When Charlie gets away from his drug dealing father and is sent to live with his grandparents, things aren't suddenly okay. Charlie's broken. He's not sure he ever wasn't broken. When things get unbearable, the only thing that helps Charlie feel grounded is music. What can he do when he runs out of batteries for his old walkman? At school crowds of people gather to watch Travis perform, but when he goes home his only company is his cat. He escaped his abusive parents, but now he lives with his older brother who is usually away working. Will the strange, quiet boy he finds sitting on his porch trying to listen in on his music put an end to his loneliness?

At first glance, nobody would be able to tell that Nathaniel Jean had a problem. Or second glance, or third, or fourth. After all, he had everything. He was a captain of his school's soccer team and one of the top players in the state. He had a big house and money to spend. He had family, he had friends, he had fun, he had faith. He never meant for it to happen. He never wanted to look at another man in the way he should have been looking at a woman. The idea had disgusted him for most of his life - living in a heavily Catholic town with heavily Catholic parents, homophobia was the only response he knew. That didn't change when he first realized that he didn't like girls. No, Nathaniel Jean was still homophobic. He hated the idea of a man sleeping with another man. He was raised on the notion that all gays went to hell, and he believed it. He despised them, and so he despised himself. Nathaniel Jean was more fortunate than most, because help did arrive for him. Help by the name of Lucas Morgan, they boy he'd always known but never known. The boy with big dreams and bigger talent. The boy that changed Nathaniel's life over the course of their thirty-six week long senior year.

Felix's brother Dylan is getting married, and Felix isn't happy about it. For one thing, his brother is an abusive jerk. For another, a wedding and a new extended family means that at some point, someone is going to try to give him a hug. Felix hates to be touched--a quirk that has kept him from having a romantic relationship with anyone, and that he thinks will doom him to be forever alone--an idea that actually doesn't bother him all that much. What's bothering him is the brother of his future sister-in-law--Isaac Mason. Isaac is everything Felix is not--athletic, outgoing, and very physical. And for some reason, he just won't leave Felix alone. The other thing that's bothering him is the secret he's carrying around about this brother. Can he let his brother's fiance marry a man who might be abusive without at least warning her? And what other secrets is his brother hiding? The more Felix learns about Dylan's Perfect Wedding, the less he likes the idea. Too bad he's agreed to plan most of it. As the day of the event draws near and more secrets come to light, Felix may have to choose between love and truth. ---------------------- Warnings: This story contains strong language, explicit sexual content, and depictions of abuse (not graphic). ---------------------- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.