DURING DINNER

As Michael ate his dinner, he noticed that Gregory had barely touched his.

"Gregory?" Michael spoke. His brow furrowed. Gregory looked at him and then back down at his food.

"You've barely touched your food" Michael told him.

"I'm not overly hungry" Gregory said back to him. Michael sighed slowly. Putting down his fork beside his plate. He then got up and sat in the chair next to Gregory.

"What's troubling you at the moment?" Michael asked.

"Just what happened to me" Gregory answered, looking at him.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Michael asked. Gregory shook his head. Smiling slightly.

"It doesn't really matter. I need to head to bed. I'm getting tired" Gregory told him, wheeling backwards away from the table and then turning around to head to the hallway that led down to his bedroom. Michael watched on with a forlorn look on his face.

A LITTLE LATER

Michael entered Gregory's room only to find him struggling to climb off the wheelchair and into his bed.

"Here. Let me help" Michael said. Gregory huffed a little. He felt like all this was humiliating. He wanted to try and do it himself but even he knew he was struggling and needed help. Once Michael had gotten Gregory onto the bed, he sat next to him. Gregory looked at him, noticing a look on his face.

"What?" Gregory asked.

"I'm just worried about you, Gregory. You're not really eating and you're spending a lot of time in here. Why can't you open up to me about how you're feeling?" Michael said.

"There's nothing to open up about, Michael. And besides, you worry about me too much. That's why I've chosen not to talk to you about how I'm feeling" Gregory told him.

"It's my job to worry about you. It's been like that since the day we met at the pizzaplex. With your real parents not around, I have to step into that role. And I have to worry about you" Michael said back. Gregory sighed a little, looking down.

"But hey" Michael said, lifting Gregory's chin up.

"We will get through this. It's going to be a long road ahead of us but, we will get through this" Michael smiled. Gregory smiled eventually and nodded. Michael then helped Gregory with the blankets.

"Goodnight Michael" Gregory smiled. Michael smiled back.

"Goodnight, my superstar" Michael said as he then left the room, closing the door on his way out.

Michael walked down the hall until he approached the linen cupboard. He opened it, grabbed out a towel and headed for his ensuite.

As he began getting ready to have a shower, he looked at himself in the mirror, looking at all the scars he had. Including the one on his chest that was a result of being scooped. Although his former body had been restored, the injuries he sustained while working as a security guard, remained as scars. As a reminder. Including the one from the scooper. That was a reminder of how he let his guard down and believed that he could free his sister and defeat his father. He sighed slowly before turning his attention to the shower. Which he had turned on while getting undressed. He then climbed into the shower and proceeded to be in there for a good solid twenty minutes. As he washed himself, he winced slightly. Some of the scars he had were still sensitive from when he got them. One of the scars at least a decade old. But still sensitive to the touch.

But those scars weren't just sensitive. Sometimes, when he would look at them or feel them, he'd have memories of how he got them. Like the one on his right shoulder, just above his collarbone. That scar had been from when he had been shot while walking with his mother. That night was pretty traumatic for Michael and served as a catalyst for the rest of his future.

After his shower, he climbed out and began getting dressed into some pyjamas. Which was just an old shirt and some sweatpants.

Gregory was asleep in his bed, tossing and turning and breathing rather quickly. He made whimpering sounds as he did so. Turns out, he was having a nightmare. And a vivid one at that.

In the nightmare, he was seeing his attack happening again. A shadowy figure approaches him, stabs him in the back and begins to beat him up severely. As he turns to see who his attacker is, a man glitches in front of him. Someone he recognises. Gregory looks closer and sees William with an evil grin on his face.

As Michael dried his hair and began climbing into bed, he heard yelling coming from Gregory's room. And it wasn't a good yelling. More like a terrified yelling. He quickly rushed out of his room and rushed down the hall to Gregory's room. He pushed the door open and turned the light on. Gregory was tossing and turning on the bed. He was covered in sweat. And, the blankets had half-fallen off the bed.

