Second part and once again all my thanks is owed to InSilva for more help and encouragement than she realises.
Timeline again
1. 'In the beginning' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 13 and 14) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
2. 'Something more than it should be' (Chapter 10) Rusty is ten, Danny is twelve
3. 'Four Day Interlude' (Chapter 5) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
4. 'Remember the first time' (Chapter 4) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
5. 'View from the outside' (Chapter 12) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
6. 'Walk before you can crawl' (Chapter 2) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
7. 'Other Nightmares Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 8 and 9) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
8. 'The more things change' (Chapter 1) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is fifteen
9. 'Life Lessons' (Chapter 7) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
10. 'The lies we live' (Chapter 3) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
11. 'This is our decision (to live fast and die young)' (Chapter 6) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
12. 'Such a perfect day' (Chapter 11) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen.
Danny hadn't managed to catch up with Robert until after school was done. At recess he'd been kept in by Mrs. O'Donnell who apparently hadn't especially appreciated his creative writing assignment. Possibly he should have made more of an effort to change the names. And then at lunchtime he'd had to dance round Freddy, Buzz and Doug who were still a little confused, but Danny just wasn't content to be killing time with them now. And he really wasn't so happy, anymore, to be stealing little kids' lunches. But he'd felt strangely disappointed not to have been able to find Robert afterwards so he headed to the main gate and the crush of waiting, eager parents. His were never there. Never had been. Even back in kindergarten and first grade it had been Elsa, his babysitter who waited for him. Somehow he doubted that Robert's parents would be there either - Robert's 'they don't really care' from last night was a little too familiar - but he was hoping to maybe linger and hopefully catch Robert as he came out of school. All quite by chance of course. He'd sit on the wall and act like he was tying his shoelace, or something. Except when he got there, Robert was already sitting on the wall. And as Danny approached he saw him tying his shoelace with an expression of intense concentration. Danny paused, hiding behind a group of fifth graders and their parents and had to stifle a laugh as he saw Robert contemplate his foot for a moment before he carefully untied the lace again. He was just starting to retie it when Danny walked up to him.
"Practising?" Danny asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Something like that," Robert agreed and when he looked up at Danny and smiled, Danny's heart caught in his throat. Robert's eye was swollen almost shut, the skin around it purple in a way that Danny had only ever seen on TV.
"What happened? Did one of the older kids hit you? Was it Norris Carrol?" He'd heard Norris boasting about making kids cry before. If he'd hurt Robert . . . Danny didn't even know what he'd do. But he'd never felt this angry before.
Robert looked puzzled before he put his hand up to his face. "Oh! No, of course he didn't. It's nothing."
"What happened?" Danny demanded again.
Robert shrugged and grinned up at Danny. "I was bad."
Danny stared at him blankly and tried to understand. But he couldn't. He couldn't imagine what 'bad' thing Robert could possibly have been doing to get a black eye like that. "But what happened?" he repeated.
"Oh!" Robert suddenly seemed to understand something different. As though he thought that Danny's question had meant something else this time round. "I fell." He looked at Danny as though seeking approval.
Danny could hear the lie and really didn't understand any better and he was about to ask further when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel. How lovely to see you again. And how are you?"
Annette Darcey's mother. One of the last people that Danny ever wanted to see. "I'm very well, thank you, Mrs Darcey," he replied politely, and turned round and smiled at her.
She did something with her lips that could have been called a smile by someone who had never seen one before and she pinched his cheek before she turned her attention to Robert. "And who is your little friend?" She reached out, obviously intending to pinch his cheek, or ruffle his hair, or do one of the hundred little things that she seemed to save up to humiliate people. And it was difficult to say whether she or Danny was more surprised when Robert flinched away from her outstretched hand and leapt off the wall and out of her reach. And in that moment Danny saw two things. Firstly he saw that Mrs Darcey was preparing to deliver one of her long lectures on manners. And secondly, and far more importantly, he saw that Robert was genuinely scared.
"Excuse me, Mrs Darcey," he interrupted, "But I didn't think that Annette went to this school. I thought she was still taking advantage of the music programme at St. Catherine's."
