This chapter is dedicated to Xiann2 for commenting in all of my chapters :3 It's really sweet and I really do appreciate it even though I didn't answer all of them :) I just wanted you to know that. I also wanted to thank you for the votes and tell you that if you need anything I'm here like 24/7, since I returned to my house, finally xD

There's also a shout out to Jaxxdarkstarz for the comment on the past chapter :3 I promise the next chapter will be only for you :D

I hope you enjoy the chapter and leave a lot of comments :3

-> Desyre

Oliver

                I walked back to my house after I walked Sal to his. It still seemed a pretty stupid thing to do considering we were neighbors. When I got home, I heard my mom in the kitchen. I went there to tell her something but when I got to the kitchen I froze. She was meticulously cleaning every surface in the kitchen. She was worried about something. She always did that when she was worried. She looked up from where she was cleaning and squealed when she saw me standing there.

“Ollie! God, you gave me a scare! What are you doing standing there?” She said pressing a hand to her heart and taking deep breathes. I noticed right then that her hands were shaking. I went over to her and grabbed her hands showing her that they were shaking.

“Oh, don’t mind that, you just gave me a pretty big scare,” she said laughing a little nervously.

                So she was going to play me for stupid. I sighed and dragged her over to the couch. She looked a little confused at first but she sat either way. I sat across from her and looked at her. She’d break eventually. It was a little hard though. She kept refusing to just sit there and do nothing and wanting to get up. In the end she did break.

“You want to know why I’m like this, don’t you? I’m sorry Ollie. It’s not my story to tell, its Sal’s to tell you it’s just that... I never thought… I never… God,” my mom said and her hands started shaking even worse.

“Ally? Did Sal leave already?” I heard dad yell coming into the living room.

                When he saw how my mom was and maybe even felt the tension in the atmosphere, he came over and sat next to her. He pulled her to his chest, hugging her and doing low calming noises. Finally my mom seemed to calm down a little and she pulled back.

“He’s mute Jerry. Salvador, he’s mute. And all this while, we never knew. Do you remember Jerry? When he was a kid… Back then he was mute Jerry, and they still…” My mom started saying but she started sobbing again.

                Dad seemed a little shocked about what my mom said, at least at first, but then he looked really sad too. He finally got my mom to calm down again and told me to wait here while he put her in bed. When he came back he still looked sad but now it was mixed with anger. I thought he looked frustrated with something.

“This town is really messed up Ollie. The important people around here are so mean they’re almost evil and nobody does anything about it. And now there’s this thing with Sal. Oh God, he’s mute. Has he told you anything about his childhood?” My dad asked finally looking at me.

                I shook my head slowly. I felt like any sudden movements would make him explode. He looked so close to doing so already. I had to admit I was even a little scared of him.

“This isn’t my story to tell Ollie, you should probably ask Sal yourself. But I’ll just tell you that when Sal was a kid the other kids in his grade did really mean things to him until they locked him in his locker back in freshmen year and he stayed there a whole day until the janitor heard him. The people drew a line on that event and finally decided to talk with the families of the kids, but everyone wondered why he hadn’t said anything, why he hadn’t yelled or something. And now… just imagine what could’ve happened if the janitor hadn’t found him Ollie,” dad said running his hands through his hair. He looked frantic, like he wanted the thought to disappear.

                 I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to think about what I’d just heard. Be angry at Sal because he hasn’t told me yet? Be angry at this town because of the unfairness of things? Because Sal was still bullied? Because they probably hadn’t done anything about it even back then?

“Why hasn’t he said something? Maybe if he does something would change in this motherfucking town!” And suddenly a glass that had been sitting on the coffee table flew and shattered against the wall to my right. Dad looked angry as hell and I really couldn’t help it. I cringed, memories flooding my mind. I sank further into the sofa, getting as far from him as I could without leaving.

“Christ, look at what I’ve done. I’ll go… Ollie?” My dad started to say but he trailed off when he saw me shaking like a leaf on the couch.

                I didn’t really know why I was so scared of him. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. But someone did hurt you before. I had been that glass before, hit and flung into the wall because someone wanted to take out some anger. I flinched at the unwanted memories and tried my hardest to get farther away from him.

“Ollie. God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Are you alright?” Dad said taking a few steps towards me.

