Almost forgot to reply to the reviews .
Ailin Amy, Al, Pinky Spidey: Thank you so much! That really means a lot. Glad you're all still enjoying it ^-^
Notimefornames: I'm glad that I managed to successfully draw some emotions from you. Unfortunately things most likely won't get any better for the Rorys, since I'm following the canon but hope is always good to have!
The circus stayed in town for a few weeks, so Mick made it a point to go every day when the fire jugglers were preforming their act. He never had to worry about paying, because he'd always sneak in with one of the larger parties, making it seem as if he were with them. Then, when the act was over he'd duck out before anyone realized he wasn't suppose to be there. He didn't have any interest in seeing any of the other acts, anyway. Besides, Daniel would always meet him outside the jugglers' tent, and Mick had grown accustomed to hanging out with him.
It was just stupid stuff, like how many scoops of ice cream they could put on one cone before the whole thing fell over or how many feet they could walk after filling their shoes with tiny pebbles. They never actually spoke more than three words to each other unless they were trying to out do each other with their cunning remarks, but Mick didn't really care. He didn't have much to say anyway. It wasn't long before Mick started looking forward to waking up and heading to the circus just to see Daniel and watch the jugglers. He liked being there at the circus a lot more than he liked staying on the farm, especially when his mom went in to work and left him alone with his father.
The time he spent at the circus was really the only time Mick had to breathe, where he could get away from his mother's incessant nagging and his father's...Well, everything he did. He didn't worry too much about the farm animals. One of the neighboring farms would probably jump in to take care of them. They were nosy bastards that way. Besides, it wasn't like the circus would stay in town much longer anyway. Mick just wanted to enjoy the little parts of it that he liked while he could, even if it was just a few hours at a time.
But around the seventh or eighth week, Daniel started getting a little annoying. It started that night Mick had stayed over a bit too long. The sky was already pitch black, save for a few bright, silver stars polka dotting the horizon. Thick shadows swarmed the tent from outside like moths. Mick and Daniel were inside the tent, as Daniel was cleaning the staffs he and the other jugglers used for their act and organizing all the flammable supplies. Mick watched him from where he was laying back on the bleachers a few feet away. He was rolling his dad's lighter (his mom had tried hiding it in the top drawer of her dresser, but Mick had easily found it and taken it again) in his hands, wondering if he should turn it on or not. Probably not, he thought. Naturally, he did it anyway.
Mick turned the thing on and off a few times, watching the little flame pop up as if it were trying to play a game of peak-a-boo. For a second he was completely enthralled. He might have stared at the fire for hours, except Daniel suddenly spoke up, startling him slightly. "You know, if you keep holding that thing so close to you you're gonna catch your shirt on fire." He came over, standing over him, one of the fire juggling sticks hanging from his fist as he folded his arm over his bare chest. "And believe me that's no fun."
Mick smirked, slamming the lighter shut on the flame. "Oh, is that why you never wear a shirt? You burned them all?"
Daniel rolled his eyes, but Mick could see a grin forming on his lips too. The expression warranted a sharp sting in Mick's chest, forcing him to sit up right. "Not on purpose, but yeah," Daniel said. When the older boy took a seat next to him, the sting spread out like a wild fire, and Mick almost jumped to his feet in surprise. That had been happening a lot in the past few weeks they'd been hanging out. Mick tried to ignore it, because he wasn't really sure what it was. He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.
It was kind of hard to think straight with Daniel sitting right beside him. Something about the fact that the guy never wore a shirt was very distracting. His abs were always painfully noticeable. Mick shifted, shoving the lighter in the pocket of his sweatshirt. He forced himself to look away from the older boy's upper body, glancing at the ground and his bare feet instead. "Did you burn all your shoes, too?"
Daniel turned his head to stare at his feet, wiggling his toes. "Nah, I just think that shoes are for suckers."
Mick snorted. Then, he realized he was wearing shoes, and the older boy had just insulted him. "Hey!" Daniel leaned forward, hugging his sides as he was thrown into a fit of laughter. Mick took his shoe off and threw it at him. Daniel ducked before it could hit him though, which Mick found slightly disappointing.
Daniel made a face at him that caused another stinging sensation to run through Mick's body. "That was rude! Didn't your mother teach you manners?"
Mick shrugged, grinning back at him. "She tried. I ignored her."
