Jay was so absorbed in his brother's hold on him. He was in peace. That is until, a pair of large, masculine hands jerked him backward. Instinctively, he grabbed the hands, only to discover their owner was his foster father. He let go and spun around, "Clouse..."

The man loomed over him as expanding and dark as the night sky. As scary too. His lips were drawn to a snarl, his eyes beady and dead. He kept his grip on the hood of Jay's sweater, "Boy, where's the other kid?"

Jay flinched at the question. He remained positioned on the ground, "I don't know.. Cole isn't home?"

Clouse hurled him forward now, Jay landed atop Kai, wincing slightly at the painful contact. He saw the hurt in Kai's soft, amber eyes. Jay didn't have time to comfort him when Clouse slapped him across the face, leaving a horrific red mark.

Jay's eyes pricked tears when delicately touching the blotched flesh. It stung.

"You know where he is! Where did he run off to?" Clouse exclaimed with a fire in his eyes.

"Run off to?" Had Cole left for Port Alberni without him? Jay frowned slightly, "No sir. I don't know where he is."

Then followed a sequence of insults and beatings.

His hair was tugged to keep him in place as Clouse delivered blows to his back and shoulders from behind. With each pounding, Jay could've sworn a bone broke. His ears throbbed. His veins thumped at his temple sluggishly, as if mocking him. Now even his own body hated him. Who wouldn't? He was a miserable freak. He was worthless. He was nothing.

Clouse drilled another fist to his ear.

And though he was nothing, he could feel the pain.

But none the strikes and none the words penetrated into Jay's subconscious. All he could think of was Cole. Every lick and hurt only damaged Jay's body, not his feelings. They were only concerned for Cole. He must've left already, why else would he not be here? He didn't say goodbye, only gave a sweet kiss to Jay when leaving. Where was he?

... There was an unlocking at the front door.

Clouse froze with his hands above his head, about to deliver another punch. His hair was tangled, his breath delivered in heaving pants, much like Jay's. He turned his attention to the door, thinking it was Cole, and left.

He slammed the door behind him.

Jay sniffled tasting the first sting of blood. He fingered a bruise lightly, thinking of how Cole would receive a blacker one.

Kai hesitated before approaching him. The amber in his eyes had dimmed to more of a bracken shade. There were tears pricking at their ends, too. He crawled to him, "Jay?"

Jay sniffed again and wrapped himself into Kai's arms, ignoring his body's painful protests. He let his body sink into Kai's, feeling comfort almost instantly. It was odd, he didn't feel the same way when he laid close by Cole.

"Jay...?" Kai repeated, this time looking him in the eye, "Are you... Does he..." his mind seemed clouded, as if he didn't know what to say.

The auburn haired teen's face remained impassive, "Kai, you don't need to stress yourself. I'm... okay"

"No you're not"

"I know"

Kai gritted his teeth. Jay could tell he was trying not to cry. Soon enough the tears leaked down his face, "Why.. why did he do this to you? And why didn't he hurt me?"

"Because you're supposed to be his mercenary, his main priority," Jay refused to make eye contact with him any longer. If he looked closely at the ground, he could make out each individual strand of rug, "I hate to admit it, but that's why he took you in, Kai. You're Cole and I's replacement, he wanted successful children he can hold under his name, not us."

"Oh.."

Kai kept to himself the rest of the night. After assisting Jay into his bed and gazing hungrily at the imaginative dinner he wish he had, he laid down on his bed staring at the ceiling. He placed a hand to his begging stomach at its pain. He couldn't understand how Jay and Cole lived like this.

Oh, that's right. Cole.

Kai'd heard the beatings occur. He had held Jay in his lap while trying to block out the sounds. The poor bluebird was shaking like a leaf, Kai didn't know what to do. All he could do was hold his bruised hand and envelope him in warmth.

The more Kai thought about it, the more he hated Cole. The guy hardly muttered a word to him in the week or so he's been residing here. He's controlling and terse beyond belief. Kai scowled. It was because of Cole that his bluebird was tortured in front of him. It was all Cole's fault.

He rose from the bed and stormed to the bedroom door across the hall. He pounded on its surface, "Cole?"

