Sweet Boy | Man x Boy {Mature Content}

Prologue

Prologue:

Daniel smiled politely, careful not to strangle his glass of wine as the man in front of him droned on about his business, trying far too hard to impress the younger man with his status. Truthfully, Daniel was only slightly paying attention but no one could tell from the polite smile on his lips and the soft yet attentive look in his eyes. He'd been doing this for years, naturally, he knew how to play the socialite even if he hated doing it more than anything else. He nodded his head slightly at the sound of an influx in the man's voice, pretty sure it had been a question but seriously doubting the man actually cared about his answer.

His assumption was obviously right as the man rushed on speaking not bothering to question Daniel's unenthusiastic answer. Daniel let out a slight hum as he took a slow sip from his glass, holding back his urge to frown at the taste of the expensive wine as he found himself suddenly craving the cheap stuff he'd been hoarding in the back of the fridge in his apartment. Casually he allowed his gaze to wander around his parent's home, each guest almost looked the same to him. Stuffy men and women all locked into a deceitfully pleasant pissing contest with one another about who had more money. All of them stupidly trying to prove their worth to each other and amongst the worst of them were Daniel's parents.

They did this constantly: throwing parties and dinners to make themselves look even more important than any self-respecting person knew they were but, of course, Daniel had no choice but to be suckered in. He was the sweet younger son that everyone had heard rumors about, and they weren't always the nicest of whispers but one rumor that definitely held true was if anyone wanted to do business with the McGless family they had to get on Daniel's good side. How they choose to get there led to more rumors that Daniel could only pretend he didn't hear.

"Daniel?" A familiar voice broke his train of thought drawing his gaze to his mother standing slightly to his left. Her face held it's signature smile, it was fake but only he knew that she really only had two faces the fake nice one and one much more unsightly. Honestly, he preferred her fake pleasantries. "Your brother brought his friend from the gym, the doctor remember? Your father would like you to go meet him."

He focused his practiced smile on her as she continued to drone on about the doctor, giving Daniel a moment to look her over noting she'd put on a few more pounds since he'd last seen her. It was times like this he found himself wondering if he was destined for the same fate as her, to be as internally unhappy as her. She was a beautiful woman though, even with the pudge she'd put on from years of two children and a lack of a well-needed gym membership but despite that countless people still found it necessary to point out to him how similar they looked every time he came to one of these events.

They were usually the same height, somewhere around five foot five, however, tonight he appeared a bit taller due to the heels he'd paired with his champagne-colored suit. He and his mother had the same green eyes and wavy red hair with thousands of freckles covering their otherwise pale skin, passed down from his obscenely Scottish Granny. The one thing Granny Lane hadn't passed down to his mother was her motherly affection for him, or really any type of motherly ability but that was neither here nor there. Deep down he always wished people would tell him he looked like Granny Lane instead of his mother but no one ever did. Not that they could, the people at these parties didn't even know who Granny Lane was, these people weren't family friends or even close business partners they were cash cows completely unaware of the obvious herding they were taking place in.

"Of course, Mother." He replied when she finally stopped talking, giving a small nod to the now slightly disappointed businessman before stepping away to search for his brother and father. He'd barely managed to make it two steps before a cold hand wrapped around his forearm, his mother's acrylics pressing into his skin rather roughly as she dragged him back close to her. He bent down slightly, obediently lending her his ear, resisting the urge to rip his arm away not wanting to make a show in such a public space.