Mikey could see the disappointment in his brother's eyes and the way he carried himself. Another failed expedition to find their brother. The only positive thing was that David stopped feeling random pain. This meant that Gee was probably not in any pain either. Mikey tried to remind him of this, but David would say morbid things like 'Maybe it means he's dead' to which Mikey would yell at him and beat on his chest. This made David feel guilty and they would both have a long cry.

David's grades were suffering too. He was no longer on the football team becasue of it. Bob still insisted that he went to practice, but David's heart was not in it. Ray came back from his first semester of college with a new boyfriend. At first David was pissed and Mikey thought he was going to punch him, but it made sense. It was not fair to make Ray wait, especially when his and Gee's relationship was only a month in.

Their mum was not doing so good either. She went from spending her days at the beauty spa to becoming a workaholic to avoid seeing the disappointment on her children's faces. Mikey supposed it was better than drowning in alcohol, but it had the same results. Sure they didn't find her slumped over with empties all around, but there was still no dinner, no physical affection, no conversations, just a 'hi' or 'bye' and 'love you' as she came in or went out the door.

David got a job too. Going to the city to look for their brother secretly was expensive, so they needed funds. It was a good distraction for him, even though it meant that Mikey was alone a lot more, well he had Pete, but...still, it meant that getting time to go look for Gee was harder to come by. David had to ask for days off in advance. He also didn't get more than two in a row so it meant not being able to go back the next day most of the time. With the holidays coming up, he was not able to request days till after Christmas. Without either of his brothers or his mother, Mikey was living a lonely existence indeed.

(time passes)

Gee had been at Frank and Bert's apartment for nearly two weeks now, and he was recovering slowly. He could walk without help or the cane, but he still got twinges of pain here and there, though nothing too bad, and he knew it was nothing that David would feel.

He had been basically confined to the apartment since he'd arrived, and was left alone for hours at a time when Frank and Bert went to work, though they had said that once he was up to it, maybe he'd like to join them at their tattoo shop. He'd said maybe he would, as long as he didn't have to see the needles...Frank had giggled at that and told him they could work something out.

He had realised pretty quickly that his two new...friends?...were actually kinda fun to live with. They argued about everything, but it was clear that they cared a lot about each other, and would probably die to protect one another.

Gee was pulled into various debates about everything from Star Wars vs Star Trek, to his current favourite, and apparently a long running thing, about whether the toilet roll should be hung under or over.
There were two bathrooms in the apartment, one was the ensuite to the bedroom, the other was just off of the hallway, near the front door. Bert used the one off the hallway, while Frank had the ensuite.

Bert insists that the toilet roll hangs under, while Frank maintains his stance that it hang over...Gee agreed with Frank on this one.
Whenever one of them went out, the other would turn their roll around...Gee giggled every time.

Though pleased to be on the mend, Gee was worried. He was there because he'd been sick and injured, but now that he was getting better, would they want him to stay, or leave?...there had been no mention of him staying indefinitely, and he was getting quite anxious, as he really didn't want to end up back on the streets again.
The better he got physically, the more nervous he became...and that made his appetite all but disappear.

It was 7am on Monday morning, and they were all up and dressed. Frank had persuaded Gee to accompany them today, and he was kind of looking forward to it, even if the thought of going outside was a little daunting, as it was one step closer to being kicked out.

They were in the kitchen, and Bert had had his way today...they were having pancakes.

Gee sat quietly on his stool with his head down, pushing his food around, but not really eating it.

"What's wrong Kitten? Are you anxious about coming to the store today?"

Gee looked up slowly. He liked it when Frank called him Kitten, but he didn't have it in him to smile right now...or answer. He shrugged one shoulder, looking back down.

"Maybe he's not ready yet Frankie."

Bert was looking at the boy with concern. Maybe he should have made waffles this morning.

Gee looked up through his hair, swallowing heavily.

"I...I wanna...I j-just..."

He stuttered out quietly, looking between the two men, then went silent again.

