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*Chapter Three

Five Years Ago*

"R-Ryan;" Brendon dug his fingers nervously into my arm as we walked down the street. I had tried to get my arm away from him but that only resulted in his fingers pushing farther in. "W-why are we g-going to the p-p-police?" He asked in a fearful whisper, his eyes pleading with me to go back.

"We're getting you away from those foster parents." Gabe said, walking a few steps ahead of us with Will who seemed to be contently swinging their arms back and forth.

"H-How?" Brendon still clung to me, my hand slowly losing circulation. I didn't say anything though because he was already, once again, an emotional wreck. When Gabe told us we were leaving, Brendon thought for sure Gabe was bringing him back to his foster home so it took us awhile to persuade him from the bathroom. In the end, Pete succeeded by threatening to break down the door from really having to pee. His clawing my arm was the only way to get him out of the loft.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Gabe answered, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Gabe's good friends with some of the officers," I very quietly told Brendon, cautious of all the druggies and prostitutes littered on the street around us. Everyone avoided us because of Gabe but still; They would all love to bring Gabe down from his position of power and that piece of information could very easily do that. I knew it was safe with Brendon though.

"Isn't that illegal?" Brendon asked me, scared still.

"Honey," Gabe laughed a bit, "Ninety percent of what I do is illegal." I smiled with amusement because I think the only thing Gabe does that's not illegal is Will. "Stop worrying and relax." It was then that Will stopped and pulled his hand from Gabe, reaching out towards Brendon and prying him off me.

"You need ice cream." Will said, linking his and Brendon's arms, pulling Brendon ahead. "Later we'll get some."

"Umm...ok." Brendon confusedly replied, glancing at me as Will basically dragged him along.

"So this is a first for you." Gabe gave me a teasing smile as he walked alongside me for company. "Gonna keep him?"

"He's not a dog." I said, watching Will's mouth move but unable to hear anything he was saying. "And you're going through the trouble of letting him stay."

"So I'll take that as a 'yes'." Gabe's smirk was almost as annoying as Frank's thus I kept my eyes forward. "Bilvy seems to be quite interested in him." I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans, smiling.

"Jealous?" I asked Gabe who scoffed back at me.

"Everyone knows that Will's mine." He said, almost as though it was law. Around here it is. "I meant that they'll probably become really good friends."

"Then see if he'll let you buy him for Will." I've known Gabe long enough to be able to get away with saying something like that. Anyone else who dared make a remark like that would more than likely be a bloody mess in the middle of the road.

"Nah;" Gabe's face once again took on that smirk, Will dragging Brendon inside the building as we reached the station, Gabe holding the door open for me. "He was your toy first."

"Well, well," A lady behind the desk smiled, "Haven't seen you in some time. What'd you do now?"

"Nothing," Gabe innocently answered, walking towards the lady while Will convinced Brendon to sit down on the chairs to the side. "At least nothing I need getting out of."

"Then what brings a man of your position in a police station?" She leaned on her arms, smiling at Gabe.

"You act like I'm such a stranger, Vicky-T." Gabe pouted, sitting on the desk and removing his glasses. "I'm actually here to talk to Ryland about getting a friend out of his destructive foster home and into mine for Ryan." I rolled my eyes. Next to me I felt Brendon slightly shaking again with nerves so I took his hand and put it in my lap, my left hand holding his while my right one gently stroked across his skin. Brendon seemed to relax a bit, laying his head on my shoulder as Gabe ran his mouth.

"Well Ryland's out patrolling right now so you can wait or come back later." Vicky-T said.

"Is Nate here? I have a pretty good standing with him now..." Gabe started playing with things on the desk. I looked to Will to see if he noticed Gabe's flirting but he was contently reading a magazine, one long leg crossed over the other. Of course Gabe didn't mean anything by the flirting but after being so protective of Will all the time, the other man has gotten very sensitive to how Gabe interacts with people.

"Nate's out." Vicky-T answered, having fun with Gabe. "Ryland should be back soon if you just want to wait it out."

"What if Gabe gets in trouble?" Brendon asked.

"Gabe's gotten away with murder." I said, trying to soothe him. "Switching some legal shit around is nothing."

