Linx squatted behind the tree, squinting to see if any of the lights were on. After staring for ten more minutes, he got up and slowly walked towards the house. He stayed low, hiding behind the cars to get closer, and made it to the front entrance.

He stayed there for a few moments, listening for any movements, before he started to go around the house and to his bedroom window.

As he approached it, he kept on repeating his logical reasons for why he's here. Since he knew, that if he thought for a moment why he was truly here, he would be stuck in a limbo between running away or running inside the house.

He opened the window, surprised that it was still open, and silently hopped inside. He scanned the room and almost lost his footing when he saw Ivy sleeping in his bed.

What the fuck is she doing here??

But he supposed it made sense. Since Rose knew the boys, and since Ivy would probably be a small brat because she hasn't seen Linx in a couple days, she would be sleeping here to make Rose's life a bit easier.

Linx didn't hop back outside though. Instead he closed the window so the cold air wouldn't wake up Ivy. But he doubted cold air would even wake her up, because she sleeps like a bear sleeps when it hibernates. It'll take a full firework show to wake them up. But he didn't want her to get sick either, so he closed the slightly squeaky window.

He quietly walked over to his drawer, opening the backpack he borrowed from Jazz, and started to fill it with his clothes.

Too bad he didn't check behind the bed or else he would've been running down the streets by now.

He kept on filling the bag until he thought he had enough for the next two weeks or so. Because Jazz's wife was supposed to be coming tonight, and Linx didn't want her to see him wearing her husband's clothes, he decided grabbing someone his own would do himself some good.

At least, that's his reasoning of why he's here tonight.

As he squatted down to get some of his trunks, he heard a quiet shuffling of bedsheets behind him. He didn't pay attention to it though, assuming that it was Ivy moving around.

She does move around quite a bit, even smacking Linx on multiple occasions during their nap time.

But when he heard heavy footsteps approaching him, he knew something was up. So he turned around and came face-to-face with a sleepy but tense Orion.

"Linx, is that you?" Orion squinted, not sure if he was looking at a familiar shadow or a very hidden Linx.

Linx didn't dare to move, hoping that his black clothes would camouflage him enough that Orion would think he was just a weird looking shadow.

But when Orion took a step forward and stuck his arm out towards Linx, all hell broke loose.

Linx jumped forward and swiped at Orion's feet, knocking him down. He then dashed to the window, quickly opening it, but not quick enough. As he was about to jump down, two strong arms circled around his waist and hoisted him up and away from the window.

He thrashed in Orion's hold, and with adrenaline running through his blood, he nipped Orion's arm just enough for him to loosen his hold and for Linx to knock him back down by hitting Orion's chest hard with his elbows.

Orion tumbled down, and knew he would be too slow to stop Linx again, but a flash passed Orion and all of a sudden it was Remi who was hugging Linx from behind, stopping his escape.

Orion took the opportunity and darted to the window, closing it shut and locking it down. He quickly turned around and found Linx wrapping his leg behind Remi's knees, forcing them to bend forward and make Remi lose his balance.

Linx broke free and dodged Orion's arms, fleeing towards the door to the hallway. But as he pushed the door open and ran out the room, he came crashing into someone's hard chest.

Too bad Linx couldn't see the flickering lights in the basement when he was stalking the house from the outside.

"Orion, what's all the noi- Linx!?" Kade shouted and went to grab Linx's shoulder, to give him a hug, but was roughly pushed to the side before he could do so.

Linx sprinted down the hallway, past the kitchen and living room, and made it to the front entrance. His shaky hands swiftly unlocked the two locks, and as he was opening the door, it was shut closed by the arm next to his head.

"Linx, what are you-" But he didn't let Austin finish, instead he shoved him and dropped to the floor to dodge Austin's grab on him. Linx then swingend his feet at Austin's, causing him to fall down.

Linx bolted up and ran into the kitchen, trying to think of a place to hide in or escape from. But the problem was, in the two years that he's been living here, the only rooms that he knew about were the kitchen, living room, and his bedroom. So he was stuck there, chest pumping air in and out with a few tears unknowingly rolling down his cheek, as he heard multiple footsteps approach the entrance of the kitchen.

