I'll Be There (MSPA)

John froze, his body tensing up before he gently cupped Dave's face in his hands and tilted it up so he could look Dave in the eye. "Dave, Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" He embraced Dave tightly, holding the other boy's head close to his chest. "I won't let him do it again! You hear me? I'll keep you safe, I promise!"

Dave reached up to tangle his fingers in John's messy black locks, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath as he did so and fighting back his tears. He'd already cried in froth of the boy once in the past twenty-four hours, and that made him feel like enough of a fool; he really didn't want to do it again. Cool guys don't cry...

That thought was enough to set him off again. His breath hitched in his throat and the tears began to flow beyond his control. He didn't want to be cool anymore, not if being cool meant betraying someone's trust in him the way Bro had blatantly fucking done. He didn't even know what he wanted, except that he wanted to stay there with John. He didn't want to read into just what that might mean and, frankly, it didn't much matter to him at the moment.

He gladly buried his face into the light blue fabric again, inadvertently breathing in John's scent as he was fiercely held against the boy's chest. He couldn't put words to what he felt for the boy, and he had no desire to pin their relationship down under one description; he just wanted it to be as it was and not try to define it because it, whatever it was, was good.

John simply held him and let him cry. Stroking his back and murmuring soothing things into his hair, waiting for him to calm down once again. "Its okay, you can get through this. You're not alone, I'm here"

"I-I kn-kn-know... I kn-know..." he said through his tears as he clung desperately to his friend.

After a few minutes of helpless crying, Dave managed to get himself under control again. There were still tears in his eyes and rolling slowly down his cheeks, but he'd stopped sobbing and could breathe easily again. He took a deep, even breath to steady himself and looked up into John's eyes. "I know, John. I know I'm not alone. You can't even imagine how much it means to me that you're here for me," he said softly.

"We're gonna go tell my DAD, okay?" John murmured quietly. "He'll take care of it, and then you can stay here; you won't have to go back to BRO. Okay? He can help us so Bro can never touch you again."

He leaned, still holding Dave to his chest, to retrieve a box of tissues from his nightstand drawer. Setting the box on the bed, he used a tissue to gently wipe away Dave's tears, using gentle touches and more soothing murmurs.

Dave closed his eyes and relaxed under John's gentle (loving?) ministrations. It felt so good to just relax, to have nothing to prove; to know that this sweet, nerdy, ridiculous boy would accept him for who he was, no matter what.

"John?" he asked softly. "Can we... just stay like this a while longer?"

"We can stay like this for however long you want." John replied "I already told you: I'm here for you. I've got you, and I won't let go unless you tell me to"

He looked into John's blue eyes and his lips parted as though he were about to speak, though he had no idea what he was going to say. "I don't..." he began, but when he realized what was about to come out of his stupid mouth he literally choked. He turned his head and covered his mouth to stifle the sudden coughing fit, his heart thundering in his chest. There was a reason that you were supposed to think before you spoke, he realized, and he had better learn to keep better fucking control of his mouth. If he'd said those words, it could have ruined everything. If he had said "I don't ever want you to let go."

"Hm?" John murmured, gently rubbing Dave's back. "Are you okay? When you're ready we can go talk to my DAD, okay? Until then, just relax, I'm not going anywhere."

He knew what Dave had been wanting to say, he could still feel the intent of it in the way Dave clung to him. Dave needed him to be strong and to hold him. He needed something solid that he could cling to, so he wouldn't be swept away by his tears.

He took several deep breaths as he lay there in John's arms and eventually got himself under a reasonable amount of control. "I... Okay, I'm ready. I think I'm ready," he said after a while. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Do you want me to carry you?" John asked. "That way, I don't have to let go. I know you don't want me to"

"I..." He tightened his grip on John and laid his head on his friend's shoulder, unable to meet his eyes. There was a soft sound in the back of his throat that was almost a whimper (but cool kids don't whimper, of course) before he answered. "Y-yeah..."

John shifted so he could sit up with his legs over the edge of the bed,his feet barely touching the floor. He shifted Dave so he was in his lap, arms around his neck, before hooking on arm under Dave's knees and supporting his lower back with the other and then standing up.

