Yellow

nine

"Good night Tye!" Kit said cheerily from as Tye left the room from where he and Riley had been insistent they teach him how to play poker. It had been difficult, and he'd pushed himself to ask questions when he needed to, but it had been surprisingly fun.

"Night Kit, night Riley." He smiled back at them, half cursing himself for talking, but his other half overruled that fear of getting close to people.

"Goodnight baby." Riley grinned, he had made no attempt to move despite it being half one in the morning, and Tye simply assumed that he was staying with Kit. It didn't bother him, they were all super close after all. He also had an incline that a few of the boys were in relationships with each other, but he had no proof. Not that he was bothered anyway, who was he to judge other people?

He entered his room and sorted through his bags to find some clean pyjamas. He was going to have to do a clothes wash at some point, if he could remember where the utility room was. He was fairly sure he could, but that was tomorrows problem. Pulling out a pair of shorts and his large theatre group t-shirt, he headed into the shower.

He had taken theatre a level and been a part of the amateur dramatics group in the city, but had left shortly before Carter got him. He had only just left school, he turned 18 in three months, at the end of August and he'd assumed he'd end up in a dead end job somewhere, now he just wasn't sure what he was going to do.

But he was happier than he had been in months.

At least that was something.

He looked into the mirror and saw the boy he never thought he'd see again. He was still worryingly thin and his eyes were still ringed by deep bags, but he'd lost the dead look in his eyes. He looked truly happy.

And he was taken aback by it. He'd known them barely a week and they'd made an impact on him that they'd probably never understand. They'd given him hope in life again.

That was something he never thought he'd get back.

Maybe he truly could trust them.

Tye considered all of this while he showered, noticing how all he had on his body were fading bruises. No new injuries.

He was even getting vitamins into his diet, and Carter had that day put him on supplements as well, just in case.

Tye turned off the water and reached for his towel. Was this how life was supposed to be? Was this what it was like to truly be free?

He changed and headed to bed, he was tired and for once wasn't worried about his nightmares. For once he wasn't dreading sleep in fear of his memories.

Maybe that's why they caught him so off guard when he did fall asleep.

^^^
As soon as the screaming started Carter was awake and running to Tye's room. His boy was tossing and turning, his arms protecting his face as he screamed and pleaded for something to stop. Carter wasn't sure what and he sure as hell wasn't going to torment him when he was awake by asking him what he dreamt about.

Moving to the bed, he simply scooped the boy up into his arms, holding him to his chest. "Shhh love, you're safe, you're safe with me." He held him tightly so he couldn't move, stroking his hair gently. "Tye my love, I need you to wake up."

Tye awoke with such ferocity that Carter nearly let go of him in shock. He stared up at him, tears streaming down his face, desperately trying to form words that never came. When Cartet freed his arms he wrapped them tightly around him, and Carter reciprocated the hug at once, holding him close, rubbing his back as the boy sobbed into his shoulder. "Carter." It was barely a whisper amongst his sobs.

"I'm here love, I'm here. Everything's going to be okay." He promised.

"Don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere love, I'm not going to leave you." Carter held him tighter. "I'm never going to leave you."

"I- I'm scared." Tye murmured, Carter kissed his cheek gently.

"I know love I'm so sorry." He had one hand buried in Tye's hair, and it seemed to comfort him. "I'm going to protect you, I'll never let you get hurt." He shifted them so he could lie down with Tye in his arms. He settled them down into Tye's bed, he lay with the boy, barely moving an inch until he fell asleep, and then he shuffled them into a more comfortable position.

He'd chased the boys out almost immediately, as they all wanted to help, but the last thing he wanted was to overwhelm the boy in his arms. And so he'd ordered them all out.

Tye's room still held no character, he hadn't even unpacked, apart from the fact that the bed was obviously being used, you wouldn't be able to tell that anyone lived there.

Carter sighed, maybe he'd take the boy shopping, he only seemed to wear sweatpants and hoodies, was that all he had? By the way his mother had acted when giving him over to Carter it could be that way.

He wondered what sort of things Tye liked, all of his boys had their own thing. Travis was into his gaming, he'd spent a long time trying to teach Carter to game and the man had enjoyed every second of getting to know his interests.

Kit was into magic and card tricks, he could get you to pick a card, put it back in the pack and suddenly he perled a banana and the card was in there. It was incredible and Carter loved sitting with him as he practiced on him.

Artemis was the sports buff, he'd dragged Carter to enough games for the man to know his favourite team for each sport. He remembered fondly pretending he couldn't play tennis so Artemis could excitedly teach him how. He would never tell him, the look on his face had been worth it.

Alexis was the artist, he'd done Carter a portrait of each of the boys and was working on one of Tye which was frankly amazing. He remembered the happiness on Alexis' face when Carter had told him he could paint on the walls of his bedroom, and now the room was filled with the most fantastical little paintings.

Riley, the bundle of energy that he was found his solace in beekeeping. He could talk on length about any number of facts about bees, and when Carter had made arrangements to get him his own hive, Riley could barely sit still until it had arrived.

Noah liked gardening, he knew flower language and was also very into crystals, often giving a certain one to Carter to put in his pocket when stressed, telling him solemnly that it was charged by moonlight and would help him. Carter wasn't sure whether it would, but he listened to Noah talk about them and maybe they had worked, or maybe it was just his support in him that had made him feel less stressed.

That made up Carter's mind, he would take his newest boy shopping and find out what he liked, so he could support him with it, he just wanted to see him happy. That would be enough for him.