Mr Terrell DM x CS

High School AU

Danny p.o.v

"Mr Murillo I need to talk to you after class again," Mr Terrell says mid-way through his lesson. I sighed, this is not going to end well. I keep getting in trouble with him for not paying attention or in some lessons I do better work than in others. I don't get why the baby faced teacher is so determined to help me when so many other teachers say I am a lost cause and then not bother telling my parents how badly I am doing. Well, my mom lives in another state and I only get to see her in the summer, so she doesn't really have much ability to help me. If my step-mother and my father found how just how close I was to failing my life would be so much worse. That's why I make my school reports look like I am getting straight A's when I am barely scraping a C.

I was trying to get the work done, I didn't understand any of it and I didn't have the courage inside myself to tell Mr Terrell this. I get bullied enough as it is, I don't want to intentionally make it worse by showing the whole class how stupid I am. Mr Terrell comes over to me and sees that I have written nothing else on the page except for my name. "Danny, are you having trouble with this?" he asks me quietly, I refuse to make eye contact with him because that would just confirm to him how stupid he probably thinks I am. Then he took my no answer as a sign that I was too embarrassed to tell him, so he just started quietly explaining what to do while the class was getting along with the same work that I was doing.

They didn't seem to pay attention to what I was doing with the teacher. It was like this once no one seems to care while Mr Terrell gives me and in depth explanation about the essay we are supposed to be writing. "Danny, will it benefit you more if I gave better explanations at the start of the lesson? This is the best I have seen you do all year so far," Mr Terrell asks me, he sounded generally impressed as I wrote a lot more than I thought I was going to. "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner," I tell him quietly. He gives me one last explanation and then goes to the front of the class for the rest of the lesson as some people had started to finish already. It was an essay on Of Mice and Men after we read the book.

The question we were all given was this:

Steinbeck presents loneliness as an inescapable part of the characters' lives in Of Mice and Men.

To what extent do you agree with this statement?

All Mr Terrel did was remind me about some parts of the story that I could write about and how to structure my essay. I could have gone for the lower grade question, but he had faith that I could achieve the higher grade on this. He made me plan it out on one scrap of paper and then I was going to write my full essay on the second page. By the time he said I could start writing the essay he sounded a lot happier with me than he did when he told me he needed to see me at the end of the lesson. I still need to see him then, he is probably going to tell me off for my behaviour and lack of concentration at the start of the lesson, but he sort of knows the reason why and we could possibly work on it.

Steinbeck emphasises the loneliness of the lifestyle led by itinerant workers through the uniqueness of George and Lennie's friendship. Early on in the novel, they state that men like them are "the loneliest guys in the world." This extreme language and use of the superlative "loneliest" demonstrates that there is little hope for such men to escape their isolation. The nature of ranch workers' insecure employment made it impossible for men like George and Lennie to make lasting connections. George and Lennie contrast the universal experience of their peers – "They got no family. They don't belong no place." – with their own – "With us it ain't like that. We got a future." This use of the contrasting personal pronouns "they" and "we" draws attention to how different they are and separates George and Lennie from all those around them. However, the tragic end of the novel reveals that even this rare friendship is impossible to maintain in the brutal environment of the ranch. George is left alone, demonstrating that companionship is only temporary in this world.

That is only part of my answer, I went on to explain how Curly's wife was a very lonely character. The fact that she has no name shows how insignificant she really was to the rest of the characters around her. She was the only woman living on the ranch and that meant that she was treated quite badly by the other characters. Curly treats her like his possession that no one can touch, like a spoilt brat with a particular toy. He hated how she used to flirt with Lennie because she got lonely and needed the attention from a male that she didn't get from Curly all the time. Even Lennie and the puppy showed how companionship was only temporary back in those times and often it ended in tragic ways either through accidents or intentional murder.

