Table For Two

47 - Ali

Everything feels like it happens in slow motion. That or I just am not quick enough to react and stop it. Not that I'm convinced I would have done. Ryan pretty much deserved what happened to him. The moment the word left his lips, I was fixing to drop him a lot harder than I had done before but Harvey beat me to it. He threw his head forward and crushed Ryan's nose, causing him to crumple to the floor and clutch his face. That didn't stop Harvey diving on him and getting in a few good meteor-like shots before I finally got my ass in gear. I hauled Harvey up and off Ryan before any of the football group could jump to their homophobic friend's defence. I moved him back across the room to keep him out of the way as everyone else, mainly at the behest of Dee, started giving the marching orders, leaving Ryan squirming on the ground clutching his face. As far as I'm concerned, he got off lightly.

"Come on. Out! Now!" Dee is hollering at a pair of them who went to make a move toward me and Harvey but she got all up in their business enough that they weren't about to try their luck. Pretty soon, Harvey comes back to reality and he is a mess. He's got Ryan's blood smeared across his forehead and he's managed to bruise his knuckles.

"Come on. Let's go to your room. I'll get you cleaned up" I say to him as I coax him towards the door. Gods he is so out of it right now. Anwar and Nia are cleaning down. One of Harvey's other flatmates who I hadn't met before is getting ice for Ryan's face and hauling him off the floor. The guy is built sturdier than the railway bridge and says his name is Leon as he shakes my hand with a bone-crushing grip.

"I'll deal with him. You got Harv, right"

"Yeah I got this. Thanks."

We part ways outside the kitchen as I lead Harvey to his room. I take his key and unlock the door before guiding him to sit on the bed. It's like he's catatonic. He's not moving or speaking or reacting much to anything. Nia appears with a knock and hands me a tea towel and a bag of frozen peas.

"I'm going to make a brew if you want" she offers with a smile. I sigh and nod.

"Can you make one for Harvey too? He might not drink it but..."

"I get what you mean. I'll be back. Door stop is by his desk by the way if you want to keep the door open."

"Thanks, Nia."

"It's all good, sweets. That asshole deserved it. I'm going to be talking to the uni and seeing if we can't do something about him."

"Good idea."

She smiles and heads back to the kitchen. I take the wrapped bag of peas and press them gently against Harvey's knuckles, placing his other hand on top of it to hold in place while I go to the bathroom and grab some toilet paper, wetting it a little and coming back to start cleaning off Harvey's forehead. He just sits there slowly breathing. Each one out is getting a little more shaky. I flush the bloodied wad of tissue and come back to him, gently wrapping my arms around him and resting his head on my shoulders as I slowly lean us back to lying on the bed. It takes a little bit to register but once it does, I hear his breathing get a little more panicked and I just reassure him as he starts huddling into me and shaking.

"Hey. It's okay. You're safe. It's just us" I try to soothe him as I take the tie out of his hair and it all cascades down across his face. He's crying properly now and I wish I could show him he doesn't need to. The cries don't even sound human. Something in him has snapped and I am about ready to commit a murder. But right now, Harvey is more important. I hold him while he processes what happened and his reaction which was... so unlike him. But I get it; that anger that just boils in your gut but you push it down. Which he has been doing his entire life. And this was the cork being popped to relieve some pressure. It was just unlucky that it happened to be that he wasn't swinging at a punching bag but at someone this time. Not that it wasn't deserved. There's a light knock on the open door as he starts to calm.

It's Nia, Dee, Anwar and Leon. Nia has a tray which she brings in and puts on Harvey's desk and then hands out mugs to everyone. She takes a seat on his desk chair. Anwar and Dee end up criss-cross applesauce on the floor while Leon leans against the door frame. There's an amicable silence as Harvey settles and sits up slightly, blinking. Like he just woke up. I carefully move his hair out of his face.

"Hey... you want a drink?" I ask him. He just nods. I extricate myself from his grip and get his cup. I bring it back and he sits up, Nia coming to sit on the bed beside him and hold the mug for him. He mumbles a thanks as I kiss his forehead before moving round to where Leon the mountain is standing in the doorway. He is an absolute giant but seems so laid back that he should be horizontal at all times.

"Which one is his room?" I ask. Leon just quirks an eyebrow.

"Why d'you wanna know?" His accent is thick and Scouse.

"Call it insult to injury" I seethe. Leon smirks.

"Fair enough. But if you go after him, I'll launch you out the door."

"Deal."

"Come on then."

I take one last look at Harvey, as if to steel my resolve before following Leon down the hall.