To Unlock His Heart 2

Detective Kyle Martin explained to me that the father listed on my birth certificate was out of the country, so until he could be contacted I'd be staying with him. It seemed like it was weird to him, but I was just as shocked to hear it. My understanding was that I should have gone to a boys' home or a foster home until my biological father could be reached, but he explained that my fear of women had left my social worker with few choices. She could have either sent me somewhere that I'd freak out or leave me in the hospital to freak out. He said he didn't want to subject me to anything more and had volunteered to be my temporary guardian.

"Well, this is my apartment," Kyle said as we walked in to the small two bedroom place. "It's not exactly the most tidy, but you shouldn't have to worry about anyone bothering you here. Your room is this way." I followed him down a short hall to one of the three doors. On the other side was a small room with a bed, a dresser and boxes stacked in one corner. He was right, this place wasn't much, but it was still a far cry better than home, even if he didn't realize it. I slipped passed him through the doorframe, dropping the gym bag on the bed as I let my eyes run over the room more thoroughly. There were two doors inside, one of which I assumed was a closet, but I didn't know what the other led to.

"Ah, that door leads to the bathroom, which of course you're free to use as you like," he said, catching where my line of sight was directed. "If you need privacy, try to remember to lock both doors as it also connects to the master bedroom." I nodded a little, making a mental note of being allowed to lock doors. "Are you hungry, Nikolai? It's well past a normal dinner time, but I'm sure I have some leftovers I can heat up." I glanced over at him, finding that he seemed rather uncomfortable, so I nodded, hoping that he would relax some. He smiled faintly, setting my bookbag next to the dresser before turning to head back to the kitchen and sat down heavily on the bed.

Everything was so screwed up now. My mother was dead, albeit that was a blessing, but now I didn't know what to expect to happen. And granted, Kyle was as nice to me as any of my neighbors had been, but it was simply weird. Would I be going back to my same school? Would my father actually want me? Would Kyle keep me longer than temporary if my father didn't want me? I clutched my head, fighting off the tears of frustration and fear, wishing that I could simply scream or wake up and find this was all a dream. Suddenly, I felt hands on my shoulders and jerked backwards in surprise.

"Are you alright, Nikolai?" Kyle asked, his light blue eyes filled with worry as he brushed my hair away from my face. I stared at him, unable to find my voice yet again and I could feel my lip begin to tremble with the urge to cry. "Are you in pain?" I shook my head a bit and he smiled faintly again. "Are you worried? I can understand if you are. So much has happened in the last few hours and it probably is a lot to try and handle at once." God, he could say the things I needed to hear. I nodded a little and his smile widened into something more reassuring and warm.

"I never thought I'd be so glad to have the ability to read people," he said with a soft laugh. "Tomorrow morning, before we go see your social worker, we're going to stop and get you something you can write on repeatedly. I'm sure you're frustrated with not being able to say what's on your mind." I nodded, my eyes tearing up. I was suddenly so very glad that he had decided to be my temporary guardian. I didn't think anyone else would have been this good to me without getting frustrated at my silence. "Come on, dinner's heated up. After that, we'll get you unpacked and let you get settled in."

All through dinner he kept talking, mostly about nothing, but always kept his questions to simple yes or no answers. To an extent it seemed more like he'd just brought home a puppy instead of me, but he was making an effort to make me feel comfortable around him and it was working. I didn't eat nearly what he thought I should, but instead of scolding me, he just ruffled my hair and gave me a sympathetic smile. He firmly believed that my appetite would improve in time and he wasn't going to push me to make it sooner rather than later. The ease with which he adjusted to having me there made me wonder why he wasn't married with kids of his own. Surely he would make a good dad.

"When was the last time you got new clothes?" he asked as he cleaned out the drawers in the dresser to make room for my things. I shrugged. I only knew it had been awhile since I didn't grow much through the year. "Well, I have a friend who can help with that. I'll give her a call in the morning. For now, get some rest. It seems like tomorrow just keeps getting busier for us." I nodded and pushed my clothes into the dresser, waiting quietly for him to leave the room before I removed my current clothing. They hadn't needed to remove my jeans at the hospital so he didn't know that I wore nothing beneath them. I got to the point years ago that I was more comfortable going commando that wearing dingy, holey underpants.

