A/N: So this is actually an original story. . .haha. yeah, i know, wrong site --U. but for some reason I can't upload documents on fictionpress. . .plus i don't have as many lovlies on there as I do here whom love my stories so::hugs to everyone whose faved/alerted me!::
PLOT: A young boy runs away from home when he's 10-years-old and ends up meeting a pontential college drop out on his journey. Then man offers him a place to stay for a night. 7 years later, memories of that night start coming back to him piece by piece. He decided to try and go find the man. Will he find him? if he does, will the man remember? Or was that night all just a complete dream?
WARNINGS:my characters. I claim them. HAHAHAH! . . .mine. YAOI! homophobes leave now! more will come as the story continues.
Leonard made his way down the sidewalks of Vine Street. He'd been counting his steps since he'd left his house to distract himself from the current problem at hand, but that proved faulty due to the fact that a ten year old could only count so high before losing interest in the subject. He'd lost count long ago back on Rice Street. It was a low number though, he remembered, barely more than a thousand. Nonetheless he kept his gaze toward the ground only paying attention to street signs every once in a while. Right now he knew he was on Vine Street, and slowly approaching Calhoun. Leonard sighed looking around. It had been hours since he'd snuck out of his home, the pang of guilt causing his empty stomach to feel worse, and it even somehow seemed to drive out the thought of hunger the more he thought about it.
They were his family. Well, at least he thought they were. He wasn't too sure anymore about that; concidering he knew that he was adopted now. No--not just adopted, but he was found out in thier back yard as a baby and brought into the family where they named him, adopted him, and claimed him as thier own. Hadn't they concidered his real parents showing up someday to find him? Of course not. What were the chances of that? They hadn't given him up to an adoption agency, and there was always that whole 'privacy' thing so that they couldn't come find him and take him away from his current family. The fact that they had shown up at the Wismann's doorstep only hours earlier made Leonard wonder how they'd found him so easily.
"It's getting pretty late." Leornard looked up from the cracked and beaten sidewalk to see a burly black man on the corner of Vine and Calhoun looking at him. He was barely twenty feet away, there was no way he could be ignored now. Leonard just nodded and tucked his auburn hair behind his ears. He should've waited to get his hair cut before he left, but he'd been in such a hurry to get out of the current warground he called home for ten years, that he couldn't wait even one more hour. His bangs fell right back infront of his face though and covered his hazel eyes from the stranger: something he seemed thankful for. "You should be heading home." The man addressed him once more, scratching his semi-bald head, "You can't be more than twelve. It dangerous out here at night, you know? A place like Cincinnati . . .People get shot daily here."
"I know." Leonard nodded once more and kept on walking. He'd always been cautious with strangers, and now that he'd just realized that he'd been living with strangers for so long only made him more weary about them. "What time is it?"
The man made a grunt sound at Leonard's 'I know'. He probably thought he was being smart or something, but he kindly rolled up his sleeve to look at the watched that appeared so tight that it was cutting off the blood circulation to his right hand. "Just after 7:30." He glanced back up at the small boy who had finally stopped walking next to the man.
"That's good." Leonard nodded once more. He seemed to be developing a habbit with that now. "I'm meeting my sister at the university. I was out with my friends at Inwood Park and promised my mom I'd go to the college at eight so that Teri could bring me home safely." He'd completely made up the story off the top of his head. The last thing he needed was for some stanger to be worried about him and offer to make sure he got home safely. Trust no one in Cincinnati. Leonard had been taught that at a young age. A very young age too was obvious because he was only ten and knew this lesson well.
"Okay then." The man nodded. He seemed to believe the story, or else he didn't feel like dealing with a kid at the moment and would believe anything said. Leonard thought the guy would probably say okay even if he'd told him he was walking to the zoo which was clear across the city. "You take care now. I don't want to read the paper tomorrow morning and see your picture on the front page for a 'missing child report' or 'body found'." Leonard just smiled at this thought: His parents getting the Cincinnati Enquirer the next morning and opening it up only to see that thier boy had been found dead on Corbett Drive. His smile vanished though just as quickly when it hit him that that actually could happen. He was only ten. What was he doing running away? Why did he think he could manage on his own?
Leonard looked up at the sky to avoid the eyes of the stranger that he could feeling burning into his skin, "I should get going though. Before Teri leaves without me. . ." He bit his lip and forced his feet to move, looking back down at the beaten sidewalk as he turned the corner to go down Calhoun Street. The university was in clear view now, he could easily see the wierd shape of the art building and the large parking garage. He made his way over to the school as quickly as he could without running and onto the campus. This was probably the safest place he could've been at in all of Cincinnati not counting his home or the hospital. There were help phones ever thirty feet or so on campus incase anything happened to him. He'd be fine.
