Ducking his head Murphy slunk quietly by, as close as he could get to the wall, hoping to avoid the quick fists of the latest tenant to take up residence in the other half of their divided apartment, a questionable man whose fists moved faster than his thoughts, but whom he never quite had the courage to tell his mother about, with her long hours at work leaving the twins home alone with their tenant more often than not they had never wanted to bring it up in the limited time she was there. Even at six he understood that she only did what she had to in order to keep a roof over her and her boys heads, and in an area like the one they were in a violent drunk was the best you could do. But accepting it didn't mean he had to like it. Just as he thought he had made it safely past knuckles collided with the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the hall floor. Head throbbing he attempted to scramble away, only for a booted foot to crash into his ribs. "Who do you think you are little shit, walking around like you own the place?" Murphy could smell the alcohol thick on the mans breath, his words slurred.
"My ma owns this place not you." Murphy spat with all the venom he could muster injected into his voice.
Yet another blow landed on the side of Murphy's head as he started to try to get up.
"You know who pays more than half the fuckin rent in this place. It ain't your ma bastard. I pay more for this place than she ever has."
Murphy struggled to contain his anger, the rational knowledge that lashing out would only result in more abuse fighting for dominance over the urge to go after the creature in front of him, beating him and insulting his mother. The last words spoken had been hissed so close to his face he felt drops of spit spray against his face. That was when he finally lost it, pouring every ounce of his six year old strength into a single punch, landing it right on the nose, after a brief moment of shock the tenant, Murphy realized then he didn't even know the man's name, lunged forward, grabbing him and loosing a volley of increasingly violent blows.
Connor watched the confrontation through the smallest crack between the door and doorframe of the room he shared with his twin brother, desperate to reach out and pull Murphy in but afraid of the repercussions doing so would have for both of them. He flinched involuntarily with every hit that landed on Murphy, barely able to hold back tears, hating the feeling of uselessness that washed over him anew with every hit he could do nothing to stop. On the floor now Murphy attempted to roll over and protect his stomach, meeting Connor's eyes for only the briefest moment, the sight of his brothers battered face, black eye, split lip, crooked nose, was the last straw, Connor sank to the his knees, tears leaking from his eyes against his will, echoes of Murphy's pain resonating somewhere deep inside him.
Once their tenant was finally done defiling Murphy and had stumbled off to wreck havoc elsewhere Connor dashed out of his room, shaking Murphy ever so slightly, his small hands trembling in fear until Murphy's eyes just barely cracked open, a small whimper escaping his throat. "Connor." He murmured, his small, broken voice barely audible, he reached towards his brother with the last bit of strength he had left. Connor wrapped his arms around Murphy gingerly, afraid of hurting him more, almost ashamed to feel more tears slip down his cheeks, beading in Murphy's hair as he cradled him in his lap. "What if he comes back?" Murphy's fisted gripped the fabric of Connors shirt, almost as though he was trying to draw security from his brother.
"I'm not gonna let him hurt you again Murph." Connor suddenly felt extremely exposed out in the middle of the hall, vulnerable should he come back, as well as in plain view of the door should ma come home, and if ma found out what had happened they would lose the tenant, which meant they would lose the apartment, Connor anguished silently over the cruelty of the place he found himself and Murphy, a place much darker than any child should have to understand so well. Shifting positions he stood up slowly, supporting Murphy as much as he could, shouldering as much of his weight as possible as he mostly carried him into their shared bedroom, lowering him gently onto his bed, the myriad of bruises and blood staining ivory flesh painfully dark and noticeable in the pale moonlight filtering into the room. Desperate to be of some use the only thing Connor could think to do was grab some ice and a wet clothe to wipe the blood off with, "I'll be right back, I promise." Murphy held on to his brother's hand for as long as he could before Connor had slipped out the door.
Gently wiping blood from Murphy's face Connor wished there was some way he could punish the man who had done this, feeling Murphy's pain and humiliation and helplessness as sharply as though it was his own. Silent tears streaked Murphy's face as Connor doctored him the best he could, even the lightest touch painful on such tender new wounds, added to the shame of not having been able to protect himself better. "Sleep with me tonight Connor?" Murphy looked up at his brother through swollen eyes, begging silently for protection he was already too proud to admit he wanted. "Sure Murph." Connor felt vaguely relieved he had asked, he had wanted the comfort of his brother close to ensure neither of them got hurt again, especially not alone. He slid under the blanket, careful not to jostle Murphy in fear of agitating one of his many injuries, feeling the warmth of his brother close enough to hear the beat of his heart, it was times like this it felt like the same heart beat in both of them, though neither would ever admit it out loud, they both felt it clear as daylight.
Around Ten Years Later
Spotting his brother down the hall Murphy took off at a jog, weaving between people until he was close enough to leap on Connor from behind. Arms wrapped around his neck in a chokehold, feet dangling several inches above the floor, "Gotcha!" he roared, trying to ruffle Connor's hair while not losing his grip.
