ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP SCISAAC
Isaac was tired of buying foundation to cover his bruises.
He'd been with Derek for two years, and Derek had been hitting him for a year and a half. It had started with a simple slap but was now at full-on beatings, including bruises all over his body. Isaac wasn't allowed to even look at other people, men or women, or Derek would use the belt. He had to text Derek every fifteen minutes or Derek wouldn't cook for him. Isaac had to share his Facebook and email passwords. When they had sex, it was purely for Derek's pleasure, and Isaac wasn't even allowed to jerk off without his boyfriend's permission.
But he couldn't leave. His dad had kicked him out for being gay and he had no one else. He wasn't really allowed to have friends unless they knew Derek. He was stuck.
Derek allowed him to buy foundation because he knew people would be suspicious if Isaac was constantly covered in bruises. But he hated doing it, he hated buying it and putting it on, he hated being abused and he hated Derek, but he'd never say that out loud because Derek would beat him within an inch of his life and refuse to drive him to the hospital or call 911. Derek had shredded his driver's license and forced him to sell his bike.
At this point, there was no one to blame but himself. He'd stayed even after Derek hit him the first time, he kept making excuses even as his whole life was eliminated and replaced with something Derek deemed acceptable, and he was still with him. Did he love Derek once? Yes. But now…he felt nothing but hatred and fear. This wasn't what he'd expected from a relationship.
He was, however, given one outlet: lacrosse. Derek knew how much lacrosse meant to Isaac and allowed him to play, making him promise to be in the locker room for as short a time as possible. Derek would wait outside the gym and if Isaac wasn't one of the first people out, he would get the belt. And there was one boy on his team, Scott, that Isaac had a huge crush on. He was sweet and caring and had the most adorable crooked jaw. Unfortunately, Derek wouldn't let Isaac near Scott outside of practice, so he couldn't talk to him that much.
"Isaac!" Derek was pounding on the bathroom door. Isaac jumped. "You better not be jacking off in there!"
"Just putting on the cover-up."
"Good. You'll be out of there in two minutes."
"I still need to brush my—"
"Two. Minutes."
Isaac sighed, hurriedly finished the foundation, brushed his teeth, and left almost exactly two minutes later. Derek was still outside, arms folded. Isaac tried to smile but it didn't work.
"Do you know what today is?" Derek asked.
"No."
Derek slapped him hard. "It's our anniversary. Did you really fucking forget that?"
"No, no, I remembered, really—"
"Don't lie to me. You said you didn't know what today was. You know what? That deserves more than just the belt. You don't get lunch today. And if you eat somewhere else, I'll know, and you can sleep in the basement again."
Isaac nodded, trying not to look as scared as he felt. 'Sleeping in the basement' meant sleeping on the cold floor with a trench coat as a blanket and a shoe as a pillow. It was still winter and still very cold down there.
"I don't want you talking to Scott McCall anymore," Derek said threateningly, grabbing Isaac's arm and dragging him to the living room. "I see how you look at him. Did you know he's gay?"
"No," Isaac said, hoping his face didn't show his happiness at that news.
"I bet you did know. I bet you asked him right away. I bet you're sleeping with him."
"No, no, only you—" Isaac tried to say, but Derek cut him off with a knee to the groin.
"You better not be sleeping with someone else," he said, quiet but still threatening. "Because you know what I'm gonna do if you're fucking some other guy?"
"No."
"I'm gonna put you in the Choker."
Isaac gulped; the Choker was an old locker with rusty nails stuck in the walls. It was barely big enough to fit him. He'd only been in once, when he'd accidentally used teeth while giving Derek a blow job. By the time Derek let him out of the Choker, he was near-starving and had pissed himself. It was the constant threat, the biggest in Derek's arsenal.
"I'll drive you to practice," Derek said, letting go of Isaac's arm as they left the house. They both knew what would happen if the neighbors guessed, and neither of them wanted it to happen.
Before he got out of the car at practice, Isaac leaned over to kiss Derek, who smiled and said, "Don't forget what I said about Scott."
Isaac nodded, getting out of the car and going to the locker room. He always managed to get a locker next to Scott's, because Derek couldn't see him in here, and he could always say the other lockers were taken.
