the kids aren't alright

[yaoi man]

"It isn't as easy as I thought it would be, pretty rough, actually, but it sure beats staying where i was." He sighed. It was actually horrible, his first night without a proper bed was cold and terrifying. He tried not to think about it.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

He let out a low laugh which rung through the empty restaurant, his back falling against the seat. Wow, this kid really was clueless!


"Not as easy as ya thought?" He repeated, snickering out each word.


"It's called bein' homeless! If you think that sounds like a life of luxury, you'd be wrong." Shaking his head, he rose from the table, picking up the empty cup.


"Aye, I'mma go refill my drink. You can't get fine champaign like Pepsi anywhere, ya know," He told him through his smirk, turning away and walking towards the soda dispensers. Filling his cup to the brim, he sealed it off with a plastic top then returned to their table. He put down his drink, gave Quinten a warning look not to touch it, then made his way to the restrooms.


After using a urinal, he went to one of the sinks. Leaning his arms onto the sides of it, he looked at himself in the dirty mirror which hung on the wall before him. Dark circles rung around his brown eyes, his wild black hair that swooped across his forehead casting a shadow onto them and making them seem even darker. He looked just as bad as he excepted.


Grumbling, he turned on the water, putting his hand into the flow and waiting until it became his desired temperature. With a quick glance towards the door to make sure nobody was about to walk in, he cupped his hand under the cold water and flung it into his face. The sting of freezing liquid caused him to let out a small gasp, but he shook it off and flung another handful into his face. He did this until he was wide awake, and when he finally was, he ducked his entire head into the flow. It felt extremely awkward how his forehead was smushed against the bottom of the sink, but the cold water running through his scalp felt so amazing that he rarely noticed. When his hair was soaked, he pulled away from the water, shaking his head rapidly like a wet dog. Water droplets flew everywhere, dotting the walls and mirrors. His hair was still not quite dry from this, so he looked around the restroom for some kind of hand dryer. Unfortunately there were no air dryers, but they did have paper towels. With a sigh, he unrolled several feet of the thick paper and crumbled it up into a large ball. Flipping his head over, he ran the paper towel down up and down his wet hair quickly. It did a fairly good job of drying his hair, but he could still feel that the roots were terribly soaked.


Using the same paper towel, he dabbed off the wetness on his face, then threw it away. Before he left the restroom, he fixed his hair as best he could, then made his way back to where Quinten sat.

 

[yaoi man]

He twiddled his thumbs, thinking about how naive he really was. He hadn't at all expected it to be easy, and it really wasn't. His mind drifted back to the memory of his first night homeless. He'd been running away from his house for a while, he was way too mad to care. His thoughts were drowned out by the pounding headache in his temples and the splints below his ribs thrown in with the blistering wind. He gritted his teeth, not making the headache any better, and slowed his pace down a bit. It was now evening time and the street lamps lining the streets had flickered on and were buzzing loudly. Pressure was building behind his eyes and gravity seemed like it was focused on making his eyelids heavier.


He knew his parents would be looking for him soon after realizing that he wasn't coming back. Pulling his hood over and pulling it in front of the side of his face visible to the road, he picked up his pace once again. Putting as much distance between himself and them was his number one priority at the moment. Making sure they wouldn't find him was his number two. He kept at it for nearly 10 more minutes before he found a nice inconspicuous spot that was, cliche enough, down an alley. The ground was revolting and the smell wasn't any better, but at least it blocked out most of the harsh wind. He looked around the street searching for possible materials to make laying on the ground less disgusting. Finally he found a box covered in dirt. He broke it down and laid down. That night was rough. He could remember getting about 30 minutes of sleep, max. The rest of the night was spent attempting a comfortable position. He'd kept the headache for hours, which made his night way worse than it would have been without it.


Remembering it brought him down, he wanted to believe that he could live on his own, but for now he was just homeless. Once again, he was naive for just running out and not thinking, and at the moment he did think it was a good idea. But now, he knew it wasn't in his best interest to leave home, but there was no way he was going back to his parents. It won't be this hard forever, he thought to himself.


He was staring off into space when Derrick returned to the table. He noticed that his hair looked slightly tamer than before and he looked more alive than tired. he looked at him, "that was a lovely date" He said jokingly. "you really are a charm." He gave a quiet laugh.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

"Eh, what can I say?" He replied, stopping beside the table and picking up his drink. "I can't help it. It was a great date, really, but it's about time I got goin'. It's been nice meetin' ya, Quin." With that he made his way to the exit, abandoning his date and all reminiscence of his meal at the table. On the way to the door he picked up a straw from the front counter, ripping a tear into its paper covering with his teeth before stripping it away and stabbing the bare plastic straw into his drink. He balled up the torn paper with his free hand and discarded onto the floor, afterwards using that hand to reach for the door that lead outside of the Wendy's.

