And Then He Smiled (Logicality)

Chapter 48 - He's Only Just A Child

Trigger Warning: Blood, hinted at abuse, scar mention, suggested s*lfh*rm

"Janus?" Patton turned his head to see the person coming down the stairs. His scars were irritated and his eyes were puffy and red. His earings were pulled out of his ears, and I don't just mean taken out, I mean they quite literally looked like someone had yanked them all out of his ears. They were pale red and slightly bleeding, a nasty scar would probaly form there soon. His brown eyes were blood shot and it seemed he'd have been crying for quite a while.

"Janus....come here...what happened?" Patton's eyebrows creased as a confused gaze was pointed at Janus as the teenager came over.

Janus almost curled into himself as he stuttered towards the sofa and sat down, hugging his legs close to the soft beating of his heart. He could barely look up as the scars stung his face as the salty tears poured out of his glassy eyes, it was as if they wree already shattered.

"Oh....honey...." Patton held Janus in his arms, slowly rocking him as he stroke the boy's dark brown hair. He didn't know what was wrong, only that he needed comforting.

The boy sniffled as he turned to Patton with a heart wrentching expression, it hurt to look at him, "Come on...we need to sort out those scars,"

Janus nodded as he felt the gently stroke of Patton's thumb on his head, slowly ruffling his hair with every touch. He gasped for breath slightly as he nudged his head in Patton's shoulder and wrapping his arms around the adult.

"It's alright..." Patton told him.

Janus nodded, still holding on to Patton's clothes as he cried and bled. "....ᴵ ʷᶦˢʰ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵐʸ ᵈᵃᵈ...." He mumbled, not even loud enough for anyone to hear anything. It was as if he'd never spoken at all.

"Hm?" Patton questionablely hummed quietly so the young lad could hear him.

"ᴺᵒᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ...."

"Let's get you cleaned up honey," Patton told him patting his back slightly. Janus gripped harder onto Patton's clothes, barely breathing as his blood and tears poured onto Patton's clothes. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the poor sight of the young boy clinging to his clothes.

The quiet glow of the lamp bounced off of the stale blood and tears that bled onto Patton and into the room, loudly illuminating the almost silent tears and people. The cold of the night spilled into the night through the open window and the closed off minds of anyone below unlike the open minds of the people in the apartment. The world was cold but the sky was far and bright.

Decidedly, Patton stayed and just held him in his arms until Janus wanted to let go. Whenever that was. Still he was concerned about the blood from the poor boy's ears and the scars that were there before hand.

The blood seeped through Patton's clothes and he could feel the cloth stick to his skin with a mixture of substances. Janus' hands softened slightly on Patton's shirt as he started breathing properly. The process was excruciatingly slow and the concern grew within Patton as he felt the blood stain his T-shirt.

Sliding down the back of Patton's back, Janus' hands collasped as he easily fell asleep in Patton's open arms. Stroking the back of Janus' head, Patton , let Janus lie down on the sofa so he could get the first aid kit and a flannel.

When Patton came back, Janus was still asleep. He'd managed to get a small bowl of water so he could clean the wounds and some bandages to wrap it up, he didn't want it to get infected by anything.

Placing the things on the coffee table, Patton went to change his shirt and put the blood stained shirt in the wash before wiping the blood off of his shoulder that got through the shirt.

As he came back to Janus side, the boy had woken up and was rubbing his eyes with the nlanket that Patton had gave him over his shoulders.

"Sit back, I need to clean your ears and your face," Patton told him as he comfortably patted the teenagers hand before soaking the soft flannel in the warm water.

Bringing up the flannel to Janus' ear, it soaked up the dried blood and cleaned the area, revealing the injury. Next he brought it up to the left side of Janus' face. Wincing slightly to the sting of the water againest the exposed skin, Janus snapped his eyes shut before slowly opening them as he got used to the feeling of the soft material againest his skin.

The scar around his eye had grown as if someone had scratched it open, making it worse and making it bleed.

After squeezing the water in the flannel back into the bowl and leaving it there, Patton grabbed the bandages and began wrapping up Janus' ear. "Do you mind if I cover up the scars on your face?"

"ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᶠᶦⁿᵉ,"

Patton nodded as he taped the bandages on Janus' ear onto his face so it wouldn't fall apart. Wrapping it around Janus' head and gently around his hair, he wouldn't be able to see out of that eye until the new scars healed, maybe he couldn't see out of it in the first place anyway.

He still looked pretty banged up when Janus cut the bandage and stuck it down. "ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ,"

"What for?" Patton asked as he wiped down Janus' hands that blood had dried upon with the flannel.

"ᴵ'ᵐ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ˢᵘᵖᵖᵒˢᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ʰᵉʳᵉ," Janus mumbled, watching Patton dry his hands with the towel nearby.

Drying inbetween Janus' fingers, Patton smiled, "You're always welcome here, if that's what you mean," He hummed, patting the hand he had in his hand and getting the other.

Replying with a hum and a nod, his head felt heavier and his eyelid felt like he was holding up bricks as Patton wiped down his other hand with the flannel. When Patton began drying his fingers, he felt like dropping his body down like a doll that he'd gotten bored of, expect it was himself.

Whilst Patton was in the kitchen, Janus had completely passed out from exhaustion to the point you wouldn't be able to wake him up for a while.

As soon as he'd put everything away, Patton laid Janus down properly on the sofa and wrapped the blanket around the boy before going to get another since it gets pretty cold at night. It wouldn't be very nice waking up in the night to cold feet or cold hands on the sofa.

He couldn't help but pity the poor boy as he tucked the teenager in. Even though Patton barely knew him, he knew that leaving him alone wasn't an option for him. It would be wrong.

Sitting down on the other sofa, he decided he wouldn't leave Janus alone until he knew the boy was absolutely asleep, even if that meant falling asleep on the sofa himself and getting a bad back for a few day. I seriously don't reccomend sleeping on a sofa unless it's really comfy or you have a great blanket.

Watching movies until he fell asleep, Patton continuously cheaked up on Janus as the kid slept, in case he woke up or if he needed anything and was too tired to ask or even if he just wanted to hear someone's voice talking to him.

That night, Patton fell asleep on the sofa along with Janus. He couldn't stop worrying about those few things, so he just stayed for his own peace of mind. The TV stayed on all night and so did the lamp as everyone slept.

End Of Chapter. 1304 words.