Absconded Youth (Boyxboy) ✓

9: BLOOD & RUIN

Yuu may be younger, but he's the only person I've ever felt like I truly understood. We're still, forever, learning more about each other, but I feel like he truly gets me, too. When I'm with him there's this sense that I've found my place.

The leather bracelet was faded and fraying and the seasons had changed a few times since they'd become a couple. Akio had met Yuu's parents (as a friend) and he'd even spent the night once. The closest thing they'd had to a fight was the time Akio told him about his ex-boyfriend, and now they saw each other almost every day. Sometimes Akio wished he could be the one to rest his head on someone's chest, or be swallowed in someone larger's hold, but even just thinking about it made him miss Yuu. He was attached, and the little guy was gradually filling every void within him.

He'd gotten off of work early tonight and Yuu had met him beneath the gazebo, keeping him company while he ate his sandwich and shared his beer. Cherry blossoms danced on their way down from the trees, littering the ground with pink petals.

Akio finished his sandwich and patted the crumbs from his palms, slinging an arm around his boyfriend and hugging him closer.

"I love you," he cooed.

"That was random, but I love you, too. So much." Yuu pecked his cheek with an exaggerated smacking sound.

Akio tilted up the boy's chin with his fingers and aggressively made out with him, making playful noises as he did so. Their tongues tasted like beer and their heads swam euphorically.

But before Akio even knew what was going on, he was blinded by a pounding pain in the side of his head and heard Yuu scream over the ringing in his ears. He found himself scrambling on the ground, desperately trying to regain his vision.

He wasn't sure, but it felt like someone spat on him.

"Fucking pervert!" a gruff voice bellowed.

A kick, the breath knocked out of him, and his face against the concrete.

"Fucking pedophilic homosexual! Get away from that kid!"

A fat man was standing over him, immersing him in his shadow. Yuu was shrieking words that Akio couldn't make out.

He staggered up and supported himself on the column, raising his hands. He was beginning to understand what was happening, even though it was all so fast. "Look, it's okay, no--"

A fist flew at his face, a disgusting cracking noise coming from somewhere in his body.

He wiggled his aching jaw and bent at the knees a little, and after a brief second, anger washed over him. He reared back, winding back a punch of his own, about to lunge forward and attack when Yuu halted him.

"Akio, don't!"

He was tugged backward, a few feet away from the man.

"Just run!" Yuu yelled.

A rapid succession of thoughts passed through his mind at once. He was the one that had been blamed, simply because he was older. It felt like one of his ribs were broken. The angst-ridden teen inside him wanted to fight back, but he didn't want to scare Yuu by seeming violent. And that's the thought that won out.

Keep Yuu safe.

He'd never felt more shitty in his life as he hurriedly limped away, urging Yuu to follow by placing his hand on the small of his back. The man chucked the beer bottle they'd been drinking at them as they fled, sprinkling them with the smelly stuff.

Akio charged forward in a daze, cutting through the trees that outlined the park, so subdued by his anguish that he didn't notice at first when Yuu fell behind.

"It's okay now," Yuu said from behind him.

Akio tasted blood.

"Aki! Aki! Stop and listen to me! It's okay now!"

He tasted tears and blood.

Akio didn't slow or turn around, and Yuu practically chased him into his apartment. Once there, Akio slung open the door to his back porch and leaned heavily on the railing. He shook so bad that his teeth chattered.

Yuu's light footsteps approached from behind. He stood there without saying anything for a long moment.

"...Are you okay?"

He wasn't okay at all. He'd never been worse. Memories of getting caught with his ex were punching him harder than the man had. Punching him harder than his father had that day.

"...Aki?"

He winced at the boy's voice. "I'm such an awful person."

The wind was blowing wildly. The stress between them was palpable.

"No you're not."

"I am!" he yelled, feeling like he was about to vomit. "Why am I putting you through all of this? I'm nothing but a bad influence."

"Hey," Yuu said in a gentle but firm voice. "Shh...."

The blonde boy closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist from behind. It hurt Akio's wounds and hurt his heart. He clenched his teeth.

"Yuu."

His vision clouded over with a fresh flood of tears. And he started to sob. Sob like a baby abandoned by it's mother. Sobbed for all the times he held it in and all the horrible truths he'd been suppressing.