Black and Blue are the Price of Love

Bandages

Cole led the beaten boy up to his room and sat him on the bed, leaning his head back on the pillow and sitting next to him. 

Dalton sat up next to Cole and looked at him “Where are your parents? But more importantly, why’d you do this for me?” he asked weakly 

“My parents are divorced and my mom’s on a business trip.” Cole replied quickly, trying to get him to lay back down, but he remained planted, sitting upright 

He really didn't want to answer the "Why'd you do this?" part, because he knew the answer and it wasn't exactly pretty. If anyone knew that Cole liked well...guys, all of his friends would turn against him, and the beatings Dalton took would be shared with him.

“You didn’t answer my other question.” 

Cole stuttered, “I-I, umm…well, I just…..” he took a deep breath, trying to find his words, “Uhh….I-I didn’t want you to be hurt” 

“Sure” Dalton scoffed “Now what’s the actual reason?” 

“I saw you hurt and you know, you shouldn’t be forced to walk around all beaten and sad, so I wanted to let you rest and be away from those disgusting guys”

“Well, thanks, this was extremely nice of you. Way too nice for me.” Dalton said, leaning back on the bed, wincing in pain from his stomach 

“Way too nice for you? That’s not true at all.” He definitely deserved to be happy. 

Dalton didn’t say anything in response, leaning back slowly onto the plush pillow, with Cole suddenly deciding it would be a good idea to lay down next to him.

He clutched the comforter, grimacing when his pain set in again. Cole wrapped his arms around Dalton’s back and pulled him forwards, letting the blonde scream in pain into his shirt, muffling his voice.  

Cole just laid there with Dalton for a second, letting him stifle his cries of pain into his shoulder and stroking his back in comfort. Cole almost just wanted to lay there forever, but he remembered his injuries and got up.

“I’ll be right back” Cole said before disappearing from his room 

He quickly dashed to the bathroom and grabbed medicine and bandages for Dalton then jogged back into his bedroom, to find Dalton curled up on the bed holding his knees to his chest.

He walked over to Dalton and slowly brought him up to a sitting position, being care full to avoid grabbing his bruises. 

Dalton immediately latched onto Cole, wrapping his arms around him and clutching his hoodie in his hands. Cole peeled him off and stared at his face for a second, assessing his injuries. There was no visible damage on his face, except for a busted lip, but Cole knew his torso was littered with bruises without even looking.

He grabbed the medicine and read the label quickly before shaking a couple pills out and handing them to Dalton, motioning for him to take them. Cole didn’t know what to do next, he knew he would have to wrap Dalton’s torso, but he was sure taking Dalton’s shirt off wasn’t really the best idea, for his sake anyways. 

“Uhm…so, how bad is your torso?” Cole hesitantly asked

“Pretty bad…..C-Cole it hurts a lot.” Dalton groaned 

Cole sighed, “Well, I-I guess I should wrap it then.” 

He stood up from the bed in front of Dalton, grabbing the bandages. He understood and reached back to take his shirt off over his head, throwing it on the floor beside Cole.

Cole bit his lip, trying his very best not to stare at Dalton’s bare chest. There was only a few bruises on Dalton’s upper chest, but the rest of his lean body seemed untouched, thankfully. With nearly every ounce of self-control he had, he was managing to not stare at Dalton but rather suddenly becoming very interested in unraveling the bandages. 

Cole motioned for Dalton to stand up, and he did, although very painfully and a look of agony was painted on his face.

“I’ll do this quickly, you can lay back down in a second, okay?” Cole reassured him, a blush already rising on his cheeks 

Dalton shook his head slowly in agreement and limped a little closer to Cole. Cole outstretched his arms around the wounded boy’s back, weaving bandages around his surprisingly muscular torso. 

Dalton winced in pain when Cole tightened the wrap around his waist, shutting his eyes and one of his hands coming up to clutch his hoddie again. 

Cole noticed his discomfort and apologized, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” 

Through clenched teeth Dalton mumbled, “It’s not your fault.” 

Cole finished wrapping his torso and sat him back down in the bed while saying, “You’re right, it’s those dumbass’s faults.” Then turned around, setting everything on his desk

“No. It’s mine for being such a disgrace.” 

Cole whipped his head around to look at Dalton “It is NOT your fault. EVER.” 

He sat down next to Dalton on the bed, attempting to look him in the eyes, but Dalton shifted on the bed and began fiddling with a loose string on his jeans, attempting to seem uninterested. 

“Look at me."

He only turned his head farther away from Cole, attempting to hide his face behind his bleached blonde hair.

Cole reached out and ran his hand under Dalton’s chin, moving his head to face him, “This isn’t and was never you fault, okay? You’re amazing and don’t deserve to be treated like this, not now, not ever.”

"Thanks." He said, but his words didn't have any merit behind them, and Cole could tell he didn't believe that