                At that moment I ran. The image of him getting closer to me reminded me too much of something else and I just couldn’t stay there. I ran for the door not really knowing where the hell I was going to go but leaving either way. I grabbed a sweater and left. Sal’s. I could go to Sal’s. Maybe he was still up. I ran over his house and saw a soft glow shining through the windows. Probably lamps they kept turned on during the night. I heard my dad calling my name. Shit. I hid in the bushes until I saw him run by. Then I got out again thinking of a way to tell Sal I was down here.

                Phone. I had his phone now. I could call him. Idiot. And what was he going to say? I could text him then. But if he was asleep, which could be an option, he wouldn’t see it. I could call him until he picked up, probably stupid with sleep, and then text him. Could work. Otherwise I’d go with the old pebbles method. I dialed his number and it rang and rang until he picked up. I hung up and wrote him a quick message to get to his window. I waited for a minute or so but it felt like years. Finally he opened his window and poked his head out. I waved at him and pointed towards the back door before walking over there. I waited again until he opened the back door. He was obviously still sleepy, with small shorts and a tank top as the only cover for his body.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

                Sal looked still groggy, yawning and stretching. Oh God. I remembered the incident from this morning and blushed. I really needed to get a hold of myself.

“Can’t talk here. Let me in before my dad comes back.”

                Sal frowned and his brain seemed to finally be waking up. That or he just couldn’t see what I was saying because it was too dark, the only light being the lamp shining in the living room.

“What?”

“OLIVER!” I heard my dad yell from somewhere.

“Move,” I whispered. It was the only warning I gave him before going into his kitchen and closing the door behind me.

                I stood there listening for a little to see if he was coming back to the house. I stopped hearing him after that last yell so I peeked out on the little window on the door. He was back in the house pacing in the living room. Mom seemed to have woken up or maybe he woke her up, because she was there too. They both looked worried out of their minds and in my dad’s defense he looked pretty haunted. I should tell them I was alright. I grabbed my phone and texted them that I was staying in a friend’s house for the night, that I’d be back tomorrow. I peeked back out the window and saw my dad look at the place where his phone probably was buzzing. He practically ran to it and grabbed it reading the message. He sighed a looking a little relieved but when he sank on the couch where I could see him and he still looked tormented. Mom read the text too and sat next to him. I think she was trying to get him to calm down. I sighed and finally turned to look at Sal who looked pretty awake now and had been peeking through the kitchen window. He turned to look at me disapprovingly.

“You shouldn’t do this to them, Ollie.”

“Dad. He… did something tonight.” I ran my hands through my hair and noticed I was still shaking.

                Sal noticed and turned on the light of the kitchen. His eyes flew wide open when he noticed the state I was in.

“To you?”

                He looked suddenly so worried. He grabbed my hands and held them in his to stop their shaking. I wished I could feel the little butterflies I’d felt before when he grabbed my hand in the mall, but my stomach was all tied in knots. I shook my head.

“What happened then?”

“I… You don’t want to hear about it.”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be asking you about it Ollie.”

                I felt a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t used to this, to people wanting to listen to me. I was used to the exact opposite of that. I think Sal noticed because his eyes warmed a little.

“But you don’t have to tell me. You can stay here tonight, don’t worry, I’ll lend you some clothes. It’s ok, or at least it’s going to be, just calm down, I’m not mad at you.”

                Somehow I need to hear that. That he wasn’t mad at me for showing up in his house in the middle of the night, for waking him up. I needed to know that at least someone was in my corner. He started to lead me back upstairs to his room. He turned off the kitchen light but there was the lamp already turned on in the living room. In the hall way of the upper floor, now that I thought about it, there had been another lamp. And it would most likely be turned on too, like the lamp in his room, never leaving the house or his room completely dark. It probably had to do with what had happened to him before. I had to admit I wanted to ask him about it, but I thought today was probably not the night to do so.

“Do you want to take a shower or something? I can get you something to eat if you’re hungry.”

                He took me out of my thoughts and I noticed we were already in his room. I thought about it because after all I hadn’t had time to shower when I got home. But I was so tired that all I really wanted to do was sleep.

“No. It’s ok. I just want to sleep. Can we do that?”

“Sure, I’ll lend you a pair of sweats and a shirt.”