The door gave a sudden jerk and a hunched teen was revealed. He looked so... weak. That was new. Cole held a washcloth to his eye. A frown was on his face, "Whaddya want this late at night, Kai?"

Kai felt his tongue freeze. Embarrassed, he looked downward and shuffled his feet, "Uh.. I was just gonna ask.."

"Yeah? What?"

"What's.. foster care like?" it was the first question Kai could muster, "F-From your experience, I mean."

Cole crossed his arms, "Literal hell."

Kai grew confused, "But Jay said–"

"He was lying. Good night," he begun to close the door but Kai stopped him, stamping his foot down against the door.

Cole's eyes met his, glaring, "What do you want?"

"Where were you tonight, Cole? Where were you when Clouse was looking for you?"

"... Just the basketball court"

"Doing what?"

"Basketball."

Kai narrowed his eyes, he was not going to have any of Cole's lies, not tonight. The elder noticed this and looked downward hesitantly, "I was picking up some money some kids owed me, okay?"

"What did the kids owe you for?"

He looked back up, "You wanna know?"

"Yes."

"Let's just say this: If you were to have a problem with someone-"

Kai narrowed his amber flecks.

The elder looked the room "A.. how do you say, relationship problem, perhaps. The person doesn't like how he's being treated,"

"Okay, go on"

"Well, I resolve that problem." he made a fist and pounded it into his other hand, "Good night, Kai. Sleep tight."

Confused, Kai froze and was left staring at the closed door. As he begun to understand, he headed back to his room. There was no doubt about it, he absolutely hated Cole. He's a bully, that's what he is, getting paid for jumping kids. It's sickening.

"Come along, now!" cheered Kai as he lead his guest on along the path. The little bluebird pouted, "For the last time.. where are we going?"

"You'll like it, that's all that matters" Kai pursued. As soon as Jay wasn't listening, he added, "At least I think you'll like it"

They walked along the lonely road, lined with small houses and litter scattered about. The townhouses where they resided weren't the prettiest. Lined up like sardines, one can see breaking, broken, and condemned houses that once had dramatic scenes play about inside them. The kids usually keep their mouths shut walking down the street. It truly was a bad place to live, but they didn't complain. There were worse housings in town.

Kai led Jay about. He figured the bluebird would perk up and say something, but he never raised his eyes from the ground once. He probably figured they were still in the neighbourhood.

"We're here" breathed Kai. At this, the freckle faced teen raised his eyes and laid their gaze about the surroundings. His eyes scanned quickly, not certainly. Almost as if he were in an imaginary place.

"Where, exactly, is here?" murmured the bluebird.

Without responding, Kai opened the front door of a small mansion. Music escaped the opening as the vibrant winds of a hurricane. The house seemed to shake with every shout of enthusiasm, for there was a large party about inside. The mansion was filled with kids from Jay's school, high schools, and beyond; all tossing about their arms, dongs, and those mini bottles of liquor the flight attendants hand out on airplanes.

Kai smirked a bit at Jay's feared expression, "It's a party."

Jay hesitated a bit, "I can't go in there"

"Why not?"

"Too many people"

The spike haired teen closed the door and thought a moment, "Bluebird, are you by any chance claustrophobic?"

He shook his head and pulled at his fingers, "I just don't like people that do bad things.."

"Bluebird, nobody does"

"I mean I'm not like you." he indicated the mansion, "I don't like that"

"But it'll be fun!"

Jay smirked in a showy manner and said, "Hi, have you seen my brother Kai?" he raised his hand, "He's about this tall and he's completely lost his mind"

"Funny stuff" muttered Kai. He shoved his hands in his pockets, "But.. there'll be food. Lots and lots of snacks, drinks, all that good stuff"

The blue eyes widened, "Well, I suppose we could go in just for that."

"Good lad. On we go!" he didn't realize that he wrapped an arm around Jay's shoulders when leading him inside the mansion.

The people stopped only a second to look at the unfamiliar teens, then went on celebrating. People were dancing, committing their bodies to nothing but a low bass beat. Some teens were swimming in the pool out back, and no, no one brought any swim trunks.

Jay looked around and whistled. The people here behaved so differently than in any classroom. He almost didn't know what to make of it. Only after a few moments, he realized he'd already lost his companion.

