Beautiful Pain

5

*Flashback*
Anna is sitting by her grandfather's bed, watching the heart monitor.

"Anna? May I speak to you outside?" The nurse asks solemnly. Anna nods and follows her just outside the room.

"Anna, you've known for a while your grandfather didn't have long," Anna nods, her eyes filling with tears and she fixates her gaze on the floor, "I'm sorry to say that he only has, maybe a month or so."

The nurse touches her shoulder comfortingly and walks away, leaving Anna alone in the middle of the hall. A single tear drips down her cheek and hits the ground.

*End of Flashback*

Anna stares at the wall, not moving. Her stomach is telling her to get up and get food, but she ignores it. Her heart was broken, knowing that she'd soon lose the only person in the world who mattered to her.

No seventeen year old should have to bury her loved ones.

Anna snaps out of her trance to a harsh pounding on the door. At first she ignores it, thinking it was thunder. But it continues, almost desperately. She forces herself to get up and open the door.

"Leo?"

He is dripping wet and shivering. His eyes meet hers, they are glassy.

"Can I please come in?" His voice is full of pleading.

She thinks for a second and then nods, swinging the door open. He stumbles inside. She closes the door quickly.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, walking passed him.

"I didn't want to go to the clinic," he murmurs, her jaw drops.

"So you ditched school and ran to my house?" She exclaims.

He looks up at her, his dark, wet hair is plastered to his face and water is running down his body making a small puddle on the floor.

"You've been crying," he whispers, "Why?"

"Don't change the topic," she retorts, resisting the urge to touch her face.

"The nurse might've asked me to... do some things I don't feel comfortable with," he mumbles, then shivers, drawing his hands up to rub his wet arms.

She shakes her head, "You're a strange man Leo Jung."

She walks away from him to the towel closet and grabs one of the bigger ones. When she comes back out, Leo is standing in the same position she left him in, only his head is lowered again.

"Leo," she calls softly, he shifts his head ever so slightly to let her know he was listening. She sighs, she was going to regret what she was about to do.

"The washroom in down the hall, second room to the right. You can use anything in there. I'll try to find some clothes that will fit you and leave them outside," she tells him, handing the towel over. He looks up, clearly confused.

"What?"

"You need to get out of those wet clothes or you'll get sick, if you're not already," she answers, "I'm welcoming you into my house until you're ready to go home."

He stares at her, his eyes flickering with an untold emotion.

"Thank you," he finally says quietly, and takes off his shoes and walking to where she directed.

She sighs and goes to her parents old room. She swallows hard before turning on the light. It was exactly the way they left it, except everything is covered in a layer of dust. She goes over to her dad's drawers and opens the top one up. This was his underwear drawer. She grabs one of the larger ones without thinking twice and moves to the next one. This drawer had shorts and t-shirts. She takes one of the ones that looked like it would fit around Leo's broad shoulders, then opens the next drawer, revealing sweatpants, sweatshirts, and long johns. She gingerly takes a pair of black sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt. She folds them all into a small pile and walks outside of the bathroom door. She knocks on it softly.

"Leo, I left dry clothes outside," she calls. He knocks on the door in response. She is about to leave when another thought hits her.

"Are you hungry?" She calls.

He hesitates before he calls back in his small voice, "Yes."

"Okay."

She goes to the kitchen and starts making chicken noodle soup.

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

Leo lets the warm water run over his wounded skin, closing his eyes and nearly sighing. He hadn't taken a warm shower in a while, his uncle only allowed him ice cold water. He rubs the nape of his neck and reaches for the liquid body wash. He is very grateful that she didn't use anything sweet scented, just Shea Butter.

A small hiss escapes his lips when the soap touches his bruises and cuts. He bites his bottom lip as he touches the fresher cuts, just above his hips. He knew he was scarred, but these would leave the worst marks. They were purposefully ragged and they wound around his ribcage is a crazy dance. The soap oozed into it and he seals his eyes shut. He can't take it anymore, he rinses it all out. He washes his hair quickly and climbs out, using the large, fleecy towel Anna gave him to dry himself.

'Anna.'

She was so interesting. Most girls would've thrown themselves at him until they saw his scars. But Anna scolded him for ditching school, then expressed concern against him getting sick. He wonders why her cheeks had wet trails on them, sjowing that she'd been crying. He is curious where her family was, someone surely had to be coming home soon.

'Little orphan Annie!'

His classmates taunts run through his head.

'She's an... orphan?'

He rubs his temples as a pounding headache begins to throb. He opens the door slightly and sees the clothes she left him lying just outside. He grabs them and changes quickly. The boxers, sweatpants, and t-shirt all fit well. But the sweatshirt, it wasn't a man's. It was a woman's. Anna must've gotten mixed up.

What was he going to do about his arms?