Proposal

Chapter 13

Angel genuinely couldn't tell if he was insulted, or turned on at the use of force by the cat. Not that he'd ever tell the man any of that, of course. He wanted Husker, sure, but he didn't want him for that. He wanted him for so much more. Licking his lips, he looked around them, trying to find something else to look at as the realization of the situation once again settled in. The feline crossed his arms and waited, and Angel couldn't for the afterlife of him find a way out. "Talk? Talk about what?" Husker didn't budge in his staring Angel down.

"Don't play dumb with me Angel. Talk." He cringed and once again struggled to find a way out of this. He clearly couldn't slip past the man, and he'd already tried to outrun him once, so even if he did it wouldn't work for long. He could skate around it all he wanted, but he could tell that Husker was a patient man who would get the truth out of him eventually.

"Husker, I was in the mob. You think you can make me talk? Ha!" Maybe a bluff would get him? Those golden eyes narrowed on him before the man leaned in closer.

"Angel, I saw all of those injuries. You couldn't even walk on your own, and even now your voice is still hoarse, though it is a little better. I wanna know what happened yesterday." Biting his lip, he once again tried to think of a way out of this. What was the best he could do beyond just telling the man the truth. Angel shrugged.

"There's nothing to tell, okay? You know I got crazy days, that was just another one of them." He tried to stand and walk passed Husker, but it didn't work. The feline immediately grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down.

"Yeah, you're right. I know you got crazy days where you come home after some psychopath tries to stick you in a brazen bull. Or after you were almost hired to sleep with your father. I get that you have crazy days," He tried again to stand, but was shoved back onto the bench. "But this wasn't a crazy day, Angel. This was worse." He couldn't bring himself to smile and laugh it off. It wasn't funny at all, no matter what he wanted to say about it instead. The truth wasn't funny, and it never had been, but this was part of his life. A part of his day to day that just happened sometimes and he had to deal with it. The moment he gave up on hiding it, was the moment he dropped the fake smile and innocent act.

"Look, Husker, it happens sometimes, alright? My job is dangerous, and sometimes it gets taken too far. If you hadn't come, I'd have been fine, okay?" The feline didn't look convinced, but he didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want to think about it or even let the mere idea of it dwell in his mind. "Look, it happened and now it's over, okay? Thanks for helping me, but now we move on." This time when he stood, he didn't let himself be pushed down. Tensing his muscles made the bites on his thighs ache and each and every bruise scream out in pain, but he ignored it. Smacking Husker's hand off of him, he pushed passed the man and started towards the door to go back inside. "I'm done talking, I'm going to bed."

"So you're just gonna run away?" He paused, his own mistake. The cat slowly walked up behind him, but he didn't touch him again, didn't try to make him stay. "You're just gonna run away from all of your problems, right? Just pretend that it's normal to be beaten bloody and left discarded by a dumpster like trash? Or is that what you think you are? Trash." Turning on his heel, he met Husker's gaze head on with a glare.

"I am not trash." Jabbing a finger in the man's direction, he tried to end it there, but the feline simply shook his head.

"Doesn't look that way to me. Looks more like you're trash." Stepping closer to the man, Angel straightened his back.

"I am not trash." No matter what anyone else would say, he wouldn't hear that one thing. Husker could have called him anything else. He could have called him a slut, he could have called him worthless or a junkie, but no, he had to choose the one thing that Angel hated the most.