"Damn Murphy." Connor fought to throw Murphy over his shoulder, or at least off his back. "You can't just act like that in public." Connor groaned, his attempts at dislodging Murphy failing, just leaving his brother hanging awkwardly from his side until he decided to drop back down to the ground. "Why not?" Murphy chuckled, punching Connor in the arm.
Not even bothering to reply Connor took a swing back, connecting with Murphy's chest. "You did not just do that." Murphy challenged, eyes narrowing.
"I did." Connor fired back. Murphy took another swat at Connor, who lunged out of the way just in time. Laughing wildly they swung a few more times, completely without regard to any other students passing by.
"Drunken Paddy's." Someone jeered from the side of the hall. Murphy whirled around; scanning the groups of students gathered at various places around the hall, trying to discern which one had spoken.
"Faggots" They made the mistake of speaking again.
Murphy narrowed in on the person who had spoken, a big blonde lout, and before the kid saw what was coming Murphy had landed on him, hitting him square in the jaw with enough force that it wouldn't have surprised Connor to find out it was broken. At that moment all hell broke loose. While silently lamenting his brothers stereotypical hotheaded quick temper Connor jumped into the fray, swinging wildly at whatever was within his reach. Despite his general exasperation with Murphy for getting in to such situations as often as he did, he would rot before he'd let Murphy get into anything alone.
By the time the fight, more of a free for all than anything else, had been broken up both Connor and Murphy had been pretty well roughed up, a cut on Murphy's forehead bled freely down his face, one eye swollen shut, Connor was sporting a split lip and an already blossoming bruise on his left orbital, accompanied by a myriad of other scrapes and bruises they had acquired. Sitting in stiff chairs just inside the front office they hung their heads, awaiting the verbal lashing they were bound to get from both their mother and whatever authority figure was around to scold them at the moment.
"You've gotta stop gettin' into this shit Murph." Connor sighed, running his fingers through his sticky hair.
"Am I supposed to just let them say that shit then?" Murphy fumed.
"Stop playing their games and they'll stop. Don't be such a stereotype." Connor shoved Murphy's shoulder.
"You can let people say shit to you all you want, I'm not gonna let 'em get away with it." Murphy argued.
"Well I can't up and leave you on your own." Embarrassment hit Connor almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, it was an unspoken thing between the two of them, always have each others backs without the mushy nonsense.
"Oh are you watchin' out for your poor stupid brother with a temper." Murphy teased, not letting on that in a way he was touched by the sentiment,
At that moment the twins mother stormed through the front door, already bellowing about her boys starting bar fights in classrooms and couldn't they just control themselves and behave like normal boys before she had even reached them. The boys hung their heads simultaneously, preparing for whatever came at them next, the last words Murphy had time to mutter were, "Connor, I think I broke my hand." Connor glanced over at Murphy's hand where it sat on his thigh, twisted at an odd angle, what appeared to be bones bulging against the skin in an unsettling manner. Taking in the full sight of her boys ma sighed, "Guess we're going to the hospital again."
Stitched, bandaged, and iced, cast covering Murphy's hand up to his elbow much to his irritation they finished taking their verbal beating about their behavior, then slunk off to their room for the night. Murphy tried to take his shirt off with little success, unable to maneuver the bulky cast, Connor sat on the edge of his bed and watched him struggle for a minute, his irritation obvious, debating if he should offer to help, just do it, or continue to watch, Murphy wouldn't admit he needed help, but the more enraged he got with it the more likely it was he would hit something and only injure himself worse.
"Just go to bed Murph." Connor shook his head. Murphy glared icy daggers in Connor's general direction, refusing to giveup.
Eventually pitying him Connor crept up behind him and just yanked the shirt over his head. "Now go to bed, I'm exhausted."
Mumbling incoherently Murphy nestled into his blankets, surprised when Connor laid down next to him on top of the sheet. "Aren't we a little old for this?" Murphy raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Just shut up." Connor blushed, glad for the darkness, unwilling to admit he missed being so close to his brother. "Someone has to keep an eye on you." He defended himself feebly.
"Cause I get into so much trouble in my sleep." Murphy smirked.
"Fine I'll get up then." Connor made a movement to get up.
"Ok, I'll shut up now." Murphy surrendered, admitting to himself that he did feel safer with Connor closer, after all the two of them made a pretty formidable team, no matter what the trouble was. Any awkwardness disappeared from the air between them as they smiled; a normal expression conveyed in a way no one else would understand, finally forced to realize and admit some things would never change.
Authors Note- Hey guys this is my first attempt at writing these two, so if you feel like they're wildly out of character let me know, or if anything here is totally in conflict with any background information I didn't have, let me know what it is, how, and what I would need to do to fix it. Any and all critique is welcome just don't be rude please :) Also if you enjoy this and would be interested in more like it just review or pm me, or if you'd like to read the brothers revenge from the first scene