Life was peculiar with the boys living in the house with me. A lot of mornings were spent with Marc making me coffee, Sean flirting with me as I made breakfast, and Brandon insisting he drive me to school. Lauren had been avoiding me, and I was avoiding her, not that I had much of a choice. If the boys knew that she was going to be home, then they usually took me to someone else's place. Zain hadn't come around once since I had returned, and a part of me felt really smug about that.

Surprisingly, for once, I was all alone. I had to run through the list in my head, wondering where the boys were as I headed down to the kitchen after completing my homework. It was a long list to go through, but I liked to run through it just so I could remember who was where off the top of my head.

Kota and Nathan: Spending time with Kota's mother and his sister.

Victor: Some bullshit party for his parents that I offered to go to.

Silas: On a job with his father.

Owen: Some teacher bullshit.

Sean: A shift at the hospital.

Luke: He hadn't specified but I was pretty sure it had to do with a prank.

Brandon and North: At the garage handling a client.

Gabriel: I actually had no clue.

I sighed, finding myself missing the boys, though I knew that I would see a good amount of them a few hours later. I opened the fridge, leaning down and inspecting the contents to see if there was anything I could use to cook. I didn't cook all that often anymore, but I thought it might be nice to do so and it would be a good distraction from thinking about the boys. If I continued to think about them, I would want to text them which wasn't the best idea when they were all busy.

I sighed again, realizing that we were way overdue for a food order or grocery trip. I straightened up and reached for my phone, deciding that my best bet was to order in for the night then have someone going shopping with me after school the next day. I had just began to consider what I could order when my phone lit up and began buzzing in my hands, alerting me to the fact that someone was calling me.

My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at the sight of Gabriel's contact name, Meanie, as well as his contact picture of him flipping off one of the boys. Not wanting to keep him waiting, I quickly hit the answer button and brought the phone to my ear.

"Gabriel?" I questioned, frowning slightly. I really hoped that the reason he was calling was because he was bored and wanted someone to talk to. "Everything okay?"

Sobs came through the phone causing my heart to stop and my spine to straighten up with fear and concern. "I'm outside of your house," he managed to get out through his hysterics. "Can I please come in?"

I was suddenly frantic, practically sprinting through my house to get to the door and let him inside. I wasn't sure what had upset him badly, but I did know that if it was a someone, they better start running now because I was going to kill them. I had forgotten to respond to Gabriel, causing him to whimper my name through the phone.

"Yes, Gabriel," I breathed out. "Yes. Hang on. I'm letting you in now. Just one minute."

I dropped my phone in my haste to unlock my door and open it. The sight of Gabriel at my doorstep broke my heart; his hair that was usually perfectly styled in a mess, tears running down his face, and in only a tank top and jeans in the chilly weather. Tears blurred my vision as I pulled him inside and closed the door, wrapping him a tight hug. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, still sobbing.

"Oh my god," I mumbled, my chest physically hurting at the amount of emotional pain he was in. Morals and laws be damned, I was really going to hurt whoever had done this to him. "It's okay, Meanie. It's okay. Can we go to my room? Is that okay?"

He nodded and I carefully pulled away, wiping away a few of his tears before taking his hand and leading him up the stairs then into my bedroom. I settled onto the bed, gesturing for him to sit with me. He gently placed himself at the end of the bed then hesitantly crawled over and wrapped his arms around my waist, hiding his face in my shoulder. I wound one arm around him, holding him tightly, and ran my fingers through his hair with my free hand.

"What happened?" I asked softly, truly concerned as to what could have set him off so badly. He had seemed like he was on the verge of a panic attack when I had opened the door, and even though he was still crying, he was considerably calmer now that we were upstairs. He was also freezing, I noticed, and while I awaited an answer from him, I pulled my comforter over him and I.

After a long stretch of a silence that was only interrupted by his occasional sniffles, he finally spoke up. His grip tightened on me as he briefly explained, "Pam has a new boyfriend. He was drunk when I got home. He said somethings about me then tried to smack me around a little. I ran out. I didn't know who else to go to... Everyone else was busy and... and..."