 

[yaoi man]

He'd expected to walk out with him, and he didn't want to lose his new friend. As he was walking away from the door, Quinten jumped up, walking behind him, not even sure if he could convince this guy to let him stick around. "Uh hey, Derrick do you mind if I maybe hang with you for a while, er or just maybe-" he stopped awkwardly, he was never really good at talking to people, never knew what to say, hoping he would get what he was trying to ask. He knew that he was probably embarrassing himself.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Quinten managed to stop him right before he made it to the door. Drawing the straw away from his lips he halted, looking back to him. His plan had been to get the money from him and leave, but he supposed he could let him hang around a little longer. This guy probably would not stay around for too long, anyway. Companions never did tend to linger long around him. On average they stayed for only a day or two then left; leaving on their on terms, his terms, or they were simply separated by life.


Besides, he had not had a buddy to talk to for a while. The last time he could remember having a civilized conversation with another person for this long was a month prior, and that had been with some ten year olds who needed another person to play basketball with them.


"Sure, whatever." He said, pushing the door open.


"I need someone to help me find my way around this place, anyway. I'm assumin' you've been here for a while?"

 

[yaoi man]

He sighed in relief, continuing to walk. "yeah, I grew up around here. I could make my way around in a blindfold if i wanted. Say, where did you used to be living at?"

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Maybe this kid wasn't completely useless after all. It would be nice to have someone with knowledge over the area around.


"Me? Well, before I bolted from home, I was livin' near the middle of the country." He replied, pausing once they were outside the Wendy's to take a small sip of his drink.


"Never really stayed in one place, ya know. You're a different story though, huh? Didn't even leave ya home town even after you ran off."

 

[yaoi man]

"Nah I lived in the town right next to here, but I spent most of my days hanging around this side of town, It's where all the action's at." He knew he wouldn't stay here forever, but he knew this area well. Sticking around somewhere he knew seemed like the right thing to do until he learnt how to handle himself.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

He looked down one side of the street to the other, evaluating which way he should go. The left side was relatively abandoned, with only a few dispersed people shuffling around, while the right was filled with bustling people. He chose the latter, since that seemed to be where all of the ships and businesses were located.


"All the action?" He repeated questioningly as he began to walk towards the sea of people. "What action goes on in this place?"

 

[yaoi man]

"Not much, honestly. But compared to where i was, this is practically New York City." He looked at the people across the street. All the people on this block was probably equal to the the population of his old town. "It's mostly fast food joints and a bunch of bars. real exciting."

 

[Fall Out Boi]

"Any churches around here?" He asked, but realizing how odd that must have sounded, he quickly followed up with,


"I ain't all that religious, but sometimes the church people'll let those that don't got no place to go sleep in 'em."


Even if there was a church around, they probably wouldn't allow him to sleep in their humble place of worship. The churches he had been to which let him stay the night in their holy building had been in small towns or remote areas, and even there they had been skeptical of a rugged teenager like him slumbering there. He highly doubted that a church in a bigger city like this would let anyone stay during the night. It wouldn't hurt to at least try, though.

 

[yaoi man]

He scratched his head, trying to remember if there were any churches or not. "The only one I can think of is this old traditional like church. But they seem the type to have open doors." He gestured towards the direction in which they just came from. "S'about 15, 20 minutes this way." He was looking forward to getting there, that is if they do let them in. He'd never considered going to the church for a place to sleep, and probably wouldn't have ever if it weren't for Derrick. He was picking up useful stuff already.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

"Lead the way," He said, looking in the direction he gestured. It would still be quite a while until night fell, but it was a good idea to check out the church to see if they would allow them in before they would need to stay.

 

[yaoi man]

He turned on his heel and started walking in the direction of the church, Derrick following. "So, why'd you leave home anyway?" He asked him, trying to distract himself from the chilly wind now blowing in his face.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Dammit, he should have known that he would start to get nosy. They always did. Never failing to dig up things that were dead and buried.


"Eh, things," he replied vaguely, trailing a few steps behind him so he wouldn't see his frown.


"I just wasn't needed no more. What about yourself?"

 

[yaoi man]

Things. Now he was curious, but he wasn't about to ask it again. "My parents pretty much micromanaged my life, went through all my stuff, told me who to be and when to be it, ya know, typical parent bullshit. Dumb thing to leave over, I know, but it just wan't for me."

 

[Fall Out Boi]

He scoffed, but in truth had not expected anything more from him. If anything, he had expected less. Of course he ran away for such childish reasons, what else could it had been? His parents cared too much about him, oh no! They went through his stuff and saw his playboy magazine! Oh no, their little boy knew what a girl was!


