Wow, third chapter already! I think this is the farthest I've gone in any of my stories, lol. Thanks again to Airatainted for the sweet review, it's always awesome to see that someone likes my stories

Summary: Christmas is here and it's recognized by all, except one apartment. A fight breaks out between Colin and Dr. Garrets, and it's up to Tory to save Colin from the cold winter before it's too late!

Disclaimer: (See Chapter 1)

Pairing: TxC

Chapter 3: The Death Glare and the Little White Lie

December 24th, 11:47pm.

Just before Tory passed out, his neighbor, Paul batted Colin over the head with an umbrella just hard enough to knock him unconscious and get him off Tory. The last thing Tory felt and saw was Colin's grip loosening around his neck and Paul's face above his own.

"Tory... worried... wake... hey!" Was all that the young boy heard before everything went dark. Paul quickly checked over both Tory and Colin for any injures, and picked them up, laying one over one of his shoulders, and the other on his other shoulder. As carefully as possible, Paul opened the umbrella and held it above them as he walked through the park, back toward the house.

It only took him a few minutes to get back to the house, but the boys were heavy and he hadn't done much weight lifting lately, so he was pretty tired when he got to the house, and wasn't very sure that he'd be able to get up the stairs with them both. He looked across the street as the door to Colin's apartment opened, revealing a very tired, stressed, and frustrated Dr. Garrets. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like hours as Paul and Dr. Garrets stared into each other's eyes, as if a battle of wills was taking place.

"Thank you for bringing him back. He's hasn't been himself lately, so I'd appreciate you handing him over to me." The doctor came down the steps, an umbrella keeping the rain from touching him. Paul was about to move to go across the street, but he felt Colin's hand grab a fist-full of his shirt.

His voice was quiet, and a bit hoarse from yelling before, "Please... don't let him near me... please..." Once again, the frail boy fell into unconsciousness, but his grip on Paul's shirt stayed strong. Paul shook his head and smiled kindly.

"Actually, I was hoping that we could have Colin over for a while. You know, take him off your hands for a few hours to give you some time to yourself on this wonderful night."

"You-" The doctor could tell something was going on, that Paul knew more than he seemed to know. He raised a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat, "You're welcome to take him for a while... but tomorrow morning, I expect to see him at my doorstep." With that, the doctor turned and went back inside. Paul sighed with relief, having been fearing for his life for a few seconds.

The door to Tory's place opened and his mother burst out, a heavy jacket around her, the hood tossed hastily over her head, "Tory! Oh God, Tory! Is he ok! What happened to him? And what happened to poor Colin?" She held out her arms as she came down the stairs, taking Colin off of Paul's shoulder so that he could get up the stairs easier with only Tory, "Come on, hurry! This one is already burning up."

Paul nodded and quickly ascended up the stairs and into the house, "Yeah, Tory's feeling a bit warm as well."

For now, Ms. Blake was pretty happy that she had a big bed, so she could settle both boys on it. Even before they hit the bed, Tory's mom was already taking their soaked shirts off. She left the two boys in Paul's care for a few minutes to go get some towels, so Paul worked on getting the rest of their clothes off.

"Here we go! Watch out!" What seemed to be a pile of walking towels came into the room, barely fitting through the door frame. She dropped them on the floor and threw one at Paul, "Start drying Colin, please." Paul nodded and began drying Colin's chest and arms, but stopped for a minute to examine a few small cuts and bruises.

"What's this? Signs of abuse or heavy sports?" He gently touched around, feeling for other injuries, finding only a few more. Colin shifted uncomfortably under Paul's nimble fingers.

He suddenly awoke, batting Paul's hands away, "Get away!" He called as he tried to push himself away from Paul, only succeeding in tumbling over Tory and off the bed on the other side.

Tory groaned and opened his eyes, rubbing his chest, "Ouch, what just landed on me?" He said tiredly, looking over the side of the bed as he sat up. The next thing he saw made him feel wide awake.

Colin was sitting, rolled into a ball against the wall, hiding his eyes under his hair and behind his knees. His breathing was slightly labored and tears were pouring down his face from wide, scared eyes. Both Paul and Ms. Blake ran to the other side of the bed and kneeled in front of Colin, who seemed to not be completely awake from what seemed to be a nightmare. Ms. Blake scooted forward, "Colin? Colin, it's ok. You're safe here, it was just a bad dream, k?"

Almost immediately, Colin jumped at Ms. Blake and clung to her like a scared child. he hadn't realized that it was Tory's mom, what he had seen was the face of a woman with blue eyes and raven black hair like his over the face of Tory's mom. The brunette mother held Colin sweetly, stroking his hair and whispering sweet, comforting words into his ear. After a few moments, Colin's death grip loosened and released as he fell back asleep.

"Is he ok?" Tory asked, once again feel tired. His mom nodded and stood up, still holding the sleeping boy in her arms.

"I'm gonna put him in your bed, ok, Tory? It's easier than trying to get him into the top bunk."

"Sure." Tory laid back onto the bed and closed his eyes, but was kept from going to sleep when Paul lifted him off the bed.

The free-loader smiled, "Two things, kid. One, you need to dry off before you go to sleep again, and two, as payment for saving your ass back there, you owe me two lunches and your chinese leftovers from yesterday."

Tory grimaced and stuck his tongue out, "Get out of my house, mooch. No one asked you to help." He grabbed a towel and rubbed his hair roughly to get the water out, then down his arms and legs. After that, he ran into his room and watched as his mother pulled the sheets over his half naked classmate and rubbed his hair with a towel.

"Good. Tory, keep an ear out for your friend tonight ok? He may have a fever-induced nightmare later... if he's anything like you." She giggled and walked out of the room, patting Tory's head and kissing his cheek, "Now get warm and go to sleep."

The red-headed genius nodded and began to climb up the ladder before looking at his mom and smiling, "Love ya', mom. Thanks for the help, and please make sure that Paul gets his leftovers." He watched her wave as she closed his bedroom door, giggling as she walked away. Tory flopped onto the top bunk and pulled the sheets over his legs, already feeling warmer. Sleep tugged at him for a few minutes before he let the warm feeling wash over his mind and take his consciousness.

Wow! The chapters keep getting longer, don't they? Anyway, please R&R so I feel good about writing another chapter. Oh yeah, if something isn't spelled right or doesn't make sense, please tell me so I can fix it, k? Thanks a bunch my friends!