Loving Abuse (boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Ivy sat up a bit straighter and nodded at police officer, signaling to let them in. As the four stepped into the room James glared slightly and tightened an arm around Ivy. The small boy looked up at the protective male and sighed, "James, can I talk to them alone?"

The taller of the two hesitated, his eyes were heavy as he glanced between the four, all of whom looked guilty and sad. He gave up and nodded, pressing a small kiss to the top of Ivy's head before standing. When he passed the Hispanic males he warned in low voice, "Say or do anything to upset him, I'll kill you." James felt slightly bad, they'd been really good friends before everything went down. Now, though, he felt slight disgust when he looked at them. They were only now coming to visit Ivy, after a whole week. They hadn't seen him since finding out Christian was the one that harmed him. They weren't there to comfort the boy when he broke down sobbing at the memories that haunted him, or to hold him when he felt bad for betraying Christian. They hadn't been there. It had hurt Ivy so much, all he had wanted was his friends, but they weren't there. That made James furious.

Ivy scooted himself against the wall behind the bed when his four friends were finally surrounding him. His eyes flicked across each of their faces before he closed them, holding back tears. They were here to tell him how much they hated him, how stupid he was to turn Christian in. He just knew it. Ivy got the surprise of his life when Tyler stepped forward and sat on the edge of the bed, tears rushing down his cheeks. It was so sudden, and Tyler was so sad as he began to sob. The abused boy looked up to the other three to see them in similar states, all guilty and sad.

"Ivy," Tyler said, "we're so sorry."

Ivy looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he was apologizing. "Why are you sorry?" He asked in his soft, quiet voice.

Billy took Ivy's hand in his own and squeezed it. "We should have known." He said and tried to blink away tears. "We were always around you two, your best friends and his c-cousins. We saw the bruises and didn't even think it could be anything like abuse. We believed your lies and- and," He stopped to cry and loosened his hold on Ivy's bony hand. "We never even questioned why you didn't eat anymore!"

Tony was stood back with Zayn, both had red eyes and trembling lips.

Ivy was so shocked. He never thought they'd feel guilty, they didn't have any reason to. He didn't tell them about what was happening, he lied about and covered the bruises. He had done everything in his power to keep the abuse hidden, of course they didn't know.

Ivy smiled sadly. "I honestly thought you guys were mad at me." He said truthfully, gaining shocked looks. "I thought that you would be mad that I told the police about what Christian had done."

"Never!" Tony said, absolutely appalled. "We could never be mad at you about that! I'm disgusted by what Christian has done, I can't even claim him as family anymore. He hurt you, Ivy, so much. Don't you ever think any of us would be mad at you. You're our hermano." The dark boy smiled lightly, "We love you."

Ivy blinked back tears and held his weak arms open, wanting to hug his brothers.

***

Two days later Ivy was aloud to leave. His ribs were still wrapped, they'd have to be for another five weeks, and his right arm was in a sling because of his dislocated shoulder, but he was home. That was all that mattered to Ivy. Even though he didn't want to sleep in his room, he wanted to be in a familiar surrounding.

It was James who helped a hurt and hesitant Ivy down the stairs to his bedroom, both wary. Before they even entered the room, Ivy stopped and looked up at his companion with a pale face. "They cleaned it, right? There's no blood or anything?"

James nodded and sighed sadly, "Yeah, your parents even had someone burry Finny." Ivy smiled lightly, it was sad and hollow, but it was a smile.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Together, they pushed the door open and Ivy flinched slightly, this is where it happened. He didn't want to see, but he forced his eyes open. Inside, his room looked really different. His bed and sheets had been replaced, his walls scrubbed, the carpet cleaned. It was clean, but the memories still lingered. Ivy remembered the feel of his old bed sheets rubbing against his face as Christian had violated him, they way it had burned. A whimper escaped the small boy and James turned and picked him up. Ivy's legs wrapped around James' torso as he began to cry.

"Sh," The more dominant of the two hushed, running his hand through Ivy's hair, which he just now realized was starting to feel thin.

"I can't sleep here alone tonight." Ivy whimpered out, his face buried in James' shoulder.

"I'll be here, you wont be alone. God, Ivy, you'll never be alone."

***

That night, around one in the morning, Ivy got out of bed. He untangled himself from the arms of his protector and  walked quietly towards his desk. After turning the lamp on, he grabbed the scale out from under it and cringed. At the hospital they'd been feeding him nutrients through a tube and feeding him as much as they could. He didn't want to think of all the weight he must've gained, Christian would be disgusted.

Ivy stripped to his boxers and shifted his weight from foot to foot before stepped onto the small platform. As the numbers began to shoot up he thought of all the times he'd puked, or skipped a meal. The hair thickening products he'd had to use so people wouldn't see how thin is actually was, the clear coats of nail polish he'd put on so the discoloration wasn't obvious. All of his hard work seemed to be for nothing. Ivy was so afraid of the number that would pop onto the screen. His green eyes were clouded with tears as the scale gave him his number.

101 pounds.

Ivy broke down and silently sobbed into his knees, not wanting to wake James who slept only feet away.

A/N

HeRe

Like the new cover?

This made me kind of sad.

VCF