"Oh shoot," he muttered. Thinking of where his brother might've run off to, he headed towards a snack table in the back. It was scattered with wrappers of candy and things Jay would rather not recall. But Kai wasn't there. He begun to panic as he looked about.

Where could Kai be?

He felt a hand place his bruised shoulder. Jolting, he knew it was Kai. Jay spun around, "Kai!"

A smile appeared on his face, "Hey, Bluebird. I wanna show you somethin'"

Kai led him down a hallway, and into a bedroom. As if the place was his, Kai sat down on somebody's bed and wrapped an arm around the pretty girl beside him.

His face grew a little heated (like the hothead he is) when he said, "Jay.. this is my girlfriend. I believe you already know her."

Jay kind of stood there awkwardly, "Hey, Skylor."

The ginger raised an eyebrow at him, "Hey, Jay."

Kai sweat dropped there in the middle of them.

Jay's expression narrowed more impassively, "So, Kai. Is.. is this the reason you brought me here?"

"Sort of." he forced a shrug. Honestly, Kai was terrified. He's never seen the Bluebird with such little enthusiasm. He seemed just so tense. Not only that, but under his arm he could feel Skylor's anger. Why was she angry with him?

Jay raised a finger at the two, "So this is just a junior high relationship, right? It's not real nor intimate love, correct?"

Skylor slammed a fist into the bedding, "What do you mean, Motormouth? Kai is my boyfriend, and I love him! I just don't understand how he can tolerate you!"

Kai's eyes widened, "Geez, Sky, calm down!"

Jay put his arms up defensively, "No, Kai, it's fine. Skylor probably just has a stick up her butt."

She glared daggers through his chest, "Shut up, faggot!"

"Aw, gee, Sky. That hurt. Wait, no it didn't. Do you really think name-calling is the way to get to me?"

Kai was flabbergasted. He just sat there, eyes switching from his brother to his girlfriend, both glaring at each other with their arms crossed. Deep inside him, Kai's gut was telling him to stop them before it gets out of hand. But Kai would hate to upset either one of them.

Skylor bit her lip, "I cannot believe you!"

Jay huffed, "Me? What'd I do, huh? What'd I do?"

The ginger just glared right back at him, "Everything." she grabbed her boyfriend by the arm, "C'mon, Kai. Let's go." she stood up.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on now!" Kai was saying.

"Kai's his own person, you know, Skylor! Let 'im do whatever he wants! Jesus!" Jay accumulated in a sarcastic manner.

Kai was about to thank him, but his girlfriend was looking at him with a bit of hurt in her eyes, "Kai, aren't you going to spend the night with me? That's why you came, right?"

He felt the sweat begun to run down his neck, "Well.. uh.."

Skylor's soft hazel eyes widened, "Wait, hold on. You don't mean to tell me that you'd rather be with.. him than me, do you?" There was pain in her voice, Kai sensed it. Yet somehow he couldn't comfort her, he could only stand there, speechless.

She bit her lip, Kai saw the tears welling in her eyes, "Fine. I see how it is," she stormed off.

"Skylor, wait!" he called out, about to run out the door after her. The look on Jay's face stopped him from doing so, "I thought I told you to stay away from her," he spoke, "You did the exact opposite of what I said!"

"Geez, Dad, lay off" Kai murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Shock lit up Jay's facial features, "No, I will not 'lay off!' Kai, I told you to stay away from Skylor, why did you-"

"Why did I date her? Maybe because I need someone I can trust for a change, Jay! I thought I could trust you, that's why I brought you here in the first place! I expected for you to be surprised, sure. But I didn't expect you would run her off like she was some nobody! You really hurt her feelings, Jay, didn't you see that?"

The Bluebird stood there silently, waiting if Kai had anything left to say. The spike haired teen could to nothing but shake his head in disappointment, "You're a bully, Jay. Just like Cole. I thought you were better than that, but I guess I was lying to myself." He felt the tears begin to rise and turned away defensively, "That's why you lied to me about Foster Care, right? You just wanted to humiliate me when I find out how rough it is."

He wiped at his nose, "I guess I'll see you back at the house," and then he went off after his girlfriend, leaving Jay alone.