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Things had been going surprisingly well in Cameron’s life after what he and his new partners had dubbed The Incident. They had perfected the art of turning anger management classes and community service into dates whenever they were given free time, and they had begun spending extra time together after class and work. They were all pretty shitty at the study dates they kept telling their parents they were doing, what with none of them actually giving a shit about school or knowing what the fuck was happening in class at any given time. Sasha had been pulling a couple strings homework-wise so that none of them would get grounded or anything.
That being said, he should’ve known better than to get too complacent. Things were good. His grades were picking up, he had three partners, his dad had been on a business trip and his mom drunk on wine enough most nights that she left him alone and didn’t ask him questions. He should’ve known things were too good. ‘Things’ could never been good for Cameron Solomon. No, we gave away that opportunity on the night he gave away his god damn sanity to a fucking Hell Demon on some useless promise of stopping his parent’s fighting (He should’ve known better then).
His father returned from his business trip a day early to a messy house and a missing wife. Cameron’s mom had decided a girl’s night was in order since her husband would be back soon and she’d lose what little freedom she had, so she left Cameron upstairs working on his overdue essay, headphones jammed over his ears blasting some floaty indie band that Aff had recommended he check out. It was fine. Not his taste, but the band made Aff happy, so he thought he’d give it a shot. He didn’t hear the door open downstairs. He also didn’t hear his father’s shout to see if someone was home. He certainly didn’t hear the stomping footsteps coming up the stairs to his bedroom door.
He did feel his headphones get ripped from his head. He did see them get snapped over his father’s knee. He did feel the way his dad curled a fist into the front of his flannel shirt, tugging him up out of his desk chair before he could say a word.
“I was speaking to you, Cameron. You’d know that if you got your head out of your ass and paid attention for once in your god damn life.” His father’s voice was biting as usual.
“Dad, I--” Cameron swallowed, ignoring the sharp pain that burst behind his eyes. “You’re back early.”
“I was phoned the house hours ago to say that. Are you fucking deaf?” Cameron barely had a chance to wince back before his father’s open palm caught him upside the head, clapping over his ears and making them ring. Dazed, Cameron shook his head, blinking wildly. “Where is your mother.” When Cameron didn’t respond immediately, he raised his hand again, causing Cameron to shrink back.
“She’s at Christina’s! We didn’t hear the phone. We didn’t know you’d be back yet. Let me go.” The words came out in a rush. Cameron pushed at his father’s hand, but he knew it was a mistake immediately when he saw how his father quirked his eyebrow and glowered.
“ Never ,” He said, punctuating the word by shoving Cameron roughly into his wall, “Tell me what to do, understand? Speak to me in that tone of voice again, and you won’t like what happens. This is my house and you are my son and I will do as I please, do you understand?”
Cameron ground his teeth against his father’s words and the painful whispering in his skull. “I didn’t take a tone with you, I just answered your fucking questions, alright? Get off my fucking back.”
“Excuse me?” Oh, he was fucked . Okay. Alright. He didn’t even see his father move before he felt the impact of a fist on his cheek, his dad’s wedding ring cutting a smooth line of blood across his face. “Do not speak back to me.” Cameron’s ears started ringing once more as he was cuffed across the ear again. It took a few more hits before the immediate shock wore off and Cameron was finally able to hold up his hands.
“I’m sorry!” He tried to take a step back only to remember the wall behind his back. His dad raised his fist again, but Cameron ducked under his hand, watching as the drywall crumbled under the impact of the punch. Just another hole in the wall they’d have to cover up with another stupid fake-ass family portrait or something. There was no way they were going to be able to re-sell this house without some renovations. Taking advantage of the fake-out, Cameron lunged under his dad’s arm, grabbing his tiny pile of important stuff off his desk (It was a habit at this point to keep his keys, phone, and wallet within arm’s reach for these specific reasons). His dad tried to yank him back by the hair, but before he could get another hit in, Cameron was already stumbling his way down the stairs, grateful that he’d forgotten to take off his sneakers when he got to the house earlier.
He vaguely registered the sound of heavy footfall chasing after him, but before they could reach him, he was out the door and running for his bike (kept unlocked at all times. A risk, but in moments like this? Necessary).
As he got farther away from his house, his brain got foggy. It wasn’t the painful fog that came with his visions or anything, but it was hard to focus. He distantly felt his hands tug his phone out of his shirt pocket as he waited for the stoplight to change at the crosswalk he stood at. He didn’t really know how long he had been biking, but he knew he couldn’t go back to his house. His fingers tapped out a message to Aff, but if asked he wouldn’t have been able to say what he’d asked. Probably a quick message just to see if they were home. Aff’s house was closest to wherever the hell he was.
They were home.
He walked his bike the rest of the way, as the floaty, distant feeling became harder to ignore. It felt a bit like he was hopped up on some of Jamie’s shit, but he hadn’t had anything to take, and he hadn’t seen Jamie in a couple of days just as he hadn’t seen his other partners. Somehow, Cameron looked up, vision coming slightly back into focus as Aff’s face flooded his vision. He had no memory of the walk to Aff’s house, but here he was. That should be worrying? He couldn’t find it in himself to be worried. He couldn’t think of much actually. It was hard to think at all, lost in his head like this.
