[inserts reasons for being late here] Thank you guys for all the wonderful comments and votes!

Keegan's POV

"Alright, well I have to get to school. As much as I want to stay here with you my mom won't be pleased if I skip a day." Theo informed after just returning to the room.

"Promise me you won't try anything when I'm gone." He said, gripping the frame of his bedroom door. I didn't respond.

"Promise me Keegan." He repeated.

"I-I'll try." I murmured, not meeting his eyes. A frown crossed his face. I don't know why, but it made me feel guilty. Are my actions really effecting him this much? Does he actually care about me as much as he makes it seem?

Theo left, and the doctor he had mentioned showed up. Darby came to the room to make sure everything was going well as he patched me up. It would have been painful getting all the stitches but he gave me numbing medicine. There was little small talk between us but nothing important. His manner of speaking was very kind and polite. He didn't bother asking how I received the cuts and bruises, which I was grateful for. Everything went well and the doctor told me to get some rest. He gave me a bottle of painkillers before heading out. The numbing medicine made me tried so I eventually fell asleep, cuddled against Theo's covers.

A few hours passed by the time I opened my eyes. The sunny blue sky had faded into a dim gray one. I carefully stood from the bed, wiping my eyes. I walked over to the window, only to realize it was raining. The feeling of being inside such a cozy house while its pouring out was very comforting. Seeing the rain after yesterday was pretty downing though.

I was getting a little bored hanging in Theo's room so I decided to explore the house a little. Darby and Theo seemed okay with me being here, so it couldn't hurt to walk around, right?

I stepped out into the hall still in Theo's oversizes clothes. The sweatpants fit, the shirt however was baggy, hanging below my hips. I walked over to Charlie's door but remembered he was still in school. Instead I made my way downstairs into the living room. A wonderful aroma caressed my nose as I reached the bottom of the steps. I heard noises coming from the kitchen, it sounded like something frying on the stove. I crept over to towards the kitchen and the wonderful smell. As I looked around the corner I saw Darby standing next to the stove frying vegetables of all colors in one of her cute frying pans. I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought cause she heard my approach and turned to meet me.

"Oh Keegan dear, how are you feeling?" She asked as she strode over.

"I uh... I'm feeling a lot better actually. I think the sleep helped." I answered, feeling a little shy.

"That's wonderful! I was just cooking up something for everyone to eat, of course the others wont be back for awhile but I figured you might be hungry soon so I started early." She said with pep. She was thinking about me? The only other person who's ever done this for me was Theo, oh and Sandra more recently, so it was a little unusual.

"You really don't mind me staying here?" I asked her.

"Not at all. Your a great kid so its an honor to have you." She replied, complimenting me. I was feeling a tad bit bashful to say the least. The cozy interior, the food being cooked on the stove, the rain outside, it all made me feel giddy inside, like when I was a kid. Everyday was a blessing to me, I truly had the perfect life. That obviously didn't last. This atmosphere was the closest feeling to "home" that I felt since actually being home, and I don't mean that rundown apartment my father made us move into, the one before that, the one where my grandparents would come over and visit.

"Make yourself at home. The food will be ready soon." She said with a warm smile. To my surprise a natural smile worked its way onto my face.

"Thank you Mrs. Martin." I said.

"Oh, please call me Darby." She insisted. I nodded still with the smile on my face. I turned around and headed back into the living room. They had so many cool things here. There was a large sofa sat in front of a flat screen TV. There were vases and decor along the sides of the room. This place just screamed expensive.

I treaded over to the sofa and took a seat. I felt like I was being swallowed as I hit the cushions. I melted with comfort. I didn't really know what to do while waiting for Darby to finish cooking, so I just relaxed on the sofa.

A few minutes of silence passed before I heard Darby from the kitchen. "You can watch the TV if you'd like!" She voiced loud enough for me to hear. I did as she said and turned on the TV to kill some time. It's been so long since I've watched TV that I'd almost forgotten how to operate a it.

A plate being set in front of me snapped my attention away from the TV. Darby finished the meal and shared me a plate. It looked like a vegetable stew without the broth. All the different colors made the dish look very presentable and appealing.

"Thank you, Darby." I said expressing my gratitude.

"You are very welcome mister." She responded before disappearing into the kitchen once again.

