Of The Captive

-Chapter 3-

Dave took a deep breath. He had just agreed  to tell his best friend all that happened in the past year and, well... before that too... John stared at you for a long second before slowly nodding "alright, Dave..." He had an obviously worried look on his face as he sat down.

Dave sat down next to John as the blonde adjusted the long sleeves of his shirt. John looks to them as the sullen looking male check that the door was closed. "Dave... Aren't you hot? It's like 100 degrees outside!"
Dave frowned as he looked down at his long sleeves "I'll get around to that" He mumbled.
John frowned but didn't say anything. Dave took a deep breath "It all started a year ago" Dave paused for a moment "No... Scratch that... It started a few years ago but it didn't get that bad until last year..." Dave absentmindedly rubbed his leg "Dirk got this letter... He wouldn't let me see it or tell me what it was about, but... It changed him" Dave looked down at the ground "The next day he..." The blonde swallowed hard "He beat me. Not the cool kind where he beats me at a battle but... He actually hurt me... intentionally." Dave hesitantly and slowly slid off his glasses and buried his face in his hands "it hurt so badly" Dave tried to swallow down the lump in his throat and keep himself from crying but he couldn't help it. Tears started to run down his cheeks and make his hands get damp with the feeling of his warm tears. His shoulders shook with silent sobs as he reflected on the pain that Dirk had inflicted on him and how confused he was when Dirk started abusing him. He just didn't understand why... Did he do something wrong...?
John sat there awkwardly and slightly stunned. He slowly reached out and rubbed Dave's back. The smaller of the two boys had never seen Dave like this and it was quite the shock to say the least. Now, John didn't want to say that Dave was incapable of crying but Jeez... This was such a weird sight...

Dave suddenly shifted and buried his head in John's chest, he really just wanted the comfort and support of another human being who he knew wouldn't hurt him or tease him for crying. John seemed to understand and allowed Dave to do so, quietly continuing to rub Dave's back. "What happened after that?" He asked softly.

Dave let out a breath. "It got worse as time went on. I figured out that when he beat me... he was often times drunk... One day...." Dave closed his eyes, deciding it was best not to lie. "Today he r-raped me..." The taller of the two shifted closer to John "That's how I got the black eye... He hit me when I tried to get away from him" John tensed up some as he listened. This was disgusting... How could Dave's on brother do this to him...?
"Oh dave.." John mumbled, not really knowing what else to say. Dave didn't respond to his words as he pulled up his sleeves "I-I.. Well..." Dave slowly showed John the new and old self inflicted injuries that covered his arms like a small showing of his story on a piece of paper. John swallowed hard as he looked at them. For some reason, seeing them made him feel like he was looking at Dave naked. He was vulnerable and small and John could see the nervousness on his face like he was scared John was going to reject him over something so minor. John gently took the blonde's arm in his hands so he could examine them better.  "Why would you do this?" He asked softly, slowly looking up to meet Dave's eyes.

Dave looked at John for a moment before his eyes slid back to his arm. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. He opened and closed his mouth, searching for the right words but he knew there was no good way to sugarcoat this. "I... Was trying to make myself bleed out but it didn't work..."