Parker had heard about the incident with Murphy when Liam called to tell him that Adam had been taken into custody. The agent had expressed his concern for the boy and Parker had asked for his number. He'd been expecting Murphy to call, but when he hadn't he'd assumed that the other had just wanted to move on with his life. It was only a few days after Adam's capture that Parker called Murphy's parent's house to find out where he was.

Murphy was at home, in his own room, curled up in his bed when his mother brought him the cordless phone and told him that there was a boy on theo ther line for him. He told her if it was Seth he didn't want to talk to him, that it hadn't been enough time. Mostly he just didn'tw ant to fight with him but he was convinced that it would just be a fight if they talked. But she said it wasn't, someone she didn't know, and so he took the phone. "Hello?"

"Murphy?" Parker said, relieved to hear his voice. Something about Liam's concern really had Parker worried. "What's going on? Are you okay?" He was clearly worried, the sound of it radiating through the phone. Parker was frequently harsh and the softness in his voice was a contrast to the usual.

Hearing Parker on the other end of the phone made his chest tight and he closed his eyes and turned over so that he could press his face down into the pillows. He was quiet for a full minute before he tilted his head to the side to lift his mouth away from the pillow. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"No you're not. I can almost see your face; it's in your voice. What happened with Adam?" He'd heard the story from the agent, but he wanted to hear it from Murphy's point of view. Hearing his voice was kind of difficult, moreso than he'd expected it to be. Memories came rushing back and he tried to keep them from flooding his brain all at once. He had to sit down on the couch as he spoke.

Frowning, Murphy brought his hand up to his face and he tried to rub away the feeling that he needed to cry. Honestly, he didn't want to talk about it with anyone, especially not Parker. "It doesn't matter what happened. He's going to jail. You really shouldn't have called, Parker, this... this can't be good for you.'

"Is that why you haven't called me?" He said quietly, trying not to sound hurt by the fact that Murphy hadn't contacted him. "Because it's bad for you? It does matter what happened. I wanted to thank you for turning him in. He's in jail and he can't hurt us anymore."

"I didn't call you because you don't need me to call you." He was going to start crying, he couldn't help it. "You have Callaway, you have your live back down, it's good for you to get over all of it and not to have to deal with me." He sniffled a little bit and wiped at his eyes. "It's not bad for me, I miss you." He bit his bottom lip and just frowned a little bit. "Yeah, your welcome.' Though he didn't sound like he meant it.

He could hear the tremble in Murphy's voice and Parker sighed, hating to hear the boy cry, especially when he couldn't do anything about it. "Come down here then. Come and see me. I'll pay to fly you out here. I miss you too. I miss talking to you and I miss hearing you play." Sometimes it was hard to get to sleep, even safely in bed with Callaway, something didn't seem right without the others there with him.

Murphy just burst into tears then, his body shaking as he curled up as tightly as he could. "I can't sleep.' He told him. "I can't sleep when I don't hear your pencil scratching on the paper or when I can't hear everyone." Practically exactly what Parker was thinking in the moment, he didn't even realize it. "I was going to let him take me. I was going to go with him, so it could be just the two of us and I could make sure he never hurt any of you again, but I was too weak."

Parker held the phone tightly to his ear, knees hitching up against his chest as he tried to calm his own reactions to Murphy crying. It physically hurt, stomach twisted up at his center. "You weren't weak. You called the cops and you won. You saved yourself and you saved all of us."

"I wasn't going to." He shook his head. "Don't you understand that? I wasn't going to. I was going to let him take me. I was going to let him have me. And i called Liam instead, and Adam was so angry. He hates me now."

"So what if Adam hates you?" Parker said in disbelief. "He never loved any of us. He's sick. That's not love. None of what he did to us was fueled by love and you know it." His voice was full of passion and he felt an upwelling of anger at the situation, at what that man did to them.

"But it doesn't change the way I feel about him." Murphys voice was tiny now, quiet and timid because he knew that what he was saying was wrong, and that it wasn't going to make Parker want to talk to him anymore, but he thought maybe that was what needed to happen anyway. "I don't expect you to understand."

"What do you mean you don't expect me to understand?" He frowned. "Like I wasn't there for five years?"As if he didn't know Adam or the situation. "Murphy. Let me fly you out here. You can stay with us."