"Yeah, sorry for trying to force you Kitten. Look, why don't you rent some movies and order some Chinese and we will see you later."

"I only have three clients today, so if there are no walk ins, I can come home early if you want Gee?"

Gee looked down, sighing slightly. He wanted to go with them, and he couldn't explain his hesitation to them.

"Alright, let's get going Bert. I have an all day client and I need to gear up for them."

Frank started to clean up breakfast from the two men letting the boy continue to eat.

"Bert, can you feed the children?"

Bert was going to say something snarky, but he could hear the slight tremor in Frank's voice. He knew he was hoping the kid would want to go today.

"Yeah, I got it Frankie."

Gee sighed, pushing his untouched plate away.

"Can I...c-come?...p-please?"

"Are you sure, you want to?"

"Yes...I...I just d-don't w-want to get i-in the w-way."

He wanted to say he meant in general, not just at their work...but he didn't.

"Oh Kitten, you aren't going to get in the way at all."

Frank wanted to hold the boy and reassure him, but he learned over the last two weeks that if Gee didn't want to be touched, then don't touch him.

"Hey, why don't you go get dressed Gee."

Bert would wait till the boy left the room and then he would make a cinnamon waffle, Gee's favorite, to take with them on the trip.

"O-ok..."

Gee smiled shyly, sliding off his chair onto the cold floor...his bare toes curling at the chill.

"I'll b-be qu-quick."

He headed to his bedroom, where his bag of clothes sat under the window.
Opening the bag, Gee pulled out a pink shirt he'd bought from a thrift shop when he'd first arrived in the city. It had the words 'are you kitten me right now meow?' on it, along with a kitten nose and whiskers design. It was winter now, so he would wear his Hello Kitty hoodie over it, but it would be nice to have on if it was hot in the shop and he needed to take the hoodie off.

Taking off the oversized shirt that Frank had given him to sleep in, Gee sprayed on some deodorant...a flowery one he'd also gotten not long after arriving in town...then pulled on his kitten shirt and his skinny jeans, that were still a little baggy on him, but maybe not as much as when he'd first met Frank and Bert.
Gee quickly combed his fingers through his hair, then headed out of the room to find his boots, hoodie in hand.

"Alright, ready to go."

Frank was petting the dogs and telling them to be good and play nice with their sisters.

"Here you go Gee."

Bert presented Gee with a waffle styled into a cone filled with mixed berries.

"It's cinnamon, your favorite."

Gee smiled softly, accepting the strange concoction.

"Th-thank you."

Frank smiled. He was proud that Bert was being so understanding. He could not wait for Gee to meet his other "kittens".

(Time passes)

"Now Kitten listen up."

Frank and Bert were leading Gee to the front of the store.

"I have a few...interesting people that I work with. They are kind of like you, but...well, just don't let them overwhelm you okay?"

Frank lead the way through the side passage and out to the street.

"So, what do you think?"

Gee looked up at the name on the front window of the shop.

"Cool G-Ghoul?..."

He looked at Frank curiously.

"W-where'd you g-get th-that?"

"That's a long story for another day, but I can tell you that it kind of started with my first tattoo."

"Yeah, your first illegal one."

"Fuck off Robert."

Bert growled and flipped Frank off.

"I'm gonna go open the door for Gee, cause I give a shit about him."

Frank laughed as Bert stormed off. It was too easy. He walked up to Gee.

"Here, this is what he is talking about. I got it when I was um...14 I think? I had a buddy who was going for a job and he wanted someone to practice on and if it looked good, he would take a pic of it."

Frank showed Gee his wrist. Around it were the words; I wish I was a ghost.

Gee's eyes widened. He traced the letters with a light fingertip, then looked up at Frank.

"Do...do y-you still f-feel like th-that?"

"Honestly...sometimes, but then I think of you and the other kids and well...I know I have a purpose in life other than to be a ghost."

Gee smiled shyly.

"H-how many o-other k-kids are th-there?"

