The Good Life ~ Troyler AU

seven - troye

white blood - oh wonder

I woke up cold; there was nothing covering my body, the sheet ripped from over me; I woke up late, the clock ticking past eleven am. My throat was so dry that my mouth tasted like blood, and my muscles were cramped from lying completely still the whole night.

But the worst part about waking up was that I woke up alone.

Immediately I slid out of bed, already nauseous with fear, and padded over to the bathroom, already knowing that I wouldn't find anything. After double-checking that it was empty and that Tyler was, in fact, not anywhere in the room, I took a minute to calm himself down since my breathing was already terribly twisted, and then went to my phone to start texting anyone in Perth who could get me a gun.

I wouldn't allow this to happen. This could not be reality if I didn't make it so. 

Five  minutes later, someone tapped on the door. I was so on edge that I almost didn't answer, but when I did something hunched and familiar and very much alive fell into me, spitting out some approximation of my name.

Raspy words and hands clutching my wrists, dragging me down to sit on the floor with him. Tyler.

I was so relieved to see him alive that it took me a second to clock the raccoon's mask of bruises under his eyes, the blood dried on his lip, the way he was curled over his stomach like it pained him. Tyler's eyes were wide, the pupils blown, and he couldn't seem to let go of me. I felt so sick that I didn't hold him until a second after he buried his face in my neck - a rare moment of weakness. I had never seen Tyler so vulnerable, and it was my fault, because I didn't wake up when they took him from right out of my arms. 

I saw the sheets on the floor and, now that I was close enough, the shallow gouges on the walls. My stomach flipped again and, "I'm so sorry," I told him, as his grip slowly loosened. He pulled back and tried to compose himself, sniffing hard.

"I think there's something wrong with my stomach." he murmured finally, avoiding my gaze. When I gently lifted his shirt to check it out, I saw a pattern of blue and lilac on his pale skin and blew out slowly to calm my heartbeat down, examining the bruises carefully for signs of internal breathing and trying not to imagine someone kicking him over and over and - 

"Just bruising," I told him, running my hands down his arms to check for any bleeding. I paused when I felt something slightly damp, but it wasn't blood - we both looked down at his arm, where scrawled across his wrist in thick black marker was round one.

There was silence for a moment. I could hear him breathing, and then he started to cry - "Please stay awake," he begged me, uncharacteristically desperate, and all I could do was nod. 

It was an hour later. He'd changed clothes and scrubbed so hard at the writing on his arm that all that remained was a faint outline, but every time I caught a glimpse of it, it made me gag. Because what we both knew that it meant they would do it again if they could.

I felt so fucking powerless. Connor still hadn't been able to get us any flights, and the airport was still trying to figure out the problems with our passports, and Tyler wouldn't let me call the police. He was so scared, I could see it in his face when he thought I wasn't looking, but he wouldn't let me. Perth was ruled by the Family, and the Family ruled me, and I didn't know how to keep him safe. 

We ordered enough food to feed a family of five and Tyler told me what had happened - his voice was shaking and stuttering. 

"I was...they c-came into the room and took me out, right?" He wrung his hands, a habit that I'd usually find adorable. "There was - they brought me down the corridor and like, I don't know why n-no one saw, but we crossed the street - someone had their hand over my mouth, they were dragging me - and we went into this building and they shut the door and...I think I passed out or something because when I woke up it was morning and the door was open. Just - just why didn't anyone see?"His eyes flickered away from mine, deferring to the duvet, as his voice started to crack, and then he fell silent. 

I didn't want to tell him the truth; that people had seen and turned away, because anybody in Perth with good sense knows Family business when they see it.  That people had seen him struggling and went home, thinking thank God that wasn't me. 

"It was dark, Ty," I said instead, rubbing his back as I hugged him. "It was really dark."