Such is life

Disclaimer: It only happened in some dark corner of my brain, meaning it’s NOT REAL!!!

Author’s notes: I can’t see any new reviews. *pout* If I was evil I would now deny you the next chap, but I’m good at heart, although I sometimes like to pretend I’m not…

This chapter is dedicated to my best friend and partner in crime Tarlwen. Happy birthday, luv! *throws glitter* Thank you for a crazy slash-related time and the fun while discovering the “Gschicht”, Beautiful, handsome, Audrey, the Vodkabearer and cute warrior-elves in our sick brains! Making me have strange ideas! *snort* It’s all your fault anyway… Luv u!!!

9. Home sweet home?


“I’m so glad we’re on our way home!” Orli babbled, not even noticing Dom’s silence. “Liv promised to come to the station!” He beamed. “How are you getting home?” he asked. “Will your mum fetch you?”

“Yeah,” Dom nodded, suddenly feeling cold when he thought of home. He surely missed his mother, Sam and little half-brother Elijah, but he didn’t want to meet his mother’s second husband.

//Monica! Can you please tell that lazy bastard of your son to lift his lazy ass from his chair and do something? You’re too good for that, Dominic? Afraid that your little fingers get dirty, right? I’m not going to watch that laziness of yours much longer! It won’t take long and you can take your stuff and piss off! And don’t you think that your father will take you with open arms! Nobody wants your kind as son!//

A lonely tear threatened to spill from Dom’s eyes, but he wiped it away before anyone could see it. Slowly he relaxed his jaw, the salty taste of blood filling his mouth. Dom hadn’t even noticed that he had bitten his lip. Even the thought of Michael was enough to make Dom crouch in his seat, trying to be invisible.

His mother had married a bastard. And of course Michael was the most homophobic person Dom had ever met. Another reason or perhaps the main reason for Dom not to be out to his family.

Nobody had ever judged Dom for who he was or what he did. His early childhood had been full of acceptance, his parents teaching Dom to always say what he wants and that they would always love him, no matter what happened.

Dom didn’t think that Michael truly loved anybody but himself. Whatever Michael did was right, everything else was wrong, no matter what it was. Sometimes Dom thought Michael did it on purpose, yelling at him with no reason, accusing him of things he hadn’t done. Even such a person as Michael might’ve noticed that Dom was a sensitive boy. He took most things more personal than what was good for him and barely ever forgot what people said to him.

//Monica! Can’t you tell your son to switch the light off when he leaves the room? The furniture doesn’t need it to be on! I tell you, if it goes on like that…//

“Dommie?”

Dom jerked.

Orlando was looking down at him. “We’re there. The train will arrive in some minutes. Pack your stuff!”

Dom combed blond strands out off his eyes with his hands. “Already?”

Orli started bouncing. “I’ll see Liv in 5 minutes! I can’t wait to take her into my arms again!” he exclaimed.

//How nice for you…// Dom mentally grumbled at his friend and slowly got up to get his bag from the luggage rack. Not being very tall Dom had to stand on his toes to reach it. Carefully he pulled at it, but the heavy bag didn’t move. //Fucking bag! Come down there already!//

“Fuck.” Dom hadn’t thought that the fucking thing would obey. Suddenly it moved forward and would’ve surely fallen on Dom’s head if not two hands had grasped it.

“Got ya!”

Dom let go of the bag as if he had been burned, letting Mortensen catch the bag alone.

“Ouff!” Mortensen looked almost comical when he trembled, trying not to fall.

“Thank you,” Dom muttered as Mortensen had finally regained his balance and took the bag from his teacher’s hands, turning around and walked towards the door.

“Dominic!”

Dom looked back at Mortensen over his shoulder. The man was offering him his hand.

“I already told you that I’m sorry,” Mortensen said, just loud enough for Dom to hear. “Peace?”

“And I already told you how I think about that,” Dom replied, ignoring his teacher’s friendly gesture and got out of the train that had just stopped at the station.

“Dom! Dom!”

Not even having the time to put his bag down, Dom suddenly had his arms full of his little ten-year-old brother Elijah. “Hey, monkey,” he laughed, putting his free hand around his brother’s back. “Did you miss me?”

Elijah nodded earnestly, but then the grin appeared again on his lips. “Did you buy me something?” he asked with shining eyes.

“Elijah! That’s not very polite! Your brother has arrived a minute ago and you are already asking him for presents,” Dom’s mother who had just appeared next to them scolded Elijah.

