Under the willow tree...(edited)

Yet again Frankie was woken by his overly loud phone's alarm, he'd have to remember to turn that down later, and huffed at the thought of school.

"FRANKIE, BREAKFAST."

Linda yelled up to him.

"OK MUMMA..."

He replied, dragging his ass out of bed and out of his room, before tripping on the top step and tumbling awkwardly all the way to the foot of the stairs.

"Urgh."

He groaned, rubbing his cheek, ironically the same one he'd landed on yesterday after the whole "killer jeans" incident.

"Oh my...Frankie? Are you alright honey?..."

Linda fussed, rushing through from the kitchen and dropping to her knees at his side.

"What hurts sweetie?"

"I'm ok Mumma..."

He reassured her.

"It's nothing."

Grinning like an idiot, he pushed himself back up to his feet, trying to prove his point and not have her worry, though he couldn't help but wince slightly as he put weight on his left leg, a sharp pain shooting through his ankle. Linda frowned at him.

"You were saying?..."

She asked, getting up and slipping her arm around his waist to help him through to the kitchen, sitting him down on his stool at the breakfast bar. He grinned up at her.

"Bacon sandwich?"

Nodding furiously, he watched his mother move around the room, getting the food ready.

After they'd eaten their fill, Linda helped her son back up the stairs before leaving him to get ready for school. A quick shower later and Frankie was fixing his eyeliner, pulling on his skinnies and a plain black tee, grabbing his pumpkin hoodie and Vans, and making his way slowly back down the devil's staircase.

"Why didn't you shout me?..."

Linda admonished him.

"I would've come help you."

Frankie smiled sweetly at her frowning face.

"I'm ok Mumma, see? I made it...I'm fine."

Shaking her head and sighing deeply, Linda grabbed her keys.

"Well, I'm driving you to school today and don't even think of arguing with me, young man."

She raised an eyebrow at him, practically challenging him to complain. He didn't, and a few minutes later they were in the car, radio blaring some annoying pop song, and Frankie cringing as his mother sang along loudly with her window wide open. What...doesn't she feel the fucking cold?

Before the song had even finished, Linda was pulling up outside the gates, wishing her somewhat embarrassed son a good day at school and insisting on kissing his cheek, therefore causing his face to take on the cherried appearance of a ripe tomato...thanks mum.

Frankie picked up his bag and climbed out of the car, telling Linda he'd see her later and closing the door with a slam, then turned around and came face to grinning face, with Mikey, Syn and Zacky...perfect.

"M-morning..."

He stammered, praying they hadn't seen his Ma kiss his cheek, and if they had, that they'd let it go. No such luck as they all instantly started falling about laughing.

"Oh, fuck off..."

He grumbled, pushing past the boys and heading into school, them following close behind, still cackling like it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.

"Can you just...oh, whatever."

And with that, Frankie joined in.

From that point, the day went by painfully slow, class after class of boredom, as Frankie yet again noticed that Mikey's brother's name came up every lesson. So, he would have all his classes with the missing boy, cool...well it would be if he were here, and a nice guy.

When lunch came around, and yet again there was no Mikey and co., Frankie grabbed a wilted looking cheese sandwich and a juice box, before sitting himself at an empty table and endulging in a spot of people watching.

Taking his first bite of the disgusting meal, if you could call it that, Frankie was startled out of his thoughts by someone flopping into the seat opposite him. Nearly choking on what appeared to be three day old cheddar, his eyes watering, Frankie was shocked to find it was a girl.

The girl was pretty with pale skin, shiny black hair tied up in two ponytails, bright red lipstick and bright green eyes. She was wearing black cargo pants and a tight black t-shirt with a white skull and crossbones design, and quite bizarrely, a pair of black and red fairy wings...weird. But as she smiled at him, Frankie couldn't help but grin back.

"Hi, I'm Frankie."

Her grin now matched his.

"Hi, I'm Sniper."

