Bad Boy Meets Battered

Warnings: a swear, domestic abuse, postitution

Dylan Addams was...a lot of things in the eyes of the students at his high school: disrespectful, cocky, deviant, mysterious, etc. A lot of rumors spread around about his background and anyone who tried to ask him for confirmation would either get a laugh in the face or a cigarette burn to the arm. There are people who preferred to stay out of the way or demand he behave and Dylan smiled at the fuel of his reputation.

Roman Hall was the type of person who would stay out of his way, but that didn't mean he didn't admire Dylan from afar. Roman saw him as attractive and dangerous, two things he thought were ideal from seeing Disney movies while everyone else was asleep. He wanted to ask him out, but didn't know how exactly to go about it since the props from the drama department were rentals. One day, he decided to just go with asking him out. He stomped over to Dylan at lunch and even the latter seemed surprised.

"Well, well, well, what's got your boxers in a bunch, Princess?" Dylan asked with a smirk.

"Look, I know some people might say I shouldn't, but I want to do so before it's too late. Dylan, will you go out with me?" Roman asked.

Dylan was stunned since no one was actually bold enough to say more than a few words to him, but his demeanor changed with the idea he could used the time to his advantage.

"Sure, I'd love to go out with you, Princess. Just give me the time and place to meet you," he answered.

Roman eagerly provided them as well as his phone number before he left for his usual table.

As Dylan made his way to the address, he looked around to see which one led to Roman's room while thinking of some "date" ideas to scare him. He considered breaking in until he heard a whisper of "I wouldn't do that if I were you". He looked around and saw Roman peeking out of the window by a tree. Dylan chuckled at the convenience and gave Roman a smile.

"Ready to go, Princess?" Dylan asked.

Roman nodded, took a deep breath, and made his way onto the tree branch before closing the window. It was his first time sneaking out of his home, but he didn't want to seem scared around his crush. Pretty soon, he was right next to Dylan, who gave a few sniffs.

"Pomegranate and lavender?" Dylan questioned.

"It's my mom's. She always said it 'keeps em coming back'," Roman whispered as the two started to walk.

Dylan helped him sneak into a zoo and brought him to the snakes. It was one of the places Dylan felt like he belonged, but he figured others would feel unsettled by snakes in the night time. As the night went on and Roman seemed to be enjoying his time with Dylan, the latter tried to think of other ideas.

As they spent more evenings together, Dylan came up with more ideas to possibly scare Roman, but he continued to just enjoy Dylan's company. During the dates where Roman was at risk of getting sick, Dylan just took care of him without much thought. At first, he was just impressed by how unafraid Roman was of spending time with him, but then it just turned into genuinely enjoying Roman's company.

One evening, Dylan was so eager to see Roman that he came by early to wait for him to sneak out. Unfortunately, he heard some shouting that sounded like "It's how I make my money; you should try it" and "You better be lucky she put some aside for you, shithead!" followed by glass shattering and what he could only guess were punches. Dylan climbed Roman's tree and knocked on his window. What appeared was Roman seemingly fine with a hat on his head. Roman opened the window with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to see you. Is...everything okay?" Dylan responded.

"Huh? Of course. Nothing too wrong here."

Dylan looked skeptical before he pulled out a soft tissue from his pocket and wiped Roman's face to reveal dry blood, some bruises, and a black eye. He carefully removed Roman's hat to see blood and glass on his head.

"H-how did you know?" Roman asked.

"It takes a liar to know a liar," Dylan answered.

He typed on his phone for a little while before helping Roman out the window.

"Come with me. We have some things to discuss."

Dylan brought him to an abandoned building where there were two bags waiting at the front door. Dylan grabbed the bags and brought Roman inside and into a room where he knew had the least amount of destruction. From one bag, Dylan pulled out some cleaners that were expected from a doctor's office.

"Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you what my deal is. Does that sound fair?"

Roman nodded and occasionally hissed while Dylan was tending to wounds that were visible and hidden by clothes.

"My mother...is a successful prostitute. My dad used to be a client of hers, but then I came around. I had a twin brother, but he was sent away for not obeying them. They make sure I follow all of their rules or agree with them or else, well, I guess you heard some of it. It's the only life I've known. Even with the Disney films I've seen, love usually consists of lust or danger."

"Is that...why you asked me out?"

"Yea, though I felt safe around you after a while and wanted to spend more time with you. I'd prefer that over my mother forcing me to stand on corners alongside her for female clients."

"So they're..."

"Yep. The only exception they would allow for me wearing makeup is for the purpose of hiding their 'masterpieces' all over my body since he claimed it wasn't anyone else's business."

After cleaning up as much as he could, Dylan reached into the other bag and handed Roman a milkshake before pulling out one for himself.

"For the sake of your safety, I'm not going to guarantee that no one else will know, but I do want to make sure you're okay."

"I never thought you would be this...genuine."

"Well, prepare for a mindblow, then. My parents are lawyers. I was always surrounded by the importance of obeying the law and following the rules of society. When we moved to this town the summer before my freshman year, I wanted to reinvent myself completely for the sake of not being forced to be a lawyer, too. If I wanted to have a certain occupation, I wanted to make that choice. My mom was surprisingly understanding and thought it would be good for a teenager to let out some steam. With her help, I found an apartment that was a little farther from where my parents live and just gave myself a reputation that distanced me from them. My mom even allowed me to use her maiden name since she felt it would suit the image I was going for and allowed me from being seen as a prodigy. I don't know how my father felt, but I called and texted her whenever I could to assure her I was grateful for her helping me."

Roman was surprised by what Dylan confessed. He couldn't bring himself to be mad since it wasn't like he directly lied to him. Instead, he felt honored that Dylan trusted him enough to tell him.

"What made you want to tell me?"

"One of the rumors was that I came from a bad home, but hearing what you're going through, well, I couldn't allow myself to let that claim stick to me. Maybe I wouldn't have cared back then, but I guess getting close to someone who can't be pushed away easily that isn't my mother can make a delinquent care."

They discussed what help can be provided to get Roman out of the Hell he called home and why none of the behaviors in that house were ideal. They even talked about some interests that Dylan kept secret and Roman promised to as well. As different as things would be for them in the future, they just focused on enjoying their milkshakes and focusing on their time together.