Bent (Boyxboy)

Chapter 21

Danny managed to limp outside the next morning to have his morning smoke before he went to wake Philip up for school. Danny had managed to shield Philip from a lot of the abuse that they both had to endure last night, but not all of it. The guilt was lodged in Danny's chest and was not about to go away that he was sure about. Danny took a deep drag off of his cigarette and closed his eyes, before tilting his head back and blowing the smoke into the crisp cold air above his head. Danny opened his eyes and stared up at the grey, cloudy sky above his head. He sighed heavily, and finished up his cigarette before heading back into the house to wake his younger brother up.

Danny shut the door to the house and kicked off his shoes before he jogged up the stairs and headed to his younger brother's bedroom. Danny stopped outside the door and knocked softly on the door before peeking his head into the room. Philip sat up in his bed and groaned as he rubbed at his eyes. Danny's heart rose in his throat and his stomach dropped to the floor when he saw the bruising around his brother's left eye.

"How you doing this morning, champ?" Danny asked hesitantly as he fully entered the room and walked towards Philip. Philip yawned and stretched before he winced and then relaxed again.

"A bit sore, but I'm okay, I'm strong just like you, big brother," Philip replied smiling as he pulled back the bed sheets. Danny sat down beside Philip on the bed and quickly inspected him for any other signs of bruising and damage. Philip reached out and pushed Danny playfully against the chest to get him to stop worrying, but that made Danny feel like the wind had just gotten knocked clean out of him.

Danny tried not to react to how much it had actually hurt him, he was pretty sure that all of his ribs were bruised and at least one of them had to be cracked. Danny noticed Philip's sudden draw back in fear as Danny had assumed that Philip had thought that he had actually hurt Danny. Danny in turn pulled Philip into a tight hug, well as tight as he could without feeling like he was going to pass out from the pain and over exertion. 

"I'm fine, I promise," Danny told Philip as he let go enough to look his brother in the face. Philip sniffled and kept his face down away from Danny's prying eyes. Danny sighed and put a finger under his chin and lifted it up so that Philip was facing Danny. Danny's heart felt like was being torn to pieces. Philip had tears streaming quietly down his face as he tried to choke back his tears. "Oh, don't do that, its okay if you want to cry."

"B-but you don't cry," Philip choked out as he was squished once again into a big hug by Danny.

"What makes you say that?" Danny replied quietly. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. You remember what happened after eldest brother died?"

Philip swallowed hard and nodded into Danny's chest.

"You remember how hard I cried in that one corner of the basement?" Danny continued and rubbed gently on his brother's back as Philip started to cry. Philip nodded again as he started to cry harder. Danny sat there with Philip as he cried and rubbed his back until he had calmed down. "Feel better? Now go get dressed or you will be late for the bus again."

Philip giggled as Danny started to tickle him before he jumped up and ran over to his closet to change into something to wear for school. Danny chuckled and tried his best to stand up without much of struggle. He was barely able to stifle the painful groan while gritting his teeth. He waited until Philip was completely dressed before they both headed down to the bus stop, where they went their separate ways to their respective schools.

Danny had his earbuds in as he stared blankly out the window, as the bus approached the school. Danny vaguely stared out at the blurring faces of those that he passed as the bus was pulling up to the stop just outside of the school grounds. He started to focus on his surroundings again, and almost immediately realized that he was staring at Sebastian who thankfully hadn't noticed him yet.