"Look what came in the mail today," Troye whispered, setting the glossy magazine on Jacob's desk. It'd been a solid week since the incident and Troye was able to move much better than before. He still had a little pain, but that was to be expected with the injuries he had acquired. Brandon and Tommy had been absent most of the time, staying on their side of the home. Jacob glanced up at Troye before down at the headline: Jacob Bixenman Beats Sub, Troye Mellet, Until Hospitalized.
"Fucking bullshit," Jacob growled, pushing the offending magazine away and off of the desk. He didn't like thinking about what had been done to Troye in the first place, so he especially didn't want to think about himself doing it. Troye bent and picked it up, folding it into a tube. He wasn't happy about the magazine either, because his Dom wasn't the one at fault, Brandon was. "Throw it away then come back here. Luke will be here soon to check your stitches." Troye did as he was told, quickly, but not too quickly, moving through the house to toss the magazine into the kitchen garbage. He didn't like going out and about by himself, but Jacob insisted on it. However, Troye knew Jacob was only helping.
Something told him Jacob would never push him into something that he thought would severely hurt Troye, physically or mentally. Luke was walking through the front door just as Troye was walking past it and the sub jumped, startled. "Oh, Luke, I thought you might've been... never mind. Jacob is in his office, wanted me to head back there," he clutched his chest in relief, walking from the room. Luke followed, carrying his brown bag of stuff. "Hello, Luke, nice to see you," Jacob said, standing up as Troye and Luke walked back into the room. Luke nodded and they shook hands.
"How have you been doing Troye?" Luke asked, putting his bag down, sitting down on the couch. Troye stood in front of the man, facing Jacob and pulled off his loose top and kicked off his sweat pants. "Not in as much pain as I was in before. It's better now," he said and Luke nodded. The subs eyes latched onto Jacob's as the Dom watched Luke's movements closely. Luke touched Troye's back lightly around a few stitches that looked a bit red. "It seems that these are being worked more a bit necessary, but in another few days I bet they could come out," Luke hummed. "Does this hurt?" "Just a little..." Troye murmured, and he noticed as Jacob frowned. "I see," Luke knelt down to examine the back of Troye's leg.
"The stitches here might need to stay longer since there's so much bending and flexing in this region. Your thighs look very good though." Jacob spoke up then, "But should he be walking on it still? Or..." "Yes, walking is fine," Luke agreed. "Good for healing, actually. Obviously he's not ready for a 5k or something extravagant, but little things like you've been giving him, trips to a garbage can down the hall, those are good." "Alright," Jacob gave a curt nod. "But his stitches look alright?" Luke stood and patted Troye's shoulder, "They're looking good. You can get dressed. Now, where's the little blonde? Tommy." "He's on the other side of the house," Jacob replied, standing to his feet. "I'll go retrieve him." As Jacob left the room, Troye pulled on his clothes to the best of his ability and crept behind Jacob's desk to curl himself into the older man's desk chair.
He knew Luke was safe, but he didn't at all like when Jacob went to the other side of the house. "So... are you in school?" Luke asked in attempts to make conversation. Troye chewed at his thumb nail, nodding his head, "Kind of. I was going to start a few days ago, but now Jacob says I should enroll in the fall semester instead. Because of all this mess." "That's probably for the best," Luke smiled reassuringly. "I'm not complaining," Troye agreed. "I'm surprised he didn't ask you to retrieve Tommy. You and Tommy seemed like pretty good friends." "Brandon's over there," Troye said softly. "The one that did this to me." The doctor nodded in recognition, "Ahh... and he's not allowed near you, nor will Jacob let you go near him."
"Right," Troye agreed. "This is one of the first few days that I've been allowed to leave the bed. I've been forced to stay resting. It was kind of lonely, because there's only so much work Jacob can do from the bedroom to keep me company, so I'm glad I can sit in his office again." "I've seen the uproar your injuries have started," Luke began slowly. "About who gave you them and what not." Troye reached around and gingerly rubbed a finger across a line of stitches through his t-shirt, and he chewed at the skin of his bottom lip,
"I wish I could show that Jacob wasn't the one who did it... but I can't talk to the paps. How do we convince them if Jacob won't talk?" "I guess we just wait it out and hope it dies down," Luke murmured sadly. At that moment however, Jacob's office door opened again and Tommy walked in, Jacob trailing behind him and looking rather angry. Troye figured it has meant that Jacob had been forced to speak with him. Tommy, however, seemed happy and unharmed, and he gave Troye a friendly smile and wave before he stepped up to Luke to strip to his boxers in order to be checked up. The wavy haired Dom walked behind his desk, tapping Troye on the shoulder to signal him to move from the desk chair.
