Author's note: Thank you all for continuing to read this story! You guys are my drive right now, honest to goodness. If you've read any of my other fics, you may have noticed that they are either one-shots or have two to three chapters at most. I don't like starting off well and then having my work ethic slowly decline. That's why I usually take a long time to put up next chapters. But you've all kept me on my toes by being so interested in this story that I am actually taking the time to plan things out and write more than one chapter at one time.

That being said, special thanks to: MiptheGinger, boogotu, Sarah1124, ilovebooks17, Anigen, and mimi cupcake sweet heart for taking the time to review. I appreciate every piece of commentary you give me.

Enjoy chapter 3!

"My mother couldn't cook like this if she actually tried," Eli complimented Mrs. Torres' cooking as he shoveled another forkful of chicken cacciatore into his mouth. Dinner had been utterly silent except for someone needing something to be passed to them.

His compliment earned him stunned stares from Adam, Drew and Alli.

"You shouldn't insult your mother like that, Eli. It's very unbecoming and you certainly won't be invited for dinner again is this is how you are going to behave," said Mrs. Torres crossly. Adam – who couldn't believe what was happening – breathed in and out deeply, before continuing to consume his meal. "Adam, is there any particular reason why you have to breathe so loud? You're making my headache worse."

Drew tried to look at Adam supportively, but Adam just looked at his plate. "So we have a football game this Saturday mom. Do you think you and dad will be able to make it?"

Mrs. Torres finished her mouthful and stood up from the table. Without actually looking at Drew, she replied "ask your father when he comes home, Drew. He might have to go out of town this weekend. Again." She put her plate and utensils in the sink and left the kitchen.

The four teens listened as her footsteps went upstairs into her bedroom. They heard her door slam shut and all sighed in unison and in relief. They smiled at each other.

"What's eating her, man?" asked Drew. Adam shrugged. "Well you must've done something." He said, smiling.

"Yup. It's always my fault. I'm to blame." Adam said sarcastically.

"So Eli, is that your hearse parked outside? It looks good. What did you do to it? New paint job to give it that extra dark black tinge or something?" asked Alli. Eli couldn't tell if she was being serious or not, so he ignored her. "Uhm…hi? Living person with a legitimate question here. Did you do something to your car or not?"

Eli was surprised at her interest and her insistence. "I painted it two days ago, actually."

"Alli, wanna help me clear the dishes?" asked Adam, quickly cutting Eli off. For some reason it bothered Adam that Alli was talking to Eli. Why does she suddenly care about his car? He wondered.

Alli was annoyed with Adam for several reasons. The most prominent being that: a) she'd never washed a dish in her life and b) she wanted to try to talk to Eli about Clare. It was obvious to Alli that they liked each other, but she wanted to hear from Eli himself how he actually felt about Clare. Not wanting her plan to be obvious, Allis stood up and walked over to the sink. "You wash, I'll dry?" she suggested.

"Why is it that I'm always the one doing the washing? Do I have a sign on me that says 'I heart washing dishes' or something? Drew, why don't you wash for a change?" Adam asked. He hadn't expected Alli to say yes, but now that she had, he wanted to leave her and Drew on their own.

Drew got the hint and walked over to the sink to join Alli. "Eli can you hand me your plate?" Eli did as requested. "Thanks. Now run along you two. Alli and I want some…privacy."

Eli rolled his eyes, got up from the table and followed Adam to his room. The boys sat on Adam's bed in silence.

As Eli shifted his hands further onto the bed, he accidentally brushed his hand against Adams. "Sorry." They both moved their hands away from the other. Adam laid flat on his back, interlocking his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes. Eli pulled himself all the way onto the bed, resting his back against the wall.

"So what's going on with you and Clare?" asked Adam.

Eli grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know." He stared at Adams bureau mirror and his grin slowly began to fade. "I sincerely don't know."

Adam looked taken aback. "What do you mean? You're either together or you aren't, right?" Eli nodded. "Well, which is it?"

"That's the thing. We're not but I think she wants us to be."

Adam sat up next to Eli. He took his hands and looked him straight in the eye. "What do you want, Eli? What is your heart telling you?" Adam asked earnestly.

"Truthfully? It's probably telling me to…" Adam cut Eli off by gently kissing his open mouth.

When Eli didn't immediately return the gesture, Adam pulled away. He was blushing. "I-I didn't mean to do that."

"I think you did, Adam. I think if that's what you've been hiding from me this whole time you can stop worrying. I accept you for who you are, no matter what anyone else thinks. You can stop pretending and wake up now if you like."

