Peyton but without Layne. All of Layne’s brothers, plus the Toveys were at the house and they shared pizza. Peyton spent a lot of time in Layne’s room watching Caleb sleep in his crib.
Hyatt wanted to stay longer, to be there for his nephew, but he had a curfew. Ever since his rescue from Edgar, he’d lived at Light House Resource Center, a facility that catered to omegas and betas in need. They offered emergency protection, counseling, and had two floors of motel-like private living quarters. Hyatt liked Light House, because alpha visitors were rarely allowed in the building and were banned from the living quarters. And he liked teaching other residents how to cook—a skill he picked up last year from Karson.
But sometimes the place stifled Hyatt, like with the ten o’clock curfew. He was twenty-one-years-old, damn it. He had a part-time job he liked doing filing for a Realtor’s office and plenty of credit saved up because he didn’t have much to spend it on besides his monthly mobile bill and snacks.
As he walked through the front door that night and waved at the security guard, Hyatt observed the place the way a new visitor might. Sterile waiting room with no real décor or charm. The corridor walls were white with random artwork hung here and there, and the occasional table with a vase, but it wasn’t homey. Like a hotel, it was a temporary stay, but Hyatt had been hiding here for three-and-a-half years.
It was beyond time to truly start living his life.
The first step was scheduling an emergency appointment with his therapist for the start of the week. Hyatt still saw Dr. Barnes once a month, mostly to check in and chat. Dr. Barnes had been treating him ever since Hyatt came to live at Light House, and Hyatt genuinely liked the older beta man. He had an office at Light House, but now that Hyatt was more comfortable moving around Sansbury on his own, he preferred the main office.
It was in a squat brick building a few blocks from the main hospital campus and not very far from where Hyatt worked. The appointment was at ten, which was when Hyatt should have been at the Realtor’s office, but once he explained his weekend, his boss generously gave him the day off.
Hyatt didn’t really need the whole day, but it gave him a chance to see Peyton and Caleb today and for a longer time period. He still marveled at being a great-uncle at his age, and while he could see a bit of resemblance to Peyton in the shape of their faces, Hyatt definitely favored his late omegin.
Dr. Barnes stood from his desk to greet Hyatt with a firm handshake. They took their preferred spots: Hyatt on the couch and Dr. Barnes in a chair across from him. “You mentioned a family emergency in your message,” he said. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Yes. My nephew and his mate nearly froze to death two days ago.” Hyatt launched into a more detailed description of that day’s events, all the way up to his personal decision to stop taking his own life for granted. To stop hiding. To take a page from Peyton’s own playbook and “live life out loud.”
“That sounds like an intense and emotional day. You told me the events but not how they made you feel.”
“I mean, I was obviously terrified. Two people I love very much almost died, and it was all so preventable.” A new emotion that had first sparked yesterday ignited again in his chest. “Layne has apparently needed psychiatric help for a long time but he refused to go. To get treated for things in his past that were still hurting him. Peyton didn’t have to get hurt that day.”
Dr. Barnes made a note on his pad. “You sound upset.”
“I am!” Hyatt cleared his throat and tried to tamp down on his anger. “I had no idea Layne was in so much pain, or I would have tried talking to him. Persuaded him to see someone. Not let it all boil and fester until he literally jumped off a cliff.”
“And then Peyton jumped after him.”
“Yes.”
“Hyatt, you don’t have to answer me right away, but are you more upset that Layne kept things bottled up for years, or that his episode this weekend got Peyton hurt?”
“Both.”
“Not one more than the other?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It didn’t really hit me until yesterday and I started getting angry over the