Stepney's Virginity Gets Lost


Written by: LittleRedToyota and SabbatSpiral


Disclaimer: We don't own any of the characters of TTTE. They all belong to Mattel.

Author's note: This story is based on a twisted RP, edited for publishing as we thought the story turned out interesting. The story took turns we didn't expect or had planned, so watch out for major triggers such as sexual abuse, swearing, violence and gore.
We also apologize for any grammar errors and typos we might have overlooked in the editing process.


Chapter 15


Stepney screamed and curled into himself. Roughly he was forced up, a sharp pain strangling his cries as whoever it was, dragged him into the darkness. A knife was pressed into the small of his back, not so much as to stab but more to threaten.

"Please… I don't have anything... My pockets are empty." Stepney sobbed.

"Surely you have something of value on you!" the mugger growled, not believing him.

He tore Stepney's jacket off, spotting the golden crucifix around his neck. His fingers toyed with it.

"This seems valuable..."

Stepney instantly tried to protect the only piece he had left of his parents. His hands shot up to try and push the much larger fingers away from the crucifix.

"This is all I have left of my mother. Please, I beg you… don't take it!" Stepney pleaded, whimpering as he struggled.

Stepney fell as the soft jacket was shredded by the knife. The thin cotton of his pajamas, suddenly now very much exposed, had him quaking further as the cold night air hit him.

The mugger was about to jerk the necklace off him when he was brutally grabbed and pinned up against the brick wall, feet no longer touching the ground. He gargled and squirmed, trying to pry open the iron grip around his neck. His knife dropped to the ground with a loud metallic sound.

"If you as much as pull out a strand of hair from him, I will beat you to a pulp!" Arry growled threatening, eyes fixed on the struggling man in his grip.

Stepney staggered as the pull on his necklace was released. Falling back into a puddle and soaking his pajamas, he gave a sharp cry as gravel cut into his palm. Stepney gasped for air, shock winding him.

"Arry...?"

Hearing Arry's voice was both intensely relieving and terrifying as the moonlight suddenly illuminated the scene. The snarl on his face was exactly the face he had made that night at the smelters. But the cool moon gave him something that he hadn't had in the scrapyards… Despite the pain and the muddy water soaking his pajamas, Stepney couldn't stop looking up at him.

"Touch anyone I care about again and you will not live to see another day! Understand?!" Arry snarled, making the robber to nod frantically. Panic and fear beaming from his eyes as Arry released his grip, causing the guy to run for his life.

Arry looked after him until he disappeared, breathing like an angry bull, looking like he was fighting an urge to chase after him and kill him.

Hissing with the pain of his cut hands, Stepney eased himself upright and out of the puddle. His curls were dirty, his pajamas ruined and his jacket beyond repair thanks to the knife. However, it was the chill wind that had him shaking still, not fear.

Stepney looked up at Arry after finding his balance, leaning against the wall.

"You saved me..."

"Don't make a big deal about it." Arry grumbled, finally moving his stare away from the direction the robber ran.

He swiftly removed his own jacket, handing it to Stepney without looking at him, finding the smaller man to be needing it more than himself.

Stepney gratefully accepted the jacket, snuggling deep into its fleece layer and already warmed fabric. Stepney gave Arry a faint, but grateful smile.

"Thank you..."

He wouldn't make a big deal out of it. That had been something Stepney had learnt to stick to while living with Arry.

"I was sent to see if you were alright. You left in a hurry." he continued instead.

Arry gave off an annoyed snort over being reminded of the night's events. He still felt like a human failure. Disliked by all, mentally unstable, not able to be a proper boyfriend to Molly, even failing to have sex... making everyone around him miserable... was there even any point in living?

If he was gone, Bert and Molly wouldn't have to worry or be burdened by his presence anymore. He didn't contribute with anything positive in anyone's life anyway. His jaw muscles worked as he pondered on this, his eyes dark from sorrow over realizing how useless he was.

He buried his hands deep in his pockets and started walking, Stepney sprinting by his side.

