A/N: New chapter surprisingly early! In more ways than one...
Timeline:
1. 'In the beginning' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 13 and 14) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
2. 'Neverending Conversation' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 15 and 16) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
3. 'Growing Together' (Chapter 44) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine
4. 'Trick and Treat' (Chapter 34) Rusty is eight, Danny is ten.
5. 'Matilda and the Werewolf' (Chapter 23) Rusty is nine, Danny is eleven.
6. 'Something more than it should be' (Chapter 10) Rusty is ten, Danny is twelve
7. 'The humiliation of Norris Carrol' (Chapter 20) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
8. 'Four Day Interlude' (Chapter 5) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
9. 'Remember the first time' (Chapter 4) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
10. 'Sunshine, smiles and sweet, sweet words' (Chapter 17) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen.
11. 'Lie, Cheat, Steal, Play' (Chapter 24) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
12. 'View from the outside' (Chapter 12) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
13. 'When we were young' Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Chapter 25-28) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
14. 'And we won't get it back when we die' (Chapter 29) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fourteen
15. 'Walk before you can crawl' (Chapter 2) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
16. 'Other Nightmares Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 8 and 9) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
17. 'Unseasonal' (Chapter 36 37, 38, 39 40, 41, 42 & 43) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
18. 'The more things change' (Chapter 1) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is fifteen
19. 'Different Roads' Part 1-3 (Chapter 31-33)
20. 'Words and Silence' (Chapter 22) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen
21. 'Six months of roses' (Chapter 18) Rusty is thirteen/fourteen, Danny is sixteen
22. 'Two stories with some understanding' (Chapter 21) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen. Falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
23. 'Life Lessons' (Chapter 7) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen - falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
24. 'The lies we live' (Chapter 3) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
25. 'If the fates allow' (Chapter 19) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
26. 'This is our decision (to live fast and die young)' (Chapter 6) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
27. 'Such a perfect day' (Chapter 11) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
And sequels after they move away!
'Adjusting' - two months after they leave town, Rusty is 15, Danny is 17
'Time to regret' - shortly before 'Learning Curve'
'Learning Curve' - eighteen months after they leave town, Rusty is 16, Danny is 19
'All in the family' - shortly after 'Learning Curve'
'Outward Ripples' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Eye for an Eye' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Chasing Echoes' - set after O11.
'Reconstruction' - set after movies.
Class dragged on for what seemed like hours and Rusty was absolutely bored with George Washington. He didn't like history. It all seemed so far away and he didn't see the point of it. They'd listened to the story and they'd spent the rest of the morning painting a big picture of a cherry tree, which was sort of spoiled when Brady accidentally kicked the paint tub over.
There was pink on the toes of Rusty's shoes. He hoped Dad never noticed.
The bell rang for recess and he grabbed his bag and quickly ran down the stairs and out into the playground, looking for Danny as he had every day for the past two months. In a small corner of his mind he marvelled again at just how much brighter he felt each and every morning now he knew he'd be seeing Danny.
As usual Danny was waiting for him on the edge of the playground, leaning against a wall. But as he got closer he could see Danny was pale and sweating and that wasn't at all usual.
"You okay?" he asked, frowning.
Danny seemed to have trouble focusing on him, blinking like he was surprised Rusty was there. "Don't feel great," he muttered.
"Sit down," Rusty instructed him anxiously, taking a step closer and hovering at his elbow.
With a stifled moan, Danny slumped to the ground.
"You feel like you're going to throw up?" Rusty asked.
Danny shrugged uncomfortably. "Don't know," he said shortly.
He sighed. Danny looked exhausted and feverish. "You should be at home," he said softly. "In bed."
"Can't," Danny told him, shaking his head with an effort. "I can't be sick."
"I don't think you have a choice," Rusty said, grimacing. "You should go to the office."
Danny shook his head again. "If Mom's called, she'll have to leave work to look after me. She'll be mad. She hates it when I'm sick."
He found himself nodding. The office had sent for Dad a couple of times when they'd thought he was too beat up to be at school. Dad had been...mad. He could understand Danny's dread. And yet - "You think you can make it through the rest of the day?" He doubted it. He thought that any teacher who saw Danny right now would probably send him straight home, and that was if Danny was physically capable of walking back to class.
