A new day had dawned in Lazytown. Sportacus had spent the night at Robbie's house honouring the promise he had made and as the sun shone through the window Sportacus knew it was time to get up. Quietly he stood up and stretched. He'd spent all night sleeping in a second fluffy orange arm chair Robbie had made for Robyn so she could sit too. The chair was perfectly comfy but wasn't a bed.

While Sportacus was doing his usual morning exercises Robbie stirred and woke up. It took a second for Robbie to remember why Sportacus was in his living room and what had happened the previous day. He was happy that the pain in his chest had died away but expected to find a really nasty looking bruise where he'd hit the table. He smiled at Sportacus when he'd finally figured out that Robbie was awake. Sportacus had done him a great service by staying with him all night and he hoped that he would receive some help with getting up. He'd been sitting an awfully long time and was feeling rather stiff; a shower would ease his aching muscles. Sportacus helped Robbie up and when he was satisfied that Robbie had his balance he let him walk to the bathroom.

Robbie hadn't expected Sportacus to still be in the house when he got out of the shower. He'd walked into the living room with a towel wrapped round his waist and had intended to make himself some breakfast until he saw his house guest was still present.

"You want some breakfast?" Robbie asked.

"Yes please, I suppose you have some fruit around here somewhere."

"I do. Robyn eats both healthy and 'unhealthy' stuff. Give me second and I'll dig out the fruit for you."

Robbie walked over to the kitchen and Sportacus was extremely shocked and surprised to see scars on Robbie's back when he'd faced away from him. The scars looked incredibly nasty and Sportacus never knew he'd had them before. As far as Sportacus could tell these were old scars and were much older than the scars on Robbie's cheek. Sportacus didn't know whether he should ask about them or not but one thing he did know was that the sight of the scars made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Robbie seemed to sense Sportacus' discomfort and explained the scars to him.

"You remember Mr Snail? You asked how I knew the man and I said I didn't want to talk about it, perhaps I should now. You want to know where I got the scars on my back from. I got them from Mr Snail." Robbie paused and tossed Sportacus an apple, "I was brought up in the Crazytown orphanage. My parents abandoned me there. Mr Snail runs the orphanage and has always ruled it with physical brutality. If things weren't done the way he wanted them done you were beaten. If you didn't do what he wanted you to do you were beaten. If you didn't consent to his 'special' treatment of you then you were beaten."

"What was the 'special treatment'?"

Robbie closed his eyes and fought back the tears that welled in his eyes at the mention of the special treatment. It was the special treatment which had given him the worst nightmares and which he would never speak of. He knew he had to tell Sportacus, he'd said too much already and Sportacus wasn't one to let things go.

"The special treatment was the worst thing he could do to someone. It was only reserved for his favourite boys." Robbie couldn't think of any better way to put it than the hard and bitter truth, "It consisted of him being very nice to you. So nice that he would touch you and do things to you that shouldn't be done to children. I was one of those favourites."

Robbie's words hung in the air and Sportacus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd had no idea that Robbie had been brought up in the Crazytown orphanage and that he'd been treated so badly. Sportacus felt nauseated at what Robbie had gone through with being subjected to the so called 'special treatment'. Robbie didn't have to explain what he'd meant any further than he had already, it was too horrible to imagine. It explained why Robbie was the way he was and he felt really bad for the older man. To Sportacus it was bad enough being abandoned by both parents but being submitted to torture was much worse and no one deserved that.

"The scars came from Mr Snail's belt buckle. He beat me so hard that day that I would have died if a Doctor hadn't come and helped me. I was taken out of the orphanage and even though the Doctor knew full well what went on there he did nothing about it. Turn a blind eye and no one gets hurt was the policy. I don't know how many boys they had to treat and then send back. I was lucky, by the time I'd regained full health I was too old to go back to the orphanage and found my lair in Lazytown." Robbie spoke without turning back to face Sportacus.

