Fanart by RyeZonShine above! Look at that magnificent work of art!

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I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and the light drip of left over rain slipping from the tree leaves all around me.

Slowly, I peeled my eyelids open, rubbing away the sleepy seeds in the corners of my eyes. Looking around tiredly, I sluggishly came to the realization that last night was not a dream.

I was still in a tree house.

Ben had refused to help me.

And my father...

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I sat up and looked around the small space.

I was alone.

Where was my angel?

I-I mean, the angel. Not mine. He's not mine.

Jason. Yeah, Jason. Where was Jason?

Standing up slowly, I realized there was a small doorway that led out to a balcony of sorts. As I stepped towards it, the bitter scent of cigarette smoke drifted to my nose.

My ang- Jason smoked?

He shouldn't do that.

Smoking is bad.

Stepping out into the morning air, I looked down to see Jason sitting on the edge of the balcony with a cigarette perched between his lips. Pinching the paper roll between his fingers, he pulled it away and let a plume of swirling smoke tumble from his opened mouth.

The light of the rising sun painted his skin gold as he stared out at the horizon, and his dark hair had a slight curl to it now that it'd dried.

I opened my mouth to say something to him. Anything really. A good morning perhaps, or a thanks for not leaving me in the rain. But no words slipped over my tongue.

Somehow knowing I was standing behind him, Jason brought the cigarette back to his lips as he simply said, "Sit."

I did as he asked, dangling my legs over the edge of the little platform as he did.

We sat in silence for a long while, watching the sunrise as he finished up his smoke.

After a while, he glanced at me before twisting his cigarette into the wooden plank beneath him and saying, "Look, kid. I know you've probably been through Hell in the past couple of days, but your business is your business. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but I need to know if you have somewhere you can go."

I swallowed the lump in my throat before shaking my head and saying, "No. I have nowhere left."

Jason looked at me then, and his bright blue eyes seemed to pierce straight into my soul.

"This place," he gestured to the tree house at his back, "This is my nowhere. It has been for a long time."

"I'm sorry-" I started, but he cut me off by shaking his head.

"Don't apologize for something that's not your fault," he said as he looked out at the forest.

"Sor-" I began, but stopped when he gave me a look.

"As I was saying," he continued, "This is my nowhere. It was there for me when nothing else was, and even though I know nothing about you, I know you need a nowhere too. You can stay here until you figure something out."

"Really," I asked hopefully, astounded by such a kind offer from a virtual stranger.

"There are some conditions of course," he studied me for any changes in expression or posture.

"Like what?" I fidgeted a bit under his gaze.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen," I told him as if I were unsure.

"Then condition one is that you have to stay in school," he said.

"How old are you?" I asked in curiosity.

"Seventeen," he said.

"Then shouldn't you be in sch-"

"No." He cut me off firmly. "Condition two is that you have to help out financially. I won't be able to feed two mouths with the income I have coming in right now, so I need you to carry your weight."

"Okay," I rubbed my forearm a bit.

"And lastly, my business is my business, just as yours is yours. We don't push each other if it's not something we want to open up about."

I nodded in agreement, knowing that rule would be protecting me as much as him.

Jason stood up, smoothing out his t-shirt with his hands.

"Oh and there's only one bed," he added, "So either we take turns or we share it."

I gulped.

It was a really tiny bed.

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A/N

Whoa, sorry about the wait, and the shortish chapter. My week has been H.E.C.T.I.C.

Guess who was the only high schooler to graduate with an associate's degree from their community college last Friday. That's right. It was me! Youngest in the graduating class at 17!

Anywho, should be back on the normal schedule now.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks,
-Anon