It turned out that Sniper was quite a cool girl. She was funny and smart and she liked a lot of the same things that Frankie liked. She was into horror movies, and had similar music tastes to him, and she played guitar and loved to skate, and ok, so Frankie wasn't that good on a board, but he could get from a to b, and do a few small tricks, so that was something, right? The two new friends spent the rest of lunch together, laughing and getting to know each other and they basically both decided that, if they had both been straight, they would probably have ended up going out, as it was, they quickly realised that they were both skipping in the rainbow parade and that it was good, cause neither one would end up making a fool of themselves by coming onto the other. Sniper was like a female Frankie, and he hoped she'd get on with his other new friends as well as he did.

~time jump, Friday at lunch~

"Hey, Sniper?"

"Yeah Frankie?"

She asked, through a mouthful of fries. Frankie giggled at her, making her grin back widely.

"So, I'm supposed to hang with some guys after school, you wanna come?"

"Depends what guys."

She said seriously.

"Oh, err...Mikey, Syn and Zacky. You know them?"

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Hmff...unfortunately, yes..."

She huffed, pushing away the rest of her food in disgust.

"Syn's my stepbrother. I can't stand that asshole."

"Oh."

Frankie didn't know what else to say.

"But if you really want me to go?"

Frankie grinned like a maniac, bobbing his head quickly.

"Yesyesyes!..."

He squealed.

"It'll be fun, you'll see."

They both giggled as the bell rung and they headed to their respective classes, Sniper going to math and Frankie running off to his art lesson, where the other boys were huddled in a corner, probably planning another prank.

"Hey guys."

He called as he approached the back of the room. Mikey looked up.

"Oh hey Frank, you still up for tonight? My dad's gonna be out and Syn's got a load of booze, sooo...?"

He grinned.

"Oh yeah, I'm in...err..."

He hesitated.

"Spit it out dude."

Zacky laughed, as he aimed a screwed up piece of paper at some kid's head. Frankie looked at his hands, suddenly unsure about the whole thing.

"Well, it's just...I made a friend at lunch the other day, a girl called Sniper..."

He waited a second for a reaction, then continued when they remained silent.

"I sorta invited her to join. Is that ok?...I mean, if it's not I can always tell her I'll see her Monday."

Suddenly his shoes were the most interesting things on the planet, and he felt his cheeks burn as three sharp pairs of eyes stared at him. After a good minute or two, Mikey spoke up.

"Sniper...what, you mean Syn's step bitch?..."

He laughed, and quickly the others joined in.

"Yeah, no it's ok. She can come, just tell her not to expect any special treatment cause she's a girl. She's a lesbo, you know that right? Ya ain't got a shot with her."

Frankie nodded.

"I know, but she's kinda cool, likes same music and stuff, so..."

"It's sorted then..."

Mikey cheered.

"Were all goin' to mine after school for booze, pizza, movies and some weed, if I can get holda Bob. Everyone up for an all nighter?"

They all agreed, then turned their vague attentions to the front of class as the teacher began the lesson.

School dragged, but eventually the final bell rung, and everyone headed for the exit. Frankie's first week at his new school was finally over.

"HEY GUYS."

He shouted, seeing them standing by Mikey's car...they all nodded at him before turning their attentions back to Mikey's phone call.

"Hi Frankie."

Sniper squeaked in his ear as she jumped onto his back, nearly knocking him off his feet. Giggling as he hitched her legs up a bit to give her a piggyback ride, Frankie stumbled slightly then righted himself before walking over to the guys.

When he reached the car, he noticed that Sniper and Syn didn't even look at each other, but the other two were at least polite enough to say "hi". They all piled into the car, Sniper having to sit in Frankie's lap, and they were off.

Mikey's house was a lot further away from the school than Frankie's, but he imagined that it was probably possible to walk it in half an hour or so, not that Mikey would ever have that problem of course.