He was sitting on Aff’s bed, his back against a wall and a warm mug of something in his hands. Probably tea. Aff liked tea. They seemed like someone who might like coffee, but it actually made them quite sick. Might be a werewolf thing? Coffee was something that was saved for Cameron, Sasha and Jamie. They’d gone out on a couple coffee dates after community service, and they’d been pretty fun. Sasha like her coffee blonde and so full of cream and flavouring that it was hardly coffee anymore, but she drank it black in front of everyone except them. Jamie’s coffee was iced and sweet. Cameron usually just drank whatever was leftover in the coffee maker after his dad--
He jolted back from a sharp sting on his cheek, knocking his head roughly against the wall behind him. Hot water sloshed over the rim of the cup in his hands, burning slightly. Over his loud breathing, he could just barely hear someone speaking to him. Gentle? But anxious and awkward. Aff? He was at Aff’s house. Aff was holding a cotton ball soaked in peroxide in their hand. For? The cut on his cheek. He brought a hand up to his face, barely feeling the sting, but when he drew his fingers back they were red with blood.
“Oh.” Weird. He didn’t really recognize his voice. He knew he’d made the sound. He knew he should recognize the voice that came out of his mouth, but he could barely recognize the hands in front of him, one bloody and one holding a mug of tea. Jasmine. Aff’s favourite kind of tea was Green, but they knew he liked Jasmine on the off chance that they could actually get him to drink some. It had taken some trial and error to find out what he liked. Neither of his parents was tea drinkers.
Aff gently gripped Cameron’s wrist, ducking down so that their face was all he could see. It was nice. Their black nail polish was chipping. They asked a question and gestured with the cotton ball, but Cameron couldn’t focus on the words that were coming out of their mouth. Did that make him a shitty boyfriend? He nodded. Aff’s lips thinned, but they stayed quiet. Slowly, allowing time to stop them, Aff brought the cotton ball back to Cameron’s cheek. He let them. He trusted them. He kept staring at their face as they cleaned out the cut on his cheek.
“Say something?” The voice that he should be able to recognize as his own said. Their mossy green eyes flickered up to meet his. They looked sad. Did he make them sad? He felt like he was sitting about an inch further back than his body. “I’m sorry I made you upset.” The sadness on their face changed to confusion.
“No, no.” Cameron let the tension out of his body that he didn’t realize was there. He could hear them. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Please, please don’t apologize for this. Let me help you. Is this okay?”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” They breathed out a steady stream of air and knelt back. “Can I have Jamie and Sasha come over?” It took a second for the words to register. He nodded.
“Sorry, yeah.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“Okay.”
The smell of jasmine tea reminded him of the mud he was holding. He brought it up and took a sip of the tea. The mug was one of the matching set from the kitchen that Sam Flowers made them hot chocolate in sometimes when all of them were over. It was blue with a brown rim and little white raindrop shapes falling down the sides of it. If he rubbed his fingers over the raindrops, he could almost feel their raised shapes. It felt nice. He didn’t notice that the tea had gone freezing cold until Aff gently took the mug from his hands and placed it carefully on the bedside table. He looked up at them blankly. Time had skipped around him again. That didn’t feel good.
Aff shushed him, climbing slowly up onto the bed to place themself at the pillows, slowly maneuvering Cameron to sit back between their legs, back pressed to their chest. He hadn’t realized they were talking until he felt the vibration of their voice through his back. He pushed against the feeling, falling back against Aff. They brought up one hand to scratch at Cameron’s scalp, playing with his hair as they spoke. The time skipping could very well have been him falling asleep, but the next thing he knew, he was lying down with his head in Aff’s lap, and his other partners also sitting on the bed chatting quietly. Aff’s fingers still brushed softly through his hair.
Slowly, he became aware of what the fuck was going on for the first time in what could have been weeks. There wasn’t light filtering through Aff’s blinds, but the room was softly lit by their desk light. The stack of papers on the desk moved slightly with the breeze coming in through the open window. Jasmine tea still permeated the air. He was lying down with his legs in both Jamie and Sasha’s lap.
“--happened, but it was not pretty. Yeah. But yeah he’s been like this for about two hours? Took him, like, three times the usual amount of time to get to my house from where he said he was so” Aff was obviously trying to keep their voice quiet. He shifted, trying to bury his face in their thigh or their belly. For a second, their fingers stilled in his hair and he felt more than heard himself make a choked off whining sound. “Oh, hello there!”
He brought a hand from where it was resting on his stomach up to wiggle his fingers in a wave. He didn’t quite trust his voice yet. The floaty feeling from before was gone, but it was still a bit hard for him to recognize his own body at the moment. Aff quickly caught their hand in theirs, entwining their fingers and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. It was weird seeing them so soft.
“Cam?” Sasha’s voice dragged him back from his momentary reverie. He brought up his other hand to wiggle his fingers at Sasha and Jamie. They both looked a lot sadder than Cameron thought was necessary. He’d just been bruised up a bit, it wasn’t anything to worry about.
