Summary: Kyle doesn't take shit from anyone and that includes the newest member of his family, his adopted brother Colin. But what if Colin's just strong on the surface?

Colin's life has been anything but a walk in the park compared to his new brother Kyle, who seems to have it made. After suffering abuse after abuse at the Center, Colin takes up an offer for adoption from an earnest woman who gives Colin the feeling that she wants to rescue him from something. But what if the one to save him isn't her but the guy he's supposed to see as a brother?

Warnings: Slash, Language, Sex (Oral & Anal), Rape, Violence, Blood, Substance Abuse (Drugs & Alcohol), Prostitution and Suicidal Themes.

Author's Notes: I think I'm in love with this story and I've only gotten the first chapter down.

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within these chemical bonds

one: fast feet, slow breaths

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Claire Rio had made up her mind and although her husband was still disgruntled by the idea she had dragged him to the Children’s Care Center anyways. They were standing before a grey, drab building that looking more like a jail than a home for the homeless. The building was squat, only two flows at the most and sat at the corner of the street intersection. As Claire looked around, the area looked more and more shady and desolate. It was as if the message was simply that there was no hope.

With her husband beside her, Claire made her way up the few steps to the front door of the Center. Claire had done her research. The Children’s Care Center acted like an orphanage that kept an eye on the most precarious of the children who required homes. Her husband, Jonathan had asked her why she had chosen this exact establishment and Claire had replied that the kids in this Center were the ones who needed the help the most.

As she rang the doorbell, she looked at her husband expectantly with a smile and he tried his very best to look excited too. It wasn’t that Jonathon wasn’t keen on the idea of adoption; in fact he had adopted three cats in the past five years. The fact of the matter was that adopting older kids meant trying to get them to except you which was a lot harder than getting a five year old to like you. But Claire had insisted that if they were going to adopt it would be someone that Kyle and Kelsie could relate to.

The door opened and a smiling man stood in the doorway. His bright, brown eyes glanced over the couple who was standing in the doorway and he stepped aside to let them in. ‘Good morning,’ he said, his voice cheerful like a holiday carol and his smile inviting. Claire felt a wave of relieve wash over her at the sight of the man who was almost as tall as her husband but was much leaner in appearance. He was clean shaven like her husband and his firm jaw almost gave him a handsome appearance. His thick, black hair hung in curls around his face. His skin was a dark brown and he held himself with a grace that reminded Claire of a dancer.

‘Good morning,’ Claire echoed, smiling in return at the man. Jonathon nodded his head and the man grinned.

‘Are you here for adoption? It absolutely thrills me when a couple comes to adopt a child of older age. They are so often neglected,’ he said, his smile waning just a bit. He led them into a small office and pointed to a pair of chairs before a small, somewhat cluttered desk. He sat down behind it in a black, cushioned chair and returned to smiling in full.

‘That’s exactly what we came for,’ Claire answered. ‘Lately I’ve been reading about children who’ve lost their parents and I just felt that I should do something to help.’

The man cleared his throat, losing the smile for a serious look. ‘It saddens me to say this but I’d rather not hide any of the nastier bits of adopting youths. Most of the kids that are brought here are…for a lack of a better word: misled. Some even have police records and most don’t actually want any form of guardianship. The problem is, of course, that they have spent so much of their lives going from one person to another that they eventually get sick of it. It’ll take some effort on your part to get them to trust you.’

Claire nodded, liking the man’s honesty. She knew the details with adopting teenagers. Most firmly believed that they were independent and didn’t need any assistance from adults. ‘We’d still like to adopt. I don’t believe that a child who was yet to come in contact with a proper, stable environment can be blamed for acting out in frustration. If we adopt the child perhaps he or she will be less likely to feel that we will abandon them.’

The man’s face lit up and Claire felt Jonathon relax a bit beside her. He wasn’t one to trust anyone upon first meeting but if he felt comfortable too in his presence, Claire felt that there would be no trouble to this entire meeting.

