A/N

Trigger warning: domestic abuse/ mental health

Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review, it gives me inspo to write the next chapter! I didn't think anyone would be interested in this all these years later so glad there's still a few fans out there enjoying this. :)

Chapter 16

Brendan pov

8 months ago

His ribs ached every time he moved on the bed, he shifted onto his side and grimaced at the pain. His right eye was swollen, almost shut, multiple cuts to his face and his knuckles were in tatters from the digs he'd managed to get in himself. He stared at the off white wall and watched the tap drip into the battered sink, drip drip drip.

It was the fourth, (or was it the fifth?) beating he'd taken at the hands of Warren's goons in here and there still wasn't a chance in hell he was going to sell his half of the club to him. The guards were as good as useless, it only took a small bribe to get them to take a wander into a different wing when inmates wanted to do some less than savoury things. Fuck this place. He didn't belong here, no matter what he'd done he didn't deserve to be here, but what he certainly hadn't done was kill Rae or any of those girls. Even the mere thought of luring girls into the night and strangling them to death made him feel physically sick, outraged, you don't hurt women!

Now the police and the majority of the village thought he was some sick serial killer, no one but Cheryl and Lyndsey believed him, which didn't say much as everyone thought Lyndsey was crazy and obsessed with Silas.

Steven didn't believe him, he'd not come to see him, not answered his calls from the prison phone, he'd asked Cheryl about him and she'd skirted around the subject and said he was grieving Rae and wasn't himself. He read between the lines and figured that meant he was one of those holding a pitchfork in this witch hunt. He supposed he couldn't blame him, Steven did know what he was capable of but all that was different, he had to kill Danny because he would have hurt Steven and that wasn't an option. Danny was a stain on society, he'd done the world a favour.

He felt utterly abandoned, no one but his sister fighting his case. Prison was harder than he'd imagined it could be, the loneliness, the silence, the endless waiting with nothing to do, he'd even started reading the bible again. Do you know what it's like to lose all hope? That even those closest to you have their doubts. Everyday his life flashes before him and the one image he kept seeing over and over, was Steven. Steven and the coy little smile he did when he looked at him with eyes full of adoration. As the punches were landing, that's what he'd see, when he woke up from his nightmares, there he'd be. But he wasn't there, he wasn't there for him at all, only god could help him now.

"Ribs giving you gip?"

Understatement of the year.

His eyes darted to the door, Walker stood there sporting his own injuries.

"Just a scratch" he croaked out

He'd met Walker on his second week here when they were put on kitchen duty together. He wasn't as bad as the other inmates, in fact they were quite similar, even down to the part where they both liked men. They got on, they had an understanding but he wouldn't go as far as saying they had a friendship. Just two lone wolves, trying to get by in this god forsaken place. They had each other's backs in here, the state of them both right now proved it. Warrens thugs for hire had jumped him in the rec room, 3 on 1 the fucking cowards, only this time one of them pulled a knife and he thought this was it for sure, he'd seen Stevens smile. Then out of nowhere Walker was amongst the chaos as well, he was a good fighter, martial arts expert he said, anyway the two of them had managed to over power them. It had earned them both a night in the infirmary and another two in solitary confinement but they were back in gen pop for now.

"Had any trouble from them today?" Walker walked into his cell and leant against the sink.

"Seems like we got the point across yesterday"

"Ah what a shame, I was looking forward to our next meeting" Walker said sarcastically as he clutched his own ribs.

Brendan tentatively sat up

"About yesterday, thanks" Thank yous didn't come easily to him.

"What are friends for?" Walker said gleefully.

They weren't friends. They were aquaintances, kitchen colleagues, fighting allies and occasionally, fuck buddies.

That last part he wasn't proud of but he had needs and his life was already a cluster fuck so what was a bit more chaos. He didn't even fancy him, sure some people would consider him attractive with his height, brooding stare and athletic physique, but he was pale, too tall, too self assured and he had short eyelashes. He'd come accustomed to long dark fluttering lashes that made his heart skip and his groin pulse.

