Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 07:50:14 -0500
From: Kurt King <kingkurt1339@gmail.com>
Subject: The New Life of Matt King Chapter 6

	This story may contain sexual acts between males, persons below the
age of consent, and relatives. If this offends you or is illegal for you to
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	This story is fictional and entirely the work of the author's
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	You can find my other story at the following link:
	NLXK:
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/the-new-life-of-xander-king/

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	This story is not a quick jack-off story. If you are looking for
that, you would be best going to another story. If you are interested in
not just the sex, but also the lives of the characters and their romances
and dramas, then read on, and I hope you enjoy it!

	In the lats chapter, a picture went around school of Matt and Liam
kissing, which caused some conflict, but which Tessa dealt with. Matt was
sick through all of it, and didn't know of what had happened. That weekend,
Liam talked Matt into playing his guitar at the park, where Matt realized
that he isn't a bad singer or musician.

	On with the story!

~~Chapter Six – The Stray~~

[Matt]

	Liam convinced me into walking to school with him today, instead of
riding with Adam. I agreed to it, for some unknown reason. He also talked
me into sitting with him at lunch, but I'm not sure how well that's going
to go over, so I'll probably still just eat in the nurse's
office. Apparently, she's his aunt.

	At school, I find my locker covered in decorations and gold
foil. Pictures of me in various actions at school, making me wonder why the
girls are taking pictures of me in the first place, with a large,
full-color picture of Liam and me kissing at the mall, cut into the shape
of a heart with a pink background.

	Underneath it, someone wrote in purple 'If we did a 'Cutest
Couple', we know who'd win!', and it kind of creeps me out. That looks like
Tessa's handwriting. I bet she's got a crush on me.

	Creeper.

	No one says anything to me at school about the kiss or me being
gay, though I can tell some people don't like it, and it makes me
uncomfortable. At lunch, I do my best to sit with Liam and Chance at lunch.

	The moment I'm sitting, our table is swarmed by girls.
     "Hey, Matt!" One exclaims after managing to get a seat. "You're
finally eating with the rest of us! How've you been?"

	I'm not sure how to answer that. My anxiety's starting to act up. I
need to go.

	"Whoa!" Liam laughs. "Give him space, will you? He just sat down."

	"I saw you playing at the park," one girl says. "Well, the video of
it. Damn, you're good, Matt. You seriously taught yourself how to play?"

	"There's a video of me playing at the park?" I ask.

	"Several," she informs me. "You're awesome, and the way you shifted
your voice during it? That was amazing."

	"Want to know what else is amazing?" Liam asks. "The fact that he
created a rock version of 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from 'The Lion
King', and it actually sounds good. We're meeting on Saturday to record it
with the two of us, with me as backup. It'll be fun."

	"So what do you have for lunch?" One of the girls asks me.

	"Food," I answer. "I'm hungry."

	Ignoring their questions and chatter, I start pulling out my
food. Sandwiches, because I don't want to microwave anything in the nurse's
office. If I end up in there after, the smell will probably still be in
there, and that will only make me hungry again.

	At least if I focus on food, I can try to focus on it instead of
them.

	As I eat, the girls chat with Liam and each other and try to chat
with me, but as I said, I ignore them completely and just eat. Why? Because
food is delicious, and I'm not interested in them, and they're making me
very, very uncomfortable.

	After school, Liam and I are walking home when I start smelling
something delicious. The smell leads me to the park, and we arrive at a
stall for caramel apples where we can choose what goes on them. Apple with
caramel is a dollar, each topping is twenty-five cents, and a coat of
chocolate over the toppings is fifty cents.

	Staring intently at the options before me, I accidentally cause a
line, and Liam drags me out of it until the line's gone. The caramel is
fresh and creamy. I just want to eat that by itself, it looks so good. I
look at Liam.

	"When I get to the house, I'm making some caramel."

	"Okay!" He laughs. "But if you're getting something, do it fast,
because I gotta get home and get ready for gymnastics."

	"Fairy," someone rudely coughs, pushing Liam as he walks up to the
stand. "One apple with sprinkles and walnuts, please."

	"Hey!" I call. "You bumped Liam! Apologize!"

	"It's fine," Liam mutters.

	"Make me, faggot," the boy challenges.

	"Okay," I say.