"I'm... fine." he mumbled, though he heard his voice revealing the opposite.

Stepney could more than sense his thoughts. He struggled to keep up with Arry's brutal pace, but with a little bit of goading to his shaky knees, Stepney managed to stay at least a step or two beside Arry. Keeping a respectful distance, he simply followed Arry as they walked into the night.

The scenery changed from packed terraced houses to wider semidetached. Newer builds amongst the thatched cottages and Victorian homes that gave the surroundings an odd incongruity. It was however strangely appropriate.

"Ok... Do you mind if I walk with you? You seem to need some company. I know you don't like me but maybe someone you don't like... could help?"

He had already been trotting beside Arry for at least fifteen minutes, so it was odd asking permission now. The distance was enough that Stepney wouldn't be able to make his own way back, at least not alone. He hoped this would deter Arry from doing anything too drastic.

"If you must..." Arry muttered, slowing his pace a little.

Truth be told, he had seriously considered going to the smelters and end himself by jumping into the furnace. Only the thought of Molly and the baby had held him back. They needed his income.

He gave off a joyless chortle. That was all he was good for, working at the ironworks for a minimum wage, barely enough to provide himself shelter and a little extra for Molly to spend on necessities.

He glanced sideways at Stepney, wondering if he was happy with his life, if he felt his life had purpose. How did he do it? How the hell did he manage to stay so annoyingly positive? Even daring to live in the same home as his own rapist...

Rapist... Arry felt sick to his stomach over that word. He knew he was one himself, and it made him want to jump in front of a truck. How could he do such a thing to another person, knowing how it felt to be raped himself? He shook his head. Even before he hit puberty, he had been sexually abused... and yet... he did the same to Stepney. What an awful person he was.

"I am beyond help, Terrier." he mumbled. "Lost cause."

"No one is, Arry... No one is ever a lost cause. God loves us all regardless of our sins..." the slower pace had Stepney catching up and able to look Arry in the eye.

He didn't think that an appeal to Arry's religiosity or lack thereof would do very much, but in Stepney's eyes it was the truth. No one was beyond redemption. No one was beyond hope. There was always a way forwards even if the road seemed impossibly dark and endless. He knew that road all too well himself. The rattle of his pills at night, taken quietly and without notice, only forced him to remember that extremely dark place that lurked in the back of his mind. God took up the rest. Stepney hoped it would be enough to see him through.

He looked at Arry, face trained straight, none of the comforting smile that he knew Bert liked. Arry didn't like that kind of overt comfort. So Stepney kept his tone as neutral as possible.

"No matter what it seems like now... You do have people who love you..."

"I don't deserve love." Arry avoided his stare, it was too intense, meeting the stare of his own victim.

"All I do is hurt people and cause them stress. Hell, I can't even be intimate with my girlfriend anymore without freaking out, and I know that stresses her and make her upset. Yet, I'm unable to do it for her. And she works her ass off to help me, while I'm unable to give anything back... even if I do lo...ve her." It was hard to speak of his feelings, especially to a man he hated so intensely.

"I just wish I wasn't such a failure. I wish I could give Molly and Bert what they deserve, but I'm nothing. I've never been anything... except a convenient toy and cum container for people who... why the hell am I even telling you this?!"

His eyes flashed with fury over how he had spilled one of his deepest secret to Stepney. Things he had struggled to even tell Molly...

"I'm not a person you want to hang around, Terrier." he mumbled, calmer. "I have nothing to give but pain and misery."

Stepney flinched but remained at Arry's side. He wasn't going to back down now. There was little in the way of danger from him now Stepney realized. Even though he had wanted to kill Stepney back in the smelters and had...

He blinked away the word, that just lead to the darkness; Arry was in need of help. He bit back the cold nausea in his stomach, the resentment and anger that still lingered despite the daily forgiveness. Arry was in pain. The sudden outpouring shocked him, but it wasn't surprising. He had wondered when the festering wounds would burst, and it seemed like they had begun to.

