Piece by Piece

7. Not that Bad

Davyn woke up on Sunday morning from an agitated sleep with new purpose.

After everything that he'd been through, the matter of a cut off wire was something he could actually deal with. He'd just replace it and no one needed to know anything had happened. After all, if anyone noticed, the school couldn't complain about free new equipment.

With that thought in mind, he pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, then headed down the stairs. He really also needed to get back to training, even if the thought made him sick. It should take up some time and keep his mind busy. But first, he needed to find a hardware store open on a Sunday. Or maybe they had some wires or sockets in the garage.

He headed there first and started going through the odd boxes stacked on shelves against the back wall. After about half an hour, he had to concede there was nothing useful in there and he really needed to resume his training because his back really hurt.

Searching for a hardware store it was. He had no idea where to find one, but how hard could it be? He had nothing better to do but cruise around town anyway. So he headed back inside for his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

Davyn jumped a mile at the sound of Freider's voice. His brother stood in the doorway leading into the kitchen. Weirdly enough, he seemed curious rather than annoyed.

"Why? Do you want to go to church or something?" Davyn replied.

Freider rolled his eyes. "No, I was thinking that maybe you'd want to have breakfast with us."

Us. This implied Ron was already in the kitchen. Davyn's stomach clenched uncomfortably. He definitely didn't want to have breakfast with Freider, but he couldn't leave Ron in there alone either. With a sigh, he headed towards his brother.

"Sure, why not?"

He hadn't been wrong. Ron really was there, his head bowed, a fork in his hand. There was a plate full of pancakes in front of him. The table was also filled with toast, fried eggs, more pancakes, Nutella and fresh orange juice. Everything actually looked really nice and Davyn was convinced Freider had actually picked it up from somewhere rather than fixed it himself. Not that it mattered. It was still good food.

"This looks nice," he admitted.

"Have a seat," Freider said, indicating to the chair Davyn usually took up. "Help yourself."

Still feeling like he was falling into some sort of trap, he took a seat and grabbed a piece of toast. Freider remained standing, leaning his back against the nearest counter.

"I was just discussing with Ron why you didn't drive him home this week," Freider said, sounding mildly interested rather than reproachful.

Oh, that. He'd avoided talking to Freider about it, but now that it was over, he didn't see the point anymore. "I was in detention all week."

His older brother just raised his eyebrows. The lack of snide comment made it feel like a trap even more. "What for?"

"I punched a bully in the face."

"Huh." Freider shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Ron was aware of this, wasn't he?"

Davyn threw Ron a fleeting glance, but he still kept his face down. "Yes, he knew I wouldn't be able to drive him home. Plus, this didn't use to be an issue before."

"It's apparently an issue now." Freider heaved a sigh. "Come on, kid. Show him."

"Leave me alone, Freider," Ron mumbled, glaring at his lap.

"Don't be shy. You obviously weren't when you did this."

"Did what? Ron, what's going on?"

His baby brother finally raised his face and Davyn swore under his breath. There was a huge bruise under his left eye, his cheekbone obviously swollen. Pure rage seemed to replace his blood and crawl through his veins.