Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

\"I feel so bad that you and your sister have to move because of me,\" Kevin sighed as he and Jason dumped their books down after school.

\"Don\'t,\" Jason smiled. \"My sister\'s psyched. Did you hear her out there?\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"Kevin, she got a raise and a promotion for it,\" Jason pointed out, flopping on the lower bed. \"It\'s a great career move for her. And I\'ve always wanted to see the East Coast.\"

\"You have?\" Kevin looked up reluctantly from the floor he\'d been staring at.

\"Yeah,\" Jason laughed. \"We can go to Ranger games now!\"

\"You\'re a Rangers fan?\"

\"Most of the time,\" Jason shrugged. \"As long as they aren\'t playing the Maple Leafs.\"

\"Why?\"

\"I\'m originally from Toronto.\"

\"You are?\" Kevin blinked in surprise. There was still a lit he didn\'t know about his best friend.

\"Yeah,\" Jason replied easily. He was glad to see that Kevin was showing an interest in his background. \"My mother moved up there after she and Gina\'s father split. It\'s where she met the shit that sired me.\"

\"I\'m sorry,\" Kevin mumbled sitting on the bed next to his friend. \"I didn\'t mean to drag that up again.\"

\"Bring it up anytime,\" Jason smiled and fell onto his back to contemplate the bottom of the bunk bed above. \"We have no secrets.\"

Kevin smiled back genuinely grateful that Jason hadn\'t given up on him those first few weeks at school. He had been pretty hostile then, too, afraid to trust anyone who approached him. Though Brian had it much worse considering the bullies that tormented him, Kevin didn\'t have an easy time of it either. Whereas Brian was withdrawn and passive to those who threatened him, Kevin was openly aggressive. He kept to himself and didn\'t bother those who left him alone. But those stupid enough confront him soon found themselves on the defensive. He would take the anger that he\'d built up inside of him and use it to fuel his counterattack.

He was smart enough to make sure it all took place off campus and away from school, not wanting to compound his brother\'s problems. Sometimes, he would face more than one challenger and that usually left him torn and ragged. Brian would notice at home and plead with Kevin to walk away from the fights, but how could he listen? He won as much as he lost even when he was beaten, they usually left him alone.

Until Jason came along. He confronted Kevin in a non-hostile, nonphysical way that confounded the smaller boy. He would ask questions about Kevin\'s home life and wouldn\'t be insulted when Kevin shut him down. When a group of seniors looked like they wanted to challenge Kevin, Jason knew about it and told Kevin how to avoid them. How he had known was still a mystery to the smaller boy, but he gratefully accepted the advice. Curiously enough, the group lost interest in him and he went back on with his life. This just occurred to him and he turned to Jason\'s prone form.

\"Why did those seniors drop me so easily, Jay?\"

The larger boy raised a confused eyebrow at him and thought for a minute. Then understanding dawned and he turned back to contemplating the underside of the upper bunk.

\"I guess they were distracted.\"

\"Jason?\" Kevin prodded. Now he knew something was up.

\"Don\'t worry about it,\" Jason replied, his face expressionless.

\"You stood up for me, didn\'t you?\"

Jason turned back to Kevin and contemplated the elfish face silently. He was hoping the boy would have forgotten the incident by now. It had all happened last October. Of course he\'d confronted the assholes. How could he not? Kevin would have been pounded into the ground. And these guys wouldn\'t have stopped there. Jason remembered having just discovered what Brian, Kevin\'s older brother, was going through and knew that Kevin\'s fights were a way for him to blow off feeling useless for not being able to protect Brian. He also knew it would be a matter of time until a group like that noticed Kevin and decided to make an example of him.

\"Why do you need to know all of a sudden?\" Jason asked.

Kevin shrugged but he wouldn\'t look away, his hazel eyes shown with curiosity and awe. Jason wouldn\'t describe himself as egotistical but he was definitely happy to be on the receiving end of that look in Kevin\'s eyes.

\"I knew what they wanted to do to you and I didn\'t want you to get hurt,\" he finally replied.

\"But why?\" Kevin asked softly. \"You barely even knew me then.\"

\"We\'ve had this conversation already, Kev,\" Jason smiled. \"I wanted to get through to you. I knew something was going on and I also knew you weren\'t inclined to let me help you. So I took matters into my own hands.\"

\"I still don\'t understand why.\"

And you won\'t for a long while yet, Jason replied mentally. Physically he just smiled and playfully slapped at Kevin\'s arm.

