Chapter Text
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Chapter 20
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Noctis frowned as he looked down at his best friend, curled silently up against him. Prompto was dressed only in a thin hospital gown, but appeared rather cozy anyway. Besides for one arm and hand, which he had hugged against Noctis"s waist, he was wrapped rather snugly in the sheets and blanket from the bed, with Noctis"s arm around his shoulders. As the younger boy fell asleep, his grip around a fist-full of Noct"s shirt had loosened, but he still kept his arm there, with his head resting against the prince"s chest.
The blonde boy seemed completely and utterly exhausted. He"d been gone for days, and though Noctis was mostly just immensely relieved that his friend was back, that he was alive and semi-well, he couldn"t help but to notice Prompto"s story didn"t fully add up. There seemed to be a lot left unsaid. Things that didn"t line up, things that went unexplained...
Noctis closed his eyes and exhaled. He couldn"t understand why his friend would have just run away like that. Why he"d put himself into such a dangerous situation. Obviously leaving the city on his own was a bad idea. He had no car - couldn"t drive even if he did have one... No money, no experience living on his own out in the wild... Everyone knew daemons prowled around after dark outside the city... And he wanted Noctis to believe he"d go out into the world anyway just because he didn"t feel wanted at home?
Blinking his eyes back open, Noctis stared down at his friend"s face again, smiling slightly as he took note of the boy"s numerous freckles, his eyelashes resting softly on his cheeks. Even with the bruises on his cheek, the cut and bruise on his forehead, with his hair messy, uncombed... He was beautiful, precious... the best friend Noctis had ever known. Prompto didn"t treat him like a prince. He treated him like a friend. No one else did that.
Prompto"s breaths were slow and even, calm... A stark contrast to the bruises lining his limbs, the mark on his cheek and forehead. Noctis couldn"t get out of his head the things his friend had told him, about the man who had hurt him. Prompto was only fifteen years old. He was somewhat skinny, not overly muscular. He jogged a lot to stay fit, but didn"t lift weights or box or practice any physical combat. He wasn"t built to fight off some creepy adult man...
Noctis frowned as he stared down at his friend, at the bruises. The ones on his arms were so clearly from someone"s hands holding him down. He even had similar marks on his neck... and the boy had admitted to having been drugged. Even if he weren"t already physically outmatched, if he was drugged, he wouldn"t have been able to even try to defend himself... Prompto must have been so scared.
Noctis looked down at him with narrowed eyes and a pout on his lips. He wished he could have been there to protect his friend, or even just to have taken some of the pain away for him. Noctis would have gladly offered himself up to save Prompto from any amount of the pain and fear he"d undoubtedly suffered while he was gone. The boy was so innocent, so sweet. He was the last person on earth who deserved something like that to happen to him.
Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Noctis inhaled another breath, trying to release a bit of anger and frustration with the situation. He just couldn"t understand why Prompto would have run away. He had expressed before that he didn"t feel noticed or wanted at home. It wasn"t a new problem for the boy... So why had he run away now? What was different about Friday evening or Saturday morning?
Noctis had last seen his friend on Friday after school. They had had dinner at a fast food place and played video games at the arcade until pretty late. Then Prompto went home and Noct went home. Noctis didn"t know he was gone until halfway through the next day. Noctis had slept in - as he always did on Saturdays, then called Prompto"s phone at about 1pm. When the blonde boy didn"t ever get back to him after a few hours and some concerned followup texts, Noct had gone over to his house to find that he wasn"t there.
His parents weren"t there either - but the door was unlocked, so Noct had gone in on his own and inspected the house. Prompto"s bed looked a little messy, but that wasn"t necessarily cause for concern by itself. What was concerning though was that he"d left his shoes and his camera behind. He didn"t take his school bag, his phone, his wallet. Didn"t seem to have taken anything. Noctis had assumed his friend may have been kidnapped... But Prompto said he wasn"t - that he ran away...