"Something taken your fancy?" Walker asked with a seductive lilt.

"What?"

"There's that glint in your eye"

He laughed, if only walker knew "nah, not in the mood shall we say"

Walker shrugged nonchalantly, "There's always next time"

Brendan reclined back onto his bed "yeeaahh, not happening big guy"

Walker huffed a laugh and made his way for the door, stopping just before he exited

"Look Brendan, if you want to talk about what you told me in the infirmary the other night, i'm always around"

He looked at him perplexed "Walker i was high on pain meds i have no idea what we talked about '' he said dismissively.

"Yeah ok, i'm just saying. I'm here if you want to talk, about your dad and what he did to you"

And with that Walker strolled out of his cell leaving Brendan reeling on his bed.

….

Present day

His nose hairs tingled as he was roused from his slumber, his eyes flickered open, he knew that smell. He dragged himself out of bed throwing on joggers and a sweatshirt and made his way into the kitchen.

"Morning!" Cheryl chimed erratically.

He grunted a response whilst surveying the mess in front of him.

"You're just in time! Did the smell wake you? I've made us a full irish breakfast, white pudding and everything, you love that, you always did have a good appetite on you"

She was nervously rambling

He eyed her suspiciously and walked over to the dining table and seated himself.

"Yeah, I'm starving actually, I didn't eat much yesterday."

She started plating up, faffing in the process.

"You need to keep your strength up" Cheryl placed his breakfast down in front of him. Bacon, Sausage, baked beans, eggs, tomatoes, hash brown, toast and the all important white pudding. He tucked in immediately.

"Strength for what?" he said through large mouthfuls of his breakfast.

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she picked up her knife and fork.

"You know, just the day," she said with a smile plastered on.

"Right" he nodded, she was up to something but he couldn't really be bothered.

He pretty much inhaled his breakfast as usual. Once he was done, Cheryl had hardly made a dent so he started cleaning up around her.

'No leave it, sit down. Lets chat"

Ah here it was, he knew she had an ulterior motive. He turned, sighing in the process, and leant against the kitchen counter.

"Spit it out"

She looked up at him in shock.

'What? Brendan i just want to talk with my big brother"

"About what? And no bullshit sis, i haven't got time"

She placed her cutlery down and turned to face him.

"Have you thought about going to see Ste?"

"We've been through this"

"I know, but the reasons you gave, I just don't buy it. He's been in there over 2 weeks now, and you've not been the same. You barely talk, you're drinking all the time, I know you're worried so go and see him. It would be good for both of you, i know it"

"Chez give it a rest will ya?! Stop going on and on about Steven"

"You can be so selfish, you know that? This isn't about you, this is about him! He needs support, he needs his friends, his loved ones"

"Christ, I've paid for the facility he's in! What more do you want? He's not my problem"

"You really can be a pig, you know that! Not your problem?" she laughed "You really want to stand there and try to pretend you're not one of the reasons he's in there? But now it's not your problem. Just throw some money and the mess you created and walk away from it. All the lies, the violence, the manipulating, the abuse, you really think that hasn't damaged him?"

He lost his temper.

"Arrgghh Chez come on! You know I try so hard to make things right but it's never enough for ye is it? You take everyone else's side and you go on and on and on about my failings but you never take a look at your own do ye?!"

He charged into his bedroom slammed the door and hastily began dressing for work before she could say another word to him. He heard the front door close aggressively. She'd hit a nerve, a very raw nerve. Every minute of everyday was spent thinking about Steven, he thought about what he'd done to him over the years, how he'd chipped away at him. He thought about all the chances he'd had to make things work between the two of them, all the chances he had to walk away and leave the lad alone, let him live his life.