Adam gave Eli a funny look. "Wake up? I am awake. Eli?"

Eli shook Adam gently. Adam tried to bat him away. "Wake up Adam. Adam, Adam. Adam, I have to go."

Adam rubbed his eyes and stared up at Eli. It had been a hallucination. "Did I really fall asleep?"

Eli laughed. "Yeah, you did. You were mumbling and moving around too. You looked quite passive but I didn't want to just up and leave without telling you."

"What time is it? Was I asleep long? I'm really sorry, Eli. I can't believe I fell asleep on you."

"It's fine." Eli stood up. "I really do have to get going though. My essays won't write themselves." They laughed. Adam stood and followed Eli downstairs. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeahup." Adam said, mid-yawn. "See you bright and early."

Eli nodded and walked through the front door. Adam closed it behind him and started towards the kitchen. He spotted Alli and Drew sitting at the kitchen table and decided against interrupting them. What a strange dream.

As he was about to climb back upstairs, he heard the front door open. He turned around to see his dad, standing soaking wet in the doorway.

"Adam. Kitchen. Now." His dad said, as he hung up his coat.

Adam stared at his father. He was beyond sick of everyone telling him what to do. "Dad, I have an assignment I have to finish. I already ate dinner. Can't we just talk tomorrow?"

"No, Adam. We need to have a family meeting right now. You can just deal with it. Where is your mother?"

"Hiding in her room. She seems pretty miffed." Adam stopped speaking. He managed to duck as his father swung at him, and then doubled over in pain. "What the hell is your problem? I am so SICK of you and mom being angry all the time and not telling Drew and me what's going on! Either calm down or I'm leaving. I mean it."

Drew and Alli walked out of the kitchen quietly. Drew gave Alli a quick peck on the cheek and pointed her in the direction of the door. She gave a small wave to Adam then dashed past Mr. Torres and out the door. "Dad, what's going on?"

"We are having a family meeting, Drew. Go fetch your mother." Mr. Torres brushed past Adam and went into the kitchen.

Drew gazed at Adam then went upstairs to their mom's bedroom. Drew emerged two seconds later, Mrs. Torres slowly trailing behind him. Drew got downstairs and patted Adam reassuringly on the back. "Let's get this over with."

The step-brothers and their mother filed into the kitchen and sat at the table with Mr. Torres. "Does anybody in the house understand what my job is?" No one responded. "I am the provider. I am the glue that keeps the four of us together. I enable you boys to be able to do the extracurricular activities you want to do. Without me, nothing would be possible, financially."

"What is your point, [insert name]? I was perfectly happy wallowing in my own self pity, and now you've gone and ruined it. Do you want a medal or something? I'm sure one of the kids could make you one. How about we use our wedding picture as the medal itself! It doesn't mean anything anymore anyway." Mrs. Torres screamed and banged her fists on the table.

Drew and Adam looked at each other nervously. They'd never seen their parents act like this. Drew stood up. "Do we really need to be here for this? I mean this is clearly your-guys fight and Adam and I aren't really inv…"

[insert name] gave Drew a menacing look and he sat back down. "Are you both part of this family? Then you will sit here until we sort things out. Did you boys know that your mother is cutting herself? Hmm? The psychologist thinks she is an undiagnosed bipolar. She might be depressed or just your usual attention seeking pain-in-my-ass. This is her way of self-medicating. She leaves work early, comes home, gets high off of her meds and cuts herself until the rest of us come home and she has to pull herself together in order to cook dinner."

Adam didn't know what his dad was expecting him or Drew to say. They hadn't noticed their mothers' wounds or supposed depression. Adam felt bad. He'd been so busy focusing on his own little wars that he had no concept of what was going on around him. "Is there anything we can do to help, dad?" he asked.

"Go back to being a girl, Gracie." [insert name] said, bitterly. Everyone at the table turned to look at her. "Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't miss having a daughter and a son, [insert name]. Do you remember how you felt when she was born? You were elated. I remember it perfectly. And now she wants to be a boy and we get no say in the matter. It's ridiculous and it's embarrassing."

Tears began to slip silently down Adams' cheeks. She really hates me. She actually hates me for being Adam. I can't believe it. I don't deserve to be treated like this at all. I hate her. Adam stood up from the table.

"Where do you think you're going? You come back here right now!"

"I don't have to listen to you. I'm going out and you can just deal with it!" Adam screamed as he ran up to his room. He threw a few things into his already crammed back pack, ran back down the stairs and out the door.

