I didn't think I would ever finish this one owing to the shenanigans of my older brother, but wifey helped me out and here it is for you to read:

Rei Kon felt a knot clench in his stomach as shouting erupted from downstairs again.

They were fighting again.

He could never quite hear what they were saying- yelling- at each other, but sometimes he caught the odd word. 'Bitch' and 'bastard' would go flying through the air, and it made Rei terrified. They never -said- anything to him. But he wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on. They were going to split up.

Rei wished they would hurry up about it if they were going to. The arguments were getting to be more than he could stand. And they always seemed to want to argue in the kitchen, and seeing as his room was directly above the kitchen he could always hear it. Sometimes he tried listening with his ear to the floor, but it never helped. He could just hear their muffled insults a bit louder and no clearer. Once he heard his name mentioned.

He never quite dared ask about it though. He just sat there and listened, wondering what was going to happen.

And when he went to bed at night he thought about them getting angrier. Nastier. He could almost see his mother with a black eye, or his father with a knife in his back.

He would feel safer if one of them left the house.

And then they couldn't fight.

He hated it when they fought.

And his father left. Boyfriends came in their droves, all unfit, unworthy and unwanted. But no-one seemed to care what Rei thought. None of them bothered to get to know him. None of them lasted more than a couple of weeks. Rei took to staying in his room and not letting anyone in.

Of course, Interchangable Andy the ninth was sent up to have a heart to heart, man to man chat with him.

He was young and trendy and had a goatee.

Rei sent him away. Tried to send him away subtly and then sprung into full-bodied, wild rage and screamed and hollered until Interchangable Andy left. And when his mother entreated him to try and get along with him, Rei exploded at her as well.

It wasn't fair. No-one had asked him anything. No-one cared what he thought any more. It wasn't his fault that people wanted to steamroller over his whole existence and not give him any say in the matter.

And of course, along with Interchangable Andy came his father's counterpart- Interchangable Emma. She was always young, always blonde, and always ignored him. Rei couldn't see what his father evidently saw in her. All she ever seemed to do was paint her nails.

His father had changed somehow, as well. He wasn't like a proper Dad any more. He was more...less...

Different.

Rei felt uncomfortable sitting for hours in his father's new house with no-one but Interchangable Emma and his...well, his new father.

Everything was changing. All at once. Rei hated it. And nobody spoke to him. Nobody cared.

Rei took to living on his computer. Chatrooms- that which had always been forbidden- were now his stomping grounds. After all, it was his father who had always stopped him from going on them, and now his father was a new man Rei felt okay about disregarding his old rules. And his mother wasn't bothered. All she was interested in was trying to make him play happy families with her and whoever-he-was.

Rei found people online who listened to him. None of them seemed like psycho murderers, but by that point he would have spilled his soul to a serial killer if only they'd promise to listen to him.

Kai was always a good listener.

Kai was always ready to hear what he had to say.

And it progressed. He eventually gave Kai his mobile number. And they shared texts, for a while. Rei would sit dreamily on his bed and blow all his money on sending messages as his mother knocked on his locked door and told him dinner was ready.

Rei could never quite bring himself to leave the safety of his room and a sympathetic ear.

He was sick of playing happy families.

One night, on a whim, he called instead of texting.

"Hello?" An amused voice answered.

"Hey Kai. It's Rei."

"You sound tired."

"I had a rough night last night."

"How's it going with your mother?"

"The same as always." A laugh. Kai had a nice laugh, Rei decided.

"Need an excuse to get out of the house?"

"You'd give me one?" Rei felt his heart rise up into his throat. Could he trust Kai? Someone he'd never met?

"If you wanted one." Rei hesitated. Could he-? Should he-?

"REI! GET OUT OF YOUR GOD-DAMNED ROOM!"

Rei didn't even afford her an answer this time. "Yes." He whispered.

"How long would it take you to get to the cinema?"

"Ten minutes? It's not far..."

"I'll be in black. The one with blue bits on his face. Run away if you think I look too scary." Rei laughed.

"Okay."

When Kai rang off, all Rei could think was that he hadn't laughed in months. Rei decided not to tell his mother he was going. Why should he? It wasn't like she ever told him anything. She didn't warn him when she was going to bring another Andy home, did she?

