"- Do you trust me?
- I trust no one"
Benjamin Cooper has been selling his body since he was thirteen. Each of his days from that time have been a nightmare, but he has gotten used to pain, loneliness is all he knows. And to make the matters wo...
"So let's build a bridge, from your side to mine. I'll be the one to cross over"
*Bruno's POV*
(...)I didn't have time to say anything else, when I turned to look at Ben, he was already falling to the floor, unconscious. I hurried to where he was, touching his face with soft slaps I tried to wake him up. He was paler than usual, sweating cold. I took his body in my arms and headed to my room to lie him down. I analyzed his arms, face, neck. Had I done something? Was he injured? Something I didn't notice last night? Shit! I was getting worried, for the first time in my fucking life I was genuinely worried, somehow Benjamin always managed to disturb me.
- Gael! GAEL! Come here, quickly!
- Stop shouting... Oh God! What happened?
- Don't know, he just collapsed
- Did you do something to him? Let me check his pulse
- Is he ok?
- ...
- Gael? Hey! Gael, answer me Goddamn it!
- Shut it. He's got a slight fever. A hard night I presume
I just scratched the back of my head awkwardly. Gael glared at me like his eyes could scold me. He actually had that strange power, he did not have to gag me with long speeches to make me feel regretful about my actions.
- Ok. I get it, I'm sorry
- Say that to him – I rolled my eyes to that comment, I wasn't going to say "sorry" to Benjamin – Let's let him rest a bit. I need to let Manuel know.
- Oh please... he'll make a drama – He smacked me on the head and got out of the room
Benjamin laid on my bed, eyes closed however he didn't look peaceful, he was frowning and sweating, I stretched my arm to reach his cheek, but just when I was about to touch his delicate skin, Manuel broke into the room with a worried expression. He took Ben's hand in his, then stroked his black hair and removed the sweat of his forehead with a cloth. The expression Benjamin had immediately softened, which made my chest feel heavy.
As soon as I felt these feelings burning inside me, I got out of the bedroom without hesitation. My head was a mess, the night before I wasn't as cruel as I always was, so I didn't find a reason for Ben to have gotten sick. His body was held with care by me and I had let him have plenty of rest, but perhaps he had had other clients before me, maybe the cold night and his tiny clothes, or all the accumulated stress... many things he had to face daily, and I was just starting to put into consideration. My head was filled with many thoughts, about to explode, so I decided to go out for a while and spend some time with my "friends".
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By the time I got home, it was night already. I had spent the whole day going from place to place without being comfortable anywhere, it was like I felt annoyed with every person in the world. Everyone in the apartment was already sleeping, and my bed was empty, Benjamin had gone back to his place. So I went to the kitchen to look for something to eat, fortunately my dear friends had let me a plate of pasta on the table, which I gladly devoured. However, before finishing my food I heard a noise coming from the bathroom, obviously making me stand up immediately to take a look. When I opened the door, there were some pants and a t-shirt, the ones I had bought in the morning, and in the shower's floor was Ben, trying his best to stand up.
- What the hell happened?
- Isn't it obvious? I fell... help me stand up – he said looking up to me
- Stupid, I can see that you fell, I thought you had gone home – I helped him to his feet but when I saw him weak, I carried him bridal style to the bedroom, while he stayed silent
- I'm cold – he spoke quietly
- Well, you deserve it. A sick person shouldn't be taking a shower, you brat – I was waiting for him to answer something smart, like he always does... but he didn't, instead he was trembling and looking down
- I had to... I felt dirty – the last statement angered me, "Feeling dirty for having sex with me?" I threw one of my t-shirts to him and got in in the bed
For twenty long minutes I felt him moving on the bed putting the shirt on, drying his hair and finally getting under the sheets. Not to fall asleep but to start coughing and trembling nonstop, so I felt bad for him and finally turned around to pull him towards me, hugging him and stroking his arms softly, to warm him up. He felt cold, but his breathing felt like burning fire against my chest.
- I felt dirty because those men had touched me, I'm sorry if you misunderstood – I felt all my anger melt in just those simple words
- Are you feeling better?
- Uh-huh, although it's hard to breath... but I'm fine
- I'm taking you to the doctor tomorrow
Not necessary, I am fine... - slowly he closed his eyes and fell asleep, not trembling anymore. And with him being way calmer, I did the same thing.