Stepney wasn't going to presume that he could help but he could at least be beside him regardless. The outpour of pain that Arry felt was so bleakly earnest. Stepney for a single moment wished he could take that aching away. No one deserved to be so tormented when he knew forgiveness was there.

"You aren't a failure, Arry. No man who has survived what you have could ever be considered a failure. At least not to me. Molly understands that you're struggling and that's why she's helping. We can't all be solitary islands, perfectly independent of others... That's just not how we are made. You are working so hard just to get by, that you deserve the help of others around you. Even if you weren't you still would deserve help." Stepney took his gaze away, realizing it wasn't helping and focused up on the full moon that hung in the sky like a pearl earring.

"You have been hurt... repeatedly and by so many that it must be hard to count. But... what they did... doesn't define who you are. It's a part of you but they have no right to invade your soul."

"I managed to keep the past on a safe distance until Vinnie... hammered in the last nail in my coffin, so to speak." Arry muttered bitterly.

He hadn't been able to take in half of Stepney's babbling, and he still couldn't understand why a person he had hurt in the worst possible way would want to help him.

"For what it's worth..." Arry began. "What I did to you has been haunting me among everything else, making me feel sick each waking moment of my day. And at night... well, you know how peaceful my nights are..." He gave an empty, joyless chuckle.

"Believe it or not... my downfall didn't start with you tattling on us back in school. It started before that, at the orphanage. I might as well tell you; life can't get much worse now anyway. I only have my job left to lose..." Arry sighed.

The cold nausea returned, cramping up Stepney's stomach as he tried to press down the increasingly intense memories. The phantom sensation of the screwdriver had his guts more than squirming.

In desperation, Stepney gestured to a bench that overlooked the estuary.

"Tell me about it... We have all night."

Arry shrugged, his cold stone face returning as he distanced himself enough to be able to tell his story without any major break down. He sat down.

"You already know Bert and I grew up at the orphanage... and how we were in school. I had good grades, but I was by no means a model student..." Arry began.

"Oh well... our childhood was pretty good, until we reached the age of 11... or 12, I don't fully remember. It was when we started getting interested in the girls... and long story short. I was caught kissing another girl by... Mrs. Billington, one of the orphanage nurses. She was the polar opposite of Inez... who I'm sure Bert has told you about, since you and Molly decided to make us that dessert..."

Stepney perched on the bench, drawing his knees up to his chin and listening. He remembered how much Bert had glowed when talking about Inez and how happy they had been around her. He had a dread feeling building in his chest about what this Mrs. Billington had done. He did hope he was wrong, but the clues were all there, glaring and impossible to ignore.

"Yes, he did... Molly and I hoped it might bring some joy or at least a few happier memories back."

"Everything reminding us of Inez is a happy memory." Arry said low, then his face turned empty again.

"Kissing was of course strictly forbidden in the orphanage, and Mrs. Billington could have given me the regular punishment, which was spanking. But no... she had some sick needs... and she threatened to go after Bert if I didn't obey her or told anyone. So, I... learned about sex early. Too early. I hadn't even hit puberty."

The stone dropping into Stepney's stomach was expected, but he still wished he had been wrong. A vague memory floated in his mind eye. Something Arry had said as Bert held him against the wall in the scrapyards...

Yes, that was right. Arry had said this while Stepney had pleaded for his life in the scrapyards. The orphanage manager…

That night was fuzzy; blurred mass of sensations, terror and pain with only a few sharply focused memories that stuck like splinters in his mind.

"I don't remember much from the night in the scrapyard... But yes... I remember this one. You... You killed her in revenge."

