A/N: This chapter follows immediately after Matilda and the Werewolf, so you might want to go back and read that first, if you don't remember it. It's chapter 23. :)
Timeline:
1. 'In the beginning' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 13 and 14) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
2. 'Neverending Conversation' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 15 and 16) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
3. 'Growing Together' (Chapter 44) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine
4. 'Trick and Treat' (Chapter 34) Rusty is eight, Danny is ten.
5. 'Matilda and the Werewolf' (Chapter 23) Rusty is nine, Danny is eleven.
6. 'Fishing Trip' (Chapter 47) Rusty is nine, Danny is eleven
7. 'Something more than it should be' (Chapter 10) Rusty is ten, Danny is twelve
8. 'The humiliation of Norris Carrol' (Chapter 20) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
9. 'Four Day Interlude' (Chapter 5) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
10. 'Remember the first time' (Chapter 4) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
11. 'Sunshine, smiles and sweet, sweet words' (Chapter 17) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen.
12. 'Lie, Cheat, Steal, Play' (Chapter 24) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
13. 'View from the outside' (Chapter 12) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
14. 'When we were young' Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Chapter 25-28) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
15. 'And we won't get it back when we die' (Chapter 29) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fourteen
16. 'Walk before you can crawl' (Chapter 2) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
17. 'Other Nightmares Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 8 and 9) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
18. 'Unseasonal' (Chapter 36 37, 38, 39 40, 41, 42 & 43) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
19. 'The more things change' (Chapter 1) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is fifteen
20. 'Different Roads' Part 1-3 (Chapter 31-33)
21. 'Words and Silence' (Chapter 22) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen
22. 'Six months of roses' (Chapter 18) Rusty is thirteen/fourteen, Danny is sixteen
23. 'Two stories with some understanding' (Chapter 21) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen. Falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
24. 'Stocking, Glitter, Snow' (Chapter 46) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen
25. 'Life Lessons' (Chapter 7) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen - falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
26. 'The lies we live' (Chapter 3) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
27. 'All Fun and Games' (Chapter 45) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
28. 'If the fates allow' (Chapter 19) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
29. 'This is our decision (to live fast and die young)' (Chapter 6) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
30. 'Such a perfect day' (Chapter 11) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
And sequels after they move away!
'Adjusting' - two months after they leave town, Rusty is 15, Danny is 17
'Time to regret' - shortly before 'Learning Curve'
'Learning Curve' - eighteen months after they leave town, Rusty is 16, Danny is 19
'All in the family' - shortly after 'Learning Curve'
'Stockings, Glitter, Snow' - shortly after 'Learning Curve'
'Outward Ripples' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Eye for an Eye' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Chasing Echoes' - set after O11.
'Reconstruction' - set after movies.
It was a good thing it was summer vacation, Danny thought. Not that there was really anything good here, but if it had to happen, better that they could hide up in his room and not have to worry about school.
It had been a week now since Rusty had turned up on his doorstep, battered and bleeding, and the bruises had only just started to fade. Rusty was still exhausted, sleeping twelve hours a day and listless when he was awake. A couple of the welts had turned a strange colour and started to smell bad, but Danny had dealt with that by applying antiseptic religiously and giving Rusty Tylenol for the resulting pain.
No, Rusty was healing, physically anyway. It was just...even after that first day Rusty spoke there were still long periods of time when he vanished into silence, and on the occasions when Mom or Dad came up to his room Rusty seemed unable to talk to them at all, even if he'd been talking to Danny just five minutes before.
He could tell by the way Mom pressed her lips together that this was being characterised in her head as rude and disrespectful, but thankfully she hadn't said anything about it yet.
In fact, Mom and Dad seemed to be going out of their way to pretend everything was normal. They had to have realised that Rusty had been staying here full time, but they hadn't said anything where usually Mom would have sent Rusty straight home. Made him think that the bruises Mom had seen had been enough to shock her. Still, he knew it couldn't last. No matter what he wanted, no matter what was right, they were never gonna just let Rusty stay.
It was early evening and they were lying on the floor in front of the sofa playing a strange mixture of Monopoly and Clue. So far Danny was almost certain that the Top Hat had done it in the hotel on Park Lane with the candlestick, but the game was far from over.
Rusty rolled an eight and landed neatly on Free Parking. "I've got the revolver," he declared." King me."
"The essence of democracy," Danny said dryly, putting a little paper hat on Rusty's token. He threw the dice and landed on a station.
"Hey, I own that," Rusty said cheerfully. "You have to move backwards from now on."
"Me or the token?" Danny asked with interest.
"The token," Rusty decided at last. "For now, anyway."
They shared a smile that quickly vanished at the sound of raised voices coming from downstairs. Mom and Dad were both home then.
Thankfully they weren't quite shouting loud enough for them to hear the words. Not that it mattered. Danny knew what it was about.
So did Rusty. "Maybe I should go," he said softly.
Danny turned and looked at him quickly. He was hunched over and if he wasn't shaking it was only through strength of will. "Where?" he asked evenly.
Rusty sighed. "Home."
"No," Danny said at once.
"I can't stay here forever, Danny," Rusty pointed out with another sigh. "Sooner or later I'm going to have to go back."
Go back. Go back to where that...that bastard...was waiting with his fists and his boots and his belt. He took a deep breath. "You think I'm just going to let you - "
" - let me?" Rusty repeated intensely.
He paused. "I don't want you hurt again," he whispered, quiet agony searing through every word. "Not ever."
Rusty looked away, rubbing his fingers round his mouth. "Maybe Dad will have calmed down," he offered eventually. "Maybe Mom will have come back. Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe everything will be back to - "
" - that the normal where you only get hit once a week or so?" he demanded.
"Yeah," Rusty said, swallowing hard. "That's the one."
