The Life of Matt Summers, Part 2
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 9
March 2015
"Love?" David says mockingly and chuckles, but Matt knows that the chuckling is not a good sign. "You're a stupid little boy, you don't know what love is, what you're going to do is stop seeing that boy and you're going to see that you're not gay and that you were just confused." David then states, his words cutting through his sons short lived courage, David then uses his fingers to lift his sons face up to his own again, after it had dropped to the floor. "It's common for boys to experiment and get confused, but no son of mine is going to be in love with another boy, do I make myself clear?" He then tells his son, but he already knows how this is going to go and it is only his love for the boy, that he is hoping his son somehow listens to him and this is all just a big misunderstanding, but he knows that isn't going to happen.
"Dad I do love him though, at first I thought it was just a phase, but we have been together since last year and we love each other so much and we want to tell everyone, Dad we are so happy and I want you and mum to be happy for us." Matt then states, thinking his honesty will make things better, but he has unknowingly sealed his own fate and doesn't notice the brief look of heartbreak in his dads eyes, that is quickly replaced by a hard cold look.
"So you're telling me that you won't stop seeing him and you're in love with another boy?" David then asks coldly and the tone of his voice unsettles Matt again and he is now very afraid.
"Dad I love him, but please, don't be..." Is all Matt can say, before he feels a blinding pain across his head, before falling to the ground, his vision instantly blurs and feels a burst of pain explode in his stomach and feels himself being kicked, before blacking out.
Matt eventually wakes up but as soon as he does he wishes he hadn't because his whole body is in blinding pain, he tries to call out but when he tries he realises that something is stopping him, he then tries to take what ever is in his mouth out and realises his hands are tied above his head, he has been tied up enough times with Ben to know he is tied to the four corners of his bed when he can't move his feet either and begins to panic.
"It's about time you woke up Boy." A hard cold voice says and Matt knows it is his dad and tries to say something, but the gag is making it come out as inaudible muffles and groans. "Don't bother Boy, now normal procedure would be to kill you and that would be the end of it, but I can't take your betrayal without making you pay for your sins Boy." David says, as his words send a shiver down Matt's spine and he starts trying to struggle, but the combination of blinding pain and tight knots soon causes him to give up.
"You see simply killing you is too easy and I gave you every chance to come away unharmed from this and we could have been a happy family, but no you had to betray me and you had to be a disgusting faggot, after all we did for you Boy and you do this to us." David says before he lifts his arm and to Matt's horror he sees what looks like a whip, but no sooner had he seen it, it came crashing down across his chest and he screams out in agony, but the gag does it's job, David however doesn't intend to stop at one and continues his assault without mercy as his son squirms and screams until he passes out again.
Seeing what used to be his son unconscious again, David puts the whip away and leaves the room locking it behind him to get himself another drink, he may have prepared himself as best he could but he was finding this harder than he ever imagined and needed something to help him remember that this wasn't his son any more, but it was the disgusting abomination that took his son from him.
A few hours later Matt wakes to find himself upright, but his initial relief evaporates as he realises his hands are tied above his head and he is hanging from the ceiling.
"I see you still have hope that this isn't really happening don't you Boy, it's that hope that is going to cause you so much pain Boy." David says as he walks in front of his son and stares at him straight in the eyes and Matt instinctively tries to get away from his dad, but he can only make himself swing a little and starts whimpering. "Ah yes tears and fear, you're right to be afraid Faggot." He then states in a cold tone and before Matt has any time to react he feels himself being punched over and over again all over his torso and he cries out, but again the gag continues to muffle any sound he makes as he is beaten savagely. "It is amazing how much punishment the human body can take, by all reason you should have passed out again, maybe I just need to stop holding back." David then sneers as he increases the speed of his punches and hits harder until after a few minutes his son goes limp and once again passes out. "There all better Faggot." He then sneers before leaving the room again to get some more drink to settle his nerves.
Two Days Later
"Mitch why hasn't he called?" Ben asks his brother for what has to be the hundredth time today already.
"I don't know Ben, I'm not psychic you know." Mitch replies, he had to admit it was pretty strange they hadn't heard anything from Matt, but when they had talked to his dad, he said they probably just couldn't get a signal and that his wife had warned him in advance it might happen.
"Mitch his phone rings though, if he couldn't get a signal then it wouldn't ring so why isn't he calling me or answering his phone?" Ben asks his brother and Mitch had to admit he had a point, but he didn't have any answers for his little brother and it was getting to the point where he wished he would stop asking.
"Ben I don't know, now come on there is probably a good reason, now aren't you meant to be going out with Carter and Wesley soon?" Mitch tells his little brother, hoping to change the subject.
"Yeah but I miss him Mitch, I just want to hear his voice, what if something happened?" Ben asks and again Mitch knows he has a point, but they had also asked David and he had put them straight.
"Matt's dad already told us, if there was an accident he would know and if they didn't make it to the conference then they would have called him to find out why she hadn't turned up, I know you miss him Ben, but if his own Dad isn't worrying then you need to stop, now go get ready and I will keep a look out for when your friends get hear okay." Mitch explains to his little brother again, he had lost count how many times he has told him the same thing already and knew it wouldn't be the last, it was definitely going to be a long week he thought to himself.
"Okay, but if Matt calls come get me." Ben responds, as he leaves his phone with his brother and runs up the stairs to take a bath, Mitch had convinced him earlier not to take his phone with him when he took a bath or shower and Ben had reluctantly agreed.
Even though he is no longer tied up, Matt lies on the floor of what used to be his bedroom, his dad or what used to be his dad had savagely beaten him until he passed out so many times during the last two or three days that he had lost count, he could no longer stand up or move much as every inch of his body has been battered into submission, he was also now naked as he had been told faggots don't deserve luxuries and hasn't eaten anything since those sandwiches when he woke up Saturday afternoon, he had been allowed to drink but to his horror his dad had forced him to drink his own urine and he had also not been able to see anything for almost a day as his eyes had swollen shut and although his gag had been removed his jaw was too swollen to talk and he was sure his dad had broken it.
"Oh good you're learning aren't you, dirty faggots belong on the floor just like the scum they are." David states with a smirk as he staggers a little as he walks over to his son to kick him in the ribs, he had been drinking a lot these past few days and was know getting a little carried away with what he had initially planned. "On your knees Boy." He then orders and smirks as his son struggles to try and get to his knees, but David just kicks him in the ribs again and laughs as he collapses to the floor. "Hurry up, I said to your knees." He then says coldly, but this time allows him to get to his knees. "See there you go, what a good faggot you're, aren't you." He then states grinning, before kicking his son right between the legs and laughs as he doubles over and vomits all over the floor, although the smell of his sons vomit almost causes him to heave himself, but despite being half drunk he manages to hold it back.
"You dirty ungrateful faggot, now eat it and if I see any of it left on the floor when I get back you know what happens." David then states coldly as he kicks him again before walking out the door, but he has no intention of not watching his son and soon returns with another beer, he knows that his son can't see much, if anything right now and just enjoys watching him struggle across the floor eating his own vomit, the first two times David had made him do this he had come back quickly knowing there is no way he could have eaten the vomit and he had punished him severely, this time he decided to let him eat it all before pretending to return after downing his beer.
"Good faggot, well I guess I don't have to worry about feeding you today." David says, as he makes his 'reappearance' and he can hear a noise come from his son, he can't make it out but can guess it wasn't a noise of happiness, he had no plans to feed him anyway but he knew what it would do to him to play with his mind and it was all part of his new end game. "Okay now you have had your tasty meal, why don't we go over it again." David says as he picks his son up and throws him on the bed roughly, smirking at the cry of agony his son makes but he knows that even if he was gentle his son would cry out in pain and was pretty sure most of his ribs were broken and suspected there were a lot of other broken bones.
"So Boy tell me who do you love?" David asks, he had been asking him the same three question every few hours since yesterday and so far he had received the same answers, it frustrated him more so because of the amount he had drunk, but he knew time was on his side and was confident that he would break him. "Answer me or you know what happens, who do you love?" He then asks again and squeezes his sons ankle which he knows is at least fractured, causing the boy to cry out.
"Ben, I love Ben." Matt says, but it is barely understandable due to his jaw and the fact he had screamed so much his throat was hoarse, but David understands enough and twists the ankle in his hand until his son almost passes out and stops.
"Who are you?" David then asks, but when he gets no answer he picks up the knotted rope he had made earlier after getting bored and stands beside the bed and sends blow after blow on the defenceless boy before stopping. "I said who are you?" He asks a third time and this time when he holds the rope up he smiles as his son starts to talk.
"My name is Matt, I'm your son." Matt tries to say and in anger David beats him again with the knotted rope, he only just forces himself to stop as his son starts to go limp and gives him a few minutes to recover and reaches out for the last beer he had brought with him earlier and quickly downs it, he was getting to the point where he wasn't even aware he was drinking, it was just a reflex as he struggled with what he had to do, it wasn't that he thought it was wrong it was just the fact this used to be his son and while he detested what he was now, he still looked like him and he knew that he couldn't do this completely sober.
"Do you want me to end your worthless faggot life now." David then asks, this is the most devastating of the three question he thought to himself and will ultimately tell him when he has succeeded and an finally end this and move on to whatever his future brings.
"No." Matt responds this time not needing any encouragement, but his small victory is short lived when he feels a hand close around his throat and tighten, he tries to struggle but he is too weak to put any real effort into it, he does manage to get one hand to his dads face, but then cries out in pain as he feels his wrist being snapped by his dads free hand, while the one around his throat tightens stopping his screams from forming and he slowly passes out.
Three Days later
David is just getting out of his car when he spots his neighbours walking over to him, he sighs knowing that he has no choice but to speak with them and prepares himself just as they meet him half way down the drive.
"Hello David, nice to see you." Martha says politely.
"Hello Martha, Edward how are you both?" David asks, as he does his best to sound like he cares and silently thanking the fact he had been chewing gum to hide the smell of alcohol on his breath.
"Very well, have you heard anything from Sarah?" Martha asks and David can't help but note how quiet Edward is being.
"No sorry still nothing, I did get through to the conference centre but they said she was out with Matt somewhere and would pass on a message, but I still haven't heard back." David says, as he smiles warmly at both his neighbours.
"Oh sorry to hear that, when she told me that she wouldn't be able to get in contact I had thought she was exaggerating, but I'm sure we will have a good catch up when they return." Martha responds, before giving her husband a look that David notices, despite her obvious attempts to hide it.
"Okay you two, I have known you both long enough to know there is something you want to say to me, so come on go ahead, we are all friends here." David then says, deciding to get straight to the point and get this over with.
"We have been hearing strange noises coming from your house David, they sound like well I don't think I need to say what they sound like." Martha says and David tenses a little before he notices Edward give him a look and he starts to think there is a reason he has kept silent and on the spot he takes a chance and comes up with a plausible yet embarrassing explanation.
"Oh, oh you could hear that?" David says, putting on an excellent fact look of embarrassment while he lies through his teeth. "Oh god, this is er... well just humiliating." He then says, managing to make himself blush.
"Oh maybe you should go inside Martha, while me and David have a chat." Edward then says to his wife and instantly David knows his gamble has paid off.