Troye tried to scramble up, but Jacob caught his arm and forced him to move slowly. Once Jacob had seated himself back in his spot, much to Troye's surprise, the Dom held his arms out in invitation. Troye was never one to turn down a cuddle from Jacob. The larger man smelled warm and cinnamony, almost like fall spices, and Troye carefully eased himself into Jacob's lap. The doctor and the blonde noticed the two, hiding their smiles at the slight displays of affection, and Jacob idly ran his fingers through the back of Troye's hair.
"How are Tommy's injuries?" Jacob asked. "They're healing great as well," Luke hummed. "I think his stitches can even come out sooner than Troye's. How does tomorrow sound,Tom." "Good," Tommy flashed Luke a large smile as he moved to tug his clothes back on. "Thank you, Dr. Gilford." "Anytime, pal," Luke chuckled. He looked to Jacob, giving a sort of salute. "I'll show myself out. Have a nice day, see you all tomorrow." "Goodbye, Luke," Jacob murmured to the other Dom as the man slipped from the room. Tommy stood shyly until Jacob cracked a small smile. "You're excused Tommy, I have no control over you. However, feel free to visit this side of the house later if Brandon doesn't need you. Troye enjoys your company, and it's nice for you to keep him busy while I work."
"Yes, of course," Tommy nodded quickly, smiling at Troye. "See you later, Troye..." The blonde scurried from the room, and Troye shifted a bit. Sitting was so much harder with stitches in his bum. When Troye settled again, Jacob lowered his hands from Troye's hair, quietly growling to himself. "S-sorry," Troye squeaked, fearing that his wiggling was irritating his Dom. "You're perfectly alright, pet," Jacob said distractedly.
"What's not alright is the fucking paps. And can you guess who had the decency to show me a newspaper and laugh?" "I showed you a magazine..." Troye said apologetically. Jacob continued patiently, "Well yes, but you didn't do this to yourself, now did you? Brandon. Brandon thinks this is hysterical." Troye could almost feel the tension radiating off of Jacob, and he turned a bit so he could face his Dom rather than the oak of Jacob's desk. Jacob's face was void of emotion, which Troye had come to discover meant that Jacob was near one of his bursts of rage. Though generally, Jacob pushed Troye away during those times, because he knew himself well enough to know that there was a fair chance he'd yell at Troye unfairly during one of those bursts. This time, though, Jacob had one hand gripped onto the loose material of Troye's pants to prevent the boy from going anywhere.
Cautiously, Troye leaned to rest his head against Jacob's shoulder and lifted his hand to rub at Jacob's chest. Much to his relief, Jacob's hand released his pants and snaked around his upper back instead. Troye was quiet for a bit, but he knew that Jacob generally liked Troye's input unless he was angry with Troye, and Troye knew that he wasn't the reason for Jacob's anger, "But he knows he did it. And we know he did it. A wise man once told me to ignore what other people think."
"That wise man said that before his career was threatened," Jacob grumbled. "Well... I think that you're a fantastic Dom, sir. I know you wouldn't do that. Surely they'll see in time that you wouldn't do that, too. That you're a better man than that." "Am I?" Jacob asked sharply. "What makes me a better Dom, hmm? I allow you to use a fork?" Troye flinched a little, but he didn't shy away. He figured it wouldn't be good for Jacob's mindset at that moment if he were to cringe away, "Not just that. You respect me, you care for me, you take give me the orders that I need... you've already told me that you would never hurt me in some of the ways that he hurts poor Tommy. And I believe you."
"I'm no better than Brandon if I'm letting him stay in my house," Jacob replied, but his voice was a little softer, his arm around Troye gentler. "I completely have the power to kick him out and yet..." Troye was at a loss for words for several moments, but eventually he gave a weak shrug, "It's... it's alright. He's got boundaries, so that's something." Jacob's voice was suddenly serious and firm, "Now, I need you to understand that if Tommy wanted Brandon gone too then by all means he'd be out of here in a second. But Tommy has been around for nearly two years, and... he's an easily likeable person. I've come to think of him as a friend. I couldn't do that to him, but I also can't have Brandon hurting you again because I care for you too, if not more." "Thank you, sir," Troye whispered. "Such a good boy, pet," Jacob hummed, rubbing between Troye' shoulders.
