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Bro had been fucking with him mercilessly all day. Dave was not in the mood to deal with this shit. He wasn’t going to lose his calm. Dave was not going to flip his shit. He repeated this to himself like a mantra as he limped down the stairs after an infuriating and intense strife that had left him with far too many bruises.
I am not going to flip my shit.
It wasn’t the bruises that had bothered him as much as the taunting shoves and the sting of a dozen unprovoked slaps that Bro had unleashed on him in an attempt to belittle him and throw him off his game.
I am not going to flip my shit.
Dave got it. He understood. Bro could do that to him all day if he wanted. He could do anything to Dave and there’s nothing Dave could do about it. One of these days, though, Dave was going to be bigger than him! At least, he hoped he would be. He didn’t seem to fill out no matter how much pizza he forced down.
I am not going to flip my shit.
But Dave was going to flip his shit. He slammed the front door and barely made it to his room before a long, unstable, heartbroken scream erupted from his throat. When his lungs were empty, he fell to his knees and stared at his quaking hands. He had barely gasped in a full breath before he was screaming again; and again; and again.
He couldn’t stop. It was scaring the shit out of him. “Bro!” He didn’t realize he had called for help until it was too late.
His trembling body jumped a mile when he heard Bro’s calm voice from his bedroom doorway. “Yeah, kid?”
It crossed his mind briefly that Bro was going to hurt him for this. He was going to beat the shit out of him for losing his composure and making a scene. The thought was too far away to reach the front of his mind as he repeated Bro’s name several times while hyperventilating.
“Bro...Bro...what’s wrong with me? What’s wrong me? Oh, god! I think I’m gonna die, Bro. I’m dying! I can’t stop! What the fuck? NO!” He flinched when he realized Bro was now standing next to him.
Bro grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. Dave’s knees wobbled dangerously as he tried to decide whether to start defending himself or take what was coming to him without further pissing off his brother. He screamed again as Bro swooped him up and tossed him towards his bed. His stomach did a flip as he plummeted down several feet onto his back and bounced harmlessly against the mattress.
He didn’t have time to question his placement before Bro, stepping out of his shoes, climbed after him. He kicked Dave’s thighs apart and stood there on his knees looking down at him in thought for several torturously long seconds as Dave continued to gasp for breath.
“I d-didn’t mean to-I’m not...on purpose...I can’t...Bro I c-can’t stop. What’s wrong with me? What’s happening? What’s wrong with me?” His voice was creaking pitifully as he tried to speak through his raw throat.
Bro slowly lowered himself down, bending his knees and walking them forward as he tucked his arms under Dave’s body to hold him against him. Dave’s arms searched the covers at his sides in confusion until Bro directed Dave’s hands to wrap around him.
Dave only hesitated for a heartbeat before his fingers clenched in Bro’s shirt and he clung to him tightly. He began to sob, and he had no idea why. “What the f-fuck? I’m not...not even sad! What the fuck?”
“I was fucking with you too much. I shouldn’t have gone that hard on you for that long.”
“No, I can take it.” Dave defended automatically.
What he couldn’t take was the unpredictable behavior from his older brother. Bro was knives and fists or complete neglect ninety eight percent of the time, and then on occasion he would throw something like this at him. He’d push Dave until it was clear he’d broken him; when it was too late and he’d gone way too far, and then he’d go so much further, and then what the fuck? Dave would get a hug and a half-assed apology that only thinly veiled some kind of insult about Dave’s likelihood not to survive in the world? Not to mention Dave was pretty sure the way he was going about calming him down at the moment was more than borderline inappropriate.
Dave didn’t care. He was starving for attention and his life was void of touch. Never mind the warm, protective body on top of him now was the reason for his anxiety, depression, and PTSD in the first place.
Bro lifted and for an excruciatingly long moment Dave wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. His defensive mind flew to everything from Bro holding him down and punching him to Bro finally shifting the myriad of abuses between them into a sexual nature. Dave pushed away the point that Bro’s absence of sexual asalt for some reason left Dave wondering if there was something wrong with him that made him not worth fucking. He tried to guess where Bro’s eyes were aimed behind the sunglasses and cursed himself for looking down at Bro’s lips with a thick sense of longing.
Instead of hurting or confusing him, Bro moved his finger to a tiny, almost nonexistent, cut along the shoulder of his shirt. “Gettin’ better, lil man.”
Wait. Dave did that? Dave stared at the pierced fabric with a mixture of awe and horror. There was no blood, so he hadn’t cut him. Dave’s stomach twisted into knots at the thought of hurting Bro. He didn’t expect the regret that was washing over him. He’d spent countless hours fantasizing about knocking out his abuser; hitting him, kicking him, choking him, cutting him, making him eat a goddamn smuppet! Dave was sure that the cut was due to a mistake Bro had made and really had nothing to do with his own advancing skills, but he still didn’t know how to process the sick feeling in his chest.
Dave didn’t even consider asking Bro to stay with him longer when the older man moved off of his bed and closed Dave’s door behind him when he left. That would have been uncool. Dave curled on his side and pulled a pillow to his stomach to cling to for support as he cried as quietly as possible.
Over the next six months, however, Dave found himself landing hits on Bro more often. Something was wrong. Dave knew he wasn’t progressing that fast. One night he found himself standing over Bro as the man panted up at the night sky with a look of bewilderment evident through one broken sunglass lense.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dave gently tapped the side of his sword on Bro’s shoulder to indicate he’d made the kill.
“I’m sick.” Bro threw his broken shades across the roof and rubbed his face in his hands.
“That’s what you said last week.” Dave hadn’t noticed Bro laying on the couch or any other telltale sick-day signs. “You need some soup or something?”
“Not that kinda sick, kid.”
“Well, I know you’re a little psychotic and all, but what’s that got to do with this? You hearing voices distracting you? There’s no shame in talking to someone about it.” He was only half joking.
“Not that kinda sick, either.” Bro sighed heavily as he sat up and looked down at his shaking hands.
“Wait.” An icy fear coiled at the base of Dave’s spine. He tried to fight the tremor from his voice. “What kind of sick are we talking here, Bro?”
He took too long to answer as he rolled the words around in his head and tried to decide whether or not to burden the youth with the information. “Fuck it. You’re gonna notice sooner than later. The kind of sick that takes a lot of treatments, a lot of time, and still slams me with a twenty-five percent chance of surviving it. The kind of sick where they approved my disability claim without question.”
Dave didn’t realize his hands were going slack until the sword clattered to the ground at his feet. “Jesus.” His mouth was dry. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“There’s nothin’ that can be done about it. We need to step up your training, though.” The reasoning was clear. Dave needed to know how to fend for himself because Bro was probably going to fucking die.
“Fuck that! Wait! You are getting the treatments, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t wanna mention this again.” He swept Dave’s feet out from under him. By the time Dave scrambled for his sword and rolled to his back on the offense, Bro was gone.
The distant sounds of the city below were mocking against the sudden dread of isolation consuming his lungs as he was overwhelmed by the awareness of mortality he’d just been hit with. He dug for his phone at the sound of an alert. It was from John.
“Daaaave! My dad said yes! I can stay for a week this summer! Have you asked your Bro yet?!”
His thumbs were unsteady as he answered. “Jooooohn! Going to ask him tonight.” He’d promised this for the last five nights, but John didn’t call him on it. He almost wished that John would say something about it. His lack of grief about Dave putting off talking to his Bro made it evident that John knew he was afraid of his guardian.
Bro was staring at the television when Dave finally made his way back into the apartment. He tipped a Mountain Dew to his lips, tilting his head back slightly, and made no indication that he’d even noticed Dave at all.
Dave’s feet automatically took him to his bedroom instead of approaching the man to talk about what he’d just decided to talk to him about. He cursed himself as he leaned back against his door to gather his courage. With a deep breath to steady himself, Dave swallowed the lump of dread in his throat and opened the door. He was proud of how chill he played it off as he plopped down on the couch opposite his brother. He hefted each foot onto the coffee table with calculated calm and settled in to watch the skateboarders on the screen until he could rally himself to speak.
Fifteen minutes passed before Bro spoke without inflection. “What do you want?”
Dave didn’t bother trying to come up with some lame excuse for being near him like wanting to bond or some shit. “You mind if John stays here for a week this summer?”
