4.Good Samaritan

I woke up to the pungent smells of what I'm sure was hospital disinfectant, invading my nostrils. The room was silent apart from the sound of my breathing tube and the heart monitor beeping. I slowly opened my eyes, well one eye since the other was swollen shut, squinting to bring everything into clearer focus. I glanced around and took in the familiar shit green color of the room. How long had I been here? I shut my eyes again trying to remember just exactly what had happened to leave me in such pain in here.

Then it hit me.

Martin had cornered me in the bathroom while I was washing my face off and trying to calm myself down. Ashton had swooped in to save me just as things were getting really dangerous for me. He had scooped me up right before I passed out from the pain that was jolting through my entire body. The last thing I remember was Ashton promising me that he wouldn't let me die.

Where was he?

Did he bring me here? I touched the swollen side of my face just to gage the damage. Yeah, it hurt like hell. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and placed my feet onto the cold floor.

When I tried to stand up, my body gave out from the immense wave of pain shooting up. I sat there pathetically, waiting for it to blow over a little bit. I still don't know who exactly brought me here or how long I've been here. What happened after I passed out?

"Hm? Dan?" Ashton's voice filled my ears. I turned and on the other side of my bed, on a chair was Ashton who had not changed from his school uniform that was stained with a bit of blood. He looked out of it for a bit but suddenly snapped out of it and smiled. "Dan! Good morning! You're finally awake!"

"I can't hear out of one of my ears," I realized. I guess all it took was one more hit there. And here I thought the doctor was lying all those years.

"Your ear?"

"Morning?" I asked him. "I've been here all night?"

"Yes. Luckily, I got you here on time. I don't know your password for your phone so I couldn't call anyone for you, so I just stayed here, but your dad found out where you were later that day," Ashton explained. "He's probably gone out for food for us."

"You stayed this entire time?" I asked.

"Yeah, lay back down," Ashton pushed me back into the hospital bed. "By the way, how are you feeling?"

"Everything kind of hurts," I admitted. "It all sucks major ass."

"Should I cancel the person coming here?"

"Who is?"

"Vincenzo."

"Why would he be coming here?" I asked Ashton.

"He's been to see you twice already," Ashton told me while typing something. "I couldn't say anything about it because your dad was here. Um, by the way, he got suspended for a week. The couple hours you were out, he got in a huge fight with Martin for some reason. I just told him that you woke up....but I swear I'm only texting him because of what happened and he got in touch with your dad about what happened. I'm not friends with him anymore!"

I tried to smile at Ashton disowning Vincenzo but it hurt too much. "I know. Anything else I should know?"

"Everyone in school thinks we're dating because they saw me carrying you," Ashton mumbled. I looked at him in shock and he quickly averted his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said. This must be awful got him to have to deal with.

"N-no it's ok, I don't mind," Ashton was turning tomato red. "I just wanted to give you a heads up."

"But won't people stop getting to know you because you're with hospice boy?"

"Don't call yourself that, Dan. I honestly don't care what other people think of me. Like I said, I dare anyone to do something about it."

"But you're stuck with me now. Are you ok with that?"

"Of course I am!" Ashton said excitedly. What a loyal guy! "If I wasn't interested or didn't care, I wouldn't be here!"

"You're a stand up guy, Ashton." I told him. How nice of him to help me out. It's a shame I couldn't focus fully on this guy. I told Vincenzo straight up not to get caught, and then he goes and gets himself suspended.

"DANIEL!!!" I heard someone scream from the doorway. Before I could turn to see my dad, I was engulfed in his super tight hug. "My baby! You're finally awake!"

"Get off!" I fussed. "It hurts!"

"The doctor said hug him softly, Mr. Cunningham! Dan, he hasn't been well either seeing you like this," Ashton told me.

My dad pulled back from the hug and looked me right in my eye. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and I don't think he took a shower either seeing as he was usually very well kept together. "What happened? Tell me now and I'll kill them."

"Nothing, someone was picking on me so we fought, dad. That's a normal thing to do. I stood my ground like a man," I assured him. "That's guys a prick anyway."

