Care
By Li'l Ninja
nifty_little_ninja@proton.me
https://LittleNinja.world

Super serious disclaimer: The characters and events in this story are entirely fictional. Any possible resemblances to real-life people or events within this story are purely coincidental, I swear! This story contains naughty things that you might find...well... naughty. If naughty stuff offends you or it is illegal for you to read in your state, country, town, city, or whatever, then bugger off elsewhere! - Or just use a VPN or something - If not, then grab a box of tissues [for your eyes, you dirty sod!] and let's get started.

A Note From The Ninja: Make sure you read the footer note after this chapter. Don't read it yet as it may kinda ruin things slightly... Not a lot, but a little.

Check out the blurb and photo for this chapter @ https://littleninja.world/stories/care/chapter-14-investigation

Chapter 14: Investigation

Wednesday, 3rd April 1991 – The Ainsworth Family Get Investigated

Dylan had been home for about an hour. The smell of cooking food drifted up the stairs. It smelled great. However, he knew it would be at least another hour or two until he would be able to sneak downstairs and help himself to scraps of food left over from the family dinner that he had, in an act of defiance, stated that he didn't want to be a part of any more.

Luckily for Dylan, his foster mum would still cook the same amount of food as usual. However, she would simply leave his cold portions in cold pans for the boy to sneak down and scavenge once the family had finished eating together.

Dylan's tummy grumbled hungrily. He missed eating hot food. Furthermore, he regularly found that the twins had gone back for seconds, leaving his cold portion to be sometimes less than half.

Dylan's thoughts slipped into thinking about how much he despised this family; how much he despised the twins... The two "perfect" twins. 'If only my foster parents knew' he thought to himself.

Recently, the young 8-year-old Dylan had found himself staring down, looking at the two sleeping twins with hatred and malice in his eyes, his hands gripping into fists as he contemplated choking one out in their sleep before doing the same to the next. Adrenaline rushed through his body as the flames of hatred burned in his eyes. Although he had, on several occasions, found himself actually reaching for one of the twins' necks, he was never able to actually bring himself to do it. He would suddenly retreat to the safety of underneath his bed that he still, in well over three months, hadn't spent a single night on top of. Once underneath his bed, all he wanted to do was cry; he wanted to cry so bad. But he couldn't. He felt too angry to cry and he simply didn't know how to understand or control his emotions.

Suddenly, the doorbell dinged, breaking Dylan out of his spiralling thoughts of hatred and despair. He lifted himself up onto one arm, cocking his head slightly to hear better.

Very quickly, there were another two dings blasted on the doorbell. It sounded important... And then, another three dings. Whoever it was, they wanted the door opened fast.

"Hang on, for fuck's sake," Dylan heard Fred shouting out in frustration. Several moments later, Dylan heard the front door opening downstairs followed by voices talking. However, no matter how hard he strained to listen, he couldn't recognise any other voices or what was being said.

*

"Hang on, for fuck's sake," Fred shouted in an annoyed tone as he headed over to answer the door, fully ready to give whoever was behind it a good bollocking for dinging his doorbell so much. "What the fuck do you wa...." he said, violently swinging the door open. However, he stopped what he was saying as he saw two police officers and two other men in suits standing in the doorway. He recognised one of the other men: it was the County Director of Child Protective Services. Fred went pale and gulped hard.

"Mr Ainsworth," the County Director said in a professional voice. "I'm Roger Geri, County Director of Child Protective Services. This here is my colleague, Ray Simons," he continued, gesturing towards the other suited man. "And this is Police Constable Martins and Police Constable McMillan," he said, nodding at the policemen on either side of them. "We have an important matter that we need to talk to you about. May we come in?" Fred's palms were sweaty and he felt light-headed.

"Who is it, Dear?" Mrs Ainsworth said as she headed toward the front door to see who was there. She had to hold back a shriek as she saw the two uniformed police officers standing at the door.

"It's only C.P.S. and the Police," Fred called back, trying to sound as nonchalant as he possibly could. However, after hearing the words leave his mouth, he knew how bad that sounded and his heart began to pound against his chest.

"Everything is fine, Mrs Ainsworth," Roger said in a reassuring voice. "We're just investigating something important. All we need to do is ask you guys a few questions and then we will be out of your hair as soon as possible. Is that okay?"

Mrs Ainsworth fell for Roger's calm and soothing voice, which seemed to promise quick and easy resolution, hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh, certainly. Why don't you guys come on in and I'll make you all some tea," she said naively. Fred rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth as he realised that his wife had put him in a situation that he was now unable to get out of.

"Oh, tea?" the County Director called through enthusiastically when he noticed the continued reluctance on Fred's face to open the door and let them in. "I would loooove a cuppa tea," he shouted over Fred's shoulder to her, before smirking at Fred and giving him a quick wink.

"Com'on, Dear. Don't keep them standing outside in the cold," Mrs Ainsworth said, oblivious to the realism of the situation.

After a moment, Fred sighed, gulped, and stepped aside, letting the four authority figures into his house.

The twins, who were sitting at the kitchen table, eating their chicken nuggets, saw the two suited men walk past the kitchen door, followed by two uniformed police officers. Their mouths dropped open and they looked at each other with worried expressions.

"Why are they here?" Ben whispered quietly to George.

