It was a cold evening as Andrew walked along the streets of the city, the soft sound of rain pattering on his umbrella. It was a good idea, he decided, that he decided to bring it along to shelter him in case the possibility of rain turned out true. If he hadn't he would have been easily soaked to the bone by now.
Several less prepared citizens were huddling close to buildings and under bus stops trying to keeps dry and looking at Andrew and his umbrella enviously. Andrew ignored most of them...until he saw a figure up ahead in completely inappropriate clothes for the weather, be completely splashed with water by a passing vehicle.
Andrew winced in sympathy and had a strange urge to help the stranger. Even more strange was that he decided to actually follow this urge and walked up to the man who was obviously shivering uncontrollably. He moved his umbrella so that it covered both him and the frozen man and he spoke. "Here...it looks like you could use the shelter."
The stranger jumped and turned around, staring at Andrew with wide confused eyes. "T-thank you...y-you really don't have to do that though…"
Andrew raised an eyebrow at the stranger. "So...are you saying that you don't want the shelter after getting even more soaked than you were and are in the freezing rain?"
The stranger immediately shook his head, staring in shock. "N-No! Not at all! I appreciate it a lot I just...was just making sure you knew you didn't have to...especially since I'm already soaked…"
Andrew looked at the man up and down and noticed that he was carrying a duffel bag and was wearing clothes that looked old and ratty. "What's your name." He asked suddenly.
The man was taken aback but answered anyways. "Danny…"
"I'm Andrew. Say...do you happen to have somewhere to stay tonight Danny?"
Danny looked shocked and hesitantly shook his head. Andrew figured that would be his answer. He thought hard for a moment before replying slowly. "You know...I don't usually do something like this but...would you like to stay the night at my house? I have a warm shower, good food and a semi-comfortable couch. It only has to be the night if you want but I think it would be better than these cold streets."
Danny gaped in disbelief. It was almost as if this boy hadn't been shown much kindness in the past little while. "R-really? You would do that for a c-complete stranger?"
Andrew frowned slightly but nodded. "Like I said, I don't usually do this but since you seem different, I'll make this one exception. Now come on, before I change my mind."
And with that Andrew started slowly walking away the way he had been going before he had stopped. Danny quickly followed him, making sure he was covered by the umbrella because it was evident, even if he was soaked, he didn't fancy getting more wet. As they walked in silence, Danny would warily look up at Andrew, but he still looked curious.
To be honest, the staring got a bit annoying after a while and he eventually got fed up. Andrew snapped his head towards Danny and snapped unintentionally. "Can I help you?"
Danny shook his head and blushed mumbling a quick apology. He didn't look again after that and it almost made Andrew sad. Almost. They didn't talk for the rest of the walk to his apartment and when they walked inside, Andrew wasted no time giving orders to the younger man.
"I want you to go have a warm shower right now. I'm going to assume that you don't have any clean clothes, am I right." Danny nodded. "Just as I thought. I'll let you borrow some of my nightwear. The shower is in the bathroom, which is there." He pointed to the door containing said room.
Andrew quickly ran to his room to get the old night clothes of his. He decided that if the boy didn't have clean clothes that he wouldn't have any clean underwear so he grabbed an old pair of those as well. Then he returned to hear the sound of the shower running. He figured that the polite thing would be to leave the clothes outside of the bathroom door and decided to make a pot of coffee while he waited for the boy to come out from the shower.
The coffee was halfway finished by the time the shower stopped and finished by the time the boy exited the bathroom fully dressed in the clothes Andrew picked out for him. "Feel better?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow as the boy approached.
Danny nodded and sat down at one of the stools in the kitchen. "I made some coffee if you want any. I figured a warm beverage might help."
"Y-Yeah...coffee would be nice thanks. So...I'm guessing you're going to interrogate me about why I'm out on the streets without anywhere to stay huh?"
Andrew hummed in reply and placed a cup of coffee in front of Danny. "Hmm...I guess you're smarter than you look."