I was the second last person to hand in my essay, I had written about three pages and Mr Terrell seemed to be impressed. Then I remembered the impending telling off I was about to receive from him once the class had left. About five minutes later I was all packed up and ready to leave and the class was dismissed. "Mr Murillo, come here," he tells me, and I sit on the seat next to his desk. I was desperate to fidget. Being called Mr Murillo barely ended well for me. He only said that as one kid lingered so he could tease me for what was about to go down, but Mr Terrell shooed him off. They are going to make all sorts of rumours now about me because of this. "What's going on Danny? You are a really smart kid. You just tend to show the less intelligent side more often," he starts, and I look down at my broken shoes.

"I just don't understand what to do. It's like the words all blur together," I tell him, having him verbally explain what was required and what the question actually was, helped me a lot. I could possibly have dyslexia, but my father would never get me help for it. It would just be another excuse to yell at me. I often get distracted by thought of how much I am going to get beaten up during the day too which doesn't help me either, but I am not telling Mr Terrell that. "Okay, so lets start with more explanations given at the start of the lesson. I really have faith that you can achieve good things in my lessons and if you are more comfortable telling me what is wrong then we can work through those issues. so you can do great things," he tells me. Then he remembers about the homework he set me and the rest of the class.

"We can start with this homework. Your essay today looked incredibly detailed and well written, so I know you are capable. Now let me explain this better and write it down so you can remember it," he tells me. We are still working on essays based on Of Mice and Men. He told me how we were supposed to write about Lennie and describe how his character is viewed by other characters in the book. Mr Terrell made sure to hint to spend at least one paragraph mentioning his mental disability and how that affects how people see him. It is clear that if he existed in the modern day that they would probably institutionalise him. "Now can you understand this?" Mr Terrell says, showing me what he had written as help.

"I can, thank you Mr Terrell," I tell him, feeling a bit more optimistic than I did at the start of the lesson. The work makes more sense to me now and I can probably finish all of this tonight. Well, I plan to do it all tonight because the explanation will be fresh in my head and it will be better for me to do it then instead of last minute like I usually do. Then I leave for the final lesson of the day. "So did you get told off?" Justin asks, his one of my only friends and he usually waits for me after my lessons, so we can walk to the next one together despite being in different classes this year. "No, not this time anyway. He actually helped me, like he sat with me for a huge chunk of the lesson to explain what I had to do and then gave me help for tonight's homework," I tell him.

"Really? Mr Terrell didn't just spend ten minutes telling you off for not paying attention then barely doing the work?" Justin asks. I nod at him then show him the extra piece of paper I was given. He was reading it as we were walking to gym which is the only thing we have together anymore. "Yeah, I kinda cracked and explained why I was so bad at the work. It payed off," I tell him. Justin handed me back the paper and I stuffed it into my backpack. Justin knows what is going on and he does his best to help, he's not the best at explanations though so it doesn't always work out. "Yeah I guess it did. If you did that with all the teachers then you would probably get genuine A's in all of your tests," Justin tells me.

"Yeah, Danny is the only smart one here when he uses his brain," Kris tells us, scaring me at first and then we both start laughing. Kris and I have know each other since we were babies and he has been a good friend to me. Stephen, was already at gym doing all his warm ups and excused us for being late to class again. I mean he should expect it by now, I usually get told off in all of Mr Terrell's lessons. "Mr Murillo, late again," the gym teacher says and then doesn't say anything else as I get changed to do the working out. This is the only class that I literally and generally get a good grade in. Then again you would have to be extremely stupid to fail gym. It makes me good at running away when I need to.

"Sorry sir, had Mr Terrell again," I tell him. I am sure he knows this by now, the schedule on a Thursday is always the same. "You really should behave like you do in my lessons in those you know Murillo. You would get along with so many more teachers," the gym coach says, and I nod. I know he has told me this before, but I never actually do it. I just feel like they don't care, and they don't put the effort in to recognise my struggle so that I don't put the effort in myself. I know it is the worst attitude to have, but at this point in my life I really don't give a fuck. My grades aren't going to matter if I get killed after I graduate. Well, I think that is the plan. Father was never one for specifics, just punch first ask later.

