Bruises Fade...Or Do They?
Chapters 1.5 and 2:
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A young boy ran through the park reaching his favorite part of the playground. He ran straight up the pegs to the tallest slide there. He was looking over the edge when the nervousness set in, but before it could stop him from going down he scooted to the end and pushed himself down the slide with a scream of pure childish enthusiasm. His landing however had been far less enjoyable. The boy looked down and saw blood oozing from is scraped knees and began to sob. A comforting embrace soon found the young boy as his mother sang softly in his ear to calm him down. As the tears stopped they boy returned the loving warm embrace and whispered he loved her. Her reply held the same amount of emotion “I love you too Zachary.”
The beautiful woman he saw in his mind faded as Zacky was pulled back into consciousness. The memory of his mother was too much for him to bear and he began to sob and reach out calling for his mother. He knew that he’d never feel her embrace again but what he wasn’t expecting was the strong tattooed arms that wrapped themselves around the boy emitting the heart wrenching sobs. The sweet yet masculine smell and strong hands running up and down his back was enough to calm Zacky down. He pulled back and looked down extremely embarrassed. Without looking at his comforter he mumbled a sorry.
Two strong callused fingers wound under his chin and pulled his face up to meet his beautiful savior. “Don’t be sorry… are you ok? Besides the bad dream thing” Zacky couldn’t believe how beautiful the deep raspy voice that the man had. He was instantly swooning without thinking about it. The man took Zacky’s silence as fear because he didn’t quite know who he was so he introduced himself. “Sorry, I’m such an idiot at times. I’m new here, my name is …”
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“Sorry, I’m such an idiot at times. I’m new here, my name is Matt Sanders, but most of my old friends call me Shadows or Shads. So I guess you can call me Shads…that is if you want to and all…” Zacky couldn’t help but giggle at the thought that he wasn’t the only one who rambled on. Matt knew what Zacky was laughing at and chuckled a bit as well. “Sorry… I tend to ramble. So what’s your name?”
“Zacky Baker” things got tense when the silence fell over them and they both realized they were still wrapped in each others arms. “Can I ask you something?” Zacky waited for Matt’s nod before continuing on “What happened back there? I’m in the nurse’s station which means someone brought me here, but why would those jocks stop beating the shit out of me to bring me here? So my question is… why did you help me?”
Staying true to his normal sly self Matt leaned back crossing his arms over his broad chest replying slyly “How did you come to the conclusion that I helped you? I could be a nurse’s aid or some shit like that.”
“Well…” Zacky paused for a moment really taking time to observe this beautiful creature that sat in front of him. “… your hands all bandaged up and what’s not is bruised so I’m assuming you got into a fight and if you were a nurse’s aide you would be checking on that kid on the other side of the curtain.” Matt smiled at the comments.
“Very perceptive of you young Zacky Baker.” They both giggled at how corny that sounded. “You’re right though, I was walking into the school and saw these football assholes come up behind you and start wailing on you. So I stepped up and knocked them down.” Matt flexed his hand and visibly cringed. Which brought Zacky’s attention down and he took instant notice to how bad Matt’s injuries really were. A soft hand laid itself down on Matt’s bloody bandaged hand.
“Let me help you. I have tons of experience in bandaging wounds.” Zackys voice was assertive yet soft and caring. Not even waiting for his response Zacky jumped up and got behind Matt gently pushing him to sit on the bed that he had previously occupied. As tenderly as he could Zacky removed the previous bandages and threw them away. He told Matt to sit still while he got cleaning supplies for the wound. Matt watched his retreating back and his mind began to wander back to a year ago when the biggest tragedy happened.
He was so in love with his best friend Valary. They had been together for a year and a half and everything was perfect. One day however everything went south. They had been making out heavily on his bed when he accidentally moaned the name of his very male best friend, Benji. The hurt look on Val’s face was enough to shatter anyone’s heart, but he couldn’t deny his true sexuality anymore. He loved Val, but only as a friend. As she stormed out of his house he thought his night couldn’t get any worse but he was sadly mistaken. His parents were on their way home from a party when a drunk driver came barreling down the road left of center and hit them head on. They both died on impact. Matt was completely alone and was convinced that it was because he loved them. He made a promise to himself that he would never love anyone ever again because they would leave him or die.
Matt sat there on the nurse’s station remembering that horrible summer. He used to be so happy, which was why what happened did. He looked down at his appearance. The tight jeans that perfectly complimented his muscular legs were now replaced with baggy hole-filled jeans, and the tight band shirts were replaced with plain black loose fitting shirts and a hoodie. He tried desperately to feel anything but pain and sadness, but he couldn’t he didn’t deserve it. After all it was his fault… wasn’t it?
When Zacky returned he noticed the mood in the air had changed drastically, the light-heartedness was gone and a heavy somber tone had over taken. Deciding not to break Matt’s reverie he gently took Matt’s hand and held it over the bowl as he poured the hydrogen peroxide over the split and bruised knuckles. Zacky made a mental note to show Matt how much he truly appreciated what he did knowing that his knuckles had to hurt like a bitch and would for at least 2 weeks. He finished cleaning and dressing the wound then moved to the next hand and did the same.
“Is everything alright in here boys?” Zacky loved the school nurse. She was in her mid-40s with a kind face slightly weathered from her many years of life. There was just an aura about her and the soothing tone of her voice that could put anyone at ease.
“Yes, thank you.” Zacky smiled sweetly.
“Alright. I’m going to get a pass to permit you two gentlemen to go home for the rest of the week and heal.”
“Really?!?” neither Matt nor Zacky could believe it, but they weren’t going to question it. The nurse just smiled and left to do the necessary paperwork launching the boy’s into a comfortable silence.