Steven was the only person other than Chez and his kids that he'd loved. He was the only person that made him feel like there was good in the world, he was the only person who brought light into it. He was the only person who made him feel safe and loved and although He had done plenty to ruin it, he was obsessed with Steven, Steven was his drug. It was that obsession that had landed him in hospital, of that Brendan was sure.

He couldnt go and see Steven, couldnt look at the mess he'd created because he was a fucking coward.

…

The inane music pounded through the office walls, he'd worked every single night since the friday that Amy had been round and it was taking its toll, if he had to listen to another david guetta song he'd willfully smash his own face into the dj booth. He told himself he did it to keep himself busy, keep his mind off everything else, but in reality his mind was never off it.

The office door swung open and Walker cooly entered holding a bottle of whisky and two tumblers.

"Evening"

"Please Walker, do come in without knocking"

"I did knock, although no surprise you didn't hear me with all the racket" he held up the bottle and glasses as a question.

He tilted his head in acceptance of the offer.

"Barely seen you this last two weeks, seems we've been on different shift schedules" Walker stated whilst pouring their whiskeys.

"So it would seem. Chez does the rotas"

"Hmmm yeah, i seem to have been on plenty of shifts with Kevin though, trying to avoid him are we?"

Ugh Kevin, the constant thorn in his side. He was done with him, well and truly, having to spend time with him would be like punishment right now, a poor excuse of a replacement for the original that was out of his reach. He'd told Chez he wanted to fire him, she firmly reminded him that sacking an employee simply because you no longer wanted to fuck him would result in one hell of an employee tribunal, attention he didnt need, now or ever.

So instead he'd made her rig the rota so they weren't ever on at the same time, but that he and Walker always were, hoping that Walker would distract him and take the annoyance off his hands. Wishful thinking it seems.

"Not particularly" he replied in a bored tone

"Well i thought you'd be keeping a close eye on your new toy"

"He's not my toy, he's not my anything. He's an employee. Nothing more." he spat

"Fair enough. Always thought he was a bit of a wet wipe anyway."

That was an understatement. Kevin couldn't read a cue if his life depended on it. Zero self awareness. He whined and moaned when he didn't get what he wanted. Getting rid of him was going to be an ass ache he knew that much. Well unless he threatened to beat the kid to near death. He'd done that plenty of times before with other men, worked a treat usually, its how he got rid of snivelling Macca. No, he was above that now, better than that, or he'd at least save it for when everything else failed.

"Hmmm. So what brings you in here then Walker?"

"Like I said, I just wanted to catch up, see if anything was going on that I needed to know about. This whole" he gestured with his hand at Brendan "office recuse act has all the markings of a deal gone wrong"

He gulped down his drink "No deal. No act. No problem"

Walker cocked his head and shrugged his shoulders in apathy.

"Well, I'm going to head off then, considering I'm not actually being paid to be here" Walker stood and placed his tumbler on the desk. Brendan didn't acknowledge him. Walker made his way to the door and placed his hand on the knob

"Don't suppose you've seen Ste have you?"

"What?" he replied startled at the boys mention

"I've been getting my lunch from there everyday and he's not been around, at all. Just wondered where he'd gone"

He composed himself quickly

"No idea where he is, none of my business. Why is it any of yours?"

"It's not, just curious, you know. Anyway, have a good night"

…

He woke to a banging on the front door and the doorbell ringing repeatedly.

What the fuck?

He dragged himself out of bed grabbing his dressing gown and throwing it on as he stumbled towards the front door. 4 bloody hours of sleep he's had. That is not normal. He tugged open the door and was greeted by Amy looking sheepish, Leah and Lucas in tow.

"Morning, sorry, Cheryl said to keep knocking until you got up"

"Eh?"

"She said to keep knocking"

"Yeah I heard what you said, why?"

"Cheryl said last week she'd look after these two today, i just called her and she'd completely forgotten and she's on her way back now but she said you would look after them until she is" she looked at him with a nervous smile.

He looked at the kids and back at Amy in shock, he was no good with kids.

