Lachlan's P.O.V.
I eyed Preston suspiciously out of the corner of my eye, having noticed the way that Rob's body language had changed as soon as the younger but arguably more overbearing boy had entered the room. Before he had been chatting happily to me, laughing and joking and as soon as Preston entered the room he slumped over, his shoulders curling and his voice trailing off.
I sipped on my coffee and tried not to show that I was watching Preston while Rob played with the spoon that he was holding. There was a half eaten bowl of cereal on the bench in front of him but he didn't seem to want to finish it, not now Preston was there.
Preston got a bowl of cereal for himself and sat on the other side of Rob and although I didn't think he knew that I knew, I saw the death glare Preston send Rob when he thought that I was looking.
I was confused at first. The two of them were best friends, boyfriends, and had been for years, so why was Rob suddenly cowering around Preston and why was Preston acting like he hated Rob. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised how stupid I had been.
I had been with them in Texas for just under a week and I was hitting myself because I hadn't noticed what was going on. I had noticed that Rob cowered any time someone yelled or there were any sudden loud noises, I hadn't noticed the bruises on his arms and legs that he kept making up excuses for like he bumped into the coffee table or fell down the stairs.
I didn't see the abuse.
20 minutes after I realised what was going on I decided to go out for a walk to clear my head and make a plan of action. How was a going to ask Rob about it, how I would get him out of there, where we would go. There was no way in hell that I was leaving him there.
I ran upstairs to grab everything I needed and then headed back down, yelling to Rob, in the living room, and Preston, in the kitchen, that I was heading out and I would be back in about an hour. Rob didn't reply but Preston yelled back that it was all good.
I stepped out of the front door and was about 100 metres down the road before I pulled my phone out of my pocket and reached my hand back in for my headphones, but they weren't there. I cursed to myself, I honestly couldn't go for a walk without music playing so I turned back around to try and find, they were probably still in my room.
I kicked off my shoes at the front door and pushed it open gently, just wanting to go up the stairs and get my headphones without disturbing Preston and Rob, but instead I heard-
*smack!* "You're such a fuck up!!!" I heard a cry of pain from Rob and I rushed into the living room to see Rob cowered on the floor with Preston standing over him.
The sleeves of his sweatshirt were slipping down and I could see the purple and blue bruises on his arms that were in the shape of fingerprints and handprints. He didn't see me.
"WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!! YOU'RE SUCH A FUCK UP!!!" Preston raised his hand to smack Rob in the head again but I rushed forwards, catching his hands and pulling him away.
"What the hell is going on!!!" Preston fell back to the floor and then picked himself up, fleeing the room.
Rob let out a strained choking noise behind me and started crying, the tears falling down his cheeks and his body shaking. I pretty much collapsed to the ground, trembling and burying my head in my hands, in shock.
It took a few minutes before I looked up again and crawled close to Rob, where he was lying with his hands over his head, and picked him up and pulled him into my lap. I hugged him close, feeling him press his face into my neck.