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A young boy ran through the park reaching his favorite part of the playground. He ran straight up the pegs to the tallest slide there. He was looking over the edge when the nervousness set in, but before it could stop him from going down he scooted to the end and pushed himself down the slide with a scream of pure childish enthusiasm. His landing however had been far less enjoyable. The boy looked down and saw blood oozing from is scraped knees and began to sob. A comforting embrace soon found the young boy as his mother sang softly in his ear to calm him down. As the tears stopped they boy returned the loving warm embrace and whispered he loved her. Her reply held the same amount of emotion “I love you too Zachary.”
The beautiful woman he saw in his mind faded as Zacky was pulled back into consciousness. The memory of his mother was too much for him to bear and he began to sob and reach out calling for his mother. He knew that he’d never feel her embrace again but what he wasn’t expecting was the strong tattooed arms that wrapped themselves around the boy emitting the heart wrenching sobs. The sweet yet masculine smell and strong hands running up and down his back was enough to calm Zacky down. He pulled back and looked down extremely embarrassed. Without looking at his comforter he mumbled a sorry.
Two strong callused fingers wound under his chin and pulled his face up to meet his beautiful savior. “Don’t be sorry… are you ok? Besides the bad dream thing” Zacky couldn’t believe how beautiful the deep raspy voice that the man had. He was instantly swooning without thinking about it. The man took Zacky’s silence as fear because he didn’t quite know who he was so he introduced himself. “Sorry, I’m such an idiot at times. I’m new here, my name is …”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Sorry, I’m such an idiot at times. I’m new here, my name is Matt Sanders, but most of my old friends call me Shadows or Shads. So I guess you can call me Shads…that is if you want to and all…” Zacky couldn’t help but giggle at the thought that he wasn’t the only one who rambled on. Matt knew what Zacky was laughing at and chuckled a bit as well. “Sorry… I tend to ramble. So what’s your name?”
“Zacky Baker” things got tense when the silence fell over them and they both realized they were still wrapped in each others arms. “Can I ask you something?” Zacky waited for Matt’s nod before continuing on “What happened back there? I’m in the nurse’s station which means someone brought me here, but why would those jocks stop beating the shit out of me to bring me here? So my question is… why did you help me?”
Staying true to his normal sly self Matt leaned back crossing his arms over his broad chest replying slyly “How did you come to the conclusion that I helped you? I could be a nurse’s aid or some shit like that.”
“Well…” Zacky paused for a moment really taking time to observe this beautiful creature that sat in front of him. “… your hands all bandaged up and what’s not is bruised so I’m assuming you got into a fight and if you were a nurse’s aide you would be checking on that kid on the other side of the curtain.” Matt smiled at the comments.
“Very perceptive of you young Zacky Baker.” They both giggled at how corny that sounded. “You’re right though, I was walking into the school and saw these football assholes come up behind you and start wailing on you. So I stepped up and knocked them down.” Matt flexed his hand and visibly cringed. Which brought Zacky’s attention down and he took instant notice to how bad Matt’s injuries really were. A soft hand laid itself down on Matt’s bloody bandaged hand.
“Let me help you. I have tons of experience in bandaging wounds.” Zackys voice was assertive yet soft and caring. Not even waiting for his response Zacky jumped up and got behind Matt gently pushing him to sit on the bed that he had previously occupied. As tenderly as he could Zacky removed the previous bandages and threw them away. He told Matt to sit still while he got cleaning supplies for the wound. Matt watched his retreating back and his mind began to wander back to a year ago when the biggest tragedy happened.
He was so in love with his best friend Valary. They had been together for a year and a half and everything was perfect. One day however everything went south. They had been making out heavily on his bed when he accidentally moaned the name of his very male best friend, Benji. The hurt look on Val’s face was enough to shatter anyone’s heart, but he couldn’t deny his true sexuality anymore. He loved Val, but only as a friend. As she stormed out of his house he thought his night couldn’t get any worse but he was sadly mistaken. His parents were on their way home from a party when a drunk driver came barreling down the road left of center and hit them head on. They both died on impact. Matt was completely alone and was convinced that it was because he loved them. He made a promise to himself that he would never love anyone ever again because they would leave him or die.
Matt sat there on the nurse’s station remembering that horrible summer. He used to be so happy, which was why what happened did. He looked down at his appearance. The tight jeans that perfectly complimented his muscular legs were now replaced with baggy hole-filled jeans, and the tight band shirts were replaced with plain black loose fitting shirts and a hoodie. He tried desperately to feel anything but pain and sadness, but he couldn’t he didn’t deserve it. After all it was his fault… wasn’t it?
When Zacky returned he noticed the mood in the air had changed drastically, the light-heartedness was gone and a heavy somber tone had over taken. Deciding not to break Matt’s reverie he gently took Matt’s hand and held it over the bowl as he poured the hydrogen peroxide over the split and bruised knuckles. Zacky made a mental note to show Matt how much he truly appreciated what he did knowing that his knuckles had to hurt like a bitch and would for at least 2 weeks. He finished cleaning and dressing the wound then moved to the next hand and did the same.
“Is everything alright in here boys?” Zacky loved the school nurse. She was in her mid-40s with a kind face slightly weathered from her many years of life. There was just an aura about her and the soothing tone of her voice that could put anyone at ease.
“Yes, thank you.” Zacky smiled sweetly.
“Alright. I’m going to get a pass to permit you two gentlemen to go home for the rest of the week and heal.”
“Really?!?” neither Matt nor Zacky could believe it, but they weren’t going to question it. The nurse just smiled and left to do the necessary paperwork launching the boy’s into a comfortable silence.
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