Just as he'd pulled into the apartment parking lot after getting back from the art supply store, Kell had seen Parker's Bentley rolling into through the gate.

He decided he would try and sneak up on him. It'd be fun to jump from the bushes and scare him, or something like that. He wondered if Parker was the kind of guy who would jump in the air and get all freaked out, and then try to play it off afterward. He laughed to himself, thinking about it. He hopped out of his car and found a well-hidden spot behind a tall bush of bougainvillea and peeked out to watch Parker.

Parker climbed out, went around to the rear driver-side door and ducked into the car. Then, when he came back out, Kell's stomach flipped. Parker was holding a little boy in his arms. The boy held on to Parker around his neck, and the two of them chatted as Parker walked up the sidewalk towards the apartment complex.

Whose child was that? Did Parker have a baby brother? If he did, why wouldn't he have mentioned that he'd be visiting today? And he hadn't seen a child's seat in his car before...

Kell felt a dizzying chill spread through his body as he thought back to Parker's odd insistence that he not see his apartment. Was he hiding something?

That couldn't be Parker's kid, could it?

Why couldn't it be?

Kell had only just moved into his apartment here, and he'd never even seen the outside of Parker's apartment. He hadn't spent enough time here to run into him a second time, let alone run into him with a kid... Or...

A mate.

Another chill went through Kell's body. Jesus. Could Parker already have a mate? He knew so little about him. He was so secretive at school. He had no friends in class that he'd talk to, so there'd never been a chance to overhear him talking about his home life.  

Kell's heart was racing as hard as it had the first time they'd kissed. He watched Parker walked into the complex, and slowly followed after him, making sure to stay hidden. Parker hung a corner towards the opposite side of the complex from where Kell lived, and finally, he stopped in front of a door. With the boy still up in one arm, Parker set down his bag and moved to unlock the door. It flew open, and Kell's heart just about stopped. Standing there was a young man around his age, maybe a year or two younger.

"Daddy!" the boy squealed.

"Hi, sweetheart," the man said. And then he pulled Parker into a tight embrace.

Kell's head spun wildly. Everything blurred. He didn’t want to believe it was true, that he'd been deceived. How could Parker do this? He was furious that Parker would do this to his mate. And he was furious for allowing himself to be drawn into this. He felt sick. He'd invited Parker into his home, and they done those things together while his mate and his son were waiting for him to come back? That was the kind of alpha that Parker was? Kell wanted to scream. He stumbled back to his apartment and collapsed onto the bed.

He couldn't stay here. Parker would come by looking for him soon, and he did not want to be here to face him. He called Jessie, and when she picked up the phone he found himself spilling everything out to her in a frantic jumble. Soon he was at her front door, and she pulled him inside and hugged him tightly. He was too angry to cry. He'd never felt so betrayed in his life.

"That bastard," she said. "That complete, fucking, son of a bitch."

She sat him down on the couch and went to the kitchen to get him a drink. She had her easel set up in the middle of her living room and had been working on a painting. He thought of the portrait he'd started painting for Parker and pushed his face into his hands. Why'd he have to let himself fall so hard for Parker so damn fast? He was so sure it was the start of something good. All those hopes he'd built in his head... Why'd he let himself get so carried away? He should've known better.

Jessie brought him back a mug of hot tea. "I've got stronger stuff, if you want," she said, and he shook his head.

"Thanks, Jessie," he said weakly.

"Has he contacted you?" she asked.

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I turned my phone off. I don't want to see anything from him."

"Jesus," she muttered. "A mate and a kid... You're sure it was his?"

"He called Parker sweetheart and hugged him," Kell said. "Yeah."

"Jesus. Well... I guess it's better you found this out early, I guess..."

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I just feel like shit."

"It's not your fault, Kell," she said. "There was no way you could've known. This is all on him."

"Yeah..." Kell felt numb. He held the mug of tea in his hands but didn't drink from it.

"Stay over here tonight," she said. "Keep that phone off and just stay over here. Okay?"

"Okay," he said, nodding. "Yeah. Thanks Jessie."

She hugged him again. "I need to keep working on this painting, but we can talk while I'm doing that. Or you can just chill out. Anything you need."

"It's beautiful work," he said. And then he started to cry.

He felt silly for feeling so hurt. Angry, he could understand, but he and Parker hadn't even been intimate for very long! He shouldn't have been this hurt about a guy he'd barely had a relationship with. But just in that short amount of time, Kell had dropped his guard. He'd let him in to his heart, and he'd let him in deep. Kell'd thought that Parker would be his first boyfriend, and the firsts always caused the most pain.

Jessie hugged him again, rubbing his back until he'd gotten control of his tears. "I'm sorry," he said, sniffling. He felt so pathetic, and so powerless. Damn him.