"I know you still don't see eye to eye with me on the Tommy subject, so think of it like this; I've been your Dom for two years, and for the first year I treat you fairly, like how a relationship of our sorts should be. It's only in the next year that things turn to shit. Eventually someone is fed up with how I'm treating you, so they report it. You have to leave me and you're paired with another stranger, forced to start anew."
"I don't-" Troye shook his head. "I don't want that." "See?" Jacob insisted. "Starting in a completely new relationship, different from one you're used to would be difficult." "I mean I don't want to have to leave you," Troye mumbled, nonchalantly trying to press closer. "I want to stay with you, sir, I... I love you." Jacob was silent, and Troye clenched his eyes shut at his forwardness. He knew that Jacob liked for him to talk, but he had undoubtedly been saying too much. When Jacob did speak, he began trying to gently ease Troye from his lap, "Yes, well. We both have work to do. Go retrieve your homework from the bedroom. You may bring it back here to do it if you please, I've got to email several people to try and get those nasty rumors out of the papers. Fucking paps." "Okay," Troye whispered. He fought back tears as he crossed the room slowly, twisting the knob of Jacob's office door and opening it to slip out of.
"And Troye." Troye didn't want to look, afraid Jacob would notice his eyes that were quickly growing damp, but he forced himself to meet Jacob's gaze, "Yes sir?" And Troye was so glad he looked, because Jacob's gaze was so sincere that it was if it pierced straight into Troye's heart, "I love you, too."
Everything was okay for the next few days. Tommy got his stitches out, Troye spent most of his time in Jacob's office or in their bedroom. The two had food sent up to them, as Troye didn't want to be downstairs any longer than just a few minutes. Jacob had long since replaced the blood stained rug, but Troye still didn't want to enter the living room section of the house. That was, until Jacob decided he was going to make Troye. He had the day off, so the two slept in a bit, but eventually Jacob untangled his limbs from Troye's and rolled from the bed to dress, "Troye. Time to get up, sweets." Troye forced his eyes open, a bit confused at the new nickname, and sat up stiffly. He was always so sore after waking up,
"Are you working today?" Jacob pulled on a loose v-neck, shaking his head, "No, we're going downstairs. We've cooped ourselves up here for so long. I also believe it's about time for us to be apart for a few hours." Fear raced through the younger man, the thought of being downstairs where Brandon could walk out and onto the balcony at any moment. The man was only allowed downstairs in the evenings, but still Troye was terrified. He knew better than to speak out against Jacob though, so he inched his way off the bed and shied to his closet to dress. Once he was dressed, he found Jacob waiting for him by the door. He looked to Jacob nervously, "How long will we be down there?"
"Long enough," was all Jacob replied before he left the room. Troye trudged after him, and Jacob slowed down enough to help Troye down the steps. Before his feet were even on the hardwood of the ground floor he could feel his growing panic, and he clung tighter to the arm Jacob had offered to steady the lad. Much to his dismay, when they reached the bottom Jacob gently slid his arm free and walked off towards the kitchen. Troye stood rooted to the spot for several moments, but he scrambled after Jacob, "Sir-" "Go sit on the couch, Troye," Jacob instructed. "Watch tv, play a game, something. Take advantage of it because it's not something I'll often tell you to do." Troye tried to touch Jacob's arm pleadingly, "Can I-" "Go." The smaller boy turned slowly and slunk towards the living room. Jacob did feel bad when he watched the terror flit across Troye's face, watched him inch his way into the living room, but he had to be firm. Troye wasn't the Dom, he was supposed to submit to Jacob. The boy didn't sit on the couch, but instead curled up in the recliner on the very edge of the living room. He didn't turn on the tv, simply sat and held his head in his hands like he was experiencing some sort of punishment, which wasn't at all what Jacob intended it to be. So as soon as he had requested for some breakfast, he went out and sat in the living room, picking up a book off of the coffee table to read. He sat on the couch that Troye had crumpled next to the day of the beating, but he forced all the memories from his mind so he could start reading. After only a few moments, Troye was slinking onto the couch with him and lowering his head hesitantly into Jacob's lap. Jacob shifted the book in his grip to stroke at Troye's hair, and in return he received a hushed,
"Thank you, sir." "How are you feeling?" Jacob asked softly. "Sick..." Troye whispered. "I'm sorry, pet, but you've got to adjust sometime," Jacob explained. "Today just felt like the right day. I'm not busy so I'm here to help you when I think you need it." "Yes sir." "While Brandon still lives here you won't ever be alone in the house with him," Jacob explained. "And by that I mean I won't leave the house without you or without making sure you're elsewhere. Once everything is back to normal, we'll get some things that prove you're mine while you're out." "Um... a collar?" Troye asked hopefully. He'd seen them around, the subs wearing different colored collars to show their trust toward their Doms. "And a matching bracelet for you?" "Would you wear a collar for me?" Jacob asked, tilting Troye's head up to make the boy meet his gaze. Troye nodded slowly.
