wanted to spill it, Tom, but I know you bite."

    "only if you ask nice."  He stuck his tongue out at Liam. "I'm glad you didn't. I'm glad I can trust you.  Besides, it's not me you'd have to worry about if you told.  Richey would kill you dead right where you stood."

    "Well, you're welcome," Liam said. "I hate having to keep confirmation of such juicy gossip to myself, and since you know how trustworthy I really am now, why don't you tell me how the fuck Richey got a date...with a girl."

    "I sort of made him ring her last night." Tommy grimmaced.

    "Oh." Liam frowned. "I don't get it."

    "Well, he was being a whiney prat," Tommy defended himself. "This whole dance thing has thrown our happily closeted relationship into turmoil."

    "Now," Liam said. "I'm no expert on bein' a poof, but it seems to me that happily closeted is an oxymoron."

    "And how many times do I have to ask you not to call me that," Tommy replied crossly. "Who's idea was this anyway?"

    "What? You and Richey? or school dances?" Liam asked. "one is the brainchild of student government, and the other is probably your fault."

    "Probably my fault?" Tommy snorted indignantly. "How so?"

    "When you want something or someone there really is no stopping you is there?"

    "Hah!" Tommy said.  "So you're saying if I had wanted you, then I would've gotten you?"

    Liam scowled at him, "No fucking way. I'm not gay."

    "Well then, there you go." Tommy crossed his arms. "You know he turned me down. The day before that Radiohead concert. That's why we didn't go, Liam, and it was really his idea to get together. I was ready to throw in the towel after I thought I'd embarrassed him beyond all reparation of our relationship. I get far too much credit."

    "He turned you down?" Liam asked.

    "It happens," Tommy assured him. "He had me convinced he was straight for a minute."

    Liam laughed, "That must have been a blow...to your ego that is."

    Tommy sighed out of frustration and wondered how he had garnered such a reputation before he was even sweet sixteen. He knew he acted far older than he appeared, and he had done a lot of things he probably shouldn't have, but the way his peers treated him as if he were already a veritable god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll was starting to wear on his nerves. His vices weren't things he was proud of. He was proud of his marks, he was proud of his band, and his relationship with his mother, and most of all he was proud of his friends, who stood by him despite being called more then their fair share of derogatory names simply because Tommy was admittedly bisexual. They were the best friends anybody really could have hoped for, yet even they sometimes treated him like he was some kind of overly promiscuous spoiled brat who always got what he wanted and got away with everything. He worked hard to get what he wanted, and he spent many a good daylight hour suffering punishments handed down by either administrators or his mother. He didn't think he had a big ego at all.

    "You know, Liam, I was more worried about fucking up our friendship than I was about not getting a fuck, but I don't suppose you give a shit about that?"

    "Calm down, mate," Liam said.

"I'm sorry," Tommy apologized. "Coffee puts me a bit on edge, you know, but I guess that's how it has to go." He winked and held his mug up high. "Cheers?"

    "Cheers." Liam agreed.

--

    "You look like you're having fun," Richard noted the evening of the dance as he stood on the sidelines. "Nobody's threatened to beat you up yet?"

    "Cos Liam and Nigel are around," Tommy pointed out. "My body guards. You ought to dance.  Where's Cherrie?"

    "Nobody wants to dance with me," he remarked. "Not even my date. She dumped me."

    "Already?  That must be some kind of record," Tommy replied.  He tried his very best not to smirk at the situation, because he knew it was almost entirely his fault in the first place.

    "She must have gotten bored, because I don't put out on the first date," Richard returned.

    "Well, that's not entirely true!" Tommy laughed. "You ought to ask someone to dance.  There's a bunch of wallflowers over there." He pointed to a group of girls. "They all think you're fit, but how did Rita put it...You're scary."

    "I'm not scary," he pouted. "And what about you? Don't you think I'm fit?"

    "Oh, Richey, of course I do." He sighed. "Are you in a bad mood again?"

    "You made me come to this bloody dance and now I'm bloody fucking miserable," Richard grumbled.

    "So dance," Tommy commanded.

