Of Men and Meth

"Family" Movie Night

     Stephen felt the best he had ever felt in years.
   
      He had just finished his shower after scrubbing himself as clean as he could get. Wiping away any memory of filth and blood. Being cleaner made his scars more prominent. He glared at them in slight
disgust. Standing in front of this mirror, looking at the scars that painted his body like a mural, reminded him of his first time at Kamar-Taj. When he finally cleaned himself up a bit. He ran a trembling hand
over the scars on his chest. The debris of the car lodged in him. The water mixing with his warm, red blood as he watched it leave his body. Slipping unconscious from the great amount of pain hoping that death would come upon him so he would never have to wake up.

    He could feel his gut flip and his throat tighten making it hard to swallow. His heart desperately pounding against his ribcage feeling as if it was being smashed in by shards again. He took a gasping breath and adverted his eyes from his scars, trembling hands weakly clutching the white porcelain. The anxiety clouding his vision. He clutched the fresh shirt he was given and pressed it against his face. He inhaled the scent, slowly calming his nerves.

    He stood there in utter silence, inhaling the scent of the shirt and waiting for the anxiety to slow down. He trembled as he reminded himself to take deep breaths. The steam slowly dissipating.
   
       He slowly was brought back to earth, back to reality once again. He pulled the shirt away and slowly put it on. He watched his scars disappear under the cotton fabric. As he was pulling the shirt on, he realized how small it was. It was obviously not his size; his biceps being squeezed by the sleeves, his abdomen showing a bit revealed more if he lifted his arms. It wasn’t his size, but he
didn’t want to complain.

    He was already receiving all of this.
Tony didn’t owe him anything. Especially with how Stephen treated him at the charity event. Tony was just teasing, just drunk. Stephen didn’t have to ignore him and give attitude. Stephen deserved to be made fun of by Tony, for Tony to show the public how truly bad Stephen’s downfall was.
   
    The shirt was a Black Sabbath band shirt. It was obviously old and worn out a bit. Must have been a favorite shirt of someone’s. Stephen shrugged the thought off and gathered his dirty clothes. Stephen’s possessions still fit in his pockets, which was nice. His broken watch, his cash from earlier, and the expensive cologne bottle. Stephen put some of it one before he pocketed the bottle with his other items.

    He felt fresh and warm. The fuzzy feeling of being satisfied with himself. For the first time in a while, he felt a genuine smile cross his face.

    He stepped out into the bedroom, socks scrubbing against the carpet as he trudged over to the bed. He placed his dirty clothes on the floor. His shoes still in the bathroom, to not get the carpet anymore dirtier than Stephen had already made it. Stephen sat on the bed, he could almost cry. Almost. It was soft, softer than the cot he slept on when he stayed in Kamar-Taj. Everything seemed
so surreal and overwhelming to him. He felt guilty. Deep down, Stephen felt he didn’t deserve this. There were children who wished their whole life to have something as simple as this. Mothers who wished to provide this for their kids. So many people who needed this more than Stephen really did. Stephen only got it because he knew Stark prior to homelessness. If he were a total stranger, Tony would have ignored his existence like he never was born. Stephen ran his trembling hands over the sheets, completely lost in thought of how guilty he felt and how didn’t deserve this, that he almost missed when the door was knocked on.

    “Doctor?” There was that formal voice from earlier. Pepper Potts, wasn’t it? He finally spoke up.

    “Come in,” he frowned at how hoarse his voice sounded. He almost didn’t recognize it as his own. The door clicked open softly and Pepper stepped in. Stephen looked up at her. She smiled softly.