And then we laughed at the woman's hair together.

Who: Aaron and his mom
When: After school
Where: Lynn Avenue

Those last few days at school had been ridiculous and Aaron was not happy. Joining the dance team was supposed to be fun and productive but so far it was just bringing him trouble. Stupid girls, stupid Bruce, stupid school! He unlocked the door to his house and got inside, dumping his bag in the hallway and slamming the door shut. "Mom!" He called out, kicking off his shoes and hanging up his coat before heading into the living room. "Mom, I'm home. Are you awake?"

He was beginning to understand a little better why his parents wanted him to move with his dad, all his mom did was sleep and watch TV. He'd never really noticed just how bad off she was when she got these episodes with his dad acting like buffer between them, but there she was, with her duvet on the sofa, watching some god awful soap. It didn't even look like she'd moved since he left that morning and that morning it looked like she hadn't moved since the night before. "Mom," he sighed, sitting down on the arm of the sofa and watching her with a small frown.

"Oh, hey honey," Joan said groggily, looking up and giving him the smallest of smiles. "How was school?" She'd probably spent most of the day sleeping and her pale blond hair didn't look taken care of at all. Which was a pity since it was all sorts of pretty when she did something with it.

"Have you gotten up at all today?" Aaron asked her. "Did you call in to get any work? You were going to do that today, remember?"

"No, I totally forgot," she yawned, reaching for the remote control and turning down the volume on the TV. "What time is it? Oh... I'll call them tomorrow."

"That's what you said yesterday," Aaron said with a frustrated whine. "You have to remember tomorrow. I swear I'll stick a post-it on the TV before I go to school."

"I'll remember," she interjected and slowly started pulling her duvet up over her head as he kept talking.

"Mom, it's important, it's serious you have to call or... Mom, stop that." He jerked the duvet back down with a frown. "Mom. If you don't then dad will have to give you money again for rent and food and you know he can't keep doing that."

She closed her eyes, looking like she was trying to block him out and that just infuriated him further. "It's not like you actually have to go out to work, mom. You just have to pick up the phone."

"When did you get all grown up?" She said suddenly, grinning at him. "My little boy, all responsible and telling mommy off like she's just a baby." Ignoring the rolling of his eyes she held up her thin arms, waving him closer. "Come here, get that pout off your pretty face, baby boy and gimme a hug."

He reluctantly went, kneeling by the couch and wrapping his arms around her. He hadn't seen her work at all since he got home and it had been over a week..

"There's my sweet boy," she cooed, giving him a tight squeeze. "I hate it when you sound like your daddy, I just want my little boy back."

"Mom, I'm not little anymore," Aaron grumbled but the protest didn't exactly go far with her now any more than it ever did. Instead he just got tickled and so he pulled away with a dismayed squeal. "I'm way too old for that!" He sputtered but it was no use.

"You're never too old to be tickled," she told him and laughed when he laughed, even sat up to tickle him more. Soon they were both laughing and panting and he'd managed to twist out of her grip and sat down by her feet.

"Sweetie," she cooed, poking his leg with her foot. "Let's have a cozy night tonight, just you and me. We can order a pizza and watch your favorite movies."

"We ordered a pizza last night," Aaron reminded her. "You need to eat more vegetables. Do you ever cook anymore?" He dropped that subject when she gave him a heartbroken look. "Okay, fine... But I'll go buy us something to eat, something a little more nutritious than pizza."

"Aww, boogie bear... I don't want you out there with all the mean animals attacking people," she said with a frown but to her credit she sat up straighter, fixing her nightshirt a little. "Not after it gets dark. I'd just die if my little boy got attacked. Die."

Aaron smiled at her and rolled his eyes again in fake annoyance but moved over to sit closer to her again. This just showed how much Chrissy knew because that was really what had cracked their friendship. They'd fought - like they did all the time anyway - but this time she'd told him she was surprised his mom hadn't killed herself yet, having to live with him again. He'd known she could be catty, so could he, but that comment had driven a wedge between them and since she wouldn't apologize, he wouldn't talk to her.

"I'll be super duper careful and not order food in the park," he said with a grin, pressing his face against her neck. "You need to shower," he told her then, wrinkling his nose. "Girls shouldn't smell bad." But she did and he hated when she got like this. She was so much more fun when she had her up-time, even if she worked too much and kept him up at night sometimes. It was just better than her sleeping all the damn time.

When he sat up again she frowned, leaning in and studying him for a moment. "What happened to your face?" She asked, finally noticing that growing dark patch on Aaron's jaw. "Is that a bruise?"

He nodded, glad she'd finally noticed it without him having to put a neon sign to it. In truth he expected to have to tell her before she even noticed, she was so slow and inattentive when she was like this.

"Oh baby," she said, her frown turning sad. "What happened to you? Did someone hurt you? Did that happen during practice?"

"No," he sighed dramatically, leaning against her again and letting her hug him and rub his back. "There's this really stupid boy at school. His name's Bruce and he hates me 'cause I'm gay and today we got into a fight and he hit me."

She gasped, then cooed softly as she rubbed his back a little more firmly, resting her chin on top of his head. "Maybe your dad can talk to his parents," she suggested. "Did you tell a teacher?"

"No," Aaron muttered indignantly. "Some teacher saw but it doesn't matter. He got detention at least. And dad hates me for being gay too. "

"Oh sweetie, no he doesn't," she insisted. "He really doesn't. He's just dumb about telling you how he feels, he doesn't hate you, baby, how could he hate you? Aww don't be a sad boogie bear." She ruffled his hair gently and then she offered him a faint smile. "This means icecream," she said decidedly. "All you can eat." She gave him another hug and he leaned into it.

Sure. Icecream and takeout sounded okay but it seemed like that was all there was at home these days. The only reason Aaron got healthy food was because he took care of it and sometimes the only reason his mom even ate was because he made her something and brought it to her.

"Okay, icecream," he told her. "But only if you eat something proper tonight. We can cook together and I can show you my new dance moves." Hopefully that would cheer her up, if he just managed to drag her off the couch and get her moving. If that wasn't enough, he'd probably swallow his pride and call his dad.