"Hey," Scott said as Isaac approached.
"Hey."
"Saw you with your boyfriend out there. What's his name again?"
"Derek."
"Cool. He's got a nice car."
"I'll tell him you said that," Isaac said, even though of course he wouldn't because then Derek would know he'd been talking to Scott. "He's kind of mad at me, though. I forgot that today was our second anniversary."
"Congratulations," Scott said, and he sounded sincere and put his hand on Isaac's shoulder for a brief second and Isaac felt like he could float away with happiness. But then Scott left to go out to the field.
"Okay," their coach, Finstock, said as they gathered around him outside. "I'm making McCall captain until Whittemore gets back from surgery, so I want you all to take down his information. Let's play!"
Isaac felt every trace of happiness leave him. Scott was captain and he needed the captain's phone number, but Derek would kill him for having Scott's number. But there was no way to avoid this. So, after an hour of practice, he went back to the locker room and changed quickly, getting out his phone to input Scott's number.
"Be sure to text me," Scott said, "so I can have your number too. Necessary procedure."
"Yeah, sure, no problem." Isaac was trying to leave the locker room because he knew Derek was sitting out there waiting for him, but he texted Scott anyway.
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I, uh…Derek's taking me to lunch and…the reservation, we have to be there soon." He'd gotten so good at lying since he's been with Derek.
"Oh, okay. See you later."
Isaac practically ran out of the room, heart filling with fear when he saw Derek leaning against his car. He didn't do that unless he was angry.
"What took you so long?" Derek said as Isaac approached.
"New captain, temporarily. Had to get his number."
"Scott?"
"Yes."
"Get in the car."
Isaac didn't need to be told twice; he quickly slid into the car and buckled up, offering his phone without being asked. Derek scrolled through the contacts and paused at Scott's.
"So you weren't lying. You really have Scott's number. What the fuck did I tell you this morning?"
"I have to have the captain's number—"
Derek reached over and slammed him in the chest. "Don't talk back to me. How do I know he's actually captain and you're not just coming up with lies?"
Isaac looked out the window and saw the other players getting Scott's number. "Look, they're all doing it."
Derek looked at the crowd of players, and Isaac saw an odd look cross his face. "Hm. You're telling the truth. For that, I'll take you to lunch."
"I thought I wasn't getting lunch?"
Derek raised his eyebrows. "You don't want to eat?"
"No, I do, I just—" Isaac stammered for a second. "Nevermind. Thank you for taking me to lunch."
Derek nodded and smiled slightly. "That's better."
They ate at Olive Garden and then went home, where Derek wanted to have sex. As usual, Isaac was submissive and quiet, doing exactly what Derek asked. As usual, it lasted about fifteen minutes. And as usual, Derek came inside him and then fell into a light sleep. Isaac wasn't allowed to move until Derek woke up, so he lay back and thought about Scott, how he finally had Scott's number, and Scott had his number, and even though he couldn't text him it was still nice. But thinking about Scott made him hard, and it wouldn't go away no matter what he thought about, but he was scared of touching himself lest Derek wake up. So he was still hard as a rock when his boyfriend finally did wake up an hour later.
"What's this?" Derek said, reaching for his clothes but eyeing Isaac's erection.
"I was thinking about you."
"Don't lie to me. You were thinking about Scott."
"No, only you—"
Derek punched Isaac's erection, making him scream out and curl into a ball. Derek continued punching him and kicking him until finally, after what seemed like years but was more likely just a few minutes, he stopped.
"Get dressed and come out to watch TV with me," he said, leaving before Isaac could respond.
He lay there for a second before carefully sitting up and reaching for his clothes. Everything hurt, but that was his normal state of being. The hit to the crotch was the worst, but he'd received those before. It would stop hurting in a few hours. Fully dressed, he went to the living room and sat next to Derek on the couch. The TV was turned to some old black-and-white movie. Derek put his arm around Isaac, which made him flinch slightly.
After about an hour of the film, Isaac's phone rang. Derek picked it up and his eyes flared.
"It's Scott."