As they walked in, Mikey seemed suddenly quiet and nervous, and Frankie couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this house just felt wrong.

Syn and Zacky didn't seem to notice, or if they did it didn't bother them, cause within a minute of walking through the door, they were slumped on Mikey,s sofa and had their feet propped up on the coffee table, cracking cans of beer that Syn had apparently had in his school bag all day.

"You want one?"

Zacky held up two cans towards Frankie and Sniper, who stood awkwardly by the door. After a moment, they both smiled and accepted the refreshments that were then tossed to them.

"I'm just gonna go check on...something."

Mikey stuttered slightly, before disappearing up the stairs.

"What's up with him?..."

Syn asked, only half interested in getting an answer, then shaking his head and grinning.

"Hey relax you two, come sit down...oh no wait. Frankie, there's loads of movies over there..."

He said, pointing to a cabinet next to a large TV.

"Pick somethin' cool, ok?"

Frankie grinned and headed over, Sniper joining him to look.

A few minutes later, after Mikey had returned and they'd all settled down to watch Saw, Frankie and Sniper on one sofa, the other boys all on the other, Frankie started to wonder what exactly it was that was bothering him here.

The house was messy but clean, and everything looked in order, but Frankie just couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he had, and he was quite sure that he wouldn't get a wink of sleep tonight, that's if the others even intended to sleep at all, and not stay up all night drinking. He wasn't really so certain he'd be up for that.

"I'm gonna order pizza..."

Mikey chimed out.

"Any requests?"

"Veggie."

Both Frankie and Sniper said in unison, falling into fits of slightly drunken giggles as they turned to look at each other. Mikey rolled his eyes and shook his head, but grinned at the pair before turning to the others, who said they were fine with whatever and he went to the kitchen to make the call in peace.

Half hour later, they were all munching on pizza and watching the opening credits of their second movie, and it seemed like Syn had now set his heart on a Saw marathon, as he had insisted on putting in Saw 2.

The evening was pretty much uneventful, they ate, they drunk (too much), they watched horror movies and smoked weed that some boy, Bob apparently, had delivered at about 9 o'clock, Sniper threw up at ten, much to Syn's amusement, and was asleep half hour later, and by midnight, the others were all crashing on the sofas too. That was all except Frankie of course, who hadn't drunk as much as the others and was still spooked by the house.

Sitting in the darkened living room, TV turned down low, Frankie listened to the sounds of the building around him. He could hear the boys all snoring softly, grunting and snuffling every now and then, and Sniper shifting around to get comfy in her sleep. Beyond that though, there was another noise that seemed to be coming from upstairs, and it sounded a lot like crying.

Being the nosey boy he is, Frankie gathered his courage around him like a cloak and tiptoed towards the stairs. If he woke Mikey up, he wasn't sure what the other boy's reaction would be to catching him snooping around his house in the middle of the night, but right now he didn't really care, besides, Mikey had drunk so much tonight, that it was unlikely that an atomic bomb could wake him right now, so no worries there.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, successfully staying silent and not tripping over to fall flat on his face, cause that would just be embarrassing, Frankie quietly started to climb up towards the dark landing above.

He could hear that noise clearer now, and it was definitely crying, and coming from the door at the far end of the hall. Suddenly Frankie's tipsy brain kicked into gear and he realised who it must be...Mikey's mystery brother, well he did want to meet him.

Frankie crept along the dark hallway and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Hello?..."

He whispered, turning the knob and pushing the door quietly open.

"What the...?"

He gasped, eyes wide in shock. There, laying naked gagged and bound to the bedpost, was the boy from the park. The cold boy with the pale skin that Frankie had just wanted to touch but...oh God...this was so bad.

Frankie crept inside and closed the door, his heart in his throat. The boy was even thinner than Frankie had first thought, and there were bruises over most of his frail body, including one across his entire ribs that was almost as black as his hair, and there was blood...blood and another substance that Frankie didn't even want to think about covering the boys thighs, and the dirty sheet beneath him. Frankie felt sick. Who had done this?

