It's Not All Bad [ONECEST}

~Chapter One~

Once-ler sighed as he looked outside where the smog was so thick, he could barely see anything directly in front of him. He knew why the Lorax had brought him back here all those months ago, but why did he have to bring him here? The Barboloots had all gone, along with the Humming-Fish, Swomee-Swans, and Melvin. Everyone he'd ever loved.  He looked down when he felt a tug on his pants leg and smiled when he saw Pipsqueak, the only Barboloot who had stayed, looking up at him.
"Hey there, little fella, you want a marshmallow?" Once-ler asked and the small Barboloot nodded his head and ran over to Once-ler's closet where the young man always kept a large amount of marshmallows hidden. "Go ahead and help yourself."
Pipsqueak pulled open the closet doors and dived head first into the large bag of marshmallows. Once-ler let out a quiet giggle and sighed as he turned back to look out of his bedroom window once more.
"This is horrible," he grumbled and winced as another Truffula tree was chopped down. Pipsqueak, sensing the man's sadness, popped out of the bag with an armful of marshmallows that he carried over to Once-ler, smiling up at him as he held one out to the young man. Once-ler sadly smiled down at the Barboloot and sat down on the red carpeted floor, taking the treat from Pipsqueak's hand and popping it into his mouth.
"Thanks, Pipsqueak," he said after swallowing the food. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"What's this?"
Once-ler looked up from his furry friend to the other man standing in his doorway. He quickly grabbed Pipsqueak and crawled over to his walk in closet, slamming the doors shut and shoving a broom through both of the inside handles. He wasn't in any shape to even try to run from Greed today.
"Aw, Oncie, what was that for? Come on out here so we can talk," Greed said from behind the door and Once-ler quickly quickly backed up into the back left corner of his closet, Pipsqueak following him with a worried look.
"Oncie, you know you shouldn't disobey me. Don't you remember what happened last time?"
Oh, did he. He hadn't been able to get out of bed for nearly a month. Once-ler curled up into a ball while Pipsqueak pressed against his side, feeling him trembling in fear and looking up to see tears beginning to . There was a faint scraping sound and in the blink of an eye, the closet doors were pulled open  and Greed was storming in. Once-ler began grabbing whatever he could and started throwing things at the vile man, managing to hit him in the crotch a couple of times with some hangers, only making the man angrier.
Once-ler quickly grabbed Pipsqueak and put him in one of the cabinets that you could lock and unlock from the inside the same as you would from the outside before handing him the key and shutting the door, only moving his hand away when he heard the click of the lock. He let out a high pitched yelp as Greed grabbed his vest and pulled him to his feet.
There was a slight height difference between the two of them, despite them being the same person, and it seemed to make Greed loom over Once-ler in a terrifying manner. The young man struggled in Greed's grasp, but got no where in his struggles. He let out a short scream as he was punched hard in his gut then backhanded across his face. His eyes began to fill with tears as he was dragged out of the closet and towards his bed. He knew what would come next, he always knew what happened when he disobeyed.
The entire time, he tried to think about the good old days, the days before his family came out to live with him and help with his business. He thought about the Truffula tress and how they were so beautiful, day or night, rain or shine. But when everything was done and Greed was gone, he'd lay there and eventually cry himself to sleep. It was a never ending cycle, was what he had told himself. He had no idea that he was so wrong.