“I’m sorry,” Wright said. He turned away from Xander when he set the water down on the counter. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just started focusing on the pain too much and what happened. I could have died today. It just hit me. I should be dead.”
“No, no. You were brought here for a reason,” Xander said. He brushed the strands of hair off the side of his face. It wasn’t really long, just hitting his eyes. He was curled in on himself, looking smaller than he already was. Xander had grown up on the ranch and then kept up an intense training during his years living in the city. Wright looked like he hadn’t stepped foot in agym. He didn’t look weak, but Xander pictured him more into books than sports. He also looked like he maybe went without meals a few times a week. “You are stronger than you think. You were just joking with me. I need my gorgeous smartass back, please. Let’s get you fixed and cleaned up and then we can talk about all of what happened, okay? Now, take the pills with the water and we’ll get this shoulder fixed and then you can take a shower.”
Over the next minute, there was a lot of swearing and shouting as Xander worked quickly to pop his shoulder back into place. Wright had more tears on his face and Xander gently wrapped him in his arms, consoling him without adding any pressure of a hug. He kept one hand on his waist and the other on the back of his head. Wright kept the good side of his forehead pressed against Xander’s shoulder for several moments.
“That sucked,” Wright whispered. He pulled his head back and looked up at Xander. “You suck. This sucks.”
“I know it does,” Xander said. He scratched lightly at his scalp before moving to brush his pointer finger lightly over the cut above his eye. “But you’re going to get through this, okay? I think you need to see a doctor, but we can deal with that tomorrow. Right now, I want you to take a shower and get cleaned as much as you can. The cuts and bruises might sting, but the water pressure is gentle. Don’t make it too hot, though, okay? You don’t want to irritate your skin any more. I’m going to run to the main house and grab some bandages and food.”
“You said there was a wedding going on, right?” Wright waited for Xander to nod before continuing. “I ruined it, didn’t I? I should apologize to the people.”
“You have apologized enough for things that aren’t your fault, okay? Of anyone that would understand, William and Clark do. As I told you, William was the brains behind the ideafor the refuge we have on the ranch. Don’t worry about that right now. Just focus on getting cleaned up. I’ll be back in twenty minutes but I’ll leave my phone on the counter. If you need anything, open it up and call Patrick’s contact, okay?”
“Okay. You sure you trust me with your phone? I know my dad warned you about it.”
Xander rolled his eyes. Wright really did have a twisted sense of humor, but he would take it if it meant he wasn’t crying. He’d seen it enough times; his emotions were going to be on a rollercoaster for a week at least. Maybe longer if the abuse had been ongoing. He knew that once someone was sure they had a safe space; they would typically act out before finding themselves and being who they are.
He pulled out his phone and opened his private browsing tab. He lived alone and got lonely; there was no shame in enjoying himself from time to time. Besides, he liked to read more than watch. But sometimes it worked well either way.
“This couple is personally my favorite,” Xander said. He turned his screen to Wright. He saw his eyes widen and he looked up at Xander. He still had blood from his nose smeared over his lips and his eye was nearly swollen shut, but he could see the surprise on the rest of his face. Xander realized that he probably should have confirmed Wright’s orientation before just showing him a video thumbnail of two guys. With the joke he’d made about swallowing, his brain just sort of assumed. But then the surprise turned into something like relief on Wright’s face and the moment passed. “No matter what your dad said, you are not wrong. So, if you want to watch, watch. If you want to read, I have a tote of books sitting in the closet. Wright, look at me.” He waited until his eyes were back on him. He smiled. “Youaresafe now.”
Chapter Three
~ Wright ~
Wright stood in the shower for at least ten minutes. Xander turned the water on for him, wanting to make sure it wasn’t too hot before he left. He promised to lay out a shirt and bring back some pants too. The water stung his whole body but he stayed under the spray until he got used to it. He didn’t want to move too much and realized that he wouldn’t be able to do more than hope the water got most of the dirt off. He’d seen himself in the mirror when Xander went to grab the water. His eye was swollen shut, he had blood smeared over his lips and chin. His ribs were colored on one side, a cut just barely visible when he twisted his body to look at the damage on his back. He looked as bad as he felt.
He tried to wash his hair, but using just one hand was difficult. He’d already exerted his shoulder enough just getting his shoes, jeans, and boxers off. A question Xander asked him came back to his mind when he tried to clean his lower body. Bending over still made him a bit dizzy. He’d ask about possibly having a concussion.