"You were there for five yeras but you didn't fall in love with him. You hate him. You all hate him. But I don't because there is something wrong with me." his voice was a little higher pitched. "I can't even have sex with my boyfriend without thinking of him. Or thinking of you. You really don't want me to come out there. Callway won't want me to come out ther.e"

"Then you need a new boyfriend. And you need some time. You're not in love with him, Murphy. You're brainwashed. He put you in a cage and forced you to pretend. I understand that it gets confusing." His voice had softened. Murphy always made him go back and forth; it kept him on his toes. "I do want you to come here. I want to see you."

"Why? What good will it do you?" He knew that Parker was probably happier. In his mind he knew that he was. "and you don't know how I feel, I'm not brain washed, that's not fair to say. Everyoen thinks that."

"Then why did you call Agent Montgomery? What were you scared of? You're not supposed to be scared of someone if you love them." He was trying to prove to Murphy that he didn't love Adam, that it was all just in his head.

"Because he was going to take other boys. He was going to try to take you back. And he said that he was going to kill Seth. I couldln't let him do those things. So I turned him in. And he hates me, and my boyfriend can't even look at me, and none of my family even knows what to do when I'm around, they just look at me with this look in their eyes. I hate it. I just wanted to go away, I wanted to go away with him and never come back."

"You don't love him!" He tried not to yell, but the volume was getting there. He reigned back. "If you won't come to see me, then I'm coming to see you. I'm sure that Callaway would rather you come to us, but you're not making it easy. You never make anything easy."

There was no way that he was going to let Parker come all the way out to see him. Then he'd really have no escape and there would be just another person putting pressure on him. "I'll come. I'll come to see you. You can't come here."

That was an odd turn of phrase and Parker hesitated. "I can't? Why can't I come there?" It sounded like Murphy was hiding something. He paused and sighed. "Murph, I'm really scared for you."

"I don't want you to see how i live here." He didn't want him to meet his alcoholic boyfriend or his hollow shells that he called his parents. "I don't want you to be here because I can barely be here."

"Then it would be good for you to get away for awhile." He liked the idea of tugging Murphy away from his life, rescuing him though he was not really optimistic enough to believe that. "Tell me you'll be okay."

"I don't know. I hope so." He whispered to him, because he really did. He hoped against hope that everything worked out for him in the end, but unfortunately his life wasn't always that good to him. "When do you want me to come?"

Parker didn't know what he was going to do with his melancholy Murphy, but he was going to do his best to be there for him. Perhaps it was selfish to want him to come out just so that he could check on him, but Parker was generally selfish. "Today, tomorrrow? I can book the flight online and have you on it." Money really wasn't a problem for Parker.

"Today." Murphy wanted just to get on a plane and go. "I need to shower, I need to get out of bed, and if you make the filght for tomorrow I'll just lay here until then anyway." Because since he'd gotten home he'd barely gotten out of bed at all.

"Promise me that you'll be on that plane when I come to pick you up," he said firmly. He remembered himself in his darkest times, saying that he would be somewhere and not showing up because he just didn't care. But he believed that a promise would mean something to Murphy and so he demanded one as he got up to get on the computer to book a flight.

"I promsie that I will be there." Even if he was going to be doing it with a frown and feeling put out because he really just wanted to be alone. he had a hard time telling anyone no, especially Parker.

Parker had a sense of that fact and right now, he was planning on using it to his advantage. After a few moments, he was able to give Murphy the information about his flight and the appropriate numbers to pick up his tickets at the airport. It wouldn't be long and Parker was glad for that because he wanted Murphy there now.

Without saying a word to his parents, Vegas, or Seth, Murphy just got up, showered and packed a few changes of clothes into a backpack and then headed out. He took a bus to the airport and managed to get there just in time for his flight, which wasn't really saying much because the airport was tiny and the security was easy to get through. He listened to his headphones for the short flight, just wanting to keep himself as distracted as he could.

Leaving a note for Callaway explaining everything in his usual verbose way, Parker left and took the car to go and get Murphy. There was a spare bedroom in the apartment and Parker had fixed it up a little before leaving. At the airport, he paced nervously, anxious to see Murphy, wishing he could just fix him right then and there.

By the time he got to the airport he was feeling nervous again, and shaky as he weaved around the people down to the baggage claim and past it so that he could just go outside and get some fresh air and find Parker. But Parker was waiting for him inside and when he saw him he changed course and started in that direction instead. He tried not to run but it got the better of him and he was jogging and then full on running to get past everyone.

Searching the crowd was nerve-wracking, but when he finally caught sight of the swift moving Murphy, Parker felt a wave of relieve come over him. He headed toward him to close the distance more quickly and gathered him up into a hug. "I'm so glad you came." Part of him really had been worried that not even a promise would get him there.