"I didn't. Bert did." Arry said low, staring into nothing. "I wish it was me though. I would have loved to be the one robbing her of her life, but Bert got to her first. I took the blame though, or at least I tried. Didn't want Bert to get in trouble... but yeah, you informed the police of where to find us, and we were sent to juvie. And for some weird reason, people seem to think my body is theirs to use... I didn't even have to pick up to soap in the shower to become every old man's cum container. I just hope they were too busy abusing me to lay hands on Bert, because I seriously don't want him to go through the same. Those clammy hands on my body, the wet, soggy kisses... like a wet mop in my face... various objects rammed into me until I bled... yeah, those memories come to me at night. Such pleasant memories..." sarcasm dripped from Arry's voice now.

Stepney tried not to imagine what it must have been like for Arry and Bert inside juvie, but it was too graphic not to. He shuddered, eyes screwed shut against the images and the unspoken accusation in Arry's words.

At this point, Stepney knew very clearly why Arry hated him as much as he did, even though he also had little choice. The police had questioned them all in school, he wasn't about to lie. Stepney had tried to make peace with that decision... He was a child; how could he have known. It didn't stop the niggling anxiety and the lurking darkness feeding off the pain that swirled in his heart.

"I'm sorry... That was beyond cruel. No one should ever do that to anyone... Let alone a child."

"Still... I did. To you." Arry said firmly, meeting Stepney's stare now. "Even though I knew what damage it does to one's soul... And still you try to tell me I'm not an awful person. How do you do it? How are you able to stay so sickening positive?"

He studied the smaller man. Stepney looked so fragile, like he would break at the slightest gust of wind, but still he must have an inhuman strength as he hadn't been broken by Arry's abuse.

"How the hell are you even able to sit near me without wanting to murder me?" Arry said low.

Stepney looked at him and this time was totally honest.

"Because I wouldn't be able to call myself a Christian if I didn't. I forgave you. It hurts each day to get through my own nightmares and... take the pills that keep the darkness at bay but... I get up and I forgive you. It's the only way I can sit here and not want to murder you. Do you scare me...? Yes. Am I scared of you...? Not as much as I used to be. I put my faith in God, Jesus Christ and Mary the Holy mother, with them... I have the courage to face the day. "

"Hmm." Arry simply uttered.

He couldn't understand how a god could have such strong effect on people. He had abandoned God after Mrs. Billington started her abuse. He had spent so many nights praying for it to stop, for things to get better, but all just got worse, so he had lost his faith back then.

"I lost my faith. Your God never listened to my prayers. Not once." he snorted. "And you don't have to fear me. If I wanted to kill you, I would have already."

"It's not a matter of having to be... It's like your hatred of me. It's involuntary and I can only control the outcomes it has, how it affects others around me. As for God not listening... God is always listening even if it doesn't seem like it. But... I suppose that's easy for me to say." Stepney looked back over the water and the moon reflections that dazzled on the calm river.

It was easy for him to say, even though he had at one time begged God to take away his homosexuality. Though later he had come to realize that instead it was a challenge for him to overcome and control rather than to just get rid of. A challenge he seemed to be miserably failing at. Bert's warm kisses sent a pleasant, but unwelcome heat into his stomach.

Shaking it off, Stepney sighed, not sure what else to say without making the situation worse. They were so different, two very different people in very different situations and having very different ways of dealing with it. Maybe he shouldn't have been the one to go after Arry in the first place.

"What kind of God allows child abuse? Doesn't sound like a guy people should have faith in..." Arry grumbled, nailing Stepney with his stare. "But given the history the catholic church has with child abuse... I guess you being a catholic think it's perfectly fine. God's mysterious ways and blah blah blah..."

Arry despised religion, even the one he once believed in, and it dripped from each word.

"In the end... the only one you can trust is yourself. Only you can hold your hand through life." he muttered, turning his eyes to the night sky.

"That's unfair, Arry, and you know it is. No, I don't think it's alright, but I will not deny the strength the church and God has given me as person. Despise it all you like, I have no intention of trying to convert you... I merely gave you an honest answer to your question. I'm not a priest, I'm not a monk, and I'm definitely not a Saint. I don't have those answers, however I do know that there are people who you can trust. Hard to find, maybe, but there are people in the world who can be trusted." Stepney met the stare with one of his own, none of the trembling that Arry had seen when they had first met and none of the doe eyed startle that had happened this evening.

