Small warning for mention of cigarettes/smoking. It's nothing big, it's just talked about a bit.
Enjoy the chapter!
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Scar's grip tightened around Grian, the latter trembling in the brunette's arms.
"They're gonna take me away," Grian murmured over and over, grasping tightly at Scar's jumper. He wasn't quite crying but his voice quivered as if he was.
Scar tried calming him by running a hand through his hair and rocking back and forth, but it didn't seem to do much. "No one is taking you away," he whispered. "You're safe. You're safe."
Mumbo gasped from the front hallway. "Stop, I never said you could-" He cut himself off with a yelp, and both Scar and Grian jumped at the sound of a crash.
Trying (and quite obviously failing) to stay calm, Scar nudged Grian to let him know he wanted to get up from the floor. Grian still clung to the brunette as they stood.
"Let go of me!" Mumbo shouted just before the police officer standing at the door came into the living room.
Scar put his arm out in front of Grian in a protective manner, glaring at the officer as he heard Mumbo let out a pained whine.
The policeman put his hands up. "We're not here to hurt anyone," he began.
"Then why was Mumbo screaming?" Scar demanded. "He wouldn't be screaming if you weren't hurting him."
"He'll be fine," the officer answered. He glaze flicked to Grian, who was cowering behind Scar. "I assume you're Grian?" Grian hid his face against Scar's shoulder. "I need you to come with me. Your friend Joel is waiting at the station for you. He's worried about you."
Yeah, right, he's worried, Grian thought bitterly. He doesn't care. He never cared. If he cared, he wouldn't have hit Lizzie.
Scar let out a stubborn hmph. "My boyfriend isn't going anywhere," he huffed, the title making Grian blush a bit.
The man sighed. "Would it make you feel better if you went with him?" he asked.
Scar hesitated. "No."
"Well, I'm not leaving without-"
Mumbo ran into the room, yelling incoherently, and started to hit the policeman. "Leave! Grian! Alone!" The officer was anything but bothered by Mumbo's shouting and hitting him. "And get out of my house!" Mumbo squeezed his eyes shut as he pounded his fists into the officer.
"Alright, alright," the man said, half-heartedly trying to swat Mumbo away. "You can sto-" He was cut off when Mumbo's fist collided with his nose. "Dammit, kid-" He stepped backward. "Would you cut it out?"
Mumbo glared at the policeman. "You threw me against the wall!"
"Listen, all I need is to take Grian to the station, alright?" Scar and Mumbo continued to give the officer dirty looks. "What can I do to convince you to let me take Grian?"
* * *
"Let go of me!"
Joel turned his head to see a rather large policeman walking into the station with Grian thrown over his shoulder, the boy thrashing and hitting the officer.
"Put me down!" Grian wailed.
The officer bent forward to set Grian on his feet, immediately having to block him from running out the door.
Joel stepped forward and put his hand on Grian's shoulder, making the younger jump. "Gri-"
"No!" the dirty blonde shrieked, stumbling backwards. "Leave me alone!"
The way he was screaming at him made Joel want to cry. "Grian, please-"
Grian shook his head violently. "No, no, no!" He backed himself up against a wall, now visibly shaking. "Get away from me!" Wrapping his arms around himself, he lowered his head and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "I hate you," he murmured, letting a small sob loose.
Joel took a deep breath to ease the urge to cry as well. "Bud, listen," he whispered as he lowered himself to the ground. He didn't bother getting closer to Grian or trying to touch him. "I'm so sorry. I never should've lost my temper and yelled at you and Liz. There's no excuse for the way I treated you two, and I swear I'm trying my hardest to be a good da- friend to you." Grian looked up slightly, flinching a bit when Joel scooted closer. "And I'm sorry for scaring you, not only by fighting with Liz but by leaving those cigarettes out." Grian grimaced at the mention of the cigarettes. "I shouldn't be smoking in the first place, and I definitely shouldn't have put it where you'd see it."
Grian glanced away. "Promise to stop?" he said quietly.
A small smile of relief spread across Joel's lips. "I promise," he whispered back. "But I need you to come home with me, okay? We can make cookies, and-"
"He won't be going home with you," a female voice said from behind Joel. It was the operator he talked to. "And you won't be returning to where you've been living, either."
Joel stood up. "This doesn't involve you."
She smiled sarcastically at him. "It does when a child is without a place to stay, and when a child is living by himself with no parent or guardian," she said. "We can do this one of two ways." She held up two fingers, then put one down when she continued. "You can call a friend to have their parents sign a waiver to foster you until you're eighteen and can legally live on your own" - she put the second finger up again - "or, we can find you an orphanage to stay in."
Grian tugged on Joel's jeans from his spot on the floor. "I don't want to go to an orphanage," he whispered. The way his bottom lip quivered made Joel's heart break for the boy, but it made him furious at the lady.
"We're not going to an orphanage, Grian," Joel said back, leaning down to run a hand through his hair. "We can stay with Jimmy and-" Oh, wait... I can't. "You can stay with Jimmy and Liz, okay? They love you, I'm sure Daniel won't mind having you until my birthday."
