Chapter Text
“Darius..??”
Darius woke up with a grunt
“Uhm- what are you doing up, little Prince?”
He then heard sniffling and noticed his Little Prince was crying. “..What’s wrong?
“I-I-“ his voice wavered immensely, “I don’t know what’s.. what’s- happening to me?!- I-“ he inhales sharply and sobs. He grips his waist hard and bends over, letting the tears take over, unable to control his own body.
Darius realizes the severity of the situation and throws off his blanket and races towards the door frame.
“I-I-I don’t know what to say!! I don’t know what to do!” Hunter is completely sitting on the floor now, his adoptive father can barely recognize him as the same person who always playfully talked back to him
“It’s okay, Hunter. just breathe!” Darius was still a bit drowsy from being woken suddenly, he didn’t know how to help Hunter.
His son used the technique Gus had taught him to calm himself down.
“Are you okay with a hug?” Darius knew Belos had been abusive so he had always taken caution to ask for consent first with everything.
Hunter nodded, he quickly grasped onto his father-figure for dear life. His head was pounding and he couldn’t think straight yet, but at least he could breathe.
“I’m so sorry…”
“It’s alright, little Prince, take as much time as you need.” By that, Darius meant ‘take as much time as you need, as long as it still leaves room for my beauty sleep.’
“I’ve been so sick recently, it’s been scary. I think I know what’s going on but I just- I can’t admit it, I won’t!”
“Hunter, whatever it is, I will always be here to support you. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I do. I’m- I’m worried I might be- I might.. I think I'm- I think I might be.. pregnant…”
This was the LAST thing Darius ever thought his son would say. He knew Hunter was trans but who would ever get him pregnant. He could think of one person, but he hoped it would never be him. Darius puts on his best smile to relieve some stress hunter’s going through. He grips back into the hug they had going earlier and rubs circles on Hunter’s back to comfort him.
“Even with this, I will support you. I do have to ask though, who do you believe got you pregnant?”
Hunter stared at the floor, hesitating. The silence only grew Darius’s anxiety further.
“it was my- Belos. He- he did it and I- I didn’t think it would end this way! I didn’t want it to begin with.”
That’s exactly what Darius had feared. His poor child had been sexually abused and raped by the man who had claimed to be his uncle. Hunter was groomed and manipulated, his new dad just didn’t know how to handle that newfound information.
“I feel so weird! So gross! I just think of him, it’s like I’m possessed again… he’s inside of me.” Hunter stopped crying, he just stared into space. Then with a monotone voice, he continued, “and I need him out.”
Darius stopped and looked at his little boy, “what do you mean? What… What do you want to do with it? How far along are you?”
“The other night, I- I was freaking out. I wasn’t myself, I wasn’t thinking straight.” He still stared into space, sad but almost emotionless. “I took a knife from the kitchen and I tried to… cut it out.”
He then lifted his shirt and showed his little belly, he had scars and cuts all over it. Darius gasped, he was speechless.
“Hunter you can’t do this!” His own little Prince has been hurting himself, he didn’t know what to do.
“I know! I know!” He started crying again when Darius shouted at him. “It’s just so terrifying! I know there’s something inside of me that I can’t control! And I want it out!!” He started to scream and throw a fit, “I need it gone! It’s using me! It’s taking advantage of me just like he did! He’s still hurting me! I wish this didn’t happen! I wish everything could just go back to normal!”
“It’s okay, you’re okay.” Darius rubbed Hunter’s back once more to calm him down. “I think you’re still not in the right mind,” he was trying to be cautious with what he was saying, “it’s completely valid to feel these things but I say we should get some rest and figure this out in the morning.”
“You’re probably right…” hunter’s eyes drifted shut, Darius could tell all this crying left his tuckered out.
“I do not think I can trust you to be alone right now.” Hunter whined at that. “We won’t share a bed since I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, but I want to be in the same room with you to make sure you don’t hurt yourself. I don’t want you to feel bad about it but I just need to know you're safe.”
Hunter turned away and didn’t respond, he was going to be stubborn about Darius’s ideas.
“I need you to confirm that this is okay with you.”
Hunter hesitated, then nodded slightly.
“Alright, thank you. Where would you feel more comfortable sleeping?”
“My room.” He responded groggy, and pointed outside to his room.
“Okay!” Darius scooped the small one in his arms, stood up, and walked to Hunter’s room.
“You can sleep in my bed, I’m going to sleep in the closet.” Hunter whispered.
“The closet? You’ve already come out of the closet, why would you want to go back in?!” Darius wanted to lighten the mood with one of his jokes but Hunter was not amused.
“It’s small, I feel safe.” He tried to look Darius in the eyes but he has a hard time making eye contact so instead he just looked down at his neck.
If this were any normal circumstance, Darius would disagree and place his son in the bed anyway but if the closet made him feel safe, then the closet it is.
Darius opened the closet and saw blankets and pillows already in there, apparently his son had slept there before. He set the child down in the tight space and let him cuddle up.
After all his limbs were jumbled up and he felt comfortable enough to go to sleep, hunter untucked his head from his pillow and wished Darius a goodnight. Hunter was then out like a light.
“Goodnight, little one.” Darius looked at Hunter with fatherly love and a slight pity for all he had gone through without Darius batting an eye. He bent over and kissed his forehead. He backed away from the closet door and went to sleep in Hunter’s bed. Although his kid was already safe and sound, Darius would not abandon him. Not only would it be scary for Hunter to wake up alone but he never knew what could happen. Hunter could have a nightmare and wake up, restoring back to being unsafe! So no matter what, his dad was there to help him through it all.