Bumlets, exhausted, rubbed his face in an attempt to wake himself up. He jumped as Snitch honked into a nearby towel, then walked into one of the changing rooms. None of the boys in the Manhattan Lodging House were exactly awake. Well, none, except for Pie Eater.

Bumlets scowled enviously. Pie Eater.

The tall bot was insanely cheerful, annoyingly peppy, and amazingly loud. His cheery disposition made him a fair seller and a popular friend.

It also made some of the other boys talk.

Pie Eater ate lunch with Swifty, at Tibby's, usually sitting in a corner near the kitchen. Some of the other boys took different options for lunch (Snitch, Itey and Jake saved money by stealing food from street carts, and Dutchy, Specs, and Skittery preferred to eat at the Lodging House or on the sidewalks in the sun), but some… namely, Bumlets, Blink, and Race… sat together and gossiped about things.

Like Pie Eater.

He's weird, they said, he's always happy. He's never with any girls. He doesn't sell as well as we do. He's so clumsy, but he's always happy. That ain't right.

That ain't right.

Bumlets kissed his girl on the cheek, then sent her on her way. She was a pretty redhead, and, to the girls she went to school with, known to be a flirt, especially with pretty boys like Bumlets.

But Bumlets didn't know any such talk.

He entered Tibby's alone and collided, shoulder to chest, with Pie Eater.

"Jesus!" Bumlets cried, stumbling backwards. "Watch where you're going, Pie!"

The other boy looked stung. "…Sorry, Bumlets…"

"You're so goddam reckless sometimes!" The Hispanic boy muttered as he continued on into the restaurant. "Jesus!"

Swifty passed casually by and kicked Bumlets's legs out from underneath him. Bumlets grunted as he hit the floor, pushing all the air out from inside him.

"What the hell was that?" Bumlets wheezed.

Swifty feigned innocence. "What? Oh, I'm sorry, Bumsie! I didn't even notice!" He grinned at Pie, who grinned cheerily back.

"Thanks, Swifty," he whispered as they jogged out the door.

"Not a problem. Glad to do it. Now," a mischievous sparkle lit his Opium eyes. "Race ya to the Lodging House."

"You're on!"

Oh, but he knew.

"That's disgusting," he said, running his fingers through his shiny, black hair. "That ain't right."

Davey, rarely able to keep a secret, shrugged.

"Now let me get this straight… Snitch and Skittery?"

Davey nodded.

"And Dutchy with Specs?"

Again, Davey nodded. "Bumlets, what are you-"

"That ain't right," Bumlets repeated, staring sullenly at the ceiling. "That's disgusting."

Davey was silent, uncomfortable.

Bumlets stood and left the room, his head down and his back straight. Davey sat on his own for a while, until Mush came down the stairs. The bronze-skinned boy put his arms over Davey's shoulders and kissed his pale neck with full lips. "What did Bumlets want?"

Davey threaded his fingers through the tight curls in Mush's hair. "I'm not sure," he replied, kissing Mush's mouth. "Nothing important, really."

Swifty was running so fast that he had to grab the doorjambs to keep himself from continuing and smacking into the opposite wall. He saw the spreading pool of blood on the floor, and his well-tanned face paled.

"Snitch… Skitts… Pie, you guys… what happened to Bumlets?"

Snitch glanced at the empty body on the floor, then burst into tears, burying his face in Skittery's chest. The older boy soothed him in a quiet voice, paying no attention to Swifty. The Asian looked to Pie Eater, sitting solemnly on the edge of a nearby bed.

"Pie?"

Pie Eater looked up at Swifty, down at Bumlets, then back to Swifty. "I loved him, Swifty. You know that. That's why I's always so happy… to hide how much it hurt to love him."

A quick flash of pain crossed Swifty's face, but he nodded anyway.

"But… I couldn't help myself," Pie opened his hands, and Swifty stumbled backwards in shock: those large, strong hands, the ones he so admired and adored, were coated in curdled and clotted blood. "He was gonna get Skitts and Snitch while they's sleepin'… and that ain't right." He sniffled a sob away. "Ain't right at all."

With that, he fell off the bed and onto his knees, weeping uncontrollably, hiding his face with one bloody hand. Swifty bit his lip, hesitated, then threw himself forward with a moan of pity and love, taking Pie into his arms and rocking him, back and forth.

This is right, Swifty thought, stroking Pie Eater's hair. Too bad Pie can't see that…

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

…

**grins shamelessly** Happy birthday Keza!

**grin falls**

Yeah, Lara warned me that writing an angst fic was bad for a birthday, but y'know what, I really like this one. So nyeh!

And Kez usually likes angst anyway, so it's awwllll goooood. ^_^;

Now, for root beer, then long, long sleep. Night!