"Okay, I can tell when I'm not needed." Martha says as she walks away, she and Edward had discussed what the noises could be and David's reaction and the mortified look on his face, lets her know it was definitely a man thing and she was happy to leave it to her husband.
"You really heard it?" David then asks, trying to sound as nervous as possible without being over the top.
"That would depend on what 'it' was, wouldn't it David?" Edward asks with a smirk.
"Come on Edward, my wife and kid are away for a whole week, do I really need to say what 'it' is, I mean I can't remember the last time I had some 'alone' time like this and I'm sure you understand right?" David responds, keeping his embarrassed act up but inside he is smiling at how easy this was.
"Oh I understand, just maybe keep the volume down from now on?" Edward suggests teasingly.
"Trust me, knowing you two heard me Edward, there won't be any more 'it', Jesus how am I meant to look Martha in the eyes now?" David then says, as he edges towards his house.
"Oh I don't know, can't help you there but don't worry David your secret is safe with us, I will make sure Martha doesn't mention it to Sarah." Edward answers, as he notices David is edging away from him and decides to let the embarrassed man go. "Have a good day David and keep the noise down." He then jokes, as he walks away.
"Will do Edward." David replies, before quickly getting inside the house and locking the door, that was to close for his liking but he knew he was close to breaking his son, last night he was almost certain he had done it, but was left disappointed and drunkenly ended up beating him even after he had passed out, so he knew today could be the day and tomorrow it would all be over.
As he makes himself another drink, David pulls his phone out and sends a text, the reply is almost instant and he smiles before going back to the front door to unlock it, he then makes his way up the stairs to have a little fun and as soon as the door to his sons bedroom opens, he is hit with the smell of shit and urine and only just manages to ignore it although with the amount he has been drinking he was almost sick himself, but as soon as he sees his son trying to suck up some of the urine from where he had obviously pissed earlier he smirks, he hadn't given him any food or water, just his own urine and vomit to keep him going and knew he would be beyond desperate by now.
"Get to your knees faggot." David orders and he smiles as the boy trembles in fear, he kicks him down a few times just to amuse himself but has to stop when he feels a little unsteady and just lets the boy kneel, he decided to stop thinking of him as his son now and to just think of him as a faggot boy to make it easier on himself and it was working although it was more because of the drink than anything else.
"Who do you love." David then asks, deciding to get straight to the questions and kicks the boy in between the legs before he even has a chance to answer. "I said who do you love?" He asks again as the boy struggles to his knees after vomiting, but there is nothing to come up and just dry heaves.
"I love... I..." Matt begins to say, but stops as he looks down to the ground, he did this the last time he tried to answer so David wasn't satisfied and wanted this to be over.
"I said who do you love Faggot." David asks again, but this time punches him in the side of the head hard, not enough to knock the boy out but it still sends him sprawling across the floor in agony. "Answer me now" He then says, while standing over the prone boy glaring at him.
"No one." Matt answers in a defeated and broken tone, causing David to smile and knows today is the day but it wasn't over yet, there was more fun to come when his guest arrives.
"Who are you?" David then asks, as he uses his foot to press on the boys ankle, he was pretty sure it was at the very least fractured and was horribly swollen and twisted, causing the boy to howl but it is barely above a the sound of a whisper. "I said who are you Boy?" He asks again, applying more pressure and he hears a sickening crunching sound just as the boy passes out and quickly lifts his foot off and looks down at the boy. "Damn it, stupid weak faggot." He mutters to himself and is about to kick the unconscious boy, when he hears the front door opening and shutting and smiles as he heads out of the door.
A few hours later after enjoying some food and more drink, David returns to the boys room to find him still laying where he left him, he is just about to pull out the smelling salts when he gets a better idea and decides to bring his plans forward a little and goes back out on to the landing and calls for his guest to come upstairs.
"Okay Maggie, I think this is the perfect time for you to go in, you know what to do right just like we talked about?" David tells his friend, they had known each other since they joined the club and she was every bit as cold as he was when it came to this sort of thing and he knew she was perfect for the job.
"Sure, I still think you should have killed the little faggot straight away, hell I would have killed him the first time before you moved here David, but the others will be pleased with what you have done to it now and everything is ready for when you're done here." Maggie tells David as she adjusts her clothes and hair, before taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she couldn't believe what David had done to his own son and although she could tell he had been drinking heavily, she was still impressed with how he was handling this and knew he would go down in history within their club and she relished being a part of it.
"Good, because I don't want to spend another minute than I have to in this shit hole." David responds slurring his words slightly, while he watches Maggie enter the boys room, he then stands in the doorway to watch, he was sure the boy was already broken, but just in case he wasn't he knew he would be after Maggie was done.
"Hey wake up Matt, come on wake up." Maggie says soothingly as she gently strokes the boys face, knowing the boy was unlikely to respond she knew he could probably hear her, she then undoes the smelling salts David had given her and holds them under the boys nose and watches as he wakes up startled and she could see the pain in his face. "Sshh Matt its okay I'm here now, everything is going to be okay." She again says soothingly and smiles as he slowly looks at her, she can see he is struggling to open his eyes and continues to comfort him. "It's me Matt, it's okay now." She repeats.
"Mum, Mummy?" Matt mumbles, but Maggie understands him and smiles.
"Yes Matt, it's me, it's Mummy." Maggie says smirking, she knows he can't see her enough to tell the difference between a smile and a smirk.
"Help me Mummy, Dad is hurting me." Matt mumbles as he starts to cry, he had given up all hope, but now his mum was here to save him.
"Oh no that can't be true, why would he hurt you Matt?" Maggie responds and looks over to see David smiling.
"Mummy help me, I hurt so much... please Mummy help me." Matt mumbles, as he tries to beg for help but his words are barely understandable.
"Of course I will help you, but why would he hurt you?" Maggie then asks, as she continues to comfort the boy and despite his mumbling she has a pretty good idea what he will say and goes with it.
"He knows about Ben, Mummy help me he hates me." Matt says crying, although no tears come out.
"Knows what about Ben?" Maggie then asks, keeping her soothing tone.
"That I love... that I..." Matt tries to say, but can't bring himself to say the words any more and David's smile broadens as he hears the boy hesitate and knows he has broken him, even thinking his mum is here to save him, can't make him say the words any more and he is delighted.
"That you love him, Matt are you telling me that you love Ben?" Maggie asks, struggling to keep her soothing tone as she finds her disgust building.
"Mummy please help me." Matt then pleads, but Maggie sees the signal from David and smiles.
"Oh my god you're a dirty faggot aren't you, that is why he is punishing you, you're a dirty faggot." Maggie then says, dropping her fake soothing tone for her real tone of disgust, as she slaps the boy hard. "You disgusting little faggot, you were trying to trick me into saving you." She then says, before slapping the boy again.
"Mummy no, help me Mummy." Matt cries out pleading, but it is all coming out as mumbles as Maggie continues to slap him.
"I can't believe you would try to make me upset your dad, just because you're getting what you deserve you disgusting faggot." Maggie states coldly, as she gets to her feet and kicks the boy savagely.
"Mummy... Mummy..." Matt cries out, before going silent as who he thinks is his mum beats him.
"Disgusting faggot." Maggie says a final time, before spitting in the boys face while he stares up at her in defeat.
David then signals to Maggie to leave and as they pass each other she gives him a look of respect before disappearing downstairs to get herself a drink, David then turns to the boy and walks over to him.
"Get to your knees Faggot." David says but when he doesn't move, he kicks him hard a few times, but instead of moving Matt just whimpers and David knows it is over. "Who are you Faggot?" He then asks in triumph, he wasn't done yet though and couldn't wait to totally destroy the boy as he downs the beer he had been holding. "I said who are you Faggot!" He then hisses, repeating his question with a smirk.
"A dirty faggot." Matt mumbles in an emotionless tone and David's smile widens.
"Good faggot, you're a dirty faggot." David says before picking him up roughly and throwing him down, he repeats this until the boy gives up trying to scream in pain and goes limp, David then tosses him on the bed before heading out of the room to talk with his friend downstairs.
"Is it done?" Maggie asks, surprised to see David so soon and guessing from the noise he had killed the boy, although she also noticed how unsteady he looked and despite her reputation as being cold and heartless she was worried about him and what this might do to him when he sobered up.
"Not even close, you should go now Maggie but thank you for coming, you were just perfect." David responds grinning and again Maggie looks at him and can see that his eyes are glazed over, but he was a grown man and she had been in worse states herself without the excuse of what he was doing..
"You're going to be a legend after this is over David, just give Nick a call when it is done and we can get you out of here and somewhere you can make a really difference." Maggie then states, as she stands up and shakes his hand, she then without saying another word leaves the house.
David walks over to the front door and watches her walk to her car and drive away, he then shuts the door and locks it before staggering back to the boys room, he smirks when he sees that the boy hasn't moved from where he left him and walks over to him before leaning down to spit in his face to get his attention.
"Do you want me to end your worthless faggot life now?" David then asks almost sneering at him, before punching him hard in the gut when he doesn't get a reply. "I said do you want me to end your worthless faggot life now Boy?" He then asks again and punches him one more time and almost falls on top of him as he loses his balance.
"Yes... please yes..." Matt mumbles, wishing it was over because he couldn't take any more and he wanted it to end.
"Well tough shit Faggot, you're going to enjoy this you piece of shit." David then says, before he slowly stands up and strips naked, he had never planned this and didn't know what came over him but he was too drunk and caught in the moment to think clearly and realise what he was actually doing and the repercussions as he climbs on the bed between the boys legs and roughly pulls them up so his feet are on his shoulders, Matt is too exhausted and in too much pain to realise what is happening to put up any fight and was just wishing he was dead, seeing the look in his eyes David can see that he is finished and smiles before he pushes forward.
The Next Day
The sound of his alarm going off causes David to jump as he wakes up and groans when he sees it is only four in the morning, until he remembers last night and his mood darkens as he gets out of bed and gets dressed before heading downstairs to make sure everything is ready, he was feeling sick and disgusted with himself, but he couldn't let it ruin his plan now and just tries to focus on getting out of there as he then opens the front door and starts to load up the car with all the things he wants to take with him, when he is satisfied he has everything he needs, he picks up the large duffel bag at the bottom of the stairs and carries it upstairs to the boys room.
He is actually surprised to find that he feels nothing for what used to be his son, the son he loved more than anything in the world, but as he looks at the limp lifeless looking body of a faggot he just smirks before dropping the bag next to the boy, who hasn't even moved from how he left him the previous night, his mood quickly darkens again though when he thinks about what he did and knows he crossed a line and if the others found out what he had done then he would be a dead man walking, but he tried to reason with himself that he was drunk and that he was just caught in the moment and he couldn't change it now anyway and he was never going to tell anyone.
Taking one last look around the room David roughly gets the boy into the duffel bag, which proves harder then he had thought it would but eventually gets it zipped up, he then takes hold of the straps and lifts it off the bed and thought to himself that it barely weighed anything while he carried it out of the room and down the stairs, he can't help but look at the pictures on the wall and wonders what his new life will be like and whether he will miss Sarah or not, she had been the only girl he had ever loved and he still did, but he knew she would never understand and had already accepted in his heart it was over, but he still wondered what his new life would bring.