"I have to," Danny said, and he looked the picture of misery. He dropped his head into his hands and swallowed convulsively. "Rusty..."
"Come on," Rusty said quickly, standing back to let Danny stand up, and he thought he should be reaching out a hand to held Danny up, thought Danny would want him to, but the moment passed and he did nothing. Danny was on his feet and Rusty led him quickly back into the building and the nearest restroom, and he waited outside the stall as Danny retched.
"Here," he said, passing Danny a cold compress. "Put it against your neck. You'll feel better."
Danny smiled at him weakly before turning back to the toilet.
Rusty tore a piece of paper out of his jotter, quickly fashioned it into a cone and filled it from the drinking fountain. "Here," he said again, and Danny took it and sipped from it slowly.
"You can't go back to class," he told Danny. There was just no way that was going to work. Danny should be at home, tucked up in bed, taken care of. Anything else simply wasn't right.
Danny flushed the toilet and stumbled to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What else can I do?"
What else could they do? He took a deep breath. Okay. They had to get Danny out of school and home without anyone objecting and without the need to involve Danny's Mom. "I've got it covered," he said, working on sounding more confident than he really was. He reached into his bag and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. "Got this back a couple of months ago," he explained. "Miss Harris saw I wasn't doing good and sent me to the office, and they gave me a note excusing me from class for the rest of the day. Only it wasn't dated so I didn't hand it in, cos I figured it might come in handy some day."
"It's got your name on it," Danny pointed out, stifling a painful-sounding cough.
"It's in pencil," he answered. "I've got an eraser. I can change it." He looked at Danny carefully. "You think - "
" - yes," Danny nodded, and he still looked pale but maybe a little less so.
They found themselves a little space at the end of the corridor, and they weren't supposed to be inside right now, but no one was around at least.
"Sip your water and try not to move around too much," he told Danny. "Close your eyes, if it helps." It helped him sometimes, when he'd hit his head too hard.
He stared down at the paper in front of him, and erasing his name was no problem, but putting in Danny's? His writing was far too childish. Someone would notice.
All the letters in Danny's name were in that note. If he could just copy each one exactly, no one would be able to tell. He took his jotter out and carefully started sketching out the letters one at a time. Had to be perfect.
Took five minutes before he was satisfied with his practice attempts, and when he glanced up it looked like Danny had dozed off against the door. He sighed and started working on the actual note.
"Woah, he doesn't look good," Doug Fletcher commented, coming round the corner.
Rusty stood up instinctively, moving between Doug and Danny. "He's fine," he answered shortly.
"He looks sick," Doug said, craning his neck.
He raised his chin. "I'm taking care of it." He glanced down at the note in his hand. It was all done and he thought it would pass a casual inspection at least. Right. Doug was in Danny's class. "You mind putting this on your teacher's desk when you go back in?" he asked, holding the note out. "Don't let anyone see you."
Doug looked doubtful. "I don't know..."
Not like he'd been expecting Doug to help for nothing anyway. He had almost three dollars in his pocket and he didn't even stop to consider that he'd been planning on using it for food this weekend. "Two dollars," he offered. They'd need the rest for the bus back to Danny's.
"Really?" Doug's eyes gleamed. "Have you got it now?"
Rusty nodded, digging into his pocket and holding out the cash.
"Well, okay then," Doug agreed, taking the note and making to grab the cash.
Rusty's fist closed around it. "If you 'forget' to put the note on the desk, then Freddy might just find out who it was got gum on his pants."
Doug swallowed. "Oh. Right. Sure thing, Rusty."
Huh. He wondered to himself as Doug scampered away. Two months ago, no one in school knew who he was. Now it seemed like everyone knew his name. Now he had a name that was actually his. His eyes flickered over to Danny and he wondered if he'd ever understand.
With a sigh he settled down, sitting against the wall next to Danny. Only things down here were the music room, the gymnasium and a couple of store cupboards and none of them should be in use next period. They'd be fine hiding out here until after recess.
