Back To Our Roots, Book One

CX. Please Don't Go

Nick went home with Jeff that night, and despite that it was nearly midnight, his mother was up.

"Young man, where were you? I wake up, the car's gone, and so are you!" his mother scolded.

Nick subtly shrank back, heartbeat quickening.

"Mom, it was an emergency. Nick's parents were caught."

Her expression immediately softened, noticing Nick. "Just– just tell me before you leave next time, okay? I was worried sick."

She walked over and hugged him. Nick was surprised by how quickly her anger had faded.

Nick was further surprised when she moved to hug him. It'd been a long time since he'd been given a motherly hug.

"You two should get some sleep. We can talk in the morning, okay?"

They nodded, Jeff gently leading Nick up to his room. Nick was exhausted, sore just about everywhere.

Nick started to pull his shirt off, as if was rather torn up and ruined from the whole affair. He got it off, except one sleeve. He let out a hiss of pain when he tried to take it off.

"Nick? What's wrong?" Jeff asked quietly and worriedly. Everyone else was asleep.

He realized that when he had run, he never finished cleaning and bandaging his arm. His shirt was probably stuck to the dried blood.

He bit his lip, contemplating his options. If he took it off, he'd start bleeding again. If he didn't, he'd still have a shirt on.

"Do you have a pair of scissors?"

Jeff nodded, moving away and returning with some. He handed them to Nick.

Nick cut around the spot his shirt wouldn't come off of, pulling his sleeve off. The patch of fabric stayed stuck to his arm, as if superglued.

"What happened?"

"I ran before getting a chance to bandage it. It's stuck." Nick spared the not-so-pleasant details.

Jeff frowned, thinking. "You could try running it under water?"

"That might work."

Nick headed into the bathroom, running water on his forearm. He managed to get the edges to pull up, but not much else. It was too slow.

"This isn't working..." Nick took a deep breath, making a decision he'd probably regret. "Jeff, I need you to pull it off."

"What?" Jeff eyes were wide, looking startled.

"Just rip it off. Like tearing off a bandage. It's not coming off anytime soon with water."

Jeff hesitated. "I don't want to hurt you, Nick."

"It will do more good than harm, trust me. Just a second of pain and then it can heal properly. Please."

He gave in, nodding. "Okay."

"On my count, alright? Three... Two... One–"

Nick was planning on saying 'now,' but Jeff pulled it off before he could. He inhaled sharply. "That works too."

"Sorry! I was nervous."

"It's okay." Nick was trying to get his breathing back to normal, pressing his hand to his arm. "Do you have a bandage?"

Jeff nodded, quickly grabbing a sort of first-aid kit. He set it on the counter and opened it. Nick could tell he was freaking out a bit.

"Jeff, it's okay. I got this," he said reassuringly. Jeff nodded, not entirely convinced. "You don't have to watch, you know."

He moved his hand what was applying pressure to the wound, quickly cleaning it with soap and drying it off. Then he bandaged his arm, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he finished. "See? It's fine."

He looked up at Jeff, who clearly didn't look like he was fine. "Jeff?"

"I think that's the worst thing I've ever witnessed," Jeff said shakily.

Nick chuckled softly. "Looks like it's not just my arm that's going to be scarred for life. Why'd you watch?"

"I needed to make sure you were okay. Oh, I should go get your things," Jeff said.

He started to leave, and a wave of panic flooded through Nick's body. He grabbed Jeff's wrist with his good arm. "Don't leave me."

The words fell out of his mouth before he thought about them.

Jeff turned back to him, having heard the sheer panic in his voice. The look on his face nearly broke Jeff's heart. He looked terrified.

He moved his arm so Nick was holding his hand instead of his wrist, kissing him on the forehead. "Okay. We can get it in the morning."

Nick noticeably relaxed. "Thank you. I really don't want to be alone right now."

He nodded. They both got ready for bed and Nick was soon out like a light, exhausted by the events.

Jeff looked at him, unable to help but notice how small and defenseless Nick looked. He curled up into the blonde's chest, as if he might leave if he moved away. Jeff wrapped an arm around him, falling asleep as well.