Chapter Text
"ANGEL!" Val shouts, throwing his bodyweight against the door
His tone then becomes more welcoming and calm
"Open the door, please…"
Val steps back, becoming angered again
"Angel...!" *He scowls a bit, fidgeting with the door handle, and mumbles a few threats to Angel*
His tone is threatening, and he's barely holding on to his patience
"Angel, don't make me come in there..." He's leaning on the door. He grits his teeth
"I'm gonna..."
"Aughh..."
He mumbles curses under his breath, then slams his foot against the door
Angel stumbles backwards, letting out a faint squeak
Val forces the door open
"There you are, mi amorcito…"
He grins deviously, letting the door slam shut behind him
Angel backs against the wall
Val moves closer to Angel, roughly grabbing his chin
"Where are you going, Angie~?"
He loosens his grip on Angel's chin
"Not gonna speak, hmm?"
He grins, running his thumb over Angel's lower lip
"You look good when you're afraid~"
Val grabs angel's wrists, pinning him to the wall
"L-let go…!"
"Hmm… No. You're mine… you can't tell me what to do~"
— — —
Later that night
— — —
Husker looks up as Angel comes in, and raises an eyebrow at him
"You look like hell, kid."
"Rough night at work...?" Husk asks, looking over Angel, noticing a few dark marks on his wrists and neck
"Yeah… ya could say that…"
"Mhmmm..."
Husk stares at him for a few seconds, then motions for Angel to come sit near him in a chair
"Come here." he walks over, sitting next to husk
Husk looks over Angel intently, his eyes falling on all the dark marks that contrast on the pale fur of Angel's neck. He scowls a bit as his eyes fall back to Angel's face
"Where'd you get all those marks...??"
"Where do ya think?!"
Husker scowls again
"No need to snap at me."
He grabs Angel's wrists, carefully inspecting them, and noticing the small, dark marks on them as well.
Husker grits his teeth, his expression filled with anger
"Damn it, kid..."
His voice is a low growl as he stares at Angel for a few seconds, then he looks away
"I know who did those…"
"Damn genius we have right here." Angel rolls his eyes
Husker ignores Angel's sarcastic comment, and looks back at him, his expression still quite pissed
"Why the hell did you let him do that to ya...?"
"You think I like it?! You think I just *let* him because "why the fuck not?!'"
"No I didn't think that, idiot." Husker scowls again, then sighs "You just...You don't fight back enough. Maybe if you actually started putting up a damn fight, for once in your life....this wouldn't happen."
"I-I tried! Val doesn't listen, he doesn't care! He doesn't know that "no means no!'"
"Then it seems like you just don't try enough! You let him do whatever the hell he wants, and you just go along with it."
Husker growls a bit more
"For once, you should act like you have a backbone...instead of just bending over as soon as Val looks at you."
Husk releases Angel's wrists, and gets up
"When are you gonna start standing up for yourself, kid...? You just *let* him do whatever he wants...and you don't do a damn thing about it…"
Angel puts his head down, gripping a bit of his hair
Husk grumbles to himself as he watches Angel, noticing the grip on his hair
"Keep doing that, and you're gonna pull all your damn hair out."
He turns his head away from husk
Husk steps forward, and gently pries Angel's hand away from his hair
"Knock it off. You're gonna hurt yourself....."
"Why the fuck would you care?!"
"Because you're my friend, you idiot!" Husker snaps "I might pretend like I don't give two shits about you...but I do. Believe it or not, I actually do care."
He grumbles a bit again, and crosses his arms
"Just...stop tryin to pull your hair out, okay? You're gonna hurt yourself. I don't think you can take any more pain than you've already had tonight…"
Angel sits up
"Goodnight, Husk."
He turns away, starting back to his room
Husker lets out a sigh, watching Angel as he gets up to leave
"....'Night, kid."