A few minutes later the bell rang and Danny woke with a start, looking round wildly, and when he saw Rusty sitting next to him he calmed down instantly. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't sleep last night."
Rusty nodded. "I'm taking you home now. Just give it five minutes so everyone will be in class."
Danny's brow furrowed. "The note - "
" - taken care of," he said instantly, and he was ready to explain, but Danny had already relaxed, like he didn't doubt Rusty for a second.
Once again, he was overwhelmed with confusion and wonder.
Sneaking back to Danny's proved to be easy enough. They didn't see a single person on their way out of school, and the bus driver didn't give them a second glance. Better yet, neither of Danny's parents were home, meaning that they could head straight upstairs and Danny got changed into his pyjamas and slipped into bed, coughing harshly while Rusty fetched him a glass of water.
"Thanks," Danny murmured, and a look of guilt crossed his face. "You should go back to school."
Rusty stared. "Well, that's not gonna happen."
"There was only one note, right?" Danny persisted. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think. You're going to get in trouble."
He grinned. "I'm always in trouble," he said with perfect truth, and he saw the wince of understanding cross Danny's face. "I'm used to it," he said gently. "It'll be fine. I want to stay."
He wanted to stay and Danny didn't want to be alone, and as Danny settled down to sleep, his eyes fluttered open again and again, like he couldn't quite believe that Rusty was there.
Danny dozed through the afternoon and Rusty sat on the chair beside his bed and watched him sleep. Didn't seem as thought Danny was too sick, least Rusty didn't think so, but he was obviously miserable and uncomfortable, coughing in his sleep and kicking off the bed clothes, his face red and flushed.
Frowning, he went and fetched a damp flannel from the bathroom and gently laid it over Danny's forehead, his hand on the flannel, not touching Danny's skin, not even smoothing Danny's hair away from his face, and even then, as he reached out, he felt a surge of panic and shame and memory rose up in his mind.
("Don't touch me," Mom screamed, her voice harsh and grating. "Disgusting...worthless...filthy little thing.")
He shivered and sat back in the chair, his eyes fixed on Danny's face. It wasn't that he thought Danny would react like that. Danny had held his hand before, comforted him when he'd been hurting, but that had been Danny reaching out to him. The permission was clear and that made it okay, he supposed. But for him to...it was just never going to happen. He didn't even fully understand the reasons, he just knew it was wrong. And he could no more try than he could grow wings and fly away.
Still, he could tuck the blanket around Danny's shoulders when he shivered and he could softly tell Danny the story of George Washington versus nature that Miss Harris had told them that morning, adding in that he figured honestly was never the answer – it was always better not to get caught, and if you were going to get caught it was better to run or hide. Lying was the last resort and even that was better than just standing there and admitting it like an idiot.
"But then," he added. "I've never really had any urge to attack trees."
"You've never had an axe," Danny answered weakly.
Rusty cocked his head to one side. "You think if I did my first thought would be to go after plants?"
"Better 'n people," Danny nodded.
"Suppose," he said doubtfully.
Danny's face lost colour and he swallowed hard and made as if to stand up, but he wasn't in time and he threw up over himself and the bed helplessly. "Sorry," he said wretchedly, sounding close to tears. "'m sorry. Sorry. I can - "
" - shhh," Rusty soothed gently. "'s alright, Danny. I can take care of it. C'mon. Let's get you cleaned up, huh?"
He led Danny through to the bathroom and ran a bath while Danny got undressed. Then, while Danny soaked, he found a fresh pair of pyjamas from the drawer and took them through to the bathroom.
"Don't fall asleep in there," he warned Danny lightly, and Danny nodded, falling into another coughing fit.
He held out a towel and started in surprise as Danny leaned against him while he got dried and dressed. It felt strange, but a good sort of strange. Like Danny needed him, at least for now, at least a little.
Once he'd got Danny settled on the sofa he set about stripping the bedclothes. He paused, chewing on his lip, because he'd been thinking they'd have to do without, but actually these weren't the same sheets that had been on Danny's bed the first time he'd been over. So maybe... "Do you have more than one set of sheets?" he asked.
