Chapter Text
Tic...Tic...Tic...
Ash was awake before the fancy wall clock dinged the full hour.
It wasn't even 6AM yet, and it was already one of the worst times of the day. The reason being the weight pressed up against his back.
Dino wakes up early for a man with no real job, but still, every morning Ash has to lie in bed next to him for anywhere from a few minutes to hours, waiting until he wakes up so he can just get a move on with his fucking day. It always got on his nerves having to lie there and wait like an idiot, when all he wants is to just get away from the man's snoring into his ears and hand around his hips.
What makes it worse is that Dino usually doesn't let Ash shower after they have sex in the evening. He prefers making Ash wait until morning to wash the dirtiness off of himself.
Dino says it's because he likes when Ash smells of him. Ash thinks the man's just doing it cause he knows he hates it.
All the more reasons to be annoyed as he watches the clock tick, willing it to go to 7AM so Dino would be awake for sure and Ash will finally be able to buzz off.
He's bored.
It's so monotonous here when no one's yelling at him or beating him up or fucking him half to death. Dino really is an old fart.
The only things Ash can focus on is Dino's fat gut swelling and deflating against the small of his back like a balloon, the man's chest hairs teasing Ash's shoulder blades, since the man always insists that Ash sleep naked.
Ash is too cold. Dino's too hot. The room is too bright, nothing is right.
It's ironic that of all the fucked up things in Ash's life, this is somehow one of the things that drives him up the wall the most.
Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, Dino groans in Ash's neck and starts to wake up. And as usual, Ash doesn't give a single sign of life. He doesn't need to turn around anyway, he prefers to just keep still like a doll, sometimes even faking still being asleep just so he doesn't have to say a mellow "Good morning Papa" to that guy.
Dino sighs, his heavy hand that was resting on Ash's hip runs up the boy's stomach and chest, coming up to stroke his cheek as he man sits up and looms over him, probably trying to see if the boy's awake or not. Ash doesn't deem him with a reaction. Dino knows him well enough by now that he knows the boy hates him, so Ash doesn't risk much by scowling at him first thing in the morning.
Dino chuckles a bit upon seeing his boy's face, brushing aside his unruly blonde hair.
"Good morning princess. Sleep well?" Dino says sweetly, like a grandfather would speak to their grandson. But the man only does that because he knows Ash hates having to answer him.
"Sure." Ash replies simply, glancing away from him and moving his arms on the mattress to push himself up, but Dino's thick palm pushes down on his chest and makes him lie back down.
"Now, now, sweetheart, don't be so impatient. We've got plenty of time together before school starts for you, it's only 6:30." Dino says, saying it as if it were good news. Ash only glares up at him. Dino chuckles again, a sort of sadistic tinge in his eyes appearing each time he sees Ash submit to his orders unwillingly.
Dino's hand on his chest starts trailing down the boy's closest arm to snatch his wrist, wordlessly pulling it to touch his morning wood.
Ash doesn't even look at it, his eyes stay fixed on the ceiling, glaring at the chandelier as his hand moves almost in muscle memory at this point.
Dino hums in a satisfactory way, moving his own hand to Ash's own privates, to which Ash still has absolutely no reaction.
To be honest, Ash never really figured out what Dino liked about his privates. Other men liked seeing how innocent he was down there, some like getting Ash's body to have an arousal reaction against his will and some discarded it completely but... To be honest, Dino always just seems to love playing with it for no reason, it's confusing.
Anyways, that's a stupid thing to think about, but when you're used to this type of thing happening, you start thinking of random shit.
Eventually, Dino decides a hand job isn't enough and grabs Ash's hair to suck him off.
Ash almost groans in frustration.
He might be a good whore but he never gets why men just won't let him suck them off in normal positions. Being on his side like that with his head angled down is making it ten times harder not to gag, plus it hurts his throat.
Ash wonders if Dino's ever had to suck dick like that. Maybe he's doing it on purpose cause he knows it's harder?
'What is it with the stupid thoughts today?'
Anyways, it's 6:45 now and Ash's hair and face is splashed with cum. Regular Monday morning if you ask him.
