9.

Sitting in the back of the car Dougie looked outside the window with his head resting on the glass. He looked but he wasn't seeing. His own body kept appearing before his eyes. His ugly, disgusting body..

'Dougie!'

He looked surprised up.

'We're here darling' His mum said while Tom stepped out of the car. Dougie looked at the school, there were groups of friends everywhere. Wide smiling kids with no worries in the world. He was jealous of them knowing he will never be like that again.

His mother placed her hand on his. 'Are you sure you're going to be alright?' She asked worried

'I'll be fine' Dougie said but he didn't even convince himself.

'Mind your sleeve' She said. Dougie looked at his arm and saw that his sweater had crawled up. He gave his mum a weak smile while putting it right again and stepped out of the car towards the school. He made his way quickly to his locker feeling like everyone was staring at his body.

He was just placing some books away that he didn't need right away when feeling a hand on his shoulder. He literally jumped up and backed away only then seeing it was Harry.

'I..I'm sorry' Dougie said. 'I didn't mean to freak out like that'

'It's ok, what makes you so jumpy today?'

'I had a bad night sleep'

'You ok?' Harry asked

'Yeah, fine. Just tired that's all' Dougie said and managed a smile. 'Let's go to class'

Dougie sat really uncomfortable in his seat. He felt like everyone was staring at his body even though no one was actually looking at him. It was almost a year since he last saw his body like that. His mum made sure all the unnecessary mirrors were thrown away and the others had blankets on them just so he wouldn't have to see himself.

He was relieved when class was over. Everyone quickly made their way out while he and Harry always take their things slowly to avoid the busy crowd.

'What's on your wrist?' Harry suddenly asked. Dougie had forgotten that his sweater crawled up and he quickly pulled it over his wrist again.

'Nothing' He said while his heart started racing.

'Is something written there'? Harry asked not believing his own words

'No of course not' Dougie said and tried to act angry or just something else other than afraid.

Harry took Dougie's arm and pulled his sleeve up before he could pull away. Over his entire under arm was scarred "useless". He took the other arm and saw that there the word "worthless" was scarred.

'Who did this to you?' Harry asked without breath.

Dougie knew he couldn't pretend any longer. His mind was empty, not a single lie that he had told over the months was available in his mind. He looked terrified in Harry's eyes. 'My dad'

Harry looked with widened eyes from Dougie's arms to his eyes and back again. His mouth fell open gesturing he was searching for something to say but he closed it again when all words seemed an understatement.

Dougie, now getting over his fear, suddenly felt anger boiling up. He hated that Harry found out and just grabbed him by the arms to look at his scars. He pulled his arms out of Harry's grip and started to walk away. But Harry stopped him by grabbing his hand.

'What happened to you?' He asked.

'A lot'

'Please Dougie?'

Dougie looked angry at Harry. 'Why do you want to know? Why is it so important?'

'Because I care for my best friend and every day I see him struggling to get on with his life. He hides his true self and isn't happy. I want to know what made him that way so I can understand him better and help him move on.'

With every word Harry said Dougie felt his heart breaking. Harry only had his best interests at heart and he had been lying and deceiving him in return. Dougie realized he had been taking Harry for granted the last couple of days and became even more disgusted by himself than he already was.

A tear fell down his cheeks when looking in Harry's eyes. 'I'm sorry'

'What for?' Harry asked confused

'Everything' Dougie said while his voice started breaking. 'I'm sorry.. for everything' He repeated and jumped against Harry's chest to hug him.

'You can trust me Dougie, I won't run away' Harry said while holding him. 'But I understand that you're not ready to tell me so I'll wait until you are'

'He was an alcoholic' Dougie said to Harry's shirt before Harry pulled him out of the hug to look confused in his eyes.

'My dad' Dougie said. 'He was an alcoholic. He.. He used to beat up mum and sometimes even Tom and I but when my mum finally found the courage to ask for a divorce he completely lost it. He wrecked the house and threatened my mum that he was going to kill her.' He paused to look at Harry who listened with a concerned look on his face.

But when he didn't say anything Dougie continued. 'He suddenly took me by the arm and dragged me towards the car. Mum and Tom tried to stop him but it was no use. He put me in the trunk and drove away to some empty warehouse. He locked me in the basement where there were no windows. He barely gave me any food but the worst part was when he came to me when he was drunk. He tied me up and started cutting me and gave me whips with his belt. It was almost three months that I spend in that room when they found me. They were almost too late..' Dougie looked up and saw Harry's face had become pale and he hadn't even given him the details..

Harry couldn't get it inside his head how a father can do such terrible things to his own son. He couldn't imagine his own dad doing the same stuff to him. His kind, loving father.. How all fathers should be.

'Where is he now?' Harry asked hoarse.

'In jail.. for life' Dougie said while looking at his hands.

'Good' Harry said while thinking that he would have destroyed him if he was still walking free. 'Thanks, for telling me. I'm always here, whenever you need me, 7 days per week, 24 hours per day.'

Dougie smiled grateful. He knew he made the right decision by telling Harry about his past and didn't regret it for a nanosecond.

So I thought it was about time you guys learned a bit about Dougie's past
R&R please, means so much!