Look After You

Chapter 4

The two boys sat in a booth in the back corner. Xander smiles as Nolan tosses a fry at his face. "Smile," Nolan says. He hated to see Xander so down like this and it happened more often than it should. He knew Xander was battling an internal battle as well as an external one at home and it sometimes scared him. He wasn't sure how much Xander struggled because it was the hardest thing to get Xander to open up about anything. Nearly every time Nolan asked him how he was he got a simple "I'm fine" or a "just drop it" and he was starting to get tired of those lame lies. He wanted the truth but sometimes it was like pulling teeth from Xander.

Xander rolls his eyes and takes a bite of his burger. "I am," he mumbles around his food.

Nolan shakes his head. "No, I mean smile smile. Not that stupid smile you put on your face when you're trying to act happy."

Xander sighs and shrugs. "I can't today. I'm just... It's just one of those days."

Nolan nods. He knew what Xander was referring to since it happened more often than it should and Nolan was afraid it would lead to Xander's occasional numbness like it sometimes did. He considered himself a smart, helpful kid for being only fourteen, but when his best friend got into these moods he was always more conscious of what he was saying and doing. He never knew if what he was saying was the right thing or if it was just going to make things worse. And it didn't help that getting Xander to open up was almost as hard as making a rocket from scratch.

Though that was exactly what Nolan did for his sixth grade science project. Sure the rocket was tiny and could only be launched when you pulled a rubber band on it, but it was a rocket nonetheless and if he could do that, then he could sure as hell get Xander to open up more than he was. But just like the rocket, it was going to take some time.

"Did something happen at home last night?" Nolan asks cautiously. Even after being friends for several years, Xander's home situation was a hard topic to pull out of him. Nolan knew what happened there and it wasn't pretty. Neglect and abuse were just two things that made up the whole shit show that was the Valentine house. He was nervous going over there a lot of the times, but he would never tell Xander that.

Xander shrugs. "Just the same things that normally happen. Not anything to worry about."

It saddened Nolan to see his friend just accept these things. He accepted that his dad was rude and crude and would hit him. He accepted that his mother slapped him and called him names. Sure he hated it, but he didn't seem to try to change it. Instead Nolan saw him slowly turning more and more towards violence and theft and he was afraid that the end of it all wasn't pretty. The last thing he wanted was to find his best friend dead somewhere or behind bars at a young age.

"Xander... come on, man. For once can't you just humor me and tell me what happened?"

Xander lets out an over exaggerated sigh and shrugs. "It wasn't even anything that bad. It could have been a lot worse but my dad he just... He makes me feel so damn weak sometimes and I hate it. I don't know why whenever it comes to him I can't stick up for myself but with anyone else I can. It's like I freeze when it comes to him."

Nolan nods understandably. He was lucky to have a mom who loved and cared about him. Sure his dad had passed a way when he was young, but he had a good home life with his mother and two older siblings. But he understood Xander's struggle to some extend. He had been bullied at school numerous times and even had his head shoved into a toilet once. It was terrifying and humiliating and he was sure that was how Xander was feeling. Except his was worse because his bullies were people who were supposed to love and care for him. But instead they decided to torment him and deprive him of the childhood he deserved.