The anger died away to nothing. Downstairs, the fury grew to a fever pitch. He heard his name, heard that boy, heard trouble, heard taking advantage.
Mom didn't think they could go on like this. She wanted to send Rusty home and she'd never believe what was waiting for him, and she'd never listen when Danny tried to tell her.
"That's the way it is," Rusty said quietly.
"Yeah." Suddenly he was exhausted. "Don't go, Rus'. Not until we've got no choice."
"Not like I'm looking forwards to it either," Rusty said with a lightness that made Danny shiver.
Before he could say anything they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
He exchanged a quick fearful look with Rusty. They had to be coming up here and there was terror in Rusty's eyes, and he was looking between the window and the bathroom door as if...
"Hey," he whispered, placing a hand on Rusty's. "It's just my parents, remember. They won't hurt you." Not physically. Not directly. They'd just send him home to be hurt instead. Much cleaner that way.
With a start, Rusty nodded and Danny wasn't so sure he'd been fully remembering where they were.
Gloomily he realised that Rusty had submerged into silence even before the door swung open and Mom swept in.
"Dinner will be ready in half an hour," she announced stiffly. "Make sure you both get washed up and," her eyes swept over the duck pyjamas Rusty was still wearing, "Dressed before then."
"Of course, Mom," he said obediently, and with a sniff, Mom turned and left.
He swallowed. "A command performance," he said with a pretence at lightness.
Rusty was studying his pyjama top awkwardly.
Yeah. "She has to know you don't have any clothes here."
With a shrug, Rusty suggested that Mom probably hadn't given it even a passing thought, but if Rusty wasn't wearing something halfway decent by the time they went downstairs, there'd be trouble.
"Suddenly I've lost my appetite," he said miserably.
Rummaging through his wardrobe, they managed to find a pair of dark jeans that just about fitted once they put a new hole in the belt, and a mint green rollneck Danny really couldn't remember owning, but it worked to cover all the bruises except the ones on Rusty's face.
"Ready?" he asked pointlessly, and Rusty nodded his eyes shadowed and afraid.
Danny and his friend trailed down for dinner just as Barbara was bringing it through to the dining room, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief. Barbara was in a bad enough mood already; if the boys were late he was sure things could only get worse.
"Shall we?" he suggested indicating the table, and they nodded and sat down silently, not even looking at him. They sat stiffly, heads down, not even looking at each other for once, and he had the strangest feeling they were waiting for something. Surely they couldn't know what he and Barbara had planned? Although he supposed that this was the first time they'd called the boys down to dinner for a while. Maybe it was just because it was so unusual.
It was stupid that he felt so nervous at the thought of confronting his own son. He comforted himself with the thought that it was all for Danny's own good.
At any rate could already tell this wasn't going to be a pleasant meal, and for a long blissful moment, he considered pretending to get a phone call and heading into the office, or better yet, round to Donna's place for the night. But, no. No, they'd talked about this and he'd agreed with Barbara that they needed to stand together. Present a united front, for once in their lives.
Not that it was ever easy. Barbara thought that they should take this opportunity to try and get Rusty out of their lives altogether, not just out of the house. Luke thought that would probably just make Danny more rebellious than he was already, and that was the last thing they wanted. No, he was sure that given time, Danny would grow out of this phase and make newer, better friends. But, for now, they had to put up with this... excessive friendship.
With a sniff, Barbara brought the pot roast over to the table and started carving. Luke sat down on the other side of the table from the boys and glanced over to them, hoping to start some sort of a conversation. Danny was looking at Rusty who was staring down at the tablecloth. Luke winced a little, trying not to stare at the bruises on the kid's face. They did look worse than usual. He wondered if he should say something. He didn't want to play into the stories any though.
But the air was thick with tension and he wanted to try and lighten the atmosphere a little. That was the plan. Of course, the plan would be going a whole lot better if Barbara wasn't glaring at Danny and Rusty while she sharpened the knife. God, that woman made his head hurt. They'd talked about this – if they wanted to avoid alienating Danny completely, they had to make sure they made it as relaxed and pleasant a discussion as possible. Hell, this had been her idea - why couldn't she just try sticking to it?
"You know," he said, clearing his throat, as Barbara passed around the plates. "We had a training session the other day with our compliance officer." Jo. Five foot ten, blonde and with a habit of wearing skirts so short it made him and every other guy in the office need to stay sitting under their desks every time she bent down. "She sent round this memo a week or so before, telling us all to read paragraph five, subsection two of section six of the compliance code." He laughed. "Of course, I didn't. I just didn't get around to it. But I stuck my hand up with the rest when she asked if we'd read it." He looked round eagerly, and Danny managed to raise a small smile of acknowledgement. "But then she just laughed and told us that there was no paragraph five in subsection two. Can you believe that?" He laughed again, and after a few seconds Danny managed to laugh briefly and politely.
There was a long moment of silence.
"What a...funny...story, Luke," Barbara said insincerely through thin lips.
He sighed and turned his attention to his dinner. He really wanted to get out of here right now. And Barbara wondered why he didn't like coming home? God, this was actually physically painful.
For a moment they all just sat there, eating in silence .Not that anyone was really eating. As usual, Barbara was just picking at her food like a dead-eyed bird, and Rusty was just moving the food around his plate while Danny watched him.
"So," he said brightly. "Do you have any plans for the rest of summer vacation?" he asked the boys.
Danny looked up as if startled at the question. He hesitated for a second before glancing at Rusty, as if looking for answers or support, and Luke could see what Barbara found so annoying about that. "Uh, nothing really, Dad. Just hanging out, I guess."
He nodded. "Well, I was thinking that I could take the two of you fishing tomorrow," he said enticingly. "I used to love going fishing with my father when I was your age. And it's the perfect weather for it too. There's nothing quite like standing peacefully, watching the water go by and enjoying the sun and the breeze, just waiting to land the big one." He was beginning to convince himself that this was a good idea and he smiled across the table at them. "Doesn't that sound good?"