He didn't think it could be Mikey...the guy could be a dick sometimes...but this?...No! No, not Mikey, then...shit, it had to be their dad.

Mikey had told Frankie that it was just him, his brother, who Mikey had always been kinda mean about, and his dad...so it had to be him. Fuck.

Frankie was still stood just inside the door, trying really hard not to scream, or cry...or run away and piss himself in a corner somewhere. That monster wasn't home but Mikey was, and he couldn't possibly live here and not know what was going on, so Frankie had to keep quiet, and he had to rescue the boy...no, he knew his name now...his name was Gerard, and he was in even more trouble than Frankie had thought before.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Frankie stepped forward towards the bed.

Suddenly, Gerard's eyes flew open wide and his entire body jolted as if shocked with an electric current. His breathing became fast and ragged and his eyes started darting around the room in terror.

"Shhh, shhh..."

Frankie tried to calm him, holding our his hands to show he was unarmed, and came in peace.

"I'm not going to hurt you...I'm Frankie. You're Gerard, right?..."

The boy stilled, his breath hitching in his thin chest. He nodded. Frankie smiled softly and took another step closer, Gerard's eyes growing wide again.

"I'm gonna get you out of here...ok?..."

Tears started to slide down the young boy's cheeks as he stared up at his saviour.

"I'm gonna get this gag off you first."

Frankie said, carefully reaching behind Gerard's head and undoing the tie. Once it was removed, Gerard whimpered in relief.

"Th-thank...y-you."

His voice was so small that Frankie barely heard him.

"It's ok. It's gonna be ok..."

Next, he set about untying the cords that held his wrists. These weren't so easy, and Frankie almost thought about sneaking downstairs to find a kitchen knife, but luckily, just as the thought entered his head, the knot gave way and Frankie pulled Gerard's hands free.

"Ok..."

He began, not sure quite how to proceed. Suddenly, Gerard threw himself up into Frankie's arms, clinging tight to him and pulling his knees up into his chest. Hesitantly, Frankie wrapped his arms around the small boy's trembling body.

"Shhhh, shhhh...you're ok. You're safe now..."

But Gerard was crying so hard that Frankie wasn't sure he'd been heard.

"Gerard?...we need to get out of here."

Sniffing loudly, Gerard lifted his head to look into Frankie's large hazel eyes, then he kissed him. It was just a small kiss, chaste and sweet, but so full of raw emotion that Frankie damn near felt his heart break.

"Th-thank you."

He whispered, leaning his forehead gently against Frankie's. Frankie could feel Gerard shivering and was reminded of the fact that he was naked.

"Gerard, where are your clothes?..."

Gerard shrugged slightly, resting against Frankie's chest now. Frankie sighed and peered around the dusty room. There was a chair in the corner, and on it sat a pair of jeans and a hoodie, the same ones Frankie had seen Gerard in when he'd found him in the snow.

"Just a second Gerard..."

He said softly, peeling himself away from the sleepy boy, who whimpered and tried to keep hold of his shirt.

"I'm just getting your clothes..."

He reassured him.

Stepping away, he picked up the jeans and top and returned to the bedside where Gerard was sat, arms tight around himself, shaking pitifully.

Frankie helped Gerard off the bed and into his clothes, before picking him up so the boy could wrap his legs around Frankie's waist, and his arms behind his neck, then he whispered gently to him.

"Ok...we're gonna go now, but you have to stay quiet...ok?"

Gerard nodded, then buried his face in Frankie's neck, breathing hot air on the older boy's skin and making him shiver a little. Frankie carefully opened the door and crept towards the stairs, then slowly descended towards the floor below. He could see his shoes by the door and he already had his hoodie on as it was very cold tonight, but his cellphone was sat on the coffee table, and he'd have to pass the others to get it. He considered leaving it, but he didn't want to walk all the way home in this weather, especially carrying Gerard when he was badly hurt and desperately needed medical attention, so he was going to have to get it and call his mum...as soon as he was out of the house that is.