"But you look like you've been run over by a truck. You've got bruises and marks everywhere too....how badly are you being bullied? Who is bullying you, Dan? Dad will go and straighten all of this out with the school and that piece of shit! I'll kill him!"

"Dad, please don't, you'll just embarrass me. I may not have won but can you at least be proud of me for fighting back a bit?" I tried.

"How can I...?" My dad let his tears spill. I guess I should try to understand him a bit more. It was just us after all. If I had gotten very hurt, my dad would have absolutely nobody left in his life. "I shouldn't have sent you to that school! I should've just homeschooled you!"

"Aw, dad, why are you crying? You told me all boys get in fights when they're at school."

"It just breaks my heart to see my son like this! No more fights and I'll let you attend school."

"Deal," I said. From the corner of my eye I could spot Ashton getting our food together. "Dad, Ashton helped me out a lot, so remember to say thank you."

"I will thank him. Just let me pull myself together. I shouldn't show myself like this around you guys," dad wiped his tears. After shaking Ashton's hand quickly, he rushed from the hospital room.

I sighed. "Are you ok?" Ashton asked.

"Huh?"

"Not just about getting hurt. If there are any concerns you're holding in, you should just let it out and tell me about them. That's probably why your dad is extra worried about you, he can tell somethings up. You can tell me whatever you want, I don't mind, just talking about these things can help you feel better. What happened between you and Martin that he tried to beat you up?"

"Do we have talk about it now? I just woke up," I averted my eyes in guilt. Was it not going to cause more trouble to speak on it?

"Well, I won't force you....for now."

"Thanks."

The next few hours consisted of getting a batch of pain killers, a hearing aid as my eardrum was shattered beyond repair now and dropping Ashton off at school so he could pick up his car.

"Keep him around," dad demanded of me. His perception of Ashton was refreshing. I finally had a really nice close friend all too myself.

What can I do to show my appreciation towards him? Since I met him, all he's been doing is supporting me in some way. I've been cooking him meals as a thank you but it doesn't feel like enough anymore, especially after the rumor that's spreading about him now.

I guess I could at least tell him that my revenge is shelved for the time being because I've become too scared of the consequences. At least Vincenzo never showed up at hospital while I was awake.

As I reached home, I felt almost lethargic. The weight of the day, the emotions and the painkillers were washing over me and my body felt like it was ready to shut down.

My phone chose that second to go off. When I checked it, I had received a text from an unknown number. Opening it, I saw it was Giacomo.

'DANNY, IT'S GIACOMO. IM REALLY SCARED! I LOCKED MYSELF IN MY ROOM. CAN U COME?'

I sighed in frustration. It really wasn't any of my business what goes on in that house, but it must be something big for Giacomo to be reaching out to me. "Dad, I'm going to check on Giacomo." I called out walking back to the front door.

"You should be resting, you still look like shit right now. If you must, do that after dinner."

"I'll be quick, dad. I have the energy, remember the doctor said the bruises weren't that bad and I was only out from fatigue."

"Why are you going all of a sudden?"

"I don't know why I have to go either, but Giacomo said he was scared," I said slipping on my shoes. "I'll be right back."

"Fine," dad silently allowed.

I slowly jogged over to the side of Vincenzo's home where Giacomo's room was. After I knocked a few times, he opened the window and pulled me inside. Giacomo looked a bit worried and it wasn't hard to find out why.

From the other side of the bedroom door I heard glass shatter and a loud series of thuds. "You better believe that this is where you die!"

"My dad," Giacomo started to cry. "He's going to kill Vincenzo!"

"You know what I've always thought? You've been touched by the devil! How did you turn into such a fucking demon?!" I heard Vincenzo's father scream. "LET GO! LET GO YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!"

We heard a few more thuds as if furniture was being bumped around. "Calm down! I can-"

"SO NOW YOU DARE FIGHT BACK?!!!"

"LET GO YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!"

"WHY WONT YOU JUST DIE?!!! YOU SHIT!! WHO TAUGHT YOU TO ACT LIKE THIS?!!! YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!!!" Vincenzo and his dad sounded like they were really going at it.

