Keeping Tom

These characters are my own, please do not steal them. This is my first attempt at an original fic so any CONSTRUCTIVE critisism is appreciated. This story does contain homosexual pairings, if you don't like that kind of thing, do not read this story. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, please keep them coming. Also, this has not been beta'd so please take that into consideration when you're reading it.

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Two months later Frank Panzerro, 20 members of the NYPD, and the four men who had beat Tom were in prison and none of them were happy. Tom had a 24 hour watch assigned to him at the hospital. He was finally healed up aside from his arm and leg that had been broken. He was sitting in a wheelchair while the police tried to decide what to do with him. Phil and his captain came in and Phil crouched down in front of him. “Tom, we’re going to get one of our officers to act like a decoy and send him to one of the shelters nearby. Then you’re going to come home with me. We’ve got room and my wife said she’d be willing to help you out.”

Tom shook his head, “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to Tom, but I want to. Are you ready to go?”

Tom sighed and nodded his head, “Yeah, I don’t really have any possessions so yeah, I’m ready to go.”

15 minutes later he was in a car with Phil driving. They drove up to an apartment that looked very nice to Tom. Phil helped him up the stairs and into the apartment where his wife and kids were waiting. He was helped onto the couch and then Phil’s wife said, “Hi, I’m Jolene and these are our sons Victor and Brandon.”

Tom smiled and said, “Hi, I’m sure you already know my name, I’m Tom.” He had been seen by a therapist almost daily since he arrived in the hospital and had come a long way but still he did not really trust anyone. He could smile and act ‘normal’ but inside he was still the same.

The twins looked at him closely and then one of them said, “What happen to your ear?” His parents looked mortified.

Tom just smiled slightly and said, “An evil man tried to take it off.”

The twin’s eyes bulged and the one that hadn’t spoken before said, “That’s not nice!”

Tom actually laughed at that, “No, it’s not nice is it? I’m fine now though.”

The twins looked at him skeptically and the first one to speak said, “He break your arm and leg too?”

“Him and his friends, yeah.”

Both twins looked at each other and then back at Tom and said in unison, “They suck!”

Phil rolled his eyes and said, “Victor, Brandon, don’t use that word.” The twins were quite the handful since they were identical and could convince everyone except their parents that they were the other one. Just as he was about to get his sons to go wash up for dinner the doorbell rang.

“Uncle Drew!” The twins exclaimed before they ran to the door followed closely by their mother. A few moments later a man came in holding one twin in each arm. He didn’t look anything like Jolene or Phil so Tom had a hard time figuring out which side he was the uncle on.

“Hey, Andrew. This is Tom, the kid I told you would be staying here.”

“Hi Tom, I’m Phil’s brother. I practically live here as well.” Tom didn’t know why but he already liked Andrew. He had kind eyes like his brother but a more handsome face. He was tall and well built, the kind of man that usually intimidated him, but Andrew didn’t intimidate him for some reason.

“No Sean?”

Andrew sighed, “He left me. Said that I’m not ‘relaxed’ enough. Said that I’m paranoid and strange.”

Tom was confused by this conversation but it was quickly explained to him when Jolene said, “Drew, you really need to pick better boyfriends.”

Andrew chuckled, “Yeah, I know. I thought Sean was different but apparently not. I really need to stop going for the good looking ones. They’re too shallow.”

“Well, whatever you do just make sure the next one can cook so you’re not constantly over here” Phil said and he got a playful smack from his younger brother after he put the twins down.

“Speaking of dinner, it’s almost done. Vic and Bran, go wash your hands and set the table alright?” The twins ran from the room trying to race each other to the bathroom. “Tom, we’ve got a little lap table you can use for dinner. If we had more we’d all join you out here, but the boys are still quite messy when it comes to eating.”

“That’s alright.” Jolene smiled at him and went into the kitchen and was followed by her husband. Andrew sat down on the chair next to the couch and smiled at him.

“So, life’s been a bit rough on you hasn’t it?”

Tom sighed and nodded, “Yeah, but I’m hoping once this is all over I can get out of this city and have something resembling a normal life. Can’t really expect the best since I never even made it to middle school, but I’m sure I can find something to do.”

“I’d like to get out of this city too. There are too many creepy assholes in this city for me to be happy here. That’s why all my boyfriends break up with me. They think I’m paranoid when I say we have to watch our backs out on the streets but it’s true. I mean people don’t just beat young men in your situation, they like to beat anyone they can get their hands on, and being gay makes me an automatic target.”

“You don’t have to convince me of that. I’ve been around those kind of men since I was 10. I’m starting to find out now that a lot of those men are actually somewhat respected in this city. When you realize that you can see why this city is so fucked up.”

