Picking a song for this story was harder than I thought. I eventually settled for this one. Enjoy!

"In a perfect world, one we've never known . . ."

"I'm sick of you acting like you can just walk in and out of here as you please! You have responsibilities here, Will! Why can't you just accept that?"

"For god's sake, Jen, do you think I wanna stay here every night and listen to you scream at me like a little bitch? I have my own life to live too, you know!"

"You should've thought of that before you had two kids!"

"They don't even want me around! Katie certainly doesn't, and Ellie barely recognises me every time I'm here!"

"And what about Kendall? Don't you care about him?"

"Like having a fag for a son would boost my interest in him . . ."

"Don't you dare call him that!"

"That's what he is! Why the hell shouldn't I say it out loud?"

"Because he's listening to every word we're saying."

It was true. Kendall hid his face in his hands, tears threatening to leak through his closed eyelids. Suddenly his hiding place on the stairs felt way too crowded. A fag. His dad had called him a fag. How could he? I thought he loved me . . .

Kendall sniffed mournfully, shakily getting to his feet. The struggle to the front door was painful and exhausting, and it only got worse when he opened the door and he heard his parents come to see the source of the small noise.

"I . . ." His mother seemed lost for words as her eyes rested on his tear-stained face. "Kendall . . ."

Kendall just shook his head, sniffling as he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him. He hurried down the street, doing his best to ignore the loud bass music coming from one house or the screaming and crying from another. There was a car on the sidewalk without any wheels. The door was still swinging open, like the driver had just got out and left it there. This was his home. His crumbling old housing estate. The world sucked. He kicked furiously at an empty beer can, almost sobbing with rage. His dad hated him, his mom pitied him, and he lived in what had to be the worst place in the entire universe . . .

"We would never need to face the world alone . . ."

Kendall, truthfully, quite liked the small town he lived in. Sure, it was Minnesota, and the weather was a pain in the ass most of the time, but the place was peaceful enough. Today, the sky was clear, but it wasn't really warm either. The cold breeze made Kendall shiver in his cotton t-shirt. He could've brought a sweater with him. Problem was, he didn't have one. His last one had been chewed up by their neighbour's dog, Chip. Stupid thing. Stupid Ralph, with his drugs and his dog that only seemed to bark at night . . .

Kendall wondered where the hell he was going. He'd never even been in this part of town before. He looked around, slightly in awe of his surroundings. Trees planted in pots on the sidewalk. It was so different, seeing the ground covered in leaves instead of plastic and paper. He walked along, the quiet road on his right and a tall stone wall on his left. Funny, not a trace of graffiti in sight.

He reached a tall metal gate, which hung open for cars to drive through. He walked inside, eyes wide as he looked around. He didn't think he'd seen so much green anywhere in his life. There were rolling green hills, green trees, flowers all over the place. What the heck? A park, maybe? Though what kind of park had cars driving through it?

Kendall walked along the grass, looking around. There were some children playing soccer in the distance, a woman walking her dog, a couple sitting by the pond. It was amazing. How had he not known about this before? He rested his back against a tree, shutting his eyes in contentment. No screaming kids. No smell of alcohol and gasoline. No one to bother him.

"They can have the world, we'll create our own . . ."

He was just thinking this when he heard someone yelling, and then he went flying, rolling over and landing flat on his back on one of the little paved paths. Ok, that hurt. He struggled to sit up, head pounding. He saw a boy about his age a few feet away, sitting up too, a bike lying by his side, the wheels still spinning slowly. He hurried over to where Kendall was sitting, kneeling down next to him. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok?"

"Dude," Kendall groaned, squinting as his head continued to throb. "There are kids around here; watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry, I just looked away for like a millisecond, and then . . ." The guy shrugged. Kendall looked at him more closely. He was cute, with spiked black hair and brown eyes. He looked a little like a puppy. Oh, great, Kendall thought to himself as he finally managed to sit up. Everyone says I look like a kitten. Not a good combination. I should really just leave . . .

"Hey, you're hurt." The boy took hold of Kendall's left arm, thankfully oblivious to the blush flooding his cheeks. Then Kendall noticed the blood trickling from a long gash on his forearm. He grimaced at the sight of it. He hated blood. "You should clean that and bandage it up; it could get infected."

"I don't need you to tell me that," Kendall snapped, finally regaining the energy to stand up. Too bad he ended up staggering against a tree almost straight away. This guy, who couldn't seem to get the message, was now holding him steady by his good arm.

"Seriously, at least let me take care of that for you. It's the least I can do."

"Are you fucking crazy?" Kendall spat, anger sort of getting the better of him because he really, really hated blood, and it was all over his arm. "I'm not going back to your house with you, I don't even know who you are!"

The guy laughed. "Relax, blondie, this isn't Eden. I'm not gonna kidnap you or stab you or anything."

Kendall forced a smile, though he felt a stab of hurt in his chest. Eden. I live in Eden, you asshole. Snobby rich kid.

"I may not be brave or strong or smart, but somewhere in my secret heart . . ."

"So, will you let me help you or not?"

"Fine," Kendall grumbled.

"Ok, great," the snob grinned, standing his bike up. "I live just down there."

Kendall stared. "You live here?"

"Uh huh."

"Here? In like, a park?"

"Did you hit your head too, blondie? This is an estate. Now come on."

Jesus, people actually lived in places like this? Kendall was so shocked that he followed the guy wheeling his bike along, thinking that the world really was unfair. Still, it was pretty obvious this guy was loaded, what with his bike and his fancy jacket. Kendall shivered again as the guy said, "I'm Logan, by the way. And you are?"

"Um . . . Kendall."

"I know love will find a way, anywhere I go, I'm home if you are here beside me . . ."

