"It doesn't matter." Richie finally replied.

But Duncan was not going to give up when he was this close. Urgently, he pressed the teen. "It matters to me. What do Tessa and I have that makes it hard for you to be with us, Rich? If you'll just tell me what it is, we can work it out."

"You're a family." Richie replied so quietly that Duncan wasn't entirely sure he heard him correctly.

The Immortal repeated what, he hoped, was merely a deception his ears were playing on him. "A family?"

"I know it's stupid." Richie said sullenly.

Duncan wasn't quite sure how to respond. "No, it's just."

"I know I'm an ingrate." Richie interrupted, the words now flying out of his mouth. "I should be glad I have a good place to stay. I know that. It just got too hard. You and Tessa have so much history. You care about each other so much and you're comfortable together. Even her parents and her friends; I mean, you know them. Everyone knows that you two belong together. You fit. I couldn't handle not fitting anywhere anymore. It was just too painful."

"So you left because you don't think you belong with us?" Duncan asked in disbelief.

He received a slight shrug in reply. "You guys have a good thing going here."

"Tessa was right." Duncan replied flatly. "You do need to learn your place."

"My place?" Richie's heart leaped into his throat. He hadn't anticipated Duncan 'putting him in his place' so to speak. Even as he braced himself for the inevitable beating, he wanted to kick himself for Duncan. How could he have been so stupid as to think that the Immortal wouldn't strike him? Where was his head? He always prided himself on being good at anticipating danger. How could he have not expected it after all the trouble he had caused? He had upset the man, probably lost him two days business, angered the girlfriend and now he was whining. Of course he was going to be beaten.

Duncan felt his heart drop further as he watched the teen brace himself. Pushing past his own feelings, he allowed the boy to completely pull away, recoil and shut his eyes before reaching out for him. Then, with one swift motion, Duncan gave the child what he needed; what he deserved.

It took Richie a few seconds before he was able to process what had happened. Opening his eyes slowly, he was more than a little surprised to find himself none the worse for wear. Instead of smacking him across the room, Duncan had pulled him into his lap and had both arms wrapped tightly around him.

After a few more seconds had past, Richie finally decided to address the situation. "Um, Mac?"

"Yeah, partner?" Duncan replied softly, his voice muffled by the side of the teen's head.

Richie continued hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

"Holding you." Duncan replied simply, stating the obvious.

Had he not been so confused by the situation, Richie probably would have rolled his eyes at that response. Instead, he simply continued to question the Immortal. "I've noticed." He said quietly. "Why, though?"

"I told you, Rich." Duncan replied, shifting his grip slightly as he felt the teen begin to pull away. "You need shown your place. This" He said, giving the teen a brief squeeze to emphasize his point. "is your place."

"My place is in your lap?" Richie replied, at a loss for any cute comebacks.

"Yes." The Immortal replied. For a few moments, he contemplated leaving it at that. He realized that was not a good idea, though. He needed to be very specific with Richie. Misunderstandings came easy with this particular boy and he was determined to make this area crystal clear for him.

"You belong here, Richie; in this house; as a part of Tessa and my family; even in my lap. I am so sorry that we haven't talked about this before now. In our defense, I think Tessa and I had just gotten so comfortable with our feelings for you that we thought they went without saying."

"Your feelings for me?" Richie replied, completely overwhelmed by the idea.

Duncan was absolutely determined to clear things up with Richie, even if it meant overloading the boy's emotional capacity. "Richie, you belong here with us. You've become a part of us. Why do you think I came looking for you; because I couldn't find a part-time store assistant? Do you really think we're that desperate to have a tenant living in your room?"

Richie was slow in his response. "No."

"Of course not." Duncan continued. "I came to get you because we WANT you here. Neither Tessa nor I could ever imagine you not being with us. You are a part of us whether you want to be or not."

"Yeah?" Once again, Richie's response was so quiet, Duncan wasn't entirely sure he had heard him.

"Yes, Richie." The Immortal replied emphatically. "You're stuck with us. Deciding you want to take off, no strings attached, is not an option. You decide you want to move out, that's too bad. Until you turn 21, you are just plain stuck."

"21?" Richie repeated.

Duncan shifted the boy slightly, so he could look him in the eye. "When you turn 21, if you decide you want to move out, we'll talk about it. Until then, you're stuck here with us, kid."

"You want to commit to keeping me here that long?" Richie replied in disbelief.

Duncan made sure to have the teen's eye before replying. "I do, Rich."

"That's three years, Mac." The boy replied.

"We need to work on your math skills." The Scotsman said with a smile.