Maybe he"d run away in a hurry. Maybe some of the marks on him weren"t from the man he"d described. Maybe his dad or mom hurt him. Maybe he ran away from home so quickly he couldn"t stop to get his camera or shoes, because he was afraid of his parents.
Noctis stuck out his lower lip in a pout and brushed some of Prompto"s hair out of his eyes. Prompto let out a small breath and a tiny noise that almost sounded distressed as he flinched slightly under his friend"s touch.
"Sorry..." Noctis whispered, moving his hand back down over Prompto"s chest.
It had to have either been Prompto running away quickly out of fear, or someone taking him... Regardless of what Prompto said - those were the only scenarios that made sense. Why would he run away from home without his shoes? And surely he"d have taken a bag with some clothing, his camera... He just left out of nowhere, so abruptly, after Noct and he had a great time that evening. Noctis couldn"t believe that he"d just run away without warning after that.
Maybe his dad hit him again. Maybe he hit harder than usual... Or maybe the story about the stranger hurting him was only half true... Maybe his dad had done it.
Noctis inhaled a small breath as he stared with widened eyes down at his friend. He couldn"t let Prompto go back to them if that was the case. It was bad enough ignoring the other things. Prompto had begged him not to make a big deal out of the times his dad beat him with a belt. He promised it wasn"t a big deal when he had a hand shaped bruise on his wrist one day, or the time Noctis had come over to visit without calling and heard Prompto"s mom full-on screaming at him.
Had they escalated even further? That would explain why Prompto would run away out of nowhere without even so much as his shoes. If his father turned to sexual abuse? Prompto would have been terrified. Of course he"d have run off without wasting any time to gather supplies.
Prompto let out another soft whimper and flinched under Noctis"s hands, reaching toward Noct"s arm and shoving it weakly.
Noctis grimaced, moving his hand away from Prompto"s chest. Maybe he was having a dream.
Prompto choked out another tiny noise, fumbling with an uncoordinated hand toward his neck, like he was trying to pull some invisible restraint away from his throat.
"Prom... You"re okay..." Noctis whispered, reaching carefully toward his friend"s hand.
Another shaky cry choked its way out of Prompto"s mouth as tears started streaming down his cheeks.
Noctis exhaled a soft breath, turning toward his friend in the hospital bed and putting a hand on each of his arms. "Hey... Prompto, you"re having a nightmare... Wake up..." He urged.
Suddenly, Prompto let out a rather shrill scream, pulling away from Noctis and crawling backwards on the bed.
Noctis winced, reaching toward his friend, grabbing his arms so he wouldn"t crawl right over the edge. "Prompto! Wake up! You"re okay! You"re with me!"
"No!" Prompto sobbed, blinking his eyes open as he reached toward Noct"s hands, grabbing toward his friend"s fingers and desperately trying to pry them off of his arms. "Get off of me! Let me go!" He cried, looking up and blinking a few more times as a look of relief and realization washed over his features. "Noct?" He whispered, tears shining in his eyes as his lower lip trembled.
"Yeah. Prom... It"s just me... You"re okay..." Noctis whispered, allowing Prompto to sink into his arms as the younger boy let out a small, shaky whimper. "It"s just me and you in here. No one else. You"re safe. No one"s gonna hurt you."
"Noct... Don"t let go..." Prompto whimpered, his voice shaking with tears.
"I won"t." Noctis promised, his voice small. He didn"t know how to deal with this. He wasn"t used to any of his friends needing this degree of comfort and reassurance. "I"m right here, Prom. I"m staying right here. No matter what, okay?"
Prompto shook his head and sobbed, grabbing toward the front of Noctis"s shirt. "I couldn"t breathe..." He whimpered. "I was so cold..."
Noctis stared down at the top of Prompto"s head as he hugged the boy close, running one hand up and down over his friend"s back. Prompto was trembling slightly now.