As he started slowly forward, Gerard shifted slightly in his arms, and Frankie hushed him softly before continuing on. Awkwardly grabbing his phone off the table, Frankie momentarily felt guilty for leaving Sniper behind, but the injured and abused boy clinging to him like a little spider monkey right now was in far greater need of his assistance than she was, and he figured she could get a ride home with Syn anyway. He'd call her tomorrow and apologise.

Just as he reached the door, slipping on his shoes...

"What the fuck?...where do you think you're going?"

Mikey...shit!

Frankie's eyes grew wide and he felt the boy in his arms whole body tense up, fingers digging in and face burying deeper into his neck. Frankie turned.

"Mikey."

Frank said, his voice tight.

"That's my brother, Frankie...where you takin' him?"

Mikey kept his voice deliberately low, trying not to wake the others. Frankie on the other hand, felt that they needed to be woken.

"I'm taking him out of here, and you can't stop me."

He raised his voice slightly, though not by much as he didn't want to frighten Gerard any more than he already was. It was enough though, the boys were awake.

"What's goin' on?...it's the middle of the night."

Syn slurred drowsily, looking between Mikey and Frankie as he dragged himself to his feet, rubbing sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Nothing..."

Mikey said, trying to keep his tone normal as he stared daggers at Frankie.

"Go back to sleep."

But both Syn and Zacky were up now, awake and moving to stand behind Mikey.

"Frankie?"

Syn urged.

"You wanna tell 'em, or should I?"

Frankie ground out, angry eyes locked onto Mikey's slightly desperate ones.

"Frankie please?"

Mikey whimpered quietly.

"No! My names Frank! You don't get to call me Frankie anymore, only my friends get to call me that."

Frankie spat.

"Would someone, for the love of God, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON?!?"

Syn was shouting now, Gerard was whimpering and shaking in fear, and Sniper was waking up.

"Hey..."

She moaned softly.

"What's all the shoutin' about?"

"Ask Mikey."

Frankie hissed, still giving the other boy the evil eye.

"Mikey?"

She looked his way, really confused now. Mikey was silent, angry tears starting to slide from his eyes. Once it was all told he'd lose everything. He'd lose his friends, and he'd probably lose his home...his dad.

Now, he knew that his dad was a nasty bastard, he'd worked that out a while ago...but he was still his dad, and he loved him.

"Well, if you're not gonna tell them..."

Frankie began and Mikey shook his head, pleading with his eyes. But Frankie continued, addressing the whole group.

"This is Gerard...."

He indicated the terrified boy, clinging tight and practically vibrating cause he was shaking so bad.

"He's Mikey's little brother..."

"Half brother."

Mikey whispered, like that would make a difference to the outcome of this. Frankie ignored him.

"You two know him, right?..."

He looked to Syn and Zacky, they both nodded though he noted that they didn't elaborate.

"In fact, I'd be willing to put money on it being you three that put him in hospital Monday, am I right?..."

Again they nodded, Mikey now hiding behind his hands, not wanting to witness this particular train wreck.

"Well, what you might not know, is that their dad..."

He spat the word with venom.

"...refused to pay for his medical care, discharged him against doctor's advice...then brought him back here, tied him naked to a bed and...and raped him."

The room was silent, no one dared speak. The only sounds were Gerard's whimpers, Mikey's quiet sobs, and the *tic tic tic* of the clock on the wall. After what felt like a lifetime...

"Is this true?"

Sniper's frighteningly quiet voice said to Mikey.

"I...I..."

Mikey moved his gaze quickly around the group, fear evident in his big hazel eyes. He'd lost, and he knew it. Frankie shifted Gerard slightly to the right and pulled his cell out of the hoodie pocket he'd stashed it in. Mikey saw the phone and started to panic.

