"Oh shit," Chris groaned, catching a glance of the clock on the wall of the Berkowitz' kitchen. He had stayed longer when Lorelei went home, and he'd had supper with her insanely loud family.

Anya looked up in surprise from her dish of leftover borscht. "Cheer up. Have some borscht."

"Keep your borscht away from me. I politely ate some because your mother was staring at me, but honestly, I have seen tastier looking things in toilets. Thank you anyway." He stood up uneasily from the table. "I have to go. It's already five minutes past nine and my dad is going to kill me."

"Seriously?" she asked. "Crap. And you walked over here, didn't you? So you don't have your truck. I'll go get my brother to drive you home, okay?"

Chris nodded mutely. His jaw was clenched and he looked pissed. Anya reached across the table and ran her hand through his hair, the same way he'd seen her do with Ilonka. She quickly put her half-eaten borscht into the refrigerator and then left the kitchen in search of her brother.

As seconds ticked by on the clock, Chris' hands began to sweat and shake with a familiar, dulling fear. He had a feeling he wouldn't even be able to make it to school tomorrow. Even if he tried to explain to his father where he'd been, he'd still get the shit whaled out of him. Mr. Chambers, of course, didn't approve of immigrants like Anya's parents. Nothing would ever pacify that man. No matter what he did, it was wrong, even if he did exactly as he was told. Everything was either not enough and he was just lazy or it was too much and he was trying to show up his family. He was so tired of having to go home where everything hurt.

Anya came back, a small smirk on her face. "We're lucky you made a good first impression on my brother. He was in his room with his girlfriend of the week and they were rather busy, but he said he could drive you if we'll just give him a moment to…make himself presentable."

Chris smiled. "I can relate. After awhile in my house, I learned to just stay out of my brother's room at all times because I usually would just end up walking in on frightening scenes."

"I thought you said you used to share a room with Eyeball?"

"I did. Sleeping on the couch spared my innocence."

She laughed, then watched with amusement in her eyes as twenty-one-year-old Stefan walked past them to the back door. "You just left poor Lisa in your room?"

"I'll be back," Stefan replied dryly. He already had his shoes on. "Are you coming, Anya?"

"No, I'm just breathing heavily," she retorted, not missing a beat.

"I tire of your sexual innuendoes."

"Ohh," Chris laughed. "I get it."

Anya laughed with him, suddenly struck by his naiveté. Chris Chambers had seen too much in his seventeen years, but still, she thought, his innocence was both breathtaking and tragic.

"The…wheels on the bus go round and--"

Anya slapped Stefan brutally across the head. "Stop singing! I'm losing friends!"

"Oh, silly Anya," Stefan said, patting her arm. "It's your smell that's costing you companionship."

"I smell? When did I start smelling?"

"Sometime last week."

Laughing, Anya rested her head against her window.

Chris watched from the backseat. Anya's family was psychotic, but why couldn't he have something like this? Tossing insults back and forth in his home were meant to hurt, and they usually resulted in black eyes. He'd never experienced this kind of teasing, where they didn't mean it. He was suddenly overwhelmed by sadness and a weight he'd felt all his life as he wished with every prayer he had that Stefan wouldn't take him home; that he'd just keep driving and he'd never have to not be okay again.

"Let's think of another song," Stefan said, slapping his sister's knee. "How about…hmm."

"How about I sell your nuts to a needy eunuch?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm promising you."

"How can you be friends with this kid?" Stefan asked, looking back at Chris. "Has she sold your nuts yet?"

"Bartered," Chris replied.

"Tsk, Anya, tsk."

"It's the second house on the left side here," Chris told him quietly. The front door was wide open. He could hear his father yelling at someone. "Thanks for the ride, Stefan. I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Anya?"

"Chris--" Anya looked back at him, a wordless plea in her eyes. She didn't want him to intercept his father's anger.

"I really should be getting inside," he told her. Always the scapegoat.

But he couldn't move. His hand touched the cold metal of the door handle, but he couldn't move.

"Ice cream," Stefan announced. "That's what we need, is some ice cream."

"I have to go," Chris murmured.

Anya squeezed his hand. "No, you don't. You don't have to go home to this."

