"You're back from work already?" Gabe heard Alice call out as he followed Trist into the house. Then he rounded the corner and saw the smile drop off her face. "Oh."
The girls were there too, sitting on the couch. They were watching Gabe but they didn't say anything.
He must have looked a mess. He felt exhausted and by now the bruise on his arm had spread and darkened enough that it was unmissable. There was no pretending everything was fine.
Trist headed over to the kitchen and had a hushed conversation with Alice, both of them shooting occasional glances in Gabe's direction. Gabe felt awkward just standing there, so he went and sat down in the armchair.
"Hey," he said to the girls.
Sophie held out a packet of biscuits to him. "Tim Tam?"
He took one. "Thanks."
Alice came out of the kitchen with Trist lingering behind her. "Girls, can you give us a few minutes alone to have a chat?"
"Yeah, of course," Sophie said, and Bee nodded her agreement. Sophie placed the packet of Tim Tams on Gabe's lap before they both headed off towards their bedroom.
Trist headed back into the kitchen, but he was still there. Still within earshot. Gabe decided he preferred it that way.
Alice sat down on the couch nearest the armchair and leant towards Gabe with her elbows on her knees. "Trist told me a bit about what's been going on with you. Or at least the parts he knows about."
"Okay," Gabe said, which was a terrible response but he didn't know what else to say.
"I'm so sorry, Gabe. I had no idea anything like that was happening. I never would have sent you back if I thought you might not be safe."
"I know," Gabe said. "It was my choice."
Gabe had heard Trist coming up behind him, but he still jumped when something cold touched his arm. Trist sat down on the arm of the armchair and pressed the improvised cold pack he'd made out of a tea towel and a bag of frozen peas more firmly against Gabe's bruise. Okay then.
"Well, you have a place here as long as you need it, okay?" she said. "Trist agrees too. Don't you, Trist?"
"Yup," Trist said. It sounded unenthusiastic and forced, but somehow Gabe still believed he was sincere. Perhaps because he was still fussing over icing Gabe's bruise. Did that even do anything hours after an injury occurred? Gabe didn't know and he didn't really care, he just appreciated the attention.
"I should probably go and call Sally and let her know what's going on," Gabe said.
"All right," Alice said. "You let me know if you need anything, okay hun?"
"I will. Thanks."
Gabe hadn't expected Trist to follow him back to his bedroom, hadn't expected him to sit down next to him on the bottom bunk and press the peas back against his arm, but there he was and Gabe found it oddly comforting.
He found Sally in his contacts and held his phone to his ear.
It only took her a few seconds to answer. "Hey, Gabe. Is everything okay?"
"Not really."
There was a beat of silence. "Are you okay?"
Gabe looked down at the bag of peas pressed against his arm. "No. I mean— yes, but no."
"Gabe."
"Adam took a swing at me with the rolling pin. I managed to block it with my arm, but... he'd been aiming for my head. If that had landed..."
Sally whispered a curse.
Trist pulled the peas back for a second so he could take another look at the bruise. He was so close against Gabe's side. Gabe wanted so badly to just lean into him.
"He's there alone now," Gabe continued. "I left. I just— I can't do this anymore. I don't want to give him another chance. I don't even think he wants that."
"No, you're right. You did the right thing. Where are you? Are you safe?"
"I'm back with the people I was standing with before. And yeah." Gabe looked up and found himself holding eye contact with Trist. "Yeah, I'm safe."
The phone crackled as Sally let out a slow breath. "Okay. Good. That's good. I'm glad you're safe. Is there an adult I can talk to?"
"Um, yeah. Hold on." Gabe left the room and went to find Alice in the living room. He held out the phone to her. "My stepmum wants to talk to you."
Gabe didn't bother staying while they talked. He was ready for this whole thing to be over. When he returned to the bedroom, Trist handed him the bag of peas. Apparently — unfortunately — he was done playing nurse.
"Thanks," Gabe said, and he hoped Trist knew he didn't just mean for the peas.
"Mm," Trist said as he headed for the door. He had his car keys in his hand.
"You're going out?"
"Yup."
"Oh."
Trist turned back to look at him. "It seems like everything's sorted, so I need to get back to work."
"Oh, shit. You were still at work when I called?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise."
"Obviously, because I didn't say. But it's fine. My manager's cool and I'm her most reliable employee. But..." He held up his car keys.
"You have to go. Right. Okay. You'll be back after work?"
"Mm," Trist said as he turned to leave. Then he paused, looked back at Gabe, and said, "Yes. I will be."
"Okay. I'll see you then."
#
It was about an hour of laying in bed staring up at the slats that held up the top bunk before there was a quiet knock at the door.
"Yeah?" Gabe called out.
"Can I come in?" Alice's voice asked through the door.
"Yeah."
Alice entered the room and then shut the door behind her. They were going to have a conversation, then. Gabe sat up.
"I just had a long talk with your stepmum." Alice handed Gabe his phone back. "She seems nice."
"Yeah," Gabe said. "She's nice."
Alice sighed and sat down next to Gabe on the edge of the bed. "She wants to work towards making things safe so that you can go home again, and if I can help her with that I will. But, Gabe... first and foremost, I want to help you. In whatever way you need."
Gabe swallowed around a tight knot in his throat. He couldn't look at her. "Why?"
"Oof." She leant her head back in thought for a moment. "I suppose... my own family was always a little broken, growing up. Or a lot broken, if I'm honest. I thought I didn't want anything to do with any of them again, moved hours away... But then one day Sophie tracked me down on the internet, because that's easy these days."
"Why was she looking for you?"
Alice shook her head. "At the time I didn't know. It seemed like she just wanted to talk, but we hadn't really had much of a relationship up until then so it was... odd. Honestly, I still wanted to get away from my family, so at first that oddness was the only thing that made me keep talking to her, kept me from pulling away. Long enough for me to realise what an incredible girl she is and that I do want family in my life."
"Something was wrong, though?"
"Yes, and that's why she ended up here, but that's not my story to tell. What I'm trying to say is that isolating myself did nothing to help me. Bringing that girl into my life, keeping her safe, that was what rebalanced my universe. And then I decided to check in on my other sibling's kid, and along came Bee. And then Trist. Somewhere along the way, I redefined and made peace with the concept of family. And... here we are."
"I think I get it. You didn't have a good home life when you were younger, so you want to save anyone you can from living through that same kind of thing."
"Exactly," she said. "I should have known better than to think being with your dad was the best thing for you. Ironically, I was trying to be objective and avoid letting my own biases cloud my judgement."
"You didn't know everything. I didn't tell you much."
"They never do at first. But... I had a feeling, and I ignored that because sending you home felt like the more sensible move. And maybe a bit because, well... it was the simplest solution. I should have known better, though."
"I'm not your responsibility. You don't owe me anything."
"I chose to take on responsibility for you when I brought you into my home. And that includes making sure that when you leave it, you'll be safe where you're going." She turned his head with her fingers, made him finally look at her. "I won't let you down again. I promise."