It's Harder Breathing Next To You // KELLIC

34

I didn't know where to go first. Hospital, police station? It was like I was unable to move and I was shaking. What had I just witnessed? What just happened? My brain didn't want to comprehend what was happening right now. Everyone was gone now and I still stood there staring at the house, too afraid to go in because it was probably a mess after the brawl that took place. I needed to go somewhere though, I couldn't just stand here doing nothing.

I slowly walked towards the house which was still open because I told the police officer I lived here. I hesitantly walked in. The hallway was fine, it was when I walked into the living area when I saw the damage. Our glass coffee table was smashed and there were red stains on the glass and on the carpet. A smashed beer bottle had been thrown to the other side of the room. There were pictures which were once on the wall which were now shattered on the ground and that wall had a hole in it. The whole scene had me feeling sick; especially because of the amount of blood around the glass coffee table. I couldn't stay here any longer so I ran into the kitchen and found my dad's car keys. His car was in the driveway so it must have been returned while I was at school.

My mind was starting to catch up with me now as I jumped into action. I ran back outside and into my dad's car with nosey neighbors watching me. As I started to drive I took out my phone and called Mike. It took him a little while to answer but he finally did.

"Dude, I was in class. What's up?" He asked.

"You need to get to the police station. Vic's there. I think he's in a lot of trouble." I told him. Mike was silent on the other end for a moment before he spoke up.

"What did he do?" He asked.

"He found out my dad still hurts me and-"

"Got it. I'll be there soon." He said and the line went dead. I threw my phone on the passenger seat and kept driving. I was headed towards the police station to see Vic. What was I supposed to say to him though? I have to admit, he scared the fuck out of me when the police officers were leading him out of my house in handcuffs. His shirt had blood stains on it and he had a murderous look in his eyes. Other than that you wouldn't be able to tell he was in a fight; he barely had a scratch on him. And then there was my dad. When they carted him out of the house I could barely recognize his face because it was covered in so much blood and his arm was bending in a way that it shouldn't bend. Was Vic really capable of doing that? I knew there was a side of him that lost its temper, but I couldn't imagine him doing those things.

It wasn't long before I was parking the car out the front of the nearest police station and running out towards it. I walked in a bit calmer, 'cause well, I didn't want to get in trouble or anything for being a nuisance. I went to the front desk and the police officer standing there looked up at me. He looked young so I guessed he was getting put on front desk duty because he's fairly new or something. I looked at his name tag. Officer Barham (AUTHOR'S NOTE: SORRY TO RUIN THE MOOD AND ALL BUT CAN WE PLEASE JUST IMAGINE GABE IN A POLICE UNIFORM? OKAY, CARRY ON).

"Uh, hi." I said to get his attention. He looked up at me with a questioning look. "My friend just got brought in. I need to see him."

"Oh, right. The Fuentes kid?" He asked and I nodded. "Sorry, but I can't let anyone back there."

"Please, I really need to see him. Just for five minutes. Please." I begged. He was contemplating it. I was giving him my best puppy-dog eyes and it worked because he gave in.

"Okay, five minutes only." He said and gestured for me to follow him. I followed him down a corridor away from the noise of other police officers working. When we got to the end of the corridor we made a left turn and there he was, sitting on a bench by himself behind bars. I caused this! He's in jail because of me! Officer Barham searched me for any weapons or whatever and then left and I was now alone with Vic.

"Vic." I said to get his attention. His eyes which were fixated on the ground snapped up to look at me.

"Kels." He whispered, getting up and walking over to the bars. I walked over to him too and put my hands on the bars. His hands locked over them. I looked at them. They were bandaged up and I could see little spots of blood. He must have torn his hands up pretty bad after the beating he gave my father. I still couldn't get his bloody face out of my head.

"What did you do that for?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I did it for you. He has to know that he can't do this to you anymore." He said. His hand came through the bars and lightly touched my cheek. I moved away, my hands dropping from the bars.

"I don't want to go to jail for me. You should have just left it." I said, getting a bit annoyed now.

"How could I leave it? He was hurting you! I couldn't stand by and watch that happen!" He whisper-yelled.

There was a thought floating around in the back of my head. It was a thought that had been there since I first met him. It was something that I never asked because it wasn't my business and I didn't want to know the truth, but now that I've witnessed what he's really capable of, I have to know if it was a one off or if this is who he really is.

"Uh, I have to ask you something and I really need you to give me an honest answer." I said. He just nodded quickly so I continued. "That first day I came over to your house, Mike told me something. He told me about a person, named Sammy, who was put in hospital. Did you..." I couldn't finish the sentence, but he knew what I was getting at. The look on his face was a solemn one.

"Yes." He answered. Silence fell over us. It was kind of shocking, I guess. He's such a violent person and I hate that. I hate violence like that so much. Sure, I've punched people before, but I've also gotten beaten by my dad so many times and I don't want to be around people who are capable of doing that.

"I should go." I said quietly.

