A/N:Thank you to Mystery_25 for the amazing banner!

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Archie's hands went up to shield himself, screaming at me to stop. He was ducking as I continued to hit him with the pillow, calling him every name that my mind could come up with at that moment.

"Summer stop hitting me!" He ordered, managing to wrap his hands around my arms to stop the pillow hitting him once again.

"You stupid asshole!" I screamed at him, so much anger raising in my body it was amazing.

"Calm down! What the hell is your problem?!" He asked, looking at me like I was crazy. He then began struggling to keep my arms on lock once I began to fight against him, wanting to smash him in the face again with the pillow. Or a brick.

"You do not sneak into someone's room, especially not when less than a week earlier they had been in a real life version of f*cking Saw!" I was shouting so loud, and since there was no knocking on my door I came to the conclusion that my parents still were not home. My mother would have probably been kicking that door down by this point.

He closed his eyes, the look of guilt and realisation finally appearing on his expression. My chest was still rising up and down frantically, and I don't know if it was from the scare he gave me or from fury.

He slowly let go of my arms, looking at me closely to make sure I didn't make a swing for him again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think..." He apologised, running a hand over his face as he realised what an idiot he was for doing that. His hand then began to rub one of his cheeks as a pained expression came over him "Seriously though, you have some upper body strength. I never knew a pillow could hurt so much."

"It should have been filled with bars of soap!" I growled at him, throwing the pillow back on my bed. I turned my back to him, sitting down in the middle of my bed and crossing my legs. I ran a hand through my hair, taking in a few deep breaths. Surely by now I would have calmed down?

I was struggling to breathe at that moment, and that time I knew it was not from anger. Jesus Christ, I really was scared.

"So you thought a crazy killer was crawling through your window and you decide to start a pillow fight with him?" Archie asked, a smile in his voice. I however, found nothing funny.

I planted my glare on him "You scared the life out of me. Who does that? After everything that happened it didn't cross your mind to give me a heads up that you were about to break into my house and scare the living crap out of me?!"

I saw his face fall slightly as he took in the tone of my voice, and it finally dawned on him that I really was not taking this as a joke.

"Jesus you're really freaked out aren't you?" He asked, and this time he did sound like he felt kind of bad.

"And the award for the most obvious statement ever said goes to Archie Henderson. Step up and claim your prize, you f*cking helmet!" I bellowed at him before I pointed my hands in his direction as I carried on letting off some of the anger I felt "I mean seriously, it isn't enough that I am in this house on my own but you decide to try your hand at breaking and entering now of all times. I have a front door with a bell, and normal people ring it. Actually, in this day and age that we live in there are these things called mobile phones. You text people to say 'Oh by the way, I'm about to crawl through your window in the eerie night like some demon child intent on making sure you never sleep soundly again!' My electricity bill is already through the roof because my house is more lit up than 4/20, but thank you for making sure my lights aren't getting switched off any time soon you fu-"

My hysterical ranting was cut short by him climbing on the bed, and once he was kneeling in front of me he shut me up rapidly by wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in for a hug.

I could feel my chest rising up and down heavily against him, and I didn't try and pull away from him. I felt an instant relief wash over my body as his arms came around me, and for the first time since my mum and dad left the house I felt calm. I shut my eyes, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him closer.

"-cking moron." I finished my rant, and I heard him breathe a laugh into my shoulder.

He pulled away, keeping his arms around me as mine fell to my side. His face was close to mine, and he gave me an apologetic smile before leaning his head in and placing his lips on mine. It wasn't a long kiss, it was short and sweet. Sort of like his actual apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot and I didn't think."

I stared at his face for a few seconds before nodding my head "Yeah you were."

He gave me a half-hearted smile "Be honest though, I bet you're kind of happy I'm here now?"

"No. I hate you." I snapped, causing his smile to widen a little further as he spotted that lie. Truth is, once I had gotten over the mini (okay, huge) heart attack he gave me, I was so thankful he was here it was ridiculous.

"Sure you do."

"When did they let you go?" I asked him. The doctors never told me when they would be releasing Archie.

