Depths

28. Hurt

Lol, I should be doing homework right now.

This is more important.

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I did not make this youtube video, but I think it is the best minute and 12 seconds in all of youtube.

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Trigger warning in this chapter.

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Danny was home minutes later, the path that took him from school to his house was always very short when taken by car.

The raven unlocked his door and walked in, prepared to tell his father that he wasn't feeling good so he skipped his last class of the day, but when he was greeted by a quiet house and a note on the hallway table, Danny picked it up.

Hey boys, I'll be out in court until later, there is fudge in the fridge and noodles on the stove if you get hungry. Love you both.

His father's scratchy handwriting was only readable to Danny and Jack himself, and Danny didn't need to try hard to understand what was on the note. He had been correcting his father's grammar ever since he got his first A in English at 12 years old, and he was a pro at reading the chicken scratch that his father called cursive.

Danny sighed and set the note down, along with his car keys.

Of course his father wasn't home. Jack was out dealing with legal systems and fighting for his precious son's protection because the boy was too weak to do it himself. Danny wondered if his father would be just as protective if he knew that he was sexually active with another man.

Probably not.

Danny took off the hoodie that he had used as a sort of mask during the second half of the school day and put it on the coat rack before heading up the stairs to his room. After throwing down his school bag like it was the bane of his entire existence, he threw himself on to his bed and buried his face in his pillow. The quiet sobs that Danny released were muffled, but the sound of them still broke something inside of him.

He hadn't really had much of a reason to cry since Phantom showed up at his house.

The teenager stayed like that for a few minutes, until the wet heat from his tears soaking into his pillow became too uncomfortable to keep his face pressed into, and he picked his head up to breathe. It was then that he realized that he had unknowingly buried his face in Phantom's pillow, and the scent of the merman comforted him for a second before depression snuffed out the hint of peace.

Tears spilled from his eyes as he fell to his side and curled in on himself, feeling utterly alone. Something inside Danny begged for him to take out his phone and call one of his friends, but he refused. They were all in class right now, already about 15 or 20 minutes in, and if Danny called now it would be so inconvenient for them. 

That didn't make the temptation to hear one of their voices any less desirable, even if it was just for a moment. The boy ignored the need though, what would he tell them anyway? That he was sobbing in his bed because he was too messed up to finish the day at school? How pathetic did that sound?

He needed to stop pushing his problems on them. They had even made themselves into accomplishes for murder just so that he could protect Phantom. They would never have been in danger of the law if he hadn't been so weak, if he had just protected himself and not have been such a damn idiot! Now they had found a body, and everyone involved with Vlad's death was about to have their lives ruined. He was so careless, so inconsiderate of his friends and his father.