Donald Royce was every bit the idiot Kyle had suspected him to be.

It had taken Kyle precisely three minutes to find a freshman willing to tail him and his idiot friends for a couple of days. Kyle wanted to get to know the guy a little before he broke his legs.

The data was confusing and frustrating at the same time. As he had suspected, dear Ole Donnie was trying to become the next big thing in their school, sucking up to the popular people, trying to join what he considered the it crowd, pulling crazy stunts for attention. Hell, he and Kay barely saw each other in school and he never even mention her in conversation with other people.

It was him. Him, him, him.

Maybe it was stupid, maybe Kyle shouldn't care about lame Donnie and the way he treated his girlfriend, but the anger and pain on Kay's face seemed tattooed behind his eyelids. And since she wouldn't do anything about it, he would. Hopefully something that would include Donnie swallowing his teeth.

It's none of your damn business. Even if Donnie was an abusive asshole, he was Kay's problem. And if she didn't want to dump him, maybe she had her reasons. She's a victim, of course she's not leaving him. She probably doesn't even realize he's abusive.

He didn't even know her that well. Their initial conversations were nothing but teasing and his first impression of her hadn't been all that great. But somehow, he felt like he couldn't just ignore it, keep out if it. Because he'd meant it when he said Kay deserved better. She was a sweet, smart, beautiful girl. And he'd also been honest when he'd said they were friends too.

And there was no way he was letting one of his friends be abused. But violence was never the answer. He knew that better than anyone. Maybe a simple chat with the boyfriend would do the trick. Ah, fuck it, he still felt like breaking Donnie's legs.

Kyle stared at the map of the solar system, absently counting the planets as he contemplated possible ways of making Donnie act like a human being without breaking any bones, when his laptop sprung to life.

He rolled out of bed to answer his incoming Skype call from Sam. Good. He definitely  needed a distraction and he'd missed the kid.

"Hallelujah to the heavens, he finally answers," Sam said the moment his face appeared on the screen.

"Missed you too, kid," Kyle said with a grin, sitting at his desk.

Sam smiled, his green eyes twinkling with excitement. His jet black hair was a little longer and messier than Kyle remembered, and he looked older somehow. He was only sixteen. His eyes should be full of playfulness, not grown up worry.

"I did miss you. And I'm so glad you answered." Sam heaved a sigh. "I need someone to vent."

Kyle frowned. "Why, what happened?"

"Dad's driving me crazy. His latest brilliant idea? Oh, Sam, why don't you apply for an internship at the agency for the summer? I'll put in a good word for you with management." Sam rolled his eyes, but despite his brave face, Kyle could tell he was on the verge of tears.

"Wait, isn't the agency Dad's?" Their dad owned a PI agency, but since Kyle didn't pay much attention to news from home, things might have changed. Their dad could've sold his business. Not that Kyle cared.

"Yes!" Sam said exasperated. "He's just trying to be funny. It's not. It's tragic. I wanted to come visit you this summer, not slave around for Dad."

"Oh, I'm sorry, kid. Can't you say no?"

Having Sam there would be wonderful, but Kyle didn't get his hopes up. He'd never seen his baby brother in person and he doubted things would change now, after so many years.

"Not if I want another quiet second in this damn house." Sam rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. "Look, I'm sorry, things aren't so bad at home. I'm just... I want to do other things with my life and Dad has started hinting that he wants me to start running the agency with him."

"Why not Jerry? He's older."

"Jerry's busy with all his violin lessons, and French and cooking classes and science projects..."

"So, Jerry still cooks then." Kyle didn't care much, but anything to take Sam's mind off his doom and gloom.

"God, yes! And he's fantastic. Those classes are really paying off. Any food he cooks is amazing, even something as lame as mac and cheese." Sam's mouth seemed to water at the mere thought of it.

Kyle laughed. "How come you're not fat then?"

"Ugh, he fortunately makes small servings."

"How's Jerry doing?" Kyle asked.

He didn't talk to his other brother like he did with Sam. Sure, he'd seen Jerry during his Skype calls with Sam and he never forgot to send texts to wish him happy birthday or Merry Christmas, but it was all cold and impersonal. Maybe that was who Jerry was, but Kyle wasn't about to force himself on someone who didn't want it. Sam wanted it.

"He's fine. Always busy, but still has time to nag me. Honestly, he's worse than Dad sometimes." Sam rolled his eyes.

"You're too stressed out, kid. When's the last time you did something for yourself?"

Sam stared at him as though he couldn't understand the concept of something for himself. "I read a lot for myself, I guess," he finally answered.

Kyle scoffed. "Come on, seriously. Go outside, play in the sun, relax. Take up jogging or something."

Sam looked at him thoughtfully. "Maybe I will."

Kyle had never been more grateful that his life was here instead of in Chicago. At first, when he was younger, he'd wanted to go home, at least for the holidays. Somehow, that was never possible. His parents always had other plans, always spent every holiday without him.

It hurt, feeling left out like that, but after a while, Kyle started seeing the bright side. Max was great, he could do whatever he wanted, when he wanted as long as his grades were decent, and he had friends.

Since he'd started talking to Sam regularly about three years ago, he'd realized that Chicago was a golden prison. Thanks, but not thanks. His life here was much better. Sam seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he watched Kyle wistfully.

And yet, it felt like it was more than that. Something hid behind Sam's eyes that hadn't been there before. Kyle squinted but couldn't identify what it was.

"What?" Sam asked, looking wary.

"Are you sure everything is fine at home?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You just look..." Kyle didn't know how to finish that. Jaded? Haunted?

Sam shifted a little and there was flitting guilt on his face before he looked curious again. "I've just been having some trouble sleeping. And I wanted to ask. Have you... um, had anything weird happening lately?"

Except saving an idiot from certain death and making friends with his girlfriend? "Not really."

Sam let out a breath of relief. "That's good then. And don't worry about us. We're fine. As I said, just trouble sleeping."

"Um, okay." Kyle could tell Sam was hiding something, but he wasn't going to push him. "If you ever wanna talk, I'm here."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You haven't been there for six months."

The words stung, but Kyle kept his smile.

Sam turned and looked behind him. "Ugh, I gotta go. Dinner. It was sooo good talking to you. I'll call soon. And you'd better answer this time."

"Will do," Kyle promised and shut his laptop.

Now he had another knot in his stomach. Poor Sam. He wished he could do something for him, but he couldn't see what might be, especially if he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe Kyle should bring this up with their mother and see if she could step in. Though seeing how Sam called before her, he doubted it would work.

And as he watched the walls of his room filled with maps, photos, and posters of his favorite bands, he took a deep breath and thanked the heavens that his parents had decided to abandon him there when he'd turned two.

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To celebrate RIFOY reaching 1k reads, you get a surprise update! Yay! (Edit: this is so cute since it's not basically at 80k - THANK YOU! Later edit: I mean 377k)

We're still in Kyle's POV and we get to find out a little about his family. For readers of Too Young, some of the characters can seem a bit familiar. ;)

So, what are your thoughts on Kyle's family? Is it strange that he feels better off here, living with his uncle?

Don't forget to vote, comment and especially sacrifice a small goat in my honor!