Technicolor Daze [Currently Being Edited]

twenty-eight.

Monday, May 26th, 2014

"Thank you, and once again I apologize for the sudden notice," Theo said to his boss. He'd called his boss early in the morning to tell her that he'd have to take two days of his annual leave on sudden notice due to a family emergency. Fortunately for him, his boss was understanding. He hung up after bidding his boss a good day and looked at the view from the balcony. It was still pretty early and he'd only slept for a little over two hours.

Noah had slept over at his place after they'd returned from the police station earlier that morning. They'd spent two hours at the police station filing the report,  doing a medical forensic examination, and talking to Joel about what had happened. It wasn't an easy experience for Noah and there were a lot of tears, but with Theo at his side, he was able to do everything necessary to file a rape report.

Joel and Noah exchanged contacts so that Joel could reach Noah about the case. Theo apologized to Joel for the inconvenience, as he knew that Joel had to be up early for work, but his friend just smiled and said, "Hey, I told you I'd be there for you if you ever needed legal help. It's my job, so don't worry."

On their way home, they remained mostly silent. Their only interaction was when Noah briefly confided in Theo that he was worried about the costs of working with Joel. Theo told him not to worry and that he would help him, if necessary. He just wanted Noah to be safe.

They'd gotten home pretty late - the sun was about to rise -, so they collapsed on Theo's bed after taking a shower. Noah spent more time in the shower crying and trying to scrub the memories off his skin to no avail. As they showered, Theo once again noticed the bruises, scratch marks, and some wounds on Noah's body. He'd seen them during the medical forensic examination, but seeing them again made him feel angry at the person who had done that to Noah and helpless about not having been able to stop it from happening. Theo eventually had to stop Noah, because he was almost making himself bleed from scrubbing too hard. He comforted Noah as both of them fell asleep.

After hanging up his call, Theo used the bathroom before returning to bed, where Noah slept peacefully, his face relaxed and free of concern. His eye was bruising, darkening after taking a beating the previous night. It had pained Theo to hear what had happened in more detail at the police station. Noah had to give a detailed testimony of what he'd experienced and he'd gripped Theo's hand tightly the entire time. Just remembering the description Noah had given made Theo sick to his stomach. He couldn't fathom how someone could be capable of doing something like that. Theo admired Noah's bravery for having withstood the pain and suffering on his own for so long.

Theo ran his fingers through Noah's hair, feeling him stir slightly underneath his hand. "You're not alone anymore. I've got you," he whispered before falling asleep beside his lover.

When he woke up again a few hours later, the bed was already empty. He guessed that Noah was on the balcony smoking. He checked the time and saw that it was already midday, so he got up and left his room. His guess was correct, Noah sat on the balcony smoking a cigarette.

"Hey," he greeted Noah, "have you been up long?"

"Just got up," Noah replied expressionlessly. His eyes were swollen and his voice raspy from crying so much in the last twenty-four hours.

"Want me to buy something for lunch?" Theo asked as he grabbed his own pack of cigarettes from the living room to join Noah.

"I'm not really hungry," Noah didn't seem to be completely there. His body was, but his mind was elsewhere, "but you can eat something. I don't mind."

"I'll eat something later," Theo took a seat next to Noah and lit his cigarette up.

Both men sat silently on the balcony smoking their cigarettes. Theo soon finished his and simply sat next to Noah, watching him smoke. Noah reached for another one as soon as he'd finished his. And another one right after. Theo glanced at the ashtray and noticed that Noah had already smoked four cigarettes since he'd gotten up.