My feet pounded on the wet sidewalk as I ran home. The rain drenched my clothes and my bangs stuck to my forehead, dripping from the downpour. The concert wasn't over, but I decided to leave early anyway. Niall would've stopped me. When we were in the bathroom stall, he gave me his number and told me I could call or text him whenever I needed to. I had 12 miles left to run.. I decided to stop in a gas station for a second to use the restroom. As I was about to leave, the cashier stopped me. He was a friendly guy in his late teens.
"Hey dude, where are ya off to?"
"Oh, I'm walking home." I turned to walk out the door.
"Wait!" The boy ran out from behind the counter. "I'll drive ya. I mean, it's pouring down rain. You could get sick or something."
"I'm fine."
"I insist. Now come on. I'm going to drive you." I sighed in frustration as he led me to his car. We climbed in and he drove me home.
"Why were you walking?"
"Because."
"Listen kid, it isn't normal for a boy your age to just walk the streets, not in this part of town."
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?!" The rest of the ride was silent except for the occasional directions I had to give. As we drove down my neighborhood, I started to tear up. My dad's car was in the drive way.
"Stop here."
"Ohm okay, well, be safe okay?"
"Yeah, thanks for the ride." I closed the door. I felt terrible, but I was really upset. I walked down the rest of the way. As I neared my house, I noticed my dad was sitting on the porch asleep. I got to my porch and quietly went up the stairs. I didn't want him to know I was home. I slowly tip toed by him when one of the boards creaked. He stirred, but he didn't wake up. I opened the door and ran to my room and locked it behind me. I slid to the door and burst into tears. I hated the fact that I couldn't trust my own father. I cried myself to sleep that night, knowing that I would pay for it in the morning.
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I woke up to pounding on my door and yelling. It took me a second to register that it was my dad. I tried to throw on some clothes real quick, because I usually sleep naked. I hurried over to my hamper when I heard a loud bang. I turned my head to see a broken door with my dad's foot in it. He pushed down the door and stormed towards me. I was still naked and he could probably see every single scar I had. He grabbed my hair and slammed my face in to ground.
"YOU NO GOOD FAG." He kicked me repeatedly and then I tried to stand up. Big mistake. He pushed me down again, this time I was on my back. He started punching me in the face and everywhere else. I was bleeding out of my nose and mouth and started coughing up spurts of blood. He beat me for what felt like and hour and he finally he stopped. He knew he had gone too far when he heard a snap in my leg. I screamed as the pain was radiating through my leg. He reached into my hamper and pulled out a tank top and some shorts and told me to put them on and a pair of flip flops and to get in the car.
"But it's 25 degree-"
"ARE YOU FUCKING ARGUING?" He sucker punched me in the gut and I threw on the clothes and flip flops. I quickly grabbed Niall's number and hobbled to the car, trying to not put pressure on my now broken leg. He got in, slammed the door, and peeled out of the driveway.
"Where are we go-"
"SHUT UP" I fingered the paper that I had managed to grab with Niall's number on it. I had slipped it in my pocket so my dad wouldn't notice. As I sat in the back seat, I stared out the window and started to cry. I could see my reflection in the glass, I had a black eye and I was still bleeding. I looked down at my shorts which now had red dots all over the khaki fabric. We slowed to a stop on the side of the highway.
"Get out." I didn't need to be told twice. I stepped out in the freezing cold. "If you EVER come back to my house I will kill you." He tore down the highway, leaving me to find a phone.
As I limped down the road, people kept giving me strange looks. I could understand, a seventeen year old walking down the street with summer clothes on and flip flops in 20 degree weather, I looked strange. I doubt anyone would've guessed the situation. I finally found an exit which contained restaurants and gas stations. Surely someone had a phone I could use. I started to hobble into a McDonalds and I hopped on my good leg to the counter. I looked utterly ridiculous.
"Hi, what are you going to have?"
"All I need is a phone. Could I use one?"
"No. I'm really sorry, we can't let people use the company phone. Although, there might be one next door at the gas station." I thanked the woman and trudged on. I felt the temperature drop even more. As I looked up to the sky, little white flakes started falling.
"Just great, now it's fucking snowing." I fell on my way to the gas station. It took almost all of my strength to get up. My leg felt like it had been hit with a wrecking ball. It was throbbing and pain kept shooting up to my neck. I fell down near the door again and pretty much gave up. If someone was going to be a good Samaritan, they would've done it by now. I looked over as the door opened and an elderly lady stepped out.
"Well what are you doin out here in the cold dressed like that? You'll catch a cold!"
"Well ma'am, I don't really have a choice in that matter." I spat back angrily. I decided to calm down and ask for a phone. "But um, could I possibly borrow a phone?"
"Why, I don't understand those little gadgets. Although, there's a payphone over there, you can borrow a nickel if you'd like." She dug around in her purse and handed me the nickel. As she pulled away, I used the remaining bit of my strength to get up and hobble to the phone. I put the nickel in and dialed the number on the slip of paper.
"Ello?"
"YES, Niall?"
"Em, yeah?"
"It's me, Mason."
"Oh hey! How are ya? Are you hurt?"
"Well... That's the thing."
"What is it, do ya need me to get you? I'll pick ya up."
"Calm down Niall, yes."
"What the fuck did he do?"
"Nothing.."
"Don't you lie to me, where are you at now?"
"Are you still in London?"
"We're about to leave, but I'll stop and get ya. What part of London are you in?"
"I'm at the gas station off of exit 38"
"The one next to McDonalds?"
"Um, yeah."
"Be there in a sec." I collapsed next to the phone and screamed. My leg was hurting like hell. I tried to get it in a comfortable position, but it didn't want to cooperate. I sat there for what felt like ages, freezing in the snow. I had almost passed out when a black Suburban pulled up to the gas station.
"Mason!" I heard Niall scream. He had hopped out of the car before it even stopped.
"H-Hey Niall." I smiled.
"For fucks sake lad." He took off his coat and wrapped it around me. It was so big on me that it hung to my knees. He picked me up and carried me back to the car and sat me down in the heated seats. He wrapped his arms around me in attempt to heat me up, but I didn't realize how bad my ribs hurt until I felt a cracking sensation from the hug. Niall must have felt it too because he pulled away immediately.
"Shit, James, can you drive us to the nearest hospital?"
"Niall, we have to go."
"Well we can fucking wait." He shot back. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was laying across the back seat and lying my head on Niall's thigh as he gently stroked my hair.