"I can get you a collar then." Troye flushed happily, but another thought struck him, "And... I'm still a virgin. So after I'm healed... we can... you can..." "All in good time," Jacob assured. "But thank you for your permission, I'll feel much better now when the time comes." "Before I'm even healed I can still do things to please you, sir, if you would like," Troye squeaked. He was feeling bold, and Jacob had already given him so much without Troye giving him anything in return. Troye just wanted Jacob to be pleased with him, he craved the praise.
"There's more ways to please me than just sexual favors, Troye. You do please me quite often when you obey and when I see that you truly are trying hard for me," Jacob murmured. But he was very aware of Troye's head in his lap then until there was an abrupt knocking at the door. Troye jolted in terror, but Jacob eased the boy off of his lap and walked to open the door. He only opened it a few inches, peering out curiously until a badge was practically shoved in his face.
"Sir, we're with the BDSM Protection Agency and we're looking for Mr. Jacob Bixenman?" a professional looking man, with two other men standing behind him, asked. Jacob frowned. "How did you even get through the gate?" Jacob asked. "It was open," the man murmured quickly. "I'm Agent Parker. Does Jacob Bixenman reside here?" "That's me..." "Sir, we have reason to believe that you've been going against the BDSM lifestyle in a harsh and cruel manner. Your sub was recently admitted into the hospital for injuries acquired from a beating?" Rage coursed through Jacob, and he moved to shut the door. A hand flew out to stop it, however, and Jacob snarled, "It wasn't me."
"We just want to question you and your sub," the man replied, but he almost sounded smug in a way that pissed Jacob off further. They would only go straight to the paps no doubt, they'd twist around Jacob and Troye's words, so Jacob refused to let them anywhere near Troye without a lawyer present. "No." The man sighed, "Mr. Bixenman, we can either go about this as calmly as possible, or we're coming back with warrant for your arrest." "I didn't do it," Jacob said simply, slamming the door in the faces of the men. Troye was seated on the couch, looking slightly fearful,
"Who...?" "Someone actually contacted the authorities," Jacob seethed. "But on me. They contacted them because they think I'm treating you cruelly." Troye's hand flew up to clamp over his mouth in surprise. Jacob simply stood in front of the closed door, anger clear in his stance. When Troye finally mustered up the courage to speak, his voice trembled, "They won't... they won't take me away, right? They can't make me, I won't-" "You'll do as you're told," Jacob said simply, but his heart ached in the slightest. He certainly wasn't going to tell Troye, but there was absolutely no way he'd let Troye be taken from him. Even if he was wrongly accused and they came for Troye, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Yet, if he told Troye, or even voiced such matters aloud, it could be used against them. They could claim that Jacob was denying authority and it'd get him in even deeper shit. Troye's jaw dropped open a bit,
"You'd let them take me away? To be placed with a new Dom?" "They'll do whatever they please anyway," Jacob said simply. "Now that's enough." "I won't go with them!" Troye cried out in alarm. "I won't!" "Stop Troye." "No, I don't want them to take me away from you!" Troye struggled to stand, but Jacob couldn't take much more of his pleading. He already felt sick to his stomach as it was. He thrust out a finger to point at the steps and bellowed out, "Get upstairs right the fuck now. Go to the isolation room and stay there until I say otherwise. I've told you not to abuse the word 'no' with me. If I didn't think you could do something and if I didn't think it was safe then I wouldn't ask you to do it, so you have no right to tell me no when you're perfectly capable of doing it. Now leave, out of my sight." Troye's entire form seemed to deflate in on itself, and he went pale as a sheet at Jacob's words. He knew better now than to argue, no matter how much he wanted to apologize it would be too late.
He'd already fucked up, and now he had to be isolated for who knew how long. He stumbled in a mad rush for the stairs, feeling a painful tugging at his stitches, but he was only seconds away from bursting into tears and he didn't want to anger Jacob further. Jacob watched as Troye climbed the steps as fast as he could, racing into the isolation room and quickly shutting the door behind him. The Dom paced a bit more, running his hands over his face, but then he stomped up the steps and towards Brandon and Tommy's side of the house. He burst into the room, unfortunately onto the awkward situation of Tommy sucking Brandon off while Brandon watched tv. The wavy haired man didn't care, and he stormed further into the room, "The police just showed up. They want to question me over what the newspapers and magazines are saying."