                Sal gave me his typical lazy smile and I somehow started to feel a little better. The memories were still there buzzing in my head but I could ignore them as long as I was with Sal. I nodded and Sal dragged me over to his closet. He through his clothes, trying to find something that would fit me. Meanwhile I looked around his room. Before when I was here we stayed in the living room, I had never been up here. The first thing I noticed was that there was a whole wall covered with posters of bands. I noticed there was a poster of the band he had mentioned before, Breaking Benjamin. It was the only one I recognized. He had put his guitar case in one corner and his bass was in another case leaning against a wall. I have to admit couldn’t have been able to tell them apart if I hadn’t seen the guitar case today.

                I noticed, though, that there was a small amp next to his bass. It didn’t look like it’d been moved recently, meaning he really did neglect his guitar. There was a desk and a chair, and on the wall next to them there were a lot of shelves. They covered the wall from floor to ceiling, filled with books. There were also small towers of books on his floor, covering what wasn’t covered by clothes. Sal finally pushed a pair of sweats and a tank top into my arms. I felt a little self-conscious of my body and the fact that Sal was right there in the room, but I still changed. When I was done I stood there not knowing what to do. Sal was already on his bed getting comfy when he saw me standing there.

“What are you waiting for? A formal invitation?”

“No, but, am I… going to sleep in your bed?”

“Well, where else if not in my bed? Do you see another bed in the room?”

“What? But… You… We…”

“Chill, I’m not going to do anything to you. But if you prefer it there’s the living room couch. It gets pretty cold down there and it’s creepy at night, though.”

“I think I’ll take the bed.”

                Sal laughed silently and made room in his bed for me. I got into the bed, feeling a little shy about the fact that we were going to sleep in the same bed. Sal just turned around to the other side, though. I turned too and tried to sleep but the memories where still there, in the very front of my mind. I turned again, watching the ceiling for a few seconds.

“My parent’s died in an accident about ten years ago,” I whispered, my raspy voice resounding in the silence of the room.

                Sal turned around again looking at me with wide eyes the surprise obvious in his face. I thought maybe he already knew, almost everyone in town knew something had happened to my parents. He had said the truth the first time we spoke. He never listened to the rumors and never gossiped.

“Yeah. I ended up in an orphanage and then with the Andels.”

                Sal didn’t say anything but he was looking at me, really looking at me. I somehow got the feeling that, though he wasn’t saying anything, his attention was completely focused on me.

“The day before the accident dad and I had a fight. He slapped me right across the face. He practically flung me against a wall with the force of the hit. Tonight Jerry was mad about something and he hit a glass of water. It shattered against the wall next to me. I got scared, thinking he was going to hit me too. So I ran.”

                Sal’s eyes went wide with shock and I just nodded. I don’t know why I had told him about that but it felt a little liberating. I felt tears sting my eyes and I tried to hold them back but just couldn’t. No one knew about that. No one knew what had really happened. Why I didn’t talk anymore. I closed my eyes, trying to keep the crying to a minimum but when I felt Sal hug me tightly I couldn’t help it. I crumbled to pieces in his arms. I cried and cried for what felt like hours. All through it Sal held me, making small circle patterns on my back that calmed me down little by little. Finally I stopped crying but I felt so tired, my eyes heavy with sleep. I just went to sleep right there, cuddled up with Sal in his bed. The feeling of intimacy wasn’t lost on me but to be sincere I kind of liked it.

                I woke up the next day feeling really warm and weirdly having no recollection whatsoever of what had happened yesterday. I cracked my eyes and looked up into a ceiling that looked unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. I felt movement to my right and I looked down. When I noticed Sal was right beside me, snuggled into my chest, everything came back to my mind. What dad had done, running away, coming to Sal, telling him about it, staying here. God. What a mess. But, truth be told, I liked the warmth and the feeling of Sal next to me. I didn’t want to move at all but well, I had to go take a shower and get dressed or something. I started wriggling out of Sal’s hold but when I moved he snuggled close to me again. Finally I was able to get out of bed. When I was gone Sal tried to snuggle again but I think he noticed he the bed was empty except for him. He cracked open his eyes and looked around, finally spotting me. His eyes seemed unfocused even though he was looking at me, like he wasn’t really seeing me. Then suddenly his eyes focused on me and I saw the moment his brain started to work. He frowned at me for about a minute, looking confused.