"Well including you and Bert, there are five. In a couple of hours you will meet two of them. The third is earning their chance to close the shop. It's a big deal."

Gee nodded, smiling nervously...he hoped these people weren't jerks, and were as friendly as Frank and Bert.

"Come on you two, it's freezing out here!"

Bert was standing with the door to the shop open and his arms folded like a scolding parent. Frank laughed.

"Come on Kitten, wait till you see inside."

Gee smiled wider, shivering slightly as they headed inside. He stuck close to Frank's side.

"Welcome to Cool Ghoul Kitten."

Gee looked around the space with wide eyes...there were exposed brick walls, shiny stone flooring and clean bright colours all over.
On the walls there were posters and photographs of tattoos, and around the edges of the room there were the tattoo stations, all neat and ready to go.
Near the entrance there was a seating area for clients to wait on large black leather couches, and a reception desk with artwork all over the front of it.

"Wow."

Gee breathed out.

"It's a-amaz-ing."

"Thanks, it's not much, but it's mine...well ours now, right Bert?"

"Nah, it's still mostly yours."

Bert smiled and then headed to turn on more lights.

"Come on, I'll take you on the tour of the place."

"O-ok."

Gee nodded.

"So this is Bert's station at the front. Then Brendon, Lindsey, and Ryan. We keep Lindsey between the boys cos they would cause trouble otherwise. My station is here at the end and I have this back room too for more private art work."

Frank looked at the boy to see if he understood.

Gee smiled shyly.

"W-where will I...?"

He waved a hand round aimlessly.

"Where will you what Kitten?"

Gee looked down at the floor, his fingers twisting together in the front of his hoodie.

"D-doesn't m-matter."

He whispered out, worried Frank would think he was being a bother.

"Okay, there is the bathroom and here is the break room."

The break room had a fridge, table with chairs, and a comfy sofa in it along with a few lockers.

Gee nodded...perhaps he could stay in here.

"Oh and in this cabinet..."

Frank opened up what looked like a closet.

"We have a TV, lots of movies, and two video game consoles."

Gee smiled slightly...most of the movies were horrors, and though he'd watched a few with his brothers, he'd always ended up hiding in David's shirt about half way through...he'd never watched one without his brothers.
Gee's shoulders slumped as he thought about the fact that he would probably never see them again. He wrapped his arms tight around himself.

"What's wrong Kitten?"

Gee shook his head, hair falling over his face as he looked at his shoes.

"Hey Frankie, we got a..."

Bert came in and saw Gee.

"Sorry man, looks like we got a ventilation leak. Wanna check it out. I'll stay with Gee."

"Sure."

Frank rubbed Gee's shoulder and then left. Bert walked up and guided Gee to the sofa.

"You miss your family huh?"

Gee looked up through his hair at the older boy...how did he always know what Gee was thinking?
He nodded slightly.

"Well I know it's a poor substitute, but we can be your family until you decide to try and go home. No one is going to push you either."

Gee's eyes widened as he started to tremble, backing away across the sofa, his head shaking and breath hitching.

"I c-c-can't g-g-go h-home."

He felt himself starting to panic...was Bert telling him they were going to kick him out soon?...was he going to be homeless again?

"Hey hey hey!"

Bert experienced this with the other kids, Hell, he did it himself. He wrapped his arms around Gee and held him close making soothing noises as he rocked him and petted him.

"No no, stop, no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do. No one."

Gee trembled, tears spilling down his cheeks as he stiffened, then went limp in Bert's arms.

"I got you...shh shh, I got you."

When Frank returned, Gee was asleep in Bert's lap.

"Too much for him?"

"Sort of, you remember me when I was like this."

"How could I forget my original kitten."

Bert laughed quietly. He slid the boy carefully out of his arms and onto the sofa. He covered him with a blanket.

"Let him rest, he will need it when the boys get here."

"So Lynz is closing tonight huh?"

"Yeah, big step for her."