    "I told you already," Richard said.

    "Somebody does want to dance with you."

    "Yea, those girls, you told me," he muttered.

    "No." Tommy snapped his fingers in front of his boyfriend's eyes, commanding his attention. "I do, you arsehole!"

    "Bugger off." Richard scowled.

    "Make me," Tommy replied. "Come on. I'm going to walk Rita home and then we can go to my flat."

    "Assuming I want to go with you," Richard grumbled.

    "Fine." Tommy shrugged. "If you want to go home alone and sleep in that big bed of yours alone then be my guest. I ain't going to stop you."

    "No, I can't." Richard sighed. "Mum told me not to. She knows I'm sleeping over at your place, and she would be angry if I came home now."

    "God, yer mum is a cunt," Tommy announced.

    "She's my mum, Tom," Richard replied. "Would you say that to your mum?"

    "My mum doesn't treat me like I'm...nothing!" Tommy pointed out. "My mum loves me for who I am, and she doesn't make me feel like I don't belong in her life. We'll talk about this later, young man."

    "Don't treat me like a child," Richard warned.

    Tommy headed towards the dancefloor tossing his last comment out behind his back, "Then stop acting like one."

    "May I cut in," Tommy tapped Nigel on the shoulder and the taller lad stepped out of the way.

    "I hate to do this to you, Rita. I know you're having a good time," Tommy began as soon as the slow dance started.

    "But you found some other girl." She sighed. "I understand."

    "No, you don't," Tommy replied. "Actually I really have to get home."

    "We've only been here for an hour," she cried.

    "I know," he replied.

    "Why don't you go on and I'll take her home?" Nigel stepped in from where he was still standing nearby. He grinned at the girl and she grinned back.

    Rita turned back to Tom.  "If you don't mind?" She said.  "I mean, this isn't a 'real' date, right?"

    "Right," Tommy agreed.  He looked curiously between his best friend and his not-date.

    "I'll see you both later then, have her home by eleven!" Tommy grinned and was glad that she could stay and have a good time with the most trustworthy person he knew.  He hadn't thought any good would have come out of that dance.

--

  To people who didn't know Tommy and Richard, on the surface they didn't seem to get along very well. They were constantly bickering in public after all. They came from different backgrounds, and the only reason most people figured they spent any time together was because Richard and Nigel were related and Nigel was the best friend.  Despite all appearances, they were as close as two people could possibly be. Richard was in a bad place, and Tommy wanted to help because he was in love and it hurt him to see Richard struggle. The boy was scared, and Tommy was glad they had each other because sometimes he got scared too and nobody but Richard seemed to understand that.

    Tommy tossed his keys on the hall table and hung his coat on the rack.

    "Yer mum's home," he said.  He shuffled nervously beside Tommy as he often did.  He didn't think he would ever get used to Tom's mother.  The sheer amount of information that the mother and son shared made him nervous.  Then there was also the case of the familial attentions she showered upon him.  He didn't quite know how to react to it.

    "Yes, and if we're lucky she will take us for ice cream." Tommy grabbed his boyfriend by his suit jacket and dragged him into the flat.

    Madeline rose to greet them.

    "Don't my sons both look so handsome." She grinned at them and gave them a hug and a peck on the check respectivly.

    "Please, mum!" Tommy rolled his eyes. He knew Richard was uncomfortable with such familial intimacy. He certainly didn't get that sort of thing in his own home where his mother's friends and even the woman herself regarded him with suspicion and contempt since Elizabeth hadn't been able to keep the secret from them.  Richard had a habit of wearing T-shirts around the house, and, it seemed to Elizabeth, that the child seemed to delight in making the women who attended her garden parties uncomfortable.

    "It's Okay." Richard smiled at Madeline. "You're looking beautiful as well...Mum."

    She blushed just like her son often did. She was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

    "You're too kind, Richey."

    "Okay, we're going up to my room now," Tommy announced.

    "And what are you going to be doing?"  She eyed him.

