Chapter 104 – Broken Pieces
Sunday, April 23 (1:40 AM)
As soon as I walked up the stairs leading to the main floor, I quickly went about turning on all the lights.
I know this might seem silly, but somehow having all the lights on made me feel a little more secure.
After bringing my lover's backpack and heavy duty sleeping bags up from the garage, I walked past Shawn, who was sitting on the living room couch, watching TV, and immediately made for the bathroom, where Nick was
apparently tending to his newest protégé's wounds.
I pushed the partially closed door open a little, and saw my underwear-clad friend sitting on the toilet seat cover. His face was devoid of expression as Nick used a damp facecloth and some rubbing alcohol to clean up the various cuts and bruises that adorned the lad's boyish face and scrawny body.
"You'll need to lend him some clothes for the night." Nick told me, evidently having noticed me standing by the doorway.
"Yes, Sir." I answered, addressing my lover in a more submissive tone than usual.
"Fix him up a little something to eat." he instructed. "After that, we'll get a good night's sleep and I'll have a talk with Jeremy in the morning." he added, tentatively touching the red welts on my friend's back and speaking about the boy as though he wasn't even there.
"What about Brad? D'you think he'll try to break in?" I asked.
I was genuinely concerned about closing my eyes while the vengeful jock was on the loose and angry for revenge.
Nick remained silent for a moment before glancing my way.
"Let me worry about that." he said, visibly unnerved by the fact that I was bringing Brad's name up in front of Jeremy. "Now go get your friend some PJs and fix him up something to eat, like I told you." he ordered, giving me a "
get to it" type of frown and sending me on my way.
Stepping out of the washroom, I silently scolded myself for my lack of self control.
Nick not only had to deal with Jeremy, but he also had to worry about my safety and his own as well.
He already had enough on his plate as it is. He didn't need me pestering him with my incessant questions and insecurities on top of that as well.
After hanging his thick parka in the entranceway closet and putting his gloves, sports cap and keys on the entrance stand, I made sure the front door was properly locked and slowly made my way to the bedroom where most of my clothes was located. I changed into some fresh clothes and set aside a pair of running shorts, with a white t-shirt and some ankle socks for Jeremy to wear tonight.
We hadn't had time to grab any of his personal effects or belonging before leaving the cottage...not even his toothbrush!
The kid didn't have ANYTHING.
No clothes, no wallet, no cellphone.
I felt absolutely
terrible about the situation he was in and felt even worse at the fact that we'd taken him away against his will.
I had no idea where to begin as far as getting him started on his healing process.
But I had to trust Nick had a plan.
He HAD to have a plan...or at least, some vague idea of what to do next.
Slowly leaving the privacy of the bedroom, I walked up to the living room couch where the handsome twenty-year-old giant was sitting. "Shawn?" I asked. "D'you want something to drink?"
"Nah, I'm fine." he responded, throwing me a quick glance before focusing back on the TV.
I quickly averted my eyes away from the jock's imposing, t-shirt clad torso and made my way towards the kitchen.
"Alright, let me know if you change your mind." I told him, doing my best to try and sound normal even though the sight of his massive biceps and huge sneakers was giving me the hots.
I had no idea what Nick wanted me to prepare and had no idea what Jeremy liked to eat, so it took me a while to figure out what to do. It was late, so whatever he ate should be light and not too sweet.
I eventually settled for pouring the kid a big glass of milk and making him a peanut butter and banana sandwich, which I decided to cut up into quarters.
After pouring myself a glass of orange juice and putting a few of the dishes I'd used, in the dishwasher, I stopped by the bedroom and picked up the clothes I'd selected for my friend's sleepover.
The bath was running, and the lad's skinny and very much
naked body greeted me as I entered the bathroom to hand over my clothes.
I could tell from the look of shame on my Jeremy's face, that Nick had probably stripped him down against his will.
"Calm down." Nick spoke, keeping a tight grip around the boy's upper right arm and forcing him into the tub.
Resisting the hunk was completely pointless. I'm sure Jeremy understood that.
