"That the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree. Yeah, I look at him and I see me."

[aussielawyer]

Who: Mark Campbell and Justin Carlisle
What: Heart to heart
Where: South Beach, Staten Island
When: Friday after lunch

Mark would always be an Aussie at heart. He had grown up with the beach a stone's throw away, so it was in his blood, despite that fact the Manhattan corporate world was now his bread and butter. He had decided to take his leave from work after all so he could spend time with Justin and make sure the poor kid was at least still breathing. When Gen went to work that morning mumbling something about pain in the arse brothers, Mark had been left with Justin once again. Once again, Justin hadn't slept well during the night. There had even been a screaming nightmare that woke Mark and Gen up with a fright, but when Mark rushed into the teen's new bedroom, Justin had woken up clearly spooked but said he was okay and just wanted a glass of water. Mark didn't push it, but every time he checked on Justin from there on, the light was either on in the bedroom, or he was tossing and turning. He must have eventually fallen into a deep sleep, though, because he was out like a light when Mark and Gen were up, so Mark just let him sleep.

And he ended up sleeping until lunchtime. It had given Mark a lot of time to think about the situation and the piecemeal information he had so far. What it all boiled down to was that Mark needed to talk to the kid, he needed to try to open those lines of communication and show Justin he could trust him, and could confide in him if he needed to. Once Justin was awake, Mark suggested they take a drive to the beach, and Justin wasn't what Mark would classify as keen, but he seemed to want to spend time with Mark, whatever they were doing. They were now sitting on one of the benches together, Mark nursing a grande double shot latte and Justin was poking at a cup of ice cream that he hadn't each much of to the point it was becoming a runny messy of nuts and chocolate sauce. "You don't have to eat that if you don't want to, love," he told the teenager, the endearment just coming naturally, albeit with yet another look of concern at the boy. I just want you to know, kiddo, that you can talk to me about anything. I'm not going to lie, you've been worrying me ever since you got here and I'm not sure how I can help you. I want to. I want to help you in all the ways you needed me to when you got there, but I can't do that unless you talk to me about what's making you feel messed up. Here, come here..." he said, taking the ice cream from Justin and putting it aside on the bench so he could wrap his arm around the boy's shoulders in a hug.

[FACEBOOK]

[bitofheavenwithawildside]

May or may not be demanding a nap with Prince Charming in between performances today. #exhausted

@ wayswithwords

[aussielawyer]

Finally found something that hurts more than a kick in the nuts.

Tears from someone you love and don't know how to protect.

"You know that I could use somebody. Someone like you..."

[biggusdickus]

Who: Toby Preston, Justin Carlisle, Will Jackson and Layla Morton
What: Something like kismet
Where: Party
When: Friday night

When Will had told Toby about the party one of the girls was throwing at the school Toby would now - confirmed - be going to soon, he had been really, really reluctant. He wasn't even sure he was up to it considering he had just been discharged from hospital the evening before and basically slept all day on Haley's couch because he stayed there due their folks having a work dinner they had to go to. He had told Will a couple of times he wasn't sure he wanted to go, but when Will arrived at Haley and Luke's ready for the party Luke was driving him to, Toby agreed to tag alone for an hour or two when Haley gently suggested it might be a nice way for him to suss out some of the kids he would be going to school with.

But a last moment of panic for Toby that all the kids would be just as big assholes as at his old school had Toby quickly texting Justin and telling him he had to come too so they could be newbies together. Justin was also confirmed to be being enrolled in this school now he was staying in New York with his dad. If Toby needed the chance to suss out these kids, so did Justin and at least they could go in as a united front. Justin hadn't been sure either. He said he had a big day and was really tired, but Toby literally begged him at that point, and Justin had agreed to meet him there.

The party was in full swing by the time Will and Toby arrived. Will broke off to hang with Layla and they started to dance together, so Toby was relieved when Justin arrived, immediately going up to him so they could face this scariness together. They felt out of place, though, and Justin suggested they should dance too rather than hovering on the outskirts like losers. But that was when Toby found himself sort of ditched when this hot chick who looked like a cheerleader cut in and started to dance with Justin. Toby lost sight of him then, so he wasn't sure where the hell Justin went, and ended up just moving off the dancefloor to sit on the sofa by himself. Someone excitedly suggested Spin the Bottle then, and Toby had zero intentions of getting involved in that. Hew as tired and his head was hurting, so he sat there seriously considering texting Haley and getting her to come get him already.