Be Somewhere

They were still aimlessly wandering through the streets when the sun started to set. Laughs were being exchanged as memorable stories were being tossed into the air. Ricky had always been quite quiet, so it was quite hard for them to imagine him waltzing up to a boy six years older than him just to have a conversation about their preferred colour of kittens.

“I don't think I could ever see him doing that,” Lily said with her voice barely above a whisper. “He strikes me as kind of... dangerous. Like he could kill me and not think twice about it...” A sadistic smile spread across Danny's face as he remembered an incident from earlier that week.

“Maybe he would kill someone else, but not you, Lily.” She gave him a quizzical look that begged him to continue. The smile faded and was quickly replaced by an expression of feigned innocence. “He likes you, remember?”

Silence enveloped the others and exaggerated her groan of disapproval. They continued on their walk towards the south end of town where Danny's house could be found. It only took them about ten minutes once they had stopped their shallow chatter.

The structure looked quite run down; it was surrounded by others in the same condition and it gave the documenters a feeling of unease. A few prying eyes rested on them through curtains in other houses. Cats hissed in the alleys and somewhere something was dripping a liquid that they could be sure was tainted with something foul.

Danny was the first one to step through the door. Lily sniffed the air; it reeked of sweat and a cheap, flowery perfume. Outside another door slammed and Morgan leaned his head back to take a closer look. His face paled and he tried to scurry into another room to hide.

The screen door leading to the front porch swung open once again and two older men popped into the kitchen. It was impossible to tell which of them belonged there. Danny smiled at the older of the two and waved towards Tucker and Lily before introducing them. Brad smirked when Tucker asked:

“Why aren't you introducing Morgan?”

“Because he's my son,” The other man said coldly. Brad started to whistle in order to fill the awkward silence that they found themselves in. Morgan's father nodded at Brad's before making a hasty retreat back to his own home. “I'll see you at home later. We obviously need to talk about a few things.”

Morgan cringed when the door was shut louder then it normally would be. The camera was raised so that Lily could ask him a question, but she never received the opportunity to do so. Danny's father started to scream and throw a temper tantrum that was fit for a six year old.

“A Camera? A camera in my house? Who the hell do you kids think you are?” He paused to think for a moment before replying to his own question. “You're from the state. How dare you enter my house and think you can tape me without a warrant! Danny, why did you let these no-good louts in here? I thought I raised you better than that?” Before he could even think of an answer his father was on another tangent. “It's all a conspiracy. You're all liars, all of you! Especially you,” he shrieked as he pointed to Danny.

As his father advanced towards him, Danny backed away in equal time. His back hit a wall with a dull thud and he gulped when he saw the intent in his parent's eyes. With his hand he motioned for the others to back away. They complied, but never took the camera off of him.

The first blow left him gasping for breathe and reeling with anger. He dove for his father's torso and shoved him back the other way until they hit the counter in the kitchen. It took only a moment for them both to be cursing and Brad to be whimpering.

With a sickening thud, Danny hit the floor in a tangle of bloody ripped clothing. Brads whimpers fell silent as tears fell down his face in steady streams. A few moments passed where neither father nor son moved, but finally, resignedly, the older male moved to check on his son's state. Danny shot out his leg and tripped him. Another sharp crack raised in the air as his father's head hit the tile. He was out cold and no one dared say a word to Danny about it.

“Are you okay?” Brad whispered with fear in his eyes and the scent of it rolling off of him in waves. Slowly, he knelt down beside him and touched a gentle hand to one of the more violent gashes on his arm.

“I'm fine. You can stop worrying about me now,” he replied stiffly. Brad just shook his head started to wipe away some of the dripping blood. Finally he sat down, exasperated by the seemingly never ending stream of scarlet that erased his first-aid efforts.

“It's amazing, really. How you manage to not end up in the hospital while Ricky is there every other week for the exact same thing never ceases to surprise me.” Brad wrapped his arms around Danny and snuggled into his chest, a contented sigh escaping his lips.

“Yes, well, thats just how it is, I guess,” Danny stuttered as he tried to remove Brad's arms from his body. A frown spread over his face as Danny shuffled away while glancing at the camera every few seconds. Lily glared at him and Danny shrugged at her. “What are you looking at, princess?” Smirking, she grabbed a wooden spoon off of the counter and moved so that she stood between the two boys who were sitting on the floor.

“I know pronounce you, dating. You may now kiss your boyfriend,” she replied, while lightly tapping either of them on the shoulder with the spoon. Danny opened his mouth to protest but was shushed when Brad crawled into his lap and pecked him on the lips.

“We can't though!”

“And yet you are,” Lily replied with the smirk still pasted on her face. Brad cuddled a little closer to Danny and smiled against his skin. Reluctantly, Danny placed his arms around Brad's waist and sent a withering glance in Lily's direction.

“Maybe you and Ricky would be good together after all, you sure are alike,” he grumbled.