"Think she is ready?"

"More ready that Frick and Frack are."

"True."

Frank and Bert left the room quietly.

(time passes)

"Come on give it back!"

"No way man, come and get it!"

"Brendon, that's my brand new scarf!"

"Yeah, well now I can use it to polish my chair."

"I will end you!"

Brendon and Ryan came crashing into the break room and stopped short. There was someone asleep on the sofa and it wasn't their boss or their bosses boss.

"Whoa, another stray?"

"He looks young."

"Yeah and cute."

"Back off man, not cool."

"What? I just stated a fact. I'm not that stupid Ryan, give me some credit."

Gee woke at the sound of talking, to find two boys he'd never seen before standing a few feet away, looking at him.
Eyes widening in fear, he scrambled upright, tangled in a blanket, and pulled his knees up to his chest. He could feel his heart racing fast as he shook like a leaf. Where were Frank and Bert?

"Hey, uh...hi, I'm Brendon and this is Ryan and uh..."

Gee opened his mouth to tell them who he was, but all that came out was a strangled squeak.
He quickly ducked his head, hiding in his long hair.

"Ooookay, well we uh..."

Brendon handed Ryan his scarf. Ryan crossed to his locker and took off his jacket revealing a nearly full sleeve of flowers on his arm.

Gee saw the flowers and couldn't help himself. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he was off the sofa...the blanket falling to the floor...and crossing the small space to the tall boy's side, his fingers instinctively tracing the wings of a hummingbird that was drinking from a pretty pink trumpet shaped flower. His eyes were wide as he took in the colours.

"Pretty nice huh? It's still being worked on though. I have the rest of my arm to finish designing."

Gee jumped back as the boy spoke, suddenly realising what he'd done.
He looked quickly between the two boys as his nerves took over again...for a moment he was frozen, then with a frightened squeak, he dashed into the bathroom and locked himself in.

"Well that was interesting."

"Come on, he's not going to come out with us here."

Brendon finished taking off his own coat and hanging it up. He then left the room with Ryan to get ready for the day.

(time passes)

Gee was sat on the floor in the bathroom...he'd been there maybe half an hour, maybe a little longer, when there was a soft knock on the door.
Gee curled into himself more...perhaps he should've stayed at the apartment after all.

"Gee, it's Bert. Can I come in?"

Gee sniffed, looking up at the door.

"Gee?"

Sighing, his lip wobbling, Gee crawled to the door and undid the latch, then sat back against the wall with his face buried in his knees, his arms over the top of his head.

"Hey, what happened?"

Gee looked up slowly.

"I'm s-sorry."

"No apology needed Gee. Why don't you come and join us?"

"I d-don't w-wanna be in th-the w-way."

Gee whimpered quietly.

"Gee...did anyone tell you that you were in the way?"

"N-no?"

Gee mumbled.

"Okay. Well look."

Bert didn't want to do this, but being that he had been where the boy was, he knew what needed to be done.

"Listen, no one is going to force you to leave this room or the break room, but you have to realise that the only one isolating yourself is you. All of us were where you were once before, even Frank. Ask him about it some time. You come out when you want to, but never think that we think you are in the way okay?"

Bert patted the boy on the head and then left the bathroom and break room.

Gee sat thinking for a few minutes, then finally climbed to his feet and peeked out into the break room...it was empty, so he crept in and over to the couch.
After sitting in the quiet room for nearly half an hour on his own, Gee decided to go find Frank.
He stood up and went to the door that lead into the shop. As he opened the door, he could hear talking, laughing, quiet rock music playing from a stereo that was mounted to the wall, and a high pitched buzzing noise that he couldn't quite place.

Frowning slightly, Gee stepped into the room.

Bert's station was right at the front of the shop, the furthest away from him, and he couldn't see Frank, so he started hesitantly toward the pink haired man who was leaning over someone's leg right now.

Gee kept his eyes on Bert, not looking at the other boys in a somewhat childish belief that if he didn't look at them, they wouldn't see him.

