Bruised Heart: a Bruised short story

by T. T. Kove

  “I’ll try ringing Graeme one more time. If he doesn’t pick up now, we’re stopping by his place and dragging him over to mine.” Noelle had to go—I couldn’t have her in my flat when Kasey and I got back. I had plans for my bed—plans that involved only the two of us and no clothes. Lots of lube though.

  “Why’d you have to take her home anyway?” His nose wrinkled slightly in thought.

  Good fucking question. “She couldn’t very well go with Adam, could she? Besides, I only planned to have her around until I got hold of Graeme. Since I never did, she stayed.”

  Graeme was first on my recently called list, so I clicked his name and waited.

  And nothing.

  Still hasn't turned his damn phone on, has he? I seethed, stuffing my phone back in my pocket. “His place it is then.”

  We took the tube the opposite way of what we would’ve done if we’d headed straight back home. Damn Graeme and living so far away from me—and especially for not turning his phone back on. What if I, as his boss, needed to get hold of him?

  Then again, I was the one who’d said I wasn’t available today.

  I hadn’t known I’d be stuck with his girl when I said that though.

  “Wynn?” Graeme, who’d opened the door with a bit of a sour expression, stood back in surprise as he saw me on the other side of it.

  “There you are.” I slapped my hand against the wall. “I tried ringing you last night.”

  “That was you?” He grimaced. “I thought it was Noe—uh, someone else, so I shut my phone off. I was sleeping, you know.”

  “Yeah, well, the someone else is currently sleeping in my bed. I’d appreciate it if you could take her back.”

  He stared at me. “Shit. She tried to pull you?”

  “No.” Most definitely not. Though at that… she’d seemed to expect me to want to fuck her. I chose to forget all about that. “I hear you’ve already done that.”

  “Hey—shhh!" He glanced at him, then stepped over the threshold, forcing me to step back. He closed the door quickly. "My dad's in there! Dammit." He ran his hands over his face. "How'd she end up at your place?"

  "She was at the club. Drinking. When we closed, she wasn't in any shape to move on her own, and since you shut your phone off of me, I took her home." I was still pissed he hadn't answered his phone.

  He blew out an annoyed breath. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know she’d—shit.”

  "Would you come get her? I've got plans for today, and they don't include your girl."

  “She’s not my girl.”

  She’d like to be. Maybe he wasn’t on the same page. Then again, he had shagged her. Maybe he was just a dick to girls. It didn’t matter to me one way or another because he was great at his job, but when his troubles ended on my doorstep, it ticked me off.

  “Yeah, I’ll come get her.” He sighed. “Have to, don’t I? I’ll just have to get rid of Dad first.”

  “Great. We’ll head home. See you there!” I threw an arm up as I turned. “Soon.”

  Kasey, who’d hung back, now walked at my side. “Didn’t you say that girl was Graeme’s sister?” he asked. “And he’s… has he slept with her?”

  “Stepsister,” I clarified. “She said they had, anyway, and he didn’t deny it, did he?”

  “Wow, that’s—heavy.”

  I chuckled. "Yeah. But she'll soon be out of the flat, and we'll have it to ourselves, and then I can give you a proper welcome home."

  “A proper one?” He stepped in closer, voice falling. “What does that entail exactly?”

  “You and me and a bed. No clothes. Lots of lube.” And condoms. Damn condoms. “Hey, Kasey?”

  "Hmm?" He took my hand in his like I'd done earlier.

  “What do you say we get tested? So we can be rid of the condoms?”

  A surprised gasp left him, and his eyes widened as he looked up at me. Now he looked like a deer caught in headlights. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that look. “You want that? To ditch the condoms?”

  “Yeah. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t, right?” Was he good surprised or bad surprised? I couldn’t tell. Maybe he’d want to keep the condoms, to be safe.

  “I’d love that.” He bowed his head. I bet he’s blushing. “I’ve wanted to ask you that too. I want to feel you without the latex. I’ve never done that before.”

  Something swelled in my chest. He’s never been fucked raw. So if we did this, I’d be his first in that regard. I liked being his first.