"At least you know summer break starts in three weeks. I know you'll be leaving us to go see your mom in Charlotte, but you'll be safer there," Kris says while we play doubles table tennis where no one really paid attention to the conversations. "Yeah, I can't wait for my summer holiday with mom. It will be a lot of fun to spend time with her and my brothers and sister," I tell him. It was weird, my father has custody of me but not the siblings because they are over eighteen and are able to make choices for themselves, so they decided to go with my mother instead which is what I wanted to do but I can't choose until a I graduate high school and survive for the summer holidays. Then I don't have to get the plane back home.

"Do you mind me living with my mom for a little while when we graduate? I want to have a break from you know what" I tell him, and Kris smiles at me. they know what I mean when I tell them you know what or you know who. They only know a small about the abuse that I go through and I can't tell them much more as would be murdered for revealing too much information. "Yeah sure thing Danny, as long as you come back to spend time with us as often as you are able to," Kris replies, and I smile at him. I do plan on coming back and I don't plan of forgetting the best friends I have ever had any time soon. Beside graduation is next year not this one, so I don't have to worry about leaving them behind.

"True, we can also come and visit you too. It's not just up to you to come and see us during the summer," Stephen tells us, and he pulls me into a hug while I beat Kris at another round of table tennis. I chuckle as I hear Kris complain as I beat him for the third time in a row. "Damn it Daniel!" Kris exclaims as the teacher watches me beat him for a fourth time. They keep asking me to join the table tennis team, but I keep refusing because father would never allow me to leave the house to go to the tournaments. "Aww, are you sad that I beat you for a fourth time today?" I tease, and he chuckles. "Yes, all mighty Daniel," he tells me, and we have a little play fight on the matts on the floor. This is the weirdest gym lesson we have both ever had.

One week later

"Danny you should go to the lunch time music group. My friend runs it and it would help you," Mr Terrell tells me. I had to see him at the end of class once again and I think he was going to start to run out of patience with me. "Yes sir," I tell him. A new rule had come into place where we have to call the male teachers sir and the female teachers miss. "It will be good for you Danny, I heard you singing in detention yesterday and I had been thinking about it," he tells me. I looked down, he had already seen the bruise on my face from yesterday. Father had found out about my true grades for one subject when the teacher phoned home and he got very angry at me for it. I excused it by saying that I had fallen into a door handle last night.

"I'll go at lunch time. I had no idea you heard me yesterday," I tell him, and he smiles. He still has faith in me somehow and I am getting used to it. I look forward to his lessons the most out of all my subjects. I have had a crush on him for a while now, but it is wrong for a teacher to be dating his student. I could get him fired if he ever felt the same way that I do for him. "I did, it's amazing what you can hear when the classroom is quiet," he tells me. It is nearly lunch time and I was going to go to my first session in the music group. I don't know what to expect from it, but I hope it is going to be something that I can enjoy. I need something to enjoy in my life after everything else that has been going on around me.

In two more weeks it is going to be the summer holidays and I honestly can't wait. I can't wait to see my mom again. I look forward to it all year and when it is over I sink back into a hole of depression until I get to see her again the following July. "Good, I think music could be something for you in the future Danny," he tells me, and I smile. I am glad someone sees a future in me cause I sure as hell don't. My step mother said if father wasn't going to kill me when I graduate high school then she was going to do it. I leave the class and go to the lunch hall to get something to eat before I go to the music group which is in the gym hall if I remember correctly. I had some interest to go in the start of the year, but I never ended up going.