"I don't know," George whispered, just as quietly.

"Boys, I want you to stay in here and eat your dinner while Daddy and I speak to these nice gentlemen, okay?" Mrs Ainsworth said reassuringly to her boys as she filled the kettle up with plenty of water and flipped it on.

"Who are they, Mum?" Ben asked.

"Are we in trouble?" George added.

"Oh, Boys. My sweet, dear boys," Mrs Ainsworth said as she went to stand behind the twins and stroke their bleach-blonde hair softly and reassuringly. "Why would you be in trouble? They are just here to ask some questions. It probably hasn't even got anything to do with us; perhaps some other family we know," she continued as she smiled down into the twins' blue eyes that were looking up at her from their seats.

"Oh, okay, Mum," George said, smiling back at his foster mum.

"Where's Dylan?" Ben asked, not feeling so comforted by his mum's words. He was pretty sure these guys weren't here on happy day-to-day business.

"Sweetie," Mrs Ainsworth said soothingly as she continued to stroke and tousle the twins' hair. "Dylan is upstairs. Probably underneath... His..." Her brain slowed down and she all of a sudden realised why Ben had asked her that question. Suddenly, she was feeling a hell of a lot less confident in herself. What would C.P.S. think if they went upstairs to see a boy living underneath his bed, covered in bruises? "Shit," she whispered. "I'll go and get hi– "

"Mrs Ainsworth," Ray said as he slipped into the kitchen. "Would you like any help with making all those cuppas?" he asked smiling politely.

"Uh, uhmm. No thank you. I-i-i got this," Mrs Ainsworth said as she fumbled and clattered at mugs as she tried to get her thoughts together.

"Do you know how we all want our tea?" Ray said, doing his best to remain professional and hide his amusement. He had to remind himself that, although this current situation in the kitchen was kind of funny, the reason why they were making the visit to the house today was due to much more sinister reasons.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean... Er, what do you guys want," Mrs Ainsworth said, doing her best to try and pull herself together.

"Well, I'll have milk, two sugars," Ray said. Before he continued to list what the rest of the visiting party wanted, he looked through to Roger and gave him a wink.

Back in the living room, Roger had received his go-ahead. He quickly interrupted what Fred Ainsworth was bumbling on about and said, "Look, Mr Ainsworth... I'm going to get right to it. I need to talk with Dylan."

"Oh," Fred said before gulping. "He's in his bedroom. I'll call him down..."

"No. It's fine. One of these officers and I need to speak to him alone," Roger asserted. "You have no problem with that do you?" he asked in an almost accusatory tone. Fred looked at the seriousness in the eyes of the other men in the room who were looking at him. He knew that if Dylan said anything about how he had treated the boy then he was going to be in real deep shit. However, there was little that he could do now.

Fred sighed and said, "Upstairs... First room directly on your right."

Roger looked at one of the officers and gestured with his head for him to follow him upstairs. They quickly left the living room and headed towards where Dylan was. The other officer stayed downstairs, keeping Fred there in a highly uncomfortable silence, while Ray watched Mrs Ainsworth's incredibly rattly tea-making and the two gawping twins.

*

"Dylan?" Roger asked softly as he entered the large bedroom that had all kinds of toy chests and toys scattered around the place. There were three beds down and the far side of the room. However, he didn't see Dylan anywhere. Roger silently told the officer to wait outside of the bedroom. "Dylan," he said again, very softly. "I'm from Child Protective Services. I'm here to help you. Are you in here?" Roger looked around but he saw nothing.

Roger was about to leave the room when he thought he heard breathing. He stood still silently and his ears pricked up a little. He was sure he could hear laboured and juddery breathing to the right of him. But all that was there was an empty bed. He slowly and quietly kneeled down next to the bed and slowly pulled the valance sheet up, exposing underneath the bed and a young boy who was trembling up against the wall. It was Dylan.

Dylan quivered in fear at the sight of the man. He was wearing nothing but some underpants and, although it was hard to see with the very limited light underneath the bed, Roger was almost certain that the boy was bruised.

Dylan clung tightly to a small orange teddy bear, shaking. He wasn't crying. But although he looked terrified, there was a look in his eye that disturbed Roger.

"Hey, Little Guy," Roger said softly. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay now." He saw Dylan's eyes narrow and a sharp frown quickly formed on his brow. "I mean it," Roger said. "Will you come out and talk to me?" he continued with his soft voice as he slowly gestured his hand underneath the bed for the boy to take. Dylan flipped out a little as the hand invaded his space... His cage. The boy scampered backwards into the corner as far as he could in a panic, banging his head on the bottom of the bed as he did so.

Roger thought the boy reminded him of some kind of wild feral child. He knew about Dylan Brown and some of what he had been through. However, it was becoming rapidly clear that this poor young boy was much more damaged than he had initially thought. He decided it was time to call in the big guns.

"Hey, Dylan," Roger said reassuringly after pulling his hand back. "I promise we're here to help you, okay?" Dylan pulled his bear a little closer to himself. "Look... I'm going to get my friend. He's really, really good at helping boys like you. His name is Ray and he's really nice and kind."

Dylan continued to look at Roger suspiciously although his ears pricked slightly at the name 'Ray'. He knew he'd heard it somewhere recently but couldn't quite remember where. Not that it mattered much; there must be millions of people called Ray in the world.