If he had been paying attention though, instead of being distracted by the pictures he would have seen the flashing lights coming from outside, but it isn't until he is half way to his car that he sees them and then hears shouting coming from down the driveway, as two officers approach him.
"Stay where you're Mr Summers." The male officer shouts out, while his female partner arcs out from him and David knows they are trying to box him in.
"What is this all about?" David answers back, he knows exactly what it is about but he isn't ready to give up yet, he just needs to buy enough time to think of a way out.
"Stay where you're and place the bag on the ground Mr Summers." The male officer then shouts out and he drops the bag with a slight grin on his face at the sound of it hitting the ground.
"Officer, I think you have the wrong house." David says, but out the corner of his eye he can see his neighbours lights are on and both Martha and Edward are standing in the doorway.
"Step away from the bag slowly Sir." The female officer then says, drawing David's attention to her and does as he is told and just as she approaches the bag David makes a run for it, but in his rush he runs straight into the male officer and is wrestled to the ground.
David is a strong man, but finds himself after a good fight being subdued, he is still trying to break free as he watches the Taylor's edge over to the side of his driveway and then smirks as the female officer leans over the bag and unzips it, she lets out a horrified shriek and turns around before vomiting all over the driveway, seizing his chance as the male officer is distracted, David breaks free and punches him in the head hard, not quite enough to knock him out but more than enough to get to his car, while the male officer tries to get in the car and stop him but fails as David drives away, although happy that he has escaped knowing that they have the boys body worries him and if they examine him then they will know he raped him and it would get found out by the others and knows he has no other choice but to hide for a while.
Despite the officers best effort though he falls to the ground and can only watch as David escapes, however he is straight on to the radio and calls in for back up and gives the details of the car before getting up and quickly moves over to his partner, who he notices is shaking and looking pale.
"Amanda are you okay?" He asks her, checking her over at the same time.
"The bag Andy, the bag." Is all Amanda says, as she looks at it and almost vomits again.
Andy then slowly walks over to the now open bag but just before he looks in, he notices the old couple moving closer.
"Martha, Edward stay back please." Andy tells them, he has been an officer for many years and grew up in town and knew everyone and everyone knew him.
"Okay Andy." Edward answers, while he holds his wife in his arms, they had called the police after becoming suspicious after hearing the strange noise the night before, but it had taken the police until now to take it seriously.
Andy then prepares himself before looking into the bag with his flash light and immediately wishes he hadn't and steps away and turns first to his partner, then to the Taylor's.
"Edward take Martha inside now please, I will come and speak with you soon." Andy states firmly and Edward can tell the officer is serious and takes his wife inside, if what ever was in that bag that caused two officers to react that badly, he didn't want his wife to see.
"Amanda radio for an ambulance now, I need to check inside the house." Andy instructs his partner, who gets to her feet and gets straight on to the radio as Andy disappears inside.
Amanda then despite her better judgement approaches the bag again after radioing for an ambulance, she carefully and slowly opens the bag a little bit more, trying her best not to look directly in, while she reaches her hand inside, she knows it is pointless but she tries to see if there is a pulse and jumps up before calling out to her partner.
"Andy quick, come quick he is alive... Andy quick.." Amanda calls out and a few moments later Andy comes running out.
"What?" Andy says, he couldn't hear what she was trying to say but came out anyway.
"He has a pulse, it is weak but it was definitely a pulse." Amanda responds and immediately radios to get the ambulance to hurry up.
"Oh fuck, what the fuck happened." Andy then states, there had been attacks and rapes and even murders in this town before but this, this was just something on another level. "How could someone do this." He then adds, although they couldn't identify who was in the bag he knows it is Matthew Summers and he knew without a doubt his father had done this to him, he just couldn't conceive how a father could do that to his own son.
"Andy we need to get him out of the bag." Amanda suddenly tells her partner, snapping him out of his thoughts as he turns to her.
"What?" Andy responds, he was just thinking how a respectable man like David could do such a thing, while not great friends he had drunk with the man at the local and he was just a good guy and now this and he couldn't figure it out.
"He will die if we don't, the ambulance is five minutes away, help me quick." Amanda says firmly, she knows it might be the wrong thing to do, but she was sure he would suffocate if they left him in the bag how he was.
Andy just nods his head as they slowly and carefully remove the boy from the bag and lay him on the ground, Andy takes off his coat and Amanda does the same as they wrap the boy up, they tried their best to not look at him, but even in the dark the light from the streets and the house was enough to show them just how badly he was beaten, there didn't appear to be a single part of his body that wasn't either cut, bruised or bloodied and it was obvious one of his ankles was shattered along with one of his wrist.
They then just sit with the boy not knowing what to do other than try to keep him warm and to their relief they hear the sirens and look up to see an ambulance and two patrol cars pull up, Andy gets to his feet and hurries over to the ambulance and tries to give them as much information as he can as they approach the boy, once they get to him Andy and Amanda leave them to it and go over to the other officers and fill them in on what happened.
They then watch the boy being stretchered and loaded into the ambulance, Andy then turns to see that Martha and Edward are watching from their front door, he signals to Amanda while the other officers make their way inside the Summers house and she follows him over to talk with the Taylor's.
Eight Hours Later
"Still no word from Matt then?" Wesley asks as he sits down next to his friend for their music class, with Matt out of town Wesley had made the decision to sit next to Ben in their shared classes and his friend didn't object to the gesture.
"No, Wesley I got a bad feeling that something happened." Ben answers, as he turns to his friend and Wesley can see the genuine look of concern on his face.
"Come on Ben, he is with his mum, there are plenty of places where it is almost impossible to get a signal or contact people." Wesley responds, trying his best to reassure his friend.
"I know, but I felt something last night Wesley." Ben then states, before turning away from his friend and just looks down at his desk.
"You felt something, like what?" Wesley asks curiously, he knew his two friends were in love and as close as he has seen anyone else, but feeling stuff is a little out there even for him.
"I'm being serious, I don't know how to explain it, but I was asleep and I felt like something stabbed me in the heart and it woke me up, it scared me Wesley I mean really scared me, something happened to him I just know it, something bad happened." Ben explains and Wesley looks at his friend with concern and can see tears rolling down his face, so he turns to their teacher and holds his hand up.
"Mr Fisher, what is it?" Mr Morgan asks in a friendly tone, after noticing the boys hand up.
"Sir Ben is going to be sick, can I take him to the toilets please?" Wesley asks, but Mr Morgan notices the boy is giving him a look and it isn't until he sees Ben's face that he understands.
"Of course and I think you should take him outside afterwards for some air and both of you can come see me after class Wesley and we can see if he needs to go home." Mr Morgan responds, he knew the boy wasn't going to be sick, but he did look awful and could see the concern on Wesley's face for his friend and knew what he had to do.
"Thank you Sir." Wesley then says, as he helps his friend to his feet and the two of them leave the classroom and head straight to the toilet.
"I'm not going to be sick Wesley." Ben states, while they make their way to the nearest toilet.
"I know, but we need to get you cleaned up before we sit outside." Wesley replies just as they enter the toilets, but as soon as the door closes behind them, Ben starts crying his eyes out.
"Something happened Wesley, I know it, I just know it." Ben then says as he drops to his knees and holds his head in his hands.
"Oh shit, come on quick get in here." Wesley says, before almost carrying his friend into the stall furthest away from the door and locking it behind them.
Mr Morgan is just about ready to end the class, when he hears a knock on the classroom door and looks up in surprise.
"Come in." He calls out, while he and the rest of the class look to see who it is and when Mitch Walker walks in looking white as a ghost, Mr Morgan knows that something has happened, he knew Mitch from a few years ago, when he was a student and he had never seen him look as scared or as lost as he did right now. "Mr Walker, how can I help you?" He then asks, although he is hoping he is wrong and nothing has happened.
"Hello Mr Morgan, sorry for interrupting your class but I need Ben to come with me and Wesley as well." Mitch states, his voice sounding just as bad as he looked Mr Morgan thought to himself.
"I'm sorry Mitch, but Ben wasn't feeling well so Wesley took him outside for some fresh air." Mr Morgan tells the young man, he purposely called him by his first name because this didn't seem like the time to be overly formal.
"I came from outside, there wasn't anyone out there." Mitch responds, sounding despondent and avoids looking at any of the kids in the class who he knew were all staring at him.
"Mitch, they might be in the toilets, you should try the closest one to the classroom." Mr Morgan suggests, remembering that Wesley might have taken Ben there to get cleaned up and if they weren't outside, they could still be there.
"Okay, thank you Mr Morgan." Mitch says, as he walks out of the class looking even worse then he did when he came in and Mr Morgan wishes there was something he could do, but he had a room full of students he had to look after.
Wesley had finally calmed his friend down enough to leave the toilet stall and were standing at the sinks as Wesley wiped the tears from his friends face.
"You ready to go outside now?" Wesley then asks, after he was satisfied his friend was looking as good as he is going to get.
"Yeah, thanks for listening to me Wesley." Ben answers, as they leave the toilets.
When they step out of the toilets Ben and Wesley head straight towards the school doors to the playground, but both stop dead in their tracks when they see Mitch walking towards them and when Ben looks at his brothers face, he drops to his knees and starts crying, he doesn't need to hear anything because he can just see it in his brothers face and knows that his feelings that something had happened to his boyfriend were right, Wesley also realises that something has happened, but he steels himself and waits for Mitch to stop in front on them.
"It's Matt isn't it?" Wesley asks, trying hard to keep himself strong and knew his friend wasn't capable of asking for himself.
Mitch doesn't answer him though, he just gives him a sad nod before he scoops his little brother up into his arms, Ben feeling himself being held instantly latches on to his brother and cries his heart out.
"Is there anything I can do?" Wesley then asks, it was a stupid question he knew, but he felt like he had to say something.
"No, just follow me, we need to get to the hospital." Mitch answers, but turns away from Wesley and starts walking to the nearest exit and Wesley follows him with his head down.
It takes them an hour before they get to the hospital and then to find the right room, although they are ushered straight into a waiting room, before they even get a chance to look to see what is happening and just sit in silence for a few minutes, they haven't spoken since leaving the school and Ben was still crying in his brothers arms.
"Mitch do you know anything?" Wesley decides to ask, breaking the silence as he looks at the older boy nervously.
"Huh?" Mitch says, he was lost in his own thoughts and didn't hear what Wesley had said.
"Do you know what happened or anything?" Wesley asks again, struggling to stop himself from crying.
"He is still alive, if that is what you mean." Mitch answers, but there is no happiness or joy in his voice which confuses Wesley.
"He is, but I thought he was dead?" Wesley asks in surprise, from the older boys expression and mood he had assumed his friend was dead and he wanted to jump in joy, but the way Mitch had said the words caused him to wonder why he sounded the way he did.
"Wesley, I don't know much but..." Mitch begins to say, but suddenly stops when he feels his little brother go limp and then silent. "Ben?" He then says, with fear in his voice.
"What, what is it Mitch?" Wesley then asks, as he stands up and can see his friend isn't moving.