Nobody said anything for a couple moments, each party trying to figure out what the other will do. The boys listened to Linx's harsh breathing and Linx listened to the boys awkward shuffling.

"Linx, we won't pressure you into anything, but we just want to talk to you. We just want to figure this situation we're in and help you out. So please, just come out and talk to us." Kade pleaded, his voice cracking slightly when he said please.

And they all stayed still, listening to Linx's quieting breath's and to his light pacing against the tile floor. But Linx soon came out, a bit too soon in Orion's opinion, and they all breathed out a sigh of relief.

Yet with both parties finally standing next to each other, a word away from fixing this situation, nobody said anything.

For nobody knew what to say.

Linx just stood still, his muscles taut, head down, and eyes flickering around the room. The boys on the other hand, kept their eyes trained on Linx, just wishing they could hug him right then and let Linx spill all his worries to them.

For him to just relax and accept the fact that he'll never be alone again.

But they knew it wouldn't happen tonight nor in a few weeks. Still, they could start helping him out tonight, for some progress is still progress.

"How about we all go into the living room and talk about... what's been happening in the past week or so, yeah?" Kade prompted, his voice quiet and gentle, as if talking to a stray animal. Linx nodded and a silent sigh of relief escaped Kade.

Most of the boys went ahead and sat on the couches, while Orion and Austin stayed back with Linx. The two noticed Linx's tense position and his weird obedience, as well as his slow walk towards the couch with his eyes flickering at the two every few seconds.

The two of them tensed, sensing Linx's urge to flee. But they slowly relaxed as they saw Linx quietly sit down, and actually lose some of his tension, his back resting against the couch. So they too sat down, a few inches away from Linx, and relaxed.

Big mistake.

Linx was once a successful street fighter, he knew how to get an enemy's guard down. Just because you won the round, doesn't mean you won the match too. So the moment he saw his biggest threats relax, he sprang up and dashed to his bedroom.

He heard a clutter of curses and footsteps thundering behind, but that all stopped when he entered his room and locked the door. He didn't pay attention to the banging of his door or their pleas of him not leaving. He just snatched his bag off the floor and went to open the window.

But of course, the moment he managed to crack the window up just a little, a sweet voice called out to him.

"L-Linx, ish that you?" Linx knew he would regret turning around instead of jumping out the window, as he could hear the quiver in Ivy's voice, and her sadness was the biggest weakness Linx had.

And just as expected, when he looked back, large crocodile tears were streaming down Ivy's face. Linx tried to suck up his motherly urges and jump out the window. But seeing Ivy stumbling down the bed, her bum hitting the hard ground, and yet she ignored her pain to rush to Linx?

That was too much guilt for Linx.

He closed the window, dropped his bag, and scooped up the distressed Ivy into his loving arms. He rocked her back and forth, whispering sweet nothings to her, while her small little arms gripped his shirt like her life depended on it.

Linx was so concentrated on making Ivy calm down and happy, that he didn't hear the soft click of the opening door and the quiet taps of feet entering the room. When he did turn around, he let out a small gasp at the six men that were suddenly in the room.

He soon glared at them though, daring them to speak and wake up the tired Ivy. But Remi was brave enough, for he knew Ivy's habits that quiet talking wouldn't disturb her sleeping.

"Rose is going to come and pick Ivy up in a few minutes. How about we wait in the living room for her so you can be more comfortable?" Remi whispered and was relieved to see Linx nod, as reluctant as he seemed.

All the boys filed out of the room first, knowing that they gave Linx the perfect opportunity to drop Ivy on the bed and escape into the night. But they were pleasantly surprised to hear Linx's soft mumbles to Ivy, as he followed them into the living room.

They all sat down, Finn sitting on Austin's lap so they could create more space for Linx on the couch. But Linx didn't sit on the couch. Instead he sat on the carpeted floor, his back resting against the empty seat behind him.