To his pleasure, Danny was looking straight at him, interest shining in his eyes. He always liked it when Danny looked at him like that. He didn't get enough opportunities to actually feel like a father.
"Yeah," Danny said slowly. "Yeah, that does sound good. Doesn't it, Rusty?"
Rusty nodded still not raising his eyes.
Barbara kicked him sharply under the table. Damn. He gritted his teeth. He was working up to it. Honestly, she never gave him a chance.
"And then," he said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Afterwards, I can give Rusty a lift home."
There was a crash as Danny dropped his fork. "You can't," he said loudly.
"Daniel!" Barbara said warningly, and oddly, Rusty seemed to be giving Danny the exact same look.
Danny paid no attention. "You can't send Rusty home," he insisted. "His father will hurt him."
"Danny, we've been through this before," he said as gently as he could. It was frustrating to hear this same thing over again. Danny just didn't understand. What did he want them to do? They couldn't just let the kid stay forever. Yes, the world wasn't fair, but there was nothing they could do about it, and besides, they all knew that Rusty lied. "Let's just focus on enjoying tomorrow." Why couldn't they just live for the day? There wasn't any point in worrying about the bad side of life. Especially not when they couldn't do anything about it.
"No!" Danny insisted, his voice shrill. "You can't!"
"Daniel, that's enough," Barbara snapped, sounding altogether fed up. "This is what is going to happen and that's an end to it. You're acting like a spoiled brat. If you carry on making a fuss, your father will drive Robert home right now."
Danny looked at him in mute appeal, and he quickly looked down and busied himself mopping up the last of his gravy with some mashed potatoes. He couldn't deny that Barbara was being harsh, but there was no point in arguing over it. She was quite right; this was what had to happen.
He heard Danny sigh and then a moment later Barbara smugly said "If you've finished eating, you can go upstairs. You'll need to be up early to go fishing with your father."
There was the sound of scraping furniture and when he looked up, Danny and Rusty were already heading towards the door. "Goodnight," he called after them.
Danny paused in the doorway. "Goodnight," he said, his voice short and muffled, and then they were gone.
He turned and looked at Barbara. "Well, that could have gone better," he said with a sigh.
The ugly sneer on her face was all the answer he needed.
Rusty followed Danny upstairs, trying to ignore the way his legs were trembling. For a moment there he'd thought that Danny was going to keep on arguing and he knew they would have lost. That argument they'd always lose. And call him a coward, but he didn't want to go home. Not yet. Not tonight.
Danny was angry and upset and no sooner was the door shut than he was pacing back and forth, his emotions spilling over in the way they never would in front of anyone else. "I knew it. They're just going to send you back. It's like they don't even...are they blind? Don't they care?" He whirled round, staring at Rusty with unseeing eyes. "I don't understand."
He didn't have any words. He couldn't reach out and touch Danny, and he didn't have any words of comfort to offer.
"I don't understand," Danny said again in an agonised whisper.
And Danny didn't understand, he knew that. Danny had never understood. Danny lived in a world of right and wrong, and he believed with all his heart that Rusty didn't deserve to be hurt, and he could never understand that no one else agreed. He could never understand that his parents didn't agree.
No. They didn't care. And that hurt Danny and he couldn't find any way to make that better. And he felt sick and afraid and Danny couldn't find any way to make that better and they were both hurting and he was helpless. He hated feeling helpless. More than anything else in the world.
He tried to speak but the words didn't come, and he gritted his teeth at his uselessness. Danny needed him.
He took a step closer to Danny and spread his hands wide, trying to show how he felt, trying to show that he wanted...that he wished...
"I know," Danny said with a sigh, his hand pressed against his forehead, his fingers tugging through his hair. "I know."
This wasn't anything they hadn't expected. They'd known Danny's parents were going to send him home.
"Yeah," Danny agreed. "It's just the way they did it...do you think they really think I'll just forget all about it if Dad takes us fishing first?"
Rusty shrugged and with a tilt of his head, asked Danny just how often his Dad offered to take Danny anywhere?
Danny took a deep breath. "That's not the point."
But maybe they should just enjoy it, he suggested, looking Danny straight in the eye. After all, no matter what they did, he would have to go home to Dad, so maybe having any time before that was what mattered.
"It's a bribe," Danny told him. "It's just to make us go along with it, or to stop Dad feeling guilty."
He shrugged again. Did it matter? They could still enjoy themselves. And after...well, whatever happened happened, and it wasn't like Danny's parents were saying he couldn't come visit.
Instead of answering him out loud, Danny walked over to him and took his arm, turning it over and pulling up his sleeve, exposing the bandages. He remembered what Danny had said. What Danny had realised. That Dad had been aiming for his head. And now Danny was afraid that there might not be an after.
He looked up, meeting Danny's eyes and he wanted to promise that he wasn't going to die. He'd do whatever it took. He'd try and avoid Dad as much as he could, and when he couldn't, he'd do whatever Dad wanted. Be the obedient son that Dad wanted him to be – that should protect him a bit.
For a long moment, Danny looked at him, and then he nodded slowly, like he believed him.
They both knew it would never work. But sometimes...sometimes playing pretend was all you had.
"Okay," Danny said, determination in his voice. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it properly. There's bandages and painkillers in the bathroom still. You can take those. When it gets dark we'll sneak downstairs and take as much food as we can get away with. Get a water bottle too. It's summer, so you can stay outside as much as possible, and the food and stuff should mean you can just hide in your room the rest of the time. You won't even need to see him."
It sounded good, but with a shiver he remembered a week ago, Dad crashing through his door. His room wasn't so safe anymore.