	"No!" Liam grabs me, holding me back. "No, no, no! Matt, no! Let's
just go!"

	"Lemme at 'im!"

	"No!" Liam exclaims. "I felt your punches when you were pulling
them, and trust me, Jake ain't worth it."

	"Jake?" I look at Liam. "You mean your friend, Jake?"

	"I ain't friends with no faggot," Jake spits at me, and it hits me
in the cheek.

	"Double neg," I grin at him. "You just said you're friends with a
faggot. So you a bottom in the closet, then?"

	"This is new," Liam mutters, and I slip out of his grip. "Matt,
don't punch him!"

	"Try it, fairy!" Jake laughs at me. "I bet you couldn't hit the
broad side of a barn!"

	"I'd risk splinters," I say. "You, on the other hand, only risk
broken bones. Back off, before I back you off."

	"That doesn't make any sense," Jake rolls his eyes.

	"Please don't," Liam says. "Matt, please just let it go."

	He's not even trying to stop me, now. Not even putting effort into
his words.

	"Listen to your boyfriend," Jake says. "You two are going to go
home and go up each other's ass, anyway. Ooh, that's an idea, why don't you
take me up your ass. I'll show you what a faggot's god for."

	"You're clearly overcompensating," I say. "It's okay, sweetie, I'm
sure there's a guy out there who doesn't care you've got a microdick, he'll
love you all the same."

	Jake swings a fist at me, and all I have to do is step to the side,
pushing his arm to the side with one hand, grabbing his arm and crotch, and
throwing him onto his back on the ground, crouching down beside him as he
just lies there, stunned. I let some spit leak out of my mouth, dropping
onto his lips.

	"And there's a present for you," I say as it draws him to his
senses. I wipe the spit off my face with the back of my hand, then rub it
onto his shirt. "And there you go, your own spit back!"

	I stand up, step over him and order an apple with walnuts, peanuts,
sprinkles, dried bananas, and a coat of chocolate on top. I pay the man the
money, then take a bite of the apple and start walking home, leaving Jake
behind.

	"Dude," Liam says as we walk. "What happened to the shy, sensitive
Matt?"

	"He got annoyed at some ass," I grin at him, finishing off the
apple.
     "Uh, you do know that the chocolate and caramel were hot, right" he
asks. "Don't you? He even had signs up and told you to be careful of its
temp."

	"So?"

	"You seriously can't feel hot or cold well, can you?"

	"Nope."

	"Now I see why Adam's got his hands full with you," Liam sighs.

	When we get to my house, there's a boy around five sitting on the
couch, covered in bruises and blood and wearing dirty, torn clothes that
are covered in blood and dirt.

	"Adam!" I yell when the boy starts screaming. "Your stray is
screaming at me!"

	"Shut up, Matt!" Adam runs out of the hall and into the living
room, sitting down in front of the kid. "Hey, shh, it's alright. It's just
my little brother and his friend. It's okay, you're safe. Matt, do you
think you and Liam can leave? I don't care where you go, I just need to get
him calmed down."

	"Okay," I say. "Liam, onward!"

[Liam]

	Matt called the kid a stray. Like...what? He explains to me as we
walk to my house that Adam's a registered foster-dad for short-term stays
(well, he said 'strays'). In other words, for kids who are between homes,
where they just got pulled out of one and a more permanent home is being
looked for, such as relatives or godparents.

	Something I wondered about was what he did when they were
there. According to Matt, he stayed in his room, leaving only for food and
martial arts. From the glean in his eyes, I get a feeling he got a kick out
of kicking their butts at it. Despite his issues, he's got a mischievous
side to him, too. One that seems to ignore his anxiety, too.

	My kind of guy.

	I tell my Dad about the change of plans for Matt, and he reminds me
that I need to get ready for gymnastics. Matt asks if he can come along,
and he tells him that he'll need to talk to Adam, first.

	"I'm a third-degree black belt," Matt surprises me by
responding. "In several different forms of martial arts. If you're worried
about me getting hurt, then you'd better fear for whatever or whoever tries
to hurt me. Adam's only complaint will be if I'm not back at a reasonable
hour, which is something like one or two, I guess. And if you want to know
if I've eaten, no. And if you're worried about needing to feed me and what
Adam would say, he'd just ask if you can afford it, because let's face it,
I eat everything and everyone that comes into my path."

