RavensNest

Chapter 4

Hello! I did my best to take comments from past chapters into account for this one. I hope you enjoy!

P.S. I know it's moving kind of slow but I promise it gets more interesting :D

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“Tell me what happened… RIGHT NOW!” I below at a badly bruised Elliot who is lounging on my couch.

“It’s complicated Bluejay; give me a minute to sort it out in my head.”

After an awkward three minutes it hits me just how injured he is. I leave the living room and grab the first aid kit from the kitchen. We are always fully stocked because we live so closely with animals. I sit down on the couch beside him and nervously begin applying the appropriate gels and Band-Aids to his cuts. As I clean up his face and knuckles I begin to notice the awkward way that he is sitting.

“Hey, why are you cringing when you turn your body? What’s going on?” I rush my hand towards his stomach and he flicks it away before I reach him. “Don’t touch. I’m just a little sore, nothing a good sleep won’t help” he croaks.

“Let me see. Let me see and tell me what happened! You stormed in here so determined, spill!”

Elliot looks at me and for the first time since I’ve met him he looks afraid. His eyes look hollow and he looks exhausted. My fearless, invincible beast friend looks like a crushed little boy and I’m terrified. After a moment of heated silence he slowly begins lifting is T-shirt; as his mid-riff is exposed, so are his horrible bruises covering his chest and stomach. “Holy shit Eli, we need to get you lying down.” I stutter, near tears. I prop up pillows and set up the best bed I can. “Can you lean back?”

“Yeah, no problem” he says gruffly.  

I run my cold hands as gently as I can onto his shoulders to help him. After he’s settled back on the couch I rush to the kitchen to get ice packs from the freezer, doing my best not to panic. I decide not to push it; he’ll tell me what happened when he can. As I return I notice how squished his hulking frame is on my loveseat.

“Think you could do stairs?” I question him, attempting to be aloof to cover my emotions.

I see his eyes waver but he gives me a sharp nod.

After finally getting upstairs and in my bed, I covered his stomach in ice packs and played with his hair until he was completely asleep. I have no idea what to do. Elliot is unconscious, so unbelievably sexy, and injured… Should I call my parents? Will he want me to?

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Forty-five minutes later, after stressing myself to sleep, I awake to the rough grunts of a young man. I open one eye at a time and see Elliot’s eyes in the semi-dark of my bedroom.

“Finally, I thought you were dead” He says with a smile. “Hi” I mumble, still mostly asleep. We lay in silence for a few moments, I can see frustration in his furrowed brows so I don’t push him. Even injured, Elliot is radiant. He has these honest eyes that can completely capture you in a simple gaze. I think if I love anyone, it’s him. When I’m afraid or in need my first thought is him. I trust him with everything that I am. Every secret I’ve ever had I’ve shared with him. I’m starting to wonder that maybe it’s not the same for him.

“I want to start with saying that I really appreciate you taking care of me, it means a lot Jay” he begins. “Now I want to tell you about my father… and my brother”

“Brother? I had no idea” I stutter.

“Now don’t say anything until I am completely finished alright? I don’t want you freaking out. This is new to me as well so I need you to keep cool. Do you promise?” Elliot asks me. I’m scared. I’m so scared. “Yes, I promise.”

“I grew up with my mum and dad in a small town in Scotland, everything was normal at first. When I turned thirteen things became really tense between my dad and me, we were arguing and occasionally we would fight. I had no idea where all of this aggression was coming from, I would just snap out of nowhere. I was never upset with my mum though, I was mostly protective. See, when I started feeling aggressive so did my dad. He would snap just as much as I but he would take it too far. Eventually he started but beating the shit out of me, and for no reason. One time I burnt his toast and he lost it, grabbed me by my color and started pounding on me. Every once and awhile he would hit my mum too. Eventually my mum packed up her things and left, taking me with her. We came to Toronto to start new. I started school there but I was still so angry all of the time, I started fights and eventually was kicked out. I started working full time at a pizza place, cleaning dishes. My mom would home school me in the evenings and she did her best to keep me happy.”

“How are you holding up Jay?” Elliot asks me.

I’m speechless. “Wh- A- I don’t- uh-“I eventually stop trying, I feel like I don’t know him at all.

Eventually I find the courage to look at him. He looks crushed, it looks like he’s shaking and his hands are reaching for me. After a few deep breaths, I decide. This is my Elliot, he would never hurt me. Trust him Jay. I lower myself into his arms, being careful not to touch his bruises. “Please, keep going” I whisper.

“One day, near the end of my shift, my boss came into the back and said someone was there to see me. Assuming it was my mum I dried my hands and walked into the front of the restaurant. Standing awkwardly near the front door was a man that looked just like me, maybe a few years older. He looked directly at me and said “Elliot, we’re leaving now. Dad sent me, he wants his boys back”

“I freaked out; I ran into the back room, grabbed my coat and sprinted out the back door. When I was halfway home I relaxed and started walking. As I turned a corner I walked into a group of rough looking men who were growling at me. I honestly have no idea what happened after that. I woke up three days later in a hospital, my mom was convinced I had started a fight and told me she had taken a job across the country. And here I am, four years later. I never told my mom about the man at the restaurant, I almost forgot about him. Until tonight. I was out in the forest on a walk, I was on one of the regular paths and I saw him up ahead, staring at me. I turned around and there were three men behind me. I have never seen these people in Ravensnest Jay, they looked rough. Before anything, before I could think, I was fighting them. I haven’t thrown a punch like that in four years. I won the fight and I ran away from town, hoping to lead them away. Then I ran here.”