"Wesley, go get someone quick.... GO NOW!" Mitch shouts, as he lays his little brother down and checks for a pulse while Wesley races out the door shouting for someone to help. "Come on Ben don't do this to me, come on little guy." He then says, while he tries to find a pulse and sighs in relief when he finds it, just as a doctor and nurse come in to the room.
"What happened?" Dr Gilmar asks.
"I don't know Doctor, he was crying in my arms and then just went limp, he has a pulse though but it's really weak." Mitch explains, while trying his best to stay strong despite wanting to cry.
"Okay, can you pick him up and follow me please, we need to get him to a room." Dr Gilmar instructs the young man, normally they wouldn't move someone if they collapsed, but he wants to get him checked out as quickly as possible and knew that they were short staffed at the moment.
An hour after collapsing, Ben wakes up groggily and sees his brother sitting next to his bed holding his hand.
"Mitch?" Ben says and instantly starts coughing because his throat is so dry.
"Hey little guy, drink this." Mitch says with a smile as he holds a cup to his little brothers lips and carefully tips it so he can drink.
"Oh man, you scared the crap out of us Ben." Wesley then says, as Mitch puts the cup down on the side table.
"Oh hey Wesley, what happened?" Ben asks and then looks down, tears are already falling down his face as he thinks about his boyfriend being dead and wonders how he is ever going to live with out him.
"Hey come on, at least he is still alive Ben, that is something right?" Wesley says, trying to cheer his friend up a little after seeing him starting to get upset again.
"HE IS ALIVE!" Ben shouts out and looks directly at his brother.
"Look Ben he is, but..." Mitch begins to say but stops, he doesn't know how to explain to him that while he is alive, he is on life support and may never wake up, he could barely come to terms with it himself and he had no idea how his little brother will handle it.
"But what? Mitch tell me... you can't not tell me, he is my boyfriend." Ben states as he starts to get agitated and his heart monitor starts beeping.
"Ben you need to calm down, I will tell you everything I know but if you don't calm down the doctors will come in and I might not be able to so just close your eyes and calm down please." Mitch says, almost begging his little brother and to his relief he watches as he closes his eyes before taking a few deep breaths, it takes a few minutes but his heart rate returns to normal.
"Mitch just tell us what they told you, we deserve to know." Wesley then states, he understands that it is bad, but keeping Ben in the dark is clearly not an option so he wants to be there to support him.
"Okay, Ben are you sure you can't just rest a while before I tell you, you're not going to like everything I tell you." Mitch then says, thinking it was best to warn his little brother before telling him and secretly hoping he can wait until after he rests.
"Just tell me." Ben says as he opens his eyes and Mitch sighs knowing he has to tell him everything he knows, he tries to start of with the less scary sounding stuff but he can already tell this is not going to go well and carries on reluctantly explaining everything and can see the heart breaking look of horror on his little brothers face.
"Dad, how long have you been here?" Mitch asks as he walks over to his Dad, who he was surprised to see standing outside of the room Matt was in.
"An hour or so, is Ben okay now?" Mike responds, without looking away from the room.
"You know about Ben?" Mitch responds in surprise and wonders why his dad was here and not with Ben.
"I was going to go in Mitch, but I heard you explaining about Matt and didn't want to interrupt." Mike answers, still staring into the room and Mitch wasn't sure how he should react to his dads response.
"Dad you should have come in." Mitch tells his dad, still not sure how he feels about his dad not helping him out with his little brother.
"Maybe but I spoke to the doctor and he told me Ben was okay so I came here, Matt doesn't have anyone and I didn't want him to be alone Mitch." Mike says in a sad tone, still not taking his eyes from the room and Mitch finally forces himself to look inside himself and wishes he hadn't.
"Oh fuck." Is all Mitch can say as he stares open mouthed at the small boy laying in the bed and sees that he is covered in bandages and casts with wires and tubes all over him.
"Mitch I don't want Ben seeing this okay, I don't care if you have to drag him away kicking and screaming, just promise me you won't let him see Matt like this, not matter what." Mike then says and for the first time looks at his eldest son. "Promise me Mitch." He then tells him firmly, looking him in the eyes.
"Dad I promise, but we can't keep him away forever." Mitch states, but his dad is already looking back into the room.
"Mitch you should go be with your brother." Mike then says flatly and Mitch knows there is no point trying to argue and he starts to walk back to his little brothers room, when he almost walks straight into a young boy.
"Carter?" Mitch says in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He then asks.
"Wesley text me, he said to get here as soon as possible and ask for what room Ben is in." Carter responds as he looks up at the older boy, he has no idea what happened but assumed Ben had hurt himself and wasn't really that concerned.
"He did? And they just told you which room he was in?" Mitch asks, he had been to enough hospitals to know they only give out the rooms to immediate families and were even more strict when dealing with children.
"Of course Mitch, I'm cute and adorable so it wasn't hard to convince them I was his brother and with a few tears they caved." Carter answers with a grin and despite everything that had happened, Mitch finds himself smiling for the first time.
"That works?" Mitch then asks still smiling, it was obvious the boy knew nothing about what happened to Matt so Mitch allowed himself to have a little time to enjoy how happy the boy was, before telling him the truth.
"Of course not idiot, the receptionist is my auntie and she told me which room it was." Carter says grinning, before to his surprise he suddenly finds himself being lifted up and cuddled tightly.
"Thank you so much, you wonderful little thing." Mitch says sincerely as he carries the confused boy to his little brothers room, where he dumps him into a surprised looking Wesley's lap.
"Er... hey there Carter." Wesley says in a totally confused tone, but was happy to see his boyfriend.
"Oh hey Wesley." Carter replies with a smile. "So what's up with Ben?" He then asks and instantly notices his boyfriends face drop, then when he turns to Mitch and then to Ben, he sees them all looking sad and wonders what is going on, to him Ben looked completely fine, well apart from the sad look. "What's going on?" He then asks.
"It's Matt, something happened and he..." Wesley begins to say but trails off, he didn't feel right talking about it in front of Ben and didn't want to upset him.
"Oh my god is he okay?" Carter asks in shock, by the looks on the others faces and the way his boyfriend trailed off, he got a horrible feeling in his gut.
"He is going to die." Ben suddenly answers in a cold emotionless voice and Carter turns to him in horror.
"Holy fuck, what happened?" Carter asks as tears start forming in his eyes and just can't process what he is being told.
"Wesley you better take him somewhere and explain things." Mitch tells the young boy, who quickly gets up and effortlessly carries his boyfriend out of the room, normally Mitch would have been impressed by the boys strength, but his mind was fully on his little brother.
"Ben listen to me, I don't believe in patronising people or giving false hope, but even though the doctors aren't sure there is still a good chance Matt will recover." Mitch tells his little brother, as he sits down and takes a hold of his hand.
"But you're lying to me, I'm not stupid even if they fix his injuries, he is still in a coma and on life support, I have seen enough hospital shows to know even without those injuries he is not going to wake up." Ben states, looking his brother firmly in the eyes.
"Stop being a pathetic baby Ben." Mitch says shocking his little brother, but he doesn't care, he realises he isn't responding to the kid gloves approach and decides to try the tough love way.
"What?" Ben responds and is shocked at his brothers change in attitude.
"Your boyfriend is fighting for his life and you're sitting here writing him off as dead already, if that was you in there Ben, Matt would be telling everyone that you're a fighter and will be okay." Mitch tells his little brother, not even remotely sugar coating it and he instantly wonders what the hell he is doing and is about to start trying to apologise when he sees that his little brother is looking at him with a half smile.
"He really would wouldn't he." Ben suddenly says and Mitch can tell he is being serious and that he has gotten through to him and relaxes slightly.
"Damn right he would." Mitch responds, deciding to go with whatever is happening.
"I love him and he loves me, Mitch I want to go see him." Ben then says and just like that Mitch's heart drops, he had promised their dad he would keep Ben away, but he had just got through to his little brother finally and he always came first for Mitch.
"Ben, I promised dad that I would keep you away." Mitch says, deciding on honesty being the best cause of action.
"Mitch I want to see him." Ben states firmly, in a dead serious tone.
"I know, but first I need to prepare you because you aren't going to like what you see, I could barely handle it Ben but he is your boyfriend and you're going to be strong for him aren't you?" Mitch says, keeping with being honest, but also getting his little brother in the right frame of mind and he can see that it is working.
"Mitch I know it must be bad, but I promise I will be strong." Ben says, with his newly found strength after his brother had made him see sense.
"Now you have to promise me something and it's a big one Ben." Mitch then tells his little brother, who looks at him nervously.
"What is it?" Ben responds, making sure not to make any promise before he hears what his brother is going to say.
"You have to promise you will wait until tomorrow before you go see him, I mean it no begging or whining Ben because it will prove to me that I'm doing the right thing by breaking my promise to dad." Mitch says, while he looks at his little brother with a serious expression and hopes that he understands what he is asking.
"I promise, I want to see him now but I promise, but you have to take me to see him in the morning please." Ben responds, barely holding himself together and he is suddenly starting to feel tired and was trying his best not to show it, but Mitch knew his little brother too well and could see the tiredness.
"I promise, but there is another thing Ben." Mitch says and he can see the look of annoyance spread across his little brothers face which confirms to him just ho tired his little brother was.
"What now, it's not fair Mitch stop making me promise things." Ben says in a frustrated tone.
"Ben part of being a grown up is having to make the right decisions and they are never easy, so when I take you tomorrow I want you to listen to the doctors and nurses, if they tell you to leave the room." Mitch begins to say and can see his little brother is about to say something, so quickly continues. "Look shut up and listen, Matt is in a bad way, they are doing everything they can to save him and you need to let them, it will be hard I know Ben but if they need you to leave then you have to do it, you have to do it for Matt because he would do the same for you, do you understand what I'm telling you?" He then says, explaining himself before his little brother has a chance to interrupt.
"I promise." Ben says and Mitch knows his brother understands. "Mitch?" He then says looking at his brother.
"Yeah Ben?" Mitch responds.
"Dad isn't going to be mad at you is he?" Ben asks, feeling guilty that he is making his brother break a promise to their dad, he knew Mitch prided himself on keeping his word and for him to break one for him was special and that is why he is agreeing to what ever his older brother is asking him because he knows he is right.
"Honestly, I think he is going to be really angry but I would do anything for you Ben, you're the most important person in my life and always will be and you will always come first." Mitch answers from the heart, his little brother meant everything to him and he wasn't afraid to show it. "Now get some sleep, I'm going to find Wesley and Carter and then come back to get some sleep as well." He then says before standing up, he then leans over to kiss his little brother on the forehead and helps him lay back down.
"I love you Mitch." Ben says, as his eyes close and falls asleep straight away.
"I love you too little brother." Mitch says, as he kisses his forehead again and leaves to find the other two boys.
It only takes Mitch a few minutes to find Wesley comforting Carter in a waiting room so he walks in shutting the door behind him and sits in a chair opposite them.
"Hey guys." Mitch says in a sad tone, he had been putting on a false strength around his little brother, but he let it slip now and could feel himself shaking a little bit.
"Mitch how are you doing? And don't lie." Wesley asks, as he looks at the older boy and he can tell that he is struggling.
"Shit Wesley, that is how I'm doing and I just don't understand how David could do this to his own son." Mitch answers bluntly, not realising what he just said or the surprised looks on both their faces.