Dino ups and leaves, leaving him like an old sock, as men do, which Ash is grateful for. At least now he's alone for a few minutes.
He drags himself to his feet and towards the ensuite shower.
Another thing Ash will probably never get used to is how fucking fancy everything is here.
After months of being here, Ash still is nervous to touch anything, the marble counters appearing foreign and scary to him, which is weird considering the amounts of dicks he's touched in comparison.
Ash gets into the shower.
He doesn't bother locking the door, he's not allowed to anyways. He doesn't really care about anyone seeing him naked either since everybody here pretty much has. Though it would probably be pretty embarrassing if one of the guards saw the types of poses he hits in the shower when trying to get the cum out of his ass.
Ash turns the shower heat up as much as it'll go, filling the room with steam after a bit.
He scrubs and scrubs, always focusing on his legs for some reason. He tries to warm himself up under the hot spray, arms wrapped around his shoulders as he closes his eyes and lets the water wash off the sticky substances from his face.
He doesn't really know what other people think about in the shower. How they can manage to have fun in it and sing and shit like that. Ash's mind just goes blank. He doesn't think about anything.
What is there to think about anyways? The model of the life path you're supposed to take is long gone to Ash by now. Boys his age are supposed to be thinking about getting girlfriends and studying for SATs and eventually choosing a Uni to go to or start working.
But Ash has been working since he was 10.
7 if you count Coach paying him in exchange for a lay.
'Whatever...none of that's important.'
Marvin drops him off about 150 meters away from Ash's high school.
Ash has to convince him to do so, as usual. Marvin is always trying to find a way to have a little fun with Ash in the car before letting him go to school, making up excuses for him to be late.
Some days Ash is just more tired than others and he lets him, but today Ash is actually pretty happy. On his own scale of course.
So instead of staying placid when the man unbuckles his belt, Ash simply reaches to his left and unlocks the car's safety, opening the door quickly with his other hand while Marvin realizes what's happening.
Ash practically bounces out of the car, bag in tow and flips Marvin off with a mischievous grin as he sees the man through the windshield insult him and falter to close his pants back up.
Running a bit so he's sure Marvin's fat pig ass didn't follow him, Ash makes it to the school.
The reason Ash is so optimistic (again, all is relative) about today is cause Shorter's coming back after an 7 week long trip to juvie.
And Ash kind of missed him... He wouldn't ever tell him that though.
Ash walks up to the large stairs where everyone is sitting and smoking, not really caring about politely easing his way through. He just steps over people and pushes past.
He's not really known around here for being a sweetheart anyways.
There are banners everywhere when he walks into the main hall. It takes Ash off-guard cause they look way more high-budget than the usual shit hung up here. They're large electric blue things that go from either side of the room, with red streaks on the sides of them.
Ash looks up at them curiously. He walks to the other side of the room to get a look at the writing in whole.
'OPEN DAY AT UA HIGH, 26/02! MEET FUTURE HEROES! FREE TOUR!'
Ash looks at it unimpressed, propped up against the railing nonchalantly.
He never cared about heroes and all that shit, it always felt performative to him.
They're presented as purely good hearted people who chose to devote their life to do good and blablabla, blabla...
Ash stopped believing people like that existed long ago.
He scoffs at the ostentatious piece of paper and turns away, slinging his bag over his shoulder and heading to the courtyard.
He figures Shorter might be there. Ash expected to see him arrive late like usual but there's a chance he might have actually come in early today.
And lo and behold, there he is, in all his...weird purple glory.
Shorter's trying to rizz up some girl from a grade under, who's leaning away from him and casting nervous glances at her girlfriends.
Shorter seems to be convinced he's doing a marvellous job however since he absolutely ignores any and all signs of her being uncomfortable and slings an arm around her shoulders, showing her the sky with a very enthusiastic outstretched hand.
The girl's eyebrows crinkle up in confusion as she looks at where Shorter's pointing.
Ash looks up too.
There is absolutely nothing there.
He gets close enough to hear a sliver of conversation.