“Sure. I’ve been wanting somebody else to beat on.”
Was that his way of saying no, or was that his way of saying he could stay if Dave felt he was man enough to protect his friend? “Yo, John isn’t really the fighting kind of guy.”
Bro crinkled the bag of chips in his hands. “More fun for me.”
Dave could only assume that was Bro’s way of rejecting the idea. What else could Dave take from that? He didn’t want to put his friend in danger, and he definitely didn’t want John to witness Bro kicking his ass first as he failed to protect him.
Dave’s fear was overridden by his bitterness. Why couldn’t he just have friends over like a normal kid? “What the fuck ever. You could just say we can’t afford to feed another mouth or that you don’t want to stop hitting me for a week. I’m out.”
Dave should have known better than to mouth off to the psychopath. What was he really expecting to happen; that he’d storm off to his room and successfully close the door like any other teenager in the city? Instead, Dave suddenly had a close-up of the cheap livingroom carpet as Bro’s fists repeatedly knocked the air out of his lungs.
Dave gasped pathetically as he fought for breath against the searing pain in his ribs and shoulder blades. Bro wasn’t stopping because he was expecting Dave to man-up and do something about it. It took all his strength and a sudden surge of energy just to roll over onto his back. He realized this was, in fact, a big mistake when Bro straddled him more fully, tangled a hand in Dave’s shirt, and drew his fist back again.
“Nice angle for your face, idiot.” Bro growled as Dave threw his hands up to cover said face. Bro began slamming his large fist into Dave’s chest right below his collarbone instead.
“STOP! FUCKING STOP!” When Bro didn’t stop, Dave kept speaking without even realizing what he was saying. “I SWEAR I’LL FUCKING CALL CPS, MOTHERFUCKER! I’LL DO IT! I’LL TELL THEM HOW YOU FUCKING BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME TO WORK OUT YOUR MESSED UP SEXUAL TENSION FOR ME AND THAT YOU FUCK ME ALL THE TIME!”
Bro’s arm stopped mid swing, so Dave peeked around his hands. Bro was completely unreadable as stared down at him with a deadpan expression and slowly lowered his fist. His hand was still clenched in Dave’s shirt and the twisting motion there as he pressed against Dave’s chest was the only sign that he was thinking at all. Dave flinched when Bro’s hand dropped to his belt, but he didn’t process the implications of the movements until Bro spoke through clenched teeth.
“If I’m gonna spend the rest of my short life in prison, I might as well enjoy the rewards of my accusations.”
The clinking of his buckle echoed loud in Dave’s ears as he stared up at him, shocked and horrified, as it slowly sank in. His face tilted from Bro’s sunglasses down to his fumbling fingers and back up repeatedly.
“That’s it, kiddo. This is happening, so just sit there and enjoy it. Don’t react.”
It wasn’t until he felt Bro’s fingers rip at Dave’s belt hard enough to yank his hips off the floor that Dave finally snapped out of his stupor. His hands splayed out at his sides, and he felt the outline of one of his schoolbooks lodged half under the couch.
No. Not like this
. “Fuck you!” Dave swung the book and enjoyed the loud thud that sent Bro toppling off of him. He dropped the book and scrambled back against a tattered old armchair as Bro turned to look at him, massaging his jaw.
His eyes locked on Dave’s retreating form. “Fuck you? Yeah, you’ve got the right idea.”
“Bro! Bro, you’re scaring me...”
“Then come here and let me comfort you.” He grabbed for Dave’s legs and both his shoes came off in his hands as Dave kicked and turned to jump over the chair.
“Stay away from me!” Dave didn’t realize he was crying until he saw streaks of moisture against the wall when Bro easily caught up with him and shoved him there face-first. “Bro, I’m sorry!”
“Not sorry enough. Not yet.” Bro pushed one of Dave’s arms up behind him to hold him against the wall, and Dave cried out at the sharp pain. Bro leaned around him and ran his tongue along his ear.
Dave couldn’t believe the resulting whimper had actually come from him. He turned his head the other direction to avoid the confusing wet warmth that was making his rebellious cock twitch to life and he caught sight of Bro’s sword. He immediately stretched his hand toward it, but his fingers fell short when Bro dragged him several feet to the side. Dave cursed in frustration and then sobbed when he felt the cool air against his lower half as Bro shoved his pants down. He stepped on the fabric to cram it down to Dave’s ankles and forced his knee between his legs to spread them. It was happening too fast and Dave couldn’t stop it.
“OH GOD, BRO NO! HOLY SHIT! BRO PLEASE!” Dave’s body went slack as he pissed himself. He had no idea how he was going to survive the humiliation as he felt Bro take only a half-step back and huff in a mixture of disgust and humor.
“Are you pissing yourself? You are.” He absently pulled at the fabric between Dave’s ankles with his foot and moved Dave’s feet a few inches back to keep the urine from hitting Dave’s legs or clothes as the stream drained down the wall in front of him and puddled onto the carpet below. “What, are you a goddamn puppy now or somethin’?” He seemed weirdly patient and almost pleased with himself as he waited for Dave to finish.
Dave’s free hand covered his face and his shoulders trembled with terror and embarrassment. He yelped when Bro pulled him away from the wall and threw him onto the ground. Dave turned onto his back in some primal instinct to keep his ass out of harm’s way and almost died when he realized his erection was now completely visible to his brother. His head hung low as he covered himself and cried harder.
“That’s just a response to the adrenaline, dude. Don’t freak out.” Oh, shit. Bro was doing that thing again where he was about to whiplash Dave with kindness. At least, that’s what Dave was praying to god was about to happen. “Pull up your pants. No, stay down.” He pressed a foot against Dave’s chest when he moved to sit up and he rolled right back onto his back.
Dave swallowed heavily as he looked up to Bro and desperately tried to read him. This angle of Bro looking down at him was making it impossible to get control of his hardon, but he felt a little less exposed as he dragged his pants back into place and secured them. The fabric didn’t work to calm him when Bro sank down to his knees and walked toward him.
“Calm down. I’m gonna teach you somethin’. You’re flexible, so that’ll make this easier.”
Dave sank down as Bro fell forward onto his hands and stared him down with their sunglasses only inches apart. One of Bro’s lenses were cracked down the center and the far edge of the point was broken off from where Dave had hit him with the book.
“Here. Okay? Pay attention.” Bro gathered Dave’s wrists in his hands and pressed them down beside his head. Dave’s heart thudded painfully hard as Bro pinned him to the floor. “This keeps your hands out of commission, but it does the same to mine, see? And you can’t kick me in the nuts like this. I’m between your thighs.” He pumped his hips a few times and Dave stammered as Bro’s loose belt buckle rattled. “Now, I know this would seem counterproductive, especially if your pants are off, but lift your leg up here. Farther. Up. Up here. Leave your hand there as if I’m still holding it down.” He let go with one hand and hooked his arm under Dave’s knee to bring his leg up shoulder height.
“Now. You want to lift your leg all the way over to the other side of my head. Cross it over.” He ducked his head under Dave’s foot. “Your ankle is all you might be able to get here first, but then you straighten your leg, using the muscles in your thigh, and this will push my head over to the side. This is gonna make the guy let go of at least one of your hands to try and stop you from breaking his neck. That’s when you grab his arm. Now you’ve got him. Turn your body, like this, and you’ve got his arm. Then you pull with the whole weight of your upper body and use your thighs to press his head the opposite direction. Be ready, because he’ll probably bite your thigh out of desperation at this point. You’ll just have to take it, but he’ll stop to scream when you pull as hard as you can and break his arm at the shoulder. You can dislocate it or snap his arm in several places. Take your pick, really. Motherfucker is yours now. Then he’ll be completely overwhelmed, and you can break his neck if you want, or get back into the dominant position where you’re most comfortable.”
Dave’s eyes were wide as he held Bro in a submission hold while Bro hummed that he was doing a good job. It crossed his mind to pull against his arm, to break it, to punish him, to make him pay for what he’d just done to him, but he stopped when Bro tensed up and went quiet.
“You need to do it again, or you got it?” If Bro was worried that Dave might hurt him, he didn’t let it show. How he was able to keep a position of domination while in a submission hold, Dave wasn’t sure.
“I...I...g-got it.” Dave released him and tried to make sense of what just happened.
