- Chapter 135 - Healing Together -
Warnings: mentions of abuse, injuries, crying, emotions, pretty strong language (especially for me)
Modern AU
Third Person POV

Note: Meme taken from iwantaferret_ . Ferret, if you'd like me to take it down, let me know and I shall. I just figured I'd share the beauty you shared with me.
Also, everyone go read Ferret (and Ash's stories). And other peoples... but seriously, if anyone needs Newsies fic suggestions and suggestions for amazing people in the fandom, I know a lot (and I give lots of suggestions to people as a general thing because I'm asked a lot).

One of the things Spot picked up on very quickly when he started dating Race and Albert was that both of them were victims of abuse.

Unlike Elmer, he didn't come into the relationship knowing their full pasts because he wasn't in the same friend group as them.

Despite this, he still picked it up pretty quickly.

Signs were obvious with both of them.

Race hated taking off his shirt in front of them. He flinched a lot and little things made him think he'd either get in trouble or someone was mad.

Albert apologized a lot for being uncomfortable with certain things, and like Race, he flinched a lot and thought he was in trouble a lot.

After dating them for three months, Spot found out their stories.

He found out about Race's abusive father and his mother's death. He also found out about Albert's abusive ex, and after the ex started appearing more, Jack told him about how the ex had a tendency to try to get Albert back.

Well, Spot was going to make sure that never happened again. However, this proved harder than he thought it would be.

A random day in October
In the kitchen

Albert sat at the kitchen table, sipping his hot chocolate and talking quietly with Spot as they waited for Race and Elmer to get home.

Spot was starting to set stuff up for Race. He wasn't allowed to cook, but Race always appreciated it when he set stuff up.

After a few minutes, the door opened.

Race and Elmer stood in the doorway.

Almost immediately, Spot picked up signs that something had happened.

Elmer looked like he had been crying and he was clinging to Race's hand.

There was a red mark on Race's cheek and his chin. However, he looked far too calm for how shaken up Elmer looked.

Spot's eyebrows furrowed. He looked over at Albert, who had seemed to notice it too. His eyes flicked to Elmer.

Albert nodded, understanding what he was saying. He stood up. "Hey, El, I got a new hoodie," he informed him. "Wanna see it? I think you'll like it."

Elmer nodded. He slowly let go of Race's hand and took Albert's instead.

Albert lead Elmer to the bedroom.

Once they were out of sight, Race sighed softly and walked over to the stove. "Man, he's got a deathly-tight grip," he commented.

"What happened, Racer?" Spot questioned, not in the mood for the stalling that was inevitable.

"I mean, for someone who has such small hands and is so soft, you'd never think that he would have such a tight grip," Race rambled a bit as he started washing his hands so he could cook. "He's full of surprises, reall-" he stopped when he turned around to grab the towel and Spot stood in front of him.

Spot stared down at him. "What happened?" His voice left no room for any more stalling.

Race swallowed hard. "Nothing?"

Spot narrowed his eyes. "If nothing happened, why was Elmer so scared?" he asked him. "Why was he clinging to you? Why did it look like he had been crying?" he questioned. "Answer me this, Racetrack; if nothing happened, where did that slap mark come from?"

Race flinched, looking away. He knew Spot knew something had happened; it was no use hiding it. "I saw him..." he mumbled.

Spot's eyebrows furrowed. "Your father?" he asked. "Isn't he in jail?"

Race swallowed and shook his head. "I saw Jonathan..."

"You!" Jonathan stomped up to Race and Elmer, fuming. "You took him from me!"

Race instantly shoved Elmer behind him to protect him. He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "It was your actions that drove him away, not someone stealing him," he responded.

Jonathan clenched his jaw. "No, he would've never left me if you hadn't shown up." He spat at him. "You and that brat." He turned his blazing glare to Elmer.

Race winced and wiped the spit off of his face. He took a deep breath and stood in between Elmer and Jonathan. "You have no right to talk about him like that," he stated, trying to stay calm and not get triggered.

