High School Drama.

"That's what Mr. H wants…I can't…" Joshua sighed and trailed off. He enjoyed this attention and all but this was weighing him down. "I'm sorry."

Valic sighed a little and sat up to look down at him, "I don't want you getting hurt..." He murmured in a worried tone, scared the other would end up getting hurt or something.

Joshua glanced up. It was starting to get dark. He sat up and tugged his shirt back on. "Well, I need that cream stuff now so it'll be gone tomorrow…and then I need to go to the café tomorrow." He sighed, head lowered.

Valic frowned a little and rubbed Joshua's cheek before he buttoned up the other's shirt with a small sigh, "Alright... But text me if there's a problem, I'll be over within minutes to keep you safe. Even if it's a nightmare I'll come by. Any hour of the day or night."

Joshua nodded faintly. "I promise I will." Which was a lie--Joshua never called Valic for something as silly as a nightmare. He sat up and looked at his chest. "We're gonna need a lot of it…"

(I meant tonight, not tomorrow, on my earlier post~)

Valic chuckled and poked a bruise for a moment, "I have enough to go around~" He hummed before giving him one final kiss on the lips. "But I'm serious Joshua, even if it's a stupid little request I'll come over. A storm, you hear a slight creak in the wall, the light goes out, I'll come over."

{Oh, okay~}

Joshua gave a faint nod, glancing at the sky. Not a cloud in the sky. And the café was a relatively new building, so it never creaked. And nothing was bothering Joshua, slim to no chance of nightmare. "Okay."

Valic drove towards his own home, the rest of the way, and parked the car before getting out and opening the garage door for the other to get in as well.

Joshua got out, head lowered slightly, as if trying to hide the hickeys all over his neck and body. He still had a cute blush though, even now.

Valic opened the door and waited for Joshua, shutting it and locking the door once he was inside the warmth of the foyer by the kitchen. "Alright, go up to my room while I get the stuff from the bathroom." He hummed, seeing as his mom moved it to the down stairs bathroom.

Joshua nodded and snuck upstairs, hiding under Valic's bed, as if ashamed of his marked body. He put a hand over his nose and purred softly.

Valic grabbed the jar and walked up the stairs and into his room, setting it on the desk and taking a seat in his office chair before waving the other over from under the bed.

Joshua crawled out from his space and sat by Valic's feet, hands resting on his leg. "Clean what you have made a mess of, silly~"

Valic wrinkled his nose a little and sat the other up on a chair, unbuttoning his shirt to get at the lower bruises, he opened up the jar and scooped out some of the contents before rubbing it onto the bruises.

Joshua knew it would take a while to make the things fade but the sooner the better. He smiled faintly and gazed at Valic for a few seconds.

Valic was busy rubbing in the cream to gaze back at Joshua, he gave off a soft hub and buttoned the other's shirt up once he finished his chest and began to rub the cream on his neck, turning his head to the side a little.

Joshua gazed at the wall, after the school day tomorrow Valic could easily just mark him again, and they'd still have six days till Mr. H came back. He seemed deep in thought.

Valic rubbed at all the bruises, finishing up with a soft hum and closing the jar, wiping his hands on the thighs of his pants. "What's on your mind?" The Serb asked with a tilted head and a raised brow.

"Just thinking. Mr. H never leaves me alone though…it makes me worry about how serious this situation is." Joshua admitted, hands together on his lap.

Valic nodded his head a little bit and gave off a soft sigh, pursing his lip a little bit in through, "Well..." He murmured, his offer still stood from earlier.

"I don't want to make him mad though. Specific instructions means something's up." Joshua sighed, hands drawn around his legs. "I might put you in danger so I need to be alone, just in case."

Valic frowned a little, "You won't put me in danger..." He murmured softly to the other and reached over, ruffling his hair softly. "Just promise me you'll call me if there's in issue." He didn't want to hear on the news that something had happened to Joshua, still unaware that he would be fine with his powers and such.

"Hmph…yeah, okay." Joshua guessed it was angel business, but Mr. H had a phone too…he just used it a heck of a lot less than Joshua, so it wasn't as…useful. He gazed out the window. "I should probably go now."

Valic nodded and stood up, "Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked in a very hushed voice, hopefully he'd say yes.

Joshua nodded his head yes, no hesitation. He stood up, rubbing his neck. He hoped the hickeys would fade overnight, with the cream they should but you never knew. He stood at the door, gazing at Valic. His eyes had shifted to the soft violent, and seemed to have a faint glow in the dark room.

Valic walked over and scooped Joshua up into his arms with a soft hum, hugging him against his chest while he walked down the stairs and grabbed his car keys. Valic made his way out towards the truck that had Joshua's stuff in the back still.