When he reached Bert's side, his stomach suddenly dropped as he realised what the buzzing noise was...the tattoo guns...WITH THEIR NEEDLES!

Gee felt immensely stupid for a moment, then...just as Bert looked up...he felt sick and spun on his toes to run back to the bathroom, face pale and hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

He only just made it.

"Shit. Ryan go check on him please?"

"Sure."

Ryan put his gear down and headed to the break room.

Gee was on his knees, heaving the last of his breakfast into the toilet...he was holding his hair back with one hand, and gripping the edge of the toilet seat with the other...knuckles white.

"Awwww no sweetie."

Ryan slipped to his knees and took over holding the boy's hair.

"Don't fight it, just let it out."

Gee hated anyone seeing him sick, but having this boy hold his hair like this reminded him of David, and somehow it was kinda comforting.

When Ryan was sure the boy was done he grabbed a towel and placed it gently on his face.

"Th-thank y-you."

Gee whispered, turning to look at the boy through watering eyes.

"No problem. Do you want to lie down again?"

Gee nodded, accepting the boy's hand hesitantly.

Ryan brought the boy to the sofa.

"There, just relax, what got you so upset?"

Gee swallowed, a shake going through him.

"N-needles."

"Well then what are you doing in a tattoo shop kiddo? Why didn't you stay at the apartment?"

Gee looked down at his hands.

"I...I d-don't l-like being a-alone..."

He looked up through his lashes.

"And..."

He wasn't sure if he should say or not.

"What? You can tell me."

Gee blushed slightly.

"I...the c-cats...they...t-they k-kinda creep m-me out."

He looked down again, waiting to be laughed at, or worse, shouted at.

"Yeah, Bertie's cats are a bit interesting, but they make the best cuddlers when you are sick. I remember one time Brendon got so sick that he wouldn't leave the sofa and he couldn't get warm. Both girls wrapped themselves around him and like practically adopted him. Ask him to show you the pictures he took."

"Y-you b-both lived th-there?"

"Yup, so did Lynz. Bert has been there the longest though out of all of us."

"Oh."

Gee didn't know what to make of that...Bert had said that the others had been like him, but he hadn't realised to what extent.
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then noticed with disgust that there was vomit on it.

"Eww."

He wrinkled his nose as he held his arm as far from his face as humanly possible.

"I have a change of clothes in my locker, hold on."

Ryan went in and pulled out the flower smock he used to protect his clothing from the ink.

"Here, um...sorry, its basically a girls dress, but..."

Gee looked from the dress to the boy...who's name he couldn't recall for the life of him...and smiled.

"It's p-pretty..."

He struggled out of his hoodie, careful not to get vomit in his hair.

"B-but I p-prefer my k-kitten t-top."

He smiled sheepishly up at the older boy.

"It is cute and suits you. Hey, i'll go throw your hoodie in the wash okay?"

"Ok...um..."

He bit his lip in embarrassment.

Ryan took the hoodie and disappeared.

Gee sat back down on the sofa, tucking his feet up underneath himself.

"Hey Ryan, Amy is here and...oh, hey, you feeling better?"

Gee looked up and saw the other boy...again he couldn't remember his name.

"Uh, yeah...th-thanks."

He said quietly.

"Cool, have you seen Ryan? His eleven o clock is here."

"He's w-washing m-my h-hoodie."

Gee hid in his hair.

"Oh, well okay, I know where he is then."

Brendon left the room.

Gee sighed...was he gonna be sat here alone all day?

Just the thought of the tattoo needles in the shop made him want to hide under the sofa, but he knew he couldn't do that, and maybe if he couldn't actually see them, he might be able to handle sitting out the front...maybe.

Sighing dramatically, he stood on slightly wobbly legs and headed back to the shop.

He stood in the break room door for almost five minutes before he plucked up the courage to walk further in. There was a chair and an empty station on his right, so Gee quietly took a seat. No one had noticed him yet.

