Kicking a beer can, I approached Adam's rundown brick house, which was squished between the drug dealers, and the old woman who glared at me every time we crossed paths. I walked down the side alley, hoping to avoid her since she was already outside staring down the local gang gathered on the sidewalk across from her house. I didn't want to deal with them either. I didn't want to deal with anyone, honestly.

I always felt annoyed and pissed off after a job, but luck wasn't on my side. Jimmy was sitting between the steps and a pile of trash smoking something.

"Hey, Gav." The greasy blond haired boy blew a cloud of smoke in my direction. "How was your night?" he asked with a cocky grin.

"Better than yours." I kicked his feet out of the way and grabbed the door handle. "Put that out before Adam sees. I'm not going to stop him from kicking your ass."

He sighed and took another long puff.

Shaking my head, I went inside. The kitchen was empty, besides the piles of garbage and dishes in the sink. I opened the fridge, hoping to find something for once. A smile spread across my face.

"I see you found the food already," said a high voice.

"Kim," I announced, spinning around.

"Well, you didn't expect Adam to go shopping, did you?" She gave me a hug. "If I had another hour before you got back, I would've had this place put back together."

"It's good to see you."

"Sit down, and I'll make you something." She led me to the table before getting out the ingredients she needed. "What have you been up to, Gav?"

I sunk down in my seat and pulled my jacket over my mouth.

"Gav." She cocked a hip and stared me down with her deep blue eyes. "Not again," she breathed. "My brother's got your working the street, doesn't he?"

"You make it sound so dirty."

With her bleached blonde hair swaying back and forth, she marched over and sat down in the chair across from me. "You an ass for sale, Gav. There's not an un-dirty way about it."

Dropping my gaze, I picked at the chipped wood. "It's all I got."

"I'm talking to Adam about this." Leaving the table, she went back to cooking.

"No, Kim. You'll just make him mad. I don't want to get kicked out again."

She slammed a frying pan down on the stove. "He kicked you out."

I leaned back in my chair and sucked in my lips. "It's not a big deal," I whispered. "I did some stuff for his friend, and he let me come back."

"Correction," she dropped a bag of pancake mix on the counter, "you did his friend."

Sinking down lower in my seat, I kept my eyes pointed down. Our little reunion wasn't going the way I planned. It had been four months since Adam and Kim last fight that end with her running off to California with her boyfriend of the time. I just hoped she wasn't going to leave again anytime soon.

My clothes still had the guy's scent on them, and I kept getting a whiff of it. I stood and headed for the living room. "I'm not really hungry, anymore."

Her eyes narrowed in on me, but I hurried out of the room without looking back.

Adam was passed out on the couch with a couple of his buddies. The smell of alcohol was thick. I was probably right about my night being better than Jimmy's. Poor kid.

I tiptoed over one of their legs and made it to the staircase. Going to the second floor, I pushed open the door to my room. It wasn't much, just a bed and a couple duffle bags with secondhand clothes. It was better than the streets, though.

Flopping down on the bare yellow mattress, I felt a spring dug into my back. Kim decided to do the laundry too. I never saw the point in it, but then again, it meant not having to shower with my clothes on.

The heavy footsteps sounded down the hall, signaling Adam was awake. I had a feeling who was responsible for it and cursed Kim in my head. She had good intentions, but she needed to learn how to keep her mouth shut. The door was kicked open, and the one person I always loved to see stumbled inside.

Adam composed himself and leaned against the wall. "Where's my money?"

I pulled the two bills out of my pocket and held it out to him. He snatched them and checked to make sure it was the proper amount before tucking them away in his back pocket.

"So how'd it go." He took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Fine," I muttered, slumping over and staring at the floor.

"Did as you were told?"

I nodded. "You got your money, so obvious everything went good."

"Hmm..." He walked over and yanked off my hood. "Not hiding anything, are ya?"

I clenched my jaw, annoyed as he examined my face.

"Looks good to me." A puff of smoke escaped his lips. "Do you cum when he told you to?"

I knocked his hand away. "What do you not understand about everything went good?"

"Because you're a stubborn prick." Adam shoved me back on the bed. "You're already doing it. You might as well enjoy it." The bed squeaked as he climbed on top of me. "While we're on the topic, you remember Kevin, right?"

"What about it?" I glared at him.

"He's wondering if you liked to play," he whispered in my ear. He left a soft kiss on my cheek before pulling away.

"I'm tired, Adam."

He shrugged his shoulders and climbed off of me. "Fine, it would've been free anyways. Where's Jimmy at?"

