When You're Broken On The Ground

Chapter 11

I live kids! Sure I'm stressed, anxious, and trying my best, but let's ignore that! 

Sorry for the long wait, life's been hectic and this chapter really didn't want to be written. Normally the chapters just kinda, write themselves because the direction is obvious and I know exactly what I want from it. With this one however, it fought tooth and nail to keep me from writing. So definitely not my best work. Sorry everyone!

Word Count: 1217

Triggers: mentioned past suicide attempts, mentioned past self-harm, talk of past child and domestic abuse, talk of past emotional and physical abuse, discussed abuse.

"Are we really going to play the video in front of the reporters?" Dee asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"What else can we do?" Thomas replies. "Joan, Remy and Remus will drive your cars to the back entrance, you guys can escape from there."

"Thomas, c'mon. You can leave with us, all of you can. The video's on YouTube, they can take it from there," Joan coaxes.

"Joan, we both know none of us got over what happened back then. We need to do this, for closure."

Joan sighs, unhappy. "Fine. But call me as soon as possible, okay?"

Thomas laughs. "Will do." Joan walks off and Thomas turns to Patton. "Hey, are we ready?"

"Yeah kiddo!" Patton signals Roman who lifts the screen up.

"Let's get this over with," Virgil grumbles, toting the projector. 

Thomas holds the door as Logan directs Roman out and on to the driveway, Virgil and Patton following. Remus and Remy stroll over to the cars and get in, driving away after backing out. Emile stands ready with a microphone as Dee gets on the phone with the police, in case the journalists get unruly, though they all know he'd rather just beat them up on his own, legal or not.

"Hi everyone," Emile greets. "If you could all just kinda gather around so you could see the projection screen that's be just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

"What's this about!?" one of the journalists yells out as they gather around. 

Emile opens his mouth to respond, but Patton grape the mic from him and answers for him. "Why I'm glad you ask! Virgil, hit it!"

Virgil starts up the projection then leans against Roman's side in boredom. 

The video pops up and starts playing. Reporters take notes as they stare in fascination at the screen and the family chills together on the lawn.

At first the reporters' mood is pretty satisfied, but as the video continues their smiles start dropping and their pens slow down. After Remus admits that Thomas had died during surgery, the notepads disappear into pockets. When Virgil describes his attempt, there's visible tension in some of their shoulders. During Dee's recounting of finding Remus, a few sit down hard on the pavement in shock. By the time Emile is tearfully explaining his suicide attempt, the majority are sitting on concrete and watching numbly. Once the video ends with them asking everyone to leave, the gathering slowly separates and they left in their vans and cars.

The family smiles bittersweetly and starts taking down the screen, only to stop when a small voice rings out.

"Your parents abused you," it says. They turn to see a young man and a nervous woman about his age with a camera. "All of you," the man adds.

Before any of them can respond, the woman starts apologizing. "I'm so sorry for Jeremy, I know you asked us to leave but he insisted he needed to ask you guys something. If I had known he would ask you such a personal question I would have forced him to leave, I'm so sorry  we'll be leaving now-"

"No Maya we are not leaving!" Jeremy turns to the group. "Look, I know you asked us to leave, and if you really want us off we'll leave, but please, could you at least tell me how you got over it? You all have successful lives, how do you act so okay with it?"

"I'm not," Dee replies simply. Everyone stares at him in surprise, he hadn't said anything in a while. "My parents abused both myself and my twin Patton, as well as each other. The scars heal, but they'll always be there. Trust me, it's taken years of therapy to come to terms with the things my parents did and why. I was a mess when I started a relationship with Remus, after everything that happened with my parents I was always worried I'd become them, especially because I finally had a partner I loved with everything I had. I still worry about it now, to be honest. But I found I had to go on and I couldn't let what they did to me affect me more than it already had."

"Dee's right, you can't let what they did keep you from loving," Patton chimes in. "It also helps that my job is to make sure kids that have been abused get to a safe place. Having a job like that makes it easier for me to accept what happened, because I feel like I'm making a difference I had wished for as a kid."

"Trust me, none of us are okay, but we've had a lot of therapy and a big support system. It never gets easier, but all we can do is make better memories and not let them have the last laugh," Virgil adds.

"Well said mí amor," Roman says before kissing his boyfriend. 

Emile speaks up. "It's okay to not be okay. Always see a therapist and try to talk about what happened to them or someone you trust. And if you're comfortable with it, charge your abuser or abusers. It's found that it's better for your mental health to talk through it, even if it's with a trusted person instead of, say, an abuse specialist or abuse/PTSD therapist. What matters is your comfort, positive mental health, and positive self-healing."

Jeremy brushes a tear away. "Thank you, you don't know how much I needed that today..."

"Of course!"

"We can leave now Maya."

She hugs Jeremy. "It's okay, I shouldn't have yelled at you. Best friends forever?"

"Best friends forever," he replies. The two leave.

"Aww, weren't the cute?" Patton giggles before kissing Logan.

"I'm glad we were able to help him," Emile comments.

"Indeed. Now, let us get this put away." Logan picks up the projector as Virgil laughs at Roman attempting to collapse the screen.

Thomas gently grabs Dee by his shoulder. "Hey, what you said to Jeremy... you could never become your parents."

"Have you seen me and Remus?" Dee responds. "We spar a lot, and I playfully hit him when he's being more of an idiot then he should be, but what if-"

"Remus can stop you at anytime," Thomas reassures. "But you wouldn't hurt him anyway."

"I just worry I'll take it too far."

"Then set up a safe word and a stop word." Dee tries to protest but Thomas cuts him off. "Dee, Remus loves you more than anything. Talk to him about your worries. He'll listen."

—

Remember to always talk to your partners, communication is the base for a good healthy relationship. 

And if you ever experience abuse, please tell the authorities or go to a safe place where you can tell someone who can help you. 

Stay safe everyone! Have a great night/day!