"...-There are stars here that make a butt at night, I swear. I just forgot it's not night yet...haha...ha..."
...
'Shorter you absolute moron.'
Well Ash is already suffering too much from watching that interaction...so it's time to nip this in the bud.
"Shorter." He says simply, kicking him in the back of the shin while Shorter fumbles to explain away his stupidity to the girl.
"Ow! Hey man-" Shorter startles, knocking away the girl a little and turning around angrily, before he stops, recognizing Ash, then grins like he won the lottery.
"Ash! Man, where've you been? I missed you!" Shorter explains, completely forgetting about the girl who uses this as an opportunity to sheepishly power-walk back to her friends.
Ash raises an eyebrow.
"Where have I been? Shorter, you're the one that got locked up." He says, unimpressed, a small sliver of a smile on his face nonetheless. He really did miss that melon head.
"Come on dude, it's bro code. 'No man shall go to juvenile detention without a buddy'." He proclaims proudly as if reciting the declaration of independence.
"For real buddy, I'm so used to it being you disappearing on me, I think I said that out of reflex." He says in a quieter voice, a bit grimmer and softer.
Ash's heart pangs a little.
He knows Shorter's right. Ash disappears a lot with no notice. But they both know why.
Shorter seems to immediately realize his mistake.
His face falls a bit, into a pinched regretful smile. "...S-sorry man, I didn't mean-"
"It's fine Shorter." Ash said, still smiling softly. And he means it.
Shorter's expression stays the same for a second, before he sighs and looks away.
Ash always felt guilty for how much Shorter's happiness seems to wilt when he's around.
"Hey, so what's the deal about the...UA thing?" Ash asks hesitantly, trying to change the subject. He's usually not one for small talk but he's hoping talking about heroes would cheer up Shorter. Shorter's face lights up.
"Ha, yeah, they're setting up a meeting between our two schools. You know, since UA was accused of only letting rich kids in? They wanna prove to the press they love poor kids too." Shorter said semi-sarcastically.
Ash smirks.
"So we're essentially the token broke kids. That's hilarious." Ash says with a scoff.
The bell's already rung by now, most of the kids were going back inside.
No one questioned Ash and Shorter being together outside still. They had a...reputation, since they became friends.
Shorter used to be pretty feared in the school and neighbourhood, it was known he was a gang leader, so it made sense. He stilll was a pretty chill guy though, but most people didn't want to mess with him.
But since Ash came along lately, Shorter's been losing some guys.
There were rumors going around.
Most of them about Ash.
Most of them were true, but there were also some about Ash and Shorter. Another thing Ash felt guilty about.
"You gonna go?" Ash asks, referring to the banner with a nudge of his head as they finally walk towards the hall.
Shorter snickers, still with the big grin.
"Fuck yes man! I was so stoked to get out on time to go. Imagine meeting them in the flesh...especially Midnight..." He said, lowering his glasses and wiggling his eyebrows.
Ash rolled his eyes.
"Actually I wanted to ask you something Ash. You know how there's that medic Recovery Girl that works at UA, yeah?"
"Mhm."
They walked up the steps, stepping over the dirt and various weird fluids, some of it looking like yogurt.
"Well she got an office on the top floor...and she'll be down at the ground floor with the students for the meet and greet."
'Ah I see where this is going.'
"Dude, it's a huge opportunity to raid that shit! Think of the killing we could make with all those drugs and meds man!"
Ash chuckles a little, smiling up at his friend with tired but fond eyes. It was times like these when he felt like they were still allowed to be teenagers.
Maybe...a little.
"Alright, I'm in." Ash said softly, holding up his hand for a check.
Shorter grinned and clasped Ash's hand with no hesitation, no fear, no disgust or want.
Just two friends smiling at each other.
Ash was so happy.
His happiness didn't last long.
Why would he even expect it to?
He should know this by now, why is he always so fucking stupid?
Ash is being sent back to Club Cod.
Dino's pulling him out of school. Says he needs funding for a partnership he's expecting.
As if he doesn't already have millions under his boot.
As if the mansion they live in isn't built with marble counters.
