In two days, I had reached L.A. and had rented a motel room for the following five days, hoping that I would find something better. In the meantime, it was home, an hopefully it was safer and better than being anywhere near my 'family.'

I wasn't expecting much from the city when I had just gotten there, but the second night I decided to adventure through the Sunset Strip, which, I discovered, was buzzing at night.

Nightclubs on street corners and the bars on the Strip had lines around the block as people tried to get in. Pretty girls laughed with their friends as they walked out of restaurants and movie theaters, and guys cat-called and whistled at anything in a skirt or heels.

Telephone poles and payphone booths were plastered with posters for various night life activities. Some were for buying and selling things or lost animals and people, but most were for new bands such as Yankee Rose, London, and Rockandi- bands that I had never heard of before, but the posters made them look and sound exciting.

The city was different that what I was used to, but I liked it. I needed something new, and although it was terrifying, this was it. The constant movement around me was a pleasant shock to my system.

Even though it was night, I found myself wandering into a record store that bore the name "Leo's" in neon orange in the window. This place felt like home; a record store was a safe haven as far as I was concerned, and this one was amazing. It was bigger than any record store that I had been in at any time in my life, and I was glued to it until it closed.

For the next two days, I spent most of my time there, looking at everything- observing the records and posters, even the people. None of them gave me a second glance; I blended in, even though I was there all day and constantly kept my sunglasses.

In all honesty, I should have been looking for a job, but I couldn't help myself. I lived for being around music, and as I had no talent, and severe stage fright, it was never going to happen for me.

It was honestly amusing to see that other people returned to the store just as I did. Two people in particular caught my eye; one was a girl with long red hair and bright blue eyes that always looked at the same Janis Joplin records, and the other was a tall guy with long brown hair, who, unbeknownst to me, I would be interacting with the next day.

The third evening I was at Leo's, I noticed that the tall guy was staring at me, and he slowly kept getting closer. I didn't get the vibe that he was going to hurt me or anything, but it was just weird. I ignored him as I looked through the alphabetized record bins, flipping through part of the "N" section.

"Hey," he mumbled as he stood right beside me, not even three inches away.

"Hi."

"How's it goin'?"

"Fine," I said softly as I tried to discreetly shuffle away, as this stranger being so close was not the most comfortable situation.

"You looking for anything in particular?"

"Uh, no, not really. Just looking."

"Nice."

"Yup." I wandered over to where the "R" section was, hoping that he would get the message, which, he unfortunately did not.

"Do I know you?" I snapped as he watched over my shoulder.

"No, but you could," he suggested with a goofy smile as he tried to reach over my shoulder.

"No thanks; I'm guessing I probably won't like that," I said, sliding out from under his arm.

"Now, is that any way to treat a friend?" he joked, looking over his sunglasses at me as he pulled a record from the bin.

"I don't have any friends."

"Oh... well would you like one?" he asked, suddenly serious as he perched his sunglasses on the top of his head.

"I don't know, are there people worth being friends with here?"

"Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm pretty cool."

"Hm. I don't know..."

"Look at me; I," he said, motioning up and down at himself, "am cool. I've been cool for the last seventeen years of my entire life."

Maybe it was the fluffy brown hair, or the too tight jeans and Kiss shirt combo, but he actually did seem pretty cool- even though he had been creeping on me.

"Y'know, somehow I think I believe you; you're holding one of my favorite records so you're probably okay," I said with a laugh, pointing to the copy of the Rolling Stones' 'Exile on Main Street.'

"Yeah, the Stones are the shit! I'm Tommy, by the way," he mumbled, awkwardly shaking my hand.

"Sadie... I think I've seen you in here a few times," I said, pretending to have trouble remembering.

"Oh, yeah. I'm in here every couple of days, just checking out the new stuff, tryin' to get out before I make my parents crazy," he joked.

I let out a fake laugh, an uncomfortable itch at the base of my spine at the mention of parents.

"Sorry if I was being creepy."

"It's alright."

"So, like, you're new here, right?"

"Yeah. I just got here a couple days ago."

"Cool. Did you move in somewhere near here?"

"Uh, no... I've been staying at a motel."

"Oh. Are you in the middle of moving or somethin'?"

"Well, not exactly. It's just me."

"Wait, you're here... alone?" he asked, somehow very serious again.

"Y-yes?"

"Which motel are you staying at?"

"I think it's La Brea Inn. I'm not sure."

He opened his mouth slightly, his eyes widening as he slowly nodded.

"Is that bad?"

"Um, well... yeah. Not a great neighborhood."

"Well, that's what I've got."

"Well, I hope it doesn't make me creepier if I offer to walk you back there when you leave. I'll feel bad if I don't see you here tomorrow; it something happened I'll blame myself," he explained.

"I guess that's fine. Sure. Thank you," I mumbled nervously.

"Cool... So, like, are you going to go to school out here?"

"I don't know. I don't have anyone to sign me up," I said with a chuckle.

"What, your parents aren't gonna?"

"I'm here alone," I reminded.

"Oh, right. Sorry. So, what do you listen to?"

"Stones, Aerosmith, New York Dolls, uh... I don't know, kind of whatever."

"Kiss?"

"Hm?"

"Do you listen to Kiss?"

"No, I haven't listened to them."

"Oh, girl, you have to. They're awesome."

"I guess you would say that when you're wearing their shirt," I teased.

"You have a point there. I wouldn't rep it if I didn't believe it. What about AC/DC?"