"A few hours ago. They were not letting me go unless I had someone to take me home, so Gavin got his mum to come." He explained.

"You're staying with him then?"

He nodded "Yeah until I figure out what I'm going to do."

I felt bad for him then. He had washed his hands of his parents, but he was still a kid in High School. He had no job, and he somehow needed to find somewhere to live. I knew Gavin's parents would put him up for as long as he wanted, but I also knew Archie. He was in no way free loading off of them. If he was staying there, I knew he would want to get a job to be able to pay for his own way.

"I was meant to and get my stuff, that's why I was around. I didn't even make it to my front door before I saw yours and realised I wanted to see you." He confessed, and a smile slowly began to form on my mouth. That was actually kind of sweet "Then you beat the crap out of me with a pillow and I began to question that decision."

I let out a laugh, causing him to smile once he realised I was completely calm now. Ten points for him.

"So you haven't seen your parents?" I questioned, immediately seeing his body stiffen at the mention.

"Nope. They tried coming by again and I told the hospital staff to kick them out. I was proper shocked when they actually did. I felt like a bouncer." He laughed, and this time I didn't have it in me to follow suit. As I looked into his eyes, I wasn't buying it.

He was trying hard to keep the smile on his face. He kept making jokes, but he wasn't right. There was something missing.

It wasn't hard to figure out what that thing was.

"How are you?" I asked softly, looking at his face intently as I waited for his reply.

"I'm good. Oi when Gavin and his mum came to get me earlier, Frankie was in the car as well. I give it a week before those two will be doing the dance with no clothes officially." He let out another laugh, brushing off my question like it was nothing. Just like he had with Jaden when we first saw him at the hospital, he said 'I'm good' and changed the subject so fast if you blinked you would have missed it.

"Archie-"

"Saw Jaden earlier as well and he's starting his physio in a few weeks. Although I guarantee you a few weeks in that wheelchair and he will never want to walk again, the lazy prick." He kept talking, cutting me off when I tried to talk to him. He knew full well what I wanted to talk about, and he was trying as hard as he could to talk about anything but.

"Archie stop."

"Stop what?" He asked me with a confused chuckle. He looked at me with a smile, like he didn't have a care in the world. He was fooling no one, and I knew from one glance in his eyes he wasn't fooling himself either.

"You're going to have to talk about it sooner or later Archie." I said as gently as I could. His smile faltered a fraction, but not completely.

"Honestly I'm good, there's nothing to talk about." He smiled again, this time it didn't reach his eyes.

"You can't keep avoiding the sub-"

"There's nothing to talk about." He repeated, his voice coming out harder as he cut me off. We were both silent for a while, looking at each other as we waited for the other to back down. Suddenly, a smirk rose to his lips as he spoke again "Are your mum and dad home?"

I sighed in annoyance at yet another change of subject "No they're not. They're out enjoying a nice three course meal and possibly trying to save their marriage."

He nodded as I spoke, the smirk getting a little bigger at my words "That works out very well."

Before I had a chance to ask why, he leaned his head forward and caught my mouth with his. I was taken completely off guard, and as his mouth moved against mine I still didn't close my eyes. However, that quickly changed when he placed his hand on my thigh and began to slowly ease my legs apart. I felt him lean his body forward until I too went down and before I knew it, he was pressing me down against the bed. He had manoeuvred himself so my legs were either side of his hips.

"I believe..." He breathed against my mouth, before returning to it for a couple more seconds "...We have something to finish..." He caught my bottom lip between his teeth, causing me to moan as he bit down softly before trailing his mouth along my jaw and down to my neck "...and as you can see, I have already hopped on."

His hand was on my stomach, and he snaked his fingers under my top as he ran his hand up on my skin. My eyes shut as I felt a wave of pleasure rush through me, then another moan escaped when he pushed his hips down causing a part of him to hit a part of me that certainly did not mind what was happening right now.

Before I knew it, his mouth was back on mine and he was kissing me so aggressively it was like he was trying to prove something. My hands wrapped around his neck, one tangling into his hair as my legs locked around his back and pulled him closer towards me.

