His dad was standing over him, holding him by the collar of his dirty, stained shirt, the fabric biting into the back of his neck. He felt another vicious blow to his already bruised face, but still laid bonelessly on the disgusting pavement, arms scrapping against the filthy gravel. His head lolled to the side, eyes glazed and unfocused. He could taste the copper blood over his teeth, he knew he should defend himself, but also knew there wasn't a point. Maybe it would finally end, maybe he could finally rest. Suddenly a white-hot pain burned into his shoulder. His eyelids flew open as he gasped against the searing pain, the fog around his brain clearing instantly.

"Got your attention now boy" a cruel voice spoke from above him. He felt himself drop to the unforgiving ground, his head smacking down with an audible thunk. Hands encircled his biceps as his father's voice bit into his pain filled mind.

"I'm gonna finish you once and for all boy. I'm gonna kill you Priestly"

"Priestly"

"Priestly!"

Priestly's eyelids snapped open, wide and unseeing. He felt the hands still wrapped around his arms and lashed out blindly, trying to get away from the threat. The hands shook him again, and the room finally began to come into focus.

"Priestly! Wake up!" came an authoritive voice from in front of him.

The bruised man blinked a few more times before he actually saw who was in front of him.

"Trucker?" he panted. His head was pounding, and he was having trouble breathing around the emotional knot stuck in his throat. "What? Where am I?"

Trucker kept his grasp on the young mans arms and stared at him apprehensively.

Trucker had just returned and crossed the threshold into his home when he had heard a strangled gasp from the other room. Upon entering he saw Priestly sitting on the couch, eyes moving frantically under his tightly clenched lids, mouth moving in a silent plea. Trucker grasped the young mans arms and gently shook to wake him, which in hindsight probably wasn't a good idea. When Priestly's eyes had snapped open, Trucker was taken back by their appearance. His pupils were blown and his eyes were wild, frantic, and unseeing. Only his quick reflexes prevented him from getting struck from an arrant right hook headed for his face. He held strongly onto the boy's arms to prevent Priestly from hurting himself, and continued trying to bring him back to reality. Finally Priestly's eyes began to come into focus and he stopped thrashing.

"You're at my house Priestly. You're safe."

"I…what?" He swallowed past the lump in his throat and took in his surroundings. After looking around the room he met Trucker's worried eyes and quickly diverted his gaze, ashamed at his outburst.

"Sorry about that…" he mumbled.

"No apologies Priestly. You ok now?"

"Ya, I'm good. What time is it? Wheres…" he trailed off, hating how weak and desperate his voice sounded.

Trucker looked at his watch with a small smile. "Little after seven. Tish is in the shop with the girls, they're going to come up here after closing."

"Right" Priestly responded under his breath. They were coming over to talk about the attack, wonderful.

Trucker stared at his young friend, easily reading his thoughts. He patted his knee in a silent show of support before standing. "I'm going to get dinner going, let me know if you need anything."

The words bugged Priestly, even though he knew they shouldn't. He forced himself to smile at Trucker, who seemed to accept the smile as a dismissal. Everyone kept saying that, asking if he needed anything. What he needed was to just move on. What he needed was for everyone to stop acting like he was made of glass. He mentally sighed, knowing his thoughts were skewed from everything that had happened recently. What I need is a drink and a good hit.

Priestly froze, eyes wide. Had he really just thought that? His heart started to pound, and his breaths started coming in short gasps, he felt like he was suffocating. Yes it had been hard to get clean, but he hadn't had a thought like that in months. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, fighting an internal battle but it must have been a while because he heard the door slam and laughing female voices drift into the living room. Taking a steadying breath he licked his dry lips and forced his attention to the television, trying to gain some sense of composure before everyone entered the living room.

Jen plopped down on the couch to Priestly's right, Piper to his left.

"Feeling any better?"

