Liberty's Boys
Written by: J. LaRae
Disclaimer: I don't own QAF, the characters, the actors, or the behind-the-screen people. I have no contact with any of these people either. I am not promoting QAF or Showtime; I'm just a fan with nothing better to do until season 4 comes out on DVD.
Claimer: I did make up the Character of Charlie, she's mine. Don't take.
Warnings: Slash, slash, slash-ity slash, slash. Can't handle, then wtf you doing here!
Chapter Two: Broadway
Broadway is dark tonight
A little bit weaker than you use to be
Broadway is dark tonight
See the young man sitting
In the old man's bar
Waiting for his turn to die
The cowboy kills the rock star
And Friday night's gone too far
The dim light hides the years
On all the faded girls
Forgotten but not gone
You drink it off your mind
You talk about the world
Like it's someplace that you've been
You see you'd love to run home
But you know you ain't got one
And you're livin' in a world
That you're best forgotten round here
Broadway is dark tonight
A little bit weaker than you use to be
Broadway is dark tonight
See the young man sitting
In the old man's bar
Waiting for his turn to die
You choke down all your anger
Forget your only son
You pray to statues when you sober up for fun
Your anger don't impress me
The world slapped you in your face
It always rains like hell on the losers' day parade
You see you'd love to go home
But you know you ain't got one
'Cause you're living in a world
That you're best forgotten
And when you're thinkin' you're a joke
And nobody's gonna listen
To the one small point
I know they been missin' round here
Broadway is dark tonight
A little bit weaker than you use to be
Broadway is dark tonight
See the young man sitting
In the old man's bar
Waiting for his turn to die
You see you'd love to go home
But you know you ain't got one
'Cause you're living in a world
That you're best forgotten
And when you're thinkin' you're a joke
And nobody's gonna listen
To the one small point
I know they been missin' round here
Broadway is dark tonight
A little bit weaker than you use to be
Broadway is dark tonight
See the young man sitting
In the old man's bar
Waiting for his turn to die
-Goo Goo Dolls
Debbie had brought me some extra clothes to wear, from where I have no clue. They were a little big on me, length wise, but I had lost so much weight when I was 'out there' that I could fit into the clothes she brought. She had brought a simple blue t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. They weren't Versace or anything like that. More like "The Big Q" only… worn out. But I wasn't complaining. I could be wearing the clothes I came in with. Speaking of which…..
"So I see she's up! Hello darling!" A tall man wearing a pink Lycra shirt and black leather pants sashayed into my room, "I'm Emmett and I do believe you will be staying with me for the time being."
I looked at him, inquisitively, trying to figure him out. I laughed at what I came up with.
"Hi Emmett, I'm Charlie, and I guess I'll be staying with you?" I went to shake his hand and he grabbed me in a hug.
"Silly goose, friends hug, they don't shake hands." He pulled back and brushed invisible lent off of my shirt, "Now, what we need to do is get you home, have you relax and we'll get down to any formalities. Although I'm not one for rules, Michael says you young kids need rules. Mine are: Don't bring any tricks home, be home before midnight, 'cause I won't stay up for you, and you have to go to school. Got that missy?" he patted my nose.
I nodded, "Thank you for giving me a room for a couple days. You didn't have to do that."
"I know I didn't, but…. I didn't have any young ones running around like the rest of them do, so… we figured you wouldn't mind staying with my flamboyant ass."
I smiled in understanding.
"Come on, Princess, let's get your stuff and we can go." He put his arm around my shoulders and walked slowly with me out to the lobby. I didn't want to ride in a wheelchair.
I coughed and sniffled, feeling very out of it, well, the doctors did give me something before I left.
Emmett looked at me, "You okay, Princess?"
I nodded, a little embarrassed at the fact that he was so friendly and I wasn't. Well, maybe it was a good thing he was, because I sure as hell couldn't carry a conversation for very long. I guess you could say I was out of practice.