That did the trick; his mom always said that Juliet Darcey would never turn down the chance to talk about her precious daughter's talents. "Yes, she is. She's even got a solo in the school concert this year. It's such a good school, such a shame you had to leave, though I suppose your parents were wise to pull you out before you were expelled. And how are you finding this place?"
"It's fine," Danny said with a smile. "I think I like it here."
"Yes. My goddaughter Celeste is a student here." She nodded over to where Annette was talking eagerly to another girl. "It's a good school. And of course they do wonders with delinquents."
She didn't seem to realise that she'd just insulted her own goddaughter. But somehow, just from the way he was standing, and carefully not reacting, Danny knew that Robert had, and was killing himself laughing inside. Choking back his own laughter, Danny smiled politely at her again. "Yes. Well, we need to be on our way, Mrs. Darcey. It was nice seeing you again."
She nodded to him. "Remember me to your mother," she commanded, and walked back to Annette and Celeste. "Girls! We'll be late for ballet practice."
"Who was that?" Robert asked him quietly, his eyes wide.
"Juliet Darcey. And yes, she's as scary as she looks. She's a friend of my mom's." He considered some of the dinner parties he'd been witness to. "Well, not really a friend. More of a packmate. Like hyenas." He thought of the snarling and snapping he'd seen on that nature program the other week. And the laughter. Definitely hyenas.
"Want to head into town?" Robert suggested hesitantly.
He really, really shouldn't. He'd been in enough trouble last night. "Can't." He shook his head regretfully. "How about you come over to my place instead?"
"Really? Your parents won't be . . . they won't mind?"
"They probably won't be in." Danny said. They always said they would be, but most of the time something happened and they had to work late instead. Which suited him fine.
They started walking towards the bus stop. "It wouldn't have hurt you know." Danny said abruptly.
Robert looked at him.
He felt compelled to explain. "I mean when she – "
" – I know." Robert interrupted. "I don't like to be touched." he added quietly, and there was that same fear behind his words.
Danny frowned. "It's just this cheek pinching thing she does. It doesn't hurt, it's just embarrassing."
"Oh." He could feel Robert's confusion and disbelief and he just didn't know what to say.
Danny's house was huge. Two storeys and it was just Danny and his parents who lived there. Robert couldn't imagine what they did with the space. And they had a front and a back yard, and two garages and a shiny new-looking car parked in the driveway.
He noticed Danny staring at the car unhappily. "My mom's home."
"We could go somewhere else until she's gone, or asleep or whatever?" he suggested hesitantly.
Danny sighed. "We can't dodge her forever." He paused. "But I guess we can for now. Come on. I'll show you this great place I found the other week. Race you!"
"But I don't know where we're going," Robert pointed out as he ran after Danny.
"Then I'll win!" Danny yelled back.
Somehow that seemed less than fair.
They headed away from the house and up the hill. Pretty soon Robert realised that they were heading towards what looked like an abandoned and falling down house. There was grass growing on the boarded up windows and what looked like a small tree growing out of what was left of the chimney. "Stop!" he yelled to Danny, who was still quite some way in front of him.
Danny did, just like Robert had known he would, and with a frown he waited for Robert to walk up to him. Then Robert suddenly sprinted past him and, giggling, and hearing Danny race to try and catch up, crossed the threshold. "I win!" he cheered.
Shaking his head angrily – and he knew, somehow, that he wasn't really mad – Danny pointed at him. "You are a cheat. And a thief. And a liar."
"Uh huh," he agreed happily. "I'm bad."
To his surprise, Danny immediately shook his head and looked serious. "No, you're just a cheat and a thief and a liar. You're not bad."
He frowned at Danny and really didn't understand.
Danny smiled. "Never mind. Wanna play at cowboys?"
"Yeah!" he grinned, confusion forgotten.
"Okay." Danny thought for a second. "I'll be Tex Harker, Sheriff of these here parts, you can be Rusty Rawlins, daring outlaw."
Sounded good to Robert. "Cool. I'm wearing a mask," he decided. "Like the Lone Ranger."
"Well, I've got a badge. Like," Danny frowned. "Well, also like the Lone Ranger, I guess."
"Right! And I'm going to come riding into town on my horse Snoopy." He started trotting along beside the wall of the house, looking round carefully for bandits.
Danny paused. "You can't call a horse Snoopy!"
