CWs/TWs: abandonment issues, PTSD, flashbacks, blood, abuse, blade, sh. Just an extra warning, this chapter does go into detail with abuse and using a sharp object to hurt someone. Please stay safe, my loves <3

.•°*°•.

"Hey, G," Bdubs said, walking up to the table with Grian, fWhip, and Sausage. "Hey, fWhip and Sausage." He sighed as he sat down.

Grian frowned. "You okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "You look upset."

Bdubs shrugged and rested his chin in his palm. "I like Impulse," he said, "but he's dating stupid Tango and Zedaph." He groaned and let his head fall onto the table. "I hate everything."

Maybe he is a real human being with emotions, was the first thought to cross Grian's mind, and it almost made him giggle.

"There are tons of people you'll have the chance of dating," Sausage said. "Maybe Impulse isn't the one?"

"But who else is there?" Bdubs lifted his head. "I really like Impulse. He's so... so... him, you know?"

fWhip and Sausage looked at each other, smiling. "Yeah, we know," they said in unison.

Bdubs sighed. "I just he..." He looked up and paused, watching a boy with long, brown hair walk by. He sat upright and stared for a moment. "Who is that?"

Grian looked over. "Who, Ren?" he said.

Ren waved at a blonde boy and sat down next to him, laughing when another boy at the table said something.

"Ren..." Bdubs smiled a bit. "I'm going to go say hi." He stood up and left without another word.

Sausage giggled. "He's silly."

.•°*°•.

Scar was furious. Absolutely livid. Raging.

Mumbo called him after school to tell him that he was going home with his father once he was legally allowed to leave the rehab center, which meant he was going to be taken all the way to Hermit Town. In another province. Hours away.

"Your dad has no right to do that," Scar had said, and Mumbo gave him a weird look.

"He's my dad, Scar."

"So?!"

Scar spent the rest of the day crying and throwing fits about it. Although he knew Mumbo probably never told his dad about Scar and Grian being his boyfriends, it was still infuriating that his father would separate him from all of his friends.

"I can't do anything about it," Mumbo had said. "If I refuse to go with him, CPS will put me in foster care instead."

"Stay with me!" Scar begged. "Nana loves you, she wouldn't mind!"

Mumbo didn't answer that, instead telling Scar he had to leave for an activity.

Scar had a meltdown after, afraid he would hardly ever see his boyfriend anymore. He suddenly hated Mumbo's father.

.•°*°•.

Mumbo couldn't understand why Scar was so upset. It wasn't like he would have to live with his dad for long. His eighteenth birthday was just around the corner, so he could leave practically whenever he wanted. And Scar was already eighteen, so he wouldn't have any problems visiting if he wanted to. Unless he didn't want to...

Suddenly, Mumbo wanted to cry.

.•°*°•.

The Smiley Guy
HEY G

G
oh hey bdubs

The Smiley Guy
YOU WANNA HANG AT MY PLACE
ETHO IS HERE

G
sure but
why r u speaking in all caps??

The Smiley Guy
cmon g, you aint feelin excited?

G
well
not really
but

The Smiley Guy
hghh i'll ask someone isle then
isle*
isle*
DAMMIT YK WHAT I MEAN

G
wait no
i can hang
let me tell my dad

The Smiley Guy
yeah yeah
be here at four thirty

Grian yawned a bit, slightly tired from the day and the teasing about wearing a wrap over his head, though he'd told everyone he was just having a bad hair day. He didn't hate the idea of going over to hang out with Bdubs and Etho (though, Joel would probably want to come, too, with Etho there), but he was exhausted and wanted a nap first. Lucky for him, he had an hour and a half still.

"Hey, Dad?" he said as he slowly opened Lizzie's and Joel's bedroom door. Lizzie was sleeping and Joel was busy with school work.

"Yeah, bud?"

Grian slipped inside the room. "Bdubs wants me to hang out with him and Etho," he said. "Can I-"

"Not now, kiddo," Joel answered.

I didn't even finish my sentence...

"I'm busy and your mother is exhausted. Maybe some other time."

"He said four thirty," Grian said, shying away toward the door again. "And Etho's there."

Joel sighed and looked at Grian. "I'm sorry, but I can't take you to hang out with them today," he said. "I'm behind on school and I have three overdue assignments. I'm too busy right now."

"It's an hour and a half later-"

"I said no."

"But Dad!"

Joel sighed again. "If Lizzie wakes up and wants to take you, then fine," he huffed. "But I cannot take you."

Grian groaned. "But she's not gonnaaaaaa," he whined. "Can't you leave your work for, like, two minutes to drive me? Etho can bring me back-"

"Grian. Can you leave?" Joel sounded really irritated. "I need to focus and you're being obnoxious."

The boy blinked and stared at Joel for a moment. "Sorry." He turned around and left the room, standing outside in the hall for a second before starting to cry. He wasn't trying to be obnoxious, he just wanted to hang out with his friends. He didn't want to be annoying.

He walked back to his room and laid down on his bed, curling up around his Grumbot plushie with his blanket covering him up to his nose. He didn't know why he was so affected by what Joel said. It wasn't like he didn't just get called annoying and a pester all day at school. And it wasn't like he was upset about being told no. He just hated to be annoying to his favourite people. He was afraid they'd leave him or force him out.

