The Way You Loo at Me

Author's Note

Its been some time since I last wrote about the Corinth family and the town of River Bluff, but this particular story has been somewhat in the works even before the first one was complete. I wouldn't say its required to read The Sound of Your Voice before you read this one, but it will definitely help, and flesh out some of the secondary characters a bit more.

Anyway, this particular story takes place nine years after the first, and there have been some changes to the family, most are good, but a few...well you'll see. Onward we go. Enjoy!

~N

–

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light. From now all our troubles will be out of sight.The radio popped and hissed as it played the song.

Daniel sat on the edge of his bed, the blankets a little too thin to keep the chill completely off of him in his one room apartment. Just four days past his eighteenth birthday, he was out on his own, and trying to make it alone in the world. After graduating from high school, he had left his abusive father behind and moved to the little out of the way town of River Bluff. He had hoped that by moving away that he wouldn't have to be afraid all the time, of being hurt, and beaten. Instead, he'd found new fears, fears that were just as terrifying. Each day was a struggle, and more often than not he went to bed without enough to eat and with the coming of winter, most nights were spent shivering in a too cold apartment.

The young man glanced around his rat hole of an apartment, its walls dingy, the few furnishings battered and beaten. His soft brown eyes settled on the small Christmas tree that rested on what was laughingly his kitchen table, a bent and dented metal thing from the 50's that if you weren't careful would send your plate sliding off the side and onto the floor. The tree wasn't much, it was as bent and battered as the rest of his meager possessions. Most of the ornaments were cracked, and only half of the lights actually worked, the other half choosing to light up seemingly at random, but it was his. As he stared at the little tree, he choked out the last few lines of the song.

"Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself...a merry little Christmas now..."

Daniel hiccuped as he fought back the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes. Reaching over, he turned off the radio and sighed as he glanced out of the dingy window at the snow that was falling again. He had just curled up on the bed when the abrupt knocking on the door brought him back up. Startled, he glanced around the small apartment for a moment before he stood up and wiped his eyes. Making his way to the door, he drew in a breath as he pushed his black hair out of his eyes and opened the door.

"Dino's Pizza," said the guy waiting in the hallway. "I've got a large pepperoni, and an order of wings for..." He stopped as he glanced down at the ticket that was taped to the top of the box. "Darrel Hanson." Looking up, the guy grinned. "That you?"

For a moment, Daniel was silent as he stared at the guy in the hall. Even in a ball cap emblazoned with a very cartoony Italian man with a pizza hoisted in the air, Daniel could tell that the guy was cute. From the brown hair that was sticking out from under the cap to the blue eyes, he was adorable. "Uh..." Daniel blinked as he shook his head. "Nope. No Darrel Hanson here."

The guy nodded as he glanced down the hall at the other three doors that led to similar apartments. "Do you know which one is his?" he asked.

"I think you've got the wrong address," said Daniel. "As far as I know, there's no Hanson in this building."

The delivery guy's shoulders dropped as he turned to look back at Daniel, his face crestfallen. "Oh don't tell me that..." He glanced back down at the ticket and sighed as he saw the address. "Shit. Its on the other side of town."

Trying to ignore the smell of pepperoni, and the growling in his stomach, Daniel nodded quickly. "Yea, sorry about that."

Shrugging, the guy held up the two boxes. "Want some pizza and wings?"

"I...uh...I can't pay for that," said Daniel.

"Didn't asking you to," said the guy as he pushed past Daniel and into the small apartment. "Its on me, especially since I'm going to be fired for it anyway. Fuck up three deliveries in my first week? Yea, I'm toast." He glanced around the apartment and frowned as he saw the small tree. "Did you know you've got a short in your lights?"

Blinking, Daniel shook his head. "Hey, Hey! I said I don't want your pizza. And so what if my lights have a short in them. And since when do you just barge into a person's house and...and..." He shook his head as he tried to collect his thoughts, and stop his mind from racing.

"Your growling stomach says otherwise," said the guy. He slid his hat off as he sat the pizza boxes down on the small kitchen counter. Running his hand through his short brown hair, he tousled it up as he turned back towards Daniel. "Besides, I hate to eat alone."

The growl from his stomach made Daniel flinch as he crossed his arms over it. "Look, I don't know you and-"

"Aiden," said the guy with a smile. "Aiden Corinth. Nice to meet you...what did you say your name was?"

