Mistakes ||Sequel to Party||

47

BE PREPARED!
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE LAST CHAPTER!

Charlie's POV:
I decide not to ask Leo about what just happened before we get home. It's hard though, there's like a hundred questions I wanna ask right now. How long has this been going on? Why are they doing this to him? Why hasn't Leo told me about it? Is Frank the one who gave him the bruise on the neck too?

We sit in silence the whole ride.
When I've parked the car and turned off the engine, I look at Leo. He's crying silently, I can notice from the tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.
"Do you think you can walk?" Is all that can come out of my mouth. He shakes his head carefully, without looking at me. I open the door and get out of the car. I walk around it and open Leo's door, lifting him up in bridal style. I get him out and close the door again before locking the car. I kiss Leo's forehead and walk into the stairwell. When we reach the third floor, I shove the keys into the key lock on our apartment door and unlock it.

I place Leo on the kitchen counter and walk back out to the hall, taking off my jacket and closing the door.
"We really need to talk." I say when I reach the kitchen again. I look at him seriously, but he tries to avoid my gaze.
"But I really need a bath first." Leo replies, finally looking up at me. I lean against the kitchen table, watching him.
"No, we need to talk." I repeat.
"We can talk in the bath." Leo says, shrugging his shoulders. I guess we could...
"Fine." I sigh.

I walk over to him and give him a kiss. Then I walk into the bathroom, starting to fill the bathtub with water.

About fifteen minutes later, I'm helping Leo to get out of his clothes and down into the tub. I can't help but smile at how beautiful he is. But it still scares me at the same time to see all the bruises and scars along his body, some from the kicking earlier, some from something else.
When he's in place, he looks up at me with puppy eyes.
"Come join me." He says and I smile at him, pulling my hoodie over my head. When I've gotten rid of all my clothes, I climb into the bath opposite him. We just sit there in silence. I want to ask him all those questions, but I don't dare.

I look at him. He doesn't notice me so I get enough time to check him out. He looks so sad and broken and it really kills me. After a while I finally get enough courage to open my mouth and speak.
"Who were those guys...?" I ask quietly. Leo immediately turns his head to me and lets out a quiet sniff. But I can't see any signs of tears, maybe because he's trying to hide it.
"Uhh... A few guys from my English class." He replies, smiling slightly.
"Well, they seemed to be more than that." I respond, trying to get eye contact with him, but he keeps avoiding my gaze.

I drag my foot along his leg in the bathtub. Leo stares into the wall next to us. I lean my head against it, trying to see his face. Then I hear a quiet sob leave his mouth. I keep rubbing his leg slowly with my foot.
"I just want to help you." I answer in compassion.

Leondre's POV:
I feel the tears burn in my eyes, but I don't want to let them out. I don't want to admit that I'm weak. Why can't I just hide it all inside? Everybody else can...
Charlie falls silent and we just sit there awkwardly. It gets harder and harder for every second to hold it back inside and suddenly a sob slips out of my mouth. I slap myself mentally, hard.

While I'm focusing on not making any other sound, the tears escape out of my eyes instead. And of course Charlie has to notice it, but he doesn't say anything. We sit there for another five minutes without talking. I continue to stare into the white, tiled wall. My chest start jumping up and down at the effort I put in staying quiet. I feel Charlie's gaze burn at the side of my face. If we weren't in the bath, I would've walked away by now. I just feel so ridiculous.

"Leo, come here." He says suddenly and reaches out his arms for me. That's all it takes for me to break down. He leans forward and wraps his arms around me. I crawl over to his lap as he embraces me in a hug. Charlie strokes my hair and rests his head on top of mine, just like he has told me he did the first time we met. I drag my legs close to my chest, my knees next to my chin. He pulls me closer to him and I snuggle into his chest.