"I'm going to be right back, okay, Buddy," Roger said in a reassuring voice before giving the scared boy a soft smile. Dylan didn't say anything and just continued to cling to his bear. However, once Roger left the room, Dylan began to consider what these people might actually want.

A few moments later he heard two sets of footsteps enter the room. Roger and another man came and sat down on the floor next to the bed. They sat back so as to not make Dylan feel as if they were trying to trap him.

"Hey there, Dylan. My name's Ray," the man said in a soft voice. "It's a huge pleasure to meet you." Dylan couldn't quite make out the man's face and he squinted his eyes to try and get a better look at him. He looked familiar. He cautiously scooted forwards a little to get a better view. "I promise that we're here to help you, okay?" Ray said. He paused for a few moments to let the boy consider what he had just said. "You don't like it here do you, Dylan? I can see it on your face," he continued in a sympathetic and understanding tone. Dylan looked up at him, then back down again quickly. He took a deep breath, calming himself before slowly and sadly shaking his head. Ray and Roger gave each other a sad look. "Hey, listen Little Guy... If you're in trouble or danger then we are here to get you away from that. Do you understand?" Dylan looked back up at Ray and squinted his eyes again. He was sure he knew the man's face from somewhere. He inched forward a little more, exposing his face to some more light. It was then that Ray noticed the bruising on the boy's face and neck.

"M... Mmmichael?" Dylan squeaked out a little more than just a whisper. He wasn't sure, but the man talking to him looked just like a photo that Michael had once shown him of him and his social worker. Ray smiled.

"Yes, Bud. I'm Michael's social worker. Would you like to leave here and stay with him for a little while?" Dylan's mouth dropped into a little o face. Was Ray being serious? "I know this is hard for you Dylan, but if you want to go and stay with the Carters for a while, you're going to have to come out from underneath your bed and let us ask you some questions.

Dylan's heart was pounding as he considered his options. He wondered if the men were trying to trick him into something. However, they had seemed nice and if they really wanted to, they could have easily just grabbed him out from under the bed anyway.

After thinking for a minute, Dylan began to cautiously creep out from underneath his bed, looking around the room suspiciously to see if anyone else was there when he was far enough out to do so. The two men scooted back as far as they could from Dylan's bed so they could give the boy plenty of room, their backs up against the side of one of the twins' beds.

"Well Done, Dylan. You're such a brave boy. We're so very proud of you," Roger praised. One side of Dylan's mouth curved up for a split second at the commendation. It was nowhere near a smile, but it was a start. Dylan sat across from the two men, mirroring them with his back against his bed.

"Brilliant stuff, Buddy. You're doing great," Ray said warmly. "Now, we need to ask you some simple questions. There aren't many and there is no right or wrong answer. You won't get in any trouble with anyone for any answer you give. But, Dylan, it's really, really important that you're truthful in your answers, okay, Little Guy?" Dylan thought over Ray's words for a few moments. He really didn't like the idea of answering questions. But if it would help him get out of the place he hated so much, he would try his best. Eventually, Dylan nodded his head.

"Dylan," Ray said, deciding to get straight into it in the hopes of getting this part over and done with as quickly as possible, "I can see you have bruises all over you." Dylan nodded ever so slightly. "Where did you get them from?" Dylan balled up his fists and gritted his teeth. He then took a deep breath to try and calm himself.

"Fwwed," he said simply.

"Fred did all of them to you?" Ray asked.

Dylan nodded.

By all rights, they now had all they needed to be able to remove Dylan from the home for his own safety until a full investigation was completed. The two Social Workers had mixed emotions. They were happy as they would be able to get Dylan out of the house. However, it was always upsetting and highly disappointing to hear accusations that one of their carers were abusing the very children that they were supposed to be protecting.

"Now, Dylan. I have to ask this. But has he ever touched you inappropriately? I mean... In your private areas?" Roger asked, worried about the answer he might receive,

Dylan shook his head.

"No," Dylan whispered. "Just..." And then he made striking gestures with his hands across his face and body. He furrowed his brow and his lips pouted together, making an angry expression.

"Okay, Dylan. You're doing great. For now, I just have one more question, okay?" Roger said seriously. The truth was, he had dozens more questions for the young boy regarding their investigation. But now was not the time or place to ask him about them. This visit was about ensuring the boy's immediate welfare and safety. The investigation would follow soon after making sure that Dylan was somewhere safe.

Dylan nodded.

"Has anyone else hurt you physically or... or touched you inappropriately?" Roger asked. He dreaded the reply that he would get as the young boy contemplated his answer.

After some deep thinking, Dylan shook his head softly.

"Okay, Dylan. Are you sure?" Roger asked before breathing his sigh of relief. "It's okay to tell us anything. I promise."

Dylan's eyes scrolled upwards and to the side slightly as he probed his thoughts before nodding his head to confirm that he was sure.

The two men looked at one another and gave each other a half-smile.

Roger gave Ray a nod.

"Dylan," Ray said, "how would you like to get out of here and go and stay with the Carter family for a little while?"

Dylan's face bloomed into a wide smile as he launched himself at the two men, wrapping his arms around them. Although he still couldn't quite believe his luck and knew he wasn't in the clear until he'd actually left the house, it seemed to Dylan that Roger and Ray were staying true to their word.

