I Hate Myself For Loving You

Chapter 7

"Daniel, honey, you've been staring out that window for the last hour and a half. I'll give you money and you can go and buy yourself a slushie." His mother said sweetly.

"I don't feel like getting a slushie, ma." He stated while rolling his eyes.

"Well, what can I do to get you to stop moping? If you don't want a slushie then you can take the money and get the list of groceries we need. It would save me a trip."

"Fine, ma," Daniel said unenthusiastically as he grabbed the wad of money from his mother and sighed, heading out the door, wishing he could just hide in his room for the rest of his life. He listened to the melodic rhythm of his shoes slap against the cobblestone, trying to distract himself from his saddening thoughts. The California night was alive with people laughing in the streets, music pumping loudly from various clubs, and the smell of cotton candy drifting from the local candy store, but Daniel felt like a ghost, no longer living. How could those people be so happy? Don't they know it's the end of the world because Daniel lost Johnny's love? Daniel dragged his feet, nearly tripping over a blob that was blocking the alley, and yelled, "Ah, damn it!"

A groan fell from the lips of the person below as they groggily said, "Daniel? Is that you?"

Daniel widened his eyes in shock as he bent down in urgency and said, "Oh my god, Johnny? What the hell happened?" Panic filled Daniel's voice as he brushed Johnny's hair back, wincing at the dire state he was in. "Who did this to you?"

"Kreese," Johnny whispered, barely getting out his name before dizziness took over.

"I'm going to try and lift you and take you to my place, okay?" Daniel softly said as he tried to carefully bring the boy up over his shoulder, but struggled and heard Johnny squeak in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Daniel mumbled as he tried to reposition the bigger boy into a more comfortable position. Daniel struggled to carry the boy but soon brought him up the steps and into his apartment while Daniel's mother yelled in horror.

"What is going on, Daniel?"

"Shhh, ma. It's a friend. He's injured and I need to take care of him." He waved his mother away as he carried Johnny to his room and laid him on his bed. He went to the bathroom and got a rag with some hydrogen peroxide, bringing it to his room. He brought the rag up to Johnny's face and wiped the dried blood above his eyebrow and the side of his face that had hit the pavement. "I'm going to dab your cuts in hydrogen peroxide it's going to sting a little, okay?"

Johnny nodded as he regained consciousness, sitting up slowly on the bed.

Daniel dabbed the hydrogen peroxide soaked rag onto Johnny's cuts, causing Johnny to move and hiss loudly in pain.

"What the hell, man!" Johnny shouted, pushing Daniel's rag away. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"If you would sit still, it wouldn't sting so much! You're not sitting still."

"I am sitting still! You're the one attacking me with that nastiness."

"That nastiness is going to heal your cuts. Now sit still." Daniel demanded, pressing the rag back on Johnny's face gently. "So, that's why you never came?" Daniel quietly said.

Sorrow filled Johnny's eyes as he began to speak, "I was on my way over and Kreese stopped me saying we were going to have an impromptu practice and well I told him I wasn't going because I had a date with you. Well, I didn't tell him I had a date with you, I just said I was busy."

"So, you weren't standing me up?"

"Wow, Daniel. Is that what you think? What type of person do you think I am?" Johnny said bitterly.

"I don't know, Johnny. For the last few months, you've done nothing but beat my face in, so you tell me."

Anger flashed over Johnny's face as he tried getting up off of Daniel's bed while saying, "You'll never get over that, will you? God damn it, I should've known better. I'll see my way out."

Daniel watched Johnny struggling to get off the bed and he pushed him gently back on the bed, "You're not going anywhere. You're severely injured. And you're right, I shouldn't have just assumed you wouldn't show up, but it's kind of hard, Johnny when I've been the butt of your joke since I've gotten here. But I like you, god I like you a lot, so shut up and let me kiss you." After those words left Daniel's lips he pressed a soft, gentle kiss to Johnny's and pulled away with a smile. "Besides, we can go on another date some other time."

"You drive me crazy, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." Johnny said with a weak laugh, cupping Daniel's cheek before saying, "I promise to make it up to you, okay?"

"Okay," Daniel said with a nod, kissing the cuts on Johnny's face gently, rubbing a thumb across his cheek.