You're Real After All....

Fixing the Damage

Now, are you okay? What did he do to you?" Lewis asked, taking his boyfriend's hands into his own, ignoring the burning pain in his arm. Ryan's hands were sticky and maroon. They reeked of metal.

"Is that your blood or his?"

Ryan sighed, "It's mine... I would've died if it wasn't for these two." He motioned towards Seàn and Baz, who looked slightly drained from what they'd experienced.

Baz smiled through his pain, and gripped his shoulder tightly. "I couldn't let that bastard kill you, mate. I'd kill ya first."

Everyone laughed at that. And it was really fucking genuine. For the first time in a while, actually.

Ryan looked back at Will, his expression curious. "And what happened to you?"

The musician scratched his cast, "Car accident. Motherfucker stood out in the middle of the road and made me hit a tree."

"Shit, and it caused this much damage? How are you even alive?"

"I barely made it. Baz showed up at the right time." The blond smiled at his friend. "Dude saved my damn life."

Lewis looked at Will's cast, then back at his own arm. It was swollen and bruised and hurt too much to move. He would have to wear a cast too.

He poked at it curiously, and immediately winced in pain. Yep, his arm was definitely broken.

"Um....Ryan?" The gamer nervously chuckled and tapped on his shoulder.

Ryan looked at him, "What's up?" 

"My arm's broken." 

Everyone looked over at him now, concerned expressions on their faces. 

"You should've told me sooner, babe. It's not good to neglect a broken bone."

"I'll help Baz with his shoulder, you take Lewis to the hospital." Seán sighed and stood from his spot on the floor.

"Wait, why don't you take Baz to the hospital with us?" Ryan looked confused.

"You can explain a broken arm better than....this." 

Lewis nodded, "Okay, we'll be back soon."

The front door opened and closed and the remaining three men were left sitting in the living room, thinking back on what they all went through; Will was anxiously tapping his fingers against the couch, while Baz and Seán were looking for the needle and thread in the first aid kit. Seán's hands were shaking.

"We, uh.....can't tell anyone this happened." The musician finally said after the two found what they were looking for, "Not even our friends."

"I wasn't planning to, but...what if they ask questions about our injuries? You know they worry about us." Baz pointed out.

"Easy." Will snapped his fingers, "We say it was a car accident, which in my case, it actually was. So we won't be fully lying."

Seán pulled the redhead's shirt off and examined the wounds carefully. They were obviously claw marks, and it didn't help that the Irishman found a loose claw in one of them. 

One of Darko's sharpest ones.

"Uh, Will, I don't think this can pass as a car accident injury." Seán gently removed the claw, which made Baz squirm uncomfortably, and held it up to show the blond. 

"It must've broken off during that fight with Ryan. I'm glad we didn't let him take Baz to the hospital. We'd sound totally insane explaining that to the doctors."

"I swear, Doc, we fought a dream demon to save our friend. That bastard looked just like him." Seán laughed, "Yeah, you're right. We say that and we'd each get put in straight jackets."

Baz chuckled as he grabbed a nearby rag, "Yeah.....I kinda don't want to be put in the nut house, so it's better if we keep this to ourselves."

The Irishman nodded, taking the cloth from Baz's hand. 

"Will, hand me the alcohol. I need to clean his shoulder."

Will bent down to grab the bottle with his good hand, and handed it to Seàn, who quickly took it from him.

"He's losing a lot of blood, so we need to hurry."

__________________

It was three hours ago when he received the message: 

       "You need to come over. We need you guys. Now."

It was in the form of a voicemail, and the deep, gravely sound of Lewis's voice was concerning. He had never heard that tone before, and it scared the living shit out of him. So, after getting his friend in gear, Charlie had left his house, and him and Marshall were on their way to Lewis's. 

Marshall kept trying to convince him that Lewis was okay and just trying to scare them, but Charlie wasn't listening.

They were about to find out for sure.

_______________

Ryan's wrists hurt. He could still feel the burn in them from when he hit the ground. Grass stains were very prominent on his fair skin and the smell of the blood on his hands made him feel sick.

Other than a few bruises, Ryan was alright. Well, physically speaking, anyway. Lewis, on the other hand, was not only covered in bruises with a broken arm, but also huge claw marks trailing down his neck. He was lucky to be alive.

The only problems with their current plan was the blood all over Ryan, and what the excuse would be for happened to Lewis.

However, Ryan could easily stop at a gas station and wash up.  Trying to come up with a good story for Lewis was gonna be hard.

Stopping at a red light, the drummer looked over at Lewis, who was asleep with Ryan's jacket draped over him. He was getting blood on it, but Ryan hardly cared.

He was snoring quietly, and his breathing was steady again. He wasn't dreaming about Darko anymore.

Finally. Ryan thought. We definitely owe Seán a thank you.

With the hospital in mind, Ryan pulled into a nearby gas station parking lot, and took off his bloodied shirt. He threw it into the back seat and opened the car door to get out.

Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of people at the gas station, so Ryan didn't really draw much attention when he walked inside with his shirt off.

He made his way through the aisles, trying to hide himself as best as he could from the few customers occupying them. He got a couple glances, but nobody really looked at him for too long.

When he finally got to the bathroom, he quickly slammed the door behind him and locked it. His heart was racing.

Looking in the mirror, Ryan was actually surprised he didn't attract more attention to himself because of how he looked; his eyes were baggy and very red from the lack of sleep, and his face was bruised up pretty good.

He turned on the sink and ran his bloody hands under the cold water. Watching it turn red had made Ryan cringe.

When he finally left the bathroom, Ryan was clear of any blood and grass stains. The only objective on his mind now was getting Lewis to the hospital.