"I'm going to see Ste, that's why" she followed up in haste.

"Oh, right. Yeah yeah. Sure." He stepped out of the way to let them into the living room. This isn't happening. The kids came in like a tornado, jumping on the sofa immediately. He stared in awe.

"Cheryl said she'll be an hour tops but I need to get going, I know this really isn't your thing but it's important."

He nodded vacantly.

"I just need to get dressed, 1 minute" he scarpered off to his room and threw some clothes on, inwardly cursing Cheryl and her abysmal diary management.

He walked back into the lounge to see Amy unpacking a colouring book and some of Lucas's toys.

"Right i'm going, be good for Uncle Brendan kids"

He looked at her with what could probably only be described as shell shock. She gave him a sympathetic smile and slunk out of the door.

Both Leah and Lucas were staring up at him.

"Do you want a drink?"

"Juice!" they both shouted in unison. And so it begins he thought to himself.

He poured them both a glass of orange juice and took it over to where they were sat. Lucas was smashing two cars into each other whilst Leah was drawing in her book. Within 5 minutes Lucas had knocked the juice over. He rolled his eyes at being on all fours whilst cleaning up the spilt juice with a wet tea towel, this was not how his morning was meant to be going.

He'd eventually managed to get Lucas to settle in front of the tv watching cartoons, they were distracted enough that he even got to make himself a coffee. He flopped down on the sofa, easy peasy.

"Where's my mummy gone?" Leah questioned as she continued her colouring.

Maybe not so easy.

"She's…. gone shopping"

"No she's not, we went shopping yesterday"

"It's a different type of shopping"

"What for?"

"Lady stuff"

"What's that?"

Jesus Christ "errr..Make up"

She looked at him with a curious expression. He decided to move the conversation on. He shuffled forward on his seat so he could see her drawing better.

"What are you drawing?"

"Thats me, that's Lucas, thats mummy and that's daddy"

"Your daddy has blue eyes"

"I can't find my blue pencil. Your friends with my daddy"

"Yes i am"

"Have you seen him?"

Now he was on shaky ground, he had no idea what Amy had told them or if she'd told them anything.

"Not for a little while"

"My mummy says he's sick"

"Did she?"

Leah stopped her colouring and turned to face him so they were eye level.

"I heard her telling Grandad"

Shit. he remained silent, waiting to see where she took this.

"She was crying" Leah mumbled as she looked at the floor.

Without thinking he reached his finger out and tilted her head up so they were eye level again.

"Your daddy is going to be just fine, you hear me?"

"You promise?"

He hesitated for a beat and then with all the sincerity he possessed he replied

"Yeah, I promise. I promise he will get better"

That seemed to placate her and she returned to her drawing, whilst he settled back into his seat and mulled over the promise he'd just made to this 5 year old.

As promised Cheryl came tearing through the door about 45 minutes after Amy had dropped them off.

"Hey kids!" she said in a fluster

"Cheryl!" Leah retorted, Lucas failed to take his eyes off his cartoons.

Her eyes flickered over him, probably trying to assess how pissed he was at the impromptu babysitting session. They hadn't spoken to each other since their bust up yesterday. He stood up and grabbed his keys.

'They're fine" he said as he walked out the flat

"Thank you!" he heard her shout after him.

He got in his car and drove, drove out of the village and into the countryside, he needed to clear his head.

…..

As he returned to the village he saw Amy and the kids walking down the village steps, to a waiting taxi. He quickly made his way over to her s she loaded the kids into the car.

"Amy, can I have a word?" He eyed the kids in the car indicating what he was about to say couldn't be said in front of them.

"Yeah" she closed the car door "thanks again for before"

"Yeah it's fine. Listen i err, I was wondering if you could add me to the visiting list? If it's not too late, if he wants to see me that is" he coughed as he mumbled the sentence.

She looked taken-aback.