“Be careful not to freeze up just because someone states they’re going to make your encounter sexual. It’s still just a fight. You went completely rigid back there far long enough for me to do whatever I wanted, and when I kept it up you were completely thrown off your game. You went into victim mode and stayed there. Attempted sexual assault is still a fight, lil’ man. It’s just a fight.”
Bro went back to the couch and fell back with a heavy sigh. He chugged his soda and wiped a glove across his mouth. “Yeah. You can have your friend over this summer. I don’t care.”
Dave was too traumatized to be happy with what he heard. He stared at the mess he’d made on the wall and tried unsuccessfully to stop hugging himself and rocking.
“Go to your room.” It sounded like Bro was dismissing him, but he was really giving him permission to seek sanctuary. He was now nice-Bro. When Dave looked around and then back to the wall as if he was trying to decide how to clean it all up, Bro hummed. “Don’t worry about that, puppy. I’ll take care of it. Go to your room before your heart stops.” He knew Dave was scared of him. He knew his words sounded more like degradation than reassurance.
Dave didn’t care. He only wanted to get away from the man before he did something else unpredictable. Dave locked his door, shoved the back of a chair under the doorknob for good measure, and then collapsed onto his bed to hide his soul-wracking sobs in his pillows. His every movement caused pain with the widespread bruising now black across his chest and back. He shifted around for a long time in search of a comfortable position before he gave up and realized he would just have to live with the pain.
Dave hated his brother. He fucking hated his guts. He wanted to hurt him; wanted to strangle him.
Dave loved his brother. He fucking worshiped him. He wanted to touch him; wanted to fuck him.
Dave’s brother was dying.
He wiped at his eyes and talked to Rose in a private chat the rest of the night. She always adored the opportunity to psychoanalyze the relationship between he and his brother. He knew he could trust Rose. He knew she would always leave all the choices for secrecy and action in Dave’s hands. In the end, Rose seemed to be confident that she understood everything about the situation, but it only left Dave with more questions than answers.
“Do you think I should have John over? Do you think he’ll hurt him?”
Rose was sure. “As the bullying type, I would assume your Bro would be too afraid of retaliation from John’s dad to act on any of his threats. Your brother knows what a precarious situation he’s in with the way he treats you. He’s not stupid enough to chance drawing any mature attention to that. I think you can have John stay. But tell me more about how you feel with learning that your Bro is sick.”
“Jegus, gog! I can’t think about it, Rose. As much as I hate him, I don’t know if I could live without him.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was stifling hot outside when Dave finally found himself hanging out with John in the city park. Dave expertly ran his tongue along the bottom of his popsicle from time to time to keep it from melting down his hand, but he smirked to himself when he looked to John and found he had no such experience. “Oh my gosh, Dave!” John laughed openly and unashamed as his triple-scoop ice-cream melted down his arm. Dave was a little surprised when his cock responded with interest as he watched John drag his tongue up and down his own arm as he tried to gain control of the sugary flood. He was a little relieved, however, to find his libido showing interest in something that wasn’t his brother causing him pain and confusion. He didn’t have a crush on John. He’d thought about it many times, and although he found him attractive and loved him deeply as a friend, Dave just couldn’t see himself in a steady relationship with him. That was good since John was quick to remind everyone he was not a homosexual. Though, that made Dave question if it was true in the first place. Dave was relieved to find a note and some money on the kitchen counter when they returned home telling him that Bro was going to eat elsewhere, and that Dave should order something for he and John. There were several boxes of cereal next to the note and the fridge was stocked with apple juice, soda, and milk. He couldn’t help but wonder if Bro could have afforded to feed him all along and only didn’t remember to get food when it was just Dave to take care of. “Wow! That’s really nice of him!” John returned to the video game they’d started earlier that day and worked on leveling up their player. They knew from online experience that they each had unique strengths in gaming and had always been curious about how well they’d fair playing a whole list of couch co-op games together. “Your brother is kinda scary, though, Dave; to be honest.” Dave tried to stop his heart from warming too much as he watched John’s overbite deepen as he bit his lip while concentrating. “Oh, yeah! I just heard this new game came out that we should totally try! I think it was called...oh...it’s right on the tip of my tongue...” “This one?” Dave held up a Gamebro magazine that was sitting on the coffee table and tapped the cover. “Yeah! That’s the one! I don’t think Dad will let me play it because of the rating, but it looks like so much fun!” “My Bro has it.” It was Dave’s turn to bite his lip. He knew exactly where the game was in Bro’s bedroom. He snooped around in there all the time but touching something was another gamble all together. He had seen the familiar cover teetering dangerously from the top of a tall wardrobe. It had been there for a month and Bro hadn’t touched it. “I bet he wouldn’t notice if we borrowed it. We should probably play it on the smaller TV in my room, though, just in case.” A few minutes later Dave was cursing as his fingertips fell plenty short of reaching the game. He considered using a chair, but he couldn’t imagine what Bro would do to him if he broke his computer chair. Dave flinched when he noticed John had followed him into Bro’s room. “Here. Lift me up and I can reach it.” John didn’t have a care in the world. His Dad never would have struck him if he’d caught him trying to borrow something that belonged to him, no matter what it was. Fuck it. They were going to do this. “Come on.” Dave nodded his head to summon him forward and John went to him without question. Dave felt a hint of pride that he had a friend who didn’t see him as dangerous. He could interact with another person in the world, touch him even, without fear. Dave bent at the knees and grasped John around his hips. He straightened his legs and they both giggled uncontrollably as Dave fought to balance him. John’s fingers slid against the side of the wardrobe fruitlessly as Dave’s feet danced around clumsily. The laughter was making everything more difficult. John’s hands braced on his shoulders. “Just a little higher-” He yipped when Dave bounced him upward and clasped him another few inches lower. They tilted dangerously with the new grip as John’s finger grazed the game. “Almost-WOW CRAP!” His fingers had barely secured around the game when Dave tripped over a stupid smuppet and he stumbled. Dave’s heart jolted even though they were both still laughing as they crashed toward the floor. Dave suddenly found himself falling towards Bro’s bed without John. He hadn’t been close to Bro’s bed when he tripped, and it didn’t take much for him to come to the conclusion they’d been caught. He was almost grateful that Bro had decided to toss him onto a soft surface, but then he realized that John wasn’t under him, or on top of him, or next to him, he confirmed as his arms reached out searchingly along the bed at his sides. He pushed up and whirled around when he heard John’s innocent voice. “Hey, Dave! Your Bro’s home after all! He could have reached the game for us all along!” John’s big blue eyes were calm even as Bro pinned him against the wall by his wrists over his head. It was a genius thing to say because it made it sound like they hadn’t been up to anything sneaky; like it hadn’t occurred to them Bro wouldn’t want them to use whatever they’d been after. Dave wanted to be impressed, but he was more concerned with how Bro wasn’t releasing John. Bro plucked the game from John’s fingers and continued to hold him there as he scanned the cover. His sunglasses aimed back at John’s face and the kid didn’t have the sense to be scared. His default expression held a doofy little curve at the sides of his lips that hinted at a content smile. Bro tilted his head as he studied him. “Well isn’t that just goddamn adorable.” Oh, god, it didn’t cross John’s mind that Bro wasn’t actually thinking he was lovable! John only blinked serenely as he waited with patience for Bro to let him go. Bro’s gloves creaked as he tightened his grip and locked his jaw in a familiar orchestra that Dave knew to mean he was longing to hurt something. Dave scrambled to his feet but didn’t dare approach him. He held his hands up as he began hostage negotiations. “Bro, his dad loves him!” Dave’s breath was coming fast, and he hoped to everything good in the world that Bro didn’t make him elaborate on why he was stating this fact. He hoped he could cool this interaction down before John caught on that he was in any real danger at all. Jesus, he didn’t want to see that calm melt away from his eyes and slowly meld into any kind of street-smart realization of horror. If Bro would just catch his meaning that John’s father would notice marks on him and would possibly interfere in Bro’s secretive life, he could just let him go. “His dad loves him, like, a lot!” “Does he now, puppy?” Fuck. Does that mean he doesn’t care? Surely he has to care! It didn’t matter if he felt he could take John’s dad or not. The man could shine a light on what Bro was doing behind closed doors. Questions would be asked. Not to mention Dave didn’t miss the threat of humiliation Bro was throwing at him by calling him that sarcastic pet name he’d given him after Dave had pissed himself. None of that meant shit to Dave, though. He would suffer anything to keep John unaware of the ugliness in the world. He didn’t want John to ever experience even a hint