At that move, he groaned into the kiss and his hands went down to the top of my leggings. I felt him trying to push them down, and that is when some part of my brain woke up and began to slap the horny part of my brain so hard she too came to her senses.

As for subject changes, this one may have been the most ingenious yet.

"Archie..." I breathed as I pulled my mouth away. Without making the fact I was about to stop this any easier, his mouth was once again on my neck kissing right on my collar bone. Horny me almost took the wheel again, but smart me was Jackie Channing her way to victory. I placed my hands on his shoulders and with every bit of will power I had, I pushed him away until his mouth was off my skin and I could think properly.

He looked down at me with his brows furrowed "What's the problem love? I'm good to go, and I know you sure as shit are too."

I scrunched my eyes together, hating myself because those words were so true it hurt. I mean horny me was floored right now screaming in pain like Bella Swan at the end of the first film from how much it hurt. Only horny me didn't look like she was trying to push a watermelon through her poop shoot.

I pushed Archie harder until he was off of me completely. He sat on the bed in front of me, still looking at me with a 'what the hell are you playing at' expression. I sat up directly in front of him, keeping him at arm's length because I don't think I had it in me to do that twice. There was only so much I could take before horny me came out with a gun and started shooting any bitch who tried to stop her.

"We can't do this now." I felt a wave of Deja vu hit me as I repeated his words from when we were in the hall. I suddenly realised how right he was. Now the roles were reversed, it dawned on me how irrational I had acted when he turned me down, but he had a point.

"I have a hard on that says we can." He countered, and I groaned internally.

"Archie you do not want to do this now."

"Again, I have a hard on that says I do."

I sighed, taking my arms off his shoulders as I sat up straight and looked at him. My legs were still either side of him, and he was sitting cross legged in between my ankles. A safe distance away I thought.

"No you don't. Back in the hall, you were right. It wouldn't be fair on either of us to do this now, not with everything that has happened. You're not here Archie, and do not say 'I have a hard on that says I am.'" I quickly finish off when I see him open his mouth to reply. He shuts it again, looking up at the ceiling in irritation "You're not here. You're trying so hard to change the subject and avoid what's bothering you that you think this is a good idea."

He said nothing as he carried on looking at the ceiling, his tongue running over the top of his teeth. I didn't miss his jaw clenching as he took in my words.

"I can't imagine how you feel right now, but I have an idea because I saw how you were in the hallway when Alex..." I drifted off, not wanting to say the words out loud. I saw him flinch as I mentioned his name. I took in a breath as I carried on "...I saw how you were. I saw the state you were in as you held him and you are not okay. Stop pretending that you are."

"What do you want me to do Summer?" Archie snapped his head to me before I barely had a chance to finish my sentence. I could tell by his tone he was angry now "You want me to start crying every second of the day? Maybe walk around and start confiding in every fucker that apologises to me about the fact that my brother is dead? Will that make you feel better?"

I shook my head "It's not about me feeling better, it's about you-"

"How is that meant to make me feel better?!" His voice got louder, and I almost jumped at the drastic change in the volume "How is crying like a little bitch going to help? I'm getting on with it. I don't want to talk about it because it's happened and it's not going to change."

I stayed quiet for a while as I sat there and listened to his words. I blinked a few times, trying really hard not to look sympathetic as I heard him talk because I knew he hated it. Watching him say all this though was confirming exactly what I knew already. Underneath every joke he made and every laugh, this was killing him.

"You can't keep it all bottled in." I told him, my voice coming out quietly as I tried to reach him. I didn't want to push him, but I knew if it was up to Archie he would keep this bottled in until it killed him.

"Been managing pretty well before you decided to Dr Phil me." He barked, and I took in a long breath through my nostrils.

I decided to say nothing. I didn't know what else to say to get him to open up, for him to finally admit that this was brutal for him. I just sat there and looked at him, and I couldn't even hide the worried expression on my face as I stared into his angry one. After about a minute of this, he almost growled at me in rage.