"No, Kellin, please don't." He pleaded.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, shaking my head and leaving. On my way out, in the corridor, I passed Mike, Tony, Jaime and Officer Barham. I ignored their curious looks and questions and kept walking out of the building and out to my dad's car. I stopped there and leant against it, taking a deep breath. What more can the world throw at me? My ex is a fucking violent psychopath! Okay, maybe that's going a bit far but come on! He's put two people in hospital! How am I supposed to wrap my head around this?

"Kellin!" A voice called out to me. I looked up to see Jaime running out from the building looking for me. When he finally spotted me he walked over.

"What?" I asked.

"He told you about Sammy?" He asked. I nodded. "Did you stick around to hear why he did it?"

"What does it matter? He still did it. He's still a violent person. Really violent." I said. Jaime looked annoyed with me.

"He did it because of this." Jaime said, pulling his shirt up so his stomach was showing. I looked at his stomach and saw a scar there. What's this got to do with anything? "Vic, Tony and I were into some pretty stupid things a couple of years ago. We got ourselves into a bad situation with a drug dealer, Sammy, and he pulled a knife on me. When Vic sees people he cares about getting hurt then he'll hurt them ten times worse. So think about that before you judge him so quickly!"

Jaime didn't stick around for my reaction, he just pulled his shirt back down and ran back up to the police station. I kind of wanted to go back in there and apologize to Vic for jumping to conclusions. I always jump to conclusions without knowing the whole story. It still bothered me that he's so violent, but it also warmed my heart that he cared about his friends, and me, so much. I didn't go back in there though. I needed to go and see my dad and fix all of this.

It didn't take me long to get to the hospital because it was just down the end of the same street the police station is on. I went in, gave one of the administration workers proof that I was a family member and she told me the number of my dad's room. I took the elevator up two floors and walked out. I knew which room it was straight away because there were two police officers standing outside of it. I'm not sure why they were here because it's not like my dad did anything wrong. I guess they were just questioning him about what happened. I got to the door and looked in the small window. There was no one else in the room. The police officers made no attempt to stop me, so I walked in and closed the door behind me. When he heard the door close he looked up. He was bruised and battered but the blood was now washed from his face. He looked unrecognizable though. His left arm was in cast. I winced, thinking about how much that would have hurt.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, although I didn't care. I had to be nice if I was going to get what I needed.

"How do you think I'm feeling? What the fuck were you doing sending your friend after me?" He spat. His voice was croaky and he was breathing heavily. I have to admit, seeing him in this kind of pain was satisfying.

"I didn't send him after you. He saw what you did to me and went after you himself." I said, trying to be calm but honestly it wasn't working. He glared at me through black and purple, bruised eyes.

"I will make him pay and then when I get out of here I will make you pay." He said through gritted teeth.

"No you will not make him pay." I snapped. "You will drop the fucking charges." I was being a lot more confident knowing he was in a hospital bed and couldn't move to hurt me. I'd probably regret it when he comes home though.

He started laughing at me, but the laugh turned into a cough. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to do that."

"If you don't drop the charges then I'll bring you up on child abuse." There, I said it. I laid it all out there. That was my ultimatum. If Vic gets into trouble because of this then I'll do everything in my power to make sure my dad gets the same treatment.

"Who would believe you?" He seethed.

"The bruises talk for themselves." I said. He paused, as if just realizing what I said was true. I had power over him now.

"You would throw your old man in jail for some kid?" He asked. What a stupid fucking question!

"Yes, and he's not just some kid. I'm in love with him." I said. It was my first time admitting to him that I like boys and it was my first time admitting to myself out loud that I'm in love with Vic, although I've known it for a while. My dad's heart monitor started beating faster and faster. I guess he's not that fond of the news then.

"No son of mine is a fucking faggot!" He tried to yell at me.

"Well I am. And guess what? I sucked his dick too, so deal with it." I said, being unusually vulgar. Oh man I'd be so dead if he wasn't in that hospital bed, but I couldn't help but anger him.

"You can forget about me dropping the charges." He said. Is he an idiot? Does he not understand what will happen to him if he doesn't?

"Don't you get it? If Vic goes to jail I'll charge you with child abuse. I took photos after almost every single time you hurt me because I knew that there would be a day when I would need to use them against you. Do you really think you can get away with that? You'll be locked up for way longer than Vic ever would be for defending me. And you know what else I'll do? I'll tell them you hurt me because I'm gay, then you'll have the gay community on your ass too, you know, not literally although if you go to jail I'm sure that'll be a possibility." I said. I don't know what's gotten into me. I was willing to say anything and threaten him with anything just so he'd drop the charges on Vic. I'm as good as dead when he gets out of here, but I just have to make sure Vic doesn't get into trouble; I owed him that much.

My dad was glaring at me and thinking about what I said. I wanted to say so much more to him. I wanted to tell him how much I missed the old him, before any of the abuse started. I wanted to tell him how he ruined my life and how much he's fucked me up, but I didn't. I was just so focused on getting Vic out of this messy situation.

"Fine. You win. Now get out before I do something you'll regret." He said. That was all I needed. I left his room and the hospital, going home because I didn't know where else to go or what to do. I don't know where Vic and I stand anymore. I may have just resolved this thing with him and my dad, but Jenna is still in the picture. She's still blackmailing me and I can't see a way around it.