After two days, everything started to blur together. Minutes blurred into hours, hours into days. His parents weren't typically religious, but left a hundred different conversion videos playing to help 'get the devil out of him.'
His mom refused to give him breakfast and lunch. She claimed that he was too far and needed to lose as much weight as possible if he wanted to get any cheer scholarships. And the meals he did get were light and did nothing to get him any nutrients.
The windows were locked and the doors were monitored. Bucky couldn't go anywhere in his house without one of his parents knowing. From what he'd heard, he wasn't allowed any visitors. His mom told his Aunt Missy that they would be out of town and Addison had been his last hope at escape.
They made him do relentless exercise indoors and punished him to try and purge as much of the devil out of him as possible.
It was miserable.
At night, Bucky would cry himself to sleep, clinging onto the hope that Zach might have been trying to save him. That maybe Addison wouldn't believe the lies his mom was telling and that he might escape his living hell.
The days blurred into weeks, and Bucky's hope slowly faded away as time passed.
Addison had taken screenshots of Tracey's messages with her aunt and sent them to herself. She even sent herself the actually pictures, with a feeling that Zach may want those. Unfortunately for her, she didn't see Zach again until the next day.
Like the day before, they had to hold Zach down when he saw the screenshots. They didn't need to reset his Z-Band again though, he was just angry. Addison and Bree had been tasked for the rest of the day with keeping Zach as far away from the Aceys as possible. Originally, it was just Addison. But Bucky wasn't just Zach's boyfriend, he was Addison's cousin, and she knew better than anyone what their family could be like, so Zed had sent Bree with her.
They were all just sitting ducks at that point, waiting for a solution that never seemed to come to anyone. Bucky's parents were telling two different stories to Addison and her parents, but it wasn't like any of them could get into the house. There were cameras and security systems, not to mention they didn't have a key.
On Tuesday, Addison had had enough. After school ended, she went straight to Bucky's house. It was freezing out because it was late January. Addison knocked persistently on the door and her Aunt Kitty opened it after a minute. Addison pushed the door open and walked in, despite her aunt's protests.
"You can't just let yourself in," Kitty protested.
"I'm your niece and it's ten degrees outside," Addison stated. She closed the door then turned to her aunt, giving her a hard glare. "Because of you, I have to walk to and from school in the cold. I'm gonna get sick!"
"That is not my fault," Kitty argued. "And you ought to go home. You don't wanna get sick from your cousin."
"I don't care if I get sick. I miss him, I wanna see him." Addison said. "Being sick for this long warrants a visit to the doctor, you know. People at school are asking where he is and I can't keep saying he's out of town. I just want to make sure he's okay."
Kitty frowned and didn't budge. "You're being very rude. A young lady doesn't act this way, you know. Someone ought to teach you manners."
"I'm sorry that in your mind, being a 'young lady' is letting people walk all over me. Being seen and not heard and being cute and reserved. I say that's bullshit."
Kitty gasped in shock, placing a hand over her heart. Addison rolled her eyes and shrugged off her winter clothes. "I won't be long. I just want to see him." Addison said again.
Kitty didn't answer her, still flustered from Addison words. Addison moved from the door and into the house. Bucky was sitting on the staircase, out of view from the door but still watching the exchange.
When Addison saw him she nearly cried. Her cousin looked worse than bad. He had bags under his eyes and looked sad and sick all at once. His face looked a little hollow too. He was wearing baggy pajamas that hid almost all of his skin.
He gave a strained smile when he saw her. "Hey cuz," he rasped out.
Addison whimpered and rushed to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Bucky groaned in pain and Addison pulled back quickly, looking him over with a slightly guilty look.
Bucky looked over her shoulder and had a second of panic before returning his attention back to Addison. He gave a slight shake of his head, telling her not to ask about it.
"How're you feeling?" Addison asked cautiously.
Bucky shrugged weakly. "I've been better." His voice was raw, sounding like her either lost his voice or been screaming. Addison knew which one it was and felt a little sick to her stomach.
"We've missed you at school. Do you plan on coming back anytime soon?"
It was a little bit of a trap for his mother, who was listening a few feet away.