Once Dylan had released himself from the two social workers, he stepped back, standing up. He looked down at Roger and Ray and smiled. A part of him still didn't fully believe this was happening or that he'd misunderstood something. However, he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay, Dylan. Are you okay to get yourself packed up right now while we go downstairs and talk with your foster parents? We need to inform them of the situation and get them to sign some boring paperwork stuff," Ray said with a grin as the two men pulled themselves up from the floor.

"We won't let anyone come upstairs and bother you. Okay?" Roger reassured the young boy.

Dylan nodded enthusiastically.

"Great stuff," Ray said. "We're both so very proud of you, Son. You're such a brave boy for everything you have been through and we promise to make sure that we will do everything that we can do to make sure that you are with a good and loving family from now on, okay?"

Dylan looked up at the two men who were now standing. His eyes shimmered in the daylight that beamed through the window.

"O... O'tay," Dylan whispered, his voice cracking slightly. He even managed a slight half-smile at them. However, the two men could see there was more behind the young boy's eyes that would need addressing soon.

Both Ray and Roger gave Dylan's shoulder a little squeeze before they went downstairs to inform the foster parents about Dylan's emergency relocation and the investigation into the allegations against them.

***

Dylan smiled out of the backseat car window as it trundled along to his next destination in life. Next to him, he had his little blue rucksack filled with his belongings until it was about to burst. There was a duffel bag crammed with his clothes and a few toys. The duffel bag was one of those that had a handle and wheels on it so he could cart it around a little easier as the bag was not much smaller than he was and even weighed about the same, too. His orange teddy bear was underneath his left arm.

The sun was low in the sky and the clouds looked like little wisps of stretched-out cotton wool. The evening twilight filled the sky with beautiful shades of pinks, oranges, and reds.

Staring at the beautiful sky, the little 8-year-old boy felt a sense of calm and relief knowing that he had just ended another bad chapter in his life. However, he found himself feeling anxious about what the rest of his story would entail. So far, he had very rarely had comfort and stability in his life. However, he had Declan then and together the twins could live through practically anything when they had one another. But that was no longer the case; from the very day Declan left him, Dylan carried the weight of vulnerability, fear, anxiety, and hatred on his shoulders wherever he went, and that's one hell of a heavy weight for an 8-year-old boy to carry around.

***

"Dylan!" Michael shouted excitedly as he stood up from his doorstep and ran towards the car as it pulled into the driveway. Dylan's face lit up when he saw Michael running towards the car and he excitedly undid his seatbelt. He then went to open the door, but it wouldn't open. It had a child lock on it, preventing it from being opened from the inside. That wasn't an issue, however, as Michael opened the door for his friend.

"Michael!" Dylan screamed happily as he launched himself out of the car and the two boys hugged tightly while jumping up and down in excitement.

"Well there's no doubt that those two are best of buddies, huh?" said Ray as he got out of the car and shook Mr & Mrs Carter's hands. All three adults had big smiles on their faces as they saw how happy the two boys were.

"Com'on, Dylan. You get your rucksack and I'll get the big bag," Michael said after the boys had finished their little celebration.

"O'tay."

"I'm gonna show Dylan where he's sleeping," Michael said quickly as the two boys zoomed past the three adults.

David chuckled and shook his head before saying, "Kids, right?" They all laughed.

"Has he had dinner yet?" Anna asked. "We've already had ours but I'll happily rustle the boy something up. We can't have him going hungry now can we?"

"He's fine, Anna," Ray said. "We had to stop by at the offices to get some photos of the boy's bruising as evidence and he ate two cheeseburgers and some fries from McDonald's. He was stuffed by the end of it and couldn't finish all his fries. But I don't know where a boy as small as he is puts all that food," he chuckled.

"Okay, great," Anna said smiling at Ray. The Carters had been working with Ray for over five years. They both knew that Ray really was great at his job and truly did regard the kids' welfare and happiness as his number one priority.

"We've let the boys' schools know the situation and they've agreed to let them have the next two days off so that they can adjust to the sudden change in situation," David explained and Ray nodded in approval. "Also, due to the short notice, we haven't had the chance to sort the spare room out properly yet, so Dylan and Michael will be sharing a room for a day or two. Michael was over the moon to find that out and I think Dylan will be too."

"Great stuff, you two. And thank you for being able to take him on such short notice. You've pulled the boy out of what is potentially a terrible situation and saved him a great deal of suffering," Ray said with a smile of appreciation and admiration for the two foster parents.

"You know us, Ray. We're all too happy to help out where we can," Anna said, returning the smile.

"Right, I need to go back to the office and process the paperwork and evidence. It's going to be a late night I think," Ray said with a chuckle. "Anna... David..." he said as he shook both their hands in turn. "Thank you for everything and if you need me for anything at all then you know how to contact me. I shall give you a call in a few days to see how everything is getting on, okay?"

"Yes, of course, Ray," David said. "Thank you."

David got back into his car and David and Anna waved Ray off as he pulled away from the house. The two foster parents looked at one another, smiled, and shared a close hug before heading back inside to see what the boys were up to.

*

After running inside with Dylan's bags, the two boys struggled together to get the heavy bag up the stairs. Michael was pulling the bag up by the handle, while Dylan was at the bottom side of the bag, red-faced, as he tried to push it up. They were laughing and giggling away, which really didn't help their cause at all. Finally, however, they managed to get it to the top of the stairs and they cheered and whooped like some mountaineers who had just conquered Mount Everest.