"Wait what? David? His dad... Matt's dad... did this to him?" Wesley asks in disbelief and Mitch looks up realising he has just messed up big time.
"Oh fuck, I shouldn't have said that." Mitch says, as he puts his head in his hands and begins to cry silently, he was already on the brink of breaking down and this just pushed him over the edge.
"FUCKING BASTARD!" Wesley shouts out, causing Carter to come out of his trance and look up at his boyfriend in concern.
"What... what happened?" Carter asks in surprise and wonders what is wrong, he was still processing everything his boyfriend had told him and barely even noticed Mitch come in..
"Matt's Dad, did it... that piece of shit did that to him Carter... FUCKING BASTARD!" Wesley answers, with his voice full of anger and disgust.
"Oh fuck... but why, Matt is like the nicest person ever..." Carter starts to say, but then notices Mitch is sitting opposite them and is crying into his hands. "Mitch?" He then asks nervously, seeing the older boy like this was scaring him, sure he had only just gotten to really know him, but it was obvious he was strong and a rock for everyone so seeing him like this was a shock and worrying.
"Oh crap, Mitch?" Wesley then says, his anger disappearing as he and Carter get up and move to the older boy and cuddle him tightly. "Hey come on, it's okay Mitch." He then says, finding it strange to be the one comforting Mitch, instead of the other way around.
Instead of answering the boys though, Mitch just carries on crying as they hold him, he didn't realise just how much he had bottled his own emotions up and now he couldn't stop even if he wanted to and it takes almost half an hour before Mitch eventually starts pulling himself together and when he looks up at the two boys after they stand back from him, they can see his face is tear stained and his eyes look painfully red and puffy.
"You okay now?" Wesley then asks in a warm caring tone, after being comforted by the older boy so many times he knew what to say and how to say it.
"Thank you guys, I needed that." Mitch says with a weak smile, he really did need it and he felt a lot better for it and was able to refocus.
"Want to talk about it?" Carter then asks, a few weeks ago he wouldn't dare to speak in this situation around the older boy, but Mitch had been so welcoming and nice to him that he felt comfortable talking to him and wanted to help.
"Yeah Mitch, we are here for you." Wesley then says, as he takes his boyfriends hand into his own, it suddenly occurred to him that Mitch has to be a rock for his little brother, but needed someone to look after him and he was determined to repay all the times Mitch had come to his aid and been that person for him. "You can talk to me anytime and I will be there okay?" He then adds, remembering the older boy telling him something similar many times.
"I'm going to hold you to that Wesley, but I'm more worried about you two." Mitch responds and surprises the two boys in the process.
"Huh?" They both say in unison, as they look at the older boy curiously.
"Look I think I just made it pretty obvious that I am a wreck right now, but I need to know how you're both doing, so it's your turn to be honest." Mitch explains with a serious look on his face, sure he was in pieces but he still wanted to look out for the boys and as he couldn't do anything for Matt, so he was determined to help the other three boys.
"I don't really know, I mean I hate Mr Summers and I want to kill him, but at the same time I just want to cry and see Matt, but I know there is nothing I can do for him and I guess I just don't know what to do." Wesley answers honestly, although he did know something he can do and that was to look after Mitch.
"I'm scared, but deep down I know Matt will make it, it's just not going to be easy and I'm really worried about Ben." Carter then says, trying to be honest but holding back a little.
"It's good to have hope Carter and well Wesley you will have to get to him before me because that piece of shit is going to pay." Mitch says, as he wipes his face with a tissue from his pocket.
"Mitch? No wait never mind." Carter begins to say, but hesitates.
"Carter, if you have a question you can ask me anything." Mitch says, he might not like what the boy is about to say but he was determined to help the boys as much as possible.
"I know it must be bad, but what actually happened? I mean is it like a head injury or broken bones, it's just how bad was he hurt?" Carter asks nervously and wishes he hadn't when the older boys face goes white.
"Carter not now." Wesley quickly says, as he sees the look on Mitch's face.
"No, no it's okay... I don't know everything, I just over heard some stuff, but really all I know is he is in a coma and on life support, most of his ribs are broken and one of his ankles is shattered completely and they don't know if they can fix it, but that is all I heard before they saw me and made me leave." Mitch answers the boys question as honestly as he dared to, but saying it out loud brings the reality of the situation to life and he knows those are just the tip of the iceberg of Matt's injuries and he knows he is going to be sick and gets up and vomits in the waste bin in the corner of the room.
"He might lose his foot?" Carter says in shock, he wishes he never asked the question now and starts shaking.
"Mitch should I get someone?" Wesley asks, as he looks at the older boy being sick.
"No it's fine." Mitch responds, before he stands up and wipes his mouth. "Wesley don't worry about me, look after Carter he isn't doing very well." He then tells the young boy, after seeing Carter shaking and looking ill, he would comfort him himself but he knew Wesley would be more effective and he really wanted to get back to his little brother and sleep.
"Oh." Wesley responds in surprise, but when he turns to his boyfriend his face drops and he quickly pulls him into his arms and gently rubs his back.
"Guys come with me okay, we should get some rest and Ben's room has enough chairs for all of us." Mitch then suggest, he had intended to leave the boys here but he just couldn't do it and wanted all the boys where he could see and look after them.
Wesley just nods at the older boy, before he effortlessly lifts his boyfriend up and again impresses Mitch with his strength, while Carter wraps his legs around his boyfriends waist, making it easier to carry him, all three then head back to Ben's room with Mitch leading the way and once they are back inside Mitch is happy to see that his little brother is still asleep and slumps down in the chair closest to the bed before taking one of his little brothers hands into his own, he then looks over to see Wesley take the seat on the other side of the bed with Carter still in his arms and he gives him a warm look of respect before leaning forward and falling asleep with his head on his brothers bed, Wesley and a now composed Carter just sit together and watch the two brothers sleeping, until eventually they both fall asleep too.
The Next Day
"Are sure you want to do this?" Mitch asks his now dressed little brother, who is now standing just down the corridor from his boyfriends hospital room and just out of sight of their dad who is staring into the room.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Ben answers, trying to sound confident and is desperate to see his boyfriend, despite his brothers warnings about what he is going to see.
"Ben I'm serious, remember what I told you, if you go in there are start freaking out it isn't going to help anyone and they won't let you see him for a long time, so I want you to be honest with me because it is better to wait another day or two instead of weeks isn't it?" Mitch then says, trying to make sure his little brother is aware of what could happen.
"Mitch please, I'm going to be strong for him." Ben answers, with his voice as serious as the look on his face and Mitch knows his little brother is going in that room with or without his help.
"Okay, just let me talk to Dad and when I give the signal slip in the room, but please Ben only do this if you can handle it, I want you to promise me that you will come out straight away if it is too much for you." Mitch tells him, now kneeling down so he can look his little brother in the eyes.
"I promise." Ben says and Mitch gets to his feet, he wishes Wesley and Carter were here but both had to go home and wouldn't be able to come back until the evening at he earliest.
Mitch leaves his little brother and walks towards his dad, he knew he would be pissed with him but he knew he was doing the right thing and as he comes to a stop next to him he takes a deep breath.
"Have they got in contact with Sarah yet?" Mitch asks causing his dad to jump a little in surprise, he hadn't even noticed his eldest son standing next to him.
"Oh morning Mitch." Mike then says, without looking away from the room.
"Morning Dad, so have they spoke to Sarah yet?" Mitch responds, before repeating his question.
"They managed to get through to her a few hours ago, they are sending an officer to go pick her up and bring her here." Mike answers, but still doesn't look away from the room.
"When will she get here?" Mitch then asks, trying his best to get his dad to speak more, he couldn't help noticing how tired his dad looked and wondered if he had actually moved from this spot.
"I don't know, but it could be late tonight or early tomorrow morning." Mike again answers without saying any more than he needs to and Mitch starts to get worried.
"It's Mum isn't it." Mitch finally decides to say and this time his dad turns to face him.
"What?" Mike asks, completely taken by surprise at the question.
"You won't leave Matt because of Mum and what happened to her." Mitch states as he looks his dad in the eyes. "I'm right aren't I?" He then adds and gives his little brother the signal now he has his dads full attention, he didn't mean to mention his mum and feels awful for using her as a distraction, but he had to get his little brother in that room and carries on.
"Matt right now doesn't have anyone else Mitch, go be with your little brother I'm fine here." Mike responds, ignoring his eldest sons question and starts to turn back to the room, but his eldest sons hand on his arm stops him.
"Dad talk to me, I'm not a little kid any more and I want you to talk to me." Mitch then says, turning his dad so he can't see Ben sneaking in the room, he feels horrible for tricking his dad but he was genuinely trying to help his dad as well now and his words were sincere.
"Son, I just hope you know what you're doing." Mike then states, catching his eldest son totally off guard.
"Dad?" Mitch says, not sure what else to say.
"If he freaks out Mitch, they won't let him see Matt again for a long time." Mike answers as he turns to look inside the room, just as his youngest son is slowly edging towards his boyfriend and Mitch instantly realises what his dad means.
"You knew?" Mitch asks, still half in shock.
"Mitch I know you more than you know yourself, I knew when I made you promise to not let him see Matt that you would break it and I'm not angry with you." Mike explains, looking into the room with a sad expression.
"You're disappointed though aren't you?" Mitch cant help but ask, as he watches his little brother reach his hand out slowly to touch his boyfriend.
"No, no Son I'm proud of you, I just hope for everyone's sake that you prepared your brother enough that he isn't traumatised by this." Mike says almost coldly, but Mitch knows his dad is not upset with him and is just worried about Ben.
"I did the best I could, he was going to find a way to see him with or without my help Dad, but I made sure he knew what he would see." Mitch replies as confidently as he can manage under the circumstances. "Dad honestly what are the chances of him making it?" He then asks, in his heart he was already preparing himself for the boy dying but he wasn't prepared to give up all hope.
"Officially they couldn't tell me, but Mitch it's not good." Is all Mike says, hoping he just accepts his answer, although he knows that isn't likely to happen.
"Dad just tell me." Mitch asks again, with enough force in his voice for his dad to turn to him.
"Mitch, they are giving him less than a five percent chance that he ever wakes up, they didn't even think he would make it through the night, but he is a fighter." Mike answers honestly and Mitch can see tears in his dads eyes and he reaches out to pull him in for a loving cuddle.
Ben had prepared himself to see the worst thing he could imagine, but as he stands next to his boyfriend he knows he had underestimated how hard this would be and felt himself close to collapsing, but his brothers words stuck with him and he was not going to let his boyfriend down and just steeled himself as best he could and places his hand on top of his boyfriends hand, although it was in a cast he didn't care.
"Hey Matt, it's me Ben... I don't know if you can hear more or not, but on those hospital shows they all say people in comas can hear things so I guess I just wanted to let you know... I don't know Matt, I just wanted you to know that I was here and that I love you so much." Ben says speaking from the heart, while tears roll down his face. "Matt I know you're going to be okay, just be strong and fight, fight for me Matt because I can't lose you, I need you Matt and I love you so much." He then adds as he leans down and kisses his boyfriends forehead, which was heavily bandaged.
