Street Smarts & Stolen Hearts

by Rob Hunter

  “Go open the door,” Solomon said, passing him the keys. Roy nodded, glancing back at the two of them as he rushed forward and quickly unlocked the door. He peered in curiously. He had never seen where Edwin and Solomon lived before. It was smaller than he had anticipated, but he supposed it was cozy; from here he could see the stairs that climbed up to the second floor, and a couple of doors, as well as a living room with an old stained couch that was connected to a small kitchen.

  Solomon tumbled in after a moment, with Daveth leaning heavily against his side, clearly not used to having to use a crutch. Solomon met his gaze and nodded him towards one of the nearby doors, tucked in front of the stairs and to the side of the front door. Roy moved towards it, propping the door open. Inside was a small bedroom, with nothing much but a small bed and a wardrobe. The floor was littered with various articles of clothing, and the remnants of food wrappers, and a few cans here and there.

  “This your room then?” he guessed, staring pointedly at the mess. Solomon huffed, helping to lower Daveth onto the bed.

  “Shut up, I wasn’t exactly expecting guests tonight,” Solomon grumbled, pulling back the duvet cover and wrapping Daveth in, even as the Brit struggled up into a sitting position with his back resting against the headboard.

  “Hey, idiot, lie down and get some rest,” Solomon said, flicking Daveth on the nose, gently guiding him into a lying position. Daveth pouted, squeaking out a complaint, even as his head lolled tiredly to the side.

  “Bully,” Daveth mumbled, even as he wrapped his arms around the duvet and pulled it close with a satisfied sigh, letting his eyes flutter closed.

  “Here, I’ll show you the spare room quickly. You look knackered too,” Solomon said after a moment of simply watching Daveth surrender to the pull of sleep. Roy yawned then, unable to help it, but Solomon just smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder and leading him out of the room and upstairs.

  “You fine if you top and tail with Adam?” Solomon asked, approaching a door that was already cracked open. It wasn’t much of a room. It just barely had the space for a single mattress that was actually too long for the room, and thus kept the door propped open with the corner of its back legs. The opposite wall was lined with a desk where an old computer hummed quietly. It was a squeeze for Roy alone to walk into the room, but he didn’t exactly care much as he immediately clambered into the bed.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you,” he murmured quietly, curling up into the mattress. He heard Solomon retreat, but was surprised when the older man came back, a thin cover draped over his arm and a couple of pillows clasped in his hands that he then threw down at Roy.

  “Thanks,” he said, letting Solomon wrap the sheet over him as he closed his eyes. Downstairs, he heard the front door open, and could hear familiar voices echoing up the stairs. Solomon said something before heading back down, but Roy was already surrendering to sleep. He barely stirred, even when a few minutes later, Adam crawled into the bed beside him.

  ***

  He woke hours later. He groaned, turning on his side and feeling a pang of disappointment that he failed to dwell on when he saw that Adam was no longer by his side. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, stretching his back as he padded out of the bed. He went downstairs, figuring that at the very least he could see how Daveth was doing.

  It was dark out now. He must have slept for a while, although it was probably still just edging into evening. He suppressed a yawn as he slowly opened the door to the room where he remembered they had placed Daveth the night before. His eyes fell immediately on the bed where Daveth was wrapped up in the blankets like a toasty burrito and he thought about backing up to avoid waking the man when he spotted Ellis sitting, arms crossed, next to the sleeping man.

  “Uh, hi,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck when the other man looked up at him. Roy closed the door quietly behind him, taking an awkward step into the room. He could see the black bags under Ellis’s eyes, a stark contrast to his otherwise pale face. “Have you slept at all?”

  “No,” Ellis said, shaking his head tightly, his eyes drifting back towards Daveth. Roy shuffled on his feet.

  “You look like shit, man, you should try and get some sleep,” he pointed out. Ellis blinked, glancing at him curiously.

  “Edwin had to go back to work and Solomon went to pick up some medication for him,” he said, the seat creaking as he shifted. “I said I’d keep an eye on him whilst you two were sleeping.”

  “Where’s Adam?”

