Alex

My fingers shook as I took the witness stand. I looked at Jason because I refused to let him think what he did bothered me even though it did. I didn't want him to know how badly he hurt me. He was in a suit not a prison uniform like they show on television. My lawyer and the prosecutors had prepared me for the questions they were going to ask me so nothing came as a surprise. They had also prepared me for what questions Jason's defense lawyers would ask me so those didn't come as a surprise. The defense lawyers didn't ask me as much as they had the previous witness. They had eviscerated the previous witness. He was in his fifties and was one of the ones who had slept with Jason when Jason was only sixteen. Of course, he didn't know Jason had been sixteen, he thought he had been nineteen. The defense questioned how he could not know Jason was underage and on and on.

My time on the stand wasn't long and I left the courtroom afterwards. I just wanted to get home and have Mateo hold me.

When I stepped into the apartment, Mateo was talking on the phone. His back was to me as he stared out the sliding glass door to our little balcony.

"Is he still crying?" Mateo asked. "Which hospital are you at?"

I closed the door quietly behind me and put my keys down on our little table.

"I'm not going to tell Alex."

I froze. My insides went cold.

"He'll worry. It's not that big of a deal. He has enough to worry about."

A slow anger began to churn inside me. I stared at his back. He was keeping things from me again. I couldn't understand why. Was I not good enough for him? Did he think I was too fragile?

"I'll just take the bus." He turned around. He swallowed hard when he saw me. "I've got to go," he said and hung up without saying another word.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Please tell me. Please let me in. Please.

"Nothing," he faked a smile. "Everything is fine."

The anger and hurt consumed me. I walked passed him towards the bedroom. He tried to reach out for me, but I pulled my arm away. I didn't mean to slam the bedroom door, but the bang echoed through the room as I shut it behind me. I walked across the room and stared out the bedroom window. The blinds were wide open and my view was of the next building over, but that was fine. I didn't look out the window for a great view. I tried to calm myself down. I tried to see things from Mateo's perspective, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't fathom why he wouldn't tell me. I had told him about Jason. I had told him about my dad. I let him comfort me and hold me. Why couldn't he reciprocate?

The door opened slowly, quietly behind me. Mateo's soft footsteps came up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me. His warmth seeped into me and calmed my anger slightly.

"It's really not a big deal, Aley," he said softly.

I turned slightly in his arms so I could look at him. "Then tell me." It wasn't a demand. It was a plea.

"You don't need to worry about it."

The anger and hurt rushed back more intense than before. I broke free from his grasp not wanting to look at him. I didn't want to be near him. I left the bedroom and went into the bathroom. I locked the door behind me.

"Aley," he said from the other side.

"Just go be with whoever needs you," I tried to make my tone sound like I meant it. I wanted to mean it, but it came out sounding bitter.

"Aley," he said.

My eyes met my own in the mirror and I instantly regretted it. I looked ugly with the anger and bitterness painted on my face. A tear trickled down my cheek followed quickly by another. Seeing Jason earlier probably hadn't helped. It hurt.

"Babe," Mateo said through the door.

But I couldn't find my voice to speak. I wiped away the tears and sat on the closed toilet seat so I wouldn't have to look at myself in the mirror any longer.

"Please let me in," he said.

It was probably his family that needed him. I shouldn't be acting this way. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Talk to me," Mateo said.

"If it's your family that needs you, then you should go be with them." This time I sounded like I meant it and I felt like I meant it.

"Open the door first," he said.

I rolled my eyes because I didn't want him to see me when I was this ugly.

"Please, babe," he said. His hand gently patted the door. "Please."

I got up and opened the door. I took a step back and he took a step forward. He reached up and wiped tears from my cheeks that I didn't realize were still there. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"You should go," I said. He didn't let go of me. "Is it your grandpa?" I asked.

"No," he said and pulled away just enough to look into my face. "Hugo broke his arm. Kids break their arms everyday. Like I said, it's not a big deal."

"He was crying?"

"Well, broken arms do hurt. I'm just going to go to the hospital and check up on him and I'll be right back." He slid away from me and I missed the warmth of his arms.

"Can I go with you?"

"You've got other things to worry about," he said. "Hugo is fine."

"I want to go with you," I said and tried to put a little more strength into my voice. "I can give you a ride. You don't need to take the bus."

"Babe, you've got homework and the trial was today. I'm sure you're tired. Relax. Do your homework. You don't need to worry about this."

"Do you realize how condescending you sound right now?"

He was taken aback. "That wasn't my intention."

"Good. Then I'm driving."

I walked passed him back into the living room and grabbed my keys from the little table.

"Alex...," he started, but I interrupted him.

"I'm going. Whether you come with me or not is up to you. I can call Serafina or your mother to get the name of the hospital." I opened the door and stepped out. He raced after me. He got into the passenger side of my car while I got into the driver's side.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He told me the hospital and I pulled out of the parking lot. He was silent for several minutes before he said, "How did the trial go?"