"Don't know," I replied, pulling my hood back up.

"If I catch the boy smoking again." He put out his cigarette on the bed post. "His mouth is going to smell like a fucking ashtray. If he wasn't such a good cock sucker, I'd sew it shut and make him eat out of a straw."

I simply shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know. I just got home."

He nodded and turned for the door. "Oh yeah." Halfway in the hall, he turned back. "We're going to a party tonight. Kim's cooking something, so go eat and then get some rest. Hopefully, those bags under your eyes clear up before we go."

His footsteps faded away, and I forced myself to my feet. Going to the bathroom located next door, I peered into the mirror and would have to agree; I looked a little haggard.

"You little!" The sound of things breaking and a body hitting the wall rang through the house. I peeked into the hallway and saw Adam hurled Jimmy up the stairs.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Get up there now, and stay the hell away from my stash!"

Jimmy's scared little figure darted up the stair. He saw me and ran to my side.

"I told you to put it out," I scolded.

He nodded and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Sorry."

Blood was seeping through his fingers that were clasped around his shoulder. I led him into the bathroom and removed his shirt, before sitting him down on the toilet.

"It's not that bad," I reassured him as I cleaned the area with toilet paper. Another sign that Kim had been here.

"Do you think we should've stayed?" Tears outlined his baby blue eyes. His best feature, according to Adam.

"No." I tossed the toilet paper in the trash and dug around under the sink for the first aid kit. Another old gift from Kim. Pulling it out, I popped it open and found a couple butterfly bandages. "Out there it would've been the same. At least with Adam, we get paid."

"He gets paid," muttered Jimmy.

I finished up and patted his tear streaked cheeks. "We have a place to stay, at least, and something to eat. Out there we would've been living under a bridge and digging in dumpsters for food."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." His voice was barely audible.

After cleaning him up as best as I could, I took out my hidden supply of tic tac I had Kim get for me. I place two in Jimmy's hand. "No more smoking." I gave him a playful tap on the head. "You're going to make all your teeth fall out."

He gave me a half-hearted smile.

"Come on let's wash the rest of you." I turned on the tub and began to undress Jimmy's clearing stoned body.

Poor kid was five pounds away from looking like a starved scarecrow, but I guess some guys liked that. Because Adam didn't get any complaints about it. I guided him into the tub. He laid his head on the side and stared into space. I always wondered where his mind wandered off to when he did that.

I proceeded to wash his hair, returning it to white blond that got him a lot of attention. Not knowing exactly what had happened while I was gone, I decided to be on the safe. I scrubbed this entire body to a rosy pink. Pulling the drained, I went to see if I could find some half decent clothes. I dumped out his duffle bag and grabbed some shorts and a shirt with just a couple holes along the bottom.

Jimmy remained in the exact spot I had left him. His eyes fixed on the yellow stain cover a good portion of the ceiling.

"Come on, Jim." I grabbed him under the shoulders and lifted him out.

"I'm tired," he muttered.

"Well, after you dress you can take a nap." This wasn't the first time I had bathed and dressed him, so I was able to wrestle his limbs into the clothes pretty easily. "Stand up." I wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to our room.

He plopped down on the bed and curled up in a ball.

"You'll be needing these," said a person from the doorway.

I looked over my shoulder to see Kim, holding a couple blankets under one arm and a plate in the other.

"You think he'll eat something?"

"Nah, kid's already asleep." I took the quilt from her and tossed it over his small body.

We sat down by the wall, and Kim handed me the plate of pancakes.

"You're good to him."

I shrugged. "Someone has to be."

"I've been away for too long. How old is he now?"

"He'll be nineteen in a couple of months." I took a bite and remember how much I loved it when Kim was here. "He doesn't look it, though. Everyone thinks he's like fifteen or sixteen. Poor kid is just short."

"Well, you're not too tall yourself." She bumped my shoulder.

I shook my head at her and tried not to smile. "I'm five ten," I retorted. "Which is average height. Not all of us can be six footers like you."

"It's a curse to look like a model, I know." She teased, climbing to her feet. "Eat up. I got some more cleaning to do. You boys really did a number on this house while I was gone."

"Thanks, Kim."

"No problem, sweetheart." She closed the door.

I finished up the food and set my plate on the floor. Too lazy to stand, I crawled to the bed and climbed in behind Jimmy. He muttered something and turned around to face me.

"Gavin?"

"Shh... go back to sleep."

He snuggled into my chest, and I draped an arm over him.

"One day, Jim. One day."