He wasn't going to be forced to defend his own beliefs this time, even if Arry didn't like it. The church had done horrible things as an institution, it had been wrong, but nothing was perfect... Not even the church. Only God was and that was all Stepney cared about.

Arry shrugged.

"Whatever floats your boat. But you might as well believe in Santa..." he mumbled. "Or the flying spaghetti monster."

In his mind believers were complete idiots. He would start believing the day the Gods' existence was proven.

"So... what's your plan with my brother? Keep his hope burning to make sure he won't date anyone else, while rejecting him in the name of God?" he leaned back, casually, like he was talking about the weather.

Himself, he had decided to stop sleeping around and stay faithful to Molly. Not that he would be as popular with the ladies as he used to, now that his body was ruined, but that wasn't the reason.

Molly had stayed with him through it all, even when he had been horrible to her, even on the days he only slept and didn't give her any feedback or response. She deserved better than a cheating boyfriend, even if she had told him she was ok with him sleeping with other women. He wanted to become a better boyfriend to her from now on.

"Love is weird stuff, isn't it?" he mused, not expecting an answer from the other man.

"I never had any plans... I won't be dating him at all, and I am only his friend. That's all. I don't have some cruel plot designed to harm him, never did. He is my friend and I care very deeply for his wellbeing. Even if I do have feelings... yes, it is against my faith, but I'm hardly stopping him from dating. I half believe that he latched onto me because of what Scott was doing to him and that I will only end up being a passing fancy." Stepney's heart sank at his own words, voicing the words that had swirled in his head like vultures.

He was only a passing fancy. Part of him deeply wanted to believe that it was true, it got him off the hook and it meant that any other feelings would in time cool off as he settled back into a life where Bert was once again out of reach.

However, a tiny little voice whispered to him of how much he wanted Bert for himself and the pain of considering him with another was too great for it to be imagined. Stepney had kept a muzzle on that little voice, except tonight, when his blood had just run so hot that his desires burst through in his sleep.

"It is strange but it's also what keeps us strong." he said, replying to Arry's musings.

Arry stared up at the stars without saying anything for a while, just thinking of all the twists and turns in his life and wondering what tomorrow would bring.

"It keeps us strong and makes us weak at the same time. Curious thing... Love." Arry mused. "Our strongest and weakest weapon..."

He turned to look at the smaller man.

"Bert isn't the man-whore I am." Arry said low, ashamed over his own low morale. "When he loves someone... he loves with all his heart until he is either rejected or it ends in a break up... and even then, his feelings will still burn under the surface, even if he finds a new love in life."

Stepney looked at Arry seriously.

"I did reject him... I said that I couldn't be a lover for him as it is wrong for me to be so. I can't be his lover. I will be his friend instead."

Looking back over the river, he murmured something that Arry almost didn't catch.

"It doesn't mean I don't love him though."

"Still... you two were pretty passionate while kissing each other tonight..." Arry shrugged. "Weird thing to do if you're only friends."

The moon made the river sparkle like it had been sprinkled with glitter.

Stepney flushed so brightly that it was visible, even in the cold moonlight. Giving a soft noise of frustration, he kicked at the loose stones around the bench, watching it skitter into a puddle sending ripples over the still surface.

"That was an accident. I... I had a dream and I... I started to grind against Bert. I was unconscious and when I woke, I was in a state of panic and arousal. Not all of it is very clear... it was Bert who helped me wake up completely and realize what I was doing."

"How far would you have gone if he didn't?" Arry cocked an eyebrow against him, finding it strange why someone who were so clearly in love with another man, would suppress that for the sake of religion alone.

"I... I'm not sure. I can't even remember much of it..." the flush deepened.

It was true that he didn't remember at least the beginning, but he did so very clearly remember just how good and sweet those kisses were. Even the memories ignited the heat in his stomach and Stepney had to force himself calm.

Arry chuckled low.

