Dangerous (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 5

Ethan POV

As I was walking to the liquor store, I saw someone stumble over to the trash bin near it and dump an entire pack of beer cans into it, then stumble back to sit on the ground. I would've thought he was homeless, but his clothes were moderately clean, and he didn't have anything else with him other than a small hoodie on the ground.

I planned to not disturb the guy, but some dried blood on his hoodie caught my attention. I looked closer and was shocked to see a familiar face.

"Daniel?" I hoped I was wrong. But when he opened his eyes, I knew it was him. I saw that he recognized me too. He gave me a weak smile and closed his eyes again.

"Hey Ethan..."

I was bewildered. Did he drink the entire pack of beer by himself? It looked - and smelled - like it.

"Daniel... What happened?" I sat down next to him.

"Nothing."

His eyes stayed closed and his tired expression turned into a frown. Then he started laughing strangely.

"My mom's suuuch a whore." He kept laughing and stopped suddenly and groaned holding his stomach. Next thing I knew he was puking all over the concrete. When he was done he started crying.

I took a second to process the situation then silently moved next to him and put my arm around his shoulders wrapping him in a hug. I'd never felt the need to comfort a stranger before, but he was different. He wiped his tears on my shirt but kept crying, until he started to get hiccups. He slowly withdrew and I could sense that he was building barriers around himself again. He backed up.

"Sorry." He said to me and stood up, stumbling away. I waited a moment then followed him.

"Where are you going?" He kept silent and continued to walk, so I quietly followed him.

Daniel POV

I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away from Ethan because I had embarrassed myself yet again in front of him, and I didn't want it to become a tradition. But he wouldn't stop following me, and I had to find somewhere to go. I saw a park in sight and staggered silently toward one of its graffitied benches near a pond.

After I sat down, I could feel Ethan sit down beside me, and did my best to ignore him. Why did he care about what happened? Nobody cared about what happened to me.

"Daniel..."

"What?" I responded abruptly. He seemed surprised by my sharp response and took a moment to respond.

"Just... Tell me what happened."

"I tripped at home." I replied. He sighed. He obviously knew I was lying. After a moment he stood up, and I thought he was leaving. I wouldn't blame him. Why would he stay? But he walked over to a nearby water fountain and took off his jacket. He was wearing a white T-shirt, and tattoos ran up and down his toned arms.

Woah...

He then doused his jacket with water from the fountain and wrung it out, walking back to me. I looked at him, confused, until he rubbed part of it onto my cheek where I could feel one of my cuts. I flinched away from him.

"What-"

"I'm just getting the dried blood off." He said, looking concerned. Why is he worried? He doesn't even know me. I nodded. He placed his left hand behind my head and used his right one to wipe away the dried blood from last night with his jacket. His cold fingers sent shivers down my spine that I hoped he didn't notice. His eyes were focused on my cuts while mine wandered to study his features, trying to find a flaw. When he was done, he hung the jacket over the back of the bench and sat facing me.