Chapter 7

Avery dressed in his khakis, loafers and a sweater that made him the presentable son that his father expected. As his father finished prepping himself for his business client, he made his way to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

His dad came down wearing slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie, and Avery briefly wondered just how important this man who was coming was.

The doorbell rang shortly afterwards, and his father opened the door to a tall, distinguished man.

"Mr. Degasio, welcome to my humble home," his father greeted, gesturing for the man to enter.

"Carl, it's William, please," the man stated as he swept into the foyer like he owned it. "We are well past formalities."

Avery watched his father grin and took a moment to study the man his father was fawning over. The man was probably in his late forties or early fifties like his father, but definitely exuded an air of wealth. The clean classic cut of his suit and the Rolex watch peeking from under the sleeve clued Avery into why his father was so set on impressing this man. He had money to spend, and dad was trying to get him to spend it in his business.

"Of course, William," his father stated, and turned to Avery. "I'd like you to meet my son, Avery."

Avery chilled as the man's eyes raked over him lazily. "Nice to meet you, Avery."

"You too, sir," Avery responded automatically, which received an appreciative gaze from Mr. Degasio.

"Polite too," Mr. Degasio nodded. "Very good."

There was an awkward silence as Avery felt the man staring him down. "You look pretty young, son. How old are you?" He cast a wary glance at his father.

"I'm seventeen, sir," Avery blushed, ashamed by his small size again. That happened when you didn't eat much for over six years.

"Excellent," William Degasio patted his father on the back, and Avery just watched the odd exchange with confusion.

"Well, come this way," his father stated, gesturing to the dining room. "I've made some baked potatoes and steaks for dinner. Afterwards, we can talk."

Avery cast a brief glare as he followed the two men towards the dining room. You made, my ass, Avery thought. When was the last time you made anything but cereal?

Avery served his father and his business associate dinner and was grateful when his father insisted he join them. It meant a pretty hearty meal, and even though he was still feeling a little queasy from being sick, he wasn't about to pass up a decent chance to fill his belly.

Dinner passed quickly as his father and Mr. Degasio discussed the snowstorm they were predicting and other odd bits of politics that Avery ignored. He was only briefly aware of Mr. Degasio watching him with those dark brown eyes.

After dinner, his father ordered him upstairs so the men could discuss business. Avery was grateful for the chance to escape. He didn't change until he heard the door close behind his dad's guest, just in case his dad summoned him again. He had just relaxed back on the bed when his door burst open.

"You don't think I forgot your punishment for bringing that teacher here, do you?" he snapped as he flung Avery to the floor. "Get that shirt off and get on the bed."

As slowly as he could, Avery stripped off the layers of protective clothing before crawling onto the bed in just his boxers.

"Hold the headboard," Avery felt his breathing increase. His body trembled, he could still never stop the fear that tensed his body no matter how many times his father had punished him. When he heard his father's belt slither out of his pants, he tensed.

Avery gritted his teeth against the first slap of the belt across his back, refusing to give his father the pleasure of him screaming.

"You little bastard," his father snapped as he slung the belt down across his son's slight shoulders. "I better not be finding teachers crawling around here anymore!"

Slap! Slap! Fuck, that hurt! Avery gritted as he buried his face in the mattress, attempting to keep his father from seeing his tears. He managed to keep quiet for the first ten or so strikes across his back, ass and thighs, but soon his father was tearing the screams from his throat. It was almost as if that's what he was waiting for because he finally stopped.

He could feel a slickness pooling on his back and briefly wondered if it was blood or sweat. He wasn't even aware anymore when his father had stopped with the belt, having exhausted himself again. He felt the bed next to him shift as his father plopped down on it. The lamp flicked off.

Several minutes later, he heard his father snoring next to him. Shit.

He breathed deeply, burying his face in the pillow, trying to ignore the pain. His movements must have jostled his father because the next thing he knew, his father was rolling over on to him, rubbing his stinging back. He bit his lip not to cry out. His father's lips kissed his shoulder.

Damn it.

"You know I love you," the whisper of breath against his back caused him to panic.

Avery was at least glad to hear the sound of lube popping open, and that his father wasn't going to take him dry. Tears rolled down his eyes as his father shoved into him. He heard his father groan his pleasure as his hand smeared through the blood and sweat on his back, causing it to sting. Avery tensed with the pain.

"My sweet, Alina!" he hissed.

