Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

Gina welcomed her new houseguest with open arms. Literally. And Kevin seemed to just fall right into them. It didn\'t surprise her really. Jason had mentioned his friend\'s background and it sounded like the boy had been close to his mother. Since she\'d taken over rearing her baby brother, she\'d become quite the mom, and she held Kevin\'s thin body close to her.

\"How are you, Kevin? Jason\'s told me a lot about you.\"

\"How much?\" Kevin darted a worried look in his best friend\'s direction and Jason smiled innocently and shook his head.

\"Nothing bad at all,\" Gina laughed and led Kevin into the house. \"Now, I have three bedrooms, but I normally use the third as a home office.\"

\"Gi, I told you he can stay in my room,\" Jason protested. \"There\'s two beds in there anyway!\"

\"Yeah,\" Kevin eagerly nodded. He didn\'t want to be separated from Jason just yet. The guy made him feel as safe as Brian did. \"I\'d rather stay with Jason anyway.\"

Two pairs of dark brown eyes turned to study him curiously and he felt awkward. \'Way to go, Kev,\' he taunted himself. \'Now what?\'

\"Um, I\'m used to being with my brother at home,\" Kevin covered quickly. \"Since he couldn\'t come with me, Jason will have to do.\" He smiled jokingly and hoped like hell that alleviated the awkwardness.

\"I can call social services and have him picked up right now, if you like,\" Gina offered.

\"He wouldn\'t go,\" Kevin sighed sadly. \"He always said he\'d wait a day or so before he left to make sure I was okay.\"

\"Besides, we\'ll be seeing him in school tomorrow,\" Jason chimed in. \"We\'ll convince him to come home with us then.\"

\"All right then,\" Gina smiled. She knew when to trust her brother\'s instincts. \"I\'m almost done getting dinner ready. Jason, why don\'t you take Kevin up to your room and show him where the bathroom is and anything else he\'ll need to know. You can finish unloading the car later.\"

The boys both nodded and went upstairs. Kevin followed his friend around as he was shown the bathroom and various amenities. Then they walked into a fairly large bedroom with bunk beds.

\"You get the top bunk,\" Jason smiled.

\"Why? Are you afraid of heights?\"

\"Nah. I just like to close to the ground.\"

They joked around for a while and Jason showed Kevin his computer games. Kevin couldn\'t wait to try them out. Gary never let them have a computer because it was too expensive. If he thought Brian and Kevin didn\'t know about his expensive drug habit, he was a bigger idiot than they thought.

\"Thanks for taking me home with you, man,\" Kevin said quietly. \"I really didn\'t know what I was going to do.\"

\"Any time, pal,\" Jason smiled.

But Kevin could see the worry beneath his friend\'s smile. He\'d seen that look on Brian\'s face so many times he couldn\'t mistake it.

\"I\'ll be okay, Jay,\" Kevin grinned.

\"I get a nickname now?\" Jason grinned back. \"Finally! I\'ve earned it!\"

\"You sure have.\"

After they ate dinner and finished unloading Kevin\'s things, Jason showed him how to use the computer and play games. Kevin had so much fun, he almost forgot about Brian still living in that house with that psycho. Almost, but not quite. As Kevin now lay beneath the covers, his mind wandered to his brother. He doubted Gary would miss him tonight, but he would if Kevin didn\'t show up tomorrow. Brian had to leave that house for good tomorrow or he wouldn\'t be safe.

The next day at school, Kevin hurried with his locker so he could go find Brian. Jason was already done getting his books for the first few periods and waited next to Kevin. Finally, Kevin found the books he needed and unceremoniously dumped the remaining ones into the locker. Now he could go wait at Brian\'s locker. Jason followed him as he rounded the corner and went down the hall.

\"Do you think he\'ll come with us tonight?\" Jason asked.

\"There\'s no reason why he shouldn\'t,\" Kevin replied. \"He knows I\'m out. Once I explain how you and Gina want to help us, he shouldn\'t have a problem.\"

They arrived at Brian\'s locker and waited patiently. Brian showed up a little while later with a surprise of his own. Kevin\'s eyes almost bugged out of his head as he saw Matt Henshaw trail his brother. They stopped in front of Brian\'s locker and Matt, Jason and Kevin waited while Brian got his books ready. When he was done Jason motioned for everyone to go into the bathroom and they waited for the bell to ring before anyone said a word. Finally, Kevin was the first to speak.

\"What the hell is going on here, Bri? Why are you with Matt Henshaw?\"

Matt\'s face turned pink but he said nothing.

\"Things are complicated, Kev,\" Brian replied. \"How are you? I assume this is the guy who got you out?\"

\"Yeah,\" Kevin gestured to his friend. \"Jason Brennan. Jay, this is my brother, Brian.\"

The two shook hands.

