He nodded, standing with Thomas’ help. Even so, he leaned heavily against the wall, barely able to stay on his own two feet. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Nick muttered, shifting his weight forward for just a moment to take a step forward. His arm quickly went around his friend’s shoulder, using him to hold himself up now. “Yeah, this works . . Kind of.”

Thomas took a step forward and the sudden shift of weight on him. He then took another step wrapping his arm around Nick's waist walking slowly. "This works..." Thomas chuckled as they walked slowly down the hallway.

"That actually sounds a lot better. I actually hate my dad a lot," he said with a small shrug. "No problem . . but hey, you know how you’re always saying thank you to me for doing stupid little things? If you really want to thank me, you can help me get to my room, because I don’t think I can walk there, not on my own."

Tom gave a smile at his request. "I can do that." He let his thumb caress on Nick's hand. "C'mon..." He slowly stood up and helped Nick stand. "Do you need to wrap your arm around me or something?"

"You’re not too old, Thomas . . but if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I’ll send him a letter, or I’ll call him, and then we can figure something out for you. I’m sure he can get you an internship at his job or something." Nick paused, taking Thomas’ hand and giving it a light squeeze. "You’ll get back out into the world someday; don’t worry."

Thomas shook his head. He didn't believe that he had a chance outside these walls. "I don't know...maybe when I get out I can see my dad and get a job, he's always helped me out." Thomas squeezed Nick's hand back. "Thanks."

"I could probably convince my dad to set you up somewhere, with a job or at school or something. He’d be willing to do anything as soon as he found out I actually have a friend," he said. "He probably won’t be happy that you beat someone up, but I don’t have to tell him that."

"A job is something I'll need once as I'm out of here. I'm too old to start college. Tried that once and then I ended up losing my mind psychologically and was committed here."

"Oh, good job. Way to try and get out of here,” he muttered. At his question, he raised his eyebrows, saying, “I’m not hiding. Why would I sit down in the hallway if I was hiding?” Nick wasn’t going to tell him why he was sitting there unless he was directly asked, and he was hoping that he wouldn’t be.

"I wasn't trying to get out of here. The guy wanted to check me for sharp objects and I just like reacted and made him unconscious, with my fists." He smiled. "Even if I got out of here, I got nowhere to go." Thomas shrugged.

"Actually, I’m trying to remember your name - Thomas; there it is," he sighed. "Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere, and no one’s seen you. Did you get out for a few days or something?" Nick was actually more talkative than usual, by quite a bit - he needed a distraction, and this served as a fine one. Anything, to keep himself from thinking about food, or the fact that he couldn’t even get to his feet right then.

Thomas looked at him and shook his head. "No I wasn't out. I was in Isolation for attacking a staff member." He smirked. He yawned looking back at Nick. "Why are you hiding?"

It was just past dinner when Nick woke up, but not in his bed. He was in a hallway just outside the dining area, slumped close to the wall. The patient couldn’t manage to get to his feet, so he stayed there in hopes that someone he trusted - mainly Elliot, although Thomas wouldn’t be too bad either - would find him before anyone else did. Of course, with his sour luck, it would probably be someone that would use this unfortunate situation against him, especially while he was so vulnerable. His tired gaze traveled upwards from the floor as soon as he heard someone approaching, trying to focus on who it was. “Oh, great,” he mumbled, rubbing his bleary eyes as he tried to match a face to a name.

Thomas was soon released from ISO. He wondered if anyone knew of his disappearance but ignored the thought. Walking through the place, he kept his head mostly down and keeping to himself. Hands in his hoodie pockets keeping them in fists. The look on his face was pale and cold, some would say that he looked emotionless. Making his way outside of the dining area he saw Nick slumped in a corner. He didn't know if he should approach him or just ignore him and walk on his way. Sighing silently he rocked on his heels turning to the direction. Standing there, he looked down at the older boy before sitting down pretzel style. "Not thrilled to see me, huh?" Thomas kept his head down looking at the floor. Not minding if Nick didn't speak, all he wanted was to see his best friend.

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"You wouldn’t dare!" He took a step back. "I have to warn you…I kick."

“I would dare, but you might fall and hit your head, and then we’d both be fucked,” he replied. “Besides, I’d be pissed if you broke my kneecap or something.”

"That's cute, you worrying about me." He laughed. "I don't wanna break your kneecap or something."

"Well that wasn’t a bad kiss." He smirked. "You can temple kiss me any time you want, babes." He winked.

"You wouldn't dare!" He took a step back. "I have to warn you...I kick."