Really quick chapter update. I'm surprised i got it up this fast fro the last one, my little sister was born last week so the last few days have been chaotic. I love writing fanfiction with all my heart. anyways, enjoy

"Come in!" Sally calls from the kitchen. Nico, Will and Henry walk into the apartment and Sally engulfs the two men in a hug. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" She squeezes them and holds them at an arm's length before smacking Nico in the arm.

"Ow!" He recoils, not ready to be hit. Henry shrinks back reflexively and his expression turns terrified.

"That didn't hurt. You're fine." Sally pulls him back into her arms. "I just missed you. And you took in a foster kid with barely telling us and not even letting me meet him until now."

"That didn't hurt! You're fine!" Henry's fifth foster parents shouts as he jerks his arm out of its socket. "Get up! Let's go, you have work to do!" When Henry doesn't move, he grips his injured arm and pulls him up roughly, earning a scream from the nine year old. "Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!" Tears stream down his face while the man continues shouting unintelligible words.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" Henry stumbles back on his crutches and they fall out from under his arms. "No, no, no, please…" Nico and Will turn around quickly, startled by the sudden noise.

"Henry!" Will shouts, suddenly concerned.

"Henry!" The man yells, trying to get a response.

"No, no, please, no. Please…" Henry curls into the corner by the door and cradles his head in his arms.

"Henry, Henry, where are you?" Will asks, noting the signs of a panic attack and flashback.

"No… stop…"

"Henry, it's okay, everyone is safe, you're safe. We're at my parents' apartment in Manhattan, New York." Nico says calmly.

"It hurts." Henry cries.

"What hurts?" No response to Will's question. "Henry, what hurts? I can't read your mind. I want to help, you just need to tell me how."

"M-my chest. It hurts. And my head. And my arm. And my ankle. It hurts. Ev-everything hurts." Henry whimpers.

"Henry, can I take your hand?" Will asks, reaching out slowly as not to scare the boy. Henry says nothing but quickly grips Will's hand in his own. He squeezes hard while his eyes screw shut and his teeth grind together. "Can you try to breathe with me?"

"Mm-hm." Henry tries to sync their breathing through the tears. "Are you still here?" Henry asks, his whole body trembling.

"Yes. We're here. Nico and Will and Sally. Paul and Estelle are in the living room. We're all still here." Will says. Henry nods slightly and soon comes fully back to his senses. "Good, good. Are you okay now?"

"I'm okay. I'm sorry." Henry whispers.

"It's okay. We're all perfectly fine. Do you know what triggered it?" Nico asks.

"Mm-hm…" Henry mumbles, not continuing.

"Can you tell us? You don't have to if you're really that uncomfortable with it." Nico says.

"I'm scared… She hit you…" Henry mutters quietly.

"No- she- I mean, yes, she did, but it didn't hurt. She was just being playful. That's what families do. She would never hit me with any intention to hurt me, or anyone for that matter. I promise you that it was all in good fun and you are in absolutely no harm here. You've met Paul and Estelle and they're great, Sally is too." Nico explains to him.

"But you're her son, I'm some foster kid she's never met. She's gonna hate me, everyone does." The knot in Henry's stomach continues to grow.

"Hey, that's not true. We don't hate you. We love you and we've only known you for a couple of weeks." Will cuts in.

"You will eventually. Everyone leaves. You're going to hate me, you don't see it right now but you're going to soon enough." Henry continues.

"Henry, my mom loves everyone that deserves it. I'm not her biological son, she took me in when I was 15 just because I knew her son and I was having a hard time. You deserve love and she will give you that. She will love you, I promise." Nico promises.

"Are you sure? Can't I just come with you?" Henry whines.

"We are sure. You are safe here. It's only for a couple of hours, we'll be back tonight once we're done." Will says.

"Okay. I-I'll be fine." Henry says after a deep breath, trying to convince himself. "I'll be fine."

"We know. You will be fine. Here I'll help you up." Will sticks out his hand and pulls him up. Nico hands him his crutches and he finds his footing once again.

"Okay, we have to go or we're going to be late. We hopefully won't be very long, so we'll be back later." Will announces.

