"Have you seen Leo?" Vaughan asked as Floyd came inside. He'd been on edge as soon as his youngest son had particularly out of the house. Allie had managed to stop him from following Leo but it was dark now and Vaughan was understandably panicking about where his youngest son was.

"He was here when I left." Floyd replied.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Allie said but Vaughan just shook her hand off his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Tiffany and Justin both came into the house together. Somehow, Tiffany had managed to get Justin to open up a little more and Vaughan was almost certain something was going on between the two of them but right now he was too worried about where Leo might be.

"Leo he's missing." Allie told her daughter and Vaughan could see the minute that Justin flipped to anger.

"What did you do?" The older boy yelled at Allie.

"She didn't do anything." Vaughan told him. In truth, that had been him. He hadn't realised someone was in the house when he'd said he wanted to kids to stay out of the house for a while. Of course Vaughan hadn't meant it to be mean, only that he wanted a little time alone with Allie but it was obvious from the way Leo's reaction that his youngest had taken it the wrong way. Leo had always been more sensitive than Justin, something made even more evident when Olga had left. He just hoped Leo didn't go the same way Olga had gone because he didn't think Justin or even himself would be able to handle Leo going into meltdown.

"Why aren't you looking for him then?" Justin's shouting brought Vaughan out of his own thoughts.

"Leo probably just needs some time alone." Allie was saying as Tiffany went to put an arm on Justin's shoulder. Justin just pushed the arm away as he glared at Allie.

"You don't know anything about what he needs. And if you're not going to look for him then I will." The last was aimed at Vaughan who was about to say something more when the door opened.

"See, he's back now." Floyd said as Leo walked into the room. Leo looked pale and his eyes were red but other than that he seemed fine.

"Where were you?" Vaughan asked as he pulled Leo into a hug. His youngest froze for a second but then awkwardly hugged his Father back.

"Sorry." Leo muttered, not meeting his Father's eyes.

"We'll talk about this later but you must be freezing." Vaughan frowned then. It was cold outside and Leo hadn't put a coat on.

"Go and get warmed up and we'll get you something to eat." Allie added.

"I already ate." Leo said but Vaughan's frown stopped him from arguing further. Sometimes Vaughan wondered if his youngest ate enough, considering the size of him.

"Either way we'll get you something." Leo only nodded, going from the room a little meekly. Justin sent a glare at Allie before following his younger brother upstairs.

…..

Justin leaned against the door to Leo's bedroom. "You don't have to watch me you know." Leo finally snapped. The older of the two just shrugged and collapsed onto the bed.

"Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere. I just needed to get out of here." Leo replied and Justin might have believed him if not for the fact that Leo didn't wander off without telling anyone where he'd gone.

"Dad was worried." Leo just shrugged. "You gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"No." Justin could have argued but instead he just shrugged.

"Whatever." Getting up from the bed, Justin gave one more glance at his brother before leaving the room. It was obvious something was wrong with Leo; it had been obvious for a while now, ever since their Father had left. The problem was, Leo just didn't want to talk to him about it and there wasn't anything Justin could think to do to force his younger brother to talk to him.

…

Leo collapsed backwards onto the bed when Justin finally left. He was feeling even more guilty about worrying his Dad and brother but it wasn't like he'd planned to leave for too long. And anyway, he was feeling a lot better having had some time out of the house.

A knock on the door made Leo start as his Dad walked in. "Allie made soup." Leo didn't say anything as his Dad placed the bowl on the bedside table and sat next to him. "You know I didn't mean what I said." Leo nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. He heard Vaughan sigh in what was probably frustration. "If you won't talk to me then how about Justin?"

"Nothing's wrong." Leo mumbled, unconsciously rubbing at his aching wrist. The but he'd made had stopped bleeding before he'd even headed back home but the dull sting of the blade pressing into the skin was just now turning into a dull ache.

"Leo." Vaughan grabbed Leo's hands into his. The younger tried not to flinch at the sudden flash of pain at the tight grip his Dad had on his injured wrist. He didn't want his Dad to find out about what he'd done, which probably should tell him that it was because he knew what he'd done was wrong. "I know this situation with your Mum's hard on you and Justin but I can't help if you won't talk to me."

"You can't know how hard it is." Leo found himself yelling at his Dad. "I miss her." Vaughan didn't say anything just pulled his youngest son into an awkward one armed hug.

"I know, but she'll be better soon." Leo didn't say what he was thinking after that. Because he knew his Mum would be fine. What he didn't want was to go back to living with her without his Dad.

…..

"Is Leo alright?" Allie asked as Vaughan came back into the kitchen. Tiffany, Justin and Floyd had disappeared again now.

"He's missing his Mum." Vaughan replied, worry etching onto his face. He'd been so focused on Justin's attitude that he'd neglected to think how hard Leo might be taking everything. "Leo won't talk to me."

"Maybe he'll talk to Justin." Allie said and Vaughan couldn't help but smile a little. She really was trying to help, even though Leo and Justin weren't her kids. Vaughan couldn't help but love her for that.

Though there was still a slight nagging in the back of his mind. Leo had always been so like Olga and Vaughan just couldn't help but worry his youngest son might go the same route Olga had.

….

That might Leo couldn't sleep. Instead he just sat up on the bed in the dark, trying to ignore the urge to bring the razor down again. Everything told him what he was thinking was so wrong and yet it was all he thought about. A way to release the feeling that his family didn't want him.

His Father had left for Allie. His Mum had left him and Justin. And now Justin was so engrossed with making Dad and Allie's life hell that he was ignoring his brother. Maybe Leo really was all alone so maybe no one would care if he did this. It wasn't really bad, not if Leo really thought about. The pain gave Leo a release, just like Justin's anger did. So really it was only natural and no one needed to know.

Please review and hope you enjoyed :)