"So, Dylan... We gotta share a room for a few days 'till Dad sorts out the spare room properly," Michael said enthusiastically.

Dylan let out a "jyesss!" while doing a little celebratory hop into the air.

"Oh... And no school until next Monday, too."

"What? Wweally?" Dylan asked looking excited but surprised.

"Yeah. Mum said it's so we can sort of, like, get used to all the changes and stuff," Michael explained grinning.

"Oh wow. So cool. I can tell I'm gonna like it heuww," Dylan said, imitating his friend's big grin.

"Com'on," Michael said. "I know you've seen it, like, a hundred times already... But lemme show you my room."

"Wow, I can't wait. I'm sooo excited," Dylan giggled. However, he was somewhat surprised to see that Michael's room had actually been moved around a little to make better use of the space and that there was another bed and a small chest of drawers next to the bed that doubled up as a bedside cabinet. "Oh wow," he gasped. "You've moved stuff awwound."

"Well Dad did most of it but I helped," Michael said honestly. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah. It looks awesome! Can't we just keep it like this?" Dylan asked.

"What, you want to share a room fully?" Michael asked feeling excited that Dylan might want to do that.

Dylan nodded hard and said, "I've nevuww had my own bedwoom. I don't think I'd like it."

Michael looked at Dylan sadly before saying, "Mate, I would love it if you wanted to share a room together. But it might mean that you're stuck with only a single bed while you're here. I don't think we can fit two double beds in here. But with you're own room you'll have a nice big bed." Dylan simply shrugged and made a face that let Michael know that he really didn't care about that. "Okay, cool. But if you change your mind at all, you can just move into the spare room. You're not stuck in here," Michael said.

"O'tay. Cool. Thanks, Michael," Dylan said as he threw his arms around the older boy and hugged him tightly.

"I'm just glad you're here, Mate," Michael said, returning the hug. "Com'on, let's get you unpacked and find a place for all your stuff, yeah?" he then said, but only after Dylan finally broke away from the little cuddle. Dylan nodded in agreement and the boys got to work. Between the two of them, they made light work of it. Dylan didn't really have much in the way of belongings. He had some clothes, a couple of teddy bears, plenty of books, and a few plastic dinosaurs and model cars.

There was plenty of wardrobe and drawer space for Dylan's clothes. Michael created a designated row on his bookshelf for all of Dylan's books and they even found space for his cars and toy dinosaurs. Although, Michael found it odd when Dylan put all his stuffed animals underneath the bed.

Once everything was all put away, the two boys hung around on Michael's double bed while they chatted and goofed around for an hour or so before they began to start feeling tired. Suddenly, while Dylan was halfway through a yawn, there was a knock at the bedroom door.

"Come in," Michael said. The door opened and there stood Anna and David.

"Hey boys. It's getting late. You should start getting ready for bed," Anna said, smiling at the two boys hanging out on the bed together.

"Funny you should say that Mum; we were just thinking the same thing," Michael chuckled. "We're quite tired."

"Okay then, Boys," she said.

"Uhh, Mum... Dad... Can Dylan stay in my room... I mean, like, for all the time he's here with us?" Michael asked.

"Michael, I think Dylan would prefer his own room," David said. He kind of expected Michael to ask something like this. Dylan was practically all Michael talked about and, although he was a few years older than Dylan, it was clear that Michael adored his younger friend.

"I don't. I wanna stay. Umm, in case I get nightmawwes or something," Dylan said, hoping he wouldn't get in trouble for answering back. After all, David and Anna weren't just his friend's foster parents any longer, they were his too and he still didn't fully understand all the implications of what that meant.

David and Anna looked at one another and Anna gave David the "I don't mind if you don't mind" look.

"Well, I guess if that's what you both really want," David said. "And I guess it's no biggie if either of you changes your mind. So, yeah, okay. Let's give it a try and see how it goes."

Both boys cheered and jumped off the bed to give David and Anna a big hug.

"Com'on, Dylan. Let's go brush our teeth and have a wash together before bed," Michael said after hugging his parents. He then led Dylan to the bathroom by his hand. "G'night, Mum. G'night Dad," he said, dragging Dylan behind him. The parents chuckled, shook their heads, and shouted their goodnights to the disappearing boys and Dylan squeaked out some in return.

Once in the bathroom, Michael needed to pee, so he lifted the toilet seat and released his boyhood and let it flow. Dylan tactlessly stood pretty much right next to the toilet and eyed up Michael's junk. While soft, he was about the same size as Dylan was when he was hard. He had some super soft, colourless downy peach-fuzz starting to develop at the base of his peener and Dylan couldn't help but wonder what Michael looked like when hard.

Michael, who knew from being in the changing rooms and the showers after P.E. class that he had nothing to be ashamed of, glanced over and grinned at his young friend who was blatantly checking him out. Dylan saw Michael grinning at him and suddenly turned bright red when he realised how close he was to his peeing friend.

"Uh... Sowwy," Dylan said turning around and grabbing his toothbrush.

