Shut Up And Kiss Me

Chapter Ten

Trigger Warning: (abuse, violence, mild homophobia)

'where the fuck have you been?' jim heard his father yell as he shut the door behind him. 'i stayed at a friends' he replied curtly, making his way as quickly as he could towards the stairs. however before he managed to make it to the bottom step, mr moriarty stepped out in front of him, reeking of alcohol and smoke. 'what friend? that little bender mike from the pub saw you with?' 'don't call him that.' jim answered quietly, trying to push past his dad. mr moriarty pushed jim back so they stood face to face. 'don't tell me what to do boy!' he yelled, slapping him round the face. jim turned his head with the slap, a sharp pain spreading across his cheek.

in a moment of anger and stupidity he pushed his father hard, making him stumble backwards. then realising his mistake, he stepped back and braced himself. he felt the fist meet his jaw before he even registered his father raising his arm. his head snapped back against the door and bounced back forward just as the second punch made contact with the side of his face, knocking him to floor. he spat the blood out of his mouth as he tried to refocus his vision, ignoring the ringing in his ears. then, as the foot connected with the back of his head, the room stopped spinning as it slowly faded to black.

he woke up on the floor in his hall way, with a pounding headache and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. it took him a few minutes to remember what had happened and then another few to drag himself up off the floor and stumble up the stairs towards the bathroom. he stood over the sink, a hand either side of the basin, holding himself up. after the pounding in his head had subsided a little he attempted to look up into the mirror. the movement causing such a jarring pain in his head that he gagged. he threw up aggressively into the sink, the vomit making his throat burn. after standing over the sink for roughly half an hour, his knuckles were white from gripping the side of the basin so hard, he managed to regain some posture. he looked up into the mirror, to see dried blood covering his nose and mouth. he also had a nasty black eye and harsh bruising down the left side of his jaw.

he stumbled out of the bathroom, and made his way down the stairs, gripping the banister with both hands in a feeble attempt to keep his balance. he pushed the front door open, without bothering to grab a jacket and slowly walked to molly's house, his head pounding and vision fading in and out. he swatted in the general direction of the doorbell until the door creaked open.

it was dark and it took molly a moment to realise something was wrong. 'jim' she yawned. 'what's up.. oh my god jim!' she rushed forward, helping jim into the house and through into the bathroom. she sat him down on a seat in the corner, then turning to turn on the tap and begin to wash his face. he winced slightly every time she touched his face. she smiled apologetically at the expression of pain on jim's face. after she'd cleaned up her face she met his eyes. 'i'm going to have to take your shirt off jim..' jim nodded, wincing again at the pouding in his head. 'you know i'd been imagining you taking my shirt off but this isn't quite the circumstance i had pictured..' 'jim!' molly cut him off blushing heavily. he chuckled.

she peeled his shirt off, which was stuck to his skin with blood and sweat. she grimaced at the large, almost boot shaped, bruise down his ribs, and a roughly four inch cut ran down his side. she balled up his shirt and threw it straight in the bin. he raised an eyebrow, clutching his side. 'sorry jim but there was more blood than shirt.' he chuckled and then groaned. molly cupped the right side of his face, not the bruised side, and gently ran her thumb over his cheek bone, 'this is going to sting.' she opened a cupboard and picked up a flannel and ran it under the tap, using it too clean the cut on his side and mopping up the blood dripping down his waist and into his lap. he kept quiet, despite the pain in his side every time the flannel brushed his skin.

she opened another cupboard and pulled out a roll of bandages. she carefully wrapped his side and, as jim watched her hands move across his chest, he realised he quite liked the feeling of molly's careful hands on his bare skin.
after she had fully cleaned him up she stepped back to look him fully up and down. he smiled at her and without really thinking, grabbed her by the waist pulling her closer to him. she cupped his face and kissed him at first carefully. their lips barely brushing together.