- 3 years later - (Squall: 17)

Squall hasn't cried since he was eight. His mother left him when he was just a babe, his father left him long before that, his sister left him when he was eight and his angel left him when he was fifteen. He hadn't seen the blonde angel since he nearly drowned. When he first met the man he knew he could trust him. And he did, instantly. But he should have known that the angel would leave just like everyone else. He should have known not to trust a complete stranger. A stranger with wings even!

Today was the last straw though. He'd been living with his third set of foster parents for two years now. His foster mother was always out drinking and clubbing. His foster father chose to drink at home. He was a mean drunk, then again he wasn't a nice man to begin with. Dan (he'd told Squall to call him father, but the teenager refused to) liked to hit Squall. At first the brunet thought it was because he had done something wrong, but he soon learned that the man just liked hitting him. Liked to see his porcelain flesh all black and blue. Liked to see drops of blood flow down his chin from where the man would punch him in the nose.

But today... today he'd done something new. He'd never even come close to doing it to Squall before. Boys grow up thinking it could never happen to them, only the girls who were young and foolish and wore too short skirts and too tight shirts. On some level girls grow up to expect it. Boys do not. Squall knew about the homosexuals out there, and he didn't give a fuck about them. He was one himself. He liked other boys, but he'd never done anything beyond kissing. He was so naive he didn't even know how they had sex. He knew it was different for them, but he just didn't know how they did it. He'd never cared to ask Dan either, who was as homophobic as one person could possibly get.

Today Dan had found him kissing a guy. The man wasn't supposed to come home yet, so Squall hadn't had time to rush the boy out like he usually did. His foster father cursed and yelled, calling him all the insults one can imagine for a homosexual. It hurt him deeply, but he knew a lot of people didn't like gays. He never expected to receive what he did though.

Dan had grabbed him by the arm, dragging him into his bedroom. He didn't know what was going to happen, he had just thought that Dan would get out the belt again. Instead he found himself quickly discarded of clothes and a naked body soon flush up against him. He had screamed, but it hadn't helped him. His foster father seemed to take pleasure in his screams, and he only got angry when Squall tried to get away. So Squall decided to just lie still; take it without complaint. He knew he didn't deserve this, he didn't do anything wrong. Being gay wasn't wrong.

At the stabbing pain of something being stuck up his ass, he soon felt the first bit of tears collecting in his eyes. He swallowed them down and instead focused his attention on a crack in the ceiling. Just over Dan's sweaty head. When he felt liquid spilling down his thighs and cum shooting into his passage, he screamed. Long and hard. Just like Dan's thrusts.

His foster father had kicked him out of his bedroom and told him to get cleaned up and go to his room. Squall did so dejectedly. He didn't care if he was clean anymore, he didn't care if he knew what Dan did was wrong and he was supposed to tell someone. He didn't want anyone to know. And no one ever would.

Squall was holding onto a large silver knife. The kind used to cut tough meat. The jagged end would be sure to tare into his skin; it would do the job nicely. Placing it against his forearm, he pressed the knife down gently. Saying a silent goodbye in his head (to no one really, maybe just a goodbye to the hell hole that was his life), he quickly slashes the large knife across his flesh. Blood flows out of the cut quickly and soon pools around him.

He watches, fascinated at the amount of blood that could come from one simple cut. He must have cut an artery. Hmm... he was starting to get a little tired. Maybe if he just closes his eyes, everything will be over with quickly.

Squall yelps when he feels a pair of strong arms encircle him. Thinking it was his foster father he tries to get away from the man only to find the grip stronger than even Dan's. Turning his head slightly, the brunet almost smiles when he sees the blonde angel.

The man smiles, a small tear makes it's way down the angel's cheeks. Squall lifts his hand weakly to gently sweep the tear away. The blonde squeezes him tenderly and loosening his hold slightly, the man holds out his hand and places it on the bloody forearm. A bright blue sparks and then seeps into the brunet's skin. The wound quickly closes and the blood seems to magically disappear. But the red liquid underneath the couple remind them of the incident.

The blonde turns the small youth to face him. He smiles gently when he sees the boy's eyes narrow slightly in exhaustion. Knowing he doesn't have much time, the blonde angel tells the teenager of where he's been for the past three years.

"I was always there with you. I saw everything your foster father did to you and I'm truly sorry I couldn't help you more then I did." The brunet scrunches his eyebrows in confusion.

"But you were never there. I haven't seen you since I was fourteen."

The angel smiles sadly. "I know. Those times that you did see me you were nearly dying. And I still got in trouble for showing my true form to you. I'm your Guardian angel, but we usually appear in human form to you. You might have caught a glimpse of a blonde man that looked similar to me in the streets." Squall nods slightly, realizing that his angel really had been there for everything..

"But why didn't you stop Dan?" the guardian angel's shoulders drop in sadness and what looks like helplessness.

"I wish I could have stopped him. But he wasn't doing anything to kill you, so I couldn't interfere. But since I never really listened to the rules and I love to find loop holes in them," the blonde smiles, a small mischievous twinkle can now be seen in his jade green eyes. And Squall somehow finds himself smiling back. "I came to you in the nights when you were asleep and couldn't see my true form. I healed the wounds caused by that wretched man and I stayed with you until you woke up." The brunet quickly thinks back to all the times when his foster father would beat him and then send him to bed. He would go to sleep sore and tired, but would somehow awaken to find that nothing hurt and he felt oddly warm, as though he had slept with a warm body next to him.

"I hope you realize that being a homosexual isn't wrong. Since that was the reason for Dan to rape you." The blonde narrows his eyes at Squall, but the teenager smiles slightly and nods his head.

"I know it isn't wrong." The angel suddenly frowns in thought, and lets out a chuckle. Squall frowns in confusion.

"I notice that all of your boyfriends have had short blonde hair and were taller then you by at least four inches." Squall blushes slightly, but doesn't bother lying. They both know it's true. And they both know why the brunet only had blonde boyfriends. The golden angel chuckles, tightening his hold on the boy, he pulls the youth to his large chest.

"We'll talk about it later. Until then, get some sleep. You must be extremely tired." Squall nods slightly and quickly finds his eyelids dropping in sleep as he nuzzles his head to the blonde's chest. Finally happy and content. Knowing that his angel will be there for him in waking. And they'll short through this mess and maybe they'll even start the relationship that both of them are craving.