Rating: T
Characters: Ace + Sabo
TW: Abuse/Mentions of Abuse
The purple bruise blossoming on Sabo's swollen eye when he came home made Ace immediately jump to his feet, mouth parted in horror.
"I fell." Sabo said quickly when he saw Ace's worried look, "Honest."
"Fell onto someone's fist," Ace said as he crossed the living room so he could tenderly inspected Sabo's face. "Christ Sabo, who the hell did this to you?"
He could see Sabo chew on the words, his jaw clicking, but Sabo's blue eyes merely slid away from his own and he merely answered, "I just fell."
"It was your dad, wasn't it?" Sabo jumped, head snapping to Ace in surprise, and Ace nodded, sealing his lips. He knew it. He knewthat bastard wouldn't keep his hands off Sabo when angry, even if Sabo had done little to provoke him. "You don't have to-" Sabo pushed his hand off, shoving past him to the kitchen, and Ace grit his teeth, following. "Sabo, listen to me!"
"I am.And it's the same thing you always say - that I should leave! Well unlike you, I wouldn't get government grant, and my parents would have me dragged back before the day was over. So sorry for not wanting to have to put up with another lecture!"
Sabo's chest heaved, eyes angry, but realisation hit him a few seconds later and Ace watched as the rage fled him, replaced with regret. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "I'm just- I'm so tired of having to-"
"It's alright," Ace said, gathering Sabo up in his arms and feeling him stiffen before he relaxed with a sigh, forehead dropping to Ace's shoulder.
"I want to get out of there as much as you want me too," he whispered, hands latched onto Ace's shirt. "I just can't."