	Dad still call Adam, and Matt's 'assumptions' about Adam's response
were correct, though the 'reasonable hour' is actually ten-thirty. I don't
think Dad are aware of what he's in for, offering to feed Matt after I
finish gymnastics. We always go out to eat after, and I'm pretty sure he's
about to find out what the two brothers were meaning.

	That said, Matt and I get into the car with Dad. Mom is at DKMA
with the twins, who do martial arts Mondays and Wednesdays there, while I'm
at gymnastics, taking the four to six slot. When they finish, they'll make
their way over to the gym the gang and I train at, getting there about half
an hour later, which is half an hour before we finish.

	"So, boys," Dad says once we're in the car, and I get a feeling
he's wanted this talk for awhile. "You two seem pretty close."

	"Probably because we're sitting in the back seat of a car," Matt
answers, looking out the window while being completely oblivious to what my
dad's getting at.

	"Matt," I say. "Dad's implying a different kind of closeness."

	"He is?" Matt looks at me, then at the empty seat between
us. "We're not physically close, other than beyond being in the back seat
of a car. What kind of close would he be referring to."

	"You know," Dad says. "Liam talks about you a lot at home," my face
heats up. "What do you think of him?"

	"Um," Matt thinks for a moment, and then his face turns red.

	One of Matt's secret fears is that he'll be found out as a gay, and
as a result, get humiliated in an awful way. I don't think he quite
understands that everyone at school knows we're together, and that my
parents are suspecting it.

	"Matt," I say. "Dad's implying that he thinks we're dating."

	Matt's face turns even redder.

	"I was trying to be a bit more subtle," Dad laughs.

	"I still noticed," I grin at him. "And yeah, we're official. Ish."

	"Liam!" Matt whispers harshly. "Don't tell him!"

	"I'm good with it," Dad chuckles, looking at Matt for a moment
before returning his gaze to the road. We've known Liam's gay for awhile,
actually. Now that we've confirmed you're together, we do need to lay out
some ground rules."

	"Don't hurt him," Matt goes back to staring out the window. "Treat
him right. Don't cheat on him. Have him home by curfew. Don't take
advantage of him. Don't force him into sex when he doesn't want to have
sex. And use lube and condoms if he wants it. If not, go raw all the way
in, as hard as possible, and be as rough as possible."

	Dad nearly swerves off the road at that last part. Matt said all of
that with a bored tone, as if it were just par for the course.

	"You two have been having sex?" Dad finally regains his composure
enough to ask.

	"My favorite place is the boys' restroom at school," Matt nods, as
if answering absentmindedly. "Not the one in the junior high wing, but the
one in the fifth-grade wing. It's so much more fun in there. We did it in
the music room during lunch today. Liam can really take me."

	Martial arts, singing, guitar, cooking, acting, and probably a ton
more. Matt's pulling it off as if this is perfectly normal. Where in the
world did he learn to act like this before?

	"He's screwing with you, Dad," I feel the need to stop before Matt
goes a little too far and gives Dad a heart attack. "We've never had sex."

	"You've given me blowjobs."

	My turn to turn red again. Matt turned his gaze to me, completely
oblivious to the fact that he just told my dad that yes, we've actually
been having sex.

	"Is he always like this?" Dad asks, and I think he thinks Matt's
screwing with him again.

	"No," I answer. "But he's finally coming out of his shell. Whether
for the good of all or not, I'm not sure."

	"Oh, definitely for the good of me," Matt nods
enthusiastically. "Whether or not common folk will have a good time, well,
only the fates know. And even then, I'm involved, so probably not."

	"The fates?" I ask.

	"Yes," Matt grins at me as Dad parks. "The fates. Your fate, young
sir, is to be my boyfriend. Now shut up, I think we're here."

	"Practice safe sex," Dad sighs. "And let me know if you two need
anything."

	"Sorry, sir," Matt says very seriously. "I've already got a
boyfriend."

	And then he gets out of the car. Dad looks at me, utter
bewilderment on his face.

	"Did he think I meant in that way?"

	"No!" I laugh. "He's just screwing with you again. Come on, let's
go, before he causes a problem."

	Or rather, someone else causes a problem and he deals with it in
the way he's now starting to deal with things. Or rather, how it appears
he's starting to deal with things.

