Luck stared dumbfoundedly at Rune as the next few seconds ticked on by. He'd read Rune's journal, sure, but the reality of it never struck him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Your dad stinks."

He picked up his basketball and pulled up his hood. He didn't feel like shooting trees or running anymore. He snatched Rune's wrist and tugged him as he began to walk home. His parents wouldn't be back for a few hours yet.

Runed laughed a bit at Luck's oinion. "Yeah..."

The sudden hand around his wrist shocked him, the force of the tug nearly lifting him to his feet on his own. He barely had a chance to grab his bag as he was forced to follow Luck. "W-where are we going?" He asked, confused and slightly wary.

"My house." He said, almost dismissively as he walked briskly away from the park. "Ten blocks. You can walk that long, right?" He turned to gauge Rune's reaction before turning back, "I'm not having you go back home at night, and I'm definitely not having you stay at the park all night."

Rune shrugged, nodding when asked if he could walk that far. It seemed he'd have to, either way. "Luck... Why're you doing this, being so kind to me?" He asked after a few moments of silence. Why did the blonde even care about him? Was this simply pity he was recieving from him?

His grip on Jei's wrist grew tighter as he unconciously walked a little brisker. "You think this is kind?" He asked, adopting a mocking voice. "I just don't your father getting his hands on you." Nine more blocks.

Rune winced slightly as Luck tightened his grip. "It's certainly nicer than anyone's been since my mum died..." He said softly, resigning himself to whatever Luck would do next. He figured he was lucky, not having to be at home... or having to sleep outside.

"Your mom?" Luck asked, his voice sounding too much like a mutter to make out.

When they approached the last block. He loosened his grip a little but didn't slow down. He fished out a pair of keys from his pocket.

"I'll give you a look-around for a bit. You can feel free to make yourself comfortable until it's nine. That's when my parents are coming back." He shrugged, not actually sure when his parents would return home. "Hope you finished your homework."

Nodding slightly, Rune looked at Luck, curious. "What happens when your parents get home?" He asked, wondering if he'd have to leave before Luck's parents returned.

Luck shrugged, "Nuthin' much. But they're-" He paused, "It's fine." He knew his parents would harp on him later, but for Rune it was fine. He opened the door to the unlit dark of his sleepy home.

He let go of Rune's wrist, just then remembering he had been holding onto it. He closed the door behind them and moved to show Rune the living room. It was a dark space, for the curtains were eternally drawn. The hard backed chairs were arranged around a square wood table. Connected to the living room was a small kitchen. "There's cold spaghetti in that fridge," Luck remarked. Then he pointed up to the carpeted steps. "The first room is mine, you can sleep on the bed there at night. The bathroom's at either end of the hallway up there."

Rune nodded, looking around the house. He was glad he wouldn't have to spend the night outside, but the way Luck talked about his parents bugged him a little. Would they be upset to find a stranger in their home when they returned? And... Wait- "If I'm sleeping in your bed, where are you going to sleep?"

Luck started up toward his room, "The floor. It's a lot nicer than it sounds." It was true, for him anyway. As a kid he snuck out of the house to sleep beneath the stars at the backyard. Sometimes in winter he stayed on the floor and just imagined those stars again.

Rune frowned. "If you're sure..." He said, looking around before deciding to follow Luck upstairs. "I wouldn't want to force you out of your own bed."

"'Course I am. You couldn't if you tried."

He opened the door to his room. Wood-grained floors, a bed in blue sheets, a clean desk of multicolored folders and a plate where had eaten spaghetti from. He picked up the plate, "I should clean this up. You can use my computer if you want."

The laptop was shoved into a corner of the desk. Luck rarely used computers. In fact, the laptop had only been touched twice. The first time, to set it up. The second time, to uninstall all the bloatware the laptop came with--which turned out to be a waste of effort since he never used the thing again.

Rune shook his head slightly. "I've got my own, thanks..." He said, settling himself on the bed, looking around the room for an outlet nearby. He found one down the side of the bed, and smiled, plugging in his laptop cord, and his phone charger. He plugged the other end of the charger into the phone, dropping it onto the bed next to him ehile he powered up his laptop while he waited for Luck to come back up.

He was sat, knees drawn up with computer ballanced on them, one socked foot tapping lightly. He'd removed his shoes when they'd come in, it being habit to do so at his own home. He shifted, going crosslegged, before deciding to remove his jacket and hoodie, leaving him in a black and green tshirt and his jeans.

Luck was surprised when he saw Rune pull out a laptop. Did he carry that with him everywhere?

He turned on the kitchen faucet and spilled a dab of soap wash onto the plate. Scrubbing a little, he got the pasta sauce off before putting it into the drying hamper. As he turned to head back, he heard the sound of the door opening. He grimaced, already?

Rune perked up a little when he heard the door open. He wondered who was there, since Luck had said his parents would be out for a few hours yet... He wasn't sure whether to go and look, or just stay quiet.

The door opened, the door closed. A woman in blonde hair came in with another one in brown hair.
"Stay awhile, won't you?" The blonde one was saying to the brunette.
"You're married," said the brunette to the blonde.
"Oh he's so dull!" Replied the blonde.
Giggling, they headed up the stairs.

Luck poked his head out of the kitchen. His mom and, whoever it was she was meeting with.

Rune happened to catch a glimpse of a blond and a brunette walk past the slightly open bedroom door, thankful they didn't notice him. He relaxed slightly, listening as another door shut further down the hall.

As Luck headed back up to his room, he heard the door click open again.

