Hey people! TearsofPain here... Wow, I think that this is the guiltiest I have ever felt in my life. I just completely lost inspiration for this about halfway through, and I couldn't get the characters right (especially Ham's) and I know that isn't a good excuse, but... yeah. SO ANYWAYS! Because of that, there will probably only be one more chapter of this story. Anyways, just ENJOY!

Ham's POV

Over the course of the past half hour, the rest of the team has slowly filtered out and now it's just me and Smalls left, sitting awkwardly at Benny's dining room table. Mrs. Rodriguez had gone to bed for the night about 10 minutes earlier and Benny is still upstairs. I'm trying not to look at Smalls, but I can feel his disapproving stare burning into the back of my neck. I know I'm being stubborn and everyone else is frustrated, but it's hard to wrap my head around the situation.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear footsteps descending down the stairs. When Benny reaches the bottom he bounces over to where we're sitting and throws himself down into a chair. He's smiling widely, but his eyes are also bloodshot from staying up for so long, and there are bags under them.

"What happened that made you so happy?" Smalls asks curiously, tilting his head to the side like a dog and staring at Benny.

"He said 'thank you' to me! Granted, he probably didn't mean for me to hear him, but still! He's not as mean and aloof as he wants us all to think." Benny's voice is excited and he seems to be refreshed. I can tell that even though Benny is talking to Smalls only, he's aware that I'm listening. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of turning around to listen properly, though my interest is definitely peaked.

"Ya know, I'd kinda figured it would be something like that, even when I first met him." Smalls commented. "Nobody's that mean for no reason. I knew a kid like that at my old school. I'd heard that he had been bullied really badly the year before, and so he got really mean and defensive to make himself less of a target. I guess now that Phillips knows that we want to help, there no real need to be as mean."

That actually made a lot of sense… Not that it changed my mind! But when I think about it, by making himself seem horrible, Phillips made himself seem stronger (and made me want to beat him up more), and he also ensured that no one liked him enough to want to pry into his personal life and find out about his secret.

Still though, he was mean to all of us for years! He insulted our baseball skills, called us names, and picked on anyone who was smaller than him. He was terrible to my friends, and I'm not just going to forget about everything he's done!

"Ham?" Benny speaks up again, getting my attention and breaking me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I reply gruffly, crossing my arms sullenly and scowling, not caring that I probably look like a child.

"I know that you realize none of this was Phillips' fault, though you're too stubborn to say it out loud. You and I both know he was scared and doing what felt best to him in a bad situation. Of course, the choices he made weren't the best, but he was under a lot of pressure."

I huff out a sigh, not willing to say that I agree out loud, but reluctantly nodding. "That doesn't mean that I'm just gonna let him off the hook though, and I'm not going to go out of my way to be nice." I snap. Benny chuckles and his shoulders relax.

"I know Ham." He assures me. "I'm not asking you to be really nice, I just needed to know that you could be trusted to not do something to him if you were in the room alone with him for a few minutes."

"To be honest," Smalls confesses with a laugh, "I thought we were gonna have to tell you to leave until you could calm down and see sense." Benny and I snort and I uncross my arms so that I can stand up and push my chair in.

"Don't worry about it." I assure both of them. "It's good. I'm gonna go now, but I'll probably see you guys tomorrow." I nod to both of them, saunter over to the door, open it, and walk out.

Benny's POV

Smalls and I both wait until the door closes behind Ham to breathe loud sighs of relief. "Well I'm glad that problem is solved." Smalls sighs. "Only about a dozen left…" He smiles ruefully before standing up as well.

"I have to get home too Benny. My mom doesn't like me staying out too late, even if I'm just at your house."

"It's fine Smalls. I'll see you tomorrow right?" I ask. Smalls nods cheerfully, jogs across the street to his house, turns around one more time to wave, and then slips through his door.

I decide that since Phillips has been quiet for a while now, I can probably go to sleep. I creep up the stairs, careful to not make any noise that might wake up my mom or Phillips. I enter my room and slip on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. I'm just about to crawl into my nice warm bed when I hear a strange noise, kind of like a muffled groan or moan. I stop moving and try to listen extra hard, and I hear the noise again, louder this time, accompanied by the distinct creak of a bedframe.

I tiptoe into the hallway, mindful of the fact that it's almost 11 and my mom is already asleep. Slowly, I draw closer to the door of the guest bedroom that Phillips is staying in. I hear another creak and another louder pained moan come from inside. I open Phillips door slowly, remembering that it squeaks when it's opened too fast, and I peek inside to see what's happening.