Danny raised his head slightly and nodded, looking surprised. "Yeah. In the linen cupboard in the hall."
Linen cupboard. He went exploring and he found a cupboard full of sheets and soft towels and thick comforters, all smelling fresh and clean. He shook his head in wonderment. Oh, he could fall asleep in here really easily.
He managed to find some sheets and stuff without any difficulty and he made up the bed again, dumping the soiled things on top of the pyjamas.
Danny looked more awake and very upset. "Rusty, you shouldn't have...you shouldn't have to. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he said quietly. He didn't mind. Not even for a second. "I can take care of you."
"Mom's going to be angry," Danny said softly, staring at the dirty laundry. "She was last time. She wouldn't stop shouting. Called me disgusting and said I'd just done it to make more work for her."
It had been an accident, and Rusty felt a surge of anger towards Danny's Mom. Wasn't as if Danny had wanted to. Everyone got sick sometimes and he knew how difficult it was to deal with the anger when you were sick, when moving became impossible and you were more vulnerable than usual and all there was left was to curl up and hope that you survived. He wanted to protect Danny from that, for all the times he hadn't been there to protect Danny in the past.
"Where's the laundrette round here?" he asked. Maybe he could get everything washed and back before Danny's mother ever found out.
"We got a washing machine," Danny told him foggily.
Even better. He pulled the covers back on the bed and waited until Danny was safely tucked up. "Get some more rest," he told Danny gently. "I'll take care of it."
"Rusty, I...this is..." Danny struggled to say what he wanted to, but Rusty recognised the look in his eyes. The wonder and the uncertainty.
He smiled and shook his head. "I'll take care of it," he said again.
The washing machine was in a little room off the kitchen. Easy enough to find but it looked more like something from a sci fi flick than he was used to.
This shouldn't be that hard. He was the one that took care of the laundry since Mom had got banned from the laundrette six months back. Only the machines there were easy. You put in laundry, detergent and quarters, closed the door and the machine did the rest. This had buttons and two dials with numbers and words that he wasn't quite sure of.
He took a deep breath. He had to get this taken care of. Danny was in no shape to do it and the most important thing was Danny's Mom didn't find out. She'd punish Danny, and times and ways he'd been punished played through his head. Not if he could help it.
He stuffed the bedclothes and the pyjamas into the washing machine, found the detergent and poured in half a cup. Didn't look like there was anywhere to put in quarters and that made sense, he supposed. Probably he just had to turn the files and press the buttons. He bit his lip and shrugged. Hotter had to be better, didn't it? Hot water got him cleaner anyhow. He set it as high as it could go, pressed all the buttons, shut the door and listened, pleased, as it started to whir and bubble.
Okay. He'd come down and check on that later. In the meantime...he grabbed a plastic bowl from a shelf, poured a glass of water and ran back to Danny, narrowly avoiding tripping on the stairs.
"I'm back," he announced, and Danny was in the middle of another coughing fit. Grimacing, he hurried over, hovering by the bed and holding out the water, and Danny took the glass and drank it gratefully, and when Rusty moved to take it away, Danny grabbed his hand and held it tightly.
Huh. Not quite sure what to do, but remembering the way Danny touched him, he brushed his thumb over Danny's knuckles and Danny squeezed his hand a little tighter. He hoped that right now he could give Danny what he needed.
"Sounds painful," he said as Danny stopped coughing.
Danny nodded fractionally. "Yeah," he agreed.
"You want some tyelnol or something?" he suggested.
"Tylenol," Danny corrected. "And there's some cough syrup in the bathroom in Mom and Dad's room."
Huh. Cough...syrup. He looked blankly at Danny.
Danny sighed. "'s medicine. For coughs and sore throats and stuff like that. It'll make me feel better."
"I'll try find some," he promised quickly, leaving the room.
"It's pink," Danny called after him.
He hesitated in the hallway. He'd never been in Danny's parents room before and he wasn't exactly comfortable going there now. Some of the worst beatings he'd ever got were for being caught where he wasn't supposed to be. Sneaking into adults' territory was dangerous. Mm. Some of the worst beatings were for getting caught. He grinned determinedly. This was just more good-kid stuff he had to reject. He'd go where he wanted.