He made his way across the campus. The night classes would be ending soon, he assumed, and all he had to do was hide somewhere for the time being until everyone left and he'd be clear until morning. The sun had already set behind the buildings, and only shown in a feeble outline of the Carrew Tower. He ducked near a bush between two of the buildings and leaned against the brick wall with his feet crossed in front of him. Just be quiet, he kept reminding himself silently, don't do anything that'll attract attention to yourself.
He did just that too. It seemed like forever though, for a ten-year-old isn't the best at sitting quietly for too long. He had the determination to not get found on his side though. A few of the night classes had let out, and small groups of foreign students walked along the pathway only ten feet away from him followed by what appeared to be a couple talking about something about the wind ensamble. People had always interested him, so he stayed silent and just watched the people go by. He held his breath too when they went by, especially the smaller groups or loners. This way he wouldn't bring any attention to his slightly hidden self from breathing too heavily or anything. This soon became a problem though.
One student decided it'd be okay to take his time. He seemed to be in no hurry, and worse yet was that he was by himself. Leonard watched him carefully, holding his breath and pursing his lips to keep the air in. The student continued taking his time though, stopping on the pathway only feet from Leonard. He jerked his head to the side in what appeared to be an attempt to get the dirty blonde hair out of his eyes. He pulled a pack of generic brand cigarettes from his pocket, still taking his sweet time.
Leonard slowly let the air seep from his lungs in relief as quietly as he could and then pulled more back in silently to hold it there again. But the pain of not being able to breath regularly shoved into his side in a tight muscle cramp. The student still didn't leave and lit the cigarette, taking a drag off of it, and still standing there. Leonard closed his eyes to try and distract himself from the pain burning in his chest. "I'm not ignorant." thee student said tapping off the end of the cigarette so the ashes fell to the ground in disarray. Leaonard let his breath out and opened his eyes, quietly regulating his breathing. Was he talking to him? "You can come out. I know your there. I just wanted to see how long you could hold out without breathing."
Leonard sat on the ground still, just watching the student. He refused to say anything and just watched him. He figured it was best to be silent and observe. That appeared to be the simplest solution. "You can come out now. I'm not going to kidnap and rape you." The student said sarcastically, turning around to gaze directly at the silhouette of Leonard. Neither of them made any movements except the student who continued to smoke his cigarette, seeming to not want to waste any of its toxins to the air.
"I'm fine here." Leonard managed to finally utter out. Why did all the strangers seem to talk to him today? "I'm just waiting for my sister. She'll take me home when she comes here for me." He folded his arms protectively across his chest and looked away from the student.
"Sure you are." the student nodded, "Because every little boy waits in the dirt, hidden in the dark, holding his breath every time someone passes by, for his sister to come find him at eight o'clock at night, and take him home." He took another drag off the cigarette for a dramatic pause in his speech, "You don't even have a sister, do you?"
Leonard was caught off guard and couldn't help but look up at the student astounded. How could he tell that Leonard was lying? "What's your name anyway, kid?" the student asked. Leonard didn't answer and just looked away. It was always better to just ignore problems and people. They went away eventually. "Okay then." He sighed, "I'm Tristan. It's nice to meet you, kid." Leonard still didn't answer. Why was this guy hanging around for so long? Couldn't he see that he was trying to be alone? His stomach growled and he moved his hands down to clutch his rumbling stomach in the dark. Guilt was only capable of feeding it for so long. He should've grabbed something on his way out.
Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Listen, kid, I'll feel horrible if I just left you out here. What are you--ten?" He dropped the cigarette to the ground and smothered it out with his foot, "We'll make a deal, you tell me your name and I'll walk with you to AJ's Roadhouse and get you some food. You don't have to tell me what you're doing here." Leonard went to open his mouth to protest, but Tristan beat him to it, "And don't give me that bullcrap story about your sister coming to pick you up because we've already established that I don't believe it." He paused to watch Leonard closely. "So, you agree to the deal?"
Leonard sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating the deal. He was definitely hungry and so long as he kept a close eye on his food, he should be able to eat fine. It was a free meal too. How could he turn that down? "My name's Lenny." He said glancing at Tristan. He looked back away then and toward the building off in the distance that he recognized as University Hospital.
Tristan nodded, "Well, Lenny, get up and we'll walk down to AJ's and I'll get you something to eat." He waited patiently while Leonard got up of the ground and dusted the dirt off his pants. Then they set off on thier way toward the main street to leave the campus and make thier way to the restraunt.
