The rain beat down harshly as he wandered mindlessly through the streets. He was soaking wet and his boots had puddles in the bottom of them. He shivered in the cold Chicago winter air and slipped just a bit on a patch of black ice. He shuddered and looked around for a moment, trying to think of where to go, but it slipped his mind entirely. He was numb. And not just from the cold. He was mentally numb. Subtly licking his swollen bottom lip, he looked around at the godforsaken town. He sighed and shook his head once again. This was no way to live. Even at his young age of eighteen, he knew that. He wanted better. And he was going to get it, all by himself.

He pulled the flyer out of his pants pocket and looked over it. So much for that dream. He had envisioned himself as a handsome wrestler, with thick muscles and a crowd that loved him. He wanted it so bad he could taste it. He shoved the flyer back in his pocket and kept walking, his head hung low, his eyes nearly closed.

He walked that way for a few minutes as he tried to focus on anything other than how cold he was. His teeth were chattering and his stomach rumbled. He was suddenly blindsided and walked entirely into someone, causing the person to fall back, as did he.

Groaning as she looked around at her scattered groceries, her eyes fell upon the man that had bumped into her. She closed her eyes and sighed. He looked to be around her age, and as he sat up, she realized that he was soaking wet.

"I'm so sorry," the boy said as he scattered to pick up her things and put them back in her bag.

"No, no, that's alright." She chuckled as she helped him, "Clumsy me wasn't looking where I was going."

"Same here," he said softly as he stood up and finally looked the girl in her face. His eyes widened a bit when he noticed her eyes. Her left eye was some odd blue color, while her left was one of the greenest he's ever seen, "Uh…I…I think maybe you might have lost a contact when you fell."

"Oh, no." She chuckled, "That's just the heterochromia…two different colored eyes."

"I'm sorry, what?" He shook his head, "Never heard of that."

"Heterochromia," She smiled at him, "Its where I have two different colored eyes. Something to do with pigmentation." She looked up at him thoughtfully, "You are very wet. Whats your name?"

"Jon…Jonathan, actually." He nodded and shoved his hands in his pants pockets to keep his hands from trembling.

"Well, I'm Evelynn…why don't you come by my apartment and get a fresh pair of clothes and a bite to eat?"

"Do you invite strangers to your home all the time? Are you going to kill me once we get there?"

"No, and we aren't strangers, you told me your name was Jon Jonathan…which is a very strange name, but so is Evelynn. So I can't judge." Evelynn winked up at him before shoving a bag in his arms, "I could use a bit of help with carrying all this, anyway."

"Uh…how old are you anyway?" Jon said as he followed her.

"Not legally an adult, but old enough for gross men to notice that I'm not a child anymore." Evelynn nodded.

"That could be anywhere between eleven or seventeen." Jon shook his head.

"I'm sixteen," She said as she looked ahead, squinting as it started to snow lightly.

" I'm eighteen," Jon nodded.

"Well, Jon Jonathan, at least your legal." She said matter of factly, "That must be nice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jon chuckled.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "I think maybe it's just me being a teenager."

"So how am I going to be able to get warm at your house? Don't you still live with your parents?"

"Just my dad." Evelynn sighed, "He's really into helping the homeless or the sick. And I think by morning time, you'll be both. So you can stay in the spare bed, which is a cot in my bedroom."

"So you do this a lot then?" Jon shrugged, "It's weird to me that someone could be so helpful in this town."

"Yeah, well, surprise!"Evelynn said as she widened her eyes, "My dad is right with the lord, do unto others as thou would do onto you or some shit like that."

"So you aren't into living like he does?"

"God no," she shook her head, "He drinks anything that says alcohol on it. I like his message…but he's a bad alcoholic. He's a very good man." Jon could sense the sarcasm but he didn't call her out on it.

He followed her down a short pathway and then past a gate with plenty of town homes. She walked up to the second one on the right and shoved a key in the lock, hollering out for her dad. Jobs eyes widened as he heard the groans and moans coming from the other room. He could tell it was embarrassing Evelynn, as her cheeks turned bright red and she tried to busy herself by putting up the groceries. She took out two pots and began filling them with chopped fresh vegetables.

"What could I help with?" Jon said quietly as he stood behind her at the stove.

"Oh I've got it. Here, while this is stewing, let's get ya cleaned up." Evelynn grasped his wrist and looked back at him, "We will go upstairs so you can use my bathroom."

Jon nodded and followed her closely. He walked up the narrow flight of steps and into her bedroom. Her bedroom wasn't anything he'd expect. She had band posters everywhere and clothes scattered all over the place.

