Sunshine

An amalgamation of sorts

Davis Reynolds sighed in exasperation as his lecture droned on and on and on... the tick tock of the clock on the wall continuing on in its irritating manner as it ticked down the seconds of his last lecture for the semester until he had to face his version of personal hell. Tapping his pencil on his desk in a quick pattern of "tap tap-tap tap tap"

"RRIINNGG!!!" and just like that class was over, Davis slipped his usual smile on his face as he began to pack his things away, managing a nod here and there as he continued down the isle to get to the stairs. His body on autopilot as his mind began to race through fight or flight simulations that he knew would probably never come through, Davis just wanted to run and never come back but then his siblings would be vulnerable and his parents were so blind to the truth that they would never even see the wolf that hey were letting into their house- never mind them actually recognizing the harm they were putting their children in. By the time the fifth scenario had run through his head which involved him hurting the person who had hurt him so much he realized he had walked into something, or rather someone. It was Peter that he had knocked into, and he could tell by the look on his ex best friend's face that he had not forgotten the secrets they had shared with one another over a few shots of whiskey, but he didn't have the time to delve into Peter's supposed "concern" and fake "apologies" now. As far as Davis was concerned Peter was a fellow track team member and nothing more.

Davis muttered an apology to Peter for bumping into him and continued on to his mom's car that he could see in the parking lot, she had decided to pick him up and drop him off today because she knew that given the chance Davis would rather drive off a cliff, or anywhere else than have a sit-down dinner with her old friend Justin.

Both Maria and Henry, Davis' parents, had been clueless as to the horror happening underneath their noses. Henry had never believed the wild stories that his son had told him. Davis had been 11 by the time he had fully realized what had been going on and it had taken Davis another two years before he had gathered the courage to try and tell his father what had been going on with Justin. But it was unfathomable to them that someone they considered as close as family would hurt any of their children and refused to hear anymore from Davis... and so Davis kept his mouth shut and kept his parents happy, his confidence and esteem shaken each time that Justin dared to visit but he knew that his parents would never believe and better him than his younger siblings...

The drive had been long and quiet as his siblings had been invited to a sleepover and would not be joining them that evening, no it would just be Davis, his parents and Justin. The closer they reached Justin's house the louder the rush in ears and the echo of his heartbeat to get, he felt like his heart was beating so fast that it would just burst out of his chest any second now and his mother couldn't seem to careless, humming an old song that she had learnt in his childhood when she would lull him to sleep after his nightmares. His father had never had much time for Davis, when he was younger sure but soon after his sister had been born-well Sophie became his parents world and Davis, well Davis felt that he was just there to be window dressing and nothing more where Sophie had been concerned. Not that he blamed his parents but after Sophie had been born, and with each subsequent sibling he felt farther and farther away from his parents.

His father in particular had no time for him and funnily enough although he hated Justin with every fiber of his being, Justin had been the one to teach him how to ride a bike, it was Justin who had been there to pick him up from school when he had broken his arm and had taken him to the hospital and it was Justin who had taken interest in Davis as his childhood progressed, his parents had as usual been otherwise occupied. He had adopted so many of Justin's habits and little quirks that he had only realized as they pulled up to the house that he was wearing Justin's favourite colour-a mint green jersey, that was paired with his black jeans and black sneakers. He cringed as he realized that on some subconscious level he still wanted to please Justin.