Andrew shook his head, “That’s rough man, but trust me, you’re safe here. One of my exes went a bit psycho and tried to come here to get me. Man… Phil gave that guy more than enough to keep him away. He’s a good guy my brother, but don’t ever threaten a member of his family.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on threatening anyone here. I’m just glad they didn’t put me in one of those damn shelters. That’s where they like to kidnap kids from. I would have ended up right where I came from.”

“I’ll tell you this even though my brother would probably prefer I didn’t. A guy a few months ago tried to kidnap the twins. That guy is well… my brother hit his head so hard he’s well... not right mentally anymore, kinda like a little kid really. That guy most certainly won’t be trying to kidnap the boys or anyone again, and I dare say he’d do the same thing if someone came and tried to kidnap you.”

Somehow the knowledge that Phil was willing to beat someone so harshly to protect his family made Tom feel safer. He wasn’t part of this family but he knew that Phil would protect him. Jolene came back in the room carrying plates.

“Do you want to eat out here Drew?” When she got a nod from her brother-in-law she set a plate in his hands and then set the lap table on Tom’s lap and put the plate on it. “Do either of you need anything else?”

Tom looked down at the plate that had a delicious looking steak with a big helping of mashed potatoes on it. “No, this looks great, thank you.” Jolene left the room and then Tom sighed. “Any chance you could cut up my steak for me Andrew?” With only one working hand, he couldn't do it on his own.

“Of course.” Andrew grabbed his plate and made quick work of cutting the steak up into smaller pieces. Then he handed the plate back to Tom, “My sister-in-law makes some of the best steaks. They’re so tender it’s amazing.”

Tom smiled and took the first bite of his steak and let out a slight, pleased moan. He had never eaten something that tasted this good. His parents hadn’t fed him well and his grandfather was never a good cook. Frank barely let him eat, he only let Tom eat enough to keep some muscles on his body. Then for the past two months he had been eating hospital food. This food was heaven to him. He ate his steak quickly and then moved on to the potatoes.

Andrew raised his eyebrows as he chewed some of his steak. “Wow man, I think Jolene will be happy to have you in the house. We’re all so used to her food we don’t appreciate it like you seem to.”

Tom finished up the potatoes and sat back with a truly full stomach for the first time in his life. It was a strange but pleasant feeling. “I haven’t ever eaten something that tasted that good.”

Jolene was standing at the entrance to the living room and smiled, “Thank you Tom. Do you want some more? I’ve got some more potatoes.”

“No thanks, I’d love to eat more but I think I’d make myself sick if I did.”

“Alright, well if you get hungry at any time during the night just wake up Andrew over there and he’ll get you something from the fridge. I’m afraid we tend to go to bed after dinner around here with the two 5 year olds. Feel free to watch some TV or a movie if you want to. We’ll see you in the morning and I’ll make you a breakfast burrito.”

Tom smiled at the woman, “Thank you. That dinner was really great. I can’t wait to eat breakfast.” She took his plate and Andrew’s and left the room. Phil could be heard trying to get the twins to go upstairs. “So you stay down here too?”

“Yeah, well that couch your on folds out to a bed and I’ll grab a sleeping bag to sleep on the floor. Let’s get that thing pulled out first.” Andrew helped Tom move to one of the chairs and then folded the couch out to a bed. He went to the closet in the hall and came back with a bunch of pillows, some blankets, and a sleeping bag. He made the bed up and then helped Tom get into the bed. “So, you want to watch some TV?”

“Sure, I never have watched much TV before I was in the hospital.” He hadn’t been allowed near a TV in Frank’s place and he only got to watch TV before that if he went to his grandfather’s house.

Andrew sat down in one of the chairs and turned the TV on. He flipped through the many channels his brother’s satellite had and finally settled on SciFi that appeared to be having a Doctor Who marathon. “My brother gives me shit for watching this show but I think it’s great. Do you care if I watch it?”

Tom smiled, “Nah, whatever you want to watch. What show is this?”

“This is Doctor Who. It’s a British TV series. It’s kinda crazy at times but it’s a great show.” The two watched the show in silence. Andrew looked over to see Tom was enthralled by the show. The young man was still beautiful despite the scars around his ear, over his eye, and across his chin. He felt wrong finding himself attracted to the boy but he couldn’t help it.

Tom felt the man staring at him and turned his head to face him. “Something wrong?”

“No I… well I’ll be honest. You are quite attractive really and I’m having a bit of an argument with my conscience since you’re only 16.”