"I was there longer than I wanted to be because they took longer questioning the witness before me," I said. "I left as soon as my time on the witness stand was over. I don't think they'll finish the trial today with how many witnesses they called. We'll have to wait and see what the sentencing is."

"But are you okay?" he asked.

I glanced at him briefly before I turned my eyes back to the road. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I was driving. I didn't need tears clouding my vision.

"I'm okay," I said, but I wasn't sure if it was true. I wasn't going to explore my feelings very closely at the moment. I was going to focus on cheering up Hugo.

When we got to the hospital, Adrian, Serafina and Grandpa Manuel sat on the waiting chairs. There was no sign of Hugo or Mateo's parents. Adrian's eyes were red as if he had been crying. He rubbed his right forearm as if it bothered him.

"How's Hugo?" Mateo asked.

"They gave him pain medicine," Serafina said. "They just set his arm. They made mom and dad come out here while they set it and then let them go back in."

I patted Adrian's shoulder gently as I sat next to him. I guessed he had been crying too even though he wasn't the one who broke his arm.

"Is this where Hugo broke his arm?" I asked Adrian. I indicated the spot he kept rubbing on his arm.

"Yeah," Adrian said.

"Do you have that twin thing where your arm hurts too?" I asked.

"A little," he said. "It's not so bad right now.."

Serafina put her arm around Adrian's shoulder. "He cried out in pain though not too long ago. That was how we knew when they set Hugo's arm."

To distract Adrian, I talked with him about video games. Grandpa Manuel and Mateo talked about soccer while Serafina looked at her phone.

We stood up when Hugo and their parents came out. Hugo's arm was in a splint. He smiled when he saw me. He ignored Mateo and ran to me. He hugged me with one arm. I hugged him back careful not to bump his sling.

"What about me?" Mateo asked him. Hugo slid away from me and hugged Mateo.

"I'm hungry," Hugo said when he pulled away from the hug. "They wouldn't let me eat anything."

"Should we take you out to dinner?" I asked him.

Hugo smiled brightly and nodded.

"Is that alright?" I asked Mr. and Mrs. Lopez. They nodded that it was.

"Me too?" Adrian asked.

"Of course," I said. "Sera can come too."

"Thanks," she said, "but I'm supposed to meet for this school club thing." She didn't sound very enthusiastic about it.

"Serafina," Mrs. Lopez said, "these things matter on college applications. You should be active with something."

Serafina rolled her eyes. "Maybe I don't want to go to college." Her mom gasped.

"Come on. Let's go," Hugo said. He grabbed my hand with the one that wasn't in the sling and started pulling me to the doors. Adrian followed with Mateo.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked as the four of us got in my car.

"Mexican," Hugo and Adrian said at the same time.

"Mexican food it is," I said. I drove to my favorite place. We went inside and were seated. Mateo and I sat next to each other with Hugo and Adrian across the table. Hugo sat directly across from me.

"Does your arm hurt?" I asked him after we had ordered.

"They gave me some medicine," he said. "It doesn't hurt so bad right now." There was a slight pause and then he said, "I cried when it first happened." He blushed.

"How did it happen?" I asked.

"Him and his friends were playing on this concrete slab thing they weren't supposed to be on," Adrian said, "and he fell off."

"I tried to stop myself and landed on my arm funny. I heard it pop." He shuddered.

"That was when he started crying," Adrian said. "And then I started crying. One of the boys ran off to get a teacher." It must have happened at school then. "Then the school called mom and here we are."

"We're probably going to get made fun of for crying," Hugo said.

"Well, breaking your arm hurts. I cried when I broke mine," I said.

"How old were you?" Hugo asked.

"I was thirteen," I said. "Do you guys want to come over this weekend? We can play video games and order pizza."

Mateo nudged me obviously not wanting his little brothers over, but I wanted them to come over. Hugo's and Adrian's faces lit up.

"Yes," they said at the same time.

"Hugo isn't going to be able to play video games with a broken arm. At least, not that soon." Hugo scowled at Mateo.

"Then we can watch movies," I said easily. Hugo smiled brightly at me.

When we dropped them off home after dinner, both Adrian and Hugo gave me a hug goodbye, but Hugo gave me a second hug.

"Thank you," he said. I patted the top of his head. Then Adrian and Hugo ran back into their house.

Mateo and I got back in my car. I pulled away from the curb and headed home.

"I think Hugo has a crush on you," Mateo said.

"It's harmless," I said. I couldn't deny it because I had noticed it too. "He'll get over it soon."

"Alex," he said when we stopped at a red light. I turned to look at him. "I love you," he said.

I smiled as my heart warmed. "I love you too."

He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips.

The car behind us honked its horn. The light had turned green. I quickly stepped on the accelerator. These were the moments with Mateo that I wanted to last forever. I finally felt like I had been needed.