"It was so long ago... I was so cold... I hated it. I just wanted a real family... Everything was so cold, so clinical... I- I don"t remember..." Prompto whispered, his voice still shaky as he shrunk down futher, hugging his arms around Noctis"s stomach. "I was alone. I was always alone, and so cold, and... I can"t... I don"t remember..." He said again.
"Don"t remember what?" Noctis frowned. None of this sounded like it was in response to the other thing Prompto had told him about. The man attacking him. He wouldn"t have been alone then... What was he talking about?
"The cold water... The la-" Prompto pulled back a bit and blinked a few times... "N-nothing..." He whispered, looking down again.
"Prompto... What is it?" Noctis asked.
Prompto shook his head, staring downward and growing more tense as his shoulders trembled.
"Okay..." Noctis nodded. Clearly Prompto was holding back, not wanting to tell Noctis everything that was on his mind, but that was okay. As he"d said before, the important thing was that he was home. He was safe now. Noctis could be a better friend, make sure he always felt wanted... and look after him. No one would ever hurt him again. Not if Noct had anything to say about it.
"I wish I was born into your family..." Prompto whispered. "But I wasn"t. I was born in..." He paused, blinking a few times before continuing with obvious hesitation. "I... My family- It"s just... I don"t know, Noct... I don"t want to talk about it..."
"Maybe you can tell me later." The prince suggested. "I"ll always support you, no matter what, Prom. No matter what your secrets are, whether you share them with me or keep them to yourself. You can tell me. Only if you want to... You don"t have to tell me anything you don"t want. Okay? No matter what it is, you"re still my best friend. Whether you tell me more not."
Prompto sniffed and nodded. "Thanks Noct..." He whispered.
"No problem." Noctis hugged Prompto tighter. "You okay?" He asked.
Prompto shook his head no, resting his cheek against Noct"s chest.
"Do you want to talk about it Prom?" Noctis wondered. "Your dream?"
Prompto paused for a moment. "I dunno." He finally whispered. "It wasn"t real..." His voice was still shaking. "Noct, it wasn"t real... I"m not there. I"m not with him. I won"t ever be with him ever again. I"m here now..." His voice shook more and tears collected in his eyes, very close to falling. "I"m alright now. I"m with you..."
"Yeah..." Noctis agreed. "You"ve got me here, and I"m not going anywhere. I won"t let anything happen to you." He promised.
"Noct..." Prompto breathed. "I was so scared..."
"I know..." Noctis frowned, hugging his friend securely, carefully resting his hand against the back of Prompto"s head. "You"re safe. Everything that happened to you is over. I know it was scary, and you can talk to me about it. Any time... But you"re safe now. It won"t happen again. I promise..."
"It was the worst thing that"s ever happened to me, Noct. I felt so powerless... So humiliated." Prompto choked. It was clear he was seconds from crying. "I begged him to stop. He wasn"t going to stop. He wasn"t ever gonna let me go."
Noctis closed his eyes, leaning down so that his cheek rested on Prompto"s hair. He felt tears in his eyes and his throat growing tight. He honestly had no idea what to say to his friend. Prompto was quite clearly devastated by what had happened, and of course he was. The story he"d told Noct was horrible. Noctis wanted to fix this, to take away every bit of pain Prompto had, to erase the memories and bruises... but he couldn"t. He couldn"t fix this. There was no way to do it.
"He laughed at me... He was choking me and he thought it was funny..." Prompto whimpered. "He made me kiss him. I bit his tongue and he hit me. He put his hands all over me and choked me and I couldn"t breathe. I wanted to pass out, because I didn"t want to be there for it... I tried to think of something else, but I couldn"t. I kept coming back to what he was doing."
Shaking his head, Noctis exhaled. "He was wrong to do that to you, Prom..."
"I know... But I should have tried harder to get away. I should have kept the doors locked." Prompto frowned. "I was so scared. I could have tried harder to get away before it was too late, but I was so scared of what he"d do..."
