Antonio met Javier the summer after he graduated, falling for him almost instantly. He seemed like such a great guy at first, treating Antonio to romantic outings, telling him how much he loved him, every single day, Javier even went to the trouble of learning sign language, just for Antonio's sake.

But all of that changed on the day that Antonio and Javier got married.

The silvery peal of wedding bells, and the ring placed on his finger would forever remind Antonio that he belonged to Javier now, there was no going back...

And no way out.

Javier took to getting completely shitfaced and beating Antonio senseless whenever he felt like it, sometimes beating his husband when he was sober just because he was mad, and he needed to take his anger out on something.

Of course, when they were out in public, Javier would go back to the way he was before, chaste kisses, sweet words, it was only behind closed doors that he dared reveal what kind of monster he really was.

A swift punch in the gut, and a couple of cigarette burns one night, an assault the next, there really was no real pattern to the punishment Javier dished out; it was simply a matter of how he felt at the time. But he was always very careful about it, never injuring Antonio in places that couldn't be covered up somehow, he always chose areas he thought nobody would ever see.

But one night, Javier, too mad to care if anyone would notice or not beat Antonio until his skin was all covered with fresh purple dapples, screaming insults at his deaf husband as punch after punch connected with tender olive skin.

When Javier left that night, presumably to get hammered again, Antonio took that as his opportunity to get away from his home/prison. He practically crawled down the street, too weak from his injuries even to limp to safety, eventually passing out somewhere unfamiliar.

When he regained consciousness, he was in a sterile room, surrounded by masked hospital staff. He could barely read their lips as they told him, "Relax, sir. You're going to be alright," just moments before a cold, sharp needle was stuck in his arm, and he was out once more.

"When I told the doctor what happened, he said..." Antonio paused for just a minute, to steady his shaking hands, before he signed, "He said that if I didn't get away from Javier, I'd be in a body bag the next time he saw me!"

Even after the divorce, life had been hell for Antonio. Years of abuse had left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he had been prescribed medication and sent to regular therapy sessions to work through his condition. On top his nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks, Javier had somehow found out where Antonio lived now, and had been threatening him via paper slips. He always said he'd get Antonio back, one way or another...

Arthur shook his head as he took in the information unable to believe the thing Antonio had endured, his reduced just to being Javier's punching bag, simply because he was unable to speak, unable to tell anyone what was going on, unable even to cry for help as he was beaten mercilessly by the man he once believed loved him.

His eyes became wide and glassy as he finally looked Arthur in the eye, waiting for some form of reaction.

"Come here," Arthur signed. "You've been in pain for quite some time, haven't you?" and he opened his arms to Antonio.

Gingerly taking the offer, Antonio buried his face in Arthur's chest, as slender arms were gently wrapped around him, as if to shield him from any further damage. There didn't seem to be much else he could do for Antonio at this point; he had no idea how he should go about comforting a man that'd been through something so utterly traumatising.

Hot breath mingled with salty tears, thoroughly soaking Arthur's shirt as he held Antonio, letting him cry out his pain. If Antonio could've screamed, he probably would have done.