"Ah, there she is! Up and about, see, what do I always tell you? A few days of sleep do a body good." Ben said to a boy about my age. "Charlie, this is Hunter. He's staying with Michael and me."
"Hi, Hunter," I said quietly.
"Hi," He responded in the same tone.
"Well, let's see if we can get out of here any time soon, eh?" Ben said, putting an arm around Hunter and clapping him on the back. "Charlie, it's good to see you awake."
I gave a sheepish smile.
"Princess, the nurse says you're ready to go. We'll ride with Ben and Hunter if that's okay with you." He said softly, as if he was afraid he'd scare me.
We walked out to the car, with a little help from Emmett I got there fine.
"So, tell us about yourself, Charlie." Ben said. I looked at him as if he were out of his mind for asking such a question.
"Um…" I shrugged my shoulders not quite getting what he was asking of me.
"What do you like to do? What kind of music do you like? Movies?" he inquired further.
"Well, I like to read. I haven't listened to music in a while, and the last movie I saw was when I was eight. It was 'The Fox and the Hound'. I saw it at school. I liked it."
"Well, then we'll have to get you acquainted with some good movies and music and books won't we Hunt?"
"Yeah, I guess." He said. I looked at him good. Really, he wasn't that bad looking. I guess I should look at them more. I am looking at my feet an awful lot. I began to scrutinize my shoes for what they were; trash. I'd had these shoes for the last three years, and I found them lying on the sidewalk. I didn't mean to 'steal' them, I just had out grown the shoes I had worn before, and needed a new pair badly. It seemed like the only option. Thank goodness I hadn't out grown these. They were coated in mud, and stained a dark brown that even the rain couldn't get off. I know; I had tried to wash them before.
"Princess?" I looked up at Emmett. "You alright?"
I nodded.
He placed a hand on my knee and rubbed it gently. Ben then realized that he was talking a little much. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him; it was just that conversation eluded me. I gave a semi-smile to Ben, to let him know it was alright. I just need to get use to people again. I thank god Emmett understood.
"Well, here we are Princess, home, sweet home." He raised his arms in a grandeur manner. "What do you think?"
I smiled. It was a two bedroom apartment with wild colors and obviously gay things lying about. Yeah, I like Emmett. Hunter and Ben followed us in.
"Let me give you the grand tour!" Emmett proclaimed. "This, my dear, is the kitchen-slash-dining room-slash-living room. It's all located so you can watch the TV, cook dinner, and entertain guests all at the same time. Now, on to the 'Master Bedroom'," he purred. "This is my room. Fully equipped with shower and bathroom. Feel free to come in and use it at any time. It's the only bathroom in here. Sorry, dear."
He walked across the living room to another bedroom. "This is where you will be staying, Princess."
It was a plain room, with nothing more than a bed and a dresser. The walls were purple and the bed white. It was a change from what the rest of the house looked like.
"We cleaned it up for you. It was my old room, until Ben and Michael moved out and moved into Ben's old house." Hunter said. "It had been used for a while in case any of us needed a place to stay with Auntie Em. Most of us have used it at least once." He chuckled.
I smiled at him, "Well, I hope I don't get the same use." I said in this monotone voice as I placed the shopping bag of things I owned on the bed.
The boys cracked up, seeing as the whole time I hadn't said a witty thing to anyone, actually, since I hadn't said much of anything to anyone.
"Um… I think I'm going to lay down now." I said to no one in particular. "If you don't mind, of course."
"Of course we don't mind! We need to be heading home anyway. It was nice to see you well, Char." Ben said. I turned around and smiled at him.
"You too."
"See you around, Charlie." Hunter said.
"I'll be out here if you need anything." Emmett said, pulling the door closed behind him.
As the door shut, I toed off my shoes and climbed on top of the soft bed. It felt nice to sleep in a real bed instead of the hospital, or a bench in the park. I was really lucky.
"Well, maybe we should talk to her before we do that. Just a thought. She might not be ready to do such a thing yet."
