He glanced at Sheridan, who looked like she was about to be sick. She backed away from him, and turned back to the suitcases she’d be fumbling with. “Yeah,” he managed to say. “I found it.” He held up the letter and the photograph for her to see.

“Good,” she said, crossing the room to where he sat. “So we can go?”

He hesitated for a moment, and looked at Sheridan again. He hoped she would say something, anything. He didn’t know what…but he thought if she at least said something, it might break the tension he felt inside of him. But of course, she said nothing. In fact, she didn’t even acknowledge him. Her sudden mood swing left him confused. A minute ago she seemed to care…now though, she was acting like they weren’t together, like he wasn’t even there. It was making his head swim with a thousand questions that he didn’t have answers to.

“Justin?” he heard his mother say.

He looked back at her. “Yeah…we can go if you’re ready,” he said glumly.

His mother went around behind him, chattering to him about the plans she’d made for the day. He barely heard her. He’d gone back to staring at Sheridan again, hoping to get a reaction out of her. She didn’t break her mood though. She went about her duties…packing his clothes, and making his bed.

She didn’t care. Or maybe…she was too frightened to show that she cared.

But he wasn‘t. “Sheridan,” he blurted out.

She paused. He knew she was terrified about talking to him in front of his mother, but he didn’t care right now. His mother’s opinion about all of this could wait until later. Sheridan needed to get used to the fact that people weren’t going to be totally accepting of their relationship. She needed to move past it, and focus on the relationship itself. He knew it was going to be hard for her…but at the same time he knew she had it in her to do it.

“Sheridan, look at me.”

Sheridan slowly turned toward him, obviously trying as hard as she could to hide her tears from his mother. “What is it,” she said softly.

“Are we okay?”

“We’re okay,” she told him after a moment, seemingly having to use every ounce of energy she had to get the words out. “I’ll see you later.”

He felt his mother push him forward a little, signifying that she wanted to go. He didn’t want to argue, or cause any more tension between Sheridan and his mother, so instead he simply nodded, and shot Sheridan a reassuring smile. “I’ll make dinner. How about it? A real southern style meal. I‘ll get the stuff from the store and everything.”

She laughed. It sent him a feeling of reassurance that things were going to work, despite everything. He concluded that Karen was wrong. Sheridan could handle this. She was strong. Strong enough to handle anything. He looked at his mother, hoping that she’d have something positive to add to the conversation. Maybe she’d bring up Nanna’s recipe for peach cobbler, and tell Sheridan that she could help her make it.

But she was silent, her expression was cold, and she looked like she didn’t want to be in the room right now.

“I’d like that,“ she smiled at him warmly, flushing out his insecurities. “And…just listen to what the doctors have to say to you today. Don’t be so…how you are, okay?”

Now he was laughing, almost forgetting that his mother was standing right behind him. “How I am?”

She shot him a playful smirk. “You know what I mean, grumpy bear. I‘ll see you later.”

“Bye baby.“ He was almost tempted to give her a kiss goodbye. Sheridan even took a step toward him, probably having this same idea in her mind. But then his mother pushed him forward and out of the room, ruining the moment. It was a harsh push. An annoyed one. He frowned.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her, once they were out in the hallway.

“We’re late,” she grumbled.

“I was talking to Sheridan,” he told her, not caring if she was annoyed by the situation anymore. This was bigger than his mother, he realized. This was about him being happy…and Sheridan being happy too. “It doesn’t concern you, mom.”

“Okay,” she snapped. “That’s fine.” She didn’t say anything after that. Not even when they were outside, and Karen was helping him into the car. She sat in the drivers seat, her gaze focused somewhere out in the distance, a stubborn look on her face. He recognized the expression well, knowing it was the same face he put on when he was upset, or confused. He didn’t like to see it on his mother though, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. Until she got used to Sheridan, and the relationship he shared with her, this was how she was going to react every time they showed their feelings for one another. He wasn’t hurt by her reaction this time, though. Not like before, when he’d yelled at her, trying to make her agree with his decisions. Now her actions seemed childish to him. Like a fit he would throw when something didn’t go his way. No, he couldn’t mad at her for this, he realized. She would come around eventually, because she loved him and wanted him to be happy. He knew that. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten the massive amount of emotional stress that burdened his mother every day, every minute…every second. It was going to take a long time for her to come around…

But then , he had all the time in the world to show her why Sheridan was so special.

But he wasn‘t going to fall all over himself to please her either. This was his time…his chance for a fresh start. And there was a brand new feeling blossoming inside of him too. It was one he’d felt only a few times before, but still, he knew it well, and he knew what it meant. It scared him, just because he’d been hurt by it time and time again. But this time…with Sheridan, it was going to be different. He could feel it inside of him. It filled him with hope…life. He wanted to grasp it, hold onto it, and never, ever lose sight of it as long as he lived. Then he thought that maybe, he’d had it in him all along…ever since Sheridan’s lips first touched his that day in the bathroom, but had been too blind, too insecure with himself, to realize that it was there up until now.

But he realized it now…

He was in love with Sheridan.