As if he doesn't even want to consider any other options before opting to throw Ash to the wolves.
Ash isn't stupid either, he knows he's less appealing now that he's older. He's fourteen now, can easily pass for twelve but still...he won't be selling like no 9 year old will.
Which means his rates will drop.
Which means more clients to earn the same amount.
More hands, more scum, more tears, more pain, more dicks, more liquids, more of his brain frying when he can't take it.
Why did he let himself be happy again?
He knew it wouldn't last.
It hurts even more now.
To think a single text for Marvin had this much effect on him...he used to laugh at how predictable and stupid Marvin was.
Monday ¤ 09:18
'Good news, movie star'
'Dino's putting you back to use in Club Cod'
'Can't wait to see what your hole looks like after it's been ran over by 30 men...It's been a while :)'
Ash had almost thrown down his phone in anger when he saw them. But he couldn't.
Not when Shorter was still grinning, ranting about all the money they're gonna make with the meds as they were walking up the stairs.
Ash just stood there, frozen for a second.
He wanted to cry.
Somehow, he manages to get through the day without breaking down.
Thank God Shorter and him weren't in the same classes most of the time cause he doesn't think he could've managed.
Shorter notices as they part ways to different hallways though.
Ash knows he noticed, but just ducked under his arm and opened his classroom door, walking in and sitting down on a chair as far back as possible, not looking at anyone, not excusing himself for being late, as he sees Shorter look at him with a worried expression as the door slammed shut, a hint of terror in his eyes.
God, he never should have let Shorter find out about any of this.
It would be so simple if he didn't know a thing about him and Dino, then Ash could have just made something up about transferring schools or some shit.
Nah, who's he kidding, no one will be very surprised if he disappeared...
Everyone in this shitty school thought he was a sugar baby at the very least, and most people believed all the rumors about it.
It was practically an admitted fact at this point.
No one questioned it when Ash missed days or even weeks of school and came back with a bruised face and a limp.
Most students snickered at it, the bravest ones confronted him directly, cracking jokes that weren't ones about him having orgies over the weekends with everyone's dads.
It wasn't that far off, all things considered.
Ash didn't even react when the fuckass Economics teacher Mr. Lawson walked up to his desk and started getting up in his face about disrespect and tardiness.
Ash didn't look at him, didn't talk, he just waited for it to be over.
His head was angled down, his hair half covering his face.
He was slouched in his chair like a puppet with cut strings.
His eyes started to well up with tears.
The teacher's voice faded away and Ash's view of the desk in front of him blurred.
He still didn't say anything.
The tears started trickling down.
Ash had always been an ugly crier, he never had pretty tears.
They always seemed to spread on his cheeks instead of drooping down in single pretty droplets like in the movies.
Still, he stayed perfectly silent.
At some point, Mr. Lawson either felt pity or got enough of yelling at him.
Ash heard his footsteps walk away.
He wasn't sure if he had seen the tears. Maybe he had, but at least he was pretty sure the class hadn't.
Ash stays like this, still and slouched, for a good five minutes.
He doesn't really feel anything anymore, he's exhausted.
He wants things to stay as they are.
He's fine with Dino fucking him, he's fine with having to work the streets, he's even fine with Marvin taking him to every single seedy motel in New York...
...But Club Cod...
He can't do that again.
He doesn't even really know how he did it the first time.
For one of the first times of his life, he feels this sentiment of impending doom.
Like he's trapped with absolutely no issue...
He'd always managed to find a way to survive before.
He shot his coach,
He made a deal with Dino,
He learned to fight back,
He led his gang...
But now he just doesn't see anything he could do...anything at all.
In all honesty, even if an exit was wide open to him that led out of that fucking club... Ash doesn't think he would manage to go through it.
He just can't do this again, it feels impossible.
He's gonna die. He really is.
He doesn't know how, but he knows he will, he hopes he will,
he knows his mind won't survive this another time.
Ash chuckles a little to himself in his seat, making some heads turn, but he doesn't care.
'It's ironic, isn't it?' '...I really think I'm gonna get fucked to death.'