Blargh, blargh, sexy bloody Vincent.

I hereby admittedly state that I knew hardly anything about the technicalities of jail time, the foster care system, or most mental/emotional/attachment disabilities/issues, and that I have made up details about these things for drama and easier writing.

Characters belong to Squeeeeeeeenix.
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenix.
(That load of E's shouldn't be making me laugh like it is. I have had a lot of popsickos in the past thirty minutes though. I blame the sugar. Anyhula, on with the show.)

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(Cid)

"What would you like to do tonight, Cid?" Vincent asks, leading the way to his house.

"D'you think your mum'll take us to rent some movies?" I suggest.

"Yes, I think Mrs. Tuesti will take us to the video store."

"Sorry..." I know that bothers him, but it just makes it easier.

I intentionally let my hand brush against Vincent's. Partly because I want to see what he'll do, and partly because I have a sudden urge for contact. It doesn't seem to bother him, so I grasp his hand and he squeezes back. That's all it seems he can do right now though, but that's all I need. I let him take his hand back without any objection.

"Cait Sith," Vincent picks up a little black and white cat in his front yard.

"What?" ...What?

"Reeve's cat. Cait Sith," Vincent holds the cat under one arm and fishes in his pocket for his keys with his other hand.

"Cait the cat."

"Yep."

"Huh. So what do you do after school when you don't end up coming home with me?" I ask as we get inside.

"Nothing much out of the ordinary," he tells me. "Eat, sit, write, think, jack off, watch tv... Is there anything special you'd like to do?"

"Tell me that list again?" It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were true, but I think I just heard two very unusual words come out of shy little Vinny.

"You heard me, and you know it," he smirks at me.

----

"How was school today, Reeve?"

"Mm, it was fine, Dad. Kinda boring. Nothing exciting."

So dinner conversation among the Tuestis is no different from any other family I've had dinner with - including my own.

"Vincent, honey, sit up," Mrs. Tuesti reminds Vincent. "You know we've been over this."

Vincent sighs as he removes his arms from the table and raises his head a little.

"How about you, Vincent? How was your day?" Mr. Tuesti asks.

As per usual, all Vincent does is shrug and work on poking the cheese off his pizza.

"Still not gonna say anything, huh?"

Silence.

"Well then, one day when you decide you want to talk to me then I'm just going to ignore you."

"Good," Vincent says roughly.

"If you're going to be disrespectful, and you're not going to talk or eat, then you can go upstairs and sit in your room till you're in a better mood."

Vincent stands, pushes his chair over with a huff, and stalks out of the room.

"Slam," Reeve says, and after a moment, there is indeed the sound of a door slam.

"No, Cid," Mr. Tuesti stops me as I reach down for the chair. "He's going to have to come down later and pick it up himself."

I feel bad for a number of reasons. For Vincent being upset. For Reeve's family having to deal with him. For feeling awkward and not knowing what to do right now.

Several loud thuds are heard from upstairs. "I'll go check on him," Mr. Tuesti heads upstairs.

"I'm so sorry, Cid," Mrs. Tuesti sighs.

"It's okay," I tell her, hoping to make her feel a little better.

"Does he act this way at your house?" she asks.

"A little. Sometimes. He's kinda been getting better about it though."

For the next several minutes, we listen to the muffled shouting and the usual "don't touch me"s, until Mr. Tuesti comes back down with blood on his hands.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Mrs. Tuesti gasps.

"Bloody nose," Mr. Tuesti sighs and rinses his hands in the sink before getting a few paper towels and a box of tissues. "Probably either screaming too much, or beating his face on the wall."

"Can I try to help?" I ask. "Please?"

----

I find Vincent in a familiar position: on his knees, in the corner, hands over his face.

"Here, Vinny," I kneel down next to him and offer up the tissues. "Still bleeding?" I reach out to pull his hand away from his face, but he catches my wrists tightly. Although his hands are slippery with blood, he wrestles me to the ground and straddles me, making it harder to fight my way out. "That hurts, Vince," I inform him.

A trail of blood has run down his mouth and chin, and has now gathered enough to drip off. I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head just in time for a few warm drops to hit my cheek. He presses his groin against mine and exhales deeply. The fact that he seems to want to get off on his own blood is a slight concern.