"Why not?" he demanded. If he had a real horse he'd call it Snoopy.
And Danny didn't seem to have an argument to that. " . . . okay. Fair enough." Danny settled himself outside the door of the house, tipped an imaginary Stetson and started to whistle 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.' Robert grinned and slowed his horse down to fit.
He spoke in a drawl, like he'd heard cowboys on screen do. "I'm fixin' to rob this here bank."
Danny stood up and hitched up where he thought a gun belt would sit. "Well, I'm a-goin' to stop you. Nobody messes with Tex Harker's town."
"Rusty Ryan does." He realised immediately that he should have used the surname Danny had thought up, but Danny didn't seem to notice. Or mind.
They drew their guns and shot at each other for several enjoyable minutes, chasing each other round the building, tripping over the 'Danger! Condemned' signs several times.
"Give up, Rusty!" Danny yelled finally. "You're out of bullets."
"So are you!" Robert called back.
"Well, I still got my knife." Danny brandished his empty hand triumphantly.
The memory of that summer day and the look in his mom's eyes and the tip of the blade rose up in his mind and he pushed them down as best he could. " . . . I don't like knives."
Danny paused and immediately opened his hand, getting rid of the imaginary knife. "It's just a game, Rus . . . Robert."
He shook his head. "I don't like knives. Sorry, Danny."
"Well, guess you still got a few bullets there, pardner." Danny smiled.
Except somehow even that didn't sound fun anymore. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he said quietly.
"Then how're you going to rob the bank?" Danny didn't sound impatient or scornful. He sounded curious, like he was sure that there was an answer.
Robert thought for a moment. "I'm going to sneak in very, very quietly, and because I'm so little and careful that no-one ever sees me, and I crawl behind the desk and I reach for the money . . . " Without even thinking about it he matched his actions to his words.
" . . . the guy behind the desk sees you! And he reaches for the gun, and he's going to shoot you!" Danny's voice was alarmed and Robert immediately started to crawl backwards. "Rusty! No!" Danny cried in alarm and he lunged forwards, kicked violently at the air and nearly fell over. "I kick the gun out of his hand! Grab the cash!"
Robert darted forwards again and grabbed the money from the desk. "Got it!"
They sprinted away from the building, dodging hails of bullets all the time, jumped on their horses and galloped away. When they silently agreed they were safe, they fell to the ground, exhausted.
"Had enough of Sheriffing?" Robert asked.
"Couldn't let him shoot you." Danny propped himself up on one elbow. "Who would I talk to?"
Robert grinned and said nothing.
It had taken a lot of effort to persuade Robert to stay for dinner. It honestly wasn't a big deal, he had friends over all the time and his parents never minded. Or possibly never noticed. He wasn't quite sure. Admittedly most of the time they were neighbourhood kids, ones that his parents knew and could be sent home in five minutes if asked. But still. Danny couldn't believe that there'd really be a problem.
He couldn't believe that there'd really be a problem until he saw his mom staring at Robert with a barely concealed look of disgust.
Incredulous, he turned to look at Robert himself, trying to understand what she was seeing. For the first time he noticed that Robert's hair was quite a bit longer than most kids, obviously in dire need of cutting, and that his jumper was thin, almost worn through in places, and frayed to the point of unravelling at the collar and the hem. And his jeans were badly patched, and his trainers had a couple of holes in them and none of that was Robert's fault, but somehow he realised that his mom didn't approve.
He also realised, even as he watched him smiling politely at her - and staying well out of arms reach – that Robert knew perfectly well just what Danny's mom thought of him. And Danny didn't know how he was supposed to react to that but he felt hot and angry and embarrassed all at once.
His mom had smiled graciously and said that of course Robert was welcome to stay for dinner. Then she'd gone and had an urgent discussion with his dad in the kitchen, and he'd seen his dad look out into the dining room at Robert – less disgusted but equally disapproving – and he'd wanted to just grab Rusty and head for the hills and never, ever look back. Instead he'd contented himself with trying to offer as many silent apologies as he could without his parents noticing. But when Robert looked at him and mouthed, "It's okay," the smile didn't reach Robert's eyes. Because it wasn't okay.
