~Andrew~

My instincts trapped at my heart ripping me out of my chair. I jumped the desk and slid under one of the guys cheering on Keaton, throwing open the classroom door and running for the parking lot. I came to a full stop once my hands slammed into the hood of Keaton's truck to stop my body from flying in a forward motion any longer. 

My hand slipped to the door handle to the driver's side of the truck, quickly pulling on it to watch to door fly open. I mentally thanked the gods for making Keaton forget to lock this truck, whipping my body around to slam the door shut. I frantically touched everything, the sound of my heavy breathing wafting in the silence as I searched for the keys. 

"What the fuck." I huffed out. My brain wracked every possible place Keaton could have put the keys in the truck, but nothing came to mind. 

A sudden thud hit the truck, "Andrew!" My eyes whipped up to see Keaton starting at me from the hood, his hand also on the metal where I could see them. I immediately pressed down the piece of plastic on the door to lock Keaton out of the truck as I had seen him do countless times. 

His eyes watched my action before running to the passenger door. I quickly arched my body over the console clicking that door locked before doing the same to the two in the back with untouched tears in my eyes. 

Keaton ran back to the hood of the car, his fist banging on it to catch my attention but I couldn't look. All I could see was Keaton's fist coming to hurt the man in front of me. Whether he did it out of anger or to prove something I didn't know. But what I did know was that he could do it. And if he did it to his own friend, he would do it to me. 

My legs slowly came up off the floor and huddled to my chest, the tears started descending onto my knees staining the material of my pants as I cried. The anger I felt towards myself for instinctively running to Keaton's car came in second to the feeling of watching Keaton be violent. My legs mentally kicked me repeatedly to the sound of Keaton's fist hitting the hood.

I trusted Keaton would never hurt me but could I ever truly be sure? The last person I trusted helped me run from the treatment I was dished out coming into this life. But now I have a second chance to take control and I don't want to risk not having that, a life I could turn for the better. 

My thumbs made shapes over the pads of my knees. As long as I've been living with Keaton and his family I have never doubted my safety, especially with Mrs.Jones, who has done nothing but greet me with open arms and a warm meal. Her son is no different. Keaton has never hurt me but that didn't change my urge to run, an instinct my body knew too well.

I'm stuck.

Even as I cried I thought about how I could get out and away. Out of the car and away from its owner who was surely pissed with me now. My mind went back to the actual situation at hand, realizing the banging on the hood stopped, the sound no longer registering in my ears. 

I pulled my arms off my legs to peek outside, my eyes hurting at the brightness of the sunlight reflecting off the hood of the truck. 

There on the hood sat Keaton, his legs lightly swaying the truck as he swung them out in front of himself. Both of his hands help his body up at his sides, his head facing the direction of the school. I watched him for a moment, his head shaking as his hand moved to roughly grab the back of his neck. His head looked over to the side for a second, his cheek seemingly red and puffy. 

I felt my body still at the sight, my mouth becoming loose and falling open. I'd never seen another boy cry since leaving the home before my last. My last home was the best out of all of them which still wasn't good. But since leaving I'd never seen a single boy cry. Not even Jamie. 

He looked back at the school, his head refusing to turn around to face the windshield. I slowly placed my legs back down on the floor, rubbing my face into my sleeve as I counted to four repeatedly. My breathing began to even as I watched Keaton. His sleeve came up to wipe his own face rougher than I had.

I took a deep breath placing a shaky hand over the door handle. Glancing back at Keaton's form one more time, I clicked the door open, the lock immediately releasing me from the inside. My eyes flew over to Keaton who looked ready to jump off the hood. 

"Don't move," I demanded, my small voice coming out as brave as I could manage. Keaton's eyes finally came to meet mine, his looking just as red and puffy as mine felt. I could see the sadness that pooled in his eyes, his hands stuffing themselves in their respective pockets. 

I slowly shut the door, taking slow steps as Keaton held his eye contact with me, his brows, furrowed and hopeless, his eyes replenishing with fresh tears. My heart sank at the sight but a quick mental flash of what happened in the classroom sobered me up immediately. 

"Please don't move," I whispered, coming closer. Keaton nodded, his body stilling and his eyes focusing down at his feet, which stopped swinging and hung limply from the bend of the truck. 

