Damien looked horrified and, whether consciously or not, had moved closer, his hand hovering over the myriad of bruises that encompassed Jake’s torso. 

“Jake,” Damien whispered, sounding choked. 

In the next instant, Damien pulled him into the most gentle bear hug. Jake was still processing the pain that had laced Damien’s voice and was caught entirely off guard, momentarily tensing at the contact. Quickly calming in the warmth of Damien’s embrace, Jake leaned in, tucking his head under Damien’s chin. He wrapped his arm around Damien’s back, breathing in his heady scent.   

It hit him then that he was shirtless in Damien’s apartment.

This was not how he expected his day to go. 

Seeming to sense his discomfort, Damien sat back, taking a moment to inspect the bruising. “I have some salve that might help, if you’d like.” 

Despite feeling self-conscious without a shirt, Jake nodded, wanting to stay close to Damien in whatever way he could. 

Damien disappeared into the only door in the apartment – Jake assumed it was the bathroom – coming back with a small glass jar. 

“I don’t know if this is going to be enough.” He frowned, looking between the jar and Jake’s chest. 

Reaching out, Jake gently grabbed Damien’s wrist like he had at the coffee shop, smiling up at him. “I’m sure it’ll be better than nothing.” 

Sitting back down in front of him, Damien began applying the slave in silence. It was such an odd mixture of awkward and sweet that Jake didn’t know what to do. After a few minutes, he realized how focused Damien was on his task and took the opportunity to stare. 

Even frowning like he was now, Damien always appeared happy. It didn’t seem like he was faking it, either. He simply radiated joy. But underneath all of it, Jake could see steadiness – an even-keeled strength that could only come from dealing with his own hurt. 

“Here, turn around,” Damien murmured. 

Startling out of his thoughts, Jake complied without question. 

When Damien saw his back, all the air left his lungs. “Who is doing this to you?” 

His voice was deep with anger and Jake shivered, goosebumps prickling his skin. He shrugged in response to the question, realizing a moment too late that Damien wasn’t going to accept that as an answer. 

“Are you protecting someone?” 

“No, I really don’t know who it is.” Jake bit his lip, ignoring the pain it caused. “It’s… complicated.” 

“Please. Please tell me how it’s complicated,” Damien gritted out, still sounding furious. 

Jake peeked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Damien’s face. “Please don’t be mad.”

“But...?”

“But there’s reasons that I can’t explain to you.” Jake sighed, facing forward again.

Even in his silence, it was obvious that Damien was struggling to accept that as an answer. 

“Okay… You clearly have your reasons and I’m going to do my best to respect them.” Damien hesitated, his hand pausing where he’d been applying the salve. “Can I ask you another question?” He picked up where he’d left off, working small circles down Jake’s back. 

 “Shoot,” Jake said, melting under Damien’s hands. 

“Why do you insist no one sees us talking in class?” 

Jake cringed, wrapping his arm around himself protectively. This proved that Damien had been okay on campus at least, but the memories were still raw. 

“Last semester…” He really didn’t know how to explain it. “Anyone who tried to be friends with me— They all got hurt. Targeted.” He swallowed down the bitterness, struggling to maintain his equilibrium. “I didn’t want that to happen to you.” 

“No one… stops them?” The disbelief was a reminder that Damien was new here.  

“The hu... hmm. I guess you could say that some people could step in but they just don’t care. And, umm, everyone else is kind of... egged on? Because they think it’s justified?” Jake stumbled over his words, trying to avoid everything he wasn’t allowed to say.

Damien muttered something under his breath. “What could possibly make anyone think this was justified?” he finally managed.

The familiar grief crashed over him, sucking all the air out of his lungs. A shiver snaked down his spine, but he fought to keep his thoughts from spiraling out of control. “It’s sort of because of my accident but… complicated.” Jake’s whisper seemed to echo around the apartment. 

“Hey,” Damien murmured, voice suddenly soft, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get all pushy.” He wrapped his arms around Jake, salve and all. “You’re a much stronger person than I am, Jake Wells.”