Drew stood up to see if he was really gone. He turned to look at his parents. "Why do you have to do that to him? He does everything he can to please you, and you can't look past the one thing that makes him happy."

"I refuse to look past it because it doesn't make me happy. Don't you kids get it? Before you came along, my happiness actually mattered. And now that you're here and growing up right in front of our eyes, my happiness is second-string. It's of no important to you and your other sibling; you've made that very apparent."

Drew stared at her, shook his head and then walked up the stairs to his own room. "I'm going to try to find Adam. He can't have gotten far." He called downstairs. He ran down and peered into the kitchen. His parents said nothing. "Dad, do you want to come? I could use an extra set of eyes?" As Drew had expected his dad said nothing. He sighed. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you two, but you need help." He walked out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Adam was sprinting as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he couldn't go home. Correction, wouldn't. I know when I'm not wanted, and if they think I'm just going to sit silently and deal with their crap, they are dead wrong. He stopped at an intersection and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Eli's number, laughing as he did it. Man have I gotten predictable.

It took about five rings before Eli picked up. "Hey man, sorry if I'm disrupting…whatever."

Eli yawned. "Is everything ok, Adam? You sound distraught."

Adam smirked. Even through the phone, Eli knew him almost as well as Drew did. "I just…really need a place to crash tonight that isn't my own house."

This struck Eli as an odd statement. But as he had decided with Adam's other secret, he didn't press the matter. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up."

Car headlights behind Adam were almost blinding. He turned around to watch the car as it passed and recognized it as his own. "Hold on a sec." He put the phone to his chest and waved at Drew as he pulled onto the shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going at this time of night?" Drew said smiling. "Hop in. I'll give you a lift to Eli's."

Adam smiled and got into the passenger side of the car. "How did you know…"

"C'mon. Where else would you go? Unless you have some mysterious new girlfriend you forget to tell me about."

"N-nope. No girlfriend." Adam stuttered. He put his phone on the dashboard and buckled his seatbelt.

"Weren't you on the phone just now?" asked Drew, puzzled.

"Oh shit!" Adam took the phone off the dashboard. "Sorry, Eli. Drew just picked me up. What's the fastest way to your place?"

"Pass me to your brother." Eli instructed.

Adam handed the phone over. He could hear some of what Eli was saying but didn't recognize a lot of the street names. He was glad that Drew knew what Eli was talking about. After a few moments, Drew passed the phone back to Adam. "See you soon."

"Yup. Later." Eli hung up.

The Torres brothers drove in silence along many roads. They finally found Eli's house on a darkened street. Drew pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. "Are you going to need a lift to school tomorrow?"

"Eli has a car, remember?" Adam said as he opened the door.

"Oh that's what that is." The brothers grinned at each other.

"Thank you, Drew."

"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow Adam."

"Yup. G'night." Adam waved and shut the door. He watched Drew back out of the driveway. When the car disappeared into the night, Adam walked up to Eli's door.

Just as he was about to knock, he heard the sound of locks unlocking. Eli opened the door and gestured for Adam to come inside. "Right this way."

Adam laughed. "Excited to have guests, are we?"

Eli shut the door and re-locked it. "I'm impartial. I was going to bed, but now I think I'll stay up."

"Why?"

"Because you look like you have a lot on your mind and you could use someone listening to you for a change?" Eli offered.

Adam gulped. He had hoped that Eli would just let it go for tonight. "I'm kind of tired too. If it's all the same to you, I really just want to get some sleep."

Eli let out a loud "hmph." He looked at Adam, shook his head and went upstairs. When Adam didn't immediately follow suit, Eli stared at him. "Bedroom's up here, Adam. Unless you wanted to sleep on the stairs."

Adam arched an eyebrow. "No…a bed sounds nice." He followed Eli up the stairs.

"Well it's not a traditional bed, but I think it'll do for tonight."

Eli's room was impressive and totally not what Adam had been expecting.

"Were you expecting black walls, no windows and books on the occult?" asked Eli, managing to read Adam's thoughts based on the confused look on his face.

"I have no idea what I was expecting, but this is beyond cool." Adam flopped onto the futon. "My parents would kill me before they'd let me have a bed and a couch in my room."

"It's a futon." Eli corrected.

"Whatever. You still have more sitting space than I do."

Eli laughed. They got ready for bed in silence. Eli noticed that Adam was planning on sleeping in an overly baggy t-shirt, and then realized that he was actually wearing two t-shirts. He decided not to ask.