The boys deflated a little at the small action, finding it sad that Linx didn't feel comfortable enough to sit on the same couch as them. But at least he was sitting near them and not running away, so they didn't ask him to sit on the couch.

For the next ten minutes, nobody spoke. They all observed Linx, as Linx was cradling Ivy's head to his shoulder, his eyes shut tight.

But even with his eyes shut and body slightly obscured due to his upright fetal position, they could see how tired he was. The deep shadows that formed in his sunken eyes, his slightly shaking hands that were holding Ivy, and his mildly bobbing head as he tries to stay awake.

He's never looked this bad before, as if he was on the verge of collapsing and never waking up. Did he even sleep in the four days that he was gone?

And no, no he didn't. He did nap here and there, when his body begged him to rest for a while, but stress and guilt always woke him. Then, when he would be awake, his mind would repeat over and over again all the wrong choices he made to get to where he is today.

How he didn't speak up about his abuse at home, how he didn't try to connect with the Mom's, how he blatantly pushed the boys away, how he denied Rose's attempts to be his friend, and how he failed himself at stopping any attempts for him to be happy.

And that was why he was here tonight, sitting on the floor with the boys surrounding him.

He came to the house to try and mend his relationship with the boys, something he's been avoiding for years.

The ring of the doorbell cut through all their thoughts, and making Linx curl in himself more. Remi got up and kneeled before Linx, softly tapping his knees and silently telling him that it's time for Ivy to return home. Linx, though very hesitant, got up and followed Remi as he stood up and walked over to the door. He opened the door and small gasp echoed through the house.

Rose peered at Linx, pure joy and worry displayed on her face. But even though she wanted to tackle him in a hug and talk his ear off, she knew she had to wait her turn to talk to Linx. She glanced at the boys, nodding them her thanks, and stepped towards Linx.

Linx flinched back, but still outstretched Ivy to Rose's arms. Rose quickly took Ivy away, not wanting to put Linx through any more discomfort, and walked towards Ma's car.

They were going to have a sleepover at Rose's place.

Linx stood there, basking in the bitter coldness of the approaching winter season. There was no snow yet, but the gloomy weather sure was already setting in.

"Maybe I should leave too..." Linx weakly suggested, not knowing if his presence was even wanted in this house.

Perhaps he's has broken his ties with the boys so much that it can never be mended?

But a gentle and warm hand was placed on his shoulder, ignoring his flinch at the contact, and closed the door.

"Please, just sit and talk with us? We've been worried about you." Remi soft voice whispered to him and his large hand was placed on Linx's back, guiding him back to the couch. Remi then took his seat next to Orion and they all waited for Linx to take a seat too.

Linx, in a spure of unknown confidence, decided to sit on the couch, right next to Kade and Finn. The two didn't touch him and just scooted back to give him more personal space, something that he deeply appreciated.

"So where have you been sleeping these past four days?" Austin asked, knowing that nobody else will have the guts to ask Linx such a question. And though that wasn't their main question, it was a start.

Linx being Linx, stayed quiet and closed his eyes. But he was trying so hard on the inside, with a battle between following his habits of ditch and ignore, or giving into the urge of trusting the boys and letting them figure this out together.

But after who knows how long, his usual habits won. Because you can't expect a person who's been hiding their whole life, to suddenly break out of character and start babbling all about their problems.

That's not how it works and it's making Linx slowly hate who he is.

Austin, seeing that Linx wasn't budging, asked a slightly different question, "What's their name?"

Linx's head hurt with the amount of thoughts running through his head. One being of him to just punch them all in the face and move to Australia, never to be seen again. The other being to confide in them, trust them, and hope for the best. So, the two sides made a sort of compromise and Linx muttered his answer.

"Isaac." He slightly lied, because Linx knew they all suspected that Jazz was helping him out. He hoped none of them knew of Jazz's real name or else he might actually move to Australia. But, Linx didn't open his eyes to see if there was any reaction to Isaac's name, so he stayed seated. For now.

