Quinn walked through the dark hallway, in search of the bathroom door. There were three doors. Two at each side, and one at the end. He headed straight down, guessing that was the door to the bathroom. They were positioned there in most houses. His heart sank when he heard sobbing, and as he got closer, he noticed the dangling keys still on the lock like Charles had said they would be.

"Cody? Cody is that you?" Quinn asked as his hands touched the cool wooden surface of the door. The crying got louder, and Quinn's stomach twisted. "It's Quinn. I'm here, please don't cry," Quinn said in a soothing voice, fumbling with the lock until it clicked open with a turn of the key.

"Cody... " Quinn trailed, not knowing what to make of the crying person curled up by the door. Cody was shaking and his hair stuck to his wet face.

"Cody..." Quinn said again, making to kneel by him before pushing away the wet strands of hair clinging to his face. The boy shook like he was shivering, and his eyes fluttered open before going wide.

"Quinn...?" the smaller boy let out in a surprised tone, letting his eyes take in Quinn's face.

Quinn smiled, moving to kneel beside him. "Yes, it's me."

Cody's lips turned up in an exhausted smile before he burst into another round of sobs.

Quinn sighed, pulling his boyfriend into a hug, letting him cry as he rubbed circles on his back. The boy's clothes were wet from sweat, but Quinn didn't mind. He couldn't imagine how long he'd been trapped here, and it made him enraged that Charles would ever think of doing this to his brother.

"I thought you'd hate me," Cody sighed into Quinn's chest. "Didn't Charles say something?"

"He did," Quinn confirmed.

Cody pulled away from Quinn before rubbing his eye with the base of his palms. "Thanks for not believing him." The boy sniffed.

"You'd think I'd believe him?" Quinn asked, frowning a bit. It was a joke, but he was a little hurt.

Cody opened his mouth before closing it, then opened his mouth to speak again. "No, I—I was just scared," he said, covering his face with his palms. "I don't know... I'm sorry."

Quinn pulled Cody back into a hug. "Don't say sorry. You've been saying sorry for things that aren't your fault all your life. Don't apologize."

Cody sighed, nodding into Quinn's shoulder.

After a while of just hugging each other in the bathroom, the two pulled away from each other.

Quinn smiled at Cody, squeezing his shoulders. "Where's your stuff?"

"In the room. I'll go get them," he said, getting up. He wobbled a bit but managed to walk out of the bathroom without tripping. Quinn got up too, following Cody out of the bathroom.

He paused walking when he spotted Charles looking at them from the edge of the hallway's entrance.

"Thanks again," Quinn managed, looking at Charles. The dark-haired young man looked pissed. He looked away, he seemed to be shocked by Quinn's thanks.

He folded his hands across his chest, letting out a grunt. "The both of you should just leave fast. Get out before I change my mind," he said, turning and walking into the living room. Quinn frowned but did as he was told. He went in the direction bedroom Cody shared with his brother.

Cody had already stepped out with his backpack when Quin reached the door. The smaller boy closed the door behind him, before letting Quinn take his hand in his.

"Oh, you're out. Is that all?" Quinn asked, noticing how small the backpack was. Aside from his schoolbooks, he guessed a few clothes were in it.

Cody shrugged, giving his boyfriend a small smile. "Yeah, I don't have much."

There was a period of silence. Quinn looked at Cody and noticed that the boy looked tired—so tired, but there was a smile on his pale face. His dark long hair looked like it had been messily brushed aside with fingers, which was probably the case.

Quinn smiled squeezing Cody's smaller hand. "Come on, let's leave. My mum will get worried. She made dinner for you and all, and you couldn't make it."

Cody hummed as Quinn led the way out of the hallway. Cody caught Charles looking at him from his seat on the sofa as the two boys slipped past the door and out of his house. When the cold breeze from the night weather slapped Cody's face, the boy let out a breath he'd been holding. He was finally freed from Charles. From the abuse. From everything.

The two boys walked through the dimly lit streets in the cold night, huddling together, hand in hand—and even if it was cold Cody's chest was burning with warmth. Quinn chattered on about every and anything, while Cody looked at him in awe. He couldn't express how grateful he was to Quinn and his family.

He felt free.

Alive.

It didn't take long for both of them to reach Quinn's apartment. Quinn and Cody were sitting by the Kitchen Island as they watched Quinn's mother warm up some food. The kitchen/living room was bathed in the warm orange light of fluorescent light bulbs. The rest of Quinn's family had gone to bed, leaving only the three of them awake. A slow drizzle had started outside, and the sound of raindrops hitting the glass windows resounded through the room.

Quinn's mother looked towards the kitchen window before resting her hands on her waist. "Ah, it's a good thing you two made it home before it started raining."

Quinn nodded, reaching out for Cody's hand before giving it a small squeeze. They'd dropped his bag off in Quinn's room before Quinn's mother had shooed them back into the kitchen for something to eat. "Yeah. It would have been terrible to be drenched in rain."

Cody hummed in agreement, smiling softly as he looked down at their conjoined hands. The boys were sitting on stools by the kitchen island.

The microwave beeped, and they all looked towards it. Quinn's mother takes a transparent container with brown soup out of the microwave before pouring its contents into two different bowls. "Here," she said, passing a bowl to Cody and Quinn each.

The two boys started to eat when Quinn's mother gave them spoons from the cutlery cabinet. The woman stared at both of them, and an apologetic smile graced her face when she caught Cody's eyes. "How are you? I hope nothing bad happened. everyone was a little worried since you didn't come over sooner."

"Nothing bad happened," Cody insisted shaking his head as he took a spoon full of soup.

Quinn's mother knew that was a lie, but she didn't push. The boy would open up to her later. It could be a few weeks, months, or even in the next few years, but she decided to wait. She folded her hands over the kitchen island instead as she leaned forward. "I hope so, feel free to make yourself at home. Quinn's happy to have you here."

Cody's eyes went wide before he turned to his boyfriend and found him smiling.

Quinn shrugged. "It's true."

Quinn's mother laughed, watching as the smaller boy blushed before turning away. He was such a character, the lad.

The two boys talked to Quinn's mother as the rain got heavier. Cody was still amazed by how at ease Quinn was with his mum. He had picked up that the boy had problems with his father now after coming out, but he could tell they were getting better since Quinn and his mother were talking about the man.

"Your dad wants you to go and work for his friend. He gives good starting salaries to his apprentices," Quinn's mum said and Quinn nodded. He still looked a bit uncomfortable, the way he did whenever his father was brought up in the past few months, but he seemed a lot freer about it.

"I know, I talked to dad about that already," he said, and Quinn's mother smiled, nodding her head.

Some time by twelve in the night they both headed decided it was time to take a shower before heading to Quinn's room.