"It's cool, Mate. I don't mind... Really," Michael chuckled as he shook off the last few drops and flushed. "But you owe me a show next time." Dylan turned a darker shade of red and stuck his toothbrush in his mouth in an attempt to get out of having to say anything back. Michael, who wasn't going to let Dylan get away with it that easy, couldn't help but tease him just a little more. "You know... It's a shame I'm not gay or I woulda asked if you wanted to touch it." This was too much for poor little Dylan who somehow managed to spray toothpaste all over the kitchen mirror, causing Michael to burst into fits of laughter. Dylan gave Michael an unimpressed look but when Michael keeled over and hit the floor laughing like a madman, Dylan couldn't help but join in. "You... *snort* You... *snort* Your face wa... *gasp* wa... *gasp* was priceless," Michael managed to get out between the fits of his belly laughter.

It wasn't long until Dylan was wriggling around the floor next to his best friend in laughter as tears streamed from both of their eyes.

Some time later, the boys had managed to calm their hysterical laughter, clean the kitchen mirror up, and finish their bedtime routine.

"Com'on Mate, let's get into bed. I'm shot," Michael said as the two boys pattered down the hallway and into their bedroom.

Michael turned his bedside lamp on and turned the main room light off. He then slid beneath his sheets and rolled on his side to look at Dylan who seemed to be struggling with something.

"Is everything okay there, Mate?" Michael asked curiously.

"Yep," Dylan said happily as he pulled the sheets off the top of his bed.

"W... Err... What are you doing?" Michael then asked as Dylan crammed his sheets underneath his bed and threw a couple of pillows under for good measure.

"Just making my bed. This is how I sleep," Dylan replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Uhh, okay. Won't you be more comfortable on top of the bed though?"

"Nope," Dylan said matter-of-factly as he slid under the bed and under his sheet. "G'night, Michael," Dylan said with a smile and a content sigh.

"Err. Good... Goodnight, Dylan," Michael replied. He wondered if Dylan was just playing some silly prank on him or something. However, a few moments later, soft little boy snores were coming from Dylan. It took Michael a long while to get to sleep that night.

Friday, 5th April 1991 – Seeing How Dylan Is Doing At Michael's

It was now Friday. The two best friends had enjoyed some time settling into their new situation. They had also spent plenty of time with the parents, watching movies, going out for a meal, playing board games, playing some football, baking brownies, and loads of other fun bonding activities. For Dylan, it was a stark contrast to what he had been used to in his last foster home... It almost reminded him of one foster home that he and Declan used to live in with Isabelle and Stanley in 1988.

On Thursday, Michael had finally managed to pluck up the courage to ask Dylan about his strange sleeping habits. It took a little while for him to understand it properly but when Dylan said, "It feels strange to no longer sleep in a cage," Michael fully understood and had broken down crying. Sometimes he forgot about the heinous things that his friend had been subjected to and he wondered how he was even able to carry on sometimes. He was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to go through what Dylan had been through.

Today, however, was just another day of goofing around for the two best friends although, Michael had picked up on the fact that something seemed to be on Dylan's mind. And so, sometime in the afternoon, after thinking over what he was going to say, Michael finally managed to pluck up the courage to confront Dylan about it.

"What's up, Dylan? You're definitely off today. You're worrying about something. What is it?" Michael said, deciding to take the firm but caring approach. He wanted Dylan to know that he knew something was up and that they were going to talk about it. Dylan thought for a long moment. There was no point in hiding it and, well, Michael usually was really good at helping him through tough stuff like this. Therefore, he decided to explain his dilemma.

"I know this... All this is not peuwwmanent. Some day soon, I'm gonna end up someplace else And... And I'm wowwied we might not see each otheuww again," Dylan said flatly. He knew he should be feeling emotional and upset and want to cry. And, although he felt emotional and upset, he didn't want to cry; he felt angry; he felt the same hatred that he had felt in the last home but he didn't know or understand why.

Michael hadn't really thought that far ahead. He understood that Dylan was only there on a temporary placement. However, he had never once considered the idea that they may not see one another again when he moved to his next home.

***

Chase lay wide awake in his bed. Although he was a little embarrassed about what had happened in the showers after football practice, he couldn't be happier about the outcome.

Chase had been crushing on a boy in his football team for quite some time now. Well, Chase had been crushing on quite a few guys in the football team for quite some time now; for a boy of only 8-and-a-half years old, he had the sex drive of a 13-year-old lad and was totally boy-crazy. He had been very much into boys for as long as he could remember, even going as far as fooling around with one or two of them. However, ever since stumbling upon those two caged twins, what they had done together, and the ordeal that they had endured had dominated the young boy's mind and he was constantly finding ways to explore this side of himself even more.

It had been well over three months since he had been involved with Dylan and Declan but he thought about them every single day.

Sadly, the young blonde never got any form of counselling for the trauma that he had witnessed, lived, and survived. He found himself crying to sleep several times a week. However, sleep was usually done in short, restless sprints as he regularly found himself waking up feeling terrified and angry. Many times he was screaming, crying, and regularly found his sheets wet from tears, sweat, and/or pee.

Although Chase's parents basically had no idea/care about what he had gone through, he had his best friend Miles and his family who backed him one-hundred-and-ten per cent. However, it was clear that Chase's sexual tendencies had turned into hyper-sexual tendencies after what had happened.

