John Dorian's Final Realization

Chapter 15: My Tight-Lipped Smile

"Ah.. Shit." The empty cardboard roll rustled within its metal shell after he batted uselessly at it. "I'm outta paper in here, toss me some will you?" He scratched at the smooth skin of his cheek. Strangely barren compared to its usually stubbly surface. "..Kid?"

It took David all of thirty seconds to realize his travelling companion had fled. And it took two minutes more for him to clean himself up enough to find his coat pocket empty. 'Of course he did.. Damn it! It was so much easier back at the high school.' "Hey! Hold on there a minute will ya?! Yeah, you!" A man a little older than himself was unlocking his truck door when he stopped to look over at him. The stranger's already-present frown grew heavier still at the unexpected conversation. "When you were inside did you happen to see my nephew stumble past? He seems to've wandered off someplace. And, seeing as he is a little.. slow .. Well, I worry."

The graying stranger's face softened noticeably. He crossed his arms and bobbed his head sympathetically. " My son was a handful himself when he was small. What does he look like? I'm happy to help you find him however I'm able."

"Tall, brown-hair, kinda messed up face.." Fratelli said, looking around himself once again in case Dorian had tried to slip past him.

"Does he walk a little funny? Well now! I just saw him a little bit ago! Thought he mighta been a part of the clean up crew or something because he went straight for this room next to the vending machines. Think it might've been a storage closet. Don't really know what he'd want with that."

"The one with a big dent? " He nodded with a proud smile. David thanked him warmly before rushing off. The stranger slid inside his truck with the pleasant feeling of just having reconnected a family, while Fratelli's own mind went down a much darker path.

"Good luck with that. Hope I helped some!" The stranger's voice trailed after him as he rounded the corner and found the door in question. As quiet as he could manage, David pressed his ear against the door and listened for any hint to what lay just beyond.

"I wish I could see him." Said a weak and barely comprehensible voice. Anger flared within him. After he had trusted him enough to let him walk freely about the truck stop, after he had made sure to replace his zip ties when they got too tight, after he even forgave the stupid shit John pulled in the car.. After all that, this is how he still treats him?! How big a spit in the face is stealing someone's phone while they are in the bathroom after they were nothing but kind to you?

It was damn big enough for David's already building frustrations with the younger man to turn into blinding rage. He tried the handle and found it locked. Cursing, he stepped back a little, pulled back his leg and slammed his heel against the door. The hinges creaked eerily but the door itself remained largely unphased. That is until the sole of his boot met it a second time and the lock broke free. He heard John cry out in shock from within as the door met its mark.

Fratelli slid inside and kicked the phone on the floor away from the dazed man slouched against a shelf of chemicals. When JD lifted his face and saw David standing before him he let out a pathetic whimper. To try to win his mercy or simply a verbalization of the pain he was feeling, Fratelli didn't know. And he didn't really care because he'd had enough of his shit for one trip.

David grabbed him by the front of his shirt and threw him onto the ground. His heart pounded, his ears rang and the man on the floor curled deeper in on himself with each blow. For the first time in a long time, David Fratelli finally let go of his few inhibitions and what little self control he had left. He let a decade's worth of pent up emotions explode out of him and take the wheel. The phone let out choppy and muffled shouts, Dorian gasped for air and David had never felt better.