I mean this
wasn't just a case of being outgunned...
Nick was roughly twice as heavy as Jeremy was, and was well over a full head taller.
The teenaged kid's arms looked like puny twigs compared to my master's colossal biceps.
Jeremy seemed distressed at first, but I'm guessing the bath was pretty warm, 'cause his expression almost immediately eased up when his feet entered the water.
"That's it." Nick spoke softly, quickly glancing my way before turning back to his quarry.
"I'm gonna let you get some sleep, but first I need to get you cleaned up." he spoke, putting his hand on the boy's head and allowing him to sit in the tub and cover his privates.
Nick didn't seem to mind my being here, so I just sat myself on the toilet seat cover and watched as he settled on the edge of the tub and reached for a bottle of shampoo.
It was hard to believe that this was the same jerk who got a such a huge kick out of tormenting us with his socks and farts...
In a matter of minutes, the big blond muscle-King could go from bully, to daddy, and then back to bully again.
During those minutes he spent bathing Jeremy, he never let go of the kid, not even once.
Even while waiting for the bath to fill up, he just sat there and kept his hand on the boy's upper back.
He could've just given the sobbing lad some privacy and allowed him to clean himself up. But Nick had no intention of giving the dangerously lethargic sub any alone-time.
We were there for him.
It was absolutely
crucial for Jeremy to understand that.
Whatever he was feeling right now, he had to know that he was not alone.
Nick was there for him.
I was there for him.
My heart really went out to the poor guy. But even as I sat there and watched my lover take care of him as though he were his own son, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy.
I knew I was being incredibly stupid and selfish, but I just couldn't help it. No matter how sympathetic I felt, a deeply buried part of me felt unnerved at the fact that my hunky lover was showing another sub some care and affection.
Jeremy had been savagely beaten, and then was abducted after watching his own Master getting beat up by two larger guys. He was probably lost and confused beyond reason right now. And yet here I was, feeling all miserable and sorry for myself for not being the
constant center of Nick's attention.
Ugh. Grow up, Steven!
Nick started shampooing Jeremy's hair, carefully lathering up the scented liquid into the boy's scalp.
His fingers traced circles around the lad's temples and even went about massaging the back of the young, green-eyed teen's neck.
That probably felt really good, I thought to myself.
I watched as my Master quickly reached up for the showerhead and brought it down over the shivering kid's scalp, using it to warm his back and rinse the shampoo out of his hair.
I couldn't be certain, but from the look on my friend's face and the way his eyes were red and swollen, it looked like he was crying. With all the water dripping down his hair and face though, it was hard to tell.
He'd sacrificed his job, his schooling, his family, and most of his belongings to go live with Brad.
And now he was left with nothing...not even a shirt on his back.
It was at that point that I found myself questioning Nick's decision to intervene in the young man's precarious situation.
I felt torn.
I knew he'd done the right thing, but part of me felt as though Jeremy's case was a hopeless one.
The boi in the tub was nothing like the young man I'd met just a week ago.
This version of Jeremy was like an empty shell...soulless, lifeless.
He hadn't spoken a
single word since we'd left the cottage over two hours ago.
Maybe a good night's sleep would help clear up his mind.
I had no idea.
Nick gently ran his hands over Jeremy's back, doing his best not to irritate the welts and bruises that marked the poor lad's skin.
When the hunk turned to me and asked me to hand him clean facecloth, I immediately did as I was told.
He let it soak in the warm bath water before using it to carefully clean out a cut Jeremy had on his upper lip, wiping away the dried blood he had missed during his initial attempt at cleaning the boy's face.
The frightened sub instinctively tried pulling back, no doubt feeling a bit of pain at the sensation of the cloth touching his wounded lip.
Little Jeremy wasn't going anywhere though.
His giant captor immediately clamped a hand behind his head and held him steady while he resumed his work and gently cleaned out the cut.
"Shhh...easy." Nick whispered, keeping his tone firm yet comforting at the same time.
The
one thing I knew for certain, is that we were all pretty exhausted at that point.
