It was 3 in the morning when Mark heard the knocking on his front door. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he (begrudgingly) sat up, and put on his glasses. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy about this rude awakening.
Padding down the stairs, all he could think about was returning to the sanctuary of his bed. That, and what item he was going to use to beat his nighttime encroacher. Hell, he was so pissed off and tired, the thought of the mystery person at his door being a burglar didn't even cross his mind.
All Mark's thoughts of the different swears he was about to spew came to a crashing halt when he saw who was on his porch.
It wasn't necessarily who was on his porch that sent him into shock (and made him almost collapse from worry, though he'd never admit that part). It was the state they were in.
David, in all his baggy jogging pants and t-shirt (for once) glory, was in Mark's doorway. That part wasn't too unusual. David had been over to Mark's house several times. What was unusual, was the blood dripping from his head, seeping into his dungeons and dragons T-shirt.
The more Mark thought about it though, the more he realized how devastatingly normal this scenario actually was. He was actually surprised something like this hadn't happened sooner.
Throughout all the years Mark had know him, David had always had a bruise or cut on his body. Always showing up to the creek with a black eye or something just as worse.
It was no secret, at least to Mark, that David didn't have the best parents. He'd even go as far as saying David probably had the worst parents.
David didn't like talking about family. Everytime Mark tried to bring it up, David would go quiet, get teary eyed, and Mark would quickly change the subject. God knows how much Mark hated seeing David sad.
However, over time, Mark managed to piece together that David's mom got trapped in a marriage with his sorry excuse for a father. Right when she was planning on finally leaving his abusive ass, she found out she was pregnant. Knowing she wasn't financially stable enough to raise a kid on her own, she resentfully stayed. Over time, however, she reached her breaking point.
One day, a 7 year old David awoke to a missing car in the driveway, and a note on his nightstand. That note was the last thing his mother gave him, and the last time he ever heard from her.
Mark knew that sometimes David would pull it out of the shoebox he kept it in, just to stare at it. He'd seen him do it. He never asked what it said.
With David's mom out of the picture, his dad needed another source to vent his frustrations out on, and who better than the defenseless 7 year old living in his home?
"Uhh... are you gonna invite me in?" David asked, effectively snapping Mark back to the current situation. "Because I can go somewhere else if this is too much trouble."
"No! It's fine, David," Mark said a little too quickly. "Just, get in here already." The thought of David seeing anyone other than him at 3 in the morning hurt his heart for reasons he didn't want to look into.
Leading David into the bathroom, Mark noticed that he didn't have his signature helmet on his head. Looking at the blood leaking from David's head, for the first time in his life, Mark wished he didn't take that stupid helmet off.
"Just sit on the counter," Mark said, rummaging around inside his first aid kit. "I'll patch you up."
"Thank you," David replied, uncharacteristically quiet. After a long portion of silence, David continued, "Aren't you gonna ask me how I got hurt?"
"You and me both know damn well how you got hurt David." The air in the room became tense. "Sorry," Mark said after some time. "I'm not upset with you. I just pissed that your dad gets away with doing this to you."
'How dare someone hurt my David' he thought, surprising himself. He wasn't sure where the thought came from, but he found himself liking the sound of David being his.
'I'll unpack that later' he decided.
"All done," he declared, applying the final bandage.
"Thank you," David said, worryingly shy.
'Well that's unusual' Mark thought. The last time David was this quiet, he had accidentally glued his mouth shut doing only God knows what.
"Hey uhh, can I ask you something?" David asked, once again pulling Mark out of his thoughts.
"Sure man, what's up?"
"Well, uhhh, this might seem weird, and you can totally say no, but," David said, stumbling over his words. "Can I, maybe, sleep over here tonight?"
When Mark took too long to answer, David started, "Y-ya'know what, it's fine. I-i can just go to Barry's hou-"
"NO!" Mark interrupted. "I m-mean no, it's okay. You can stay."
Once again, the thought of David sleeping at someone else's house irked Mark deeply. More deeply than he'd ever admit out loud.
"Are-are you sure?" David said uncertainly. "Because I don't wanna bother you more than I already ha-"
"Yes I'm sure," Mark interrupted once again. "Now let's go to bed. It's nearly 4 in the morning, and he have a long day of questing planned tomorrow."
Mark grabbed David's hand, and starting leading him to his bed. While they were making their way up the stairs, Mark added quickly, "And you haven't bothered me one bit."
Mark spent nearly 40 minutes lying in bed with seemingly no chances of falling. 'Hard to sleep when there's a cute guy laying just inches away from you' Mark thought bitterly, without a trace of real malice.
He wasn't sure if David was asleep or not, until he heard sniffles coming from his right.
"David?" Mark said, rolling on his side to face his sleep companion. When he didn't get a response, Mark asked "David?" a little louder, tapping him on his shoulder.
Suddenly, David spun around, all but diving into Mark's arms.
"I just want to have a normal life," he sobbed. "I just want to be normal like everyone else."
Wrapping his arms around David's small frame, pulling him impossibly closer, Mark said "I know." After a slight pause, he continued, "But if you were normal, you wouldn't be the same David I know and love."
David hugged Mark harder, and continued to cry into his chest. Mark laid there, stroking David's hair, and whispering words of love and acceptance in his ear.
As the hours passed, David's tears subsided, and he was pretty sure Mark has fallen asleep. That was fine with David though. Mark didn't sleep enough as is, and David still felt guilty about waking him up in the first place. When his dad had busted his head open, Mark was the first person David thought to turn to for help. He was the person David trusted with his well-being the most. Laying in Mark's arms, David decided he didn't have any regrets as far as picking makeshift nurses went.
Listening to Mark's soft breathing, David's mind shifted to the note his mother left him. He didn't have to look at it to know what was written all those years ago. With the amount of times he read and reread it (albeit, most of the time with tears blurring his vision), he had it completely committed to memory.
'To my little warrior,
I cannot express how much it pains me to have to do this to you. It hurts me more than you will ever know. I hope that in the future you come to understand why I had to leave. It may seem unfair to you right now, but it is for the best.
Just know that someday, all of this will pass. I know my brave little man is going to be something extraordinary one day, and not make the same dumb mistake I did.
You will find someone who loves you for who you are. Someone who will take care of you, and help you through your darkest times, not be the source of them.
Keep your head up, and know that I love you will all my heart Davey.
-Mom 3'
David didn't know about all the talk about leaving being for the best, or amounting to something great, but feeling the steady rise and fall of Mark's chest against his cheek, David knew his mom had gotten one thing right.