"FUCK YOU!!!!"

Without thinking, I unlocked the room door and stumbled out into their living room. Vincenzo's dad was hovering over Vincenzo with his arm up in the air holding his belt. I could literally feel the angry air filling up the room like someone had set the room on fire. Glass littered the living room floor and I could see that someone had gotten cut.

When I looked at Vincenzo, I couldn't help but feel my heart drop. His cheek was bruised, his nose was bleeding and he looked incredibly disheveled.

As Vincenzo took the chance to rush his dad, he swung a powerful right. Vincenzo's dad met him halfway and lashed out with his own right hook, which was faster. It struck Vincenzo in the mouth and he spit out some blood before he caught his dad and hurled him onto the floor with his body breaking  their dining room table.

Vincenzo's dad rolled over quickly gasping for breath and charged Vincenzo again.

Taking my chance, I ran up behind Vincenzo's dad and tackled him much to his surprise. "Mr. DeVellis! Please calm down! You're going too far! You can't hurt him like this!" I pleaded for Vincenzo. "Please stop!"

"Daniel?! What happened to you?! How'd you get in here?"

"That doesn't matter! Please stop this!" What the hell is going on? What the fuck have I just walked into? What happened to these two? Why was his dad beating the shit out of him?!

When I turned to check if Vincenzo was alright, I was flabbergasted to see that he had moved from the ground. Did he just fucking leave? His face! His nose looked like it could be broken. How much was that guy hurt?

Where did he go? I hope he went to the hospital.

I turned back to Vincenzo's dad who looked like he was also in a lot of pain. I might as well deal with him first right?

"Danny?" I heard Giacomo call out weakly.

"Giacomo, that was a bit of a shock wasn't it?" I asked nervously.

"What's wrong with my dad? Is he hurt?"

"No!" I said. I took the chance to get off Mr. DeVellis so I wouldn't worry him more. "I think maybe your dad just needs some time to cool off, right, Mr. Devellis?"

He looked from me to his son and nodded. I spent the next hour talking to Giacomo about his schooling  until my dad stopped by to look for me. He was just as shocked at the damage done around the house as I was.

He then took a few minutes to talk to Vincenzo's dad.

"Is everything going to be ok?" Giacomo asked me. "It feels like nothing will ever go back to normal now."

"They might," I told him. "If they don't, just focus on yourself. It might be the best thing you can do for your own health and wellness."

"And my family?" Giacomo pried. I would give anything to not have to advise him more.

"I don't know. Just be good and I'm sure things will get better....at least for you."

"Dan, let's go," dad called out to me. I gave Giacomo a hug and left with my father. He looked as if he was conflicted about whatever he was talking about with Vincenzo's dad.

Whatever it was, I felt that we had the same empty sinking feelings. As much as I didn't want to care, my heart was breaking for Vincenzo all over again. I had imagined beating him down myself, but actually seeing it happen felt do wrong.

I wonder if he even went home yet. He probably won't tonight since this scuffle just happened. I never thought Vincenzo could get his ass beat like that, especially from his adoring father. It wasn't my place to try an fix it though.

It was painful to watch and remember. Nothing in me wanted revenge anymore, I just wanted him to be ok. And Giacomo is obviously twice as worried because to him, it looks like his family is falling apart. Poor kid.

That night I cried myself to sleep over Vincenzo for the first time in a week.

"Want to read a book?" Ashton asked me as our teacher let us off early for break. "It'd be nice if the sun was out today but it's all dark and cloudy."

"How much do you know about memory?" I asked him.

"Just what I read in books really."

"I heard that bad memories could be gotten rid of. You know, like through hypnotism."

"I don't think so. Remember the book we spoke about? In Search of Lost Time? In the book, the main character remembers things he had forgotten as he drinks tea and eats. It's possible for long lost memories to suddenly appear as a result of outside stimuli. It's exactly like how you recall a hospital when you smell cleaner."

"Hypnotism isn't real?"

"I don't know. Listen, I can't give you the details about what happened with Vincenzo."