Danny watched him carefully and nodded. "Okay," he said again. "How about we find something to wedge the door shut?"
Huh. That sounded like it could work. He smiled. Danny wanted to make things better.
"Always," Danny told him with soft intensity.
After a second, still smiling, he looked away and turned back to the abandoned board game. He figured in three more moves, he could steal one of Danny's hotels.
Danny grinned and sat down opposite him, taking the dice in hand. "Besides," he added out of nowhere. "I've never been fishing. Maybe fishing is fun."
Rusty couldn't remember a day spent with Danny that hadn't been fun.
Dad woke them at first light. As far as Danny was concerned, that was still the middle of the night. He was not a morning person.
"Get dressed and bring a spare change of clothes," Dad told them in a cheerful whisper. "I'll meet you downstairs in the kitchen. Keep your voices down. I don't want to wake your mother."
No. Danny didn't want that either.
He glanced over to Rusty, who looked exhausted, his face so pale the bruises stood out all the more. "Fun, right?" he said optimistically, and he wasn't surprised when Rusty didn't answer with anything but a tired grin. Yeah. Too much to hope that this would be a speaking day. No matter how much Rusty protested that it was all inevitable, that none of it mattered, Danny knew he was dreading going back to his father.
He reached out and silently squeezed Rusty's hand.
When they got downstairs, Dad was packing rounds of sandwiches into a large tupperware box. "This should keep us going till dinner," he announced, adding in a few bags of chips and a multipack of juiceboxes as well. Seemed as though he was going to act like nothing was wrong, that this was just a perfectly normal outing, and it wasn't going to end in betrayal.
Except it wasn't, of course, from Dad's point of view. Because Dad didn't listen when Danny told him what Rusty's life was like. If Dad would just believe him – if Dad could just see – then Danny knew he'd do something. Only Dad was so very good at not noticing anything he didn't want to, that Danny didn't think that would ever happen.
"Are we all ready then?" Dad went on, and he managed to nod. "Good, good. Let's head on out."
It was about an hour's drive to Dad's chosen fishing spot, and they were soon out of town and heading through the countryside. As much as Danny hated everything this trip stood for, he couldn't help but smile as he saw Rusty staring out of the window with a certain wonder. He didn't exactly suppose Rus' got to go out of town a lot.
They left the car on a dirt track and walked about a mile or so to a bend in the river. Really it wasn't that far, but it was far enough that Rusty was struggling, his arm pressed against his ribs, his breathing fast and ragged. It hurt, Danny knew, and he had nothing to offer but sympathy and an arm to lean on.
Eventually they got to the bend in the river that Dad was apparently thinking of. Truthfully, Danny couldn't see what made this spot so special, but Dad smiled and indicated it dramatically, like they'd just reached El Dorado. "Here we go. This should be the perfect spot for the rest of the day. Let's get set up on the bank there."
They laid blankets down to sit on, and Danny figured they could probably quite happily curl up in them and go back to sleep. But Dad had more for them to do.
"I'm afraid I only have two rods, so you're going to need to share with Danny, Rusty," he said, smiling apologetically. "Now. Let me show you how to get this set up."
It all seemed simple enough, right until the point when Dad took the lid off the pail and revealed the heap of squirming, wriggling maggots. Danny shuddered, feeling sick. Oh, that was disgusting. But Dad just reached his hand in and grabbed one of them, spearing it on the end of the hook. "You have to make sure the worm is still wriggling," he told Danny, focusing on his line. "Else the fish won't bite."
Right. He took a deep breath and looked at the writhing mass. He could do this. He could do this easy. All he had to do was reach in, grab a worm...maggot...whatever...and stab it right through its plump little body. That sounded straightforward enough. He was sure he'd be able to do that any moment now, just as soon as he remembered how to move his hands.
As he hesitated, Rusty moved silently to his elbow, reaching in and dealing with the worm and the hook, and the look he shot Danny was a mix of amusement and sympathy.
He signalled his gratitude, and absent mindedly pulled a clump of tissue out his pocket so Rusty could wipe his fingers.
Dad looked back at them. "Oh, well done, Danny, that's excellent," he said happily.
Danny opened his mouth to admit that Rusty was the one who'd actually done it, but Rusty shook his head urgently and he caught the impression that right now Rusty would be happier if Dad thought they were doing exactly what they were told. "Thanks," he said instead, the hesitation audible in his voice. So often when they did something, Danny was given all the credit. Because Rusty was younger, he guessed, and so easier to overlook and dismiss. And he hated that, but knowing Rusty preferred it, he was able to put up with it. But just flat out taking credit for something he hadn't done? Oh, that made him feel wrong inside.
Not that Dad seemed to notice. "Alright," he said, smiling. "Come here and I'll show you how to cast. Put your hand there...good...now slide the other one down a bit...excellent, Danny. Now just watch me and try to copy."
He did. Five or six times before he got it right. And he knew he should be angry with Dad – and he was, really – but in spite of himself he found that he revelled in the attention. Dad spending time with him, teaching him, smiling at him like he was proud...oh, it didn't happen often.
He glanced at Rusty and took in the smile, the way Rusty was watching him, his head tilted back to enjoy the sun.
Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
They'd been out here for a few hours now and so far they hadn't caught a thing. Not that they were exactly making any tremendous effort. The sun was warm, there were no people around and they were lying back, relaxing together on the riverbank, the fishing rod propped up between them.
He'd never been outside the town before. It was kinda peaceful. Like being in a really big park. They'd even passed a field with some cows on the drive in. They'd just been standing there. That was kinda cool. Up till now the largest animal he'd ever seen in real life was Rafferty's dog, and that would probably look a lot smaller if it wasn't for the teeth.
