Fan to Family.

Dylan

~Debby~

That's what I thought. Wait- what? Chase grins, watching the girl beside Liz take her hand.

"What's going on here?" Josh asks.

"Clearly, Liz and I aren't a thing," Chase says bluntly.

"What about calling her love bug and being over protective?" Tyler asks.

"She's practically my baby sister, of course I'm going to give her nicknames and watch over her."

"The secrecy, whispering, being all close and personal last time we were here?"

"She was afraid of what you'd think if you found out and I was helping her not freak out."

"The hugging and hand-holding and your cuddling on her first day of school? How cuddly and close you've been the past month? Your hand holding today? And your somewhat secretive holding of her thigh at the table?"

"She got into a fight with her girlfriend on the first day of school and they fought for a few weeks. She was stressed out and sad, so I being the only one knowing about it, cheered her up. She was too nervous to come in because she didn't know how you'd react to everything. She was bouncing her leg out of nerves, so I was trying to calm her down. You're just reading too far into me trying to comfort her and be there for her when she felt isolated for you."

"How long have You known?" Tyler asks calmly.

"I've known she liked girls too for a while. I found out when I was staying with her while you guys had recently left for your and Debby had meetings I New York."

~Chase~

"How long have they been together?" Debby asks.

I sigh, running my hands through my hair, "look, I know that you want answers and I know them, but it's not my place to tell you all of this. Ask her. Show her that you care about herself. You can right now," I explain, watching the two walk up.

Liz looks nervous, but her girlfriend smiles reassuringly and gives her hand a squeeze.

Liz clears her throat, looking at me. I nod. She looks back at her brothers and Debby, "This is my girlfriend, Abigail. Abbey, this is Joshua, Tyler, and Debby. You already know Chase."

"Hello," she greets with a smile.

"Hello Abbey, nice to meet you," Tyler smiles. Josh waves and Debby grins.

"You two are so adorable," she says.

"How have you been, Dylan?" I ask. The other three give me a confused look.

"I've been alright. School sucks," she smiles.

"Dylan?" Josh asks.

She nods, "My last name is Dylan. Most people just call me Dylan. My parents are music enthusiasts..."

"How long have you two been dating?" Tyler asks, eyeing his little sister closely.

Liz shrugs, "a few months."

Everyone nods. It's silent for a moment. Dylan clears her throat. Her phone dings, and she mutters about needing to leave.

Tyler turns to his sister, "Why didn't you tell us before now?"

She glances at me, then back to her brother. "I didn't want you to think differently of me, or judge me. I've seen how it can change how someone sees someone else. I- I wasn't sure you'd accept me, and I wasn't risking all of this over something like that."

"Liz, we would never judge you over something like this. We love you no matter what. We promise. We are glad you finally told us. Thank you. I know it must've been very difficult for you," Josh says. He steps forward and hugs her closely. She hugs him tightly in return. Then she does the same with Tyler. And Debby.

Debby smiles warmly at Liz, "She's adorable. I like her."

"Thank you," Liz mumbles. Then she turns to me. Her eyes twinkle happily. "Chase," She begins, stepping closer to me, "I can't find the words to accurately express," she pauses and steps into my open arms. She rests the side of her head on my chest and wraps her arms around me as I rest mine around her. "how truly grateful I am. I cannot thank you enough for listening calmly while I was frustrated, and struggling and told you my biggest secret. You didn't judge me, you didn't question me. You just hugged me, telling me it was okay, until I calmed down. You never told anyone. You always supported me, and gave me encouragement or comfort when I needed it. You helped me through rough patches, helped me cover it up when something went wrong, and you even let people think bad or wrong of you so that I could be happy. Thank you so much, for giving part of yourself in exchange for part of me."

I stroke her hair, feeling her slight shaking and the dampness of her tears on my shirt. "It's the least I can do for you, lovebug," I say softly, gently kissing her hair. Debby smiles at me.

She mouths, 'I love you, thank you.' I nod.