One Kiss

Chapter 27

"I can't afford $150,00! Even if we go through a bail bondsman!"

"Don't worry, Joshua has already said he'd post the bail and you're welcome back at his house."

Tears filled his eyes. "I don't deserve that, not after the way I treated him."

The lawyer patted his arm. "Joshua, Alyssa, and Weston are your friends, they won't abandon you. I suggest you remember that. Give us a bit to get the bail posted and we'll get you out of here."

"All of my stuff is still at Seth's place, how do we get it back?" he asked.

"Leave that to me."

Zayden sat back and watched the rest of the proceedings. He'd been nervous as hell, he didn't know what he would have done if the judge had denied bail. He wasn't a criminal and the thought of being locked away frightened him. He snorted, no wonder Seth forced him to watch Shawshank, he was showing him his future. He'd been a fool to trust him, after a weekend spent in holding with zero contact from Seth, he was forced to admit that this must be Seth's doing. The whys of it still eluded him though.

***

Josh slapped him on the back. "Damn good to have you back with us, even if the situation sucks."

Zay threw himself at Josh and hugged him. "I can never repay you for this or thank you enough. I don't deserve it, not after the way I treated you guys."

Josh slapped him on the back again and pulled away. "Hey, come on, we're friends, man, we'll always be friends. We get it, Seth acted like one hell of a support system, he's good at lying."

"Yeah, so good I bought everything he told me," Zay replied sadly.

"I did the same," West told him. "Seth is a master at manipulating those around him. He knows what to say, how to say it, and exactly when to say it to reel you in. It isn't your fault, Zay, I fell for it too."

He blew out a breath and nodded. "I should have listened to you guys. I'm sorry."

"Hey, no worries and no more apologizing, we are moving on," Alyssa told him cheerfully. "All right, we have an epic dinner planned, go shower and change and we will begin the celebration of your release!"

Zay grinned. "Thank you, all of you for this."

"Nope stop it, go shower and change!"

"Take a leak without everyone in the cell watching," Josh told him with a chuckle.

"Funny. I may stay in the shower until all the hot water is gone," he told them before he turned and headed upstairs.

"It's a sixty-gallon water heater, dude, have fun!" Josh yelled after him.

Zay remained in the shower far longer than he would have on a normal basis, he didn't use all sixty gallons of hot water, but he felt better after the shower. With a deep sigh, he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

"You fucked up, big time," he told himself. There was no answer, of course, another sigh and he got dressed and headed downstairs. "How did you guys get my stuff from Seth?" he asked as he came into the kitchen.

"Mr. Salazar petitioned the court to allow us to go to Seth's with a couple of officers and get your things. It was a good thing you hadn't fully unpacked, took us less time to get everything," Alyssa told him.

"Josh stayed at the courthouse to post your bail while Alyssa and I went to Seth's and got your shit with the officers in attendance to make certain we all behaved. Seth kept shaking his head and saying he couldn't believe you'd do this to him. I wanted to hit him upside the head with a brick or two," West said.

"I appreciate the thought; I'd like to know why he did all of this. What does he gain by getting me locked up?" he asked as he took a seat with West at the table.

"He benefits because the cops are looking anywhere but in his direction, if they convict you as the ringleader of the car theft ring then they'll only be attempting to make connections to you. They won't look in any other possible directions," West reasoned. "Seth remains above suspicion and is free to continue his operation."

"We also think he has a couple of cops in his pocket which means they'll make certain no one is looking in his direction," Josh added.

"That too." West reached out and put his hand over Zayden's on the table. "I'm sorry, Zay, this is my fault."

"This isn't remotely your fault, West. It's mine for not listening."

"No, it's mine for pushing you to admit you're gay without knowing a damn thing about your family situation. I shouldn't have pushed, if I'd left well enough alone you wouldn't have ended up with Seth."

"And I would still be lying to myself and everyone around me. I'm glad you pushed, even if I didn't say so, it gave me the shove I needed to break away from my parents. Yeah, things aren't going to be easy, but I'm happy that I'm free to be myself." He grinned at Alyssa where she and Josh bustled around the kitchen getting dinner ready. "And thanks to Mrs. Roman I've found a job I like a lot and I want to do it permanently. I'm planning on taking classes to get a degree so I can come on board at child services as a certified counselor."

"I'm glad. I wish my situation turned out half as good," West said with a chuckle. "Instead Seth keeps holding that picture over my head."

"We need to figure out a way to put this on Seth where it belongs. If we can't I might end up taking those classes from inside prison," Zay told him.

Alyssa set a bowl on the table. "That won't be easy, the guy has made certain nothing points to him."

"Meatloaf!" Josh announced.

"Meatloaf? Seriously that's my coming home dinner?"

Josh laughed. "Just kidding, I give you my famous burgers!" He set a platter down on the table.

"Oh, thank god I was about to go order a pizza," West told him as he grabbed a burger.

"Seriously, how could you possibly believe he made meatloaf, I just set down a giant bowl of fries! Idiots!" Alyssa rolled her eyes and gestured to the bowl.

"Hey, anything is better than prison food," Zay told her as he grabbed a burger.

"Even meatloaf?" Josh asked him with a smirk.

"It's a close one. Thanks for this, all of you. To my freedom, may it last!" He held up his can of soda as he made the toast.

"Freedom!" Josh shouted and thrust his can into the air.

They dissolved into laughter.

It felt good to laugh. It also felt good to be sitting around this table with his friends. His support system was here and it warmed him to know they hadn't deserted him despite what he'd done. Despite the fact, that he'd chosen Seth over them. This was true friendship. These people were the ones he could depend on and he needed to remember that. Tears filled his eyes as he watched Josh dump a pile of fries onto his plate as Alyssa berated him for hogging all of them, West chuckled and shook his head. These people were his family and he never fully appreciated that. He was home. From now on, he would remember that and appreciate it to its fullest.