"Kai..."

"Rei?"

"Blue bits, right?" Rei looked Kai up and down, smiling nervously. He certainly was all in black, and there certainly were blue bits on his face. "Right. I got your ticket."

"What are we seeing?"

"Black Monday."

"Um...what time-?"

"Another hour yet. There's a funfair down the road from here though. I thought we could go and check it out. If you like."

Rei gazed into Kai's eyes and found himself nodding, admiring the wine-red glow.

It didn't take Rei long to notice Kai watching him. Not in a particularly scary way. Just watching him carefully. Warily. Maybe Kai was wondering if he was a murderer? His suspicion of Kai had faded to nothing. Even less than nothing as Kai aimed for the tower of bottles and missed spectacularly, cursing. "You want a go?"

"Nah, I'm okay. I didn't bring a lot of money with me.." I spent it all texting you, he thought.

"Don't be stupid..." Rei wasn't given time to protest as Kai paid for another go and deposited three beanbags in his hand, smiling. "Let's see if you've got a better aim than me."

"It'd be hard to be worse..." Rei joked, throwing the first.

The tower fell, bottles clunking to the ground.

"Well -done- young man!" Boomed the stall owner, though Rei could tell he was less than impressed at having to hand out a prize.

"What should I pick, Kai? Actually...you pick. You paid."

"You won, Rei. Pick something for yourself. I didn't pay so you could win for me."

No-one noticed he'd come back as he sneaked in the front door with the toy phoenix under his arm. It wasn't very big, but of all the cross eyed, cheaply made toys it had seemed the nicest. Kai had insisted he keep it, despite Rei's protests.

The stairs up to his room seemed brighter somehow, and for the first time in months he didn't toss and turn for hours before he fell asleep. No-one had noticed him leave. No one had noticed him coming back. He'd spent the evening with someone he could talk to. Someone who cared. Someone who'd made him laugh and smile.

Everything seemed better, somehow.

"Hey Kai."

"Hey Rei. How's it going?"

"I'm at my Dad's. He's too busy cooing over -her- to pay any attention to what I'm doing though."

"Well...I'm not doing anything. Maybe we could go somewhere?"

"There are no new movies showing..."

"How about a coffee? Well, a hot chocolate for you..."

"I'd like that..."

And Rei slipped out again. His father hadn't exactly told him that he'd be spending the day listening to him and his girlfriend giggling together, had he? Then again, when had it ever been any different?

Kai was waiting at the coffee shop, like he'd said he would be, still in his customary black and leaning casually against the doorframe. "Worse day?" Kai had taken to asking that if Rei looked miserable when they met up. He'd learned that every day was bad. Now he just wanted to know if it had been worse than usual. Rei shrugged. What was there to say, really? "He acts the same every time I see him now. He made an effort at first but now he just sits there and fawns over -her-."

"More fool him then."

And they went in. Ordered their drinks. It wasn't until they were sitting in the corner in cozy little chairs that Kai spoke again. "They don't deserve you..." He said quietly, sipping his coffee and looking thoughtfully at the table.

"They don't notice me. My mother keeps telling me off for never leaving the house. She never notices when I come out to see you. I might as well not bother, for all she cares."

"I care. I like seeing you." And Kai looked up at him with something frank in his eyes. "Living with my grandfather isn't a barrel of laughs. He's a bad-tempered old bastard. It's nice having someone to spend time with who doesn't spend their time whining at me. 'Where's your girlfriend, Kai? You have to think about carrying on the Hiwatari line!'." Kai glared at the table.

"Where -is- your girlfriend, Kai? You seem like the kind of guy girls would kill to be with...rich, good-looking..."

"Gay. He doesn't know, but I think he suspects. Still, I disappoint him in every other aspect of my life, I don't see why I shouldn't let him down on the provision of heirs front."

And the conversation drifted on. But Rei's thoughts stayed in that moment.

"You left your dad's today." It wasn't a question, or really a statement. It was an opening, and Rei knew it.

"So?" He asked, sitting behind his bedroom door and wondering what would follow.

"So don't! I don't want him phoning here getting shirty with -me- because he can't keep you entertained!"

"Like you do any better." Rei's reply was as cold and unfeeling as he could make it.

