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She hugged him again."I need to keep working on this painting, but we can talk while I'm doing that. Or you can just chill out. Anything youneed."

"It's beautiful work,"he said. And then he started tocry.

He feltsilly for feeling so hurt. Angry, he could understand, but he and Parker hadn't even been intimate for very long! He shouldn't have been this hurt about a guy he'd barely had a relationship with. But just in that short amount of time, Kell had dropped his guard. He'd let him in to his heart, and he'd let him in deep. Kell'd thought that Parker would be his first boyfriend, and the firsts always caused the mostpain.

Jessie hugged him again,rubbing his back until he'd gotten control of his tears. "I'm sorry," he said, sniffling. He felt so pathetic, and so powerless.Damnhim.

Kell layon the couch while Jessie painted. Sometimes he would turn to watch her, but mostly he was lost in thought and pain. It would come at him in waves, as his mind took him back to that painful moment when he saw Parker and his family. He didn't know what he would do from here. Seeing him in school was going to be horrible. Running into him at home, knowing he was there with his family, would be torturous. There seemed to only be one answer--his art. Art had always been his therapy, his refuge and his outlet for both the best and worst moments of his life. He'd turn to hisart.

He decidedat that moment that he would stop being afraid. He wouldn't let this thing bring him down. Parker had at least encouraged him to face his fears for once, and so he would hang on to that silver lining. He would continue showing his portfolio to companies and submitting his work to galleries until he foundsomething.

He would angry.He was sad. But for the first time, Kell felt a resilience inside of himself that he didn't know he had. He would get through this. He would come out stronger. But for now, he would embrace the feelings that hehad.

* * *

Kell trudgedthrough the work day like a zombie, mostly operating on autopilot, his mind in another universe. He just didn't care anymore. He wanted to be painting. He wanted to be doing something important. And what conflicted him the most was that he still wanted Parker. He missed him, despite what he'd learned. Despite knowing he was a cheater. Kell hated that, but he just couldn't rid himself of those feelings for him. He kept going back to those few short moments he'd shared with Parker, reliving his touch and his taste. He wanted more. He wished he could have more. He wished that yesterday had just been a terribledream.

He decidedhe would skip class that day. He had to. He still couldn't bring himself to speak to Parker. He'd read his messages, but he wasn't ready to confront him about it yet. He would, eventually, but not yet. He still needed time to get through what he was feeling. It was a Friday, so he'd have plenty of time to deal with his feelings before the inevitable confrontation. Maybe it was cowardly to avoid him. Maybe it was immature. But Kell didn't care. He kept seeing the face of Parker's mate in his mind and felt that swell of hot anger every time he did. He felt so angry forhim.

"Kell!"Montrell shuffled over to him. "Can I speak with you for a moment? Come withme."

"Alright,"Kell said. He didn't give a damn about what Montrell had to say tohim.

"I've been lookingat your sales numbers. I like what I see with that volume, but the warranties. You really, really need to be selling those services. I've been telling you, over and over, and I still don't see the commitment that I want fromyou."

"Mm."Kell felt pressure building inside.Dammit, if he mentions warranties one moretime...

"So,what I'd really like for you to do is to make sure you're offering those warranties on all of your sales.Reallypush it. You've got the ability to do, I know you do, you've just gotta convince them that it's something they need. Remind them that it's a protection of their investment,and--"

"Isthis what you've always wanted to do with your life?" Kellasked.

"Huh?"

"Sell warranties. Sell things."

"Well...I've always enjoyed it,yes."

"Look,Montrell. I hate selling people things that they don't need. I'm here because I've been too damn afraid to sell my own work. Every time I have to try to scam someone into buying a piece of shit computer that's going to break in a year and try to force them to buy a waste of money warranty to go along with it, I die a little bit inside. Let me go back out there and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, or you can fire me, I really don'tcare."

Montrell looked shocked."Well... In that case, I think you should just go home, then,Kell."

Kell nodded. "Right. Fine."

He walkedout of the back room and made his way across the floor. He felt surprisinglycalm.

"Oh! Hello!"

As he passedby the front registers, someone wearing an Electronics World uniform called out tohim.

"Hi,"he said. "I'm newhere."

Kell stopped,and then froze in place when he saw who itwas.

There was no mistaking it.He was Parker'smate.

"I'm William Leipold,"he said, sticking out his hand. "I'm the new customer serviceassociate."

Kell shook his hand.He felt his face going hot as his vision started to shake.What thehell?