"Stop looking at me like that." He ordered, glaring in my direction. I wasn't intimidated by the clear fury in his voice, and I couldn't bring myself to look away from it. "Seriously Summer, stop."

I felt a wave of defeat, knowing that he was not going to talk to me about this. If he had his way, he would never talk about this to anyone. I sighed, tearing my eyes away finally as I pulled my legs back so I could move off the bed. His eyes followed my movement, a little startled that I had given in. Once I was on my feet, I began walking to the door.

"I'm going to grab a drink, do you want anything?" I was not annoyed; I had just decided to go back to normal. I couldn't get annoyed or frustrated with him about this. He gazed over at me, still looking a little stunned at my change of tone. He shook his head.

"No I'm...good." As he said those words again, the words he had been telling everyone since we had left the school he didn't sound as convinced as before. As he said it, he looked like he was thinking about that word harder than he had thought about anything before. I think for the first time since he said it he was listening to how it sounded from everyone else's perspective.

I didn't say anything; I made no comment about it and just nodded once. He was now staring at the bed cover in front of him, lost in his own thoughts. I turned my back and began to walk out of the door.

I didn't even have time to unlock it before I heard him.

"I'm not good."

As I heard those three words, my hand froze on the lock of the door. I don't know if I felt relieved or sad as he finally admitted what everyone knew already. I didn't turn as he kept on talking. I don't know if it was because I knew on some level, it would be easier for him to say all of this when he didn't have to look anyone in the eye.

"I am the furthest thing from fucking good." He continued, his voice coming out strained. As I couldn't see him, I could just picture his hand running through his hair as he struggled to get his words out. Archie was not good at talking about feelings, that much was clear in the many years I had known him "I feel empty. Like a part of me is missing and I have no idea what to do for it to go away. I feel like I didn't do enough. I keep going back to it and thinking of the things I could have done so that bullet didn't hit him."

Finally, I turned so I could see him. He was still sitting on the bed, cross legged as he stared down at the bed cover so hard I had a flashback to Alex when he told us about what Roger had done. Alex had to look into the distance, to get himself as far away from reality as he could as he recited a story that killed him inside. Archie's arms were on his knees, his fingers tangled together as he carried on.

"I keep thinking that if I had not stopped when Bradley pointed the gun at me, he would have shot me and you guys would have had enough time to make a break for it." He confessed, before shutting his eyes as he said the next bit with a breath of laughter. However, there was something about it. He didn't find anything funny as he said his next words. He sounded ashamed "I even thought about how different things would have been if I had not agreed for me and Alex to stay. If all of us had to stay, maybe someone else would have died instead. I know that is f*cking horrible of me to think, but every single scenario has gone through my mind that would have had a different outcome."

He ran one of his hands over his mouth, before placing his elbow on his leg and keeping it there. I began to walk towards the bed, not making too much noise in case I startled him. It may not be appropriate to think, but I felt like I was approaching an animal in the wild. I was scared that if I startled him, he would stop.

I sat on the edge of the bed slowly and it was like he barely noticed I had moved closer. His eyes were still staring down on the bed, but I had no idea where he actually was.

"I've been trying my whole life to protect him, and then I watch him die." His voice was hoarse, and I felt a lump rise to the back of my throat as I heard the pain in it. He closed his eyes briefly as he took in a deep breath through his nostrils "Then there's the fact that he not only went through hell most of his life while I was clueless, and while my bastard parents decided to turn a blind eye, but that the entire time he was the one who was protecting me."

I watched his eyes redden with every one of his words, and I saw his teeth gritting so hard it looked borderline painful.

"I keep thinking what he must have felt like. Knowing that mum and dad weren't there for him, not having anyone to talk to as he walked around with this huge secret..." He let out a hard breath as he stopped talking, running a hand over his face again almost as if he was trying to wipe away whatever emotion was about to come out.

He didn't say anything for a while. I don't think he could trust himself to speak at that moment because he was trying so hard to keep it together.

"He was happy thought Archie." I told him softly "You heard him, it didn't hurt anymore. He was happy. He died with a smile on his face."

