Luke and his friends were seen as the cool kids in town. He was seen as the leader of their little group, who liked to be known as the Free Runners. They could do what they wanted, when they wanted and no one could do anything about it.

Everyone respected them, looked up to them, wanted to be like them. And for thirteen year old Luke, that was an awesome feeling. He and co. would jump rooftops down town, jumping from building to building. He and his friends had 'skills' that's for sure. And Luke? He saw himself as a master but he never liked to brag.

Eleven year old Nick used to hang around Luke, they were good friends and when Luke wasn't jumping roof tops like an idiot, he would go exploring in the woods with him. Nick never normally went into town with Luke to go roof jumping but one hot summer afternoon he decided to tag along.

Luke, being a typical teenager, was reluctant to bring Nick along for the 'ride' since the eleven year old would probably embarrass him. But nevertheless, he brought him, it would be a laugh... Right?

The sun was still fairly high in the sky, the large bright burning star beating down upon them. Luke rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he and Nick approached his friends who were leaning back against a cool stone brick wall, hidden amongst the shadows. Nick reached for Luke's hand, and he took it. But as Luke's gaze met with his friends, he saw the four teenagers sniggering and chuckling. Luke pulled his hand away suddenly, dropping his arms by his sides and trying to act as casual as possible.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked, confused by Luke's sudden change in mood. "Is something wrong?"

"You're not a little kid anymore, Nick, you don't need to hold my hand!" Luke answered, looking worriedly over at his friends who were snorting laughter.

"But, we always hold hands, what's wrong with that?"

"Everything!" Luke yelled.

Nick stared disappointedly and hung his head in sadness, his eyes focusing on the ground as he began to kick a small stone, putting his hands in his pockets.

Luke sighed, noticing that Nick was now sulking "Come on" he said, reducing his volume before leading him over to his friends.

"Hey guys" Luke greeted.

"Hey" Mike, one of the four responded while the rest laughed.

"What's funny?" Luke asked.

"Oh nothing, Luke. Who's your little friend?" Mike asked, staring down at the small child.

"This is-" Luke began.

"I'm Nick!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, while interrupting.

"Hi, Nick" Conner, another friend of Luke's greeted the new comer.

"Why'd you bring him here?" Harley asked gruffly.

"I want to be cool like you guys!" Nick exclaimed, looking at Luke for approval only to not receive it.

"Well, this'll be fun" Jake said with a snigger.

"Alright, alright, cut the shit you lot and lets go" Luke ordered, leading them over to a near by building.

Luke adjusted his ball cap, shading his eyes from the sun as Nick came running up to him "You swore" he commented.

"So what?" Luke asked, clearly not giving a shit.

"My mum says you're not aloud to swear in front of me" Nick told him strongly.

"Yeah, well you're hanging out with the big boys now, Nick, we don't take shit from anybody"

"Oh... Ok... Can I swear too?"

"If you want". Luke walked up to one of the many houses on the street and studied the drain pipe, rattling it to make sure it was secure "This looks steady, so lets start climbing. You four go first, I'll wait behind with Nick." He told them.

"Suuuurrrrreeeee, you stay down here with your boyfriend" Jake joked.

"Shut up and get climbing"

Luke took a step back and watched as his friends made the climb. One by one they all made it to the top with ease and soon enough it was Nick's turn. "Start climbing, Nick"

Nick looked up at the tall building nervously, his legs began to quake "I don't know how"

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes "It's easy. Me and you climb trees in the forest, right?"

"Right" Nick agreed with a nod.

"Well, it's like that, only it's a drain pipe"

"Oh, ok"

"Are you just going to stand there and chat or are you going to jump roofs with us?" Harley called down to them.

"We'll be there in a sec, okay?!" Luke shouted up to them. He turned back to Nick "Look, I'll be right here, so if you fall I'll catch you... Probably"

Nick's eyes narrowed as he glared at Luke angrily before turning towards the drain pipe and began to climb up.