Danny's father had got a bite an hour ago and waded out into the river, much to their bemusement. He'd been laughing, and he'd wound up on the other bank, further downstream, so they weren't exactly worried. And he felt a lot more comfortable now that they were alone...with Danny's father he always had to be on his guard. Now it was just the two of them and he was relaxed.
"That looks like a fish," Danny said, pointing lazily into the river.
He peered into the water and grinned. That was a stick.
"A stick?" Danny repeated with mock outrage. "Look, it's got scales."
He looked. Lichen, he suggested to Danny with a tilt of his head.
Danny sat back down sullenly. "You don't know anything about fish either.
Not a thing, he had to agree cheerfully. But they weren't made out of wood. Besides. What was Danny going to do if it was a fish?
"No idea," Danny answered his thought. "Wiggle the rod at it maybe?" He looked at the rod with a frown. "D'you think there's still bait on that?" he wondered.
Rusty shrugged. He didn't much know and he didn't much care. He had no particular desire to reach his hand into the maggots again anyway. Reminded him too much of the time Mom had left a packet of sausages lying on the window sill for a week. Dad had made him clean it up. Least it had driven home the importance of not letting anything stay in his food stash too long.
Mom. He bit his lip. There was part of him that was still hoping she would be there when he went home. That everything would be the same as ever. He doubted it though. He wished he could see her again, even if it was just to say goodbye and that he was sorry. He'd never meant to drive her away, and not just for his own sake. Dad was right, she couldn't look after herself. Just like he did, she relied on Dad to put a roof over her head and for money for food and stuff.
Without that, he thought the scene Dad had painted for her was probably about right, and it was his fault and he was sorry. He rubbed at the healing marks on his back absently. No wonder Dad had been angry. He couldn't blame him for -
Danny grabbed his hand. " - no," he said, his voice soft, his eyes focused on Rusty absolutely. "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. There's no excuse for what he did."
Danny always made everything sound so simple. But he smiled, apologising for bringing the nice day down, and Danny rolled his eyes, silently telling him how ridiculous he thought that was, and he shrugged, because yes, it might sound stupid, but he wanted the beautiful day and the sun and the...and the together.
Danny shuffled closer to him and moved his hand around. And now they were holding hands, and he knew he should find that strange. But it was Danny and he didn't.
"I'm gonna check the bait," Danny announced after a few minutes, and Rusty nodded good naturedly. Danny didn't want his Dad to come back and discover that they weren't even trying, and that was understandable.
He watched as Danny drew the line in. "It's still there," Danny reported, sounding surprised.
Rusty wasn't. You'd have to be pretty hungry to even consider eating something that looked like that. He didn't see why fish would feel any different.
"Okay," Danny said confidently. "Now, I just need to cast this back into the river." He drew the rod back with a swift movement, and the line sailed over their heads and buried itself neatly in a bush.
There was a second of stunned silence and then an outbreak of unhappy barking.
He grinned. Oh, well done. Danny had caught a dog.
"I suppose we should do something about that," Danny said slowly, a second before the bushes rustled and a confused-looking collie came running up to them, wagging its tail uncertainly, the hook caught in its shaggy coat.
Rusty stood and carefully removed it, and the dog licked his hand enthusiastically. Some fish.
He grinned over at Danny who stood, trying to look as dignified as possible. "I pulled back too far," he explained.
Uh huh. The dog bounded off for a moment before coming back with a stick and a hopeful expression. Suited him fine, he threw the stick and laughed as the dog caught it before it ever hit the ground.
"Think he's trying to tell you your throw's lousy," Danny commented with a grin.
Well, then he'd just have to try again.
After he'd been playing with the dog for a couple of minutes, a woman holding a dog lead came scrambling out of the bushes. "Benjy...oh, there you are!"
She started walking closer and Rusty automatically stepped back, the dog bounding happily after him.
"Hello," she said with a broad smile, looking straight at him. "Out here for the fishing? I see you found my dog. Don't worry, he's perfectly friendly. I...God!" She stopped suddenly, staring fixedly at his face.
Self-consciously he ducked his head, trying to hide the bruises, but that only seemed to make it worse.
She inhaled sharply, and then she rushed forwards and grabbed the dog by his collar, clipping the lead on and dragging him off quickly, without so much as glancing at him again.
Right. Suddenly he felt so much colder. And Danny told him people cared.
Silently he walked back to the riverbank and sat beside Danny and equally silently, Danny passed him a sandwich and a juicebox, and he sat close, drawing in the comfort.
Danny had well and truly made his mind up now; fishing wasn't for him. Yes, the fresh air and the outside had been nice after a week spent shut up in his room, however necessary it had been, but there was only so much staring at a river he could do. Especially since Rusty had dozed off an hour or so back. He looked peaceful at least. Danny figured he would need all the rest he could get, and he felt the savage anger beating at the edges of his mind again. He took a deep breath. He'd talk to Dad again. If he could just make Danny see he knew Dad would help them.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a sudden burst of movement. He turned quickly to see the line jerking. Huh.
"Wake up," he said, keeping his voice low in case the fish heard him.
Rusty sat up instantly, blinking and confused, his expression clearing as he followed Danny's gaze.
"What do we do?" he demanded.
Rusty just shrugged in answer and made a polite after-you gesture towards the fishing rod.
"Oh, you're a lot of help," Danny complained, grimacing, but he awkwardly grabbed the rod and started trying to pull the fish in, like Dad had told him. The rod practically jerked out of his hand. "It's strong," he exclaimed. "Must be big."
He scrambled backwards, tugging on the road all the time as it weaved wildly from side to side. Rusty laid his hands carefully on the rod in between Danny's, and with a nod, they both pulled together and the fish came flying out of the water with a splash.
Danny vaguely had time to realise they should probably have used the net, as he dropped the rod and desperately tried to catch it with his bare hands. He managed to close his hands around it briefly. Very briefly.
