Gabby couldn't remember a more awkward car ride. She ended up pulling over to explain what had happened in library, just for safety. He barely spoke during the story, even when she promised she had told them absolutely nothing about him. At the end he was quiet as though gathering his thoughts and finally asked: "How long after they left did you go looking for me? Are you sure they were gone?"

She felt her heart drop at the realization. Not long enough. If they were suspicious, watching her get into someone else's car when hers was right there surely would have alerted them something off was happening if they happened to be staying close by.

They brought the groceries in and silently placed them in their designated spots. Marshmallow must have recognized the tension because Gabby kept tripping over her as she whined and nudged her nose into her hand.

She'd expected him to panic, to try and run off, yell maybe. This silent treatment made her more nervous. Gabby finished putting away the frozen food they'd purchased and offered to make sandwiches for a snack before dinner when she noticed him by his duffle bag. At first she thought he might be rummaging for clothes that fit better but realized he was folding.

"What are you doing? You can't leave."

His voice was flat. "Yes. I can."

"No-" She jogged over, putting a hand over his arm. He shook her off. Hard. She stepped back, surprised. "You ate everything in my fridge. You promised to make more. I'll starve if you leave!" She joked weakly. When he didn't respond she tried another tactic. "It's probably safer here. I mean, if they haven't already showed up for you I doubt they will."

Chris stood up holding a half rolled shirt. "Have you ever considered its your safety I'm concerned with?" He had that intense stare again, just like when they'd first met. That with his words chilled her. But she refused to give in to fear tactics. "Well since you never told me why you ran away or why-" she gestured in the general direction of the library "-you are looking for all these books I don't see a reason I should be worried. If you tell me maybe I'll take you seriously."

"I thought you promised to trust me."

"And I thought you said it had to be mutual." She waited. He didn't reply but he was now staring at a pair of pants instead of rolling them. "Come on Christopher, please tell me what happened. Was it your family?"

"No." His response was immediate.

That ruled out one thing. "Then, what?"

"You know when people say 'you won't believe me if I tell you' and then the people promise they will, but they don't?"

"That won't happen. I'll believe you."

"You finished your line perfectly." He gave her a half smile and shook his head and the smile slipped. "I barely believe it."

"Then at least stay another night. Just until after my chemistry test tomorrow. If I'm worried about you being dead all day I will flunk for sure. And I'll blame you and it will be on your conscious forever."

"If I'm not here, how will I know?"

"Oh- you'll know." She gently tugged the sweater out of his hands and held onto one of them, trying to think of the right words. "Please, I'm asking as your barely tolerated not-friend acquaintance. Please don't leave me just yet."

Chris' mouth became a line and he looked down at their hands and back up. He tipped his head towards the ceiling and shut his eyes. "Ok."

"Good now let's stop packing and make something to eat I am staaarving." She was about to toss the sweater back into the bag but noticed a tag still on it. "Did you bring new clothes from home?"

"A few but they are used up now." he looked at what she was holding. "I got that here."

"Where?"

"One of the shop's downtown."

"You barely can eat and you went shopping in the mall? Why didn't you go to a thrift store?"

"Where is The Thrift store? I've never heard of that company."

"Ha! Wait-" She covered half her face with a hand. "Do you really not know what a thrift store is?"

"No I've never been to The Thrift store. Why are you laughing?"

"Not the thrift store, Chris, A thrift store."

"I'm clearly missing something."

She cleared her throat a few times. "It's basically a discount store that resells gently used clothing. Sometimes there is new stuff too but its super cheap compared to regular stores. We get a lot of things there."

From the expression on his face she might as well have told him she swam in sewage, which only made her laugh harder.

He gave her an up down look and leaned forward to ask quietly as though he hadn't been doing it all day himself. "You are wearing strangers' clothing?"

------------

It turned out he wasn't all talk when it came to food. After she snarfed down a sandwich, and he ate five, she pulled out her chemistry notes while he took over the kitchen. It smelled amazing, whatever it was. He'd promised to make her whatever she wanted, but she had quickly got overwhelmed with the options and he had to shush her in the store and said he'd decide for her.