Avery did his best to ignore his father, wishing the end would come soon. Fortunately, he soon felt his father slump over him, and he struggled to breathe under his father's heavy form, hoping to God that his father didn't fall asleep on top of him.

Thankfully, in a couple minutes, his father rolled over to the side, sliding out of him. The man stumbled to the door, looking somewhat dazed like he often did when he was lost in his delusions of a happier time. Avery remained still, making sure his father disappeared down the hall to his own room before moving.

Avery wasted no time scrambling off the bed, pausing briefly as a wave of dizziness passed. He dropped his clothes into his hamper as he staggered to the bathroom. He took a moment to look at his back. Fuck. It was already darkening with shades of purple, black, and blue. Two lines were leaking blood, but he guessed they weren't too deep and hopefully would stop bleeding after a shower.

He managed to stay upright during a quick shower to clean away the stench of his father's sins. He stumbled as he tried to bend over to reach the meds Matt had left. Shit, when did he start thinking of him as 'Matt' instead of 'Mr. Andrews'? Avery shook his head trying to get the blond man out of his mind again. He was going to go crazy if he kept thinking about the guy.

Instead, he allowed his body to collapse on the floor in front of the sink. Leaning on the cabinet, he reached in and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol, thanking God that Matt had bought them for him as he quickly downed three pills.

He stared at the bottle for a long time, not realizing the tears that streamed down his cheeks were dripping onto his thighs. He wasn't sure at first why he was reacting this way. He was used to this by now, he should be numb to it all. He had been numb to it all.

He groaned and banged his head back against the wall. It was him. Matt. Mr. Andrews. The guy was getting to him, making him think again and feel. And he felt disgusting. And the tears streaked paths down his cheeks.

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His dad had allowed him to stay home sick one more day, probably seeing how slowly Avery moved that morning had him worried someone might actually ask questions. But by Thursday, Avery was able to drag himself to school without too much pain, especially with the contraband Tylenol that his father didn't know about.

His dad let him stay after school for tutoring, since he'd agreed to let him when "Mr. Andrews" had visited on Tuesday evening. When Avery arrived in Mr. Sikes classroom afterschool for his tutoring session, he was surprised to see a girl clinging to Matt's arm. He felt like he knew her.

"Come on, Matt, please," the cute little blonde begged as she grabbed onto his arm.

Avery fought to remember where he'd seen her before, and Mr. Sikes didn't seem to be bothered by the affection the girl was showing his assistant. For some reason, Avery felt a wave of jealousy wash over him at the closeness the girl shared with Matt.

"Erin, we can talk about that later," Matt stated. "If you are going to come here when I'm tutoring, you have to behave."

He looked up and saw Avery in the doorway. "Hey, Avery, come on in. You remember my sister, Erin?"

Avery felt his breath release in a sigh as he realized she wasn't Matt's girlfriend, and then wondered why he should even care.

Avery nodded as he dropped his book bag on the floor by the desk.

"It's nice see you again, Avery. I'm glad to see you are feeling better," Erin greeted jubilantly. "You looked pretty out of it Monday."

Oh, yeah, Avery remembered, he had seen her before. She had come with them when Matt had driven him home when he was sick.

"You know maybe after we're done here, we can get some cocoa or lattes at the coffee shop! It'll be cool to let all my friends know that I have a friend who's a senior!"

Avery had to grin at her enthusiasm. Although he couldn't imagine why she'd want to consider him a friend.

After a couple more kids arrived, they started the study session. Avery felt Erin edge close to him, and, strangely, didn't mind the warmth of her spirit. He allowed himself to relax slightly and even found himself meeting Matt's, oh shit, um Mr. Andrew's, grin with a warm smile.

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Matt was glad to see the smiles that escaped Avery's normally refrained facade. The tenseness that he had sensed seemed to fade as Erin's infectious good humor spread over everyone in the study sessions. They had even managed to get Avery to accompany them to the coffee shop a couple times when the study sessions ended early. He found himself looking forward to the afternoon study sessions just to see Avery a little bit longer.

It had been a week, and the Christmas holiday was fast approaching, as well as the end of his practicum. In a way, he was glad that his teaching stint was almost over and he wouldn't feel guilty about how he felt about Avery anymore.

"Hey, Matt," Erin started, as they walked out of the school. "Did you ask Avery yet?"

Matt groaned as Avery glanced at them with a frown.

"Nooo, I haven't had a chance," Matt rolled his eyes.