  “In the living room. He keeps coming in here, though,” Ellis replied, rolling his shoulders back with a resounding click.

  “You should go get some sleep. I’ll watch him if you want,” Roy offered. Ellis ran his tongue over his lips, contemplating.

  “I don’t know where I should sleep,” Ellis admitted. Roy quirked an eyebrow at the strange vulnerability in the other man’s voice.

  “You can take the spare room for now,” Roy said, taking a step towards Ellis and reaching a hand out. Ellis stared at it for a moment before grabbing his hand and letting him help him to his feet.

  “Thank you,” Ellis said quietly, with a faint nod before he walked towards the door. Just as he was walking, the door opened and Adam crept in. The two made eye contact for a moment, Ellis breaking it to glance down at the floor and shift carefully past Adam, as Adam glared daggers at him.

  “What’s that about?” Roy intercepted as Ellis closed the door behind him, taking the now vacant seat as he stared up at Adam with a raised eyebrow.

  “I just don’t like him,” Adam said with a shrug.

  “Why not? He seems nice...” Roy pointed out, rolling his eyes at Adam’s scowl.

  “He seems creepy,” Adam retorted, gritting his teeth. Roy huffed.

  “Yeah, he doesn’t have the best social skills, I’ll give you that, but he seems like an okay person. He helped Daveth, after all.”

  “I don’t trust him. You know what people say about him, about what he’s done and stuff. I just think it’s very convenient that the minute we go asking him where Daveth is, he shows up and finds Daveth within minutes when we couldn’t after searching for hours,” Adam suggested, eyes blazing protectively as they rested on Daveth, who stirred, twisting onto his side with a few indiscernible noises falling from his lips.

  “If Ellis had hurt him, Daveth would tell us,” Roy pointed out, furrowing his eyes at the tension radiating off the other man.

  “If he had gang connections like everyone says, then he could have arranged all of this.”

  “You’re starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist,” Roy interrupted, rising to his feet and approaching Adam, resting his hands on the other man’s shoulder and meeting his eyes. “Relax. Daveth’s not as stupid as he looks. If he trusts him, then so can we.”

  “I have a bad feeling about him,” Adam muttered, dropping his shoulders even as he melted into Roy’s touch. Roy snorted.

  “You said the same thing about Solomon. And Edwin. And I’m sure you thought the same thing about me when we met,” Roy pointed out. “Give him a chance. For Daveth’s sake, if no one else’s. You might find you actually like him.” Adam huffed disbelievingly, but remained stubbornly silent. Roy sighed, retreating back to the seat and turning his attention back to Daveth. After a moment, Adam padded up next to him and sat cross-legged at his feet. Roy smiled down at him.

  Roy was fucking starving. He knew Adam was too. It’d been a couple of days since they’d been with Solomon and Edwin, and they hadn’t eaten since then. Hadn’t even thought of checking the kitchen for food, not fully sure that they were actually allowed to eat food that was not theirs and not wanting to be a burden.

  Edwin and Solomon came in at unusual hours, which were the joys of working a night shift he supposed, but other than ensuring they had food for Daveth, which they kept in his room so he didn’t have to get up and stumble to the kitchen, they didn’t actually bring up food at all. Roy didn’t want to impose by asking.

 
There was a quiet knock on the door. Adam quirked an eyebrow, but stayed sitting on the couch where some shitty action film was playing on the crackly TV. Roy rolled his eyes, getting up and walking towards the door. He knew who it would be before he even opened it.

  Ellis stood uneasily outside, shifting his weight constantly as he glanced around the neighborhood. The other man kept leaving to go to his shifts, because by some miracle, the Rover had managed to get a paying job. He always seemed conflicted about coming back, though.

  “I got some food for you guys,” Ellis said, lifting the plastic bag that was wrapped tightly around his wrist. Roy felt his mouth start to water as he stood aside to let Ellis in.

  “Fucking A, dude,” he exclaimed, walking in eagerly after Ellis, who deposited the bags on the living room floor. Adam straightened up, looking down at the plastic bags curiously.

