Chaney stepped out of the doors of Seattle's juvenile institution and into the grimy grey sunlight that was the majority of spring and groaned. He stopped in his tracks and glared towards the car waiting for him at the entrance. It was a battered old green mini that was older than him and painful in how familiar it was. The man leaning on the hood was more annoying in his presence than painful. Like a thorn in his shoe.

"Andy", he greeted. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Chaney?" Andy did a double check. "You've grown. Lost all your spots too. And your hair? I thought that they cut it all short in Juvie". He visibly checked him over, taking in the baggy ill fitting clothes that they had provided for him upon his release. (The clothes he was wearing when he arrived no longer fit. He finally got that growth spurt). The brown waves hanging around his face and the fading black eye.

Andy had also grown. His afro was cut shorter than it had been when he was sixteen and he had gained a few inches in height. Chaney blinked at the lean build. That was new. Andy had always been a chubby kid. Though, it seemed that his fashion sense had not changed. Chaney made a face at the Hawaiian shirt, this one a bright purple with blue and black palm trees, and the baggy skater boy jeans. "You join a gym?" Chaney asked with a frown.

"That obvious?" Andy cracked a grin. He reached over and made to slap the pale boy on the back but stopped when he took a step backwards. Andy stammered for a second, taken back by the rejection. "Oh. Um. I'm here to pick you up".

"In this?" Chaney gestured to the car. "I thought this thing would die before I got out. How the hell is it still working?"

Andy scowled at him. It was strange to see such a familiar expression on an older face. He looked like the eighteen year old he was now and not the barely sixteen year old that Chaney remembered. It was an unsettling reminder that while he had been confined to the same place for almost two years the world had moved on past him. It didn't make him miss what had been but it was still an uncomfortable change. Chaney knew what he had been signing up for when he took that car.

"Don't insult her like that. Sandra is a tough one". He patted the hood affectionately and something clanged inside the hood. Despite himself, Chaney smirked. Andy grinned at him. "Finally. I thought juvie sucked out your humour along with your childhood. Though seriously man, what happened in there? You went in a pimply fifteen year old and now you're a pretty boy".

Chaney stared him dead in the eyes and stated in the most deadpan voice he could muster. "It's the drugs".

Andy cackled as he tried to unlock the doors. He had to jiggle the key in the door before it turned with an audible click. Chaney raised one eyebrow and Andy rolled his eyes. "Shut up. You're as bad as Dawn".

"No one is as bad as Dawn". He pulled open the passenger door and slid into the cracked leather seat. It was a tighter fit than he remembered. He glanced around, noting the familiar stains and picking up on the new ones.

Andy slid into the drivers seat and started the car. It chugged to life and they swung out of the gates and away from the facility. Chaney did not look behind him to see it go. If he ever saw it again then it would be too soon. He cranked down the window but the glass got jammed halfway down, causing him to curse at before making do. The rushing wind pulling at his hair and cold against his skin.

"Where are you taking me?" He eventually voiced.

"Home of course". Andy's attention was glued to the road as the trees reached up and encircled them from above. Little green car shrouded in shade as they headed for Forks.

"Will your uncle mind?"

"What?"

"What?" Chaney narrowed his eyes at him. "You said you were taking me home".

"Yeah. I'm taking you to your home".

There was a bang as Chaney kicked the dash. The car swerved as Andy jumped. "What the fuck?" He yelped as he righted the vehicle. "What was that for?"

"I don't have a home".

"What about your dad?"

"He kicked me out when I got sent to juvie. Told me not to come back". Chaney slouched down in his seat and turned his face to the window again. The wind stinging his eyes.

"Oh shit man", Andy breathed. "What do you want to do? Go throw rocks through his windows?" The suggestion made Chaney laugh.

"I've got to find somewhere to stay first. Then maybe get some new clothes. None of these will fit. Hey, is that thrift store still there?"

"Why? You got money?"

"Maybe". He had precisely twenty dollars. That was all he had stolen from his probation officer a few days earlier. Aberdeen had either let him, or he really was less smart than he seemed. Chaney suspected the former and that irked him. He didn't need pity hand outs. Aberdeen had also said that he needed to either go back to school, or get a job and neither was a prospect that Chaney was interested in.

"So you have no money. No place to stay and no friends", Andy listed off.

"Sounds correct", Chaney shrugged.

The driver shot him a hurt look. "And here I was expecting you to deny the friends part and mention me".

"You're a parasite I can't get rid off. There's a difference".

The gasp Andy let out was comical. "Excuse you? Who helped you break into the high school so you could graffiti over over the Spartan's logo?"

"You only did that because the quarterback bullied you for being fat and I was the only one you knew who would be up to the task. Also you ran at the sound of sirens and left me to get caught".

"And you've held it over my head ever since", Andy groaned. He paused for a second. "Isn't Dawn your friend?"

"No. She hired me to help her steal set fire to her ex's clothes. Which I was also caught and charged for".

"Wow. And here I was thinking the three of us were such a great buddies", Andy drawled.

Chaney paused and twisted his head to stare at Andy. "Who do you even hang out with now? It's been two years".

"Thanks for the reminder. I hang with people".

"People?" Chaney repeated blandly as he tried opening the glove compartment. The handle broke off and he dropped it into the footrest.

"Yeah. People. You wouldn't know them".

"You are a terrible liar".

"Why should I tell you anyway?" Andy huffed.

