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Uplifting

Troye

L.A traffic is an absolute nightmare. My fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel as the thread of cars slowly inched on.
I hummed That's Christmas To Me softly, trying to calm down. Heavy traffic always makes me peevish, but at least I had my beautiful boy's CD to keep me occupied.
The man in the car beside me was staring rigorously, making me extremely uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat and kept my eyes locked forward, hoping he'd eventually avert his gaze. No big deal, maybe he's looking at a billboard or something. But the gaze was still uneasy.
After two minutes, he was still eyeing me intently.
I finally sighed and looked at him. He was in a smaller car, though not too small for himself. He was about the same size as Mitch, actually. His face was very familiar. Now that I think of it, he does look really, really familar...
Oh, fuck.
Travis seemed to notice my sudden change in demeanor because he smiled. The rat actually smiled at me. How did he even get beside me? I gave him my worst stink eye and turned my gaze back to the cars in front of me, all the while subtly making sure my car doors were locked. He used to beat Mitch like no tomorrow, there's no telling what he'd do to me, and I wasn't taking any chances of being beat up on the highway.
Travis waved at me from his car and I looked over at him again. My eyes involuntarily rolled as he made the motion for me to roll down the window. "What?" I mouthed.
No answer, just the frantic hand motion again. I sighed and let my window down.
"What in fuck's sake do you want?"
He chuckled. "Jeez, Troye boy, no need for the attitude. We're all friends here!"
I pulled up some more before turning back to him, eyes squinted. "I am definitely NOT your friend. I'm this close to getting out and kicking your ass for hurting my Mitch."
He bared his teeth once more, and shook is head, making a tsk, tsk noise like you would a child. "My Mitch? don't think you understand. I had him first, he's technically still my property. He's our Mitchie."
"Property?! He's a human being, not a dog! You don't own him!"
"Ah, then he must not have told you about our relationship. He may as well be my little pet. But enough about me," he leaned his head out the car, "tell me about our relationship. And don't spare me the kinky details, maybe I can try some of them out next time he comes over."
My jaw clenched. "You are sick. I'm calling the police."
He shook his head. "No need. I'm not sick, just a visionary. Oh, looks like traffic's starting to let up," he
smirked. "Drive safe. Keep our Mitchie well!" Then he drove off.
I looked after the fleeting car, then dropped my head on the steering wheel. The rest of the ride to Tyler's hotel was engrossed in the thoughts dancing around my mind.
What the hell just happened?

Scott

The tension in the living room seemed to grow thicker as time passed by. SpongeBob was playing on tv, but I couldn't wrap my mind around it long enough before wandering off again. There's no easy way to bring up such an uncomfortable conversation.
I cleared my throat. Now or never, I thought. "Mitch? Can we talk for a second?"
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head in my direction, obviously dreading the discussion as much as I was.
"Go ahead. Let's just get this over with."
I rubbed my hands across my face. "This isn't something we can just get over with, Mitch. This is serious. I just can't believe you kept it from me for so long." I shook my head. "I could've helped you way before this out of hand."
"Before it got this far? It's been out of hand! You're just now realizing it."
"How the hell am I supposed to realize something you have been hiding from me for almost a full year?"
"I wasn't hiding it!! I just didn't want you to worry!"
"So being beaten by your ex-boyfriend isn't something to worry about?"
Mitch's voice wavered."I just didn't want to hurt anyone else, Scott. Please, just drop it. Please. I'm fine, really. I'm fine."
"It sounds like you're trying to persuade yourself more than you're trying to persuade me. Mitch, I'm here for you. Hey, look at me, you idiot."
Mitch lifted his chocolate eyes to mine.
"You are one of the most important things in my life. It's hurting me to see you suffer, Mitch, it really is. I'm trying to help, but I don't know what you want, you're not telling me anything, and I just-"
"You're not listening, Scott!" He snapped.
I stared wide-eyed at him, completely taken off guard. Mitch looked away and his adorable face began to scrunch up.
"I'm sorry, Scott," he whispered. "But there's nothing you can do for me. You could call the police, take it to court, hell, even hurt Travis himself," Mitch shrugged. "The damage is still there. It's irreversible. It doesn't matter what you do, because what Travis has done to me is there. It will always be there." Mitch's body started to shake with his quiet sobs. "The scars in my mind are far worse than the ones on my body. I've got this horrid idea of myself etched in my mind, Scott, and I know it's not true but I... I can't get rid of it. There's nothing you can do, so stop worrying about me."