Flabbergasted, Daniel sighed as he shut the door. "Daniel Blake. Look, I don't know what you're expecting, but I'll split the pizza with you, and the wings. Anything else you might be after..." He shook his head.

Pulling off his jacket, Aiden shrugged. "Some conversation while we eat, and I'll fix your lights. Its probably just a loose bulb."

Shaking his head, Daniel made his way to the cupboard and took out a pair of plates, the only two he owned really. "Whatever. Just don't break it."

–

Twenty minutes, a pizza and a box of wings later, Aiden belched. "So," he grunted. "You live here alone?"

Chewing on the last bit of crust, Daniel shrugged. "Yea, I didn't get along with my dad...so..." He gestured around the small apartment. "Here I am."

Grinning, Aiden glanced at the now steadily lit tree. "At least your tree is lit now."

"Mm," nodded Daniel. "What about you?"

"Oh..." Aiden shrugged. "I live with my dads. And my grandmothers, my little sister." He stopped and blinked as he considered the question before continuing. "My aunt and uncle stay with us when they're in the area." He grinned as he glanced at Daniel. "I kind of have a big family."

"Sounds like it," nodded Daniel. He stood up and gathering up the two plates, made his way over to the little kitchen area. "Did you say dads? As in more than one?"

Grinning, Aiden followed along and propped himself up against the counter. "Yea. They're gay. Dad and Poppy." He shrugged as he continued to talk, which Daniel was fine with as it distracted him for a few minutes while he washed the two plates. "Dad's a therapist, and Poppy takes care of Isabelle, my little sister, and sometimes he makes like wedding cakes, or those really fancy birthday cakes."

Nodding mostly to himself, Daniel sighed softly. "Must be nice."

"Mm," grunted Aiden. "So...what do you do?"

Daniel shrugged slowly. "I...uh...work at a coffee shop."

"Bartlet's, right?" asked Aiden with a grin. "Its the only one in town, so it has to be. I'm usually in there two or three times a week. I don't know why I haven't seen you before."

As he dried the plates, Daniel sighed softly. "Because I work in the back. Washing mugs and plates and silverware and..." He shook his head rapidly as he sat the plates back in the all too empty cupboard. "Look, thanks for the pizza and all. I really appreciate it, but its getting late, and you should probably get going."

Glancing down at his watch, Aiden grunted softly again. "Yea, fuck. Its already past nine. By the time I get home, its going to be ten, and Dad'll want to know why I'm late." He shook his head as he rolled his shoulders and sighed. "And when I tell him I got fired...again...he's going to hit the roof...again."

Turning towards Aiden, Daniel raised an eyebrow. "He can't be all that bad."

"Oh he's not," snorted Aiden. "Bit of a push over really. After mom died, I came to live with him, and...well...He kind of lets me do what I want, so long as I don't get into trouble and do something with my life. He wanted me to go to college, but I'm just not ready for that, you know? I mean..." He shook his head. "Maybe next year." As he looked up and met Daniel's eyes, he grinned. "You should give me your number."

Blinking, Daniel leaned back and glanced around his small apartment for a moment. "Why? Its not like this is the most interesting place in the world."

"No," said Aiden. "But if I can't call you, or hang out with you, how else am I going to get to know you?"

"Know me?" said Daniel, both eyebrows raising this time. "Why would you want to get to know me?"

With a shrug, Aiden held out his cell phone. "Because I can. Here, you give me your number, and I'll give you mine."

For a moment, Daniel stared down at the pro-offered phone. It was an innocent gesture, surely, just one guy wanting to get to know another, right? There wasn't anything more to it then that. Taking the phone, Daniel gestured with his head to where his own phone sat on his bed. "I guess."

Aiden was already across the room and scrolling through the address book to make an entry when he stopped and turned towards Daniel. "New phone?" he asked softly.

"Uh...no?" said Daniel. "I've had it for awhile, why?"

Holding up the phone, Aiden shrugged. "Then there's something wrong with it buddy. You don't have any contacts listed, except for 'Work'."

"Oh." Daniel blushed as he swallowed hard. "Uh...its working. I just...I don't have a lot of friends or anything, and...uh..." His voice drifted into silence as he stared across the room to the other guy and finally shrugged in his embarrassment.