"Don't you speak to me like that young man!"

"Okay. I won't speak to you at all, then."

Rei drifted over to his bed and flopped down on it, glad that the creaking springs masked some of what his mother was whining about now. It wasn't like he cared. Why should he care? She only ever spoke to him nowadays to complain. Or to slag off his father.

"Why don't you come over mine for a bit?"

That was what the next coffee ended with. Rei was taken aback by the suggestion. "Won't your grandfather mind?"

"He's away. It's just me and the butler, and he sits in his office and does nothing all day."

"Butler?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. He gets paid to smarm my grandfather and open doors. He's purely there so my grandfather can feel upper class and superior. So...you coming back or not?"

"Your bedroom's -huge-, Kai..."

"It gets lonely..." A gesture invited Rei to sit on the bed, where Kai joined him.

"It's a lovely house..."

"A lonely house."

Rei smiled uneasily. "I suppose...it would be kind of lonely. Your grandfather's always busy...you hate the butler...I didn't really get what you meant until I saw it..."

Kai flopped back, stretching out. Rei watched his muscles tensing and felt a flicker of something in his stomach. "Your mother any better yet?"

"Nope. She just complains. Tells me I'm turning into a hermit and I never go out any more."

"She still doesn't notice you coming in and out?"

"No. I could wear a neon sign and she wouldn't notice. And unless I put one on -her- chest Dad wouldn't notice either. He only realised I'd gone the other week when he tried to find me to take me home. I'd been gone hours."

"Morons." Rei nodded, leaning back until his head touched the pillows. He could feel Kai's breath whispering over his ear and the flicker came back, a little stronger. "If I had someone like you to worry about...I couldn't ignore them..."

And there it was. The gentle, soothing stroking of his side. The flicker blazed. But he didn't speak.

"If I had someone like you..." Shifting. Kai was leaning over him, his eyes shimmering with something Rei couldn't name. "If I had someone like you..." He whispered again, smiling softly.

Rei watched Kai leaning in closer, and closer, and closer. But at the point when their lips should have touched, he stopped.

The flicker in Rei's chest burst into flame.

The first kiss opened the way for many more. Stolen in the cinema, in Kai's room, in cafes, anywhere and everywhere Kai and Rei found themselves together. Rei stopped even pretending to want to see his father slavver over -her- and spent his weekends with Kai instead. He climbed out of his window at night, and when her complaints didn't get an answer his mother didn't think it was out of the ordinary. Rei hadn't replied to her in so long it was a wonder she bothered in the first place. And the Interchangables didn't care about him anyway, so they didn't notice either.

"Why don't you come over mine for a bit?"

"Okay." Rei smiled, hoping the butterflies in his stomach would stop fluttering.

Of course, no-one noticed them coming in. No-one noticed Rei pulling Kai up to his room, giggling. No-one heard them collapsing onto the bed together, laughing and kissing and touching.

For the first time in so long, Rei didn't feel like an alien in his own house. It felt right. It felt good to be pressed against Kai, to nuzzle and hug him. He ignored the first knock on the door, opting instead to stroke Kai's cheek affectionately. "Rei!"

Another kiss. "Rei, I want to talk to you. Open your door!" No, no, another tight embrace instead. "Rei, your father's been on to the social about seeing you! He's saying it's all my fault and he won't see that it's because he's a boring shithead! You're going to have to sort this out with him, Rei!"

Rei didn't deign to reply. She only cared about herself and the hassle she was getting. And bitching, always bitching. "Rei!"

"What?" He muttered, voice inaudible owing to his face being buried in Kai's chest. Kai seemed to understand. His arms felt strong around Rei, and his heart was beating in a steady, calming rhythm, thudding against Rei's ribcage, strong and steady. "Rei Kon, open this door!"

"No."

"What?"

"I said NO!"

"Open the door, now!"

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm your mother, and I'm telling you to!"

"You aren't my -mother-. Mothers are supposed to notice when their sons leave the house! Or when they bring people back with them! They're supposed to care about what their sons think! Don't pretend you do! You don't!" Only the reassuring hand on his shoulder stopped him from telling his mother not to bother with the illusion of having a son any more.

"OPEN THIS DOOR!"

