blood and dreams

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Later that day, Henry was feeling pretty happy. He felt safe in the man cave, and Ray made him laugh a lot, which made him forget about his dad. 

"Wanna play ping pong with me Hen?" Ray asked, smiling. He knew how much Henry loved that game, and how competitive he got. 

"You're on" Henry said with a smile as he got up and walked over to the ping pong table. They agreed to play to seven, and Henry won 7-6. 

"Good game kid" Ray said, proud of Henry not necessarily for winning, but for being able to get up and do something as dumb as this with his best friend after everything that happened to him lately. Ray knew it took a strong person to do that. Henry was too busy jumping and celebrating his own win against Ray, who was previously undefeated by Henry, to pay attention to Ray's good sportsmanship. Henry gave Ray an intense high five that admittedly hurt Ray's hand a little at first. They went and sat on the U shaped couch, grinning. 

"I can't believe I lost that last one!" Ray said, smiling. Henry laughed and picked up his phone. He saw a notification when he opened it. Somebody was texting him. 

Dad: You better get back over here right the fuck now 

Dad: You can't hide from me forever 

Dad: I'll find you and your boss and get you back here if it's the last thing I ever do  

Henry stared at his phone in disbelief. His mouth hung open but he couldn't find any words. Ray didn't notice Henry's change in expression. He was busy texting someone on his own phone. 

"Raayyy....?" Henry finally said, his voice cracking in the middle of the drawn out name. Ray looked up and saw Henry's face. He couldn't completely read his expression. Scared? Shocked? Maybe both. Either way it couldn't be good. 

"What's goin' on Hen?" Ray asked, moving over to be next to Henry. 

All Henry could say was "Look." He handed his phone to Ray so he could read the texts. Ray's previous joy quickly faded to a cloudy anger when he saw the way Jake was threatening Henry. He had to think of a solution. 

"You should block him Hen, this is gonna stress you out. But trust me, he's not gonna find us, and even if he did, I'd protect you. We both know I could take him." Ray reasoned, staying calm.  

Henry didn't seem too content with the suggestion. 

"But if I block him we won't know what's going on Ray, I wanna know what he's saying to me, even when it's awful." Henry said.  

"Can I see?" Ray asked, glancing at Henry's phone. Henry handed it to him. Ray started typing something, then showed Henry what he did. It was a text to his dad. It said "If you want to talk about this, take it up with my boss instead and leave me out of it.". Henry smiled when he read it. 

"It's perfect. What if he texts me anyways though?" Henry asked, a little nervous. 

"We can go to the phone store today and change your number" Ray said, hoping Henry wouldn't be too nervous to come with him. Even though the man cave was safe, Ray didn't want to leave Henry alone, and he didn't think Henry wanted to be alone either. 

"You really think it's safe for me to leave here?" Henry asked cautiously. 

"I'll be with you, besides we're superheroes remember? I'm indestructible, I can be your human shield. If we can defeat Drex, we can handle your parents. Besides, it's not like we'll run into them. It'll be quick." Ray seemed confident in his answer, so Henry agreed that it was a good plan. 

"I guess I'm just nervous, I'm coming though" Henry admitted. 

It would be his first time out of the man cave since his dad had hurt him, but Henry felt ready. He couldn't stay there forever. The two got ready and left. In the car, they talked about random things, Ray making sure the conversation kept going so that Henry didn't have the chance to overthink their outing. When they got to the mall the store was in, Ray didn't get out of the car right away. He turned to Henry. 

"If you wanna leave for any reason at any point in there, we can, okay?" Ray said, seeing as Henry looked a little anxious. 

"Okay." Henry said. 

There were a lot of people in the mall, which overwhelmed Henry a little bit. They made it to the right store and Ray started talking to the man at the counter about changing Henry's number. As they were working on it, Henry was looking around, making sure nobody he knew was there. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He grabbed Ray's hand anxiously. Finally it was over. They were walking out of the store and down to the exit of the mall when Henry saw something that made his heart jump out of his chest. His parents. He hit Ray's side with his hand a few times, signaling that he needed Ray's attention. 

"Ray it's my parents, what do we do?" Henry whispered frantically. Ray's eyes darted around until he saw them. He became nervous himself, but he didn't show it. 

"Henry quick, go into that store, I'll come get you when the coast is clear." 

Henry nodded and ran into some random clothes store. He went all the way to the back and waited anxiously. He hoped nothing was happening outside. Meanwhile, Ray was walking around, keeping an eye on Henry's parents to see if they would leave. Unfortunately, they didn't. Jake saw Ray and walked over to him. 

"You better give me back my son." Jake said angrily, then tried to shove Ray. Ray didn't move. 

"He doesn't want to go back to you! He's covered in bruises because of you, so fuck off." Ray said, walking away. Jake followed him and tried to punch him, unaware of Ray's superhero status. Naturally, Ray dodged it. Mall security noticed what was going on and rushed over. 

"Is he bothering you?" The security guard asked Ray. 

"Uh, yeah, he is." Ray answered. The guard pulled Jake away. Ray sighed. Henry was probably losing his mind right now. He walked back into the store and found Henry in the back, obviously trying to hold himself together. 

"Ray!" Henry said, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw him. He ran up and gave Ray a hug, pushing his face against Ray's chest. 

"I'm here now, are you okay?" Ray asked, hugging Henry back. 

"Now I am, I was worried though." Henry said. 

"C'mon, let's get outta here I'll tell you everything in the car." Ray said, as Henry released him from the hug. They walked out each with an arm around each other

**I absolutely hate this chapter but I hope u guys like it**** 

***also stream superache***