"No...please don't call the cops. Please Frank...please?..."

He fell to his knees on the carpet, weeping openly.

"Please..."

"I wasn't going to..."

Frankie snapped.

"I'm calling my mum to come get us...she on the other hand, will probably insist on it."

Frankie looked at the other boys to see if they were going to try to stop him, and saw that they were both staring angrily at Mikey's pitiful form, as he cowered slightly on the floor. Shit, he was in for it...but Frankie couldn't really bring himself to care. Frankie hit speed dial 1 and listened to it ring. After a moment, Linda picked up.

"Frankie? Are you ok?...it's half three in the morning...what's happened sweetie?"

"Mumma?..."

Frankie sniffed slightly, emotions starting to overwhelm his tired mind now.

"Can you come get me?...please?...I'll explain when we're home."

Linda sighed.

"Of course honey. Text me the address, and I'll be there soon, ok?"

Frankie smiled in relief.

"Ok Mumma, see you soon..."

Then he hung up and texted the address through, before slipping the phone back into his pocket. Now, he'd just have to wait.

Hearing Gerard's quiet sobs against his neck, he turned his attention back to the distressed boy in his arms.

"Hey Gee..."

He cooed softly, trying out the nickname that he'd just come up with.

"We're nearly there sweetie, my Mumma's on her way, then you're coming with me. You're gonna be safe now...I'll keep you safe. Shhh shhh...it's ok..it's ok."

Gerard sniffed, rubbing his face against Frankie's shoulder, then lifted his head a little to look at the older boy through a curtain of hair and tears.

"Th-thank you."

He said in no more than a whisper, before burying his face once again. Frankie gently kissed the top of his head and held him just that little bit tighter.

"Close your eyes sweetie...I got you..."

A few minutes later, no one having said a single word in the interim, they heard a car pull up outside.

"Well, we're off..."

Frankie stated, bluntly.

"Sniper, you wanna come?..."

Sniper nodded quickly, pulling on her shoes and grabbing her things, then joining Frankie and Gerard at the door. She couldn't quite bring herself to look at the fragile boy in her friend's arms, she knew she'd just start crying.

"See ya boys."

Frankie called back to the three remaining teens in the Way's living room and pushed the boys out of his mind, not looking back as he stepped out into the icy nighttime air, Sniper closing the door behind them.

There was only one person he was concerned about now, and they were currently asleep on his shoulder, snoring softly.

As Linda pulled her car up outside the address that Frankie had texted her, she only had a moment to think about why he might have called at such a God awful hour, and then...he was exiting the house with someone clinging to his chest, while a girl wearing a tiger-print onesie and army boots followed close behind and shut the front door with an angry bang. Linda swallowed hard. Tonight was gonna be a long night.

Climbing out of the driver's seat, she moved to help her son.

"Frankie?"

"I'll explain when we get home, ok?..."

He spoke quietly in the still, cold night...his breath coming out in white, fog-like puffs.

"Let's just get home...ok?"

"Ok sweetie."

Linda opened the rear door and helped Frankie inside, Gerard shifting his legs from around Frankie's waist to straddling his lap, face still buried in the older boys neck. Meanwhile, Sniper put their bags in the trunk, then slipped into the passenger seat.

The drive back to Frankie's home was quiet and tense, Linda recognising that whatever was going on would be likely to cause some major problems for all concerned parties...and she wasn't at all convinced that she wanted to be involved. This all looked really sketchy.

As she parked back on their driveway, turning off the engine, a sudden silence filling the small space, she turned around in her seat to address her son, a weary smile on her face.

"Stay put...I'll go unlock the door."

Then she was out of the car and heading up to the house.

"Your mum's nice."

Sniper whispered sleepily over her shoulder, Frankie just nodded in reply. A moment later, Linda was opening Frankie's door and helping him out, the frightened boy wrapped tight around him once more, flinching at anyone's touch except for Frankie's.

