***Jeremy***

     I walked back to Link's car with him and crawled into the back because I saw the man in the drivers seat. "So," the man in the driver's seat said, "What's your name?" 

     I didn't answer for a moment. I was wondering or not if I could trust these strangers to help me. They were offering to feed me and give me rides to school and so far they hadn't hurt me. I decided he was trustworthy and said "Jeremy, sir. What's yours?" I asked trying to sound polite. "I'm Rhett." He looked at me through the mirror and I nodded respectfully. 

     We sat in silence for another five minutes before we pulled into a bar. Link turned toward me and said, "we are meeting some friends here for dinner. Hope that's alright?" He smiled and I nodded. We got out of the car and walked in. Rhett waved to someone and Link and I followed him to a table with four other guys at it. They all smiled and Rhett sat next to one wearing a Michigan hat who was sitting next to one wearing a maroon hat and Link sat next to one with a hat on backwards who was sitting by another guy with long wavy brown hair. 

     The one with the Michigan hat pointed at me and said, "who's he?" And Link put a hand on my shoulder. "Guys, this is Jeremy. He's my neighbor's kid and I agreed to watch him while his parents went out tonight. 

***Link*** 

     "Who's he?" Alex asked and pointed at Jeremy. I didn't really know what to say because I figured he didn't want everyone here to know we picked him up off of the street. So, I made up a twisted truth. "Guys, this is Jeremy. He's my neighbor's kid and I agreed to watch him while his parents went out tonight." I felt like I had to watch him. I kind of felt like he was my responsibility. I don't know why, I just did. 

***Rhett*** 

     "Guys, this is Jeremy. He's my neighbor's kid and I agreed to watch him while his parents went out tonight." Link answered Alex's question about Jeremy. I gave Link a disapproving look. He looked back at me and shrugged. "Oh! Alright. He seems cool." Alex said.

***Jeremy***

     "Oh! Alright. He seems cool." The Michigan fan said. I smiled triumphantly because I was called cool and sat down next to Link. Why did he lie? I wouldn't have lied for some kid I had just met that morning. Then again, I also wouldn't give him a ride to school or pick him up and offer to buy him dinner, and that was coming from the kid he did this for. 

     "I'm Alex." The guy with the Michigan hat said. "Mike" the guy in the maroon hat said. I smiled and nodded and looked at the other two guys expectantly. Link laughed at me and said "that's Chase and Kevin." He pointed. The smiled and waved. Alex picked up a cup full of what looked like beer and took a swig and a waitress came over. She handed Rhett, Link, and me menus. I started flipping through the menu looking for the cheapest thing possible when Link said, "don't worry about the price. I'll pay." I looked back down at the menu and thought about it. Did I still want to order something cheap or just something normal? 

     I settled on a normal cheeseburger and water with a side of french fries because that's what I would have gotten had I went to McDonalds. I was very pleased with my decision because it was better than a peanut butter and jelly, which is what I would have had if I didn't go for a walk and run into Link. 

     I finished my cheeseburger and fries quickly because I was very hungry. Everyone was pretty drunk besides me and Link. Link was considered the designated driver, I guess. We ended up using a bigger car to get home because Rhett's car didn't fit everyone. We stopped at each house and  a different member of our party got out. After we dropped off Rhett we went to our apartment complex and went inside. 

     "Hey, Link?" I asked. 

     "Yeah, pal?" He replied.

     "Thanks for tonight. I had a lot of fun and haven't been out to eat in a long time. Thanks." I smile. He smiled and opened his door and went inside. I went to bed thinking about maybe if I told Link things he could help me. Bring me under his wing, maybe. Maybe he could be like my parent or something. I wish I had parents like other kids. I bet Link would be a great dad. 

~ A/N ~ I've decided that I'm going to start tagging a piece of fanart to every chapter because I love fanart. Most of it will probably be #Rhink because I ship it hardcore, so if you have any fanart that you've done or that you really like then send it to me.