Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

Kevin placed his things around his new bedroom carefully. Although there was plenty of room in the house that he didn\'t need to share with Jason, the two opted to stay together, leaving a guest room in case Brian got to visit, and an office for Gina. Kevin and Jason were still unpacking, and after a hectic first day of school, Kevin was tired. Still, the day had been good and his new school seemed pleasant. The other teens were nicer than the ones he\'d left behind, he\'d decided, and he and Jason made a few acquaintances already. They\'d introduced themselves as stepbrothers, accounting for Kevin\'s new last name: Santoni. Although Jason\'s heritage was only half Italian (derived from his mother\'s side), Gina was full- blooded Italian, her father having been a second generation American. Kevin hoped no one noticed he was too fair to be Gina\'s brother, but no one had asked about it so far.

The house was sparsely furnished, as Gina and Jason hadn\'t had a lot of furniture to begin with, but Gina laughingly told them she looked forward to filling it up more with antiques. Jason told Kevin that his sister loved to look for antiques, but hadn\'t been able to spend a lot of money on them, as she was raising him and expected to pay for college. He\'d felt a little guilty at first until she quashed that, saying antiques would always be around when she was ready. Now, with the raise Matt\'s father had arranged, she could afford to put aside a little bit of money for her hobby.

\"You can use up more space, Kev,\" Jason said from the bottom bunk bed. \"Really, it\'s a big room.\"

\"I know,\" Kevin blushed.

It was much bigger than the room shared with Jason before and even the one he\'d had back home with Brian. They made huge houses here in Connecticut.

\"This place must cost a fortune!\" he whispered to himself.

\"The firm is subsidizing it,\" Jason shrugged. \"I guess they really needed a good family law associate.\"

\"Partner,\" Gina grinned from the doorway.

She was dressed in her business suit and still carried her briefcase though it was obvious she\'d just arrived home for the day.

\"Partner?\" Jason smiled back.

\"That\'s right,\" she nodded, walking further into the room. \"And Matt\'s father had nothing to do with it. It seems their previous head of family law was making some unethical decisions, so he was ousted last month. They were looking to replace him when Mr. Henshaw brought them my resume. They liked my file. A lot.\"

\"You went from associate to partner just like that?\" Jason\'s mouth dropped.

\"And head of the family law unit here.\"

\"Are you serious?\" Kevin squealed.

\"Absolutely!\" Gina giggled. \"See, Kevin? You\'re not a burden.\"

\"More of a good luck charm,\" Jason agreed.

\"Well, I\'m changing and then we\'re going out for dinner tonight.\"

\"Yay!\" Jason sang.

\"You two don\'t have too much homework, do you?\" Gina asked before turning away.

\"Nothing too taxing,\" Jason shrugged, finally getting up from his bed. \"In fact, I already did mine.\"

\"I only have a few math problems left,\" Kevin nodded. \"I should be able to get them done before we go.\"

\"Great! And we\'re going somewhere nice, so no jeans!\" Gina sauntered away.

\"No jeans?\" Kevin frowned as he took a seat at the desk and opened his math book. \"Somewhere nice?\"

\"Man, will you stop it, already?\" Jason sighed.

\"What?\"

\"I know you by now. You feel funny because Gina\'s paying for dinner and you\'re already living with us.\"

\"Well,\" Kevin began.

\"Just stop,\" Jason grinned. \"She wouldn\'t have this great new job if you weren\'t living with us. And she\'s ecstatic about it.\"

\"But I\'m not her responsibility.\"

\"Neither was I,\" the taller boy replied. \"And yet, she fought like hell to make me her responsibility.\"

\"But you\'re her brother.\"

\"So are you, now,\" Jason grinned. \"You didn\'t know that, did you?\"

\"Huh?\"

\"Gina\'s planning to legally adopt you once it\'s safe to come out of hiding.\"

Jason watched Kevin\'s reaction, knowing this would alarm him somewhat. But he felt he\'d better prepare his friend for what was coming, as Gina wasn\'t about to back down for any reason.