of the fear that Dave lived with every moment of the day and night. John glanced in Dave’s direction and his eyebrows knit ever so slightly when he took in the obvious falter in Dave’s composure. Fuck. He could tell that Dave was sincerely scared for him. His eyes shot back to look up at Bro and widened dramatically. His image of Dave’s brother quickly twisted as it occurred to him the stony build of square shoulders and tense muscles might not be there to protect him, but to move against him. John audibly gulped when Bro tossed the game onto the dresser next to them and shoved his hand in his pocket. “Dude, come on!” Dave forced a laugh as Bro withdrew a pocket knife, but when he casually flicked it open Dave fell to his knees. Bro hummed to himself, but it wasn’t clear what exactly he was taking note of. John stopped moving; stopped breathing, and his eyes went out of focus as they became glued on the sharp blade Bro was holding up for his inspection. Bro’s face tilted as he took a step back and sized the kid up while still holding him in place. Dave wondered if he was thinking what Dave was thinking. There wasn’t a single mark on him. No scars. No bruises. There were no bags under his eyes or puffiness from hours of crying. His large blue eyes were alert and questioning as if he now knew he was in danger, but he didn’t have the slightest clue as to what might actually happen to him once the attack began. John started to tremble uncontrollably under Bro’s inspection and the unfamiliar reaction of shaking seemed to confuse him just as much as anything else. It was as if he had only seen people shaking in anime battles on TV, but he hadn’t known people in the real world could get into situations that would truly make their body react so. Dave’s heart broke when John finally found his voice enough to force out a whisper. “D-d-dave...” He licked his lips before he drew in a shuddering breath. “H-h-help...” Dave didn’t realize his hands were pulling at his own hair in helpless frustration until he pulled a little too hard. He lowered his arms and wafted at the air in a calming motion. “Bro...j-just...take it easy...” His hands flew back to his hair when Bro released John’s arms and John only left them where they were and whimpered pitifully. Dave knew Bro was challenging John to try to run away. Some instinct inside the kid seemed to know escape was futile. John’s eyes stayed locked on his reflection in Bro’s sunglasses as Bro reached to the side and picked up the video game. Bro ran the knife along the plastic of the wrapper and peeled it away. Then he crammed the game against John’s chest drawing another high-pitched mewl from him as he held the game there and waited for John to accept it. Dave exhaled in relief when John’s hands dropped down to the game and Bro let go. He pocketed the knife and Dave couldn’t stop himself. “John, come to me!” He stretched his arm towards John and signaled with his hand desperately for John to do as he said. There was still a thick tremor in John’s voice as he began to giggle at Bro’s actions. Bro remained unreadable as he continued to stare down at him. Dave tried not to sound as urgent as he felt. “Now, John! Come to me over here!” Bro allowed it, though he turned his body to watch John’s retreat. Dave meant for the kid to get behind him, but he didn’t correct him when John threw himself down on top him. He flung his arms around Dave’s shoulders and buried his face in his neck. John burst into what must have been default laughter even though his entire body was still shivering. Dave didn’t know if Bro could read his pleading expression behind his sunglasses, but he hoped his brother would just let the whole thing go. The corner of Bro’s mouth twitched almost like he wanted to smile as he looked down at them. Then Bro wavered slightly. The color drained from his face and he clutched his stomach. “Bro?” Dave panicked as the man caught his weight against the wall and groaned. “You alright, there?” “Fuck-” Bro ran for the bathroom and didn’t have time to shut the door before he collapsed to his knees and hurled his guts up. For an absurd moment Dave wondered if a happy rainbow view of friendship had actually been too much for Bro to stomach, but in the back of his head he knew what this really was. John sat back and joined Dave in staring toward the hallway in shock when the uncomfortable noises didn’t stop. There was no way Bro had anything left in him as he kept dry heaving and cursing everything holy in all the veils of existence. Dave’s heart melted when John turned to look at him with heavy concern for the man even after what he’d just put him through. “Come on.” Dave pulled him to his feet and led him to the perceived safety of his bedroom. Dave stood looking out a crack in his doorway as if he might bolt the door at any moment and continued to tense his shoulders as he listened. “I’m not sure what to do here.” John had all the answers. “When I’m sick, my dad brings me a glass of ice water and a cool damp washcloth.” “Yeah.” Dave set his mouth in a straight line as he made the decision to go with the suggestion. “Okay. Stay in here.” The vomiting had slowed by the time Dave found Bro resting his head in his arm against the ledge of the bathtub. Bro didn’t try to lash out at him when Dave carefully set the glass on the floor next to him and placed the soggy hand towel on the edge of the counter within his reach. He lingered in the doorway and watched the fast rise and fall of Bro’s shoulders as he fought to catch his breath. “You need anything?” Bro’s hand groped for the bottom of his shirt. Dave’s eyes followed the movement of his muscles as he pulled the garment over his head and dropped it into the bathtub. Bro’s head dropped back onto his arm and he cursed a few more times. “Yeah.” Bro shifted his weight. “Get my wallet.” Dave pushed away the dread that came with the taboo thought of touching Bro’s wallet. It was off limits. “Go...go down to the store. Get me...three...buckets. Just normal mop buckets. Some Gatorade. Biggest size you can carry.” “Three buckets? You going to make a habit of this or something?” His stomach turned when Bro answered him with a defeated rumble. “Probably.” “Oh.” It was that kind of sick. Not a flu. He wasn’t hungover. “Okay. Should I leave now? Will you...be...okay?” “Yeah.” Bro groped for the hand towel Dave had brought him and Dave’s heart leapt with pride that he’d done something useful. He would have to remember to thank John for the advice. Or would that not be chill? Dave turned on heel and summoned John to follow him. John was excited to go out. He was always excited about everything. Several days passed and Bro seemed to be feeling better. John was understandably still jumpy around him, but it wasn’t too big of a deal since Bro wasn’t around much. It was very late one night when Dave was awoken by John whimpering and pushing his body back against him violently. “Dude...” Dave blinked rapidly as John rolled over top of him and plastered himself against the wall behind him. Dave instinctively lifted an arm to box him in and shield him as his eyes landed on Lil’ Cal glaring emotionlessly at them from the nightstand. There was no sign of Bro, so Dave turned to inspect his friend for injury. He was fine other than being shaken up by the evidence that a strange grown man had gotten close enough to him to threaten him in his sleep without him having even a hint of awareness. “Now I know why you hate that thing!” John’s fingers dug into Dave’s shoulders as he peered over him. “What are you talkin’ about?” Dave’s accent snuck past his filter in his sleep haze. “Cal’s the shit.” He leaned forward to fist-bump the puppet. When he returned to his pillow John’s arm snaked around his waist. He stiffened as John rested his forehead on his back. “I’m still taking this side of the bed from now on!” Dave was just about to relax into the physical contact when light flooded his room from the doorway. “Dave!” “What?!” Dave bolted upright pushing John further behind him. Bro’s voice returned to normal. “I gotta woman over. Go piss or whatever if you have to and then stay in here until mornin’.” That meant that Bro was planning on screwing somebody and he didn’t want them to see all the weird shit in his own bedroom. Dave huffed in annoyance as he dragged John along with him to the bathroom. He wasn’t about to make John have to say it out loud that he would have been too afraid to go by himself. They grabbed a handful of snacks and drinks and Dave bolted them in securely. Dave turned the lights out and they backed against a stack of pillows along the headboard to watch a movie on Dave’s laptop. While everything was still quiet, they both seized up at an ominous noise from the other room. “D-did I just hear chains?” John hissed as he clasped Dave’s arm. “Yeah. Bro gets pretty kinky, I think.” “W-with chains?” Poor John. Dave smirked. “Yeah. You know. BDSM? Like that Fifty Shades of Gray bullshit, only...darker. I guess. Less vanilla.” “V-vanilla?” John was quiet as Dave tried to hurry to get the movie started. He didn’t manage before they heard several whip-cracks and the woman called out. “He’s hurting her?” “She likes it. Trust me.” Dave assured him. “He’s probably doing exactly what she told him to do.” She called Bro ‘daddy’ and John’s head whipped to look at Dave for an explanation. John studied Dave’s red irises in the light of the computer screen as if he had all the answers in the world. “P-people really do that? Call each other...that...when they...” “Sometimes, yeah, John.” Dave failed to hide his smile when John seemed both appalled and intrigued. He moved to hit play, but John’s hand stopped him. John was too shocked to be embarrassed about Dave knowing he wanted to hear more. “You really want to sit in here with me and sport wood listening to my brother fuck some whore in the other room?” “I...” He swallowed heavily and his fingers tightened on Dave’s arm. “I want to see it.” Dave’s eyebrows shot up high on his forehead. He tilted his head curiously to see if John would come to his senses. The chains rattled noisily in the awkward silence. John blushed but didn’t take back that he wanted to see. Dave couldn’t deny him anything. “Okay. No, stay here.” He stopped