Three hours later, and we still sat in silence. The doctors had come in and run a couple of tests and asked him some questions before leaving once again.
"Hey, I forgot, but I brought you a bottle of water from the cafeteria last night. Or orange juice, but I drank out of that one" I told him. "But if you don't want it that's okay. Not trying to push anything on you" I told him quickly.
"Just give me the water" he said weakly, but still with a hint of nastiness. I handed it to him and watched as he attempted to open it. His face screwed up in pain and I immediately jumped up and rushed over. I snatched it from him and opened it before giving it back, just to realize he would have to sit up to drink it. He was glaring at me but then just sighed and scowled at the ceiling.
"Are you allowed to sit up?" I asked.
"If I can manage to actually do that" he grunted.
I took the water from him and sat it on the nearby sink before going back over to him. He raised an eyebrow at me as I grabbed the arm furthest away and slid my hand underneath his back the best I could.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snapped at me, wincing in pain again.
"Take it easy. You don't have to exert all your energy and hurt yourself just to be a dick to me" I told him, regretting it instantly. He mumbled nasty things under his breath, 'faggot' being one of them. Honestly, it really stung, but I just brushed it off. "Try to sit up. Okay? But if it hurts too much then please just stop and I'll try to hold you up and help out the best I can, okay?" I said quietly. I didn't really want to talk anymore. Not to him. I was so ready to give up. He made me feel so low and this wasn't fair.
He leaned up a tiny bit and I put my arm further around him, and he quickly managed a sitting position. I handed him the water again and stood by as he drank it, keeping a hand pressed gently against his back. His skin was so hot and I could feel it through his gown. In a few minutes he had finished the water and I took it from him, tossing it in the trash. I once again helped him lay back down before I went back to my makeshift bed and sat. I picked up that book and opened back up to where I had stopped I got finished with one paragraph before I glanced up to find Austin staring at me.
"Y-yeah?" I said as if he had actually tried to get my attention.
"Nothing, nothing. Just trying to figure out what your deal is" he rasped.
"My deal?" I asked blankly.
"Yeah. Like why you're here to begin with. And why you keep trying so hard." He shrugged.
"I don't know." I whispered. "Trying to be a decent person." I said looking up. "I just try to get along with everyone and you're a tough nut to crack" I told him.
"Well so are you." He said, still staring at me. This was the longest I was able to hold eye contact without having to look away. "I mean, I've been a jerk for as long as you've known me, yet you keep trying. You're spending your weekend at a HOSPITAL, Alan" he said with a dramatic roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, well. If I were in the hospital I'd hope that someone would do it for me" I told him.
"Thank you" he said as he stared at the ceiling, his arms laid across his chest. I looked up at him, caught off guard.
"A-anytime." I spluttered. He smirked for a moment. Only a moment though, and it was gone as quick as it was there. "C-can I ask you a question?" I asked timidly.
"Just did" he replied smartlyy.
"Can I ask you two more?" I asked again as I held back a small smile.
"That's one" and he was looking at me.
"Uhm, I was just wondering if I could c-call you Austin or not?" I said to him, just waiting for him to grow angry and snap at me or call me something nasty.
With a sigh, he looked back at the ceiling. "Yeah. Call me Austin." He said.
"Awesome!" I exclaimed
"No, no. Aus-tin. Like Aus, and the number 10? Not awesome, although I guess they're the same thing, technically" he corrected and I grinned.
"Oh haha." I said sarcastically. "You're so funny"
"That was sarcasm" he said looking at me. "You don't think I'm funny?" He pouted.
"Nope" I told him. "Not even mildly amusing" I smiled.
"Oh whatever" he grinned. That's right. He GRINNED. At ME.
"See it's not that hard to be nice to me!" I poked my tongue out at him. His face faltered for a moment, alternating between thoughtfulness and irritation. I instantly regretted making a comment. "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about that when I said it a-and yeah. Can we please just forget I said it?" I pleaded with him nervously.
His chest rose and fell once, but quite heavily. "It's fine, Alan. Calm down" he sighed.
I played with the hem of my shirt nervously. Jeez, I didn't wanna fuck anything up.
"Can we have like. . . a serious conversation for just a minute or two?" I asked
"I don't think I could stop you" he pointed out annoyance returning to his eyes.
"True." I shrugged. "But anyways, look, I know you probably won't believe this or whatever, but I'm really sorry about Jenna and all those people. I'm sorry about everyone at school in general" his face had already turned sour, like he wanted to rip my throat out. "Th-they're the snobbier crowd, and I mean I guess they're okay with me but-"
"Clearly" he interrupted bitterly.
"But Austin I'm not like that" I whined. "I'm not in their side, please trust me on that. I wouldn't sit with you and stuff all the time if I wanted to be like that. My school life would be easier if I just went with the crowd and gave you shit. But I'm not going with the crowd. I don't care what they want me to do or how they want me to do it. I'm my own person. Okay? I just want you to give me a chance at this." I told him. "Jeez I sound like a desperate girl" I muttered as an afterthought.
He was looking at me curiously for a moment, as if in thought. "I don't know. . ." He trailed off. "Wait, no. No. Alan, quit trying. Okay? You're trying so hard and it just pisses me off even more. Alright? I'm my own person too, and I don't need or want friends or annoying puppy dogs chasing after me like you are. Okay?" He said sternly.
"I'm NOT a puppy dog" I snapped. "You're gonna have to deal with me for as long as you're around here because I decided day one I wasn't gonna give up, so I'm not." I told him crossly.
"Yeah? And if you keep it up, I'll beat you senseless" he growled.
"Yeah? Well fucking do it then" I snarled back. "You think it phases me? I've dealt with it before. I dealt with it for a long time. Getting tripped and kicked and walked all over every day, and for no reason!" I was glaring at him. "I was that kid. I was the annoying one. The nerd. The runt. The whatever the hell other names they could come up with. So get off your fucking high horse. I know how it feels too. To be picked on for no good reason and to be treated like trash every single fucking day. To wake up in the morning and wonder what the fucking point is anymore. I've looked in the mirror and absolutely hated what stared back at me. I have sat alone and picked myself apart while everybody was too busy to notice. I've done a lot worse than that, too. I've SUFFERED too. Alright, Austin? I've fucking gone through shit too. So do your DAMN worst. It will NOT break me" I growled viciously. I picked up the book, opened it back up and sat in that chair with an angry expression. For about 20 minutes we sat in silence and Austin seemed to be asleep. I went and managed to get a third chair from another room, courtesy of Austin's doctor dude and I curled up across the three. It was much more comfortable, and I managed to reach chapter four in that book. I turned so I wasn't facing Austin and I closed my eyes, attempting sleep. 10 peaceful minutes passed and I was on my way to drifting off when I heard Austin sigh sadly. I huffed almost inaudibly.
I couldn't do this anymore. He did the same thing last time that he did today, and it was tearing me apart.
YOU ARE READING
Broken, Imperfect
Fanfiction*COMPLETED*BOOK 1* Alan knows how it feels to be bullied. He was the target of Ben and Danny for two years until he became friends with Aaron, Phil, and Tino. That's when things changed and now he's as average as it gets. Austin was the new kid thi...