"Daniel, how nice of you to join in. I am Mr Ragan. Mr Terrell said he was sending you here today. I bet it is better than being in another detention," Mr Ragan tells me, when I walked into the hall eating the bag of chips Kris had bought me since I could only just afford the sandwich. Stephen bought me a drink too which is nice of them. They all take turns buying me lunch when I am in school. At home they just bring food and cook it when father and step mother aren't home. "Hello Mr Ragan," I tell him, and I sit down, there was a guitar that I hoped I could play. I have been teaching myself at Kris' house. I can't wait to show people my skills and to have them listen to it and hopefully appreciate all the effort I have put in.

"Right let's hear what you can do," Mr Ragan tells me, and I pick up the guitar and start playing the first tune in my head. I start signing along with the tune that I was playing, and they are all watching in awe. I look at Mr Ragan, looking for approval and he smiled at me. "Mr Terrell was right about the singing, I never knew you could play the guitar so well though. How did you learn?" he asks me, and I put the guitar down. I think I am going to fit in this group quite well. "I was mostly self-taught. My friend Kris let's me practice in house when I go there, and he taught me little bits here and there," I tell him. Mr Ragan looked surprised that I was self-taught, but he was impressed all the same which is weird.

"That's interesting, I have never met someone self-taught at least at your age. You could definitely make a career out of music if you wanted to," Mr Ragan tells me. I smile at then pick up the guitar again to play another song for them that I learned. I am sure I am going to learn more songs while I am here. Mr Ragan listened to me a little more and then he taught me something new, a song that I heard before, but I never knew until now how to play it on the guitar. He was helping other people in the group too and it was nice to be in a happy environment. I might ask Justin, Kris and Stephen to come next time. They might enjoy it as much as I do and that would be cool. We want to be a band one day.

I chuckled at Jackson who decided to make jokes and they were really awful but a funny kind of awful. "It's been a good lunch break," he tells me as we have to leave to go to our second to last lesson of the day. "Yeah, I never thought that I would be in a group that I enjoyed. I think I tried all the nerdy groups first and they didn't really work well," I tell him, and he chuckles. It felt weird to not get bullied either. I usually get bullied at lunch time and I was glad that I was able to escape it for at least one lunch time a week. I don't know how often the group meets but if it is a couple of times a week then I was definitely ready to go more often. I honestly think Mr Terrell has helped me in more ways then he could ever understand. One day I want to repay him for that and I am not sure how.

I don't even know if he would want repaying for this. I guess I will just have to wait and see. "Hey where did you go after we got you food?" Kris asks me. Kris has one lesson with me now and I smiled at him. "I went to the music group. I think Mr Terrell would have given me a detention if I had not have gone to it," I tell him, and he chuckles. He knows that I was starting to do a little better now that Mr Terrel has started offering me help and advice during the lessons to become better at concentrating. I am slowly getting better in different lessons now which is good for my grades which is a much-needed improvement on before. Teachers are noticing that I am behaving better now all thanks to Mr Terrell.

"Yeah, I'm going to help you out. I think I can explain things better than I used to," Kris tells me, and he was pretty good at it before, so I don't see how dramatic the difference is going to be. I get a C in Maths anyway. I have always been alright at maths, there are only a few topics that I slightly struggle with, but Kris helps with those. Well he helps me the best that he can in the way that he knows best. It helps when my father lets me go to study sessions with Kris and I don't get beaten up for leaving the house since he has given me permission to go. He only grants me permission to go to Kris' house since it is on the same street as mine, so he can keep an eye on me and make sure that I don't go to the police for the abuse.

"Kris is it bad that I have a sinking feeling I won't live till graduation? I feel like he will really do it this time," I whisper, I had been having this feeling on and off since last week and I really wanted to speak to someone about it. I wanted to know I wasn't going crazy with how I feel about my emotions and stuff like that. "Yeah, a little bit, but we both know that it is coming for you. Your father is a ruthless bastard when he wants to be," Kris whispers back, and he is worried about me. He has every reason to be worried about me and he knows that he can't really do much about it and I can't come and move in with him even though I really want to at this point. I wanted to stay at his house tonight, but I can't.