She glanced over at her phone, knowing there were texts waiting. Not going to school helped with the pretending she was sick but Mel was getting insistent on coming over anyways. She promised soup and head rubs and a chill movie to help heal her. Mel trusting her implicitly made her almost sick for real. She told Mel not to come so she wouldn't get sick before her birthday. Mel was still trying to convince her to let her drop off soup but from the way Chris reacted last time, she was sure he would bolt for good if anyone came to the house. His agreement to stay was still tenuous at best. She ignored the phone buzzing away. She'd told her friend her illness included a sore throat and it hurt to talk.

"How is it going?" He sat cross legged next to her and peered down at the notes.

"Not terrible, I feel like I studied better in the library though. The change of location is throwing me off for some reason." She stretched her arms high above her head.

He continued to stare.

"What's up?"

"Where is the awful perfume you were given?"

"Um the bathroom wh-" but he already disappeared. He gave no explanation other than to say he'd show her tomorrow and returned to glaring directly into her chemistry book.

"May I-?"

"Go for it. I need a break." She'd improved for sure but her problem wasn't that she didn't understand the theory or what she was supposed to do, her issue consistently was remembering the entire equation. She kept messing up one part or another and every time she would second guess herself. Gabby wondered if Chris ever struggled in school a day in his life. She wanted to blame it on the private tutors he likely had access to but even now without much help he was kicking her ass. She rolled her eyes as he checked his answer against hers and checked hers as wrong.

"Having fun?"

"Very much."

"I was being sarcastic. Wow you must have been a huge nerd in school."

"No. I am good at soccer too. And track, debate, swimming- oh and I played the cello pretty well-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." She grumbled. "Anything you can't do?"

"Not much comes to mind."

"So- maybe being humble?"

"In the right situation I can do that too. Hang on. Is Fe iron?" She watched him tap an equation and then flip open to the appendix. "Fe is iron."

"Yes."

He looked at her, grinning broadly. "I completely forgot! I'm such an idiot! Fe is iron. Yes. Yes!"

"Yay!" she was totally lost but happy to cheer on his excitement. "What does it mean?"

"It means- it means I am on the right track, the cipher is by letter and I actually completed one of the codes, what iron has to do with containing emotions is still confusing me but now if I have the other book that came in I think I will get what I need!"

"Which is-?" He was talking about codes and ciphers but as far as she could tell he had only been reading mythological books. All by the same author though.

"Answers."

"Answers to-?"

"It's very esoteric- you wouldn't get it."

"Oh ok, so you don't think I'm smart enough to figure out your little secret."

He paused, expression serious. "No. You just don't have all of the pieces. It's not all in the book. That's a good thing, Gabrielle I really wouldn't want that to happen to you. Do you want some dinner?"

------------

The evening was actually fun. Gabrielle put away the book after Chris told her confidently that cramming at the last minute didn't help, relaxing and sleeping well did. His record of straight As was enough for her to take his advice, although with a bit of a huff. They ate an amazing soup she'd never had but somehow was exactly what she wanted on a cold night. It took some convincing to get Chris to eat on the carpet so they could watch a movie. He kept looking around like a kid who was giddy about rule breaking. It turned out he hadn't seen many movies but like Gabby he enjoyed horror. Unlike Gabby, who was more used to them, he was prone to jumping at the scares. They ended up having to pause the movie so he could shovel a spoonful of dinner into his mouth to avoid wrecking the carpet.

Now that she knew who he was Chris was much more open about himself although it still took a card game to convince him to share. Guilting him to keeping her from freaking out about her test helped.

"Loser has to answer a question about themselves."

"You're making up rules. Also, you've basically already told me everything about your life without me asking."

Gabby stuck out her tongue. "Not true! How about along with asking a question, for every 5 rounds you win you get another bowl of ice cream?"

Chris was trying to balance an ice cream spoon in his mouth as he shuffled. "Dealf."

Gabby flapped her hands until they looked more like frightened birds than fingers. "Warming up my slappin' hands." She explained when he sighed at her.

"Ready?"

Chris' expression was serious. "Ready."

It was a quick enough round where Gabby ended up a half second too late a few times and he won easily. He shook his hand. "You know the point is to slap the correct cards, not me."

"Just ask your question, kiddo." For some reason despite her playful tone he looked hurt.

"Ok let me think... if you could live in any city, where would you go?"

"Wow that's a good one." She tapped her chin. "I'm not sure. I haven't been too far from home. I've been to Seattle, obviously, but its too gray."

He shrugged. "You get used to it."

"Maybe somewhere on the East Coast. I've never been."

"You want to live somewhere you've never been before. Interesting."

