#sm angst

Roy was honestly surprised when his parents let him invite not only Susie, but Ross and Robert over. He was obviously glad, it just seemed a bit sudden. "Man, this place rocks, Roy!" Robert said as he looked around the lavish living room. "Heh, yeah, it does." was all Roy could muster, it was nice to not worry about anything for a bit, just enjoying a day with the people who mattered. "Now try coming here for dates all the time." Susie chirped, "With this fine specimen." She playfully tugged at Roy's cheek and got a little chuckle out of him. “So, being the great host I am,” Roy half-joked, “I wanted to ask; What do you guys want to do?” “Wait, you said you were writing a song, right? Can we hear it?” Again, Ross’s question took Roy a little off guard, it’s not that he didn’t like the attention, It was just something he wasn’t used to, at least not in this way. “Only, and I mean only, if  you promise not to make fun of how cheesy it is.” Which it was, a ballad he was working on for Susie, he’d never admit it, but it started as a birthday present he didn’t finish in time. Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, Susie butted in, “AND if you promise not to get jealous of his singing voice.” “Oh, yeah” Ross joined in, “I don’t think I’ve heard you sing, man.“ “Then you’re missing out. Trust me.” “Why are you saying that like I’M the talented one?” “Roy, you’ve heard me sing, you know which one of us has that kind of talent!” “I know, I know, you’re just a lot of fun to mess with.” And without missing a beat, Susie responded to her boyfriend the exact way he expected from her and loved her for, “Yep, we’re really in sync like that.”

That was when Roy's mother poked around the corner "Does anyone want anything? I've been meaning to try some new smoothie recipes." "Nope, but thanks for the offer, Mrs. L." Ross responded for the group, he really had a way of reading the room.

Just then there was a knock at the front door *knock--knock* Roy's hearing suddenly clouded as he heard his father in the next room say "Ah, on time for once." Suddenly everything seemed darker, everyone turned to him. Their mouths didn't seem to move, yet he could hear them, in unison "Go on Reynold, answer it." He suddenly found himself right in front of that door, the knock came again, faster *knock-knock* Roy felt something in his hand, nevermind the fact that it hadn't moved. The door opened and there he was. "Hey little man. Long time no see."

Suddenly Susie entered from Roy's peripheral vision approaching that monster, a calm, accepting smile on her face, yet her eyes full of tears, pleading through acceptance. "Thanks for this little number, Roy. Still not quite on par with those 2 treats you got me a few years back." "No-NO, NO! You're dead, you died that Halloween! You're gone! GONE!" Even with the door open, that knocking persisted *knockknock-knockknock "Thanks again, kiddo." He said as he wrapped his arm around Susie's. Her voice sounded so peaceful as she said; “Don’t worry, Roy. This is how it was always going to be.”. "You've done wonders for you're dear uncle." His voice rang out as the knocking turned into a near constant drone of beating against Roy’s mind. He tried to reach out, to pull Susie away, to do ANYTHING. But he couldn’t, he ran faster and faster, but with every step he felt like something was pulling him down.

“Dad…?”

Richard looked up from his paperwork and towards the door of his study to find his son standing there, looking nervously in, like he was expecting to be hurt for bothering him.

“Yes, Reynold?” he asked as he turned back to his desk.

“I… I have to tell you something…”

“Well, spit it out.”

“Uhm…” Roy took a deep breath, “Do you remember how you’d send me off to my uncle… whenever you and Mom went on business trips?”

“Yes, and I’m also aware that now that he’s dead, I have to send you off with your little friends. What does it matter?”

“Well… I-I… whenever you did, I…”

C’mon Roy, be strong. He’s gotta know, or you’ll never get over it!

“Whenever you did… dropped me off, I mean… he… h-he would…”

“Let me stop you right there,” Richard interrupted him, setting his pen down. “I know.”

“You… you know?”

“I know. In fact, that was the point.”

Roy took a step back, shock and fear beginning to take over. “What do you mean…?”

“Me and my brother… We had a deal. As long as I allowed him to have his… ‘time’ with you, he’d continue to fund our company. And as long as he funded our company, I told him he could do as he wished,” he stood, “And so our ‘business trips’ weren’t as much business as they were me and Carmen having alone time. I told Carmen that you simply wanted to visit my brother, and surprisingly, she fell for it. Never questioned how nervous you obviously were.”

“W… what…? You just… let it happen…?”

“Yes, I did, Reynold, were you not listening to me?”

Roy thought he was going to throw up. He just… let him do all of that to me? For money?

“You basically sold my body… to my uncle?” his voice broke on the last word. 

“No, I didn’t ‘sell your body’. I merely made a simple business deal. With time and kids, you’ll understand as well.”

“N-No, no I wouldn't! I’d never sell my son’s body to some… some perv, just because he’s funding a company for me!”

“I don’t like that tone, Reynold…” Richard warned as he turned to face his son, towering over him. He slowly walked towards him, watching as the short boy started to cower, his sudden confidence fading as fast as it had come. Kneeling down to meet his eyes best he could, he kept his tone low. “So let’s try this…”

He suddenly grabbed Roy’s face, covering his mouth and preventing him from crying out to his mother.

“Should Carmen find out about this, because of you, or anyone else, I will not hesitate to bring violence into this household. Is that what you want, Reynold? For your father to turn violent, because you just so happened to slip about his business deal?”

The young brunette shook his head the best he could, tears budding in his eyes and slipping down his face, grabbing at his dad’s wrist until he let go.

“Good. Now get out of my office, I have work to do.”

~~~

“Your dad really said all that?” Ross asked, him and Robert having just been told the horrible story of what Roy’s dad had told the young brunette.

“Mhm…”

“Roy…” Robert mumbled, before enveloping the shortest in a hug.

“”I-I still can’t believe he’d…” he trailed off before reciprocating the hug with a small, shuddering sob that he tried to keep from growing.

“I know, but it’s ok. You told us, and now we can try to do something about it…” the ravenette assured him, gently patting him on the back.

“Who’s gonna believe us…? And besides, what if my dad finds out I told you guys…? H-he might beat me, a-and I… I don’t want to…”

“Shh, it’s ok. Just… thanks for telling us. That was really brave of you, y’know,” the blonde encouraged him.

“Yeah, a lot of people don’t talk about that. It’s really good that you did,” Ross agreed.

“It… it wasn’t easy…”

“Yeah, we guessed that… but you were strong and did it anyway. You could’ve held it in, but you didn’t. That takes guts,” the ravenette pat him on the back.

“Thanks, guys…” Roy mumbled into Robert’s shoulder, feeling Ross join the hug and relaxing a bit, feeling safer in his friends’ arms.