I lifted the plate and took a bite. It was tasty... very tasty. The crispy and saltiness had my taste buds excited. I ignored the TV while I ate. I was still pretty exhausted after what happened yesterday, my body hasn't recovered yet, which would explain my appetite.

The sofa sank, startling me. It was Darby she took a seat besides me. I noticed she'd made me a cup of tea.

"I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say we all want you here. But, well... I'm afraid I'll need to know what happened yesterday before we can keep you here." She started. "It's not that I'm curious per se, it's just, if any accusations are made against us, one being illegally harboring a child whether its against their will or otherwise." She explained. "I need to know what happened so we can be prepared to take legal action. I'm still in the dark here, and have no idea what happened to you, what about your parents, where are they? Do they know what's going on? I need to be informed so that I know where to go from there." Darby could be very serious when she wanted to, which came as a surprise to me. I didn't expect this side of her. "You don't have to tell me now, you can do it when you're ready." She said sweetly. I stopped her as she was about to stand up.

"No, I'll tell you now..." I said, preparing myself. I took a deep breath knowing I'll have to tell her everything.

"Well... you see... I'm..." I sighed after a long pause. "I-I'm gay." I started. I could tell she was surprised, but she did her best not to show it. "When I told my parents... my father became very hostile towards me. Everyday his beatings would get worse, which scared my mother off. Its only been me and my father living under the same roof for the past couple of years. His aggression towards me never ceased, it only became worse. I've always had trouble making friends cause of this, so when I finally did it felt like my life was changing, getting better, until everyone turned their backs on me for something I didn't do. Yesterday... yesterday I wanted it to... end. I intended on taking my life, but Theo... he." I felt an wave of tears approaching. I did my best to stay strong in front of Darby, but my best wasn't enough, just like in every case. The tears made their way out, rolling off of my cheeks. I covered my face with my hands, trying to hide my weak appearance. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, it was Darby, she was comforting me.

"Its all right, everything is going to be okay." Darby said wrapping me in a motherly embrace. It reminded me of my own. When my sobbing finally subsided she pulled away, harboring a soft expression.

"I'm sorry, it was insensitive bringing this up." She apologized.

"N-no its okay, you have every right to know, especially since you were kind enough to let me stay here." She gave me a sad smile before enveloping me in another hug.

Theo's POV

I told Keegan to promise me he wouldn't try to harm himself while I was at school. I don't know if he'll listen but I really hope so. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I returned home to find him... I sighed at the thought, especially now that I have plans for us. I want to take him out to see a movie, I want to go sight seeing with him, I want to take him to the zoo to see the penguins, I can already imagine his expression. The way he lit up seeing the animals during our trip was a sign at how passionate and loving he truly is. Its something I needed in my life, I need him.

I drove Charlie to school, and on the way there he kept boasting how right he was about Keegan, with good reason of course, so I let it slide.

"I know I'm a douche, and I'm doing my best to make it up to everyone." I told Charlie just as we pulled into the parking lot of the school. I saw a few of my friends in the hall chatting with each other. The moment they saw me they merged to my side like magnets.

"Yo Theo." Ash greeted.

"Hey wait up." Brandon called out catching up with us.

We continued walking down the hall while they were chatting, I was obviously ignoring them. That's when I saw her... Alayne. She flicked her head in our direction when she heard the noisy group approaching. She'd just finished getting her stuff out of her locker before she joined our side. I figured I'd just play along for now, but I did have the intention of confronting her about it later.

"Hey, did you hear?" Stacie asked, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Hear what?" Brandon questioned.

"There's a rumor going around that something exciting is happening at the cafeteria today." She informed.

"Where did you hear that, was it some gossip from one of those dumb social medias you and your friends are always on?" Ash bit.

"No, I heard it from a passing conversation in the hall." She replied nonchalantly, staring at her nails.

Now, normally I wouldn't have paid any attention to that but after a couple of classes the guy me and Keegan met during the school trip approached me in the hall mentioning this, Kevin I think his name was.

"Hey, make sure you head to the cafeteria during lunch break." That was all he said before walking off out of sight. It was really odd and suspicious, but I did what he said. I headed to the cafeteria like I normally do, with my all of my friends tagging along like usual. They'd already forgotten about the rumor but I and what seemed like several other people hadn't, as the cafeteria was pretty much packed.