Adam pulled the futon flat and Eli handed him a sheet, a pillow and a polar fleece blanket. "Why the fleece?" asked Adam.

"The heat doesn't always make it all the way up here and sometimes the AC magically turns on by itself. Trust me: you'll be grateful in the morning."

They got into their respective beds and Eli reached for the light switch. "Night Eli."

Eli looked over at Adam and nodded. He was a bit concerned that Adam still hadn't told him why he needed a place to sleep. He decided asking about it couldn't hurt now. "Look, I've chosen the path of least resistance. Basically meaning that it's not my business to ask why you do certain things. Seeing as you were the one who called me later asking for a place to stay, I think I deserve some kind of explanation. Is that unreasonable?"

Adam looked at Eli and sighed. "No and yes at the same time. I'm sorry, Eli. I can just go if you want." Adam started to get up but Eli put his hand out.

"Would I have answered my phone and kept the door unlocked if I was planning to kick you out? No. I need some kind of mild closure here, Adam. I think you can understand why."

"I can." Adam knew that Eli deserved the truth. He just couldn't decide which part of the truth he felt most comfortable sharing. "My mom…has been hurting herself and she decided tonight to take out her repressed rage on me and Drew and I couldn't handle it so I ran away."

Eli contemplated Adam's answer. He felt like there was more to the story and he hoped that at some point without provocation Adam would feel comfortable talking about it.

"That's pretty much it. I have to face her wrath at some point but I just chose not to tonight."

Eli's brow furrowed. "Your mom isn't…"

"No no! She's never laid a hand on me or Drew." Adam hadn't even thought of that. "It's just that she has issues that…"

"That you don't want to share with the rest of the class." Eli finished. "Don't worry, I get the hint." He rolled onto his back. "Think we should get some shut-eye?" he asked.

"Probably. Thanks for listening, Eli. It means a lot."

Eli peered over his bed, gazing across the room and nodded. "Do me a favor? Don't mention this to Clare. She'll think we've turned into girls or something. Next thing you know, she'll want to gossip all the time and guy time will no longer be sacred. She might even think we've gone gay." He chuckled.

Adam laughed forcibly. "Yeah. Silly Clare." Adam sighed. "Night again, Eli."

"Night."

Adam tossed and turned on the mattress but his thoughts kept him from finding a comfortable position. You couldn't be closer to the truth, Eli. Without realizing it, you've all but figured me out. He frowned. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember the oral he'd prepared for his science project, hoping that the boring subject matter might lull him to sleep.

The familiar guitar riff from the beginning of Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' came into Adam's dream so naturally, he wasn't initially alarmed by it. When it wouldn't stop, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Morning sunshine." Called Eli quietly from across the room. "Hope you don't mind, but my choices for my alarm were pretty limited when I bought it. It was that, 'Holiday' or 'Song 2'."

Adam grinned. He hadn't heard of 'Song 2' but he preferred to not listen to Greenday whenever he could avoid them. He'd liked their earlier music but 'American Idiot' and the newest album (whose name he couldn't recall) just didn't have the same vibe. Adam rubbed some sleep out of his eyes. "What time is it?"

"6:30."

Adam stared at Eli in disbelief. "Why in the world would you want to be up this early for crappy school?"

Eli laughed. "If I set my alarm for, let's say 7 or 7:30, I'll be tempted to roll over and not reset my alarm, thereby making me late. If I set it for 6 or 6:30 then I have no excuse. It's so early that I've shocked my body awake. I reset my alarm, roll over, and let it wake me again in an hour. I roll out of bed that much later and carry on with my usual morning routine."

"I'm really glad it works for you, but I like this thing called uninterrupted sleep. It's a very difficult thing to achieve for a borderline insomniac like myself, but when I do achieve it, I don't really appreciate being woken up so abruptly."

Eli chucked his pillow at Adam's head. "Quit being such a baby and go back to sleep. I'll see you in an hour."

Adam smiled. The more time he spent with Eli, the happier he felt. He looked over at Eli's window and pulled the curtain aside slightly. He caught his reflection in the glass and wiped the grin off of his face. Stop it. Whatever you think you're thinking about Eli, just get it out of your head. He's not into guys and neither are you. Adam gulped. I hope…

And that is the end of chapter 3. I couldn't just end it with Adam arriving at Eli's house, so I gave you two extra little scenes. Keep reading! Chapter 4 will be up next week.