"When I'm better I'll go to school," Bucky stated. He glanced at his mom then said, "How's walking been?"
"Zed walks to my house every morning and when he sees I'm cold he gives me his jacket. I keep telling him to stop but he insists that his core temperature is lower than mine and I need it more which is complete bullshit."
"Dear lord," Kitty muttered.
Bucky smiled a little. "Just let Zed do his thing. You know he loves smothering you."
Addison smiled and sat down next to him. "I'm sick of walking to school. Can't you just fake being fine? I would."
"I-I can't," Bucky sighed. "I'm too sick. Can't drive." He gave her a fake cough then glanced at his mother worriedly. "You should go home."
At that point, Kitty interjected with, "You should! I'm sure Missy is worried sick about you."
"I told Mom that I would be late," Addison said to her aunt with a sickeningly sweet smile. "I miss my cousin, everything else can wait."
"Addison," Bucky said warningly.
Addison shrugged and turned back to him. "I think it's fair that you know that everyone misses you. It's fair to you to know that I only told a few people you were sick, just the trusted people. It's fair to you that some of them are mourning your absence."
Bucky gave a look of recognition, while his mother remained confused. "Um, what's happening?"
"Well some pictures from the cheer championship were discovered. Some people didn't like them, especially since they were taken without permission. In the privacy of one of the rooms. So he beat up Tracey, who took the pictures." Bucky swallowed and Addison added, "Well he didn't beat him up. But he threatened to. Tracey had it coming though."
"Uh, Yeah," Bucky said shakily. "I'm guessing it was Zed?"
He gave her a look. Addison knew that Bucky knew she was talking about Zach. "Yeah. He gets very violent and he's also very attached to you. He misses you a lot too."
"I miss him too," Bucky said sadly. He sighed, then said, "Give him my condolences."
"Of course," Addison said. "I don't want to leave but the folks who are mourning you are waiting for me. It's not very fair to keep them waiting, ya know?"
Bucky cracked a small smile. "I get it. I'll see you some other time though, right?"
Bucky gave her the most hopeful look. Addison nodded, feeling sorry that he was trapped here with no escape and she could come and go as she pleased. They both stood up and Addison carefully hugged him.
"Please save me," Bucky whispered in the quietest voice, so silent she almost missed it. It was broken and almost hopeless and Addison's heart broke at the sound. Her cousin was the strongest person she knew, and seeing him so defenseless made her feel even worse.
Bucky and Kitty walked her to the door. Bucky helped her into her coat and Kitty made sure she had walked down the driveway before closing the door.
Addison sighed, slightly defeated, and shoved her hands in her pockets as she walked back home. She was surprised to feel something else, along with her house keys and phone. She pulled on the ring and found Bucky's key ring in her hands.
His car keys, keys to the gym, and his house keys were all on it. He must have slipped it in while he had her coat. She didn't know why, but maybe he was hinting at a possible way for her to help him.
For now though, she went home, where Zed and Eliza and Zach and all of his friends were waiting.
Alonzo had kept Zach close. When Addison came back from checking on Bucky, her tenseness was obvious and Alonzo has wrapped his arms around his friend.
"What happened?" Zed asked, moving toward his girlfriend.
"Aunt Kitty is such a bitch," Addison grumbled. Then, to the crowd that was waiting on her, she said, "I forced my way in and I talked with Bucky. He looks…he looks so bad."
Zach's breath hitched in his throat and Zephyr put a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder.
"But, he does miss you, Zach." Addison said. "He understood who I was referring too. I may have told him that you were gonna beat up Tracey too, but he didn't seem upset. He was more upset because Tracey was the cause of this."
Zach knew he would regret asking, but went ahead and asked her, "H-how bad is he?"
"I don't think they're feeding him right," Addison said. "They always complain about him being fat. And he seemed like he was in a lot of pain."
Zach gave a sad pout. "We have to get him out of there. We have to! I can't just sit here, not doing anything!"
"Addison says they have cameras and an alarm," Roz reminded him.
"Bucky gave me his keys," Addison pointed out. "So we have a way in. I just don't know what good they will do."
The room was silent for a moment. Then, Eliza said, "I think I have an idea."