Gordie walked through the front door, completely devoid of emotion. The first thing that he noticed was his mother, sitting on the couch…crying. Nothing new there. Gordie turned the corner and started toward his room. He had just gotten to his door when he felt a hand on his shoulder roughly pull him back.

"Dad?! What are you doing here?" Gordie asked, he was never home from work by now.

"Look, you stupid little fucker, don't play stupid with me. Your Mother called me at work, hysterical! What kind of dirty little bastard are? Doing something as sick as that to your own Mother?" his Father asked, a look of disgust on his face.

"Huh?" Gordie asked dumbly.

"Real wise guy aren't you?! Trying to pretend like you don't know what you did! You're fucking sick!" Gordie's dad said in shock.

"He's fucking dead, Gordie! Dead! You know how sensitive you're Mom is about it! What was it? Were you mad at me? Thought you'd have a good laugh? Damn, Gordie. I mean, I always knew you were fucked up…but damn, Gordie! Your own Mother?" Gordie's dad shook his head sadly.

"Wait a minute…you think I was trying to trick her!?!?!?!? What the fuck dad! Why would I do that? Seriously? What would I get out of it? Huh?" Gordie asked, truly amazed at the lowness of his father's opinion of him, but not really surprised.

"Oh, come on! You can't think I'm that stupid! Everyone knows that you were jealous of Denny! You probably celebrated the day he died, thinking we would be so happy that you were alive that we'd forget that you're a fuck-up! Sorry, out of luck. We're sad, not dumb, and we'll always know you for what you are…nothing but a little shit-heap with shit for friends!" Gordie's dad said, starting to get a little red in the face.

"Don't talk about Chris." Gordie said each syllable slowly.

"Oh boo-fuckin-hoo…Although, now that I think about it…I haven't seen the little asshole in a while. Huh." Gordie's dad said, thinking for a minute, trying to decide how long it had been, then he looked at Gordie "Guess even he realized what a waste you were, huh? Gotta be pretty disappointing, I mean, you set your standards so low, and then, even they're too good." he shook his head in remorse.

"Fuck off," Gordie said darkly.

"Well, I mean, you gotta admit, it's pretty sad when you're not good enough for a Chambers." his father said, shaking his head sadly.

"Fuck you. I fucking hate you" Gordie said slowly, but with feeling.

"Don't talk to me like that, boy." his father warned.

"What?…oh, you mean fuck? fuck, fuck, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!!!" Gordie screamed, shaking with rage.

"Get the FUCK out of my house…right now! I never want to see your pussy-ass face in my house again!" Gordie's dad said, pointing toward the door.

"No fucking problem, asshole." Gordie said, turning toward the front door. As he walked through the door, he noticed that his mother hadn't moved a muscle since he got home.

"Gordon!" Gordie heard his father yell at him. He turned around, some small, bruised and battered, naïve part of him hoping that he was going to show some small portion of concern.

"Know that if you walk out that door, you're not coming back, and I am not kidding" his dad in a voice filled with seriousness.

"Eat my fucking dust" Gordie said, walking out the door.

Once he got outside, however, he quickly realized that he had no clothes or anything of the sort. Fuck. Well, he couldn't very well go back in there and get some. Oh well, he didn't stink that bad, he'd be okay. He started walking down the street, trying to figure out where he could go. His automatic reaction was to go to Chris', but he knew that wouldn't work. Teddy would ask too many questions, then he would overreact and start threatening to kick his dad's ass. And Vern…well, Vern was Vern. If he went to Bridgett's house, it would stir up too many rumors. There wasn't really anyone he would even consider, so he decided the inevitable…the tree house. It was still pretty early, so Gordie decided to go down to the library for a while and work on his homework. He had a lot, so it was a few hours before he got done with it. When he did eventually finish it, he wandered around aimlessly until the library closed. Then he decided to head to the tree house. When he got there, he was shocked to find that there was already someone there, someone he quickly recognized…

"Vern?" Gordie asked, surprised that he would be there this late.

"Gordie!" Vern jumped as though he had been caught doing something dirty.

"Hi to you too" Gordie said, smiling.

"Oh, sorry, you just scared me…Hi" Vern said with an open smile.

"What are you doing here so late?" Gordie asked, walking up to stand next to his friend.

"Well, what are you doing here so late?" Vern countered.

"I asked first" Gordie pointed out.

"That's true…it ain't nothing bad…I mean, Teddy might say it's pussy, but everything's pussy to him. Anyways, well…I just like to come here sometimes, you know. It's nice…to be here, it kind of makes everything seem okay. You can't help but be taken away by the memories. Like…you remember the time Teddy tried to jump to the ground form the trap door, telling us we were pussies for using the ladder? Teddy's so crazy…he's gonna die before he's thirty, before any of the rest of us. But, that's okay, cuzz he lives more than any of us, you know what I mean? He gets more out of it, enjoys it more. I'm not saying he don't have problems, holy fuck, does he." Vern said, as though he knew more on the subject than one would guess. "But he doesn't live around them. You know? While everyone else is thinking about how much their life sucks, Teddy is thinking about the army, or some girl's tits, and jumping off a roof, having the time of his life." Vern was silent for a second "See what I mean? It's this place, it takes you away………Anyways, your turn, why are you here so late?" Vern asked casually.

Gordie just stared at him for a second, realizing how little he knew him. He had never really had a conversation with him, always assumed that he couldn't talk about anything more complicated that what your favorite car was. "Me?…oh, I just wanted to get a magazine for school tomorrow, so I have something to do after my Math test." Gordie made up off the top of his head, not sure why he wasn't telling the truth. The only thing he could think was that this was the first time he had ever really talked to Vern, and he didn't want his Dad to ruin it.