Nico and Will say their goodbyes and reassure him once more before really needing to leave.

Henry stands nervously in the entryway and soon Estelle makes her way over to him.

"Hey, why don't you take off your shoes and follow me. I can give you a tour." Estelle waits for Henry to take off his shoes then starts showing him around the house. "Kitchen, obviously. This is my mom, Sally. Hey mom, what are we having for supper?"

"Spaghetti. Is that okay with you, Henry?" Sally asks, turning around from cooking.

"Yes Ma'am." Henry says.

"Good. I am so, so sorry I scared you. I should've been more careful." Sally apologizes. "If you are at all uncomfortable with anything, please, please don't hesitate to tell me or Paul or Estelle."

"Okay, Mrs. Blofis." Henry says.

"Sally is fine." She smiles brightly at him. "I'm gonna keep making supper, Estelle, why don't you keep going with the tour."

"Okay, come on Henry." Estelle leads him through the rest of the apartment and they end up sitting on the couch doing homework and watching TV.

"Have you started doing your essay for Nico's class yet?" Henry asks Estelle.

"No, it's not due till Monday and Nico's my brother so I'll just make him pass me if I don't finish it on time." Estelle chuckles.

"He's my foster parent and I don't think he'd hesitate to fail me." Henry states.

"He wouldn't fail you." Estelle tells him.

"Are you scared to read these in front of the class on Tuesday?" The boy asks, nervously.

"Nah, I'm good at public speaking. I don't necessarily like it, but I'm really good at it so it doesn't bother me too much. Why? Are you scared?" She says.

"Y-yeah. I'm really bad at talking in front of people and talking about myself and my life makes me nervous." Henry explains.

"I can see that. That's okay. It'll be fine. I don't think half of the kids in our class pay attention when we do speeches so you'll be fine." Estelle mentions.

"Good to know. What are you gonna write about?" Henry wonders.

"Um, my family… There are a lot of people who I'm not biologically related to but they treat me like a little sister. Nico is one of them. What are you gonna write about?"

"I think I'm gonna do a story about when I was little. Probably my brother's birthday or playing basketball with my dad and brother."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them? Why are you in foster care?" Estelle asks with plenty of hesitation.

"They um, they died. My brother and my dad on the same day and my mom a month later." Henry gives a vague answer.

"I'm sorry." Estelle starts. "I-"

"It's fine. It was a long time ago." Henry dismisses her.

"Kids, time for supper." Sally calls them to the kitchen. Paul and the kids take their seats while Sally dishes them all some spaghetti and garlic bread.

They dig in and Henry can feel the rashes start to form on the back of his neck while his stomach churns.

"Do you want more Honey?" Sally asks when Henry finishes.

"No. I'm okay, ma'am." Henry tries to deny it politely.

"Are you sure? There's plenty, I wouldn't want you to leave without being full." Sally continues to push. Henry, feeling bad for refusing the kindness of this wonderful woman, caves.

"Um, I guess I'll have some more." He agrees, even though his stomach was starting to kill him, the rashes on his neck were starting to itch intensely, and his appetite was still incredibly small even after weeks of being with Will and Nico with full meals every day, three times a day.

"Great, I won't give you very much but if you want more, just let me know." Sally dishes him almost another plate full of spaghetti and he chokes it down.

A knock is heard from the door and Nico and Will walk in once Paul welcomes them. "Hey, how'd it go?" Nico asks once he walks in and takes his shoes off.

"Good. I think it went well." Sally starts dishing them plates and pushes them to sit down. They oblige happily and start inhaling their food. "How'd your meeting go?"

"Good. Really good. We worked out a couple kinks we had with paperwork and just sat and talked for a little bit." Will says.

"That sounds great. Paul showed these two how to outline their essays once they picked a topic. They're ahead of their class on that one and I think they got a pretty good start on it." Sally states.

"Good. I expect freshman level essays." Nico jokes.

"Dude, we're only eighth graders, lay off or I'll throw a fit and make mom ground you." Estelle continues the joke.

