Sighing in relief, Lucien shut the door behind him and turned a light switch. Suddenly, the room was ignited with soft shades of gold from the chandelier. At least his dad wasn't too into the Victorian lifestyle, then Lucien would have the burden of lighting the chandelier himself via stick and candle. He wondered how much of the floors were covered in wax back then and how many poor souls have had hot wax splashed onto them. Lucien didn't allow himself to get lost in thought for very long as he took his unusually tarnished bookbag over his bruised shoulder, groaning painfully. No time to waste. He had to get to his room and change into clean and unscathed clothes, as well as coating his bruises with foundation before his dad arrives.
Without further thought, Lucien made a B-line toward the stairs, slightly limping along the way. Before he could proceed to the second step, however, he was interrupted by a familiar voice enacting from the fire-lit living room nearby.
"Lucien? Is that you?"
Lucien swore under his breath, breaking into a cold sweat. He stopped at the doorway to meet eyes with his father, who was sitting by the fireplace, open book in hand. Lucien was grateful his dad liked to read in a dimly-lit room, as-for this occasion- it makes it difficult to see his son's face as clearly. "Oh, hey Dad." Lucien gave his father a small wave. "I, uh, I thought you were still at work."
"You know I always get off work at 4 in the afternoon. After your school hours have ended." Lucien checked his cracked phone to verify the time. Was it really that late? Upon checking, he also took notice on the myriad of texts and missed calls from the same person.
Lucien felt his face drop. "Oh..."
Damien folded his book and set it on the side table, and stood to his feet. "Where have you been? You always answer your cell phone."
Lucien took a step back, turning his head away so his mangled side bangs could barricade his father's gaze and his battered face. "Oh. Sorry, Dad. I...must've forgotten to take it off silent after detention." Lucien pretended to chuckle nervously as he rubbed the nape of his neck, slightly wincing.
Damien raised a brow. "That's odd. I'm sure I would've gotten a phone call from Mr. Vega or one of your teachers if that were the case."
Lucien swore under his breath again. Panic growing in his system as he frantically scrounged through his mind for an answer, Damien inching closer.
"Lucien, what's really going on?" Damien switched the lights on as his son inched further into the dim hallway. "Son, will you please look at me?" the soft plea was too hard to ignore or disobey.
The teen sighed in defeat. 'I suppose there's no point in hiding it now.' Lucien stepped into the lit room to meet his father's horrified face with his bruised and bloodied one. The bang that mostly covers his right eye for style, now used to hide a black eye. He was sure one of his bottom lip piercings had been ripped off as a thin trail of dried blood stained his chin. "Lucien, what happened? Who did this to you?"
"It's...nothing. Ernest and I were just...roughhousing. And I lost, and I didn't wanna tell you. I'm sorry, Dad." Lucien was always good at lying, but never to his father.
"Somehow, I find it hard to believe Ernest did all of that to you." Damien noticed a green mark peeking from under Lucien's shirt collar. "Please come sit down and remove your shirt."
He led his son to sit next to him on the lavender sofa. As Lucien begun slowly shifting his shirt over his head, Damien saw his son was in pain and helped him remove the garb. Once off, Damien covered his mouth as his breath was caught in his throat. His tearful eyes were set on the sickening sight of green and blue abrasions coating his dear son's shoulders and front torso. What was the most eye-catching, was the much larger bruise over Lucien's abdomen. A 14-year-old-boy half Lucien's size definitely didn't do all that. Damien also took notice of Lucien's slightly bruised knuckles. "Dad, it's...it's not as bad as it seems," Lucien said softly.
"Not bad? You're hurt, covered in bruises. Wait here." Damien swiftly left the room. After a short while, he returned with a bowl of ice-cold water with several cloths and a tube of ointment. He took one of the wet cloths and twisted it damp. "Here. For your eye." Lucien took the wet rag and hesitantly held it to his right-bottom lid while Damien worked on the other injuries. The room was silent before Lucien spoke. "I...I'm sorry you have to see me like this, Dad. It's just..." he sighed. Damien took his son's hand in his own. "Please, Lucien. You can talk to me. If someone's threatening you-"
"It's not that. I...It's just something I'm too embarrassed to say." Lucien's eyes were glued to his feet, but he looked up to his father's loving gaze. He sighed. "It was after school, and I was about to walk home when I saw these seniors picking on Mr. Sella's daughter. So, I confronted them and politely told them to leave her alone. Seeing as how I was a foot shorter than them, and no muscle on me, the seniors weren't intimidated by my demand. They inched closer and started throwing insults towards me-"
Damien sighed. "Lucien, you shouldn't pick fights with others just because they've insulted you."