"Ok, Kendall." Logan grinned, leading him along a row of large two-storey houses. They stopped at Number 11, and Logan pushed the gate open, walking into the front yard and leaning the bike against the wall. "Come on," Logan said, unlocking the door and walking inside.

Kendall followed him in. The hallway was gigantic; he was sure the entire ground floor of his house was the same size. He hurried after Logan into a large kitchen. He stared at all the shiny kitchen appliances, at the CD player on the counter, and the refrigerator the size of a closet.

Logan held his arm under the kitchen tap (the sink was huge too) and washed the cut out, before drying his arm off. He handed Kendall a paper towel. "Keep this pressed against your arm. I'll get a band-aid."

Kendall did as he said, sitting down on the large red sofa. "Who has a couch in their kitchen? And a TV?"

"Well, we do, obviously."

Kendall sighed, leaning back against the comfy cushions. "Figured you were a rich kid."

"I'm not rich!"

When Kendall just raised his eyebrows, Logan sighed. "Alright, I am. But I don't like it. My parents are so proper; everything has to be politically correct and all this crap." He took a deep breath. "And guess what my real name is? Hortense!"

Kendall tried not to laugh, but couldn't help himself. "Hortense? Seriously? So where did Logan come from?"

"It's my middle name. I wouldn't answer to anything else for months until my parents finally gave in. I was getting made fun of for it, and I just didn't think it suited me."

"Well, you're right on that one. Logan suits you." Kendall bit his lip straight after he said it. Oops.

Logan just laughed, bringing a band-aid over and putting it on over the cut. "There you go. All done."

"Thank you." Kendall seemed to feel better instantly. Too bad it had to end. "I should probably go."

"What, so soon?" Logan gave this adorable crooked smile and said, "Why don't you hang around for a while? I can show you more of the 'park' you're so fascinated by."

"Oh shut up, rich boy." Kendall couldn't help smiling. "Ok, then. Show me around."

"Like dark turning into day, somehow we'll come through . . ."

Logan's favourite spot in the estate was a large patch of green grass, where there were trees for shade, but still plenty of room to lie in the sun. Which was what they both did, talking about meaningless things with the sun their equally pale faces.

"So, you like hockey too?"

"Uh huh. I play with my school."

"Oh yeah? What school is that?"

"E. Richard."

"No way!" Logan sat up, looking amazed and delighted. "Isn't that the school where all the students carry knives and the teachers don't stay for more than a month? I heard they have barbed wire on top of the walls to keep the students in."

Kendall giggled, eyes on the clear blue sky above him. Was it his imagination, or was it brighter than the sky above Eden? "Actually, I'm pretty sure all the teachers have been there since the middle ages. And the kids carry iPods, or firecrackers. No knives. There is barbed wire, though. I'm not sure why it's there; no one bothers to try and climb the wall."

"I wish I went to a school like yours. Mine is so dull you could just literally die of boredom in one of the classrooms and no one would notice."

"Well, my school's pretty boring too." Kendall sighed. "Though, truthfully, I kind of miss it."

Logan turned to frown at Kendall. "What do you mean? Were you kicked out?"

"No. I generally behave myself."

"I don't. Though I do try to get good grades. Sorry, back to you. Why aren't you in school?"

Don't tell him, Kendall. You don't even know him. Kendall sighed and got up to lean on his elbows, looking at Logan. "Well, my dad isn't around a lot, so my mom has to do extra work so she can pay the bills. My sister Katie is eleven and she goes to school, but I have to stay home to look after my baby sister Ellie. So . . . I haven't gone to school in about six months."

"Oh." Logan looked amazed. "Wow." Still, this was probably way out of his little loaded depth.

"Yep, we're not all like you, Money Bags."

"Hey!" Logan laughed. "I didn't ask to have parents who are all proper and well off . . ."

"Well, consider yourself lucky, Hortense. I'd switch places with you in a heartbeat."

Logan didn't say anything; he just looked up at the sky with a thoughtful expression. Kendall lay back down, hands crossed over his stomach. The grass was surprisingly comfortable, and they lay there contentedly for God knows how long. It was only when the sky had a red hue about it and the shadows of the trees were getting longer that Kendall realised what time it was.

"I should get going," Kendall said, getting up off the grass.

"Where do you live?" Logan asked, standing up too. "Just curious."

Kendall couldn't help smirking. "Eden."

"Oh." Logan's eyes widened. "Shit."

Kendall just rolled his eyes and started walking towards the gate. He heard Logan following him. "Kendall, I'm sorry. About what I said before."

"No biggie. Everyone else is the same." Kendall walked back down that sidewalk covered in fallen leaves, smiling to himself.

Then Logan steeped in front of him. "No, I was too judgemental. You're not like . . . I mean . . . look, I know to all your people I'm a snooty, spoilt rich kid—"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Let me finish. To my people, you're poor, shabby and can't be trusted. But I don't think you're like that, and . . . well, what do you think of me?"

Kendall shrugged. "You're alright, I guess. Sure, the fact that you probably have three of everything I have to live without bugs me, and makes me wonder what you've done to deserve so much, cos you don't seem that special to me . . ."

Logan was chuckling. "You're so feisty. I like it."

Kendall just rolled his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek to (hopefully) stop himself from blushing. They were both silent for a few moments, just standing there. Logan was looking around almost absent-mindedly. Kendall just stared at him until he eventually looked back. Then they kept staring at each other.

Oh, for God's sake, he's clueless.

"Look, Logan, I don't have all day," Kendall sighed, eventually. Might as well be sure of himself for once. "Are you gonna walk me home or not?"

"Now that I've found you, love will find a way."

Next chapter shall be longer and better, methinks. REVIEW!