They had another slow day of television and quiet activities, which was beginning to feel like it was probably the norm for this household. It made sense, considering Bee could barely stay awake and breathe at the same time, let alone do anything else. It wasn't really Tristan's thing, but if he was only going to be here for a little while, he figured it didn't matter. He'd stay close to Bee and try to make the most of the chance to rest.

As he was heading out to take Sadie for a walk that afternoon, Alice returned from work, parking her car in front of the house. They met at the gate, the sun casting long shadows across the pavement.

"Taking Sadie for a walk?" Alice asked, smiling at him.

Tristan glanced down at Sadie and grimaced as she squatted to pee on the path, a puddle forming beneath her. "Yup."

"Mind if I come with? I could use some fresh air after being stuck inside all day.”

Tristan shrugged. “Sure.”

He'd thought Alice might slow him down, given her height and the fact that she'd just come from work, but she kept up easily. Sadie wasn't exactly setting any speed records, so it all evened out. They walked side by side, falling into step on the sun-warmed pavement.

The neighbourhood wasn't fancy, but it had a certain charm. The houses were a little shabby, but the streets were quiet and at least they had grass here, even if a lot of it was overgrown. It was a far cry from the concrete jungle around his dad's apartment, where the only green was the occasional scrawny tree.

They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds the distant hum of traffic and the click of Sadie's nails on the sidewalk. Finally, Alice spoke up. "So, Trist, I don't think we ever actually figured out how long you'd be staying with us."

Tristan felt a flicker of unease, his shoulders tensing. "Oh, uh, I guess I'll probably head out tomorrow morning? I don't want to overstay my welcome, you know?"

Alice gave him a look. "I'm not trying to kick you out, Trist. I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

"No, it's fine," Tristan said, waving a hand. "I came to see Bee, and I've done that, so there's no real reason for me to stick around when she's so sick. But... there was one thing I wanted to ask you, and it's kind of big."

That got her attention. “Yeah?”

"I was wondering if maybe Sadie could stay here with you guys when I leave? My dad hates her, and our apartment is tiny, and Sophie seems like she'd take good care of her. I know it's a lot to ask, especially since most people don't want an old dog, but I have some money saved up that I can give you to help cover the costs, at least for a little while."

Alice was quiet for a moment. "Okay," she said finally. "Let's back up a bit."

Tristan shrugged. "Yeah, sure, sorry if that was too much, I didn't mean to-"

Alice let out a deep sigh, her face twisting into a grimace. "Trist, I'm going to be straight with you here because I think that's what we need. A little honesty. When you show up here, mysteriously cut off from a controlling father, when you keep acting like you think you're a burden and now, trying to give away important things... well, I start to wonder what's going on. And I really don't feel good about sending you off tomorrow without any answers to that question. Can you give me some answers?"

Tristan hesitated. “I really wasn’t planning to pull you into any of this. It’s my mess.”

“Was Bee’s situation her mess? Would it have been okay to leave her to figure it out on her own?”

“Well, no, but this is a little different.”

"I'm all ears. Explain how," Alice said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I guess because it was my decision, sort of,” Tristan explained. "I had a fight with my dad and he kicked me out because I was disrespectful, and then he was going to let me come back if I agreed to all these crazy new rules, but I told him to fuck off instead and now that offer's off the table. I could have just kept my head down and waited until I was eighteen, but I can't do that anymore. Even if he changes his mind and lets me come back, I won't. That's my choice and I don't give a fuck if it's the wrong one. I'll deal with the consequences myself."

Alice studied him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "So you're homeless right now? That's the situation?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I have my car to sleep in, though, so..." Tristan said, shrugging one shoulder.

“Don’t act like it’s no big deal, Trist. You’re homeless and you just offered to give me the money you’d need to survive. I can guess what you were planning.”

"I honestly don't know what I'm planning," Tristan said, his voice a low murmur. "I just can't deal with this shit anymore."

"Alright," Alice said, taking a deep breath. "Let's come up with a plan, then. The first step of the plan is that you're not leaving tomorrow. You don't have somewhere to go, so that's out of the question."

“I don’t think that’s going to change, and I can’t stay here.”