"Oh, yeah, Nikolai," Kyle said suddenly coming back into the room. I whirled around, my hands immediately moving to cover myself. His eyes went wide and he blushed slightly before turning around and clearing his throat. "I guess shirts and jeans aren't the only things you need. I promise, we'll take of everything you need tomorrow. I didn't notice any pajamas when you were unpacking. It might be big on you, but would you like to borrow a pair of shorts to sleep in?" He peeked over his shoulder long enough to catch my nod and was gone again, apparently to retrieve said offered clothing. When he came back he tossed the shorts to me before immediately turning around, not even waiting long enough to see if I caught them. I pulled the shorts on and drew the drawstring as tight as I could. It was only a size to big when I finally got them as tight as the string would go.

"I'll try to remember to knock from now on," he apologized after I tapped his shoulder. I figeted a bit as his eyes did a quick rake over me, taking more note of the fading bruises from earlier in the week than how the shorts fit. "Anyhow, I plan to make eggs and bacon in the morning. Sound good to you?" I nodded and he smiled. "Sleep well, Nikolai." I nodded, staring at the closed door for a long moment as I forced my heart to stop beating so fast. Finally, I crawled into the bed, pulling the covers over me as my mind raced around the thoughts of tomorrow. I was going to have to face more women, but I hoped that Kyle being there would make it not so bad. It took awhile, but I did eventually manage to fall asleep in the strange bed.

In the morning I was woken by the smell of bacon frying in the kitchen. I noticed that my door was open, probably an attempt to wake me nicely and I smiled a bit. I slipped from bed into the bathroom, running a bath since I wasn't allowed to soak my stitches and I feared a shower counted as soaking. Once I was as cleaned as I could get, I dressed and migrated out to the kitchen, just as Kyle was setting plates of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table. He flicked a clump of damp hair from my eyes before going to the fridge.

"Orange juice good?" he asked and I nodded. I wished I could just tell him that I wasn't a picky eater, but it was nice to have him constantly asking questions, even if I thought my head might fall off. He set the glass down in front of me and sat down with his own cup of coffee. "Alright, so first we get you a writing board of some sort and then we head down to the Children's Services' office to get the paperwork straightened out. I'll need to stop by the office and check up on case of your mother, but after that we can go see my friend and get you some clothes that don't look like they are one wash from disintegrating." I blushed a bit, grabbing the glass of juice to try to hide it from Kyle as he continued to ramble on.

"We'll probably have to find out about school too," he said. "It's the middle of the school year so you can't just stop going until your father turns up. But judging from where you lived, your school is too far from here to be an easy commute and I can't guarantee to always be able to pick you up." I frowned a bit. I didn't want to put Kyle in such a tight spot. "Ah, but if I remember right, there's a school within walking distance of here. We'll have to check it out at some point as well." I watched him as he scribbing more notes into the memo pad he always seemed to have on him, mumbling to himself about this and that. He was mildly amusing to watch, even if it made me feel guilty that he was going to such lengths for my sake.

Once the dishes were cleaned, we left, heading down the three flights to the parking lot where his car was. It was only a short drive to to an art supply store and we wandered around until we found a small white board, just a bit smaller than a notebook. He picked up a pack of markers and a cleaning kit to go with it, before paying for it all at the register. I hid behind Kyle's arm from the smiling girl at the counter, vaguely reminded of the heavy make-up my mother always wore to try and preserve her youth. I could still quite clearly remember the fear of being locked inside a tiny closet in punishment for getting too curious and playing in it.

The Children's Services' office wasn't much better. It seemed like the entire place was crawling with women and they all were running about or talking on the phone. Kyle didn't seem to mind my clinging to his arm as we moved through the cubicles to the office of my social worker. As soon as she saw us, she waved us in and I dragged a chair into a corner as far from her as possible. Kyle frowned slightly, but still sat in the chair that would partially block the woman's line of sight on me.

"How are you two settling in together?" the woman asked, smiling at Kyle. Nervous, I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my bandaged arms around them. Kyle cast a short glance back at me and I offered him a ghost of a smile before he turned around to answer.