"Derek, please, let me answer—"
Derek slapped him and answered the phone. "Hi, this is Derek, Isaac's not available right now. Can I ask who this is?" He sounded so pleasant. "Okay, I'll let him know." It was intensely creepy, hearing the pleasant voice but seeing the fuming look on his face. "Okay, bye." He hung up. "You have an extra practice tomorrow. And don't ever think you can tell me what to do. You're hopeless, you know that, right? You'll never amount to anything without me."
And Isaac nodded, because of course it was true, he couldn't do anything without Derek. He couldn't cook, he didn't have a license anymore, he didn't have a job or any skills, and he didn't have any friends.
Derek dropped him off at practice the next day and left quickly, because he had to meet someone for work. Isaac wasn't sure exactly what Derek did, and he was too afraid to ask. When he got into the locker room, the only person there was Scott.
"Where is everyone?" he asked, setting down his gym bag.
"There is no practice today." Scott's hands were in his pockets and he looked uncomfortable. "I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"I saw Derek hit you yesterday."
Isaac felt like his stomach had dropped through the floor. They'd still been in the parking lot when Derek hit him. Of course Scott had seen.
"How long has he been hitting you?"
"He isn't, it was just…I did something wrong, he was still mad that I forgot our anniversary and—"
"I was in an abusive relationship once, Isaac, you can't lie to me. How long?"
The knowledge that Scott had been through what he was going through and escaped emboldened him, and he just started talking. He talked about the first time Derek hit him, he talked about the Choker and the belt and the basement, he talked about their abysmal sex life, he talked about everything. He was crying by the end of it. He thought Scott looked close to tears, too.
"I'm sorry," Isaac said. "I shouldn't have unloaded like that."
"Don't ever apologize, Isaac. None of this is your fault. This is Derek being an asshole, okay?"
"But I've stayed with him—"
Scott strode forward and kissed him full on the mouth, shutting him up. Kissing Scott felt so good, so much better than with Derek. Scott was very careful with his hands, not touching anywhere Isaac didn't want him to, and soon they were on the floor, Scott pressing him down and rubbing his crotch.
"No, stop," Isaac said, trying to push Scott. "Stop, I can't do this."
Scott immediately pulled back, for which Isaac was grateful.
"He'll know, he'll find out and he'll kill me, I know he will—"
"He won't kill you, Isaac."
"No, he will, he says he'll kill me if I'm with someone else—"
"If he killed you, he'd have no one to beat up. No one to push around."
"I can't do this, Scott, I'm a terrible liar with him, he'll see right through me." He was almost at the door, trying to run out.
"Isaac, stop! He isn't going to be there waiting for you."
"How do you know?"
Scott flushed slightly. "I did a little digging. He thinks he's going to do a business deal, but he's actually meeting with an undercover cop."
Isaac felt his whole body clench in fear. "You ratted him out."
"Isaac, I had to—"
"No, you didn't, you had to keep your mouth shut! Oh my God, I am going to die, and he's going to kill you too, and it's going to be painful and fuck you why did you tell?"
"Isaac, chill out, okay? I trust this cop, he'll make sure they arrest Derek on fraud and selling drugs—"
"He sells drugs?" Isaac was so shocked he forgot to be mad at Scott.
"Yes, how do you think he pays for your house and lacrosse and still doesn't ever go to work?"
"You sound like you've been following him or something."
"I haven't, but I know people who have. I told you I was in an abusive relationship. My ex had friends who can…do anything."
"You've been stalking my boyfriend."
"I've been gathering information on your abuser."
They stood silent for a second, staring at each other. Isaac knew he should be grateful, but he could only feel fear. Derek would find a way out of this, no matter what, because that's what he did. He'd find Isaac and hit him, come hell or high water.
"Come home with me," Scott said, blushing. "I want to…show you something."
Isaac thought about it, thought about going home with Scott, and it sounded like the best and worst idea in the world. If Derek really was locked up, he had nothing to fear. Even if he wasn't, surely he didn't know where Scott lived. Ignoring the gnawing fear in his gut, he nodded and followed Scott to his car.
Scott wasn't sure if asking Isaac to his house was a good idea, but Isaac had agreed, and now they were in the living room.
"So…what did you want to show me?" Isaac asked, looking stressed at being alone in a house with someone other than Derek.