Murphy threw his arms carefully around Parker and just sank into a hug against him. It had been great to see Seth and to see Vegas, but it was nothing compared to the weight that was lifted off of him when Parker put his arms around him and he could smell the scent of the other boy, something that had grown to be such a comfort to him when he was back in that place.

Parker was able to enjoy the way Murphy felt against him because he had separated him from that place that he hated. It would bewilder him to know that Murphy liked him because he reminded him of the basement. He held him in an embrace for awhile, just standing there wrapping him up in his arms. To think that Adam almost had him again was a very scary thought.

Murphy didn't say anything for a long time, just stood there holding onto him like his life depended on it, and maybe it did. "I didnt' think that I would ever get to see you again." Most of him hadn't wanted to, if only because he wanted Parker to heal.

"I knew I'd see you again," Parker said with conviction. He was sorry that it was under these circumstances and that Murphy was so miserable, but Parker hoped a little while away from his old life would help him out. He pulled back to get a good look at him.

Murphy, if possible, was thinner. Paler. His eyes were still big, round, and full of all the things he couldn't say, though he wanted to. Lifting his hand up, he was self conscious of the way he looked because he didn't want Parker to think he was ugly. "I haven't really been sleeping that well."

He couldn't help but be a little surprised by the physical manifestation of Murphy's misery. To the contrary, Parker looked healthy, strong and bright eyed. Freedom suited him far more than depression and captivity. "The bed in the guest room is insanely comfortable." He was going to talk to Callaway about sleeping arrangements, having the desire to sleep next to Murphy, but uncertain of how Callaway would react to that.

Murphy nodded a little bit and he just took Parker's hand so that they could get out of the airport. Being in large crowds of people had started to become a problem and he knew that he was just a mess all around, but he didn't want to break down because there were too many people here. "Can we go?"

Nodding, Parker led Murphy out of the airport and out to the parking lot. He helped him with his bag, but kept a hold of his hand. Once in the car, Parker sighed and looked over at Murphy. "I'm looking forward to hearing you play again."

"Oh." Murphy's shoulder's sank a little bit. "I didn't bring my keyboard." He hadn't thought about it, if only because he hadn't played since the last time he had played for Adam at the house. He hadn't felt the desire to because Adam had always wanted so badly to hear him play and no one at home really wanted to.

"We'll find a piano," he said with a reassuring smile. Parker was genuinely happy, and pleased to have Murphy around again. It was a relief to realize that his presence didn't bring back too many bad memories and that he was going to be able to enjoy him. "Don't churches usually have a piano someplace?" He reached over to ruffle his hand through Murphy's hair, liking the freedom to touch him without bars inbetween them.

"You'd go to church with me?" Murphy went, usually on Sunday mornings. Sometimes he would drag Seth out of bed with him or sometimes he'd call Vegas, but most Sundays he went alone. He hadn't been in three years, and hadn't planned on going again, but hearing Parker mention it perked him up a little.

That surprised Parker. He'd meant maybe sneaking into a church and stealing their piano for a little while, but the way Murphy brightened at the idea of actually attending church made Parker smile a little. He and God hadn't been on the best of terms in a very long while, but that didn't mean he couldn't explore a service with Murphy. "All right, we can do that. We can look up churches in the phonebook when we get back to the apartment." He hesitated for a second, remembering Dog. "Do you like dogs?" He asked.

"Mhmm." Murphy had always wanted one but his mother had been terrified of letting him a dog. If he'd turned out to be allergic to it it would have only presented more problems for his breathing. And he was, really, fairly allergic to dogs, but it didn't stop him from playing with them or petting them, or wrestling around with them if they were big enough.

Parker seemed relieved at that. "Dog is pretty sweet. He's still getting used to me, but I like to think he remembers me from when he was a puppy." It still stung a little that he'd missed the entirety of his pet's life, but he shook the brief negativity off and started the car to head home. Once there, he insisted on carrying Murphy's bag up the stairs.

Murphy only had a backpack and it was fairly light. Four t-shirts, a pair of jeans, and a few changes of boxers. He had a book and his ipod in there too but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. But of course he let Parker carry it, the boy insisted.

Upstairs, Dog greeted them at the door, a large black lab who bounded up to Murphy with the confident demeanor of a dog who had lived a comfortable life. Parker gave him a bit of affection before leading Murphy into the guest bedroom. "The bathroom is down the hall," he noted. "We have spare towels and stuff in the hall closet."