"It"s his fault. Not yours. You know that, right?" Noctis frowned. "No matter how you ended up there, no matter if you were too scared to do as much as you think you could have... No matter if you weren"t careful, left doors unlocked... whatever... no matter what... It"s not your fault. Don"t put that weight on yourself, Prom. You were terrified. Maybe he"d have hurt you worse or killed you if you fought back harder. You can"t know... But he was the one who chose to do something cruel. It was his fault. Not yours."
"I know. I realize that, Noct... I just wish... Looking back, there"s things I could have done differently if I"d known. And I know that"s not helpful. I couldn"t have known. I did my best to keep myself safe with what I knew, what I didn"t know..." Prompto breathed.
"It"s not your fault. No matter what. Not even a little." Noctis repeated.
Prompto nodded, leaning closer against Noctis and remaining silent for a few minutes before finally whispering in a tiny voice. "I didn"t want it..." He sniffed. "He said I wanted it... That I didn"t realize it, but my body wanted it... I didn"t want it, Noct."
"Of course you didn"t." Noctis whispered.
"I wanted to die. I wanted to pass out, and if I couldn"t pass out, I wanted to just die." Prompto spoke, his voice tiny, shaking. "I thought I"d never see you again, that he"d take me with him and it wouldn"t ever end. He said he was going to take me home with him, and that we"d do stuff like that over and over. I wanted to die."
Noctis bit his lower lip to keep himself from choking out a sob of his own. He couldn"t break down. Prompto needed him right now. "I"m glad you didn"t, Prom. I"m glad you made it home. I couldn"t stand to never get to see you again. You"re safe now. It"s over." He whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
"I know." Prompto whispered back. "Thanks, Noct. I"m glad I"m back. I"m so glad you"re here. I don"t think my parents are coming..." He frowned.
Noctis shook his head. Prompto"s parents, as usual, were "busy." As far as Noctis knew, no one had even told them Prompto was gone or that he"d been found. Noctis sure as hell hadn"t. He didn"t even know how to get in contact with them. Had they even been home? Would they have noticed their son wasn"t there?
"It"s okay that they aren"t coming though." Prompto went on. "I"d rather have you here. I don"t want to tell them what happened. I don"t want to tell anyone but you."
"Alright." Noctis nodded.
"Don"t tell anyone else, Noct." Prompto breathed, settling down against Noctis"s chest and closing his eyes. "Don"t tell Gladio or Ignis. It"s really embarrassing. I don"t want them to look at me weird or treat me different."
"They wouldn"t." Noctis frowned.
"Just don"t tell them. Please?" Prompto pouted.
"Okay. I won"t. It"s your story to tell, or not tell. It"s up to you." Noctis nodded, hugging Prompto closer against his chest.
For a moment, the two sat in a silent embrace. The only sound in the room was an occasional sniffle as Prompto fought back his tears, and slow, measured breaths from Noctis who was trying his best to keep his tears at bay as well.
Prompto shifted slightly, sniffing back tears. "Noct?" He whispered.
"Yeah?" Noctis responded.
"If..." Prompto hesitated. "If I wasn"t from here... If I was from somewhere else, and I wasn"t really from Insomnia, and my parents adopted me... If I was from somewhere that doesn"t really have a good relationship with Lucis... What would you do?"
Noctis frowned. Was that it? Did his parents tell him he was adopted, that he was from somewhere that Lucis was on bad terms with? He got scared he"d be in trouble for it? Would he really run away because of something like that?
"It wouldn"t matter, Prom..." Noctis answered, still hugging Prompto securely, running a hand gently up and down his arm. "You"re still Prompto. No matter what. It doesn"t matter where you"re from... You"re here now, and you"re my best friend."
Prompto let out a small laugh, shaking his head slightly. "Even if I was from somewhere like Niflheim?"
Noctis shook his head. "You"re still you. You"re my friend... You can"t control where you were born, and it"s only a place... Being born there doesn"t make you into anything different than if you were born here. You"re you... Is that why you ran away? Are you from there? Did your mom and dad tell you that?"