"How-"

"It's written all over your face because he isn't here. All I can say is that he seems to be dwelling on something from the past. He seems to blame himself and I tried to tell him to understand that what happened wasn't his fault."

"You saw him last night?"

"Last night? It was while we were at the hospital." Ashton cleared up. What exactly is my problem? Vincenzo has hated me for such a long time that I'm not sure why exactly I care about it. I'm not sure why I feel like this, but I'm tired of it.

"I think i need counseling," I admitted to Ashton.

"About what?"

I can trust Ashton. If anything, he's more than proved that he was trustworthy. "I have a friend I've known since diapers, and he hates me, but I still think of him as someone special to me. Now, I just want to forget him."

"I thought that Martin was the source of your worries, but it looks like I got it wrong. Want to tell me more about this friend?"

"He's just a friend...well, our families are friends, so we were forced to get along."

"Friendly neighbors?"

"Just neighbors, but we basically lived at each others houses."

"You guys must've been close like brothers."

"It used to be like that. It would be normal for it to be that way, and that's what I thought it was. But memory is subjective, right? He didn't think we were that close. In fact, it was only recently that I found out that I was never even thought of as a friend." I said.

"This is the guy you had the crush on right?" Ashton asked. This guy remembers everything I say, doesn't he? Might as well just come clean about everything right?

"Yeah, I really like him a lot. I even tried to dislike him and it's hard. Even after finding out that I was never considered a friend, I wasn't mad. I was so depressed I tried to get petty revenge but I just ended up feeling worse."

"Why is he so special to you?"

"I spent my entire life liking this one person. Whenever I think of something good in my life, he's in that memory. I know he hated me back then as well, but no matter how much I keep that in mind, the good feelings about those times don't go away. I don't want to hate him, because then I'd have to acknowledge that liking him has been the only thing I liked about my life.

"I'd have to acknowledge the years of resentment I feel for myself for being so weak and pathetic. I'd have to acknowledge that I've been making myself sick for some asshole and lying to the people who cared about me for his sake! That's why I asked about hypnosis, it would be better to erase those good memories and just remember him just hating me. Maybe then it would be easier to let him go."

"And if you erased those memories, how do you know you wouldn't still like him?"

"What?"

"We can't help who we are attracted to, Dan. Also, it's the bad memories that shape us into the adults we become. You have a clear cut value system that doesn't allow you to ignore him, it's understandable. And if you forget it, you'll just live the same life anyway right?"

"Yeah I guess."

"We have a little bit, if you don't mind skipping class, I'd like to hear you out," Ashton offered as we neared the school parking lot. "Unless you want to wait until after school to-"

"No! Let's skip," I insisted. Ashton took a knee down in front of me motioning for me to hop on his back. I climbed on and held on for dear life as he took running off without stopping to his car.

When we got inside, I spilled my guts.

I told him about my memory about coming home after an extended hospital stay. My dad washed my face thoroughly to my discontent as he told me that Vincenzo and his parents were coming over to check on me. Even back then, he was the only kid who liked hanging out with me.

I complained to my dad about how I didn't feel like seeing anyone but my dad scolded me to be nice. "You're a few months older than him but you have to be extra nice to him ok?"

"Why?" I stubbornly folded my arms not seeing why my dad kept trying to stick the neighbors kid to me.

"Because he's going to be like your brother." My dad said that all the time but it never felt that way. As usual when they came over, Vincenzo and I were rushed off to my room where Vincenzo proceeded to ignore me and go through my toys.

I had a nice Megazord figurine from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers that was still in its box, where I intended to leave it as it was a collector's item. Somehow, I managed to snatch the box from him before he could open it, but he then tackled me and the box was crushed under both other weights.

I ended up in trouble because I had been caught attacking Vincenzo when my dad checked in on us. Shortly after this incident, I was told that Vincenzo was moving in next door and from tomorrow, he and I were to be attending the same elementary school.

I hated the idea of going to school with someone I equated to Rita Repulsa! To make matters worse, because the teacher had seen that we had the same contact information, she assumed that we were relatives, which I loudly informed her that we definitely weren't. Never mind the fit I threw when the teacher sat him next to me and made him my permanent desk buddy.