"I'll come sneak you out in the summer Dan," Kris whispers, just seconds before the teacher called us to pay attention. He asked me to answer the question on the board to see if I had been paying attention and I managed it flawlessly. I felt pleased with myself. I knew he was trying to catch me out and it didn't work again. "Okay but not to your house, we live on the same street," I whisper back, hoping Kris would realise the flaw in his plan. I hope he realised that father knows that we live on the same street and he would find me there within less than half an hour of him discovering that I have "gone missing". I fear that could end up worse for both Kris and I. Father could even kill Kris for trying to help me.

"Yeah, I was going to smuggle you to mine for like five minutes while we wait for Stephen to come and get us," Kris says. I would admire Stephen more if he did show up at Kris' house at three in the morning to come and rescue me from the hell I currently live in. "If Stephen does that, I will probably owe him for the rest of my life," I tell him. This plan of his all depends on me being able to survive long enough for them to arrange for me to stay with one of them and to finalise when they are doing it, so my father would not suspect a thing. Well at least I hoped he won't suspect anything bad is going on at home and he wouldn't take it out on me. Then I have to worry about my step mom and what she might do.

She is a bit smarter than father and she might find out what is going on sooner than he would. Since he loves her so much he trusts her to dish out punishments on me that she sees fit and he doesn't really want to know all the details of why she gave me a beating. They have the same beliefs and they both hate the fact that I like both boys and girls. Well, they don't believe I like girls even though I have taken my best friend Theresa out on several dates and bought her gifts every birthday and valentine's day. She knows I am into boys more put she was willing to help me try and cover it up for my father. It did work for about three months, I would still get beaten but not for my sexuality which was a welcome break.

"Yeah but we both want the same thing. Which is to have you safe, I know you are supposed to see your mom the day after school ends, but if you have this feeling he might not let you go," Kris says. That was another thing that could stop his plan, but it would be a plan B. The end goal is to see me safe and away from the evil clutches of my father. I talked to mom over the phone the other day, it turns out Mr Terrell is a good friend of hers and she knows about him giving me extra support, but she doesn't know the whole truth. She only knows what I have told Mr Terrel which is not a lie, but it is not the whole reason why I don't focus often during the lessons. I don't know if she knows the grades are a lie.

She probably does, she is smart, and she could probably see the correction tape and how my handwriting is different from the homeroom teachers. I don't even know if father sends her my school report if I am honest with myself. He probably doesn't want her to know about how my education is going. He hates her now, despite having four children with her. If he didn't want children, then he should have put a condom on while he was having sex with her. Or maybe he didn't hate kids until he had me. People have said that they can tell when someone is gay just by looking at them or hearing them speak. It was probably what happened between my dad and I. He heard me speak for the first time and hated me ever since probably.

I'm only guessing, I don't have a clear answer as to why he hates me so much. He has never personally told me "Oh son, I hate you for such and such a reason," He has also never really attempted to fix our badly broken relationship either which isn't the best. Then again, I don't think he wants a good father and son relationship with me, so why would he bother trying to fix what he doesn't want. The final bell for the day rang and both Kris and I were among the first to leave the classroom. Maybe if I go home in a good mood then I won't get beaten up tonight. Father usually picks me up every day anyways. "Hello Danny, had a good day in school?" he asks me, and I smiled and nodded at him. Maybe I am right for once, maybe he will be nice to me tonight. Oh, how wrong was I when I got home shortly after.

