Safe Hands

2. It's not over

Peter pulled into a parking lot, allowing Grayson to get out. They walked into an apartment building, and Peter unlocked the door to his apartment, letting Grayson in. The boy looked more defeated than usual after that roller coaster of an event.

Peter stared at him for a while before tossing his keys on the table. "You need to take a bath," he said, pulling a tissue out for Grayson to grab. "Wipe the blood on your nostrils."

Grayson refused the offer, wiping with his sleeve instead. Peter sighed. "That was gross," he said, making his way to the kitchen.

Grayson plopped on the clean couch, regretting it as pain surged through his body. He groaned and reached for the remote to switch on the TV.

Peter walked out of the kitchen with pizza slices, probably leftover and heated. "I bet you're hungry. But I did say you should get a shower, didn't I?"

Grayson frowned. "Stop ordering me around, Peter," he retorted violently before grabbing a pizza and taking a savage bite.

"Slow down, you eat like a dog," Peter said.

"Maybe if your father didn't starve and hit me, I'd be less hungry," Grayson added, causing Peter to huff out loud.

"What then? Is it my fault?"

"Yeah!" Grayson half-yelled, wiping his lips as he swallowed the last piece. "Your mother rescued you, didn't she? You didn't have to live with that beast since you were three. You knew what I was going through, you knew your father! Yet you didn't come back for me. You only visit briefly, and why the hell do you keep visiting when you know you won't get me out? Why?" Grayson snapped.

"Stop!" Peter half-yelled, watching as Gray's piercing eyes devoured him with burning anger. "I care about that beast, you know. I don't want him to die or go to jail, not again. And I care about you, Gray. I don't want him hurting you, but I just can't take you. He's your legal guardian, and he works with the underworld." Peter sat up. "I know he'll come for you again. He'd probably shoot my legs, and damn, I hate admitting it, but he is unbeatable. That's why I—"

Grayson sat up scooting, "chicken." he muttered with a disappointed Grayson stare. "He'll come for me, Pete. I know it. My mother owed him, and I can't get out as long as I don't pay up. So I belong to him, no matter what. Just take me back already. He is probably asleep now and he shouldn't be that mad anymore. otherwise, he would come for me and probably kill you. It was a stupid idea, Peter. He is too strong." he said in resiliation.

"No," Peter lowered himself back on the couch. "He can't kill me. He would only shoot me in the legs; that's his worst. If I don't get you out now, you'll never get out, Gray. Dad is mad. I need to get you back to your family."

Grayson frowned deeply, "I don't want them. Where were they all these years, huh? What tells you it would be different? My mother is dead, and my father is too." Grayson paused. "Nobody wants me, don't you get it?"

Peter peered up at the boy. "Damn it, Gray, you're fifteen years old. You don't need to live with such a mentality. You're a good kid; you just need proper care and parenting. And it is not your fault. People are just broken, so they break other people. You must be hurting. I have some painkillers—"

"I don't need your shitty help, Pete. I'm going back tomorrow," Grayson stated nonchalantly before walking off.

Peter sighed as he placed his head on the couch. "Not anymore, Gray. You've had enough already," Peter muttered to himself.

*******

Peter rose from his bed to check on Gray, who was fast asleep on the couch. The boy had put up a fight and insisted he didn't need a bed because he didn't have one in the first place. Peter sighed as he stared at the sleeping boy, reflecting on the times he would go live with his father on weekends. Grayson was a toddler then, the house filled with his screams and his father's yelling, sounds of hard objects slamming into human flesh. The first time he met Gray, he found him in a closet sobbing with visible bruises all over his bare skin. He only met Gray's mother once; she was fierce and unruly, someone who could run a gang and establish her rules, then she passed away in a mysterious accident supposedly the break gave up and Grayson miraculously survived a car flip, he had never mentioned a thing about that day to anyone and when he would bring it up Grayson would go on silent mood as if locking his mind away from the word. After the accident, his stay on weekends was unbearable, a starving Grayson staring at him from the stairs and would not dare approach him for fear of another beating. Then he grew, into something thick and unruly, something that consumed him every day, the more he stayed around Charlie, the worse he was getting. Those soft Grayson eyes he used to know, becoming cold day by day. As if his feelings were dying. And for that reason, Peter risked it all to get him out. He needed to be in safe hands. A family with parents who can guide him and help him heal.