I was a lonely kid, but even back then, i would rather be lonely than be around Vincenzo most of the time. My dad begged and pleaded with me to make an effort to get to know Vincenzo, but in the end he bought me a new rare Megazord figurine to make me give in.

From then on, I became something like a babysitter to Vincenzo. He would constantly make messes that I would get dragged into cleaning up and he would never focus on any one thing at a time. He'd mess up everything he came into contact with wether it belonged to him or not, then he would throw a fit if I tried to let him take all the blame himself.

The days I had to go visit the doctor became almost like hell for me because Vincenzo insisted on going with me every time. And every time he went to his therapist appointments I was forced to tag along no matter how I felt or else he wouldn't go.

My dad praised me a over the years as it seemed like, because of me, Vincenzo's hyperactivity was getting more manageable.

There were some good times after I warmed up to him a bit more. It became almost second nature for me to handle Vincenzo all the time. If he needed to eat, I had his plate ready. If he wanted to play, I had the sunscreen on me. If he wanted things from the store, I was in charge of the money. If he lost something it was my job to help him find it. If he got in trouble it was my duty to clean up his mess.

Before I knew it, our lives had become impossible to untangle from the other.

I recounted a night before we had entered middle school where we had just gone star gazing to get away from the adults. Vincenzo's mom was fussing about little Giacomo a lot lately leaving Vincenzo feeling neglected, even though he had my attention all the time.

I had pointed out Orion to Vincenzo and he told me about how his dad wished on Orion so he could marry his mother.

"Stars can't grant wishes," I told him straight up. I couldn't understand how a ball of gas could grant a wish. If it could, I wouldn't feel so sick anymore as my dad had wished on many stars for my health. "This isn't a fairytale, stupid."

"Well, what's your wish?" Vincenzo asked me.

"Hm, I want to be in your class when we get to middle school," I told him. I genuinely meant it at this time. As annoying as Vincenzo could be, he was absolutely my best friend in the world. "You?"

"I want to be in the same class as you too."

"Then I want you to make new friends too."

"New friends? Isn't it better if it's just us two?" Vincenzo asked.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be nice to expand the friendship circle a bit? We could open ourselves up to new possibilities and have much more fun."

"I like you more than other people," Vincenzo told me. That was the first time I had felt my cheeks heating up and my heart beating fast. I think I had felt something for the first time that night, and the realization of my feelings for him scared the shit out of me.

Middle school started and I had realized very quickly that I was the unwanted attachment that came with Vincenzo. At first he hung around me a lot and it was only us two, but like I wished for, Vincenzo made more friends. Never once did I think that wish would be the deterioration of our friendship.

I mean, we were sworn buddies but it was completely different from anything I had ever expected. Vincenzo had become excellent and sociable. Everyone acted as though he was some sort of god thanks to his skill on the football field.

As his best friend, it was frustrating being compared to him all the time. Gradually I became jealous of the people who got even closer than I ever did to him even after all those years.

At first I was treated as just an extra to Vincenzo by everyone else. But then I was ditched for the first time after school shortly after Vincenzo got in good with Martin. Vincenzo apologized and promised that it would never happen again, but it never stopped happening.

I waited for him countless times in the rain, the snow, the cold, the heat and the wind. Gradually he started to use me as errand boy by guilt tripping me. I'd do his homework because he'd get kicked off the team if he didn't, and if he got kicked off the team, his parents would kill him. I'd go buy his lunch for him because he was saving his energy for football practice. Eventually Martin would add his order to my list with Vincenzo's approval.

I ran myself ragged just to keep my crush happy because I felt compelled too, even if it meant playing errand boy to him and his new friends.

In our last year of middle school, I was swamped with my own work and making sure I helped Vincenzo stay out of trouble. "Vincenzo! Your brothers violin-"

"I know about it," at this point i was very used to Vincenzo's consistent annoyance with me. In a way, I was nagging him to do the right thing and take care of his own business, but that was only because I was tired of it. "You're going at six right?"

"Me? I'm fucking tired and I have things to do myself! You're his brother!"

"What's the difference if you go or I go? He likes you more anyway!" Vincenzo waved me off.