John from sitting up and pointed at the screen. “We don’t have to peek through the keyhole. I got something better for you.” He turned the volume down and hit a few keys. Within moments he had hacked into Bro’s security feed of their living room. “Oh my lord...” John’s eyes were comically wide as he covered his mouth. If he thought it was weird that Dave was sinking down to watch his own brother do-the-dirty, he didn’t say so. The gorgeous naked woman’s arms were suspended above her head. Oh. Now Dave knew why there was a metal plate nailed up above the futon with a single little weird metal loop thing in the center. She was on her knees on the reclined futon, and Bro had his shirt off as he walked up to her and grabbed her hair. He wrenched her face to look up at him and she sank down under the glare of the reflective lenses. Her hips wriggled in seek of contact. Bro’s fist tightened on the riding crop in his hand before he whipped it repeatedly against her backside hard enough to leave long red welts in its wake. Dave and John winced with every strike as the woman absently rode the air in her arousal. “Please! Daddy, please!” Her voice was muffled through Dave’s doorway. “Please what?” Bro released her hair and her mouth immediately flew down to lick his chest. He didn’t react to the contact and Dave turned the volume up on the computer just enough for them not to have to lip read everything that wasn’t yelled. “Please fuck me! I want it!” She cried out when his fingers drifted to her nipple and he teased her with tracing his thumb against her. “More! Please, more!” She moaned when he twisted the nub and his other hand went to his belt. He didn’t stop when he got the buckle unfastened. Instead he whipped the belt free of the loops and hooked it around her neck. He pushed his pants open and stepped up onto the futon. “Take me out.” John was confused. “How’s she supposed to take him out when her hands are-oh I see.” His head tilted in awe as the woman urgently nuzzled against Bro’s pants and then dragged his boxers down with her teeth. “Holy crap!” Dave wasn’t sure if John was commenting on how deep the woman had just swallowed down Bro’s cock or if he was as impressed as Dave with how large Bro’s dick was. Either way, the kid didn’t seem aware of his own hands as he squeezed himself through his pajama pants. Bro pulled at the belt. “I didn’t say you could do that yet.” “I want to make you feel good, daddy...” She hummed with need as he slackened his hold and allowed her to return her mouth to him. His hands reached overhead, and she slumped against him when he removed the chains from the ceiling. Her hands went right to his cock, but then he pulled against the bindings and whirled her around to face away from him. He shoved her shoulders and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She barely had time to regain her balance before Bro took her from behind, thrusting deep and confident and ripping another cry from her. Holy shit, Bro was a scary guy in the bedroom. Dave wasn’t having much success with keeping his mind from putting himself in that woman’s place. Bro’s hips snapped forward in quick, rough motions to abuse the woman’s passage far longer than Dave could have imagined anyone being able to stand it. “Dave...” John’s voice was so distant Dave was sure he didn’t even realize he was speaking. He was palming his hand against his crotch, and Dave was suddenly finding it hard to decide which voyeurism to give his full attention to. Dave’s eyes went back to the screen when he noticed Bro had a fucking knife. A dark thought occurred to him that Bro might kill the woman and he should turn off the feed so that John didn’t witness it. Bro hooked an arm around her waist and fell back against the futon bringing her with him as he continued to fuck her from behind. The camera had a full-frontal view of the woman as Bro dragged the knife against her collarbone while his other hand moved down to rub between her legs. John didn’t say anything when Dave slammed the laptop closed. That is, until his eyes adjusted more fully to the darkness and he noticed that Cal was sitting at the foot of the bed. He yipped and pointed. “Dave!” Dave covered John’s mouth to keep him from distracting Bro in the other room. He didn’t even want to know what would happen if they interrupted the man while he was trying to get off. Dave kicked the puppet away and rolled on top of John as the kid continued to flail and panic. “Shhh! You’re okay! You’re-” Dave blinked rapidly when John pressed their mouths together. John seemed just as surprised as he was, but instead of pulling away, John only closed his eyes and pressed more insistently. Dave opened his mouth to ask him what he wanted him to do, but when John’s mouth opened as well Dave suddenly found his tongue dipping past his lips to deepen the kiss. He pulled away to try and gather himself and John began to babble. “I’m not...Dave...I’m not...a...homosexual...” “Okay.” Dave ripped John’s pants off and shoved his own down to his knees. When he fell back over him, their mouths connected, and John’s arms wrapped around him. John’s fingers dug into Dave’s back urgently and his hips bucked in search of relief. Dave groaned into his mouth when he managed to line up the movements so the friction was more fruitful. It was just short of what he wanted, however, and he found himself guiding John’s hand down and pushing his fingers to wrap around his length. John froze up with wide eyes until Dave’s hand moved to return the favor. “Just like you do with you, John.” Dave exhaled as he tried not to come too soon to the sound of the adorable confused but desperate noises that were escaping his friend’s lungs. John couldn’t concentrate on moving his hand. His mouth fell open and stayed that way as Dave clumsily wrapped his hand around the both of them and continued the stimulation. “Dave...this is...this...” “This feels good. I won’t tell anybody. You want me to stop?” Dave commanded his hand to slow. John’s hands clamped onto his shoulders. “No! No, d-don’t stop! I’m...I’m...” “You close?” Dave hummed pleasantly when John nodded vigorously. “Me too.” “Where...” John couldn’t form any complete thoughts. “Just let it go.” Dave’s hand was working full speed again. “Th-the puppet...” “Ignore it. I got you. Come with me.” “Oh my gosh, Dave...Dave...” John’s voice broke until he was only making a continuous keening noise. His entire body started convulsing and he curled forward to cling to the person causing his release. “Fuck, yeah...” Dave growled as he felt him go off in his hand. The slick mess that coated his fingers quickly worked to push him over the edge when he kept pumping them both throughout John’s orgasm. Dave came that much harder as his brain shorted out over the way John whimpered in a mixture of humiliation and arousal when he felt Dave emptying himself all over him. “Fuck...John...” He panted as he barely managed to hold himself up over him. “That was...beautiful. Watching. You. Do. That.” “R-really?” John’s face lit up, but he was still making helpless little squeaks as he looked down at the mess between them. “Yeah. Some chick is going to melt all over you while she’d riding you to town and you fall apart for her like that.” Dave was right in his choice of words. John had an instant where he’d looked regretful and afraid, but Dave was taking him in a direction to trivialize what had happened. Dave chuckled weakly as he fell to the side and his hand fumbled along his nightstand in search of something to clean them up. Their eyes widened when the woman began to scream about how Bro was making her come so hard. Dave gulped as he passed John the paper towels. He finally relaxed when John began to laugh at the situation hard enough to have to bury his face in the pillows.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
John stayed the entire week. He insisted he’d had a wonderful time and wanted to visit again some time. He never mentioned what had happened between them that night when their hormones had taken over their minds. He didn’t seem to remember clinging to Dave each night as Dave sandwiched him against the wall to make him feel safe. Their friendship remained strong and steady as the next year or so flew by. Bro, on the other hand, was slowly wasting away. He lost about fifteen strife’s before Dave started throwing the matches. Dave couldn’t stand knowing that he could beat him. It put too much emphasize on Bro’s mortality. Bro knew he was losing on purpose, and he would punish Dave every time he landed a hit. Eventually, though, even his purposefully brutal punches, shoves, and slaps didn’t carry the same sting. Bro turned to bullying him psychologically instead; trying to keep him on his toes and trying to harden him by treating him cruel. Dave had been grounded for a week, unprovoked, unable to vent to his friends and afraid to draw attention to himself by leaving his room, when he finally braved Bro’s wrath by going to the kitchen for more apple juice. He jolted when he turned around to find Bro staring at him over the counter. Dave’s eyes were free to roam down Bro’s thin body behind his shades as his brother immediately began to pick at him. Dave tried to remind himself that Bro was just desperate to make sure Dave could hold his own without him, but he was still losing his patience just as Bro wanted him to. Bro was still plenty taller than Dave, put his clothes were hanging lose on him. Dave wasn’t afraid Bro was going to throw him or manhandle anymore, and it was with a sharp stab of pain that he found himself sizing Bro up. Dave could throw him now. If he wanted to. If Bro kept running his goddamn mouth at him like that. He could do all sorts of things to him. Dave was too calm as he tipped the juice to his lips. He didn’t drink. Bro had gone quiet. He had either noticed the dark change in Dave’s demeanor or he had pissed in Dave’s apple juice and was waiting to watch Dave’s reaction when he discovered it. Dave slowly screwed the cap on the juice bottle and watched Bro’s shoulders tense further as he carefully set the bottle on the counter. Dave almost hated himself for the thrill he got from watching Bro’s chest move a little faster as he tried to figure him