Joshua shut his eyes, he was pretty tired actually. He stood up and got into the shotgun seat, buckling himself in and gazing out the window for a few seconds as Valic got in a few moments later.

Valic started up the hunk of metal and began to pull out of the drive way, taking the short cut to Joshua's home in the cafe`, lips pressed to a thin line. It was clear he'd worry day and night if the other would be okay by himself.

Joshua stepped out of the car after grabbing his stuff and waved slightly, like a soldier salute. Then he turned away and began to walk into the cafe, sighing softly. It didn't feel empty though...

Valic was a little upset he didn't get more than a slight wave but shrugged it off, he waited until the other was inside before he'd leave - much like an elementary bus would wait until the child was safely inside their home before driving away.

Joshua turned around and locked the door, so that nothing could get in. He glanced around, he'd watch the security tapes to make sure no one was hiding anywhere. After all, there were video cameras in this cafe--it was a store.

Valic drove away when the other locked the door with a small sigh, pursing his lips a little while he made his way towards his own home.

Joshua was walking towards the room where all the cameras were. He opened the door and blinked as he saw Mr. Hanekoma, just sitting in the spinny chair. The older man turned around and gazed at Joshua, seeing all the hickeys and bruises. "Tell me...is that abuse or were you two making out?" Joshua tensed up. So Mr. H had tricked him...he should've suspected.

{Ah that sneaky bastard! xD You have to clue how funny that was to me, that was priceless~}

Valic made it home and began to just do mindless chores around the house with a soft sigh, doing the laundry, cleaning up the fridge and organizing the spice cabinet when his mother came home. "Was that boy here again?" She asked in a drunk voice. "Yea, earlier for a few minutes." He stated before he tensed at a bottle hitting and shattering on his back. "Clean that up, filth." She snapped before walking up to her room, she was abusive at the most random of times, but that was normal - at least she didn't bring anyone home.

Mr. H stood up and undid the first few buttons, just to see how much Valic had done to him. He sighed and redid them. "Well I thought I could trust you, J...but thanks for at least coming home." He lightly rubbed the petrified teen's head, walking him to his room. He set Joshua down on the bed and sat beside him. "Do you want to stay home tomorrow?"

(Mr. H is the best~)

Valic did as told and cleaned up the mess before he went out in the back yard and sat down on the first step to look over the green grass that had a dog sleeping in it, there were a few strays that would drop by to get a meal and a safe place to sleep. His mom walked back out with a cooler and a robe on, taking a seat by her son and opening the cooler, tossing a raw steak to the dog then grabbing a beer. "How's classes?"

Joshua shook his head no, refusing to meet Mr. Hanekoma's gentle gaze. Most parents would have just straight up blown up on their child but he knew how to actually deal with this. "Valic gave me some stuff that would..."

Valic shrugged just a little, "OKay I guess... I skip some classes that I don't need to focus on. But I still do good." He murmured to his mother while he watched the dog savagely eat like something would steal the food from it.

"Hm?" Mr. Hanekoma lightly rubbed Joshua's shoulders. Joshua cleared his throat. "Ah, Valic has this cream stuff that makes it fade within half a day or something like that..."

{Timeskip~?}

(Sure~How long?)

{Next day~}

Joshua was walking down the halls of school, head lowered. He was still ashamed of being caught, and Valic hadn't heard about it yet. There was a different step in his walk--he was worrying.

Valic watched with a small frown on his face, of course he wanted to go and comfort the other to no extent but he was sure how to handle it... Though the raven haired male walked up to him, "What's wrong? You seem concerned..."

"Mr. H was waiting in the security room." Joshua muttered softly, walking at his limped state still. The limp wasn't physical--it was an emotional one. Mr. H never hit him, he cared too much.

"So he saw the bruises?" Valic knew the answer was yes, he wouldn't need an answer towards it because it was clearly obvious when it was placed in areas where it was open to any eyes. "Sorry, I won't do that anymore." He murmured, seeing as the hickeys were a clear mistake now.

They were gone now, thanks to the cream, but Mr. Hanekoma had already seen them. So…Joshua kept walking, head lowered slightly. He seemed to just want to be alone, but comforted at the same time.

Valic placed an arm around the other's shoulders and gently directed him towards the bathroom that they always went to when things got dark for the other or himself. Val pushed in the door and shut it when the other was in there, frowning softly, "Talk to me... What's making you so upset?"

Joshua sighed and set his bag on the ground. "Mr. H SAW the bruises, all of them. He counted them up and got…I don't even know. And he's super protective…if he finds out I'm talking to you then I'm on lockdown for a year."

Valic frowned a little and reached to touch him - but figured Mr. H would find out even about that so he pulled his hand back and sighed a little, burrowing his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry Joshua... I'll lay off as long as you want." He was saying that if he needed to, they could call it off and just become friends if it made Joshua feel better with Mr. H.