Leonard watched out the window as people walked past. He didn't pay much mind to what he was putting in his mouth while he ate, and didn't even hear Tristan trying to talk to him. His thoughts drifted elsewhere as he slowly chewed on the burnt meat of the overly done chiliburger. Leonard thought about back at what he thought was his home. What were they doing now? Did they miss him--of course they did! What kind of question was that? He was thinking more along the lines of, were they doing anything about it?
"Hey, Lenny." Tristan spoke up again after being ignored sometime by the small boy. He reached across the table and wrapped his hand around one of the small wrists to pull the food down away from the kid's face. This got Leonard's attention. "I know it wasn't in the original agreement, but I was wondering if you could at least talk to me." He waited for a response but was only answered by silence and the casual glance faltering between himself and the burger. "We don't have to talk about anything you don't want to," Tristan said and released his hold on the boy's arm. Leonard immediately took this opportunity to devour the rest of the sandwich. "How old are you?"
Leonard stopped chewing and looked across the table at Tristan. Had he been watching him eat this whole time? How boring. He forced the half chewed food down his throat, easing it down with his drink, before he answered. "I'm ten." He mummbled, tucking his hair nervously behind his ears, but it all fell back in front of his face like a rush of auburn fire.
Tristan's eyebrows shot up, "Only ten?" He reached a hand around his neck to massage the back of it while he thought. "You're only ten, but your running around Cincinnati with no money, no parents, and no sister." He brought up the lie that Leonard had told him earlier back at the college. Leonard looked away bashfully, not wanting to really talk about that. "Sorry," Tristan said without a hint of apology in his voice, "What were you doing running around like that anyway?"
"I was running away from home." Leonard spoke after he finished off his drink. He hunched his body forward and rested his hands tensely in his lap. Anybody but himself would't've known that he wasn't really cold, contrary to his appearence just then.
"Why?" Tristan asked, sitting up in his seat. He seemed pretty interested in the matter, but when he saw the look on Leonard's face after he'd asked why he concidered better topics for then. "You don't have to answer," he spoke up quickly, "We can talk about something el--"
"Family problems." Leonard dropped his gaze to the tabletop, though he couldn't focus on the object only inches from his face. "I ran away because of some family problems." Tristan watched him closely. He rested his chin in one of his hands while the little boy spoke, showing Lenny as best he could that he really was interested to know why the kid was running away.
"What sort of family problems?" Tristan inquired quietly after everything had been silent at thier table for a few moments longer than he'd liked.
"Like not having one." Leonard bit his lip. He shouldn't have even brought it up. He knew his chin was quivering as everything in front of him became all one form in a blur. He was about to cry. He couldn't cry though. Boys don't cry. Crying is for little girls.
Tristan shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the entire place seemed to become silent around them. "What do you mean you have no family?" He inquired, watching any sign of anything he could in Lenny's body language. The kid shrugged and looked up, pulling his hair back out of his face as he did so in an attempt to wipe his eyes secritviely. His eyes were still rimmed red though, Tristan noted.
Leonard shook his head again and scooted toward the end of the seat. "I'd rather not talk about it right now." He mummbled quietly and moved to get out of the booth. "I think I'm going to go now though. Thanks for the food."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Tristan quickly jumped up. "You can't just leave. Where are you going? Where do you plan on staying tonight?"
Leonard froze when Tristan jumped up. He was asking him more questions at once than he had all night. "I-I don't know..." Leonard's eyes were still wide open. He hadn't really thought of where he could stay. He had no where to go. "Maybe the homeless shelter for tonight." He said after a moment of concideration. There he'd get a place to sleep and when he woke up in the morning, if early enough, he could get something for breakfast for free too.
"How about you stay at my place." Tristan suggested. Leonard took a half step back away from Tristan. He made a mental note to never take free food from a stranger ever again. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I just know that I won't be able to go to sleep tonight knowing there's a ten-year-old boy running around Cincinnati alone, or sleeping in a homeless shelter with who knows how many sick people." He kept his eyes on Lenny's, hoping that that way he would know that he wasn't some pedofile who wanted to kidnap and molest him.
Leonard never answered. He really knew he shouldn't go home with Tristan, but the thought of going somewhere with a guy he sort of knew overpowered the idea of staying in a homeless shelter for who knew how long. "I'm really serious, Lenny." Tristan spoke again, "I'll even let you pick where you want to sleep if it makes you feel any better." He paused to take out his pack of cigarettes. He was going to smoke once he got out of the building. "You know it's safer than going to a homeless shelter. I can almost garuntee there'll be creepy old guys there that'll be looking to molest you in your sleep or worse."