Ew. "It's all slimy," he exclaimed, snatching his hands back, and the fish fell down onto the ground in front of him.
Rusty was bent over, doubled up with laughter.
Danny glared at him. "Well, you pick it up then."
Still laughing, Rusty managed to straighten up and shake his head. Apparently Danny had caught the fish, Danny had to deal with the fish.
"It was a joint effort," he pointed out.
A joint effort Rusty wanted no part in.
With a sigh, Danny pulled his t-shirt sleeves down so they covered his hands, and gingerly took a step towards the fish.
The fish promptly flopped towards him, opening its mouth to reveal dozens of sharp teeth.
Fish had teeth?
With an embarrassing shriek, he jumped backwards, grabbing hold of Rusty's arm in the process, instinct insisting he get Rusty away from the danger, but he caught Rusty by surprise and Rusty's foot slipped, and Danny couldn't catch him, and with a cry, they both tumbled headlong into the river.
Luckily it was only waist deep, and Danny managed to clamber to his knees almost immediately, spitting out a mouthful of water and looking round anxiously for Rusty.
Rusty was looking straight back at him, a smile of wry resignation in his eyes.
He sighed. "You know, I don't even really like fish."
It had been too long since Luke had been fishing, that was the problem. He'd forgotten how much he liked it, and time had slipped crazily away from him. It had never been his plan to leave Danny and his friend for so long.
When he heard the scream, he'd swear his heart stopped beating. That was Danny. He was absolutely sure of it, and he was running before he'd even started thinking, his rod and the fish he'd caught lying abandoned behind him.
He sprinted round the corner in true to see Danny and Rusty clambering out of the river. God. "Are you alright?" he asked, running up and helping Danny up, checking him over for injuries. "Did you hurt yourself? What happened?"
"We're fine," Danny said, glancing back at Rusty for the nod of confirmation. "Just wet, that's all. I caught a fish," he added with a hint of pride. "And then I slipped."
"Yes. Well." He stared, not quite sure what to say. He didn't even understand how. Boys will be boys, he supposed. "Good thing I told you to bring a change of clothes now, isn't it?" He sighed, looking at them. They were completely soaked. At least it was a warm day. "Wait there two minutes, while I run and get my things?" he instructed them. "It's probably about time we were heading out anyway."
Now that the panic was over, he walked back along the river to pick up his equipment and the fish. The fish Danny had caught hadn't exactly been very big. And only one as well. He guessed fishing trips with his son was one more dream he was going to have to scrap.
When he got back the boys had picked up the blanket and stowed the rod.
"Ready to go then?" he asked brightly, scooping up the fish from where it had been left on the bank and sticking it in the box with the others.
"Yeah," Danny said, and Rusty nodded.
The walk back to the car seemed to take forever. Normally he would ask what they'd been doing in school, but it was the summer holidays, so that was a non starter. And he knew they'd spent the past week in the house for whatever reason, so he couldn't even ask if they were enjoying summer break. And neither of them made any attempt at conversation, trudging along behind him, exchanging glances in that creepy way as if they were talking with their minds. So, without much of a clue what else he should be doing, he strolled along ahead of them, calling back encouraging phrases like "Not much further," and "Nearly there."
It was a relief when they were there and he quickly popped the trunk open, making sure all the fishing equipment was safely stowed away before looking out the towel and dry clothes. Unfortunately he'd only thought to bring one towel – he hadn't exactly been expecting them to jump in the river.
"Here you go," he said, handing the towel to Danny. "Pass it to Rusty when you're done."
But instead Danny passed it to Rusty immediately, and Rusty shook his head and pushed it straight back towards him.
"Oh, for..." he muttered, before taking a deep breath. "Don't fight over it. Just...Danny, you go first and pass it to Rusty when you're done, okay?"
Fortunately, there seemed to be enough of an edge to his voice that they obeyed. He realised with a start that Danny hadn't said anything since the river. God, if Danny had picked up that habit from Rusty...he didn't know what he'd do.
"Here you go," he said, passing over the pile of clothes, when Danny had finished towelling his hair and body. Get dressed quickly now. There's no dry shoes, so you'll have to just leave them off, and hope they dry quickly.
"Thanks, Dad," Danny said, his voice subdued, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief. Danny still had some manners then.
He got the second pile of clothes ready and looked at them carefully for a moment. They looked noticeably nicer than the stuff he normally saw Rusty wearing, and he guessed these must be some of Danny's old things. Well, he just wouldn't mention it to Barbara. He always took the view that what she didn't know wouldn't upset her.
"Here you go, Rusty," he said, passing the clothes over, and he rolled his eyes as Rusty awkwardly took them and started pulling the jersey over the one he was already wearing. "Take the wet one off first," he said exasperatedly.
Rusty shook his head, not even bothering to look at him. God, kids today really were so rude.
"Dad," Danny said quietly.
"Later, Danny," Luke said, still focused on Rusty. He just wanted to get this over with and get home. "Do as I say," he ordered. "I don't want to have to explain to your parents why I let you catch cold now, do I?" He was satisfied to see the shiver. Hopefully common sense would prevail. "There, you see? Do you want to stay cold?"
"Leave him alone," Danny demanded, sounding furious.
That was quite enough. He strode forwards and grabbed Rusty by the arm, ignoring the gasp. At least Rusty didn't struggle on once he'd got a hold of him.
Efficiently, he seized the sweater and pulled it over the kid's head.
Then he stopped.
And stared.
The kid's back and torso were riddled with a mess of bruises and welts and cuts and scabs, a patchwork of blues and reds and purple fading into yellow. It was sickening. It looked like someone had done their best to torture the kid.
Aghast, his mouth hung open. He'd never seen anything like this before. Never even imagined anything like this. He didn't know what he was supposed to say.
The kid stared at him, his eyes wide and fearful.