"But what-"

"Do you want to go back to your foster home permanently?" Gabe appeared in front of us, sunglasses on once again.

"No..." Brendon's voice barely came out of his mouth, burying his face in my neck.

"Then shut up and let me handle it." He didn't mean to be rude or anything, he just gets frustrated easily. "We'll have Ryland go to your foster home for a drug search based on an anonymous tip." Gabe took Will's magazine and tossed it aside, pulling Will up and taking his seat, pulling him back down onto his lap. "Inside the house, Ryland will find illegal drugs so Ryland will convict him, arrest him, and haul his ass to a jail cell; freeing your foster mom of her husband's rage. She'll probably be declared emotionally and mentally unfit to care for you any longer due to the trauma your foster dad has inflicted to her over the years so you'll be taken from the home and stuck up in the system again. At that point we go to a judge and ask that, because you're almost eighteen, you be granted to live with us in a nice fake little home I have set up where Ryland and a foster agent can write a report deeming us worthy to care for you."

"How do you plan on getting said drugs into the house, exactly?" I asked, still stroking Brendon's hand.

"That's where you're going to hate me." Gabe frowned, leaning his head back to avoid eating Will's massive amount of hair. "Brendon will have to go back for a night with the drugs to plant them."

"No," I firmly objected, holding Brendon's hand tightly now so he wouldn't start freaking out. "I promised him he wouldn't ever go back."

"It's really the only way to get him free, Ryan." Gabe said.

"Please stop talking like I'm not between you two." Brendon quietly spoke. "If I go back, he'll kill me."

"I'll have a few friends hang around and if he tries to lay a finger on you, just yell and they'll blow that bastard to pieces." Gabe said with a smile, kissing Will's neck as Will played with Gabe's fingers. "Ryland would escort you home, Ryan would come by at night with the stuff, and all you have to do is plant the drugs somewhere as well as slip a bit into something your step dad consumes like coffee."

"Alright..." My eyes widened with shock as Brendon so willingly agreed. "If it'll save my mom..."

"Brendon, I'm sure there's-"

"It's the quickest way, Ryan." Brendon lifted his head from my shoulder and looked at me. "I can do one more night there. I have to help my mom though. She's been nothing but nice and caring to me."

"What if he hurts you?" I asked because I promised Brendon he wouldn't have to go back there and I don't go back on my promises.

"Gabe's friends will be there, right?" He gave me a doubtful smile as though he didn't even believe it.

"Right;" I gave him an apprehensive smile in return. "If...if you really want to I guess...but only one night."

"It's settled then." Gabe beamed, pulling Will's head around to kiss him better. "Now, all we have to do is let Ryland know." Brendon nodded, laying his head on my shoulder again, moving a little closer to me while my heart beat entirely against the 'plan'.

# # # # # # # # # #

"You owe me big time." Ryland told Gabe as we all stood around the cop car, going over final details.

"Yeah, right," Gabe smiled, leaning against the shiny black trunk. "I've told you before; anything you want absolutely free."

"Because doing drugs while being a cop is real intelligent." Ryland rolled his eyes. "You're lucky you're my friend and that I have a big issue against abusive parents." Gabe just continued to smile, looking off towards the small playground in the distance where Will had decided he and Brendon needed to go swinging. "Well, it's getting late. We should probably get going."

"I still don't like this," I mumbled, arms crossed over my chest. Something in my gut repeatedly told me this was a really bad idea. No one else seemed to believe me though. Brendon was of course uncomfortable but he was set on saving his foster mom so who was I to argue with that?

"Bob and Andy are already there." Gabe said, pushing off the car and gesturing towards Will. "I programmed their numbers into your phone and vice versa in case you should need to quickly communicate with each other."

"Unless his dad has a gun or something," I said as Will linked arms with Brendon again, nearly skipping towards us.

"He's not registered for one." Ryland said, looking from me to Gabe. "Not that all people register."

"Mine's strictly for business." Gabe stuck his hands up in defense. "Ready Bdon?"

"No," Brendon sighed, stumbling alongside Will who was now quietly singing. "But I won't ever be, so, yeah."