And they sat in silence at first, and Danny watched Robert eat his soup very, very carefully and he never thought that he'd wish that his parents would start arguing with each other. But they were united now, and he hated it.
"So, Robert. That's quite a shiner you have there. What happened?" Danny's dad asked, with the same smile that he tended to give Uncle Harold.
Robert jumped and dripped soup all over the tablecloth. "I'm sorry," he whispered, breathlessly. Danny winced; his mom always hated it when he spilled things on her linens and, true to form, her mouth twisted and she began to complain, even as his dad leapt up and grabbed a wet cloth and leaned over Robert to scrub the stain out. And even though neither of his parents seemed to notice, Danny could see the way that Robert shied away from his dad. The way he gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white. Frozen. Waiting. Terrified.
He bit his lip. "You fell, isn't that what you said?" he asked, figuring that making sure his parents didn't ask again would probably be a good idea. "Off a wall." he added, when Robert didn't seem to be able to answer. Might as well expand the lie, make it more realistic.
And at last Robert looked at him and he smiled reassuringly. Robert nodded slowly. "Uh huh. The wall at school. I was playing and I guess I slipped."
"That was careless." Danny's mom said, thin-lipped.
"Boys will be boys," his dad said, with a smile, finishing wiping the tablecloth and ruffling Robert's hair. He didn't seem to notice that Robert was trembling. "Where do you live?" he asked, as he sat back down. "I'll give you a lift home after dinner."
"I can do that, Luke," Danny's mom put in and there was something in the way she looked at him that Danny didn't quite like. "And Danny can come too."
His dad frowned at her for a moment and then seemed to give up and cleared away the dishes. "Green bean casserole." he called, carrying the dish through. "Hope you like it, Robert."
"Yes, thank you, sir." Danny didn't understand why Robert was scared. But the fact that his voice was so steady was seriously impressive.
His dad smiled. "I like that. Maybe you should give Danny some lessons in manners."
His mom frowned. "You never did say where you live, Robert."
"Over on North Sloan Street," Robert said quietly. That meant absolutely nothing to Danny, but judging by the way his dad paused in the act of dishing out the casserole and exchanged a long and serious look with his mom, it meant something to his parents. Something bad. And honestly, did they think that he and Rusty were blind, or stupid? Or did they just not care?
"How . . . nice," his dad said, with a forced smile. "So, what do your parents do?"
"Uh, they don't really do anything. My dad lost his job a little while ago."
"I see." Danny's mom turned to stare at Danny, and he realised that she thought he should be getting something out of this.
"That's tough." he said sympathetically. "Hey, have you seen that new Disney film yet? Freddy's mom is taking a group of us tomorrow. You could come too." And who'd have thought there were ways of lying so that just one person knew you were?
"I'm sure that Freddy's mom doesn't want to be bothered with any more people," his dad said firmly.
He shook his head. "She won't mind." She probably wouldn't, if they did show up. "Come on, it's 'Robin Hood'," he added persuasively.
Robert's eyes lit up. "With the dog?" he asked eagerly.
"Fox," Danny corrected. Maybe they would go and see the movie, after they'd lifted a wallet or two. It could be good fun. "Wanna see?"
"Yeah!" Robert grinned, and Danny realised that they'd definitely be going to see the movie. Oh, well.
The casserole finished, his mom cleared the plates away. "Now, have you got everything Robert? Your coat?"
"I don't have one," Robert said quietly.
"Oh." For a moment his mom seemed completely baffled. "Well, come on anyway. You too, Daniel."
"Perhaps Danny should stay here," his dad interjected, an uneasy look on his face.
"Can I talk to you for a moment, Luke? Dear?" Danny watched as they stepped into the kitchen and had a brief and heated, though mercifully quiet, discussion. He only caught snatches of it.
" . . . Not a good idea to . . . "
" . . . I want him to see."
"Just don't think that . . . "
" . . bad influence."
Danny exchanged a long and uncomfortable look with Robert. His mom walked back to them, looking triumphant. "Get your shoes on, Daniel."
He wondered what she was trying to do.