Jonathan glared at him. "Listen here, son of a b-,"

Race winced and blocked out the rest of the word from his mind. It had been a while since he'd been called that.

"I can do whatever the heck I want to." Jonathan grabbed Race by the chin and pulled him close, glaring into his eyes. "You stole my boyfriend and I will get him back."

Race narrowed his eyes. "Not if I can help it, bastard." He shoved him away.

Jonathan stumbled back. He gritted his teeth, anger burning in his eyes as he walked back over to Race and slapped him across the face.

"Race!" Elmer grabbed him before he could fall.

Anger burned inside of Race and he pulled away from Elmer. He went back over to Jonathan and shoved him to the ground.

Jonathan yelled out in pain.

Race kicked him down so that he stayed down. He glared at him. "Albert was a minor when you two started dating," he reminded him calmly. "Albert left you because you kept hitting him, forcing him to do stuff he didn't want to, and degrading him, and honestly, I'm pretty freaking proud of him for doing that."

"You-" Jonathan yelled out in pain when Race kicked him again to shut him up.

"I don't know if you've ever heard the song "F-R-I-E-N-D-S", but let me spell it out for you because I'm not even sure you can spell." Race stared down at him. "D-O-N-E, you and Albert are done. D-O-N-E. And nothing is changing that," he told him. "Leave us all alone and give up, or I'll go to the police."

Jonathan glared up at him, but stayed silent.

Race quickly grabbed Elmer's hand again and quickly ran off, pulling him along.

Spot's eyes widened.

Race used the towel to dry off his hands, shrugging a bit as he did anything he could to not look at Spot. "Maybe fighting him was a bad idea, maybe I stooped to his level, but I said what I needed to say and what he needed to hear," he stated.

Spot felt anger pulse through his bones, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Race, look at me."

Race kept his eyes on the ground.

Spot sighed. He gripped Race's chin lightly and turned his head so he was looking at him.

Race winced in pain and quickly pulled away. "That hurts," he mumbled.

Spot instantly realized why. "Oh crap, I'm sorry," he said. "But please look at me, Racer," he almost pleaded with him.

Race slowly lifted his eyes to look into Spot's. "Did I stoop to my father's level?" he whispered.

Spot shook his head quickly, his eyes widening. "No, no! Race, you were protecting yourself and Elmer, and I'm so grateful you protected him," he quickly told him. "I'd probably had done the same. Jonathan should've never come near you, never mind touched you." He lifted his head to look at Race's chin.

There were definitely marks on his chin where Jonathan's hand had been that would inevitably bruise.

(A/N, don't call me Davey (or do, I like Davey), but I've used "inevitable/inevitably" twice in this one-shot already.)

"Jonathan?" a voice whispered.

Race and Spot's head instantly turned towards the doorway, where Albert was standing. Elmer stood behind him, clinging to his arm and wearing a hoodie.

Race cringed and leaned back against the counter. "Not how I wanted this to go," he muttered.

Spot rolled his eyes fondly. "No, you probably wanted us not to notice and for you to play it off until the interaction destroyed you inside."

Race bit his lip. "Yeah, but sometimes, hurting yourself is better than seeing the pain in someone else's eyes." His eyes flicked to Albert for a split-second.

Albert frowned. He turned to Elmer and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Go see Spot," he mumbled to him.

Elmer nodded and walked over to their oldest boyfriend.

Spot wrapped his arms around him.

Albert walked over to Race. He slipped his hand under his chin and gently lifted it, being careful not to hurt him. He frowned.

"Don't look at me like that," Race muttered, diverting his eyes back to the floor. "You've been through worse with him; this is nothing."

Albert hummed, rolling his eyes fondly. "Sure..." his frown deepened as he studied the injuries, "but I'm pretty sure this one hurts more than the ones I received."

Race felt his heart flutter a bit with the knowledge that Albert cared, but he just pretended to roll his eyes fondly. "You're a sap."

Albert nodded. "But at least I care."

"At least you care," Race agreed, having done this a million times before with him.

Albert smiled a bit. "Alright, here's the plan," he started.