"H-Hey! I didn't get kicked out because I was an idiot o-or a freeloader or a druggie okay? I'm actually a really smart student…" Andrew raised his eyebrows for the thousandth time that night and started making his coffee how he liked it.
"Oh? So pray tell, what exactly is the reason that you were kicked out. Not that it's much of my business, I'm just curious. Mostly because I don't want to find out my house was robbed or something in the morning."
Danny shot him a glare before crossing his arms. "Not all people on the street are there because of something being their fault! Some are in debt or...or have parents that aren't accepting…"
"And is that the reason that you're on the street? Because you're parents weren't accepting of something?"
Danny nodded and looked away frowning. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms and sighed. "Yeah...they...kicked me out because they couldn't accept what I am...who I am."
Andrew tapped the countertop in thought before asking quietly. "Are you...gay?"
Danny just shrugged a bit and picked up his coffee cup. "I guess you could say that…" Danny then took a sip of the coffee and Andrew was about to reply when there was a heavy knock at the door. Danny jumped at the sound and dropped the cup, glass shattering everywhere. Andrew was about to scold when he saw the colour draining from Danny's face.
"D-Do you h-have somewhere I can hide?" Andrew blinked in shock but didn't quite question it yet.
"In my bedroom closet. I doubt anyone could find you there. Well...I sure as hell won't let anyone find you there." Andrew then walked up to the door as he heard Danny running to his room and the door closing. When he opened the door, he found it was just his neighbour looking to borrow a cup of sugar and as much as he wanted to tell the man to piss off, he just got the sugar and sent the man on his way.
Once he was gone, Andrew made his way to his room and crouched next to the closet. "Psst. The coast is clear. It's safe to come out. It was a false alarm."
He heard a deep sigh of relief and Danny crawled out of the closet, sitting down next to Andrew. "So...I'm guessing you were worried that those were your parents...Though, I'm not sure why you're so worried. It's not like your parents can figure out where you are right?"
Danny gave him a sad look and shook his head. "My parents...are ghost hunters you see...so they kind of always wanted a way of tracking me down just in case I got attacked or kidnapped by a ghost or something. So...when I was a baby they got a...tracking chip put inside me and my sister."
Danny pulled down the sleeve of his left arm down to his elbow. The arm had angry red scars, some looked fresh. "Danny are these…"
Danny shook his head no immediately. "No...trust me, it was not pleasant but...I just...I just wanted the chip out so bad but...It hurt and I didn't want to go to the hospital because I just knew that on my own I couldn't pay for those bills. The older ones are from attempts before I got kicked out but I chickened out on those because I was worried what my parents would say if they found I had tried to get the chip out."
Andrew gently took Danny's arm in his hands and softly stroked the scars. He was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion that someone would be put through so much in the desperation of trying to make themself safe from the very people who were supposed to protect and cherish their child. It made his blood boil.
Without even thinking, Andrew leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to one of the scars and Danny took a sharp intake of breath. Andrew didn't stop until every single one of the scars had been kissed and when he looked back up, tears were shining bright in Danny's eyes.
Danny smiled a watery smile before grabbing Andrew and leaning against his chest back against the bed. Andrew closed his eyes and brought Danny closer to him and just as he was falling asleep, he almost missed the whispered "Thank you…"
Andrew awoke to a loud pounding on the door. It woke them both almost simultaneously and Danny's eyes were wide, with a matching pale face. "Go back into the closet. If it really is them I will not let them get to you. Not if I can help it."Andrew growled and Danny frantically nodded, rushing back into the closet, closing the doors.
Andrew closed the bedroom door and cautiously approached the door. He stilled when he heard voices.
"Are you really sure he's in here Jack?"
"Of course I'm sure Mads! This baby never lies! Well...unless you count that one time we lost Danny at the carnival when he was seven...or when he ran off at the grocery store when he was ten. But I'm certain that with my recent tweaks not even that evil ghost can throw the tracker off!"
Andrew was certain that these were the parents that Danny had spoken of. He stood up straight and finished his trip to the door, opening it. "Hello? Can I ask what the commotion is outside of my room at 2:30 in the morning." Andrew said with a hiss of annoyance.
