Hiya. I've been really, really super busy. School just started last Wednesday, and I already am tired. First thing Wednesday morning, they changed my schedule. Then they changed it again Monday. I already have a project, and I've had homework in every class so far. Except my elective. I also have seventh period PE. That fucking sucks, man. And my boyfriend won't leave me alone. There is a point where I get tired of him with me constantly.

Anyway, here is the latest chapter of Bleeding Red. I don't have ANYTHING else written for this story, and I'm really stressing out there. You guys read this, and have a good time, because the next update will also be sporadic.

A/N: Have you ever seen that Subaru commercial? The one where it's that high school reunion, and the guy sees the girl. That song is stuck in my head.

Gabriel awoke on the couch of a strange house, clad in boxers, socks, and a t-shirt. It took him a second to realize where he was, and when he finally did, he groaned, and shut his eyes, throwing his head back, and hitting the arm of the couch. "Ow, crap." He brought his head up and rubbed it, then got out of his makeshift bed. Looking around for pants, he pulled on the ones he was wearing yesterday, and looked at the house. It was rather large, or larger than he had expected. There was a small TV, and an entertainment center, and a couch with a side table. On the wall was a picture of PJ, Teddy, him, Charlie, Amy, and Bob in a field, with the last rays of sunlight in the background and a million people-some in blue caps and gowns, much like PJ-in the picture. There was also a separate picture of each of the siblings, and one of some of his friends, along with his diploma on the entertainment center. There was a lamp, and then an unfinished bottle of Asahi beer on a coaster. 'Who would have pictured PJ using a coaster?'

Gabe made to reach for the beer, and he almost made it too, until he heard a voice from around the corner. "I wouldn't drink it. It's Japanese beer, and it has a kick to it. " PJ crossed his arms, and leaned against the hallway wall.

"Oh. Well then..." Gabe said stupidly, nodding his head. "It's a nice place you got here. Amy... Mom and Dad would be proud PJ."

No hesitation came from PJ, and he quickly stated, "I know."

Gabe cleared his throat. "So what do you do in Dinosaur?" Gabe asked causally, gulping. This was weirder than it should be, this was his brother. Well, as close to his brother as anyone can get.

"Work, eat. You wanna go get some lunch?" PJ asked Gabe, wearily, smiling anyway.

Gabe looked confused. "Lunch? What happened to breakfast?"

"You slept through breakfast."

"Oh."

"Let us go then." And PJ headed for the door. He opened it, and let Gabe go through first, then closed it and locked it. Then he turned around, and started to walk down to the sidewalk. This even more so confused the already confused Gabe.

"Where are you going PJ?"

"To lunch. You coming?" PJ just turned around and continued walking, not even waiting for Gabe to make up his mind. When he heard Gabe was finally in earshot, PJ commented, "And, I go by Peter now. Weird huh?"

So, now, Gabe came to Dinosaur, and was following 'Peter' around town, just to go to lunch, that Gabe had no money to pay for. Not that he minded much. No, he liked it here. He didn't mind at all. Not anymore, anyway.

David was in a place-he didn't know where- and was sitting with a lady he didn't know, looking at a picture book that he didn't care for, and was too easy for him anyway, even if he was only four. The lady he was put with had a darker skin tone, and she was just as friendly as anyone else he had ever met. She was talking to another woman, mentioning the name David, and sometimes Emily, so he could only presume that they were talking about him. He wished they wouldn't do that.

After a while, David got bored, and put the book on the chair next to him. He focused on the conversation at hand, between the ladies next to him, without it looking to obvious. The one he sat next to spoke next. "Are you sure it wasn't his mother, too. I don't want to send him back to... what happened."

The other lady was leaning down next to this first lady. She was skinner, and blond, probably younger than his mother, and a bit of cheer was written on her face. "Yes, I am sure, police found her pulling their father away from the little girl. David may go back to his mother."

It took a really long time for the first lady to say anything in return, but the blond one was patient, and waited kindly, glancing at David every once in a while. She always had a smile plastered on her face, so David would smile back nicely, but still, there was one thing on his mind. He wanted to ask, but at that moment, the first lady spoke. "Okay, let's go." To David, "Hey, kiddo, we're going to get going." and she offered a hand.

"No, thank you." He had better ask before he lost his nerve. "Where's my sister?"

Both of the women wore different expressions, and sometimes he would see them on his mother's face. The first lady wore an old expression, one that looked like a cross between anger and sadness, and something else. The blond lady looked surprised, as if his question was out of the ordinary. At that point, David knew that something bad must have followed that events of the night before last. He also knew that there was something wrong with his sister. "She isn't okay." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, kiddo, she's not." The first lady was talking to him. Finally.

He hadn't dared to move from his seat, but he turned his body around so that he was facing the ladies. He put on an expressionless face, and told his story, the side that was hardly heard. "I wanna tell you something. My dad... he did some bad stuff. I guess that's why I'm here right? My sister, she tried to help me, to protect me, but she couldn't do it all by herself. I got hurt," he lifted his shirt sleeve to reveal a bruise the size of an adult fist. "But Emily... I want her to be okay. So you have to take me to her. So I can tell her I'm sorry." Both the women look at each other, and the first one, started to talk.

"You know, it's not your fault. Things like this happen sometimes, but it's never your fault." she said, smiling sadly, and David finally understood.

"I still have to tell her I'm sorry."

"You will."

"Okay." He got up and stretch, then followed the ladies outside.

