i'll fake god today

chapter seven

soda regretted coming out of his room the next day. sure, it was only him and two-bit, but it was boiling out today and two-bit wouldn't stop bothering him about why he was wearing a hoodie.

"soda, it's basically a million degrees out, why're you wearing that thing?" two-bit was on the floor underneath soda, who was on the couch. he pulled playfully at the zipper of soda's hoodie.

"knock it off." soda sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"ugh, you're so grumpy today. this is no fun." two-bit groaned, "stevie lost the remote last night, can't even watch anything."

soda raised his eyebrow, seeing the remote on the coffee table right in front of them. he reached down past two-bit and snatched the remote.

"pretty lost, huh?" soda smirked momentarily, until he saw two-bit. two-bit suddenly looked pale and wouldn't stop staring at him. "uh, what's wrong?"

"soda, your arm..."

soda looked down and gasped. his sleeve didn't drop very much, but just enough that two-bit saw a couple cuts. he quickly pulled the sleeve back down, "that's, uh, that's nothing."

"soda, that looks bad. you got jumped and didn't tell anyone?"

soda bit his lip, "it's seriously nothing, two-bit."

"if it's nothing then show it to me." two-bit crossed his arms. soda hated seeing him act so serious, "you're either gonna show me or i'll take that hoodie off myself."

soda hated that idea. he already knew it would cause a flashback. panic attack. something. for someone to force clothes off of him, he couldn't handle that. "i'll show you, just please don't take it off."

he fumbled with the zipper, struggling to pull it down. god, he was shaking so bad. he finally got the hoodie off, thankful that he was wearing a shirt underneath as well. he heard two-bit take in a sharp breath.

he soon felt two-bit take a seat next to him, "soda, is it just your arms?"

soda shook his head.

two-bit's heart dropped, "where else, buddy?"

"m-my stomach and my thighs. please don't make me show you."

"hey, you don't have to, it's alright."

"i did this myself, i wasn't jumped. i cut myself." soda didn't know why he said it. maybe he really could have passed it off as him being jumped. but he doubted it.

"things must be real rough, huh?" two-bit said, "do you wanna tell me what's going on?"

"i can't. i don't know how."

"is someone hurting you?"

"two-bit, how-"

bingo.

"i saw the scratches on your back. you didn't do that yourself. who's hurting you, little guy?"

soda stayed silent.

"whoever it is, they won't lay another finger on you, alright? but we can't protect you if we don't know who's doin' this."

soda glanced at two-bit. he trusted him, didn't he? two-bit could protect him. "promise they won't hurt me?"

"i swear on my life, soda."

"s-steve's dad." soda finally said, "he's hurting me really bad."

"what does he do to you?"

"oh god, two-bit, please i can't-"

"hey, hey, calm down. it's okay." two-bit had his arm around soda's shoulder, "take a deep breath, okay? what does he do to you?"

"he touches me. a-and he rapes me. he hurts me a lot."

two-bit was staring at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, "he- god, wait, he what? soda, he rapes you?"

soda nodded, "i'm sorry-"

"jesus christ!" two-bit shouted, standing up. he looked intimidating when he was pissed off. "why the hell are you apologizing? soda, you're being raped! why are you apologizing?"

"please don't yell." soda squeaked out.

"does- does he yell at you? why?"

soda nodded, "a lot. when steve's not there a-and i'm not doing what he wants."

not doing what he wants. two-bit clenched his fist. soda getting yelled at for not wanting this pervert to violate him was disgusting. "i'm sorry i yelled, i won't do that no more, okay?"

two-bit sat next to soda again, "does he do it when steve's there? does steve know?"

"h-he does it when steve's there. steve doesn't know. you're the only one who does."

it was silent for too long. two-bit wasn't sure what he could do for soda to make this better. nothing could make this okay.

"soda, please don't hate me, but you have to tell darry about what happened."

soda froze, looking up at two-bit in horror, "no! no, no, no, two-bit please, no-"

"soda, he needs to know." two-bit hugged him, "he needs to know, okay buddy? i'm gonna be right there with you. you don't gotta tell anyone else, but darry needs to know."