"Yeah, right... keep telling yourself that."

Stepney's blush gave it away.

Arry fell into thoughts again, this time about other events that night.

"Is Molly ok? I... panicked and I don't really know what I did until I found myself out on the street..."

Stepney knew that he had to measure his words very, very carefully, he had heard Molly's cry of pain and seen her roll onto her side clutching herself, but other than that he wasn't entirely sure. The wrong words could have a disastrous effect and he was all too aware that Arry was in a fragile mental state as it was. One wrong move and Stepney might just be responsible for yet another tragedy.

"I'm not entirely sure... I heard her cry out, but I think it was more for your sake rather than herself. You left so quickly, I barely had time to put on my shoes and coat."

Stepney prayed that he had said the right thing. He had seen more, but there was no way that telling Arry that he could have hurt Molly would be good for him... or her.

Arry hid his face in his hands, distressed. He just couldn't bear the thought of possibly having hurt her. Though Stepney hadn't said anything specific, Arry still feared the worst. Molly wasn't one to cry out for no reason... He looked tired and aged when he looked up again, the pain painted in his face.

"I should have known better than pushing myself that far... It happens every time, why did I think tonight would be different?" he said, his voice flat and void of hope. "That part of my life is over... I shouldn't try again. There is no point."

On instinct Stepney put his hand on Arry's shoulder, the urge to comfort the distressed man overriding the other more sensible voice telling him that was a bad idea. Griping his shoulder as firmly as his freezing hands could, he pulled Arry's hands away from his face catching his gaze.

"No, no, this is just a setback. You just aren't ready yet and that's perfectly fine... that's perfectly normal after what you've been through. I..." Stepney stopped, wondering if he should admit to Arry that he hadn't been able to do any maintenance work on his engine or even drive the thing after what had happened.

He had been on indefinite leave for over three months now and still couldn't look at a toolbox. The idea just filled him with the biggest levels of dread that he had ever experienced in his life. It tore at him, his job, his passions and his life had revolved around engineering and now, he could barely stand to walk into his own shed.

His grip shook as the thoughts came crashing in on him, sending him into tremors, suffocating his words

Arry jumped and tensed up, then he shook his hand off, snarling.

"Just because I tolerate you doesn't mean I want to be touched... we're not friends, Terrier. And I have a huge problem with men touching me..."

He knew Stepney meant it well, but males... laying hands on him... even with good intentions, stirred up feelings his didn't want to surface. He tried to keep the panic away, being touched like this was weakening that defense... allowing some of it to slip through and get to him.

"Touch me again and I can't guarantee for your life." he said low, it wasn't a threat, it was just stating the obvious.

The hand was very quickly snatched back and hidden away inside the jacket. Stepney mumbled an apology, not meeting Arry's glare.

"It's men in general, Terrier. I've had problem with that since juvie. Many broken noses have been the result of someone trying to hug me... I can't control it." Arry mumbled, looking sad down at the ground.

"Sometimes... I wonder what kind of person I would have been if... If Mrs. Billington had never touched me. It was her starting it all... if Bert hadn't murdered her, we would never been in juvie... I would never have met all those... men. I really wonder if I would have been a better person, or if I would have ended up as the same loser I am today."

"We all have boundaries, Arry… You're not a worse person for not wanting men to touch you. And well... We can't know what we could have been like if the bad stuff didn't happen, all we can do is control our own actions of the present. At least that's what I believe, and work towards being the best person I can be. That's why we have rules in the church... to help us be our best selves in line with the law of God. "

Stepney wanted so much to hug Arry. The man was in so much pain, and everything in Stepney just wanted to let him know he wasn't alone.

"Again with the church!" Arry groaned, though he didn't sound angry, just dejected.

No church in the world could help him become a better person. He was completely ruined. A scum. A nobody. A rapist...

"I don't ask you to forgive me for what I did to you, Stepney... but I want you to know it haunts me and I'm not proud of what I did. Knowing too well what things like that does to one's soul, I should never have done that to another person. Not even you."