We all needed some sleep...Jeremy most of all.
The boi offered no complaints as Nick hoisted him up out of the water and lifted him out of the tub.
I quickly handed Nick a clean towel, which he wrapped around Jeremy and carefully used it to pat the boy dry.
"Go get him something to drink." Nick told me, to which I responded by quickly running to the kitchen and fetching the glass of milk I'd poured a few minutes earlier.
When I came back with the glass, Nick was pulling out a bottle of Melatonin from the pharmacy cabinet.
I watched as he popped the lid open and took out two of the small white pills.
"Open." he told Jeremy, putting a hand behind the lad's head. To my surprise, Jeremy offered no defence.
He just opened his mouth and allowed Nick to feed him the sleeping pills. The blond stud was quick to take the glass of milk I was holding, and immediately brought it up to his youngest protégé's lips.
"There we go..." he mumbled, gently holding Jeremy's head as he poured the cold liquid down his throat. "You're gonna get a good night's sleep." he added, putting the tall glass down on the counter before taking hold of the clothes I'd brought.
"Steven's gonna lend you some PJ's for tonight." he told Jeremy, speaking to the boy as though he was speaking to his six-year-old son.
I watched as he helped my friend get dressed and watched as he sat the freshly-bathed boi down on the toilet seat-cover and crouched down to his eye level.
"Jeremy. Look at me." he ordered, lifting the boy's chin up in order to get his attention.
"Look at me." he repeated a second time.
Jeremy glanced upwards, a sign that he wasn't completely removed from what was happening around him.
"You're gonna spend a few days with Steven and I, alright? Brad needs to chill out for a bit. You'll be safe here." he continued, speaking slowly so that Jeremy could process each word.
The lad kept his gaze fixed on my lover's eyes, but gave no clue as to whether or not he understood any of what Nick was saying.
His face was just blank.
"Hey. I want you to trust me. Everything's gonna be okay. No one's gonna hurt you." Nick spoke, putting his large hands over the kid's much smaller hands.
His last statement did provoke a reaction, but it probably wasn't the one he was expecting.
As soon as Nick finished speaking, Jeremy broke down into tears and resigned to sobbing uncontrollably.
It proved he at least still had
some presence of mind left.
He understood what was happening, and for the first time, I think he was forced to admit to himself that his relationship with Brad wasn't
anything like what he originally expected it to be.
Poor Jeremy.
Nick slowly got up and wrapped his huge arms around the boy, pressing the kid's face to his abdomen and gently hushing him down.
"Shhhh...come here." Nick said, picking the puny boy up in his arms. "You're gonna eat a little something, and then I'm putting you to bed." he spoke, putting a hand behind the lad's head in an attempt to calm him down.
We slowly made our way towards the kitchen, where Nick ended up sitting the boy down in one of the dining room chairs.
Jeremy didn't wanna eat at first, but our resident daddy successfully coerced him into eating three quarters of the sandwich I'd prepared, and also got him to finish the tall glass of milk I'd poured him.
"There we go. That's a good boy." he commended, gently patting the back of my friend's head before ordering me to stay in the dining room so that I could keep an eye on him.
Considering the fact that he drove for almost two hours and had all this weight on his shoulder, I thought Nick's level of patience and restraint tonight was nothing short of remarkable.
Jeremy and I both remained sitting at the dining room table for a few minutes.
Neither of us said anything.
By the way his gaze was fixed to the table, I could tell he was quite literally lost in his thoughts.
I ended up reaching out to him and gently picked up one of his hands before cupping it inside mine.
Our eyes met, only for the briefest of moments. But it was long enough for me to see a reflection of the pain and sorrow I'd experienced just a few short weeks ago.
He was in pain. That much I could tell.
We held hands in silence, until Nick finally walked into the large, open area living room and tossed his old, ginormous sleeping bag on the couch, right next to where Shawn was sitting.
Jeremy wouldn't be sleeping on a cold floor tonight. Quite the opposite.
He'd be well taken care of from now on. Nick would make certain of that.