"I know, I've got to clean, and I will." She walked over to the closet and took out a pair of Grey sweat pants and a white thermal t-shirt. That's all that was clean at the moment. "Here, you can put your dirty clothes in this basket and I'll wash them for ya. By the time you're done, supper will be done and we can eat."

Jon nodded and started peeling his shirt off before she was out of the room. Her eyes widened when she seen the gash on his back.

"Jonathan," She said quietly, "How'd that happen to ya?"

"Got into a fight with my moms boyfriend," He shrugged. She gasped when the cut opened up, "Doesn't hurt that bad."

"I...I can sew it up for ya if you'd like. It looks pretty bad, Jonathan."

"Yeah, you can if you want." He nodded, watching her out the corner of his eye as she rummaged through a drawer. She brought out a small medical bag and motioned for him to sit on the floor as she sat down on the edge of her bed. She moved so that she could get a good enough grip on him.

Jon bent his head down, allowing her to see all that she needed to see perfectly. She frowned as she seen all the dried blood. This was probably going to become infected if she didn't get it cleaned enough. Jon tensed up when she gently pressed on the skin around it and she knew immediately he was lying when he said it didn't hurt. He was obviously tender to the touch. She mashed for just a few more seconds, trying to coax any infection out of the hole.

She sterilized the needle and put a glove on, pinching his skin together as she quickly shoved the needle through his skin. He kept his body tense as he felt her stitching him up. His skin was sore and extremely tender, but he tried his best to keep his mind off of it. He kept his fists balled up in his lap. He's been stitched up before, but he was usually numbed.

After a few moments, he felt her rubbing something cool over the cut. He guessed it was some sort of antibiotic ointment.

"I'm going to put a bandage on it so that will get deep in the cut, alright?" She said as she tore the bandage tape off of the roll with her teeth, "Then you can go get a bath. I wouldn't take a shower though, unless you want me to bandage it up again."

"Alright," Jon nodded.

He waited until she was out of the room this time to slip the rest of his clothing off and headed for the shower. The bathroom was small, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He turned the water on as hot as it could go and watched as it filled the bathtub up. He added a bit of soap to the water and locked the door before he sunk his sore body down into the steaming hot water. It relaxed and soothed him as he sunk down, cautious enough to not get the bandaging wet.

When Evelynn got dinner finished, her father was done with his guest and had came out to see the table already set. He walked the lady to the door and then came back, going right for the bowl of soup. She watched as he took a bite and tasted it for a minute before nodding his head in acceptance, "It's good, Eve. You done good."

"Yeah, thanks." Evelynn nodded, "I uh...took in a homeless boy tonight, Daddy. I knew ya wouldn't mind. He is injured and was stuck in the rain."

"Well that's very sweet of you, Eve. Where is he?"

"He's upstairs getting a bath...his wound is real big." She said as she sat down on the other end of the table, "He said he got into a fight with his mothers boyfriend."

"You know how that feels, huh?" Her father chuckled, which made Evelynn frown. Her father was always heartless when it came to him. It was true, when she lived with her mother, her boyfriend was very hostile and abusive. She had a few scars from him, especially on her face.

Evelynn nodded and sighed softly, "Yeah. I guess so. But he's here now. And maybe we could help him."

"That cot still in good condition?" Her father asked, but before she could answer her, the tall stranger limped into the kitchen. Evelynn smiled softly as he cleared his throat and crossed his arms in front of his body, linking his fingers together.

Her father put on his best smile and stood up, extending his arm out to the new boy, to which he quickly shook. "My name is Shawn. I'm sure you know now that Eve is my daughter. I'm glad to have you, and I hope that you can find comfort in our home. You stay as long as you need now, and you get as comfortable as you can. We're all family here, ya know?"

"Thanks, sir." Jon nodded.

"No, just call me Shawn. It makes me sound a lot younger!" The man laughed, causing his chubby gut to jiggle.

Jon couldn't see how Evelynn came from him, but he wouldn't question it. The man was plump and round. His cheeks were full, but their hair was similar. Maybe that's the only thing they had in common. The man looked like he could have played as Santa at the mall during the Holidays.

"Well, Shawn, thank you. I don't expect to stay very long. But this is very helpful." He sighed, "I'm Jonathan...but you could just call me Jon."

"Please, sit, eat." Shawn pointed to the table place set for him, "Our other guests will be home soon after work."

"There are other people?" Jon's eyes widened, "Where do they all sleep?"

"Some sleep in the floor, others on the couch, but you could have the other bed up in Evelynn's room." Shawn nodded as he went back to eating.

Jon sat down beside of Evelynn and watched as she poured some of the soup into his bowl. He felt his stomach grumble as he looked around at the table. The place was set for seven more people. Suddenly, he felt weird.