As much as he is trying to stay strong though, Ben can feel his resolve breaking and when his hands start shaking he knows he is starting to freak out, but thanks to his brother preparing him he knows what he has to do.
"Matt I have to go for a while, but I want you to know that I love you and I will be back, just please keep fighting... please..." Ben starts to say but stops short when he feels himself losing it so he quickly gives his boyfriend another kiss on the forehead before quickly leaving the room, he sees his dad and Mitch talking and runs straight into his brothers arms and cries his heart out.
"Sshh little guy, it's going to be okay, Sshh just let it all out." Mitch says soothingly, as he comforts his little brother and lets him cry.
"Mitch take him to one of the waiting rooms." Mike tells his eldest son, he wants to comfort his youngest son himself but he had to stay strong and he just couldn't leave Matt alone, his eldest son had been right when he asked if this was about his wife and he knew he would fall to pieces if he left the boy all alone.
"Dad it will be okay, just trust me okay because Ben did exactly what I told him to do and he doesn't need us to treat him like a baby." Mitch tells his dad, who looks at him before smiling.
"I'm proud of you Son." Mike then says, looking at his eldest son and for the first time he sees that he is no longer his little boy and is now in his own right a man and he couldn't be prouder if he tried.
"I love you Dad." Mitch says before looking back down at his little brother. "Ben you did really great and I'm so proud of you." He then says sincerely.
"I did what you told me Mitch, you saw me didn't you?" Ben then states, as he lifts his tear stained face up to look his brother in the eyes, Mike can't believe what he is seeing and realises Mitch was right and he had underestimated just how strong his youngest son was.
"I saw you little guy, you were amazing and I know he could hear you." Mitch tells his little brother with a genuine warm smile, he may not have been able to hear what he had actually said, but Mitch could see him talking and he was so proud of him.
"Did you see me Mitch, I started freaking out but I remembered what you told me and I came out, did you see?" Ben asks excitedly, he was so proud of himself for being strong for his boyfriend and he wanted to let his brother know he was strong just like he promised he would be.
"You were amazing Ben, I just know Matt is proud of you as well." Mitch tells his little brother proudly, he works out that he is vulnerable and looking for reassurance and he was happy to be able to help him. "Ben do you think you're ready to go back in or do you want to wait a little while?" He then asks, he knows his little brother needs to know he believes in him and isn't going to let him down.
"I want to go in now Mitch, but I need a few more minutes first." Ben answers honestly, he wants to show Mitch that he is not a little boy any more and if that means waiting a few minutes longer, then that is what he will do.
"Okay, hey let's go get a quick drink and then you can go back in." Mitch then suggests smiling, before letting go of him and holds his hand out instead for his little brother to take.
"Deal." Ben responds and takes his brothers hand and starts walking away with him, before turning his head. "Oh hey Dad, I love you." He then says, after realising he hadn't spoken to his dad yet.
"I love you too Son and I'm very proud of you young man." Mike replies as he looks at his two sons proudly while they walk away.
Just as his sons disappear around the corner, Mike turns back to look into Matt's room and sees a nurse approach him and smiles when he recognises her.
"It's good to see you Erica, have you got any more news?" Mike asks the familiar face, he had asked her to get him some information on Matt as no one would tell him because he wasn't related, but Erica had been keeping him up to date, the doctors knew this but turned a blind eye because they knew the boy was all alone until his mother arrived.
"Yes and you aren't going to like this Mike, you know so far they have let me tell you some things." Erica says and Mike nods, he knows she is risking a lot for him. "Well if I tell you this, you have to not get angry, Mike I'm serious this is bad and if you go on a rampage then I can kiss my job good bye." She then says seriously, she had grown up with Mike being a sort of uncle to her, as he and is wife were friends with her parents, but her job was more important and she couldn't risk it any more than she already had.
"Erica I promise, if it is really bad I will deal with it and not make a scene, now come on just tell me please." Mike responds, there is nothing he can think of that would get him that upset, the boy is in awful shape and is likely going to die so what could be worse than that he thought to himself.
"Mike he has been raped, violently raped and if it is true what they are saying, then it is likely his father is the one who did it." Erica tells him in a hushed tone, they were alone where they are, but she still doesn't want anyone over hearing, however she stiffens slightly when she sees Mike's face goes white before turning red. "Mike please, you promised me Mike." She quickly says, thinking he is about to explode in anger.
"That bastard raped his own son? What it wasn't enough to beat and torture him to the brink of death, he had to rape him too." Mike says and he can feel his anger and disgust building and it takes everything he has to not lose control.
"Mike I know, trust me I know but I thought you needed to know, are you going to be okay?" Erica asks, she is concerned not just for her job now, but for him as well when she sees how completely distraught he is.
"Erica thank you for telling me, but I need to be alone now, let me know if you find out any thing else please, just leave me alone please." Mike then says, before turning away from her and looking back at the poor boy in the bed and thinking how something like this could happen to one of the sweetest and kindest little boy he has ever met.
Barely getting any time to process the devastating news he has just received, Mike puts on a brave face when his sons return carrying drinks, Mitch hands him a black coffee and Mike watches his youngest son down his juice in one go.
"Easy there Ben, you shouldn't drink so fast." Mike tells his son, he was fighting his emotions but he found going in to parent mode helped a little bit.
"I told him the same thing when he downed the other two Dad." Mitch says, as he ruffles his little brothers hair.
"I'm just nervous." Ben says grinning, before his expression changes to a serious one. "Mitch I'm ready now." He then says, as he looks to his boyfriends room.
"Then go on in." Mitch says, before he stands behind his little brother with his hands on his shoulders. "Go on Ben, he needs you." He then says, giving him a little push and watches proudly as his little brother walks into the room.
"Dad should we tell him about Matt's chances of making it?" Mitch suddenly asks out of the blue, after he and his dad watch Ben talking to his comatose boyfriend in silence for a few minutes.
"I don't see how it will do any good Mitch and there is so much we have to tell him already." Mike responds, his voice is full of sadness and Mitch turns to face him nervously.
"What else is there to tell Dad?" Mitch asks, he can't think of anything else they have to tell him, eventually they would know the extent of his injuries, but there can't be much else he thinks to himself.
"I wish there wasn't Mitch, I just don't know how to tell him, I can barely handle it myself but he has to know eventually." Mike says and a shiver runs through Mitch's body, he didn't like how his dad was talking at all.
"Dad, did something happen to Mrs Summers?" Mitch asks, it is the only thing he can't think of that could cause his dad to act like he is and he tries to steel himself as he fears the worst.
"No, I told you she is on her way.... this is worse Son, so much worse and I don't know how to tell him." Mike states, as he looks at his youngest son putting on a brave face while he continues to talk to his boyfriend in the room.
"Dad you're scaring me, please tell me, what don't you know how to tell him?" Mitch asks and this time he pulls his dad to face him and Mike looks at him in surprise and knows he has to tell him the truth.
"Matt was raped, he was raped by his own father... Mitch how am I supposed to tell Ben that." Mike states as he turns to look at his youngest son in the room again. "How am I meant to not only tell him his boyfriend has been violently raped, but it was his own father who raped him Mitch." He then says and turns back to his eldest son with tears running down his face. "Tell me Mitch, how do I tell him that and not destroy him?" He then asks, as his head drops and he stares at the floor.
Mitch just stands there speechless, he should probably say something he thinks to himself but he is just too numb, he should be angry and disgusted but there is nothing, it is like someone went inside of him and switched off his emotions and then everything suddenly went black.
Walking in the door, Ben edges himself closer to his boyfriend, he had naively convinced himself it would be easier this time seeing him like this, but he was very wrong and if anything this was worse and he felt it in his heart and it scared him.
"Matt, it's me again, yeah I know I what you're thinking, but I promise you that I'm alright." Ben says, steeling himself as he walks over and takes a hold of the hand that isn't in a cast gently. "I just want you to know that I believe in you and I know you will wake up and I will be here when you do." He then says looking over his boyfriends body, although the tubes and wires terrified him, he is glad of the bandages and casts because they covered a lot of the other stuff, but he could see some things poking the fabric of his boyfriends sheet, but he was too afraid to look underneath, he had only been told a small amount about his boyfriends injuries and those made his stomach churn and he knew if he could see the bruising and whatever those things sticking out around his boyfriend waist he would break and fall to pieces and he desperately wanted to be strong.
"Hey, you should totally see Carter boss Wesley around, it is so funny to see Matt, I know Wesley said to us he liked how assertive Carter was but I thought he was kidding, but Matt he so wasn't and don't get me started on what Carter makes him wear, well maybe not 'make' him wear but there is no way Wesley would have worn comic book t-shirts and pink clothes but he does now." Ben says giggling as he remembers the first time he saw Wesley in some of his new clothes, he had burst out laughing straight away, not because of the clothes Wesley was wearing but because Ben actually thought he looked amazing and wondered if Wesley ever looked bad or dorky, but it was the look on his friends face that was just priceless and made him giggle.
To the outside world Wesley was tough and strong, but Ben knew the real Wesley and he was vulnerable and insecure and wearing a very dorky looking comic book t-shirt with matching shorts showed the real Wesley as he looked so awkward, Ben had teased him and asked if he lost a bet which just amused Ben further when his friend blushed, eventually Wesley had admitted that he actually liked the clothes, but still felt a little awkward but was insistent that if it made Carter happy, then he was happy and Ben respected that.
"And before you ask, yeah annoyingly he still somehow looks cool, honestly Matt I don't know how he does it, if we wore what he was wearing we would look like the biggest dorks and idiots in the world but Wesley somehow looks, well he just looks cool and god it's annoying, but anyway you will see for yourself when you wake up." Ben says smiling, he had thought talking to his boyfriend like this would be awkward and weird but it wasn't, he loved his boyfriend and talking to him was the easiest thing in the world, even if he couldn't talk back he didn't care and all that mattered was that his boyfriend could hear him and Matt would know he loved him more than anything.
"Mitch is being amazing like always, you should have heard him talking to me Matt, I wanted to see you straight away but he stopped me, yeah I know I thought the same thing as well but he was right Matt, if I had seen you like this without him explaining it to me first I wouldn't have been able to handle it." Ben says honestly, as he gently strokes his boyfriends hand. "Hey give me a break, you look like shit Matt and all these tubes and wires are freaky but you still look sexy, I think when you wake up it could be your new look, you and Wesley would look amazing next to each other." He then says and starts giggling.
Ben stops briefly when he thinks he hears something, he looks out the room and notices his dad and brother aren't there any more which he thinks it is a little strange, but just figures they are either sitting down or have gone to get something to eat and decides to turn his attention back to his boyfriend again.
"Damn it, come on Mitch don't do this to me, I need you to be strong." Mike says as he lowers his eldest son to the floor, he had somehow managed to catch him just as he fell to the ground and was now trying to wake him. "Hey wake up Mitch, come on you're the strong one and I can't do this with out you." He then says and sighs in relief, when his eldest son starts to groan and open his eyes slowly.
"Dad?" Is all Mitch can say as he slowly comes round.
"Oh thank god, Mitch are you feeling alright?" Mike asks, both relieved and scared, he had almost had the same reaction as his eldest son when Erica had told him, it was only the fact his anger had been so intense that he hadn't feinted and he knew his son would be fine in a few moments.