Xander had asked him if he had any abuse below the waist. His dad hit him often, yelling that he would never live up to his expectations. He loved telling Wright how successful he wasat his age. How he was dating girls, sleeping around, how he’d ‘scored’ his mom at a house party. Wright was slacking and his dad thought that hitting him or making him take ice showers would somehow make him become popular. The truth was he never fit in at school. He focused his attention on his studies, dreaming of a future where he could be himself. Not that he was a great student, even with trying. He was average at best. As messed up as it sounded in his head, he never once thought his dad would hurt him in that way because he rambled about how it was gay for another man to be in the same room with a naked guy. Even when he shoved him into the cold showers, he was fully clothed.
He cleared his head, knowing if he kept thinking about it he would break down crying again. Xander was still gone when he opened the bathroom door. He’d tried to tie the towel around him, but his shoulder was throbbing. The painkillers hadn’t fully kicked in yet. He looked at the phone, just to see if there was a text or anything. No notifications were there, but Xander’s background was of a horse in a field. There was a sunset painting the sky pink and orange.
As promised, a plain shirt was sitting folded on the dresser. He’d put it there earlier, before Wright barely said a word to him. The rest of the room was rather basic. The walls were a cream color, the floor a dark wood. The bed was a solid headboard and footboard. There were spots of individuality spread around. Like the photo hanging on the wall by the window. It was of a fence, with a cowboy hat positioned perfectly in the frame. That and the phone background, Wright wondered if he had taken the pictures himself or not. What he assumed were Xander’s cologne and other products were lined up on the dresser. He liked the room and its simplicity. His room he grew up in had old carpet and gray walls. He never had a bed larger than a twin size, a metal frame to keep it off the floor. The kingsize bed was messy, like Xander rolled out that morning and just left it. But it looked equally inviting. He sighed when he noticed that there were smears of dirt and some gravel, even a spot of blood on the pillow and sheets. He’d offer to clean them later.
He turned back to the dresser and tried to slip the shirt over his head. He got caught in the fabric and his body protested at moving too much, stretching his arm until the pain kept him from breathing.
“Would you like some help?” Xander’s voice was somewhere close by. Wright made a noise and tried to pull the shirt down. His muscles tensed and he could feel the loose towel starting to slip off his waist. “Hold on, don’t move too much. I’ve got you.”
Hands were on him, on his waist. He could feel his heartbeat racing when the towel was adjusted. It wasn’t pulled away though. Just tightened so it wouldn’t fall. Xander’s fingers that close to an intimate part of his body was a new feeling and his heart started racing for another reason.
“Here we go,” Xander whispered. He moved his hands around and tugged on the fabric until his head popped through and the shirt rested on his shoulders. “I brought bandages. Do you mind if I put them on and clean the cuts before we put the shirt all the way on? William is closest to you in size and he loaned us a pair of sweats. Also, Tracy piled you a plate of food from the reception.”
“Were they mad at me?” Wright looked up at Xander. Wright only came up to his shoulder. Where he couldn’t grow a single chest hair if he wanted, Xander had a short, dark beard and mustache. His skin was tanned, his eyes wrinkled around the edges. They were a soft blue, almost ocean color. His hair was shorter than Wright’s, just long enough to run his fingers through. There was a peek of chest hair at the edge of the collar of his shirt. He’d changed, too. He had been wearing a button down and nice pants with a belt, but now he was in jeans and awhite t-shirt. He had a tattoo of the medical logo with the snakes on his forearm and what looked like a Willow tree on his upper right arm. The shirt cut it off so he wasn’t completely sure.
“Of course not,” Xander said. He nodded toward the bed. He thought Xander wanted him to sit, but instead he had him stand between his legs as he sat down. He reached down and pulled items from a black bag he hadn’t noticed on his initial scan of the room. “They are worried about you, but you didn’t ruin a thing. If anything, you actually showed William how much his idea is helping people. You being here and him knowing you are safe is the best wedding gift he could have. His words exactly.”
“I still hate that it was interrupted, though.”
Xander turned his body so his back was facing him. His fingers brushed down his spine and Wright shivered. He was sure Xander could see the goosebumps on his skin. “Your back doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would. Is it still tender here?” Wright scrunched his face in pain, but it wasn’t terrible. Not like it’d been an hour ago. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“It’s not as bad as it was,” Wright said. “I tried to clean off as much as I could, but my arm was starting to protest.”
“Do you want me to run a cloth over parts you might have missed? I’m going to need to clean the cuts anyway.”
“If you want,” Wright said. “I think it’s mostly my face. It hurt to run the water over my eye.”
They fell silent as Xander worked. He closed his eyes, letting Xander position him how he needed, turning him in a slow circle to examine his whole upper body. His fingers were gentle, but a few places he prodded had him wincing again. A large bandage was taped to his side, a beige wrap wound around his chest and back just tight enough to not fall off. Xander made sure that he could breathe easily before moving on.