	We meet up with Matt and go inside, where I meet up with the gang,
minus one, who's now 'banned' from gymnastics because his parents don't
want it turning him gay, and he now states that it's a completely gay thing
to do, and that a straight guy like him would never do something that a
bunch of fairies do.

	Dream on, Jake. Keep denying it. You like gymnastics.

	We all warm up, then start practicing, and while I'm on one of the
beams, I notice Matt messing around with his phone. Guess he got bored.

	After awhile, with Ian and Chance doing cheer exercises with their
team, I realize that Matt's constantly aiming his phone at me, and after a
few moments, moving it down and fiddling with it.

	The little brat. He's not bored, he's taking pictures of me. He's
not even trying to be subtle about it, either. He's making it obvious he's
taking pictures.

	Halfway through practice, a few of the girls take their break by
Matt, and I rest with my friends, the three of us chatting before they have
to go back to practice.

	As I return to what I was doing, I notice the girls are flirting
with Matt, and he's just talking to them. I start to walk over to them.

	"And that, my dear girls," Matt says very seriously, as if he's
been giving them a lecture. "Is why you have failed to notice that I am, in
no way, going to react to your flirting with same."

	"What you were saying has nothing to do with flirting?" One of the
girls, whose name escapes me at this moment, says. I stop walking and
listen, watching. "And who says we were flirting? Can't a few girls chat
with a guy they noticed watching? We were wondering if you were thinking
about doing gymnastics here."

	"I'm a martial artist."

	"You wouldn't be the only one," she says. "There are a few martial
artists here. One's Ian, who does gymnastics and cheerleading
competitively, and the other's this boy named Liam, who does it for
fun. Where do you do martial arts at? Maybe I can come watch sometime. I've
been thinking of starting, myself."

	Yeah, totally not flirting with him.

	"Ah, yes, Liam," Matt says thoughtfully. "I know of this young
lad. Speaking of boys, want to see a picture of my boyfriend? Look."

	He holds up his phone and shows her what is probably one of the
photos he took of me.

	"That's Liam," she says.

	"Indeed so," Matt says. "He lives around the corner from me, and it
is at my house where I do martial arts. If you want to check out a place to
do martial arts at, however, check out Dragon King Martial Arts. My older
brother owns it. I'll be there tomorrow, to watch my boyfriend, if you want
to check it out. Hey, Liam! Hi!"

	Matt waves at me.

	You're pretty unusual today.

	"Who are you, and what did you do with my boyfriend?" I ask as I
approach.

	"Ate him," Matt rubs his stomach. "I bet you I can do a handstand
longer than you."

	"Dream on!" I laugh, though I know that he probably can.

	He can probably do gymnastics better than me, even though he's
never done them before.

	"We have a balance beam at home," Matt says. "You can practice on
it when we're hanging out, if you want. It's fun. I like doing flips on it,
and stuff."

	"You do flips on it?"

	"Yeah," he says, face deadpan. "But not those slower ones like
everyone's been doing. I don't get why you're being so careful, I mean,
it's just a flip."

	Slower ones? Matt, I'm one of the fastest when it comes to
flipping, here. On the beams, anyway. And you called me slow?

	"Also," Matt says. "You're flexible, but I've got you beat."

	He blows a raspberry at me, and I just laugh and roll my eyes, then
get back to practice. This time, I do some cheer stuff with the team,
because one of their members had to go home, and I can cover pretty much
any position, so they called me over.

	The next time I see Matt, he's chatting with my brothers. Well,
staring at them intently while they chat to him. They're both definitely
unnerved by his gaze, and I can't help but wonder what terrible plans he's
developing.

	After practice, I get into the car with Dad and Matt, while the
twins go with Mom, and we make our way to our post-gymnastics eatery: the
Wolf's Dragon. It's this amazing restaurant that deals with entirely
organic, locally-sourced ingredients at reasonable prices. They have
top-notch chefs who have trained around the globe and could work almost
anywhere they want. In fact, their head chef is able to work anywhere she
wants and own her own restaurant, but works here instead, at a restaurant
that does not get judged by stars or any of that crap.

	It's amazing, and I love it. Matt's anxiety clearly kicks into gear
again as we sit at the entrance, waiting for our table. Too many people for
him? There were far more people at the gym. He's sitting almost on my lap,
looking around nervous, scared.