She marked him down for a point towards ice cream. Three rounds later the only thing she learned about Chris was he was competitive. He however learned more than he wanted about her least favorite book, that she broke her foot playing in the house sliding into a door, and her favorite band was one he'd never heard of.

Obviously they had to interrupt their game to show him the poster in her room.

"They are wearing eyeliner." He leaned closer to the group hanging over her bed. His hands were clutched behind him as though he was scared to accidentally touch anything. "and nail polish. Huh."

"Pfff guyliner is in, haven't you heard? They're super hot. Also I can't believe you've never heard of them."

They returned upstairs with Gabby ipod, Chris looking extremely concerned and focused as he listened to the songs but afterward swore he liked it.

When they sat back down to play Gabby had come up with a strategy. Most of the time when he missed he didn't touch her but the one time he did during that round she yelped and picked her hand up.

"Are you ok?" She almost felt bad for her deception, he looked genuinely upset.

The rounds after that were easier. He hesitated more than before. She learned that his grandmother had taught him to cook and had given him the protective pendant he always wore, that the furthest he'd been from home was Italy and that his anxiety about going to play soccer with public school kids was completely unfounded because none of them tried to beat him up like he'd been warned about.

"I win again!" Gabby did her best floor dance. Chris snorted. "Oh yeah, think you can do better? Wait. That's my question. Are you a good dancer?"

"Um-"

"Oooo he's embarrassed! Do you just like dance in general or do you know a specific type?" She gave him an expectant look.

"I can Tap dance. And... Salsa."

Gabby laughed. "Just for fun?"

"Well my parent's made me do Tap when I was younger. You know, to improve my foot skills and speed. I didn't have to keep going when I started playing keeper but they still had paid for the year so... I took... Salsa."

"Why do it if you didn't have to?"

His jaw worked.

"You must abide by the rules of the game!"

"These are lots of questions." He grumbled and then looked at the ceiling. "Because in 7th grade they had school dances and I wanted to know what I was doing if... you know."

"I don't know. Oooo was it about a girl?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes. Now can we please play the next round?"

Gabby cackled madly. "You're adorable. Can you show me?"

"That is not in the rules anywhere. Come on, let's go."

They played a few more rounds and she found out why he knew so much about leopards, it was his favorite animal. For some reason he gave her a strange look when she said wolves. Maybe he expected something weirder. They both started to yawn.

"One more, then we should probably sleep. Do I need to stay out here?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You have a test. Also I'm sorry about last night."

Gabby won and had to think about her question while they put the dishes in the sink. She demanded he not wash them. While she was brushing her teeth the question came to her.

"Last question."

Chris was already curled up on the couch, eyes closed. "As long as its short."

"Do you really want to leave?"

He propped himself on his elbow to considered the question and then turned away. "Goodnight, Gabrielle."

-------

"I'm nervous."

"Don't be."

Gabby rolled her eyes at Bre. "Thanks. I'm fixed."

"Being nervous only makes it more difficult."

"Great now I'm really nervous!"

"Try deep breathing?"

Gabby sighed. At least Bre was talking to her again, if from a distance. She was supposed to do a pre-holiday basketball tournament and was wary of getting Gabby's non-existent cold. Gabby had been trying her best to talk like her nose was stuffed but she didn't need to pretend to feel sick. At this point her stomach was twisting in all directions. Their teacher finally told everyone to settle down, which they did much faster than on a normal day. He gave the usual talk about what was allowed on desks and about looking around the class or hiding notes. Then he walked around the classroom since he trusted none of them.

"What's this?" Mr. Becker pointed to the plastic bags filled with tissues. Chris gave her the bag that morning with the instructions to only open it during the test and put them to her nose. Luckily her cover of being sick helped although she doubted Chris would give her anything to help her cheat.

"Tissues." She tried to sound as miserable as possible. "I'll probably need some during the test and I know I'm not supposed to get up. I've been out all week but came back for the test."

He backed away. "Ok well, try and keep it down."

She gave him a thumbs up.

The packets were handed out and minutes later she and all of her classmates had their heads down, trying to forget how much of their grade they'd lose if they messed up. Gabby was doing fairly well. She breezed through the first portion but on the second got stuck for the same stupid reason she always did. She couldn't remember the equation. Deciding she had nothing to lose she pulled out a tissue and pretended to blow. Immediately her nostrils were full of that horrible fake rose smell. She was almost angry, thinking it was a mean prank when suddenly the equation popped into her head. She could almost see the notebook on the table in the library, feel the scratch of the orange chair and of course the smell of that terrible perfume. She scribbled it down before it got away from her. She'd have to figure out a good way to thank him after the test.