John was stronger than he looked. This was easily demonstrated by how he carried Dave, who was bigger than him though they were close in age, less than a year apart, yet John still carried him with ease.

As he walked them downstairs to the kitchen, John continued to whisper soothing things to Dave.

Dave held tight around John's neck. He was terrified, though he would never say it; John could probably feel his heart racing, though. He was really upset and freaked out that his Bro could do something like this to him but, still,it was his Bro. He didn't want to get Bro in trouble, but he definitely didn't want to go back there again; he didn't want a repeat performance.

Mr. Egbert paused when they walked into the kitchen. He took a moment to process the way John was holding Dave and Dave's overall body language. "Boys, what's wrong?" He asked quietly.

John looked at his dad seriously. "DAD, Dave can't go home."

Mr. Egbert frowned and moved to pull a chair out from the table so John could sit with Dave in his lap. "What happened?" he asked

John nudged Dave gently. "You have to tell him." He murmured. "Its not my story to tell."

Dave shuddered, dreading this, and dug his fingers into John's shoulders. When he finally worked up the nerve to begin speaking, he stared at the floor by John's feet, unable to look Mr. Egbert in the eye.

"I... When I got home from school yesterday, Bro had dinner all ready for us. He never cooks, so I was... really surprised. After we ate he said he wanted me to hang with him for a while... in his room," he took a deep breath and tightened his grip on John, betraying how hard it was for him to speak about it. "A-and it was all cool at first cuz, you know, I l-love my Bro and I l-love hangin' out with him. A-and we played some sick new game he bought... a-and th-then he..." He shuddered again, tears streaming down his face. "He started... molesting... me..."

"..." Mr. Egbert was speechless. He turned back his back to the boys and moved to the fridge, pulling the phone book down from on top of it. "Go back upstairs, boys. I'll take car of this. I'll bring some pancakes up for you in a little while."

"Okay DAD" John mumbled, standing while still cradling Dave in his arms. He trekked back up to his room and set Dave on the bed before crawling in next to him, so Dave would be cradled between him and the wall. "You wanna watch some TV?" John asked softly.

Dave shook his head, still crying quietly, and grabbed a handful of John's shirt. "I just..." he said, almost letting his mouth get away from his mind again; almost saying "I just want you to hold me."

John grabbed Casey and put it in Dave's arms, wrapping them tightly around it before pulling the blanket up over them and laying with his arms around Dave. "Is this better?" he asked, resting his his head atop Dave's. "You don't have to stop yourself. Ask for whatever you want, and I'll do everything in my power for you"

Dave felt a sudden painful wrenching in his heart at how selfless his friend was and wondered what the hell he'd done to deserve it. He smiled through his tears. "...sorry. I just feel... kinda homo asking you to do this."

John gave a little snort. "Dave, you're my best friend. Nothing about you could ever be homo." He smiled a little. "You could probably ask me to suck cock and it still wouldn't be homo. Just relax, I'm not going to judge you for anything. I'm here for you"

Dave stared at him blankly in surprise for a long moment, then wrapped his arms tightly around John's neck, pulling him close. It broke his heart how much his friend loved him; it broke his heart how much he loved John. "Fuck, John," he said, a little sob catching in his throat.

"How many times do I have to say it before you believe me?" John asked, whispering it softly in Dave's ear. "You're my best bud, and I would do anything for you."

"I love you so much, man," he choked out. "So fucking much."

He swore it felt like his heart was going to burst. He'd always loved John on some level, but this was ridiculous. His feelings for John were officially the lest cool things he'd ever felt, but Jegus did he love that boy.

"I know" John murmured softly. "I love you too Dave." He wrapped his arms around Dave a little tighter. "Best buds man."

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John laid down for bed and pulled out his book. He wouldn't go to sleep just yet because Dave was going to come crawl into bed with him in at some point in the next hour.

After the whole business with BRO had been taken care of, Mr. Egbert had offered to take protective custody of Dave. He cleaned out his room upstairs and gave it to the blonde teenager, clearing out his den to become his new room.

BRO had been sent to a psychiatric Hospital.