Troubled Soul (manxman) *Completed*

Nine: Perry/ Aaron

My heart was literally breaking while listening to this story. I just wanted to give him a hug but knew that probably wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

"Can I ask what she got you addicted to?"

My heart sunk when he said, "Heroin. My foster parents ended up putting me in a rehab but I feel like something is wrong with me. I can't stop and... when you were giving your talk it seemed like you were in the same boat. I don't know, I'm probably wasting your time."

"You sit back down Aly," I said when he started to get up. "I told you I am not going to give up on you. Okay?" He simply nodded but didn't seem to believe me. "Now, do your foster parents know you're still using?"

"No," he said while leaning his head back against the wall. "When I left rehab I was fine. But it started back up again and now I just hate myself."

"How did you feel in rehab, did it make you feel better?"

Aly frowned while starting to pick at his pants again. "Yeah. Then I went back to the foster house."

"What happened there?"

"Another foster kid there, Allen, is a dealer. My foster parents don't know. I already feel like an outcast because I'm basically the only black person at this stupid school. And now that some people are finding out that I've already been in rehab is making me feel like a freak."

"Javier doesn't seem to think you're a freak."

I noticed that his eyes instantly danced back over to the tree behind me and frowned. When I looked over my shoulder I saw the boy was now gone. "I don't see why that matters."

"All you need is one person Aly. Having a good friend is literally a life changer. Good friends and a good clean environment." My eyes glanced down to his arms, which were covered by his sweatshirt. "When was the last time you had something?"

He sighed while closing his eyes for a second. "This morning. Allen always hits me up in the morning. My foster parents leave really early for work so they're never there to stop him."

"Why don't you come home with me tonight?" When he looked uneasy I said, "Let's see if Javier can come hang out too." From the way Aly's eyes kept glancing over to the tree, I knew Javier must be over there again. "How does that sound?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do if I can't smoke tonight. I could get violent."

"That's why you have friends." He stared at me for a few minutes before he slowly nodded. "Shall we go ask Javier if he wants to come?" He nodded again as we stood up.

The first thing I noticed when I turned around was the pair of legs dangling from a tree. Walking across the grass I looked up to see Javier swinging his legs on the branch while sketching.

"Javier?"

His dark eyes were looking down at me before he looked over at Aly. "What?"

"Aly is coming over to my house for dinner, games and lots of dessert. Do you want to join us?"

Javier looked skeptical as he shut his sketchbook and looked between us. "What kind of dessert?"

"I have ice cream, fudge, cookies and a whole cheesecake."

"I don't like fudge."

"No fudge then."

He was quiet for a few more seconds before he jumped down from the branch. "Javier! You can't jump off a fucking tree branch," Aly all but screamed.

"I didn't break anything," Javier said completely unfazed.

"You could have."

I smiled while starting to walk backwards. "Come on guys. I'll call your parents before we get this party started."