Faith In Me

19.

The next hour, Robert lays in bed thinking; planning on his escape. Robert had to be sure Simon was asleep if he wanted this to work. He was still exhausted, but the pain had subsided enough to allow Robert to slip out of bed and shuffle over to Simon's window. It was only one floor down; robert was sure he could make it without seriously hurting himself…

Robert went to the bathroom and washed his face, staring at his reflection for a long time before going downstairs to see if Simon was asleep. Robert saw Simon's sleeping form on the couch, curled up into a small ball. Robert listened to Simon's soft snores before slowly going back up the stairs. Robert couldn't just walk out the front door- Simon would hear him and then Robert would have to make a run for it. 

Robert didn’t have the energy to do that; so he settled for slowly climbing down the thick vines that gripped the back wall of Simon's pad. Robert slipped every now and then; but when he placed his feet on the ground, he let out a sigh of relief and walked out the back gate. Robert though for a moment, trying to think of places he could go to find a bloke willing to do such a thing. 

Robert was at a loss, walking aimlessly down the dark and empty street before he suddenly remembered chris. Robert knew for a fact that Chris worked well into the night; he could find Chris and ask him for the favor! It was a long shot, but robert didn’t know any other bloke who would do such things…

Robert ran a hand through his hair, glancing around every now and then to make sure no creepy person was following him as he briskly walked in the direction of Chris's bar. Robert’s stomach was doing flips, he felt nervous… if he were to go through with this, he didn’t know how he would feel afterwards...

Robert walked for about 25 minutes, mind racing until he found himself standing in front of chris’’s bar. People were slowly walking out, Robert guessed that Chris was closing up for the night… Robert swallowed thickly before slowly walking into the bar, keeping his eyes low.

“Sorry mate, im closing…'' Chris said, sounding a bit irritated until he saw it was robert. “Christ- robert? What happened to your face?” Chris gasped, immediately stopping what he was doing and walking up to Robert from behind the bar. Robert lowered his eyes before shrugging, “got into a little fight…'' Robert said, rubbing his neck before looking up at simon. “Do… you have time for a drink?” Robert asked softly, a half assed smile appearing onto his face.

Chris didn’t even think twice, “of course, come on in. close the door behind you, i don't want any homeless people getting in.” Chris said, already pouring Robert a strong glass of whiskey. Robert swallowed thickly and closed the door behind him, locking it before approaching the now empty bar. “Thanks chris..” Robert said, slowly sitting down at a stool. “Yeah, no worries robert..”

Chris placed the drink down next to robert before taking a seat, “damn robert… you look really bad.” Chris said with a frown, watching robert’ grimace as the whiskey stung his lips. “Thanks, chris.” Robert sighed in annoyance before placing his drink down and looking at robert.

“Do I really look that bad?” Robert said with a small frown, “oh yeah… your poor lips all busted up, you should put some ointment on that '' Chris said, a small laugh rising from him before he cleared his throat. “Sorry- i laugh when i’m nervous..'' Chris said, glancing at Robert's face before sitting up properly. “So, if you don't mind me asking rob… why did you come here of all places?” Chris asked, sounding a bit suspicious.

Robert took in a slow breath before taking another drink. Robert whipped his mouth before turning to face Chris, “because… you were the first person that came to mind when this happened..” Robert said softly, gazing at Chris's face. “I feel safe around you… after what happened in the bathroom i… I was afraid you were angry with me,” Robert said, spitting out lies like they were nothing. He was trying to get a rise out of Chris, make him think that Robert had some kind of unspoken affection for him.