Loren stands in front of a small white house. The white paint on the front door is peeling. There are cigarette butts and empty beer bottles strewn across the patio. Loren examines the house and pulls the sheet of paper that she wrote the address on, looks at it, and then rings the doorbell. She waits for minute, but there is no answer. She rings again and waits, but still nothing. Loren steps off of the porch and walks along the side to get to the back. The blinds on the windows are closed so she cannot see into the house. She circles back around to the front of the house and walks back up to the house. Loren rings the doorbell one more time, and waits. No answer. She takes a deep breath and turns around, just in time to run into a man coming up the porch. They make eye contact.

"Who the hell are you?" He asks.

"Loren Tate. I go to school with your nephew, Eddie Duran."

He doesn't say anything. He just grunts and walks up the steps.

"He hasn't been at school lately and I was worried about him. Is he ok?"

Eddie's uncle fumbles with his keys as he gets ready to unlock the door. He still says nothing.

"Sir, I…" Loren begins.

"He ain't here and I really don't know why you are. Does he owe you something? Did he screw ya and never call. The kid's a loser. He's never going to amount to anything. Now get the hell of my property before I call the cops."

Loren is shocked. She thinks back to the image of Eddie in the convenient store. He had a black eye and other cuts on his face. Her uncle probably did it.

Eddie had not been to school in two weeks. She called and texted, with no replies to either. Loren had done everything she could think of to find him. She went to his job, asked his teachers, who told her that they could not disclose his personal information. She went to Mullholland a few times, hoping he might be there. Going to his house was her last resort. Loren feels defeated. She gets in the car and drives home. When she arrives at her house, she parks and goes into the house. When she walks in she finds her mom sitting across from someone who looks like…

"Eddie?"

They both turn to look at Loren. She walks quickly over to them. "What are doing here? What happened to you? Why haven't you answered my calls? I went to your house. I saw you and you ignored me! You…"

"Loren." Nora says. "Calm down. He came to talk to you."

Loren looks from her mom to Eddie. Nora stands up. "I'll let you two do that." Nora walks out of the living room ad down the hall.

Loren sits in the seat that Nora just left. She looks at him in a way that is both irritated, but also relieved. He looks back at her. They sit in silence for a while.

Loren stretches out her arm and touches Eddie's eyes. He flinches.

"I'm sorry." Loren says.

"It's ok."

"Was it your uncle?" Eddie nods.

"I saw him today."

"What?"

"When I went to your house, he was coming home. I asked him about you, but he wouldn't tell me.

"He was probably too busy thinking about getting wasted."

"Why do you stay there?"

"Loren, I have nowhere else to go. It's either there or I live on the street. My uncle may be a dick, but a roof is still a roof."

Loren looks at Eddie with sympathetic eyes. "But no one should have to deal with this, no matter their situation."

"Some people are just unlucky, I guess."

"Stay here." Loren says out of the blue.

"What?"

"You can stay here. We have a spare bedroom. My family is amazing. You don't have to go back there. You'll be 18 soon, and technically there is nothing keeping you there. You could spend the rest of senior year here. My dad could help you look at colleges if you want. "

"I don't…" Eddie begins.

"Look, I know that you don't like to let people in or be vulnerable. But that is not what this is. You aren't some guy I feel sorry for and feel the need to save. You are my friend, and I just want what's best for you."

Eddie knows that she is being sincere. After a few moments of contemplation, Eddie asks "What about your parents?"

"I would be happy to have you stay with us Eddie. Loren told us about your situation before, and if you need a place to stay, and want to live here, then you can."

"I want to." Eddie says.

Nora smiles. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Eddie thinks back to something Loren said before. "Wait. You went to my house?" Eddie finally says.

"Yea." Loren says

"Why?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were ok. I don't know why that is so hard for you to understand."

"I messed up Loren. I know that, but I do not want to bring you into that."

"Into what?"

"This, my life. It's not like yours."

"But yours wasn't like this before your parents died. From what you told me, your parents loved you more than anything. I honestly don't know what I would do if I went through the things that you did, but you kept going. Even though your uncle tried to break, you kept going. That's all that matters."

"Eddie!" Kylie screams. She runs over to him and hugs him around his waist.

"Hi Kylie. How are you?" Eddie says.

"Good. Thank you for giving Loren my doll."

"It was no problem. I knew you would miss it."

Kylie looks between the both of them. "Do you like Loren?" She asks as bluntly as a three-year-old would.

Eddie and Loren both let out a chuckle. "Yes, I do. Your sister is a good friend to me. Do you like Loren?"

"Yes. I love her. She's my sister." Kylie says as if the question in itself was completely absurd.

"Well no that I know that everyone like me.." Loren begins. "Let me show you to the guest room."

Loren walks up the stairs, Eddie close behind, and walks to the end of the hall. She opens the door to a room with deep red walls. The bed is on the opposite wall of the door. The large and plush comforter on the bed is patterned after a checkerboard, with black and white squares. There is a large closet on the left and a night stand next to the bed. A black couch is situated against the right wall. There are a few decorative pictures on the walls, all matching the theme of the room. Eddie is taking it all in until he realizes that he needs to come back to reality.

"I hope this is ok. I'm not sure. The colors may not be that appealing to you. My mom decorated it. She was inspired after watching an episode of one of her HGTV shows."

"Loren, it's great."