“Trist, are you really not even going to ask me if you can? Why?”

“You’ve got enough to deal with already.”

“Not as much as you do right now. Do you want to stay with us? Would that solve your problem?”

Tristan switched Sadie's lead from one hand to the other, watching as she stopped to sniff a tree intently. "Does everyone even want me here? I don't want to be anywhere I'm not wanted. I'm not doing that again."

Alice's face crumpled, a pained smile on her lips as tears welled in her eyes. "Oh, God, you're going to make me cry. You're wanted here, Trist. We all love you."

"You barely know me."

"Then you must be pretty amazing for me to love you already, huh?"

Tristan looked away, his throat tightening. He had no idea how to respond to something like that.

"Now, I am going to have to call your dad," Alice said, her tone turning serious.

Tristan grimaced, his nose wrinkling. "I promise, he doesn't want me."

"Well, hopefully, because that'll make things easier for us, right? But you are a minor, and child custody issues become so much simpler if your legal guardian agrees to everything. If it's not that simple, that doesn't mean I stop fighting for you, but that's our starting point. Okay?"

Tristan nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Sorry in advance for the way that he is, though.”

“Don’t let the tears in my eyes fool you. I’m tougher than I look.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

They did a loop around the block, Sadie sniffing at every tree and powerpole, before heading back home.

When they reached the front door, Tristan got his phone out of his pocket, pulled his dad’s number up on the screen, and handed it to Alice. “Good luck.”

Alice flashed him a grin. “Ah, I’ll be fine. I’m ready to fight for this. Any tips?”

“Yeah,” Tristan said. “Don’t bother trying to use love or empathy to convince him of anything. He’s most likely to agree if he thinks this will be terrible for me.”

Alice’s eyebrows shot up. “Sounds like we’re going to have a lot to work on, but first,” she held up the phone as she opened the front door, “I need to make sure we’ll have the opportunity to work on it.”

Tristan didn't really know what else to do with himself as Alice headed down the hall to her bedroom to make the call, so he wandered into the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Sophie and Bee, who were watching TV and slowly making their way through a massive bag of corn chips.

Sophie held out the bag, shaking it invitingly. "Corn chip?"

Tristan reached in and grabbed a handful. “Thanks.”

“So, what was that about?” Sophie asked. “That wasn’t Alice’s phone in her hand, so I’m guessing it was yours.”

“She’s going to call my dad.”

"Oooh," Sophie said, her eyes widening. "Drama?"

Tristan shrugged, his expression guarded. “We’ll see, I guess.”

Sophie nodded. Talk about drama, but hey, it all worked out in the end, and now I'm here."

“She’s good at talking to bad parents,” Bee agreed.

“I didn’t plan for her to get involved at all,” Tristan said.

“Well that was never going to happen,” Sophie said. “Anyway, I have just the thing for moments like this.”

Tristan had been expecting more cartoons, but the show she put on was live action, though definitely for kids. It was an older Australian show called Lift Off. Why were there so many puppets? Why did they have to be quite so disturbing? Why did the children in the show have a sentient, faceless doll? If Sophie’s goal had been to distract him while Alice took the call, it had worked.

They'd just finished the first episode when Alice returned, handing Tristan's phone back to him. "Trist, would you mind waiting in the girls' room for a bit while I have a chat with them?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Tristan said, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

He made his way down the hall, Sadie padding along behind him in a rare display of loyalty. Shutting the door to the girls' room to avoid the temptation to eavesdrop on the conversation down the hall, he settled himself on the camping mattress still laid out on the floor.

His own mind was endlessly cruel to him, so it immediately decided that his dad had told Alice all about the drawings and she was so disgusted that she was currently explaining to the girls that they were going to have to kick him out no matter what the consequences might be.

The thought was incredibly unfair to Alice, who seemed like a kind and open-minded person unlikely to be that offended by the idea of some erotic gay art, but his brain seemed incapable of mustering any sort of optimism or positive thinking.

Luckily, Alice didn't leave him to spiral for too long. Less than five minutes had passed when a soft knock sounded at the door, and Alice stepped into the room.

She offered him a tight smile as she perched on the edge of the bottom bunk. "So, I've had a talk with your dad."