Leonard grimaced at that thought. "Okay." he nodded and felt like he were choking on his own words. "I'll go with you for tonight." He knew in his stomach that it was probably the biggest mistake he'd make in his life, but what other choice did he have? He slumped back down in the booth. What was he doing? He had to go home, but it seemed too soon. He hadn't even noticed that Tristan had left to pay for the meal while he was thinking and was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped.
"You ready?" Tristan asked, looking down at Lenny, shaking his head to the side to keep his dirty blond hair out of his face. Leonard nodded and pushed himself up. Every part of him was saying that this was a bad idea. Every last bit of him. "Calm down. If you want, I can take you home. In case you're having second thoughts about runnin--"
"No!" Leonard nearly shouted. There was no way he was going back. Not yet. "I-I don't want to go home. I'll go with you." He seemed like he was sure of his decision, but there was still that voice in his mind screaming 'NO! NO! NO! GO HOME!'. Maybe there are some people in the world you can trust. Leonard hoped Tristan was one of them as he walked down the street next to the college student to the end of the street to wait at the bus stop for one of the last evening busses. "Where's your house?" Leonard asked, looking up at Tristan who was a good foot and few inches above himself.
"Down by Price Hill." Tristan said with a shrug. He looked down at Lenny with a small smile when the boy's eyes widened and his breath seemed to catch. "I said by," he chuckled. "We'll get off the bus there, then walk some more."
"Oh." Leonard nodded and looked down at the ground. He was about a snap away from running away from Tristan when he said 'Price Hill'. There was no way he'd ever go there without his 'parents'. That was one of the big parts of Cincinnati that had all the shootings. He hoped that the black man from earlier got his wish and didn't read the paper tomorrow with pictures of Leornard on them.
"Yeah. It's not completely safe, I mean, it's within walking distance. But it's safer than actually living on Price Hill or near Over-the-Rhine." Tristan explained. Leonard had to agree. He'd much rather be by Price Hill than Over-the-Rhine.
"That's good." Leonard forced the words out and followed them up with a nod as the bus pulled up next to the curb and he followed Tristan on. "I guess. . ."
Leonard peered around Tristan as he opened the door to his part of the duplex house. The lights flickered on and he gazed around the living room at everything. It was much nicer than he expected for someone like Tristan. Wait, why was he judging the guy? He barely new him! "Take a seat." Tristan said, motioning to the old brown couch that sat off center near a coffee table and la-z-boy chair. Lenny did as he was told and sat down, uncomfortably looking around. He noticed a few of Tristan's textbooks on the coffee table and couldn't help but open them up to the front cover.
"Tristan. . .McGrath. . ." He muttered to himself, quietly. He jumped when Tristan sat down next him. He looked over at Tristan who seemed to be going by his daily rutine and ignoring him. "Thanks." He spoke softly, still watching Tristan. The older boy nodded, staring down at one of his many textbooks. "How old are you?" Lenny asked curiously. He figured it was only fair that he knew as much about this guy as he could. He was, after all, in his house.
"I just turned 19. A few months ago." Tristan answered, not looking up.
"What are you going to college for?"
Tristan sighed and closed the book, frowning at Lenny before setting it down with his many others. "Technical Enginering." He answered simply, leaning back against the couch and closing his eyes. "But I'm quitting after this year, once I get my associates. I'm done with school."
"Yeah, I hate school too." Leonard nodded. Tristan gave him a small smile at the comment before standing up.
"You should get to bed. It's close to 10, I think." He remarked, glancing back towards the small kitchen to the flaching digital clock on the counter. "You can sleep where ever you like: couch, my bed, floor. . ."
"I'll take the couch." Leonard said, not liking the other two options very much. Tristan nodded, running his hand through his hair to get it out of the way before leaving the room to go down the small hall.
He returned moments later with a pillow and a blanket, tossing them on Leonard's lap. "Make yourself comfortable." he said, patting the kid's head, "The bathroom's the first door on the right if you need it. My room's at the end of the hall, to the left, if you need me for anything. The door and windows are locked, so you don't have to worry about being murdered either." He gave Leornard a quick smile to let him know he was joking about being killed and about faced to let the boy sleep.
Leonard watched as he left, wondering how long he would be able to stay with the guy before he had to go home. He wasn't sure how long he'd be away from home though before he'd know he'd have to go back. He sighed, setting the pillow behind his head and covering himself with the blanket, and closed his eyes. He could hear a police siren go by the street in front of the house and bit his lip. At least this guy gave him a place to sleep for tonight. He didn't have to be out there.