	As we're waiting and he slowly starts to descend into full-on
panic, I realize what's wrong. Even though there are fewer people here, the
space is smaller, it's more packed. That makes it feel more crowded and
sound noisier. That's what's freaking him out, making my love's anxiety
flare up. I grab his hand and squeeze it, but he just makes a small whine
in the back of his throat.

	"Who's your friend?" Emily, the only hostess they have right now,
asks as she seats us.

	David, the owner, is also seating people, each of them taking ten
of their thirty-plus tables.

	"Matt," I answer. "He's my boyfriend," Matt whimpers next to me,
looking around nervously. "Matt, Emily's the only straight worker here, you
have absolutely nothing to worry about. From the staff, anyway. And trust
me, they don't put up with crap here."

	We get seated, and Matt continues to look around nervously, and
when the menu's put in front of him and he starts to nervously look through
it, his eyes widen. He nudges me several times and points at something. I
just nod and tell him if I've had it before or not, and if it's good.

	We're at one of the corner tables, which has a booth all the way
around it, instead of just on two sides, and the table is more rounded than
rectangle. My parents are sitting to my left, Matt is on my right, the
twins are on his right, and he himself is fidgeting nervously.

	"Alright," Emily returns to our table. "Sorry I took a minute,
we're quite busy and a bit understaffed," something we already know, but
that she's still supposed to inform us of, to prevent any complains about
how she's being lazy, or something. "Are you ready to order your drinks?"

	Mom and Dad both order Sprite and lemonade, the twins order
Dr. Pepper, and so do I. Matt thinks for several long moments.

	"Chocolate milk," he answers, then adds a little
hesitantly. "Please?"

	"Sure!" She smiles at him. "I promise, we have the tastiest
chocolate milk around."

	After verifying our drink orders, she leaves, returning a few
minutes later. Matt drains the cup completely, then asks if he can get
another.

	"Sure," she looks at Dad, who just shrugs and nods. "Would you all
like to order your appetizers now?"

	We place our appetizers, and Matt just scans the menu some more.

	"Matt, order your appetizers," I nudge him with my elbow,
whispering quietly in his ear.

	"Um," he looks at her, cheeks turning red. "Can I get chips and
salsa, nachos and cheese sauce, no meat, toasted ravioli, and mozzarella
sticks, please?"

	"Can you eat all that?" Dad asks Matt, who nods, blushing even
more. "Will you still have room for the entrees?"

	"Probably?" Matt shrugs. "They all look good. I want to try them."

	Dad tells Emily it's alright, and she leaves, and a few minutes
later, she returns with our appetizers and Matt's milk. Despite his nerves,
he can still eat. He just devours his appetizers, one after the other. And
the fun part about that? The portions here are far from small. He asks for
an orange juice when she returns to check on our drinks, and she just
stares at his plates and bowls, which are empty, apart from the nachos,
which he's finishing off.

	Once we're all done with our appetizers, she takes our dinner
orders.

	"I'd like a house steak," Matt speaks while looking through the
menu. "Spaghetti with meatballs, spaghetti with alfredo sauce and grilled
chicken, the deluxe burger, minus the tomatoes, a medium boneless wing
order with honey barbecue sauce, teriyaki chicken with rice, and for my
sides, I'd like the salad of the day, two orders of fries, a side of potato
wedges, can I get another medium boneless wing, this one the lemon lime?
That looks interesting. Oh, hey, you have Ceaser salads. One of those,
please. Two orders of breadsticks, plus an order of cheesy breadsticks. Can
I get marinara for all of that? Wait, why is pizza in the sides menu? I'd
like two slices of sausage pizza, please. Ooh, grilled cheese! I want two
orders of grilled cheese, and an order of the garden chicken sandwich, too,
please."

	"Let's start with one of those," Dad says. "And see if you can eat
it."

	"I can eat it," Matt states.

	And he does. When we get our food, he consumes it, then asks for
the next course. He starts to really open up, too, and when he's almost
done Emily just scoffs.

	"Where are you putting all that?" She asks.

	"I'm using it to fuel my power to consume the souls of any beings I
come across."

	Deadpan Matt is back.

	"Can you consume the soul of a dragon?"

	"Now who in their right mind would do that?" Matt looks at her like
she's an idiot. "That just ruins their look. No, I just seal them into the
walls of my house. Come on, wench! Bring me more food!"

