Caged

“Is your house big?” Zacky smiled toward Brian as the two turned the corner onto Brian’s street.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Brian chuckled, looking toward the ground. With their money troubles came a downsize in the Haner household. “But the extra room is definitely big enough for you.”

Zack nodded, as they approached the small, three-bedroom home that Brian normally resided in.

As they walked toward the door, hand in hand just as they’d left the alley, the feeling in Brian’s stomach—the feeling of nervous happiness—grew immensely, though it was more nervous than happy this time around.

When he’d offered up his home for Zack to stay at, he hadn’t thought much about the environment that he’d bring his angelic friend into; because of Brian’s mother, it was the home of a drug addict, always smelling of smoke and dirty laundry. This was why Brian spent as much time as he could away from his home.

As he glanced back at Zack, who was all smiles, still, his head fell to the side slightly. He’d never felt this… this self conscious about showing someone his home.

Even though he’d never really had friends to show his home to, he knew that that he never would have cared what they thought of it. But now…

“Um, Zack..?” he murmured, stopping short just before opening the front door. His fingers felt as though they were frozen in place on the handle.

“Yes?” he smiled crookedly, stopping to look at Brian as his wings fluttered once again.

“I just feel like I should give you a fair warning… I never really know what I’m walking in
on with this place…” he shrugged casually, even though the situation seemed anything but.

However, the smile on Zack’s face remained. “It can’t be so bad… besides, I can‘t
judge you by your home.” he said softly, giving Brian’s hand a tight squeeze.

This was true; Zack already knew that he needed no further proof that Brian was a good person. It showed just in the way he talked and acted towards Zack, and the way he’d protected him back in the alleyway.

“Well… alright.” Brian murmured hesitantly, and turned the doorknob, pushing the old wooden door open.

However, what they did walk in on, Brian wasn’t at all prepared for.

This wasn’t the usual. Brian’s mother wasn’t on the couch, shooting up like normal. Instead, she was—or seemed to be—resting, asleep, against the arm of the couch on the floor.

Brian would have simply left it alone; let her be and showed Zacky to what would now be his room. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was the needle he saw, jabbed deep into the muscle of his mother’s forearm.

It was too deep to have been a hit and miss; in other words, a hit taken too hard, causing the user to fall unconscious. And if his mother hadn’t fallen unconscious, she wouldn’t have left the needle there in the first place.

As his mind processed these facts, Brian dropped Zack’s hand and rushed to his mother’s side, dropping to his knees.

“Mom, mom!” he cried, taking her outstretched arm and began attempting to pull the embedded needle from the muscle.

It wasn’t easy; the hollow, sharp tip had been buried deep in the muscle, when it should have just lingered on the surface, within the vein. It should have hurt to have it
removed.

However, Brian’s mother didn’t make a move as he finally managed to extract the
needle from her arm; she didn’t even make a sound.

At this, every ounce of hope drained from the teenager’s heart, as well as from his expression. Still, he pressed two trembling fingers to the crease of his mother’s neck, where there should’ve been a strong, thudding pulsation.

Instead, he found nothing. His mother was gone, along with his sister.
As his shaken mind again took in the reality of the situation, Brian’s frame began to tremble, and at once, he wished that he hadn’t given the bottle of sweet liquor away to his new, sort-of acquaintance.

However, as Brian’s mind returned to the alley, his thoughts also returned to the boy he’d found there.

Zack stood in the doorway, completely dumbfounded, blindsided by what he was seeing. He hadn’t expected what Brian had warned him of to be nearly so true.

As his human friend turned back to face him, Zack noticed that there was moisture in his eyes, moisture that continued to swell and grow until his tear ducts could no longer keep hold of it.

As the once-again broken boy stared into the eyes of his angelic friend, a slight whimper passed through his lips, decorating the silence between them.

It was then that Zack realized that Brian needed someone. He needed someone desperately.

With this comprehension, he hurried to Brian’s side, just the same as Brian had with his mother, and dropped to his knees before him.

“Z-Zack…” Brian muttered, and Zack realized as soon as the word left his lips, that in the way he had spoken his name, the way his frame trembled and swayed, that Brian was indicating a call for help.

And help, he needed. All at once, he dropped against Zack’s chest, breathing erratic, tears holding races on either of his cheeks as if seeing which side would make it off of his chin and to the carpet first.

And Zack held him, close and tight; it was the only way he knew to comfort someone.

“Oh, Brian… it’ll be okay, it’ll be alright…” he murmured, not knowing exactly what he should say to make his poor friend’s situation any better. After all, he’d never seen anyone so broken up before. Nothing was so upsetting in his world, and so he didn’t know how to work with it.

All that Zack really understood was that Brian was losing everyone and everything around him that once-upon-a-time might’ve meant something to him. This was the reason that he felt so unloved, unimportant; because he had nothing.

Zack had had everything he could’ve needed in his previous life; he just hadn’t accepted it, and it hadn’t accepted him. But he could’ve changed himself, made it so that his family and the others in his home would have accepted him.

For the first time, the young boy realized that their situations were very different, as well as they were alike in many ways.

But even as this was true, the angel realized that it wouldn’t stop him from giving Brian all of the love he could; it was, after all, what he needed the very most.

Sighing, Zack wound his arms around his sobbing friend and buried his face deep in Brian’s shaggy hair.

“I promise I’ll always be here, Brian. I’m never going to leave you all alone.” Zack whispered, and noticed an immediate calm in Brian’s breathing. He’d heard him.

“Y-You’re still a-alright with staying… h-here..?” Brian murmured, peering up at Zack as surprise lingered in his warm, chocolate eyes. He nodded immediately.

“Of course. I’m not just going to leave you here now, not a chance…” he smiled, causing a relieved smile to creep over Brian’s features. He didn’t understand how the angel could still want to stay; still want anything to do with him.

“Thank you…” he whispered, as his arms found their way around Zack’s middle and his face buried itself in the white fabric of his shirt.

Zack’s arms remained tight around Brian’s shoulders, as Brian felt him nod. The next thing that he felt, in any case, made Brian forget about everything.

As the two embraced, Zack’s wings folded downward, wrapping themselves around Brian’s shoulders as well, encompassing him entirely once again.

First, his body shivered at the feeling of the absolute softness of Zack’s wings, and the feathers that made up those wings; not long after, though, Brian’s form simply melted against Zack’s, taking in the feeling of being wrapped in all of that softness, that warmth.

As this happened, the two strong, blanket-like muscles that extended from the angel’s back fluttered slightly, and then wrapped tighter around the fragile looking boy that they held.

Brian’s face found its way into the crook of Zack’s neck, burying itself there. For once in his life, the broken teenager could say that he felt safe; loved.

However, the feeling was mutual for his divine friend; for the first time as well, Zack
could say that he had something to look forward to, something to care for and always protect.

For the very first time, the two boys had found exactly what they had needed, and they had found it in each other.