Tom felt his heart start to beat faster. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to be held by this man. He had never known a protective embrace after his grandfather died and he was pretty sure he could get that from Andrew. “Actually I’m 17. My birthday was last week, I just didn’t tell anyone. I haven’t had a birthday party since I was 5 and I don’t really want one now either.”

“That’s a little bit better.”

“You don’t think the scars make me ugly?”

Andrew snorted, “Nope. We’ve all got scars of some sort. I’ve got one on my chest from when I was mugged a few years back.”

Tom didn’t know what came over him but he said, “Would you… hold me? I just… I’m scared to be honest. I’m scared that your brother will kick me out and I’ll end up back in the life I just escaped from. I’m afraid that one of the men I got arrested will send someone after me…”

Andrew put his finger up to his lips and said, “I’ll hold you. You don’t have to explain to me. I know that fear to a certain degree. I was like this after I was mugged and it drove my boyfriend at the time mad.” He sat down on the bed next to Tom and opened his arms to the young man. Tom wrapped his good arm around Andrew and let out a contented sigh when Andrew wrapped his arms around him in return.

Andrew’s arms felt safe just like he had thought they would. The man had big, muscular arms that surrounded him completely. He rested his head on Andrew’s chest and said, “Thanks.”

“No problem, really. I mean I get to hold an attractive younger man in my arms, you won’t hear me complaining.” Andrew’s heart soared when he heard Tom laugh. It was a musical sound and at that moment he knew he was enraptured by this young man. He knew he could run into some opposition with his brother and sister-in-law but he didn’t really care.

He only thinks I’m attractive because he doesn’t know my past, not really. Once he knows that he’ll push me away. Should probably tell him now. Tom braced himself and then said, “You do know I spent the last almost seven years of my life being a whore and a stripper right?”

Andrew rubbed his arm lightly when he spoke and said, “I know that. My brother told me and you know what? I don’t care. I’m Phil’s adopted brother and my life before I was adopted wasn’t all that great. The guy who basically owned me had me running drugs for him and I got felt up quite a few times and he was about to start using me as a whore when I ran away. That’s when the Jamisons adopted me. This is a great family to know. If you get a chance to meet my parents you’ll love ‘em just like I did and you’ll find that no one in this family is judgmental.”

Tom relaxed slightly when he heard that this man could understand his life to a certain degree. Maybe he won’t push me away. “What was the name of the drug dealer you worked for?”

“Everyone just called him ‘Frisco’ because he came from California.” When he felt Tom start to shake he said, “I take it you know him?”

Tom nodded and said, “He… used me a lot those first three years. He… he is an awful man.”

Andrew gave Tom’s arm a supportive squeeze. “I’m sorry you had to go through that but it’s over now. With Phil and some of his friends on this case Frisco could very well end up behind bars because my brother is quite determined to figure out who every person who visited that place was.”

“That would be nice because some of those men need to be off the streets.”

“I agree. So, now that you’re free of that life, what do you want to do?”

Tom appreciated the subject change and smiled, “I’d like to go back to school. I picked up as much as I could vocabulary wise from the men I was around but I remember I liked writing when I was younger. I also… well Frank made me learn how to cook so I could get a job doing that. I think I might like cooking better when it’s a choice.”

“Those all sound like good options. Any thoughts as to where you want to go?”

“I’d like to get out of this country, at least for a while. I mean, I never thought I’d get out of that damn club let alone out of this city. I think it would be nice to live in another country, maybe England or Australia. I don’t know. I just know I want to travel. I don’t know how I’ll manage that but I want to try.”

“I’ve got a good friend who moved to Australia. He keeps trying to get me to go visit him. Maybe you and I could go pay him a visit sometime. I want to travel too. I’ve been saving up for years but I can never get a guy who wants to travel with me. They’ve all got excuses.”

“Well, there would be no excuses from me. My parents are as good as dead as far as I’m concerned. My grandfather actually is dead and I don’t really have any friends so I’ve got nothing keeping me here.”

Andrew pulled Tom as close as he could without hurting the younger man. “Well, I’ve got the money and I know people in a lot of different countries we could stay with. I say we start planning and once this whole trial process is over with we’ll travel together.” Andrew was smiling big. He would finally have someone to go travel with. He understood Tom’s urge to travel. When you spend a big chunk of your life locked up and only let out when others decide you can be and you’re only allowed to go where they want you to, once you’re free you want to run and run far. You want to be free and to feel free.

Tom yawned and then said, “Sounds good to me.” He stayed cuddled close to Andrew and soon fell asleep. Andrew followed him into sleep. Both men had smiles on their faces as they slept.