"But I'll be in trouble, Anya--"

"Remember how you said sleeping on the couch always spared your innocence?" She smiled. "Well, our couch is free tonight."

Upon seeing Brooke enter the house carrying a fur ball of some sort, followed by Gordie, Reese broke out into a large smile. He yelled, "Hey, Mom! Brooke brought home another stray! Oh, and she has a cat too."

"Oh, look, it's my laughing face," Brooke said sarcastically. She walked past him and went in search of her mother.

"Hey Lachance," Reese said as the two of them stood alone, silently assessing each other. "What the hell are you doing here, man?"

"Brooke invited me," Gordie replied.

"Woah," Reese said in amazement. "I thought you despised us. Especially Brooke."

"I barely know you. I can't really despise what I don't know. Although, on a side note, you could stand to be a little nicer to Chris. Anyway, but I do know Brooke, and I definitely don't despise her."

Reese smirked. "So that's why you're here at 10 o'clock at night."

"No, you retard, that's not why I'm here," Gordie said, his eyebrows deepening. "If we were gonna do that, we'd have done it already, considering we were alone in a tree house for the past four hours."

"Doing it in a tree house," Reese said appreciatively. "I'll be adding that to my to-do list."

"I wish you the best of luck."

"Mama," Brooke said, locating her mom in the laundry room, ironing a blouse. "Is it okay if my friend spends the night here? Family troubles."

"Yeah, sure," Glynis Aarons replied. "Is that a cat?"

"Keen eye, Mom."

Mrs. Aarons raised an eyebrow.

"She belongs to the friend."

"Who's this alleged friend?"

"Oh--just somebody from school."

"Do her parents know she's safe?"

"Uh…yes."

"Brooke," Mrs. Aarons said in a warning tone.

"It's not a she-friend," Brooke muttered.

"I just gave you permission to let a he-friend spend the night?" she shrilled.

"You most certainly did."

Glaring at her daughter, Mrs. Aarons said, "I don't want him within ten feet of your bedroom, Missy Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

"Hey," Gordie said, relieved when Brooke finally returned. He and Reese had been watching the Partridge Family together. Bonding with the Aarons family was strange.

"Hello," Brooke said back. "I brought blankets."

"Ooh," Reese said, grinning. "Sounds cozy, Brooke. I'd better be leaving now."

"Yes, your absence would be much appreciated." Brooke gave him a sweet, sardonic look as he went down the hall to his room. She spread the blanket over the loveseat without a word, seemingly unaware that Gordie was watching her. "There you go. There's more blankets if you get cold, so just ask. My mom said you're supposed to stay away from my room, but she's just crazy so I ignore her. My room is at the end of the hall upstairs. Follow the sound of Reese's snoring and my room will be right next to his. And just so you know, my dad's out of town for the week, so everything's okay."

Gordie looked at her solemnly. "Thank you, Brooke."

"You're welcome."

"I mean, you're going through so much trouble for me--"

Brooke silenced him with a sharp look. "Gordie, you know that you aren't any trouble to me."

He smiled. "Goodnight, Brooke."

Cat, who was lying at her feet, was picked up by Brooke and handed to Gordie. "Have a good sleep. I'll help you sort everything out in the morning."

As she was walking away, he called, "Brooke?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

The words he'd wanted to say escaped his mind as soon as their eyes met. "Never mind. Um, just watch out for bed bugs. Did you know that bed bugs bark enthusiastically when they smell human flesh? I read that somewhere. It's true."

The smile she gave him would stay with him all night.

"Hey kid," Reese said quietly as Brooke passed his door on her way to her room. "You look like you're floating."

Giving him an uncharacteristically affectionate look, Brooke shrugged. "I do feel slightly dizzy."

"What happened with Gordie? Because in my life, I've always known two things: Penguins can't fly and the Lachances hate the Aarons."

"I really don't know why, but Gordie's giving me a chance. His parents, on the other hand, I think almost died when they saw me tonight at their house." A sad look crossed her face. "So he's staying here tonight because of some things they said to him."

"About you?" he demanded.

"No, none of the things he and his dad said to each other had anything to do with me. I was just kind of a catalyst."

"Are you two going out?" Reese asked suddenly.

"No."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes."

"Does he like you?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked. She shook her head and went to her room.