A/N: A note to all of you lovely people out there. Well, more an apology really. I've been unable to upload things for a while due to my internet dying on me. However as you can probably tell, I now have internet again. :) Oh and this chapter is sort of from Prop's point of view.
Any way... On with the story
Prosper woke to the smell of frying bacon. He rubbed his eyes and thought for a moment about turning over and going back to sleep, but his stomach seemed to dislike this idea and protested loudly. So instead of getting a few minutes more rest, Prop dragged himself out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen, "Morning." he mumbled as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured in some water.
"Morning Prop, sleep well?" Ida asked from the cooker.
"Not bad, you?"
"I've had better sleeps." Ida smiled as she handed Prop a plate, "Get what you want honey, I'll be back in a second." She picked up another plate, already loaded with food and took it into the living room. Prop thought for a moment before following her and abandoning all thought of food, he stood in the doorway and watched as Ida made her way over to the sofa and began murmuring to someone laid just out of sight on the couch. Prop moved around to get a better look, "Scip?" he said puzzled. He looked at his friend for a moment, he looked so pathetic. His eye was swollen and badly bruised, it looked worse because his normally quite tanned skin was pale and clammy.
Ida glanced up at Prop before trying again to wake the teenager, "Scipio, time to get up." she murmured, gently shaking his shoulder. Scip's eyes flickered open and he ran a hand over his face, he looked up at Ida and saw the plate of food in her other hand. Ida smiled and handed it to him, "Here, eat up." she told him.
Scipio took the food gratefully, "Thanks," he said as he crammed food into his mouth. For a posh boy he was a real pig, Prop thought. It took Scipio to realise there was someone else in the room; he glanced in Prosper's direction and then took a second look. He almost choked on a piece of toast when he realised who it was. "Prop!" he exclaimed, wiping butter from his cheek.
"Hey," Prop nodded in greeting, "When did you get here?" he asked as he shoved Scip's long legs out of the way and sat down.
"Last night." Scip said, suddenly fascinated by his plate. He was avoiding eye contact, never a good sign.
Prop sighed and ran a hand over his face, "What happened?" he asked bluntly.
Scipio cringed and shook his head violently. "Just forget it Prop, it's nothing." He stood up, but Prop's hand on his arm made him stop in his tracks.
"Please Scip, come on."
Scipio closed his eyes and let out a long shaky breath, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have…" His voice vanished completely.
Prop sighed again, "Was it him?"
Scipio glanced at Prosper with tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. He looked away quickly and swiped at the hot tears which threatened to spill over.
"Scipio!" a small voice from the door exclaimed. They all spun around to find Bo stood in the doorway; he ran across the room and launched himself at Scip. "What are you doing here?" he asked gleefully.
"Just came to check up on you all, can't have anything happening to my trusty cohorts can I?" Scipio grinned; all trace of the scared young boy from moments ago vanished. He pulled Bo off him and ruffled his hair.
Bo, being a six year old, was never very tactful, "What happened to your face?" he asked.
Scipio froze, unsure what to say. His smile faltered for a moment before he decided on an answer. "I got into a fight, all sorted now though." He looked up at Prosper, silently pleading him not to press the matter any further.
Prop let his shoulders drop in defeat, there was no way he was willing to put his friend through the torment of relaying the events of the previous night. Instead he sank back into the sofa and watched as Scipio listened to Bo's wild stories. Scipio seemed a lot less fearful when he was speaking to the youngster.
That is, until a hammering at the door woke the whole household. Ida placed her book on the arm of her chair and made her way to the door. Muffled voices could be heard from in the kitchen, and Scipio paled when he suddenly recognised the other voice. He stumbled back a step and glanced at Prop, "It's him!" he whispered.
Prosper bit his lip, "Maybe we should-"
His sentence was cut off by Scipio's father shoved his way into the room. "You have no right to be in here!" Ida was saying as she followed him in hurriedly.
"Scipio!" the Dottore said as he held out a hand to his son, "Stop this nonsense and come home."
Scipio was frozen to the spot; he was shaking like a leaf and had gone drip white. Ida spoke for him, "He's not going anywhere with you. Now I suggest you leave before I call the police."
The commotion had drawn a crowd as the rest of the house gathered in the living room; Victor made his way over to the adults by the door. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave Dottore," he said in a polite but firm tone.
The Dottore sniffed at this and turned again to his son, "Scipio." he warned. When Scipio still didn't move he lost his patience, "Scipio, you come here right now or I swear I'll-"
"You'll do nothing but get out of our house!" Ida snapped. The Dottore spun to face her in surprise. "If you dare touch this young man again I promise you, you will be hearing from the police." she said as she made her way over to Scipio. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Now leave!"
The Dottore stood silent for a moment, before launching himself across the room at Scipio. Scip managed to shove Ida out of the way before his father landed heavily on top of him. There was a struggle to gain control of the situation but Victor eventually managed to pull the Dottore off Scipio.
Scipio pulled himself up and took a deep breath, "I never want to see you again." he snarled at his father, "Get out."
His father looked astonished at this obvious disobedience, he had believed that he had brought Scipio up 'correctly', but apparently he was wrong.
"You will live to regret this Scipio, mark my words. No son of mine behaves like this and gets away with it!"
"So?" Bo piped up from the corner of the room, "Scipio doesn't want to be your son anyway!"
A smile lit Scipio's face, "You heard him; I'm no longer your son, now you don't have to worry about me being a nuisance anymore. You can leave now."
Without another word, Dottore Massimo turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door in a most childish fashion. As soon as he had gone, the room erupted.
"Scipio, are you alright?"
"What happened?"
"I can't believe you did that!"
"Ha! Did you see his face?"
"Is there anything for breakfast?"
Scipio smiled weakly and sat down. He was still shaking violently and suddenly all his previous energy had evaporated. He looked up and saw that everyone had gone silent; apparently someone had asked him a question. "Sorry, what?" he asked.
"Where will you go now? You can't go back there." Riccio said.
Scipio thought about this for a moment, "I could go back to the Stella…"
"You will stay here, with us. Where you belong." Ida smiled as she wrapped him in a hug.
"Thank you." Scipio whispered in her ear, he looked around at the people gathered in the room, "I guess I have a real family now." he laughed. They spent the rest of the morning arguing over where Scipio would sleep, but he didn't care much at all. He was just relieved. He could be himself again, no more pretending to please his father, no more hiding everything. He could be just Scipio.
Well, not just Scipio…
A/N: As always, reviews are much appreciated and cherished.
Mags