Neighbour

27.

"T…thank you. Again," Brett whispered, holding his cup of tea between shaky hands. Not once had his gaze moved from it since he got it. The bruise on his cheek had spread further down his jaw, and the red marks had been discovered to be rope burns.

Across from him sat Eddy, who was so very carefully away the blood that had run down his chin from the new cut on the poor guy's lip with a damp washcloth. He was calm on the outside, but inside a flaming hot hatred was brewing. Not towards the angel in front of him, but rather towards the devil who hurt him.

"It's no trouble at all, I promise," Eddy hummed softly, trying to keep the mood as light as possible. He didn’t want to scare the fragile man by showing how upset he was. "I just want you to be as okay as you can be."

"I am okay, it's just…" Brett began in a soft voice, but trailed off into a quiet sigh. He shook his head ever so slightly. "I don't know."

"You don't have to make any excuses to me, Brett," Eddy assured softly as he put the red-stained washcloth aside. The cut seemed to have stopped bleeding, at the very least. "Let me grab you some frozen veggies to hold to your cheek and eye. I'll be right back."

"N…no, Eddy…" Brett protested softly as Eddy stood up. A small hand with a red and swollen wrist reached out quickly to grab onto his sleeve, holding him back. Pale fingers curled around the fabric in desperation, and big brown koala eyes filled with fear and worry met his. They melting Eddy’s heart and made him freeze in place. "Please… please don't… don't leave me alone. Not yet. Please."

Eddy blinked, surprised by the unexpected touch. His heart jumped a few extra times, too. He had barely realized what had happened before Brett let go, though. He let go as if he had done something bad.

"S…sorry, I mean…I'm sorry. You can of course… I just…" Brett stuttered, retracting his hand and pressing it against his own chest in an attempt to be as invisible as he could. Almost like he expected Eddy to be upset with him for showing this moment of weakness. Like he expected him to react like Mike would.

"It's no problem, Brett. I'll stay with you," Eddy said softly, slowly sitting down again. The poor boy in front of him was shaking even more now than before. "You're okay, promise. I'll make sure you're feeling all better."

"Thank you," Brett squeaked, his gaze locking back onto the cup of tea between his shaky hands. "Again. You're being too kind. I really appreciate it."

"It's really no problem, Brett," Eddy said, trying a small smile. His neighbour had a kind of boyish cuteness about him, especially when repeating his expression of gratitude. Eddy found he just wanted to make sure nobody could hurt him ever again. "I just wanna make sure you're safe."