\"Let\'s play some computer games before dinner.\"

They logged on and played a few rounds of Final Fantasy 10 before Gina called for them to come out for dinner. They sat down to pork chops and mashed potatoes while Gina mapped out their moving strategy.

\"We\'re flying out on Saturday,\" she said.

\"But that\'s the day after tomorrow,\" Kevin said suddenly. He would be leaving Brian before his birthday, he thought miserably. He looked up across the table at Jason who had nudged his foot reassuringly under the table.

\"We have to go before your stepfather finds out he has no access to Brian\'s share of the money,\" he reminded Kevin, who nodded sadly.

\"In addition,\" Gina went on, \"he\'ll be challenged on his spending up to now to keep him from spending any more.\"

\"You can do that?\" Kevin asked in wonder.

\"Not me,\" she smiled. \"But a friend who works in the legal division of social services can. But we need to be gone before he does.\"

\"Why?\"

\"If he knows where you are, he\'ll be legally bound to turn you in to social services,\" Jason explained. \"And you don\'t want to be there.\"

Gina nodded. \"They try very hard and there are so many good people in there,\" she said. \"But the potential for you to slip through the cracks is too great.\"

\"But can\'t you both get in trouble if anyone finds out?\"

\"We could be disbarred,\" Gina said carefully. \"But he doesn\'t know I have you and he wouldn\'t ask even if he suspected. I just told him I was relocating to the East and my brother was concerned that his friend would run away after he left because his stepfather abused him and his brother. I told him I would send him the details before I left.\"

\"But that means Brian\'s going to be left alone to face Gary,\" Kevin objected.

\"Brian turns 18 on Monday,\" Gina pointed out. \"By the time this lawyer gets the papers in, Brian won\'t legally have to see Gary ever again.\"

\"And Matt isn\'t letting him anywhere near your brother,\" Jason said confidently. He knew this was the case just by looking at Matt. \"He lives in a gated community with private security.\"

\"There will also be a restraining order placed on Gary,\" Gina added. \"We\'re not taking any chances. But you being here will put your brother in danger. Gary will be looking for you and Brian will do anything to protect you.\"

Kevin thought about this quietly. He knew they were right and Brian would make himself a buffer between him and Gary. Couldn\'t he just live with his now adult brother, though?

\"Maybe Bri and I can move in together.\"

Gina took on a very sad look. \"They won\'t give you Brian, sweetie,\" she said softly. \"He doesn\'t have a job and isn\'t out of school yet. If you go into the system, you probably won\'t get to see him again until you\'re of age.\"

\"I don\'t want you to risk your career for me, Gina,\" Kevin replied. \"You and Jason have already done so much for me.\"

\"It\'s a risk worth taking,\" she smiled. \"I came close to taking the same risk for him,\" she pointed at Jason, \"but the investigator got all of the evidence I needed to do it legally. Unfortunately, since I\'m not a relative, I wouldn\'t be able to get you if they take you in. The first foster family on the list would and I have no way of knowing what would happen to you.\"

\"And I wouldn\'t be happy if that happened,\" Jason added in a low, dangerous voice.

Kevin looked at him with interest as if trying to figure something out. Jason contrived to make his face expressionless. He didn\'t want Kevin to feel uncomfortable.

\"Besides, it\'s not like we don\'t have some powerful people in our corner,\" Gina shrugged. \"Matt\'s father is a very formidable senior partner at a prestigious law firm. He also knows what\'s going on, so he\'s arranged for our new housing and your schooling.\"

\"Won\'t that make me traceable?\" Kevin asked.

\"No, you\'ll be taking on my last name,\" Gina replied. \"I think I can pass for your mother.\"

\"No way, you\'re too young!\" Kevin laughed.

\"Older sister, then,\" she shrugged giggling.

\"Okay, we\'ll do it your way,\" Kevin finally conceded.

Jason smiled at the exchange. He knew it was going to be hard for Kevin to be away from Brian, but Gary made it impossible for them to stay. He hoped they could solve things soon. Then they would have to work toward getting Brian to come live with them. After all, when Matt graduates, Kevin\'s brother would be left alone at that rotten school, and Darren would probably want to take up where he\'d left off at lunch that day.