Requested by 0DonotMan0. Hopefully you like it. Trigger warning: Contains violence and abuse.

Free De La Hoya had never felt so trapped in his entire life. His life had been a nightmare since he was three years old.

It all started on a normal day. His parents had their first day off for what seemed like forever and they were planning to spend the entire day with their son.

Free was sitting in the car with his stuffed deer and a pop-up book. His mother checked on him.

"Are you hungry, Free?" she asked.

"No, Mama," said Free. He sucked his thumb absentmindedly.

Suddenly, a cow came in the middle of the road and Free's father tried to steer out of the way. The car ended up crashing into a tree.

Free ended up losing consciousness and waking up in the hospital. A nurse checked on him.

"Where's Mama and Papa?" asked Free.

"I'm sorry, kid, but they are gone," said the nurse.

Being so young, Free didn't completely understand the nurse. "When are they coming back?"

"No, I mean... They are dead."

"Dead?" asked Free. "No, no, no, no, no! Why?"

Free burst into floods of tears. He hugged his stuffed deer, but it wasn't the same.

However, that night, Free woke up to hear a window smashing. He decided to go and investigate. Before he knew it, a huge hand grabbed his tiny one. Free tried to scream, but a hand went over his mouth.

Free was taken to a strange vehicle and he was tied up. Free cried, praying for someone to save him. His parents, the kind nurse, or even a stranger. But it was no good. Free had lost his parents and was kidnapped on the same day.

Free suddenly remembered that his beloved stuffed deer (which was the last thing his parents gave him) was still at the hospital. He screamed for his kidnappers to get it, but he was slapped in return.

Since then, Free was forced to do bad things. At first, it was just small things like steal food or pickpocket strangers. But as he got older, he was made to rob houses and shops.

But the worst part, in Free's opinion, was being forced to slaughter animals. His parents had always prided themselves on caring for animals, and Free agreed with them. He couldn't even bear to hurt a spider, and he hated having to kill chickens and rabbits.

Free had once tried to escape at the age of six, but he was caught and beaten up, then tied to a chair blindfolded for two hours. Free had never tried to run away again.

One day, Free had been instructed to break into an apartment and rob it. But when Free picked the lock and went inside, there wasn't anything much to steal.

After some snooping, Free found some DVD covers of movies about a blonde girl with blue eyes in fantasy worlds, some cooking equipment, and some books. Nothing particularly valuable.

A normal burglar would have considered it a lost cause and gone out, but Free knew that he would be punished if he came back with nothing. He went into a bedroom.

Free found a piggy bank with some money in it, but it wasn't a lot. He felt really guilty about taking it, for it didn't seem like the owner had a lot, but he was terrified of being abused again.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house?"

Free jumped and turned around. He saw a boy a few years younger than him with snowy white hair, crimson eyes, and pale skin. An albino, no doubt. He didn't look angry, only confused.

Free had no idea what to say. He couldn't think of a good excuse.

"I... I..."

The boy looked at the piggy bank. "Oh, you're hungry, aren't you? You don't have to steal, though. I can make you something."

Free was asthonished as he watched the boy cook a plate of spaghetti carbonara and give it to him. To be honest, he was pretty hungry as his captors barely fed him. He gobbled up the food.

"Er... Thank you," he said once he was finished.

"No problem," said the boy. "I'm Shu Kurenai, by the way."

"Shoe?" asked Free.

"No. S-H-U."

"Oh. I'm Free De La Hoya."

"What?"

"My name really is Free."

"That's... A strange name."

Free haven't felt this comfortable with a person for a long time, but he was worried that he might get in trouble. "I have to go."

"Wait, you don't have to leave. It's really late, and you can sleep over if you like. I can set up a bed for you."

Free shook his head. If his captors caught him with Shu, they would kill him. "You're very kind, but I can't stay here." He grabbed the rest of the food Shu had made for him and left.

Shu was getting suspicious. Something was up. He did his best to follow Free.

Shu was horrified when he saw a man yelling at Free.

"This is it? Why couldn't you have stolen something more valuable? If I wanted you to steal food, I would have told you to go to a restaurant."

"There... Wasn't anything to steal..."

The man slapped Free, and Shu gave a silent scream. Clearly Free needed help.

The man  beat Free for a few minutes, and then left him on the ground. As soon as he left, Shu ran up to him.

"Free! Free, are you okay? Please, answer me."

Free started coughing, and some blood came out of his mouth. He was horrified when he saw Shu.

"How... How much did you see?"

"Enough," said Shu. "Free, why didn't you tell me the truth? I could have helped you. I'm calling 911."

"No, don't!" said Free. "He will hurt me more."

"Free, once those people controlling you are in prison, you won't have to get hurt ever again."

"N... No, you don't understand! I tried to run away once, and I was beaten badly. I don't want that to happen again. I know that I seem like a coward, but I am too scared."

Shu understood more than Free realized. "Actually, my parents kind of neglected me since I was little. They hit me a few times, and it was awful. But I had friends who cared about me. I think you need people who will be there for you too."

"But that man will kill you if he sees you near me."

"Don't worry," said Shu. "I will be fine."

Free had no idea what Shu had meant, but the thought that there was someone who might be able to pull him out of this mess comforted him.

One day, Free's captors were yelling at him for no reason when there was pounding on the door. The leader slowly opened it, but was ambushed by police officers.

It turned out that Shu had followed Free back to where the people were hiding and then called the cops. For the first time, Free was finally... Free.

A few days later, Free came to Shu's apartment and thanked him. "If it wasn't for you, I would still be a prisoner."

"I had to do something," said Shu. "I would have regretted it if I didn't."

The two of them looked into each other's eyes for a while, and then Free went and held Shu's hand.

Shu blushed a little. "Want... To go out with me?"

"I would like that," said Free.