Keith's pov

I silently opened the window and climbed out, shutting it behind me as I made my way down to the ground. The vines growing on the side of the house were pretty helpful and I got down in no time and began running. When I got to a road I knew I ran in the direction of Shiro's house.

Once I was there I went to the back door, getting the key out from under a rock before letting myself inside. My head hurt from the lack of sleep and the bruises on my body made it extremely hard to get comfortable when I got in the bed I normally slept in when I'm here.

Sighing softly I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep. These past two days have been hell on earth. Nathan and his buddies all cornered me and beat me until I couldn't stand up anymore. The black eye was slowly healing and so was the split lip. When Pidge asked me what happened I just shrugged and kept my mouth shut. He probably already knew how this happened to me. It was pretty obvious especially when Nathan would pretend like he was going to punch me and I flinched away from him making all of his friends laugh.

"Hey, faggot, how about you stop behind a little bitch and go get us some pop?" Nathan spat at me. I nodded and did what he said because that was the best option. I didn't want to get beat again.

"You're so fucking pathetic." Mitch, the second in command growled, slamming me against the wall. My feet didn't even touching the ground when he slammed my head against the wall over and over again.

I pushed those memories away and fell asleep, hoping to get a few hours and then talk to Shiro when he got home from work.
~~~~~

"Keith, buddy, wake up." Someone said, gently shaking me awake.

I opened my eyes slowly, wincing in pain when he touched one of my bruises. Shiro frowning deeply when he saw me flinch away from his touch and slowly sit up. My head hurting even more as I blinked slowly and tried to regain my stability.

"Who did this to you? The kids at the group home?" Shiro asked, waiting for an answer he knew I couldn't answer right now because I was still so tired. "Fu-frick, Keith, I'll go get you something to help."

He left and came back a few minutes later with a small fist aid kit, cleaning my split lip and put some healing spray on it. He rubbed some cooling gel around my eye and made me take off my shirt to see the rest of the damage those kids did to me.

"Your ribs look broken..." He mumbled, taking out some healing wraps and tried them around the black and blue bruises on my stomach. "This'll tell us if they are."

He pulled the remote out and the equipment started doing its job. A few moments later it printed off a report. My eyes drooping as I leaned against him for support.

"Two fractures... they'll heal on their own but you have to take it easy. Take these, they'll help you heal faster and make the pain go away. I'm calling that place tomorrow." He grumbled the last part to himself, making sure all my other injuries were taken care of before laying me back down and told me to go back to bed.

I was asleep right when my head hit the pillow.
~~~~~

"Keith, I called the home and they're getting everything sorted out." Shiro said as he gave me a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon.

I didn't really listen to him and began eating hungrily. My stomach finally stopped cramping up as I ate because of the lack of food. Back at the home I didn't eat because well... Nathen threatened me about that too. I wasn't allowed to eat there with them so I stayed upstairs and just didn't eat.

"Slow down, you'll make yourself sick." Shiro said softly as I shoved toast into my mouth. "I didn't know you liked my cooking that much."

"Sorry..." I mumbled, eating slower so I didn't throw all of this back up later. I need to conserve my energy so I can survive these three more days.

"Keith, look at me."

I stopped eating and stared up at him, feeling my heart drop as he sighed and sat down across from me.

"Who did this to you? How long haven't you slept for and when was the last time you ate?"

"I-I fell... and I uh... slept yesterday and ate-"

"No, Keith, tell me the truth." He said gently, taking my hand in his own. My whole body shook uncontrollably as I looked everywhere but him.

"The other boys... a-and uh... the last night I was with t-those people was the last time I slept and ate."

"Keith, I'm so sorry, I thought this place would be better. Well... I called them and they'll get this figured out. Only three more days." He said with a soft smile at the end.

I sniffed and nodded, slouching slightly in my chair when he pulled away and let me continue eating. The room fell into a comfortable silence as we ate. My stomach comfortably full by the time half my plate was finished.

"Where am I going now?" I finally asked once we were in the living room.

"Well... if you don't mind I was thinking here." Shiro said making me gasp and stared at him in shock.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, your social worker said that you could stay here because she knows you'll just run off again if she makes you go somewhere else." He said, chuckling when I hugged him tightly, pressing my face into his chest. He hugged me back until I couldn't touch the floor anymore, my legs dangling but I didn't even care.

"I can't believe it, Shiro..." I mumbled against his chest, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"Well, do you wanna see your new room now or-"

"My new room? Like my own room? That's mine?" I questioned, my heart beating faster as he nodded. "Yes!"

Shiro lead me up the stairs and to the bedroom at the end of the hall. The door opening slowly to reveal  my own room. I made a noise that I didn't even know I could make and ran in, looking at everything I could.

There was a window sill nook that had pillows and blankets around it, hanging plants were over that, bookshelves on either side of the nook. A bed was on the other side of the room, lots of soft blankets and pillows on that as well. The sheets were black and red, mix with some white and gray. The walls has a few pictures of cats and plants, two of my favorite things. The walls were pained a light gray, hard wood floors with a soft carpet.

"Shiro... it's perfect, thank you!" I said, tackle hugging him which made him almost fall over but he caught himself.

"I was hoping you'd like it." He said, ruffling my hair.

"I love it... this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." I said softly, looking at all the books on the shelves. I saw a lot of Steven King books that I was itching to get my hands on. The little decorations all around the room make me smile. He got everything that I loved.

"It's the least I could do for you, Keith." He said, wrapping his arm around my waist as I looked around a bit more, resting my head on his shoulder and nodded.

If this is what being free is like I don't want it to ever end.