What I see is something that makes me want to cry tears of sympathy and punch something (or someone) extremely hard. Phillips is tangled up in the sheets and they're soaked in sweat. I can see more droplets of sweat ready to slide down his forehead and a scared crease in his eyebrows. His mouth is twisted into a scared grimace and he's still whimpering quietly.

Abruptly Phillips curls into a ball and clenches his fingers into his hair, his arms covering his face. "I'm sorry!" He whimpers quietly. "I'm sorry… Please… Don't!" The intensity of the dream seems to increase as tears slowly start joining the sweat on his face.

I rush forward and grab his hands, trying to pry his fingers out of his hair before he pulls some out or scratches his head up. Slowly the fingers uncurl, although the tears don't stop and his eyes are still clenched tightly shut. I place his arms on the bed beside him and then get a firm grip on his shoulders to shake him lightly. He only tries to push my hands away, so I shake him harder, and suddenly his eyes fly open. He stares up at me, eyes shiny with tears that he's too proud to shed now that he's awake.

"What are you doing in here?" He asks sharply, though his voice is hoarse.

"I heard you shifting around a lot and I wanted to see if you were okay." I reply softly, smiling. Phillips still looks a bit suspicious, so I back away and plop down in the chair that's next to his bed.

"Do you wanna… talk about it?" I ask casually, knowing that he'll most likely say no, but wanting to try anyway.

"No" he deadpans, as expected, crossing his arms and scowling, although his attempt at being intimidating is slightly ruined by his red rimmed eyes.

"Alright." I sigh tiredly. "Do you need anything else? Water? Something to eat? Now that I think about it, when was the last time you ate? You must be pretty hungr-"

"Get out Rodriguez," Phillips interrupts, his arms still crossed over his chest, his scowl increasing in intensity. "I'm fine."

I know it's not a suggestion, so I stand up, but I can't resist turning around one more time and asking "Are you sure?" He just glares and points at the door.

I slouch out into the hallways and close the door softly behind me before stealthily pressing my ear to the door. I hear sheets rustling and then Phillips is unnaturally still; I know he's making sure that I left. A few minutes later I hear him roll over. Suddenly he starts sniffling and soon he's full on sobbing, though it's somewhat muffled like he has his face pressed firmly into his pillow. The urge to punch something is back.

I wander back to my room a couple of seconds later and flop down on my bed, staring at the glow in the dark star stickers on my ceiling.

I have a feeling that it's going to take a lot longer than I thought to get Phillips to open up and start trusting people if he's still being haunted by what his dad did to him. Not that I expected him to open right up, but still…

And speaking of Phillips' dad, where is Phillips going to stay after he's recovered? He can't go back to his house, because the same thing will happen again, and it'll probably be even worse since he hasn't come home in a couple of days. I'll have to discuss it with my mom in the morning…

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I wake up the next morning still thinking about Phillips' situation. The sky seems to fit my mood; ugly grey clouds have moved in to cover the entire sky since the time I fell asleep, and they look heavy with rain that's bound to fall soon.

Slowly, I sit up, not quite wanting to have to deal with everything quite yet, but knowing that I have to get up. I pull off my pajamas, and change into a comfortable tank top and a pair of blue jeans, before running downstairs.

When I reach the bottom, I have to stop for a second and blink a couple of times to make sure that what I'm seeing is real. Phillips and my mom are sitting at the table, talking quietly and eating a piece of toast each.

"Uh… good morning…" I mumble in confusion, getting out a box of cereal and a bowl. "How're you feeling Phillips?"

He shifts uncomfortably in his chair, before quietly saying "Fine."

"We were just talking about what will happen when Phillips' injuries are all healed." My mom pipes up, glancing at Phillips, who looks down at his bowl.

"I told you, I can just go back-" he starts, but my mom cuts him off.

"And Itold you that that is absolutely not an option." She glares, and Phillips wisely shuts his mouth.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do…"

By the way, Happy Early Birthday to Harry Potter, for all you Potterheads. See you guys in the last chapter. I SWEAR it won't take 8 months to write. If you have anything you specifically want to happen in the next chapter, leave it in your review, or if you have an account, feel free to PM me! Can't wait to hear from y'all!

P.S. Can someone just PM me everyday and yell at me to write the next chapter? If it wouldn't be too much trouble? Thanks!