out. Almost. His voice was low, and he barely moved his lips as he spoke. “Did you piss in that?” He was surprised when Bro answered him, but he didn’t show it. “No.” Dave drew his sword and let it dangle at his side. Bro didn’t seem to assume the motion was meant to threaten him until Dave spoke again to confirm it. “Then why you staring at me while I drink it?” Holy shit he sounded as shitty as Bro always did when he made up some stupid reason to kick Dave’s ass. The familiar pattern for abuse wasn’t lost on the older man. His eyebrows shot up high enough for Dave to see the falter in his composure over his sunglasses. Bro’s fingers twitched, but otherwise he didn’t move. He didn’t answer him. That’s when Dave realized Bro was unarmed. He’d let his guard down. A part of him trusted Dave and that part of him was in full panic mode behind a mask of indifference. He was still, but the cogs in his head were clearly turning and assessing his options on how to proceed to get himself out of the situation without losing face. Dave had been pissed off and fucked with for too long this time to simply let him walk away. Two deadpan faces stared unflinching as the seconds crawled by. Bro’s fingers twitched again and that’s when Dave started to think that he should calm down. As much as the asshole had put him through, did he really want to see what would happen if Bro was cornered? Did Dave really want to hurt him? Did he truly want to see what noises he could force out of his brother as he held him down? As he hurt him? Maybe carved him up just a tiny bit to watch him bleed? See if he was capable of crying? Was Dave that kind of guy? Did he really want to terrorize Bro Strider? His guardian. His brother. The man he was hopelessly in love with no matter how bad he treated him. Yes. Yes, he so very much did want that. Dave had thought that his inner struggles had been hidden by his sunglasses, but he had apparently been wrong; so wrong. Dave’s foot barely moved toward him before Bro was tearing down the hallway for all he was worth. A distant voice screamed at Dave that he should feel bad, but a louder voice told him to ignore that bullshit. Bro was going for a sword or no telling what else he had up his sleeve that he was probably saving for the occasion he inevitably lost control of the growing teenager he’d abused all his life, and Dave wasn’t going to waste a second letting him gain the upper hand. He didn’t expect Bro to sacrifice the seconds it took to close his door, but he did just that. Dave leapt and his foot slammed against the door hard enough to splinter the wood as he taught it a permanent lesson about getting between him and his target. “Jesus!” Bro whirled around at the display and froze as Dave threw his sword into the hallway and cracked his knuckles. He mocked his older brother, then, pointing at him before giving him a thumbs-down. Dave pushed away all the telltale signs that indicated Bro didn’t really have any kind of backup plan at all. If he’d stopped to pay attention to any of his body language, Dave would have known that he’d already won. Bro only belatedly stopped his arms from hugging himself. The kid was triggering hundreds of memories of Bro’s own violent upbringing, but Bro couldn’t even be bothered to psychoanalyze that far into why he was failing so miserably to react to the threat in front of him now. All he could think about was what a bastard he was and how he had this coming. Bro had become the thing he’d hated as a vulnerable youth and now things had come full circle to bite him in the ass. Dave was already moving toward him before Bro convinced his numb legs to move. He dove across his bed and stretched his hands toward the baseball bat by his nightstand. He didn’t want to go for a sword and chance stabbing the kid now that shit had gotten all too real. He could only hope that he could knock Dave around a bit and jar the fight out of him. He felt a heavy weight on his back as Dave reached him. His breath was forced from him in one long huff, and his sunglasses slid right off his face and landed next to the bed. Dave’s hand tangled in his hair and his hat fell down over his eyes. His hands searched fruitlessly for the bat, and in the back of his mind he thought how completely unsmooth he was being in every way. In the front of his mind all he could think about was how much this was going to fucking hurt. There wasn’t enough meat on his body anymore to pad the imminent blows coming his way. Bro Strider had enough pain growing up. His illness had forced him back into the sickeningly familiar feeling of helplessness and suffering, and he’d wondered if he was going to survive it. Now his heart was breaking yet again. He couldn’t handle this. He just couldn’t do it. Not again. “Dave!” He was calling for him because there wasn’t anyone else he could turn to in his life to save him from drowning. Bro clawed at his hat when Dave pushed his head down into the mattress and leaned over him. For a heart-stopping moment Bro thought he was reaching for the bat, but the metallic jangling he heard instead made his blood run cold. How did Dave know where he kept those chains? How did he even fucking know he had them at all? He felt the cold steel clamp around his right wrist as he finally managed to wrench his hat from his head. He threw it away from him as if it had betrayed him, but his attention was drawn back to his arm when Dave grabbed the other side of the chain, lifted off of him, and yanked against it so that Bro was dragged by his arm to the corner of the bed. Bro reached for the bat now that he was closer to it, but Dave was there again, pulling his free arm toward the other end of the chain as he wound it around the metal bars along the headboard. “Fucking Christ, kid! Have you lost your goddamn mind?!” Bro didn’t do well with being restrained. It was all he could do to stop pulling against the metal as Dave straightened his back and looked down at him with dark satisfaction as he stood next to the bed. Bro’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he fought to gather himself. Dave didn’t like how quickly Bro was scraping together his composure. He kept his sunglasses aimed at the bound man as his hand landed on the pocket knife on Bro’s side table. Bro’s wary eyes followed his movements. Dave enjoyed the shiver that rolled across his shoulders when Dave allowed the knife to scrape noisily against the wood as he retrieved it. Bro forced a sideways smirk. “Kid, I don’t think you have a plan with what you’re gonna do with me now that you’ve got me.” His halfhearted smile faded when Dave mirrored the crooked smirk. “Oh, I have plenty of ideas.” “Then why ain’t you actin’ on ‘em?” “Because I haven’t decided which one I want to do first; not because I don’t know what I want to do to you. I’m not in a hurry.” The gentle click of the knife caused Bro’s lids to clamp shut. “Dave. Let’s talk about this.” “Kind of a cliché thing to say, don’t you think?” Bro’s heels unconsciously pressed against the mattress when he felt the bed dip with Dave’s weight. “I was being ironic,” he defended. “You ironically shaking too?” The older man cursed when he realized the noise he’d been hearing for quite some time now had indeed been the chains rattling because of his inability to stop vibrating. It only seemed to worsen when Dave straddled him and settled down on his lap like he planned on being there awhile. “And ironically sweating?” Dave tucked his finger into the collar of Bro’s shirt and fanned it to emphasize how soaked the fabric had become. Dave could get used to the sight of Bro’s closed lids and the way the crow’s feet along the sides varied between almost nonexistent to more defined as he fought with himself not to clench them. He glided the knife down the angle of Bro’s jaw and further worshiped the way Bro couldn’t help but close his eyes tighter as Dave traced the blade down his throat. “Ironically whimpering?” Bro’s head tilted back to further expose his throat to him and Dave hummed in approval. “God I’m so fucking hard right now.” Bro’s eyes flew open to stare at the ceiling as he tried to decide how to take what he’d just heard. It seemed like a threat rather than a reassurance. “Kid.” His voice came out much higher than he meant for it to. “You can be one creepy motherfucker when you want to. You know that?” Dave ripped the knife up the front of Bro’s shirt, effectively slicing it in half. “Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Bro swallowed heavily and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t get control of his voice until Dave was finished carving away his shirt. “Dave...kiddo...little man...” He was in such dire need of reassurance that when Dave’s palm landed on his bare chest and gently caressed his skin, he writhed against it far too pitifully. “You know something?” Dave slid his hand behind Bro’s neck to lift his head. Bro opened his eyes and found that Dave had pushed his sunglasses up to rest on top of his head. The older man wasn’t comforted by the tears he saw trailing down Dave’s cheeks as he looked down at him. Bro was trying to read him but he could only guess there was a bittersweet mixture of love and hate and sorrow and-holy fucking shit Dave was going to kill him. Bro had only just learned he was going to survive the illness he’d been suffering through, and now he was going to be killed by a kid who he was supposed to have earned the love and respect of. He had failed so miserably that the kid was willing to go to prison just to be rid of him. “Dave-” He shivered when Dave gently pressed his lips against his like a perfect fucking Judas, or maybe it was a Godfather reference to send him off to the grave with. Whatever it was, Bro couldn’t quite find his voice to start talking sense into him because his heart was going to fail any second. Dave pulled back a few inches and wiped at Bro’s tears with his thumbs. His expression was cold as he kept his eyes locked on Bro’s while he slid his thumb into his mouth to fucking taste Bro’s tears and (ohgodohgodohgod) how had Bro fucked up this thoroughly? The kid was completely evil! Dave was still holding the knife when he framed Bro’s face in his hands. “I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone.”