Sportacus' eyes were still riveted on the scars when Robbie eventually turned back. Robbie had won the fight against his tears but could see unshed ones in Sportacus' eyes. Robbie regretted hurting Sportacus by telling him his most precious secret but it had to be done. Robbie felt a lot better for sharing his feelings with Sportacus and didn't know what to say or do to console the younger man. Eventually coming to a decision Robbie walked over to Sportacus and hugged him. Sportacus reluctantly hugged back fearing that the scars still hurt but when Robbie made no protest he hugged back harder and shed the tears he'd been trying to keep back. Robbie could feel Sportacus' tears on his bare shoulder and fought to keep his own tears at bay once again. Sportacus drew back once he was calm again; he smiled shyly at Robbie as he hadn't expected the hug or the literal shoulder to cry on as well as showing his own emotions. Robbie placed his hand on Sportacus shoulder and then went into his bedroom to get changed.

Robbie didn't get changed for some time. He just sat on his bed and tried to figure out the implications of telling Sportacus his deepest secret. It was funny, a couple of years ago Robbie wouldn't have even told Sportacus the time let alone a secret like that. So much had changed between them or was it just Robbie changing? Sportacus had been trying to make a friend of Robbie for as long as he could remember but Robbie had always thwarted the attempts. Ever since Lily's betrayal of him and saving Sportacus, Robbie had grown to think differently of the blue 'sports elf'. Sportacus had done more for him than he'd ever expected and since Robyn's arrival things had changed completely. Robbie had first noticed the change when Sportacus had saved his life when Lily had attacked him. The months he'd spent at the Mayor's house while his arms recovered taught him that he could depend on other people without being asked for anything in return. The kindness and seeming forgiveness he'd been shown while he was being looked after surprised him greatly.

After reminiscing for what seemed an eternity Robbie eventually got dressed and went back into the living room. He wasn't surprised to see that Sportacus was still there, there were things still left to be said.

"Now I know why you wouldn't let anyone help you when you went in the bath or took a shower at the Mayor's house." Sportacus said plainly.

Robbie nodded his head, "they would have been seen and at the time I couldn't have explained them. You can't really say they're the result of walking into a door or falling over. Luckily not all of my scars can be seen, I have some on the back of my head which are just like the ones on my back."

"What made them? They looked really deep."

"A belt. That time that Mr Snail beat me with it was the time he'd almost killed me. All of the other times he beat me he used his fists and didn't care who could see the bruises left afterwards."

"Do they hurt?"

Robbie smiled, "I can't say they do anymore. They hurt for a very long time after they were made. I can feel them sometimes, it depends on the weather."

Sportacus nodded. He couldn't say anymore for the moment. He was trying to take it all in. Through all the years he'd known Robbie he'd never imagined what he'd gone through and it made sense in way as to why Robbie was so 'rotten'. There were still questions he wanted to ask but he could see that asking anymore questions would waive Robbie's already faltering composure. He could tell that Robbie wanted to share more but thought it best to leave it until later. Robyn would be home any minute and it wouldn't do for her to see her father cry.

Robyn came home shortly after Sportacus had decided not to press Robbie for anymore information about his past. She was overjoyed to see her daddy on his feet again and ran over to him. Robbie picked her up and gave her a great big hug. His chest screamed at him at the action but he ignored it and with well practiced skill blocked out the pain. Robbie's slight grimace didn't escape Sportacus' notice, however.

"I hope you were good for the Mayor last night," Robbie said whilst putting Robyn down.

"She was wonderful, Robbie. She couldn't have been better behaved and it was a pleasure having her." The Mayor said entering the house. Robbie guessed that Robyn had come running home and the Mayor just walked while carrying Robyn's things.

"That's very good to hear. We can't have Robyn being naughty now can we?" Sportacus joined and gave Robyn a playful smile. "I better be going now anyway. I have something I have to do today and need to get ready." Sportacus winked at Robbie and received a nod in answer. Robbie knew what that thing was.