In the end there were still some parts she was iffy on, but at least she didn't fail a chunk because of something stupid like not remembering an equation right. Bre of course felt confident in her scores as they went to meet the others for lunch. It occurred to Gabby that was her final test of the first semester. She was officially half way through her Junior year. It was bittersweet to sit with all of her friends (even if most of them were a little further away than usual) and realize that in two years they'd be spread out across the country. But, she reminded herself, they still had a year and a half. Once the library was done, she would make the most of them.

"Now that tests are over, we should focus on Mel's super secret party!" Gabby pointed at Kyle. "Make her cover her ears."

Mel rolled her eyes and her cheeks went slightly pink when Kyle bent over to whisper, "Shhhhh it's a secret" and covered her ears for her.

The rest of the lunch period was discussing the details of the party tomorrow night with Kyle occasionally allowing Mel to add something to the mix.

"So are you up for celebrating your last test?" Mel offered, walking next to her.

"Um- actually I think I'm just going to go home and sleep." Gabby pretended to look in her bag so Mel couldn't see her face.

"Still feeling pretty crappy, huh? Well if tomorrow-"

"No." Gabby cut her off. "Even if I have to show up with tissues stuck in my nose I have never missed your birthday party and never will."

"Remember that time when your mom forgot about the party, so you showed up to the pool and had to wear Logan's sister's suit and it kept almost falling off so you had to just sit on the edge of the pool and you kept crying?"

"But-" Gabby pointed at her and winked. "I was there."

They hugged briefly as a goodbye and Gabby drove back excited to share the news of the perfume trick working.

------

"-can you believe she said that right before the test?" Gabby scratched her dog's ears who sat on the ground next to her.

"I cannot." Chris was back in the kitchen. True to his word he'd basically managed to fill the fridge and was still working on a fresh dinner now. He seemed genuinely pleased, if not a little smug that his trick worked for the test but she didn't even care.

"I've been trying to think of a way to thank you."

"No need. You've been letting me stay here. I almost froze to death without you."

Gabby waved that away and got up as her dog became distracted by a toy. "Anyone would do that."

"That's not true in the least."

"What are you making?"

"Just pasta. I'm a little tired."

"Well you don't have to cook."

"This one is easy."

"Well if it's easy I can do it."

He raised his eyebrows. "How about you play sous chef."

"I don't know what that is, but sure!" She rolled up her sleeves.

"Here, can you slice this onion?"

"Yep!" However only a few slices in her eyes were watering. She sniffed loudly.

He sighed. "Where's your water?"

She gave him a blank look as he handed her a wet paper towel and told her to keep going. It helped. Gabby did as she was told but then she heard him gasp. "Can you please cut with your fingers bent, you're going to cut them off."

"It's fine." Gabby insisted only for a minute later it not to be fine. She laughed, luckily it was only a small cut though it bled a lot. "I guess you were right. Check it out."

Chris turned to her, frowned, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

"OH SHIT!" Gabby went to reach for him, realized she was still bleeding and wrapped it up in a paper towel. "Chris- hey Christopher! Are you ok?" She patted his cheek roughly with her good hand.

He twitched a little, then his eyes opened and he blinked. "Am I on the floor?"

"I think you just fainted. Hey! I found out something you suck at!"

He shut his eyes. "Did you cut yourself?"

"Maybe a bit."

"Sorry about that." He sat up and waved her away. "I'm good. I just don't do well with blood."

"You cooked enough tonight we could get pizza."

He was taking slow breaths, balancing his elbows on the counter. There was a sheen of sweat on his face. "I can cook just fine maybe just... don't help for now."

------

"It's good, as usual." Gabby slurped a stray noodle up.

"I'm glad. Its 5 ingredients. I think you can do it as long as your more careful with the knife."

"Eh a little blood in the food gives it flavor."

"Please don't say that." He squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I can leave the recipe if you want."

"Leave it..." Gabby looked down at her plate, surprised at the level of melancholy she felt. It reminded her of being at lunch with her friends. Even though there was still time it was like she was prepping to miss them. "I'm going to miss you." She said it out loud before she could over think it.

