"Is That Blood?"

     "Charlie," Sean called out, "Charlie where are- is that blood?!" Sean looked at their roommate, who was covered greatly by a red liquid.
     "No?" Charlie answered back with slight question in his voice, refusing to make direct eye contact out of embarrassment.
     "That's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question." Sean was stern, but then realized that something could be wrong. They went over to where Charlie was crouched down, in the corner of their small bathroom. Sean gave a meaningful smile and joked, "Now tell me what happened dummy."
     Charlie looked at Sean as they began to crouch down by him and gave a small grin. But his smile soon went away as he started to think about the whole reason him and Sean are there to begin with. "If-if I told you, you would probably laugh at me." Charlie mumbled, his head down in his hands.
     "Oh come on Charlie, you know me better than that." Sean looked at Charlie and gave him longing look, "Now please tell me what happened to you," Sean asked again whilst standing to get a few medical supplies from the cupboard above the sink.
     Charlie tried holding back the tears but they found their way out, and he began to cry silently. Sean leaned back down and reached for Charlie's hand, but he pulled it away. Sean didn't want to ask what was going on again, for they knew that Charlie was sensitive and often fragile, and anything could put him to his breaking point.
     Sean grabbed the rag they had laying over the side of the sink and soaked it in a bowl of warm, soapy water. They rung it out and, again, reached for Charlie's hand. Charlie was at first reluctant, but then slowly handed over his arm to Sean.
     Charlie watched, through tears, as Sean gently began to rub the rag across his forearm, removing the combination of both dried and still liquid blood. It didn't hurt, Charlie was numb to the pain by this point, but he just couldn't stop sobbing. After noticing that Sean was finished with his left arm, Charlie gave his right to them, which wasn't as covered but still had a great amount of blood.
     After finishing with the right arm, Sean looked at Charlie, "Would you mind removing your shirt?"
     "What? No, w-why?" The boy folded his arms by his stomach as he continued to watch Sean.
     "Have you seen your shirt?" Sean questioned, "It's drenched in blood. I have to get you cleaned up....please." Sean looked at Charlie. Sean knew how he was, how Charlie hates the feeling of exposure. But they were right, Charlie would have to get cleaned up eventually.
     Charlie was aware of this as well. He knew that sitting in a blood soaked shirt wasn't the best idea in the world, but he hated the feeling of being exposed and weak; though, he knew it to be true.
     Reluctantly, Charlie allowed Sean to help remove his shirt to reveal quite the bruise that stretched from above his belly button to the middle of his chest. There was only splotches of blood on his skin, it seems as though the shirt held most of the blood.
   Sean sat there, jaw open, as they studied the bruise. As weird as it is, and Sean won't admit to it, they found bruises as well as blood to be intriguing. However, they decided that now wasn't the best time to let their odd fascination take over.  Sean then soaked the rag in the water and rung it out again, turning what was clean and slightly soapy water in the bowl now to still soapy but red stained water.
     Sean scooted more towards Charlie, leaned in, and reached to begin wiping up the small splotches of blood off of the boy's chest and shoulders.