"I believe we're doing fine," Kyle replied. "There's some things that Nikolai needs, but we're going to talk to a friend of mine later today about getting that taken care of." The grey haired lady nodded, but her smile started to pull down into a frown.

"Detective Martin, I know you volunteered for this, but I talked to the secretary of Nikolai's father this morning," she said slowly. "It seems he's not due to return to this country for at least a month, even if he hurries through the rest of his schedule. So it's unknown how long Nikolai will need to remain in foster care." I squeezed my legs a little closer to my body, my eyes watching Kyle for his reaction. Surprisingly, he seemed relatively unphased by it as he simply stared at her with a 'what of it' type expression.

"I think Nikolai and I will be fine," he replied casually. "But that just solidifies the fact that I need at least temporary guardian status because he's going to need to change schools. I'm not comfortable with arranging transportation with someone else to get him back to my apartment everyday after school and he definitely doesn't need to come to where I work. Otherwise, I'm comfortable with keeping Nikolai around for as long as I need to." I smiled faintly behind my knees, quite grateful for the calm assurety that Kyle possessed.

"Well, I guess that's good," she said, quite surprised. "These are the forms you need to fill are to register you as a foster parent, as well as the ones that give you the ability to sign for Nikolai. If you're going to transfer him schools, do it sooner rather than later. You don't want Nikolai to fall behind in his studies." Kyle nodded, probably having already been thinking along those lines if our conversation at breakfast meant anything. The lady, Mrs. Chalmers according to the nameplate on her desk, kept prattling on while he filled out the paperwork she'd given him.

It took him nearly two hours to get it all filled out and he'd had to stop several times to rub a cramp out of his hand. Still, he got it done and Mrs. Chalmers handed him a check that was to help cover any initial expenses for him. I was ever so thankful to get out of there and as we exited, Kyle grabbed my hand, bringing to my attention the fact that I'd been trembling. He didn't comment on it, just unlocked the car and drove slowly through town, taking plenty of time to allow me a chance to calm down. Eventually, he pulled into a parking space in front of a building I didn't know, the sign blocked by the tree he parked under.

"I'm going to just be a minute," Kyle said softly. "Let my partner and supervisor know that I won't be around the office today, but to keep me in the loop about new developments. Will you be okay for a few minutes?" I nodded, giving him a half smile to reassure him. "Alright. Well, sit tight. I'll be back as soon as I can." He patted my thigh before he got out and ran up the front steps and into the building. I reached over, making sure the doors were locked before leaning back and closing my eyes. I was actually rather relieved that he hadn't asked me to go inside with him as I didn't think I was quite ready to face more people just yet. Just knowing that there was so much more for us to do yet today left me feeling more than a little drained.

"No, really, Jane. I'm fine!" I heard Kyle saying and the sound of his voice drew me out of my light doze. "Nikolai's an excellent kid." I blinked a bit as I tried to find where the voice was coming from and saw Kyle and a woman with dark hair standing a little bit away. She look worried and concerned, but he seemed more frustrated than anything else.

"I just think you're getting in over your head here, Kyle," the lady I assumed was Jane said, grabbing his arm. "Teenagers are hard to handle under normal circumstances and that boy obviously has some serious issues stemming from this trauma. You don't know if he's going to snap and do something."

"Hey, who's the better person at reading people during our interrogations?" he asked imploringly. She glanced off, so I assumed that the he was. "Alright, then. Trust me when I say that I will be okay and that Nikolai is a good kid. I'd be more worried if he had been put into a home with a woman with his current phobia. But it's truly not so bad with just the two of us." I wanted to smile at his defense of me, but the fact that he was having to defend me upset me greatly. I could figure the woman was someone close to him, but it made me dislike her more that she thought I of all people would do something to hurt Kyle. He'd been so good to me that I couldn't imagine even arguing with him.

"You're sure?" she asked, her voice dropping to softer tones. Kyle just smiled and glanced at the car before nodding. "Then I'll keep you informed of any new information we get and see you Monday. Take care, Kyle, of both of you." He agreed and made his way over to the car, pulling out a spare key to unlock the door since I'd locked him out.