From that point, everything exploded. The door flew open. Interchangable Andy rampaged in, dragging him up off the bed, yelling something about gays and throwing him aside, grabbing Kai with his gorilla hands and throwing him to the floor.

And Kai had laid still. And then everything was a blur.

All Rei knew was that it wasn't normal to wake up in a hospital bed.

"Rei...look, son, it's okay..."

"Really, honey. We know it's been stressful for you lately..."

"It's just a phase."

Rei kept his eyes clenched shut.

"If there's anything you want..."

"Yeah, anything. I'm sure me and Annabel can-"

"You and Annabel? What does she have to do with this?"

"Well, she's going to be his step-mother-"

"Look-"

"Get out." Rei hissed it though clenched teeth. "Get out and leave me alone."

"Rei..."

"Now come on, you can't-"

"I'm not going to listen to you two arguing again. I don't want to hear about -her-. Or -him-." He added, in case his mother felt exempt. "I don't want to listen to you pretending to care because I'm in hospital."

"Rei-"

"Son-"

They had the cheek to sound hurt. "Neither of you cared when you decided to go at each other's throats and leave me in the dark. I didn't catch you caring when you both shot through men and women and invited them into -my- life without considering me! Neither of you noticed me going out to see Kai. Neither of you -cared-. Don't pretend to care now."

"Rei...this Kai..."

"He's trouble..."

"He's the only person that's cared about my feelings for a long time. And he isn't 'trouble'. He's a model student, straight A's, his grandfather is a self-made millionaire and he's the only thing that's keeping me sane."

And someone knocked. Rei's eyes flew open in time to meet Kai's, which were looking down at him with worried fondness. He was holding a box in one hand. Walking past Rei's parents as if they didn't exist, he sat down beside Rei and inspected his chest, fingers light on the bandages. "Still all wrapped up?"

"Yeah."

"I brought you a coconut muffin. I know you hate the hospital food."

"Well we could-"

"Burger King-"

Mutters from his parents barely attracted Rei's attention. "I'm a vegetarian."

"What-?"

"Since when-?"

"Four months." Kai replied for him, leaning over him defensively. "Anyway...what was I saying?"

"I don't know. You were interrupted..."

"Well..."

"Look, you..." Rei watched his Dad lumber to his feet, red in the face. "I can see you've got Rei under your thumb and I won't have it!" Kai watched him, bored and unthreatened.

"If you and your wife are too stupid to notice what's right under your nose, that isn't my fault."

"Rei isn't a -gay-!" Rei's mother was on her feet now, all righteous indignation. "-You've- done this!"

"What are you blaming him for? He hasn't done anything!" Rei snapped, sitting up and feeling his damaged chest protesting.

"Rei, lie down!"

"NO!" Rei hollered back. "I'm sick of you! I'm sick of both of you! You spent so much time on -her- and -him- and yelling and fighting that you forgot about me! And now you find someone who put you to SHAME and you're blaming him and saying that HE'S at fault for caring about me and LISTENING every once in a while! Get out!" Hysterical, he lurched to his feet. "GET OUT!"

"Rei, this is Mum. I just...I wondered..." Silence. "Can we talk, Rei? It's just...I miss you, you know... I got rid of Andy. I couldn't believe...I mean, when he acted like that... I just want you to come home, Rei..."

Rei gestured silently as his favourite part came up. "I wish you'd come to me and told me about...your tendencies." A derisive snort. Rei knew full well that she wouldn't have listened even if he -had- said something. "I want you home, Rei, I'm worried about you, staying with -him-! I'll call the police if I have to!" Rei gave Kai a glance that said everything. Indignance in a look. "Come home, Rei."

"And that's it. That's all she has to say for herself."

"Well, she can force you to come back if she wants to enough."

"I'm not going back to -her-. Not after everything."

"You wouldn't have a choice." Kai rolled onto his back, sighing. "If she applied to social services they could make you go back whether you like it or not. Unless..."

"Unless?"

"I've been thinking." Rei turned onto his side, watching as Kai frowned thoughtfully. "My grandfather isn't stupid. He knows we're not just friends. And he won't be happy about it."

"I'll find somewhere else. I'm not going back to her! Or him!" Rei exclaimed, sitting up. Kai just smiled at him, stretching.

