Adam walked into the cage. Over the past few days, Drew had been coming home from here with bruises and cuts all over his body. When his mother asked, he said it kind of like a sport and injuries were expected. But Adam knew the truth. The truth was that Drew had become a cage fighter.

It was his way to deal with the gang. In Drew's mind, if he could beat someone up in a cage, then he could survive any more Vince attacks. Adam thought that was ridiculous. Adam thought Drew was just doing this to prove his manliness. He was just fighting to show that he won't get beaten up every time.

Adam was sick of it. This needed to end. Tonight. And so here he was, in the fighting cage.

Drew was in the corner of the cage with his back turned towards Adam. He was warming up by throwing punches in the air. He bounced on his feet back and forth. He spun around and stopped when he saw Adam.

"Adam? What are you doing here?" he asked annoyed. He didn't want another lecture on his cage fighting.

Adam shrugged. He still wasn't sure if he liked his plan, but he knew it would work.

"Get out of here, Adam!" Drew yelled. "I have a fight coming up." He went back to bouncing on his feet and punching the air.

"You sure do," Adam said under his breath. Then, in a louder tone, he said, "Alright then, fight me."

Drew looked at him stunned. "What? I'm not going to fight you, Adam. That's ridiculous."

Adam brought his fists up. "No, come on. Fight me. Prove that you can survive." It was Adam's turn to bounce on his feet. Drew scoffed and shook his head. He had an amused smile on his face that disappeared when Adam didn't stop.

"I'm not going to – "

Adam's fist collided with his jaw. It wasn't a hard punch, but enough to get Drew upset. He tried to calm himself but couldn't. Right there, right then, with his little brother in the cage as his opponent, Drew went into fighter mode.

Drew came back running at Adam. He wrapped his arms around his body and shoved him into the cage walls. Adam slumped a little giving Drew enough reaction time to land a punch in his gut. Adam groaned, but pushed Drew away. He backed off his brother, but Drew wasn't done. He began to vigorously land hits. He finally got in one good punch that sent Adam to the ground. Drew climbed on top of him. But he no longer saw his innocent little brother. No. On the ground in front of him was Vince.

He was breathing heavily. But underneath him, Vince was still moving. Still alive. Drew brought back his fist and held it. He then brought it down with enough force to knock Vince out. But it wasn't enough. Drew wanted to end the battle once and for all with Vince. So he brought his fist back up again.

"Drew!" he heard someone yell. Drew looked up from Vince to see a teenage girl running into the cage. She ran over to him and pushed him off of Vince. He stumbled into the other corner of the cage. "Drew, what did you do?" the girl asked.

Katie looked at Drew. His eyes were glossy and his expression was stoic. In all honesty, he was scary. This wasn't the same Drew Torres that she saw at school or anywhere else for that matter. He was different.

Katie then looked over at Adam. He was lying on the ground, unmoving, His face was covered in cuts and bruises. From the looks of it, she assumed when he woke up that he'd be in quite a lot of pain.

She turned back to Drew. "Drew, what did you do?" she asked softly.

Drew watched Vince. He wasn't moving. His face was messed up pretty badly. Drew had finally won. Suddenly, he snapped back to reality. Vince disappeared and Adam lie in his place. It took a moment for Drew to understand that he was never fighting Vince. He had beaten his own brother to unconsciousness.

Katie watched as Drew fell to the ground and huddled into the corner. He wrapped his arms around his knees and ducked his head. Softly sobbing, Drew began to rock himself back and forth.

Adam's eyes flashed open and he felt his body come back to him. He looked over and saw a figure in the corner. His eyesight was still adjusting, but he assumed it to be Drew.

"There!" he yelled. "You happy now? You proved you can survive. You proved you can be a man. Now quit the fighting and just go home!" Adam rolled onto his side and hissed. He probably had a cracked rib or two. He reached out for the cage fence and hoisted himself up. But he couldn't take a step. He moved his leg out and immediately fell to the ground again. He groaned in pain.

Katie looked at the younger boy's face. His expression showed pain and hurt, as did the cuts and bruises, but his eyes showed pride and determination. She looked back at the older boy. She didn't know what to do.

They both needed someone to help them. One needed to be consoled and told it was alright. The other needed to be saved. But deep down she knew that while both needed someone, only one of the needed her.

Katie looked over at Drew who was still rocking himself. She liked Drew. A lot. She wasn't blind to his former player status or the fact that he cheated on Alli Bhandari. She knew this. But there was something pulling her in. Yes, he was good looking, but there was more. He was vulnerable. She liked that. Recently, Drew had been more closed off to people and opened up to a select few. Katie was happy to say she was one of the select few. They weren't official or anything like that, but they had something.

Then she looked over at Adam who had still failed to notice her presence and was struggling to stand up again. She liked Adam. Not in the same way as Drew though. They definitely had fun together and they had absolutely flirted here and there. But it was never anything big to her. She thought the same about him until he asked her out to the movies. She should've seen it coming. And now she felt bad about it. Katie never really saw Adam in a romantic light, but she thought it could be a possibility in the future. But she had Drew.

Katie still didn't know what to do. So much of her wanted to just leave and let them sort it out. But they needed help. She took a deep breath before walking over to the boy. She really hoped she was making the right move. But deep down, she knew this was boy who needed her. Maybe she was wrong. But based on his kid's past, he could use her help right now.

"It's okay, Drew," Katie whispered into his ear as she fell beside him. She wrapped her arms around him and rocked with him. She rubbed his back. "Everything is going to be okay." Drew leaned into her embrace. Katie looked up to see Adam finally standing. His breathing was heavy and his nose and mouth were dripping blood. He held his ribs and looked in pain. Katie hated this. But she made her choice.

Drew had been through so much bad. Perhaps he needed someone like her. Someone without the bad in their life. Someone without the heavy baggage.

Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he needed the love of his life with him right now, but she was long gone. And yet Drew was still suffering from the baggage she brought on him. Katie felt like maybe this wasn't the right move. But she still wasn't sure.

Katie rocked Drew in her arms as Adam painfully tried to walk away. Both boys needed help; she just hoped that she knew which one needed her.