Grunge One Shots

Daniel Johns

Warning - this story contains sensitive subject matter

I sat on my bed while I waited for my friend, Daniel, to come over. He told me that his parents were being horrible again so I invited him over. Daniel has an abusive home life so he comes here when it gets to be too much for him. My mom is never home and my dad is back in the States so it's never been much of a problem for us.

Five minutes passed and I heard the doorbell ring, signaling that Daniel was here. I opened the door and was shocked when I saw a shaking Daniel, covered in bruises and cuts. His face was covered in dried tears. The sight of him like this shattered my heart. I stepped aside and as soon as he was in the house, I engulfed in a hug. It was at this moment that he broke down crying.

"(Y/N), I'm so sorry you have to deal with me," Daniel sobbed. I only hugged him tighter when he said this. Those words. Those were the words of a broken man. Of one who has experienced pain, suffering, and humiliation.

"Daniel Johns don't you ever doubt for one second that I would die for you. Whatever your parents said to you, it's not true. Not one word of it is true. I want you to tell me right now what they said to you," I consoled. I brought him over to my couch where I rocked him lightly while playing with his hair. He's told me that it helps him calm down when I do this.

"They beat me and they called me everything (Y/N). They called me fat and stupid. A mistake. Ugly. They used every word in the dictionary that could be used as a synonym for ugly. What hurts worse is the fact that it's true," Daniel stuttered out. I couldn't believe it. The man who I thought was drop-dead gorgeous thought he was ugly. The man who I have a crush on thinks that he's ugly. If I could beat his parents to a pulp right now, I would.

"Hey, babe. None of what they said is true. You're not even close to being fat, you make all A's and B's, and you're a wonderful singer and guitarist," I lulled.

"What about me being ugly, (Y/N)? If I ever want to make it far in life, I have to be handsome. I don't look anything like how the men on magazines look. I have to face it, love, I'm ugly, repulsive, foul, hideous, a freak, gruesome and very, very unattractive," the blond lamented. My eyes began to tear up as I heard the broken man beneath me cried about how ugly he thought he was. He was far from ugly. In fact, he couldn't be farther from it.

"Follow me, Daniel," I said in a tone that was soft and comforting. I walked to the bathroom and got out the first aid. I began to clean his cuts while wondering what I would do with him. I cleaned the cuts on his arms, legs, and face. My eyes letting out a few tears for each new one I saw. I saw blood on his shirt. I knew that my work was far from done.

"Daniel, could you take your shirt off so I can finish taking care of you?" I asked. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "Daniel please. I need to take care of you, I couldn't live with myself if I found out that they became infected because I didn't take proper care of them," I said in a hushed tone as not to frighten him. If I found out that I scared him, I'd die.

After much begging, Daniel finally removed his shirt. Underneath it lay many cuts, bruises, and scars. Even so, I still thought he was beautiful. He was obviously shy and insecure about his chest but I saw nothing to be insecure about. Sure, I saw scars and injuries, but I saw life. I saw his chest moving up and down with every breath he took and I heard every beat his heartbeat, confirming that he was still alive.

I began to clean his cuts but before I did, I gave every cut, bruise, and scar a kiss. I met his blue eyes and they gave me a sort of shocked look. With every injury I cleaned, I told him what I thought he was.

"Beautiful, intelligent, talented, hot, angelic, sweet, warm, funny, and, most importantly, gorgeous. Those are the words that I think better describe you, Daniel," I affirmed. He stared at me, dumbfounded, but then smiled.

"I'm going to go and cook something for dinner. Is there anything you want in particular?" I questioned before leaving.

"You really don't need to do this for me love but, if you don't mind, could we have spaghetti?" Daniel mumbled. I smiled and gave the angel a kiss before going off to start dinner.

I was nearly done with making dinner when Daniel came up behind me and hugged me. I didn't expect this but I wasted no time immediately hugging him back. We stayed there for a moment when I heard the timer go off. I begrudgingly let go of him and fixed our bowls of spaghetti. By the time we finished eating, his cute face was covered in pasta sauce.