"But what about you?" Grian's voice didn't come above a whisper, and it cracked as he spoke.
Joel gave him a smile. "I just might have to go to an orphanage alone," he said. "But that's okay. I'll be eighteen in just a few months, right? Then I'll get my place back and we can live together again."
Grian stared at Joel for a moment before breaking into a painful sob, clinging onto the brunette's leg. "I'm sorry," he wailed. "It's all my fault. If I didn't run away-"
"Hey, it's okay," Joel said. "It's only until the end of June."
"That's too long."
Joel put a hand on Grian's cheek and the latter looked up. "I promise, it'll be alright." The longer he made eye contact with Grian, the more he wanted to burst into tears. Despite his words, the last thing he ever wanted was to go to some run-down orpanage, especially right after making up with Grian.
Grian put his hand over Joel's. "Why can't you come with me?"
"I don't think Daniel would like me living there after what I did to Lizzie," the brunette answered softly.
"What about Fwhip? Or Mumbo? Or that guy with the grey hair you hang out with sometimes?" Grian's tone was desperate. "Stay with one of them!"
Joel considered it for a moment. He wasn't as close with any of them as he was with Jimmy and Lizzie, but... "I guess it would be worth a shot to ask," he sighed. There's no guarantee they'll let me stay, he thought, but just asking is better than settling for an orphanage.
Joel tried calling the three Grian suggested. Fwhip didn't answer, and Mumbo had blocked him. The only person left to call was Etho.
Joel was hesitant to make the call. They hadn't spoken in a while. In fact, the last time they even texted each other was when they had dated back in junior high. They were still friends, of course, but they weren't very close.
Taking a deep breath, Joel finally pressed the button and put his phone up to his ear.
"Joel?"
"Hey, Etho," Joel breathed, a large amount of nervousness and tension leaving his body. "Um, I'm in a bit of a... predicament," he said with a breathy laugh.
"Oh?"
Joel turned away from the woman, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the eye contact they made. "Yeah... Any chance your parents would let me stay with you guys for a couple months?" he asked. He grimaced at how straightforward the question was. It probably wasn't the best way to ask, but it was over quicker this way.
Etho was silent for a moment. "You want to live here?" he said.
"Just for a couple months," Joel said. Somehow, he was starting to feel a lot less awkward. "It's either that, or I go stay in an orphanage, so, uh..."
"An orphanage?" Etho echoed. "Jeez, what happened?"
Joel sighed. "A lot of things." A beat of silence passed before Joel spoke again. "So?"
"I guess you could," Etho said. Joel could vividly imagine Etho shrugging. "Mom and Dad are around much anymore, so I don't think they'll care."
"Okay." Joel nodded. "Thanks, Etho."
Etho chuckled. "Of course," he said. "I've been wanting to catch up with you anyway."
* * *
A knock on the door distracted Jimmy from the pot of boiling water. "I'll get it."
"No, you won't," Daniel said, bopping the boy on the head with an oven mit. "You stay there and watch the pot, silly."
Jimmy sighed. "Fine."
Daniel practically slid down the hallway to the front door. "Hello-" He frowned when he was met with the face of a policeman. "Officer."
"Are you Daniel Solidarity?" the policeman asked.
"Yes, sir." Daniel glanced behind the officer to see Joel and a mop of messy, dirty blonde hair next to him. "Is everything alright?"
The police officer presented a clipboard with paperwork and a pen, then turned around once Daniel took them to pull Grian next to him. "Grian here has no place to stay and I was told you may be able to give him a home."
Daniel nodded, skimming over the paper, then looked back at Joel for a brief moment. "Uh huh."
"Just sign the bottom of that waiver, please."
Daniel didn't waste a second before scribbling down his signature and handing the officer the clipboard. "Is... that all?"
The officer nodded.
Joel tapped Grian on the shoulder and the latter turned around, wrapping his arms tightly around the taller boy.
"Be good," Joel murmured. "You can call me whenever you want, okay?" Grian nodded slightly. "We'll still see each other in school, and we can hang out whenever you want." He pulled away, but kept Grian at arm's length. "Do you have extra clothes here?" Grian nodded again. "Okay, good. I love you."
Grian hugged Joel again, not saying anything.
"Goodnight."
Grian waved when they let go of each other, and Joel waved back. The policeman escorted Joel back to a small car parked on the side of the street.
"What's this about?" Daniel asked Grian once they were inside.
Grian didn't answer.
"Kiddo?"
Again, the boy didn't answer, silently stepping into the guest bedroom and closing the door behind him.
* * *
Woah, new character! And he's introduced toward the end of the book, too. I'm so good at plot /lh/j
I hate the way I wrote this chapter, genuinely. But I don't know how to make it better and I'm too lazy to try and fix it. :P
I also couldn't decide what to make the police officer do that let Scar and Mumbo take Grian with him, so we're just going to ignore that haha /lh
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Have a wonderful rest of your day, or evening, wherever you are <33 /gen