"That's not the point! You told your parents you're going! I'm not covering for you if-"

"Hey! He said he didn't want to go!" Martin piped up from beside Vincenzo. I never liked him from the start and the way he spoke up for Vincenzo irritated me. "Just do what he told you, hospice boy."

"Hospice boy?" Vincenzo and the two other guys in the room laughed like they had just heard the funniest thing in their life.

"Why don't you stay out of this? Anyway, I can't-" I was cut off by a hard punch to my face. Martin had grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me up so violently, that it ripped my shirt right in half.

He then punched me in the stomach sending me to my knees. He then kicked me in the chest knocking the wind out of me. At some point I had balled up just wanting the beating to stop.

"Stop it," I heard Vincenzo say.

"Why don't you ever teach this guy a lesson, Vinny. He just back talked, so I'm putting him back in his place, even if it kills him," Martin landed two more punches to my head leaving my head roaring with pain and dizziness. When he yanked me up by my hair I closed my eyes and started to swing blindly out of fear.

Martin easily slapped my hands out of the way and grabbed me by my neck. His big hands seemed to keep on getting tighter and tighter until everything faded to black.

I woke up in the hospital a week later with a fractured rib and a severe concussion. Vincenzo visited a lot but it seemed like he was fully uninterested in my frail condition. He faced my dad and acted as though nothing that had happened could've been stopped by him. He even told me that it wouldn't have happened if I wouldn't have mouthed off to Martin like that. Cementing the fact the even if I got hurt helping him, he wouldn't take my side. And back then I felt that he was right.

As we entered high school, Martin and Vincenzo had grown closer than ever and seemed to get off on scaring me into doing whatever they wanted. Vincenzo's guilt trips turned into consistent threatening. My life became a nonstop living nightmare at home where my dad kept inviting my tormenter into our lives and at school, where the number of tormentors doubled.

I lost sleep and my health deteriorated rather quickly. Hospice boy was the only name people knew me by, they made sure of that. I was called everything but my name and treated as if I were less than a human by everyone I had come into contact with.

I had decided by junior year that I would end the cycle no matter what. Somehow I had managed to distance myself from Vincenzo by throwing myself into my studies and staying out of everyone's way. I became a mute at school and flew under the radar quite easily. Still when it came to Vincenzo, I couldn't say no to anything he asked of me.

All of a sudden, when senior year had started, Vincenzo had attempted to treat me differently. I was finally getting my friend back, or so I thought.

It was all a lie. I was being used again do his bidding. But this manipulation hurt worse than anything I had ever experienced before once I had snooped through his fathers phone.

"Looking back, if I had let it go there, I wouldn't have gotten beaten up this time," I sighed feeling like a thousand pounds had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Bullshit! Your revenge was letting him take responsibility for all of his lies! You didn't ask for any of this and none of your actions warranted any of what they did to you!" Ashton slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

The most confusing part of this all was that, while remembering Vincenzo's face, I couldn't remember one time when he looked at me as though he hated me. It just pissed me off that it made me feel relieved to some degree.

"If it weren't for you, I'd still be miserable," I chuckled. To think that everything he's told me, from comforting words to all the advice he'd given me, had all been just to help me feel better. "You're not scary at all, I don't understand why people fear a big teddy bear like you so much."

"It's just because I look scary," Ashton ruffled my hair. We continued to drive in silence until his stomach started to growl. "Should we head to your house for dinner?"

For the rest of Vincenzo's suspension, I thought about the past very heavily. He clearly lied when he told me that he never thought of me as a friend, if that were true, he wouldn't respond to me like he did. He was pissed at something, right?

But what? I need to hear it directly from him.

The day arrived when Vincenzo was allowed back to school, but for some reason, he never showed up, much to everyone's confusion.

"Daniel!" The teacher who always seemed to be looking for Vincenzo called me over as I sat with Ashton in class. When I made my way out of the classroom he shot me a proud smile. "Where's Vincenzo?"

"He's not at school, so I'm not sure."