"About how you beat Troye?" Brandon asked mildly, pushing Tommy away and tucking himself back into his pants. "I didn't fucking beat Troye!" Jacob snapped. "You did. And I'm going to tell them the truth." Brandon chuckled, "Like they'll believe you. You're better off without him anyway, I heard you yelling at him. About how he keeps telling you no? He was already bratty when you brought him here, and you're so soft with him that he's going to think he can get away with whatever." "He's learning," Jacob spat. "To me he is without a doubt the best damn sub there is and he's one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, so if you think I'm going to let you take that away from me then you've got another thing coming, Brandon Flynn. Pack your shit. If you aren't arrested I want you out by the end of the month."
"If you are arrested can I have the house?" Brandon called after Jacob as the Dom stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Jacob was fuming, digging his nails into his palms as he forced himself not to walk back into the room and snap Brandon's neck. He figured it wouldn't look well on a police report. And yet, as he walked past the isolation room nearly all the anger was drained from his body. The room was one he hadn't sound proofed for whatever reason, and Troye's sobs were audible from the other side of the door. They were heart wrenching, not angry sobs at all, but sorrowful. It was painful to listen to, and Jacob instantly reached for the doorknob. But he stopped just short, because Troye had been warned several times not to say no for inappropriate reasons. Instead he slipped to his office so that he wouldn't have to hear Troye's heart breaking cries. However, he remembered that Troye had yet to eat, so when the cook brought food up confusedly to Jacob's office, Jacob requested that the cook take the food to Troye's room instead. He was no longer hungry anyway. For the rest of the day, Jacob contacted his lawyer, sent more angry emails to the people who were supposed to be clearing his name from the papers, and glared at the empty couch that Troye generally sat on. The Dom didn't know that by punishing Troye he'd be punishing himself, too. But he missed the younger man's company, missed being able to glance up from an irritating email to look at Troye curled up small with a book or homework.
His blue eyes would usually be squinted, his brow scrunched as he concentrated. A while after dinner, Jacob finally cracked and left his office to retrieve his boy. Stopping quietly outside the door, he was glad to hear that Troye was no longer crying. As he opened the door, however, he wasn't very happy with the three full trays of food that Troye had seemingly denied, sitting by the door of the room that led into a bathroom. The boy himself was curled up on the bed on top of the blankets, his face pressed into the sleeves of the sweater he wore. "Why didn't you eat?" Jacob asked softly. Troye's head snapped up, and he attempted to push himself into a sitting position as more tears sprang to his eyes, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." "Alright now," Jacob sighed, walking over to Troye.
"You can come to bed, no more crying, pet." Troye pushed himself over to Jacob, wrapping his arms around Jacob's waist as he burrowed his face into Jacob's middle. He was still sniffling, his smaller form trembling a bit, "I'm sorry." Jacob stroked softly at Troye's hair, "You were a very good boy during your punishment, you didn't try to come out of the room once." "I didn't mean to tell you no..." Troye whimpered against Jacob. "I... I understand why you wouldn't have a problem with letting them take me." Jacob pulled Troye back immediately, seizing the boy's face in his hands, "Troye, listen to me. I don't want them to take you. I don't think you're a bad sub, and you shouldn't think so either. You're a very wonderful sub, and you mean very much to me. I'm going to try to convince them that they don't need to take you, but you let me handle that stuff, do you understand? It's just like the rule I have for the paps. Don't talk to anyone who questions you about yourself. And don't think that I don't want you or don't love you, because I do." "I love you, too," Troye only teared up further, but Jacob thumbed away his tears, unable to keep a smile off his face and the warmth from growing in his heart.
"Very well," Jacob nodded. "Let's get you something to eat before we go to bed for the night. I've already handled everything I can for now. My lawyer should be in contact with me by morning." Troye slid from the bed, shyly standing next to Jacob. Jacob ducked down and kissed the younger boy softly, guiding him with a gentle hand from the room and closing the door behind him. He decided then that he would find other punishments aside from the isolation room, and only use the room if Troye had been extremely naughty. It was clearly beyond stressful on the younger boy if it made him skip three meals, Jacob didn't like that very much. And besides, he'd missed his boy, always so eager to please, all day anyway.