‘I’m glad you think that way Ms… Oh my! We haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Alexander Neal,’ he exclaimed, standing up and extending his hand toward the Rio’s. They shook his hand in turn, finding the man to be rather friendly.

‘Pleasure to meet you Mr. Neal,’ Jonathon replied. ‘This is my wife Claire Rio and I’m Jonathon.’

‘I’m glad you came around Mr. and Ms. Rio,’ the man grinned, his eyes warm and obviously happy. ‘The children are probably still sleeping but I’ll have Abel wake them for you. Until then I’ll show you some profiles. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to know that someone’s looking to adopt.’

Claire honestly hoped so. She had had to do some vigorous arguing with her own kids so that they could understand what she was doing. Although she doubted any of them would be ecstatic since up to this point on one had kept them permanently she still hoped that she would be able to explain to the kid that she was there to keep him forever.

‘Well Mr. Neal we can’t wait to meet the kids ourselves,’ Jonathon smiled. Claire had been slightly panicked about how much Jonathon would warm to the idea of adopting a teen but he seemed to be handling everything well. In fact, he was starting to look happy about adopting a kid.

Neal nodded, picking up the phone of his desk. ‘Abel, ready the kids up. There is a couple here wanting to adopt.’ Once the call ended, Neal started to type away on his computer and soon turned the screen to show the Rio’s a picture of a fourteen year old boy named Rory Thane Smith. He began to tell them about his past and about any of his nastier habits, as he Neal put them, but went on to talk about how he was doing in school. However Claire stopped listening to him, her attention caught by the corkboard behind Neal. It was filled with pictures of the children and little tidbits of information. She was staring at one picture though, that of a boy’s.

‘Sorry to interrupt you Mr. Neal but who is that in the picture behind you?’ she asked. Neal turned around and saw she was pointing to one of the boys he was rather fond of.

‘Oh. Ms. Rio, how to tell you this,’ he mumbled, his face troubled in appearance. ‘This young man is, he’s rather disruptive and bothered. I won’t lie but he has a police record for prostitution and has shoplifted multiple times, although in small amounts. He frequently breaks curfew, coming in absolutely drunk. What’s worse is I found drugs in his bunk the other day. We’re trying hard to get him back together but it’s difficult.’

However, Claire still felt like knowing about the boy, ‘Can we still meet him though. Just a small chat and then I’ll see if he’s really as bad as you say.’ Somehow she had felt a feeling of protection when she had seen the picture. The picture showed a boy standing against a white wall, a black jacket wrapped around him. His hair reminded her if her own son’s. It was short at the sides and kept especially long through the middle, so that it fell right into his face. He had swept it to the right so it settled in a pointed tip, level with his nose. But what caught her was the emptiness in the eyes. Eyes that were as colourful as they seemed hopeless and angry. She had seen her own son’s eyes like that once and it had broken her up inside.

‘Of course!’ Neal exclaimed but Claire caught something in his voice that she didn’t quite like. When she glanced at him again, looking away from the picture, she found his smile, for the first time didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘I’ll have Abel call him down.’

Looking at her husband she saw a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Feeling just a little uncomfortable Claire smiled, nodding at Neal. ‘That would be lovely.’

Neal picked up the phone again and told Abel, whoever he or she was, to bring Colin Hayes down to his office. Claire caught the name, starting to feel excited. His name was Colin and it sounded sweet. She gave Jonathon an excited smile and looked back at the picture.

In a few more minutes Claire heard footsteps. She found herself getting up out of her seat and stepping out of the office. There she found a boy walking in her direction. His pace slowed down significantly when he spotted her. Claire, however, immediately took in his appearance. He was wearing a pair of jeans that were torn up and looked too small for him and too wide as they hung around his hips and still seemed an inch short. His black shirt was equally torn up, the colour of which had faded into a blueish grey. He was skinny, taller than her and lean. He didn’t look boney as she had feared but rather muscle less.