The couple outside flushed and the woman introduced the two of them. "Hi. Sorry to bother you, we're Jack and Maddie Fenton and we couldn't help but notice that the tracker that leads us to our son, leads us here. You see he ran away from home and he's a bit of a trouble child so we're here to come pick him up!"
Andrew feigned ignorance and confusion. "No I'm sorry. I'm the only one in this apartment. You must have the wrong one."
The woman sighed and gave her husband a look. "Jack! I thought you said it worked!"
The man was busy fiddling with a different machine and his brows furrowed together. "Well that's strange...my ghost detector also detects a ghost here!" He narrowed his eyes at Andrew and stepped forward. "I think that this man is lying. Sir if you're hiding our son, you should know that we have every right to bring him home."
Andrew hissed in anger at the couple. "Don't you dare come in here. This is my home and I'm sure Danny is old enough to decide that he doesn't want to come back to a home who can't accept who he is! I still can't understand why parents can't love their children no matter what! Even if they are attracted to men!"
The couple stopped in their tracks, eyebrows raised in shock. "Is that what he told you? That we didn't accept that he was bisexual?"
"Now that I think about it...no he didn't tell me...he just sort of implied that…"
Jack once again stepped forward as if to want to enter again. "See? Just a misunderstanding! We accept him just fine!"
Andrew stopped them once again, crossing his arms. "No...I don't feel right about this. Just because I got the reason wrong doesn't erase the way he seems utterly petrified by even the thought of encountering you both. You must remember and respect that this is my property and only I get to determine whether or not people are allowed on it."
The woman finally snapped and growled in anger. "I don't care. My son is in danger and is currently being possessed by an evil ghost and I won't rest until I know that he is safe from that...thing. Sir it could be very dangerous to be around Danny. You could get hurt!"
Andrew huffed in annoyance. "I don't care. I think I can tell if someone is evil or not and if he wanted to hurt me, he would've done so already! My suggestion is to leave before I call the cops. And trust me, I will."
The couple stared at Andrew in anger and frustration but stepped back. "Fine." The woman started. "But I hope you get yourself killed with how idiotic you're being. Really, trusting a ghost. What an absolute joke."
"I'm okay with that." And with that, Andrew slammed the door and locked it, stepping back and taking a deep breath. He then proceeded to walk back to his room and sat against his bed near the closet. "You can come out now. Literally and figuratively. The coast is clear."
Danny nervously came out of the closet and collapsed next to Andrew. Andrew looked over at him. "So...if you weren't kicked out because of your sexuality...what were you kicked out for?"
Danny swallowed nervously before replying. "This is going to sound super crazy but...just hear me out...I'm...Half ghost." As he said it, Danny winced, and looked away.
Andrew blinked in surprise. "W-wait what? Is that why a ghost detector detected you?
Danny nodded and sighed sadly. "Yeah...Wh-when I was fourteen I...well I died. Well technically half died. My parents had this thing called a ghost portal they had been working on and it didn't work. So I decided to try it out for myself and...I was electrocuted and given ghost powers. Not sure how that science works but...I'm real so it must. Recently, my parents who are ghost hunters found out and I thought they'd be accepting but...I was wrong. I was so so so wrong. Now they seem to think I'm just being overshadowed by an evil ghost. Not that...I could ever possibly be a half ghost. No...ghosts are evil in their eyes."
Tears were falling down Andrew's cheeks and he leaned over and pulled Danny into his arms. "Either way...whether it was because of your sexuality or because of your state as a human...your parents had no right to hurt you like that. Like I said earlier. I will protect you. I will protect you with everything I have. I don't care if I met you only mere hours ago. You are already so precious to me and no matter what, I will keep you safe. For as long as you'll allow me to."
When he finished his speech and Danny had his own tears running down his cheeks, Andrew stood up and pulled Danny up with him. That night they cuddled under the blankets of Andrew's bed, holding eachother close.
Even though they barely knew each other, they already knew that what they had was special.