#tdcdouglas

He'd said his goodbyes. He'd gone to the ringleaders and resigned before he'd even done that, taking the remainder of his pay to the bank before he'd sorted things out at home. He'd taken everything of his out of the tent, all of the weapons he wanted had been removed from the practice tent, and he'd cleared all his belongings out of Douglas's home. 

He'd been alright, mostly, as he'd said his goodbyes to the people who'd come to mean so much to him. The goodbyes that had hurt the most were Douglas's and Meeko's. Even then he'd managed to keep himself mostly together. But as he took a final look around the apartment, Hiccup had to sit down for a moment and curl in on himself, gripping at his hair for a moment. This was tearing him apart inside. 

He'd made the decision to leave while it was dark, while the circus was asleep. It would be easier that way - Hiccup knew that if he ran into someone, especially Douglas, on the way out, his resolve might break. Grabbing the few bags he had, Hiccup whistled quietly for Draco before slipping out of the apartment for the last time, leaving his pink key on the side.

As he wandered through the sleeping circus, Hiccup came to think of all the friends he would miss. Pearl and their skittle times, Yuna and the soft way she cared about him and Draco. Rachel and her innocence. Faline and the way she always seemed to be there whenever he needed someone. Justin and his strange, strange japanese games and the way he had struck up such an odd, yet close friendship with the man. Shenzi and her mother-like protection of him. Elsa and her shyness, but her kindness once you broke through to her. Connor...little Connor. Hiccup loved him so much, it hurt him to leave. Toothless and the way he just popped up out of nowhere whenever Hiccup seemed to have food. But most of all, he would miss Meeko and Douglas. The two people here that he loved the most.

And then there were the people that were long gone, that had hightailed it out of the circus just as he was doing. Leaving in the dead of night. Marie...everything about Marie. Hiccup still desperately loved her. Jackson, his first boyfriend. Astrid, his best friend in the entire world. All of them meant so much, it had only been a matter of time before Hiccup followed their footsteps. Maybe he would see them on his travels. 

As he reached his car, Hiccup shoved all the bags in the trunk before leaning against the metal for a moment. He took a few deep breaths, wrapping his hand around the necklace that Douglas had placed around his neck. He had that on, along with the cuff Shenzi had given him, and he held the bag of skittles that Pearl had given him, a snack to eat while he drove. Douglas's necklace calmed him, a little piece of the friend he'd come to hold so dearly.

Kieran hadn't stopped crying for a while. Even when it wasn't audible, there were tell-tale tear tracks staining his puffed cheeks. Everything in the last few weeks had led up to this - this single goodbye that Kieran would get to say to his brother. He wouldn't allow himself to see him after this, it would hurt too much. He'd sat silently for a while, merely looking at his brother as silence fell around him. He knew Sarah was lingering not too far away, but she was giving him space. He was glad of it. He was a mess, but he wanted this goodbye to be his and his alone. Nobody else needed to witness this. 

He started in broken speech, punctuated by a quiet, chest-wrenching sob every now and then. "I'm sorry, brother-" a sob. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me," more sobbing. He had to stop, pressing his burning face into his somewhat cooler hands for a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he murmured as if he were a broken record. "I'm sorry that you went through a life of hell for me. And I'm sorry...I'm just sorry," he stopped, shaking his head. "You mean everything to me, brother. Everything. I love you, I will always love you. And without you...it's not right. I feel empty, like half of me is gone. Which is why this is goodbye. For good. I can't come and see you after this..it will hurt me too much. The emptiness will come back threefold if I come back to you again. So this is goodbye. Goodbye, Douglas," he finished in a rush before another sob broke his speech.

Hey Douglas...open up. [he knocks on the bedroom door a few times]

Kieran had woken up in good spirits. So far, things were going well. Sarah hadn’t left, Hiccup was gone for a while, and Douglas seemed to be in good spirits too. It was going to be a good day, he felt. It certainly ran smoothly all day, even in the bar despite him being on with Laura. There wasn’t a huge hoard of horny men that suddenly surged towards the bar, it was just nice and quiet for once. Just what he wanted.

He’d just checked out of the bar at 10pm, making room for Lula to come and work. The darkness outside didn’t worry him. He’d always lived in the darkness. Back when they lived with their father, Kieran found that the darkness was the only place they were really safe. He’d never seemed to bother them in the darkness of their small bedroom once it was bedtime. But as he wandered down the usual alleys to get home, he felt like something was wrong.

There was someone nearby. Kieran paused, turning slowly as he narrowed his eyes to atune them to the darkness. “You have something I want,” a low, drawling voice stated out of the darkness. Kieran merely raised his brows, watching as a man slowly moved into some light. Callum, the man from the bar the other day. Danger. Kieran moved slowly, cautiously. He sensed that, somehow, one wrong move would cost him a lot. “You have something that I want, and I always get what I want,” the man told him with a firm tone.

Kieran crossed his arms, still taking small, baby steps backwards as the man advanced. He felt a small sense of satisfaction that he was right about the fact he was interested in Sarah (at least that was what he presumed he was talking about) and that he was dangerous, but he had to focus on the situation. “I’m going to take her,” Callum stated, a smirk on his lips as he closed the distance between them. Kieran was unsure how to respond, whether to play along or to turn and run.

He eventually decided on turning. A bad mistake. Just before he could run, Callum’s hand shot out and slammed into his cheek. A bad mistake. Kieran immediately turned on him, his own fist connecting with Callum’s nose before he brought his foot up and slammed it firmly into his crotch. Hoping it would disable him for a moment, he turned and jogged down the alleyway, but not fast enough. Callum recovered at a spectacular, almost inhumane speed, and chased him down.

Kieran was not a bad fighter. He had beaten Shira into calm the other day, and he had protected himself numerous times before when his brother hadn’t been around. But Callum easily overpowered him. Slamming his fist multiple times into his stomach, Kieran was winded and therefore an easy target. Callum gripped the side of his head and slammed it backwards once, twice, three times against the stone brick wall behind him. Darkness consumed him, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Callum cackled as the man slid down the wall, a trail of blood following him. Deciding to just leave him for dead and let him bleed out slowly instead of gracing him with a swift death. He turned and disappeared back into the darkness, sliding back to his job. His work was done for the night.

Kieran lay unconscious in the darkness until a visitor stumbled across him and raised the alarm, calling an ambulance which then took him to hospital. It was only after reaching the hospital that they found his contact details and phoned a Mr Douglas Murray whom was put down as his first contact.