The Fireplace (BoyxBoy)

Prologue: Marred

He didn't remember much about that night. The boy couldn't remember what he saw - the heavy pelting of rain and the darkness drowned out all sight ahead. He couldn't remember the feeling of being thrown to the side as a swerve took place, or remember the sound of a woman and a man screaming. He couldn't remember the terrified, high-pitched yelp that had ripped from his throat, or being thrown back from the impact. He couldn't remember the complete and utter silence.

Jake Sutherland lost his family that day.

He woke up in the hospital little after week after the accident. 'Tragic Car Crash - Four Dead' was the headline of all the papers. His parents, his two little brothers - gone. Just like that. In the blink of an eye they were taken away from him. That sudden realisation hit him with the force of a train. He began to scream, to kick, to cry - to release all his grief and anger. Not what a normal sixteen year old guy would do. But exactly what you'd expect from a boy who'd just been told that his parents and siblings were dead; that he was alone in the world.

He ran his fingers over the numerous bandages and swatches of gauze that covered the left side of his face. The feeling fascinated him. More often than not he would find himself touching the right side of his face and then the left side; just to observe the stark difference in touch. The smoothness of bare skin compared to the rough, abrasive feeling of the gauze was engrossing. It was something, at least, to keep his mind off the knowledge that they were gone.

The doctors and nurses wouldn't let anyone see Jake for a week after he awoke. Apart from family, that is. The only family that ever came to visit him were his grandparents, who drove all the way from Brighton to Liverpool to stay with him. Jake's friends came the first day, and the second, and the third. They weren't allowed to see him. However, they kept a silent vigil outside the door of his room, praying for the sixth member of their group to recover. He could heard the tears they cried - after all, hospital walls aren't all that thick.

"Jake... Jake..."

His head jerked up as he heard someone call his name. He was staring into the eyes of Sky, his best friend, who was staring back with a look of sheer relief. Without warning, Sky flung himself onto Jake and enveloped him in a hug. Noted by Jake, Sky's brown hair always smelled of strawberries, and his spring-green eyes seemed to flash with excitement. But not on that day. There was no strawberry scent to that hair, or any excitement in those eyes. Only tears.

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The bandage on Jake's face had to come off eventually. It was almost two months later - he was still staying at the hospital somewhere in Liverpool - his home town - so the doctors and nurses could monitor his progress. He had gone back to school to complete his second-last year - Sky and his other friends helped him with his concentration, as well as to catch up on what he missed; and after a few days the student body had grown used to having a bandaged Jake amongst them.

But the bandage had to come off, it couldn't stay on forever.

Slowly, carefully, they removed the gauze and many bandages from his face. His grandparents couldn't help but gasp at what they saw. Jake turned to them, noticing the looks of pure horror on their faces. Even the doctor seemed a little stunned. That wasn't a good sign.

He fled to the bathroom, slamming the door shut and preparing himself for the worst as he steeled his nerves and stared into the mirror. 'Holy shit...' He was almost the same as before. He still had his unusually tanned skin - for an English person - and his celestial nose. He still had his thick lips, the lower slightly bigger than the upper, and the tiniest birthmark on his philtrum. The same amber blonde hair, and inquisitive sapphire blue eyes.

The huge difference was the scar.

It ran all the way from the left side of Jake's forehead, down through his left eyebrow, vertically across his left eyelid and down to his chin. By some miracle his left eye had survived undamaged - it was still whole and able. But the left side of his face was dominated by that hideous scar.

He didn't remember much about that night, but what he did was agonising. All he could remember was a searing pain in his face, and the warm rivers of blood that flowed freely from it.

His knees hit the tiles of the bathroom just as Sky came rushing in. With Sky's arms around him, sobs wracked Jake's body until all his tears for that day had dried up.

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So came the question, "Well, what do we do with Jake?"

Jake didn't get a say in any of it, of course. He wasn't yet old enough to live on his own, nor did he have the capacity to. So his grandparents took him in as their own child, the least they could do for their deceased daughter and son-in-law.

And that's how Jake came to live in East Sussex. How a Liverpudlian came to live in a city full of Brightonians.

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Well, this is my new story! Please note that this is second on my agenda - 'From Nothing' is my first priority. I shouldn't even have posted the prologue yet but I couldn't help it; I had such a realistic dream about all of this I couldn't help but write it down. So thank you for reading. Vote if you liked, comment if you want and favourite if you just want to read what happens next.

Anyway, I've deided to dedicate this chapter to shyguy_scot (Gary). He writes amazing story and you should all look at his stuff. Warning: tissues may be needed, you may cry. Even if you don't think you will, bring tissues anyway. Source: personal experience reading those amazing stories.