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Disclaimer: Read the Prologue…

Chapter 1

Spencer watched the new kid. He seemed almost… out of place.

They were walking to his room, their footsteps the only noise in the dark, cold corridor. Bryan hadn't said a word during the entire trip, his arms holding his toy close to his chest, his lips only moving when he licked them, relieving them of their dryness.

The blonde repeatedly stared at him, his oceanic eyes wandering up and down the boy's frame.

Boris had ordered that he share his room with Bryan, even though it had only one bed and only one cupboard and there were other available rooms in the abbey. He'd told him to inform the new boy of the rules, and to walk him around and take care of him. Spencer had agreed; Spencer always did as Boris said.

He stuffed his hands into his jacket's pockets, "So… How old are you Bryan?" The little blonde questioned, eager to start a conversation and squash the silence.

The boy's answer was quiet, "Eight." Bryan pulled his animal closer, collecting his courage, "You?"

"I'm nine." Spencer smiled, "You're very quiet, you'll have to learn to talk a bit more."

Bryan made a face, both disgusted and silly, "Everyone's scary, like that man back there."

"Boris?"

The boy nodded, "He… scares me."

"He scares everyone." Spencer agreed. They stopped in front of a large brown, wooden door, "Why do you hold that … thing like that?" His hand turned the cool doorknob, the door squeaking as it opened, doing so again as he closed it after them.

Bryan held the animal out, showing Spencer what it actually was: a bird of some sort, "Mr Falcon? He protects me. All I have to do is hold him."

Spencer stared at him quizzily, his eyebrow raised in question, as he examined the bird, "How can a stuffed pigeon protect you?"

"Mr Falcon isn't a pigeon, he's a falcon and he just does." Bryan huffed, his cheeks inflating in annoyance.

Spencer smiled, "You're cute."

Bryan blushed, "Thank you."

Spencer sat on the bed, motioning for the other to join him. Bryan hurriedly sat beside him, nervously swinging his legs off the side, his eyes gazing around the room.

It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. The stone walls were cold, making the room cool. There was a cupboard in the corner, a small set of drawers next to it. There was a small bathroom at the back of the room, the door was removed, the steel hinges rusty.

"Do you have any clothes?"

The question made caught Bryan by surprise. He shook his head, "Mr Balcov said he had some for me."

The blonde boy nodded, "They'll all have this logo on it." He motioned to the orange, white and blue logo on his jacket, "The 'B' stands for BIOVOLT and that stands for something I can't remember." Bryan nodded, removing his scarf, "You can have the right half of the cupboard and bottom two drawers if you want, I don't mind and we'll choose which half of the bed you're sleeping on later." Spencer went on. He talked about the rules which he remembered, about the rooms he wasn't allowed to go in, about the kids they both had to watch out for. The blonde placed a finger on his lip as he eventually ran out of things to say.

"So… I'm not allowed to take Mr Falcon with me?"

"I think it'd be safer for you and him if you left him here." Bryan nodded, his green eyes wide and panicy. He didn't want Mr Falcon to be hurt! "You can cuddle up to him at night though, I won't mind." He received another nod.

Spencer sighed, laying back on the bed, letting his eyes fall shut as he yawned. It was cut in half by a small gurgle. "I'm hungry." Bryan mumbled, rubbing his tummy thoughtfully.

Spencer jumped off the bed and glanced at the clock. It said seven, five, six, all he knew was that dinner was at eight, zero, zero and that breakfast was at seven, zero, zero. But he was slowly catching on; he'd just started learning the time in his classes. "Well… We have been in here for a while. Come on dinner should be getting served."

He watched as the other boy smiled shyly, gingerly placing Mr Falcon on the bed, covering him with his scarf, "We'll be back soon Mr Falcon, don't worry. I think Spencer will protect me for a while."

The blonde blinked at the remark. Him, protect? He still got picked on, how was he supposed to protect Bryan? How was he supposed to keep the littler boy safe? Spencer shook his head slightly, the boy didn't know any better. He nodded, yep, that was it. His mind snapped to attention, maybe Boris had told Bryan he would protect him? He cringed at the thought. He'd heard a few stories about other boys that had been punished: they'd been hit, some were captive in their rooms for a few days. He had never done anything against Boris' will, he'd never wanted to experiment and see if the stories were true. Maybe it would be better to try and protect Bryan, just to be safe.

"Spencer…" He blinked, "Are you okay?" Bryan had moved so he was right up in front of him, their noses nearly touching.

He nodded, backing away from the other boy, opening the door as he backed into it, "This way."

o0o0o

Bryan stared. He'd never seen so many children in the one area before. He jumped as a boy bumped into him, "Hey! Watch where you're going."

"S-Sorry…" Bryan bounded over to Spencer, clinging to his arm, making the blonde glance down in surprise.

Spencer hadn't noticed that Bryan wasn't walking along side him. When he'd realised the boy had stopped, he'd started to panic. How was he supposed to protect the younger boy if he didn't know where he was? The fact that Bryan was now latched tightly onto his arm made him feel extremely uncomfortable, yet relieved at the same time.

"Where do we get the food?"

Spencer gave off a smile, pointing to a not too long line of boys, "Over there."

