"You did what?"
Harry's torso is bruised, he's missing a tooth, and his left eye is a shocking shade of magenta, but it isn't enough. He took advantage of Dougie, and now he needs to pay the price. The price, as he well knows, is high.
Danny's punches are worth a hundred pounds, almost as much as the weight put behind them.
"I kissed him," Harry said flatly, "And he screamed."
Tom is there as well, because his quiet anger is almost as painful as Danny's blows. "What did you do then?" he asks, hands clenching and unclenching.
Harry shrugs one shoulder, raises one eyebrow, goes for the maximum 'I don't care' display. "I walked away."
He should be an actor. Danny really thinks he doesn't give a damn, and suddenly Harry is on his four feet away. Tom doesn't move. He's a peacemaker, but he's not a saint.
"You dick," Danny snarls, stalking towards Harry with eyes glinting. "You- you shit." He is too angry for words, but actions speak a million of those. The last thing Harry thinks before he blacks out is that his price is probably well paid.
Jazzie can now successfully tie her shoelaces.
She is moving on to bigger and better things; Dougie's old school tie was in the airing cupboard.
"I need to talk to you."
Tom looks up and nearly faints, because it's Dougie, and Dougie hasn't initiated conversation in a very long time. "O- of course. Are you okay?"
Dougie stares at Tom. Tom waits for the ground to swallow him up. "You're not okay. Duh. Sorry. What can I do?"
"Tell me the truth about Harry." Dougie shifts his weight from one foot to the other, looking like a stranger in his own house.
Tom tells him that Harry is upset because Dougie is upset. He says that things are confusing for everybody right now. Harry is trying to find his way to cope, like all of them.
"Where is he?"
Tom says that he's in the hospital, but doesn't remember to tell Dougie why until the younger boy is a shaking mess on the floor. "Shit, no, he's not- Dougs, Dougie, he's not de- he's not dea-"
"I love him, Danny."
Danny sits as far away from Harry as the cramped X-ray scan room will allow. "Shut your fucking trap."
"I love him."
"Seriously, I will kill you. Actually kill you dead."
"Why?"
"You can't love him! He's fucked up!"
Harry waits until Tom and Danny are back at Tom's house before he lets himself in to the Poynter household. It's dark, because it is eleven at night and the sun made it's escape a good few hours ago. He doesn't turn on the light. He's sick of seeing those awful stains on the carpet.
The plan is simple. Go in. Tell Dougie you love him, you'll wait, get out. Not complicated, Juddy, you can do this. Don't mess this up. Don't mess him up.
Not complicated? Shouldn't be complicated. Wouldn't have been complicated, except that the basement door was open, and there was a single, fresh blood stain on the stairs, and a coloring book laying face- open in the doorway.