    "Probably looking at records and talking for a bit," Tommy supplied.  "Then we'll probably make out for a while, and then I will trudge unhappily downstairs and sleep on the sofa, because I know you don't want to be in the house when we're doing it, because if you're not here it makes you feel better about condoning it, and bla, bla, bla...and there will probably be a wank in there somewhere, but I figure you most likely don't want to hear about that."

    "And you'd most likely be right about that." Madeline furrowed her brow. "Have fun, leave the door opened."

    "Thank you."  He kissed her on the cheek and tugged on Richard's shirt. "C'mon, I've got to show you what I got yesterday."

--

    "This is brilliant," Tommy held up an album.

    "Where'd you get this?" Richard snatched it.

    "White album on vinyl original pressing." He grinned. "Found it on the internet, some tosser was selling his collection on E-bay."

    "Some people lose interest," Richard replied. "You shouldn't fault them for that."

    "I don't fault them." Tommy flopped down on his bed. "I feel sorry for them. I can assure you I will never ever lose interest."

    "Oh, yea?" Richard sat down next to him.

    "How about you?" Tommy asked.

    Richard looked back at him. "No way," he said with conviction. "I'll never lose interest in this."

    "Come here." Tommy pulled at Richard's shirt from his reclining position and the boy flopped down next to him.

    "I'm sorry," Tommy said. "About tonight. The whole thing was such a fuckwit idea."

    "And I should have told you to go screw yourself," Richard replied, but admitted, "You were trying to be nice. Rita is a nice girl."

    "And in the proccess I hurt you, so it wasn't worth it," Tommy announced.

    "No you didn't," Richard replied. "I just, you know. I don't mean to. I wish I could behave like a normal person, maybe we could avoid the miscommunication."

    "I think miscommunication comes with the territory." Tommy laughed and grabbed hold of Richard's hand. "And you behaved as any normal right minded person would. I don't blame you if you never forgive me."

    "It's my fault, and to be honest, you've done far worse things to me." Richard shook his head. "I could have had fun. I mean, I know how to dance."

    "No possible way," Tommy declared. "I sent you out with the Cherrie!"

    "Were you worried?" He said.

    "Not at all," Tommy replied. "Because you love me. You're hopelessly infatuated with me."

    "Oh yea," Richard said. "Well, you can't live without me."

    "I can't," Tommy agreed. "So you aren't angry with me?"

    "No, not especially."

    "or are you secretly miffed and just saying you're not because you don't want to go home?"

    "A Bit of both," Richard admitted. "But what am I supposed to do? You don't know how those women look at me. I'm the poor depressed boy. I'm a blight on the Blume family name, aren't I?"

    "Fuck the family name!" Tommy sat up. "You have nothing to be ashamed about, Rich. You made a mistake.  You're getting help."

    "I don't know," Richard replied. "The only time I ever feel good about myself is when I'm with you."

    "That can't possibly be true," Tommy said.  "You are an amazing and talented person."

    "I'm not talented." Richard shook his head. "No way."

    "You are." Tommy patted his knee. "You should have been in the band, love. You're a better guitar player, and you're a better songwriter than Petere...and you're better in bed, I'm sure."

    "You can have my spot," Tommy said. "Play my guitar, and I'll just sing, and be beautiful."

    "I am not going to be in a band," Richard announced. "In front of all those people? I don't know how you do it."

    "I was born to it," Tommy declared. "It isn't difficult, besides I like being the center of attention."

Richard nodded, "I know it!"

--

    Tommy thought he could handle things. His mother gave him freedoms that most wouldn't.  His band was going well, and his relationship was going even better. Things had a tendency to unravel, however, and when they unraveled for Tommy, he realized just how much out of control his life could get.  For the first time he felt helpless. Of course, one couldn't feel much more than that when Elizabeth Caughton Blume decided to take a break from her garden party and walk in on her son and his boyfriend.

--

    "Do not freak out, please," Tommy announced as soon as he found his mother in thier small kitchen. It appeared as if he had just run a mile and was struggling to catch his breath.

    "What have you done now then?" She asked. "Is this about Mr. McGruder's tomatoes again, because I told you..."

