Black And White

Sixty Four

"What about pink balloons?" Kirstie asked as they walked down the aisle.

Avi just shrugged. "Whatever you want. Dumb ass Scott handed me like seventy dollars, so."

Kirstie glanced back. "We can't spend it all though. That's not nice."

Avi pointed at the top shelf. "What about green? I'm pretty sure Mitch loves green."

Alex walked over to grab it for him, doing the 'tall man's job' without asking. "You want two bags of them?"

Avi shrugged. "Yeah sure."

As Alex reached for them, his shirt came up a little, and Avi curiously looked at the skin he found there. But instead of seeing the tan color he assumed he should've seen, he saw darker purple and gray.

Avi first glanced at Kirstie to see if she was gonna do something, but she wasn't looking. She was still wandering down the aisle.

When Alex turned around to hand him the balloons, he saw Avi's concerned face. "What..?"

Avi stepped closer to him. "Alex... What the Hell is on your back?"

"What are you--?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. The bruises, kid. What happened?"

Alex's face dawned with realization. "Oh!  That's just from practice. Soccer gets rough sometimes, y'know?"

Avi's face didn't change at all. "You haven't gone to practice in days..."

"Bruises don't just disappear, Av. Takes time for them to heal."

Avi stared at him for a few seconds. "You're sure? That's the lie you're gonna stick to?"

"It's not a lie. Why would I lie about that?"

"Did someone beat you up or something? Because you know you don't have to be embarrassed. Scott and I could take care of it."

"I didn't get beat up."

"Is everything alright at home?"

"Everything's fine."

"What about--?"

"Avi, just shut the Hell up." Alex started walking away. "You don't just get to pretend you care. Don't act like nothing ever happened between us."

Avi grabbed his wrist. "Alexander, if someone's hurting you I have every right to care."

Alex pulled his arm away. "No one's hurting me."

Avi kind of snapped, and he grabbed Alex's arm to twist behind his back, lifting the back of Alex's shirt with the control he had.

Alex yelped. "Avi, what the--?"

Avi's eyes widened a little as he scanned the belt of bruising along Alex's hips. "What the... Are these someone's--?"

"No! They're not!" Alex shouted at him.

Kirstie was rushing over now,  and she pulled Alex away from Avi's hold on him. "What the Hell are you guys doing?"

Avi tried first. "Kirstie, he's got bruises all the way up his--"

"I play soccer!" Alex defended. "Of course I'm going to have bruises! It's a contact sport!"

Kirstie put her hand on Alex's upper back to walk him away. "Okay, honey, calm down. It's okay."

Avi just stared at Alex as he went. No matter what either of them said, he didn't believe those were from soccer. How could soccer bruise the entirety of his lower back? That doesn't make sense.