"Well maybe he got the dates confused for when he was supposed to come back. Ill call his parents. Oh and Vincenzo is supposed to be joining the team starting today. Good job, Daniel."

"Good job?"

"Vincenzo's mother called and told me that you convinced him to finally join the team and take it seriously. She said he's been reflecting a lot during his suspension and he'll come back working twice as hard. She had a lot of nice things to say about how he would listen to you before her. You're quite the surprising character." The teacher gave me thumbs up and waved me back into the classroom.

That had to be a lie. I did what? I made him reflect on his actions and I made him go back to a sport he obviously didn't want to play? But not only that, I got him to start taking things more seriously?

Me?

I know for a fact that this was bullshit the more I think about it. I never influenced that guy to do a damn thing in my life.

When I arrived home, I said goodbye to Ashton as usual, but went straight to Vincenzo's home. After gathering the courage I knocked until Apolonia opened the door.

"Danny! How are you doing? You look like you're healing up nicely," she smiled. "Are you getting to school alright?"

"What are you playing at?" I asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Mrs. DeVellis, Vincenzo wasn't in school today. Did you know that?" I asked swiping her hands from my face.

"Yes, his teacher called to tell me earlier. It's nothing new, it's not like he ever listened to me anyway."

"His phone was off when I tried calling him earlier. I also texted Giacomo and he told me that he hasn't been here since the incident that night," I didn't launch into any detail, because I had no doubt she knew what I was talking about. Her smile was even wavering as she took in my skepticism. "You told the teacher that everything was normal."

"I just meant-"

"Mrs. DeVellis, it's been ten days! I saw Vincenzo that night and he was covered in blood and bruises and it looked like he was running away. At the time, I was worried about Giacomo so I didn't stop him, but he and your husband are fine! I'm not sure what's going on here, but you seem content for someone who's sons been missing for ten damn days."

"Don't overthink it, Daniel. His cards are cancelled so once he runs out of money, he'll come back."

"So, you didn't report him as missing and he has no way to help himself? Have you tried looking for him at all?"

"There's nothing more to say about this! Why should I embarrass this family more because of my delinquent son-"

"Why are you so cold towards him? Do you even care about him? Is that why you're forcing him to join the football team, because you want to protect your image? Is that why you keep pushing him off on me wand my dad? You even lied to the school and said I convinced him!"

"Well none of this would've happened if you would've just come clean and told us what was going on!"

"I'm not your son's parent, no matter how young you tried to push that on me! He's not my responsibility so take care of your fucking kid! He obviously doesn't want to play football and you keep saying it's because of me...." I trailed off as everything started to make sense. "You wanted to push your image of how he should be so bad, that you just kept lying and ignoring him. That means you and your husband ruined the friendship between us."

"You guys are friends!"

"Why do you think he changed in middle school? He kept doing what you wanted just so he could be loved, but you say it's because of me so of course he would misunderstand and hate me! This isn't the first time, is it?"

"Danny, why don't we-"

"Did you do this because you felt like I would die soon, so my feelings wouldn't matter?" I accused her. I knew it wasn't true in the slightest, but it was the only thing that I could throw at her right now. "You used me as a babysitter without even caring about how I felt about it. Is it because my dad was too nice to say no to you taking advantage of his son?"

"No!"

"You think I don't have long left so it wouldn't matter! Did you think you were doing me a favor or something?! You think you're some kind of saint for giving a sick kid a fake friend?! This is your path to heaven you always talk about isn't it?"

"Danny! Off course not! I didn't know-"

"How could you not know what you guys were doing?! You neglected Vincenzo because he was a little bit hyper! Then you pushed him onto me and filled his head up with lies after abusing him! What did you expect to happen!? You've completely ruined the past ten years of my life!" I snapped at her. "You and your husband are pathetic!"

Before she could say her rebuttal I took off towards the direction of town. The moment Vincenzo got close to me, he probably thought that I would be on his side forever and he counted on me.

I just felt sorry for not knowing how lonely he was. If your mom wasn't going to report you missing then I'll find you myself and bring you home.

I know where you are as well.