"I'm a grown man! With a husband and a kid! My little sister is not allowed to be a tattletale and make my mother ground me. I have a job." Nico retaliates.

"Settle down or I'll ground both of you." Sally says, only half joking.

"We'd better get going. We have school tomorrow and Will has work." Nico stands up and places his plate in the sink. Henry and Will follow suit and Henry hobbles back to the kitchen table to grab his crutches.

"Okay, do you want to come over for dinner on Sunday?" Sally stands and messes with the collar of Nico's shirt.

"Sure. I'll see you then." Nico pulls his mom into a hug and she gives him a kiss on the forehead. Will does the same but Henry has no idea what to do. Sally takes initiative and rubs his shoulders soothingly as a goodbye.

"It was wonderful meeting you Henry. I'm excited to see you again on Sunday." Sally walks them to the door and they head home.

Once there, he heads in and they begin asking him about his night.

"How was it? Was it as bad as you thought?" Nico asks.

"No. They were nice. Paul helped me and Estelle with homework and we played card games until Mrs. Bl- Sally called us for supper. It was really good." Henry elaborates.

"It sounds like you had a good time." Will chuckles.

"I did." Henry attempts to smile through the pain in his stomach.

"Hey, are you okay? You don't look too good." Will starts to move towards him.

"I'm fine." Henry swallows thickly. "I'm fine."

"Henry, it's perfectly okay if you don't feel fine." Nico grows concerned as well.

"I'm gonna throw up." Henry jumps off the chair at that whisper and vomits in the, thankfully empty, kitchen sink.

"Hey, hey, woah." Will runs to the sink next to Henry and holds his hair out of his face. "Okay, get it out. That's it, you're doing so good." Nico's on his other side, rubbing his hand up and down his back.

"I'm s-sorry. I-I don't f-feel good." Henry collapses into Will's side and he lowers them to the ground.

"Hey, hey," Will looks at his husband. "Can you get him some water?" Nico nods and fills a glass of water then hands it to Henry.

"Thank you. I'm sorry." Henry hands it back to Nico and leans heavily against Will and the cabinet behind him. Will begins to notice the rash on Henry's neck and rolls up his sleeves to find more forming on his arms.

"Henry, why do you have a rash? When did it appear?" Will interrogates.

"I'm kinda m-mildly allergic to tomatoes." Henry confesses.

"What?! And you just had spaghetti with tomato sauce?" Nico exclaims.

"Ye-yeah. It's not that bad though, it's just a couple rashes and a stomach ache." Henry tries to play it off.

"Henry, any food that makes you sick, shouldn't be eaten, it should be avoided, no matter how mild you think the symptoms of allergy are." Will tells him.

"Why didn't you tell Sally that you were allergic to tomatoes? She would've changed plans." Nico says.

"I didn't wanna be rude. She already had it planned so I just didn't say anything." Henry explains.

"Hen, it's not rude to tell someone that you can't eat something because it's gonna make you sick. She would have and will understand. Allergies are real things that can be life threatening."

"I know. But I felt bad. Please don't tell her, she'll feel bad. She's really nice and it wasn't her fault." Henry pleads.

"We have to tell her bud, if she doesn't know, she's going to keep making food with tomatoes in it and you're going to keep getting sick. We're going to go over there more now that you've met and she needs to know." Nico says.

"Okay." Henry sighs, defeated and shrinks further back. "I don't feel good." He admits. "The hives itch and my throat itches." Henry starts to rub aggressively at his arm through his sleeve.

"I know. We have some allergy medicine we can give you and then some anti-itch cream that we can put on these rashes." Will pulls Henry's hand away from his arm to stop him from scratching.

"Okay. Can I go to bed now?" He whispers.

"Sure. Why don't you go brush your teeth and get ready for bed then we can meet you in there with some medicine and stuff for your rashes." Nico suggests. Will helps him up and he heads off to his room.

"I'll call my mom and you can get him the stuff." Nico grabs his phone off the table and starts to dial while Will grabs the items and finds Henry in his room.

"Okay, take off your shirt and then we can put this on." Will hold up a bottle of calamine lotion and a rag. Henry does which reveals many, many scars, large and small covering Henry's torso. Will gets startled but quickly schools his expression and starts to apply the lotion with a rag.

