Chappie 5 :D I hope more people start to read. This is where things kinda get started. Enjoy :) --Mandy

Waking up the next morning, Andromeda assumed she'd been dreaming the whole night. She dressed, ate breakfast, and read her book like she always did on summer mornings. Gabriel would be coming home that afternoon, so she'd have someone to hang out with instead of sitting in front of the trailer staring at the siding.

She made a trip to the grocery store to buy food for when Perseus returned in two days.

Perseus… she thought while placing a box of Cheez-Itz in the plastic basket. The memory of the previous night flooded her mind.

"He got jumped by a gang and I chased them off…" the boy had said.

She felt curiosity burn her stomach like fire. What gang? And how could a guy his size scare off a whole group of guys anyway?

--

Later on, once Gabriel was settled down at his house again, Andromeda went to visit him. She planned on rubbing the truth in his face until he realized how foolish he'd been and admitted she was right.

The moment he opened his front door, she burst into song, "I told you so, I told you so, IIIII told you so!"

"Told me what?" Gabriel prodded one of his gauged ears.

"There's no beast in that trailer, you dimwit! It's a kid—a cranky slobby guy lives there."

He watched her with hazel eyes that seemed to pretend he didn't know her. "You're serious?"

"Dead serious. I went there at, like, midnight and--"

"You went there in the middle of the night?!" bellowed Gabriel, having to stable himself on the doorframe.

She winced.

"Andy!" He put both hands in his wispy brown hair. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to you? You might've gotten raped, or jumped, or killed, or worse—pregnant!"

She looked at him strangely. Maybe she would leave out the part about the boy pinning her down. "I had my knife on me, Gabe," she said as if it would reassure him.

"That doesn't matter. You still put yourself in serious danger, Andy. You broke your promise!"

"Gabe, you don't und--"

"You go out at freaking midnight because you want to find out who some stranger is? Am I the only one who's seeing something wrong with this?"

"You sound like my mom, Gabriel," she said, getting angry.

"Well, what do you think she'd say if she were here?!"

Andromeda stared coldly at him, and he knew he'd gone too far.

"Andy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean--"

"No, you're right. What would she think of her life's biggest mistake?" Not even waiting for a reply, she walked away. She heard Gabriel calling her name, but she didn't at all care to acknowledge him.

--

The sun was falling below the distant hills as Andromeda walked silently to the east edge of Bluestone. Within her sweatshirt she held a newly-purchased picture frame from the grocery store.

The trailer was a bit difficult to spot from a distance in the dark, though its white siding reflected the moonlight. Andromeda climbed the steps and knocked awkwardly on the door. Her heart was pounding again and it was making her stomach weave stressfully into knots.

No one answered, so she knocked again.

Her foot tapped anxiously on the wood. Glancing up, she saw the trees stretching their branches overhead, obscuring her view of the sky.

Still, nobody replied.

Annoyed now, she knocked a third time, harder and louder than before.

This time there was a shuffling sound from the interior, followed by a gritty shout, "Who is it?!"

"It's me, again… um… I wanted to apologize for breaking in yesterday. It was stupid and wrong of me."

The door opened merely a crack, revealing a chain lock on the inside and one steely-blue eye peering at her. "Gee, you think so?" he said sarcastically.

"Yes," she said, ignoring his tone. "I'm very sorry. I, uh… got you something as an apology gift." She saw his eye widen a bit. "Here, if you'll permit my intrusion."

He watched her take out the new frame. He seemed indifferent about the whole thing. "What is it?" he asked.

She looked disbelievingly at his eye. "It's a new picture frame. I saw the other one's broke, so I bought you a new one."

Slipping his arm through the narrow crack, he took it from her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome… Ezekiel."

The sound of his name made him flinch. He stared incredulously at her for a long time; to Andromeda, it felt like forever.

Finally he shut the door.

Her heart fell like a dropping elevator into the pit of her swirling stomach. This kid was too ornery to talk to. She turned, about to leave, when a lock clicked.

He had the door open while he leaned against it. He looked pensive, maybe troubled. For a long time he kept his gaze on the ground; several more seconds went by until he met hers. "Do you wanna come in?"

She couldn't tear her eyes from his face. He'd done much more than catch her eye, he'd caught her interest. He stepped away to allow her inside, and she stood uneasily beside a cabinet stacked high with crusty plates.

After he shut the door, he turned to her. "Sorry, it's really messy in here."

"Yeah," she muttered. That's an understatement.

He kicked aside some piles of junk—a mouse may or may not have scurried out from beneath a heap of clothes—to create a path for her leading to a couple of wood chairs in what appeared to be a kitchen area. As they both settled into a seat, she flipped her long golden curls behind her shoulders, feeling more self-conscious by the second.