    "No it's not about the tomatoes." He took a shaky breath. "You know Mrs. Blume, right?"

    "She's one of my bosses," Madeline replied. "Of course I do."

    "Well, you might be recieving a call from her in a near moment. Something about coercing her son into deviant sexual acts..."

    "Oh, dear lord." She held her hand to her mouth. "What did you do?"

    "Nothing," he replied despairingly. "We were just fooling around. The thing is, she just caught us at it and...well, he hadn't told her. She is psycho. I can see why he didn't tell her. It was the most horrible thing I've ever experienced."

    "Oh, Tom!" She walked over to him. "Are you okay?"

    "No, I don't think so." He reached out and leaned his head on her shoulder.

    "Okay." She held onto him tightly. "I told you to slow down, Tom."

    Tommy broke from the embrace and stumbled to the chair at the kitchen table.  He tumbled into it and buried his head in his hands.

    "I know, we should have waited for our commitment ceremony," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

    "Now is not the time for jokes," Madeline replied.  "Why would you even...with that woman in the house!"

    "I just have a hard time sayin' no to him," Tommy muttered.

    "Jokes, Thompson," She said.  "Not the time.  Maybe we can just talk to her.  She seems like a reasonable woman when it comes to business, maybe..."

    "She isn't!" Tommy looked up at her. "She isn't, Mum. Not where Richey is concerned. He's not real to her, all she cares about is...is...her social class and being proper and acceptable to her society friends. Having a queer son isn't part of that! He isn't a part of that! She already gives him so much shit for what he tried to do in boarding school, and you know why he did it? You know why, Mum. You're smart, you can figure it out. He was tourtured there, and just the way she treats him is tourture here too."

    "Calm down." She brushed his hair away from his eyes.

    "I can't," he said.  "It was awful, Mum. I don't even know how long she was standing there just watching. It's creeping me out, frankly."

    "What exactly were you doing?" she asked.

    "Mum!" He frowned. It was shaping up to be an even worse day then he had previously imagined. He sat down at the small kitchen table.

    "I know you think we're too young to know anything. Too young to know what we want, or what love is. But I know, and I'm not confused about it at all. I want him. I love him, and I swear to god if I could I would do anything just to take him away from there. They don't love him at all, not like I do. It isn't fair."

    "You have to realize, Love." She sat down next to him. "You are very young. It is hard for a parent to accept the fact that thier child..."

    "Is a valid human being?  Is a real person?  You don't understand how badly they treat him!" He interrupted. "They don't even celebrate his birthday, Mum.  Did you know that?"

    Madeline blanched at this revelation.

    "That's why he never comes to my birthday party.  It makes him sad, because he wants them to love him and it reminds him that they don't.  They just don't.  But I do. I know we're boys, but be honest with yourself. The sex is there, it's real, it's going to happen and you aren't going to discourage it in any way. I'm sick to death of people shouting at me about what I should and shouldn't be doing. It isn't good for me? I might catch some horrible disease? I don't fucking care, bring it on, I say. I'm going to die one day anyway."

    "Thompson," she murmured.  "I'm your mother, I'm supposed to worry about this kind of thing.  I don't want to see you get hurt!  It's hard finding out this sort of thing.  It's an adjustment..."

    "I know," he muttered. "But I can tell what dame Blume is going to say. She's going to tell you what a deviant I am, and accuse me of seducing Richey, because that's what she was screaming at me, and I was speechless, really. I wanted to tell her Richey was gay long before I ever entered the picture. I don't know what I'm going to do."

    "You're going upstairs, and you're taking a shower, and you're going to calm down," Madeline commanded. "And I'm going to cook dinner, and..."

    The telephone interrupted her. Tommy let out a long sigh and they both stared at the reciever.

    "Answer it," he said.

    "Maybe we can ignore it?" she offered.

    "Ta, but...unless you want her to come here and tell you all those things in person..." He stood up. "Don't run from her, and I won't either. Okay?"

    Madeline nodded.  She watched her sun trudge dejectedly from the room, took a deep breath, and answered the phone.