blood runs red ✓

LV

'everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me'

- melanie martinez

august

"Lana?" 

"August?" 

Lana had texted August and told him to meet her behind the outhouse, and he was honestly expecting to see Ares. But it was actually Lana, his best friend who had saved him without realising. He would've never survived Sean's abuse without her.

"I haven't seen you in so long, oh my god." August immediately hugged her. 

"Oh, August, I missed you so much." Lana squeezed him tightly. "I can't believe you've been sleeping with my brother though. Like, when you told me you were with someone else, I didn't expect it to be my brother."

August laughed, and took a good look at her. She looked almost identical to her mom, which August couldn't believe he didn't notice when Ares showed him the photo. "You're just as beautiful as you were when I last saw you."

"Are you flirting with me, Lopez?" 

"I might be, Cirillo." August burst into laughter. "Oh god, I call your brother Cirillo when we flirt and calling you Cirillo really messes with my brain. I mean, what are the chances of my best friend being my- my.. hookup's sister?"

"When this is all over, you'll be able to call him your boyfriend."

"I- I never really thought I'd be able to call anyone but Sean my boyfriend." August admitted quietly. "It's not over yet, though, so I'm not going to jinx it."

"Yet." Lana got out five wireless cameras, all easy to hide and not too difficult to put up. "Ares got these for you. He needs you to let Sean hurt you on camera so that we have proof that can get him put away. I know you might not want to, but-"

"It's fine, Lana." The curly-haired man smiled sadly. "I'm used to it. I can handle another beating if it means it's the last."

"The trial, it's going to be difficult. It might bring up old memories-"

"I'm fine, Lana." He sighed. "I'll be fine. I can handle this. I've done it before, I can do it again."

"That's what I'm worried about." She muttered under her breath. "You should go back in before Sean notices something. And get those cameras set up quickly. I have a feeling something's gonna go down sooner or later, and these cameras are gonna be really important."

August took the cameras mutely and gave her a kiss on the cheek before sneaking back into the outhouse. He managed to disguise the cameras well, whilst making sure the angles would actually be helpful. 

He hated the fact that he was scared.

August was minding his own business in the outhouse when Sean barged in. He'd been doing that a lot lately, so it didn't startle August as much as it had before. 

"August."

"Sean."

"I can't find your stupid mom." 

August sighed. The cameras were up and he was ready to get some damning evidence to make sure he never had to deal with Sean Matthews again. "Why do you hate me so much, Sean?"

"Hate you?" Sean seemed offended. "I don't hate you." 

"Then what? Because you fucking hit me on a daily and then never explain why. You body-shame me, restrict my eating and spending and constantly put me down, again, for no given reason. You've forced me to sleep with you when you knew I didn't want to. You're probably gonna fucking kill me at some point, since you don't have my mom as blackmail anymore, so tell me why you've done all of this. You owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you shit." Sean stormed towards August, and the Venezuelan man hated the way he flinched back. "I don't hate you, baby. I just- you make me so angry sometimes, and you know who I am. I'm a boxer. It's instinct to start hitting when I'm angry."

"Ares has never hit me before." August muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You know I love you, don't you?"

"If you loved me, you wouldn't hit me and you wouldn't fucking rape me." 

"Rape?" Sean laughed. "Baby, I've never raped you. You're my boyfriend. That means if I want sex, I get sex."

"Clearly you've never learnt what consent is." August grit his teeth. "You've forced me down and fucked me without my fucking consent on multiple occasions. That, baby, is rape. You've hit me and made me weak and then slept with me. That is rape."

Sean sat down next to August, who flinched at the proximity. "Baby, I'm sorry. I know I get violent sometimes, but I do love you. I've loved you since the moment I met you. I just needed to make sure you never left me by blackmailing you. I never meant to hit you. But you let me hit you, and never fought back when I wanted sex and it just got addictive."

"What?" August wanted to scream. "You- I let you because you were blackmailing me."

"I told you, you make me so angry sometimes." Sean shrugged. "But sometimes I'm already angry and you're just there, and I know you'll let me hit you or fuck you."

That was all the confessing August could possibly take from his boyfriend before actually losing it. His explanation was stupid and enraging and he wanted to rip the man's intestines out and strangle him with it.

But he couldn't.

"You can't just say you love me but then say you're addicted to hurting me. I know your dad was a bitch to you, but it's still fucked up and not right. I watched my fucking dad beat my mom for years and I never turned out like him."

"Yeah, cause you turned out like her instead." 

It was like a switch had flipped in Sean, and the side of him that cared, or pretended to, was gone and here was the side that August knew all too well. This was the post-honeymoon phase Sean, the one who didn't bother holding himself back when he was angry.

"Fuck you, August." Sean picked his boyfriend up by his throat. "I tried to be nice to you. I really did. But you just piss me off all the fucking time. And bringing my dad up was a low blow."

"But comparing me to my mom isn't?"

"I never even told you about my dad."

"I wish I never told you about mine."

Sean slammed August into the nearest wall, making the outhouse shake slightly. "How the fuck did you find out about my dad?"

"It was obvious." August said simply. "When we visited your parents for Christmas and you came out, your dad raised his voice and you flinched and I saw myself in you, the person you turned me into. The person you beat me into."

"Oh please, you were pathetic when I met you."

"But I didn't flinch away from you." He said quietly. "I trusted you."

"You're fucking stupid for that, then." Sean smirked as he slammed August's head into the wall behind him, making him dazed for a moment. 

"I'm not stupid."

Sean let go of August and kicked his stomach. "You are. You loved me."

"I loved you. Don't you still love me?"

Sean didn't like that answer, so he picked August up by the throat again and threw him towards the bed. His head hit the bedframe and he felt his mind go hazy.

And a figure appeared at the door, making his heart stop.