Bruised (Patrick Hockstetter)

Secrets

  I awaken to see Henry sitting on his bed with his arms resting on his knees. His eyes dart over to my now open eyes.

'You're alive' he joked smiling a bit.

  I raise my head and push myself up.

'What time is it' I croaked out rubbing my eyes.

'About 2 pm.' He replies.

'Shit.'

'The guys are downstairs if you want some food'

I nod at him and stretch my arms before getting up. My face scrunches from the throbbing of my head.

'Medicine is also downstairs love' Henry looks at me smiling.

When his smile isn't full of darkness it's actually quite nice.

We head downstairs and I chug a whole glass of water along with the medicine to reduce my headache. The boys are all eating but I feel too nauseous to even think about food.

I seat myself at the table and lay my head down blocking the sunlight from my face.

The boys all finish eating and decide to go out and shoot Henry's fathers gun. They've got to be really bored or something.

I join them on their journey outside but I sit back to watch. Henry shoots a few bottles down before turning to me.

'Want a turn darlin?' He asks me.

'I don't know how...' I reply, hesitant to take up his offer.

'I'll show you.'

I slowly make my way over to Henry and take the gun from his hands. He stands behind me and grabs my hands holding the gun towards the targets.

He closes one eye and aims for me before telling me to pull the trigger.

As I squeeze my hand the gun knocks back towards me but Henry holds tight keeping me safe from the impact.

I had my eyes closed when the gun released but I could hear the shattering of glass. Looking up I see the now destroyed bottle on the ground.

'Good job' Henry smiles.

We both let go of each other and I hand the gun to Henry who then hands it over to Patrick.

'I gotta talk to y/n' says Henry to the guys.

Henry grabs my arm and leads me to the side of his house. We both sit down and he scoots closer to me.

'How did you know that guy was going to go for me?' I ask Henry referring to the party.

'I didn't... I saw him carrying you up the stairs'

Oh. That makes more sense.

'Am I going to get the silent treatment now that we fucked?' I ask looking into Henry's eyes.

'What...' was all he could say, confusion spreading across his face.

'Nothing. I'm sorry.'

'Is that what Patrick did?' He asks now looking more sad than shocked.

We get interrupted by the sound of twigs snapping. Our heads both turned to find the source until a voice makes us jump the other way.

'Heyyy!!! What are you guys up to!!' A loud and annoying voice screeches.

'Oh hey Lucy' I say with a gritted teeth smile on my face.

The girl then asks where the other boys are and we leave our conversation to walk her to them.

Belch had the gun in his hands missing every single target. Victor sat with a beer in his hand and Patrick was leaning against the back of the house smoking.

Lucy runs over and sits next to Victor with a huge smile plastered to her face. Patrick glances over to me and Henry then back down at the ground.

Henry then takes off towards belch making fun of his poor aiming skills and I'm left standing alone with my arms crossed.

I watch as Lucy giggles at Victors every word like a desperate puppy. I thought they'd be smarter but Victor seems to be tranced by her.

Henry and Belch walk over to me, the gun now tucked into Henry's belt.

' we're going to the gas station. Want anything?'

'What, are you robbing the place?'

'No just getting some more beer.' Henry states.

'I'm good thanks.' I reply walking over to where Patrick is standing.

I look back over to Victor to find him making out with Lucy. Lucy was on top of Victor with his hands pinned to the ground. Damn that was fast.

'Let's go somewhere where we don't have to watch this' Patrick says with his eyebrows pressed together.

We walk over to the front of the house and sit on the porch steps.

Patrick then rests his hands on my thigh slowly gliding upwards. I bring my hand to his and lift it off of me.

Patrick then throws his hand up to my neck squeezing to where I can't breathe.

'P-pat-' I wheeze out.

He continues choking me while lowering me down to the ground. He lifts his legs over me and straddles my waist.

His other hand then comes up with his lighter. He flips it open and holds it close to my face burning my cheeks.

At this point my eyes are filled with tears and my chest is in pain trying to get some oxygen.

'Stop crying. You're embarrassing yourself.' He coldly says finally taking his hand off my throat and slapping me.

The side of my face hits the ground with his hard slap. I try to yell and get someone's attention but nothing comes out of my mouth.

I can barely see but I feel Patrick lift himself off of my small frame. He walks away from me, leaving my wheezing self on the cold ground.

I drift in and out of consciousness not hearing anything until the sound of an engine roars.

I hear the engine shut off and it's silent for a second before footsteps quickly make their way to the porch.

'Y/n what the fuck?!'

I groan painfully turning my head to the side to see Henry staring wide eyed.

He grabs my face pulling me towards him and leans in to kiss me.

'I'm so sorry...' his voice mutters out.

He lifts me up careful not to hurt me further and then walks me up to his bedroom where he lays me beneath his covers.

'Just rest darlin I'll be back' he says looking angrier than I've ever seen him before.

'D-don't hurt h-him pleas-' I squeeze out.

Henry looks at me with a puzzled face. He thinks for a second before replying.

' I won't..' he says with pain in his eyes.

Instead he lays down next to me wrapping one arm around my waist and smoothing my hair with the other.

I try to keep consciousness but to no avail.