"Aw, that's cool." Vern said "So, I've noticed that you and Chris have been acting kind of weird lately, what's that all about?"

"Oh, you know, just some stupid shit over some girl" Gordie said, lying yet again.

"Yeah, I've been there." Vern said sympathetically, patting Gordie on the shoulder, almost like a big brother. This struck Gordie as a sweet, but very odd gesture. He couldn't help but laugh.

"What? What'd I do?" Vern asked, a confused look on his face.

Gordie patted Vern on the back, thinking that even if Vern was a lot smarter than he had always though, there was still a definite Vern-ness to him. Without giving it a second thought, he pulled Vern into a hug, thinking that Vern was definitely someone to have around when you were feeling down.

"What was that for?" Vern asked, an odd expression on his face.

"I don't know, I just don't think we've ever hugged before." Gordie said shrugging.

"No…well, most guys don't do they?" Vern asked.

"So?" Gordie asked.

"Yeah, you're right. And, besides, it's kind of nice…hugging people" Vern said, like this was new to him.

"Yeah, it is, Verno." Gordie said with a chuckle.

"Just don't tell Teddy, okay?" Vern asked as an afterthought "I ain't no pussy".

"I know you're not" Gordie said with another chuckle.

"Well, Good" Vern said "Well, it's getting kind of late, why don't we head home?"

"You go on, I'm gonna stick around for a few minutes" Gordie said, sitting down.

"Want me to wait with you? I don't mind." Vern said nicely.

"Naw, I kind of want to be alone for a while. I think I'm gonna try that whole memory thing you were talking about" Gordie said.

"That's cool. Well, I'll see you at lunch tomorrow." with that, Vern disappeared down the ladder. That night, in the tree house, Gordie slept better than he had in weeks in his own bed. He was thinking about the refreshing innocence of Vern, and how nice it was to be around someone who was so positive and upbeat. You couldn't help but be in a good mood around Vern.. He made everything seem so simple, so black and white. Gordie fell asleep with a smile on his face.

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Chris stood undetected at the end of the hall, watching Gordie. He did a lot of that…watching Gordie. Right now he was putting the books he had taken home the night before into his locker. Chris saw Vern run up to him and, after checking to make sure no one was there to see, gave Gordie a quick hug. Chris saw Gordie's expression of pleasant surprise, and felt the deadness in his chest shift painfully. Gordie said something to Vern that made him laugh, then gently pushed his shoulder. Vern, ever excited about something, got an expression of glee on his face and said something to Gordie, causing his shoulders to shake with laughter. Vern suddenly got a slightly confused look on his face, then pinched a piece of Gordie's shirt, then let it go, indicating that he was talking about the shirt. Gordie rolled his eyes and said something about taking a shower yesterday and not stinking too bad. Vern laughed loudly, shaking his head. Chris didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was happy that Gordie was being normal; happy. He hadn't been happy for a good few months thanks to him. He was just getting ready to leave and let them be alone when he noticed them coming down the hall.

"Hey, look, guys! It's our favorite pet! Fagpants! We missed ya!" the girl started the round of teasing out with.

"Aw, no. We can't call him Fagpants anymore! Haven't you heard! He's got himself a girlfriend!" said the ringleader.

"Poor CC! How could you do this to her! What is wrong with you? Honestly! How could you break your little friend's heart like that?" Said the other boy.

"Well, you know what they say…Once a fag, always a fag." said the girl.

"Yeah, you can say you have a million girls, and you'll still be a fag!" said the second boy.

Chris had had all of these three he could take! He was going to beat the hell out of them, and fuck the consequences! Suddenly, Vern spoke up.

"Would you shut the fuck up!?! It really does get old hearing your winy asses saying the same shit every day! Oh, your gay. Your so gay! Fagpants! Hehehe, I can rhyme, aren't you proud of me, Mama? Faggot. I mean, honestly, can't you at least get some new material? I mean, if you can't find someone else to tease, at least think of something new to say!" Vern said, rolling his eyes for good measure.

"What did you just say?" one of them asked.

"Oh, so now you're deaf and dumb? Your poor mother!" Vern exclaimed, shaking his head in sorrow.

"You did NOT just bring my mother into this! I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna what? You ain't gonna do nothing. You're already on probation, and even you're not stupid enough to waste that on a little punk like me!" Vern said confidently.

"Oh…I swear, if I wasn't on probation…I'd…"

"Oh, give me a fucking minimal break, will you? My brother hangs out with Ace Merrill and Eyeball Chambers! Do you really think I'm scared of you? They've beat my ass so many times that it would take to much effort just to make me feel it! And besides, my brother hangs out with Ace Merrill and Eyeball Chambers! They may not like me, but I'm still related to one of the members, which means they'd kick your ass for kicking my ass! So why don't you tell me again what you'd do if you weren't on probation? I didn't quite catch that last part." Vern said, crossing his arms over his chest smugly.

"Fuck you" the ring leader said, walking away and motioning for the other to follow.

After they were gone, Gordie asked "Man, do they really got your back like that?"

"Man, fuck no, they don't give a shit if I live or die! About all that me being a relative means is that if I did die, they might let him come to the funeral!" Vern exclaimed with a laugh.

"So all that was just bullshit?" Gordie asked.

"Yup"

"Out-fucking-standing Vern!" Gordie said with a clap on the back.

"Thanks!"

Chris watched from his spot, deciding that this was a good thing. Now that he didn't have to worry about protecting him, he didn't have to watch him all the time. Chris walked down the hall, feeling very much alone.