  We stood close together on the tube—it was packed with midday travellers—and we took our time walking home. Graeme had a car, so he’d likely be by picking her up in that, but considering he had his dad over, he likely wouldn’t arrive before we did anyway.

  I dropped Kasey's bag next to the sofa when we entered the flat, since the bedroom was taken.

  "I need that. I want to change into something more comfortable." Kasey held his hand out for it, and I hefted the bag up again, handing it over. He veered off towards the bathroom, while I went to get a glass of water.

  Graeme better get rid of his dad quickly. Kasey was home; we were in the flat, now all we needed was the bed and to get rid of our clothes. But we couldn't do that until the bed was free.

  “Wynn!”

  I started at Kasey's shout, then hurried into the bathroom. "What's wrong?" He didn't have to answer though because I could clearly see what was wrong.

  Noelle sat curled up on the floor, in only a tight top and panties. Her face was buried against her kneecaps, her thin shoulders shook, and her body… she’d done quite a number on it. On the tiles next to her lay a bloody knife she’d got from the kitchen.

  “Shit.” I’d only seen a little of her forearm last night. I knew she was a cutter, but this… this was beyond my wildest imagination. There wasn’t any unharmed skin left on her arms, so she’d clearly taken it to the rest of her body. I could only see her lower calves, not her thighs, but it was enough. “Noelle?”

  Kasey stood frozen, staring at her with wide eyes and lips slightly parted. I patted his shoulder, hopefully reassuringly, then I crouched down in front of her. “Noelle?”

  She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop it. They told me to—”

  "Who told you to?" She'd cut her thighs too. Worse than her calves. With the way she was curled up, I couldn't even see half of the damage though.

  “The voices,” she whispered. “They tell me to do stuff all the time.”

  I drew in a sharp breath. “You hear voices?”

  She nodded jerkily.

  “How long have you been hearing them?”

  She shrugged. “Don’t know. A long time.”

  Shit, shit, shit. Was she psychotic? Whenever Chad heard voices, he was, but he was always manic. He was high and low and impossible to pin down, and he thought he could do everything—such as jump off my damn balcony. But she wasn't manic. Even without a degree in psychology, I knew that. She was nothing alike Chad.

  “Kasey, can you take the knife out of here? Put it in the dishwasher. I’ve got to clean her up.” Graeme couldn’t find her like this. Earlier he’d sounded like she was nothing but a pain in his arse, but… surely he cared for her?

  No matter what, though, the girl needed help. Right now she needed help cleaning her self-inflicted wounds, and after that… she needed a lot more professional help than any of us could ever give her.

  Chapter 4

  I motioned Graeme to the sofa when he arrived. “Sit.”

  “What’s wrong?” He frowned, clearly knowing something was.

  I sat down opposite him so I could face him while I talked. Kasey was in the kitchen, pottering with the coffee machine. He was clearly stalling—probably to give Graeme and me some time alone.

  "Do you know she cuts herself?" I asked, still horrified by what I'd seen earlier. When I'd got her to uncurl, it became clear just how much of a mess her thighs were.

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “I’ve seen
her arms. That was years ago, so I bet they’re even worse now.”

  “It’s not just her arms,” I said in a low voice. “It’s all of her.”

  “What?” His head turned to me, eyes sharp. “All of her?”

  "Well, what she can reach anyway. Her thighs, her ankles, her stomach, her chest." I'd seen the cuts on her collarbone, and when I'd asked, she'd willingly told me her stomach was full of them too.

  "Shit. That's escalated then." He sighed again. "She's very… troubled. She always has been. My dad married her mum when I was fifteen, and she was fourteen. She was… troublesome. Her mum can't deal with her; Dad doesn't want to deal with her. So they pushed her on me. She's pushed on me from every single fucking direction—even she pushes herself on me. And there’s only so long a guy can resist, right?” He tugged at his hair now. “And in the end I couldn’t. But she’s my sister, so I left. I moved out, went off to get a job and a flat, and be by myself. But more and more I’m starting to think that was a big mistake. But fuck me, how can it be? She’s my sister.”

