𝚂𝚊𝚏𝚎

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ５

Stuart had an idea.

He saw in the newspaper his dad likes to read that there was an apple orchard.

You could pick as many apples as you like for only a dollar since there were so many.

Also, because it was a local orchard, not a big company.

So, Murdoc and Stuart went to the orchard for a little bit.

Once they got there, there wasn't many people, so it was quiet.

Just a vague rustling of the trees.

Stuart skipped in front of Murdoc, which walked in a steady speed.

His basket swung in rhythm with his skips.

The few apples that they have collected jostling around.

They were trying to find trees that were short enough to reach, since not many tall trees provided a ladder.

It was hard to find short trees that haven't already been picked, probably from little kids.

Stuart slowed down and looked up.

He made a cooing sound before reaching up for one of the apples.

He had to go on his tippy toes, and made quiet grunting noises as he reached.

Murdoc smiled at him absentmindedly before noticing something on Stuart's skin.

Part of his shirt lifted up as he reached.

Revealing something that looked awfully similar to cuts.

Murdoc's smile faded.

"Got it." Stuart smiled at Murdoc's direction.

He placed it in his basket.

"My mom makes good apple pie, you should make some with m-"

"What was that?" Murdoc interrupted.

Stuart looked at him curiously.

"What was what?" He then looked behind him and up at the tree again.

"No..." Murdoc stepped forward.

He lifted up Stuart's shirt.

Stuart squeaked and jumped back before moving his hand away.

"Boundaries, Murdoc!"

Ignored.

Murdoc managed to lift a small part up.

He was right.

They were clean cuts, so they must've been made with a knife.

Murdoc growled.

"Stuart!" He barked.

He flinched, regret on his face.

"I asked you if they hurt you anywhere else! Why did you lie to me?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you..." He replied quietly

"Didn't want to-" He growled again.

"No matter what you do, you always worry me Stu." He said in a softer tone.

Stuart kept his head down.

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"It's alright, just...please tell me. I want you to know that you can trust me." He said genuinely.

Murdoc put his hands over his shirt where the cuts where, as if healing them.

Protecting them.

His warm hands close to Stuart's hips made him numb, slightly pink.

"I trust you." Stuart managed.

Murdoc smiled before pulling Stuart closer, his hands still on his wounds gingerly.

"Good. Do we have enough?"

Stuart hummed.

"Cool, let's go."

(-~-)

"Oi, Nick, what did you do with that ponce?"

Murdoc cringed at the nickname.

And the slur.

"None of your fucking business." He responded.

He felt his anger rise.

"What is he? Your pet?" One of them cooed.

"No. But he's off limits. If I see a fresh wound on him again, I won't be afraid to slit your throat." He said darkly.

They all went quiet.

It was funny, because Murdoc would make fight or injury threats quite often.

But death threats?

Not very.

So, when he did say them.

He was serious.

He had killed one of the band members.

Just because it was the leader before, and they challenged him to the death.

Murdoc barely made it out alive.

He needed two months to recover from that.

But after that, he was a loose leader, not as strict as the other one.

That's probably why he was liked.

He turned on his heels in the gravel.

He faced them.

"If you don't listen to those simple instructions, you better start carrying a shovel so you can dig your own grave."

Then he turned back around and began to walk.

He was kind of glad that they didn't ask much about Stuart.

As long as they kept their nasty ass hands away from him, he would treat them normally.

But if he finds Stuart getting injured or even called a name, he would turn into Satan.

Another thing that seemed to confuse the members following him was...

Why was Murdoc protective?

They have never seen him this protective over a person, not even his own gang members.

He always said that if they can get out of it alive, then they did something right.

That they don't need help unless they are all jumping the same person.

They just guessed that maybe they were related, and he would get in trouble if they got hurt or something.

They shrugged it off.

It was just one person.

They had plenty of other people to torture and abuse.

As it got darker, the rest of the gang went on their nightly rob.

Murdoc stayed behind.

He was still struggling with his injuries and running around hurt after a while.

He laughed to himself.

He felt old.

Sitting on a stump.

Alone.

Outside while the others did what they needed to do.

But he thought of it this way.

Less chance of getting killed or arrested.

He guessed it was a pro.

A pro of staying behind.