"Yeah, I figured," Tristan murmured, his eyes darting away. "How'd it go?"

"Well," she said, the word heavy with meaning. "I'm glad I called on your phone, because the way he answered when he thought I was you spoke volumes. So did the way he reacted once he realised I wasn't. He showed me how he treats you and that he knows it looks bad, all within the first twenty seconds of our chat."

Tristan managed a small, tired smile. “Efficient.”

"That part was, anyway. The rest took a bit longer. But the important thing is, he's agreed to give me custody. You're part of our family now."

Tristan's gaze snapped up to meet hers. "So I can stay here? For, like... for a while?"

"There's no time limit, Trist. We don't think about it like that. This is your home now, end of story. A sixteen-year-old shouldn't have to worry about anything beyond that."

Tristan nodded. “Okay. I’ll have to get a new job up here, but I have some savings, so I can contribute.”

Alice’s whole face tightened. “Trist, did we not have a whole conversation right in front of you about how Sophie wanting to pay rent was an issue?”

"Yeah, but you said she could when she's sixteen. I'm sixteen."

“She can get a job when she’s sixteen so that she can have a little more spending money and start saving if she wants. Not to pay rent. Besides, your dad actually agreed to pay child support for you."

“Really? That’s surprising.”

“Honestly, I think it made him more comfortable about the whole thing. I may have given him the impression this would be like one of those camps where you send your troubled teens to be abused. I promised to give you a taste of the real world, which was true, but what he doesn’t realise is that the real world is actually a far nicer place than the one he’s been raising you in.”

“Did he tell you anything else?” Tristan probed, not sure he wanted an answer. “Like why he thinks I’m so awful?”

“Not really. Mostly he just complained about you being disrespectful, but I’m not going to fault you for not respecting that man. I don’t either.”

“Damn, in just half an hour? He’s usually good at hiding what a dick he is around other people.”

“Yeah, but like I said, he tipped his hand at the start. But even if he hadn’t, it’s clear he’s hurt you, so I already wasn’t the biggest fan. Anyway, we’re going to sort out all the boring official adult things around custody. You don’t have to worry about that. If you want to go and get your things, he is generously giving you until the weekend to go and get it before he changes the locks.”

“Lovely,” Tristan murmured. “Guess I’ll do the drive tomorrow so I can be done with it sooner. I should probably send my manager a text to let her know I’m quitting, too.”

“That all sounds good. I was going to take tomorrow morning off to take Bee to an appointment, but I’ll just take the full day and make sure everything is properly sorted. On the weekend, we’ll see if we can get a proper bed for you. Or beds for the girls, and you can take the bunks? It’s starting to feel like having an open bed wouldn’t be such a bad idea…”

“You do seem to like to collect troubled kids.”

“If I can make a difference, how can I not?” Alice asked. “Anyway, this calls for a celebration. How do you feel about pizza for dinner?”

Tristan opened his mouth to offer to pay, but he caught himself in time. That wasn’t what she wanted from him. “Yeah, sure. Sounds great.”

When they returned to the living room, Bee immediately got to her feet and engulfed Tristan in a warm hug, her thin arms wrapping around him tightly. To his surprise, Sophie joined in as well, her embrace enveloping both of them in a cocoon of affection.

"Welcome to the family," Sophie said, her voice muffled against Tristan's shoulder. She gave them one final squeeze before releasing them and crouching down to address Sadie, her voice rising to a higher pitch. “And welcome to the family to you too, Sadie! We need to buy you so many treats and toys!”

Sadie wiggled with excitement, her tail wagging so hard her entire body shook. Tristan had never realised she was so fond of being spoken to in a high-pitched voice. He'd never attempted it himself. Luckily, Sophie seemed more than happy to do it for her, because he had no intention of starting now.

They spent the evening huddled together on the couch, watching TV and working on a Lego set, and though he got the feeling those were very normal activities for this family, it still felt special. This place didn't quite feel like home to him yet, but something had shifted in the air, a subtle change that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was as if the world had tilted ever so slightly on its axis, and everything was settling into a new configuration. He didn’t quite know what this new life would look like yet, but he looked forward to finding out.