Nobody's Fool ((G/t story))

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The thumping and pounding of that awful house music practically made my teeth chatter in my skull. No way I could concentrate with noise like this. I felt blood boiling in my face as rage rose within my veins. It's 3 am on a fucking Thursday! I couldn't take it anymore, I rushed to my closet, wrestled out my broom and pounded on the ceiling, "Shut the FUCK up!!" My grievances were met with a muffled but undeniable "Fuck off!!" Alright, that was it, final straw!! I snatched my keys and stormed out the door. The biting cold whipping my face and tearing at my.... I looked down. I was wearing my goddamn house slippers in two inches of snow. Fuck! I grumbled to no one in particular.

That's when I heard it. So minuscule compared to the thumping rhythms of the party above. It sounded like.... Like crying. Like someone crying, wailing, screaming. My blood ran cold. Shit. Was someone hurt? It was so muffled and soft that it seemed far away.... I paused for a moment. Should I go back inside and grab my phone? What if I needed to call 911? No. Better to find the person first.

"H-hello? Are you okay??" I shouted into the biting air and pounding noise. The wailing had stopped. That made me even more frightened. "Hello?? Is someone crying?" I took a cautious step forward. Wishing now I had my phone for a flashlight. Another step. Another. And another. But then, when I lifted my foot to press it down in the crunchy snow, the screaming resumed, this time with muffled words attached, "NO! P—please, pl-please nnoo!!" It was quiet but it sounded like.... Like it was coming from directly underfoot.... I gasped, taking a step back and staring directly below me.

I struggled to identify just what I was looking at in the dark... but then I realized with horror.... A pet! Didn't he belong to Claire? He must've fallen off of the balcony and onto the snow covered driveway in front of someone's garage. He laid there twisted and broken, whimpering in pain. It seemed that the snow broke his fall enough so that the drop didn't kill him, but I could see clear as day the pool of blood soaking into the pristine white snow around his side. And here I had almost crushed him underfoot. I was so glad he'd been strong enough to cry out. How long had he been here like this? Screaming and crying for help? What if no one had heard him? Surely he'd have frozen to death in the night, or been ground into the pavement by car tires in the morning. I felt like throwing up at just the thought.

"Hey little guy.... You had a pretty bad fall didn't you? You poor little thing..." I reached down to try to peel his blood soaked body off the frozen ground. He immediately began shaking form head to toe, lacking in strength to get away from my unwelcome touch. "Shhh, shhh. It's okay! It's okay, little one. I know you're scared. You must be so scared.... I won't hurt you like they did, I promise." He looked terrified out of his mind. As the pads of my fingers reached around under his shoulder blade and hip, he winced and writhed, tears forming in his little eyes. "Come here, shhhhh, it's okay. You're okay. I've gotcha now... you're okay..." I kept repeating that over and over trying to make my voice as calm and warm as possible. Finally I was able to get all four fingers and my palm underneath his body.

Cradling his head and neck with my other hand I scooped him up and held him to my chest, trying to shield him from the biting wind. He weakly kicked and squirmed, but he could hardly move, as broken and frozen as he was. As I walked back to the inviting warmth of my apartment I could clearly smell the stench of booze on him. Had they gotten him drunk up there at that party? What a bunch of twisted bastards.

My home had never felt more inviting than this moment, when I stepped into its dry, warm and bright space. A shelter. A home. A safe haven from the storm. "Let's get you warmed up, little fella...." I cooed, heading to the kitchen to find my heating pad. As I carried him back into the living room, I finally got a good look at the little creature I was carrying.