When he looked at her again, his blue eyes were distant. "Why did you come back just to give me this?" he asked and set down the photo frame.

"I felt awful for taking your old one--"

"No, why a picture frame?"

"Well… your other one is broken."

"So what? Who says I didn't want it broken?" He shrugged apathetically.

The gesture made her frown. "Why would you want that?"

"Why do you think?" he said rather snidely.

She recoiled a bit. "Perhaps you're… unhappy."

"Good work, genius."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

A silence fell over them, then he asked, "What's your name?"

She raised her head slightly. "Andromeda," she told him. Her voice conveyed her current aura of shyness.

"Andro-what?"

"Andromeda. An-drah-meh-duh."

"What language is that from?"

"I don't know, really. I think Latin. My brother and I were both named after constellations."

He stared blankly at her.

"You know," she said, "star patterns?"

"I know that, but what constellation were you named for?"

"Uh… Andromeda," she repeated herself. "The chained maiden, or… princess."

"Chained lady, huh?" He stood up and moved to the fridge. Opening the door, while no cool air came out, he withdrew a pitcher of water. "Thirsty? It's rainwater from that storm yesterday."

Her nose crinkled up in disdain. "Um… no thanks."

Another shrug, and he put the rim of the pitcher to his thin pink lips.

Andromeda watched him take a slow sip. His Adam's apple moved when he swallowed, and a droplet of water leisurely slipped down off his chin. "Don't you have running water?" she asked quietly.

"Nope," he said with a sigh. "I don't have any money to pay for it."

"So you drink the rain?"

He nodded. He'd already drained half the pitcher.

"What if it doesn't rain for days?"

"I make it last. Or I go down to the river." He sat once he'd put away the pitcher.

"What about…" She paused, swelling with awkwardness.

"What?"

"…a toilet?" Her face burned.

But he didn't seem to be fazed by the weird question. "I go outside in the woods. It's not that big of a deal." He walked to the functionless sink, where he peeked through a crevice in the boards on the window. "Why are you so curious about me, anyway?"

She couldn't even find an actual reason, aside from that she was insatiably curious. He intrigued her the way a colorful new toy fascinated a young child—she needed to examine it, go back and see it over and over so it resurfaced in her mind day after day, admire its beauty and newness to her senses, maybe even… touch it, allow herself to get accustomed to its function and originality. She couldn't repress this desire.

"Truthfully," she began, gulping the lump of insecurity that had prevented her from breathing properly. "I've never met someone like you. Even from first impression, I knew you were… different somehow. It sounds really dumb, but it's true."

Ezekiel stood there inspecting her with a skeptical expression. "Wow… that's so corny." He was grinning wide, a smile that brightened his face, and he started laughing.

If it had been Gabriel mocking her, she would have likely slapped him. However, this boy—man—had a laugh so exotic, it could've hypnotized her.

"'Different,'" he chuckled, "jeez, you make me sound like some type of animal."

Something jolted to life in Andromeda's brain. She dug deep into her common courtesy to find a descent, innocent way of wording her thought. "I've heard things…"

"That's what ears are for."

"No, I mean, I've heard things about you."

He was busy putting dirty dishes into cobwebbed cupboards. "Uh huh…" he said, only half-listening.

"They say… you're a bit… weird."

"Everybody's weird."

"Yeah, but…" She exhaled sharply. "They say you're, like… part wolf, or something."

He angled his head toward her. "What the fuck?"

"I know, I always thought it was crazy!" she said, feeling relieved at his surprised reaction. "People are so stupid."

"Exactly. That's one reason I never leave here."

"Never leave? You had to have left sometime."

"Only a couple of times a month before my dad ditched me." That's where he left the subject lingering while Andromeda's mind reeled with questions.

One question she couldn't help asking on impulse. "No offense, but why is this place so… um…"

"Freaking messy?" he finished for her.

"Yeah." In the darkness she could make out the details of his face, see the short fuzzy shaven hair like a ribbon from his forehead to the upper nape of his neck.

"I just didn't feel like I should clean anything if I'm the only one living here. It doesn't bother me."

"Why are there rips and tears in everything?" she continued.

"My dog shredded my stuff before he ran away." His reply was blunt.

She said, "Hmm," and then was quiet. She'd run out of things to ask.

"So how'd your brother get mixed up with Bust and his gang of fags?" Ezekiel inspected a rather large hole in a pair of jeans.

"Who's that?"

"That's the group that jumped your big bro."