“Good morning.”

                At that Sal seemed to finally react and snorted. He gave me one of his lazy smiles and told me good morning back.

“You want to take a shower?”

                Sal raised one of his eyebrows and gave me a wicked smile. I didn’t understand it at first but then I noticed that what I’d said sounded really bad.

“I mean, not together, just before me, or after me, or whatever.”

                Sal laughed and smiled at me again.

“You go first.”

                I nodded. I could feel my cheeks heat even more. God. Could I make even more of a fool out of myself? Apparently I could. I didn’t have any clothes. Well, I could wear my jeans but I didn’t have a shirt. I felt horrible having to ask Sal for more favors when he had already been so nice to me.

“I’m sorry but, could you lend me more clothes?”

“Sure, my clothes look better on you anyways.”

                Sal gave me his lazy smile and went to his closet. He rummaged and finally grabbed a long sleeved shirt with a V neck that he threw towards me. He winked at me and gave me another mischievous smile.

“That’ll look good on you.”

                I felt my cheeks heat even more and I just grabbed my jeans and locked myself in the bathroom. God. Why did he have such a strong effect on me? I sighed and started to undress, going into the shower. I warmed up the water and grabbed the soap to rinse myself. I felt like it had been ages since the last time I showered. When I was done I dried myself and wrapped the towel around my waist. I went to the sink to brush my teeth as a part of my routine. But then I realized I didn’t have a toothbrush. Well, guess my finger will have to do. That sounded really bad too. Christ, what was the matter with me? I heard a knock on the door and went to see what Sal wanted. I opened the door to the bathroom and there was Sal still dressed in his pajamas with a toothbrush in his hand.

“Hey, I thought you might need one and well, we had an extra one lying around.”

                Sal offered me the toothbrush and I grabbed it with a small smile. I told him thanks and he told me it was no problem before turning around and leaving the room. What was the matter with him? I closed the door and went to the sink again to brush my teeth. When I looked at myself in the mirror I noticed that I’d gone to open the door with nothing but a towel wrapped around my waist. I was such an idiot for not thinking about that before going to open the door. I sighed and finished getting dressed. I came out of the bathroom and went out of the room, going down the stairs to the kitchen where I guessed Sal must be. When I came in Mina was standing there looking a little worried, an angry looking Ash standing next to her.

“So he is here,” Ash said in a low menacing tone.

“Good morning Mrs. Dower, both of you.”

                They gasped and looked back at Sal with wide eyes. He stared at them like they were stupid and shook his head. It was right then that I noticed I’d used sign language to tell them good morning.

“No, he just doesn’t like talking, that’s it.”

                I guessed I should at least explain or show that I could talk even though I really didn’t want to.

“I hate my voice,” I whispered.

                Mina and Ash looked at me for a while, like I had grown a second head or something and I noticed the irony if it all. I could talk but chose not to, yet Sal didn’t even have that choice. I started feeling uncomfortable under their gaze, like they were judging me.

“Anyway, like I was saying, something happened yesterday I told him he could stay here for the night.”

                I thanked Sal silently for drawing their attention.

“And where did he sleep?” Ash asked squinting suspiciously.

                I saw Mina blush and look somewhere else. She probably already knew where I had slept. Sal looked at his mom like she was stupid.

“In my room.”

“He slept with you? In your bed?” Ash asked and I noticed she was getting angrier.

                I had a huge desire to just run away, to leave. I didn’t want to cause any more trouble for Sal. I had already been enough of a bother and he had been so nice. Listening to me and comforting me when I most needed it. I hadn’t been planning on doing anything to him or something like that. I just needed a friend. I was a little scared of Ash –well I was really scared of her- but Sal seemed unaffected by his mother’s tone. He just shrugged.

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?! Are you seriously asking me this?!” Ash asked sounding even angrier.

“Yes I’m asking because I don’t get what the big deal is. I just had a friend stay over, like Dust and Em have stayed over before. What’s the difference now?”

                This looked like it would be the source of a big argument and I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to be an intruder.

“I’ll be going.” I started backing away.

“I’ll walk you home.”

