When Mr Simmons saw his son lying in the hospital bed earlier this morning with his pale skin blotched and bruised worse than it had ever been before he couldn't help but crumble into tears.
He felt like such a failure of a father- how on Earth could he have ever let this happen to one of his children? The people he is supposed to protect the most? He should have been there for them, not moved away.
Dan had turned up sobbing at Mr Simmons' parents house at almost one that morning and it was only then that he knew what happened.
"K-Kyle needs your help," Dan had told him as he numbly wiped his face with his balled fists. He'd taken the midnight bus there, telling himself that his dad deserves to know. "He needs you more than he ever has."
Mr Simmons drove them both to the hospital, but Dan had fallen asleep part way through the journey.
Dan had agreed to wait outside the room as Mr Simmons strode in, bundling Kyle up in his arms the best he could. He woke the boy, and they cried together, Mr Simmons apologising non-stop.
"Kyle, there's not much room in the house. I'm sleeping on the settee as it is..." Mr Simmons tells his son when he asks to move in with him. Mrs Smith has brought breakfast for everyone, so they sit around the room and eat.
Dan is sat next to Kyle on the bed, both of them squished together, but neither of them mind.
"Dad, please! She chose him over me and Millie, her own kids!" The boy's argument pulls at his father's heartstrings. He wishes he could just say yes, no question about it. "You know how cold that house gets- the heating is still not being paid but they have everything they want."
"There's just not enough room in the house, Kyle. Can you wait until I find somewhere else to live, so you can both stay?"
"I have an idea," Mrs Smith says, gaining everybody's attention. "Why don't you just stay with us for a bit? Just until your father finds some place to live- our house is always open to you and Millie, you know that." Dan's face light up- he likes this idea. A lot.
"Would you mind?" Kyle asks, suddenly feeling like a beggar again. "I mean, I-"
"Kyle." Dan grabs the boys hand. "Just say yes."
"How did we go from having two kids in the house to suddenly having four?" Mr Smith laughs a few days later when Kyle is finally released from the hospital. Mrs Smith had spoken to his mum, and, among tears, had told her that Kyle would be staying at the Smith house for the time being. She wasn't very happy about that.
Dan and Kyle are upstairs together, tangled in each other's arms. Kyle has been keeping his head up all day to keep everyone else happy, but he's feeling his stone walls crumble.
"Ky," Dan says quietly, holding the boy close to him. He doesn't like it when Kyle is this quiet- it's far too out of character for him. The boy hums in reply. "What's up?"
"I'm angry." He answers simply, his eyes closed in an attempt to hide away from the world.
"At who?" Dan's tone is cautious- he doesn't want to annoy Kyle any more than he already is.
"Myself." The boyfriend frowns at his lovers' comment, guilt hitting him square in the face.
"Kyle... You know there was nothing anyone could have done, don't you? Even his friends didn't know about it..." Dan says quietly, running his hand through Kyle's hair.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Kyle tells him, opening his eyes finally. "I could have done something. Everything he's ever said to me has lead up to that moment- I never stood up for myself. Hell, I never even learned to speak properly. I'm a fool, I can't even get a sentence out of my mouth without sounding stupid." He sounds so vulnerable and pathetic in his own eyes, but for Dan, he just sounds like he's trapped in his own thoughts. "If I had stood up for myself, maybe he wouldn't have viewed me as weak and he wouldn't have done that. It's all my fault."
"Kyle!" Dan scolds, gently taking the boy's hands. "Don't ever say anything like that. You are not to blame! You are never to blame, okay? His actions are not down to you- you can't blame yourself like this." Dan stares into Kyle's eyes to get his message across, to try and show the victim that he is not to blame.
But then Dan corrects himself.
Kyle is not a victim. That would make him a statistic, and Kyle deserves to be so, so much more than just a statistic. He's not going to be just a number- no, never.
"Dan, I could've done so much to stop him- but I let him do it. I let him do that to me." Kyle repeats, shaking his head and slowly pulling his hands away. "I was weak."
Tears appear in Dan's eyes. He hates the fact that it seems all they have done recently is cry- but after such a traumatic event, they have every right to.
"You fought for yourself, Kyle. You tried to stop him, okay? But he's much bigger than you. We couldn't have ever stopped him." The atmosphere has suddenly turned quite thick as tears trickle down the boy's cheeks. "You are not weak, okay? You've had to put up with him for years. You've not had the easiest of upbringings, and putting up with Catlin every day- that is the opposite of being weak."
"Dan-"
"No, Kyle. Whatever you're about to say, you're wrong." Dan pulls the boy closer to him, forcing him to listen to his words. "Sometimes you shouldn't listen to your heart, sometimes you're better off listening to the people you love and who love you. And I love you, Kyle, more than anything."