"No." Prompto whispered. "I mean... Yes... I am from there... But my mom and dad didn"t tell me... Someone else did... B-but I can"t say more..." He pulled back out of the embrace, looking at Noctis with huge eyes. "I shouldn"t have said that... D-don"t ask me to say more. Please don"t ask..."
"Okay..." Noctis stared back. "I won"t... I"m always here if you want to talk, but I won"t make you."
Prompto looked nervous as he looked back up at Noctis. "They"re not really my parents... And when I left Insomnia, I was... kinda looking for answers about where I was from... It"s kinda complicated, I guess... but I"m not really from here..."
"It doesn"t matter." Noctis repeated. "You could be from outer space... It seems like you are sometimes." He forced a small laugh.
Prompto laughed as well. "Or even if I got hatched from an egg at the bottom of some cold dark cave?"
"I"d like you even more." Noctis smirked. "You did hatch from an egg, didn"t you? Like a chocobo? It"d explain the hair."
Prompto faked a pout. "It doesn"t look like a chocobo butt!" He laughed.
"Of course not." Noctis smirked, but quickly remembered he still wanted answers about Prompto"s parents. He needed to know his friend was safe with them, that he wasn"t going to go home and get hurt. "Prom..." Noctis hesitated. "Did your mom or dad do something? Did you leave because you were scared of them?"
"No..." Prompto answered, looking down, then inhaling a small breath as his eyes widened and he looked back up.
"What?" Noctis stared back.
Prompto"s lower lip was trembling as tears were welling up in his eyes. "He"s gonna be mad that I left... Noct... He"s gonna be mad... Oh my god..." Prompto looked across the room toward the door. "He didn"t do anything... Th-that"s not why I left... But he"s gonna be so mad that I ran away... I"ve never done something this big... This dumb... Running away with no warning? Just leaving? Making a huge scene and getting everyone all worried... Noct, he"s gonna be so mad..."
Noctis shook his head. "You don"t have to be scared of him, Prom. I won"t let him hit you... You don"t have to go back there."
Prompto choked out a small sob, shaking his head. "Yes I do... I have nowhere else to go... I can"t just leave... They"re my parents, whether they"re biologically my parents or not... They"re not gonna just let me leave..."
Noctis exhaled and closed his eyes. "I"ll talk to my dad. You can stay with us. Forever if you want. You don"t have to keep putting up with this. You"re not supposed to be afraid of your parents, afraid to go home..."
Prompto sniffed and shook his head, looking away. "I can"t... They"re not gonna just let me, and if I try to leave, and your dad says I can stay there, they"re gonna know I said something, and they"re gonna be mad... I wasn"t supposed to tell anyone. Last time my dad hit me, he told me to shut up about it - to never tell anyone or I"d be in a lot worse trouble. Noct, if I tell and they find out, he"s probably gonna really hurt me..."
"You don"t think the king of Lucis will be able to keep you safe, Prom? If my dad says you can leave their house, you can. He"ll even send someone to collect your things. You never have to go back again if you don"t want to." Noctis explained.
"Really?" Prompto whispered.
"Really..." Noctis nodded. "They won"t dare try to challenge him. I"ll bet they won"t say a word after Dad sends them a formal letter explaining. They"ll probably never try to contact you or anything. They"ll be scared to. The actual king is going to order them to leave you alone. They will."
"Yeah..." Prompto laughed breathlessly and looked down. "I"m probably not worth enough for them to even try to keep me... Kinda sad really... You"re probably right. They might literally never say a word to me about it."
"It"s their loss, Prom." Noctis forced a small smile.
"Yeah." Prompto laughed nervously. "They might still not know I was gone... You think your dad would notice if I went missing for a whole weekend?"
"Of course he would. He"s busy, but he"d notice..." Noctis assured him. "We might not have frequent family dinners and stuff, but he"s a caring man, and that"ll extend to you. He knows how important you are to me."