"Is there anything else that I need to know about? Any more symptoms that you haven't voiced?" Will asks, his doctor side coming out.

"No. Just the rashes and itchy throat and stomach cramps." Henry elaborates. "It's fine." He shivers as Will applies the lotion.

"Okay." Will moves to coat Henry's arms and back. "What's your favorite class so far?"

"Um… English, Paul's class or ASL, Nico's class probably." Henry answers curtly.

"That's good." Will finishes covering his torso in calamine lotion and pauses. "Okay, we're gonna wait until this is dry and then you can put on this sweatshirt. It's one of my old basketball ones that Nico had and can get calamine lotion on it so you won't have to ruin your sheets." Will hands him a faded gray hoodie with a white, black, and gold logo.

"Are you sure? I can just sleep in one of mine, I wouldn't want to ruin one of yours." Henry protests.

"Henry, it's fine. It's old and I can guarantee we have another one that looks the exact same in a bigger size. Just put it on so you can go to bed." Will urges Henry into the hoodie and he pulls it over his head. The teen lays down and pulls the covers up to his neck, wanting nothing more than to scratch his throat out.

"M'kay. I'm gonna head to bed with Nico. If anything gets worse at all, please come get one of us and let us know. We'll see how you feel in the morning and then we'll think about school, okay?"

"Okay…" Henry sighs, curling into a ball.

"Goodnight." Will says. Henry hums and the son of Apollo turns the lights off and shuts the door. The traumatized boy tenses and doesn't dare to make a move.

Nobody knows he's scared of the dark. Nobody knows he's terrified of the dark. Nobody knows and he intends to keep it that way.

— — —

"Hey, Hen," Will sits down on the side of the bed and Henry wakes up when it dips from his weight. "How're you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"Does your stomach still hurt? Your throat? The hives?" Will wonders.

"Yes, yes, yes." Henry answers.

"Are you feeling up to school today?" The son of Apollo asks.

"I don't know. It looks bad if the new kid misses the whole second day of school when he's already on crutches." Henry sits up with a groan.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. How about you go back to bed for a little while and then I'll wake you up and take you in at noon? Sound good?" Will suggests.

"Sure." Henry lies back down and closes his eyes.

"What's for lunch today at school?" Will asks.

"Pizza." Henry answers quickly.

"Oo. You can't have that." Will hisses. "What do you want for lunch?"

"I can just make a sandwich before we leave." Henry mumbles, already half asleep.

"It's okay, I can make it. What kind do you want?" Will offers.

"It's fine."

"No, I can do it. I want to do it. I just need to know what you want in your lunch."

"Okay, um, turkey?"

"I can do that. Get some more sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple hours."

"M'kay." Henry finally closes his eyes and drifts off. Will waits until he falls asleep once again then leaves to start making Henry's lunch.

— — —

"Henry." Will knocks on Henry's door and walks in. "Are you still feeling up to half a day of school? It's okay if you're not."

"I-I think so. I don't feel as bad as I did last night." Henry sits up and rubs his hand over his face.

"Good. Get up and get ready and then we can head out."

"Okay." Henry pulls himself up out of bed and grabs his crutches so he can get dressed. He selects a pair of black sweatpants and a gray hoodie with one of his old t-shirts. The teen quickly dresses before going to the bathroom to brush his teeth and try to tame his hair. He fails miserably and gives up then makes his way out to the kitchen where Will sits at the island with Henry's lunch bag in front of him.

"Here you go. Ready to go?" Will stands and hands him his plain, black lunchbox.

"Mhm. I just need to get my shoes on." Henry grabs his lunch from Will and walks over to the door to retrieve his shoes and shove them onto his feet. He grabs his backpack up off the floor and slings it over his shoulder. Will leads him to the garage and they get into the car.

"Okay, I put some Benadryl in your backpack in the first aid kit. You can take some at one, during lunch if you feel like you need it." Will says after ten minutes when they pull into the parking lot at school.

