"Why are you here?" Airene asked curiously, stepping away from her mother with a curious expression on her face.
Cailen was a little lost as to how the two children knew each other, it's not like they were old enough to have personal lives outside of their parents.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one that looked a little lost.
Lucia and Ivan looked a bit confused as they regarded their daughter, and Asher was giving Cailen a questioning look as if to ask if he knew anything.
Cailen only shook his head as subtly as he could as Ezekiel shrugged his shoulder, looking to his feet shyly.
"Mom, Zeke is in my class." Airene said, glancing back at her mother, but immediately turning back to Ezekiel.
"Oh, what a small world." Lucia commented politely, smiling at Cailen. "Airene, sweetie, I'm assuming these are Zeke's parents." Lucia explained softly since Ezekiel seemed to have forgotten how to speak.
"Oh." Airene said, looking between Asher and Cailen.
If she had a problem with the fact that they were both male, or if she even noticed, she didn't show it and simply looked to Ezekiel to see if this was true.
Ezekiel nodded his head but shuffled closer to Cailen, sort of hugging him around the waist which was a bit odd for him.
Cailen happily placed a hand on his back for comfort, not knowing what was wrong but not needing to in order to comfort the boy.
Asher seemed to notice something was wrong as well because he suddenly coughed- a fake cough- Cailen could tell, and gave an apologetic look to Lucia and Ivan.
"I'm sorry, I- I really should be going to sleep." Asher said a bit awkwardly, glancing at Cailen and giving him a look.
Cailen knew he was putting on an act in order to get them out and he was trying to get Cailen to play along.
"Oh, yeah, it's been a long day for him. Thank you for coming by. It was very sweet of you." Cailen smiled, absentmindedly rubbing his hand over Ezekiel's back.
"Oh, of course. We probably shouldn't have barged in like this, but thank you again. Thank you so much. We really couldn't ever repay you-" Lucia was saying, that emotional tone to her voice returning.
"Really, Miss, it's my job. You're very welcome, and it's no big deal." Asher assured.
Cailen would have liked to point out that it kind of was a big deal. He saved a life and put himself in a hospital for who knows how long, but he kept his mouth shut.
"Oh, you're just saying that. It is a big deal. Is there anything we could do?" Lucia asked, pulling her daughter back by the shoulders so that she was close to her. "We don't- we don't really have a lot of money, but... maybe we could-"
"No, there's nothing I want except for your daughter to be safe." Asher assured with a soft smile on his face.
Cailen was fairly certain there was a rule about not accepting gifts from people they help, but he was also fairly certain that even if there wasn't, Asher would be saying the same thing.
"Oh, I insist-" Lucia began but then Ivan put a hand on her shoulder and cut her off.
"Lucia, please, the man is probably exhausted." Ivan said, smiling apologetically at them and pulling gently on his wife's arm.
Lucia nodded, looking a bit embarrassed and allowed herself to be pulled away.
"Alright, thank you again. I hope you get better fast, thank you-"
"Lucia." Ivan said again, making Cailen chuckle without meaning to.
"Okay, bye. Say goodbye, Airene." Lucia instructed, looking down at her daughter.
"Bye." Airene said automatically, giving Ezekiel an unsure look.
"Goodbye." Both Asher and Cailen echoed at once, smiling as the family left.
Once the door was shut, a moment passed and then Ezekiel was stepping away from Cailen and taking a seat in one of the chairs.
He seemed a lot less happy than he had ten minutes ago when he was outside with everyone and Cailen had a feeling it had to do with Airene.
He just didn't know how because Airene hadn't said anything upsetting that Cailen had noticed. The same question seemed to be going through Asher's mind as he looked between Cailen and Ezekiel.
Ezekiel was looking at his feet that were hanging off the edge of the seat, not quite making it to the floor. He looked off.
Cailen didn't know what it was, he couldn't tell if he was upset or scared or something, but it definitely wasn't a look Cailen was used to seeing on the boy.
"Zeke?" Cailen asked cautiously, making the boy look up at him. "Are you okay, love?" Cailen asked, sitting on the edge of Asher's bed, careful not to disturb anything on the bed.
Ezekiel nodded, giving them a weak smile but Cailen wasn't buying it.
"You can tell us, buddy." Asher smiled, reaching out to the boy but he couldn't reach. "Come here." Asher instructed, holding out his hand until Ezekiel reached out and jumped off the chair, shuffling his way over to the bed and climbing up with Cailen's help.
Ezekiel settled himself beside Asher, laying down on his side because he couldn't sit properly with what little room there was left.
