Broken Together

Chapter 16: Tattoo Anyone?

I carefully place my raw fingertips on the guitar strings. I strum a beautiful melody coming from the instrument on my lap.

I smile the sound of my own fingers making music is far more addicting than any drug I've encountered. I've very quickly become addicted to this instrument in just a few short days. It's like an escape now. An escape from the reality that I'm trapped in.

I strum a few of the chords I've learned in just three short days all together sounding perfect. My fingertips hurt from pressing on the strings constantly and a few are now actually bleeding slightly but I don't care. I love the feeling too much to stop because of a few cuts.

"Hey Nialler" I look up from my guitar seeing Harry I smile lightly

"Hey" he comes over and sits in one of the chairs in front of me

"So Liam got you hooked on music did he?" He asks smiling happily. Harry always seams so genuinely happy even though he's been through hell. I guess that's one of the reasons I love spending time with him. He always manages to make me smile just with his own happiness.

I chuckle "yeah I guess he did" I admit

"He has a way of doing that. What you playing?" He asks looking at my fingers lightly pluck at the strings

"Um Homless by Ed Sheeran. Seams fitting eh?" I try to joke but he just shrugs reading the lyrics off the paper

There's a short silence in the room as I continue working on a chord and Harry reads the song lyrics. "What was it like?"

I stop strumming looking up at him confused "what?"

"Living on the streets?" He asks innocently

I sigh forgetting I never properly explained to the boys all that happened to me between the time i ran from my father and IFCA found me. They just know I lived on the streets from the time I was 11 to 15.  "Hard. Scary. Lonely." We're the only words I could think of

"How did you do it? Survive for four years without anyone?" He asks sounding curious and confused

"Like I said. It was hard and scary. I didn't know if I would wake up the next morning alive or if I would die of starvation or dehydration or whatever sickness I had at the time. I found food in trashcans and dumpsters. Restaurants waste a lot of food and drinks." I explain briefly

"You ate out of dumpsters?" He asks me but not with the usual tone of pity just more of a sad tone

I shrug "Did what I had to to survive. It was better though than being trapped in my home with my father and..." I stop realizing what I almost just let slip out of my mouth

"And who? Was there someone else living with you?" He asks leaning in closer to me

I shake my head "no Ofcourse not." I try to shake it off "like I was saying though it was better. I got into something's I shouldn't have but it was still better" I tell him hoping he'd forget about my little slip up

"Like what? What things did you get into?"

"Um drugs...I needed money for food so I got them by stealing like cigarets or alcohol for these men and they'd give me the drugs as pay then id take half and sell the other half." I explain to him something I never told anyone. Purely because I could get in massive trouble if IFCA found that out