There was a bar that Vincenzo frequented because one of his shitty friends. It's where I had almost died when Vincenzo spiked my drink. He was only allowed back into the place because he didn't rat anyone out and kept the underaged drinking a secret.

I arrived as rain started to fall from the sky. It wasn't a place I could just walk into, just like I remember. I looked to weak. Probably extra weak now that I was practically wheezing to catch my breath. When did I start sweating so much?

After about thirty minutes of me catching my breath and drinking rain water, Vincenzo came stumbling out. He was intoxicated beyond belief. I watched him try to keep his balance for a few more seconds before falling down pathetically.

Quickly, I ran over and picked him up a bit. I swung his arm over my shoulders and slowly stood us up. It was hard to stand up as he leaned his weight on me, but eventually he straightened himself out to the best of his abilities.

After about a block he started to take his surroundings in. "You again? My mother send you or something?"

"You haven't taken care of yourself lately. Have you eaten anything?" I asked him. "Everyone is worried about you."

"Bullshit! Why do you care? Get off me!" Vincenzo lifted his arm from my shoulder but immediately fell down to the ground. I bent back down and swung his arm around my shoulder using all my strength to boost him up again.

"I came because we're friends. Is this what you've been doing the past few days? What happened that day?" I asked.

"Why do you care?"

"I know why you hate me now and you don't want to tell me, but it might help you feel better-"

"I fought my dad."

"What?"

"You saw it! I fought my dad! Isn't this what you wanted to happen?"

"I never wanted that to happen."

"I hate you, you know that? If it weren't for you, I would've went to Italy with my grandmother and she wouldn't hate me so much! You know the first thing I did when I left that day, was call her. I just wanted to hear her say one nice thing.

"You know what she told me? Everything I've done was my own fault. That I won't amount to anything because of the devilish road I was going down. I just wanted to die and turn into dust right there, because she was right! And you're there to remind me of that everyday! I hate you! I fucking hate you, Dan! I hate you!"

Vincenzo was crying. "The rain is freezing cold, right? Why are you walking around with no umbrella, dumbass?" I asked him.

When we arrived at my house, Vincenzo had cried himself into dehydration. I got him some water and heat up some leftovers I pulled from the fridge.

"So how the hell did you find me?"

"You go there a lot, I've picked you up from there a lot after Martin just leaves you passed out there. I just got lucky that you were at the first place I checked. If you weren't there I wouldn't know where else to go. By the way, I never suggested for you to do anything with your life, since we were close and you didn't listen to your parents, they thought you would listen if they said I suggested it. When you got in trouble they took your stuff and gave it to me."

"Are you talking about the guitar? You expect me to believe you?"

"Take it back then, I don't give a shit about it. When you get back to school you'll need to find the football coach because you've been signed up for the team."

"What the fuck?!"

"Apparently it's because i convinced you, but it's all because I had no idea what's been going on. I understand now why you treated me the way you did, but I honesty didn't know. I'm really sorry. I was told the guitar and all the other things given to me were being thrown out, but I've kept them in good condition. I'll give them all back if you want them, but they might smell like the basement."

"How can I ever believe that?" Vincenzo looked incredibly conflicted, but that was understandable. His parents have been lying to him all this time after all.

"You know how you don't want to play football? You should try bringing it up with your parents," I told him not wanting to argue or get into any petty shit.

"Are you kidding me? They won't listen to me!"

"I confronted your mother about what they've been doing behind my back. I said a lot of things that they should be able to think long and hard about. They'll probably think differently this time." I assured him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"How else can I make it up to you?"

"That's not your responsibility! If it was all a misunderstanding like you said, why are you doing all this for me?"

"I'd like it if we could be civil," I held out my hand for him to shake. "And even if we can't, I'd like you to experience some kind of happiness. It sucks to see you act out like that because you're someone I care about."

Vincenzo stared but didn't take my hand to shake. Nothing more had to be said about anything I guess. If I were him, I wouldn't have much to say either. So I dropped it without protest.

After a few hours of Vincenzo eating, and sobering up, he finally started to head home. Before he left he looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he must've changed his mind, because he stayed silent.

When he left, I couldn't help but feel so relieved that I called Ashton.