"Just don't look down, okay?" Luke told him.

"Okay!"

Nick scrambled, uneasily climbing upwards when there was a sudden trembling from the drain pipe, the whole thing creaked "Ahhh!" Nick cried fearfully, hugging the drain pipe and hanging on for dear life "Luke help!" He shouted.

"Just keep going, you'll be fine!"

"I'm scared!"

Luke facepalmed, rubbing his forehead crossly before running up to the drain pipe and climbing up to Nick. It wasn't long until he was beneath the kid, he had quite an unpleasant view of his rear "It's ok, Nick, I'm here, just keep going, we'll do it together"

"Okay, Luke, I can do it, I can!"

"Then climb!" Luke yelled frustratedly.

The two climbed upwards, as they reached the top Luke called out "Help him onto the roof for god sake!"

And sure enough, his friends did so. "Nice climbing, kid" Jake mocked sarcastically.

"Thanks" Nick replied gratefully, not quite grasping the concept.

Luke's friends chuckled at his response and Nick's smile faded as he watched the four cackle like a bunch of hyenas. Luke shook his head crossly and stepped in, sorting out the situation "Okay, everyone, pull yourselves together and lets keep moving"

"Come on, man, how about we chill for a bit, then the real fun will start" Mike told him.

"Fine, do whatever you want" Luke said with a shrug.

"Alright, guys, lets start dishing out the smokes!" Jake cried.

Conner pulled a cigarette packet from his pocket and dished out a few of the joints. Conner then took out a lighter and flicked the switch, the bright flame glowed orange as he lit each of the cigarettes in his friends mouths before finally lighting his own. Luke didn't take part in the smoking, he wasn't a big fan.

Nick wandered over and glanced at the four smokers, watching as they took large drags and the end of their joints glowing orange, before exhaling, smoke pouring out of their mouths and nostrils. Nick coughed at the awful smell, wafting away the grey cloud with a wave of his hand.

"Smokings bad" he commented, turning to Luke for support who nodded in agreement. "Uncle Pete smokes, he says it's bad but he can't help it. He's tried to quit, but he can't."

"Boo motherfucking hoo" Harley responded gruffly.

"Hey, leave him alone" Luke said protectively.

"It's a fucking joke, Luke, lighten up, man, Jesus". "Anyway..." Harley murmured, shrugging off his back pack only for a clatter to come from inside.

"You brought booze?! Nice one!" Jake cried out.

Harley unzipped his back pack and took out some whiskey, handing it out to each of them, even handing a bottle to Luke. Luke unscrewed the cap and took a small swig, stamping his foot on the rooftop "That's one hell of a kick!" He exclaimed.

"I know, right? My dad made 'em"

"Oh sweet, I'd like to make my own whiskey one day"

"Maybe you will"

"Can I have some?" Nick asked curiously.

"Sure, kid" Mike said, handing Nick his bottle which the eleven year old plucked from his hands.

"Now hold on a second" Luke intervened.

"Oh come on, man, it'll be fun" Mike hinted mischievously.

Nick took a small sip of the whiskey, and coughed violently, but nevertheless he still swallowed it "I don't like it" he said, handing the bottle back to Mike who tucked it into Harley's back pack.

"Figures"

"Okay, everyone, now that we had a nip and a few smokes, lets get movin', we're burnin daylight" Luke ordered, moving towards the edge of the building at staring towards the next rooftop, the glare of the sun building him. Luke adjusted his hat once again and took a step back. "I'll go first"

Luke took a run up, his heart was racing as he took the leap of faith and landed heavily on the next rooftop, the tiles rattling beneath his feet. "It's easy, just a little hop!" He called over to them.

His friends followed his lead until only Nick remained on the other rooftop, staring down at the alleyway below nervously. "I don't know about this" he murmured.

"Come on, Nick, it's not that big of a jump" Luke said encouragingly.

"This is stupid, I don't like it, I want to go home"

"Don't be such a baby, you want to be cool, right?" Mike asked him.