They had sat at a booth in the corner of the small diner, where everything was quiet. The music was humming about, carefree, and the people inside were talking quietly too, so you could hear it, but not make out any specific words. Like in English class. The waiter, who was as blad as he was friendly, asked for their drinks, then left them alone. Seconds ticked by, and then Gabe spoke, "Peter, huh? Where'd you get that one?"

PJ-because to Gabe, 'Peter' will always be PJ-cracked a small smile. "Just a friend. He's... professional. Like, won't go out for drinks after work professional."

"Note taken. Hey, where'd you get a job anyway?"

"It's just a small office up in town a bit more. I sweep up, and run errands. I'm like the little boy their training.'

There was more silence, but it was broken faster than usual. " So, are you ever going to tell me why your here? Not that I don't love you here, but why? I mean, Mom and Dad are probably at the police station looking for you. Worried. So why are you here?"

For more than a second, Gabe considered not saying anything, and just walking out, then and there. But he didn't. "I'll tell you the whole story... The truthful story. But I don't want to be interrupted. That's just how it is going to be." The waiter came back with drinks and asked for their orders. When he was gone, Gabe started his story. "I'm kinda adopted. Well, I am adopted. I was born to Courtney Santiago, one resident of Manitou Springs. Amy and Bob are your parents, not mine. And I've known for a little while. I asked for Teddy's help, and she found out that I have a half sister and brother. He's half too. I'm guessing. Anyway, Amy and Bob didn't knew I've known until yesterday when I screamed at them. And now I'm here."

PJ said nothing.

"What? Not going to talk to me now, cause I'm not your real brother?" Gabe teased.

"No, it's just, isn't it a bit obvious? I mean, you never really connected with Mom and Dad, and I mean, come on, look at your hair." Gabe shook his head, and PJ did too. The man came back with their food. "Plus I kinda already knew. How did you think I was when you were born? Four? And I went through the boxes when I was your age too. Found some pretty interesting stuff, too. Mom knew a dead kid. Before he was dead."

"What? Well why didn't you ever tell me you knew I was adopted?"

"Because it wasn't my place to tell you." PJ didn't think Gabe would skip over the dead kid, but he did.

It was simple from then on, to talk, and the silence that fell was comfortable, when it fell. Which wasn't often.

They left the diner after the check came, and PJ paid for the entire thing. Gabe didn't understand, now that they weren't really brothers, PJ should tell time to pay his own damn bill. But he didn't. They walked back to the house, and halfway back, Gabe asked him, "Why did you pay the check? I'm not really your brother, so why'd you pay?"

PJ thought long and hard about what he was going to say. At one point, Gabe gave up getting an answer from him, and was surprised when he was given one. "It's not that blood and DNA and stuff that makes you a brother. Being a brother is the other stuff. Going to games, sneaking out, doing the fun stuff. Being the father when your father can't be a father. Teaching each other the importance of brotherhood and having each other's backs. Doing stuff that totally pisses one another off, but not really minding that much when we have a good reason, or at all. Seeing a girl and being wing man. Being brothers doesn't mean your related through blood-well it does, but that isn't real brotherhood-being brothers means doing all that stuff just because you can, and not because you have to, or someone tells you to do it. Of course you're my brother. And I'm your brother. That'll never change, no matter who your mom is." PJ didn't speak the whole rest of the way home.

Then PJ stopped short, and looked wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. 5 police cars, all lined up in the street, surrounding PJ's house. Of course Gabe didn't see it, not until it was too late. "Time to face the music little bro." And they walked to the scene. It didn't matter that they were going to be separated, not now, because they were brothers and brothers had each others back's. That's what brothers were for, right?

David almost wasn't allowed to see his sister. But after the first lady, who he'd learned was named Patty, and the second lady, whose name was Razza, almost made a big scene, he was lead to a room by a nurse who scowled him greatly, where everything turned out to be- not at all shockingly-white. There were two beds, and the one closest to the window was the only occupied one. A woman, who David was pretty sure was his mother, was sitting at the bedside, and was sobbing. Yes, that was his mother. He hated to say it, but that was his mother.

He walked over quietly, standing behind his mother so that she couldn't see him, but David could see Emily. And what he saw... well no movie ever prepared him for this. His sister, the one that would sneak into his room and tell him everything was all right when it really wasn't, his only sister, the strong willed girl she was, was laying in a bed, with her eyes closed, and bruises everywhere. Cuts and scratches lined her face, blood still fresh from that night. She had so many bruises, that it was hard to see any place that wasn't colored more that supposed to be. There was a bandaged wrapped around her head, like in the movies and cartoons, that everyone thinks are fake, but are real. Her right arm was in a blue cast, and her left arm, was, unsurprisingly just like her face. Stitches followed scratches. All in all, it was terrible. David couldn't believe what he was seeing. His big strong protector, was now, so small. His father, the man he had looked up to for years, made him sick.

His heart ached, and he walked over to his mother. She easily knew it was him, without really thinking about it, mother's intuition, and pulled him into a weak hug. She cried on his shoulder, and she just kept crying and crying. But as much as David wanted to cry, to burst out into tears, and tell someone that they needed to make his sister better, as much as he thought that he should cry, he knew he had to be strong. For Emily, and for his mom. Because, really, what would their family be with a child who couldn't hold his own?

I suppose my theme is, 'holding their own.' Am I right? So, did ya love it? Did you hate it? Hugs for all who review. Please? Ah, yeah, this is powerful stuff.