Race narrowed his eyes at him. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like part of this plan," he muttered skeptically.

Albert ignored him. "You tell me what happened, we talk about what happened while you make food, and then we take showers, look at those injuries, and go to bed," he told him.

"I agree."

Race glared at Spot, who only smiled smugly in return, looking anywhere but at Race.

"Me too," Elmer mumbled, cuddled against Spot's chest, "'specially the cuddles part."

Something about the boy's response made Race's heart sting. How could Jonathan call him a brat? Race had no idea, but he was sure Jonathan was a little messed up in the head, so he figured that had something to do with it.

Spot and Albert chuckled at Race.

Race looked back at Albert. "May I disagree with parts of that plan?" he questioned.

Albert shot him a look. "No."

Race pursed his lips. He decided to try his luck, and usually, his luck with gambling was pretty good, so he had confidence. "You can't make me." He narrowed his eyes at Albert.

Albert smirked a bit. "Oh yeah?"

A bit later

It turns out Albert can make him.

And he did.

"Okay!" Race almost screamed, extremely out of breath. "I will! Just stop- tickling me!" He squealed and tried to crawl away from his tallest boyfriend.

Spot and Elmer watched from two seats at the table, both of them chuckling/giggling.

Albert chuckled. He sat up. "Alright, story time."

Race rolled his eyes fondly, staying laid down on his back and staring at the ceiling as he tried to catch his breath. "I may just fall asleep right here..." he muttered, covering his eyes with his arm.

Albert narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't make me tickle you again."

Race quickly sat up, his eyes wide. "Okay! Story? You want the story? Okay, well, once there was a Princess-" he started, panicked and rambling fast.

"Racer." Spot chuckled a bit.

Race paused. "Hm?" He looked over at Spot. "Why have you interrupted my amazing story, peasant? You have five seconds to explain, before off with your head!" He made a gesture like the Queen of Hearts did.

Spot chuckled, and Elmer giggled.

Albert rolled his eyes fondly. "The story of what happened earlier today, Antonio," he told him.

Race raised an eyebrow at him. "Was my real name necessary?" he questioned.

Albert nodded.

Race rolled his eyes fondly. "Fine." He sighed over-dramatically. "But my story was far better than this one," he grumbled.

Spot chuckled. "I'm sure it was, but for now, tell Albert what you told me," he responded.

"And remember, you are not your father," Albert reminded him. "You didn't stoop to their level, and I'm proud of you because it's hard to deal with Jonathan and I know it's hard to talk about it," he told him.

Race looked at him. Tears stung his eyes and he groaned. He quickly wiped his eyes. "I don't have emotions for the whole time and hours after, and I don't react to mean things, but the second someone says something nice, I cry?" He rolled his eyes fondly. "Mean."

Albert chuckled. "Come here." He opened his arms for him.

Race raised an eyebrow at him. "You want me to crawl around on the... floor?" He pretended to stick his tongue out in disgust.

Albert raised an eyebrow at him. "You were just laying on said floor," he reminded him.

"That I mopped earlier," Spot added.

Race blinked at the two of them, before grinning and laughing. "Being dramatic is fun."

"If I didn't live with you, I'd ask if you were drunk," Elmer mumbled, his voice a bit muffled by his hoodie sleeve.

Race pointed at him. "I'm not, but that sounds like fun," he said.

"Oh man," Spot muttered, rubbing the temples of his forehead. "I'm not mentally ready for that yet."

Albert chuckled. "Come here, Racerrrr." He made grabby hands for him.

Race complied and crawled over to him.

Albert pulled him into his lap, wrapped his arms around him, and smiled. "Now, we can be comforted by each other's presence and feeling safe, while healing together," he mumbled to him.

Race smiled a bit. "Yeah," he whispered. He groaned again when there was a stinging behind his nose and tears formed in his eyes. "Dear God! Why do emotions exist?!"

Albert and Spot chuckled, while Elmer giggled.

2380 Words
This was so random, but here it is lol. I kinda like it