  “Help yourself,” Ellis said, leaning back on his haunches as he tipped the bag upside down to reveal several ready meals, and an assortment of snacks. All stuff that could be eaten immediately, without having to cook. Roy tore into a packet of cocktail sausages with a joyous laughter. Adam slipped off the couch and cautiously grabbed a couple of chocolate bars he found.

  They heard a door open, and Solomon, who had managed to wrangle some time off to stay with Daveth, crept into the living room with a raised eyebrow. Ellis averted eye contact, looking slightly shifty as he carefully started to place the rubbish into the remaining plastic bag.

  “Why’d you buy food?” Solomon asked, rubbing at the corner of his eyes tiredly as he leaned down and stole a cocktail sausage from Roy’s hand. “I thought we had plenty,” he said, still munching on the sausage.

  Roy swallowed heavily, suddenly finding the carpet far more interesting as he tangled his finger in the loose strands. Across from him, Adam shuffled uncomfortably, turning his attention back to the TV and away from the conversation. Ellis just sat frozen with wide eyes.

  “What?” Solomon said, concern creeping into his voice. “Guys, what’s up?” he asked, eyes darting around the three of them. Ellis managed to tear his gaze away this time. Solomon blinked. “You...you know you are allowed to eat our stuff, right?” Everyone remained silent.

  “Jesus Christ, guys, I didn’t offer you to stay here just so I could starve you,” Solomon exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. “You can help yourself to anything here. Seriously. You don’t have to ask,” Solomon pointed out, the exasperation only faintly hiding his anxious horror.

  “We didn’t want to be a burden,” Roy pointed out quietly when no one replied. Solomon looked at him, brows pinched together in worry. Roy shrugged, turning away.

  “You guys aren’t burdens,” Solomon said sternly. “That’s it, I’m going to go make dinner right now and you’re all eating,” Solomon decided, muttering something more to himself as he paced towards the kitchen, with a heavy eye-roll as he went.

  And as it turned out, Solomon was a damn good cook.

  ***

  Daveth had managed to all but shake off his persistent tiredness, which was good in the sense of his recovery, but bad in the sense that now he wasn’t sleeping pretty much 24/7, he had become possibly the worst patient in human history. A fact Ellis was learning rather quickly as he once more caught Daveth trying to sneak into the living room unaided, despite the fact that with only one good arm and leg, walking on a single crutch was perilous at best. Not to mention Daveth’s already precarious sense of balance.

  “Ellie!” Daveth whined as Ellis guided him back to the room with a huff. “I’m bored!” he complained, throwing himself back against Ellis’s chest and gazing up at him with a prominent lip pout. “At least let me watch TV!” he added pitifully.

  “Fine. But stop walking around on your own,” he grumbled, pushing Daveth away from his chest and helping lead him into the living room with a sigh.

  “I’m fine. I have a crutch,” Daveth mumbled. Ellis raised his eyebrows, shaking his head as he helped plonk Daveth up on the couch. Roy and Adam had already retired for the night, whilst Edwin and Solomon were doing their shift at the shelter.

  “A crutch you can barely use. You should be in a wheelchair,” he pointed out, grabbing a few cushions from the adjacent armchair and using it to prop up Daveth’s injured leg.

  “I can use it!” Daveth claimed childishly. Ellis stared at him exasperated. “I mean, for the most part....”

  “You’ve fallen over twice today,” Ellis retorted. “Which is why you’re not meant to be walking around on your own.” He sighed, turning on the TV and settling down on the floor in front of Daveth, his back pressed up on the couch as he passed the younger man the remote.

  “But it’s so boring having to wait around for other people to help,” Daveth muttered, fiddling with the fabric of the couch.

  “I was literally gone for five minutes whilst I went to the toilet,” Ellis grumbled, tilting his head back to stare at the Brit.

  “Okay, fine,” Daveth snapped. “It’s embarrassing then.”

  “Since when do you care about that?” Ellis asked, craning his neck to meet Daveth’s eyes. The younger man shrugged. The TV flickered as he picked a channel, sinking back into the couch with a pout as the sounds washed over them.