He would go crawling back to his mommy and daddy soon, and would happily let them control his life. That was always the deal with these sheltered types. They have one fight with their guardian then get an idea: running away. The idea of bolting from home was fine and dandy, but the second they actually tried to turn their dream into reality, they went running back home quicker than they absconded.


Honestly, he couldn't blame them. Who would be stupid enough to choose this lifestyle over having a roof over your head?


"I know, right? Having a house just ain't my style, either." He put his sly smirk back on, trying to mask the annoyance bubbling inside him.

 

[yaoi man]

He stayed silent, getting the feel that he was being annoying, and annoying was the last thing he wanted to be. This guy probably had some good reasons for leaving, and here he was, some kid who left because his parents annoyed him. He probably saw him as some asshole with mommy and daddy issues.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Grateful for the silence, he stepped up his pace, using he opportunity to soak in his surroundings. This area was not as crowded compared to the way they had been going, but it was still fairly busy. Civilians hurried up and down the sidewalks, paying no mind to the two homeless teens. Cars rushed by on the road to their right, drivers eyes locked on the road.


He didn't care about them, though. You could find people and cats anywhere.


What he was really looking at were the shops. Restaurants, clothing stores, and a few other miscellaneous shops flanked the right side of the street.


He soaked in the layout, making note of the location of every store. Until now, he did not have the chance to see the city during daytime. The short time he had spent in the area had been masked in the dark of night, and things always looked different in day than in night. He had no idea how long he planned to stay here, but if he did end up sticking around for a while, he needed to get a feel of the city in day and nightmare.


If business was this booming everyday, he would prefer to hang here for a while longer. Busy stores meant distracted shop owners, which meant more opportunities for him to snatch some new possessions. He had just came out of a long stretch of remote country towns with small and local shops,


so it would be nice to be seen as a random everyday customer in these larger places instead of a rare passerby.


Maybe he would pass through that clothing store there, get a nice shirt that wouldn't be missed. Oh, that connivence store looked promising...


Suddenly, he felt someone staring at him. He glanced at Quinten, but it was not him who was eyeballing him. Grip tightening on his cup, his eyes flicked around, trying to find whoever was glaring him down.


When he found the culprit, his stomach dropped. On the patio of an Italian restaurant was the manager who had chased him the night before, eyes wide and locked on him.


His mouth parting with surprise, he broke his gaze off him. Shit, they made eye contact!


He hadn't gotten that good of a look of him. Maybe he wasn't sure it was him. He could still create a diversion and get out of this, but what? Running was no good, too obvious. Turning and walking the other way was just as bad, he saw him looking at him!


He looked over at Quinten, grabbing the other boys sleeve to make him stop.


God dammit.


"Come here," He growled through teeth bared in a fake smile, pulling him back forcefully.


"You're my boyfriend and we just had the best date of our lives, got it?"


With a final quick glance to the manager, he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around his neck, the plastic cup in his hand leaning against his back. He didn't realize how much taller Quibten was than him until he was so close to him. Oh well, the bigger he was, the bigger the distraction.


"Oh my god, babe!" He laughed, swinging the boy around so he blocked the managers view of him.


"That was such a good dinner!"

 

[twink magazines]

He looked across the street at all of the people walking, some in groups, some alone, all living their lives, always somewhere to go and something to do. He had lost himself and his thoughts until he felt a tug on his sleeve, pulling him back, and Derrick almost "Come here" he heard him say, with what sounded like gritted teeth. "you're my boyfriend and we just had the best date of our lives, got it?" Quinten nodded, still not completely understanding why, but understanding that it was obviously important.


He felt his arm wrap around his shoulders and bent his knees, bringing himself closer to Derrick's height.


He was about to ask why he was doing this, but he was stopped. "oh my god, babe!" said Derrick, with a fake laugh "That was such a good dinner!"


He laughed back, glancing around to try to guess what was going on. "Yeah, great!" He flashed a fake smile then looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Dude, what the hell?" he said through the clenched teeth of his smile.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Quinten's inquiry was only met with another burst of fake giggles as Derrick broke away from the taller boy, snatching up his hand roughly. He grasped it firmly, fingertips digging painfully into his skin.


"Ugh, you've gotta stop teasing me while we're in public, though!" Hopefully the manager was doing everything he could not to look at the pair, but he didn't dare to catch a glance his way to see. That was far too risky. Instead, he started to walk down the sidewalk again, forcefully jerking Quinten along so he would block the managers view of him.


"Them eyes you give me sometimes, I swear...it makes me wanna jump across the table and put a different kinda sausage in your mouth!"


He was so close to the corner, just a little more. There it was, but wait-


Right at the edge of corner stood a gang of familiar kids, staring at the two boys with jaws agape and fists clenched. They looked even more infuriated with Quinten than they had during their first encounter.