"Good." Ryland nodded, pulling his keys from his pocket. "You just sit in the back and I'll bring you to the house, escort you to the door, and hand you over, mentioning the bruises or something. In the morning I'll come back and say I was anonymously tipped off about drug use, search the place, convict the bastard, and be on our merry way."

"Ok," Brendon nodded, Will switching him for Gabe.

"I'm going." I said, standing my ground. "Even if I sit in the car; I'm going."

"Whatever." Ryland said, going to the driver's door. "In the back with you two."

"See you in a bit Ryro." Gabe said, sliding his arm around Will's waist and starting off towards the loft. I pulled the door open for Brendon and watched him nervously climb inside, getting in after him, and pulling the door shut. The doors had some sort of child lock feature so we couldn't open them from the inside, obviously to keep actual convicted persons inside, and I felt safer. A divider sat between the front and the back, looking a lot like a fence in a way. Ryland started the car and Brendon laid down, placing his head in my lap, obviously hating the fact he was in a police car being brought back to his foster home. That's what he was trying to avoid when he came knocking at my door in the first place.

"At least we don't have to listen to the damn siren." Ryland said, pulling away from the park we met up at. I nodded and ran my fingers through Brendon's hair, not really in the mood to talk. No one deserves to go through what Brendon did when they do nothing wrong. Brendon just wants a family, the same thing I always prayed for, and I intended to get it for him. I'll find a way for him to part of our rather interesting family so he has the same opportunity at a new start like I was given years ago.

The trip didn't take long, but it still seemed to drag on forever. I felt like we were bringing Brendon down death row because he didn't belong with that monster. I'm not saying he belongs to me, the last thing I want is a clingy seventeen (and a half) year old attached to me, but he should be somewhere gently and loving. The orphanage was cold and hollow, but at least I had Frank. Who does Brendon have? "Alright; we're here." Ryland announced, stopping in front of a small blue house.

The grass was mostly dead or dying, large patches of dirt showing through. The sun hit what appeared to be shards of brown glass, probably broken beer bottles, and the place just looked like it was falling apart. Brendon took a deep breath and sat up, Ryland unbuckling then getting out. "I'll be back in a few hours," I said, kissing Brendon's forehead as Ryland opened the door. "If he tries to touch you, run. You get out of there and you run as fast as you can back home, ok?" Brendon smiled at the word 'home', nodding his head. "Be careful." I said, watching Brendon get out of the car, Ryland shoving the door shut behind him.

Moving close to the window, I watched Brendon tense up as Ryland led him to the door, one hand clutching Brendon's shoulder. They stood on the front step, Ryland giving the half-assed painted door a solid knock, Brendon's head hanging low. A few moments later the door opened to reveal a man who wasn't exactly muscular but wasn't really fat either. He had a very angry scowl and what looked like a fading black eye, hopefully from Brendon, wearing a stained white tank top with dirty jeans. He glared at Brendon, his mouth moving and making Brendon's shoulder blades pull together, looking to Ryland after with his mouth still going. The man grabbed Brendon's upper arm, pulling him roughly inside, Brendon nearly tripping over the threshold, then went back to Ryland. A moment later, the door slammed shut and a pissed off looking Ryland came back to the car.

"How that asshole ever got approved to be a foster parent is beyond me." Ryland said as he fell into his seat. "The smell of alcohol was so strong I nearly vomited! He told me that if I wanted to search the house, I needed a warrant." I continued to stare at the door, imagining what Brendon was being forced through at the moment. "I'll get a fucking warrant and put his ass in jail until his bones turn to dust." Ryland started to drive off and I stared at the house until it was gone in the distance.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

"Seriously; slow down." Gerard said, running a little to catch up to me. "My smokers lungs don't work wonderfully, you know."

"Sorry." I said, barely slowing my pace at all. "'m just worried is all."

"Well you even called those people earlier and they said everything was fine." Gerard coughed a little, spitting to the ground.

"I know." I mumbled, Brendon's house coming into view, my feet practically hovering over the concrete now. "Bob said his window is on the left side in the back." Gerard had given up and stopped, doubled over to catch his breath because he had tried running after me. I didn't bother with him though and jogged up the dead yard toward the window I assumed was Brendon's, quickly gathering how exactly I was going to get up there. My only bet was the drain pipe.