They stumbled over to it, dodging the older, pushier boys and the many tables and seats. Bryan was still holding Spencer's arm, the boy's eyes taking in the scene of laughing, cruel boys. Many were teasing the younger ones, pushing them around and ganging up on them. It reminded him of the school he used to go too.

They waited in line, stepping forward every few minutes.

"Spencer, found yourself a boyfriend ay?" The blonde felt himself blush as he looked up at the abbey's cook. He wasn't too tall and had large warming eyes and messy hair each their own shade of brown. His voice was quiet, just above a whisper as he rested as elbow on the bench in front of him, smiling in amusement, "He's cute."

The statement made Bryan blush, and he smiled slightly, letting go of Spencer's arm, "He's not my… Boyfriend, that's icky."

The tall brunette laughed, "Ah… We'll see, when you're older."

Spencer motioned between the two, an apologetic look sent to Bryan, "This is Rhys, he's the abbey's cook and," He turned to Rhys, "This is Bryan, he's the new student."

The man smiled, nodded and passed Bryan a plate and a fork and knife, "Enjoy, I'm not the best cook around." Bryan nodded, waving slightly as Spencer thanked the man and moved to sit down. Their seats were on the other side of the room, past the four long tables and past the many wooden chairs.

Bryan amused himself, staying close to Spencer as they walked and he stared down at his potatoes and pumpkin, "Do you like carrots?"

Spencer laughed as he sat down, helping Bryan into his own seat, "Yes."

Bryan pouted, poking at a stray pea, "Aw… I was gonna ask if I could have yours."

"Well…" Spencer examined his plate, working out quickly in his head what vegetable he liked the best, "Do you like onions?" Bryan shook his head, "We can swap. I don't like carrots too much."

Bryan smiled, stabbing his two small onions and placing them on Spencer's plate. They were sitting next to each other, their backs facing the farthest wall from the kitchen. It was where the littler kids retreated; there was little threat of being bullied up here.

Spencer placed his carrots on Bryan's plate, seemingly happy with the arrangement.

"Where are we going after this?"

Spencer swallowed, watching as Bryan cutely cut up his chops, "All we usually do is sit in our rooms. There's not a lot to do around here during the night; it gets too cold." The blonde chewed thoughtfully, "Maybe we can take a bath, then we can play or ask Boris about your clothes."

Bryan nodded, not really paying attention, even though he had asked. The food was great! His mother hardly had enough money to pay rent, the electricity bill and afford good meat and fresh vegetables. They usually ate the cheap noodles all the time, or frozen foods. The eight-year-old's eyes saddened, darkening slightly, he missed his mother already.

"Bryan?" He looked up at Spencer, "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, quickly finishing off the rest of his dinner and packing it at the end of the table. Spencer had explained that Rhys didn't have enough room at the front for the boys to stack their dirty dishes and had asked for them to be piled up on the desk at either end of the table.

"We're finding my clothes?"

Spencer nodded.

o0o0o

"Aren't they a bit big Spencer?"

The currently said boy was perched up on his bed, legs crossed, his arms resting comfortable on top of them as he examined Bryan.

"You'll grow into them, I grew into mine." He watched amusedly as Bryan struggled to keep his long sleeves from sliding over his small hands, "Maybe we could pin them up…" He mused as he rolled around on the bed, seeking another comfortable position.

Bryan huffed, jumping up onto the bed, still tugging at his grey sleeves. He had to stand on the bed to pull up his falling brown pants.

"You look funny." Spencer laughed, making the green eyed boy huff and stick his tongue out at him. Spencer just smiled in return, finding his comfortable position under the blankets, his arms under his head as he stared at the stone ceiling. Mr Falcon was sitting on the pillow beside his head. Bryan giggled as he collapsed on top of the blonde's head.

"He likes you."

Spencer frowned, rubbing his now sore forehead: where the plushie's hard eye had landed, "He hurt my head."

"He was giving you a kiss. He thought you were going to bed." Bryan yawned, crawling up beside Spencer, sliding under the blankets. He kicked off his pants as they started slipping down again - finally sick of them – sighing as he held Mr Falcon close and his eyes slid shut.

His back was facing Spencer, but the blonde didn't mind. He just switched the light off and relaxed against the soft pillow. He sighed, his breathing slowing and deepening.

"Spencer."

The blonde murmured, "What?"

"I don't like the dark."

The blonde's eyes cracked open, seeing the faint outline that was Bryan, "I'll put the light back on."

"No! I can't sleep then, it's too bright."

"What then?"

He felt Bryan shuffle closer, "Well, Mama used to cuddle me and kiss my cheek and I'd feel better."

Spencer went rigid, turning so he was completely facing Bryan. Cuddle him? He didn't know how to cuddle, he didn't like kissing things. He blinked, well, Bryan wasn't a thing, he was a boy like himself. The thought made him feel slightly better, but more nervous.

He felt Bryan slide closer, his head tucking itself under the blonde's chin. Spencer felt an arm wrap around his waist, the other holding Mr Falcon between them. Spencer hastily let his arm wrap around Bryan, his lips brushing the boy's cheek briefly. He jumped slightly as he felt Bryan's press against his chin, causing the younger youth to giggle quietly.

"Night night Spencer. Night Mr Falcon."

"G'night." Spencer responded, feeling his eyes lids grow heavy, Bryan's warmth and soft breaths lulling him into sleep.

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