I opened my eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling. It took me a minute before my brain started working and I remembered what happened. I closed my eyes again and sighed.

As I stood up I glanced down at my arm. It was covered in blood, dry and fresh, and it looked pretty bad. I went into the bathroom and cleaned up all the cuts, too weak from loss of blood and pain to bandage my arm tight enough.

Then I walked back into my room. After glancing at the clock I started getting dressed. It was still five in the morning and a Saturday but, I didn't care. I had slept enough and I knew if I slept too long I would regret it.

I was dressed but, I didn't have anything I needed to do so I sat down on my bed and closed my eyes. The pain in my arm distracted me from the mental pain in my head and I sighed.

I heard shuffling downstairs and a pop as some bottle was opened. Probably my mother getting more alcohol. I sat up and walked to my door.

I could hear her mumbling about something. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea for me to go down and make breakfast. I decided against it and went back to sitting on my bed.

I was about to get up and start working on some homework when there was a tap on my window. I froze and glanced at my door, praying my mother hadn't heard.

When nothing happened and there was another tap I stood up and walked to my window. I looked out and saw someone standing in the grass. It was still dark so I couldn't really see them.

I opened my window and squinted at them. "Eliot!" By the voice I could tell it was Marcus. I glanced at my door before turning back and waving for him to shut up. He didn't get the message.

"Eliot! Can we talk? Please?" He called.

I groaned and whispered. "Marcus. Be quiet. If you're too loud my mom will hear you."

He frowned but, motioned me to come down. I sighed as I slowly put my foot out the window eased myself down until Marcus could grab me and help me the rest of the way.

When I was on the ground I turned to him. "What do you want?" I asked sharply.

He frowned. "I just wanted to know if you were okay."

I looked down. "I'm fine."

He didn't look like he believed me. "Eliot, I'm serious. Did they do anything to you?" He looked concerned.

I subconsciously moved my injured arm behind my back. "Not really. It was just the usual."

He sighed and brushed my cheek with his fingertips. I winced when he accidentally touched the fresh bruise around my eye. He shook his head. "I want to kill them." He muttered.

I turned and away. "I'm fine, okay? Just relax."

He remained silent and I glanced at him. He was staring at my hand. I looked down at it and saw that there was blood dripping off my fingers. I hadn't even noticed, my arm too numb from pain. I quickly tried to hide my hand before he could say anything but, he grabbed my wrist.

I tried to pull away. "Marcus, stop. Let go." He didn't and I started yanking on my hand.

"What is that?" He asked, trying to pull up my sleave.

"It's noth-" I gasped as he pushed me against the side of the house and pinned me there. He yanked my sleave up and I looked away.

His eyes widened before narrowing. "What is this?!" He hissed. "Did they do this too?!"

I glanced at the bloody bandages. "N-... No. I did that..."

He froze. "Eliot? Please, tell me that's a lie."

I looked up at him. "I did that. You have a crush on a mentally unstable boy who selfharms because he has shitty parents who beat the crap out of him for no damn reason."

He stared at me and I ripped my arm away, tugging my sleave down. "I can't do this anymore..." I said.

"Eliot, I-" He stepped towards me but, I moved away. "Just go away. This all happened because I was with you. Just leave me alone."

He looked hurt and I started walking away from him. I didn't want to see the pain in his eyes at what I had just said. I started out walking but, it turned into a run as I raced away from him.

I didn't watch where I was going. I just ran. After a while I slowed down and saw I was in a unfamiliar part of the city. I walked into an alley and sat down.

I just blamed him for everything...

I put my face in my knees and started crying. I had said it was his fault and told him to go away. I was a horrible person.

I'm disgusting... A waste of life...

I sobbed into my jeans and pulled myself into a tighter ball. I couldn't believe I had just done that. I had pushed away the only thing that ever made me happy. Granted, he had done some things that had made me mad but, in the end he had cared for me.

And I hurt him for it...

I was still crying when I heard someone ask, "Why are you crying, little boy?"

I looked up quickly, not knowing someone had been watching me. There was a young child standing across from me. I stared at him. "What?" I asked.

He crouched down and tilted his head. "Why are you cry?"

I looked down. "It's nothing." I said, sniffling and wiping my nose.

He frowned. "Are you hurt? Do you have a scratch or something?"

I looked back up at him and gave a small smile. "I'm okay. Really." I looked around. "Where are your parents?"

He shrugged. "I don't have any. It's just me and my brother."

"Your brother?" I asked.

"Jerry. What are you doing?"

The boy stood up quickly and I looked down towards the front of the alley, seeing a boy who looked a little older than me. He was staring at me as he walked towards the little kid, Jerry.

Jerry smiled. "I was just talking to this person. He was crying."

The guy glanced at me. "Who are you?"

I frowned. "My name is Eliot." I said.

He shrugged and turned back to Jerry. "I got you something to eat. Sorry, it's only a little bread."

It was then that I took in their whole appearance. They were both quite skinny and their clothes were dirty like they had slept in a pile of dirt. Neither one looked like they'd had a shower for some time.

They're homeless...

Jerry took a bite of his bread and then glanced at me. He looked down at his food before crawlig to me and offering me a piece. "Want some?"

I was surprised at his generosity. Even though he had so little he was offering to share with a stranger. He held it out to me and I smiled. "It's okay. I'm not hungry."

I noticed the other boy watching us and I looked down. Then he asked, "So, what are you doing here? You're obviously not like us." Gesturing to my clothes.

I cleared my throat. "Nothing. I was just... walking."

He frowned before he smiled. "You're welcome to hang with us. We don't get to talk to many people since we're kind of looked down on."

I looked up. "Really?"

He shrugged. "You can stay with us as long as you need. We aren't really going anywhere, as you might have guessed." He said chuckling.

I smiled a little. "Okay. Thank you."

He held out his hand. "I'm Johnny." He said. I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, we better get out of here before the kid patrol catches us." He said with a laugh. I frowned but, didn't argue.

*******

Hey everyone! I'm back to updating this book! I'll be updating only this until the book is finished. I'm sorry for the wait and, for those of you who stayed with me unil now, thank you. It means alot to me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! AS ALWAYS VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW AND STAY AWESOME!

-Nekoco