"I'm home." Said his father's voice.
Luck turned around, "Hey Dad. Mom's home too, but you don't want to see her yet." He said cryptically.
"Why not, son?"
"Why'd you marry Mom?"
"Because I love her."
"Okay Dad." Luck paused, "Have you considered other people might love her too?"
"I'll keep any men away from her!"
"What about women?"
"What are you talking about, son?"
"Nothing."

Luck slipped into his room, opening the door just wide enough to get through, before shutting it behind him.

Rune looked up as Luck returned. "Thought you said they wouldn't be home til late?" He asked softly, looking at the blonde curiously. Luck had seemed so sure they would be a few hours yet... Why were they home so early?

"You saw?"

Luck sighed. "My mom's home early to avoid my dad. My dad's home early sometimes depending on his work--but it feels like he's never home because all he does is hole up in his room doing more work anyway.

He sat down by the chair at his desk. "What're doing on your computer?"

Kieran shrugged, cheeks taking on a light tinge if color as he shut down a few tabs. "Nothing really... Just browsing, doing a bit of work for a project in my programming class..." He said, setting the laptop aside for a moment. He wanted to ask Luck about his mother, though the other teen seemed unwilling, by the sudden change in topic.

"What did you see?" Luck asked, seeing Rune no longer looked as busy.

He figured that depending on what Rune saw, he might have some things that he'd rather explain than leave to chance. Inexplicable things had a way of becoming dangerous.

"Not much, honestly. Your door wasn't open very wide. A hint of brown and blonde as two people passed, giggling to one another." He said, shrugging a bit. Who was he to judge? "And then I heard your father come home."

Luck shrugged now, nonchalant. Since it seemed Rune hadn't made any assumptions early, he might as well explain before assumptions did form.

"The blonde one's my mom. The brunette's her current girlfriend. Dad's too clueless to figure out what's going on--or he's just denying it to himself."

Luck stared blankly in front of him. His own family wasn't particularly bad at all, compared to Rune's. It wasn't really a big deal at all, he thought suddenly.

Rune nodded slowly. Honesty, he figured something like that was going on. "Ah... Does it bother you at all, to know your mum's bringing other people home behind your dad's back?"

Luck gave a short, breathy laugh. Only it wasn't really a laugh. Just a push a air out the nose.

"Bother me? Not at all. Not anymore anyway. And not for the reasons that one might think."

He leaned back on his chair, "You had a good mom right?"

Rune smiled sadly, thinking back to his mum. "Yeah. One of the best." He said softly. "My father wasn't even that bad before she passed, either. Some days, I think she was the only thing holding him together."

"How'd your mom di--?"

Luck bit off his tactless words. But he was curious.
Why was it that good people died to leave the bitter ones behind? Or was it that everyone got bitter?

"How'd they meet? Your mum and your dad?"

Rune bit his lip, curling up a little tighter. "car crash... Her and my two little sisters.... And they were highschool sweethearts."

Luck got up from his chair and sat next to Rune. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Rune nodded, glancing over at Luck from the corner of his eye without actually moving at all. He was quiet for a bit, then opened his mouth again. "I was with them..." He said, voice barely above awhisper.

Luck turned himself quickly to face Rune as the words sunk in. "You, you wish you were not alive?"

He frowned, eyebrows furrowing, "Never say say that."

He placed his hands heavily on Rune's shoulders. "You really mean that?" He asked, tightening his grip.

Rune flinched slightly at the sudden movement and the tight grip. Biting his lip, he nodded slowly, hesitant. "Some days... Some days I wish I'd died with them... Or instead of them..." He admitted quietly. "Some days, I pray for death, just to be free of my father. You... You have no idea what it is like, Luck..." Tears were alipping down Runes cheeks, soaking his sleeves as he buried his head into his arms resting across his knees.

Luck pushed Rune down onto the sheets, placing his arm over the boy's neck in a mock strangle-hold.

"Some days you wish to die?" He growled. He placed his hand over Rune's neck as he stared angrily at the headpost of the bed. "I have no idea what it's like and I don't need to know. Things like escapism-" His grip relaxed as he trailed off, losing his train of thought.

Rune's eyes widened, and he whimpered softly, struggling a bit as Luck tightened his hold. He panted slightly when the pressure receded, able to take a full breath again. Tears formed again, spilling down his cheeks, as he gripped the other teen's shirt, pulling Luck down enough for Rune to press his forehead against the blonde's shoulder. "I'm sorry..." He mumbled softly.

Luck wrapped his arms around Rune and gripped him tightly, his brows knitting together.

"Damn it. Don't be sorry to me. Just don't-" He paused, pulling himself up on his arms and stared at Rune in the face, "Don't disappear."

He looked to the side, "I'm not letting you disappear. And you'd better not try it."

Rune shook his head, and moved his hand slightly, hesitantly wrapping his fingers around Luck's. "I won't disappear." He said softly, lifting his other hand to the blonde's cheek, bringing his face back 'round to look at him. "I promise."

Luck cupped his hands around Rune's. "Alright. Good," he breathed. Then he frowned, he disliked this weak side to himself. This uncertainty. This insecurity--and that boy, Rune, was getting him there. He saw in Rune the quiet things he refused to feel.

He fingered the earlobe he had pinched earlier and dropped himself lower to whisper in that ear, "Alright, you'd better," his manner growing threatening.

Rune rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips. He gave Luck a light swat on the shoulder. "Stop that crap. You don't need to pull all that tough guy stuff with me..."