Beautiful Pain

4

Anna wakes up with a horrible headache. She groans and opens her eyes. This isn't her room. She launches out of the bed and wobbles on her feet, holding her arms out for support.

"Woah, slow down," a familiar voice orders.

She whirls and sees Leo. He was pulling his sleeves down, but she sees his bare arms. They were covered in bruises and cuts.

"What am I doing here?" She asks anxiously, "What time is it?"

"20:34," Leo answers, her eyes widen.

"I have to go," she cries and stumbles toward the door. She trips and would've fallen except Leo caught her wrist and pulled her up.

"You got unintentionally high, my uncle was using a bunch of cleaners and you inhaled them," Leo explains in a rehearsed tone. It was weird.

"So?" She snaps.

"Just take it easy, I'm going to try to take you home," he answers softly, and helps her sit down on the bed, "Wait here."

He is gone. Anna gets up and starts attempting to wander around the room, but her legs feel like jelly. She uses the wall for support. The room was sparse, the only decoration was small picture frame on the dresser. It didn't really look like a room, it reminded her of a prison cell.

"I thought I told you to wait," Leo scolds as he walks back in. She looks at him and gasps.

"What happened to your face?!" She exclaims. He had a bruise forming just under his eye.

"I opened a door into my face," he answers, his face completely emotionless, "I'm going to walk you home."

" I don't need your assistance," Anna lies.

"You're a bad liar," he holds something out to her, a face mask? She accepts it warily.

"Put it on so you don't breath in the fumes," he tells her, putting one on himself. She shrugs and obeys.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Leo almost sighs in relief when Anna buys the story he told with no questions.

"Come on," he whispers and takes her wrist, guiding her out of the house. When they reach the street, she tries to take off the mask, he stops her.

"Wait until we are a little bit away from the house. The scent is really strong," he tells her, she just nods, "Where do you live?"

"526 Cheshire Road, it's two blocks away from the school," she answers.

"Follow me."

She does as he leads them to the school. They walk in silence until Leo signals it's safe to remove the mask. As soon as it's gone, she opens her mouth.

"Why haven't you been in school?" She asks, folding her arms over her small chest.

"I've been sick..." he trails off and shudders as he recalls the day before.

"That's it?" She asks.

He nods, "Yeah. That's all."

They arrive at the school and she grabs his arm carefully. He looks at her, she seemed to be contemplating something.

"I can go from here," she finally tells him, "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem."

She nods and turns away from him. When she's gone, he begins to walk home on his own. But halfway there, someone grabs his hair and yanks his head back.

"You little bastard," his uncle growls in ear, Leo flinches away, "You deliberately disobeyed me. That was a BIG mistake."

Leo is dragged back to the house, but not into it. Instead, he is dragged to the backyard. His uncle his hands above him, to the branch of a tree, and rips his clothes off, leaving Leo hanging with his toes barely touching the ground only in his boxers. The chilly wraps around Leo's bare body swiftly, Leo's body gets goose bumps almost instantaneously. While the cool air felt good on his wounds, his arms felt like they were being ripped from the sockets. His uncle picks up a fallen twig and swings it.

Leo gasps when the twig hits his bare stomach. The stinging was horrible, the cold air made it worse. He bites his lip to keep from screaming. When his uncle is done, he grabs Leo's dark hair and yanks it back.

"I think you deserve to stay out here all night," his uncle breathes, and throws Leo's head forward before leaving his half naked nephew hanging by his wrists alone, completely vulnerable to the cold.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Anna creeps into the house, silent as a mouse. Her grandfather is snoring loudly from the couch, the TV on in front of him. She sighs in relief and covers him with a blanket. If he asked, she planned to tell him she was studying with a friend.

Anna frowns, she hated lying to anyone. Ever since Leo had gotten here, it was one after the other of the false truths.

Another question slips into her mind. Was Leo just an acquaintance or was he her friend. She sighs and goes to her room. She looks out her window in the direction of his house. There was something very off about him, she didn't know what it was. She sighs and flops on her bed, falling asleep immediately.

Anna wakes up late the next morning. Without a word, she starts to rush out the door, stopping to give her still sleeping grandfather a quick peck on the cheek. She freezes. His skin was so cold.

'No, please no!'

She shakily feels for his pulse and nearly bursts into tears when she feels it beating weakly. She pulls out her phone and calls an ambulance.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Anna isn't in class the next day, Leo notices. Mr. Hossenhier is talking but Leo is too absorbed in his thoughts to pay any attention. He was wearing several layers of clothes, but his body was still freezing. His face was on fire. He is so tired and he can't breath due to all the mucus in his nose.

"Leo, are you okay?" Mr. Hossenhier asks, he is standing directly in front of Leo. The rest of the class is gone.

Leo swallows against his sore throat and nods. Mr. Hossenhier frowns and, before Leo can stop him, places a hand on Leo's forehead.

"Leo, you're burning up!" Mr. Hossenhier exclaims, "Go to the clinic."

"Sir, I'm really fine."

Leo flinches when he thinks of what had happened when he disobeyed. He wanted to go to the clinic desparately. But if he went to the school's clinic, the nurse might ask him to strip or something like that. If if that were to happen, how would Leo explain his bruised body.

"Go to the nurse right now," Mr. Hossenhier shoves a slip into Leo's hand. Leo doesn't say a word as he gets up and walks away.

He doesn't go to the nurse. He walks right out of the school. It was pouring rain outside and thunder is heard in the distance. His feet choose where he wants to go. And that is not home.