Ethan slowly finished off his letter, making sure his signature was as neat as possible before folding the paper and placing it inside the envelope. His hand carefully inscribed the address onto the front of the envelope before sealing it and placing it into the box with the others. He reminded himself to look through the letters later on to see if anyone had taken any of them. He knew they at least had seen who he was writing to, each letter was out of order and he was always careful to organize them from newest to oldest.

Right after he finished placing the letter in it's (now organized) pile, he heard a shout from downstairs. 

"Ethan I swear to God if you don't get your ass down here right now, Lord help you!"

He sighed at the familiar sound of the screaming before groaning and pushing himself up off of his bed and sluggishly made his way downstairs. 

"What?" he snapped.

"Good, you've returned from your fortress of solitude. Take out the trash."

"You seriously screamed at me and threatened me just because you wanted me to take out the fu-" he caught himself just in time. "Freaking trash?"

"Yes, now hurry up."

Ethan groaned and made his way outside with the trash bag. He shivered slightly at the abrupt change in temperature before shoving the bag into the trash. A weary glance was thrown around before he headed back inside.

On his way back into his room, he gave one last call over his shoulder, "Does anyone else need me to play servant for them?"

He heard the start of a response be shouted his way before he called out, cutting them off.

"Don't," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just don't. It's a rhetorical question."

He stomped up the rest of the stairs before slamming his door shut, some more paint falling off it in the process. He set his alarm clock, knowing it would be pointless due to the fact his sister would wake him during the night, but it helped him to develop routines. One last check was done before he turned off the lights and settled into a restless sleep.

~~~

Ethan dragged his feet as he walked inside the ancient building ahead of him. The building itself had many names, depending on who you asked, the most frequent being 'Hell', but the government would prefer teenagers to refer to it as 'school'.

His shoulder was jostled by someone as they ran past him in order to get to their friends. A sarcastic "It's no bother, just walk on through me." was muttered underneath his breath as he glared daggers into the back of the person.

His feet shuffled against the worn tiled floor before he reached his required destination (and probably his favourite one, besides the cafeteria and music room). The rusted door swung open with a creak and he swung his backpack off one shoulder to access it and place (what he deemed useless) textbooks he needed for that day.

He closed the locker door with a loud bang and turned around to lean against it, making his daily scan for his friends (and someone else) a lot easier. 

That's strange, he thought as he searched for one particular person. He's normally here by now… He may just be late, must have missed his bus, that's it, yeah, he assured himself.

"Ethan!"

Ethan blinked rapidly at the sudden calling of his voice,

"Sofia, I didn't see you!"

"Of course you didn't, I'm a dwarf surrounded by fucking giants!"

Ethan laughed at his friend of three years, she always had a distaste for people taller than 5"6.

"Has everything been okay at home, with, y'know, your parents and all that?"

Ethan blinked at her question, she was the first out of his friend group to ask that question and for it to not sound forced.

"It's as good as it can be I suppose."

"That's all you can hope for I guess," she gave a wry smile.

"Yeah."

Sofia checked her watch, her eyes widening. "Shit, I better get heading off to class, it's at the other end of the building and you know how Miss Harriman gets."

Sympathy filled Ethan, "Oh God yeah, you better get going, doesn't she come five minutes early too?"

Sofia rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it's so stupid. Anyway, I'll see you at lunch, bye!"

Ethan waved at his friend before turning back to face his locker. He shit his eyes as he rested his head against the cool metal. A deep sigh of exhaustion left his mouth, he really didn't want to be here. 

He opened his backpack one last time to make a check of his books before seeing he forgot to pack his Spanish textbook. A groan left his lips as he fought with the rusted locker to open so he could get his mandatory book.

During his struggle, the bell let out a shrill cry which put Ethan in even more of a bad mood.

"Great, now I'm late. Stupid locker, stupid Spanish-" he slammed the door of the locker before kicking it and wincing at the sudden pain. "Stupid school."

His feet sluggishly slid across the floor as he questioned why he even bothered showing up to school. 

"Why do I even need an education, I can just go and become a stripper. Yeah, that's what I'll do, I'll become a stripper. God knows I'm not cut out for the Navy which is the 'male' equivalent of 'Fuck it, I'll become a stripper'. I mean, I do have the body for a stripper," he laughed at himself. "Look at me, I'm talking to myself."

Ethan shuffled his feet as his mind began to wander. Ugh, why do I have to be here, he thought. I don't need to know fucking Spanish.

Before Ethan could take another step, he was shouldered into the lockers on his right hand side. His head slammed against the metal. Stars swam in his eyes. His eyes blinked as he tried to regain his bearings.

A cold voice was heard from the left- or was it the right? Ethan couldn't tell. 

"Make sure he pays."

Just as Ethan managed to stand up, he was greeted with a swift punch to the face. Blood dripped down his face, down onto his shirt, staining it scarlet. His eyes watered as he tried to duck. A knee to the gut was the next greeting he got. His stomach jumped to his throat. He was going to throw up. That, he was practically sure of.

His body slid down onto the floor as he was greeted with more hits. A punch to the jaw. A kick on the diaphragm. He could barely move.

"What do you say we leave this punk a little something to remember us by?"

"I think that's a great idea."

Ethan could barely identify that the voices were male at this time. He slowly curled into a ball, clutching his knees with tears streaming down his face.

The blows had blurred into one at this point, the only thing he could distinguish was if it was a kick or a punch. One particularly harsh blow to his back jostled him out of his position, leading him to be splayed across the now red floor. 

Ethan's hands clawed at the floor as he attempted to drag his body away from his attackers. The echoing sound of footsteps rang through the hallway making Ethan perk his head up.

Around the corner of the hallway appeared a very familiar face to Ethan. He would recognize that person anywhere, even if his eye was a bit swollen. It was William. Hope bloomed in his chest, the vines wrapping around his lungs and heart, making themselves at home. He gazed upon William's face and whispered out three words.

"Help me. Please."

A sardonic laugh tore his hopeful gaze away from William to the figure behind him. His eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the unfamiliar face. His chest tightened as he watched cobalt blue claws grasp William's bicep. A deadly smirk washed over the woman's face. 

"Come on babe, he's a nobody. He's not worth your time. Besides, he's gay, he deserves it."

William looked at Ethan blankly before giving a short nod at the two males laughing at Ethan's futile attempts to escape, before turning and walking away.

The roots of hope that had implanted themselves around Ethan's lungs and heart squeezed. They squeezed and squeezed and squeezed to the point where he couldn't breathe. How could William do that? How could he leave him to the wolves?

"Looks like your little pretty boy isn't going to help you after all."

At this point, Ethan didn't even try to deflect the blows. He just lay there and took them, kick after kick after kick. A fierce burning sensation in his arm made him suspect it was broken. His vision swam in and out. He figured he had a concussion. A searing pain rang through his head before his vision turned to black.