Priestly heard Jen's voice but his attention was firmly on Tish. She had walked into the room without a word and sat on the bench under the window, away from everyone, not making eye contact. She was avoiding him, and it was painfully obvious. Priestly sighed and turned his attention to Jen, "Ya, much better. Thanks Jen."

Jen smiled back, pleased.

With a terrible sense of déjà vu, Trucker entered the room, clapped his hands together and spoke. "Ok, let's talk."

"So today's topic of conversation, me getting my ass handed to me."

Piper grimaced next to him, but stayed silent along with everyone else in the room. His eyes were downcast and he was rubbing his right hand, trying to alleviate the phantom pain that had suddenly appeared.

"So…uh." He blew out a breath, why oh why couldn't this couch just eat me alive? "Ok the uh… attack. Um, I got to work and parked, I had opened my door and was reaching for my bag when somebody jerked me out of the car onto the ground. When I sat up he kicked me in the face. Kind of went blurry after that."

He sat still, hoping everyone would just accept what he told them and not ask questions. Ya right…

"Did they say anything to you? Give any reason for the attack?" Trucker asked softly.

Priestly's teeth clenched, his jaw twitching. "Ya, ya he did."

"…and?"

"He said I was… he said I was a freak." Everyone in the room frowned, knowing how Priestly hated that word.

Freak, freak, freak, freak. The words kept repeating in his head, over and over, alternating between his attacker's voice and his fathers. He heard someone clearing their throat loudly, and snapped himself back into the conversation.

"Priestly, who attacked you."

Priestly could feel everyone's eyes on him, but pointedly ignored them. "Don't know."

Trucker's eye's narrowed as he pressed on, "Priestly, who attacked you."

"Truck, you ever heard of Oliver Goldsmith?" All the girls' faces pulled into frowns trying to decipher the seemingly random question. Trucker's face however grew dark.

"Priestly" he said in a stern voice.

"Take that as a yes" he mumbled under his breath.

For the first time since arriving Tish spoke, "Who's Oliver Goldsmith? What does this have to do with anything?"

Trucker waited for Priestly to answer and when it was apparent he wasn't going to Trucker answered for him. "He was an Irish playwright, he has a famous quote. Ask me no questions…"

"…and I'll tell you no lies." Priestly finished. "Don't make me do this Truck."

Trucker moved directly in front of Priestly before asking in a voice that left no room for argument. "Priestly. Who. Attacked. You?"

Priestly met Truckers stern face before sliding his focus to the side onto Tish's face, "I'm so sorry."

She frowned.

In a broken voice he finally answered the question, "Tadd. It was Tadd."

Silence filled the room as everyone absorbed the information they had just received. Trucker's head had dropped forward, chin resting on his chest in a defeated position. Piper and Jen just sat, stunned before turning their attention to their friend sitting in the corner. Tish however was just staring at him, unmoving.

No, no, no, no, "You're lying" she blurted out.

Priestly's heart broke. Shattered. Into a million tiny pieces. He could only listen in horrified silence as Tish continued speaking.

"You're lying. Tadd wouldn't do this, I mean why would he do this?" she shouted, ignoring Priestly's flinch at her harsh words. She wanted to stop talking, but the words just kept coming out of her mouth. Tadd couldn't have done this, right? But in her heart of hearts she knew it was true, and she knew why he did it. She finally recognized what had been there all along, the feeling that was never recognized. She liked Priestly… alot, and apparently Tadd had noticed before she even did. Looking up she saw Trucker's disappointed expression before he turned and left.

Before anyone could even react Priestly had sprung from the couch and disappeared from the room into the spare bedroom. Jen and Piper looked at each other, totally lost in this messy situation. Trucker just shook his head, disappointed in how things had turned out. He stared at Tish with a mix of pity and anger before walking down the hallway to knock on Priestly's door.

"Priestly? Can I come in?"

He was met with silence, so he knocked again. When there again was no answer he twisted the knob and entered the room. Glancing around and finally seeing the flapping curtains on the open window, Trucker sighed.

Priestly was gone.