Author's Note: Hey, guys. This, week, instead of posting a new chapter, I've decided to go back and redo last week's chapter. At the rate I was going at, the end of the story would've been completely rushed and anti-climactic. I'm sorry to those who read last week's chapter and were waiting for more, but I promise, this is going to set up a much more exciting climax and ending.

Liam didn't complain much when he was put to bed. His brain felt muddled like there was a fog obscuring his thoughts. They were there, but he couldn't see or comprehend them. All he knew was that he was tired.

Gregg laid Liam down and covered him up, giving him an "I love you" before kissing him on the forehead. Then, he left, and the door shut. He tried to sleep for a few minutes until he realized he was thirsty. After a glass of water, he would go to bed, so he got up to ask for one. As he was about to open up the door, however, he heard his two fathers talking.

"I don't know. I'm just worried.", said Gregg, "Michael's coming soon. He probably won't be happy to see Liam with a concussion. I know this is probably crazy, but what if he takes Liam away?"

"Take me away?", Liam thought.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. He'll understand. Mistakes happen.", replied Angus.

"Aren't you scared, though?", asked Gregg.

"There's no point to being scared. If Michael really did decide to take Liam away from us, there wouldn't be much we could do about it."

"I guess…"

"Come on. It'll be fine. Just relax.", assured Angus.

Liam stood there, letting the conversation sink in.

"He might take me away?"

"No, I can't go back."

"Please, don't make me go back."

"He said it'll be fine."

"What if he's wrong?"

Liam was terrified of going back to the orphanage, of losing the first people to love him in years. He wasn't thirsty anymore. He was sick to his stomach. Ultimately, he went back to bed, but the muddled thoughts kept him up. Sleep did come eventually, but it wasn't peaceful. Vivid dreams of the loss haunted him. More and more, "what if" died off, leaving only "he's wrong." There had to be some way out…

Liam woke up early the next morning. The morning routine was mostly normal, only with the addition of medication. He was handed a pill with his breakfast.

"You know how to swallow pills, right?", asked Angus.

"Yeah." He knew all too well. He'd forgotten how many bottles of ibuprofen he'd gone through in the past few years. Taking a swig of milk, the pill went down effortlessly.

Gregg turned on the news to see what the weather was going to be like. Instead, the latest killings in the area were being reported on.

"Why does the news always have to be so depressing?", asked Gregg, "I don't want to see this crap."

"It makes money.", answered Angus.

"I'm sure there are happier things to talk about, though."

"Of course, there are. The world's constantly getting better. You know, there was recently a development in cancer research that might make it possible for even stage 4 cancer patients to get treatment with an almost fifty-fifty chance of recovery.", said Angus.

"See, that's something that should be on the news."

"Also, as much as they talk about murder on the news, the rates of homicide throughout the country are only decreasing. Poverty's going down, too. Homeless people are being given jobs and the ability to sustain themselves."

"Germ's still homeless, right?", asked Gregg.

"As far as I know. I haven't heard from him since he visited a few months ago."

"Who's Germ?", asked Liam.

"Oh, we haven't told you about Germ yet! He's really cool!", exclaimed Gregg.

"Or really stupid.", said Angus.

"What? What do you mean? Germ's awesome!", argued Gregg.

"He's willingly homeless, Gregg."

"Yeah! That's cool. He travels around on trains-"

"Illegally."

"I know, but isn't it cool that he gets to travel around the country, experience all of these different places, and meet all of these different people?"

"You do realize that he probably spends most of his time trying to scrounge up enough money to have food to eat, right? Also, he has to sleep outside in the cold."

"They make fires and stuff, right?", asked Gregg.

"That's also illegal."

"Alright, fine. You can say what you want, but I think Germ is cool. Despite all of that stuff, he's still out there, experiencing the world, and I respect that."

"Whatever. His family probably won't take him back in after this long. He's probably stuck like that now, so it doesn't matter."

"Wait, so he rides trains? How does he get the money if he's homeless?", asked Liam.

"He doesn't. He gets in one of the storage cars in the back and rides there without anyone knowing.", replied Gregg.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's been arrested by now.", said Angus.

"Nah, he's been doing this for years. He's fine."

Liam heard the story of Germ, and suddenly, there was a way out. All he had to do was hop on a train, and he could leave and not have to spend his life in the care of an orphanage and parents who may or may not abuse him. No more pain, no more responsibility, a life of exploration and adventure, it all sounded amazing right now.

"Next time Germ visits, you've got to talk to him. He's got some great stories.", said Gregg to Liam, breaking him out of his fantasy.

