The funeral home was small and not as fancy as some of the larger funeral homes were, but Gareth found that he liked small ones better than the bigger ones anyway.

What was the point of getting fancy about it when all you were doing was putting a corpse in a box before burying it so that no one looks at it again?

He shuddered at the idea of his mother lying under the cold ground, rotting away to nothingness with the worms and other bugs eating away at her insides.

Tim felt the shudder and he turned to Gareth and gave him a small smile.

"It will be all right." He assured him. "I'm right here and I'm sure the rest of your family can't be bad, aye?"

The two of them were still standing outside the front doors, Gareth leaning against Tim for support as he cradled his throbbing hand to his chest.

"Why does your hand hurt?" Tim asked. Gareth could only shrug and shake his head as the pain slowly subsided and he let his arm fall back down to his side.

"I dreamt about the last time me da' broke me fingers." He said softly.

"I swear to God…If I ever meet your da' I'm going to kick his fucking ass from here to next week."

"Don't!" Gareth said, looking panicked suddenly as he held onto Tim's arm tightly.

Tim was surprised at the grip the frail looking man had, and he winced as his nails dug into the skin.

"Ow! Gareth, what the..?"

"My da' is a really big man." Gareth said softly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in real terror.

Tim looked at him and he soon gave up, gently taking Gareth's hand away from his now sore arm.

"Are you ready to go inside?" he asked.

Gareth hesitated, biting his lower lip as he looked back at the door.

"Gareth?"

"I…I'm ready." He said finally, staring down at his shoes as he said this.

Tim nodded and he patted his shoulder before opening the door.

"Come on then. I'd like to meet your mum." He coaxed him gently.

Slender fingers twisted and interlocked as Gareth fought the urge to throw up. He was about to see his mother in a wooden box, surrounded by useless flowers that would be the shapes of crosses and hearts and Gareth knew that no matter what he said, he would never be ready for that.

He looked over at Tim for a moment and he felt some comfort from the man being with him.

He took a step forward and was soon inside and he hugged himself as he looked around and felt his chest start to tighten as one of the men who worked here walked over, smiling at the two of them.

Gareth wanted to demand what he was smiling about, but he just bit his tongue and looked to the side, staring at a painting of a pirate ship being attacked by a monster squid.

"Are you two here for Alina Keenan?"

Gareth said nothing and Tim sighed as he stepped forward, keeping an arm around his friend's thin shoulders.

"We are." He said. "This is her son so…"

"Oh of course! Little Gareth!" the man said with a smile and a clap of his hands.

Gareth only snorted, turning to give him a hostile glare that Tim did not really understand.

"Where's me mum?" he asked.

"She's in the first room on the right." He said. "But…I do need to talk to you about payment." He added, stepping back into their path when they started to walk.

Gareth glared at him and Tim got ready to step in.

"Me mum died because your mate Brock broke the order of protection and killed her!" Gareth snarled and Tim looked at the new man with raised eyebrows.

"Did you think I would forget about what you did to me, Lance?" Gareth added, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "You always liked me hands remember?"

"I…I have no idea what you're…"

"Of course you do!" Gareth snapped. "You always made me jerk you off when da' made me go on holiday with you and the other perverted lads!"

Lance opened and closed his mouth several times, shaking his head as he looked to Tim.

"He always had such a wild imagination when he was younger…"

"I remember everything just fine!" Gareth snapped, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Now…ask me again about payment!"

The man stepped aside and Tim looked over his shoulder as he followed after Gareth.

"Me da' used to be in the army." Gareth explained softly, shrinking back to his usual twitchy and scared self once they were out of view. "He then became a cop and he made a lot of friends…"

"That's one of the guys who..?"

"He didn't bugger me or anything." Gareth said. "He would just talk about me hands a lot and make me use them on him."

"Jesus…"

The door to the room that held his mother was closed and Gareth stared at it helplessly and a faint noise came from his throat that made Tim wince.

"Gareth…"

The noise grew louder and Gareth soon disappeared into the bathroom.

There was a part of him that wanted to be annoyed with Gareth for being this emotional, but Tim would soon feel guilty and blush a bit.

If it had been him and his mother, he doubted that he would be in good shape either.

He waited for a moment before he then opened the door and went into the bathroom after him and he found Gareth stooped over the full sink of water, his face currently submerged.

"Gareth, are you trying to drown yourself?" he asked, half kidding and half being very serious.

He lifted his head slowly, blowing water out of his nose and mouth before turning to look at Tim.

"The last time I saw her, she was alive and smiling." He said. "She was pale and a bit too thin from the cancer but at least she was smiling and happy to be alive. I'm not sure if I can handle seeing her…dead like that, you know?"

Without thinking it all the way through, Tim walked up to Gareth and he rested a hand on his back. He then slowly leaned forward, his face inches away from Gareth's as he gave him another one of his patented comfort smiles.

"I know that it must be hard for you." He said, his hand lightly stroking Gareth's back. "I can't even imagine the pain you're going through right now. All I can do is stand here and try to give you some comfort."

Gareth stared at him in silence and for the first time Tim realized that Gareth's eyes were not as dark as he had original thought that they were.

They were a shade of blue that almost pierced into his head as he looked and before he knew it, Tim found himself closing the gap between the two and Gareth closed those beautiful blue eyes and bowed his head as Tim kissed wet brow.

After a few moments of silence, Tim's eyes snapped open when he realized what he had just done and he leapt back, leaning on the sink to keep his balance.

"Shite! I'm sorry! Gareth…" he fumbled.

Gareth did not seem so very upset or offended by the kiss however as he slowly opened his eyes and Tim thought that he caught a flicker of a smile cross those thin gray lips.

Those thin, gray, and very kissable lips.

"Thank you." Gareth said, draining the water from the sink. "For everything, Tim."

Tim nodded lamely, still unable to really believe what he had just done, or the fact that Gareth didn't seem at all fazed by it either!

"I'm ready to see her one last time." Gareth said, and he slowly squared his shoulders before heading out of the bathroom, followed by Tim once more.

Gareth took a hold of the handle of the door and after taking in a deep breath, he swung the door open; his brow tingling with warmth where Tim's lips had made contact.