Dom put Elijah to the ground and let his mother embrace him, pressing her shortly to his chest, but turning his head away when she tried to kiss him. “Hi, mum.”

“How was your journey, love?” his mother asked Dom. Just when Dom was about to answer his mother interrupted him. “Wait a second, please.”

Horrified Dom watched as his mother walked towards Prof. Mortensen.

“Mr. Mortensen? Hi, I’m Dominic’s mother.” She shook Mortensen’s hand who was looking questioningly at Dom. “I just wanted to thank you that you went with the kids to Paris. I hope you got along well,” Dom’s mother continued. “I don’t suppose that Dom made any problems. He’s usually a nice boy. He looks up to you, you know?”

Relieved, Mortensen nodded. “Yes, we had a great time together,” He smiled, his gaze focusing on Dom.

That was enough. Dom walked over to them and pulled his mother away. “Mum, I’m tired. I want home,” he whispered into her ear. “Bye, Mr. Mortensen!”

“Dom! That was hardly polite!” his mother scolded him. “Your teacher’s such a nice man and I was just talking to him!”

“Sure, mum,” Dom sighed.

“I can take your bag, Dom!” Elijah exclaimed and was already pulling the heavy bag behind him, of course being unable to lift it.

“Yo, stop it, Lij! That’s way too heavy for you!” m looked into Elijah’s upset eyes. “You can carry my things when I’m old and walking on a stick,” he told Lij with a smirk. “But till then I’d rather carry it myself.”

Elijah was smiling now a little, but was still glancing at Dom’s bag. “But I wanted to help you…” he said quietly.

“Take my back-pack then,” Dom sighed, but Elijah was beaming happily, because he could help his older brother.

“I have food ready for you,” Dom’s mother said as they walked to the car. “Well, that means if Sam hasn’t forgot to put the pizza into the oven…”

“No food then!” Dom laughed, knowing his sister. “Either she’s forgotten it or the pizza is burned pitch-black when we arrive…”

~* ~

Surprisingly when they arrived there was a warm tasty pizza lying on their kitchen-table.

“Who helped you with that, sis?” Dom laughed, glancing nervously at the kitchen-door. He hadn’t seen Michael yet, but he could feel his presence like a dark shadow hiding behind the closed door of the living-room.

“Elijah, could you go and tell your dad that the pizza’s ready?”

Dom hunched his shoulders when he heard Michael’s heavy steps approaching. “Hello,” he said when Michael sat down on the opposite side of the table, anxious to neither be too loud or too quiet as he didn’t want to draw Michael’s attention in any kind. It seemed to have worked as Michael didn’t even look up at him, concentrating on the slice of pizza Monica had just offered him.

“And did you visit many museums with that teacher of yours, Mr. Mortensen?” Dom’s mother tried to break the silence by chatting with Dom.

Slowly Dom swallowed. “Yes,” he answered quietly. “ Didn’t know there were that many museums in Paris…” Dom smiled weakly, glancing at Michael again.

“Thank you for your postcard!” Lij suddenly exclaimed. “I pinned it on the pin board so that everybody can see it!” He pointed at the postcard with a cat on it that was standing with its tail pointing skywards so that it looked like the Eiffel-Tower. “Is there really something like that in Portugal?”

“Paris…” Michael suddenly grumbled. “You should be old enough to know it’s just a drawing on the postcard!”

“Oh…” Elijah looked down. “It doesn’t matter! I like it although it’s not real!” he smiled at Dom a smile that showed all his missing teeth.

Michael snorted.

Dom felt suddenly sick, the pizza tasting like ash in his mouth. He put his knife and fork down. “Sorry, mum, but I’m not really hungry… I’m tired from the long journey…” Trembling Dom stood up and left the kitchen.

“What’s wrong with him?” Dom heard Michael’s voice as he started to walk up the stairs to the room he shared with Elijah. “He should be grateful that you cooked him a meal…” Dom didn’t hear his mother’s answer.

Just as so often before he lay down on his bed, combing his hair from his eyes as he listened to his heart-beat, trying to concentrate on breathing. //Relax…//

Dom closed his eyes and opened them again, following the lines of the words he had carved into the headboard of his bed so long ago with his finger.

//It is all tears, when all hope is gone…//

Tbc…

Sadly I didn’t make up Michael. There are really people like him. Wankers…