With a smile, Aiden punched his number into the phone's list of contacts. "Well. You've got one now." Stepping forward, Aiden extended the phone.

With a smile of his own, Daniel took it as he handed Aiden's phone back to him. "Thanks. I'll...uh...call you tomorrow or something. Okay?"

"Sure thing," said Aiden as he pulled his jacket and hat on. "Later cute stuff."

As soon as the door was shut again, Daniel shook his head and made his way back to his bed. Stretching out upon it, he sighed softly as he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He could hear the snow falling outside, the soft sounds of an occasional ice crystal tinkling against the window. He had just started to doze off when he heard another knock at the door. Groaning, he raised up and headed for the door. "If you forgot something, I'm going to laugh," he called out as he undid the lock and opened the door. Fully expecting to see Aiden standing there, he was surprised when he was instead presented with a black ski mask and a fist flying into his face.

–

Aiden sighed as he pulled his car into the garage. He was tired, and as expected, he'd been fired. At almost eleven pm, he knew he was going to be in trouble, but with any lucky he could forestall it until tomorrow. Stepping out of the garage and into the snow, he glanced up at the brick exterior of the old home, the warm light in the windows and the evergreen and ribbons that wrapped around the pillars of the porch gave the house a comforting, welcoming feeling. Making his way up the steps, he tried to kick most of the snow off his shoes before opening the front door and stepping inside.

The house was quiet, with only the soft crackling of the fire in the living room giving any indication that someone might still be awake. "I hear you boy," called a soft feminine voice.

Swallowing hard, Aiden stepped into the living room and gave an embarrassed grin as he saw his great grandmother. "Um...hi Grams. I...uh...just got in."

"Mm," grunted the old woman as she snuggled down into her blankets. "I take it the roads are getting bad, what with all this snow."

"Yea, yea," nodded Aiden, using the weather as an excuse for his lateness. "It was slow going in town, and uh...it...uh...took a bit longer than I thought it would to get home."

His grandmother sighed and shook her head. "And your poor father is stuck at work. I'm sure Josh will have a fit if he's late getting home in the morning. He has a cake to deliver."

Bobbing his head, Aiden nodded. "Yea, I'm sure. Uh...I'm going to go on up to bed Grams. Its been a long day."

"Mhm," nodded his grandmother. "Goodnight boy."

Aiden blew out a silent breath as he crept up one of the two parallel staircases that made up the entry hall of the house. Once on the second floor, he tip-toed past the door to his parents' room, and slipped into his own. As he made his way towards his bed, he slid off his shirt and undid his pants. Once those were off, he sprawled out naked on his bed and sighed. "Damn he was cute," he mumbled as he ran a hand down his chest, teasing the light dusting of hair that had only started developing in the last year. "So damn cute," he muttered as his hand slid lower over his tummy. The hair thickened here before spreading out over his groin and encircling his thick cock.

With a soft groan, he curled his fingers around his already swelling shaft and gave it a slow stroke. In his mind's eye it was another hand that stroked him, a face with dark hair and soft brown eyes leaning in to lick at the head before taking it into his mouth. "Oh fuck..." groaned Aiden as he stroked himself faster, the fantasy playing out in his mind. "Yea...suck on it Danny. Get it good and wet...Mm..." He was nearly panting as he gave his dick a light squeeze. "Oh...fuck!" He hissed through his teeth as his shaft pulsed and a blast of hot seed shot out and splattered onto his fuzzy tummy, quickly followed by a second and a third.

Still panting, Aiden groaned as he raised his head up and glanced down at the mess. "Fuck," he grumbled. Raising up, he reached for a dirty shirt, one he had discarded on the floor a day or two ago and started to wipe up the cum that was matting down the hair on his tummy. As he finished, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and stopped for a moment. He wasn't all that built, about average really, with a slight rounding of his tummy, and a light coating of body hair. His dick though, that made him grin. He was hung, topping out at just short of eight inches and thick with heavy balls hanging below.

The ringing of his cell phone brought his attention back to reality and he sighed. "Double fuck," he muttered as he scooped up the device and hit the accept button on the call. "Hello?"

"Hello," began the voice on the other end. "I'm with University Hospital in Louisville."

Aiden's heart dropped into his stomach. "Oh, oh shit. Is it dad?" he stammered. "Is he alright? Was there an accident or something?"