Derrick released his hand and let his own drift back to his side, his quick stride slowing to a halt. Shit.


"Aye, Quinten, your friends from earlier ain't very keen to gays, are they?"

 

[twink magazines]

He felt Derrick stop and let go of him, stopping to look ahead of them at a group of kids. "what the.." he stopped, it was the group of kids from earlier, and they looked pretty mad. He could feel a punch in the gut just from the way they looked like they wanted to beat them up.


"Ay, Quinten, Your friends from earlier ain't very keen to gays, are they?" His stomach drops and he immediately tries to think of any way possible to get out of this situation. He can't.


"Shit. It doesn't look that way." He considers running, but against a group of kids that were probably faster than him? the chances of actually getting away were pretty slim. He doubted they could pass it off as just being 'friendly'.


Before he had any time to think about what to do, The 'main' kid began striding over to them, the rest following. He stopped in front of them, a disgusted look on his face.


"So is this the 'hot date' you had planned? huh?" He says, gesturing towards Derrick. "What a catch you've got there, bud" He said sarcastically. "Ya know? earlier, I just wanted to beat you up, but now, i really want to beat you up" He looks at Derrick again "And your little boyfriend too."


Shit.


The obnoxious boy motions towards his group, "Which one of you wants to take care of the little one?" a younger, but tougher looking boy steps in front of Derrick, sneering.


How in the fuck are they going to get out of this.

 

[Fall Out Boi]

Oh, this was ridiculous. What did these kids think they were going to get out of fighting him? The mere experience of beating on a "gay" guy?


More importantly, why did they think he was going to give them the pleasure of beating them up? He didn't have time to deal with these brats, and the last thing he needed was to be seen beating on kids in public.


"Yeah, I am quite a catch, ain't I?" A large smirk spread across his face as he bent down to be at the child's level.


"But a pretty face like mine ain't made for watching little babies squabble around like they're tough shit, so why don't y'all go run back to your mamas and-"


Before he could finish the taunt, the boy shut him up with a swift punch to the mouth. The impact was enough to break his lip wide open, and blood quickly began gushing into his mouth.


He shot up and covered his mouth with an arm, making only his eyes narrowed at the boy visible.


"That little fucker broke my lip!" He growled, the words bubbling the gushing blood.


Suddenly, he felt something hitting his calf. Spinning around, he saw another child kicking his leg with extreme force. He easily shoved him off, but almost immediately afterwards another one leaned onto his side. Then another. One was punching him weakly in the stomach, while another was busy scratching at his arm so deeply it drew blood.


He was in too deep of shock that this was actually happening to react at first, but an unexpected sharp kick in the eye was enough to snap him out of it. In fact, that was just enough to push him right over the edge.


Shouting out profanities that would offend a sailor, he aggressively shook all the children off him by any means necessary. Literally shaking them off, pushing them, or even punching a kid once or twice: anything to get these shits away.


It all happened quite quickly after that. After he got the kids off of him, they scattered, scurrying away and howling like a bunch of frightened dogs.


Just when he thought that was the last of them, he heard some soft grunts coming from beside him.


He glanced over to see two kids still beating on Quinten, if you could even call it that. They were both just kicking his shins and calves meekly, making a dramatic sound with every swing as if it was the most pain staking task they've ever committed.


Rolling his eyes, he stomped over and tore the boys away by their hair. They both screeched and flailed in protest, and hurried off in the direction of their companions once he let go.


As he watched them disappear down the street, an unexpected rush of pain came to the eye that had been hit.


"Shit," He mumbled, reaching up to touch it. Yep, that was swelling badly already.


He could worry about his battle wounds later, though. He just to get out of here before someone who had heard the ruckus called the cops.


"Where the hells that church you were talking about?!" Derrick snapped to Quinten, blood still trickling down his chin from his broken lip.

 

[twink magazines]

The kid had punched him in the nose as soon as he looked over at the kids approaching Derrick, and the remainder of the kids who hadn't jumped on Derrick had started pulling him down from his back, one bit his arm, weird ass kids. He shook all of them off except the two kids kicking at him, Derrick pulled them off by their hair and they ran off with their other scared friends.


He looks at Derrick, who now has a swollen eye and a bleeding lip. He looked down at the slightly swollen bite mark. who the hell bites people.


"Where the hell's that church you were talking about?" Derrick grunted. He now had blood running down his chin.


"Not too far. just about 5 more minutes up this way, probably." He started walking again, feeling bad that he'd gotten him into this. Now he has a black eye and a hurt lip. "Those kids were ridiculous." He scoffed.


He just hoped someone at the church would let them stay for the night.