"Yes! Yes of course I can. I'll speak to him tonight." she said with a smile

"Good. okay. Okay. well let me know. Safe journey" he waved through the window at the kids and went to go up the stairs.

"Brendan! Thank you. Not just for this morning"

He nodded and carried on to the flat.

Cheryl was tidying up what he assumed was the kids mess, she looked shattered. He made his way up the stairs to the bathroom stopping mid-way.

"I'm going to see him. Amy's sorting it. So you can get off my back" he said with only a slight attitude.

She didn't say anything but he could tell from the look on her face she was pleased. If not slightly smug.

….

Amy had called him Monday morning, she told him she'd added his name to the visiting list, explained how security and visiting worked. They'd decided he would go on wednesday as neither she or Doug could make it. She told him to be there for 12pm.

He'd been sitting in the car park since 11.30am, he'd gotten out of the car 4 times now with the mind to go in but it hadn't happened. He'd contemplated driving off several times, maybe this whole thing was a bad idea, maybe he was going to make everything 10 times worse, he wasn't tactful. It was now 2pm, he watched countless people walk through the front door, all here to visit their loved ones and yet he remained in his car, 'fucking coward' he thought to himself. Last chance. He jumped out of the car and thundered his way to the building, once he was in there he wouldn't be able to leg it, pulling the plaster off so to speak.

Once he'd made it through the tighter than expected security he found himself in the round reception area which was empty apart from the nurse at the desk.

"Excuse me. I'm here to see Steven Hay"

The Nurse looked up in surprise at the sound of his voice and then seemed to settle.

"Brendan?"

Now it was his turn to look surprised. He nodded.

"We thought you weren't coming"

'We'?

"Ste was waiting here for you since 12, he gave up about 15 minutes ago" she said with a very mild chastising tone. I suppose letting patients down didn't sit well with those trying to treat them.

A pang of guilt surged through him. The thought of Steven waiting for him like some forgotten child for an hour and 45 was painful.

"Traffic, i got stuck in traffic" his excuse was weak and she knew it.

"Follow me, i think he's in the TV room" she said slightly warmer.

He followed the nurse through to a larger section of the building and then down a large corridor. As Amy had said, it wasn't what you'd expect for a hospital, not the bland white walls and blue vinyl flooring, all clinical and bleak. It was a new building, modern, but inviting. The walls were a warmer colour with art dotted around, green plants situated throughout which gave a calming and airy feel. He tried to look in each room as they walked, there were a number of people in each one. Everyone was in normal clothes, it was hard to tell who was a patient and who was a visitor.

This morning he'd dressed in a suit, his favourite with a crisp white shirt, but when he came out into the kitchen Cheryl had taken one look at him and raised her eyebrow, leading him to rethink. He'd gone with his second option, black jeans, boots and a black v neck t-shirt with no jacket, it was too hot for that. Casual was better, seeing everyone else he was glad he changed. Not that he'd share that with Cheryl.

The nurse stopped in her tracks and turned to face him

"Are you hungry?"

He looked at her gormlessly, perplexed by the random question. As if reading his confusion she followed up quickly

"Visitors and patients are allowed to move around here freely during visiting hours, you can go to the canteen and get some food"

Well that's….nice, he thought to himself, and of absolutely no interest.

"We've been struggling to get Ste to eat, he's still underweight for his height"

That sounded about right. The boy never did eat when he was stressed, or sad, or scared, or angry.

"But we've found that when he's with a visitor, he tries a bit harder. He's almost managed full meals When Amy and Doug have been here. That's one for his therapist to unpack, but right now as long as he's getting some food in him we're happy." she said with a smile.

He looked at the nurse's name tag, Charlotte. He wondered if she was specifically assigned to Steven, or whether all the nurses that worked here knew such details about all the patients.

"I'll do my best," he replied.

