"Where are you planning to stay, now that they are releasing you?" Neal asked concerned as he heard the bald man grunt painfully while tying his shoelaces.

"Your landlady June has arranged something in one of her guestrooms. I will be fine and taken care of, Neal. Don't worry about me." Neal sat on one of the chairs, just observing Mozzie who did his best hiding how bad his chest still hurts from him while gathering his stuff together.

"I can talk to Peter and Elizabeth if you like. Maybe they let me stay there with you. We can help each other out. You won't be alone, then." 'Yeah, that was not a good idea,' Mozzie thought. 'I can't protect you! You almost fell till death from that balcony, under my watch!' He shook his head, feeling suddenly very hot. The kid needs to stay at the Burkes. Just until he can button his own blouses again without gasping for air. Luckily Neal hadn't seen that part yet. A nurse helped him dress this afternoon.

"Oh please! Neal. You know how June is. It's all taken care of."

Neal knew what Mozz was doing. He wanted him to think that everything was okay. But Neal wasn't stupid. He actually saw Mozzie coughing up blood, back in that cold stinky place. His friend had been through a lot. And being alone was not good; especially when he was still recovering. There was something that Mozzie didn't want him to know about.

"What if June has to go out of town?" Neal tried again. 'Maybe Mozz was just stubborn admitting he needed some help and comfort,' he thought.

Mozzie shook his head in defense.

"Stay with the Burkes, buddy. You're doing so well, now with them around. Don't spoil it by getting away with me. I can take care of myself, you know that," the bald guy said soft and in a most honest tone Neal ever heard.

"There will always be staff around to check up on me."

"Like who? I thought you didn't trust anyone? This won't last long, Mozz. You might as well admit it now." Neal chuckled. But Mozzie didn't flinch.

"How about Klara?" he asked.

Neal frowned.

"Who?"

"Remember black-haired Klara? That Dutch housemaid? Klara! I heard she was personally ordered to take care of me once I got out of this place. She is such a sweetheart." Mozzie smiled at him with a sparkle in his eyes. Even if this was a con to make him stop nagging, it was well played. But then… Klara?

"Klara?" Neal had to ask. He didn't have a recollection of the housemaid where Mozz was talking about.

Mozzie must've noticed his distress and helped him out in his own way.

"Klara. Long, tiny nose, big blue eyes, cheerful smile; that Klara?"

Neal blinked. He didn't remember her. Mozzie heaved a sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"You don't know where I'm talking about," Mozz mumbled disappointed. He wanted to reassure his younger friend. But he realized he only made him more upset. Now he was actually worried about his own brain. There was no Klara. Poor Neal. Mozzie bit his lip.

"Eh… No… I don't." His eyes went up and down, left and right, but didn't look up at his bald friends face. He just couldn't muster.

"Should I be worried now?" Neal asked a bit insecure. Again, his eyes darted up from his one dirty shoe but this time to look into Mozzie's eyes. His friend look wasn't disapproving at all. Mozzie just looked concerned. Guilty even.

"No, Neal," he started softly. Warmly. "She ehhh… isn't around much, during the day. Besides, she… ehhh… isn't…." Mozzie's voice was quiet now. Something else was bothering him now.

"Never mind about Klara. How are you holding up, friend? You are awfully quiet after you visited Ellen's grave. Want to talk about it?"

Now Neal's worried face went to a pale mess. Every time someone mentioned Ellen's name he got a little nervous.

'Well done, moron. You only make things worse and worse. Shame on you,' Mozzie cursed at himself.

Neal shifted on his chair.

"Did you finally get that closure what you'll have been hoping for?" The silence was too long. Neal wasn't planning to talk about it, but since he had lost that skill to hide or ignore everything he felt, Neal just gave up.

"I already told you about it, Mozz. Elizabeth and I told you everything." His blue eyes focused at his dirty shoe. That made Mozzie shifty and scraped his throat.

"No. Uh… Yes I know that. But really. You can come clean with me, Mon frère." Mozzie saw that his friend try his best not to show his face to him, so Mozzie shrugged his aching shoulders and lowered himself on his unfolded bed.

"Was it… confronting?" Immediately Mozzie regretted his choice of words.

Just like he suspected it made Neal snort in frustration and looked up.

"It was Ellen Parker's grave. Of course it was confronting!" Mozzie held up his hands apologizing. He was so out of his leak on this best friend thing, today. What took Peter or Elizabeth so long to save this mess he made? Meanwhile Neal fidgeted with the zip line of his coat. Already anxious enough to run away any second now. Well... limping was more accurate, unfortunately. So Mozz heaved a sigh and tried to calm his centre first before talking again. Immediately he felt better. More like himself, that is.

"Look. You did well, Neal. I heard you stayed awake during this. You haven't blacked out or fall asleep. So that's already an improvement." Neal shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

"Not making this better, Mozz."

Peter and Elizabeth chose that moment to walk in the room presenting the wheelchair for Mozz. Finally.

"Hey there, fellas. Ready to go home?" Peter said cheery.

'Home… where?' Mozzie thought.

El chuckled as she hugged Peter's arm lovingly. But looking down on those two moping faces the atmosphere changed abruptly. There was a short silence before Mozzie decided to break it with a sheepish laugh; feeling a bit foolish.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go, Mr. Suit. Let's get back to June's mansion." At that Neal looked up at Peter as he was supposed to say something about it. Peter didn't get it at first. Until Elizabeth immediately got where the 'kids' had been up to. Again she chuckled. There was obvious been some kind of disagreement.

"Were you guy's been fighting about where to stay?"

"No, of course not,"Mozzie said. El frowned.

"Because you said 'June's mansion' like your life was depending about it, Mozzie."

'They are just like kids.' The only thing that wandered through Peter's head. He couldn't help but grin secretly.

"He is not staying alone, Peter. He needs someone around to make sure he is not going to do anything stupid," Neal said, still looking expectantly at him.

"Neal," Mozzie mumbled.

"Mozz!" Neal spat.

That was when El came in between to save the day.

"Alright you two. First we take Mozz to his room at June's. The landlady already informed us about the plans. Than we just see what happens next."

A short silence. Again. But then they all agreed.

"Fine," Neal said, still looking a bit suspicious.

…

AN: Just a little light reading for today. Next chapter will be come closer to the end of this story. It will be longer and hopefully better than this one.

X

Josie