As the young blonde boy happily eyed up the boys in the shower around him, he was waiting for one boy in particular. He took his time washing as he tried his best to not get a boner around all the mouthwatering dick and beautiful boy bodies around him. Of course, he chubbed up a little. But he had incredible control for a boy his age and never went any further than a chubbed-up semi. That was, of course, until... Oscar joined the showers.

Chase's heart skipped a beat and he found it almost impossible to breathe as the adorable upper-middle-class boy entered the showers, totally naked, and, as usual, giving Chase a shy smile. This, of course, was all it took for Chase's semi-erect boyhood to quickly rise to full mast. He wondered why he put himself through such torture every single time, but he always resolved to himself that it was worth it to get a few seconds of a glimpse at the beautiful dark-haired boy.

Oscar was about the same height and build as Chase. Perfectly smooth, soft pink skin covered Oscar's legs which led up towards two small smooth testicles in a soft and tight scrotum. His delectable little boyhood hung softly over his balls, clearing them slightly. The boy's shaft wasn't very thick but was perfectly acceptable for his age. It's entire length seemed to Chase to be about 2 inches long while soft. However, it was hard to tell exactly as Oscar's foreskin had some slack on the end. The boy had a perfectly flat chest and the tiniest bit of puppy fat remained on his tummy. He wasn't toned in any way, but Chase thought he looked perfect.

Oscar turned around to face the water in the shower, exposing the pièce de résistance that was his perfect little bubble but to Chase and the young blonde was practically drooling. He was so entranced in the boy that he didn't realise that someone was watching him, too.

"Oh my god... You're checking out the new kid," Cole said, making Chase's heart jump into his mouth.

"Shhhhh!" Chase scolded. "He might hear you."

"So what? He obviously likes you too. Why don't you just talk to him?"

"Fuck off, no way does he like me. I bet he's not even gay," Chase stated assertively.

"Oh come on, Chase," Cole started, "he never takes his eyes off you while you're on the pitch. He always tries to stand as close to you as possible when we have team talks. He's all nervous and quiet around you. And... Well... I've seen the smile he gives you every time he goes into the shower, not to mention the show he gives you," he explained.

"You're bullshitting me," Chase chuckled. There's no way he would have missed all that. However, the more he thought about it, the faster his heart raced as what Cole had said to him started to sink in and make more sense.

"Nuh-uh," Cole said shaking his head. "Look, if you don't go over there and ask him if he wants to hang out sometime right now, then I'm going to go over and do it for you," he said with a grin.

"No... No, wait!" Chase said as Cole turned to walk over to Oscar. "I'll do it after we're dressed. I might freak him out if I walk up to him with this." Chase moved his hands away from his boner a little and Cole laughed.

"Okay. Fair point. But you'd better do it. If you don't then I'll tell him that you get boners every time you see him in the shower," Cole teased.

"Don't you dare!" Chase said as he tried to give Cole his angriest face and failed miserably.

"Haha. You look sooo cute when you're angry," Cole said as he pinched at one of his cheeks in the way that aunties and grandmothers do.

Chase swatted Cole's hand away and said, "Fine. Fine. I promise I'll do it. But if he says 'no', then you'll have to be there to help me pick up the pieces of my broken heart," he joked.

"Awww, Chasey-wasey has got it bad with this one, huh?" Cole teased, continuing their banter.

"Alright, now fuck off and lemme finish my shower. You've already ruined most of today's show for me anyway," Chase said with a grin. Cole gave Chase a mocked face of sadness and then winked before leaving the shower room. Of course, Chase made sure to get a good look at Cole's great ass as he walked off.

After finishing showering, drying, and getting mostly dressed, Chase took a big sigh to calm his nerves and walked as confidently as he could towards Oscar.

"Oh, errr, hey, Chase. Wh-what's up?" Oscar said, smiling shyly at the blonde boy approaching him. Oscar was a little slower at getting dressed than Chase was and had only managed to get his plain white briefs, plain white vest top, and plain white socks on.

"Not much, Oscar. How about you?" Chase said, practically talking to the soft bulge in Oscar's briefs. He mentally slapped himself and finally managed to bring his eyes up to meet Oscar's, checking out the boy's beautiful body on the way up, of course.

"Same here," Oscar said shrugging. "Hey, you did r-really well this game," he continued, blushing deep red. "Well... I mean, you-you always do well. It's just that this time you – " he was rambling away now. But Chase stopped him by gently placing his hand on his bare arm, causing him to gasp a little.

"Thanks. You did great too," Chase said, stopping the cute boy from embarrassing himself further. He let his hand linger on Oscar's arm for a few seconds and gently caressed it with his thumb.

"Oh... Er, I... I need to get dressed," Oscar spluttered as he grabbed for his trousers and fumbled to slip them on. Chase could see exactly why Oscar felt the need to suddenly finish dressing as he caught a few glimpses of the dark-haired boy's tenting briefs. He decided not to make this any harder on Oscar than he was already finding it and let him slip his trousers on before continuing.

"So, uh, have you got any plans this weekend?" Chase asked as Oscar finished buttoning up and then grabbing for his belt.

"No. Not really. My dad is away until Tuesday so it's just me and Mum, and she's boring," Oscar replied as he idly fitted his belt around his slim waistline and buckled it up.

"Well... Do you wanna hang out or something, Oscar?" Chase asked. Oscar felt his knees go weak.

