Begin Again

Chapter 3

It took us 15 minutes to get to one of the residential tower blocks in Southwark, where I've been living for the past couple of years. I live in one of its 408 flats, or the single-rooms to be specific. The building might be dull and boring but I'm not a complainer, looking at this guy's situation I'm grateful to have a place to sleep at least.

I get out of the car and open the door to the back seat where the blue-eyed guy is lying.

"Hey Mr? Please get up..I'm not carrying you to the second floor you know!" I say sarcastically.

Luckily he's still conscious. When he hears me he turns his head then his whole body around so he's facing me now. And then he starts mumbling random words in a voice I can barely hear. All I can catch is the word 'mom', he said it twice. I think he said something like 'mom didn't' or 'mom won't', it's too difficult to understand his phrases. I clear my throat and call him again patting on his shoulder this time, he opens his eyes and gives me a helpless look.

"We've arrived at my place." I say gently and he nods. I help him get up then I thank the driver for picking us up and wish him a merry Christmas.

On the way up to my flat he finds it hard to balance himself, so he leans on me. Definitely you didn't think that we've an elevator in this poor building, we're just taking the stairs.

When we finally reach my flat I manage to unlock the door with him still leaning on my left side. To be honest my back and shoulder already hurt cause of how heavy he is.

We then enter my single-room that has very basic furniture. One low bed, a gray sofa bed, a small closet, one nightstand, a mini TV and one chair in the corner of the room that I consider to be a laundry basket. The walls are painted in bale blue and my furniture is light wood, so the room gives off those calm vibes which I kinda like but also hate. And the only decorations I've in here are a white led light strip surrounding a white poster with the quote 'everyday is a fresh start', both hanged above my bed. I've no pictures or frames. Add to that, a kitchen and a bathroom, which are both very narrow.

Once we're in the room I let the guy lie on my bed. He's already half asleep so he didn't bother to take a glimpse at the room, not even at me. He's now sleeping on my bed so I'll have to sleep on the sofa bed which I rarely use as a bad, cause it's so hard and uncomfortable. This's gonna be one hell of a night.

Now he's in a deep sleep so I open the closet to get my PJs to change into something comfortable, I'm using my phone's flashlight so I don't bother him with the bright light. I make sure to get the most decent PJs I own, then I head to the bathroom to change.

After putting on my PJs, a noise coming from the room stops me from applying my skin care night products. The guy's probably woken up. I get out of the bathroom to find him leaning on the floor with both hands and groaning softly.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" I ask nervously as I stand on my knees trying to look at him in the dark.

"t-the...bath-room" he says in a faint voice.

"Right on the left" I answer. He tries to get up leaning against the bed, not me this time. Then he walks quickly towards the bathroom. I'm not following him, I'll let him have some space. I switch on the lights and sit on the edge of the bed. I can hear him throwing up, probably cause of the alcohol he drank, he did smell like vodka when he was leaning on me.

He comes out after about 15 or 20 minutes. He took off his coat inside so he's in a grey sweater and black jeans now. His face and lips are very pale and he's leaning against the walls trying to reach the bed. He looks so sick.

"Are you feeling any better now?" I ask standing up from the bed, but not walking towards him. He looks at me and nods but his face says otherwise. Once he reaches the bed he throws himself on it.

"Should I get you some medicine? I'll try to find any open pharmacy if you need." he shakes his head and keeps turning his body from one side to the other in pain. Then he sits up for a minute with his head down, and then he goes back to lying again. I feel helpless watching him suffer like this.

It's 03:00 a.m. right now and he's been sleeping for the past 2 hours, I guess he's finally comfortable. Hopefully he won't wake up again during the night. I get off the sofa to make sure he's covered well with the heavy blanket. His dirty shoes have already ruined my bedsheets, but let it be I'm not taking a stranger's shoes off. I'm so tired and I need to rest as well, so I put a billow on the sofa bed and make myself comfortable, I say my daily night prayer, then I fall asleep.

When I wake up the next morning I open my eyes to him looking at me. His stares make me feel uncomfortable so I get up quickly adjusting my sitting pose on the sofa, and he gives me a faint smile.

"I hope you're feeling better today" I say softly, and he nods. Then he stops looking at me and starts looking around the room.

After a couple of minutes I speak up again, "Do you feel like having breakfast now? Or is there anything else I can get you?"

"I just need some dark coffee" He finally blesses my ears with his sexy voice.

"Alright, sure" I say getting off the sofa.

I leave him investing the room and head to the bathroom first to wash my face and get myself ready for the day. As soon as I'm done, I start making him the coffee he asked for. While making the coffee I take a quick glimpse at him, he's just sitting there staring at his interlocking hands. He remains quiet the whole time then I hand him his coffee. As he takes it he looks at my face and gives me one more faint smile, so I notice his dimples for the first time.

I sit on the sofa drinking my green tea waiting for him to say anything. But for 15 minutes he just stays silent. He reminds me of a phone that has been put on the airplane mood, its frustrating.

"Listen..." he finally speaks up after finishing his coffee.

"Taylor." I tell him my name.

"Oh...so Taylor...actually my head still hurts from the alcohol I had yesterday, so if you have some headache pills or a non-fizzy soft drink to cure my hangover I'll be so thankful." he says. I nod and get up to get him some pills. I don't have non-fizzy soft drinks or anything that can help cure his hangover, as I'm not much of a drinker.

"I'm sorry I don't think I have any non-fizzy soft drinks here, but these can ease your headache." I say handing him the pills and a glass of water. He nods smiling.

"But it's not right to take any medicines on an empty stomach, you need to eat something first" I say. And he shakes his head in refusal.

"Thank you but I'm not hungry, I don't wanna eat anything right now." he says. Well I can't help in this case, so I just nod and go back to sit on the sofa.

"Where's my coat?" he asks, I tell him that he left it in the bathroom yesterday then I go get it for him.

Once I give him the coat he puts it on and takes the pills. Then he stands up and  walks towards the door to leave without saying anything. I mean he didn't even thank me for helping him yesterday, what an idiot.

"Hey Taylor..." he looks over at me, I look at him but he remains silent for a couple of minutes.

"I don't really remember much about what happened yesterday...but obviously you did help me a lot so thank you" he says.

"No need to thank me..its nothing" I smile at him. Maybe he's not an idiot after all.

He looks down then looks up at me again running his hand through his long hair, then he says, "I'm sorry if I bothered you or acted like a blockhead yesterday, I don't usually act like this, I didn't mean it. Yesterday was just a bit hard for me" he says with a soft expression on his face.

"No no it's absolutely fine..I'm sorry for shouting at you yesterday as well. I should have been a more considerate person seeing you in that situation. I just hope you never think about taking your own life again, trust me nothing is worth it!" I say in a concerned voice. He smiles genuinely then opens the door,

"I'm Joe by the way.." he says and we both smile at each other, then he leaves.