"Hey Bert, I need another bottle of Dynamic black and...oh hey Kitten. Glad to see you up and about."

Frank came out of a curtained off room. Just before the curtain moved back into place, the image of a mostly naked man was in view reading a magazine.

"Sure, how it the ink coming out?"

"Not bad, I like this new brand. It doesn't run like that shit we used to use."

Gee smiled at Frank, happy the man didn't have his tattoo gun in his gloved hand. He watched as Bert handed Frank a little black bottle.

Frank ruffled Gee's hair with his ungloved hand and then disappeared into the curtained off room again.

"Hey Gee, how about something light to fill your stomach again?"

Gee looked back from the curtain to Bert and nodded slightly, a tiny shy smile on his pale pink lips.

"Great, I'll get the boy's orders. Can you peek in and see what Frankie would like, just make sure you knock first."

"M-me?"

Gee squeaked, eyes wide.

"Sure, it will be fine."

Bert got up and went in search of Brendon and Ryan.

Gee took a breath and stood up, he walked over to the curtain and knocked on the wall.

"F-Frankie?"

He said softly.

"Come in."

Gee pulled back the curtain a little and slipped inside, his head down for fear of seeing the needle.

Frank was playing one of his Sabbath albums. The client was laying down in the chair and he was...naked. He was reading a magazine and tapping his toe to the beat of the music.

"Randy, quit it, you're gonna make me fuck up the tail."

"Sorry man, I like that part."

Frank looked up.

"Hey Kitten...uh wait..."

Frank was having an internal freak out because Gee was a minor and here was his client with his cock hanging out half hard. He tried to play it off.

"What's up? Bert need something?"

Gee looked up and forgot why he was there. His eyes widened comically as his cheeks turned cherry red.

"Kitten?"

Frank was sweating bullets. Randy hadn't seen the boy yet thankfully.

Gee's saucer-like eyes flicked to Frank, then back to the man...then back to Frank. He swallowed.

"Food?"

Was all he was able to squeak out.

"Oh man, I could eat."

Randy started to turn. He saw the boy and smirked.

"I could eat you."

Frank freaked out.

"Gee, let Bert know I will be there in a moment."

Shaking like a terrified child, Gee fumbled the curtain open and slipped quickly out before running back into the shop and straight into Bert.

Bert nearly fell back holding the boy then he heard the yelling from the curtained area. It went on for a good 15 min. Suddenly the curtain blew open and Randy, fully dressed, came running out.

"Fuck, I am so sorry, God, I'm such an asshole!"

He stuttered more apologies and then ran out the door. five minutes later Frank came out super pissed.

"Bert, Randy is not welcome here anymore. If he shows up, call the cops and do not refund his money."

Frank dropped to his knees.

"Gee, I am so sorry for that asshole. He should not have spoken like that to you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Gee had his fingers clenched in the fabric of Bert's shirt, and his face hidden in his chest...but he'd peeked out as he heard Frank's knees hit the hard stone floor.

He watched Frank through his tears with his lower lip trapped between his teeth so hard he hadn't even realised that he was drawing blood until he felt it dribble down his chin.

He released his lip.

"N-not y-y-your f-f-fault."

He stuttered so quietly he'd be surprised if anyone heard him.

"Yeah it is. I'm the owner. I am responsible."

Gee pulled out of Bert's chest and cupped Frank's cheek with one pale, shaky hand.

"N-not f-for what o-other p-p-people say."

He said as sincerely as he could, wide innocent eyes looking down into Frank's.

Frank didn't mean to, but he pulled Gerard down into his arms. He held him tightly and breathed him in.

"Thanks Kitten."

Gee stiffened for a second then relaxed, hugging Frank back just as tight and starting to realise that maybe, maybe, he might have found a home here with these people after all.

Notes

Hi there chipmunks...how's you?

So Brendon and Ryan are here...thought?

Until next time...PLEASE COMMENT, and peace out babies!
<3