Together We Fall

Chapter 41

He reaches up to place a hand on my cheek. His palm is warm and rough but somehow it feels so soft against my skin.

I smell the metallic scent of the blood seeping through his knuckles.

"Let me see your hands," I tell him and he looks at me curiously before holding them out.

There's still veins popping out of his wrist from where his fists were clinched too tight. His knuckles are bloody, but I'm not sure whose blood it is. All I know is that he needs to be cleaned up and if I don't do it, it won't get done.

"Sit tight while I grab a rag and some rubbing alcohol."

His eyes widen at the mention of using alcohol to clean it but he tries to stay strong and keep his fear hidden.

I jump up from the couch and go to the bathroom cabinet to grab a rag before going under the sink and getting the rubbing alcohol.

It makes sense why he'd be a little worried about this stuff, it burns. As soon as the liquid hits your cuts it's like you can feel the alcohol cleaning every germ with a sharp burning pain flooding into your wounds.

I get back to the couch and Trace holds out his hands for me to wipe clean.

I pour some alcohol onto the rag and begin dabbing gently.

He winces, "Do it all at once so this can be over quicker."

"The egotistical bad boy can't handle a little burn?" I tease and he laughs.

"If my ego wasn't so big that might actually hurt my feelings."

I roll my eyes but can't keep the smile from playing on my lips.

I continue dabbing at the sores on his knuckles while he watches me.

"You've been curious about my past for a while haven't you?" he asks, still watching me.

I nod, unsure of where this is going.

From the day I met Trace I've been curious to know what shaped him to be the man he is today. I want to know what he's been through, why he cares for his siblings like they're his own and where his parents are.

There's nothing about him that I don't want to know every single detail of.

"I think I'm ready to tell you about it."

Those words falling from his perfect lips make my stomach feel bubbly.

It's like a sea of fish flopping around in my tummy and none of them can decide who's happier so they keep trying to prove themselves by jumping.

Weird simile but I'm weird too so it only makes sense.

I grin, "I'm ready to hear it."

I quickly set the rag and bottle down on the coffee table and situate myself comfortably into the couch. He turns to face me as he prepares himself on how to start.

I've been wanting to know more about him for months; now he's ready to share. I don't know what suddenly got him ready, but I don't really care either.

"I'm only telling you this so you can understand, not for sympathy. You and I have been through a lot together; it's time I let you know what made me who I am and what brought me to my current circumstances."

I stay silent and he takes a deep breath before beginning.

"You've been wondering about my parents and I'm done hiding stuff. Whatever you want to know I'll tell you." he takes in another breath and brings his eyes up to meet mine, "My mom died when I was twelve; she had cancer."

The way he speaks of his mother with delicacy and care proves to me how much he loved her.

I figured his parents were dead since I've never seen them around before and Trace is the official caretaker of Olivia and Dylan. I've been inside his house before and seen photos of him and his mom but I've never laid eyes on one that holds his father. That leads me to believe they didn't have a very strong bond.

I've heard the way he refers to his father by his first name. I know they weren't close. I just don't know the extent of Trace's damaged past.

"My dad was a drunk and when my mom died it was just the kids and me. Dale was never home. He was too busy getting drunk or high to remember he has three kids that needed him but honestly we were better off when he wasn't there. He'd always raise hell every time he stepped foot through the front door.

"He'd pass out a lot and I'd have to move him off the stairs to get the kids to bed," he chuckles, "I'd always tell them that dad just likes napping in weird places. They actually got excited to come home and find out where dad was napping this time."

Poor Trace, Olivia and Dylan. They were just little kids when their mom died and then to make matters worse their father was a very bad one. I couldn't even imagine walking through the front door to see my dad passed out in the kitchen, but for them it was normal. So normal that the only way Trace could get the kids through it was to make it into a game.

"How did you get the kids fed and to school?" I wonder, "It doesn't seem like your dad did it and you were too young to drive at the time."

"The kids and I woke up extra early so we could walk to school. I'd walk them to theirs before heading off to my own, then I walked by and picked them up in the afternoon. And as for feeding them and providing I was able to get little jobs around the neighborhood: cleaning garages, walking dogs, babysitting, etc. People paid me enough money so I could keep the three of us fed every night. Dale would give me money occasionally for us to buy clothes but for the most part he was always broke, wasting away his paycheck on alcohol and a new drug.

"When I was fifteen, almost sixteen Dale went into a coma from drug overdose. He's been in one ever since and the doctors say it isn't very likely that he'll ever wake up.

"Our aunt took us in just so we wouldn't go into foster care but basically as soon as we got there she left us to go live with her boyfriend. Then it was just the three of us which wasn't a bad thing considering my aunt wasn't much better than Dale. When we got there, to the house we're living in now, I was able to get a job as a trainer for kids ten to fifteen years old at the gym. The state sends us money every month and my aunt is letting us keep half of it, we have to send the rest to her. It's not enough for us to live off of but with the extra cash I'm able to make at the gym it helps us pull through."

He's done so much for the kids and they might not even realize how blessed they are to have a big brother like him. My only sibling made out with my boyfriend but that's the difference between the two of us and the three of them. They stick by each other no matter what, always watching each others backs while Laila and I fight like dogs.

"I never knew all of that," I tell him obviously, still in slight shock from hearing about his hospitalized dad and his runaway auntie. Nobody in Trace's life has done right by him so I guess it's good he's got such incredible friends that can always be trusted to look after him.

"I'm just glad you know now." he tells me simply, a beautiful smile on his perfect lips.

After all that's happened tonight, I'm just glad to be sitting here with Trace in front of me.

Authors Note:
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