The air was still for a moment, nothing but the wind in the trees and the ripples on the water providing any sound at all. There wasn't even an owl in the distance.

"I still forgive you for it." the reply was small, halting but still very clear. Stepney's jaw set as he kept his eyes on the moon.

"You don't have to." Arry replied, staring up at the same moon. "I'll never forgive my rapists. Or myself."

"I know I don't... so I do it anyway. I'm stubborn like that." Stepney insisted.

Arry just nodded, maybe he could have forgiven his rapists too, if it had been just a one-time happening.

"I wish I was."

"It has to be your decision... If you don't want to... you said it yourself, you don't have to."

Stepney truly had forgiven Arry for what he had done. He wasn't sure if he was able to explain why or how, but it was just a process. It made each day a little bit more bearable.

"I'm unable to." Arry muttered, looking tired and broken. "I'll rather focus on being a better partner for Molly. She's worthwhile."

"That's fair, Molly really is so lovely." Stepney added a little brightness into his tone, hoping that it might lift Arry's mood.

"Yeah... she is. I do wonder what she sees in me though. I would never have dated me if I were her..." Arry said somberly.

"Other people see our better qualities easier than we see them ourselves... usually." Stepney chuckled, also thinking what it was that Bert saw in him considering that only a few months ago, he hated his guts and now they were struggling to keep their hands off each other.

"I honestly don't have any good qualities, Terrier." Arry said, his voice sounding empty. He stood up, pacing around a bit.

"Molly clearly disagrees... I disagree..."

Arry turned to him, looking weirded out. What the hell did Stepney see of good quality in him?

"You know... you don't have to say that just to make me feel better..." he snorted, starting his restless pacing again.

"I don't lie, Arry. You know that."

"I don't understand how you can see anything good in me at all."

Stepney looked at him with a broad smile.

"You saved me tonight even if you didn't have too, you support your brother and Molly more than you realize, and you are nothing if not loyal to those who you get close to. You have trauma, absolutely, and... well... you do stuff that honestly, I can't support, but that doesn't exclude the positives either. I saw how gentle and loving you are with Molly, someone who is as lost as you claim to be wouldn't give two flamingos about her or her needs."

"Hmm..." Arry crossed his arms over his broad chest, he had never seen it like that. "Though I didn't save you for your sake, I did it for Bert. He loves you, and he would be very upset if anything happened to you..."

He simply refused to admit his own life had been better with Stepney living with them too, so he smoothed over by blaming it as something he did for his twin brother only.

The smile Stepney gave him was most definitely very cheeky. "Keep telling yourself that."

Arry gave him the finger, but a shadow of a smile curled up the corner of his lip.

Stepney dissolved into giggles clearly proud of himself for that turnabout of the conversation. Smothering the sound by snuggling into the jacket, it was still clear that he was laughing from the shaking of his shoulders.

Arry offered him a hand to stand up. "I guess I should go home and check on Mol. You coming?"

Stepney looked at the hand, hesitating. "Are you sure you're ok with me touching you?"

"It's a helping hand, and I'm the one offering. You won't risk your life." Arry shrugged, retreating, burying his hands in his pockets. He turned and started walking towards the ironworks again. He needed to see Molly... He needed to know if she was ok...

Stepney got up and ran after him. "I was just checking... It's what a friend does... or whatever I am to you."

"Hell, if I know..." Arry shrugged. "I don't hate as much as before."

"Well... That's good enough for me." Stepney smiled at him, digging his hands into his pockets and keeping at Arry's striding pace.

Arry stopped in front of the door when they got back to the flat, swallowing hard as he tried to prepare for what would meet him. Then he stepped inside, immediately walking over to the bed.

Stepney met Bert's stare and gave him a small smile, letting him know they were both doing well.


To be continued….


Stepney: SabbatSpiral
Molly: SabbatSpiral
Arry: LittleRedToyota
Bert: LittleRedToyota
Stranger: LittleRedToyota