"Gregory!?" Michael said loudly, hurrying over to Gregory's bedside and trying to wake him up by shaking his shoulder. At first, Gregory didn't wake up. He seemed trapped in the nightmare. Then when Michael said his name a bit louder, he woke up screaming. Out of shock and fear, he began hitting Michael. Michael knew this to be him in shock and confusion due to the nightmare he just came out of. He began assuring Gregory that he was finally safe and that it was him that was with him. And that no one was hurting him anymore. Gregory slowly stopped hitting Michael when he realised it was him.

"Mi-Mi-Mike" Gregory stammered before being pulled into a hug by Michael.

"It's ok superstar. I got you. I got you. You're safe" Michael told him, rubbing his back gently.

LATER

"It…it was so real. It felt real. And I know part of it actually happened but, it was someone else that attacked me" Gregory told Michael.

"Who did you see attack you?" Michael asked. Gregory let out a slow deep breath before continuing to speak.

"William" Gregory said. A stunned look appeared on his face.

"Gregory, he's gone. He can't hurt you anymore. And he can't hurt me either" Michael told him.

"I know that. It's just….I think it was just the trauma I've been through messing with my head" Gregory said, looking at Michael.

"Yeah. Trauma tends to do that" Michael told him. Gregory nodded.

"Well, considering we're both awake, you want me to make you a hot drink or anything?" Michael then asked, standing up from the bed.

"Yeah. Yeah that would be great" Gregory smiled.

"You want me to bring it in to you?" Michael asked.

"No, I'll come out" Gregory told him. Michael nodded. He then grabbed Gregory's wheelchair and brought it over to him. He helped Gregory into it and then Gregory wheeled himself out of his room. Michael followed behind, heading for the kitchen.

Once Michael was in the kitchen, Michael began making some hot drinks. One for him and one for Gregory. For Gregory, it was a hot chocolate. For Michael, some strong coffee.

As he began making those drinks, his head suddenly hurt. Like someone had taken an icepick and jabbed it into his head. He winced as he grabbed the side of his head and rubbed it.

"You ok?" Gregory asked, noticing all this.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine" Michael told him, turning his head to smile at him. He then turned his head back around. The smile quickly faded from his face. And a look of concern appeared. He had never gotten headaches like that before. He didn't know what the cause of it was but he knew it was something that wasn't exactly good.

After making his coffee and Gregory's hot chocolate, he brought them over to the kitchen bench where Gregory was sitting and handed the hot chocolate to him. He then drank his coffee. Gregory wasn't overly convinced by the answer Michael gave him. Only because in the years he had known Michael, Michael tends to do things that make it obvious that he's a pretty bad liar. But, Gregory didn't want to ask further about it. Right now, he knew he needed to focus on himself and trying to get better. So, he sat quietly at the bench, drinking his hot chocolate.

"I've spoken with the police department about the case. Mostly to the officers that opened the case after what happened" Michael told him. Gregory looked at him.

"Have they found who did it?" Gregory asked, hoping for a good answer from Michael.

"No. Unfortunately. But, they were able to find the weapon that was used. Hopefully they should be able to identify any fingerprints on it" Michael answered.

"Hopefully" Gregory sighed a sort of a dull tone as he looked down slightly. Sounding disappointed. Which he was.

"Hey" Michael said with a kind smile, noticing the look on Gregory's face and the tone in his voice. Gregory lifted his head back up and looked at him.

"I didn't say that they'll never find who did it. They will find the asshole that did this to you. And when they are found, they'll have hell to pay" Michael told him. Trying to make Gregory feel a little better. Gregory smiled at Michael's words.

"Michael I….I just wanted to say I'm sorry about how I went off at you" Gregory said a few minutes later. Michael looked at him with his brow furrowed.

"You don't need to apologise, Gregory. You had every right to be pissed at me. I was the one that stepped out of line. I should've listened to you instead of letting my anger get the better of me" Michael told him.

"I just feel like I do. I mean, I spoke awfully to you. And that's not something that can easily be forgiven" Gregory told him.

"Like I said before, Gregory. You had every right to be pissed off at me. There's nothing to be sorry about" Michael assured him, smiling slightly as he put a hand to Gregory's cheek. Gregory smiled softly. He started to get a little teary-eyed. He then gave Michael a big hug. One that Michael happily gave back.

"I love you, Michael" Gregory smiled.

"I love you too, superstar!" Michael smiled back, kissing him on the top of his head.