a/n: ONLINE FINALS WEEK UGHHHH
tw: mention of abuse, racism
**
"Either you leave him alone or we bring this back to court."
Damien chuckles and stands up from the couch to grab himself some more alcohol. "Fuck off."
Zach shakes his head as he stands up, reaching out to grab Damien. "Hey! Do this for your kid, man. Your kid."
Damien pushes Zach's hand off him. "And who the fuck even are you? A downgrade that's for sure, what's your profession? Theft?"
Zach pushes back on Damien. "Excuse me?"
Damien looks up and laughs. "Oh...My fault, I'm just taking a wild guess. Wrong one? How about...I don't know assault?"
"Watch your mouth, man."
"Just saying. You and...your people are criminally inclined."
"My people?"
Olivia grabs hold of Zach's hand. "Hey. Come on. Let's just go."
Zach pulls his arm away from Olivia. "Just...Give me a second," He turns back to Damien, "Let me spell this out for you. We go back to court, prove you unfit for a father, you lose rights to not only Benjamin but your two step kids and your unborn child."
Damien's face turns pale as he looks up at Zach.
"Now, Benjamin hasn't told us much, but we know enough. Make this right."
Damien scoffs. "Kid talks too fucking much."
**
Noah runs his hand up and down Benjamin's thigh. "You wanna start with the first time it happened?"
Benjamin's eyes flicker up to meet Noah's. "Y-yeah...Okay." He glanced down though, to avoid eye contact. He stares at the necklace dangling from Noah's neck.
"I think I was...Seven...Maybe eight. My dad came home from work and my mom was putting away laundry and I had asked to wear one of her dresses."
Noah nods his head.
"Uhm...He walked in and snatched the dress off of me and then pushed me out of the room. He slammed the door and started cussing out my mom."
"So...That's when it first started?"
Benjamin reaches his hand up to play with his earring. "Yeah. It started with him pushing me or just...bumping my shoulder."
Noah nods his head again. "So when did it start getting like...worse."
"The second time when he actually has put his hands on me..I was ten. I went to Kiara's house for the weekend and she painted my nails. My mom was out of town for a conference."
Benjamin shifts in his seat, reaching out to grab Noah's hand, tracing circles into his palm. "I was staying hidden in my room cause I knew he would get mad and I didn't have any nail polish remover. He came upstairs to stay hi to me after work and I was trying to keep my hands hidden."
Noah frowns and him.
"He eventually noticed them and at first he was directly in my face just yelling at me. He would poke my chest like this,"
Benjamin lifts his hand to harshly poke at Noah's chest a few times. "He would do that as he yelled at me. He still hadn't hit me until I started crying. He took off his work belt and started hitting me with it, telling me that I needed to man up."
Benjamin tears up as his voice starts to shake. "He would switch out from the belt to just using to hands. I thought that was the only time because I was just getting punished but then it slowly turned into almost every day."
Noah shakes his head. "How did your mom not notice?"
"He would never hit me on my face. Just my arms, legs...torso..He told me I wasn't allowed to wear shorts or short sleeve shirts. He said if I did that I would hurt my mom and it would be my fault."
Benjamin wipes his tears. "Then I came out when I was thirteen and my parents were already getting ready to get divorced but he was still living with us."
"What was that like?"
Benjamin lets out an emotionless laugh. "It was really rough. That's when I started cutting and...My dad found out before my mom and he would make jokes about it to me..H-He would...purposely grab and press down on my arms-."
Benjamin let's out a sob, shaking his head. "I-I was too afraid to tell anyone b-because he was so mean. And I really thought...That if I told my mom she'd hate me too."
Noah reaches out to grab Benjamin into his lap, hugging him. "I'm so fucking sorry, bebesita. I'm so sorry."
Benjamin wraps his arms around Noah, resting his head in the crook of his neck. "I didn't know what to do...But then he finally moved out and I thought it was over but-."
"No, bebes. It is over. Okay? You're not seeing him ever again, you hear me? You're safe now."
Benjamin nods his head as pulls away from Noah. "I know...I know. I just...That took me back to such a bad place and I...I felt like the hopeless eight-year-old I used to be."
Noah places his hand on Benjamin's face, rubbing his thumb in circles. "I know, baby. But you were so strong and you always have been."
Benjamin looks up, his eyes filled with tears. He gives a soft smile. "Thank you."
Noah smiles back at him, wiping his tears before leaning in to kiss him twice. "I love you so much."
"I love you too."
**
The two were now in Noah's car as Benjamin was emotionally exhausted and wanted some ice cream.
Noah grabs his phone from his front pocket as he heard it ring. He puts the phone up to his ear.
"Hey, papa. What's up?"
Benjamin looks over at him, eating some of his ice cream.
"Can you pick up some things from the store? I think Mamá sent a list."
"Uh sure. What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, your mom just doesn't wanna leave the house."
Noah chuckles and nods. "Alright. I'll head there now."
"Thank you, mijo."
Noah removes the phone from his ear and looks over at him. "I gotta run errands for my mom. Do you mind?"
Benjamin shakes his head. "Nope. Just do me a favor?"
Noah nods. "Okay?"
"Can I have your jacket? It's cold."
Noah chuckles and rolls his eyes as he takes off his jacket. "Bebesita, your seat heater is on. What else do you need?"
"I don't know but I'm cold."
Noah hands Benjamin his jacket, tilting his head in a taunting way. "Is that better for you?"
Benjamin giggles and grabs the jacket, slipping it on. "Yes, it is, actually."
*
Mrs.Martinez smiles. "Thank you, mijo!" She smiles and grabs Noah's face with both hands, kissing him on the forehead.
Noah smiles and stands back up straight. "Of course. Benny and I are gonna upstairs okay?"
Noah's mom smiles and nods her head. "Okay. Have fun, baby."
Noah grabs his bag of snacks off the counter before turning to Benjamin. "Come on."
Benjamin follows him up to his room. He takes his shoes off next to the door and sits on the bed. "Where's Mateo?"
Noah closes his door, throwing his keys down onto his bedside table. He walks over to his ps4, turning it on before reaching down to take his shirt off.
"Uh. He goes to counseling every Sunday. Cause of him being separated from his family."
Benjamin nods and leans back against the wall. He throws his shirt down onto the floor before getting on the bed, kissing Benjamin. "You promise you're okay?"
Benjamin nods and puts his hands in Noah's hair. "Yeah, promise. I hope I'm not being rude but...Can I take a nap?"
"Sure, bebesita."
Benjamin smiles and leans forward to kiss Noah again. "Thank you."
**