A Different Path

Chapter 5 - The First of Many

Criticism spot!

Crutchie's POV

A few days had gone by since Oscar called me a 'dumb crip,' and Jack was waiting for him to say something again in order to justify hitting him. I tried to convince him to leave it alone, but he refused. We had only grown closer over the next few days, the change between the Jack I knew and the Jack the fellas knew becoming clearer and clearer. 

My nightmares hadn't been lessening, however I was waking up silently crying rather than yelling, so Jack wouldn't wake up with me. I had to admit, though, that I did want him to be there with me until I calmed down, however, it was far more important to me that he got enough sleep rather than caring for me.

"Fuck you," Romeo spat as Race won the game we were playing, making Jack and I laugh.

"You ever gonna win a game, Romeo?" Jack teased, making Romeo more upset.

"Shut it," he said, laughing a little at himself. Race stood up and reached into his pocket, grabbing a cigar.

"I'm taking a quick break, anyone comin'?" He asked, and Romeo nodded. They walked out together as they knew Jack and I didn't smoke, leaving us two alone.

"You tired?" Jack asked, looking at me.

"No, I'm good," I smiled at him, rubbing my eyes. 

"They really like you," he said, making me smile more. "I'm heading to the bathroom, be right back," he got up and left, smiling as he did.

As I sat there something caught my eye in the corner of the room, as I hadn't noticed it any other times we had played. I couldn't get up, as my crutch was against the wall and out of reach, so I stared at it until I could tell what it was. I felt my heart plummet when I realized it was beer, and before I could really react Jack returned, Romeo and Race showing up moments later. 

"Hey, I got us some beer earlier," Romeo said on cue, walking over to the bottles. 

"Great!" Race said as he sat down, and Romeo handed everyone a bottle, including myself. 

As we played the next round I could hardly focus, feeling scared of a glass bottle of beer being near me. I felt stupid when I thought about it, however, I couldn't make myself calm down. When we finished I felt Romeo's eyes on me, making me look at him.

"You don't like beer, Crutchie?" He asked, making me choke up.

"I, uhm-" I panicked, feeling like I couldn't breathe. "I have to go," I said, turning around in my chair. "Crap," I looked at my crutch on the wall, and Jack quickly got up, handing it to me. I didn't even say thank you as I left, trying to get out as quickly as possible. 

I hadn't been near anything to do with alcohol in years, making sure I avoided it, no matter what it took. I rushed back to the penthouse and climbed up, shaking as I sat there, breathing heavily. It was only seconds later when I felt it shake, feeling guilty when I realized Jack had followed me.

"Crutch?" He asked as he reached the top, walking over to me and sitting down. "What's wrong?" As he spoke I could smell the beer on him, only making everything worse. 

"Get away from me," I whispered, refusing to look at him. 

"... What?" He asked, speaking quietly. 

"Please get away from me," I repeated, looking up into his eyes. Tears began to slowly fall down my face as I looked at him, and I could tell he was upset. He clearly wasn't drunk, but just the smell of the beer was too much for me. He backed up and continued to stare at me, and I saw him realize why I was so bothered by it.