We sat there a few minutes eating lunch, and just when I started to think maybe this whole rumor thing was fake Kevin rolled in a large screen TV hooked up to a rolling chalk board with several wires coming from it. The loud sound the wheels grinding against the floor captured the attention of every soul in the room. People were looking between each other almost as stumped as I was. Kevin fiddled with a few things before the large screen turned on. A video popped on screen. It looked like security camera footage. It started with the camera fixed on a locker. Three suspicious men walked over and started tampering with it. They tried getting it open but couldn't. One guy started ramming against it with the others joining in soon after. It eventually bent enough that it popped open. They cheered in victory before taking piles of paper and books from the locker. I still had no clue what was going on. The video continued to play and the scene eventually changed. This time I was much more familiar with the setting and the people on screen, Alayne and Keegan. They stood next to my locker whispering quietly between each other. Alayne walked to the edge of the hall glancing back at Keegan more than once. When his attention was completely off her as he put in my locker code she took the moment to sneak away. She hid behind a wall, out of Keegan's sight and started recording him with her phone but she was still in view of the camera.

I removed my eyes from the video to study Alayne. Her calm curious look shifted, she looked like she was panicking. I could smell the discomfort radiating from her. She got a couple glances from some of our other friends as well but they didn't really know what was going on.

I looked back to the video and sew Keegan placing a note in my locker. He looked over his shoulder to realize Alayne was no where in sight so he frantically finished up what he was doing and ran off. About a minute passed of still footage before Alayne started moving again. She ran over to my locker, entered the combination and swung it open. She dug through her bag and pulled out some kind of contraption, I had no clue what it was. She removed Keegan's note, shoved some of my books to the side and placed a note enclosed in a plastic bag. I remembered what it said, but I still can't believe she wrote something like that, was she really that set on her goal? She repeatedly glanced over her shoulder making sure no one saw her. The rest of the video showed her setting the trap and running away. When people figured out what she was doing there were a few quiet gasps and some not so quiet bantering. Just when I thought it was over another scene popped on. By this point Alayne had already stood up from her seat preparing to make a break for it. This video showed Alayne and Keegan talking outside the boys locker room. Keegan went in but there wasn't any footage of him inside the boys locker room. He eventually came out carrying my football uniform. Obviously I was curious what he was doing with it, but the video sped up showing him return with the uniform looking clean and folded. I felt something light and soft fluttering in my stomach. Keegan really did care about me. The poor innocent kid was put through so much, it made the gut wrenching guilt resurface. After Keegan left the room Alayne snuck in and did her thing. The camera didn't capture anything but I already knew what she was up to, it made me furious. I would've beat her up on the spot if she wasn't a girl. One final video played, showing Alayne sneaking into the coach's office after picking the lock. Like the boys locker room there was no visual of the coach's office. Again, she snuck out looking suspicious. In this video it was night which proved she was up to no good. After the video ended all heads turned to Alayne who stood nervously at the edge of the room. She tried to speak a couple times, but nothing came out.

"During a personal investigation I saw that Alayne here was up to no good." Kevin spoke.

"I set up cameras around the school to catch whoever's been breaking into my locker and stealing my work." Kevin explained. "In the footage one of the videos I saw something unusual." He paused. "Me like many have seen Alayne and Keegan's close friendship. They'd always be peppy and cheerful. I would have turned a blind eye on this situation but when I started seeing Alayne sneaking around I knew something was up, so going along with my intuition I continued observing her... and my suspicions were correct, she is indeed the one that's been going around the school causing trouble, ruining peoples lockers, destroying their belongings, spreading rumors." He revealed, sending a wave of bickering and murmurs through the students.

"That's not true!" Alayne yelled out, grabbing her hips.

"Oh don't try that sweet cheeks, I have it all on video." Kevin said smugly, raising a brow. Alayne was seething with rage and embarrassment. Our friends look dumbfounded by what was going on. They all stopped eating. Nicki and Brandon's jaws were ajar while the others were just as shocked.

Some of the people started swearing at her calling her names, the most prominent being b****. She ran off not wanting to hear anymore, but for her that was just the beginning.