They all moved quickly into the warm house, out of the cold, and Linda shut and locked the door to keep the heat in.

"Why don't I get everyone a nice hot chocolate...hmmm?"

She muttered as she headed for the kitchen, not really waiting for an answer. Frankie carefully sat down on the sofa, rearranging Gerard to sit across his lap as the boy drifted in and out of consciousness in his arms.

"Gerard?...sweetie can you hear me?"

He cooed in the boy's ear.

"Mhmfhma..."

Gerard mumbled, too exhausted to make sense right now. Frankie smiled and leaned over to place a soft kiss to the boy's forehead.

"Ok Hun, you sleep. I'll look after you."

Gerard snuggled in closer as Frankie gently stroked his hair, lulling the younger boy back to sleep.

When Linda returned with a tray containing four steaming mugs of hot chocolate and placed it down on the coffee table for them to cool enough to drink, she observed the silent teens. The girl, who she presumed to be the one Frankie had told her about...Sniper or something...was already asleep in the old comfy chair by the fireplace. Frankie was sat back on the couch with the battered, black haired boy from the park curled up on his lap, and clinging to the front of his hoodie like it was a life raft, and he was lost at sea. What the Hell had happened to him now?

"Frankie?..."

Linda urged quietly, sitting herself on the coffee table in front of him, beside the tray of drinks and watching as his eyes slowly turned towards hers, soft tears trailing down his face.

"Oh, Frankie."

She sighed, what had he gotten himself into now?

"M-Mumma..."

He sniffed, squeezing his eyes tight for a second or two before opening them again to stare down at the sleeping boy.

"Mumma, th-this is G-Gerard...Mikey's brother. Mikey said he was off sick..."

Frankie shook his head sadly, Linda closed her eyes, believing she knew where this was going.

"He wasn't. Mikey and his friends b-beat him up Monday, before we f-found him. It's not the first time..."

Frankie's voice hitched, and Linda placed her hand on his knee in a simple comforting gesture. Frankie was quiet for some time and Linda let him be, as he was clearly trying to prepare himself for whatever he had to say next. After about five minutes of deep breaths and racing heart...he continued.

"I couldn't sleep in that house..."

Little more than a whisper.

"It just felt...wrong somehow...the house..."

He clarified.

"When everyone else was asleep, I could hear c-crying...from upstairs. Mikey had said his dad was away for the weekend so...so it could o-o-only b-be his brother, and I kn-knew that M-Mikey doesn't like him, so I...I...I thought I'd g-go ch-check on h-him...cause I th-thought h-he was sick..."

Frankie could barely get his words out past his quiet sobs and gasps for air now, so Linda handed him his mug of chocolate and urged him to drink, hoping it would calm him some. She was actually amazed that the boy curled around her trembling son hadn't been woken up by all this. After taking a few small sips, he handed the mug back, and wrapped his arms securely around Gerard's frail body again before continuing.

"I found him. He was..."

Deep sobs and fresh tears.

"He was tied to h-his d-dad's b-bed...n-naked..."

Frankie looked up at his mother for the first time since he'd began telling her of tonight's events, there were hot tears flooding both their faces.

"Bastard...he...he...oh God Mumma!"

Frankie shuddered heavily as he struggled to remain quiet for Gerard's sake. Luckily, the boy slept on.

Linda rubbed her hands roughly over her face, breathing deeply and trying to figure out what to do.

"We'll..."

Her voice broke with emotion.

"We'll work this out."

Sighing deeply, she moved over from her seat on the table to sit next to Frankie, and wrap one arm around his shoulders, pulling him into her side. After a few tense seconds, he relaxed against her with Gerard still curled up in his lap, and soon he was asleep too...exhaustion from the night's events finally taking him over.

And within another few minutes...they were all asleep...though definitely not having sweet dreams.

Notes