"Wow, things are looking great." beamed Stuart. Murdoc agreed as he examined the tree house.
After a two week waiting period, Stuart's cousin came through with a small generator. The tree house was powered and they started bringing in things. They had a small fridge filled with soda and other junk, a small computer from Stuart's attic, and game consoles with games.
They were just missing one more thing.
"Where are we gonna find a TV?" wondered Murdoc. "Sorry I couldn't find one." said Stuart. "Eh it's fine, I know where we could find one, but it'll be hard to just sneak it out, this is a solo mission." said Murdoc. "Huh, wait, I can't come along?" asked Stuart.
"It's uh, best if you don't." said Murdoc. "How come, where is the TV?" asked Stuart. "My house." answered Murdoc. "Really, well I want to come along, you've seen my house, I'd like to see yours." said Stuart.
"Listen to me Stu-pot, trust me this once, my house is a living nightmare, you do NOT want to be over there." said Murdoc. "I can always just follow you know." smirked Stuart. "Gah, stubborn bastard, heh, you're as bad as me." snorted Murdoc.
"So I can come along?" asked Stuart. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." said Murdoc. The brunette nodded as Murdoc climbed down the rope ladder.
The child didn't want Stuart over as he will meet his family. 'What if he ditches me after meeting them, I'll once again be friendless, and Ryan gets him back.' thought Murdoc.
He decided to take the long way, to try and brace himself for the end. They arrived after half an hour, too soon for Murdoc's taste.
"You live here, looks like a haunted house." said Stuart. "Ya, it's haunted by a drunk old man and a dumbass older kid." hissed Murdoc.
The brunette stared at him as Murdoc opened the door. It was quiet, maybe his family wasn't home yet. "Come on, no one is here I think." whispered Murdoc.
They went in and Stuart took in the sight. The house was really run down, but it also had a nice spookiness to it. Stuart was always a horror fan, especially of Zombies.
Murdoc threw open a closet that stood between the kitchen and living room. Stuart saw the table was splintered and falling apart. The dishes were all in the sink, covered in mold and slim, and the floor had broken glass on it.
'Looks like no one ever cleans in this house.' thought Stuart. It didn't bug him, his room was a disaster zone.
"Found it, it was buried under some old bags." said Murdoc. Stuart looked to see a small TV, but it was big enough for them to use. "Okay, let's get it and go." said Stuart.
As the two kids grabbed it to pull, they heard footsteps outside, followed by drunken giggles, female ones. "Shit, my dad's home, he can't see you." said Murdoc. "What, why?" asked Stuart. "Trust me, this is for your own good." said Murdoc.
With that, the child shoved his friend into the closet and shut the door. Stuart tried to open the door, but it was pointless with Murdoc holding it shut.
The front door slammed open and Murdoc winced as it shook the whole house. "Eh, Murdoc, what the bloody fuck are you doing here?!" demanded Sebastian.
The brunette could see a bit out a small hole in the door and so he was able to see Murdoc's father. He was an ugly looking guy, but he was confused why that lady was all over him, and what was she doing to his neck. 'Where is her hand going?' wondered Stuart.
"Well, I just came in for a drink as I got no money to buy one, I was actually about to leave." said Murdoc, leaning more into the door. "Then hurry up and get out you worthless little mistake, me and this lady here are going to be busy." said Sebastian.
The woman giggled, but it was slurred, she was ether really drunk, or his father spiked her drink.
Stuart was shocked at what was being said, how could Murdoc's father treat him like that?!
"Okay, Missy, go upstairs, first door to the left." said Sebastian. The lady giggled and swayed as she went upstairs. Ya, she was extremely drunk.
The older man then came over and slapped Murdoc across the face. Stuart was stunned as Murdoc hit the floor. "Get the fuck out right now, I don't want to see you're pathetic face till AFTER I'm passed out." snarled Sebastian. He then kicked Murdoc and headed upstairs.
The child got up, spitting out blood to wipe his bloody nose. He heard a door slam and sighed. "It's safe now Stu-pot." said Murdoc. The closet door opened for Stuart to rush to Murdoc's side.
"Why, I don't, how could he?!" demanded Stuart. "That's just how he is, you see now, this is why I didn't want you to come over, he might kill you for being here, especially if I brought you." said Murdoc.
The brunette was upset, this was awful.
