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Dylan had finally let the horsemen leave the house for the first time in about three months as there were no risks of the FBI catching them. Henley had decided to do the more sensible idea of going to visit her older sister whereas the three boys had decided to go to the nearest club. He reluctantly let the boys go clubbing on the hand that they returned home by 3am and no later.
The first few hours were alright as Dylan had some chances to catch up on his reading and his trashy TV that was switched off when the others were at home.At 8pm,he managed to cook spaghetti for the first time in his lifetime without setting fire to the kitchen and by 10pm,Henley had returned home from her sister’s and began watching trashy TV with Dylan before sending herself to bed at 10:30pm. By 1am,he had completely fallen asleep on the sofa with the sounds of “My Strange Addiction” in the background.
It was 2am when everything went to shit…
Dylan got rudely awoken by a blaring alarm which also woke up Henley,who grudgingly went into the living room.
“DYLAN! TURN THAT THING OFF!”,Henley yelled,throwing a TV remote at the older horseman. He screeched before turning the phone on and putting it towards his ears.
“Yo. What’s wrong? It’s 2am.”,Dylan said,eyes widening when he heard what the other side was saying. Henley waved her hand at Dylan.
“Dylan? What the hell is going on?”,she yelled,causing the guy to further stress. Dylan hands Henley the phone before saying “We need to go to the club. It’s Jack!” They put on their jackets,collecting another jacket(presumably for Jack),running right out of the door. Henley kept the phone near her,when she heard the voice of Daniel.
“DYLAN! ARE YOU COMING!”,he yelled,breath pitched in his throat.
“Hey!”,Henley replied. “It’s Hens. What’s going on?”
“Jack’s not feeling too good. It’s kinda difficult to explain over the phone right now. But he’s in bad shape.”,Daniel replied. “Make sure that Dylan brings some water!”
“Dude! He’s got like 8 bottles in his car. Jack’ll be fine!”,Henley replied. “Dylan was wondering where you were though.”
“We’re right outside by the curb.”,Daniel said back quickly.
Henley and Dylan drove to outside the club to see Jack sitting on the curb with his head in his hands and his body shaking. Daniel was standing in front of Jack,trying to clean off what was presumably vomit and Merritt was nowhere to be seen as per usual. Dylan was the first to get out of the car and wrap a jacket around the youngest horseman.
“Jackie…”,Dylan whispered. “How are you feeling?”
Jack shrugged before dry heaving onto the floor. Dylan grabbed a plastic bag and put it in front of him. “Jackie. If you need to puke,do it here. Danny”. He turns around to Daniel and asks “Danny? Where’s Mer? He really should be out here!”
“Well. Jack started puking and Merritt was with him. Jack freaked out and started yelling at him to not hit him. During the whole ordeal,Jack puked on him and he had to get himself cleaned up. I assume that he is still cleaning himself up in the toilet.”,Daniel replied with. “I tried to explain to Jack that no one was hurting him but he was convinced.
Dylan turned to Jack and side hugs him.
“Jackie. No one wants to hurt you. I promise. Who would want to hurt you honestly?”,Dylan asked.
“My uncle.”,Jack replied. “He would.”
“Why?”,Dylan asked.
“When I was a kid,I once had a stomach bug and threw up on the couch. Instead of cleaning it up himself,he made me clean it up myself and since I was really ill,I puked once more and passed out. I woke up to him hitting me on the head with a metal rod. It happened more often. I would be hit for anything. Getting a grade below an A. Not cleaning up. Not taking off my shoes. One time,he did it so much,I was sent to the hospital.”,Jack said before starting to sob,making Dylan pull him in closer to him.
“Where were your parents in all this?”,Dylan asked. Jack began sobbing even harder.
“Drunk”,Jack replied. “Ironic as I’m not exactly the most sober person here right now”. He snorted.
Merritt ran outside by this time and went towards Jack and the others. Jack attempted to move away from him and Dylan pulled him in and reminded him that he was safe with Merritt and that he was not going to hurt him.
“Jackie. I’m so sorry you felt threatened by all this”,Merritt replied. “I didn’t realise how badly your childhood went for you.” Jack began sobbing even harder.
“I want to go home! I want to go home! I hate it here!”,Jack screamed. His eyes widened and tears were welled up in his eyes. “Please! I can’t do this.”
Dylan picked Jack up and carried him all the way to the car. Daniel and Merritt held the bag near Jack’s mouth the entire car journey with Henley holding a water bottle and making Jack drink from it every now and again so he remained hydrated.
It was 3:30am by the time that they all arrived home and Jack was immediately put into bed. Merritt had found some water and a couple of pills for Jack to consume in the morning. When Dylan was about to shut the door of Jack’s bedroom,his eyes widened further and his breathing stopped.
“Dylan. Don’t leave me please.”,Jack begged. Dylan obliged and slid in the sheets and held on tight to Jack. The younger horseman whispered “I never want to go clubbing again” and went to sleep. Merritt walked into the room and attempted to snap a picture before Dylan snatched the phone off his hands.
“How the fuck did you know about Jack’s abuse,Mer?”,Dylan whispered.
“I read his mind after an argument between him and Danny. He thought Daniel was going to hurt him and I confronted him about it. Turns out he ran away in 10th Grade due to the abuse. Never finished high school and was homeless. He’s scared shitless of yelling now.”,Merritt replied. “Remember that argument with Henley?”
Dylan nearly gasped at this.Why would someone do this to a young kid? He held Jack close and hoped that no one was ever to hurt him again.