Kell lay on the couch while Jessie painted. Sometimes he would turn to watch her, but mostly he was lost in thought and pain. It would come at him in waves, as his mind took him back to that painful moment when he saw Parker and his family. He didn't know what he would do from here. Seeing him in school was going to be horrible. Running into him at home, knowing he was there with his family, would be torturous. There seemed to only be one answer--his art. Art had always been his therapy, his refuge and his outlet for both the best and worst moments of his life. He'd turn to his art.

He decided at that moment that he would stop being afraid. He wouldn't let this thing bring him down. Parker had at least encouraged him to face his fears for once, and so he would hang on to that silver lining. He would continue showing his portfolio to companies and submitting his work to galleries until he found something.

He would angry. He was sad. But for the first time, Kell felt a resilience inside of himself that he didn't know he had. He would get through this. He would come out stronger. But for now, he would embrace the feelings that he had.

* * *

Kell trudged through the work day like a zombie, mostly operating on autopilot, his mind in another universe. He just didn't care anymore. He wanted to be painting. He wanted to be doing something important. And what conflicted him the most was that he still wanted Parker. He missed him, despite what he'd learned. Despite knowing he was a cheater. Kell hated that, but he just couldn't rid himself of those feelings for him. He kept going back to those few short moments he'd shared with Parker, reliving his touch and his taste. He wanted more. He wished he could have more. He wished that yesterday had just been a terrible dream.

He decided he would skip class that day. He had to. He still couldn't bring himself to speak to Parker. He'd read his messages, but he wasn't ready to confront him about it yet. He would, eventually, but not yet. He still needed time to get through what he was feeling. It was a Friday, so he'd have plenty of time to deal with his feelings before the inevitable confrontation. Maybe it was cowardly to avoid him. Maybe it was immature. But Kell didn't care. He kept seeing the face of Parker's mate in his mind and felt that swell of hot anger every time he did. He felt so angry for him.

"Kell!" Montrell shuffled over to him. "Can I speak with you for a moment? Come with me."

"Alright," Kell said. He didn't give a damn about what Montrell had to say to him.

"I've been looking at your sales numbers. I like what I see with that volume, but the warranties. You really, really need to be selling those services. I've been telling you, over and over, and I still don't see the commitment that I want from you."

"Mm." Kell felt pressure building inside. Dammit, if he mentions warranties one more time...

"So, what I'd really like for you to do is to make sure you're offering those warranties on all of your sales. Really push it. You've got the ability to do, I know you do, you've just gotta convince them that it's something they need. Remind them that it's a protection of their investment, and--"

"Is this what you've always wanted to do with your life?" Kell asked.

"Huh?"

"Sell warranties. Sell things."

"Well... I've always enjoyed it, yes."

"Look, Montrell. I hate selling people things that they don't need. I'm here because I've been too damn afraid to sell my own work. Every time I have to try to scam someone into buying a piece of shit computer that's going to break in a year and try to force them to buy a waste of money warranty to go along with it, I die a little bit inside. Let me go back out there and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, or you can fire me, I really don't care."

Montrell looked shocked. "Well... In that case, I think you should just go home, then, Kell."

Kell nodded. "Right. Fine."

He walked out of the back room and made his way across the floor. He felt surprisingly calm.

"Oh! Hello!"

As he passed by the front registers, someone wearing an Electronics World uniform called out to him.

"Hi," he said. "I'm new here."

Kell stopped, and then froze in place when he saw who it was.

There was no mistaking it. He was Parker's mate.

"I'm William Leipold," he said, sticking out his hand. "I'm the new customer service associate."

Kell shook his hand. He felt his face going hot as his vision started to shake. What the hell?

"H-hi," Kell stammered. "I'm, uh, Kell."

"Nice to meet you. What do you do here?"

"Computers," Kell responded. His mind was reeling.

"Cool. Hey, are you alright? You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine," Kell said. "Uh, I have to go." He stumbled away and practically fell out the front door.

"See you around," William called after him, looking confused. "Is he okay?" he asked Montrell, who shook his head.

Kell got into his car and had to sit there for a while to let his heart settle. He felt like he was going to pop. This was too much. What the hell was going on? He felt tears coming back, and he quickly turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot before he was able to break down and be incapable of doing anything.

He threw himself into his apartment and slammed the door behind him. Standing on the easel in the center of the room was his portrait of Parker. The anger and the sadness was churning through him like a hurricane. He greeted his teeth, and with an anguished yell he kicked the easel, sending the painting whirling through the air. It smacked against the wall, smearing the still-wet oil paint in aggressive streaks. Kell stared at it, breathing hard. After a few minutes, he gathered himself and picked up the easel and the canvas. He got his jar of clean turpentine and cleaned the streaks of paint from the wall. The unfinished portrait of Parker sat staring at him on the easel.

"Fuck you," he whispered, and he grabbed his paintbrush.