They walked into the TV room which was fairly large, it consisted of a huge plasma tv on the right hand wall, with three leather sofas positioned around it. There were two sets of people on opposite sofas, one of them had a man and woman in their thirties who looked relaxed as they watched a game show. The other had an older man in his sixties and younger man in his twenties, he assumed they were father and son, the son was trying to answer the questions while the father laughed as he got each wrong.

There were a couple of others sofas dotted around on the left hand side wall, still in view of the tv, and one on the far side wall which faced the french doors that lead out to the garden which had someone sitting on it. His breath caught in his throat as he recognised the back of the head, Stevens head. The nurse rounded the sofa and he couldn't help but stop before he joined her.

"Ste" he looked up at the nurse "look who's here"

He was sitting with his legs tucked up into him and his arms wrapped around them, in navy blue tracksuit bottoms and a long sleeved light blue t-shirt. He looked over his shoulder and their eyes met, for the first time since that day in the deli when he'd collapsed, it felt like years had passed. He tried to force a smile out

"Steven" he greeted.

The boy quickly stood up and nervously smoothed his t-shirt down

"Brendan" his voice had genuine shock in it. He'd thought he was being stood up, not that this was a date, obviously.

Charlotte placed her hand reassuringly on his shoulder

"He got stuck in traffic, but he's here now, am I ok to leave you guys?"

They both looked to Steven to confirm, he gave a nod and Charlotte made her way back to reception.

"Hi" Steven whispered softly, he looked like a child nervous on his first day of school.

"Hi," he replied. "Shall we sit?" Brendan gestured back to the sofa Steven had been on.

At that moment a roar of laughter from those watching the game show erupted causing both he and Steven to look over at the source.

"We could go outside, it's a bit quieter" Steven offered.

"Lead the way"

They walked through the french doors onto the paved patio and headed onto the expansive grassed lawn. He could see a bench under a willow tree that Steven was heading for. Cute.

"Sorry i was late, like she said, traffic" he offered apologetically. Starting off with a lie wasn't ideal but couldn't admit he'd been too scared to come in, looking at him now it was ludicrous.

Steven was staring out at the greenery "i thought you'd changed your mind"

"No, it's just been busy at the club and then today was manic too. But i'm here now"

Steven nodded softly, he knew he was lying but he wasn't going to push it.

"So how have you been?"

Steven turned his head to face him, a 'did you actually just ask that' look on his face.

"Sorry, stupid question"

"No, it's not actually. It's ok here, I've made a friend, her name is Milly, she's nice. Therapy's ok i guess, not started any group stuff yet so i don't know how that will be. It's not as lonely as I thought it would be."

"How's the food?"

Steven chuckled "that's such a standard question you ask people in the hospital int it. 'How's the food'. It's better than you'd think though"

"I'm starving actually, the nurse-"

"-Charlotte" Steven corrected.

"Yeah, Charlotte. Said that visitors can get food too, i haven't eaten since breakfast"

That bit actually wasn't a lie.

"You? Not eaten since breakfast? There's a first" the boy said sarcastically. "Yeah we can grab something"

They made their way to the canteen, they walked past a fair few people, some Steven would nod at or say hello, every staff member or nurse wore a bright smile on their face and greeted him by name. This wasn't the lonely prison he'd been imagining, even though Dr Gallimore had assured him how un-hospital-like it was.

He studied Steven, he was still visibly thinner than he had been, his cheekbones and collar bones were extremely prominent. He was paler than usual, but not as pale as he had been over the past few months. It was his eyes though, they didn't look as sad or as vacant as they had done, he looked more 'Steven' than he had done in a long time.

"Hello gorgeous" they were greeted by a middle aged woman behind the hot counter in the canteen, she had an accent, Caribbean he thought.

"Hi Beverley, what have you got"

"Well you missed brunch" she said raising her brow with an admonishing tone.

Steven gave an apologetic smile.

"So you'll need to have something big to make up for it, you're eating too?" she directed that last bit at him.

"Yeah"

"Big strapping man like you needs something big too then. I have enchiladas"

"Perfect" brendan replied.

