Bruised (Patrick Hockstetter)

What a night

Warmth surrounds me as my eyes flit open. Henry's arms are wrapped around me and I can hear light snoring coming from him. His presence makes me feel complete, almost as if we had been soulmates.

I try to sneak beneath his arms so I don't wake him but he jumps up at my first sign of movement. His fists had clenched and he brought his arms close to his body almost as a defense mechanism.

'Sorry... I tried not to wake you' I said to him now growing a little worried.

He takes a few deep breaths and then brings his arms back around me.

'I'm a light sleeper' he mumbles against my shoulder.

' I have to go see my dad before he leaves for work.' I say before pulling his arms off of me and lightly setting them on the bed. He then lays back down completely and groans before drifting back off to sleep.

I tiptoe out of Henry's room not sure if his father was downstairs. I reach the living room and sure enough he was but he was snoring loudly on the recliner.

Thank god.

I take my time getting to the door creating the smallest amount of sound as I can. The door makes a small creak but he stays fast asleep clearly not taking after his son.

Taking a step into the sun I immediately wished I had Belch to drive me home. The heat was not going to be fun but they most likely all went their separate ways after Henry never went back outside.

I start the long walk down Henry's gravel driveway and my mind starts to wonder. Henry should probably be what's on my mind but all I can think about is Patrick and his odd behavior.

What the fuck did I do to him? It seems like as soon as things are going well, it all goes to shit in a matter of minutes.

  He is a psychopath I guess. Probably just had an urge after firing Henry's gun. Can't let the poor girl get too comfortable I guess.

  I stopped in my tracks for a second and realized I nearly missed the turn onto my street. I take a look at my driveway and spot a taxi most likely waiting for my dad. I pace faster down the street and reach the porch, seemingly out of breath.

'Hey honey, I was just about to head out.' He said standing in the doorway with his suitcase beside him.

'Sorry for being late. I wanted to make sure I got to say bye' I say smiling to him, between gasps.

  I run up and give him a brief hug before he hands me some money for groceries and gets into the taxi. I watch as he turns off our street and turn to head inside.

Damn almost $100. He's going to be gone for a while.

I take the money upstairs and hide it between the pages of one of my journals. I trust the boys on a certain level but my money needs to stay hidden. It's all I've got to take care of myself for the next few weeks.

This heat was killing me but having money makes me crave a soda. I pull back out a five dollar bill and change my clothes before stepping into the staggering heat once again.

-

Walking into the pharmacy I grab a cold coke and take it up to the counter.

The cashier hands me my change and I 'accidentally' drop some near him so that he'll be forced to pick it up for me.

As his head goes below the counter I look to make sure nobodies watching and grab a pack of cigarettes from the display beside him tucking it into my pocket.

He comes up and I flash him a smile before basically skipping out of the store. I walk over to the side of the building and pull out a smoke before hearing a car pull up beside me.