"Do you know how many people will kill me if you get hurt?" Gerard half hissed, coming up to me as I grabbed the pipe.

"It's the only way I'm getting up there." I replied, sliding my arms between the pipe and the house, starting to pull myself up. It was like climbing the rope in gym class, only a lot trickier. "Just catch me if I fall."

"That'll be a little hard since I'm currently seeing three of you." Gerard said, shifting his hoodie a bit.

"I'm coming," I whispered, slowly making my way up the pipe. The other hard part was I couldn't make much noise either.

"Careful!" Gerard quietly called when I reached the top, wrapping my legs tightly around the drain and extending an arm to the window, situation myself before knocking on the glass. I waited a moment longer before knocking again, a little harder, and still got nothing. "Maybe he's asleep?" Gerard suggested, my heart now racing away. "Or in the bathroom?"

"Something's not right." I said, pulling my arm back. "He's expecting us." I let myself slide down, Gerard putting his arms out just in case. "I need to find a way in." I said, releasing the pipe. "I have to make sure he was ok."

"How do you propose you do that?" Gerard asked, following me to the backyard.

"I'm sure there's an open window around here." I said, checking each one. "They aren't rich enough for an alarm of any sort." I pushed up the windows one by one, trying to open them. I reached one right above the kitchen sink. "Here!" I called Gerard, using my strength to get it open, only managing to crack it a bit until it refused to budge. "I can fit; help me."

"Ryan, I-"

"Help me!" I angrily snapped, Gerard closing his mouth and coming to me. "Lift me up a bit." I instructed Gerard. He nodded and stood behind me, putting his hands on my hips and lifting my feet from the ground. I put my arms through the window and then my head, gripping the edge of the counter to pull myself through while Gerard slightly pushed me. I'm not big at all and I was having problems getting inside. The bottom of the window scratched me but I had to get to Brendon.

Eventually we managed, one knee falling into the sink as I pulled the other leg inside and swung it over the counter, resting my foot on the ground and pulling my other leg from the sink. "Door;" I told Gerard, gagging at the smell of alcohol as I went to the back door and unlocked it for Gerard to come inside. "Be really quiet."

"I'm high, not stupid." Gerard said, stepping inside.

"Not much difference." I teased, near ready to throw up. "Upstairs." Gerard nodded and let the door quietly shut behind him as we walked through the dining room to the living room. "I wish I had a flashlight." I whispered with frustration, the light from the street lamp poking inside just barely illuminating the outline of furniture.

"Oh yeah;" Gerard beamed a little too loudly. "Frankie gave me one!" He reached into the pocket of his hoodie, withdrawing a small flashlight and handing it to me. I exhaled loudly and grabbed it, turning it on to guide our path. Objects littered the floor, mainly empty beer bottles and clothes. "Filthy..." Gerard said, frowning as we headed for the stairs. It's not like his place is any better.

I placed a hand on the railing and slowly started up them, trying not to cause the steps to squeak too much. I don't much care if I get caught though because I only care about Brendon right now. Gerard waited until I was about 3/4 of the way up before following to try and decrease the noise, skipping every other step on his way up. At the top, I stood still for a moment to let the house quiet again and also to orient myself as to what exactly where we were in accordance to Brendon's room. "Come on," I whispered to Gerard, starting down the hall to the door on the far left.

When I reached the door, I twisted the handle slowly and pushed it open, shining the light around. There was only a bed and a beaten up dresser with a close whose doors were pulled tightly shut; no sign of Brendon. "Brendon?" I called, stepping into the room farther. "Brendon, are you in here?" I walked towards the bed while Gerard went to the closet, saying something about wanting to see what kind of clothes Brendon wore. Upon shining my light on the bed, I could see darkened spots of what I'm sure was blood, my heart pounding against my rib cage. Gerard slid the doors open as I brushed a finger across the pillow, frowning and thinking about how fresh it really was.

"R-Ryan..." Gerard's voice was uneven so I turned around to face him; instantly dropping the flashlight to the ground and losing all ability to think or breathe.