The Naughty List | MxM

-8- Waiting

In the morning Caleb awoke groggily, he'd barely slept that night tossing and turning in his bed unable to get to sleep for hours on end, however it was time to get ready for work now. He got up going into his bathroom and putting his work clothes on quickly.

He was about to leave the bathroom when his mind was plagued by bad thoughts, he wanted to cut. So badly, he needed it, desperately, he needed red lines across his wrist and to see the blood he caused. He needed the control, the punishment for himself.

Caleb sighed inwardly rolling his sleeve up and digging through his bathroom cabinet, he eventually found a blade he'd stashed in there and got to work, he made cut after cut each one deeper than the last.

The red lines formed across his wrist stinging like crazy as he applied the blade again, Caleb felt the blood go to his head as he made more cuts, they practically covered his entire wrist now, he'd done at least 30, maybe more...

He stood up slowly holding himself steady on the sink then turning the tap on, he held his wrist under the warm water feeling the familiar stinging sensation and wanting nothing more than to retract it to make the stinging go away, but he resisted holding it under the flow for a couple minutes.

Next he knelt down picking up a towel and a roll of bandages, the towel was dark in colour so any blood wouldn't show up in comparison to a white towel, he gently dried off his wrist then looped the soft bandage around it tying it at the ends to ensure it remained in place.

Caleb looked at himself in the mirror hating what he saw, his bright green hair was messy and all over the place, his eye was bruised and ugly, his clothes were creased and raggedy. Everything felt wrong. He wanted to skip work. Just curl up on his bed to cry, but he knew for Jayden's sake he had to go in, every day counted, every pay check was a step closer to getting out of this house for good.

The bell jingled at the door as Caleb entered the café, he kept his head down walking into the staff room then taking his coat off. Ebony wasn't there yet neither was the manager, he was probably in the office scheming about how to make their lives more miserable.

Suddenly the door burst open announcing Ebony's arrival "Morning Caleb" she said briskly taking her gloves off, followed by the cute pink woolly bobble hat, then the scarf, then her coat. It took a good 2 minutes for her to get everything off. Caleb was amused at the amount of layers she had adorned.

"I was cold this morning, super cold. I don't know if you could tell" Ebony joked as she hung the winter coat onto a hanger then turned to face him, Caleb tried to look away but wasn't fast enough, it wasn't like he'd have been able to hide it for long anyway, she was bound to see it at some point.

"It's- it's fine Ebony, I'm okay" He choked out as sympathy filled her eyes, he didn't need anyone's pity. It was normal, his everyday.

"It's not fine Caleb, it's not fine at all. That man should be rotting in jail" Ebony hissed back stepping quietly over to Caleb and taking his cheek in her hand wiping away a single tear that had graced his face.

Caleb blinked more away not allowing them to fall, they needed to start their shifts they couldn't stand here getting all emotional, that wouldn't pay the ever rising bills.

The two got to work swapping roles from yesterday, this time Caleb waited the tables whilst Ebony worked the counter, the Café was busier today but Caleb didn't mind that, it meant he had less time to think about his personal problems.

Throughout his entire shift he was waiting though, waiting for a certain raven haired man to stroll through the door like he'd promised, to buy a cake then spill something, for them to have a talk about anything, the thought of it kept Caleb going through the tedious shift.

By the time his break came there was still no sign of Jason, Caleb sighed in disappointment sitting on the break room couch and scrolling on his cracked phone in boredom, his boredom was soon interrupted however by the side door opening.

The manager stood there a weird look on his face, he was noticeably agitated. "Caleb I need to speak to you" he called over, Caleb sighed standing up not caring this was eating into his break time and strolling into the office.

"You've worked here for a good few months now" The Manager told him gruffly nodding his head as he spoke, Caleb nodded along politely unsure where this was going. "So by now, I've gotten rather fond of you, and developed rather a... interest in you" The old man confessed biting his lip.

Caleb felt his heart sink as the Managers hands made contact with his waist, Caleb stepped backwards his back hitting the door and his heartbeat quickening.

"You're meant to be off your break in 5 minutes, but I can make an exception for some time together, I have... a problem I need you to sort" The Manager said stammering slightly.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable Caleb responded "W-what's the problem?"

The manager smirked beginning to undo his pants, Caleb grabbed the door handle rushing out of the office his breathing quickening, the twisted old man had just come onto him and he felt sick, he quickly grabbed a drinks tray from the counter carrying it over to a table to distract himself.

During the rest of the shift Caleb kept to himself, Ebony tried to make conversation with him a few times but he only gave short, half hearted responses, as soon as his shift ended he grabbed his coat rushing out of the café without even a goodbye.

The cold winter air hit his face bitterly as he sped walked back home, Jason hadn't even showed up, the manager had come onto him, everything felt so dirty and wrong, he needed a lie down, he needed to breathe and regroup.