Not being caught would be nice too, mind you.
The bedroom was neat and tidy and he barely glanced round, hurrying to the bathroom. There was a large white cabinet that was full of bottles and tubes. Huh. Alright then. Something pink. He scanned the shelves hopefully and found the bottle he was looking for. Definitely pink. He grabbed some Tylenol as well.
"You were squinting at the light earlier," he explained when Danny frowned at it. "Your head hurts, right?"
Danny nodded slowly. "Yeah. Okay." He accepted the medicine. "You don't need to run round after me you know."
He felt a stab of hurt. "Alright," he said slowly.
"I didn't mean..." Danny started. "You shouldn't have to fetch me things, that's all. And you certainly shouldn't have to clean up after me."
"Uh huh." He perched on the edge of the bed and looked at Danny curiously. "You remember three weeks ago when Mom threw the shoe at me and my nose wouldn't stop bleeding?"
Danny's eyes darkened momentarily but he nodded. "It's not - "
" - you spent the rest of the afternoon knee deep in bloody tissues," he reminded Danny. "I got blood all over your towels. I got blood all over you."
"It's not - " Danny tried to protest again.
Rusty interrupted. " - oh, it's the same thing," he said with a smile that faded almost immediately. "Did you mind?"
"No," Danny said instantly, his eyes still foggy. "Of course not."
He nodded and stood up abruptly, turning away from Danny awkwardly. "It's you, Danny," he said softly. "You really think I mind?"
"No," Danny said after a second. "Oh, Rusty - "
" - don't think you should eat anything just yet," he interrupted quickly, turning back to smile brightly at Danny. "You want to get some more sleep?"
Danny shook his head emphatically, even though he looked exhausted.
"Okay," Rusty said, looking round and picking up a book that had been left abandoned on the floor by Danny's desk. "The Little Princess?" he read, and glanced at Danny, amused.
Danny shrugged. "I didn't choose it."
"Yeah," Rusty absent mindedly put it back on the bookcase and went looking for something else. He blinked. "What's a hobbit?" he asked curiously.
"Dunno," Danny told him. "Dad gave it to me for my birthday years back. He said it had been his favourite book when he was a kid and he wanted to read it to me."
Danny didn't need to tell him the rest. In the last two months Rusty had seen plenty examples of things Danny's father told him he was going to do.
S'ppose that was one thing you could say about Dad. He kept his promises.
Book in hand, he settled down on the chair beside the bed and started to read. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. "
He read with growing enthusiasm, making up any words he wasn't sure of, putting on different voices for hobbits and dwarves and wizards, making Danny laugh.
At the end of a chapter he ran downstairs again, fetching more water and a little juice, and grabbing some bread and butter for himself. The washing machine had finished and he smuggled the laundry upstairs, laying it out in Danny's bathroom to dry.
Huh. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but the pyjamas looked a little...smaller...than they had before. And the sheets seemed to be more of a greyish blue.
He bit his lip. Okay, this wasn't something he could deal with right now. Maybe when it had dried off, it would look better.
He went back to Danny and Danny smiled at him as he carried on reading.
Night was falling and Danny was close to dozing off when Rusty heard the front door slam open. He stopped reading immediately, dropping the book to the ground. Beside him, Danny had tensed up, his eyes wide, staring at the door.
"Don't let her come in," he begged Rusty wildly. "Please, Rusty."
The fear in Danny's voice was painful and Rusty reacted to it immediately, jumping to his feet and hauling the dresser in front of the door slowly, pulling with all his strength.
"There," he said, when the door was well and truly blocked. "She can't get in, I promise." But when he looked round, Danny was huddled under the blankets, hunched and turned away. "You're safe," he said softly.
Danny shuffled over slightly, looking round at him with a hopeful plea.
Rusty struggled for a second before lying down beside him.
He listened for a long, long moment, but it didn't seem like Danny's mother was trying to come in. And that was good; he didn't want her anywhere near Danny when he was like this. Vulnerable. Frightened. Anything could happen, and Rusty wouldn't be able to stop her.