‘Hi, I’m Claire,’ she smiled. He walked the few steps to her and stopped a good foot away from her. Giving her a calculating look he nodded, sceptical.

‘Colin where are your manners!’ Claire heard Neal’s voice exclaim from behind her.

The boy seemed to tense in front of her at his voice and he immediately greeted her in a tone that was cautious and low. ‘Hi.’ She extended her hand and he stared at it then back at her before he finally took it. He seemed to be very untrusting of people. ‘How old are you?’

‘Sixteen,’ he answered, letting go of her hand to shove both of his hands into the pockets of his black jeans.

‘I have a son, he’s seventeen and one older than him, twenty-one though he’s at university right now. My daughter Kelsie’s only fifteen,” she said, still smiling at him.

‘Why are you telling me?’ he asked, eyes narrowing at her. He flicked his hair to the side and now that Claire could see him in person, she noticed it was an auburn colour but had a thick black stripe through it on the left side. She wondered how he’d gotten his hair like, whether or not the Center provided money for haircuts of that sort.

‘My husband and I would like to adopt you,’ Claire answered. Something told her it was best to be forthright with him.

He tensed under her gaze and clenched his jaw. Before he could reply to her though, Claire heard Neal’s voice. ‘Are you sure? There are a number of other boys at the Center too if you’d like to adopt a boy.’

Claire didn’t turn to look at Neal. What an odd thing to say. She turned around to look at him and gave him an inquiring look, ‘I feel quite alright with Colin here so if you wouldn’t mind can we start the paperwork, of course that is if Colin would like to come with us.’

She looked back at Colin, smiling, but he looked bewildered. ‘I… I dunno.’

Claire wasn’t going to give up so easily. ‘You don’t want to live in a home with a family?’

He tensed again and gave her a hard look, answering her question rather harshly, ‘Families are bullshit.’

Slightly taken aback, Claire stepped forwards and the boy immediately took a step back. ‘I want to help you. I understand it’ll take you time to trust me or even accept me but…give me a chance?’

Maybe the boy could hear the sincerity within her voice or maybe he just really wanted to get out of the Center but he nodded softly. Claire smiled at the boy and felt Jonathon’s arm wrap around her back. ‘Claire can I have a word?’

She nodded, walking over to him. He led her a few feet away from Neal by her arm and in a quite voice began, ‘Are you sure? He seems, well, a bit off.’

‘I’m positive,’ she replied and she couldn’t have sounded more certain. Jonathon stared at her for a few more minutes before nodding. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

‘Alright.’ He turned around to look at Alexander Neal who was staring at them. ‘We’d like to adopt him Mr. Neal. I can help with the paperwork.’

‘Of course,’ came Mr. Neal’s thick reply. He didn’t sound pleased.

‘I’m going to talk to him some more,’ Claire told her husband and walked over to Colin who hadn’t moved from his position in the hall. ‘Care to take me to your bunk?’

‘It’s better if you don’t go there. Take her to the study room,’ Mr. Neal ordered and Colin followed immediately. He turned around, walking toward the back of the hall. Claire noticed a set of stairs to her left but he turned to the right and took her down a dimly lit hallway. The colourless walls were anything but homely to Claire. She shivered at the thought of her kids having to spend their life in a place like this.

‘How’s school?’ she asked. He stopped in the hallway not bothering to answer and opened a door, flicking on the lights. The room was decent in size and full of tables, a small shelf full of books and a small rug where a loveseat sat against a wall.

She was about to repeat her question when Colin turned around and looked at her. ‘Why do you want to adopt me?’

Claire stared at the boy, uncertain how to formulate her feelings into words. I want to protect you, she thought. Instead she answered, ‘Because you deserve a better life.’

The boy snorted, slumping into a chair. ‘Don’t give me that crap. I could care less. I’m not some idiot who’s hoped his entire life to be saved by some family of goody-two shoes. Everything I know comes down to one thing: trust no one but yourself.’

