Bliss

Chapter 3: Promises

Matt's POV:

I'm woken up by a nurse for my surgery the next morning. Apparently I'll have to wear a brace that covers almost my entire leg and have the crutches for a few weeks after. The brace itself will be on for months. I'm really pissed at that because it's my right leg and that's the one I use for piano.

I'm helped into a wheelchair and taken to prep. They gave me the option to stay awake for the surgery and that's what I chose to do. I won't feel anything so what's the difference? Aside from the fact that I'll be conscious. I'll be honest though- the thought of being knocked out by chemicals scares me.

They start giving me all these different types of shots in my leg and they all burn like someone is literally injecting fire directly into my blood stream. When they finally finish, the inside of my cheek is bleeding because I was biting down on it so damn hard. Maybe I should have just let them knock me out. I close my eyes and just let them do their work. It all sounds so intense for what should be a simple procedure. It only takes about 20 minutes and then they're done. I'm put back into the wheelchair and a nurse takes me back to my room. I literally cannot feel my entire right leg which is an odd sensation. The nurse leaves, closing the door behind her, but I leave my room a few moments after. I want to go see Dom again.

I go down to his room and the door is open. "Hello?" I say as I quietly enter his room. He's sitting in his bed with headphones on and his eyes closed. "Dom?" I say slightly louder. Still no reaction. "Dom!" I practically shout. He opens his eyes and takes his headphones off.

"Hey Matt!" he says, grinning widely. "Sorry. Good song." He looks at me for a few moments before speaking again. "Back in the chair?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I laugh as I move so I'm sitting directly next to his bed. "Just until I can feel my leg again."

Dom reaches over and pokes me in the thigh. "You mean that you can't feel that?" he giggles.

"No I can't!" I laugh, lightly swatting his hand away. He pokes me in the forehead and I go to push his hand away again when something catches my eyes.

"Dom, is your hair falling out?" I ask quietly.

The smile fades off of his face and he looks down. "I was hoping that you wouldn't notice," he mumbles. I shrug in response. An awkward silence falls between us.

"So when are they letting you go home?" he asks. It was a pretty smooth attempt at a subject change, but it could have been smoother.

"Two days," I say. "But I promise that I'll come and visit you as often as possible."

"Okay," he responds, giving me a faint smile. It's silent for a few moments before Dom speaks up again. "You know I've never had any real friends."

"What?" I say. Gotta admit. He caught me off guard. "Why?"

"Promise that you'll still be my friend and that you won't think of me or treat me any differently," he says shakily.

"Why would I think of you any differently? Of course I promise," I respond. This is clearly a sensitive topic for him.

"Well... Um..." he mumbles. "I'm gay."

Dom's POV:

My heart is pounding. I told him. The weight is finally off my chest, but I'm even more anxious than before. Matt smiles at me.

"Why would I treat you any differently?" he asks.

"I was bullied at school," I mumble. I have a really bad habit of mumbling. "And it wasn't just your classic 'leaving notes that say fag in your locker' like, people would beat me up and make all of these threats..."

Matt's looks at me and it almost looks like he's tearing up. "I swear to god if anyone hurts you ever again I'll personally make sure that they'll never even go near you." He pushes himself out of his wheelchair and sits down next to me. He puts his hand in top of mine. "I promise," he whispers, looking deep into my eyes. I feel as if my heart is going to explode. He's just so close... I'd kiss him, but I don't know how he'd react. He seems pretty straight to me, but then again I'm not really good at picking up signals...

We're still for a moment, just looking into each others eyes. I quickly wrap my arms around him. He seems taken aback at first, but then wraps his own thin arms around me. "Thank you for being here for me," I mumble. "You're the only person who's given me the support I need."

"I wouldn't trade the time we've spent together so far for anything in the universe" he says, pulling himself out of my arms. He smiles at me and slides himself back into his wheelchair. "I should probably get going. I don't think that I'm supposed to be out of my room," he laughs. "I'll see you later, Dom!"

"Bye!" I call to him as he closes the door. I lie down on my back and close my eyes. There's just something about him that makes my heart race. I knew that I had a crush on him the moment I saw him. But I think that this runs deeper than just a crush, even though I barely know anything about him except for the fact that he can sing, he can play guitar and piano, he's kind and funny, and Queen is one of his favourite bands. I want to know more about this boy. There's something about him that I just can't seem to figure out.

And I want to know what it is.