"You can jerk off all you want. I really don't mind. You just have to let me get up first," I say quietly, sternly, and clearly. "Because I don't like this. You're hurting me, Vincent." He lets go of my hands and waits a moment before finally moving off of me.

I keep a close eye on him while I wipe his mess off my face and hands. The slightest hint of tongue slips out to taste the blood on his lips. His fingers sneak under the hem of his pants, just far enough to barely tease himself. His eyes flutter close as his body shudders from the light touch.

Under any other circumstance, I would have simply come in my pants, right then and there. But unfortunately, this situation won't allow for it.

"Give me your hands," I manage to choke out. He reluctantly removes them from his pants and holds them out to me so I can clean them off. The way he's watching my hands on his, you'd think I was pulling rainbows out of my sleeve.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

I don't know what to say to him yet.

"I'm sorry, Cid," he repeats himself.

"Take your shirt off. It's all...red," I instruct.

"Cid," he drops the shirt on the ground. "Cid, please. I'm so sorry," fresh tears trickle down his cheeks.

"I know it..." I wipe off his mouth and press a ball of tissues under his nose.

"I just wanted to come. I wasn't thinking. I get in trouble that way a lot. Please don't be angry, Cid. I'm sorry."

"I'm not angry, Vince, just... worried."

"I'm sorry..." he whispers again. Mrs. Tuesti sneaks in to check on us and sits on one of the beds. We sit quiet until his nose stops bleeding. "I never wanted to hurt you," Vincent hides his face in the crook of my neck.

"I know. It's okay. I'm gonna give you a hug, alright?" I ask. I don't want to do something he wouldn't want. But he nods, so I go ahead and hold him. "What's the matter with you, Vinny? You've been in such a good mood all day. It's much easier to have fun with you when you're in a good mood, you know."

"Can I tell you something, Cid? And you won't tell anyone else?" Vincent asks.

"Of course. I won't tell anybody," I promise.

Mrs. Tuesti sneaks back out of the room, just in case Vincent happens to notice her, but she stays right outside the door.

"I'm not comfortable with Reeve's dad," he starts. "Even though I know I shouldn't be, I'm scared of him. And I don't wanna talk to him."

"Has he ever done anything bad to you?" Fuck, I hope not.

"No. He's very nice," he answers. "But earlier, he was trying to hold me down. It always gets me even more upset. I hate being held down. Like when they took Lucy away from me. Or when I'm trapped and I can't get away no matter how hard I try, cos I know I'm gonna get beaten and fucked, but he won't ever let me go..." He starts to cry harder.

"Who won't, Vince?"

"That... that bastard, my dad, he does it, he...he won't...he..."

"Shh, Vince. He's gone now, right?"

"I don't know. That's what everybody says, but what if he comes back for me?"

"Then I'll protect you. Remember? Me and Reno, we promised to keep you safe. And you know who else wants to keep you safe?"

"Wh-who?"

"Reeve does. And you know who else? Reeve's mum and dad."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely yeah. And on top of all that, you know who else?"

"Huh-uh."

"Cait Sith."

"Cid, he's a cat."

"Yeah. He's a lethal motherfucken cat. If anybody tries to hurt ya, y'know who'll be at the front lines kickin' ass to protect ya? Cait fucken Sith." I actually get Vincent to laugh with this. I think that's a good sign.

"Shit's been real rough for you, Vince. We all understand that. And it's okay for you to be upset and cry and get mad about it. But it's when you're hurting people who don't deserve it, and especially when you're hurting yourself, that gets me really worried. I mean, what if someday you end up going to jail? Or what if you end up killing yourself? You know what it's like to have someone you really like taken away from you. That really scares me, Vincent. I don't want that to happen. You understand?"

"Yes," he sniffs. He wraps his arms around my neck and nuzzles against my shoulder. He's back to the sweet-tempered little boy I love to see.

"Are you ready to go downstairs?" I ask.

"No, Cid. I want to stay like this for a little while longer."

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Hehe Ciddy's got the magic touch.
So...should there be some sort of boy sex at the sleepover? I can't decide if it's time yet...

TBC, yo!