Kade noticed how stiff Linx was and how he was practically not even sitting on the couch, ready to bolt at any second. He tried to shoot a warning glare to Austin to make him ask gentler question, but Austin ignored him. Austin knew it was now or never to make Linx to open up to them. And the fact that Linx answered one of his questions was enough motivation to keep on poking.

"Why didn't you want us to know that you were wrestling in Rooster?" Linx's back straightened at once, his eyes flickering open. He glanced at the entrance door, wondering how fast he could open the door and escape. Or how fast he could run to his bedroom and actually jump out the window this time.

The boys glanced at one another, noticing Linx's rigid body. Kade slightly frowned when he saw Linx peeking at the front door, reading his intentions immediately. Kade looked back up and at Remi, silently asking him to coax Linx to relax, since Austin wasn't going to stop being a jerk. Remi nodded and leaned forward, preparing his tender teacher voice.

"Linx, look at me sweetie," Linx's wide eyes snapped towards Remi's, but flickered to the front door a second later. Remi asked three more times because he wanted Linx to understand him, not just listen to him. Each time he asked Linx, Remi had to stop himself from going to hug him so he could erase the fear and fatigue from his eyes.

You're going to be okay sweet cakes, we won't ignore you ever again.

"Linx, angel, look in my eyes for a quick minute, okay? I won't say much but it's important you listen to me, okay?" Linx finally rested his eyes on Remi, well more like his shoulder. But it was good enough, more then enough.

"Sweets, look, we're as clueless about this situation as you are. We don't know the first thing to do and whether we're even doing the right thing. But I will tell you we all want to help you, we all want to know more about you, and we all want you to join us in our lives. We don't care that you wrestle, as long as you're happy and safe while doing it. We're also very sorry for not telling you sooner that we knew about your secret life, we just didn't want to jump on you at the wrong time. But we're very happy that you're here with us, talking to us, and not running away from us. We've been worried sick since you disappeared and I don't think you know how much relief you've brought us by coming over tonight. So Linx," Linx's eyes connected with Remi's for a brief, but powerful, moment. Linx being able to exchange his vulnerability with Remi's reassurance, a move that made Linx's mind just a little more organized.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" And Linx's mind looked like scrambled eggs again. He tried to separate himself from his incoherent thoughts, but no luck. They just kept on buzzing, making Linx forget how to breath for a few moments. But he looked back at Remi's firm eyes, trying to soak up all of his calm confidence and make it seep into his mind. It worked for a few seconds, it giving Linx enough time to quickly respond.

"I didn't want you guys to be worried about me and I was scared-" But he cut himself off, his brain malfunctioning from all the emotions, thoughts, hidden messages, people's behavior, everything.

But a few moments later, all his thoughts meshed into one; he hated this. What was he thinking, come to the house unannounced and talk to the boys, to then live happily ever after? Problem solved and they can all be a happy family?

No, now it was clear. Linx was the problem and he wasn't willing to fix it anymore. It was time to escape. He didn't care if he was acting like a brat, running away from them and playing a game of cat and mouse over and over again. Since if he didn't like a situation, you'd be damned that he'll try his best to escape from it.

He stood up and dashed to the front door, quickly unlocking it, and was greeted with a bitter wind. As he was about to sprint, Remi's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait, Linx! Can you please answer one more question? We won't bother you... ever again, if you can just tell us why you came to us tonight?"

Oh, how Linx despised his human emotions in that moment.

He turned around, even though his body was telling him flight instead of fight, and stared at Remi, his vulnerability gone and replaced with his usual stoic look. Yet his demeanor wasn't his usual confident, don't give two craps about the world; his back was hunched, hands clasping each other to stop their shaking, and chest rapidly moving up and down.

They could all tell he was trying to put on his mask, trying to put act like his usual self, while his new self was attempting to figure out what this whole situation meant to him.

Linx stood still and stared at them, panic dripping in. He knew he had to lie to them, to cover up the mess he was in, but nothing came to mind. Well, nothing but the truth. Yet he couldn't do that... could he?