Her brows furrowed and she sat down across from Colin. ‘I have no objection in earning your trust Colin. I just want to help you so you can be prepared for what lays ahead of you.’ Claire was a nutritionist and had taken a few years of psychology in university. Of course the courses only helped her so much.

He gave her a look that she couldn’t quite decipher and got up. ‘I want my space. I hate this place, it’s the only reason I agreed to go with you.’

‘Alright,’ Claire responded, also standing. ‘I’ll give you your space but in return I’d like you to show some respect to everyone around you.’

He didn’t respond, just walked out of the room. Claire stood in the room for a minute. She knew this was going to be difficult, she had known all along but she didn’t care. If she could help him then she damn well would.

Turning the lights off Claire returned to the office, remembering how she had gotten to the study room. Colin had probably gone upstairs as she saw no more of him and as she got to the office she found her husband shaking Neal’s hands.

‘You’re back,’ he smiled.

Neal gave her a smile too; however it was much like the one previous to it. Claire brushed the feeling of uncertainty away from her and shook his hand. Perhaps he was just upset to lose a child he had liked.

As the couple said goodbye to Neal, Claire Rio turned to her husband and gave him a beaming smile, one that surprised him and filled him with happiness. It had been a long time since he’d seen her this happy. He knew, somewhere down deep, that her choice was perfect. He knew that it would work out.

-

Colin Hayes took the first opportunity he got and ran into the first floor washroom. He had hid in the stairs, waiting for the lady to leave. The washroom was smaller than the one on the second floor where the rest of the kids at the Center slept, lived and ate. There weren’t any showers in it either, unlike the four upstairs. Colin knew the washroom was there for the visits social services made now and then and for any other guests like the people who had shown up today. But he also knew that there was lock on the door, meaning he could keep Neal out for a bit. Long enough for him to jump through the window.

His left hand turned the lock and he felt it click in place. His eyes darted around the small washroom where a yellowed toilet and sink sat in separate corners. The window he could escape through was right above the toilet. If he got up and stood on the tank he could easily hoist himself up and run away. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done it either.

Rushing to the toilet, he climbed it effortlessly and unlocked the window. Pushing it open, Colin raised himself up and pushed himself through the window, head first. The window would land him in the back alley of the Center where he’d already made a cushion of old clothes for his fall. Looking down the pile was right there. He pushed the remainder of the way through and landed on the clothes. They were a bit damn but Colin paid that little heed. He picked himself up and ran as fast as he could in a direction opposite the Center.

Neal was going to be fuming. He was going to charge upstairs, grab him by his hair and drag him into his own bedroom. There, there he’d let out all his anger in the numerous ways he knew how. But he wasn’t going to find him there. In fact, he wasn’t going to see Colin for a few days, at least until Colin knew the couple would come back to finish off any paperwork.

He was headed for his usual spot, the school. The lady, Claire, had asked him about how it was, or rather how he was doing. He hadn’t bothered replying. He didn’t bother with school either, it’s not like he was smart or had a future. He was just some kid getting by.

As he ran past people and shops that he spent time looking through on the rainy days when he didn’t feel like going back to the Center even though he was soaked to the bone. He wasn’t even wearing his proper clothes, these were just the junk he wore at the Center so Neal would never figure out he had better things to wear. That would lead to a questioning of where he’d gotten the money and as much as Colin could care less about what he did to get it, he hated explaining himself.

It was just a few blowjobs and it wasn’t like he didn’t give enough for free at the Center. He hated the place with a passion and not just the dead walls and cold floor but the people within it. Especially Neal. Any time spent away from the Center was good time. And when he did have to go back he went back drunk or high or sometimes both because there was no better way to not know what some of the guys did.

It was worse for some of the girls, particularly since there were only a few. Neal had done little to give them their own space and most would either be force into bed with some guy or would sleep around as if that made it any better. Of course, with his own track record Colin wasn’t one to talk.

The shops were thinning out and turning into houses and Colin knew that if he turned right he’d be at the school in another five minutes. He was pretty quick on his feet and had even been asked to join the track team but really he had better things to do.

