Her Blood Lost

Chapter 23| Dynamic Duo

What is this feeling?

Julius's POV

I groggily looked at my phone as I was woken up by shouting. It was one in the morning. What the hell was going on now? It was too early for this. I clambered out of bed and trudged towards the door, stretching. The door shut behind me with a soft thud and I followed the sound of yelling down the corridor and suddenly it all went quiet with the slamming of a door and as I rounded the corner was stopped by a body crashing into me.

"Omf!" I looked down at the culprit and scowled.

"Ian what the hell?" I grumbled and gripped his chin as I got a better look at his face.

"Hey—what happened?" I asked when I saw that his lip was bleeding and his eyes were reddened. He frowned and looked downcast, slapping my hand away.

"It's nothing." He snapped and I bit back a retort and gripped his hand.

"Come on." I growled and pulled him to my room, closing the door firmly behind us and leaned against the wall, dropping his hand. The boy looked around the room in obvious conflict and I sighed.

"Where's Jezebel?" He asked and I blinked at him. Was he trying to change the subject?

"In her room." I said flatly and he looked confused so I gave out a dragged out sigh.

"It's complicated." I quipped and he nodded slowly.

"So you gonna tell me what happened?" I asked and Ian just bit his lip.

"Ian..." I coaxed as he began trembling and I gently hugged him to me. I bit back a gasp as he clasped his arms around me, his nails digging into my back as he gripped my shirt. He began to sob and I gulped in uncertainty and placed a hand comfortingly in his hair.

"My dad... we were arguing and he punched me." He whispered brokenly and I gave a nod.

"Mind telling me what you were arguing about?" I asked and he just shook his head and tried to hide against my chest.

"Alright then." I huffed and hoisted the boy up and started to bed.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" Ian whisper yelled as I made it to the foot of the bed and I set him down on the mattress.

"Look kid. It's one in the morning and I'm tired. I know you're tired too so just get some sleep and we can talk more later if you want." I sighed and climbed into bed, pulling the cover over my face.

I growled as he moved around awkwardly on the mattress and sat up, pulling the cover off. He looked at me with wide, timid eyes and I pointed beside me.

"There's plenty of pillows and room. Stop looking at me like I'm gonna attack you and go to sleep." I chastised and he grumbled inaudibly and got under the covers beside me.

What did I get myself into... I thought shaking my head and laying down.

I woke up with a jolt to a quiet room and frowned in bewilderment as I realized Ian was snuggled into my side gripping my arm to him. He was drooling slightly and was in a deep sleep. I stared at the cut on his lip and grazed it gently with my thumb.

"Hnn." He breathed in his sleep and a chuckle threatened to escape me. I found myself staring at his face. Cute...

Wait, what? I whisked my hand away and stared at the ceiling.

His fingers trailed against my arm as he moved and I clenched my teeth and bolted upright. Ian awoke with a startled yelp and I hopped out of bed and fled to the bathroom.