Obsessed [book: one] // Thiam

*Chapter 21

*Sensitive subject!!!: TW abuse.*

I wake up to my alarm going off, indicating that it was time to get up for school. I slowly roll over, turning off my alarm and resting my eyes again. I feel myself drifting back into sleep, so I sit up, stretching out my arms and legs.

I get out of bed and walk over to Theo, kneeling down and placing my hand on his shoulder. I whisper his name and slightly shake him u til he wakes up. His eyes shoot open and he sits up, pushing my hand off his shoulder. He looks at me and takes a deep breath out, closing his eyes.

"Sorry, I just got a little startled." He tells me, lying back down.

I look at his eye, noticing how bad it really was. It was swollen and looked almost impossible to open up. His lip was looking slightly better but it was still swollen and bruised. He lay there, his eyes closed again and his breathing heavier.

I sit there and watch as he sleeps, unsure of what to do. I slowly get up to ensure I don't make any sudden noises. I open my door up and close it slowly, resting my head on the door as I think about what to do next.

I want to tell my Mum absolutely everything, but I also know that isn't want Theo wants and I don't want to break his trust. Not yet anyways.

I make my way downstairs, meeting my Mum in the kitchen. She hands me a coffee and sits down at the table, reading the newspaper. I stand in the corner and sip my coffee, watching her as she sits there, minding her own business. She looks up from the paper and looks at me, giving me a questionable look.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" She asks me, placing her coffee down.

"Kind of." I tell her, sitting across from her. "I don't want to tell you the whole story, but basically Theo got into a fight and his face is swollen and all bruised and he went straight back to sleep, and I don't want to wake him up again, but then I also don't want to miss school." I explain to her.

She gives me a confused look, like she expected me to tell her something else. She takes a deep breath in, thinking about all the information I filled her with.

"Do you maybe want the day off from school? I can give them a call to let them know." She asks me. "I also start work in an hour, but before I leave I'll give Theo a quick look over, just to make sure there's no serious damage."

"Thank you so much Mum, love you." I kiss her forehead and take her plate of food.

I run upstairs and slowly open up my door. I look into my room, shocked when I see Theo isn't in his bed anymore. I look over at my desk, smiling as I watch Theo look through my drawings. I walk over to him and place the food in front of him, watching over his shoulder as he goes through my drawings.

"These are really good, Liam." He tells me, opening another book to look through.

"Thanks." I smile, taking a piece of bacon. "I try my best, considering I sell them to people and collectors."

"Wait, really?" He asks me, a questionable tone in his voice.

"Yeah, my parents are struggling slightly financially, so I see some drawings here and there and help out where I can. They don't know about any of that and they don't want me stressing, but that's not possible with me." I tell him.

"That is, really deep but really cool. I love that you do that for them." He tells me.

He closes my books and grabs a piece of bacon, leaning back in the chair. I look at his face again, trying not to cringe whenever I saw his eye. I walk over to my bed and lay down on it, grabbing my phone to text Mason and let him know that I won't be at school.

"Also, my Mum is going to call the school and let them know we won't be there." I tell him. I go to tell him about my Mum wanting to check out his face, but I don't want to stress him out or lose his trust, so I decide not to.

He walks over to his bed and lay down. He touches his eye slightly, wincing as he does so. He places his hand over his eye and shuts them tightly. I sit up and look down at him, admiring his perfect features, even through the bruises and swelling.

"Do you want some ice or something?" I ask him, trying my best to help him out.

"No, it's alright. I like the pain, I guess." He tells me, laughing. "I guess since you were so open, I can also be open."

He sits up and faces me, taking a deep breath in as he prepares himself. I look down at him intensely.

"Ever since I was younger, I got beat up from my father. It was always over me trying to protect my Mum and sister, even though I was only four and had no idea what was going on. My dad would always come home drunk and mad, he would take it out on my Mum and then he would go find my sister. I can still remember the day he was yelling at Tara, forcing her to clean up the broken bottle, and I had enough." He tells me, taking a deep breath in.

I can see the tears in his eyes, the story clearly bringing back old memories. I move down onto his bed, grabbing his hand as he pushes through the tears. He smiles and squeezes my hand.

"I ran in there, thinking that I was invincible but I wasn't. One punch and I was on the floor, glass had gone in my hand and one even sliced my cheek. But of course it didn't end there. That was the first night he ever hit me. I had to go to school the next day with bruises and cuts all over my face and whenever someone asked what had happened, I had to use skateboarding as an excuse." He stops and closes his eyes.

I can feel my eyes filling with tears as his finally fall down his cheek. I look at his right cheek, only now realising the scar there. I slowly raise my hand and touch his face, tracing the scar with my thumb. He rest his head on my hand, kissing it slightly.

"I am so sorry, Theo. No one should have to go through that," I tell him, trying my best to comfort him.

"Don't worry, my Mum only stayed with him for another 10 years." I can hear the anger in his voice, but I can see that in his eyes he understands why she did. "That's why they broke up and that's how my Mum met my step Dad. We thought we had escaped the abuse and one of us did. Clearly that not being me."

"And ever since then, there's a part of me who is almost addicted to pain. To the feeling of it and the that stinging sensation of it all. It reminds me that I'm human and that I survived through all of that." He tells me, finally looking me in my eyes.

I smile at him as he looks at me. A part of me is proud of him for telling me all this and another part of me is happy that he finally opened up to me, finally trusted me with one of his biggest secrets.

Now I just need to figure out how to save him from his step Dad.

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If anyone is going through a hard time or has experienced anything like this, I just want you to know that I am incredible proud of you! I am always here if you need someone to talk to or if you just need someone to listen. I love you all and I hope you all know that you are beautiful and you are worth it!!!!!! XXXXXXX