Scott stepped forward, placed one hand on Isaac's neck, and kissed him softly. Isaac recoiled slightly but then recovered and kissed him back. Scott tried to communicate how much he cared about Isaac in the kiss.
"Come on, let's move this to the bedroom," he said, grabbing Isaac's hand and starting to lead him down the hall. Isaac froze and tensed up. Scott immediately dropped his hand. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, I didn't think—"
"It's okay," Isaac said, hands shaking slightly. "I just…I want to do this, I do, but I don't want to feel trapped."
"I understand. You can come back in your own time." He started walking towards his bedroom, and was relieved to hear Isaac follow him. He motioned to the bed and the other man smiled and lay down on it.
Scott climbed on the bed, leaning over Isaac's body and kissing him, trying not to straddle him and trap him. He ran a hand down Isaac's chest, touching lightly, aware of the bruises. Isaac pushed him off and yanked off his shirt, then pulled him back down. Scott kissed his jawline, his neck, his chest, each of his bruises, brushing his teeth against his nipples. Isaac groaned, running a hand through Scott's hair. Scott moved down and kissed Isaac's stomach, including every single bruise and cut. But he didn't undo Isaac's jeans; instead, he continued to kiss the bruises, wanting to make them go away but knowing he couldn't. Isaac didn't seem to mind. He was just watching Scott, and he would smile whenever Scott looked up.
"If you want to stop now, we can," Scott said, resting a hand against Isaac's belt.
"Don't stop, please."
Scott smiled, undoing his jeans and slowly pulling them down his legs. Isaac's erection pressed against the restrains of his briefs. Instead of removing the underwear, Scott kissed the bruises on his legs all the way down to his shins, stroking and caressing them. Then he pulled down Isaac's briefs and kissed the sensitive skin of his hips, breathing slightly on his erection. He ran his tongue lightly up Isaac's dick, his own dick throbbing at Isaac's groan. He licked again, swallowing the bitter-yet-delicious precome that leaked from Isaac's tip. Then he took his erection in his mouth, moving his lips up and down, pressing his tongue against his head and stroking with his hand. Isaac was downright moaning at this point. Scott continued sucking and stroking for about two minutes before Isaac's groans became more frantic.
"Scott, I'm gonna come," Isaac said, clutching the bed sheets.
He continued sucking as Isaac thrust up and shot rivers of come down Scott's throat. He swallowed and pulled away, smiling. Isaac was panting, his eyes slightly glazed over. Scott lay down next to him, taking his hand and entwining their fingers.
"You're still hard," Isaac said, moving to get up.
"No, it's okay. This was about you."
"Scott, really—"
"Yes, Isaac, really. It's all about you."
Isaac looked conflicted for a second. "I've never heard that in a positive way."
Scott smiled, kissed him again, and got up to gather his clothes. He let Isaac dress himself, again trying to show how in-control Isaac was. He put his phone on the bedside table and lay down, eyes drooping.
"Sleep, if you want," Scott said.
Isaac nodded, curling up and closing his eyes. Within a few minutes, his breathing steadied and Scott knew he was asleep. He grabbed Isaac's phone and moved it closer to him, because he knew Isaac would be Derek's one phone call from prison and didn't want it to wake him.
Sure enough, thirty minutes into Isaac's nap, Derek called. Scott picked up as soon as he could, rushing into the hall.
"Hello, this is Scott, Isaac can't come to the phone right now, can I take a message?"
Derek gasped from the other end. "You set this up, you crafty son of a—"
"There doesn't seem to be anyone on the other end. I guess I'll hang up."
"No, no, don't! I need…I need to talk to Isaac."
"He's asleep."
"Wake him up."
"No. You may be able to boss him around, but not me." It was weird, talking to the man who had tortured Isaac for so long.
"I need to talk to him, Scott."
"That sucks. He's sleeping after the amazing sex we just had."
Derek swore. "You son of a bitch, I will kill you—"
"I wouldn't be making threats if I were you, Derek. You better call your lawyer, because we're about to sue your ass. Goodbye." He hung up and brought the phone back into his bedroom.
Isaac woke up about two hours later, feeling refreshed and happy. The feeling didn't last; he remembered where he was and who he was with, and fear crushed him. He actually gasped out loud when he thought about Derek coming to find him in another man's bed.