  "Stepsister," I pointed out helpfully, because frankly, that girl needed some happiness in her life and if she wanted Graeme… then I was fully in her corner. And from what he said now, he cared about her too, right? Then he needed to listen to my next bit of information. "Do you know she hears voices?"

  Clearly, he didn't, judging from the stricken look on his face. "Voices?"

  "Yeah, voices that tell her to hurt herself."

  He seemed completely taken aback, so she couldn’t ever have mentioned them to him before. “Like… what? She’s schizophrenic?”

  "I don't know. I don't have a psychology degree. But she should see someone who has. Fuck, why hasn’t she already?”

  He threw his arms wide, then bent over to rest his head I his hands. “She just arrived on my doorstep the day before yesterday. Said her mum didn’t want her staying at home anymore. I knew she’d just got out of hospital, but—she’s never said anything about that to me. Nothing.”

  “Maybe she would’ve, if you hadn’t rejected her yesterday,” I pointed out drily.

  “Oh, come on, Wynn.” He glared at me. “If you’d had a stepsister—or brother—would you have gladly jumped into a relationship with them?”

  "It's not like it’s illegal," I said. "You're not related to her." She'd been told she wasn't allowed to stay at home anymore? It sounded like her mum was as much of a bitch as mine had been. She was dead now, thankfully, but my childhood had been shit. I felt for the girl more and more.

  “And what do you think our parents would say, huh?”

  "Well, frankly, they sound like shitty parents, so I wouldn't care if I were you." I had no patience for people who didn't care for their kids. My childhood had been shit because of shitty parents; Chad's had been because of a shitty dad, Madison's life had been ruined by his bitch of a mum.

  “Where is she now?” He glanced towards my bedroom door.

  "She's probably awake." I motioned for him to see her. "But get her some fucking help. I could've come home to a dead body earlier if she'd been set on killing herself. I don't want anyone else to die on my watch."

  “Anyone else?” He looked at me quizzically, but rose and disappeared into the bedroom when I didn’t answer.

  “You all right?” Kasey wrapped his arms around me from behind, cheek coming to rest against mine in a hug.

  "Yeah." As good as I could be, weighed down by my depression and all. "Consider yourself lucky you've got normal parents."

  “Oh, I do.” He hugged me tighter. “I’m grateful for my parents. Kian didn’t have the same upbringing I had. His mum’s a piece of work.”

  “Yeah, mine was too.” I gripped his forearms tightly. “I’m looking forward to when it’s just you and me here. Til I’ve got you all to myself.”

  “Soon now,” he whispered.

  “It better be very soon,” I muttered. “It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen you.” Since we’d had sex. I’d been so fucking lonely the past two weeks. To think that two months ago I’d been used to being alone. I’d liked it. Now it was hell.

  He kissed me softly. It was over way too quickly.

  "Come here." I patted the seat next to me, and he jumped over to back of the sofa to join me on it. He curled up against me, and I draped an arm over his shoulder.

  “Are you seriously not going to tell me where we’re going next weekend?”

  I grinned. “It’s a surprise. Telling would ruin it, wouldn’t it?”

  "But I'm curious." He leant in to brush his lips over my cheek. "You're kind."

  “Not particularly.” Only to him.

  “You are. That girl in there is evidence for it.” He motioned to my bedroom door. It was closed. I had no idea what Graeme was doing in there. “You helped her last night. And earlier too.”

  “I couldn’t let her bleed all over my tiles,” I murmured.

  “Just admit it.” He threw an arm around my neck, squeezing tight. “You are kind.”

  I didn't acknowledge that with a response. And as Graeme finally came out of my bedroom, Kasey didn't pursue the subject. Noelle padded dejectedly next to him, head bowed, blonde hair in a loose tangle. She still wore my hooded jumper and a pair of joggers that belonged to Kasey—as mine wouldn't even stay on her thin frame.

  "Thanks for taking care of her." He had his hand firmly planted on the small of her back, and he kept glancing down at her bowed head. "I'll take her to the hospital now—and then head to work after."