"Yeah, I've heard some of their stuff."

"Dig em?"

"Yeah, they're pretty good."

"What about Zepp?"

"Epic. You listen to Van Halen?"

"Van Halen is my shit!"

"Awesome!"

"Totally... I don't know if I should ask this, but do you have, like, an eye problem?" he randomly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You wearing your sunglasses in here every time I've seen you but it's always dark."

"You were wearing yours, too."

"True, but I was wearing them when I walked here- in the sunset, which was damn near blinding."

"Fair enough."

"Seriously though, are you good? Or are you stoned?" he asked quietly.

"I have never been stoned in my entire life."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then what's with the glasses?"

"Why do you wanna know so bad?"

"Just curious," he mumbled with a shrug.

I sighed before admitting the problem.

"I have a gnarly black eye."

"No way."

I pushed my glasses up, revealing said black eye.

"Holy shit! What happened?"

"It's a long story," I said, hoping to get out of it; it wasn't like I owed him an answer anyway.

"Okay. I'll back off."

"Hey, kids, we're gonna have to cut it short. "It's closing time," the man that worked at the counter called to us.

"I thought you guys closed at ten?"

"Earlier on Sunday nights."

"Ah... No problem," Tommy called to him. "You gonna get anything?" he asked me.

"No, I've just been looking. I don't want to spend money unless I find something I can't live without."

"Gotcha. Well, I'm going to get this and we'll head out, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure."

After Tommy bought his new Rolling Stones record, we headed for La Brea Inn, and with him beside be, I felt less afraid. Sure, after him telling me that it wasn't safe I wasn't keen on being alone, but this helped a little.

We had started talking about music and school when the sound of tires peeling out cut through the night air, making me paranoid.

"You haven't heard that here before?" he asked, seeing that I was suddenly nervous.

"Nope."

"Well, now you have." He chuckled as we walked up to the Inn.

"C-can you come up with me? I'm kind of sketched out," I mumbled.

"Of course."

"I feel like a wuss."

"Nah, trust me, it makes sense here," he assured, looking up as we walked upstairs to my room.

"Do you think I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked as we got closer to my door.

"Probably... Um, this is a problem," I said, realizing that my door was now open.

"You didn't leave that open, did you?"

"No."

"Stay here," he ordered as he slowly walked in, turning on the lights. "Looks like whoever was here left. What's missing?" he asked as I cautiously walked in.

"Well, all of my money," I said when I noticed that the box I had kept my money in was empty and thrown on the floor. "Fuck."

"You're not staying here."

"Tommy, I don't have a choice. I can't go back home!"

"Then you're staying with me. Relax," he said when my eyes went wide. "My parents won't care; we have an extra room and my little sister won't care. It's a lot safer there," he promised as he threw my clothes back in my suitcase.

"Okay," I mumbled, trying not to cry as I helped repack my things.

"It'll be okay."

"You don't know that," I sniffed, trying to blink away the tears.

"Hey, Sadie, it'll be fine, I promise. We'll work something out. What if you call your parents and ask them for more money?"

"Tommy, you don't understand," I cried, the tears finally spilling. "They're what I'm running from. That's why I'm here."

Without another word, he pulled me into a tight hug, which was surprising to me as I hadn't been hugged by someone in a long time.

"I won't let shit happen to you. You're going to stay with me, and that's how it is."

I nodded, unable to speak as we finished packing and left- not without Tommy screaming at the manager and getting some of my money back.

When got to his house and his parents were already asleep, so he wrote a short note explaining what was going on and left it on the kitchen counter for them to find later before offering me something to eat.

"Okay, so my parent's room is down at that end," he said quietly, pointing to the far end of the house. "My sister, Athena's is there, and mine is at this end." He pointed to the closer end. "The guest room is here, too, so you can stay in there, alright?"

"Okay... Thank you, Tommy. Really."

"No problem. I'm sorry about tonight... and your parents."

I shrugged with a bitter smile.

"It happens, I guess. That's where the black eye came from," I mumbled, lightly touching the sore spot on my face.

"Why the hell would someone do that to you?!" he hissed, trying not to get angry.

"For the first time, I skipped classes... I cut my hair, and I pierced my ears... My father drinks too much and he found out first. My mother is a bitch, too, but she wasn't there. The only escape was leaving."

"I'm so sorry, Sadie," he whispered, dropping his head.

We finished our meal in silence before going to our rooms and saying good night.

"If you need anything, I'm one room over," he reminded as I walked into the guest bedroom.

"Thank you. For everything."

"Don't mention it," he mumbled with a smile. "See you in the morning."

"See ya."

I closed the door behind me and pulled on some pajamas, hoping to settle down. After half an hour of restlessness and paranoia, I crept to Tommy's room, knocking lightly on his door, praying that I wasn't disturbing him.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked sleepily as he opened the door.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay. Are you alright?"

"I can't sleep. I'm... scared," I admitted.

"C'mon," he mumbled, holding the door open for me.

"I know we just met tonight but I feel safer when you're around."

"Understandable. I'll keep my hands to myself," he said with a chuckle as we climbed into his bed. "It'll be tough, but I can manage."

"Thank you," I whispered, laughing softly.

Seriously, I had met him like eight hours before, and I had never felt so safe with someone in my entire life; my head hit the pillow beside him, and eventually his arms ended up around me, and I fell asleep without a problem, every bit of anxiety and fear washing away.