"Don't be so hasty. I just wondered what you would think of...disappearing."

"Disappearing?"

"As in...getting away from here. You and me." Rei thought about it. Did Kai mean...they should elope together? It hadn't been something he'd ever planned on doing, but...

"But how would we manage? We're fifteen, Kai. We can't earn any money."

"I have money."

"Kai, be realistic, we'd need money for food, for somewhere to live, for bills..."

"My father was rich. And when he died, that money passed on to me. We could live on it for the rest of our lives, let alone until we could earn money for ourselves." And he sat up, reaching for Rei's hand. "Forget about money. And about tax, and rent, and everything like that. If there was nothing for you to worry about, would you want to? You wouldn't have to worry, Rei. Trust me. But...could you live like that? Just you and me?" For no reason at all Kai was whispering, his thumb stroking the back of Rei's hand.

Rei stared into his eyes, thinking. He'd been living with Kai for a week now, and he hadn't started to hate him yet. He liked having someone to share his bed with. Someone to snuggle up to when he couldn't get to sleep. It was fun having Kai around to talk to, to cheer him up. And Kai was a great cook, and he was...well...he was Kai. The only person who'd cared about him for the past few months. The amazing person who he'd fallen for in a big way.

No more parents. No more Interchangables. No more worrying about Kai's grandfather throwing them out.

"We could...we could try..." Rei wasn't sure why but he whispered back, his voice hoarse.

"We could go now..." Kai's free hand was on Rei's cheek now as they moved closer, lips brushing together ever so gently. Rei felt familiar fire light up his soul and he smiled, arms finding their way around Kai's neck as a familiar pair discovered his waist. "But where-?"

"Well...I thought maybe France. Or Germany. But we could go anywhere, if I have enough time to talk to the right people."

"France sounds nice...it's a long way from home, though..."

"Home is where you make it, Rei."

Rei looked into a pair of reassuring eyes and smiled. "Then...let's go and find it."

Months later, after another furious call to that obnoxious Voltaire Hiwatari (who was still refusing to pay any compensation despite it being his grandson that had led Rei astray), Xia Kon found a letter in with her bills that was, according to the postmark, from France. Puzzled, she opened it, only to gasp as familiar scrawl graced her eyes.

Dear Mother (and Father if you can bear to speak to him, I don't have time for two letters),

As you've probably already realised, it's me, Rei. If you're still looking for me (which I doubt) and think this is a clue to getting your hands on me, I wouldn't bother following it up. I'm writing this letter as Kai is packing the last of his clothes up, and then we're moving again. I'm just writing to tell you that I'm still alive, I'm okay, and I'm getting by. I've been working part time in a restaurant while we've been here, and I'm sure I'll find some kind of job when we get to our new place.

I'm not quite sure what to say to you. Kai told me to write this. I know you don't approve of Kai, and I know you don't approve of the fact that we're together. But the fact remains that we're getting along, and I love him.

Maybe in the future I'll come back to visit, but that won't be for a long time- until I know you can't do anything to keep me with you or keep me away from Kai. I'm sorry, but I don't trust you yet. It's going to take me a long time to forgive both you and Father for putting me in the situation I was in. You should be glad I had Kai, really, because without him I might have done something far more desperate than leaving home and eloping.

I hope that if I do come back to visit you can accept that Kai comes as a part of me now. I've made my choice, and it's that my home is wherever he is. He's the most important thing in my life, and while I know that's a lot to ask you to accept, I'm afraid that's how it is.

I hope this letter finds you in good health.

Your son,

Rei Kon.

Xia Kon read the letter twice over, then walked into the kitchen and pinned it to her noticeboard. If he came back...

If he came back, there was a lot of apologising to do. She hoped she was up to it. She'd learnt a lot since Rei had left. She'd learnt that she really did miss him. That Rei was more important to her than any number of boyfriends could have been. That she could look past the fact that he was living with another man and not think badly of him if she tried.

She'd learnt that mothers could accept a lot out of the ordinary when it came to their sons.

Hundreds of miles away, a young couple sat on a beach watching the sun setting, smiling at each other as it burned up the horizon in a fiery glow.

Fin

R&R please!