His jaw clenched harder, and by this point his eyes were so bloodshot.

"He was finally happy. Alex went through a lot of shit in his life, and I think we both know that it was too much to fix. He knew he was about to leave it all behind, and he was happy." I tried to tell him, because it was true. Alex Henderson finally looked peaceful in his last few minutes.

Both of Archie's hands came up, and he placed his thumbs below his chin as he pressed the tips of his fingers together like he was praying. My throat felt tighter as I saw his eyes water.

After I don't know how long of it just being silent, he pulled his hands away from his face. He leaned his head down, tangling his fingers into the back of his hair as his eyes scrunched together and tears began to fall. I heard a choked sob coming out of his mouth, and I felt my heart break.

Immediately I was on the bed, kneeling in front of him as I pulled him towards me and wrapped my arms around him. His head was pressed against my chest, my chin on the top of his hair as his shoulders shook once he finally realised he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"He's still dead... He's still f*cking dead." He choked out his words, coated in grief as I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms tighter around him. I knealed closer to him, his hands were at the side of his hair as he continued to cry "He might be happy, but he's not here."

"I know, I know he's not..." I whispered, pressing my lips into his hair. I could say nothing to console him, all I could do was be there as he finally let it out.

His hands finally left the side of his hair as one wrapped around my back. He buried his face into my shoulder, his hand gripping a fistful of my top. My eyes began watering as I watched him. My hand went to the back of his hair, almost cradling him as he finally poured his heart out.

"It's going to be okay. I swear it will be okay Archie." I tried to soothe him.

I don't know how long we stayed there. I don't know how long I held him while he cried just like he had when we were in the hallway after Bradley had pulled the trigger. I have no idea whether my parents had come back, I had no idea about any of that and I didn't care. My only concern at that moment was being there for Archie as he mourned his brother's death.

That exact moment was when Archie Henderson accepted the fact that his brother was not coming back.

Once Archie had begun to calm down, which could have been minutes or hours later, I managed to persuade him to lie down and attempt some sleep. He had stopped crying by this point, but his eyes were still red and his voice was still hoarse.

He placed his head on the pillow, turning on his side so his back was to me. I laid down right beside him, placing my head next to his and moving my body closer until his back was pressed against my front. I nuzzled my face closer until it was at the crook of his neck and I placed my arm around his stomach. I had just officially made myself the big spoon.

Apparently, Archie did not mind being the little one at all because his hand grabbed the one that was around him and moved it until it was higher and almost tucked under his chin. My body automatically moved closer to his, just as he intended.

Being the big spoon was pretty appropriate right now, and not because I was trying to make him feel less manly or anything. It was because I wanted to be there for him. For once in his life, I wanted Archie to feel like he didn't have to look after anyone. I wanted him to feel like someone was looking out for him. Alex had done exactly that when he did what he did to Roger, but by the time Archie found out it was too late.

Right now I didn't want him to feel responsible for anyone; I wanted to be responsible for him.

"So did you turn me down because you knew I was trying to change the subject or as Karma for when I did it at the school?" Archie's quiet croaked voice finally broke the silence, and a faint smile appeared on my mouth.

"Maybe a bit of both." I said, and I didn't have to see his face to know he was smiling. He was quiet for a little while longer before he spoke again.

"Remember when I told you that I was starting to in the hall?" He asked, and I blinked a few times as I realised I remembered that moment clear as day.

I remember how freaked out I got when I said that he didn't know what love was, and his reply as he looked at me was 'I'm starting to.' However, this time I didn't feel like freaking out. I was calm, I was slightly sleepy and I felt relaxed with him next to me.

"Yeah."

I felt his hand squeeze mine tighter as he pressed his lips against it gently, before pulling back and keeping it tucked against his chest.

"I think I need to change that answer." That was all he said. However, without actually saying it he had said enough to make my stomach flip and for the smile on my face to widen.

I cuddled up closer to him, closing my eyes "Me too."

It didn't take long for both of us to fall asleep.