"What's wrong?" Asher asked softly, trying to meet the boy's eyes but not succeeding because Ezekiel refused to look up at him.
"We can't help if we don't know, Zeke." Cailen pointed out, trying to be gentle but it was hard when there was obviously something bothering him and he wasn't willing to tell them.
He hated not being able to help Ezekiel, he already wouldn't open up about the nightmares and now there was something else bothering him and Cailen wanted nothing more but to help.
"Is it about Airene?" Asher guessed.
Ezekiel hesitated but nodded ever so slightly, making Asher glance at Cailen in concern.
"Is she your friend at school?" Asher asked curiously and Ezekiel shook his head, his frown turning down a little more.
Cailen's mind suddenly flashed back to when he thought Ezekiel might be being picked on and he couldn't help but ask the next question.
"Does she pick on you?" Cailen asked, trying to keep his tone neutral so Ezekiel wouldn't be afraid to tell them if she was.
Ezekiel hesitated again before awkwardly shrugging his shoulder, turning his head and squishing his face into the mattress.
Cailen was surprised by the way his blood sort of ran cold at this.
Finding out that Ezekiel really was being picked on, that he was experiencing even a small percentage of what he went through as a kid, had his heart stopping and head spinning.
How could he have missed this? How could he have dismissed the subject so easily when he saw that Tripp wasn't the one that was picking on Ezekiel?
He should have talked to Ezekiel about it more. He should have asked him more about it- if there was anyone picking on him.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Asher asked, obviously seeing Cailen was in no condition to continue on calmly.
Ezekiel shrugged again, not really answering them.
"Does she hurt you?" Asher asked, almost like he was afraid to.
"No." Ezekiel said immediately, though it was muffled by the mattress. "She- She calls me names. She laughs at me, sometimes. I didn't think it was anything to tell." Ezekiel shrugged again, sounding absolutely miserable.
Cailen kind of wanted to march down that hall and confront this issue with Airene and her parents but he knew this should be dealt with in a civilized manner and he was feeling anything but civilized at the moment.
"Zeke, you have to tell us anything like that. Anything that makes you uncomfortable, or hurts you, or makes you feel bad, you have to let us know so we can help." Asher explained softly.
Cailen didn't know how Asher was managing to stay so calm. Usually, he was the one with the temper but Cailen supposed he was hoped up on pain killers and a few tranquilizers so he was probably feeling too calm to get too upset right now.
Cailen on the other hand, was over-tired, over-worked and stressed beyond his breaking point so he figured his loss of control was understandable.
"No one has the right to make someone else feel bad. If someone is picking on you, you have to tell somebody. If you see someone getting picked on, you have to tell somebody. Whether that's me and Cailen, or one of your teachers, just someone that can help. Do you understand?" Asher asked, finally able to meet Ezekiel's eyes.
Ezekiel nodded, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I'm going to talk to your teacher tomorrow-" Cailen began, because obviously, this had to be dealt with but Ezekiel shot up in a panic.
"No Papa, please, don't." Ezekiel begged, looking at Cailen with wide eyes.
"Zeke, this needs to be dealt with." Cailen said as calmly as he could.
"She doesn't do it much anymore." Ezekiel explained and Cailen almost reconsidered but then, he remembered he's played this game before.
He knew how to lie without actually lying.
"Because she stopped or because she hasn't been around to do so?" Cailen asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy who ducked his head as if he had been caught lying.
Cailen figured with the fire and any injuries she may have had without Cailen noticing, she probably hasn't been to school much.
"I'm only going to speak with your teacher so she can keep an eye on you and intervene if she needs. That's all." Cailen assured.
Along with remembering that he used to play those games, he also remembers what it's like to not want to rat anyone out and how embarrassing it is.
Of course, being grown up now, he knows that there isn't anything to be embarrassed about but he knows how school can be, no matter the age.
"We're only doing this for your protection." Asher added. "It may seem like nothing now, but these things can quickly escalate... They only get worse and worse if you let them go on." Asher explained, giving Cailen a pointed look.
Honestly, he was never going to live that down. Asher was still pointing out how he had been right when he found out Cailen was being picked on when they were younger, even though that was over ten years ago.
Cailen rolled his eyes and ignored Asher's look to look at Ezekiel.
"I'm not going to embarrass you, love. Don't worry." Cailen assured.
Ezekiel nodded, he didn't look happy about it, but he nodded and laid back down beside Asher.
Asher and Cailen shared another concerned look but Asher's did look a bit tired so Cailen figured it was time to leave.