dishonesty // egobang

12. dishonesty

"what do you think about making a podcast?" arin proposed. dan and he had been walking up and down the same street for about an hour now, unsure of what they were to do other than this menial task.

"what would we talk about?" dan threw his arm around arin's shoulders. he shrugged.

"idunno. we could like... we, uh... we could play video games?"

"we don't have any games, nor a system to play them on, nor any money to get either of those things." arin stared at the ground for a silent minute.

"i've got a nes and a wii at my dad's place. if we can sneak in there, i'll put them in a duffel bag and then get the hell out before he catches me." dan chuckled.

"that's not a good idea, buddy. he'll catch you if you aren't careful."

"daaaaan? please? i won't make any noise, promise." arin sounded like a child begging for a candy bar at the checkout counter. dan huffed and turned his nose up.

"i won't let you."

twenty minutes later, dan was holding arin's feet unsteadily as he climbed through his window with a defeated and aggravated look on his face. arin's feet left dan's hands one after the other as he climbed up into his slightly agape window. he disappeared for a couple minutes before a light from the living room illuminated dan's frightened face.

"arin!" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, terrified if he made a move he'd get an ass-kicking from arin's dad.

sure enough, his father emerged through the doorway and stepped outside on the porch, scanning his yard for anything out of the four am ordinary. his eyes rested on the bush dan had ducked behind and lingered in that specific area.

at this point, dan was scared out of his mind. if mr. hanson sees him, he couldn't run and leave arin behind. he needed to stay with him, even if it meant getting beat to a pulp. god knows dan wouldn't fight back, he was a gentle giant. he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to.

"hello?" he called. dan froze as arin's father walked across the lawn to dan's hiding place. he immediately spotted him. his mouth turned into a wicked smile.

"there you are, i knew you'd come back around." mr. hanson yanked dan out of the bushes by his collar and reared back to land a punch in his stomach. dan doubled over in the wet grass and tried to get air back in his lungs. mr. hanson pulled dan by his collar once more and punched him square in the nose and kneed him in the side. dan was sure he had broken some ribs.

"don't ever," arin's father leaned down in dan's face and put on a menacing voice. "come near me or my family again, you hear me?" dan, having a strong will and good intentions for his best friend, simply spit in his face. that earned a punch to his cheek. he walked back inside grumbling about how terribly persistent millennials are.

dan tried to focus on taking deep breaths and not the searing pain spreading through his body. he floated in and out of consciousness as he heard arin's urgent whispers from overhead.

"holy shit, holy shit, uh," arin scrambled to find a safe place to land out of his window, as his means of getting back down was unable to function in the way he needed. he eventually had to man up and just drop down, and luckily, he did with no sprains.

he threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and crouched down beside dan, who was barely in the realm of consciousness.

"oh my god, shit, you're hurt bad, dan, god, can you even stand?" dan's eyelids fluttered as he barely shook his head.

"can't...move..." dan's voice was slurred and strangled. arin heaved a sigh and adjusted his bag over his shoulder and tried to wrap his arms around dan's back to lift him up. he groaned, and arin had dan lie back down.

"danny, you're gonna have to work with me so i can get some help, alright?" dan sucked in a breath through his teeth and nodded. once again, arin picked dan up in his arms.

they started started down the street and eventually arrived at their apartment. arin wobbled inside and tried to lay dan down on their bed as gently as he could, but he still moaned and held his stomach. arin stepped out of the room and dialed his friend's number in hopes of an answer as such an early hour.

"hello?" came a sleepy voice through the speaker. arin scratched his neck out of nervous habit.

"hey barry, you awake?"

"i am now."

"uh yeah, sorry. i was just wondering if you could come down to the apartment. dan's uh, been hurt." you could hear bedsprings in the background.

"damn, what happened?"

"just a little thing with my dad. i think he's broken his ribs, maybe even his jaw, his nose, he's in terrible shape."

"yeah, yeah man, i'll be down soon. get some sleep, i'll take care of him." arin was about to disagree, but barry caught him. "i insist." and he hung up.

he sighed and sat his phone down on the kitchen counter and looked back into their room to find dan had bundled himself up into a ball. his hair was even messier than normal and his face held a look of pain. arin sat at the table and tapped his fingers against the tabletop until he was half asleep.

barry knocked on the door, pulling arin out of his stress-induced sleep. he stood and opened the door, welcoming his friend in with a smile.

"hey, thanks for coming down on such short notice. i can't afford to take him to the hospital and we can't live in debt all our lives if i did." barry waved his hand dismissively.

"it's my pleasure to help you guys out." arin followed barry into their room. dan's eyes fluttered open and he smiled as he laid eyes on barry.

"hey bar."

"hey dan, i'm gonna help you out, alright? get you feeling better and junk. arin's gonna take a nap or something, too." arin, again, was about to protest but dan spoke first.

"he better."

"i'll have you both know that running on caffeine for the past three days hasn't killed me."

"yet. grab some comfy clothes and get some sleep, please. doctor's orders." arin rubbed a hand down the side of his face.

"fine." he pulled some random sweats and some pink logo-engraved t-shirt out his dresser and changed in the living room. he laid down on the couch and almost instantaneously fell asleep.

after an hour or so, barry shook arin awake.

"i left some painkillers on the table, try to have him take some every eight to twelve hours. if you just leave the ribs alone, they should mend themselves naturally, just no sudden or extreme movement. as for the jaw, it wasn't broken, just took a good blow. he's lucky he's still got his teeth in tact." arin sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"you need to write that down so i can read it tomorrow because i'll forget what you just told me." barry laughed.

"i did, don't worry." arin stood up to show barry out. "you know, he loves you like, a shitton, right?" arin smiled and looked down at his feet as he leaned against the doorframe.

"yeah."

"he didn't even try to defend himself, you know that? he didn't want to hurt your dad, he only spit on him." arin furrowed his brows.

"really? he should've kicked my dad's ass, he deserves it." barry scoffed.

"dan avidan? he couldn't stomp an ant. he's a real sweet person. just check on him and ask him how he's holding up. i'll call later to see how he is, alright?" arin nodded.

"thanks, barry. i owe you like, a milkshake or something."

"nah man, i'm just happy i can help. ill see you later." barry disappeared down the stairs of the apartment complex and left arin to stand in the doorway rubbing his eyes.

he shut the door and shuffled into the bathroom to grab a hair tie to put his hair up into a messy bun. he peeked into the bedroom to see dan under the covers on his back, legs splayed in odd directions. a smile tugged at the corner of arin's mouth before his stepped in and got under the covers with dan. he let a soft groan escape his lips before falling into a temporary sleep once more. arin glanced at the clock before falling asleep again.

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