Kevin stood there in shock. He had no idea that Jason\'s sister wanted to keep him after the whole Gary mess was straightened out. He\'d just assumed he would be going back to live with his brother, or maybe with Matt.

\"But I only have one year left before I\'m legal.\"

\"That doesn\'t matter,\" Jason said definitively. \"And before you even try to argue, let me assure you that nothing\'s going to stop her. You will become her ward, one way or the other.\"

\"But Brian . . .\"

\"Won\'t be able to win you legally because he\'s still considered too young, has no reliable income and is emotionally troubled at the moment.\"

\"I don\'t want to seem ungrateful,\" Kevin sighed, toying with his pen as he looked down. \"But I can\'t leave him, Jay. He needs me.\"

\"Actually,\" Jason said quietly, studying his features carefully. \"He needs Matt more right now.\"

Kevin\'s face turned red and he was about to explode when Jason put his hand up to forestall it.

\"Matt\'s no replacement for you,\" he assured the livid blonde at the desk. \"But right now Brian needs to feel safe more than anything else. He\'s been living in terror for too long not to need that. Let Matt take care of him for now. When he\'s ready, he\'ll come to stay with you.\"

Kevin stared unseeingly at his math text. It hurt to know that his brother was relying on someone else right now instead of him. It wasn\'t just the fact that Matt had hurt Brian in the past anymore. It was that Brian was getting close to someone else when it had always been just the two of them. Kevin knew the move would be hard, but it was already taking its toll on him and he hadn\'t been gone more than two days. Jason put a hand on his shoulder causing the small blonde to look back up with luminous hazel eyes.

\"He still needs you, Kev,\" Jason said softly. \"But he needs time to feel safe again. Matt\'s his security blanket right now.\"

\"I\'m still worried about that.\"

\"I told you the talk went well. He isn\'t going to jump your brother,\" Jason smiled. \'And I\'ll try my damnedest not to jump you,\' he added silently.

Kevin smiled and turned back to his math book. He would try to settle down for Jason\'s sake. His friend had looked so worried about him that he didn\'t want to add to anymore trouble than he already was.

The rest of the evening went well, too. Gina took them to a fairly posh steakhouse not too far from where they now lived. Kevin started to gasp over the prices but Jason kicked him under the table and Kevin didn\'t like his frown. When the waiter came to order, Jason ordered for Kevin, too, which didn\'t sit too well with the small blonde as he was now forced to eat a porterhouse instead of the cube steak he\'d been contemplating. He glared at Jason who smirked back smugly.

Gina told them all about her first day at the firm and the corner office she\'d been given. It seemed she was more ecstatic than Jason even suspected. They told her about their school day and the new people they\'d met so far. She reminded Kevin to make sure he was introducing himself with her last name and he assured her he was. All in all, it was a very happy evening out.

When they returned home, Kevin raced for his room to talk to Brian. It was his birthday, after all. He felt a pang of sadness as he remembered giving Brian his sketches before they left so he would have them for his birthday. Jason had seen him finishing them up before they packed, but he didn\'t ask about them, and Kevin was grateful. He didn\'t feel like getting into it with his friend right now, feeling like a pauper and all. But this gift he didn\'t mind. He now grinned down at the small phone Matt got him and waited impatiently.

\"What are you doing?\" Jason asked as he strolled in casually and sat on his bed.

\"Wait!\" Kevin grinned.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the phone finally chirped.

\"Hello?\" Brian\'s small voice came through.

Kevin pressed the button and shrieked into the phone, \"Happy birthday!\"

\"KEVIN?!\" Brian squeaked back. \"You have one, too?\"

\"Matt gave it to me before we left,\" Kevin replied. \"He wanted us to be able to talk whenever we needed to.\"

Jason sat back and happily listened to Kevin and Brian talk. He could see that his smaller friend was glowing with excitement to talk to his brother again. He knew that Kevin would need quite a while to adjust to life without Brian close by, but it couldn\'t be helped. Gina was doing what was best for Kevin and Brian would agree once he was told. It didn\'t escape the taller boy\'s notice that part of him was thrilled that what was best for Kevin kept him with Jason. Hey, he was human.