His clothes and bag were still at the Center but he knew Luke would bring them. Luke was the only guy at the Center Colin remotely liked or talked to, while sober of course. He didn’t consider him a friend but certainly an acquaintance who looked out for him the same way he did for the other. It was a mutual security they gave each other. Even if Luke was only ever beaten up once every two months and Colin seemed to always be at the receiving end of a punch, kick or shove.

The school grounds were empty considering it was a Sunday which Colin considered a lovely thing indeed because it meant no one could see him breaking in. He knew for a fact that the camera at one of the back doors was broken, so he wandered to the back of the school, found the doors he was looking for and shoved in a hair pin. The school doors were a breeze to open.

-

He didn’t go back until three days later, Luke having brought his things and filled him in on what was going on back at the Center. Apparently most of the older guys were pissed off at him and the younger kids who were still hopefuls were jealous. Colin was glad he hadn’t gone back. Worse, of course, was Neal who had screwed with everyone else because he wasn’t there.

It wasn’t that hard to avoid the older guys since most weren’t in his class and he was faster on his feet anyways. He had lived in the boy’s locker room, sneaking in cafeteria food to eat during the night.

Now as he made his way to the Center, he felt some hands grab him and yank him into a nearby alley. When he struggled out of his assailants grips, he found himself trapped between four guys. Four guys he was rather familiar with, physically and sexually.

‘Hey Colin,’ one of them drawled. He was the tallest out of the bunch and was somehow built like an ox. Colin had never figured it out. His name was Andy and he was Kevin’s right hand man, more for strength than brain.

Kevin who was standing closest to him, stepped closer and leaned in, lips pressing onto his ear. ‘Babe where’d you go?’

Colin shivered with disgust and stepped away from him which landed him a punch to the stomach. He doubled over and pressed himself against the wall behind him so he wouldn’t fall backwards. Andy could throw a punch.

‘You know I don’t like to hurt you Colin but you’re just so difficult,’ Kevin complained, hand sliding through his hair. He suddenly yanked it up and Colin suppressed a scream. The only thing Colin liked about himself was his hair and this asshole was always yanking on it. ‘Come on now, we’ve got so much catching up to do and when we’re done Neal’s probably going to want a turn. You should see the way he fucks the girls since you left but I promise we’ll go a little easy on you.’

All he could hear was Kevin’s laughter as they pulled him deeper into the alley.

-

Colin lay in his bunk, positive that he wouldn’t be going to school tomorrow. Hell, it would be a miracle if he could even get up. Neal would tell the couple that he’d gotten into a fight and that would explain all the bruises he was covered with, it would explain the blood, the scars, everything. It always did.

Colin had never felt so fucked in his life. Even when he had disappeared for a week Neal hadn’t screwed him so ruthlessly or violently. Feeling his body ache, Colin tried to shift a bit to his left so the pain in his shoulder would possibly subside a bit. If anything it got worse and Colin suppressed tears that were collecting in his eyes. He knew they’d fall regardless of the fact that he wanted them to but he could try.

Kevin and his friends had left him unable to walk when they’d finished Andy had carried him back inside dumping him onto his bunk. A short while after Neal had spotted him and had dragged him straight to his room. No one had interfered and no one ever did. That was the routine. Colin was Neal’s fuck and no matter how much he screamed that’s the way it stayed. No one else wanted the attention, even if it meant that sometimes Colin didn’t have to clean shit up because he was a bag of bones from the previous night’s experience.

Of course it pissed Kevin off who had immediately started his own revenge scheme and if Colin wasn’t sleeping on the floor of Neal’s bedroom he was in his own bed with hands all over him. It had gone on long enough and if being adopted meant he got to get away from this shit he was taking the opportunity.

But right now, as he lay on his bed, breath ragged and uneven, Colin wasn’t even sure he was going to live through the night.

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Author's Notes: Please review because honestly it makes me feel better about my stories.