Can you heal old scars?

Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER - This book will discuss various themes such as violence and depression, and includes sections of an adult nature later down the line.
It also covers issues around abuse, emotional, physical and sexual, and historic childhood abuse. It does not glorify or describe these issues in a positive light, anything written is done so for plot.
The way in which the characters respond is in no way meant to represent real life situations, and nothing in this book should be taken as such.
This is fiction, and I hate to have to state this, but others have had their work deleted for not doing so, despite clear hashtags.
If any of these subjects are upsetting to you then this book is probably not for you, and you may be best giving it a miss.
This is a slow burn book, and as such is not going to get explicit for quite some time, the sexual content is plot related and so it's taken slowly.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome, most importantly I hope you enjoy reading this book!

Breaking news as crowds gather today at one of the nations testing centers as none other than Quin Carter, the heart-throb lead guitarist of Unity, is taken inside by guards in handcuffs...

The news report blared out in the background of the otherwise quiet apartment. It had been all over the networks all day and Quin was sick of it. He rubbed his arm where the rather petulant phlebotomist had taken his blood, annoyed at the blatant violation of his rights.

It wasn't like he had anything against supernaturals... anymore, but the fact his right to say no, his consent had been violated, really messed with his head. And there were so many reporters and T.V crews there, all clamoring for a statement and asking if "Unity" was just a gimmick!

Quin groaned as the door to his loft apartment opened and his best friend and fellow band member, Xander walked in with a crate of beer.
"Hey man, thought you could use the company, and the inebriation!" He chuckled, putting down the beer on the coffee table and shrugging off his heavy biker jacket onto the cream wood floor that covered the whole place.

It was a small apartment, much less fancy than you might expect a popular rock star to live in, but Quin liked simple. The lower floor was open plan, a kitchen diner sat on the back wall, looking out to windows that had a clear view over the tops of the skyscrapers of the city. There was a balcony beyond them, with a few deck chairs and a potted plant that was probably dead by now.

A sunken lounge area sat by the windows, with two matching sofas facing each other, a small rectangle coffee table between.
Various knickknacks were scattered around the surface, a bowl with keys and a few bits of jewelry in it, sat at the center.

On the left wall was a desk and computer, currently playing the latest headlines on a large monitor.
Above was a balcony that had Quin's bed and a bathroom, the bed positioned so he could lay on his side and watch the sunset before going to sleep. It was a mostly neutral colour scheme, whites and creams with the occasional light grey here or there. Small and simple, but it was home.

Quin quickly muted the news report and turned to Xander, an accusatory glare in his eyes. He wasn't in a talking mood.

"Don't you have to lay down that drum solo for the new song?" Quin said in a more annoyed sounding voice than he meant, I mean hell he was annoyed, but not at Xander.

"Wow down boy!" Xander joked raising his arms in fake surrender, the look on Quin's face said it all, that boy was hurting from more than a simple blood test.

Xander pulled out two beers, swiftly popping the caps off with a claw, practically shoving the second beer in Quin's hand before sprawling out on his sofa. Quin rolled his eyes before dragging over his desk chair and sitting opposite him, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, back hunched over as his eyes started to roaming around the light wood floor for patterns he could study.

He always did this when his mind raced, it helped him block out the noise and inevitable headache that came with thinking too much.

Xander waited, hoping that Quin would start talking to him, but after 2 hours of pretty much nothing and 3 beers gone, he figured he would have to be the one to bring it up.

"So, the test... Um... how was it?" He asked, immediately regretting the stupid choice of words.

Quin glared at him from his chair, his hazel eyes almost burning his skin like a focussed sunbeam.

"How the hell do you think it was? I was practically abducted from the studio, dragged across town in a cop car like some sort of criminal, in cuffs I might add!"

He took a long swig from the bottle, emptying it before grabbing another, easily pulling off the cap with the ring he always wore, before throwing the lid in the bowl on the table.

"Then I was paraded in front of the press like they were sending some sort of message, 'cant fight the man!' " He said, giving air quotes with his fingers before sucking in a breath through his teeth, making a funny squeaking noise.

"Fucking assholes... Then they took my blood almost at gunpoint.." Ok he had embellished that a little bit, but only a little. The enforcer had a gun, and had made it very clear on the drive over he had no problems with using it.

"They dropped me off about 5 hours ago and I've just been sat... I just..." Quin trailed off, he didn't want to talk about his feelings, that was dangerous territory for him.

"Well whatever, it's done now... Said I would get the results soon, could take up to a month.."

Xander watched Quin deflate before him, the usually strong and stubborn guitarist seemed to have lost a part of himself during this last month since the announcement of the mandatory testing rule.

Xander sighed and looked at Quin, who did the whole tooth sucking thing again, he did this when he was annoyed or flustered which has been a lot recently.

"Keep talking... I know there's more in there, what are you worrying about in that pretty little head of yours?" Xander dared.

Poking the hornets nest, whilst usually not the best idea, seemed like the only way to get his friend to talk, and fuck did the kid need to vent.

"Don't call me pretty, you know it does my fucking nut when people do that!" Quin snapped, slamming the bottle on the coffee table between them, causing an eruption of foam from the bottle neck.

"I don't get why you hate people complimenting your appearance, you're a young and attractive guy. What's the issue?" Xander said.

Maybe it was mean but getting Quin riled up might make him blurt out what was really worrying him. Xander had a good idea, but Quin had to be the one to address it.

"The 'issue' is that people say shit like that for selfish reasons! Either they want something from you, or they try and use it to invalidate you!" Quin said, getting up to pace.

"How is a compliment invalidating?" Xander said quietly, watching Quin working himself up to boiling point.

"Because they say shit like that and suddenly because I have a pretty face, or a nice body or whatever bullshit... The fact I am also capable, and strong and have 2 fucking braincells to rub together is completely overlooked! It's like who I am and what I'm capable of just doesn't matter anymore, and it's all about the outside.." Quin paused for a moment, biting on his thumbnail as he looked out of the window overlooking the city skyline.

"I'm sick of being just an object people lust over, or think they can control... I have had enough of that in my life, I refuse to let it happen again..." Quin turned his eyes to Xander and there it was, written on his face, blazing in those hazel eyes of his.

He was afraid...

- Hi! If you are reading this story then I want to start by saying a big thankyou! I hope to update this on a weekly basis, but I have severe health issues that may prevent me from doing so as quickly as some other writers. I also don't believe in pushing out content quickly just to fill space, so I want to do this the best way I can. Any comments or feedback are greatly appreciated, and again I want to thankyou for reading my work!
Take care out there!
Spo0ks!-