Scott appeared in the doorway. "Are you hungry?"
Isaac thought for a second. "Yeah, a bit."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Whatever you want to make."
"No, Isaac, you make the decision."
Isaac shifted slightly, not sure how to deal with the sudden responsibilities. "Macaroni and cheese. With little hot dogs cut up into it. If that's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all. It'll be ready in about half an hour."
Isaac nodded, getting out of bed and reaching for his phone; it was gone. "Where's my cell phone?"
Scott stepped forward and handed it to him from his pocket. "I didn't want it to ring and wake you up."
"Why would it ring? The only person who'd call me is…oh, God. Derek called."
"Yep."
"What happened?"
"You were his one phone call, Isaac."
"Scott."
"He's in prison."
"I know, but Scott…he'll find a way out, I know he will."
"If he does, he'll want to kill me first."
"Why?"
Scott smiled sheepishly. "I kind of told him we had sex."
Isaac groaned, covering his face with his hands. Scott was a dead man, and Isaac was too. "Oh, my God, we're both dead, fuck you Scott, why'd you say that?"
"Because I'm not afraid of him."
Isaac felt sick from fear and worry. "I don't want to eat anything anymore."
"Okay. Come out into the living room, I've got Jeopardy on." He left.
How stupid could one person be? Scott had been in an abusive relationship, surely he knew how dangerous it was to antagonize the abuser! Maybe he'd feel better if he went to watch TV. He stood up and walked quietly to the living room, where Scott was sitting with a microwave pizza, too engrossed in the show to hear Isaac. So he stood in the hallway, just watching Scott, wondering how his life could be with him instead of Derek. Life seemed good here. Good sex, good food, and good Scott. It was perfect, with one small catch: Derek. There was no way he could be with Scott if Derek was still alive. But what could he do? Could he really kill Derek for the chance to be with Scott?
"Oh, hey there," Scott said as the TV went to commercial. "Come sit with me."
"I'm kind of hungry again."
"Okay. I'll make the macaroni." He moved the pizza so he could stand up.
"No, I want to share your pizza."
Scott frowned. "Really?"
"Isn't that what boyfriends do?"
Scott looked shocked for a second before a smile spread across his face. "You want to…?"
"Yeah, I want to…be with you." Isaac smiled. "But…you know, I want it slow."
"Of course. Well, come on then, boyfriend. Come sit and watch TV and eat pizza."
Isaac sat next to him, grabbing a slice of the slightly cold pizza and taking a bite. It was delicious. He rested his head against Scott's shoulder, still scared shitless of Derek but not as worried, because he knew Scott would protect him.
As they were getting ready for bed, Isaac couldn't help thinking that Derek would be let out tonight and come find him. It didn't help that Scott had lied; getting a blow job doesn't count as actually having sex, does it? But he wanted to have sex with Scott, more than he's wanted anything in his life. Even if he wasn't sure if he trusted Scott enough yet.
"What are you thinking about?" Scott asked as he turned off the lights. They were lying under the covers, mere inches from each other.
"I want to have sex with you."
"Right now?"
"No, but maybe tomorrow."
Scott laughed. "Okay. We can do that."
"Do you have condoms?"
"Of course."
"Okay. Good night."
"Good night, Isaac."
Scott woke up when Isaac yelled out in the middle of the night. Isaac was sitting up with his hands over his head and sobbing.
"Isaac, sweetie, what's wrong?" Scott asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Isaac jumped and looked at him. "Isaac…"
"Scott, Scott, please, he's coming for me," Isaac stammered, falling into Scott's arms, mumbling about Derek and crying.
Scott held him, stroking his hair and whispering words of comfort in his ear. He knew this phase. The first few nights after the break-up were the worst; he could remember the feeling that his ex was going to walk through that door and shoot him dead. So he kept his arms around Isaac, holding him until the sobs stopped and even then keeping a hand on him until they woke up the next morning.
Derek was sentenced to five years in prison for selling drugs, and Scott was talking with his lawyer about pressing charges for domestic violence. Isaac woke up screaming every night for a week, but then it suddenly stopped. Scott wasn't sure why it was such a sudden change, but he didn't question it. He was with Isaac, and they were both safe and happy, and that's all that mattered.