Chapter One

Too Far

"Grell, where the hell are you?" The harsh voice of William T Spears barked. Grell winced, Will was angry again, he could tell this would not end well for him. He quickly entered Williams office and looked down at the floor as he walked to the man's desk. "y-you wanted me will?" Grell asked quietly. "Yes" will said straightening his glasses to look at a sheet of paper. "it appears you are more incompetent than I believed prior to this. You have failed to provide the paperwork for Henry J Lee. Such a blunder as this deserves punishment I hope you know."

William stood up and walked around his desk, removing all the space between him and Grell. He forcefully tilted the redheads face up and boared his cold green eyes down at Grells own. Grell tried his best to avoid Williams icy glare but he found himself looking timidly back up into Will's eyes. "what are you-" Grell started, but before he could finish, William slapped Grell with such a force that it knocked Grell down. He whimpered and crawled away from where William towered down at him. Grell slowly got to his feet and cowered in the corner of Wills office, knowing that if he fought back William would only make it worse for him. Will sighed and straightened his spectacles, then walked over to where Grell stood and closed off the space before kneeing Grell in the stomach, which knocked him over again. William kicked Grell hard in the ribs and the scarlet reaper cried out in pain. "Will! please.. stop!" he gasped. Will remained silent as Grell stood again shaking. Grells eyes widened as William wrapped his hands around his neck, and struggled gasping for breath. He tried to pry Wills hands off of his throat, but it was no use. The two were deadlocked, Grell's vision was getting blurred with tears, and his face had turned a purple blue. He had to do something or Grell was sure he would die. Using all the strength he had left in him, Grell kicked William in the stomach, and William, surprised let go of Grells neck and doubled over in pain.

Using that as an advantage Grell pushed past William and darted out of the room and ran straight into Ronald Knox. "Grell?! whats wrong what happened?" Grell whispered faintly, still catching his breath "William,". Ron was the only one Grell trusted to tell about William, they were close friends. Ronald walked Grell to an empty office space. "Grell, what happened, are you ok?" he asked putting his hands on Grell's shoulders and looking into his eyes concerned.

"William- tried to- he tried to kill" He suddenly burst into tears and sobbed on Ronalds shoulder. Ronald tried to calm Grell down. "Grell if you keep crying this loud Will is going to hear you, you need to stop crying. I know its hard, but if he finds you it's only going to be worse. I'm going to help you find a place to stay, you obviously can't live with him. But I need you to calm down, take a deep breath" Grell looked up from Ron's shoulder and took a breath, sniffling a little, then released it. He then wiped his tears and looked into Ronalds eyes. "T-thank you Ron," He said faintly. Ronald looked lost in thought, and suddenly his eyes lit up. "I got it! I know who you can stay with, but I think he's out of town until tomorrow, so tonight would you want to sleep on my couch or something?" He asked. "Ron you would let me? Thank you so much," Grell said smiling. "Course I would, you're my friend, and William is a horrible person, I'm not letting him hurt anyone else"

Ron said as he snuck Grell to the back exit of the building. After Grell was outside waiting, Ron walked past the secretary. "Sorry, I have to cancel the date tonight, a friends in distress he needs my help" he started, scratching the back of his head with his hand. He leaned in and looked the woman in the eye, then whispered "but you understand right?" she nodded quickly, blushing. "Good, I promise I'll make it up to you, same time, same place only tomorrow, okay babe?" she nodded again and he grinned and walked away. "going on a lunch break!" He called out before throwing open the door and jogging around to the back.

Once he got there, he saw Grell hunched in a corner. He was staring straight ahead as if lost in thought. "Grell? are you ready to go?" Ron asked quietly. Grell looked back up at will like a spell had been broken, or like he just woke up from a deep sleep. "Oh! yeah of course," Grell said as they walked down the sidewalk to get to Ronalds house.

Once they got their, Ron showed Grell around showing him where everything was. Grell hugged him "thank you again Ron, you're my best friend." he said. Ron returned the hug but then pulled back, "You're welcome Grell, but I should be getting back to work before people start to notice I've been gone for too long, I'll see you when I get back from work though okay?" He said. "Okay Ron, see you after work," Grell said as Ron closed the door. He then dropped onto the couch exhausted and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.