He dissolved into sobs again and our grip on each other tightened. I pressed a kiss to his head, muttering soothing words, while also thinking of everyway I could torture the man who had thought it was okay to beat on a kid. I was about ready to run the man over with my Mustang, but I was aware that the more pressing matter was making Gabriel feel better. I tapped his shoulder softly a couple times to get his attention. He looked up at me, and my heart ached at his tear stained face.

"Come on," I said softly. "Let's go."

Confusion flickered over his face. "Go where?"

I stood up and held my hand out for him, smiling slightly. "Why don't you come with me and find out?"

He seemed to hesitate for only a moment before he was slipping his hand into mine and allowing me to pull him to his feet. I gave a quick squeeze of reassurance before leading him into the bathroom, turning on the light and closing the door. He looked even more confused than before, staring at me, as if waiting for answers.

I did my best not to crack up as I said, "Strip down to your boxers."

He began to sputter, but I ignored him, turning away and turning on the faucet to the tub. I felt the water and shrugged, deciding it was good enough for me but I would have Gabriel check it as well. I stood up straight and stripped off my shirt, aware that in order for this to work I would have to push aside my shyness. I wiggled out of my skirt then raised my eyebrows at Gabriel.

"I don't know about you," I said, aware that I had to be blushing at least slightly. "But I really prefer not to be fully clothed when taking a bath." I paused then grinned teasingly. "You will be joining me for this bath, right?"

His eyes lit up and he finally stripped off his tank top and jeans. I took a moment to look over his body. He wasn't the most muscled out of the group, but he was just as beautiful and exquisite with his sharp collarbones and slim waist. If only he could become aware of how wonderful he was. I sighed, deciding that it was best to leave that matter for another time.

"Wanna get in first and tell me if the water is alright?" I offered, smiling softly.

He gave me a small smile in return and then stepped into the bath. He sighed in content and I figured that it must have felt nice after being in the chilly wind. I decided that the water must have been good enough as he didn't say anything, and carefully stepped into the tub, sitting at the other end. Neither of us felt the need to talk, leaning back and enjoying the warmth of the water. To let him know that I was there for him, I rested my feet over his, occasionally bumping my ankle against his own.

"Sang?" He ended the silence what felt like hours later, his voice sounding small and not at all like his usual boisterous self.

"Yes?" I replied, opening my eyes and peeking at him. His blue eyes were dim with sadness again and I sat up some, alarm filtering through me. "Meanie? What's wrong?"

"Uh, um, you like me for who I am right?" he asked, sounding so vulnerable and cut down that I was already calculating where to drop a body. I took a deep breath and surged forward, not caring about the water that sloshed out of the tub and onto the floor.

He looked startled, but I ignored it, cupping his face and bringing my lips down to meet his.

He immediately responded, and it was a solid moment of our lips colliding before I pulled away and pecked his lips several times. We were both breathing heavily, and I rested my forehead against his, my eyes sliding shut.

"Yes, Gabriel," I muttered. "I like you very much. I love you, in fact."

After the bath, we collapsed in my bed and ending up taking a nap. I woke up entangled with Gabriel. His arms were wrapped around my waist firmly and one of my arms was flung over him, the other smushed between us. Our legs were tangled together, and my face was pressed against his chest. I yawned quietly and looked up, checking out the time. It was late in the evening and I sighed, realizing that it was time to take Gabriel back home.

I carefully shook him awake, regretting it the moment that his eyes flashed with disappointment.

When we pulled up to his trailer, I turned and looked at him, gnawing on my bottom lip. Every atom in my body was screaming at me to not let him go in there, to not let him return to a home that he felt unloved and sad in. Gabriel began to reach for the door to get out but I grabbed his hand, stopping him. He looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm going to come in with you," I said slowly. "You're going to pack a bag or two. And then you're going to stay the night with me. Does that sound okay?"

A smile formed on his lips and he pulled me into him to kiss me, muttering, "That sounds fucking perfect, Trouble."

a/n: This one is kind of short and I feel bad about it, but it was also kind of emotionally draining to write so. I have to go to the doctor very shortly and I don't wanna sigh. But !!! since this chapter was so short I wrote what I consider to be a quality one shot (I'm kidding lol ahaha kefsjl ugh) and I'm posting that in just a few minutes. 

xoxo,

ry.