Nobody

Ariel sighs, keeping her arm around Trey and rubbing his shoulder gently. "Yeah... running away is usually easier." She cocks her head forward, trying to get a look at his face. "But I never figured you to be a coward who would run from a fight." She gives him an extra little squeeze.

"Don't worry about your curfew. I'll handle Pete myself."

Falling quiet for a moment, she mulls over everything Trey had been saying. She knew very little about his past. About his home life. About his lifestyle. She knew he was kept at TJY for protection because his family was involved in drug dealing - she could only assume he himself had been into all sorts of stuff. Her mind ran wild with thoughts of drugs, alcohol, girls... But she'd envisioned all of that ever since Pete had asked her to befriend Trey. And it had changed nothing. That first night at the beach when he'd put his arm around her... she'd seen not a criminal, but someone who had perhaps been misled yet still had a good heart underneath it all. He'd been let down... felt unloved... felt abandoned... It was a wonder he'd been as much of a gentleman with her as he had. She'd prepared for him to try and take advantage of her - but he'd never once made any kind of inappropriate moves. No... there was a good man under it all. And tonight... while some might just see a drunken bum, she was getting a glimpse of the real Trey.

"Not everybody will let you down." She speaks softly, her voice a soothing tone. "You've been wronged, no doubt." She wasn't sure by whom or how, but it was an obvious fact. "And I'm truly sorry for everything you've been through. It's no way to live."

She keeps rubbing his shoulder, just praying that he would stay and not try to leave again. "But eventually... eventually you have to stop running. If you keep on running, I'm going to be left behind and that would make me pretty sad. Whether you want to believe it or not, people around here do care about you. We all disappoint each other at some point, but that doesn't mean we care any less for you. We're just human and make mistakes. But that's why we say we're sorry and we forgive each other. When we do that, it just makes us stronger. It's the warrior's way of life, not the coward's." Would he even remember her words in the morning? She had her doubts.

Reaching over with her free hand, she wraps her fingers around his. "You're going to be alright, Trey... it's all going to be alright. You're safe here, okay? Nobody's gonna hurt you."