Out of the corner of his eye, Luke could see Danny staring at him too, but his eyes were full of hope. Hope for what? He had no idea what to do. This wasn't something he could deal with. No one could expect him to deal with it.
The dry shirt had fallen onto the ground. He picked it up and pushed it vaguely in Rusty's direction. "Here you go. Get dressed quickly," he said, turning away and occupying himself with the box of fish. "Say, do you think your mother would like some of these?" he asked, and he knew he was babbling. "They should fry up nicely."
He turned his head in time to see Rusty shake his head. Thankfully he'd already pulled his top on – Luke figured if he'd looked at that much longer it might just have turned his stomach completely. Now it was all covered up, he could breathe easier. Try and get his heartbeat back to normal.
It was nothing. It was just shadows or a trick of the light or something. At any rate it couldn't possibly have been that bad, could it? Someone would know. Someone would have done something. It was probably just the result of a fall or a fight or something. Probably the kid just bruised easily. And even if it was...even if it was, there was nothing he could do about it. You couldn't go around interfering in other people's families, particularly not that sort of family. He didn't know what the kid might have done to deserve it. For all he knew, it was a perfectly reasonable punishment. No, he shouldn't get involved.
He took a deep breath and busied himself rechecking that everything was secure and the trunk was closed over. He could feel Danny's eyes boring into the back of his head and he shifted uncomfortably.
Maybe he could have a quiet word with the kid's father. Not to accuse him of anything, or even imply everything. Just...a quiet word. Let him know that he'd seen the kid's injuries. Surely that would be enough to make him think twice.
For some reason he still felt guilty.
"I know," he said brightly. "Why don't I take the two of you for dinner before we head home? I don't know about you, but I'm feeling hungry."
There was no answer. Unwillingly he looked up to see Danny staring at him with a look of bewilderment and betrayal.
There was nothing he could do.
Danny had no memory of the journey from the river to the bar and grill down the road. Throughout the car ride he didn't think he'd managed to pull together a single coherent thought, and he was conscious of Rusty sitting anxiously beside him, aware of the turmoil in Danny's head but not able to break through.
He wanted to apologise for Dad – he tried, but Rusty hadn't been willing to listen. Far as he was concerned, Danny didn't need to apologise for Dad, and even if he did, Rusty didn't see that Dad had done anything wrong.
Why should he, Danny thought savagely. After all, Rusty and Dad seemed to be in perfect agreement, Rusty's father beating him was just fine, long as no one saw the evidence.
God. The look on Dad's face when he'd been staring at Rusty's chest. It had been a mix of shock, distaste and horror, and Dad hadn't said a word. Not a word. He'd just looked away and then carried on like everything was fine.
It didn't matter to him, Danny realised dully. Rusty didn't matter to him.
And okay, Rusty was his best friend and he was always going to care about him, but Danny couldn't imagine seeing anyone who looked as beat-up as Rusty did and not wanting to help. How could Dad not care? Was that what happened when you got old? He wasn't going to let it happen to him. He swore he'd always care.
He just didn't know how he could ever look Dad in the eye again. It felt like something had been ripped out of him leaving him hollow and uncertain.
They sat down at a booth in silence. Rusty tried to catch his eye, offering him reassurance and sympathy, and beneath that he could see that giddy relief. Someone had found out and done nothing. That was about as good an outcome as Rusty hoped for.
He didn't want Rusty to be right, and he wanted to shout at Dad, wanted to force him to admit what he'd done – what he'd chosen not to do .
Rusty gave him a warning glance. Right. No starting the fight. Not here, and maybe not anywhere.
He shot Rusty a look back that was all about the sorrow and the helpless rage, and Rusty smiled at him tiredly, trying to tell him it would be alright.
He took a deep breath. Yeah. Somehow, it had to be.
"What are you thinking of ordering?" Dad said after a moment. "I was thinking about the t-bone steak. It's really good here."
Honestly, he didn't feel much like eating. He shrugged and scanned the menu. "Chicken pasta," he decided, more or less randomly, and he glanced beside him to Rusty, who was looking nervously at the side orders and more importantly the prices, his brow creased.
Right. Because Dad might grudge paying for a full meal for Rusty, so he he felt like he had to find the cheapest option available. And before Danny would have told him he was worrying too much, that he should order what he wanted but now...Now he thought probably that was exactly what Dad would want. Now he thought that Dad probably wouldn't care if Rusty went hungry.
In fact, Dad was staring across the table, looking at what Rusty was looking at, his expression unreadable, and he opened his mouth and Danny just knew that he was going to tell Rusty he could only have a side salad or something.
"Are you ready to order?" The waitress had materialised beside them.
"Yes, I think so," Dad said. "Can we get a t-bone steak, a chicken pasta and a cheeseburger with fries. And three orders of pie to follow."
"Sure thing," the waitress said uninterestedly, scribbling it down and vanishing.
Oh. Some of the anger just melted away. Dad had noticed what Rusty was doing, and instead of agreeing, he'd made sure Rusty had a proper meal.
Rusty was smiling across the table at Dad, a smile of unaffected thanks that even Dad could probably understand.
A confusing wave of gratitude flooded through him. Maybe nothing was black and white. After all, when he considered all the people he'd ever told, all the people who'd let him down...he was stupid to have stupid to have expected more this time.
Beneath the table he pressed his leg against Rusty's, and Rusty turned and smiled at him.
At least they had this.
Dinner had been unexpected and delicious, though the cherry pie hadn't been a patch on Mabel's. Mind you, in Rusty's opinion, no food in the world was as good as Mabel's pie. And by the end of dinner, as Danny's father told them stories about when he'd been a boy going fishing with his Dad, Danny had been much happier.
He understood that Danny wanted his father to care about what happened to Rusty, and even though he knew better than to expect anything else, he was sorry for Danny's disappointment, angry that – once again – Danny's father had let him down.
