A/N: Explanation about my awful timekeeping at the end, for now, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter Thirty Two: Shadows Clearing on the Horizon

Paul stared up at the tall building with trepidation and not a little annoyance. His mind conjured a picture of Gabe and he shook his head violently; it was all that boy’s fault that he was where he was. Stood staring up at Torling house with two large men ushering him through the front door.

The welcoming area was a small room painted a cold pale blue, there was a white door opposite where he had been sat and he just knew there was someone important about to come through it, knew that his life was about to change, no matter how hard he tried not to let it, it was going to. In that moment, he wasn’t sure who he hated more, Gabe, Holly and Joe, or his mother.

None of it mattered though, at that moment the white door opened and he knew this was the start of another chapter in his previously shit life.

Samuel Torling was pushing sixty, wiry and tall, with a grey van dyke beard and long silver hair tied at the nape of his neck. He stared down at the newest entrant to his house and wondered at the story behind this transfer. He knew general reasons why the boy had been sent to them, the story behind the behaviour though, was unknown.

The young man was broad and tall, blue hair short and scruffy and the shadow of a day’s growth on his tanned jaw. His dark eyes were full of anger, when he looked up and Samuel knew that this one was going to be a handful. He wasn’t loud like some of them were, wasn’t violent towards him, wasn’t swearing or sobbing or pleading innocence. But the anger, it filled his eyes, transformed an otherwise handsome face into a twisted mask.

He held out his hand, smiling when the large tanned hand did not squeeze too tightly, perhaps there was some hope, “Welcome to Torling House, I am Samuel Torling.”

Paul stared at the tall man in front of him, took in the wiry build and the hard eyes, knew that the man inside was hard and cold, despite the age. Paul knew instinctively that making this man angry would be unwise. He spoke with more respect than he had in a long time as a result, “Paul Hortan.”

The man smiled wider and sank gracefully into the chair opposite Paul, “Yes, Mr Hortan, I’ve heard about you. To say the least I think you’re stay here is overdue.”

He couldn’t help it, he felt a blush rising on his face, something he hadn’t done in a long while, he stared in wonder at the man looking him over, who just smiled slowly.

Paul swallowed and suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say, his mind tried to kick-start his mouth, tried to push some of that old rebellion back into his actions but found that in the face of this hard, graceful man staring at him, he couldn’t think of a word to say.

Samuel smoothed his fingers over his tie and watched the young man struggle with his own reactions. He had years of practice at dealing with youngsters like him, and knew how best to approach the situation. He had always been good with children, it came naturally to him, coming from a large family. He wasn’t surprised at the boy’s confusion.

He flicked open the file he had been carrying and looked down the list of complaints and reports filed against Paul Hortan. He had read it all through beforehand of course and the perusal of it now was purely for show and to jump start the actual meeting.

Paul watched as the man flicked through what he could only assume was his own file and he suddenly found himself wondering at the contents of it, Joe had always been threatening to file reports but he had never been worried, now, though, he found himself with the possibility of explaining his actions and he didn’t like the concept.

Samuel closed the file and looked over at Paul, “Mr Hortan, you seem to have been rather busy during your time with Social Services. Especially during your stay with the Bradshaws, is there anything you have to say on the number of reports filed against you? There seem to be a number of them reporting violence. Do you have a problem with anger management that we need to address?”

Paul couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, somehow he knew that his whole life was in the file perched on Samuel’s knee, and that there wasn’t a lot of good in there. He couldn’t stop the wash of shame, he wanted to leave, wanted to run, he didn’t like the way this man was making him react, he hadn’t felt shame or remorse for years, he had been perfectly fine with his actions.

He didn’t know what it was about this man, but whatever it was he didn’t like it. He knew he was being played and knew that realistically there was nothing he could do about it. He shrugged, looking anywhere but at the distinguished man in front of him, “I’m fine as I am thank you.”

Samuel steepled his fingers, elbows resting on his knees, and leaned forward, catching Paul’s evasive eyes with his own and mentally running through what they would have to sign him up for, anger management, counselling, group therapy. That would do to start with. “How about you tell me about yourself then Mr Hortan?”

Calleigh leaned against the counter, humming under her breath and waited for the kettle to boil, half-listening to the sound of her daughter talking loudly to Uncle Glen, telling him, in English and Gaelic, about her new doll.

She heard her mother fretting over his oxygen bottle, sorting through mail, telling him about his next hospital appointment. She could hear the underlying strain in her voice and her heart went out to her, she knew how much it was hurting her to have to watch him fade away.

Her own memories of Uncle Glen were all lively, him throwing her up and catching her at her birthday party, chasing her up the stairs and tickling her until she cried, watching him play football in the street with the local boys.