"Figures," Erin grunted, but then turned to Avery and rushed on before Matt could. "We were wondering if you'd like to go with us to the mall this weekend."

"W-what?" Avery stammered, apparently shocked that Matt would want to see him outside of school.

"Yeah, so we thought you could join us for a movie and stuff at the mall this Saturday," Erin said, asking what her brother was afraid to. They had talked about how shy Avery was and both had agreed he probably didn't get out much. Erin suspected her brother sorta liked Avery too, and based on the way Avery looked at her brother, and not her or any other girls, she suspected Avery might feel the same way.

Matt saw Avery's eyes flick to his with surprise and hope at the offer.

Matt shifted uneasily on his feet, feeling shy himself all of a sudden. "Yeah, um, I finish my teaching practicum this Friday. So technically, I'm won't be a teacher anymore, and so we can just hang out--like friends. I'm just a regular old guy again."

"You--you won't be at school?" Avery looked almost panicked.

"No," Matt said, but quickly added, "But I'm taking the next semester off and working down at the Vet Clinic to save up some money. So I'll be around."

"Yeah, he likes to go to the coffee shop a lot," Erin supplied, shoving her brother's shoulder. "Don't ya?"

"Yeah," he smiled shyly. "I need that afternoon pick me up."

"Oh," Avery's green eyes flickered with a ray of hope. "I pass it on my way home from school. Maybe I'll see you there sometime."

"Yeah," Matt smiled. "I'd like that. It'd be nice to see how you are doing. And you know, if you need any more help with physics, I could still help."

Avery shyly glanced at the ground. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Erin smiled slyly at the exchange between the two. "Yeah, so, do ya think you can come with us this weekend? I was hoping to have someone besides my brother come with me to the movie and shopping."

Avery still looked utterly stunned. "You want me to come? Really?"

"Yeah, why not you, silly?" Erin giggled.

"Well, w-what about your friends?" he stammered.

"Oh, they are gone this weekend," Erin said, and then started ticking off what each of her friends had planned. "Stephanie has to visit her dad, Myra is going skiing with her parents--lucky!--, Kendall is--"

"Okay!" Matt laughed, "We get it!"

"So anyway, maybe you can help me pick out something for my brother. He's the worst to shop for."

She watched a gleam creep into Avery's eye as he slid his gaze towards her brother briefly before he glanced at the ground and his face was covered in waves of ebony strands. "Uh, that sounds good. But I'd have to ask my dad."

"Oh yeah, of course," Erin agreed excitedly, pulling out her cell phone. "So, here, why don't you give me your cell number and I'll text you a reminder."

Avery looked quickly at the ground. "Yeah, uh, I don't have one."

"Oh," the vibrant blonde looked at her brother in surprise. "Well, why do you give me your home number then?"

Avery rattled out the number before he realized what he was doing. Matt frowned as he saw a look of horror cross the boy's face, like he'd revealed some national secret.

"Don't worry about her. She's just a cell phone queen, collects phone numbers like coins or something," Matt bumped his shoulder. "I'm sure your dad will be okay with it. The mall is pretty close and it's only for a few hours."

Avery nodded as he turned toward his neighborhood, giving a brief wave.

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Yeah, right, Avery thought. His dad would never agree to him going out. While he'd allowed the brief hope to cross his mind, he knew he'd never get up the nerve to even ask his dad.

A smile curled at his lips as he approached his house. The last week with Matt and Erin had been the happiest he'd ever been in over six years, even if he'd had to hide the fact that he'd been hanging out with them after tutoring. He knew he couldn't ask his father about going out on Saturday; his dad might realize that he was actually happy, and that couldn't happen.

When he stepped in the house, he saw Mr. Degasio sitting at the dining room table with his father. The man's unnerving gaze swept over him as he removed his coat. The man gave his father a curt nod, and his father grinned as they rose.

"Good, I'm glad we've been able to come to an agreement," his dad stated, shaking Mr. Degasio's hand. "I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

Mr. Degasio smirked, creating crinkles at the edges of his eyes. "I'm sure I won't," he said as he raked one last gaze over Avery before exiting out the door.

Avery glanced at his father who seemed to be in a good mood. Maybe he could actually ask his dad about going out this weekend.

"Dad," he started, but hesitated when his father's gaze turn to a lustful stare.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing," he stammered, "just wondering how your day was."

His dad glanced at the door that Mr. Degasio had just exited and a slow smile crept across his face. "Good. It was a very good day."