Inner Demons

Prologue

Darren was sitting at his desk, listening to what his Norwegian teacher had to say, without actually getting any of it. He looked to his left and smiled when he saw Benjamin sleeping soundly on his own desk. He chuckled lightly at the thought of his old school back in American, one of his teachers had said that sleeping in class wasn’t a sign of a bad night, but a very boring teacher. Luckily for said teacher, no one ever slept in his classes.

Darren had moved to Norway about two years earlier along with his parents. His mother, Karen, who was from Norway, had moved to the States to study about 22 years ago. She had met his father, Felix, after a year and they got married after only knowing each other a year. Darren came to the world after a year of marriage. He could speak both Norwegian and English fluently, and that was the only reason why he was currently in this class together with Benjamin.

A little drool made it down on Benjamin’s notebook and he wriggled his nose a little. Somehow he found it hard to believe that this drooling mess, was the school hunk and that every girl dreamed about dating him.

“Okay, that’s the end of the presentation, for the remaining time I want you to do the task at page 234.”

The class groaned and Darren silently hit his head on his desk.

Suddenly Benjamin sat up and looked around himself, clearly confused as to where he was. Then he exclaimed. “Damn~”

“Had a nice nap, Ben?” Darren asked, snickering slightly.

Benjamin scowled and stood up to get some paper to clean his notebook. Darren just laughed at his friend’s pain and misery. When Benjamin came back, he started to dab the paper against his notebook, hoping to save what little he had written there.

“Stop laughing will you!” Benjamin hissed.

“Sorry, it’s just too funny.” Darren retorted and turned to his book, intending to actually do something.

Benjamin muttered something, but Darren was too far away in his mind to hear him. Things hadn’t been great lately, his parents had just divorced after 20 years of marriage and he was going to get a visit from his cousin, Mike, whom he wasn’t exactly looking forward to meet again. His mother would pick his cousin up at the airport at any minute now, and then they’ll wait for him to finish school, since he only had one lesson left after this.

Darren sighed, getting the attention of Benjamin again. “What is it?”

Darren shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that shit.” Benjamin pressed, then he put on his kicked puppy expression. “Please tell me~”

Darren let out a small laugh at his best friends antics. “It’s nothing really, just my cousin Mike is coming to visit.”

“Fuck!” Benjamin exclaimed, getting curious looks from the others in class, while the teacher gave him an irritated look.

“Be quiet.” Darren hissed.

“Is there a problem over there boys?” The teacher asked.

Darren smiled his innocent smile, that had everybody swoon over him. “No, sorry to disturb.”

She smiled and turned back to the student once again. Darren was going to miss her when she went on maternity leave, which wasn’t far away now. Focusing on the task in front of him, Darren jolted when a piece of crumpled paper landed on his desk. He took it and opened it slowly, having a faint idea about what it would say.

You’re going to be okay, right?! How long is he staying? Are you going to share a room?
You want to sleep at my place?

Darren smiled sadly, Benjamin was the first person he had told about his dark secret to. His cousin’s father had sexually abused him for about a year before they moved, leaving Darren terrified of human contact until he met Benjamin.

I’m going to be fine, I doubt he’s anything like his father. We got along great when we were younger. He’s just staying for two weeks and he’s sleeping in the guest room. I won’t say no to an open invitation to sleep over at your place though.

He threw the note back to Benjamin who only frowned slightly by what it said. Scribbling something down he threw it back.

Still don’t like it, but just know that you can come over anytime you want to.

Darren smiled and mouthed a simple “Thank you.”

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Darren saw his mother’s car at the school’s parking lot and after saying goodbye to Benjamin he walked over with careful steps. Opening the door to the back seat, he saw Mike sitting there with a smile on his mouth.

“Hi, Darren!”

Darren smiled back and got in. “Hi, Mike.”

After buckling up, his mother started the car and started to make their way home. Darren was sitting with his face turned to the window, not really listening to the conversation between his mother and cousin. That was until his mother turned to him.

“How was your day at school, honey?”

Darren shrugged. “Fine, Ben fell asleep and drooled all over his books.”

Karen laughed whole heartedly and turned to Mike. “Benjamin is Darren’s best friend since he came here. Such a nice and good looking guy, right Darren?”

“I wouldn’t know about the good looking part, but he’s really nice.”

Mike smiled and shifted a little. “I hope to meet this Ben person.”

Darren only nodded, making Karen frown, but not say anything. Mike turned his focus to the bypassing nature and smiled softly to himself, glad to see Darren again after 2 years. Karen pulled up to a small house and parked the car in the garage, while Darren and Mike unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of it. Darren took one of Mike’s bags and walked towards the house, smiling when the family dog, a shih tzu, came running towards him.

“Hey, Houdini.”

Houdini barked happily and then started sniffing at the bag Darren was holding. Darren only smiled and opened the door to their home.

“Grandma, we’re home.”

An elderly, but definitely a fit and beautiful woman, came out and hugged Darren. “Welcome home.”

Darren smiled and kissed his grandmother’s cheek fondly. “What’s for dinner?”

“Always hungry, right Darren?”

“Only for your food.”

She laughed and smiled when Mike came in. “Mike! Such a long time since I last saw you.”

“Hi, Elisabeth.” Mike said and went over to hug her. “Nice to see you again.”

Letting Mike and his grandmother catch up, Darren walked up the stairs to Mike’s room for the next 2 weeks and dumped the bag on the bed. He didn’t hear that Mike had followed him, before he had the door closed and Mike’s arms was around his waist.

“I’ve missed you.” He said and placed a small kiss behind Darren’s left ear, knowing perfectly well it was a weak spot.

End of prologue

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EDIT; Thanks to Lisa for pointing out a mistake for me!