Fuck, this is it! He’s really going to do it, holy shit!
“Dave, p-please, kiddo, please-” And he was begging for his life. Or, he would have if Dave hadn’t cut him off with a possessive kiss that dominated his mouth and his breath and his every thought. Bro didn’t even realize he was aroused, but Dave kept having to brace himself on Bro’s shoulders, and it suddenly hit him that it was because he was thrusting up against the kid. Dave pulled back to look at him, and Bro’s exposed eyes held so many emotions that Dave never would have been able to read hidden behind shaded lenses. He pressed down to answer the urgent wriggling against him and Bro’s groan was broken as he continued to fall apart. “Dave, kid, you don’t wanna do this. You’ll go to jail if-” “Nobody has to know. We can do this.” Dave nipped at his ear and tucked his hand beneath him to better drag their bodies together. “We?” Dave paused. “Bro, I’m talking about fucking. You’re not still thinking I’m going to kill you, right?” “W-what? F-fucking?” Bro was so goddamn confused. “You said I’m going to die. You’ll miss me when I’m gone-” “You’re sick, motherfucker.” Dave hiccuped as he tried not to think on it too much. Bro shook his head as he gasped for air. “I went into remission a few months ago, and shortly after they said I’m all good. I was waitin’ to make sure I was in the clear before I said anything. I wanted them to triple check and give it some time. I got the last letter yesterday, and I meant to tell you, but-” “But you were too busy being a fucking bastard to me instead!” The knife was back at his throat and Bro sank down as far as the chains would allow. “Dave, I’m sorry! Look! There are fucking monsters out there and they want to hurt you! I know they do!” “I’ll get some fucking mace! Goddamn!” “Mace doesn’t always work! A guy maced me and I just kept on beating the shit out him! He hadn’t even done anything to me! I just didn’t like the way he looked! Fuck, Dave! There are monsters out there and they want to hurt you and they want to fuck you and I know because I am one of those monsters! You gotta be ready to defend yourself because I can’t protect you when you leave me!” “I’m not going anywhere unless you throw me out someday, asshole! I want to fucking be with you! No one’s trying to hurt me, Bro! The only one hurting me here is you!” “Yeah and I want to hurt you so, so, so much more, kid. You have no idea.” “I might have more an idea than you think.” Dave’s voice dropped to a whisper as he pulled the knife along Bro’s shoulder drawing a thin line of blood. He tangled is other hand in Bro’s hair and rolled his hips against him. Bro’s mouth dropped open in a long groan that melded into a deep growl when Dave sank down and dragged his tongue along the fresh cut. “Fffffuuuck...” Bro writhed against him. “You’re just as fucked up as me. The fuck have I done?” Dave returned to his mouth and Bro could taste the iron of his own blood. He felt Dave’s fingers against his belt, and he sucked in his stomach in paranoia since he’d lost sight of the knife. He didn’t part their mouths as he scanned for the blade. He relaxed when he saw Dave had closed it and sat it on the mattress a couple feet away. Dave’s hand closed around Bro’s painfully hard length and the chains snapped violently when Bro thoughtlessly tried to reach for Dave in response. Bro was desperately trying not to be triggered every time he moved his hands and was reminded he’d been rendered completely helpless. He did not do well as a bottom and this situation totally felt like he was about to get owned more than what the kid had managed to pull on him already. Dave still had his pants on, and that was probably the only thing keeping Bro’s heart from thrumming right out of his chest. Bro was not about to communicate his fears. That would be uncool. He had to just roll with it and see where Dave took this. Bro was trapped in Dave’s eyes as the kid leaned over him and watched his face while he stroked him off. Dave’s lids were heavy with lust and his lips were parted. The kid angled down and bit Bro’s bottom lip pulling a needy moan from Bro as he tried to follow Dave’s lips when he pulled away. Bro’s head dropped heavily back against the pillows in frustration when Dave evaded him. There was an infuriating smirk on the kid’s mouth, but Bro couldn’t think to be mad about it as he imagined cramming his dick in there. Dave stood and Bro tried to relax the resulting tension as Dave quickly peeled away all his clothes and reached into the top drawer of the nightstand. Bro’s fists clenched when Dave withdrew a tube of lubrication as if he didn’t even have to dig around to find it. It wasn’t necessarily because he was angry at Dave for knowing so much about everything in his bedroom as much as he was nervous as to what Dave meant to do with what he’d found. Calm. Stay chill. Bro still had the safety of his own pants, and ohshitohshit, Dave was back and hooking his hands in his belt loops to take his pants down. Nope. He can’t do this. He can’t handle it. “Dave!” It was the only thing he could force out before his entire body locked up. Dave froze even before Bro spoke. He was hyper aware of Bro’s every tiny reaction and the way he’d stiffened when Dave moved to draw down his pants was far different than what he would expect from sexual excitement. Bro was freaking out and his reaction to this was filling in so many blanks in Dave’s mind. Dave had to admit he was pretty messed up in the head, because Bro’s trepidation was only working to make him unbearably hot. He fought the urge to rip the pants away, and instead he changed direction and pushed the garment back into place only leaving them open at the crotch. He studied the pale, shivering body beneath him and dipped his head to gently kiss Bro’s stomach. Bro’s wide eyes were aimed at the ceiling as he fought to stop hyperventilating. He was absolutely not going to beg Dave to let him out of the restraints. Not only would that be uncool, but he really didn’t want to know if Dave would refuse him. He tried not to jump with every attentive kiss Dave planted along his skin. No one touched Bro. He didn’t allow it, and even if he was in a mood to let it happen, no one was brave enough to do it. He usually had his partners bound tight, and oh god, Bro was trapped right now. Dave could do anything to him. Bro was not going to beg him to let him go. He was not going to beg his warm, wet mouth to keep going lower. “Please...” Shit, he was begging. “Please!” “Please what?” Dave’s lips curled into a knowing smile as he continued his decent. He knew that he was pressing his shoulder and neck down against Bro’s cock as he went, and he was well aware of how maddening the teasing touch was as Bro unconsciously pressed up against the warmth of his skin. Bro lifted his head, and his mouth moved, but no sound came out as he searched for the right words and failed to find any. Dave’s eyes were locked on his looking up at him. His mouth was open like he was hungry for Bro’s cock. He acted like it was completely incidental that he nuzzled his cheek against Bro’s prick, and that he didn’t notice how desperately it throbbed in response. His eyes cut to the side to look at it, and his eyebrows raised in question. Bro swallowed heavily and nodded as his rebellious lips continued to silently mouth please and yes. “Here?” Dave teased as he slid lower and exaggerated his next exhale against the sensitive skin. He drew in another breath and Bro arched up as he blew against him. He whined when Dave’s hands clamped on his hips to hold him in place. “Fuck, I can’t take it! Is that what you wanna hear? I want your mouth on me! Please.” He gulped. “Please-oh god-” His voice dried up when Dave flattened his tongue against him and slowly, thoroughly, almost lazily began lapping his cock. “Sweet fucking god in heaven, Dave...” The chains clanked loudly. “Ffffuuuck...anything...kid...anything you fucking want...” His eyes were open, but his vision went white when Dave tightened his lips and pressed the warm, wet heat of his mouth down around the head. Dave took him deeper and hummed with approval when Bro continued to chant his assurance that Dave could have anything he wanted that Bro had to give. Dave took him at his word and yanked Bro’s pants down his legs. Bro couldn’t think to fight it when Dave’s mouth was still wrapped around