"Okay, thank you." Henry says and they both get out of the car. They walk to the office and Will signs Henry in.

"Okay, he should be good to head back to class now." The office lady says. She types something into her computer then turns to the teen. "Henry, it is fifth period so your class is in Earth Science with Mr. D. You can head down there." She tells him.

"Thank you." Henry thanks her, not having memorized the schedule yet.

"Henry, if you start feeling sick again, please, please, please tell someone. It could be me, Nico, your teacher, the nurse, someone. If you have the office or Nico call me, I will come pick you up if you don't feel good." Will tells him.

"Okay. I'll try." Henry agrees.

"That's all I ask." Will pats his shoulder reassuringly and heads back out to the car.

"Henry, who helped you with your books yesterday?" The office lady asks, referring to his crutches.

"Um… Jace? I think was his name?" Henry replies.

"Ah yes, Mr. Gray. Are you okay with him helping you again or do you prefer someone else?" She asks.

"Um, I'm fine with Jace if he's still okay with it." Henry says.

"Okay, I'll have him meet you at the lockers then you two can head to class." She picks up the phone and calls Mr. DeHaan's classroom. Henry leaves quickly and crutches his way to his locker. He pulls his backpack off and starts putting away his books when Jace shows up.

"Hey," He greets.

"Hi." Henry replies.

"Um, you don't have to answer, I was just wondering where you were this morning?" Jace says after a moment of silence.

"Um, sleeping." Henry says curtly.

"Like, you slept through an alarm and didn't catch the bus or something?" Jace jokes.

"No. I got sick last night and my foster parents let me sleep until I felt a little better." Henry says.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know from what? You seemed fine all of yesterday." Jace asks.

"I'm um, allergic to tomatoes and I didn't tell Mrs. Blofis that when I went over to their house last night and I got sick from it." Henry explains.

"Oh, that sucks. Wait, that means you can't have pizza, can you?" Henry shakes his head. "Dude, that's awful. So, what'd you bring for lunch since you can't have pizza?" Jace asks, grabbing Henry's science book and notebooks from his locker.

"Um, I don't know. Will made my lunch after I fell asleep this morning and Nico left for work."

"Wait, Nico? Like Mr. di Angelo, Nico?" Jace gapes.

"Um yeah. Him and his husband Dr. Solace are my foster parents for right now." Henry states.

"Cool. I had no idea. So when you said Mrs. Blofis, you were at our English teacher's house?" Jace continues to ask in awe.

"Yes. He helped Estelle and I on our essays for ASL."

"Sweet. You're definitely passing this one with an A." They walk down the hall making light conversation before they get to class.

"What work did I miss while I was gone?" Henry wonders.

"Not much. We started a math lesson in Peter's class and started some unit on Christianity in World Religions. Not hard stuff but if you want notes, I have them." Jace says. They enter the classroom and Jace helps Henry set his things on the desk next to his.

– — —

"Hey," Nico squats in front of Henry's desk once he and Jace sit down after arriving to ASL class early. "Are you feeling better?" The foster parent asks.

"Yeah, kinda." Henry answers.

"Will told me he put some Benadryl in your backpack, did you take it?" Nico questions.

"Yeah. I'm hoping it'll help a little bit." Henry states.

"Did you feel like you needed it?" Nico inquires.

"A little. I still wanna scratch my throat out and these hives are killing me but it's fine." Henry says.

"How's your stomach feeling?" Nico asks.

"Not great. But I can make it through the rest of the day." Henry declares.

"Henry, it's okay if you need to go home. You don't have to tough it out. Will can come get you so you can go home and sleep it off." Nico tries to convince him.

"It's okay. I'll be fine." Henry insists.

"Okay." Nico stands back up and walks back to his desk. The rest of the class files into the room and Mr. di Angelo starts the class. "Okay, today we're going to continue with our essays. They don't need to be perfect, but there is a change in requirements. Before, I required you all to come up to the front of the room and read your papers to the class, but after some further consideration, I've come to the conclusion that that would not be fair or right for some of you. Now, there is an alternative where you still have to read your essays but you would have to take a video of yourself reading it and turn it in on google classroom so that I only I can see it. If you choose this option, it will still be due Tuesday and if you're unsure of saying things you don't want your peers to hear, I can guarantee that I will be the only one to see the videos unless I am given permission by the student to show other people or I feel that there is something that needs to be properly addressed with another adult."

