Twenty minutes later, I’m in his shower. The water massages my back and everything hurts so much more. I remember vividly what happened last time I took a shower. Or rather, the aftermath. My skin shivers and I step further under the scalding spray.
A knock at the door startles me.
“Y’know, if you’ve grown a tail and fins I won’t judge you. You’re still my friend no matter what.”
I roll my eyes and turn off the water, ignoring the way his voice broke on the word “friend”.
“I’m coming...”
I wrap myself up in one of his crisp white towels, tucking it in at the top.
He’s waiting in front of the door, and glances down at my legs.
“Huh.”
“Oh shut up.”
He chuckles.
“I didn’t think you brought anything, but I’ve got a shirt for you. It’s the soft one.”
“Nice, thanks.”
I bend over and put my folded dirty clothes in my bag, but feel someone standing behind me. I stand up to see him there, looking distraught.
“Uh...hi?”
“How-it-you said it wasn’t that bad?”
“Ollie what are y-oh. Oh. Right, that.”
His gaze softens.
“Can you turn around for me?”
“Why don’t you just go shower, I’m fine, really...”
“Ryan.”
“Ugh, fine...”
I turn around and he fiddle nervously with the my hair, which hangs over my shoulder.
“Jesus Christ...”
I can barely feel rough fingertips softly ghosting over my shoulder blades and down my back, where the towel’s loosely gathered at the base of my spine.
“Is it bad?” I wince.
“Is it bad. Well, uh...here.”
I can here him pull out his phone and the mechanical snap of his digital camera, then he shows me the screen. My back is painted with bruises-greenish purple, mostly. Looks like someone took a Monet and somehow re-liquified the paint, then went at it with a beauty blender.
“Looks like a warped impressionist painting,” I chuckle.
He pulls the phone away abruptly and glares at me.
“No, it looks like you got your ass beat.”
I can’t stand the pity in his horribly expressive brows, so I sit down on my knees and continue shoving my clothes back in my bag.
“Everybody needs a good ass-whooping from time to time. What’s your point?”
I can hear the bed creak with his weight behind me.
“Needs? Needs??”
Ah fuck...
“Are you going to shower, or what?”
”No, we need to talk about this properly. About what happened.”
“No,” I relent. “We don’t need to do anything. This is my problem. And nothing happened. It was just the usual.”
”Oh don’t be a hero. I hate to break it to you, but it’s my problem now, too.”
I huff and ignore him, flipping my panties inside out and awkwardly pulling them on under my towel.
I could leave, go home.
But like
Why.
He speaks again, almost a whisper now.
“I know they pick on you. I know they push you around. But this? This wasn’t the usual. This was particularly vicious and you know it.”
I spot his t-shirt on the La-Z Boy in the corner.
“What kills me is that you could have stopped them. You could have called for help, you could have at the very least tried. But you didn’t even bother fighting back, it’s like you wanted them to beat the shit out of you!”
Well
I mean
I don’t really know, but...
I did kind of deserve it, and...
What the fuck.
“Ollie, are you gonna shower? I need to change.”
He sighs, and walks to the bathroom. I pull the t-shirt over my back roughly and wince, then wrap the towel up in my hair and dive into his bed with my phone.
Archie: Hey where are you
Archie: Dude
Archie: You still at the “library”?
Ryan: Hey, I’m at a friend’s place. Is Dad back yet?
Archie: Nah, he stormed out a couple hours ago. Said he’s going upstate with the boys. Prob won’t be back for a few days. You with Livia?
Archie: You know idgaf what you do, but don’t leave me hanging like that
Ryan: Ik, I’m sorry. I’m at Ollie’s. We were watching Iron man, so I wasn’t really able to form cohesive words or thoughts.
Archie: lol.
Archie: Don’t you ever get sick of those movies
Ryan: never :)
Archie: Ight. Well, I gtg
Ryan: Night
Archie: don’t stay up too late, you got school. Love you siiiiiis <3
Ryan: *eyeroll emoji*
Ryan: love you
Archie: night
My fingers hover over my dad’s contact name, and all thirteen unread messages.
Don’t do it don’t do it don’t do it
Tap.
You fucking moron
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