Danny said that his parents didn't hit him, but Rusty knew it wasn't that straightforward. Danny's parents hadn't hit him. There was a difference. The sun rose every morning, two plus two equals four...adults hit. He knew that. Danny didn't.
Even adults who seemed nice couldn't be trusted. Like Miss Thorpe, his kindergarten teacher. She'd been...nice. She'd told him once his painting of a cat was lovely, she read the class stories and she gave the other kids cookies when they cried. But one day, just before the year ended, Jay had thrown a carton of milk at him and he'd got absolutely soaked, and Miss Thorpe had taken him into the restroom, given him some fresh clothes and told him to get changed. She didn't understand that he couldn't. He'd been bad the night before and his punishment was still painful and obvious and he wasn't allowed to let anyone see. Dad would hurt him if he let anyone see, and he'd be taken away. Miss Thorpe didn't understand that, though, and she spoke to him gently for a while before shouting at him, shaking him when he still refused.
She made to pull his sweater over his head and, desperate, terrified, he snapped. "Fuck off, bitch!" he screamed.
She slapped him backhanded, knocking him off his feet, and his head slammed into the sink as he fell.
Miss Thorpe had just stared at him blankly as he got to his feet painfully, and then, looking strangely panicked, she'd grabbed a damp paper towel and lunged towards him. He flinched away, his arms flying up to try and protect his head. Miss Thorpe froze, and then thrust the paper towels at him. "Get yourself cleaned up," she said quietly, and she walked away and left him.
The lump on his head throbbed painfully for the rest of the day and he sat at the back of the classroom, shaken and shaking, the smell of souring milk making his aching head spin.
Miss Thorpe never looked at him again.
Adults hit and hurt and he was powerless to stop them.
But somehow, he would protect Danny. He had to. Danny was everything he wanted, and Rusty never, ever wanted him hurt.
Danny looked up at him, his eyes shining with emotions Rusty couldn't even put a name to, let alone understand. "No one's ever looked at me the way you look at me."
He didn't say anything. He didn't know what he should be saying.
It was strange, in a way. Anyone else got this close to him and he felt threatened and frightened. With Danny, that just didn't happen. Somehow, even when Danny touched him, it wasn't bad, and he didn't like anyone touching him.
It didn't make sense. Danny might not be an adult, but kids could hit too. Danny was older than him. Bigger. Stronger. If Danny wanted to, he could mess Rusty up bad. He could hurt him.
But Danny didn't want to. And, somehow, Rusty knew that he never would.
"Thanks, Rus'," Danny said in a whisper, as he drifted off to sleep.
His lips quirked. "First you give me a nickname then you give me a nickname of the nickname?"
He didn't mind though. He liked the way the name sounded.
And when Danny sighed in his sleep and reached out and grabbed his hand...he didn't mind that either.
Danny woke up the next morning feeling much better and with Rusty lying beside him. For a long moment he just lay still, watching Rusty sleep and marvelling at the day before. Up until now, he didn't know how alone he'd felt before. Rusty had looked after him, had cared for him and it felt...magical.
"Hey," Rusty said sleepily, turning his head and smiling up at Danny. "I shrank your pyjamas in the wash."
He grinned. "Well, maybe they'll fit you now," he suggested. Be worth hanging on to them if that was the case.
"Uh huh." Rusty propped himself up on one elbow and looked Danny over carefully. "How you feeling?"
"I feel good," Danny said, without even thinking about it.
Rusty raised an eyebrow. "You still look like - "
" - thanks," Danny interrupted, shaking his head, amused. Really, he hadn't been talking physically. "I didn't say I was planning on getting up anytime soon."
He hadn't. And they didn't.
Eventually, Mom was bound to come check on him, and he didn't think that dresser would keep her out, and on Monday they'd have to go back to school and Rusty would need to explain why he'd left school, but that didn't matter right now.
Right now they lay on his bed and played, and as Batman and Zorro outwitted the Legion of Evil Breakfast Cereal Mascots, Danny felt safe and happy and cared for.
He wasn't alone. And he never wanted to be alone again.
Thanks for reading, please review.