Monty's eyes hadn't left the entrance of the courtroom since his dad was dragged out of it. He knew Winston was standing in front of him, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the doors.
"Monty?" Winston had been repeating his name, trying to get his attention.
Ultimately deciding that just calling his name wasn't working, Winston put his other hand on the opposite side of Monty's head and pulled him closer so that they were face to face.
Monty's eyes finally focused on something other than the doors as he made eye contact with the boy he cared about more than anything.
"Monty... Are you okay?" Winston's face was full of concern.
"I-I don't know." Monty said, being honest.
"That's alright." At Monty's confused glance, Winston continued, "You don't need to be okay right now, considering what just happened."
Monty nodded and leaned his forehead against Winston's, seemingly forgetting everyone else around them. They stayed like that for a few seconds, both of Winston's hands on either side of Monty's face, while Monty closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. When Monty pulled away he realized everyone in the room was staring at them.
He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked over at his mom and sister. Estela was still wrapped in her mom's embrace, but she had a look on her face that told Monty he should come over to them.
Monty glanced back at Judge Campbell to see if it was okay to do so. He and Beverly were caught up in a conversation that Monty assumed was about his dad's arrest.
He decided it was probably okay and began walking over to meet both of them. Estela untangled herself from her mom's arms and launched herself at her brother. Monty smiled as he hugged her.
After a few moments, they let go of each other. Monty immediately looked up at his mom, who was watching them with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, mom." Monty told her.
She didn't say anything. She just moved forward and pulled her son into her arms and held him.
"I missed you so much." She said, still embracing him.
Monty pulled back, surprised, "You did?"
"Of course I did." She told him, "Honey, I love you more than my own life. I was so devastated when I thought you were..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.
"I never agreed with anything your father thought. I was just too afraid to say anything. I'm so sorry." She said.
Monty shook his head, "I'm the one who should be sorry, mom."
"That doesn't matter, right now. I want you to come home, Monty." She said.
Monty's eyes widened as tears formed in them, "Really?" He asked and his mom nodded, bringing him back in for another hug. Estela smiled and joined in.
About a half hour passed and soon everyone had left the courtroom. Monty was free to go home for the day, since his first therapy session was tomorrow. When everyone started to leave, he tried to find Beverly.
When he found her standing in the hallway, Monty tapped her on the shoulder, unsure of how he should greet her. She turned around and smiled at him.
"Hello, Monty." She said, cheerfully.
"Hey, Beverly. I just wanted to say thank you. I mean, seriously, I can't thank you enough for what you did for me." Monty said, sincerely.
Beverly had a slight smirk on her face, "Don't thank me, thank my son."
"Who's your son?" Monty asked, thoroughly confused.
Beverly only smiled wider and pointed behind Monty. When he turned around, he saw Winston walking up to them. Suddenly all the pieces put themselves together in his mind.
"Hey." Winston said, smiling.
"Hi." Monty replied, looking at him and then at Beverly, recognizing all of their similarities.
"How did I not put that together?" He asked more to himself than either of them.
Winston laughed, "You didn't know?"
Monty grinned, "I was under a lot of stress, okay?"
Beverly looked between them and smiled knowingly, "I'll be outside if anyone needs me."
"I'll meet you out there in a minute, mom." Winston told her.
As she walked out of the building, Winston put his hand on Monty's arm. Monty looked over at him, before smiling.
"Do you wanna maybe, sit down or something so we can talk?" Winston asked him.
Monty nodded, "Yeah, sure."
Winston guided them to a bench along the wall of the main hall.
"I know I already asked this, but are you okay? I mean, be honest with me."
Monty thought for a second before responding, "I feel like for the first time, I could be."
Winston grinned, "I'm glad."
Monty smiled back at him, but Winston could see that some sort of pain was still behind it.
"Tyler was wrong, you know. You're not broken." Winston told him.
Monty shook his head, "I am though. But he was wrong about no one trying to fix me. Thank you for never giving up on me."
Winston smiled, "I'll never give up on you." After a few moments, "I love you."
Monty froze as his eyes widened, "You... No, you don't love me."
"I do. I do love you, more than anything." Winston said.
Monty shook his head, "You don't know what you're talking about."
"No, listen to me." Winston grabbed onto Monty's hand and held it with both of his. "I love you, Monty. So much, it hurts. I'd do anything for you."
Monty yanked his hand back, "You shouldn't love me, Winston. You- you can't." Monty rubbed his hands across his face, "This is crazy."
Without even looking at Winston, Monty stood up, "I gotta go."
"Monty..." Winston pleaded as he watched the boy he loved walk away from him.
Winston contemplated following him, but thought it would be better to let Monty have time to think about his feelings. It was obvious he was conflicted and confused.
Winston sighed and held his head in his hands, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes.
"Hey man!" Diego said excitedly as he sat down next to Winston.
Winston immediately sat up and tried not to look heartbroken, "Hey, what's up?"
"Have you seen Monty?" Diego asked, "I kinda wanted to talk with him before he leaves."
"Yeah, he went that way." Winston pointed to where Monty had gone after their conversation.
Diego went to stand up and head in that direction, but then he saw Winston's face. It looked like he was crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" Diego asked, concerned.
Winston quickly wiped his eyes with his coat sleeve and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just overwhelmed with everything."
Diego nodded even though he wasn't convinced.
"What about you? Are you okay? Excited for tomorrow at all?" Winston asked, trying to change the subject.
"What's tomorrow?" Diego asked, sitting back down.
"Isn't tomorrow Liberty's prom?" At Winston's words Diego looked surprised.
"Oh shit." Diego swore, "I've been so caught up in all the stuff that's been going on that I completely forgot about prom."
"At least you get a prom. Hillcrest is one of those schools that think dances are unnecessary." Winston told him.
"Then you should come to Liberty's with us! It'll be a hell of a lot more fun with you there." Diego invited him.
"Oh, I don't know if I'm really feeling up to that right now." Winston said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Diego asked.
Winston sighed. He knew he could trust Diego, "I told Monty I love him and he didn't say it back. He just ran away."
Diego frowned, "That's rough. I'm so sorry, man."
"It's fine." Winston laughed without any humor, "I mean, it's not fine. My heart hurts, but he's just not ready yet."
Diego nodded, "Do you think he'll ever be ready?"
Winston shrugged, "I don't know. But that's the thing, I'll wait for however long it takes him. Because I love him even though he doesn't love me back."
Diego didn't say anything to that and Winston tried to lighten the mood, "Well, I'm gonna go find my mom. After winning a case she usually likes to celebrate with ice cream."
Diego nodded and pulled Winston into a hug, which Winston happily returned.
"I'm really glad I met you, Winston." Diego said.
Winston grinned, "I'm glad I met you to."
When they pulled back, they laughed. Winston went to walk away, "Say bye to Estela for me, okay?"
"I will." Diego said as he waved goodbye to him.
Winston turned around and walked out of the main entrance of the courthouse. Diego immediately sought out to find Estela, who was talking with Charlie by the large staircase.
"Hey," Diego greeted as he approached them, "I need to talk to you guys."
Estela turned her attention to Diego, "What is it?"
Diego took a deep breath, "We have to do something about Winston and Monty."
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Author's Note: It can't be a Wonty fic without some angst :(
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! :)