Dinner had been a complete nightmare. He'd known from the beginning that he and Danny came from very different places, but when Danny hadn't seemed to mind it hadn't occurred to him that his parents would. But he'd seen the way they looked at him and it hurt. There was no way they were going to let Danny spend any more time with him. And he'd been stupid and clumsy and he'd been sure that they were going to punish him, but they hadn't, and he wasn't sure why. Maybe there was no hitting in front of other people. After all, mostly he didn't get hit when people could see. Not something he wanted to rely on though.
The journey back to his place didn't last too long. For all it was a different world, it wasn't that far away. He and Danny shared the backseat, exchanging all the Robin Hood stories that they knew. He liked the one with the archery contest best. But long before he was expecting it, Danny's mom was slowing the car down.
"Which one is it, Robert?"
"Uh, next block. The third one."
She glared at him in the rear view mirror and he felt Danny's concerned gaze on the side of his face. That had been one good thing. Danny didn't seem to see the same things his parents saw. Didn't think that Robert was bad. And somehow that made everything worthwhile.
The car screeched to a halt outside the apartment building and Robert made to leap out. "Thank you very much for the lift, Mrs. Ocean," he said politely and grinned at Danny.
"Wait a minute, Robert." She smiled at him. It wasn't pleasant. "I think that Daniel and I would like to come up."
Oh, that wasn't good. She knew he was bad, and if she told his dad things would get worse.
"There's no need," he said politely and looked imploringly at Danny.
With a look that he didn't quite understand, Danny obliged. "Come on, Mom, Robert can manage to find his home from here. And there's a programme I want to see on TV."
"No, I insist." She opened the car door and, reluctantly, Danny did the same.
"Sorry," he whispered to Robert, despite the fact that he clearly had no idea what he was sorry for.
"It's okay," he whispered back.
The door to the building was open, of course. But at least it wasn't hanging off the hinges like it had been last month. He led them into the hallway, fully conscious of Mrs. Ocean taking in every piece of graffiti, every little bit of garbage and evidence of rats that covered the floor. And he knew that she was forcing Danny to see, to contrast the way he lived with they way they lived. He didn't dare glance back to see Danny's expression. Some things didn't need to be any more difficult than they already were.
They walked in silence up the stairs and Robert knocked on the door and hoped against hope that his parents were actually in and sober enough to answer. Because he had no idea what would happen if they weren't, but it really couldn't be anything good.
Fortunately after a couple of minutes the door swung open and his dad glared down at him. "Where the fuck have you been? Get in here, you little shit." He pulled Robert inside, roughly by the shoulder and stopped on seeing Danny and his mom.
"Good evening, Mr. Ryan." Danny's mom smiled disdainfully. "Your son was over at my house this evening and I was just returning him."
He felt fingers squeeze his shoulder, far too hard, and he bit into his lip.
"That was very kind of you," his dad said after a moment. "I hope the boy wasn't any trouble."
"None at all," she said in a tone that meant "Lots".
His dad dug his fingers in deeper and he couldn't help but gasp.
"You're hurting him!" Danny glared and he smiled to show that it was all right. Because he was in trouble.
"Hush, Daniel," Mrs. Ocean scolded. "Well, we need to be going. Goodnight Mr. Ryan. Robert."
Danny looked straight at him for a long moment and Robert could read sympathy and concern and, yes, friendship in that stare. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rusty."
And he nodded. Worthwhile. All of it.
Danny sat on the edge of the fountain and worried. He'd snuck out of the house easy enough, despite all his parent's best efforts but the fact that Rusty wasn't here yet had him bothered. As soon as they were back in the car last night, his mom had looked at him and said "Well?" and when he'd answered "Well what?" she'd been less than happy. In fact, it had started a long talk on how he needed to respect her, which had followed very nicely into a monologue on how he needed to be far more careful what sort of people he spent time with, let alone invited back to the house. It was quite impressive. Without her ever using any actually insulting words, she made it quite clear just what she thought of Robert, and Danny had to bite back several words of his own.
In the end he'd managed to neither agree nor disagree when she ordered him not to spend any more time with Robert. Because there was a part of him that couldn't quite believe that he was willing to go so far for a boy – a boy nearly three years younger than him – whom he'd known for less than a week. But there was another part of him that felt prepared to go a whole lot further, and that part thought that maybe children shouldn't be scared of adults the way Robert was, and maybe lying about bruises and not liking to be touched, and always being hungry and not having nice clothes, and having a father who didn't care that he hurt you . . . maybe it added up to something that he just wasn't quite able to get his head around. Something that made him sick just to think about.