Chaney whistled. "Wow. Little fat Andy has a backbone now".

"You're an arsehole".

"Hey. I was in juvie. Not summer camp".

Andy laughed. "Why did I come to get you again?"

"You tell me".

"Cause I thought my old friend could use a lift home".

"I'm not going home".

"Yeah yeah but you can't come home with me".

"So drop me off at the thrift store. I'll figure something out". Chaney watched the endless blur of brown and green as the rows of trees passed.

"Na uh", Andy grunted. "I'll drop you somewhere else".

Chaney thought about asking where but decided not to bother. Instead he just tipped his head back and shut his eyes. The rest of the journey passing in a doze.

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

Andy woke him with a poke to the arm and almost got punched in the face for doing it. "Whoa dude! It's me".

Chaney opened his eyes and sat up. As soon as he saw what was waiting for him outside the car, he groaned and suddenly regretted not asking. Chief Charlie Swann and his probation officer, Samuel Aberdeen, were standing in the parking lot of Fork's police station. "Shit", Chaney groaned.

"Chief Swann told me to bring you here. He heard I was going to pick you up", Andy offered, tone apologetic. Chaney spared him a hiss as he reached for the doorhandles. He swung himself out and slammed it behind him, ignoring Andy's protective yelp.

"Deception Chief Swann?" He greeted as he stopped before the two men. He stuffed his hands into his back pockets and eyed them both.

Charlie Swann had not aged much in the two years Chaney had been gone. Perhaps a few more grey hairs in his moustache and his temple. Samuel Aberdeen was a few years younger than the chief. He wore a suit of earthy browns that did his handsome face no justice. Neither did the thick wire frames across his face. The frames also failed at blocking the unimpressed stare he was currently giving Chaney.

"So. Shakerly", he greeted. "I went to your house today to make sure that it was the right environment for a troubled kid like yourself. It seems that your father has sighed his parental consent over to the state and due to filing errors, I was unaware of this till now. To make things worse you were let out a week earlier".

"Good behaviour", Chaney suggested.

Aberdeen fixed him with an unimpressed look. It reminded him of the faces that father would give him when he was a child and being unruly. That was back when the man was being a father of course. "Are you sure?"

Chaney met the gaze full on and jutted out his chin. "So what? I get put into foster care? I turn eighteen in six months. You know if you put me in foster care I'll just run away again".

"That's where Chief Swann comes in", Aberdeen inclined his face towards the man. "He knows a few foster parents in the area and is wiling to discuss with them who will be the better fit for you. Until then, you will be in his care".

"Fuck off!" Chaney snapped in surprise.

"You will also be expected to attend the local high school to finish your education", Aberdeen continued, ignoring the outburst. "Your files state that you were top of your classes. It will be good for your to keep that up and graduate".

"Is this just a grand scheme to try and redeem me or something?" Chaney gestured around at the two men and Andy, who was still watching from his car. "Cause they tried that. It didn't work".

Aberdeen sighed. "Chief Swann and I are well aware of the incidents. They're in your file. Now I will be visiting weekly to make sure that you are behaving and Chief Swann and your foster parent will be keeping me updated".

Chaney seethed and turned his glare onto Charlie Swann. "You got something to say Chief? What are you getting out of this?"

"Nothing. I just happen to have a spare bedroom. Also, my daughter is arriving next week. She is coming to live with me for a while. So it's in our best interests that you are sorted quickly".

Chaney just eyed him with visible distrust. Charlie Swann sighed. "You finally got that growth spurt, huh kid?"

Chaney rolled his eyes. "It has been almost two years Chief Swann".

"I am aware".

A breeze rushed past and its chilly tendrils brushed back Chaney's hair. "So. Chief Swann. If none of the foster families take me. What are you going to do?"

"I suppose that you'll have to stay at mine", Charlie grunted.

Chaney narrowed his eyes at him and wondered how long it would take before the man kicked him out like his father did. Chief Swann had always seemed patient but no nonsense with him before. He did not doubt that the man would kick him to the curb if he pushed him too far. The issue was that Chaney had a bad tendency to push people too far.

"Isn't that nice of Chief Swann", Aberdeen muttered. Tone so bland it was almost sarcastic. He spared Chaney a analysing stare before sighing. "Those clothes don't fit you".

"I have nothing else", Chaney threw his arms out to show off the faded too big jeans and too small t-shirt. There was a faded logo for some baseball game across it but he didn't know or care which team it was. The officers at the centre had begrudgingly provided them from a bin of mothball smelling donated clothing but they had not even given him a hoodie to wether the damp chill in the early autumn air. Not that the chill was affecting him much. Chaney had always been good in the cold.

Aberdeen sighed but this time the sound sounded more directed at the system rather than at Chaney specifically. "Right. I know you swiped twenty from me. Take another twenty and get yourself another outfit or two. You're going to need clothing". He pulled out his wallet and held out another twenty dollars.

Chaney reached out as if it was a trick and the man was going to swipe it away last second. As soon as his hand made contact, he snatched it and stuffed it out of sight. "No take backs. No conditions".

Aberdeen chuckled. "It's yours".

"We will have to get you some supplies and clothes then", Charlie grunted. He gestured to his cruiser. "Come on then Charles".

"It's Chaney". The reply was mumbled as Chaney glanced back at Andy. The other teen gave him a thumbs up from the car. He returned it with a middle finger and then stuffed his hands back into his pockets as he followed the chief towards the car.

unedited