"Let's grab the TV and go before he comes back down, he may have forgotten his condoms in the kitchen." groaned Murdoc, getting back up. "What's a condom, does it have anything to do with what that lady was doing to his neck?" asked Stuart. "I have a LOT to teach you." sighed Murdoc.
So, the two kids grab the small TV and quickly leave the house.
After a twenty minute walk, they make it back to the tree house. "I'm going to throw down the rope, tie it well around the TV and I'll pull it up." said Murdoc. "Okay." said Stuart. Murdoc then climbed up but the brunette's mind wondered.
What he'd witnessed, how could Murdoc live with that monster and be fine about it. Should he tell his parents what he saw?
"Stu, rope is down." said Murdoc. This snapped the brunette from his thoughts and he set to tying the TV.
'At least Murdoc's nose stopped bleeding.' thought Stuart.
Once the TV was secured, the brunette tugged on the rope and he watched the TV go up. He climbed up to see Murdoc plugging it in. "Wonder if we can steal some cable." snickered Murdoc.
Stuart was silent as he dug around to find a first aid kit. "Murdoc, want me to patch up the wounds?" asked Stuart. "Huh, oh uh, sure." said Murdoc. When Sebastian had slapped Murdoc, he'd gotten some slash marks on his cheek.
Stuart used a water bottle to wet a cloth that was in the kit and washed the blood from Murdoc's face. "Does this happen a lot?" asked Stuart. "Pretty much everyday when he catches me." sighed Murdoc. The blood was cleaned away and Stuart grabbed some disinfectant.
"How can you just be okay with that, also this may sting." said Stuart. "It's just what he does, he won't change, and this doesn't sting." said Murdoc.
Stuart grabbed some band aids and covered the scratch marks. The band aids had little batman symbols on them.
"Maybe we should tell my parents so that they can help you." suggested Stuart. "No, fucking no way in hell, Stuart, you can't tell ANYONE." said Murdoc. "Wha-but Mudsy, he's hurting you." pleaded Stuart. "I don't care, if people find out, my father can easily get away, plus they'll put me in the foster system where I'll be shipped all over, we'll never see each other again Stu." said Murdoc.
The brunette didn't like that, but Murdoc was in trouble. "Stuart, please promise me that you won't tell, promise on our friendship." said Murdoc.
Stuart didn't want to, he really didn't want to, but what could he do, he was just five. "I-I promise." sighed Stuart sadly. "Good, it'll okay, I've lived with it, I can survive." said Murdoc. Stuart nodded as Murdoc rested against the bean bag chair.
"Wait, what did you call me?" asked Murdoc. "Uh, I called you Mudsy, you call me Stu-pot for a nickname, so uh, I tried my hand at it." said Stuart shyly. "People usually call me Muds, but uh, I'll let you call me Mudsy, but no one else, got it." said Murdoc.
Stuart smiled and nodded. "Okay." said Stuart. "So, let's test out the TV and consoles, I didn't go through hell just to leave it here like some tacky decoration." said Murdoc. The brunette nodded and set the games up.
They played, but Stuart was distracted. He hated having to promise Murdoc to stay silent about the abuse, but he didn't know what to do. He had to do something to help, but how.
It was Friday now, school had ended an hour and forty-five minutes ago. 'Wait, it's a Friday night, and the weekend.' thought Stuart.
The game ended as Murdoc had won the round when Stuart looked at him. "Hey Mudsy, wanna sleep over?" asked Stuart. Murdoc looked at him in surprise. "Say what?" asked Murdoc. "Do you want to spend the night over my house, we can eat junk food and watch a ton of scary movies." said Stuart.
Murdoc was silent but shrugged. "Sure, why not." said Murdoc. "Great, come on, my parents will be home in fifteen minutes." said Stuart.
With that, Stuart climbed out the tree house and the child sighed. He knew why Stuart asked him, it was his sneaky way of trying to help Murdoc out.
And he was okay with it.
So, Murdoc followed Stuart and the two headed for the Tusspot resident. But, would Rachel and David really let him stay the night?
A/N: And now Stuart had the displeasure of meeting Murdoc's dad, though thanks to Murdoc he met him through the safety of a door. What will happen next, will Stuart's parents let him stay? Stay tuned and plz review.
Also as a heads up, I'll be gone next week, so there won't a update for awhile. Thanks for reading and I'll see you after my trip.