"I am?" Prompto looked away as though embarrassed.
"Of course you are." Noctis frowned. "And you"ll be important to my dad. It"ll be like you"re a prince too... Just not a crown prince. You"ll get the life without the responsibility." Noctis noted with a shrug. "The best of both worlds."
Prompto let out a small laugh, wiping tears off his cheeks. "That sounds pretty cool, to be honest... I get to be a prince but I never have to do anything important?"
"Yeah." Noctis nodded. "You can just do the fun stuff. My dad will probably make do your homework though... When I slacked off, he hired a tutor to kinda force me to do it... He"ll probably do the same to you."
Prompto smiled. "That wouldn"t be so bad. Might be nice for someone to care about my grades."
Noctis shrugged. "Sure, because the gods know you don"t care about "em."
Prompto chuckled. "You got me there."
"And when we"re not busy mastering high school..." Noctis added. "We can stay up playing video games every single night!"
Prompto laughed, laying his head against Noct"s shoulder. "We could be like brothers... We could be a family."
"Yeah." Noctis agreed. "Then you can train with Gladio, like I do."
Prompto shook his head and let out a breathless laugh. "I don"t know about that... The guy"s the size of a mountain... He"ll kill me."
"No he won"t." Noctis assured him. "He"ll hold back until you"ve trained a bit. He wouldn"t just beat you up. He"d understand you haven"t trained much before. He may look like a tank, but he"s actually pretty cool. And he thinks you"re hilarious."
"He does?" Prompto narrowed his eyes. "I always thought he was really annoyed by me."
"No." Noctis shook his head. "He"s annoyed by me. He thinks you"re adorable. He"d definitely go easy on you to start, Prom. He"d probably legit cry if he accidentally hurt you."
Prompto shook his head, laughing. "You"re an idiot, Noct. He would not."
"Sure he would. I"ve experienced how he acts when he"s talking to me, versus when he"s talking to you... He treats you about the same as he treats his little sister..." Noctis shrugged. It was true. Gladio could be such a dick to Noctis sometimes. Any time Prompto was around the guy was like a different person. He was always careful about Prompto. He knew the younger boy wasn"t trained in fighting.
"Hmmm..." Prompto frowned. "Not sure if I should be offended by that..." He laughed.
"I wouldn"t be. Gladio"s not patient with just anyone... So he"d probably be able to teach you a lot about fighting." Noctis noted.
Prompto shook his head again. "I don"t know, Noct... I"ll think about it, I guess... But I"d be more into Ignis cooking for me than Gladio kicking my ass. Do you think we could do that instead?"
Noctis couldn"t help but to laugh. "I"m sure that could be arranged."
Prompto exhaled and closed his eyes again, resting his head against Noct"s shoulder. "I"m glad you"re here, Noct. I"m glad I have you."
"I"m glad too, Prom." Noct agreed. "I always wanted a brother."
"Me too." Prompto breathed, wrapping his arm around Noct"s, gripping his hand. "Stay here with me until I can go home?" He requested.
"Of course." Noctis nodded. "You still tired?"
Prompto yawned and nodded. "Never been so tired in my life."
"You"ve been through a lot." Noctis noted. "Try to get some sleep, Prom. I"ll talk to my dad. We"ll get you a room ready... You won"t ever have to worry about not having a family, or anyone hitting you when you do something dumb... Won"t happen."
"That"d be cool, Noct." Prompto smiled. "Thanks for being here for me. Not sure my parents even know yet that I was gone."
Noctis frowned, hugging Prompto closer against his side. His friend deserved so much better. Prompto wasn"t even exaggerating. If Noctis found out that the boy"s parents hadn"t ever noticed he was gone, Noct wouldn"t have been surprised.
"Won"t be like that anymore, Prom." Noctis promised.
"I know." Prompto spoke, his voice tired and small. "You"re the best, Noct."
Noctis smiled. "So are you, Prom."
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THE END
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