"Hey, are you alright?" Jace whispers to Henry towards the end of class.

"I don't know." Henry replies.

"You are going to school whether you like it or not. I am not dealing with you all day." A voice in his head screams.

"Do you want me to get Mr. di Angelo?" Jace asks, feeling a sense of protectiveness for his new friend.

"No. I'll be okay…" Henry takes a deep breath and takes what feels like the millionth sip of his water. The bell rings after a couple minutes which startles him out of his dazed state.

"Since you think you're so important that you need to come home in the middle of the day, I'm sure you wouldn't mind staying outside for the rest of it." Not a voice, a memory.

"You good?" Jace questions, standing up and grabbing his books.

"I don't know. Can you take my things back to my locker while I talk to Mr. di Angelo?" Henry asks.

"What makes you think you don't have to go to school! We pay for you to go there and you're lucky enough we let you stay here with us!"

"Yeah, for sure. Um, do you want me to wait for you or…" Jace trails off.

"If you want to you can but I can just meet you back at the lockers if that works." Henry suggests. Jace nods and grabs Henry's books along with his own then makes his way out of the classroom. Henry swallows thickly and secures the walls that he's built around his hopes and feelings.

"Henry, what can I do for you?" Nico looks up briefly from his desk.

"I-I really don't feel good." Henry leans heavily forward on his crutches and keeps his voice low in case Nico gets upset.

"Okay, what do you feel like?" Nico asks.

"Like I'm gonna throw up and or scratch my skin off." Henry looks slightly tearful.

"Okay, sounds like this is a bit more than a mild allergy. I have a class so I could have Jace take you to the office and call Will, or do you want me to?"

"It's okay, J-Jace can take me. I'm sorry." Henry apologizes. His voice shakes with relief mixed with a sort of confusion. The other shoe still has to drop… just wait, if it's not gonna be Nico then it will for sure be Will when he comes to get me.

"Nothing's wrong. It's okay." Nico walks with Henry to the door where Jace stands waiting while the freshman flood into the classroom. "Jace, can you take Henry down to the office with his things and have them call my husband?"

"Um, sure. Yeah, absolutely." Jace agrees quickly.

"Good. Thank you so much. I have a class but have Will text me when you guys get home." He says to Jace then Henry.

"Okay." Henry chokes out. Jace guides him slowly to his locker to grab his homework and things then to the office where he starts breathing heavily.

"Mrs. Anderson, Henry feels sick again and Mr. di Angelo told us to come down here so you can call his dad to come pick him up." Jace states as they walk slowly into the room.

"Oh, yes, Mr. di Angelo just called down here to tell me. Henry, why don't you go lay down in the nurse's office while I call Will." Mrs. Anderson suggests as she picks up the phone.

"Okay," he heads into a room in the back following the lead of Jace. Henry lays his crutches on the floor and curls into himself.

"I think Mrs. Anderson is calling your dad. I can stay here with you if you want." Jace offers.

"No. Go back to class, you can't miss more of it because of me." Henry shoos him out of the room and continues to whimper from the pain in his stomach.

"Mr. Solace, this is Mrs. Anderson at Goode. We have your son here in the office again and he's not feeling well. I'm not sure if Mr. di Angelo contacted you about anything but from what I've gathered from him and our conversation this morning, I think he's still showing symptoms from an allergic reaction. We need you to come pick him up." Mrs. Anderson says as she begins looking through Henry's school file.

"Yeah, um, Nico just texted me and I am on the way right now. Can you tell him I'll be there in ten minutes?" Will says, rushed.

"Sure thing. See you in ten." The office lady hangs up the phone and walks to the nurse's office. "Henry, I called Will, he said he's going to be here in ten minutes. Just hang in there." She encourages him. "Do you want me to turn the lights off?" Henry gives a faint nod and she leaves the room after flicking the lights off.