And he'd snuck out of the house and was waiting round the corner from the diner they'd been in before, just like they'd said, and Rusty was late and Danny was worrying. He was sure that Robert would be here any moment though. Probably just got the time wrong or something. He'd be here soon, and they'd go and find another couple of wallets, and it'd be fun, and then they'd go to the movies and he'd see how much popcorn Robert could eat and they wouldn't need to worry about anything for the rest of the day.
Finally, Rusty appeared and Danny forgot how to think. The black eye yesterday had horrified him. This hurt in more ways than he could even understand. The left-hand side of Robert's face was a solid mass of swollen purple, except for the few bits that were bloodied instead. He was hunched over, his arm cradled in to his chest. And when he saw Danny and tried to smile a bead of blood fell off his lip.
They stood looking at each other for a moment. "Come on." Danny said, at last, gently.
"Where?" Robert asked.
"That diner round the corner. The one we went to before. Think you need to sit down before you fall down."
"It's fine." He tried to shrug and winced. Danny blinked back tears. Not helpful right now.
"Come on," he repeated, and led Rusty round the corner.
The moment they set foot in the door, the lady from before was all over them. "Oh my, come in and sit down." she said, flipping the sign to 'Closed' and getting them settled at the nearest table. "What happened, honey?" she asked Robert softly, reaching out to rub at his shoulder. Rusty flinched and Danny closed his eyes briefly.
"He's bruised everywhere," he explained, almost apologetically.
She nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Let me go and get the first aid kit." She hurried off.
"Danny, let's go." Robert said quietly, staring at the door.
He crouched down in front of Rusty. "She isn't going to hurt you, Rusty," he promised. Because he was sure of it. "Let her help you. Please."
He was rewarded with a careful smile. "That's the second time you've called me that."
"What?" he frowned and then realised. "Oh. Sorry."
"You can call me it if you want. I like it. It ends in 'Y'."
"Yes, it does." He grinned, happy to have done something right.
Mabel came back, laden down with gauze and bandages and antiseptic and arnica cream. "Okay, sweetie. Tilt your head back and let me get a look."
With a quick glance at Danny, Rusty obeyed. Mabel looked him over carefully and sighed. "Oh, honey. How did this happen?"
"There were some big kids and they said that my cousin had stolen something from them and they . . . they hit me and I fell down the stairs." It was a good lie. Danny could hear it in every word, but Mabel looked completely taken in. Completely furious, but definitely taken in. "They said they were sorry," Rusty added sweetly.
"Do you know who they were?" Mabel demanded. Rusty shrank back. "I'm not angry at you, honey," she added in a softer tone of voice. Behind her, Danny smiled at Rusty and willed him to see the truth in her words.
Rusty relaxed a little. "I didn't know them."
"Okay. Listen, I need to clean out those cuts on your face, okay?" She held up the antiseptic bottle. Rusty looked at it suspiciously.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's just antiseptic," she assured him. "Just like your mom uses." She opened it and looked surprised. "It's empty. I'm sure I bought another one the other day. Just a minute." She ran into the back.
Rusty shot a confused look at Danny and he realised that Rusty still had no idea what was going on. He smiled slightly. "It'll clean your cuts and stop them getting infected," he explained and tried not to think what it meant that Rusty didn't recognise medicine. He hesitated, because he supposed he'd lied a little. "It'll hurt but it's good for you."
"Because I'm bad." Rusty nodded understandingly.
"No!" Without even noticing it, he took Rusty's hand in his own. Rusty didn't seem to mind at all. "You're not bad," he said quietly. "Not at all."
And there were so many more things that he wanted to say, about how wrong his parents were, and how wrong Rusty's parents were, and hell, how wrong the world was, but Rusty was looking completely lost, so he contented himself with stroking his hand and whispering, "I'm glad I tried to steal your lunch."
It sounded so stupid and inadequate, but Rusty smiled at him. "Me too."
And he realised in that moment that Rusty was the best friend he'd ever had, and he was prepared to do anything to help him.
If only he knew how.
Thanks for reading and I would really value all opinions on this. ;D