"What happened?" Mitch then asks, as he slowly sits up holding his head.
"You feinted." Mike answers bluntly, he doesn't mean to sound cold but there is no other way of saying it.
"Oh fucking hell, sorry Dad." Mitch apologises and looks at his dad feeling embarrassed, he had let his dad down by being so weak and he felt like he was letting everyone down.
"You can cut the self pity crap out Mitch, now get up because we need to talk about how we are going to tell Ben, I need you Mitch and so does your brother." Mike says firmly, as he tries to get his eldest son focused, he wasn't trying to be cold but he needed his son to be the strong one, Mitch had always been the strong one and Mike knew when it came to Ben he would do anything and he used that to snap him out of his self pity.
"Okay." Mitch says just as he gets to his feet, but he is still a little groggy and sits down on one of the chairs, Mike decides to take the seat beside him and takes one of his hands into his own.
"Mitch I really don't know what to do." Mike then says honestly, while looking at his eldest son, he is completely lost and he knows it is unfair to put so much responsibility on him, but without him he would fall to pieces, this was too much like losing his wife and it was already too much for him to handle.
"Dad we can't tell him." Mitch then says and his dad raises an eyebrow in surprise. "I mean not yet, we should wait until we know Matt is going to make it or at least his odds get better." He then quickly adds, knowing his dad would misunderstand him.
"I know you're right Mitch, but I don't want him to find out that we knew and didn't tell him, Matt is his boyfriend and they are in love, he has a right to know." Mike then says, his eldest son was right and he knows it, but if he was in his youngest sons position he would want to know.
"Dad we can't tell him until we know Matt is going to wake up, what good will it do?" Mitch says in a serious tone. "Dad when we tell him and we will, he will be distraught and the only thing that will stop him from breaking is Matt being alright." He then adds, keeping the same serious tone.
"Mitch I just don't know, this is just a mess, no matter what I do or say I'm going to hurt him and there is nothing I can do about it." Mike responds and takes a big breath before sighing.
"Dad if we tell him and Matt dies, he won't be able to handle it, he is amazing and so strong but he is just a kid and it will destroy him, Dad we can't tell him yet." Mitch says again firmly, his dad is a mess and he has to be strong, he is in pieces himself but his little brother needs him and he won't let him down.
"Mitch you don't realise just what this will do to me if Ben breaks, I don't think I could handle it." Mike then says holding his free hand to his face. "Okay we will wait, but we have to tell him soon." He then adds, before taking his hand from his eldest son and getting up to look back into the room.
"Look at him Dad, look how strong he is being." Mitch then says as he joins his dad and watches his little brother talk with his boyfriend. "You think of me as the strong one Dad, but look at him, Ben is the strongest of us all Dad and we have to protect him." He then says, he truly saw his little brother as the strongest of them all and knew as he grew up he would be an amazing person who will do great things in his life, he just hoped with all his heart that Matt would be right there by his side.
Before Mike can say anything in response, an alarm comes from inside the room and both Mike and Mitch watch in horror as they see Ben jump back and turn white before screaming out, Mitch is first to react and moves for the door, but almost collides straight into a doctor and nurse who barely notice him as they burst into the room and get straight to work on Matt, another nurse and doctor enter and Mitch can see one of them trying to talk to his little brother, who is stood frozen and his heart breaks for him, he is about to move again when he sees his dad in the room and picking Ben up and holding him tightly, before bringing him out of the room.
Mitch doesn't know what to do until he hears his little brother howling and crying his eyes out when his dad brings him out of the room, so Mitch quickly goes to them and wraps his hands around his dad sandwiching Ben between them, as Mitch looks up he can see into the room and watches numbly as the doctors do their job and after what seems like hours, but in reality is only a few minutes the loud beeping alarm stops and the doctors and nurses stand back looking relieved, it takes Mitch a few minutes to process what is happening and his body relaxes in relief when he sees Matt's chest rise and fall.
"Ben, Ben look he is okay, Ben he is breathing look." Mitch declares in delight, as he releases his hold on his dad and lets Ben look into the room, Mitch can see he is shaking and crying still, but he can also see the relief and happiness was over his face. "See I told you he was a fighter Ben and it's all because of you." He then says, he isn't sure where this is coming from but he knows he means every word.
"What?" Ben asks, as he sniffles and just about manages to compose himself enough to talk.
"He loves you Ben and knows you love him, so he is fighting and he is doing it for you." Mitch explains, as he kisses his little brother on his forehead lovingly.
"When can I see him again?" Ben then asks, his brothers words mean the world to him and he believes him, but he can't bring himself to thank his brother without breaking down and he just wants to be with his boyfriend again.
"The doctors need to do their job Ben, I know this is hard for you but we have to let them." Mike answers his son, as he continues to hold him in his arms. "Are you hungry?" He decides to ask, he knows the doctors could be a while and even then they may not let Ben back in until they are happy he is stable enough.
"Dad I want to see him." Ben says, he is trying so hard to be strong and grown up, but he just wants to be with his boyfriend.
"I know and I will make sure you do very soon, I promise there is nothing that will stop you seeing him when he is stable." Mike responds and although he should know better, he is not going to break his promise and knows if push comes to shove he could count on Erica to help him.
"Dad is right Ben, look I know this sounds patronising but you need to eat and keep your strength up, Matt is going to be here for a long time and if you want to help him you need to look after yourself okay?" Mitch states and knows his little brother understands, despite the disappointed look on his face.
"Okay but we can't be long, he needs me to be with him." Ben answers, letting his brother wipe his tears away and clean his face, he loved his brother so much and can always trust that whatever Mitch tells him is the truth and he should listen.
Mike carries his youngest son to the hospital cafeteria with his eldest son walking beside him, he wished he was as good at comforting him as Mitch seemed to be, but where he stumbled and seemed to confuse him, Mitch just seemed to know exactly what to say to calm him down and he was so proud of him and after a little reluctance on Ben's part to let go of his dad they are all seated at a table, after a few moments Mike stands up and walks over to the counter to order their food before returning where they sit in silence, no one knowing what to say and sit deep in their own thoughts.
One Week Later: April 2015
"Any news on David yet?" Mike asks, as he sits next to Sarah with his arm over her shoulder.
"The police are doing everything they can, but they have no idea where he is or how he has managed to hide himself." Sarah answers in an almost robotic tone, she had only started to come to terms with what happened over the last few days, but Mike knew she may never recover totally and it frightened him to think what would happen to her if Matt never woke up.
"They will find him and he will suffer for what he did Sarah." Mike says wanting to sound reassuring, but his anger and disgust make his words seem cold.
"Mike thank you so much for being here for me and Matt, I don't know how I could have coped with out you and your wonderful boys, Helen would have been proud of them." Sarah says, trying to show her appreciation for all Mike has done for her, but she can see his face tighten at the mention of his wife. "I'm so sorry Mike, I didn't mean to bring her up." She then apologises, hoping she hasn't upset the man who has been her rock this last week for her, she had never been that close to him before, but now couldn't imagine him not being here and valued his friendship and support, the Taylor's had been around as much as possible, but it was clear that Martha couldn't cope with it all and Sarah knew she had to make Edward keep the older woman away for her own health.
"It's okay, this just brings it all back and it is hard Sarah, but I'm here for you and Matt, well if Ben ever give us a chance to get near him that is." Mike says with a small smile, it was true that Ben had barely left his boyfriends side and even when they did manage to get him to leave the room, he would just stand and stare through the windows, although they had to find a box for him to stand on as he wasn't quite tall enough to see through them on his own without struggling.
"I should have known something was wrong, David was different and I just ignored it and now look at what happened." Sarah suddenly states, seemingly ignoring Mike's attempts to make her smile.
"Sarah no one could have known what was going to happen, there is nothing you could have done and I don't want you to blame yourself, this is all down to David and you should be blaming him, not yourself." Mike says, trying his best to reassure her.
"Mike, I knew Matt was gay." Sarah starts to say and notices the look on Mike's face. "I knew about it Mike and I knew that David was old fashioned and would struggle to accept it." She explains and Mike gives her a surprised look.
"You knew? How long for?" Mike asks, he knows it is a stupid question and not important, but he hadn't known Sarah knew about her son.
"I knew before we moved from England Mike." Sarah answers before sighing. "There was a boy, well that isn't fair really to just call him a boy, but before we came here Matt was friends with a boy called Tobias, they pretty much grew up with each other from birth and were inseparable, they were just so happy together and even at that age their relationship was special." Sarah explains, before Mike can't help but interrupt.
"Wait they were boyfriends?" Mike asks in surprise, he had thought Ben and Matt were each others first and it was hard to believe they were together at such a young age, but to hear Matt had a boyfriend when he wasn't even ten was shocking.
"Oh no, no Mike I don't think they really knew how they really felt, sure if we never moved away I have no doubt they would be together, they loved each other but at that age neither could have understood their feelings." Sarah explains, after realising Mike had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"If they weren't together, then how did you know?" Mike asks, now finding himself fascinated by Matt's past.
"It was just before we left, I was walking down by the park with my sister and well we saw them, they were under a tree and I think Matt was singing to Tobias." Sarah says as a genuine smile spreads across her face, it had been so long since she had smiled. "We thought it was adorable and we were about to head down to see them, when they started kissing and even though we were far away it was a real kiss Mike, I almost called off the whole move because I realised what it would do to Matt, but David was insistent... oh my god..." She starts to explain, before suddenly cutting her explanation short and Mike sees her face go white.
"Sarah what is it, what's wrong?" Mike asks, as he feels her pull away from him.
"It was him Mike, it was all him." Sarah answers, but Mike just looks at her in confusion.
"Sarah what was him, what are you talking about?" Mike then asks, looking concerned.
"David... how didn't I see it, he was the one who wanted to move, every time something looked like it was going to get in the way of us moving he dealt with it, Mike I think David made this move happen, he must have suspected something was going on with the boys and he... oh no... Mike, I need to make a call..." Sarah says, before she stands up and walks away from Mike without waiting for a reply.
"He looks awful." Wesley points out as he stands next to the bed looking down at his comatose friend, before wincing in pain and rubbing his arm. "Hey, what was that for?" He then says, as he looks at a less than impressed looking Carter.
"For being a moron, now stop saying stupid things." Carter says firmly, as he stares down his boyfriend.
"Okay sorry, I was just... I don't know, no one has said anything for like five minutes." Wesley says still rubbing his arm, Carter may be small but he sure can punch hard Wesley thought to himself and smiled.
Wesley then looks up at Ben with a look of annoyance, when his friend makes an over the top whipping noise, but his annoyance fades when he hears his boyfriend giggle.
"Ha, ha Ben." Wesley then says, half pouting at being mocked.
"Not my fault you're so whipped." Ben responds, teasing his friend even more.
"I am not whipped." Wesley says defensively, although if truth be told he was kind of whipped and he loved it.
"Of course not, because you so totally decided to wear transformer pyjamas all by yourself to come to hospital." Ben then says continuing to tease his friend relentlessly, although once again to his annoyance, his friend somehow still looks cool despite wearing something so ridiculously dorky, that if someone like him or Matt had been wearing it, they would likely be laughed out of town.
