After the War

If there was something Mike had never been good at in his life, amongst the majority of thing he had tried and failed at, that would be sports. He was a good skater but that stopped there. His arms were sticks, his thighs were ones of a five years old girl, and his chest was flat, his pecs non existant. He wasn't a fast runner, either.

But then again, that was the reason he could never defend himself.

So when Nurse Anna announced that they were going to have a self-defense course, his opinions were mixed. He glanced around at his companions. Jamie was already quite strong, for Mike it was a wonder he let himself get brutalised in the first place. Lee was as thin as Mike himself, Fraser too, but Ben had pretty bulky arms and a defined chest.

Mike used to like talking, at a moment in his life. He used to be a pretty expressive child, but then...
Mike breathed out.

Ben glanced at him.
He had had his first interview with his therapist, Miss Henry, in the morning, but his thoughts had been really focused on Gustav, the nurse. They still were.

But Mike obviously did not know that, and couldn't help but wonder about the older man.

"The new teacher is called Stuart."

They all exchanged glances.

"He's an ex-patient from here."

They all relaxed. Even Mike. And that wasn't something he usually did.

"He's gonna come in in a second."

Some girls muttered between themselves and Jamie threw a look at Lee, shrugging. Mike pulled up his sweatpants, rubbing his uncovered arms with his hands ; he didn't like to have too much of his body bare, he usually wore long-sleeved shirts and full-lenght trousers.

A minute after, the door opened ; the man that entered was tall, black haired, and VERY muscular.
Like, muscular to the point where Mike ask himself if the ex-patient thing was true.
The man turned around, facing them, and Mike's jaw dropped.
The guy was Superman.
Seductive dark blue eyes under defined, dark eyebrows, a rockstar smirk, and a bit of stubble.

"Hey guys and girls, I'm Stuart, and I'm going to teach you self defence!" He announced. His voice was oddly high pitched compared to his body's manliness.

The following hour was spent listening to Stuart and imitating him. Mike was fascinated. He did his best to do good but he had to do with the metal screws in his left leg, from his... Accident.
After the lesson, Stuart came up to Mike, very softly.

"Hi," he said, "You're Mike aren't you? They told me you have braces in your leg? It doesn't look like it, you're good!"

Mike chuckled, a bit nervously, and even let a smile on his face.

"Thank you... Yes, well, I've got to keep them for a year..."

"Not cool... Open fracture?"

"Yeah. I got... Frankly fucked up."

"That happened to me" Stuart said, sitting by Mike's side on the bench. "My stepfather crushed my foot with a hammer. I still feel it, even if it's completely healed now."

"Oh... That's not cool..."

"He wasn't really the kindest of men." Stuart mused. "He hated me for some reason. Well... He liked me in his very own way."

Mike's chest heaved.

"I... My stepfather didn't like me either. And he... He was the one who broke my leg, too."

"Really? Well, we have things in common then" Stuart smiled.

"Yes, we do!" Mike nodded with a faint smirk. "That's... Cool!"

Stuart chuckled lightly and stood up.

"Well, I hope to see you again in three days then"

Mike assented reciprocally, and left, climbing back in his room. He crossed the road of Ben, who was asking something to Nurse Anna, and decided to have a nap. He lied down on his bed, and fell asleep.

Mike walked up the stairs of his house, getting in. The door was open. Surely David was there. David was the eldest son of Mike's stepfather. Mike didn't hate his stepfather. He was quite kind to him, he had taken him buying a vinyl and getting a cool spiky haircut. Ian had been really jealous, but then again Ian refused to cut his hair. Ian was Mike's best friend, the were both 8.
So Mike quite liked Edward, his stepfather. It wasn't like his father, sure, but it wasn't like all the tales of bad stepdads he had heard. Even David and Emma weren't bad.
Mike closed the door behind him, and put down his bag next to the sofa.

"Mom? Edward? David?"

He heard steps down the stairs and a tall brown haired young man appeared. David.

"Oh, Mike. I was waiting for you."

David was 19. He had given all his old toys to Mike. Mike had never got too much money to buy toys so it had made him happy.
He walked up to David.

"Why?"

"I have a new game for you."

"Really?" Mike chirped excitedly.

"Yeah. But it's a secret game, you mustn't tell the parents nor your friends nor anybody. It's a secret."

Mike, curious, nodded.

"Okay."

"You'll see. It's fun."

Mike awoke in a sweat.
The image of Stuart flashed in his mind and he choked.
No. No. No.