But really, when Danny's father had seen his injuries, he'd been so ashamed and terrified, and when he'd seen the look on his face he'd expected to be beaten there and then, and it had been a relief when that hadn't happened. And in his heart of hearts, he had to admit it would be nice if Danny was right. If someone outside the two of them thought that it mattered if he was hurt. If someone besides Danny told him he didn't deserve it.
But it was a waste of time thinking about how he'd like the world to be – the real world had enough problems.
They played twenty questions on the car journey home. Took Danny four guesses to get John Wayne, which was a new record, and Danny's subsequent impression somehow turned into Snagglepuss, and that had them both howling with laughter.
All good things come to an end though, and far sooner than he'd ever be prepared for, the car was pulling up outside his building. He stared up at it, heart pounding. He didn't want to go back. Oh, hell, he really didn't want to go back. Dad was gonna be so mad, and worse yet, Danny's Dad got out of the car like he was planning on walking up with him.
He'd been hoping that he could just hang around outside until Dad went to bed and then sneak inside. That had been the plan he and Danny had figured out. One more way to avoid Dad for as long as possible.
Didn't seem like that was going to work.
"I'm sure Rusty can find his own way upstairs," Danny said quietly, looking straight at his father.
"No, no," Mr Ocean said, a strange look in his eye. "I need to walk him to his door. You should stay in the car though, Danny."
Danny set his jaw angrily. "But I want to - "
" - wait in the car, Danny," Mr Ocean interrupted harshly.
Swallowing hard, Danny nodded and looked straight at Rusty, begging him to be careful, to be safe, and he tried to assure Danny that he'd be fine, but he didn't believe what he was saying.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rusty," Danny said softly, and he smiled bravely.
Mr Ocean was waiting for him outside the car. Damn. He led him inside and up the stairs. There were bloody handprints scattered up the wall. He tried not to look at them. Made him feel sick, and besides, he could only hope the landlord didn't figure out it was him, or he'd really be in trouble.
He hesitated outside the door, not quite sure what to do. If it was just him, he'd try the door and hope it opened. But suppose Mr Ocean followed him inside? Bringing people to the door was bad enough. Actually leading them inside probably counted as some strange form of suicide.
Instead he knocked and waited. And waited. And suddenly he was wondering what happened if Dad wasn't in? Would Mr Ocean just leave him here? What if Dad had left like Mom did? It had been a week after all. Maybe Dad had figured he wasn't coming back. His heart lurched at the thought and he honestly couldn't tell if it was dread or hope.
But then he heard the footsteps lumbering towards the door, and it was all he could do to stand his ground and not turn tail and run.
The door swung open and Dad stood there, staring blearily out, the smell of cheap vodka rolling off him. He looked down at Rusty and snorted. "Well, well. Come crawling back, have you, you little bastard?"
He nodded tersely.
Dad looked past him at Danny's father. "What'cha want?" he grunted rudely.
There was silence, and curiously Rusty looked back over his shoulder. Mr Ocean was standing there, staring at Dad, his lips moving soundlessly. "Nothing," he said after a long moment. "I just wanted to drop off Rusty."
"Rusty?" Dad snorted again. "That what you're calling yourself these days? What sort of a stupid fucking name is Rusty?"
His name. The name Danny had given him. The name Dad couldn't touch, and he rejoiced to think that Dad was drunk enough right now that he'd have forgotten come morning.
Behind him, Danny's father made an uncomfortable noise. "Yes, well, I should be...he gestured awkwardly back towards the stairs. But he didn't leave immediately, he stood there, staring at Rusty now, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Are...are you..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "No, never mind. Goodnight. It was good to meet you, Mr Ryan."
"Likewise, I'm sure," Dad said in a crude mockery of what he considered a posh accent. He laughed briefly and reached out, grabbing Rusty be the arm and dragging him through the door. "Get in here you," he said as the door slammed shut.
Alone with Dad. He stood trembling and waited.
Outside the slammed door, Luke sagged against the wall. He hadn't said anything. He hadn't known where to begin. And he'd never met the kid's father before and he hadn't been expecting him to be so...so big. He looked like he might start a fight if Luke had so much as looked at him wrong, let alone if he did something as foolhardy as try and tell him how to raise his kid. Anyone would resent that, really, he didn't know what he'd been thinking even considering it. And even it if was a good idea, the man had plainly been drinking, so now wasn't the time for any kind of calm discussion. Sometime in the future though, maybe. When they'd got to know each other a bit better. When tempers were calm and sober. That would be the time to bring it up.
As he walked downstairs he pretended he couldn't hear the shouting breaking out behind him. And when he reached the car, he pretended he couldn't see the accusation in Danny's eyes.
As they'd planned on, Rusty arrived at the house ten minutes after Danny's parents had left for work the next day. His lip was freshly split and there were new bruises on his chest. Nothing like as bad as last week, but that wasn't as much of a comfort as Rusty might think.
But he found an ice pack, a can of soda and a bag of animal crackers, and they retreated back to the sanctuary of his room and curled up in front of the sofa with the Monopoly board.
"Huh," he said. "Just landed on the police station on Park Place with the dagger. That can't be good."
"Think you gotta go to jail," Rusty nodded.
"That's okay," he said with a shrug. "I still got the bishop so I can sneak out in disguise."
"You're disguised as a bishop?" Rusty asked with a grin.
"What?" he demanded grinning back.
"You couldn't even pass as a soccer player last month," Rusty pointed out.
"I was fine till they started talking about the offside rule," Danny said, and they both laughed.
He looked at Rusty. Despite everything, despite the pain, right now, life didn't seem so bad. He sighed. Somehow, everything would be alright. He swore it.
A/N: Thanks for reading, please take a minute to review - I really appreciate it. :)