The click of the kettle woke her from her memories and she set about making tea for them all and pouring a glass of squash for Sarah. Carrying everything through on a tray she set it down on the small coffee table and passed the drinks out, smiling when Uncle Julian managed a wink at her, his eyes no longer sparkling blue, but dull and bloodshot, his skin sallow and clammy, his clothes hanging off his skeletal frame and his breathing loud and laboured.

Her eyes stung as she winked back, it was painful, sitting there, watching him fade away in front of her eyes, but she did it, she held her mother’s hand and stroked her daughter’s hair and listened to his stories, his voice rough, broken and thick with more than emotion, words struggling through cracked lips.

He was family, and they'd be there until the end.

Holly smiled down at Gabe, “You’re staying with us Gabe, James has gone now, heading up North to look in on someone else. We talked and we think it would be better if you didn’t go back to London.”

Gabe looked up at her for a few seconds, then smiled wider than she had seen him smile before, “Really?”

She nodded, saw Dimitri smiling out of the corner of her eye, and laughed as she suddenly had Gabe hugging her tight, and pulling back, looking a little sheepish, “Thank you so much Holly!”

She smiled round the room, noting that Jenny, Dave and Nixy were all smiling widely as well, she looked back down at Gabe and found he had been pulled into Dimitri’s lap and was being kissed with perhaps more fervour than she thought was necessary.

She cleared her throat to the sound of Nixy and Dave laughing, Gabe looked up, blushed and grinning, his hand resting on Dimitri’s arm where it encircled his waist protectively, “Yes, you’re staying here with us, but Gabe, we’re going to have to have a talk soon. Just so you know.”

Gabe nodded and bit his lip, looking back and pressing a chaste kiss to Dimitri’s lips before pulling away and standing up, “I figured, thank you though Holly seriously. I’ve just got to go tell Joel.”

Joel rubbed at his beard and chewed the filter of a nearly spent cigarette, pulling threads out of his ratty jeans, staring into space. He heard footfalls on the porch and turned, expecting to see Gabe, he was met with a tall dark haired man though. He recognised him as the man in charge, Joe, he thought Gabe had said.

He nodded over at the man and respectfully blew the smoke in the other direction, Joe pulled the door closed behind him and stepped in front of the tall blonde, “You’re Joel right?”

The blonde nodded and flicked ash onto the ground, lighting another cigarette off the glowing end of his butt, “That’s me. What’s up?”

Joe watched as the butt was crushed into the ground and the tip of the new cigarette flared in the dying light, “That’d be Joel Mulholland yeah? The very guy James Wallage is heading up North to see right now?”

Joel froze, smoke curling out of his mouth for a second before he took a deep breath, and blew the smoke over to the right, looking curiously at the dark man in front of him, “You didn’t tell him.”

Joe raised an eyebrow, “How do you know?”

Joel chuckled and coughed harshly a couple of times, “If he’d have known he’d have gone mental, he’d have come out here to give me a good seeing to. You sent him off to Liverpool knowing I was here, question is, why?”

Joe smiled and laughed to himself, “Well mostly because I don’t like him, but also because you and Gabe are close, close as brothers as far as we can see, and we’re worried about him. Might be that we need to talk to you about it sometime and get your input.”

Joel eyed the man warily and let the cigarette hang between his lips, comforted by the feel of it more than anything. His mind ran through everything and looked over the man again, he had a feeling Joe suspected something about James’ home.

Joe watched as he thought it through, watched the wariness bleed into bright blue eyes, watched as he was sized up. Joel finally nodded to himself and took a deep drag, blowing the smoke down through his nose and plucking the cig from his lips to flick the ash away, “Yeah, maybe I can do that.”

Joe grinned and held his hand out, surprised at the firm grip he was met with, and Joel’s eyes turned hard for a second, “You put him through any shit, hurt him, force him into anything, and I’ll find out. You won’t like what happens.”

Joe nodded, looking at the younger man with new respect, “The same to you my friend.”

The two of them held eyes for a minute then laughed, Joel leaning back against the wall and chewing on the butt of his cigarette again, Joe watched him for a second and then stepped back, “You’re welcome to stop for dinner if you want.”

Joel looked up surprised and nodded, smiling around the cigarette, “Thanks, I think I will.”

Joe turned back and slipped into the house, leaving Joel to think through what had been said. It had barely been a minute when he heard the door open again, this time though it was Gabe who came and stood next to him.

The glow of the lighter lit his face and Joel couldn’t stop the smile that found his own lips as he saw how happy Gabe looked, “Well then I guess it was good news?”

Gabe nodded, send a long plume of smoke outwards and laughing, “They’re not sending me back to London, Holly says they want to talk to me, but at the moment I don’t think I care. James didn’t win. He’s gone, and I’m not going with him!”