"Sorry that took so long," he said as he slid in and handed me a bottle of water. "Jane, my partner, is always a touch worried when I get emotionally involved in a case and I suppose taking you in counted in her book." I gave him another half smile and sipped at the bottle of water, scribbling out a thank you on the white board in my lap. "For the water?" he asked and I shook my head. "Oh you overheard, didn't you? Don't worry about that. If I had even for a moment considered that there would be a problem, I wouldn't have volunteered to take you in. But as far as I am concerned, you're an almost perfect child. The only thing I'd change is actually giving you your voice back." I tapped the board again and he laughed lightly.

"No need to thank me for telling the truth," he said and tousled my hair a bit. "Now, what do you say we go get your records from your last school so we can get you registered at one closer to where we live?" I nodded and he put the car into gear as I scribbled out the name for my middle school onto the board for him. "That's not a bad school. Did you have a lot of friends there?" I shook my head and turned towards the window. I really didn't want to think about my school life. While it had been better than my home life, it still sucked royally. It seemed to take no time at all to reach my school and I frowned up at the two story brick building.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can put it behind you, Nikolai," Kyle said, putting a gentle hand on my arm. I sighed and nodded, slipping out of the car and slinging my bookbag over my shoulder. With a reassuring hand on my shoulder, I led him to the main office of the school where he explained that I had moved and needed to transfer schools. The secretary was more than gracious, but I was quick to escape the office to get the rest of my books from my locker. I kept my head down as I listened to my steps echo almost silently off the linolium floors as I walked through the empty halls.

There wasn't much in my locker besides my books, so cleaning it out took no time at all really. As I shut the door again, I stared at the word that had been carved into the metal at the beginning of the school year. I supposed it would be more appropriate now since I couldn't stand being around anyone female, but that didn't make it sting less. It wasn't my fault that I didn't like girls, but I didn't think I liked boys any better with as much as they bullied me for being so small. I turned away, making my quickly back to the office before I could let anything else start to effect me. I was leaving here, so I didn't need to worry about these people anymore.

"Well, that's everything, Mr. Martin," the secretary said after she checked all of my books for damage. "Have fun at your next school, Nikolai. Take care." I nodded to her from behind Kyle's arm and followed him out to the car, heaving a heavy sigh of relief once we were inside of it.

"Alright, now let's grab some lunch and go see my friend," he said smiling warmly over at me. I nodded and turned my eyes back out of the window. He had said his friend was female, which of course we both knew would bother me, but I was determined to try and not freak out around her. If she was a friend of Kyle's she couldn't be that bad. I was sure of that. We grabbed sandwiches, chips and drinks from a local deli shop and I cocked an eyebrow at him for the extra sandwich that was made nothing like his own.

"Ah, Alex said we owed her lunch for this favour," he said with a smirk as he noticed my look. I shook my head, chuckling silently at him. "I like it when you smile Nikolai. Even if you can't talk, it's good to see you're still able to be happy." I blushed faintly, embarrassed by his words and hid my face behind my white board, which only made him laugh at me. When the car stopped outside of a clothing boutique, I felt my chest tighten and knew that it was time to face my foster father's friend.

"I was wondering when you two would get here, Kyle!" a strange feminine voice called as we entered. "It's about time, too, 'cause I was starting to starve!" I watched the thin person who came from the back of the store with curiosity. Granted there was a long brown pony tail and breasts, but something just didn't seem right or completely feminine about this person. "Oh and this must be Nikolai! Aren't you just darling?" I was so busy trying to figure out why this person didn't scream that they were a woman, I didn't notice that she'd reached out and ruffled my hair.

"Nikolai?" Kyle asked, snapping me out of my daze. "Are you okay?" I nodded and looked back at the friend, who was glancing between me and Kyle in confusion.

'She's' not a woman, I scribbled on my board and showed him. His eyes went wide for a moment before he burst out into laughter, doubling over as he clutched his stomach. Alex seemed confused until she saw my board and she, too, began to laugh. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and was about to run back to the car when I felt Kyle's hand on my shoulder.

"You're half right, Nikolai," he said, grinning at me and then at Alex.

