Soulmates in any universe or time 《 Wattys 2018 》

It's nothing and I'm fine

It had been around a week, Quentin finally went back to work, I was getting acquainted with my new school, Dinah was still in town, she was staying with us at night, going to the hospital on her days off and driving all the way back to Central city every day she had to work.

Everyday when Dinah would come back from work Quentin would have dinner ready for her, I could tell he still cared a lot about her just by how he acted around her, always making sure she was smiling or laughing, even when he was sad too, like it was his priority to make sure she wasn't upset in any way.

I got a job after school at a general store to keep my mind off of everything, when I knew I had to work after school I would always leave a note on the fridge before I left for school saying where I would be, it was something I did when my dad was around, he was protective since our mom left and worried if we were anywhere other than home, he gave me that condition when I turned fourteen so if I wanted to hang out with friends.

It was a habit by now and Quentin was grateful that he always knew where I was since technically I was the only kid he had to watch out for, until Sara got well enough to come home at least, he joked about having to trap Sara in her room until she was twenty so he wouldn't worry about her getting in trouble.

I was getting used to the school, I didn't have any friends, I got picked on a little by this older boy, I think his name was Mick, but if I ever had a real problem I knew Quentin wasn't far away where ever I was, in his classroom, his classroom was always a quiet one when I would walk by it, the students always said how intimidating he was, made me laugh considering I've known him since I was little and he was such a lovable guy in real life.

I was walking home one day, I didn't have to work that night because my boss closed early to head out of town for the weekend, I was a few blocks from home when I heard the guy who picked on me call my name, I knew Mick calling my name wasn't good, especially when he sounded angry after I didn't slow down, I could see the house by now, I just picked up my pace and tried to make it there before Mick could catch up to me, but the next alley I was passing by he tackled me and pulled me out of sight.

About an hour later, I knew Quentin was home by now, I knew he was wondering where I was since I didn't have a note on the fridge, he was usually home half hour after I got home, I came walking into the house and I could hear the worry in his voice, "Leonard what happened?" and Dinah was there, she asked "Who did this?" "Are you okay?" she continued as she grabbed a wash cloth to clean what I was guessing was dirt and blood off of my face.

I pushed Dinah's hand away from my face and spoke "It's nothing and I'm fine." Micks words came to my mind from after he took what little money I had on me, "Tell anyone and you'll be sorry Shrimp." I knew I couldn't tell them the truth, I knew I couldn't tell them who it was that beat me up.

After I finally agreed to let Dinah fix up my injuries, and ate dinner, then I went directly upstairs to the bathroom to look at the injuries Mick left me with, a black eye, a busted lip, a really large scrape mark on my forehead from being knocked onto the asphalt, I examined them each closely, I was tired after all of the excitement of the day so I retreated to my bedroom for the night.

Quentin opened the door and looked into my room just as I was pulling the covers over me, "Leonard?" He stepped in and flicked the light back on, "If you want to tell me you can," he started before walking over to sit down on the side of my bed, "I knew something was wrong when I came home, you weren't here and there wasn't a sign of a note anywhere, I went walking the streets, looking for you." His voice cracked like he was about to cry.

I was silent for a while until he got up off of my bed and started toward the door, I leaned up in the bed "Quentin don't worry so much about me, I'm not the one you should be thinking about." It was implied I was talking about Sara.

Quentin walked back over to my bed and wrapped me in a hug, "I know I'm not your father but I'll still worry if you're ever not home when you're supposed to be." He broke away from the hug and stood back up, "And honestly I love you like one of my own kids Leonard." He walked back to the door, grabbing the door handle about to turn off the light.

Before he turned the light off I grabbed his attention "Quentin?" I asked, "Yeah?" He looked over his shoulder at me, "I love you too." With that a smile swept across his face, "Now get some sleep for school tomorrow." He said before he turned off the light and quietly closed the door, before I knew it I was in a deep, dreamless sleep.