A month later Jordon p.o.v And in other news; police are looking for the man believed to behind the murder of his former wife and three of their children and the attempted murder of the fourth. He is also wanted in connection for arson at his family home where his youngest son was found. The LAPD are working together with police in Charlotte to find Steve Murillo and his current wife Maddison Murillo. They have issued a warning which states that Steve is an extremely violent as is Maddison and they should not be approached if seen. If members of the public see either of these individuals, then they are to phone the police immediately. It is understood that 16-year-old Daniel Murillo is still in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

I can't believe that has happened so quickly. School only broke up about two weeks ago. I knew there was more to Danny's story than it first appeared. I knew there was something he wasn't telling me, and it was something serious. Then again, I can one hundred percent understand why he wouldn't tell a teacher or someone about it. His life was at risk, even more so if he told someone about what was going on at home. I didn't have enough evidence to tell the authorities about it even if I did suspect the bruises he showed up with were not from him falling over. I could have asked his gym coach about his balance during his lessons. He might have told me that Danny balances fine during those lessons. That would have given me some evidence to get CPS involved but it wouldn't have been a lot. His father could probably lie his way through it.

Then I get a phone call "Mr Terrell, I am calling from Los Angeles Medical Centre. I understand that Margo Murillo wanted you to have Danny live with you if something ever happened to her," a lady tells me. I think I vaguely remember Margo tell me that she wanted me to have Danny because she was worried about him. "Yeah I can take him in when he is better," I tell her. I don't know how bad the injuries are, but I am willing to help him through this. I will look after the kid, I may or may not have developed romantic feelings for him. That doesn't matter now though, he doesn't need a boyfriend at this time. Maybe when he feels better and can get through the grief that he will experience.

He's just lost his mother, and his three siblings. When he finds out he is going to be devastated and I will be here to help put him back together again. It is going to be weird because this is my last year teaching and he is still going to be my student during it. I want to be in a band with me friends and to do that they would need my full commitment. That's why I am leaving teaching at the end of the school year. I want to help Danny through it and give him the best start possible to adulthood. I guess since George has heard him sing and play the guitar he could be invited to the band at some point. That kid will go very far in life if he puts his mind to it and he could be a successful musician if he wanted to.

I talked to the nurse for a little longer before she had to go. They can't bring Danny out of the coma yet, he's still critically injured and needs more time for his body to attempt to heal from what he has gone through. He had the severe beating and stab wounds from his father and step mother and then he got burned in the house fire. I am honestly surprised that he is still alive at this point. It just goes to show how strong he really is and how much he is still fighting to stay alive. Danny's been strong since the day I met him. I know, and I feel confident that he is going to survive this, and he will live to see the day where the people who should have protected him get sentenced to life or even the death penalty for what they have done to him.

His family at least deserve him to suffer the same fate that they have done at his scummy hands. I would quite happily go to court and look at him while he gets sentenced with the punishment he so rightfully deserves. I want Danny to see the justice for his family and feel the relief knowing that he isn't in any harm or danger anymore. I am going to visit him in a little bit. I now realise I need to make a teenager friendly bedroom before he gets discharged from hospital. The room I have in mind is not very ideal for a teen. I wanna repaint it but then give Danny the freedom to choose his own colours and then get a desk and a computer in here so it feels more like a teen lives here. The décor is a little outdated in places.

It will be good to see Danny's face when he realises that he is safe and in a much safer environment than he was before. "Hey Jordon, what are you doing?" Jorel asks me when he walks in. I let them walk in whenever they need to because I trust them with my house and I know they will not steal from me. I was on Ikea's website to see if I could buy the furniture I need for Danny now because it could take some time to arrive and put together while Danny is in hospital and recovering. "Buying some new furniture for the spare room. I got a phone call from the hospital saying that one of my kids that I teach is now under my care and the spare room needs to be more teen friendly," I explain. I show him the things that I am hoping to get Danny.

"Yeah, we can help with that. If you know some of the things that he likes, then George and I could probably help sort the room out while you visit him. It will give you a better chance to get it done before he comes out of hospital," Jorel says. I am glad that he accepts it and I kinda have a rough idea on the colours that Danny likes. We will definitely get him a guitar and see how much he enjoys that as well has having a computer to make doing the school work a little easier. "That would be amazing Jay. I know for now at least the walls will be white, but I will paint one red. I am going to leave most of the decorating up to Danny when he feels more confident. I just need better furniture," I tell him.