Daniel grunted with amusement. "Why am I not surprised?" The too broke out into a long, drawn out laughter. When it died down, though, Daniel titled his head, giving Mick a side ways frown. "Hey, don't you have to get back?"
"Uh..." Mick froze, glancing at the clock that was set on one of the crates. Normally, he would have gone home at eight. That usually gave him enough leeway to sneak around the back of the house and climb up to his room via the windows' ledges. It was the best, and only, way he knew how to avoid using the front door and accidently crossing paths with his father. But now it was almost eleven, and Mick wasn't very confidant about climbing the window sills in the dark. "Yeah. Or.."
He got to his feet, grabbing the fire stick Daniel had been cleaning, swinging it around a little. "I could run away and join the circus, too."
Daniel leaned back on the bleachers, propping himself up on his elbows and crossing his feet in front of him. He didn't look very impressed by Mick's lack of juggling skills. "Very funny." Except he wasn't laughing. "Go home, Mick."
"No, really," Mick went on. "We could be a dynamic duo or whatever. You know, scare the elephants with rats. Attack the clowns with water balloons. Replace the knife throwers knives with plastic."
He trailed off, lowering the fire stick, as he met Daniel's gaze. He wished he hadn't. Daniel was staring back at him with an expression Mick had never seen before. It was a mixture between the stone cold glare Mick's father got before he...got up from his chair and that soft, gentle knit of the eyebrows his mom had whenever she thought she needed to worry about Mick, with an undertone of his usual, cocky I-know-everything-and-you-know-nothing glint. "Why don't you want to go home?"
His voice was a bit off too. Mick didn't like it. He shrugged, feeling a little dumb under the older boy's stare. Daniel eyed him up and down for a moment, clearly not satisfied by that response. Mick scolded himself when he realized he was squirming a bit. There was an odd sensation in his gut, but not the one that he usually got whenever he was looking into Daniel's eyes. There was something about the way he was looking at him, like he thought Mick was hiding something. "What?" Mick snapped.
Slowly, Daniel got to his feet and approached Mick the same way one might sneak up on a scared animal. He didn't like that either. "Why don't you want to go home?" Daniel repeated. Something about his expression was very off putting. It wasn't the same look other people gave him. He wasn't judging him or questioning his sanity the way adults liked too. It was just...odd. Mick was having a hard time putting a name to the expression or pin pointing why it made his insides feel like they were crawling up his throat.
"Who said I didn't want to go home?" He added the fact that he didn't want to tell Daniel why home wasn't an option at the moment to the list of things he couldn't quite explain. There wasn't really any reason to hesitate, was there? Nothing that went on in the Rory house was any different from any other household, right? But for some reason Daniel's expression was making him reconsider that thought. Even so, there was an undying need to defend it. Like if he found out what was going on something bad might happen.
Daniel just kept staring at him with that unnamed expression. "You just suggested running away to the circus."
"I was joking," Mick said. He tossed the fire stick at Daniel's head, but the older boy caught it easily thanks to his training as a juggler. (Mick found that both cool and slightly irritating.)
"If it was a joke, then why are your hands shaking?" Daniel pointed down, and Mick followed his finger. He winced when he realized he was right. His hands were trembling just the slightest bit. Mick cursed himself for that, shoving his hands in the pocket of his jacket.
"They're not." Mick found himself lying, even though they'd both just seen them. Daniel narrowed his eyes, obviously not falling for it. Mick couldn't stand it anymore. "Quit looking at me like that!"
Daniel ignored him, choosing to bombard him with questions instead. "What happens when you go home? Who's waiting there? Mom? Dad? Siblings? What do they do?"
Under normal circumstances they probably would have been innocent questions that Mick would only sort of mind answering. But the way Daniel was asking them with such rapid fire and that damn look he'd been giving him...It just scream: danger! "Why are you suddenly so curious?" Mick asked.
"Because," Daniel said loudly, "you're suddenly acting like it's not safe!"
Mick stared at him. "Why wouldn't it be safe?"
Daniel shrugged. "You tell me."
He rolled his eyes. "It's as safe as any other house." Daniel looked like he wanted to say more on the matter, but Mick left before he had the chance. He just wanted to get out of that tent, away from that look he still couldn't place...
I was going to make this part a bit longer, but it consisted of hurting my little fire baby. And I couldn't bring myself to do it. (Plus we're riding on three weeks here, I think, so I really need to update this.)
Hope y'all enjoyed!