	The rest of us order our desserts while Matt's eating, and while we
order them, he orders his, too. The brownie, the apple pie, each with a
scoop of ice cream, peach cobbler, also with ice cream, cheesecake,
strawberry cheesecake, and a sundae.

	And yes, he devours all of that as well.

	And no, he doesn't go comatose.

	And no, we have no freaking clue how he can fit that much food into
his body. His small, well-muscled, very sexy body that shows absolutely no
sign of regularly consuming that much food.

	After Dad pays the bill and tips Emily, we head home, dropping Matt
off, and then we go home, get the twins to bed, and Mom and Dad decide to
give me 'the talk' because of the relationship between Matt and me.

[Matt]

	"He's in bed," Adam says when I get in. "But be careful, he's
probably not going to like you."

	"Why'd he start screaming like that?" I ask.

	"He's been pretty badly abused by his parents and siblings," Adam
says. "He now doesn't like anyone at all. It took a hell of a lot of effort
to get him to just enter the house, I was trying to see if we had clothes
that would fit him when you got home. No one can calm him down, but we hope
we can get him to start to accept us."

	"Where did he go to school?" I ask.

	"He didn't," Adam says. "His parents kept him locked in the
basement. How did you know he was old enough? He only looks three, to the
casual observer, due to his size."

	"Gut feeling," I yawn. "I'm going to bed. Night."

	I head to bed, but I can't sleep. That food was really good, but
it's not why I can't sleep. I get up and do my homework, which I forgot to
do because of the kid screaming. I try falling asleep again after that, but
can't. The kid's screaming and fear is on my mind. I grab my guitar and
violin and go into the room for the foster kids, which has two bunk beds, a
desk, two dressers, a closet, its own bathroom, and a dragon painted on one
wall. I turn the lights on, but keep them on a low dim.

	The boy is lying on the bed to the left when the room is entered,
and he looks exhausted. He's not cleaned up, not changed at all, still
covered in all that blood and stuff. Guess Adam couldn't get him to do
anything.

	For someone who got abused a lot, he's sure 'sleeping' pretty
soundly. I sit on the opposite bed and stare at him, strumming my
guitar. After a few minutes of that, he shifts slightly, uncomfortable. So
I was right, he's just pretending to be asleep, hoping that he won't get
bothered and left to sleep. I doubt that really happens, despite his
efforts, which is probably why he's getting uncomfortable.

	Because of that, I start actually playing, this song Carrie
Underwood's "Crazy Dreams". It's my favorite song, and the one that got me
started on music. He fidgets a lot during it, trying his best to pretend to
be sleeping, but I know the truth.

	My next song is "Watermelon Crawl" by Tracy Byrd, and now, he's
having a hard time pretending to be asleep, his fear starting to overwhelm
him. After that, I set my guitar on the bed and pull out my violin,
standing up. He freezes up, thinking I'm probably going to start hurting
him.

	Instead, I start playing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", by the
Charlie Daniels Band, and dance along to it. As much as I can in this
smaller room. As I do that, he opens his eyes, his beautiful, warm, big
brown eyes, and watches me, fear still in them.

	After that, every time a verse comes up, I lean in close and sing
to him, but go back to dancing when it's just music, even if it's just a
few moments. Or I just increase the length of time of the music itself, as
there's actually not a whole lot. At least, not enough for me to just dance
around for him.

	When I start to put the violin down, he starts to whine in the back
of this throat. I sit back down on the opposite bed and start playing my
guitar again, this time playing "Holler Back" by The Lost Trailers. I
decide for one last song on my violin, "Good Times", by Alan Jackson. I
dance along to this one, too.

	At this point, he's trying not to bounce along to the music, but he
is. When I finish, I smile at him, and he starts to look scared.

	"My name's Matt," I say, then look towards the door and lean
forward, looking back at him. "Adam only thinks he's in charge, but in
reality, I'm the boss here. Don't believe him when he says he's in
charge. I own him."

	He looks like he's about to freak out again.

	"Do you want to learn how to play the guitar?" I put my violin down
on the bed, talking to him with my back turned.

	He just frowns.

	"This thing," I pick up my guitar and show it to him. "The other
one's a violin. Want to learn how to play?"