  “I’d prefer to be independent,” Daveth added after a moment.

  “It’s okay to rely on other people,” Ellis pointed out, shifting onto his knees as he turned to face Daveth properly. The Brit hummed, reaching out with his good hand to brush through Ellis’s hair. Ellis leaned into the touch, reaching up and grabbing Daveth’s hand in his own.

  “Sit on the couch,” Daveth suggested, lifting himself into a sitting position. Ellis raised an eyebrow, but lifted himself up into the small space that Daveth had made for him. Daveth sighed happily, lying back down with his head on Ellis’s lap, smiling softly as Ellis gently scratched his scalp.

  Ellis wanted to ask him then whether he had thought more about the kiss. But Daveth was relaxed, and he didn’t want to destroy that, especially when Daveth was still happy to reach out and seek comfort in him. But at the same time, he desperately wanted more. Even just to be able to lean down and kiss the younger man, even say that he loved him. But he remained silent, turning his gaze towards the TV screen even as his thoughts whirred.

  Ellis thought that Edwin must have been a nurse in a past life, just by the sheer amount of patience he possessed and his gentle touch despite his strong frame. After the last few days, Edwin had taken over most of Daveth’s care, regularly checking his temperature and adjusting his bandages when necessary. Even offering him physical comfort when the pain became a bit too much.

  “You and Daveth are close, right?” Edwin asked, as he chucked the dirtied sheets into the laundry basket by his feet. Ellis hummed in agreement, hanging back as he watched Edwin change the bedsheets whilst Daveth was in the living room with Adam and Roy. “I can tell. You seem very fond of him,” Edwin mused.

  “Everyone seems fond of him,” Ellis said, shuffling his weight awkwardly. Edwin smiled, unfolding the clean sheet and struggling to stretch it out across the bed. Ellis walked forward and helped him out, tucking the sheet into the back corners of the mattress whilst Edwin dragged it out.

  I guess that’s true,” Edwin said after they finished getting the sheet on, meeting Ellis’s gaze with a smile.

  “There’s not many people who would open up their house as easily as you have done,” Ellis pointed out, eyes scanning over Edwin thoughtfully.

  “I mean, Daveth needs somewhere to stay, right?” Edwin said, waving him off with a shrug. Ellis tilted his head.

  “You didn’t just open your house for him,” Ellis added. Edwin frowned, grabbing some of the waste that had collected over the last few days and chucking them into a black bag. “It is very kind of you,” Ellis said after a moment.

  “I think most people are kind. I don’t think we’re unusual in that,” Edwin said, blushing faintly. Ellis blinked.

  “Not in my e
xperience.”

  “Well, I mean, sure there are some crap people, but I think everyone’s capable of kindness,” Edwin argued, patting him on the back as he walked past him to grab some more randomly strewn clothes that had collected on the floor.

  “When does Daveth have to go back to the hospital?” he asked, changing the subject. Edwin glanced at him, no doubt in his expression at what Ellis was doing.

  “Not for a few weeks yet. Only when he’s getting the casts off,” Edwin replied, tying up the black bag and lifting up the laundry basket. “Come on, I’ll let you decide what we’re having for dinner,” he said. Ellis huffed, following him as he walked towards the kitchen.

  ***

  “Ellis...” Daveth said, turning to face him with a blush as Ellis helped him to move the plate he had been eating from onto the bedside table and out of his way. Ellis raised an eyebrow, prodding him to continue. “I haven’t washed in a few days. I kind of want to have a shower,” he continued, his cheeks burning red.

  “You need help?” Ellis guessed. Daveth nodded, giggling awkwardly. “A bath might be easier,” Ellis pointed out, trying to think of what would work with Daveth’s currently limited mobility.

  “I just want to be clean.” Daveth shrugged.

  “Okay, let’s figure out how to do this,” Ellis said, getting to his feet and passing Daveth his crutch as he helped the younger man up. Daveth stumbled into his side, still blushing profusely. He guided them into the bathroom, which was thankfully not far, and deposited the Brit on the toilet seat.