"Huh?" Oscar asked, not being able to believe what he just heard.

"You know... Like, just me and you hanging out together," Chase said, starting to feel a little unsure of himself all of a sudden.

"W-why would you want to hang out with m-me?" Oscar asked. Why would the coolest kid he knew want to hang out with a loser like himself, he thought.

"'Coz you're cool and I like you," Chase replied. He tried his hardest not to blush, but the harder he tried, the redder his face went. Oscar just stared at him wide-eyed. "Look... I think you're really cute okay," Chase said after getting no response and wanting to cut to the 'Chase'. "If you don't wanna hang out then it's cool. I really don't mind," he finished with a smile that he hoped would let Oscar know that he was being totally genuine.

Oscar looked at Chase and thought hard. He never even considered anyone would find him attractive. In fact, at his age, he wasn't really super into attractions yet. However, being called 'really cute' by the super popular leader of the football team was an instant eye-opener. After all, Oscar thought, the blonde boy was great at football, really funny, a great team leader, extra cute, really hot, super sexy... Oscar mentally shook himself back into reality to stop his mind from slipping even further away. What were all these crazy new feelings he was feeling all of a sudden? And why did he only ever feel them around Chase?

'Maybe we should hang out,' Oscar thought to himself. 'I mean, I would be stupid to say no.'

"Okay. It s-s-sounds cool, Chase," Oscar finally said. "What do you want to do and when?" he asked, wanting to leave the ball plainly in Chase's court. He was totally new to all this stuff, and even when it just came to making friends he struggled sometimes. As an upper-middle-class kid, he was often looked at as a 'posh kid' or a 'toff' by boys of his age in regular state schools. He had also tried private schools. However, in private school, he wasn't posh/rich enough. He was screwed whatever he did.

"Really?" Chase said with a huge grin on his face. "Uh, I mean... Awesome! I would offer you to come round mine for lunch or something, but, uh... My parents won't be in," he lied. Truth is, he didn't even know where his parents had been for the past four days. And the last thing he wanted Oscar to potentially see was his passed-out parents and all their drug paraphernalia throughout the flat. "But I can take you to lunch some other place. Or we could catch a movie. Or we could just hang out on the park or something?"

Oscar thought for a few minutes before saying, "You could come to mine for lunch tomorrow afternoon if you like? My dad's away but Mum is still there and she makes pretty great food."

"Holy shit... Really?" Chase said sounding excited. "I mean... Would she be okay with someone like me coming around?" Oscar almost asked what he meant by that. However, before he opened his mouth, he figured it out. He had been the subject of plenty of class discrimination and, although this was on the other end of the scale, Oscar still considered it exactly the same thing.

"Don't worry about my mum, okay? I'll handle her. She'll leave us alone mostly anyway," Oscar said as his happiness and confidence grew a little.

"Awesome. Okay," Chase said, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm going to finish getting dressed, Oscar. But make sure you let me know your address before you leave. I can come around at any time. I don't have any plans, so just let me know, okay?"

"Sure," Oscar said, smiling at Chase shyly. Chase looked for a moment like he was going to just bounce off. However, he quickly leaned towards Oscar and gave him a very quick peck on his cheek, stunning Oscar completely.

Satisfied with the way things had gone, Chase said, "See ya later, Oscar," in a super cheery voice and bounced off back to Cole to tell him the awesome news.

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This old timeline is quickly catching up with the main timeline. In fact, the end of this chapter is only 1 day behind where Chapter 8 starts. Now you've finished this chapter, I would suggest going back and skimming Chapter 8 really quickly. You don't have to read the whole thing by any means (although if you wanna then go right ahead). But the events of Chapter 8 will be skipped and Chapter 15 will continue where Chapter 8 left off.
Yeah... I know that I write stories weird. Get over it! lolol

Don't forget to check out the website @ https://LittleNinja.world

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome. Hit me up @ nifty_little_ninja@proton.me

A HUGE thank you to those who have contacted me already. Your praises, comments and suggestions mean a lot to me and really make me want to engage more in this whole writing thing. Even if you've already emailed me, then I would still love to hear your comments on this chapter. I reply to everyone who drops me a line.

You can do whatever you like with my story as long as you credit me. Also, if you would drop me and email to let me know, too then that would be highly appreciated.
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Check out these other authors and stories. They have been a huge influence to me and they are highly talented writers:
Counting - Tux
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/counting/

Geeks - Paul Schroder
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/geeks/

Inspecting A Cum Pewter (Short Story) - John Candu
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/inspecting-a-cum-pewter

Timmy and the Travellers - David Clarke
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/timmy-and-the-travelers/

Nexus - David Clarke
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/nexus/
.....actually, anything by David Clarke is pretty freakin' awesome.

The Boys of East Harbor: Michael - The Brat
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/the-boys-of-east-harbor-michael/

Gingerbread Boy - Andrew Thomas
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/gingerbread-boy/

Brotherly Games - Delgrado
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/incest/brotherly-games/

Eighteen Months with Rhett - Earth Boy
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/eighteen-months-with-rhett/

Be True To Your Heart - DLDaddy
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/be-true-to-your-heart/

The Life Of Matt Summers - Flaming Matthew
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/life-of-matt-summers/

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Li'l Ninja x