is this love?↠tythan↞

•ch. 2 aftermath•

Ethan tried his best not to limp when he walked into the office that Monday. The blue haired boy couldn't leave his boyfriend's house quick enough that morning and so he was the first one at the office. Running a hand through his tangled mess of blue hair, Ethan went to his desk and pulled out a small bag that contained makeup. When he went to look into the bathroom mirror Ethan could not help but wince at the horrible black and blue blotches that scattered his face, the deep dark hand shaped bruise on his neck, the dark circles that outlined his under eyes, and his eyes. Oh god his eyes, the ones that once burned so brightly with hope and gleamed with so much love, have fallen dull and sunk into his skull tiredly. Those eyes have been sucked dry of everything good and just held just only one single emotion. Fear.

Taking a deep breath, Ethan made quick work of covering his whole face and neck in layers of concealer and foundation. The blue haired boy cleaned up the mess and stashed the bag back into his desk. Throwing on an oversized hoodie Ethan ran slightly shaking hands through his unkempt hair in an attempt to sort out the mess.

Ethan carefully sat down, with much trouble, on his computer chair and began to continue his unfinished work from Friday. He didn't look up once until he heard someone enter the office. Tensing slightly Ethan turned around but soon relaxed when he realized it was just Tyler. "Hey Ty, you're in early."

Tyler sat down at his desk and rolled his chair over to Ethan, "So are you." Tyler checked the time and ran his hand through his hair, "besides I wanted to get in early for once since I'm usually late."

Ethan let out a forced laugh that sounded almost real to anyone none the wiser. "Well congrats you made it."

"Mhmm," Tyler hummed pulling out his phone and mess around on it for awhile, "Hey wanna go get breakfast at the diner down the street before anyone gets here?" Tyler suggested with a hopeful smile.

At hearing diner Ethan's stomach growled hungrily due to not eating all weekend. Part of Danny's cruel twisted punishment was that Ethan wasn't allowed to eat anything that didn't contain peanuts. So it was either starve from no food or eat something containing peanuts and possibly die from an allergic reaction.

Ethan winced slightly at the memories of Danny's punishments that took place over the weekend. Quickly Ethan composed himself and focused on the man in front of him, "Yeah that would be great!" he tried to sound as genuine as he could manage.

Ethan grabbed his phone and got up as gently as he could as to not irritate the rest of his beaten and sore body. Tyler sent him a curious glance but didn't say anything as they walked out the front door and into the breezy LA morning air.

Wrapping his arms around himself Ethan let out whine, "Is it just me or is colder than normal today."

"I don't really think so, here take this." Tyler stopping walking for second and shrugged off his jacket then placed it on Ethan's shoulders, "I was getting kinda warm anyway."

The blue haired boy felt his cheeks burn slightly with a blush but it was probably not visible due to the makeup that covers his face. Squeaking out a thank you, Ethan pulled the oversized jacket tighter around him and enveloped himself in more of the welcoming warmth. The scent of Tyler rose to Ethan's nose casing his cheeks to become hotter.

Truth be told Ethan has had a crush on Tyler ever since he moved to LA but he didn't believe Tyler returned his feelings. He pushed aside all thoughts about loving Tyler and he met Danny. In the beginning of their relationship everything was perfect, they loved each other to no end and so Ethan believed he moved on from Tyler. But overtime Danny changed, he was became more hostile and Ethan found himself constantly walking on eggshells. Danny taught Ethan that he was the only one who could ever love him and be able to put up with him. Ethan leaned against his will to stay inferior and just follow rules. If he obeys the rules then he will not be punished or hurt, it was simple. Or so it seemed.

They soon arrived at the diner, at which Tyler held the door open for Ethan like a gentleman then they sat down. After carefully examining the menu and triple checking to make sure there were absolutely no peanuts in any of the food, they ordered and started to chatter about anything.

Everything was going well until Tyler took a closer look at Ethan's neck, "Hey is that a bruise on your neck?" It seemed to be an innocent question but it made Ethan's heart stop for a second and his breath to hitch.

"Um, I'm not sure why you ask?" Ethan responded not exactly answering the prompt as he inwardly cursed at himself for not focusing on his neck with more concealer.

"It's very light but uh," Tyler continued uncertainly, "It uh looks to be in the shape of a uh hand."

Ethan 's breathing picked up but he tried to calm himself and come up with some sort of excuse because he could not get caught. One of biggest Danny's rules is that no matter what Ethan can not tell anyone about anything because according to Danny nobody would be able to understand the "dynamic" of their relationship. God knows what he would do if Ethan broke the most important rule.

The blue haired boy cleared his throat, "Uh well you see uh," Come on he had think of something, anything, "Th-things got kinda uh r-rough? This weekend." He prayed to whatever God was up there to have Tyler just move on.

"You sure?" Tyler questioned worriedly, "Cause I've kinda noticed that you haven't been yourself lately." Tyler looked Ethan dead in the eyes with a strong stone face. His face may have been empty of emotions but his eyes were filled with worry and concern. "Don't think I haven't noticed the makeup."

Ethan's heart dropped and formed a rock in his stomach, "W-what are you getting a-at?" Ethan questioned trying to turn it back to Tyler.

"All I'm saying is I care about you okay?" Tyler said gently his face softening when Ethan nodded in response, "And I am very worried about you because it is very clear to see that you have changed since you got with Danny." Tyler took a deep breath when he saw Ethan stiffen but he forced himself to continue, "Ethan you know you can tell us anything, including if Danny is hurting yo-"

"NO!" Ethan exclaimed a little too quickly making Tyler and a few people around him jump a bit. Ethan softened his composure and lowered his head a bit, "No, h-he just-- no just no."

"I'm not blind Ethan." Tyler simply stated but before he could continue the waitress brought their food and Ethan began to eat at an alarming rate. Tyler allowed the situation to move on but not without making a mental note to bring it back up later.   

Hey thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Feed back is much appreciated ^-^ And I'll see you in the next chapter, buh bye!