“No you’re staying right the hell here,” Ash said in a voice that was like the crack of a whip.

“Why can’t I walk my own friend to his house?”

                Sal looked really angry now. It was such a weird look on him because he was normally happy no matter what happened. There wasn’t much that could draw a reaction out of him.

“Because I say so,” Ash said doing the crack of the whip thing again.

“I’ll walk you home,” Mina said and started ushering me towards the door.

                I looked back towards Sal and saw him looking at me longingly, like he wanted to say something. We were out of the door in less than a minute and I had to turn back around to walk towards my house. Mina sighed and slowed her pace. I noticed she probably wanted to tell me something so I did the same.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she said with a sheepish smile.

                I just shrugged. It was really no big deal. It’s what I get for intruding.

“I just want you to know that this isn’t about you, Oliver. It’s just that… Sal’s had it tough and well, we can’t help but be protective of him. It was the first time, and I hope the last time, he had a friend over without our permission. And don’t listen to Ash, she’s just very protective of Sal, she’s got nothing against you,” Mina said giving me a warm smile.

                I didn’t know what to say to that so I just nodded.

“You’re a good kid Oliver, you’ll be good for Sal. He’s had no one else except for Dust and Em for such a long time. I’m so glad that he finally made another friend, or is it something else?” Mina asked, raising an eyebrow and giving me a wicked smile, just like Sal had done before.

                I felt my cheeks heat and I shook my head quickly. Mina laughed and gave me another warm smile.

“That’s alright then. Well here we are,” Mina said as we got to the door of my house.

                I started feeling a little nervous. After all I’d ran away yesterday. I had to explain everything to them. I suddenly started feeling a little nauseous and I was pretty sure it showed in my face.

“You want me to talk to them?” Mina asked sounding a little worried.

                I was tempted to nod and have her handle the situation for me but I couldn’t possibly do that to her so I shook my head. She nodded and kissed my forehead before waving and going back to her house. I watched her go and sighed. Well it was time to face the music. I opened to door and went in dreading what I’d find there. But when I went in and mom saw me standing there in the doorway, the last thing I expected her to do was to hug me tightly. Never mind covering my face in kisses.

“Jerry! Jerry! Come here! Quickly! He’s back! Come here!” Mom yelled as she continued showering me in kisses.

                Dad came running and when he saw me he froze. I had expected him to be mad at me, yell at me or something. But what he did was hug me tightly to his body, crying and telling me how sorry he was, asking me to please forgive him for what he’d done. I was overwhelmed. I hadn’t expected to have this reception after running away, I had been expecting anger and screaming, not happiness and apologies. I finally hugged dad back. They were worried. They had been worried about me. I felt tears sting my eyes and I didn’t do a thing to stop them. I had been confusing the past with the present. The Andels were my new parents but that didn’t make them like my old parents.

“I’m sorry,” I said with my full horrible voice, no whisper this time. I wanted them to hear me.

                Mom and dad looked a little surprised at first, but just like everything they took it in their stride and smiled me. Mom told me it was alright that they were just glad that I had come back and dad told me that he was the one that had to ask for forgiveness. I shook my head at them and gestured for them to follow me. They looked a little confused but still did so. I lead them back to the living room and I sat in the love seat in front of the couch. I looked pointedly at the couch and they got the clue that I wanted them to seat. I sighed. I had to at least explain why I had reacted like that

“My dad hit me the day before the accident. We were fighting. I wanted to go to a piano concert and he wanted me to go to the violin one. I told him something and he slapped me right across the face. I was so small he practically flung me against a wall,” I whispered hating my voice even more per second that I used it.

“Oh, Ollie,” my mom said and her eyes filled with tears.

“Son. I. I didn’t know,” dad said looking even guiltier than before.

“No one knows,” I whispered.

“Ollie, you have to know that we would never hurt you,” mom said her voice breaking.

“I would never hit you, I would die before I ever did something to hurt you,” dad said.

                And I did know. But the past and the present had been too similar and I confused them. That still didn’t mean I’d stop being afraid or that I’d forget the memories, though. I gave them a small smile and they threw themselves on me crying and apologizing and hugging me and covering me in more kisses. I hugged them back, and cried with them, finally realizing that maybe I wasn’t alone anymore, that I had a family now.