"Oh, yeah. Sounds cool.", replied Liam.

"Are you okay? You seemed like you zoned out there for a minute.", asked Angus.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Hm. Maybe, you should get some more rest."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just waking up still.", assured Liam.

"Okay. If you ever feel sick, lightheaded, anything, tell us, okay?"

"Yeah."

The weather came on. It would be rainy today, but tomorrow, the weather seemed to be perfect.

"Well, I guess we're stuck inside today.", said Gregg.

"We were going to be stuck inside anyways.", replied Angus.

"Oh, right. So, what are we going to do today?"

"Hmm… How about we play some scrabble?"

"Aw, come on. You win every time.", complained Gregg.

"I know.", said Angus with a cocky grin.

"Fine, but I'm going to beat you this time!"

And so, they played scrabble again. Liam found himself short of focus for the game, partly due to the concussion, but also partly due to the thoughts and feelings festering inside him. His escape, it had to happen soon. He didn't know where the train station was or how to get into a storage car unnoticed. Of course, Gregg and Angus only took this as the injury disorienting him.

Scrabble lasted for a few hours. Then, they watched some tv. Lunch and dinner came and went. Liam became tired earlier than usual, but he had to stay up. In order for his plan to work, he needed information he could only get after Gregg and Angus were asleep.

Through force of will, Liam managed to stay up long enough. Gregg yawned.

"I think maybe, we should get to sleep.", he suggested

"Mhm. Gotta remember we have work in the morning.", replied Angus.

"You should get to sleep, too, Liam.", said Gregg.

"Yeah, I will."

"Do you want me to tuck you in?"

Liam yawned and stood up, "No thanks. I'm fine."

"Okay. Good night then."

Liam went into his room and lied down in his bed. This is where the hard part began. He had to stay there long enough for Gregg and Angus to fall asleep. It was difficult to keep himself awake, but after about half an hour, or at least what felt like half an hour, Liam got up and moved to his bedroom door as quietly as possible. With extreme caution, he turned the doorknob, a small click ringing out before he eased the door open and peaked out. From what he could tell, his dads hadn't woken up.

He tip-toed into Gregg and Angus' room. The door was left open. The light snoring of Angus was unnerving. Liam felt like he might wake up at any moment. Looking at the desk next to the bed, Liam saw his objective, Gregg's phone. He knew he could find everything he needed on there.

Obtaining the phone happened, to Liam's relief, without major incident. Gregg turned over once in his sleep, which sent Liam's heart into a frenzy, but it never developed into anything more than that. With the phone in hand, Liam retreated back into his room and turned it on. Luckily, Gregg didn't keep a password of any kind on his phone, so Liam was able to open it immediately.

The first goal was to find the train station. A quick search on the map app gave him the directions he needed. It wasn't too far from the apartment. Next, he needed to see if he could find out how to board the train without being seen. It would be a conspicuous search, but that thought didn't cross Liam's mind at the time, so he looked it up. The results didn't give him much to work with. After a good deal of perusing the internet, Liam gave up and decided he would have to go in blind.

Once again, Liam was forced to traverse into Gregg and Angus' room. With the same extreme caution he had before, he placed the phone back on the desk next to their bed and started walking out. Step by step, he went, until his foot landed on a weak floorboard. The resulting creaking noise sent shivers throughout his being.

There was a shift in the bed. Gregg had turned. His eyes opened slightly.

"Huh?"

Liam was frozen in place. He had to hope, against all odds, that Gregg didn't notice him. When he pushed himself up, however, that hope was dashed.

"Liam? What are you doing here?", asked Gregg, "Are you having trouble sleeping?"

Taking what was given to him, Liam responded, "Yeah."

"Do you wanna sleep with us?"

Liam was afraid he'd look suspicious if he just left. He had to accept.

"Can I?"

"Sure. Come on." Gregg sat up, patting the bed.

Liam walked over and climbed in between Angus and him. Gregg lied back down and wrapped an arm around Liam.

"There. Is that comfortable?", asked Gregg.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. Good night."

"Good night."

Gregg was so warm and comforting. Liam felt so safe here. He didn't want to leave. Why did it have to be this way? Liam had to stop himself from crying. He couldn't let on that anything was wrong. Tomorrow would probably be the day he left. He'd never see them again. He wished he could stay with them longer, but with Michael coming any day now, the escape had to be soon. There couldn't be any screwups now.

Despite the inner turmoil and guilt, Liam fell asleep quickly in Gregg's embrace. Gregg and Angus were oblivious to what would happen the next day.