"Huh?" Richie had not expected that reply.

Duncan looked at him seriously. "15 from 21 is six, Rich. Not three."

"15?" Richie replied flatly.

Duncan wasn't fooled, though. "You thought we'd make you leave if we found out?"

Richie blushed at the question. "When you asked when I was turning 18, I just panicked. I didn't want thrown out."

"So you figured you'd just let me go on believing you were 18?" Duncan questioned.

The teen looked away from him at that. "I didn't figure it'd hurt anything."

"You figured you could take care of yourself." Duncan filled in the thought for him. "You didn't need any help from anyone, just a place to stay."

"How'd you find out?" Richie questioned, avoiding addressing the comments the Immortal was making.

"Do you think I just happened upon the bridge?" Duncan answered the teen's question with a question of his own.

The response caused Richie to pause for a moment. Briefly, he met the man's eye again. "I guess I hadn't thought about it." He finally admitted.

"Well, I didn't." Duncan told him matter of factly. "Hunting you down took some investigation."

"Oh." Richie replied quietly, not really wanting to know what all the Immortal had found out about him. Past experience had taught him that the less someone knew about him, the better off he was.

"So, who'd you talk to?" Richie wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to the question he was posing.

"Well, first there was Powell." Duncan paused long enough to return the eye roll Richie gave him at the mention of the police officer's name.

"Then there was a lady from social services." Feeling the added tension the agency's mention brought, Duncan gave Richie what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the back.

"Then there was your old coach." Duncan continued.

Richie replied quickly, "Good guy."

Duncan, however, refrained from commenting on the man. Instead, he moved on to the person he was most anxious to discuss with the teen. "And Jason."

"He told you about the bridge, I guess." Riche said.

"Among other things." Duncan replied, hoping the vague response would lead to a discussion about the man.

Unfortunately, Richie didn't take the bait. "Oh." The teen quickly changed the subject. "So what does Tessa think about me being 15?"

"She feels guilty." Duncan replied. "We both do." The man decided to take his cue from Richie and allow the subject of Jason to be dropped; temporarily, at least.

"Guilty?" Richie replied, genuinely confused.

"That we overlooked it." Duncan explained. "I think we both had a hard time believing that you were 18, but neither of us took the time to really look into it. All this time, we haven't been treating you right."

"You've treated me great." Richie reassured him quickly.

"Thanks, partner." Duncan said with a smile. "I'm glad to hear it. That's not exactly what I meant, though. I mean we've been treating you like you're 18 and that isn't fair to you."

"What's the difference?" Richie questioned.

"Well, for one, I'd have spent a lot more time helping you with your homework than having you help me in the store." Duncan said brusquely. "And I never would have let you spend so much time alone with Jack."

"Why?" Richie asked, truly surprised by that comment.

"Because he's a con artist, Rich." Duncan said quietly. "When I thought you were 18, I didn't feel I had the right to stop you from seeing him. If I had known earlier that you were 15, I would have gone a lot further to protect you from him."

"But you came and got me when there was trouble." Richie replied. "Heck, you even broke into his place to check him out. What else could you have done?"

"I would have insisted on coming with you when you searched for him and when you first met him." Duncan explained. "And I would have tagged along if you had still wanted to visit with him; made it clear to him that you're mine."

"Yours?" Richie questioned; the emotion evident in his voice.

Duncan shifted his hand to the back of the teen's head and pulled the boy even closer before replying simply. "Mine."

The Immortal was slightly surprised when he felt the boy lean into his embrace for the first time since he had pulled the child into his lap. As Richie rested his head against his chest, he couldn't help but smile. Sure, there were still a lot of things they needed to sort out. A lot he needed to make clear to the teen. But as they sat quietly, Duncan was more than willing to allow the boy to simply revel in the idea of belonging to him.

Minutes passed before Richie broke the comfortable silence that hung between them. "So what do you think Tessa is doing?"

"Waiting for us." Duncan replied. "You want to go talk to her?"

"I guess." Richie replied hesitantly, slowing climbing out of the safety of Duncan's lap.

Before he was even halfway up, Duncan pulled him back down. "How are you feeling; pretty sore?"

"I'm all right." Richie replied quickly.

"Richie." Duncan shot back in a warning tone.

The teen smiled slightly. "Damn sore."

"Watch you're mouth." Duncan replied with a fierce frown before shifting Richie off of his lap.

After providing the boy with some aspirin and water, he reluctantly followed him out into the living room, no longer able to delay the inevitable confrontation with Tessa. It was not something he was looking forward to.