"But, Dad-"
"It was kind of you to defend Carmensita. But in situations like those, you walk away, and you tell someone, like Mr. Vega or the principal, or me. You shouldn't stand by and try to fight them off."
"I did, but-"
"They could've really hurt you. What if one of them had a weapon, like a knife or even a gun? I could never live with myself if you-"
"Theyinsultedyou!"
Damien paused. Lucien said it so fast but so clearly it was difficult to miss. "What..?"
Lucien continued. "Of course, I was gonna walk away with Carmensita. They didn't say anything about me I haven't heard. I was kinda used to it by now...But, then one of them called you a "she-man". I stopped, and I guess they saw that it bothered me so they kept at it. They didn't expect me to punch the guy who started it square in the face, though. But...that was the only blow I threw before..." he hissed in pain as Damien applied the ointment onto Lucien's tender abdomen. "Sorry," Damien said softly. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you because I was embarrassed that I couldn't defend your honor. I...I'm sorry, Dad."
"Lucien, look at me." Lucien turns to his father who holds his hand tighter. "I don't care what anyone, let alone some ruffian, says or thinks about me."
"But, you put so much passion and work into your transition. I couldn't just-"
"And I put even more passion and work into you. You matter so much more to me than my own being. Trust me, I've dealt with this sort of thing long before you were born, and I've grown accustomed to it."
Lucien smiles a bit. "Well...now I see where I get my thick skin from."
Damien returns the smile. "Just promise me one thing."
"Yeah?"
"That you'll never forget how much you mean to me and how much I love you." Damien caressed his son's cheek.
Lucien felt his cheeks grow warm. "Yeah, I promise. I love you too, Dad."
Damien gave Lucien a soft but sweet kiss on the forehead. "Well, I've applied ointment on the abrasions, so they should heal soon. Just go easy when you're lying down." Lucien nodded in understanding.
A deep knock on wood enacted from the front of the manor. "Who could that be?" Damien pondered as he made his way to the front door. Lucien followed in curiosity as he donned on a clean shirt.
Damien opened the door to be greeted by Mat and Carmensita, who appears to be holding a plate wrapped in foil.
"Hey, Damien!" Mat said with a smile. He beams when he sees Lucien walk up from behind Damien.
"Mat, Carmensita, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here, fellow neighbors?" Damien asked with a friendly grin.
Mat places his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Well, Carmensita told me what happened at the high school today, and we wanted to say "thank you"."
Carmensita holds up the plate with a smile. "I, well, we made homemade banana bread."
Damien sniffs the air. "Oh, that smells heavenly. Do come in. I'll make some tea to go with it." He leads the two inside.
"Thanks. Iced for me, please," said Mat as Damien lead them to the living room before leaving for the kitchen with the bowl and cloths. Mat smiles at Lucien, who softly massages his neck. "Hey, Luc."
Lucien turns to meet Mat's gaze. "Yeah? Sir?" he added the formal address to sound more polite.
"I just wanna say that was a really cool thing you did for my kid today."
Lucien rubbed his neck some more. "Oh, uh. It's nothing."
"I'm serious. You're more of a gentleman than you've to lead yourself to think." Mat softly patted Lucien's back, careful as not to harm him. Lucien didn't know whether to take that as a compliment, but he felt somewhat pride nonetheless.
"Well, uh, thanks. Sir." he was trying with every fiber of his being not to smile, to keep his cool persona. "But, it's just whatever." Lucien then felt something small around his waist. He looked down to see Carmensita wrapped herself around him in a gentle hug. Now, Lucien couldn't hold back his smile and gave the girl a soft pat on the head. He looked over at a grinning Mat. "Don't tell the others, please," Lucien said. Mat pulled an imaginary zipper across his lips. "Hey, I owe you, man." he shrugged. Carmensita broke away just in time when Damien returned with a silver tray with fresh hot and iced tea and sliced banana bread that they all enjoyed together.