"Tell ya what," he said shyly. "Why don't I bring you over to my house? Now it ain't no palace like your place but…"

"Oh Eyeball, I'd love to…. But what if someone saw…."

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Eleven o'clock." I answered, puzzled.

"Well, none of the guys'll be up this early so we can drive over and we'll be fine. So if you want to…."

"Yeah," I said with a smile. He was probably right. There was probably no need to worry.

Eyeball drove to his house, which was in the poorest part of town. I know he's kind of embarrassed about his house in comparison to mine but I don't think he should be.

You should be proud of where you came from. No matter what. It's part of what makes you who you are.

He parked on the footpath outside his house, as there was already a pick up in his driveway.

"Uh… my dad's still in but he should be sleeping still… It might be easier to go in through the window…" he said thinking aloud but changing his mind when he looked at me and my heels. "No actually. It's ok. We'll go in the door."

"I don't mind. Whatever suits best." I told him.

"Yeah. C'mon in." We got out of the car and he grabbed my hand as we approached the door.

We went in through the front door. The stairs were straight ahead and there was a door to the right. The living room was to the left though there was no door or wall separating it from where we were standing.

Chris and his friend, Gordie LaChance were draped across the sofa. They turned to look at us.

I took note of Chris's busted lip and bruised arm.

"Is he sleeping?" Eyeball asked.

"Yeah." Chris replied shortly.

I noticed Eyeball was trying to hide me from them as much as possible. He was trying to block me from their view by standing in front of me. I also noticed how he held the hand holding my hand behind his back. I knew he was just trying to protect me though.

"The kids ok? Where's Debbie?"

"They're in the garden. Sheldon's watching her in case he wakes up." Chris replied. Eyeball nodded in understanding.

"I'm goin' to the room. Don't let anyone up. Don't say anyone's here either." He ordered.

"Sure." Chris nodded, but his tone was cold.

I smiled and nodded to the boys in thanks before Eyeball dragged me upstairs into a little room with two single beds and peeling pale blue paint. It was clear this was a boy's room by the clothes covering the floor and by how bare the room was.

By one bed there was books scattered on the floor. I took that to be Chris's bed.

By Eyeball's bed there was a couple of pairs of jeans on the floor, empty matchboxes and an empty beer bottle.

There was a chest of drawers between the two beds. On top of it, there was an ashtray, a couple of teddies and a photograph of a man and woman and three small boys.

I lifted the photograph to look closer. The man had dark, curly hair and deep, dark eyes. The resemblance between Eyeball and this man struck me. I knew this must have been his father. The woman had bright blonde, straight hair halfway down her back. She wore a lovely blue dress, which brought out her striking blue eyes.

The eldest of the three boys had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was quite tall with a narrow build. The younger boys had wider builds. The boy in the middle had brown hair and eyes. His hair was long and unruly with curls like his father's. The youngest was only a toddler. He had the same striking deep blue eyes and bright blonde hair as his mother. The eldest boy wore a plain white t-shirt and the youngest two wore plain blue t-shirts. The eldest two wore jeans and the youngest was wearing dungarees.

They were all smiling and looked really happy. They were in the country by the look of the trees and flowers in the background.

"My mom put that there," He said breaking the silence. "It's me, Frank, Chris and Mom and Dad. It was taken before Sheldon was born. We were in a park out where my aunt lives. She took the photograph."

"What age were you there?" I asked, turning to face him.

"Seven. Chris was three and Frank was ten. We don't have many photos like that. My dad wasn't as bad on the drink then." He said taking the photo from me and placing it gently in its place on the drawers.

There was a long silence and he stood looking at the photograph.

"I like your teddies." I commented.

"They're Debbie's," he laughed. "She plays in here a lot when Chris or me is in here. She leaves her stuff everywhere."

I smiled. This was the first time I had ever seen what Eyeball's family was really like. I liked getting to see another side to him.

Suddenly, there was a bang coming from one of the other rooms. Eyeball spun around and stared at the door, his eyes wide. I looked at him and felt fear creeping into me as I looked at Eyeball's face and saw the panic on his face.

R&R please!