"Dad, please," Dylan pleaded, trying to stop the tears from falling down his cheeks. He had debated whether or not to even go home tonight but he didn't have anywhere else to stay. Not anymore. Not after… He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes before flinching backwards when his father let out a loud snarl.
"Stop crying," the older man hissed, stalking closer to his son "And don't call me dad, do you understand me, you little fag?"
Dylan ducked his head "Yes, sir," he mumbled quietly.
A loud slap echoed through the room "Look at me when you're speaking, boy."
"Yes, sir," Dylan repeated, looking up at his father nervously. He couldn't stop thinking about the others… Luke, Reggie and Alex were gone. His best friends were gone… He had no one anymore, not even Bobby. The older boy had disappeared as soon as they had gotten the news and Dylan didn't feel right going to Emily and Mitch anymore. They had already lost their son. He didn't need to cause them any more grief and he knew that his own problems would stop them from grieving "Sorry, sir."
"So, I got an interesting phone call earlier," Dylan's father smirked, gripping his son's jaw in his hand tightly "Do you want to know what it's about?" When Dylan didn't answer, he transferred his grip to the boy's hair "When I ask you a question, you answer. That band you spent time with made you forget all the manners I taught you, didn't they? Too bad they're gone now, eh? Oh, are you going to cry again? Your little boyfriend is gone, so you're stuck with me now."
"Dylan?" Mitch frowned, looking at the soaked boy on his porch. He hadn't heard from him in months. Ever since Luke died, it was like Dylan had disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Dylan wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stop his body from shivering "I didn't know where else to go," he admitted quietly "I'm sorry… I can go."
"No, no," Mitch shook his head, stepping back a little "Come on in. You're soaked."
Dylan hesitated for a moment before he moved towards the house he had spent so much time not half a year ago. Coming here had always helped him. Emily and Mitch were like the parents he never got to have and he often came here even after Luke ran away. More than once, he had tried to get the other boy to see reason and go back but Luke never listened and now it was too late.
"Mitch? Who was at the…" Emily broke off when she saw the shivering mess that had been her son's boyfriend "Dylan? Oh. Oh, dear. Come in. Why don't you go and dry off while I make you a nice warm tea?"
"No," he shook his head, desperately trying to stop the tears from falling. He had missed them so much "No, you don't have to…"
Emily smiled at him, her heart going out for the young boy. Even younger than her Luke had been and he had lost so much already "Nonsense, love. Come on. I'll get you some of…" she swallowed the lump in her throat "Some of Luke's clothes."
"I don't…"
"Em, why don't I give him some of my stuff, hm?" Mitch asked, shooting Dylan a look "It's probably not as cool as the stuff you have." He gestured to the wet clothes with a small, awkward smile "But it'll do."
Dylan wiped some water from his face unsure whether those were tears or rain "Yeah," he whispered.
"Well, come on, then," Mitch nodded "You know where the bathroom is. I'll put the clothes in front of the door when you're done."
It didn't take him long to find a sweater and some sweatpants that wouldn't completely swallow the boy and put them in front of the bathroom door before he went back downstairs to join his wife.
"What do you think happened?" Emily fretted, wringing her hands in the dish towel she was holding.
Mitch ran a hand through his hair "Probably the same reason that brought him here so often in the last couple of years," he shrugged tiredly.
"I'm so glad that he is here," Emily remarked, a gentle smile on her face "He is one of the last pieces of Luke that we have left…"
"He is hurting too," Mitch pointed out.
Emily wiped a tear from her cheek "That poor boy must have had it rough what with that father of his."
Mitch chewed on his lip "I completely forgot about that," he admitted quietly "For him to come here…"
"Something bad must have happened," Emily agreed. She looked up when she heard footsteps on the stairs, smiling at Dylan "Here you go, dear. A nice, hot tea for you."
"Thank you," Dylan whispered, wrapping his hands around the mug. He had forgotten how natural it felt to be with Emily and Mitch. Even after Luke ran away and Dylan didn't want him to know what his father did, he occasionally came here. It was part of why Luke's parents didn't worry about him as much as they would have otherwise. They knew where he was but decided to give him time. Dylan had told them that Luke had debated on whether to come home more than once and he had been so sure that after the Orpheum performance, Luke would have gone home. The two of them had talked about it more than once especially after Luke found out that Dylan had kept in contact with his parents.
After a particularly bad week at home, Dylan crawled through the window to Luke's room that had been left open and curled up on the bed, silently crying. Why didn't his father love him? It was a question he had asked himself again and again but he never could find an answer. After his mother left when he was small, his father had changed so much and had started to blame Dylan for everything that went wrong in his life. It wasn't fair.
"Dylan, dear, is that you?" Emily asked, poking her head through the door. She had heard sniffles coming from Luke's room and it had taken her a moment to remember that they had started to leave the window open for the younger boy.
Dylan wiped at his eyes quickly, turning red-rimmed eyes to Emily "Sorry for just bursting in," he mumbled.
Emily had seen the screaming pain and fear in the child's eyes and her heart went out to him. They had tried everything to get him away from his father but the other man was a skilled liar and it seemed as if he had contacts in CPS that helped him bury the evidence of his abuse "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Dylan told her, his voice cracking at the obvious lie.
"Sit up, dear," Emily sighed and pulled out the first aid kit she had stashed by the door "And take your shirt off. Let's look at the damage, alright?"
Dylan hesitated for a moment before he recognised the look in Emily's eyes. The determined look she always got when either he or Luke were too stubborn to realise that they needed help "I can't," he whispered "My shoulder…"
"Do you mind if I cut it off?" Emily asked "Or do you want me to help you take it off?"
Dylan contemplated what to say next and whether he would manage to get his arm out of the sleeve but in the end, he just sighed "Cut."
Emily nodded and grabbed the fabric scissors to start cutting the shirt. Her eyes widened silently as more and more wounds became obvious on the thin body in front of her. By the time she managed to cut the whole shirt off, her eyes were watery and she had to hold back the sob that wanted to escape her. No part of Dylan's back was without a bruise, a welt or a cut. His whole torso looked like some twisted art piece and he was still bleeding from several of the welts "I'm so sorry, dear," Emily spoke up, her voice choked with emotions that she tried to push back in favour of taking care of the boy "This is going to hurt."
"Just do it," Dylan told her tiredly. He just wanted to sleep and forget about his father for a while. Sadly, the man haunted his dreams frequently, so he couldn't even escape him in his sleep. Everything had been so much easier when Luke and the guys were still there. They made him forget about the crappy life that was waiting for him back at home.
Technically, he still had Bobby but the older boy hadn't talked to him since that night. He ignored Dylan at school and seemed to want to forget about everything that had happened. Dylan couldn't really blame him for it. It hurt to suddenly be alone but he wasn't selfish enough to ignore Bobby's obvious wishes. If he didn't want to talk to him, then he would accept it and not make a fuss.
Hey guys. This is going to be part of my Christmas present to you guys. I did my best to write for as many Fics as possible for Christmas but the rest didn't work yet. For the Fics that haven't been updated in this wave, I'll try to get an update out till March (I have exams in February, so I should be able to get stuff done until March).
For those interested, feel free to join my Facebook Group (NicholasFlamel's Corner) where I post snippets of chapters I write, ideas I have and finished/abandoned Fics. Link: groups/687956758591756