Page 8 of Three for a Girl

Chad went to approach, but Romeo’s hand shot up, stopping him dead. “Stay there.”

He tipped back on his heels. “Why?”

“Because there’s no need for you to come over, I’m fine.”

“You’re not though, are you.”

Chad took a step, but Romeo’s voice hit him like a truck.

“Don’t!”

There was a wall of furniture between them, Romeo stood in a cage of his own making. He kept his palm up towards Chad, and his eyebrows tugged together as he pleaded.

“Please don’t.”

“Okay.” Chad whispered.

It was another ‘dark’ moment, they didn’t last long, only a few minutes, but it was enough to make Chad uneasy. An internal battle raged inside Romeo. Chad wanted to help, but his presence only made it worse.

Romeo grabbed a rag off a nearby desk and wrapped it around his hand. “Fine, see. Go inside, have a shower.”

It was no longer a suggestion, but an order. Chad’s heart sunk, but he didn’t let it show.

Romeo’s forced smile started to tremble, and Chad retreated.

“I’ll be thirty minutes.”

He walked away, clutching his stomach. Romeo hadn’t soothed his nerves—he’d added to them.

Chapter Two

Chad didn’t twist the dial to scalding hot like he usually did, he kept it warm, and stepped into the spray. The second the water struck his chest, he winced.

It no longer hurt, but he remembered when it did.

Most of the numbers had faded to silvery lines, they were mismatched on his skin, no order to them, some big, some small, some crooked, upside down, none of them touched, though. They were all individual, twenty-five in total.

He traced a five with his fingertip, and his mind wandered back to the room in Marc’s house. The pain, the helplessness, and the deep seated humiliation of not being able to protect himself.

Chad shivered, and upped the temperature.

He took extra time with his hair, first with the shower gel, then again with the shampoo he’d bought to match. Lemon cleansed his body and cleared his nose. He stopped and rested his forehead against the cool tiles, zoning out to the static hiss of the water.

A chill ran up his spine, the steam in the cubicle cleared slightly, sucked over the top of the shower door. Chad turned around as Romeo stepped inside the bathroom. He didn’t say anything, but kept eye-contact with Chad, and removed his pants and socks. Chad hugged his own body, hiding as many of his scars as he could.

Romeo stepped into the shower, closing the door behind him.

“I’m sorry.”

Chad shook his head, shutting off the water. “You don’t need to be. “

Romeo circled his forefinger, encouraging Chad to turn around.

He sighed when Romeo pressed against his back.

He wrapped his arms around Chad’s middle, and tugged Chad’s arms away from hiding his chest. He let his arms hang loose as Romeo tucked his chin by Chad’s neck.

“She okayed you for work?”

---