"Good. Well, the bathroom is in here. Loren opens the door next to the bedroom and Eddie peeps his head in to look at it. There are fresh linens in the cabinet in the bathroom. When you use them, you can just put them in that hamper. I'll come up and get them and put them in the washroom on whatever day my mom decides to do laundry. Usually it's Friday, but sometimes she does it a little earlier depending on how she's feeling.

Eddie chuckles.

Any toiletries you need are in the cabinet as well. Loren opens the bottom portion and shows him the toilet paper, deodorant, body wash, various types of soaps, and shaving cream.

"If there is anything specific that you use or want, you can let me know. I can take you to the store whenever."

Eddie nods.

"Well that's about all there is to it up here? Are there things that you want to pick up from your uncle's house. Clothes, your backpack, anything?"

"I should probably get my books at some point, but I'll just leave them and get them on Sunday."

"Ok, you've missed a lot. Do you want me to catch you up on anything from history?"

"I've been emailing back and forth with teachers, actually. I've been doing work and emailing it back to them."

"Seriously?" Loren says.

"What?"

"You keep in touch with the teachers, of all people, but you can't even answer my texts?" Loren says in a sarcastic tone.

"What can I say? Books before babes." Eddie laughs.

Loren feels her cheeks flush. "Um, well. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs. My dad will be home from work soon and then we'll have dinner. Feel free to do whatever until then."

"Ok." Eddie says back

Loren starts walking down the stairs.

"Loren." Eddie calls.

"Yea." She says. Loren turns around to look at Eddie.

"Thank you. For everything."

Loren smiles. "No problem." She turns around and continues down the stairs. She turns the corner and when Eddie can no longer see her, he walks into the guestroom and sits on the bed. He didn't think he would ever care about anyone after his parents died. He didn't think anyone would care about him either, but he was wrong. He realizes how lucky he was to have been paired with Loren for the project, because she saved him in more ways than one.

Sunday Afternoon

"Take a left up here and it's the third house on your right." Eddie gives Trent the final directions to his uncle's house. He is picking up his books and a few other items, meaning that he won't have to step foot in that house again. Loren was going to take him, but Nora and Trent both refused to let her go to his home again, especially since they actually knew she was doing it this time.

"Thank you Mr. Tate." Eddie says.

"I told you. Call me Trent. Now, is he here?"

"His car isn't, but it could be in the garage."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, but thanks, I'll be fine." Eddie has his key. He walks up to the porch and opens it. He doesn't hear the snoring of his uncle, nor does he hear him stumbling around the house. He is able to run upstairs, grab his bag and fill it with his books, some clothing, socks, etc. Before walking back out to Trent's car, he takes the house key off of the key ring and puts it on the kitchen table. He walks out to the car and they start the drive back to the Tate home.

As they are driving, Trent strikes up and conversation.

"Is something going on with you and my daughter?" Trent asks bluntly.

Eddie is caught off guard. "I'm sorry?" Eddie offers.

"Well Loren is very picky about the friends that she chooses to keep. I believe that she is a good judge of character, which is the way that Nora and I intended."

Eddie sits and listens.

"Now she is even more picky about boys that she brings home, so much so, that she has never done so… until you that is. And technically she didn't bring you, you showed up, but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is that my daughter sees something in you, and if she does then you must be a pretty good guy. Now, we took you in, and all I ask is that you don't do anything that would prove her wrong. I'm I making myself clear?"

"Yes sir. I'm so grateful for what you and your wife have done for me. And Loren has become one of my good friends. I honestly didn't think that I would ever be able to say that again. I don't want to upset her again. I know that her family means a lot to her; it's something that I can relate to, so I promise not to do anything to upset you or Mrs. Tate. Wait, should I call her Nora?"

"I'm not going to speak for my wife on that one." Trent says and they both laugh.

"Fair enough." Eddie says.

Monday Morning

Loren pulls up to school and parks in her assigned spot. This is her normal routine, but people are giving her cross looks.

"I think they're staring at both of us, if that makes you feel any better." Eddie says from the seat next to her.

"This is ridiculous. I don't know why this is such a big deal." Loren says.

"I think the fact that we talk at school is one thing, but the fact that I am living with you now is something completely different."

"True. No one knows that, though, except for Mel, Ade, and Chloe. I hope that's ok."

"But I'm in your car, so they know something is up. Are you going to tell people? I really don't care if you do. I'm realizing that the things that other people thing about me aren't really important, so we can do whatever you want."

"You know what. Let them say what they want. I never cared, and I'm not going to start now." Loren gets out of the car and closes her door. She walks with her head high into the school and down the hallway.

Eddie watches her walk away and he's impressed. The idea that Eddie had about Loren before they were paired together for the project has completely changed. Eddie walks into the school, now taking all of the stares on his own. They are probably staring at his eyes. It has healed sin the fight with his uncle, but the skin around his eye is still a purplish color.

As he is walking he sees Loren talking to her friends in the courtyard. Her back is to him as he walks by, but Chloe and Adriana look up, making eye contact with him. Loren turns around to see what they are looking at and makes eye contact with Eddie. She smiles and waves him over. Eddie obliges and joins the girls in their circle.

"I want you guys to officially meet each other. It's kind of like two parts of my life coming together now."

Eddie couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when Loren said that she was a part of his life. Things for Eddie are really starting to look up.

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry about that. I got reviews saying to continue and I was inspired. Hope you like it.