  "Take the day off. The club won't suffer if we're both absent one day." He did look concerned. If he went to work like this, would he get any work done? "Just tell whoever's closing tonight, so they're aware."

  He shook his head. “It’s better to work. Stay busy.”

  "If you say so." He might have a point though. If it had been me, working would be the best option, too . I didn't do well on my own when things were shit, after all—as evidenced by my overdose after Madison died. That was years ago now, and I hadn't come close to something as destructive as that again, but… if something happened to Kasey… maybe it would again.

  Graeme waved as he steered Noelle towards the door. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.” I sat quietly until they were gone. First when the door was closed, and another few minutes to make sure they wouldn’t come back, and only then did I grab Kasey around the waist and swing him over my lap.

  “Oh!” He grabbed onto me instinctually, taken by surprise.

  “We’re finally alone.”

  "So we are." He settled down on my lap, body relaxing as he got over the surprise. "I've missed you."

  I dragged him into a kiss. It was time to show him just how much he’d been missed.

  “Fourteen fucking days,” he murmured, licking my lips. “Do whatever you want with me.”

  “Whatever I want?” I liked the sound of that.

  "Mmm." He pulled his jumper and T-shirt off under his own initiative, then leant in close for another deep kiss.

  He might be small and slender, and he might’ve been abused by his ex, but he wasn’t weak. He could take what I dished out. Not that that was anything extreme—I liked my sex fairly vanilla, after all, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like to get down and dirty sometimes. Like now. I had a lot pent up, and obviously so did he.

  I flipped us over so he was on his back on the sofa and I loomed over him. I pulled off my clothes, stripping all the way down until I stood naked before him. My dick was half hard already.

  He licked his lips, lying still on the sofa and waiting for me to fully undress him. I did so gladly, pulling jeans and boxers down and off with his socks. His cock was half-hard too, and I sucked it into my mouth, intent on getting it straight up to erect in a minute.

  “Ah!” He tangled his fingers in my hair, but as always he was careful not to pull too hard. “Wynn, we need lube—I don’t want to wait—I want you in me now—”

  How could I deny that? "Now, huh?"
Lube, lube, lube… We kept that in the bedside table drawer. That meant either I'd have to go to the bedroom to get it and bring it back here, or… I lifted him, and he wrapped both arms and legs around me, not nearly as surprised this time around as I manhandled him.

  He attached himself to my neck as I crossed the living room floor, sucking my skin. Noelle might’ve slept in my bed last night, but she’d worn clothes and her cutting had happened in the bathroom, so there was no point to changing the sheets beforehand. We’d likely have to change them after we were done anyway.

  As soon as I dropped him on the bed and went hunting for the lube, he got up on his hands and knees. "That's the way you want it today?" The lube was right where it should be.

  “Easiest position,” he said shortly, sticking two fingers in his mouth, coating them with spit, and then reaching back to insert one inside himself.

  Fuck that’s hot. Kasey was easily embarrassed regularly, but when it came to sex, he was pretty sure about himself. I liked that about him—how damn compatible we were in bed. I'd never been as compatible with anyone before as I was with him.

  I ripped open a condom packet and rolled the rubber over my dick, being careful with my row of piercings, so they didn't tear it. Then I smeared lube all over the latex and walked over to smear a good amount on him too.

  “Just push in,” he said in a low voice, removing his fingers.

  “For saying I can do whatever I want with you, you’re quite pushy on what you want,” I pointed out drily.

  He chuckled a little breathlessly as I pressed the head of my dick against his hole. "I've just missed you. Missed this. You can do whatever you want after. For now, I just need you in me."

  I could never say no to him, so I did as commanded and slowly pushed in. He pressed back, grinding his arse back towards me—and in no time at all his arse rested against my groin.

  "All right?" I stroked my hand soothingly over his back. He was breathing quickly, and I couldn't tell if it was from lust or if we'd gone too quick. He hadn't taken long to prep himself, after all, and we had been apart for a fortnight.

  “F-fine.” He braced both arms on the bed. “Move.”