"Don't touch me," I whispered, the demand coming out a little more of a clipped whimper but a demand nonetheless that Keaton complied to. I felt like I should help but I wasn't sure how. I know Keaton likes touch but I can't right now. He nodded slowly, a crystal tear slipping from his eye though he made no move to wipe it away. 

I glanced down at his pockets as I made my way closer to him, his fingers clenching and unclenching. My throat squeezed before releasing me from the fear that Keaton might do something to me. 

He won't hurt me.

My hand slowly slid onto the hood of the truck, my eyes staying on Keaton. My knees came to a bend to prepare for a small jump as my arm pushed me up and on top of the hood next to Keaton, a good foot of comfortable space between us.

"Andrew I-"

"Shh," I interrupted. My brain still needed to adjust to the Keaton it witnessed in the classroom. "I'm not mad-"

"Tsk-" He sucked his teeth. His head looked out to his right, facing away from both me and the school. 

"I'm not." I urged, though my voice came weakly. I really wasn't mad. Mad isn't the right word. 

"Scared. You were scared." Keaton corrected, his observations shutting me up because that was what I was. I was scared. Keaton shook his head, another tear falling from his eyes as he closed them, his head hanging low, his back arched tiredly. 

"That's not true," I stated, a lie but a firm one. Keaton was clearly distressed, the least I could do was make him feel like that wasn't the obvious reason for locking him out of his own truck. 

He shook his head, his hands coming to cover his face from the oncoming tears fixing to fall. I could feel him getting ready to correct me or deny my words but I hopped off the hood of the truck and fixed my body between his knees. I felt him stiffen only for a moment, a tear sliding down his arm. 

I took a deep breath, bringing my shaky hands up to his arms to slowly pull them away from his face. Keaton shook his head again, his biceps flexing in restraint against my soft tugs at his wrists. 

"You're okay," I whispered, my voice shaky and unconfident. My fingers tried to pull at his wrists again, this time his hands slowly revealing his face to me. Big puffy green eyes looking down at his lap, his knees moving to give me more space in front of him.

My brain couldn't comprehend anything I was doing, my first priority being to help Keaton stop crying. I let go of his wrists as they came to his side, my hands reaching to pull his neck down to my level. His shoulders slowly came down, his breath against my neck shaky as my small arms did their best to wrap him up in a hug. I could feel him holding back his weight only to give in and rest on me entirely. 

We were hugging, there in the parking lot, alone and both of us feeling a little scared. I couldn't understand why Keaton was beating himself up so much, or why he was crying even though he didn't hurt me. But I knew I would be sure to ask him another day when he wasn't so vulnerable. I felt his arms slowly snake around my back, his fingers intertwining themselves at the middle.

The shoulder of my shirt started to feel wet, "Thank you." He whispered, his voice sounding broken and tired. His arms tightened around me for a split second before pulling away and releasing me. My feet stay planted where my body was situated in front of Keaton, his knees in contact with my sides. 

"You're welcome," I whispered back, my breath shaky but feeling the sudden rush of confidence from being able to hug Keaton. The corner of my lips started to tug into a smile as the realization dawned on me. 

I hugged him.

Keaton chuckled, his smile slowly returning to the confident and warming one I'd come to adore. His eyes were still puffy but nothing that wouldn't disappear in a couple of minutes with a good cup of Icecream to tie it all together.

"We should go." He chuckled out, his sleeve coming up to gently rub away the remains of any evidence he was crying.

"Back to school?"

"Heh no. I promised Page we'd visit him and Jamie at the hospital after school today though so we could do that." He shrugged.

"Hunter's at the hospital?"

"Yeah, told the teachers he was sick so he could stay with Jamie." He chuckled, shaking his head as his hands fell into his lap, his knuckles tattered from landing on Levi's face. 

"That's weird."

"Pfft- You're tellin' me." Keaton scoffed, his smile never leaving his face. We fell into silence, my arms resting on his thighs while his hands intertwined with themselves. My breaths were relaxed, the air feeling a little lighter than usual. I didn't feel disgusted or the usual burn at the touch of Keaton's knees at my side, only warmth and comfort. His exhales were peaceful, the rise and fall of his chest almost matching mine. 

Keaton's smile widened, his eyes flickering down to where his knee grazed at my hip as his crooked k-9 tooth made an appearance, the small characteristic subtle, yet cute. 

"We should go." He repeated his voice light and teasing. 