His fork hovered and she watched his entire body tense up. He frowned. "You're just trying to make me stay here so you can call someone and keep your conscious clean."

"That... that's an awful thing to say." She leaned away, hurt and stunned. They'd been having such a good time. Did he still not trust her? "Chris why-"

"It's true though, right?" He interrupted coolly. "You were bored and I was interesting enough to amuse you. You fed me and felt good about yourself. I'm sure before college you'll write about this adventure to help with the entrance essays." He scoffed.

Gabby kept her hands flat on the table. She wanted to scream or slap him or throw her pasta in his lap. She was so angry it felt like she was vibrating. Maybe at first she was curious and yeah, maybe bored but that wasn't true anymore. She'd lied for him. She'd basically saved his life dammit! It was like this kid knew exactly where to dig to hurt her. Fine then. He could leave and freeze to death for all she cared. Or starve since she knew he was basically just bones left under that sweater. Obviously he didn't care either. She looked around her for something to help express her anger that would really piss him off too. Gabby picked up her drink cup, about to fling it when she noticed his mouth was pulled tight and he was staring into the yard instead of at her.

Oh.

She breathed slowly, like Bre had suggested, and sat back down. Gabby tried to put the words together.

"How long have you been planning to do that?" She kept her voice quiet. "Do you think trying to be nasty to me now will make me hate you? So I'll never want to see you again or think about you? Too late. I'm going to miss you. A lot. And I'm scared you won't be ok."

His eyes opened wide. "Stop."

"I know you were having fun last night. I know you didn't want to be my friend but I'm pretty sure you are even if you hate to admit it. Would you miss me if you left?"

Chris had his face contorted and kept shaking his head but he hadn't gotten up from the table. She pressed on.

"I don't know what happen in Seattle but I want to help. We can figure it out. What if- what if there was a way to stay here? Oh man, I bet you'd love my friends. Mel's just protective she'll come around and you can talk sports with Bre! My mom knows people who foster if you can't go back home. You can go to school again and be on all those teams you bragged about- just let me help you! Christopher you don't have to be alone anymore!"

"Please stop."

"You never answered my question from last night. You broke the rules. Do you really want to leave?"

"Gabby I'm begging you to stop." Had a hand over his face, fingers tightened.

"Answer the question then. Do you really want to leave?"

She put her hand over his. His  fingernails were digging into the scuffed wood and finally he moved so she could see his face. He wasn't crying, not yet, but the anguish written there made her want to. His voice was small and hoarse. "No."

She steadied herself. He wanted to tell her. She could see it. "So what happened? I'll help you figure it out, whatever it is, I swear."

He looked at her hand over his. He turned his over and pressed a thumb over her knuckles, a little tighter than she expected. "No matter what, you'll believe me."

"Yes."

He stared down at the table so long she thought he wasn't going to speak. "I'm being followed."

"Ok, so... we... go to the cops."

He shook his head. "They can't help with this. Because they're... I'm..."

"What? It's ok."

He looked like he was trying to speak, like whatever secret he had was so far down he was having trouble gagging up the words.

The doorbell rang.

Chris' eyes went wide and he pulled back.

Gabby wanted to throw cat litter on whoever was there. Instead she tried to keep her composure. "Probably carolers. We have a lot around here."

For some reason he kept wiping at his face, muttering about smells from the kitchen and garlic. "Gabby- don't answer that."

"If you're so worried go ahead and hide in the storage room."

"But-"

"I'll shoo them off!"

"I can't tell if-"

"Go on. They'll just keep ringing otherwise."

He was breathing very hard, squinting but finally did as she said. She waited for him to disappear and then shook her head to get her best, 'oh how lovely carolers' and proceed to scare them away with her cough. It was hard to fake a smile when she was centimeters from figuring out that boy's secret but she was pretty sure they'd keep ringing for awhile if it was the group from the nearby church. Persistent little shits.

She was almost to the door when she heard the lock click on its own. She stopped, foot slightly lifted. Huh?

Were her parents home? Why did they ring the doorbell-

A woman with red hair who she didn't recognize stood in the doorway, two larger figures looming behind her. She and Gabby made eye contact in surprise.

"Ahhhh shit. I told you we should have rang again. Oh well, nothing to be done now." She pointed at Gabrielle and snapped her fingers twice. "Take her."

Gabby didn't manage to scream before she felt the hand on her throat.