Joel laughed and pulled Gabe into a one-armed hug. They stayed that way for minutes, both of them pulling from their cigarettes, until Joel felt a dampness on his shirt, he looked down and smiled sadly at Gabe’s silent tears, at his questioning look, the smaller boy sniffed and smiled through the tears, “I thought I was going back, I thought he was going to take me back. That you weren’t going to be there.”

Joel sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of Gabe’s head, “If he’d have taken you back I’d have gone back with you, I wouldn’t have left you alone. But he didn’t and from what I can see, you’re safe here Gabe.”

The smaller teenager wiped his tears away and smiled, feeling his heart swelling, he was still there, he hadn’t been taken away, and Joel was there with him. James hadn’t got them. He laughed, “Yeah, I think maybe I am, it’s weird.”

The blonde nodded and coughed quietly, “I know, we were so long in that place, it’s just…”

Gabe grinned and elbowed him playfully, “Weird?”

Joel laughed and nodded, “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

There was quiet for another minute before Joel spoke again, “I’m thinking, maybe I should hang around here for a while, keep an eye on you… There’s a cheap flat up for rent just across town. Might go and have a look tomorrow.”

Gabe looked up at Joel, hope trying to push through, but he held it at bay until he knew for sure, “You’re not leaving?”

Joel grinned, and ran his hand through his hair, snagging in knotted places and wincing, “Why would I leave? You’re all the family I got small fry, can’t go leaving you to your own devices, lord knows what could happen.”

Gabe laughed and threw his arms around Joel, grinning from ear to ear, or so it felt. Joel was going to stay, they were together again and away from James. It was like a dream. He pulled back and smiled his most innocent smile. Joel laughed and shoved him playfully, “Yeah ok, you can come and look at the flat with me.”

Gabe took a last drag and flicked the butt away, chuckling and leaning against Joel’s arm. Feeling better than he had done in years.

Nixy stared round the table from her corner seat and wondered how Holly and Gabe had managed such a large spread in so little time, having to feed not only the usually mouths, but hers, Dimitri’s and Joel’s.

Her eyes wandered over the people sat around her and she smiled to herself at the comfortable atmosphere; the only glitch in which was the tenseness surrounding Joel and Dimitri.

She shuffled her chair closer to Jenny’s and a hand disappeared under the table to rest on her thigh, she grinned to herself at the pretty blush and then straightened her face at the stern look she received off Holly. Her hand stayed where it was though.

She listened contentedly to the good-natured squabbling between Gabe and Dave; the louder of which being, unusually, Gabe. “But I don’t want to go and see it!”

Dave swallowed a particularly large lump of potato and momentarily choked, before laughing and shrugging, “Shame that, seeing as everyone else wants to go and see it. You’ll just have to hide when the scary bits come on the screen.”

Gabe scowled across the pile of buttered rolls in the middle of the table and Dimitri laughed, “You can hide behind me any time.”

The small teen leaned on his boyfriend’s shoulder and smirked at Dave, “See, someone loves me.”

Nixy glanced across at the lithe blonde, leaning back in his chair and chewing thoughtfully on half a bread roll; he was watching the exchange with a small grin on his face and dancing blue eyes. He caught her eye and winked at her; with a grin and a wink back she focussed back on the ongoing argument. Her fingers playing lightly over the soft skin of her girlfriend's thigh, her mind content that things were heading to a good place for once.

Tbc...

Responses:

Mage Dudette: Yay lol another chapter out, and James definitely won't get his way. Karma's a bitch lol Separate folders? lol ah well, at least one of us is organised hehehe. Anyway, thanks for the review, hope you enjoyed the chapter even though it was late... quite late. :shameful face: So yeah... lol :huggles:

xnathofile: I feel so bad for breaking my lovely chain of on-time updates. Lol It was inevitable, but I still feel bad lol. Ugh my character never ever do what they're told, wilful little buggers. But things are progressing. Hehe Angsty Dim isn't going anywhere yet though, looks like he may just need that kick in the shin after all. Hope you enjoyed. :huggles:

Ok so many thanks and much love to my two lovely reviewers, and love to all of you out there that are reading but can't seem to find the review button :P.

A/N: Ok so I know I was doing reasonably well what with my mostly on time updates and this month I had to go a bugger that up by being... well... not on time. I'm not even going to look and see how badly off course I am either... But I know I'm off time as it were... So sorry!

Excuse time: Well... Er... I suppose there isn't a good one, unless you can blame the new job for stealing msot of my remaining free time and leaving me shattered beyond belief sometimes. Hehe. Yeah I do believe that's the one I'll stick with. See, I may not be able to do on time updates all the while, but I can do good excuses. :ducks the flying objects:

Hope you all enjoyed. I'm off to grovel with the people reading Shades now and update that. Hehe, see you all hopefully on time next month.

:peace:

'raven

x x x