	He looks at the violin I was just playing.

	"Or the violin, if you want," I say, and he thinks about it,
pursing his lips a little bit, then nods. "Violin?" He nods. "Okay! There's
just one thing. See, you're all covered in blood and stuff, so we'll have
to get you cleaned up," his eyes widen and I can tell he's about to freak
out. "But! Butbutbutbutbut! Don't cry! I promise, I'll teach you how to
play the violin. I'll take a shower with you and get you all nice and
squeaky clean. I promise that I'll be as gentle as possible when I clean
you. You can clean yourself if you want, but I'm definitely taking care of
that hair for you. I was a kid once, too, you know, and I know how hard it
is to get that hair clean. Then, after the shower, we'll get you in some
clean clothes. Adam said he had a friend pick some up for you, so we should
have some that fits. Hopefully. Then, I'll teach you how to play the
violin. Or start to. Okay?"

	He still looks like he's going to cry, like he's going to freak
out.

	"I'll be right back," I get up and leave, going downstairs and
grabbing a plate of brownies. When I return, he's hiding under his blanket
again. "I've got brownies!"

	He doesn't react to that.

	"They're so delicious," I pop one into my mouth as I sit on the bed
again. "Oh, my goodness. This is amazing."

	I overemphasize while talking with the brownies in my mouth, and
eventually, he pokes his head to see what I'm talking about. It took me a
few minutes to realize that he might not know what brownies are, from what
Adam said about his living conditions.

	When he pops his head out, he comes face-to-face with a brownie I
carefully placed on his bed. He shrieks, scrambling back. He calms down
after a moment, realize I'm eating one. He stares at me as I continue to
eat, then scoots forward and hesitantly grabs it, taking a small bite. His
eyes widen, and he starts devouring it like a hungry, wild animal.

	"Good, isn't it?" I ask, and he nods. "You can have another, then
we take a shower, okay? You can have another after the shower."

	Reluctantly, he walks with me into the bathroom, and he looks
around it, eyes wide. I help him get undressed, and notice that he jumps
and flinches every time I touch even just his clothes, and it gets worse if
I touch his skin. I get undressed, and he looks at me with his eyes wide in
fear. He's doing his best to not scream.

	Adam said he'd been abused. It wasn't just physical abuse, was it?
I wonder if they know that. The kid and I get into the shower, and very,
very carefully, I start washing him. He shivers at my touch, probably
afraid of what I'm going to do to him. It takes a long time to get him
clean, and I wash myself off after, then we get out of the shower and I dry
us both off, wrapping him in the towel and leading him back into the room.

	It takes me a few minutes to find the pajamas Adam got for him, but
once I've got those, I help him put them on. No underwear, because they
size they got was too small for him.

	I put the plate of brownies next to him, and tell him to enjoy as I
grab something. I go down to the basement to grab another violin, making
sure it's tuned before bringing it up to the room. He hasn't touched the
brownies at all.

	"You offend me," I say, and he widens his eyes in fear. "Those are
perfectly good brownies, you like them, and you won't touch them? What boy
doesn't like brownies?"

	He looks scared, and I smile at him, hoping to show him I'm joking,
but he just looks scared. I grab my violin and sit down next to him,
handing him the one I brought up and show him how to hold it properly and
everything.

	That done, I start teaching him the basics. It's kind of fun, even
if I have to correct how he's holding it a few times, but he's five, it'll
take time. It's not like he's me or anything.

	We both get really tired, and I put the instruments back in their
cases, get his teeth brushed (and mine), and then tuck him into the clean
bed, kissing him on the forehead before turning off his light and starting
to leave the room.

	"Joey."

	His voice is soft, quiet. I got him to speak, and it's a name,
too. Probably his. Hopefully his.

	"Goodnight, Joey," I whisper, then close the door.

~~END OF CHAPTER SIX~~

	Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! As always, any feedback,
be it questions, comments, suggestions, etc. can be sent to me at
kingkurt1339@gmail.com – I try to respond to every email! You can also
follow me on Twitter @KurtMKing now, too!

	TriviaTime! Adam doesn't teach Matt to pass down a family art, to
make sure he knows how to defend himself, or anything like that. He teaches
him martial arts...because he knows that Matt would get fat if he didn't
work out, due to all the sweets he eats.

	Hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to Chapter 7!