Husker frowns a bit, concerned for Angel, but he doesn't stop him from leaving, and just lets him go quietly back up to his room…
Angel walks back up to his room, collapsing on his bed. He lays there, staring at the ceiling. Angel lets out a shaky breath, trying to control himself. He doesn't want to break down. He doesn't want to cry. He just wants everything to go away. He tries to take deep breaths to calm himself, but the stinging of his wrists and neck just makes his breathing more unsteady and shaky.
He's trying his best to keep himself together, but the pain and soreness make it too hard. Fresh tears start to gather, and Angel tries to tell himself not to, but he's soon crying into his pillow. He feels pathetic, but he doesn't have the energy to fight the tears.
There's a quiet knock at the door…
Angel freezes, his head snapping up off the pillow, quickly wiping his eyes and stifling his tears, as to hide them from anyone behind the door
"....y-yeah..?"
"A-angie... I'm sorry... Can I come in…?"
Angel tenses up as he hears the voice, and swallows the lump in his throat. He doesn't want anyone to see him in this state...
"....yeah...c-come in…"
Angel watches as the door opens. He quickly pushes himself up, sitting on the bed, trying to look somewhat put together, rather than a complete wreck of a person who's been through hell.
"Hey... Ya don't look so good…"
Angel forces a smile, still trying to hide the fact that he'd just been crying
"I-I'm fine Cherri...don't worry about me…"
"Angie…"
"Seriously, I'm fine..."
His voice gets strained as he speaks, and he swallows the lump in his throat again, as his emotions begin to well up again and threaten to spill over…
The strain in Angel's voice isn't unnoticed by Cherri, and she frowns, concern growing on her face
"Angie, you don't sound "fine" to me…"
Angel tries to cover up the strain in his voice, and laughs a bit unconvincingly
"I'm telling you, I'm fine, I just-"
He stops as his voice starts to wobble a bit, and the words get caught in his throat, like he was about to start sobbing again
She sits on the bed beside him, one hand on his leg, the other brushing through his hair.
When she sits down next to him, Angel can feel his control over his emotions starting to slip. When she starts brushing her fingers through his hair, the tears in his eyes start to fall, and he begins crying again
"I-I...I'm...I'm not fine..." He sobbed, his voice shaking.
He can't hold himself back anymore, and he suddenly buries himself into Cherri, clutching onto her, and crying against her.
She continues brushing through his hair and sets a popsicle, a bottle of water, and some pain relievers on his bedside table
Angel leans against her, his body shaking as he sobbed. He didn't have the energy to hold back, and was just pouring out his pain and his fear and his frustration and all the other bad emotions he felt. He barely even notices the items that Cherri put down on the bedside table, but he does pull himself together a bit and glances over to it when he sees it in his peripheral vision.
He sees the items, and his sobs let up a bit. He looks up at Cherri, tears still streaming down his face, as he makes a choked attempt at speaking
"T-thanks…"
He lets out a shaky breath, and sits up a bit, still leaning against Cherri, but not clinging to her anymore. He reaches over and grabs the bottle of painkillers, and quickly down a few of them with the water. He then just sits there for a moment, trying to calm down. Angel closes his eyes and takes deep, shaky breaths, trying to steady his breathing, and calm down at least a bit. He focuses on the feeling of Cherri's hand still brushing through his hair, as the painkillers slowly start taking effect, and his body relaxes a bit…
His breathing returns to a much more even pattern, and his body finally stops shaking so much. The tears eventually stop flowing, and Angel slumps against Cherri, still leaning on her, and just feeling tired. He's still letting out a few, shaky breaths here and there.
"Ya feelin' a bit better…?"
Angel nods slightly, and lets out a shaky breath, before speaking again
"....Yeah...a bit.."
He swallows again, trying to talk normally without his voice cracking.
"How 'bout ya get some rest... You look tired..."
She lays him down on his bed
Angel does look quite tired, and his body was exhausted from all the crying and stress. He was too tired to protest, and lets himself get laid down on the bed, letting his aching body rest on the mattress, and closing his eyes slowly
Angel's body relaxes as soon as he closes his eyes, and he already looks much more peaceful, at least for now. He's still exhausted from the night, but the pain killers have numbed the worst of the physical pain, and he can finally relax enough to get some rest…