- T H E R E J E C T S -

H O R S E S H O E S

- Yeehaw -

But at that moment all I needed was Diesel. I could block out all the bad things in my life and just be vulnerable. And that was all I needed.  

After Diesel had left to check on King, I decided I had to get home. 

"Hey Richy, I'm gonna head on home, do you wanna spend the night?" 

He looked up from his phone and I could see his internal battle, trying to think of a nice way to say yes but not wanting to intrude. Cooper stood awkwardly in the corner, this whole ordeal would be a lot to process for someone on the outside. He had heard what happened to Diesel, seen all of us fight in the shop and then King storm off in a huff. He tried to look busy like he wasn't eavesdropping by walking over to the wall on the farthest side of the Manor where five names had been carved into the concrete feature wall. Richy stood up and stretched, his back popping, before looking over at me and nodding. 

"I don't think dad's just going to let me come home"

I nodded and looked back over at Cooper.

"What do we do with him?"

Richy thought for a moment before answering. 

"There's nothing worth stealing in here and the doors don't even lock so he can just stick around I guess"

"Hey, Cooper!" I called, "we're headin' off, you're welcome to stick 'round if ya want"

He just shook his head and followed us out the door. 

_____________________

Once our bikes hit the packed dirt of my driveway we slowed down. I could tell Richy was nervous by the way he kept swerving on his bike, a clear sign his mind was elsewhere. We pulled our bikes up beside the veranda and headed to the front door. My little brother was bouncing up and down on the couch watching one of his favourite cartoon shows, once he saw the boys he got excited running over and around them. 

"Hi Richy! Hi Sammy! Oh my god I had the best day ever, two girls in my class came and talked to me and we played hopscotch in sport and there were like seven big kids-"

"Slow down Jacko, wheres mum?"

Jackson takes a deep breath and visibly calms. 

"She went down the back, like the barn, cause missy is sick"

I wind my way through the kitchen and out the back door, waving for Richy to follow me. We step over broken fence post and weeds to get to the big, red barn that sits at the top of our yard. Pushing open the huge wood-panel doors, I am overwhelmed by the familiar smell of hay and horse. In a stall at the very end of the barn my mum is bent over an old chestnut brown horse. 

"Hey Ma"

Lisa Hill raised her head to look at the two boys, her face lighting up.

"Richy, hi. Sammy didn't tell me you were coming over"

"Hi mrs Hill, it was kind of a last minute thing"

She nodded, stepping over the horse and carefully washing her hands in the sink on the back of the barn.

"Hey Ma, is it okay if Richy stays here tonight? He don't got nowhere else to go"

The older Hill woman's eyes softened, she reached out a hand to his shoulder.

"Of course you can dear, our door is always open"

"Thank you, I hate being a problem"

"Oh honey never"

She pulled him into a hug, and for once Richy didn't care that she was getting mud all over him, he just needed someone hold him. It was too much, he broke down into her arms, relishing the feeling of her motherliness. Mum looked at me over his shoulder and I could tell she would protect him against the entire world if she had to. I carefully back away from the two and make a beeline for the door, not wanting to embarrass Richy. 

_____________________

I'm in the kitchen looking through the fridge when Mum comes down the stairs.

"Is he okay?"

She heaves a huge sigh and takes a seat at the kitchen counter. Her blonde hair is graying at the roots and there are deep crows feet set into the skin beside her eyes. She tells us it's because we make her laugh so much, but I know it's from worrying too much. 

"He's exhausted, but he'll survive" She shakes her head "poor kid's been through hell"

"Ain't much different to us Ma"

Mum chuckled, ruffling my hair in the process.

"You are one of a kind kid, I hope you know that"

I smiled, my life might suck but I had something the rest of my gang didn't, I had a family to back me up. I would have given up everything if it meant my friends could go home to a nice, safe place with a mother and a brother that would support them no matter what.

"Richy's havin' a shower and I gave him some of your clothes for him to sleep in. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I'll take the couch, he needs a good, warm bed"

_____________________

"Hey, I feel really bad for making you take the couch, I could totally just-"

"Man, cut that out, you need the rest" Richy gave me a look from where he was perched at my desk "besides Jacko wants to have a 'sleepover' 'cause we haven't had one in a while"

He still looked sceptical but pulled the covers up and over his head. I grabbed what I need from my room and headed downstairs, dreading the night that lay ahead of me. 

I grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and settled in, it was a little small and uncomfortable but I would put up with it as long as Richy was snug. I was nearly asleep when I heard the thundering of footsteps down the stairs, I lay as still as possible trying not to draw attention to myself.

"Hey Sammy? Oh man I'm so stoked we're havin' a sleepover, it's just so incredibl-"

I could just make out the sound of him tumbling down the last few steps, before he stood back up and continued.

"I'm okay! I'm fine! Don't stress, it's so damn dark in here I couldn't see where I was puttin' my feet! But I'm okay Sammy"

I chuckled and buried my head into my pillow. After a second a weight landed on my stomach, bouncing upand down.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy..... Come on Sammyyyyyyyy"

I quickly whipped up and started tickling him. Squeals of happiness filled the room, making me start giggling too. I would do anything for my family, anything.

A/N: I am so very, very sorry for being like incredibly inactive. I don't even have an excuse I just procrastinated for ages. But thank you guys so much for 200 reads, I am insanely grateful and I will try to write more chapters soon.