"They aren't pyjamas." Wesley says as he blushes and looks down at himself and although he can see why Ben is teasing him, he actually liked what he was wearing, although that had more to do with it making his boyfriend happy than the actual clothes, which he didn't think were really suitable for outside the bedroom.
"Yeah shut up Ben, he looks hot and that is all that matters." Carter then says proudly, Ben could tell how much he enjoyed having someone like Wesley Fisher as his boyfriend, but his happiness fades a little when he sees a strange look on Wesley's face after Carter had finished talking and he didn't think it was a happy look.
"So how is he doing?" Wesley asks, quickly changing the subject, he loved his boyfriend he was so sure of it and he enjoyed how feisty he was, but something about what his boyfriend had just said unsettled him and he couldn't shake the feeling that he liked the idea of having him as a boyfriend, more then actually being his boyfriend and he desperately wanted to talk to Mitch about his fears, but had yet to get a chance.
"Not much change really, although Mitch admitted to me yesterday that none of the doctors expected him to make it through the first day or night let alone a week and are now actually optimistic that he might wake up, although the odds are still crap." Ben answers honestly, with a mixture or hope and sadness.
"Fuck the odds Ben, he is going to wake up I just know it and the doctors just have to tell you the odds are low to cover themselves and not get your hopes up, but he is a fighter Ben and you two are meant to be together forever and nothing is going to get in the way of you two." Wesley then says from the heart as he tries his best to reassure his friend and it works as Ben can't help thinking how similar Wesley is to his brother and found it comforting to have him around when Mitch couldn't be.
"I wish you wouldn't swear so much around people." Carter then says, managing to kill the mood and Ben sees the same look he saw on Wesley's face before reappear and becomes worried about him.
"Sorry Dad." Wesley says sarcastically, but Ben sees right through his friends sarcasm and knows Wesley is not happy being talked to like this by Carter and starts to see what the problem might be.
"How is school?" Ben then asks to change the subject, he hadn't been back to school since the day Mitch had come to get him to bring him here and he had no intention of going back until his boyfriend woke up.
"Everyone is asking about Matt, I know you didn't believe me when I told you that they really liked you both Ben, but they really do and they can't believe how a dad can do that to his own son." Wesley answers truthfully, even he had underestimated how many people cared about Matt and Ben, but it was a nice thing to see.
"Ben er... everyone kind of knows.... about er..." Carter tries to say, but isn't sure if he should tell his friend or not.
"What his Dad did to him?" Ben asks curiously, thinking that is what his friend wanted to say but didn't know why he looked and sounded so nervous.
"That you and Matt are boyfriends." Carter then says bluntly, deciding he should hear it from his friends instead of someone else.
"Carter you promised not to say anything until later." Wesley says and Ben can see that same look reappear on his face and feels sorry for Carter, who seems totally oblivious to his boyfriends apparent frustrations.
"It's okay Wesley, it's weird that everyone knows but it is nice too if that makes sense?" Ben states, it was a strange feeling that they wouldn't have to hide any more once Matt woke up, but it was a good feeling and it made him smile.
"I can't wait to show everyone that I have Wesley Fisher as my boyfriend, they are going to be so jealous that he is mine." Carter then says smiling happily, but this time Ben decides he needs to say something, after seeing Wesley's face drop again.
"Okay Carter, I don't mean to sound like an ass here, but you have to stop talking about Wesley as if he some sort of prize you won at a fair." Ben says, causing Wesley to look at him open mouthed and Carter to look at him in confusion.
"What?" Carter responds, he was completely confused by his friends words.
"Carter he is your boyfriend, not a toy you can show off to everyone." Ben then tells him bluntly.
"I don't treat him like a toy." Carter says defensively and he looks at Ben with an annoyed expression.
"Yes you do, look at him Carter, you dressed him like you used to dress those dolls you had when you were younger and you keep telling him how to act and how to talk." Ben continues to tell his friend, he knows he is being rude, but he isn't going to let his friends relationship destroy itself because of something so stupid.
"Shut up Ben, it's not like that." Carter says staring at his friend, he loved Wesley and he was his, not Ben's.
"It is though." Wesley then says, but his voice sounding meek.
"What?" Carter says, turning in surprise to his boyfriend.
"I love you and will do anything for you Carter, but it is like you think you own me or something, I like well actually I love how feisty you're and how you aren't afraid to tell me what you want, but I don't know." Wesley says with an uncertain tone, he didn't want to be having this conversation, especially not here and in front of his friends.
"I don't understand." Carter says, not knowing what else to really say, he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
"Carter I love you, I mean look at me I just walked through town with you to get here wearing transformer pyjamas and I did it because I knew I was making you happy." Wesley then says, trying to explain how he feels.
"They aren't pyjamas." Carter says in a defensive tone and Ben starts to wonder if Carter has any clue what is actually happening.
"They are and you know it, but I don't care because I saw how happy you looked when I put them on for you and that made me happy, but I need to know Carter how do you really feel about me because..." Wesley starts to say, before his boyfriend interrupts him.
"I love you, I don't understand why you're saying these things, what have I done?" Carter says completely unaware of what he is being accused of.
"Do you love me, or do you just love the idea of having me as a boyfriend." Wesley asks bluntly, he can't believe after finally understanding his own feelings and being with Carter that it could be over already and he was praying his boyfriend loved him and that he wasn't just a trophy.
"I don't get it." Carter responds genuinely confused.
"Carter it is simple, are you with me because you love me or are you with me because I am 'Wesley Fisher' and having me as a boyfriend is 'cool' and be honest." Wesley states as he loses patience with his boyfriend, he loved him and he was angry at himself for saying what he is saying, but he isn't going to be someone's pet and toy to impress other people.
"you're a prick Wesley." Carter says shocking both his boyfriend and Ben, who is staring open mouthed, when he had brought the issue up he thought he was saving his friends relationship, but now it looked like he had destroyed it.
"What?" Wesley asks in disbelief, he hadn't expected this kind of response.
"You heard me, how dare you question how much I love you and for the record I love having you as my boyfriend and yeah I want to show you off to everyone because you're perfect and you make me feel like I'm the most important person in the whole world." Carter says, but his tone his cold and full of anger. "So yeah I want people to know you're my boyfriend and I want to show you off, but not because you're 'Wesley fucking Fisher' but because I love you." He then says looking coldly at his boyfriend, he has never been this angry before and he scared himself.
"Carter..." Wesley tries to say, but his boyfriend cuts him off.
"Fuck you Wesley, don't bother to call me ever." Carter says before storming off, leaving Wesley stunned and speechless.
"Wesley stay here and look after Matt, I will go get him." Ben quickly says and leaves before Wesley can even react.
Wesley then looks down sadly at his comatose friend and cries, he had just messed his life up and just wished he had kept his mouth shut, if he had just stopped being so paranoid and pathetic he would have a boyfriend but now he was alone again and he hated himself.
"Carter stop." Ben calls out again while he chases after his friend, he eventually catches him up and almost drags him into the nearest toilets and is relieved to find it empty.
"Leave me alone." Carter says, he had forgotten how quick and strong Ben was and how slow and weak he was in comparison.
"Not until you sort yourself out and go apologise to Wesley before you ruin your relationship." Ben states, as he blocks his friend from the door.
"Apologise to him? No way and you can get lost as well, making me out to be a control freak, why couldn't you just..." Carter starts to say angrily, before Ben stops him by pushing a finger to his lips.
"Shut up and listen, you love Wesley right, like really love him right?" Ben asks, not taking his eyes of his friend who looks at him with a confused expression.
"More than anything else, but I can't..." Carter begins to answer, but is cut off before he can finish.
"Then how the hell can you talk to him like that?" Ben says, as he gently takes hold of one of his friends arms.
"What?" Carter says in shock, he can't believe he is being made out as the bad guy.
"Wesley may be 'Mr Perfect' to everyone who doesn't know him, but to those that do know him, he is probably the most vulnerable one of us all Carter." Ben starts to explain, but pauses to let his words sink in.
"What... wait I..." Carter stutters, as he tries to get his head together.
"Didn't you listen to a word he said?" Ben then asks, sensing he was making a breakthrough.
"Yeah and I'm not going to be treated..." Carter starts to respond, but Ben cuts him off almost straight away again.
"You know considering you're meant to be the smartest one of the group, you're dumb as shit Carter." Ben says with a serious expression.
"What?" Carter says and feels like he is missing something obvious.
"Wesley just told you he loved you so much that he would do anything if it made you smile, he worships the ground you walk on Carter but you know what he has been through with his parents and you should know how vulnerable he is when it comes to love, he spent most of his childhood thinking his parents didn't really love 'him' and thought they just saw him as something that belonged to them, so when you started speaking like he was a new toy of yours that you owned, he thought you were being just like his parents used to be." Ben starts to explain, before being interrupted by his friend this time.
"Oh no, fuck Ben I have just fucked up big time haven't I." Carter says as he realises how he has made his boyfriend feel and how he had just made it a hundred times worse.
"At last, now do you get what Wesley was really asking when he said those things?" Ben then asks, he knows he has done all he can and he just hopes it is enough.
"He was, oh god Ben, what do I do?" Carter asks, knowing he as been a total jack ass and can't think of anything to fix it.
"Go back to Matt's room and kiss him, don't say a word just kiss him and then take his hand and lead him somewhere private, then just talk to him Carter and reassure him and most importantly let him know you love him." Ben answers, he isn't sure where that came from but from the look on his friends face he knows he said the right thing.
"Thank you Ben, thank you so much, I owe you big time." Carter declares, as his eyes light up.
"Yeah and you can start by not making Wesley wear those ridiculous clothes, I mean come on Carter transformer pyjamas?" Ben then decides to say, sensing that it was safe to lighten the mood.
"Hey they aren't." Carter is about to say they aren't pyjamas, but when his friend gives him a long stare he knows he is fighting a losing battle. "Okay fine they might be pyjamas, but he looks so hot in them and... okay I will stop telling him what to wear." He then says, realising that maybe he was being controlling and that his boyfriends vulnerability makes it even more unfair on his boyfriend.
"Good now come on, I told him to look after Matt so at least he wouldn't have run away." Ben says, he knew if he was Wesley he would have been half way home by now, but by telling him to look after Matt, he knew his friend would not leave his side.
To Ben's amusement, as soon as they get back into his boyfriends room Carter flings himself at Wesley, who looks like he doesn't know what hit him, Ben can see that his friend has been crying, but his face is quickly obscured by Carter kissing him and it wasn't the quick tender kiss Ben had expected, it was a full on passionate 'I want you kiss' and he kind of felt a little awkward watching them, luckily to his relief though he watches as Carter breaks the kiss and just like Ben had told him to do, he doesn't say a single word, he just takes one of his boyfriends hands and leads him out of the room, when Wesley gives him a questioning look, Ben just smiles and shrugs his shoulders as they disappear from the room.
He then turns to his sleeping boyfriend and pulls a chair up beside him, he considers talking to him again, but this time he doesn't know what to say so he just takes hold of his boyfriends good hand and then lays his head down on the side of the bed and closes his eyes falling to sleep almost instantly.
End of Part Two.
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