I looked at him, an 'mhm' being my answer before realizing I was in the way. My hands flew from his lap behind my rear as my feet jumped back, putting a good three feet between us. An awkward cough slipped my lips before the throaty sound of Keaton's laughter filled the parking lot, my face growing hotter by the second.

We hopped in the car but not before I made Keaton run inside to grab our backpacks. The car ride was quiet but not uncomfortable, the radio playing some old 80's blues the whole way to the hospital.

We made our way inside, the lady behind the desk not bothering to make Keaton sign any papers because 'You're Dana Jones's boy?' seemed to be the ticket question everywhere we went. The first couple of times people made comments about his mom I ignored them but now my curiosity was becoming frustrating like I was missing the punchline to a joke and everyone knew but me. I shook my thoughts out of my head as we came to stand in front of Jamie's door, his name, 'Shojiki Cho Li', labeling the room his. 

Keaton didn't open the door as we stood in front of it. both of us coming to a stop. I waited another moment before reaching for the nob.

"Wait, look," He whispered, moving over the let me peek. Through the thin window of the door, I could see the broad shoulders of a sleeping Hunter, laying on Jamie's lap as Jamie combed his thin fingers through the boy's dirty blond hair. The action seemed like something I would have done to help Keaton but couldn't because of touch anxiety I am only recently aware I am getting over.

I turned around to look back with a confused face only to see Keaton in complete and utter awe. Jaw open and everything.

I stared at Keaton longer than his best friend before looking back to make sure we were seeing the same thing. Don't get me wrong, Jamie is more of a shy and reserved person around people like Hunter and Keaton, but I don't really know Hunter behind closed doors. 

The Keaton I knew at school with his friends was loud, teasing, and rowdy, but the Keaton I knew at home was quiet, gentle, and warm. I couldn't speak on Hunter's behalf cause I wouldn't know. Maybe he was also quiet and patient despite being the rule breaker and total 'heart throb' everyone knows him to be at school. 

Keaton only snapped his mouth shut at the sound of my hand finally turning the nob, and taking a step into the space. Jamie immediately perked up only to place a finger on his lip and point at the sleeping boy next to him. I nodded my head in understanding before I could turn around to stop Keaton from making a grand entrance.

"Hey, Page!" He laughed, his body walking right past mine to land a hard hand on his back in a bro sort of greeting. "Man how the hell are you sleeping dude, there isn't shit to do here." Keaton joked, his eyes looking around the room before landing on the T.V.

Jamie looked at Keaton with a tinge of frustration before looking over at me. 

"Oops?" 

"Bruh, stop being so fucking loud-" Jamie smacked Hunter on his shoulder, his heart monitor beeps quickening. 

"Profanity," He said, his voice closer to his normal sound without the raspy undertone.

"Sorry," He whispered, his eyes coming to meet Jamie's cheery smile.

"Keaton what are you doing out of school?" Hunter asked, Keaton, turning around from facing the T.V. to face his best friend. 

"I think the real question is, why are you apologizing for cussing?" Keaton asked, mischievous teasing underlying in his question. I looked back at Hunter, not wanting to encourage Keaton's behavior but wanting to know the answer myself. 

As long as I've known Hunter, he's never been the type to apologize for his actions, only take full responsibility for what he commits. Hunter's face seemed to redden, the subtle tone of a blush pushing past his clear attempt to look away and avoid the question. My eyes jumped from Keaton's face to Hunters, my confusion at everything happening only growing by the second. 

"Um, excuse me but I'm hungry. Hunter, could you and Keaton go down to ask the ladies at the cafeteria to whip me up something?" Jamie asked his voice nothing but sweet and breaking the tension between the two momentarily.

"Yeah sure, um is there something specific you want." 

"Specific is a big word for Page," Keaton whispered as he giggled making his way towards the door. 

"No anything is fine thank you, Hunter!" Jamie chirped, his smile beaming as ever despite the location.

"Mhm." Hunter turned to make his way out of the room, meeting Keaton right at the door and punching him just before the door could close. The sound of their bickering could be heard from inside the room but was muffled by the padding in the walls. 

"So-" I stated, my eyes still on the door. I turned around to see Jamie's face, a bright red from the tip of his nose to the back of his neck, 

"So," He whispered back, his hands coming up to cover his cheeks.

Am I missing something?