"That sounds like a good idea. If you write down what furniture you need we could get George's pick-up truck and go to Ikea next week and see if we can get everything sooner. We could do the basics this week and the start of next week. We could all work together to take the old furniture away and whatever else needs taking away and then start redecorating," Jay tells me. I know George would be on board. He knows Danny well since they did the music group just at the end of the school year. He suspected that something was going on with Danny and he mentioned it to me. We both couldn't really do much. We have no evidence to suggest abuse at the time which the police has now the father has been arrested.

"Yeah, there isn't much point in buying the furniture now then if you are going to do it next week. I am going to see Danny in a little while so feel free to take all the furniture out. I am getting all new furniture, so I don't need any of it. I'm going to get new carpet after the painting has been done. Need to get him clothes too at some point. I need his clothes size for that," I tell him. I don't mind letting them do that part for me. I feel quite happy knowing that I have that help for Danny to help him get settled in when I do get to take him home from the hospital. I have all the furniture saved so I can buy it next week, or more like I can give the list so that Jorel and George can go and get it for me if they wanted.

"Fair enough Jordon. Hope Danny recovers quickly. I saw the news earlier, that father of his is a total bastard if I ever met one," Jorel tells me. I hope that Danny recovers quickly, I don't know the full extent of his injuries yet, but I guess I will find out when I go to the hospital in a little while. I show Jorel where the room is that I am allowing them to take apart when I am probably in the hospital later today. I don't think they could wait until tomorrow to do it. They will be excited to destroy some furniture and get rid of some pent-up anger. "So, all of the stuff in here?" Jorel asks me, taking pictures to send to George probably. I would tell them to sell it, but the furniture is so old and broken there is not much point now.

6 months later – Danny p.o.v

I have been living with Jordon, who I know as Mr Terrel for the last five months. It has been amazing, it did upset him at first to know just how much I suffered before now. He is determined to make sure that I enjoy every day for the rest of my life. I loved having my own bedroom and a comfy bed, I never used to have one until now. I have fully recovered from the last attack even though I have some scarring left from it. I think it's quite early in the morning and I had another nightmare. I am tempted to go and snuggle up to Jordon so that I can get that comfort from him. He said I could do it, I just have a lingering fear that he is going to snap and get angry at me for it. I don't like it and it made me too scared to leave my room sometimes.

My father received the death penalty for what he did. I was there when he was sentenced, and the judge mentioned me in his statement. Five life sentences wouldn't have been enough for what he has done to my family. My step-mother received life without parole and she was called the definition of a wicked step mother when the judge gave a statement on her sentence. They are both going to suffer for what they have done to me. Jordon was right there with me as I sat in the stands watching my father not even show a hint of remorse for what he has done. He killed my mother, my two brothers and my sister and almost killed me in the process. It was so close that if the police had not found me when they did then I probably would be dead by now.

I decided to forget all my previous thoughts and go to Jordon's room. I crawled under the covers and snuggled up to him. I felt him wrap his arms around me and then rub my back a little bit. "Hey Dan, another nightmare?" he asks me. I knew he was quite sleepy himself. I nodded and buried my head into his chest. I felt very safe in Jordon's arms and it was quite nice to have someone protect me when I needed it. "Alright, you can stay with me obviously," he says, and I smiled. It felt weird to share a bed with my teacher but there are clearly mutual romantic feelings between the two of us. We haven't said anything to each other about it yet though. "Thank you, Jordon," I tell him. I am still getting used to calling him Jordon instead of Mr Terrell and the same for George instead of Mr Ragan.

"You're welcome buddy. I said I was going to be here for you," he tells me, and I smile at him. I then yawned, and I heard a stifled coo from Jordon. I am pretty sure he thinks that I am extremely cute. I have no idea why he would think that honestly. I am not cute, pretty or hot in any way shape or form. I yawned again and snuggled into Jordon's side. "Good night Danny," he tells me. I close my eyes and smile. "Good night Jordon," I say, even though I am pretty sure it is close to three or four in the morning now. I can't remember what time it was when I woke up or how long it took for me to decide to go to Jordon for a cuddle. I didn't check the alarm clock on my bedside table before I left the room.