him, but the cool air on his lower half quickly worked to remind him of his fears. His thighs unconsciously pressed together when Dave sat back to pull his pants from his ankles, but Dave shoved them open again and dropped back down to work on him. Bro was torn between his focus on Dave’s mouth and the distraction of the pain in his wrists as he bruised himself. Dave pulled off him with an obscene pop and began to sloppily kiss his way up Bro’s body. For every inch he moved up Bro tensed and clenched his thighs that much harder. Dave moaned at the heady feeling of control as his weight easily kept his brother’s legs open. Bro’s head tilted back and forth when Dave’s mouth landed on his nipple, so he lingered for a time, enjoying how Bro’s legs betrayed him and began to fall open with the attention. He moved to Bro’s neck, and when the man began to hyperventilate again, he gave him a temporary reprieve. He reached between them and adjusted his cock so that it wasn’t prodding against Bro’s ass but instead settled himself to line up their lengths over top of his body. Bro’s shoulders barely relaxed. He was still open and vulnerable and had no idea where Dave was taking this or if he even cared to notice what Bro did or didn’t want. “Anything?” Dave’s voice was lower than Bro had ever heard it as he nibbled at his ear. Bro didn’t answer him. He couldn’t trust himself to speak when his thighs were already pressing in against Dave’s body to plead with him silently to notice he was damaged and catch on that he couldn’t handle this. Dave inhaled as Bro pulled against the chains again and reminded himself he was trapped. “God this is so fucking addictive.” Dave drank in his fear like it was a fine wine and Bro had no doubt that the little sadist was thirsty to take it further. Bro knew Dave wanted him to fall apart as many times as he could force it out of him because Bro craved the same thing. It was hard to work things out in his head when Dave’s body was rutting against him and causing such an aching hot friction that Bro was sure he was about to lose it. “Bro. You trust me.” Dave’s fingers curled in Bro’s hair as he planted a deceptively gentle kiss on his cheek. “You know you trust me.” Bro shuddered and jostled the chains. “And look where that got me.” “And have I hurt you?” Well, there was that. Bro had thought at first that Dave was going to give him a good beatdown. Then he’d thought he was going to goddamn die. Maybe he shouldn’t be as paranoid that Dave was about to carelessly pound him the ass-holy shit the kid was hooking his arm under his knee and pushing his legs up! “Dave! Don’t please don’t!” He clamped his mouth shut determined not to be that guy who lost his shit, but his body continued to quake in his silence. Dave was already chuckling when he released his leg. “You are not good with this whole chained-up thing, are you?” Dave pressed a tender kiss to the side of Bro’s mouth and the older man turned into the kiss. Dave didn’t deny him the contact. Instead he rewarded him for the emotional touch by shifting to straddle him and allowing Bro’s legs to slide shut beneath him. Bro was so lost in Dave’s lips that he didn’t notice him fumbling with the bottle until Dave was glopping a lubricated hand all over Bro’s cock. His mouth fell open and Dave nipped at his bottom lip. Bro’s eyes searched Dave’s as the kid positioned himself over his length. He watched every subtle hint in Dave’s expression as Bro felt himself slowly engulfed in the welcoming heat. When he was fully seated Dave fell forward to brace himself on Bro’s shoulders as he waited to relax to the intrusion. They both panted and sweat trailed down their bodies as they both finally accepted that this was happening. “Maybe,” Dave whispered, nuzzling against Bro’s jaw submissively. “Maybe you remember this when you’re back to a hundred percent and you start itching to beat on something? Maybe, daddy, maybe you go easy on me?” Bro had no control over the growl that worked up his throat. He was trying to enjoy the shiver it caused the kid, but he was also distracted with wondering what the hell Dave could possibly be nervous about. It wasn’t until his sore arms were dropping down slack against the pillows that he realized Dave’s next movements had been to release him. Dave’s hands clasped in front of his own chest insecurely as he fell forward and buried his face in Bro’s neck to wait out what Bro would do with his freedom. Bro’s arms wrapped around him and held him in place as he thrust up into him several times a little too roughly. His large hand grabbed Dave’s hair and forced him back into a kiss. Dave didn’t resist. When the fingers of Bro’s other hand dug into his back too aggressively, he pressed closer to Bro’s body for reassurance. Bro sat up, and it was a little harder than it might have been before he was sick, but he managed not to show any weakness as he flipped their bodies and slammed Dave onto his back. Dave’s lids closed and he went completely pliant. His arms fell out to his sides in a sign of surrender that made it hard for Bro not to pound him down into the mattress until he couldn’t walk straight. Bro sat back on his heels and hoisted Dave’s hips in place. Dave opened his eyes just in time to see Bro’s attention land on the abandoned knife at their side. He swallowed a curse and turned his head away, but Bro’s hands didn’t leave his hips. Instead Bro expertly angled his thrusts to immediately cause Dave to arch up in ecstasy. Dave didn’t know if he was being punished or rewarded as Bro’s hips slapped against him in a steady drive that left him no option of composure. Bro was going to force-fuck the orgasm right out of him and Dave had been too hard for too long to want anything else in the world. He could only get out a single syllable at a time as Bro’s thrusts stole the air from him. “Fuck! Please! There! Dad-dy! Yeah! There! God-” And then Dave was coming hard, and Bro’s attention shifted back and forth between the view of Dave’s cock going off all over himself without even being touched and the look of shocked awe on Dave’s face as it happened to him. Several high-pitched whimpers snuck through Dave’s open mouth as he failed to shut it when Bro kept pumping into him. Bro went rigid and Dave’s head almost hit the bars of the headboard when he shoved into him deep. Bro fell forward and looked down at him as they both gasped for breath. Dave spoke first. “You. You’re. A fucking. God.” Bro was pretty sure Dave was some kind of god with his ability to know exactly what Bro wanted to hear and feel. He couldn’t really think clearly enough to give him a response that made much sense. “You’re. Never. Grounded. Again.” Dave laughed as Bro collapsed on top of him. “What?” “Any. Thing. You. Want. Forever.” Bro took far too much pleasure in the way Dave’s fingers were trailing along his back affectionately. “Okay. I won’t. Argue. With that.” Dave pressed his lips on Bro’s shoulder and closed his eyes when he felt too much bone jutting out and not enough muscle. He had noticed that Bro was eating again, and he wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to or fearing Bro filling back out again. “Anything.” Bro’s voice was softer, and Dave realized he was falling asleep. His snort of laughter jolted Bro back awake, and Bro’s chest rumbled with an answering chuckle as he rolled to the side. “So we can order Chinese when we wake up then?” Dave’s vision was blurry as he fought his own lids from closing. He wondered if there were limitations to this ‘anything’ business. Apparently, there weren’t. “Yeah. Anything.” Bro’s hand lifted to Dave’s face and he pressed a sweaty lock of hair from his forehead. He cupped Dave’s cheek and traced his thumb along his lip. Wow. Bro was really grateful to a motherfucker when he didn’t beat and rape him. Dave guessed he could see why. It was a little disturbing to realize Bro had thought the only reason Dave had yet to do those things to him was that he’d been too small to get away with it. Dave touched Bro’s face in return even as Bro fell asleep and his hand slid heavily to the mattress between them. Dave scooted forward to burrow against him. Bro only stiffened for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. The last thing Dave remembered before falling asleep was the gentle pressure on the top of his head of Bro pressing his lips there.