how to become a wildfire

broken

Major TW for this chapter - serious verbal/physical abuse and attempted rape/noncon. If you'd prefer to read a summary, check the notes at the bottom.

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bro·​ken | \ ˈbrō-kən
adjective
: violently separated into parts

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xvii
november
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As soon as Gray walks in the front door the next Friday night, he knows he's in trouble. Joel is home. He's supposed to be at work, but instead he's sitting on the couch, leaning forward and tossing his phone back and forth between his hands.

Bella trots over to Gray and he reaches down to scratch her ears, keeping his eyes on Joel.

"Hey," Gray says quietly, kicking off his shoes and hanging up his keys. "You're home early. How was wo—"

"Don't play stupid."

Joel's voice is hard and it stops Gray in his tracks. He stands at the entrance to the living room, one hand still on Bella's head.

"What are you talking ab—"

Before Gray can finish, Joel is in front of him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shoving him against the bookshelf. Gray grunts in pain as the corner of the shelf digs into his back, and he brings both hands down to cover Joel's.

"What did I say about lying?" Joel says, and his hot breath on Gray's cheek smells like beer. "I told you not to fuckin' lie to me again."

Gray scrabbles at Joel's fingers, trying to pry them off his shirt, but Joel slams him back against the shelf again. The back of Gray's head connects with the wood and he groans as pain sparks behind his eyes.

"S-stop it," Gray begs, blinking to clear his vision. He tries to shove Joel off, but Joel lets go of Gray's shirt and grabs Gray's throat instead.

"I found this," Joel growls, and he holds up Gray's secret phone.

Fuck. Gray's heart stops, then kicks back into overdrive, rabbit-thumping in his chest as his brain scrambles to figure out how to get out of this.

"Joel, baby, let go," he says softly, quitting the struggle and relaxing against Joel's grip. Every part of him wants to try to shove Joel off him again, but Gray knows it's futile. Gray's best bet is to just do what Joel wants. "C'mon, let's go sit on the couch and tal—"

"I'm done talking," Joel says as he tightens his fingers around Gray's neck. "You never fucking listen anyway."

"Stop," Gray gasps around the grip on his throat. Panic wells up and spills out of him and he tries to cry out, to scream so that someone will hear him, but he can't breathe.

"Shut up," Joel hisses, pressing harder. Gray's starting to feel light-headed, and he kicks out at Joel's leg while he tries to pull Joel's fingers away from his throat. "You said you wouldn't talk to him again."

Please, Gray thinks, because he can't suck in enough air to make the words. He's suddenly certain that he's going to die, and he pulls desperately at Joel's hand, trying to break away from the tight grip.

A sharp bark breaks Joel's focus and his fingers loosen just long enough for Gray to pull them away from his throat. Gray gasps in a deep breath as he looks down to see Bella standing there, growling at Joel. Gray is sure Joel is going to hit her, and he shoves Joel as hard as he can, putting himself in front of Bella.

"You fucking idiot," Joel snarls. He takes the phone and throws it to the ground, grinding it under his foot until it cracks. Bella barks again and Gray tries to push her back, but she slips out from behind him and growls at Joel again.