Page 20 of Free

"Ignore him and give me a hug." Matt stepped between Xander and him.

"Hey." Dyson smiled as he hugged Matt. "Thanks for everything, especially for letting Faith write me. Those letters were everything to me."

"They were for her too. I'm glad she could do it. We hated having no way to contact you." Matt pulled back and wrapped his arm around Faith. "Just don't do it again. Xan is hell to live with when he's worried about his best friend."

Dyson laughed. "Xan's hell to live with period."

"You've lost weight." Beau moved in for his turn at a hug.

"They refused to feed me." Dyson hugged Beau.

Beau pulled back and narrowed his eyes at Dyson. "Are you really okay?"

Dyson smiled. Beau was always in doctor mode. "I'm fine, I promise. No injuries, no issues. Stressed, but otherwise healthy." He nodded across the room to where Parson stood with Beau's kids and grandchild. He waved. "Hey guys, thanks for coming to visit me." He moved to where Lisa stood, holding her son. He was growing so fast. "Hey, Charles." He grinned as the baby wrapped his hand around Dyson's finger. "You guys all doing good?"

Jeff, Beau's adopted son nodded. "Is this your new house?"

Dyson shook his head. "No, I'm just staying here for a few days. I haven't seen my new place yet." He glanced at Bryon, hoping for a hint where he was going.

"We'll go visit him once he gets settled in his new place," Beau promised his kids. "Do we know where that is yet?"

"We do, but I need to talk to Dyson alone before I let everyone know. If you want to even know. I won't blame any of you if you don't want knowledge of where he is, and if he doesn't want you to know, I'll respect that as well," Bryon told them all.

"I'd really like to get this conversation over with." Dyson glanced at the group standing around him. "You guys okay to get settled in, so Bry and I can talk? Then we can catch up the rest of the night?"

Xander stepped toward Dyson.

"No, Xan, just Dys. I know he's your best friend, and up until now you've done everything together, but this needs to be just him. He'll let you know what he wants you to know as soon as he can." Bryon nodded to Dyson. "Let's get this over with."

Dyson slapped Xander on the shoulder to show him he understood, then turned and followed Bryon down the hallway to the office. It was time to learn his fate.