Chapter 20

 

        That week went by pretty slowly for the two boys. With lunch being the only place they could spend time together at school, they weren't really able to talk as much as they wanted to. After school, the only time they were able to talk was on the ride home. Sean was too busy with work for them to be able to hang out like they wanted to.

        It was now Saturday and it was early evening. Sean was sitting at the sandy edge of the lake, staring at the setting sun with a slightly saddened look on his face. A few seconds later, he could faintly hear footsteps from behind him. He slowly turned his head to see Alex coming towards him.

        “Hey,” Alex greeted.

        “Hey,” Sean said, giving a false smile before looking back at the setting sun.

        “Something wrong?” Alex asked as he sat down next to the dark-haired boy.

        “No, of course not.”

        Alex looked towards Sean, not believing a single word he said. He could tell that there was something wrong, no matter how hard Sean tried to hide it. It was then when he noticed that Sean had a black eye.

        “How'd you get the black eye?” he asked, a small hint of concern in his voice.

        Sean shrugged before saying, “I got into a fight today.”

        “Uh-huh, sure,” Alex said sarcastically. “What's the real reason?”

        A sigh left the dark-haired boy's mouth before he said, “Just don't worry about it.”

        Alex let out a sigh of his own.

        “I wish you wouldn't hide things from me,” he muttered.

        There was a moment of silence as the two just stared out towards the setting sun.

        “There isn't anything to hide,” lied Sean.

        “Then how's come you always try to avoid my questions by telling me it's nothing when it clearly is?”

        “Do we really have to talk about this right now?”

        “Why can't you just tell me?”

        Sean heaved forth another sigh. He didn't say anything this time. Alex looked towards him for a moment before sighing himself and looking out at the lake.

        “My father beats me,” Sean finally said a few seconds later.

        Alex quickly looked at Sean, a look on his face resembling that of a deer in the headlights. His mouth opened up as if he was about to say something, but nothing came out. He just stared at Sean, who looked back at him for a moment before staring out at the lake as if it was no big deal.

        The brown-haired boy had never expected this. However, as he thought about it, it made perfect sense to him. That explained all the bruises and possibly even why Sean was kicked out of the house and why he wasn't even allowed at the house.

        “Sean, that's pretty serious!” the brown-haired boy finally said. “Why the hell haven't you told anyone yet?”

        “Because no one needs to know. This is between me and my dad; no one else. I can handle it on my own.”

        “Yeah, a great job you seemed to be doing,” Alex said sarcastically. “You need to get out of that house!”

        “I'm used to it. I'll be fine.”

        “How do you know? Sure your dad might stop after he gives you a few bruises, but what if there is a time when he takes it further? For all you know, he might even try to kill you sometime!”

        “Yeah, but I don't have anywhere else to go. If people found out, I'd probably be sent to a foster care.”

        “That has to be better than getting beaten all the time!”

        “If I go, I probably won't be able to see you again.”

        Alex didn't say anything else. A sigh exited his parted lips as he looked down towards the sandy ground a little.

        “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll try to figure something out,” Sean said a few seconds later. “It might take a while though.”

        Alex looked over towards Sean, his lips curving into a small smile. He then looked down towards his fidgeting fingers for a moment.

        “When did this all start anyway?” he asked the dark-haired boy as he looked at him again.

        “When I was seven,” began Sean. “My father returned home from work one day saying that he lost his job. He tried to find another one, but he never did. My father always drank beer when I was little, but it didn't get worse until then. Since no one had a job, we were having serious money issues. My father decided to blame me for some reason and he started to beat me because of it. He found a job about half a month later. He isn't paid much though, so we still struggle with money a little bit every now and then. Ever since he found that job though, the beatings were less frequent. Well, that was the case. He beats me a little bit more now.”

        Sean let out a sigh and looked towards the ground a little once he finished. Alex just gave a small nod of his head, not saying anything. He looked down towards the ground for a moment before looking back at Sean. He wrapped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders, smiling a little. Sean looked towards Alex and smiled back before leaning against the brown-haired boy with his head resting on his shoulder. Alex looked down at the boy and kissed him on the head. He hoped that Sean would be able to get away from his abusive father sometime soon because he didn't want to see Sean getting hurt anymore.

        The two sat there there until the sun finished setting. Afterwards, the two got up and left the lake.

Reviews

[Amy]

I'm glad Sean finally told someone. I would guess that if Alex tells his perants someone will intervine soon.
Good Chapter!!