The voice on the other end sounded confused. "Um. I'm not sure? Is your father's last name Blake?"

"No," said Aiden, his brows knitting together in confusion. The name of Blake rang a bell, but he couldn't quite place it. "My dad's last name is Corinth. He works there, he's-"

"Oh," said the voice. "You're Doctor Corinth's son? Well that explains that then. No, you're father is fine. I am calling in regards to a Daniel Blake?"

Daniel. That was his last name. The sudden realization set off a flurry of questions. "Is he alright? Did something happen? I can come down right now, just let me get dressed and-"

"Whoa, whoa!" said the voice on the other end. "Slow down. Your father wasn't joking when he said you were a touch spastic. We were hoping you could help us get in touch with his parents. I can't give out any details, but when he was found, your number was the only one in his cell phone besides his job."

Rubbing his forehead, Aiden licked his lips. "I...uh...I don't know. He didn't talk much about his family, on his dad and only to say he didn't get along with him."

"Well," sighed the voice. "That complicates things. Thank you for your help."

The line went dead, leaving Aiden holding his cell phone. With a long suffering sigh, he pulled on his pants and made his way out into the hallway. "Poppy!"

–

Daniel groaned as he tried to open his eyes. The lids felt heavy, almost like lead, and his head was pounding. He tried to move, to sit up, but that just made it worse.

"Hey, hey," said a voice near his head. "Just stay still, and I'll get someone okay?"

That voice was familiar, thought Daniel. Really familiar. He slowly opened one bleary eye and grunted at the figure beside him. "Kay," he managed before shutting his eye again. It seemed like only a minute had passed before a new and strange voice was in the room.

"Well," said the woman's voice. "I've got another bag of saline hung, you were a little dehydrated when you came in. As soon as the doctor gives the okay, we'll get you something for the pain. Can you open your eyes honey?"

Try as he might, the one eye would not open, but with a soft groan, Daniel managed to force the other open. A light flashed in front of his face and he winced as he closed his eye once more. This time though it was only for a moment before he opened it again.

"Well, your pupils are responding," said the woman. "That's a good sign." She turned towards a figure by the door and smiled. "I'll tell your father he's awake."

"Thanks," said the familiar voice. As he laid there, Daniel tried once more to place it. It didn't take long as Aiden's face swam into view. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Grunting, Daniel closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing and not the throbbing in his head. "What happened?"

"Uh," Aiden stammered for a moment. "I uh, don't really know. They brought you here to University, and then called me to try and get in touch with your family. When I wasn't much help, they hung up on me, and...well...I kind of flipped my shit."

"That's one way of putting it," said a voice from the doorway.

Opening his one good eye, Daniel turned his head just enough to see the dark haired and bearded man standing in the doorway. He was handsome, even if he did look exhausted which did nothing to lessen the sense of confidence that seemed to surround the man. "Who...?" was all Daniel managed to get out.

"That's my dad," grinned Aiden.

Stepping up beside the bed, the man gave a small smile. "Doctor Evan Corinth," he said. "I'm the hospital's resident psychologist and..." He cast his eyes towards Aiden for a moment and sighed. "This one's father, yea." He returned his attention to Daniel and smiled. "Don't worry about your eye, its just swollen shut, and you've got a minor concussion. You took a real beating."

"Is that what happened?" asked Daniel softly.

Nodding, Evan gestured for his son to grab a chair. "According to the report, someone forced their way into your apartment, beat you into unconsciousness, and then ransacked the place. The cops are investigating, but..." He shook his head as Aiden pulled the chair over for him. Taking a seat, Evan sighed. "During the initial check, we found some...scarring, and old bruises. X-rays showed a few healed fractures, so I have to ask. Has someone been hurting you Daniel?"

For the first time, Daniel really focused on Evan with his one good eye. He could see the little touches of silver in his hair and beard, the wrinkles that had started to form around his eyes. It was the eyes that captured him. They were deep and dark, like rich coffee or dark chocolate, but above all, they were kind. Daniel felt his voice catch in his throat as all the fear, the pain, and the grief finally overwhelmed him. He let out a soft whimper as tears began to spill down his cheeks.

"Yea," sighed Evan as he leaned forward to put an arm around the younger man's shoulders. "That's what I thought..." Glancing over his shoulder, Evan nodded towards his son. "Go outside Aiden. No listening in, either."