\"Nice to meet you, Jay,\" Brian said. \"This is my friend Matt, but I guess you figured that out.\"

\"Your FRIEND?!\" Kevin squeaked. \"He sprained your wrist last month!\"

\"So, you\'re staying with Jay and his parents?\" Brian asked his brother.

\"My sister,\" Jason bristled slightly.

\"Yeah,\" Kevin smiled. \"And she\'s expecting you to come, too. We can get your stuff today at lunch.\"

\"No,\" Brian shook his head.

\"Why not?\" Kevin whined. \"You promised you would get out of there when I did.\"

\"And I did,\" Brian said softly. \"I just don\'t think it\'s a good idea for me to stay with you right now.\"

\"Why not?\" Kevin asked. \"And where are you staying?\" He had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer to that.

\"Because if he goes after anyone, it\'s probably going to me first,\" Brian said. \"And I won\'t put you in that kind of danger.\"

\"Where ARE you staying, Brian,\" Jason asked quietly. He thought he knew, too, but he also knew Kevin wouldn\'t like it. The silent blonde standing near Brian regarded Jason warily. He recognized the protective stance, too. Matt wasn\'t letting Brian out of sight, of this Jason was positive.

\"He\'s with me,\" Matt said solemnly, staring a hole through Jason.

\"WHAT?!\" Kevin exploded. \"Oh, no, no, no. No way.\"

\"Kev, this is my call,\" Brian said.

\"Can we talk over here for a sec?\" Kevin pulled his brother to the far side of the room. Brian looked up at the ceiling as Kevin began his little tirade keeping his voice low. \"That guy has done nothing but beat on you for the last year and a half! How can you be staying with him?\"

\"He\'s not going to do that anymore.\"

\"And you can be sure of this because?\"

\"He told me.\"

\"Oh, and if I told you if you clicked your heels three times dad would come back to us, would you believe that, too?\"

\"Real fair.\"

\"Brian, you\'ve been through HELL,\" Kevin seethed and pointed at Matt. \"Some of which HE is responsible for. Now we have a chance to lead a somewhat normal life with Jason and his sister. Why would you go back on your promise?\"

\"I promised I would end my suffering if you left,\" Brian said softly, looking Kevin directly in the eye. \"I never specified how.\"

Kevin\'s jaw dropped open.

\"That\'s right,\" Brian went on. \"That\'s exactly how I planned to do it. For some insane reason, Matt wound up at the house at that exact moment. Now he\'s afraid I\'ll try again and he quite literally won\'t let me go, so even if I did decide to join you, I can\'t.\"

\"Holy shit!\" Kevin seethed. \"Why didn\'t you talk to me about this?\"

Brian gave him a sardonic look.

\"Bri, if you left me I would never have forgiven you.\"

Brian\'s eyes saddened and he looked down. \"I\'m sorry, Kev, but your safety was the only thing I thought about. I couldn\'t take the numbness anymore.\"

\"Well, you\'d better damn well learn to try!\" Kevin growled. \"Maybe I should move in with Matt, too.\"

\"And leave Jason?\" Brian smiled.

\"What the hell does THAT mean?\"

\"Just what it sounded like,\" Brian replied and walked back to where Matt stood. The other boy was locked in a heated stare with Jason.

They stood almost nose-to-nose. Jason, while a year younger, stood at Matt\'s height and had just as much muscle to back himself up with. It was small wonder that Kevin felt very safe with him.

\"What\'s going on here?\" Kevin asked as he walked up to Jason.

\"Nothing,\" Matt replied.

\"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute, Matt?\" Kevin asked, earning a warning glance from his brother. Kevin gave him a glare in response. \"Alone.\"

\"Alone?\" Matt broke the staring contest and looked at Brian then back at Kevin.

\"I\'d like to have a private word with Brian anyway,\" Jason smiled innocently.

\"What?\" Brian looked distinctly uncomfortable with the thought.

\"You have a hell of a lot less to worry about with Jason than you do with Matt,\" Kevin sneered.

\"Cut it out!\" Brian had apparently had enough. \"Matt\'s my friend now and you\'ll just have to trust me on it. I don\'t want you attacking him on my behalf.\"

\"Because you\'ve always been the one to protect me,\" Kevin finished for him.

\"I just want to ask you a few questions,\" Jason said to Brian.

\"He should stay with me,\" Matt protested.

\"I\'ll keep a close eye on him,\" Jason replied dryly.

Matt and Brian exchanged glances that weren\'t lost on Jason and Kevin. Brian was already deferring to Matt\'s judgment when making important decisions. Kevin was disturbed by this development but Jason understood it. Whether Kevin knew it or not, Jason saw this happening in their own interactions, and he was relieved. It meant that Kevin finally trusted him. Now he would let Jason help him.

\"Okay,\" Matt finally acquiesced. \"But you two go no further than that hallway.\" He gave Jason a warning glance that could have scared a heavyweight boxer before turning back to Kevin.

Kevin looked to Jason for an assuring nod before turning to Matt. Jason smiled as he led Brian out into the hallway.