"Oh… I have no idea. He was just on his way to an art show in Milwaukee and that's the last I saw of him."

"Hmm…" he hummed. "From what I saw, his tire was pretty flat and he pulled over to… maybe get some help from someone in a certain trailer." He raised one thin black eyebrow, looking incredibly charismatic as he did so.

Andromeda tried to piece together the things he was telling her. Perseus had been jumped by a gang of strange men, dragged into Ezekiel's trailer, and hospitalized with a severe leg wound. She suspected, from the shape and location of the wound, he'd been stabbed to prevent escape.

"How," she asked, "did you chase away a gang of big guys?"

He kind of faltered; his mouth opened but the words didn't come out. His hand ran candidly across his fuzzy head. "I had a gun on me… and I threatened to shoot them if they didn't back off."

"Well, thank you. You likely saved his life."

"Ehh, whatever."

She stood, stretched, and exhaled contently. "I should be getting home now. My brother's coming home tomorrow, so I don't want to be tired. Thank you again."

"Yeah, sure. Hey, sorry I tackled you that one night. It was kind of a… an instinct." He cleared his throat.

"It's okay. I deserved it," she said, smiling at him. "You think I could come back sometime? I had fun."

He bit his lip. "I guess, yeah. But you have to come over after sunset, or else people will know someone actually lives here, and I can't deal with that."

"I can manage that." She stepped out the door onto the porch steps. "Bye, Ezekiel."

"Bye, Andro… mella."

"Close enough." And she started back along the deserted street. She heard the trailer door shut tightly behind her. A giddy, childish feeling filled her chest while her heart continued to slam against her ribs. She almost felt like skipping home, like Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road. Perhaps this mysterious boy could be her friend…

She'd entered her yard when she saw the porch light on, the screen door slightly ajar.

Perseus couldn't be home yet, and even if he was, he would have closed the door. Drawing her knife, Andromeda approached her own house, pushed aside the screen, carefully took a step inside and yelled, "Who's in here?"

"Whoa!" she heard from the living room.

Her knife was aimed and ready to throw as the intruder emerged into the kitchen.

"Holy crap!" Gabriel shrieked, leaning against the wall. "Andy, what're you trying to do? Scare me shitless? And put that knife down before you hurt yourself!"

The light happiness she'd felt was gone instantly. Scowling, she lowered the weapon. "I'd be more worried about me hurting you. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you to get home, of course." He straightened his red cap and tugged on his long blue t-shirt. "I came to say I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

"Hmm… that's shocking." She strolled past him to the fridge and pulled out a can of root beer.

"I'm sorry, Andy, I didn't mean to drag your past into this. You've gotta understand, I'm worried about you."

"Could you worry a little less? I'm sixteen, Gabe, and I have an overprotective brother. I don't need you watching over everything I do. You're no guardian angel."

"That's not the point!" he yelled, stamping a foot.

"Quit pouting, you baby."

"Andromeda," he said in a serious tone, "I put up with you because you're my best friend. It's always been that way. If something happened to you, I'd kill myself."

"I'm fine, Gabe. Calm down. Now, I can forgive you but you need to quit worrying so much. You're not a parent, you're not a guardian angel, you're not a brother, a cop, or a bodyguard. You need to take a breath and realize you can't try to protect me forever. It was nice back on the playground in elementary school, but I'm growing up now. I've got to protect myself, or I'll never be able to in the future."

He stared at her. No, he stared through her. His expression was blank, but she knew she'd gotten him thinking.

"You're right," he finally said. "I've been living in the past. You're a strong, free-spirited woman. You can take this world on your own."

"Thank you, Gabe. I like that you can be my best friend."

He smiled half-heartedly at her. "So anyway," he changed the subject unexpectedly, "why were you out and about at this time of night?"

"I went to visit the trailer-boy again. I had to apologize to him for intruding on his property."

Gabriel pursed his lips like he wanted to say something really angrily but he kept his mouth shut. "I can see you're okay, so that's good."

"Mmhmm. And I have my knife on me all the time for self-defense. Turns out the kid's really nice. His name is Ezekiel."

"I see." He sighed heavily. "Look, it's cool with me that you've made a new friend, but do you really have to go visit him at, like… midnight? I'm not saying you would do anything, but what if he advances on you?"

"Gabriel!"

"Sorry! I'm just wondering!" he said defensively. "But I want you to make me a new promise: don't get hurt. That's all I ask. Promise me?"

"I promise."

"On your life?"

"On my life."

"Okay…" Gabriel moved to the door. "I trust you this time, Andromeda. If you ever do need me, you have my number." He walked out, the screen door bounced against its frame, and the house was then quiet.