Jessica Grayson has struggled with body dysmorphia and bullying for most of her life. And when she believes she has finally turned things around for herself, she is betrayed and made fun of by her boyfriend and close friends, which sends her into a...
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Liam
"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I can't believe him!" Jess shakes her head with distress.
"You have nothing to apologize for," I tell her for the hundredth time.
"If I had known that he'd be here, I wouldn't have..."
I interrupt her with a kiss.
"Jess, it's okay. It's no secret that my living conditions are less than ideal. Would you stop stressing?"
"There is nothing wrong with your living condition, Liam. Unlike most people our age you have had to do a lot by yourself and you handle it with more maturity than people twice our age."
"Liam, check this out!" Zach says, lowering his headphone and glancing my way.
"Your bedtime is nearing, so wrap it up," Jess says to him, and she eyes me. "What a brilliant idea to give them a gaming kit on a school night!" She says under her breath.
"Oh, come on! We just got this." Zach groans.
"And it'll still be here tomorrow," Jess snaps, irritably.
I reach over, and I place my hand on hers. Her eyes shoot up, and she looks at me with weary eyes.
"Why don't you get some rest? I'll play with them a little and get them to bed." I suggest.
Her eyes fill with tears, and she quickly turns around.
"Will you come to my room after?" She asks.
I hold her face with my hands, tilting her head up to give her a lingering kiss.
"Give me 15 minutes," I tell her, and she nods.
She quickly says good night to the twins, and she heads upstairs. And I settle next to Dean on the carpeted floor.
"What do we have here?" I ask.
"Why is Jess so mad at dad?" Zach asks, startling me.
I look at him to gauge how much of their conversation he overheard.
"They just had a little misunderstanding, that's all," I tell him.
"Because he didn't like you, or is it because he is marrying Aunt Margaret?" Dean looks up at me with innocent eyes, and I grimace.
Their father cheated on their mother with her best friend, so they must have grown up calling the woman their aunt. This isn't something I should be talking to them about. It's a family matter. But I love these boys as if they were my own brothers, and my initial instinct is to protect them from all the ugliness of the world.