"Yeah..." Nick replied, his voice trailed off as he stared down at the long drop.

"You don't have to jump if you don't want Nick, look, I'll come back and get you" Luke told him.

"No way, Luke, don't baby him, let him do it" Mike said.

"But he could-" Luke began only to be interrupted by the groups chanting.

"Come on, Nick. Come on, Nick. Come on, Nick!" They chanted together, somewhat mocking the eleven year old.

Nick took a deep breath and backed away to the edge of the building he was standing on, before taking a long run up. He sprinted across the rooftop, jumping into the air once he reached the edge and reaching for the ledge of the second rooftop.

"Nick, don't!" Luke yelled, but it was already too late.

Nick's stomach collided with the ledge, he let out a small huff of breath as he tried to grasp onto something, anything that could help him up. His finger nails scratched on the stone as he slipped and fell back, falling down into the alleyway.

"NICK!" Luke cried in horror.

The five teenagers stared down into the alleyway, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there was no blood soaked body lying on the concrete.

"He'll be fine, he landed in that dumpster" Mike commented. "Lets keep going" he said, turning away with the four teenagers following from behind.

"What?! We can't just leave him, he could be hurt!" Luke exclaimed, shocked by the groups attitude towards Nick's safety.

"He'll be fine" Mike insisted.

"He won't be, though! Don't you care about him at all?!"

"We never wanted him here in the first place" Harley butted in.

"Come on, Luke, did you really expect us to enjoy some wanna be tagging along with us?" Jake asked.

"Forget about him, do you really want him to drag you down? Because he will, he's a loser, you don't need him in your life, you have us, we're not going anyway"

Luke grimaced, staring down at the alleyway and then back at his friends.

Nick opened his eyes, the glare of the evening sun blinding him. The smell of garbage wafted up his nostrils, the stench of decaying rubbish smelt worse than Luke's friend's cigarettes. "Gross" he muttered while sitting up.

A shadow was casted over him, blocking out the bright light. "Luke!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, Nick, you okay?" He asked, offering his hand.

"I am now" he replied, taking Luke's hand and climbing out of the dumpster "Ow!" He cried childishly.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"My ankle... It's twisted and it really hurts"

Luke knelt down and studied Nick's ankle "It looks pretty bad" he commented.

"Is it broken?" Nick questioned.

"No, and if it was then you'd be in a lot more pain" Luke responded as he rose from where he crouched. "Come on, lets get you home"

"What about your friends?" Nick asked, looking back up at the rooftop.

"You're more important. Those four are a bunch of assholes"

Nick sniggered immaturely at Luke's language. "Alright, Nick, you get on my back and I'll carry you home" Luke told him, crouching down so Nick could clamber on. "Damn, you're heavy" Luke commented as he carried him out of the alleyway and along the street.

They didn't make it very far when Luke started complaining "Too heavy! I can't carry you, you're to big" he said, setting Nick down on a bench.

"Luke, my head hurts" Nick complained.

"You just fell from a roof and you're complaining about a headache?"

"The suns really bright"

"10 out of 10 for observation." Luke responded sarcastically "Well, what do you want to do, turn off the sun?"

"No... That's not possible"

"Of course it's not!"

Luke sighed and took off his hat, placing it on Nick's head "There you go, that should help"

"Thanks, Luke, as soon as we get back to my house I'll give it back" Nick responded gratefully.

"Keep it, it suits you way better" Luke told him. "Although, the size will probably need adjusting" he commented, pushing the front of the cap over Nick's eyes teasingly. Nick laughed and adjusted Luke's hat on his head.

"Come on, lets get you home" Luke said, helping Nick up. The sun was setting on the horizon, the golden glow was now a bright orange, tainting the edge of the sky with it's colour.

"Luke..." Nick murmured, even though he already had the teenagers attention.

"Yeah...?"

"Am I cool?" He asked.

A smile formed on Luke's face, his eyes glistened "You're cool, Nick, you're cool."