“What happened?” Jamie said, tone not looking for nonsense. He stayed quiet, contemplating. After a moment too long of silence, Sasha hesitated before opening her mouth again.
“Was it your… dad?” She asked, voice sincere. He felt himself flinch bodily, pushing himself subconsciously back into their warmth of Aff’s arms. Jamie closed their eyes and swallowed thickly. Fuck. He’d made things worse again.
“Sorry” He croaked out.
Aff leaned forward to press a kiss into his hair. “What’d I say earlier. Not allowed to apologize right now especially not for this.”
“Okay.” Cameron slowly pushed himself upright so that he was once again sitting with his back pressed against Aff’s chest, this time with Jamie and Sasha in front of them. Jamie was rubbing at their eyes, glasses pushed up into their hairline with their hat sitting on the bed beside them. Sasha wasn’t wearing any eyeliner. Aff ran their thumb soothingly over the knuckles on the hand they were still holding. A moment more of silence passed between them, his partners letting it settle, waiting on him to break it. Eventually, he swallowed and cast his eyes up at the ceiling. “Dad came home a day early from his trip. Mom was out. I had headphones on listening to that-- the indie band, Aff. Didn’t hear him come in. Made him mad. Should’ve been listening. Not a big deal.”
Aff leaned down to rest their forehead on his shoulder and Jamie moved forward slightly to clasp one hand around his ankle. Sasha bit her lips.
“And he did th-- he did this to you?” Aff mumbled into his shoulder, breath ghosting across his skin. Sasha gave him a knowing look. She had always understood. Her parents didn’t get physical with her , but they had always been more than willing to do so with each other. Sasha’s house was mostly silent in the way that everyone seemed to be giving everyone else the cold shoulder at all times. Jamie got isolated. Aff got slaps on the wrist. Sasha got demeaning comments. Cameron got… well. He brought his free hand up to touch the bruise growing on his face and hissed.
“Don’t touch it, Cameron” Sasha pursed her lips, taking his hand and holding it in between hers. “Aff said it took a long time for you to get here. What was all that about?”
“I don’t remember?” The dull throbbing was starting up in his head again, a combination of the bruises littering his face and the being trapped inside his head. “I remember running out of the house, grabbing my bike, riding around for a while? Not sure how long. Texting Aff-- don’t know what I said, just know they said they were home-- and then next thing I know I was here? Time’s being weird. I keep missing spots. I don’t know how I got here. Don’t know where the tea went that Aff gave me. Don’t remember you guys getting here. Don’t know what time it is. I’m-- it’s fucking weird right now, I’ll be honest.”
“...Okay,” Jamie started slowly, “sounds like a trauma response. Has this happened before?”
“Dunno” He shrugged, wincing as he accidentally knocked Aff’s head, but they brought a hand up to pet at his chest placatingly before he could blurt out another apology. “When I made this stupid deal maybe, but look how that worked out.”
“Did your dad do this to you that night too?” Jamie hedged.
“Not exactly. It was to my-- to my mom. Made the deal because I wanted them to stop fighting. Fucking loopholes. They don’t fight physically anymore, but the fucking deal just turned his shit toward me instead anyways. Asshole demon just made the old man swap punching bags.” He grumbled, grinding his teeth behind his lips. Aff pressed a wounded sound into his neck. He watched as Sasha’s face fell.
“Cam, why didn’t you say anything?” Jamie asked, fingers tightening where they were still wrapped around his ankle.
“I dunno, it’s just how things at my house work. It sounds fucking dumb now, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t normal till I met your dad, Aff. Or your mom, Jamie. It’s, uh-- I know I’m hard to manage and raising kids is probably a lot of work, yeah? It’s fine. Just a few bruises.” Aff made that sad sound again that made Cameron want to use himself as a punching bag just to never hear it again. They nuzzled their face deeper into his shoulder, as Sasha’s face crumpled.
“Cam, baby, can I hold you?” She asked, voice thick. He nodded. Slowly, as though he was fragile, she crawled the small distance between them and curled up in front of him, pressing herself into the hug Aff was already doing. Her hands trailed up and down his ribs in a way that made Cameron realize she wasn’t trying to hit on him-- she was looking for more injuries. Jamie watched his face closely for a minute before scooting themself closer as well, bringing one ring-covered hand up to cup his unbruised cheek.
“This is not your fault.” They said. Their tone was serious as death, eyes drilling directly into Cameron’s. “Your asshole father is a scumbag who’s lucky I’d rather comfort his beautiful, talented, fantastic son than go hex his ass right the fuck now. You did not deserve this and it was. Not. Your. Fault.” They swiped their thumbs under his eyes as though wiping away tears and their fingers came back covered in silty green. He hadn’t even realized he was crying, but that was mostly due to the fact that it wasn’t tears falling down his face, but thin trickles of green. God, he was so fucked up. His life was fucked up. His family was fucked up. Everything was so completely and entirely screwed to shit, but he could find his little moments, wrapped in the arms of his partners. When it was the four of them, Cameron was loved. And that, he thought, could make all of this bullshit worth it. They were worth the effort.