"I'm technically a woman, but I wasn't born a woman," Alex supplied at my confused look. I nodded in understanding, but I felt relieved. Despite the well taken care of face and nails and the breasts, she seemed rather laid back and didn't even seem to wear any make-up. "Alright, so let's eat and then get our young, observant friend a wardrobe he can be proud to wear." I nodded, following them back to the counter where I was offered the stool to sit on while they talked. When the subject of the school near our apartment building came up, Alex's eyes widened a bit.

"That school near you is a private all boys' school," she said almost excitedly. "They don't even have female employees there. It would be the perfect place to enroll Nikolai at." Now it was my turn to be surprised. An all boys' school? It sounded too good to be true.

Won't it be expensive? I wrote and slid the board to where they could see it better. Alex waved her hand in dismissal and smiled at me.

"The dean is a pretty good guy," she said. "They do have scholarships there and I know he has a soft spot for special cases. And you my friend, count as a special case. Once we get you situated, I'll call him and give him a heads up." I blinked in surprise, my mouth dropping open before I quickly closed it and shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Oh don't worry. He won't speak about the issue or your past to anyone else. He understands quite well that not everything needs to be shared with everyone." I nodded a bit, though I was still uncomfortable with the idea of more people knowing about what happened to cause my silence. I didn't think I'd ever be able to tell anyone everything, but I suppose enough was already known.

An hour later and Alex had piled up a mountain of clothes on the counter, and had begun bagging them. I wanted to ask why she wasn't ringing them up, but before I could write out the question she'd already told me. She owed Kyle a huge favour from way back and this was the first chance she'd had to repay him even a little. Kyle had tried to protest that what he'd done didn't require payback, but she wouldn't hear anything of it. I giggled silently to myself as I watched the two of them, getting the idea that they had probably been friends for a very long time. With a broad, satisfied smile and wave, she said her goodbyes. I had to admit, I did feel a bit better now fully dressed in clothes that weren't full of holes and fraying at every seam.

My apprehension grew again when we got to Kensington Boys Academy. I hoped that Alex was right and that this wouldn't become a burden on Kyle. He really didn't need anything extra piled on him considering that he was doing so much to help me. I followed Kyle through the halls as we made our way to the main office, my eyes moving over the pictures and trophy cases in the hall. They seemed to excel in sports and academics and all of their awards were proudly displayed for everyone to see. I jumped as a bell rang and the once silent hall became filled with people.

I clutched my white board tightly to my chest as I waded through the sea of bodies to try and keep up with Kyle who easily cut a path through. By the time I got to the office door, Kyle was already inside, talking to male secretary. I breathed out slowly, trying to get myself to calm down again. I'd been able to feel the stares on me, even though I hadn't raised my eyes to meet anyone elses. As soon as I managed to relax a little, the door to the dean's office opened and a tall, older man ushered us inside.

I figeted nervously as the dean looked through my records, wondering briefly if everything was in order. Finally, he informed us that it wouldn't be an issue to admit me to the school and my grades and test scores were high enough to consider a scholarship. The only problem was that the only ones that they had available still this year were athletic scholarships. So I'd have to participate in one of the spring sports, which all started tryouts the following week. I nodded in agreement to it, though I had a sinking feeling. I only knew gymnastics, but I was otherwise active, just really small compared to other boys my age. The only other issue was my inability to speak, but he said he'd make sure my teachers knew I was mute and had to use the white board to communicate.

After a brief discussion of school rules and dress code, which made me understand why Alex had made so certain that I had belts and button down shirts, he gave us a tour of the school. It housed both middle and high school grades, with the younger students on the lower levels. I was briefly introduced to my last teacher that I'd have in the day and allowed to sit in on the class while Kyle and Dean Taylor continued other discussions. The other boys kept staring at me, but I was enthralled by the teacher as he read from the book they were currently studying. When the bell rang for the end of the day, I hurried out front to meet Kyle with a nervous smile.

"So you think you'll be okay here?" he asked as we headed to his car. I nodded and then shrugged. "Worried about having to join a sport?" I nodded and he mirrored it. "I can understand that and so does the dean. He just wants you to try something this year and then next you will have more choices to choose from. But your studies come first. You need to keep your grades up, even with the disadvantage of coming in after the start of the semester." I nodded, already beginning to feel the nervousness and excitement of starting at a new school building within me. I knew Monday was going to come far too soon and take way too long to get here. I just hoped it would be better than before.