"Do you just allow people to sleep in the same room with your daughter all the time? Do ya think they might hurt her?" Jon shook his head.

"Are ya gonna hurt her?" Shawn cocked his head to the side.

"Well no-"

"Are ya gonna take advances towards her that she might not want?"

"Of course not."

"Well alright then, I trust ya to sleep up there. That's the only space we have left." Shawn nodded.

Jons gaze shifted from Evelynn to her father and nodded silently, picking up his spoon. He figured he would stay quiet, these two were helping him. He wasn't going to cause hard feelings. He wouldn't dare hurt any girl, especially one that was taking him into her family. Jon wasn't like that, no matter what anyone tried to make him out to be. Dinner went very smoothly, without much talking. As soon as they were all done eating, Evelynn picked up all the utensils and bowls, and washed them while she left the rest of the soup on the stove for the late crowd. She walked upstairs to get a bath, without noticing Jon was following her. She turned around to turn the light on and nearly jumped out of her skin when she seen Jon standing there.

"Oh, hey, Jon." Evelynn chuckled as she looked up at him, "Ya scared me."

"Sorry," Jon bit back his grin, "I didn't know if I was supposed to stay down there or come with you."

"You can go wherever ya want to," Evelynn smiled at him, "I'm gonna take a shower. We can hangout in my room."

"Okay," Jon nodded.

The two of them walked into her room and she dug through her drawers to get her night clothes. She looked over at Jon and smiled when she seen him sitting at her computer desk. She nodded towards the computer, "You can turn it on if ya want...do whatever ya want. Ain't nothing in here that you can hurt."

"Alright," Jon smiled over at her, "Thanks."

"I'll be right back."

Evelynn wasn't gone but maybe fifteen minutes. She washed her hair and took the bit of makeup off. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and dried her body off, before she slathered lotion everywhere and brushed her teeth one more time. She cleaned her eyes and done all that weird hygiene stuff. She slid her gown on and dried her hair. This had turned into her nightly routine. She picked her towels up and put them in the dirty hamper, as well as her dirty clothes. She cleaned the sink and made sure her hair brush was put back in the medicine cabinet. Her eyes scanned the room one more time, making sure everything was in place. And then she checked the room yet another time.

Evelynn smiled when she opened the door and looked at Jon. He was laying with his head down on the desk, his eyes closed, his lips parted slightly as he slept. He was hunched over her computer desk, so she quietly slipped out the cot from the closet and added the extra mattress. She laid the sheets down and slid the cot into the corner opposite of her bed. She knew he'd probably be too long for the cot, so she added a few pillows at the end of it so his feet wouldn't hang off and be uncomfortable. She let him sleep for a few more minutes, allowing her to get her own bed ready for the night. She turned the television on and fluffed her pillows before she walked over to him and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

Jons head popped up immediately and he whirled around, looking up at her, taking a moment to look over her face. He immediately calmed down and his gaze softened, "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah," Evelynn nodded as she rubbed his shoulder, "C'mon, I made the cot up for ya. You need a good rest."

"Ya sure you want me to sleep in here?"

"I'm sure," Evelynn nodded, "C'mon now."

Jon nodded and let her help him up off the low chair. He hurt all over, knowing that he was probably gonna wake up sick. Evelynn, seeing how bad of a shape he was in, lead him over to her bed instead. He immediately started to protest, shaking his head. She rubbed his back soothingly and smiled up at him, "It's alright, Jon. I'll sleep on the cot. You can sleep in my bed until ya start to feel better, alright? You need to sleep in a nice bed."

Jon nodded and let his sore body sit down on the edge of her bed. Evelynn helped him get his legs up on the bed. She looked over his face and seen the red nose. He was definitely catching a cold. She felt this odd tugging as she watched him cough. She finally got a good look at him. His eyes, although bloodshot, was one of the prettiest colors of blue she's ever even seen. Quickly, she realized she was staring at him and straightened up as he pulled the cover over him.

"You get some rest, alright?" Evelynn said as she stood back.

"You too," Jon looked up at her and coughed once again.

Evelynn nodded and walked over to the cot, sighing as she sat down on it. Before she even laid down, she could hear his soft snores. It was the moments like this that she really respected her father. He took broken people in, fought to get the pieces together, and made them hole again. She moved herself to get comfortable in the bed once again and heaved a laborious sigh. She fought back those demons in the back of her mind. They always seemed to come up at the most inopportune time. But not tonight. She had a good day today. Rolling on her side, she looked over at her bed that contained Jon and smiled softly to herself. She had saved someone today. Her momma always told her there were two types of people in the world, takers and givers. The takers might eat better at the end of the day, but the givers always slept better at night.

She had a good sleep coming tonight.