He was there for me when I came round from the coma and he has been by my side ever since. It has been weird to have someone care for me, but he has been trying to help me since the last school year and he has been helping a ton so far this school year too. I think I missed about a month of school recovering at my new home. I kept up with my work while I was off, Jordon made sure of it. Kris isn't allowed to come see me outside of school, but I got to his house once a week to spend time with him and the others. I was gutted that my plan didn't work how I wanted it too. I wanted to live with my mom for at least six months when I graduate high school later this year. I just wanted that time that I was not going to have when I was at home during the school year.

"Come on Danny, it's time to get up now," Jordon tells me, however long it has been since I fell asleep in his arms. I open my eyes and smile at him. It felt so good to have a better night's sleep than I did previous nights. "Morning Jordon," I tell him, knowing it could be early afternoon by now. I don't know how long he has let me sleep for by this point. "Morning Danny. I am gonna make you breakfast in a minute," he tells me. I think it is a Saturday, so I don't have to worry about school today which is good. I can't really cook breakfast for myself which makes me glad that I don't have to worry about cooking until I am more confident in asking Jordon to teach me how to cook. It would be nice for him to teach me how to cook.

"Okay, thank you," I tell him. Then he decides he is going to pick me up and carry me down the stairs, so that I can watch him cook my breakfast. At least I get to start to learn how to cook with his help. I have always been curious to see how he makes the amazing meals that he cooks. "How about a beach day today? I know of a perfectly secluded beach where no one will see us," Jordon suggests while he is in the middle of cooking my breakfast. That sounds like an amazing plan to me and I have nothing better to do today. I have nothing planned with the guys. "That sounds like a good idea to me Jordon," I tell him. "Brilliant Danny, I am going to make a picnic while you are getting ready," Jordon says. I don't know if I have swim shorts.

I guess he has bought me some otherwise he probably wouldn't have suggested us going to the beach. I mean I don't have to go into the water, but it might be a fun since I have not been to the beach in a long time. The last time I went was probably the summer I had 2 years ago when I went to my mom's house. I didn't go last year because I felt so sick while I was at my mom's house and she just wanted to look after me and make me rest. I don't know how I managed it, but I got so sick for the entire time I was there. I felt better three days after I got home which was good and then I went to school on time. I missed my mom so much and it has been hard to come to terms with her death and the death of my siblings.

A little while later we are at the beach, he did bring us both swim shorts which was amazing. I went for a swim first and then watched Jordon swim too. We tried to make it look like we were not here together even though it is perfectly legal since he is taking care of me until I am eighteen then I could live with him anyway. "Hey Danny, come here. I wanna ask you something," Jordon tells me. He had been setting up for lunch while I was having another go swimming. I walk up the sand to him and he wraps me in a towel. "Sure, what do you wanna ask?" I ask him, feeling a little worried about what he wanted to talk to me. He hugs me, and I smile at him. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my boyfriend?" he tells me.

"I would love that," I tell him. For a moment I don't think that we are student and teacher. We are just two people in love. I was so glad that he has the same feelings that I do for him. "Perfect, when you graduate school you are going to have the best time of your life," he tells me, and I grin. He told me how he plans to leave teaching at the end of the school year and we are all going to be in a band together. He was going to be in a band with a guy called Aaron, but he turned out to be an asshole, so they don't want to be associated with him anymore leaving the spot in the band open for anyone else. George already knew me pretty well and knew about my musical talents, so I was given the position without contest.

"I love you Danny," he tells me later on. I decided to share a bed with him tonight. I would probably

end up snuggling with him anyways. "I love you too Jordon," I tell him, just before I fall asleep in his arms.

And that is the end of another one shot. I hope you enjoyed! Leave requests down below!

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