"Good, go sit, I'll bring it over," Berverley said, shooing them away.

They took their seats at a table by a window.

"Well that's some service, better than restaurants I've been too" Brendan joked.

Steven gave a light smile "yeah, everyone here's really nice. Beverley especially"

Beverley was back within minutes and putting their plates down, she stood and waited for them to tuck in.

He took his first mouthful, and bloody hell it was good "mmmmm" he raised his thumb and forefinger to the universal 'perfect' gesture.

Steven laughed "he never stops eating, you'd love him"

"A man with a good appetite is music to my ears" Beverley said laughing. "But I want to know what the chef thinks about it" she continued, nudging Steven.

"I just work in a deli," he replied before taking a bite.

"He's a chef," Brendan corrected.

"Very good, almost as good as your chicken"

"Ah my jerk chicken, you'll have to come on a saturday, that's when i do that"

"I'll bear that in mind," Brendan confirmed.

…

Brendan had practically inhaled his enchiladas, god they were good, he was going to have to get them again. He'd watched Steven carefully and he'd made a good dent, eaten almost over half his plate which was fair by Steven standards.

They were now sitting back on their bench after having a stroll, they kept lapsing into a silence, which wasn't awkward but unusual, Steven didn't really do silence. He'd always be talking about something, Brendan liked it, it calmed him.

It was a hot day and the boy was uncharacteristically wearing a long sleeved tee, he would absentmindedly pull his sleeves up from time to time and then yank them down almost as quickly when he realised the healing cuts and scars that littered his arms were exposed.

"How's the medication going?" he'd been skirting around it all day.

Steven sighed "Do you mean am i still seeing things?"

He coughed nervously

"No, no voices or dead ex's" the boy said sullenly.

"Do you still… on that roof you were… so is that still a thing?" Jesus he couldn't get a straight sentence out, he pointed at the boy's forearm.

"I don't know what was going on in my head then, i can't really make sense of it all yet, but the therapy is helping, Louise says we'll get there". Steven shrugged.

"Good, good. Whatever it takes eh?" He'd usually ridicule a head shrink to pieces, but right now she was the only real hope Steven had.

"Why didn't you speak to me?" he had to ask

Steven took a deep breath

"I can't do this yet,not yet. sorry." he said in a small voice.

Brendan nodded. He could wait.

"I hear you were on babysitting duties on Sunday," Steven said with a small smile playing across his lips.

Brendan looked at him with raised eyebrows, the little shite was taking the mick.

"Don't start"

"Uncle Brendan was it?"

"You're on this ice boy"

Steven giggled. "Thanks"

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it" he said wryly

"Thank you, for this" Steven's tone was more serious "this place, for helping"

"Whatever it takes, Steven" he repeated, just as serious.

…..

"Visiting time's over now"

He looked around and saw people saying their goodbyes, those three hours had flown by.

They stood and made their way to the reception, by the time they'd got there he was the last visitor left.

"Are you going to come again?" Steven looked so vulnerable, the answer meant a lot to him.

There was only one answer.

"Yeah, of course. I'll speak to Amy and work out the schedule"

Steven nodded eagerly "good, i don't want Amy to have to come every saturday and sunday, it's not fair, but she's worried about me getting lonely or something" his cheeks tinged red with embarrassment.

"We'll sort it"

The next thing he knew Steven had his arms wrapped around his waist in a hug.

"Thank you" he whispered.

He froze for a second before letting his own arms settle around Steven's back, he inhaled the boy's scent, fresh citrus with a hint of aftershave. He closed his eyes to savour it.

Steven pulled away and gave one of his killer shy smiles.

Brendan had to drag himself out of reception and the building before he did or said something weird. Once he was seated back in his car he took a deep breath and tried to still his trembling hands. He pulled out his phone and dialled

"Hello?"

"Amy, it's Brendan. What visiting days are free for me to see Steven?"

No time like the present.

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