"I know, but she does need to go."
"I know, I know."
"Well, I'll see you later. I'll tell the boys you say, 'hi'."
"Thanks, Ben. I'll see you later."
I tried not to listen to the conversation. I knew they wouldn't want me here. I didn't do a good enough job in the interview portion. I put my shoes back on, grabbed my bag and opened the door a slight crack to see where Emmett was. I didn't want him to see me slipping out. I didn't belong, and I knew I couldn't repay these kind people. They were doing too much for me, and I didn't want to disappoint them in any way.
Emmett had his back to the door, so I figured I could tip-toe out and not be noticed. I got to the door and when I went to open it, it creaked really loud.
Emmett whipped his head around, surprised to find me there with my things poised to leave. I bolted out the door and down the stairs, figuring he would come after me. Like I had stolen something. I hadn't touched a thing.
I made it to the front door and down the steps when he caught up to me and pounced, taking me to the ground.
"BEN!" He yelled at a retreating back.
Ben whipped around with Hunter right beside him.
"Charlie! What do you think you're doing?" Ben yelled, running toward me. I covered my head that had already been hit by the ground.
"You should know!" I yelled at Ben, "You said I needed to go!" my voice softened, "So I went."
"Oh my." Ben and Emmett said at the same time, "Charlie, we need to explain this. Please come with us, back to Emmett's apartment."
I didn't say anything and Ben picked me up like a sack of potatoes and threw me over his shoulder.
"Don't fight it." Hunter whispered, "Once he gets you over his shoulder, he's got a death grip on you. Trust me I've had it done a few times myself."
"Hunter, you realize I just heard every word you said, right?"
They carried me up to the apartment, and set me down on the couch, where Ben knelt in front of me and Emmett and Hunter sat on my side.
I glared at Ben, not wanting to let him in. I didn't want my heart hurt as much as I didn't want to hurt theirs.
"How much of the conversation did you hear?" Ben forced me to answer.
I shrugged, "The last couple minutes or so. You said I needed to go."
Emmett sighed, "Princess, we weren't talking about you leaving, we were talking about school. We thought you and Hunter could go to school together. Like cousins."
"School?" I looked at Emmett, then Hunter and finally Ben.
"Yes, honest to goodness, that's what we were talking about." Ben said.
"We realize you aren't ready yet, but here in the next week or so, if you are willing to have a home here with me, you have to go to school. It's a rule that we've enforced since Justin came around." Emmett said. "You go to school, you get a place to stay, a place to study, and food to eat, with minimal income on your part. You will need a job to pay for the more expensive things you will need. Clothes and anything else you want… but, we have a diner that Debbie owns that the kids work at. We want you here,
Charlie. We wouldn't have asked you to stay if we didn't."
"You really want me to stay?" I looked at Emmett. "I mean, I'm not a great person. I don't know how to function normally yet, but I am willing to learn. And I feel like I'm under suspicion, I don't want you to feel like I'll steal anything. Because I won't. I don't want to hurt you people either." I looked down.
"Princess, I really want you to stay. I want you to be happy, and healthy, and on the streets you were neither. You may not be quite well polished, but we can spiff you up. Our resident Lesbians can mother you like you've never been mothered before. Plus, what would you steal here? All I have is various outfit pieces of costumes from clubs I've gone too, and where would you keep it? You may say I'm trusting, but I think you are too, Princess, deep down inside."
"Well, I'm glad we got that figured out. Charlie, would you like to come meet everyone tomorrow for lunch? We'd be glad to have you with us."
"Um… if I won't be a bother, I think I would love to."
"Kid, in this family, you can NEVER be a bother." Hunter said.
A/N: Well, there is chapter two. I really don't know how good this is, so let me know "CONSTRUCTIVLY" how good this is, and what needs to be changed. I've got quite a few ideas for this one. Hopefully they all come out as good as these first two chapters have.
So, let me know, and I'll be very grateful to you all.
Much Love, J.L.