.•°*°•.
[For context, this scene takes place back when Grian's mum kicked him out of the house in APBAON]

"Where have you been, you little fuck rat?"

Grian froze in the doorway. The lights were off, he thought, panicked. She was supposed to be asleep. I thought she was asleep! "Sam's house?"

His mother narrowed her eyes at him. "Sam's house, huh?" she asked. "I thought you broke up with him."

How did she know that? Did he tell her? "Uh, no, we got back together," Grian said with a nervous laugh.

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes. "Well, you know I don't like liars," she said, and Grian backed himself up against the door.

"R-right."

She stepped closer and crossed her arms. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

Grian shook his head. "N-no, ma'am," he said. "I wouldn't l-" His breath caught in his throat as she suddenly slapped him across the face. He shrieked when she grabbed him and slammed him again the door.

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" she screamed, then shook him, making him sob. "Huh?! Is that what you think of me?!"

Grian was shaking so hard he could hardly form words. "I-I- n- n-"

"Answer me!" she demanded, slamming him against the door again.

"Yes!" Grian shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're stupid and dumb and I hate you! I wish you were dead!"

She laughed and backed away. "Oh, yeah?" She laughed again, more hysterically this time. "Oh, yeah?! You want me dead, huh?" She shook her head, smiling as she walked into the kitchen. "Boy, I have a fuckin' treat for you!"

Why did I say that? Why did I say that? I'm so stupid- Grian ran his hands through his hair, wanting to crawl into a hole and decompose and be eaten bh mushrooms. I'm dead, she's gonna kill me-

"How do ya' veggie peelers?" She walked back out of the kitchen, and Grian silently wished he had taken his chance to run when he spotted the vegetable peeler in her hand. It looked like it had been sharpened. "I've saved this for a special moment like this when you especially need to learn your place." She grabbed Grian by his chin and place the peeler next to his cheek. "You've gotten a little chubby, hun, let me help you with that." She slid the peeler across his skin and he screamed as the blade cut off a strip of the skin on his cheek. "Look at that, you look better already."

"Stop!" Grian wailed as she dragged it down the side of his neck. "Stop, stop, it hurts!" He felt the wound on his cheek begin to sting as tears fell into it. "Mum, please!"

She brought the peeler down his arm and the blade quickly became dull, making the cuts more jagged and painful than when it was sharp. "Damn," she hissed. "You've made the thing fucking dull! You idiot!" She reached over next to her where a half empty wine bottle sat on a small side table and raised it over her head to smash it down onto Grian, causing him to fall onto the floor. "Can't you fucking do anything right, you piece of shit?! This is why your brother and your father aren't around anymore! Because of you! You ruin everything!" She huffed and let herself catch her breath for a moment. "Get the fuck out of my house, you goddamn disappointment. And don't you ever cone back here again."

Grian looked up at her. "B-but-"

"Leave!" she screamed, grabbing a shard of glass and throwing it at him, cutting his jaw. "Get out of here! I don't fucking want you anymore!" She let out a hmph and crossed her arms. "You're too fucking annoying. Not to mention how obnoxious your insistent whining is."

Grian stared at the ground, his hand gripping a piece of broken glass. "Okay," he whispered. "I'm sorry for being a nuisance."

"You better fucking be."

The only place Grian knew how to get to was Jimmy and Lizzie's, so he went there. As he was walking, he stared at the piece of glass he took, then stopped and started to cry. He wanted to hurt himself with it. He knew he could, and he could tell the others it was his mother's doing and get away with it.

With that thought in mind, he spent the whole walk cutting what wasn't already injured of his arms and he tossed away the glass as he approached the house.

.•°*°•.

"You said he was going to be here," Impulse said to Bdubs, who jumped.

"He said he was," Bdubs said, feeling suddenly very nervous. "There's probably a lot of traffic, is all. Yeah... traffic."

Impulse sighed. "Maybe he really does hate me," he murmured. He had asked Bdubs to invite Grian over so he could apologise to the poor guy for the other day. "This was a stupid idea."

"Just hang on," Etho said, pulling out his phone. "I'll call Joel, see what's going on."

.•°*°•.

Joel groaned when his phone began to ring and he reluctantly looked to see who it was. Curious when it was Etho, he picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, are you on your way?" Etho asked, confusing Joel.

"On my way?" he echoed. "For what?"

Etho sighed. "Did Grian never ask you to bring him over?" he asked. "Bdubs wants to hang out and Grian said he'd ask you to bring him over."

"Oh, riiiiiight," Joel said. "I told him no."

"Why?"

"Etho, I'm busy! I can't drive him there right now."

"Then ask me to?" Etho sighed. "Sometimes you're a little too dense."

"Excuse-"

"I'm coming over to pick Grian up."

Joel blinked. "No, he's probably napping now-"

"See ya', byeeee."

Before Joel could protest further, Etho had already hung up and Joel was left to himself.

.•°*°•.

Etho is the cool uncle that takes his nephew to Disneyland without permission

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Love y'all <333