Just Pizza

“Please, take a seat. I’ll go get some bandages. Wait here.” Pete patted the couch lightly and Patrick sat down hesitantly. Pete left the room and strolled into the bathroom for his first aid kit.
Patrick Let his eyes roam the walls of Pete’s apartment. The place had cracks in the walls and the paint was chipping off each wall. Everything seemed really dated. The couch was held together by duct tape and it wobbled slightly on one side. It was still very comfortable though. Behind all the holes and cracks, the couch was very soft and cozy. Pete’s place was very crummy, but cozy.
Very cozy…
Patrick started to cry silently. He constantly wiped his tears as soon as they fell down his cheeks. Patrick was cold, scared, and confused.
Why did this person care so much about him? He was just a pizza boy…
Another question popped into Patrick’s mind.
Why did this man specifically want him to deliver the pizza? There were a lot of people working the night shift, any of them could have done it, but this man specifically wanted Patrick to deliver it…
Patrick’s tears ran down his cheeks faster. He tried to stop. He really did, but no matter how much he tried, it was too painful to stop crying.
Pete came back with his first aid kit in hand. He quickly knelt down near Patrick, dumping the contents of the first aid kit onto the wooden floor. Patrick held his head down low. He tried to avoid Pete’s eyes as much as possible. Pete lifted Patrick’s head slightly and smiled at him. Pete’s smile was genuine, and sweet. Something Patrick hadn’t seen in a while. Most the smiles he saw were fake, or out of pity.
“It’s ok, I’ll bandage you up and you’ll be fine….” Pete wiped one of the boy’s tears with his thumb. Patrick’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
Pete opened up the first aid kit and pulled out a small spray bottle, the liquid was clear and bubbly.
“This might sting a little ok? But it will only hurt for a little while; it’s just going to clean out the cut. We wouldn’t want those to get infected or anything!” Pete explained this and shook the bottle slightly. The solution bubbled even more. He quickly looked at the directions, making sure that he was doing it correctly. Pete pulled the cap off of the spray and aimed it towards the palms of Patrick’s hands. Pete smiled up at him.
“PINEAPPLE!” Pete yelled. Patrick was very confused. Suddenly he felt the cool liquid spray onto his skin and Pete smiled at Patrick and yelled again,
“ORANGE!” Pete laughed slightly.
“w-what?” Patrick was very confused but managed to laugh slightly.
“That was to distract you. So that you wouldn’t feel the stinging!”
If the spray stung, Patrick didn’t notice. He was too distracted by the way Pete was smiling at him and gently tending to his hands. Pete seemed to be a nice guy, funny too!
“How did this happen?” Pete continued to clean the wound. He took out a wash cloth and dabbed the disinfectant slightly, making sure he cleaned the whole area.
Patrick was quiet for a while, and then he spoke.
“I-I fell….” He stuttered. “I w-was walking, and I s-slipped…” Patrick looked away from him, embarrassed.
“It was an a-accident….”
“Oh you poor thing!” Pete tossed the spray into the first aid kit. “Those stairs sometimes get slippery! I fell quite a few times trying to get up to my apartment! I didn’t just fall, I totally wiped out!” Pete laughed at his previous embarrassments and waved them off. Pete took another look at Patrick’s hands.
“There….” Pete smiled and got out a small tube of medicine, “that didn’t hurt much did it?”
Patrick shook his head. It really didn’t hurt much. Pete was a great distraction. His sense of humor was great. He had a great smile and Pete was just very good looking. That’s all the distraction Patrick really needed.
Pete opened up the tube of medicine and squeezed some onto Patrick’s cuts. He started to spread it around so that it covered his entire wound. Patrick watched as Pete gently wrapped his hands in a bandage. Pete taped the end of the bandage with wound tape to keep the bandage from unraveling. Pete lightly kissed the top of the bandage. Patrick smiled slightly.
“Now you’re all cleaned up!” Pete smiled and started to clean up his first aid kit when he glanced at Patrick’s arm one more time.
“Oh, it looks like we missed one!” Pete pointed to a cut that was on Patrick’s arm. Patrick’s wristband had slid up slightly, exposing a fresh cut from earlier that day. Pete opened the kit again; he seemed a bit suspicious of Patrick’s injuries. Patrick looked down and his eyes widened. He quickly pulled his wristband down.
“w-what are you t-talking about?” Patrick’s eyes filled with tears again. His breathing became shaky and he closed his eyes tight.
Pete became worried. He quickly stood up and sat next to Patrick, wrapping a comforting arm around him.
More tears poured from Patrick’s eyes. Pete pulled him into an embrace.
“I’m s-s-sorry…” Patrick stuttered. Pete rubbed Patrick’s back lightly.
“Why are you apologizing?” Pete’s voice was quiet and soft.
“I d-don’t… I don’t k-know…” Patrick sobbed.
Pete looked down at Patrick’s wristbands and moved them up slightly. Normally Patrick would have jumped, but he was too tried to do anything. Pete gasped quietly at the sight. Patrick’s arms were crowded with a collection of cuts and scars. Pete hugged Patrick.
Patrick cried harder.
“Those aren’t an accident…” Pete stated. It was a fact and Pete knew.
He just knew.
Patrick started to shake, and he stood up abruptly.
“I-I need to go….” Patrick quickly stood up and walked towards the door and walked outside.
Pete ran after him, “WAIT!” he called out, “Patrick! WAIT!” Patrick already was making his way down the stairs; Pete quickly followed him and grabbed Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick froze and spun around
“WHY DO YOU CARE?” Patrick yelled, and then froze. Patrick never yelled at anyone. He barely even spoke. Patrick shook slightly.
Pete was slightly shocked that Patrick had yelled, but at the same time, Pete knew he shouldn’t be so shocked. He was in Patrick’s position before, and it made sense.
“I don’t know Patrick…. I just care ok?” Pete spoke softly.
“But w-why do you care so much? I’m just some stupid kid!” Patrick held back tears.
Pete took a short moment to gather his thoughts. When he did, he spoke. “Patrick don’t say that ok? I care because…. I don’t know…. Patrick, I just care about you!” Patrick stayed quiet; he looked down at the ground. Tears fell from his eyes, he tried to hide them, but it was no use. Pete already saw them. Pete pulled Patrick into a big hug and took Patrick’s arm. He rubbed his thumb over the wristbands that crowded his arms.
“You did this to yourself didn’t you?” Pete stayed calm, but he was heartbroken. He waited for Patrick to reply, but all he got was silence, and a sniffle…
“I know you don’t know me,” Pete whispered, “But I’m not going to hurt you ok? I want to help… ok? If you don’t want to talk, I understand…. “Pete stood there awkwardly. Pete was trying to say something right. Something that could help…
Patrick buried his head into Pete’s shoulder. He nodded, understanding what Pete was saying, but he was still scared. Patrick didn’t know why, but he really trusted Pete…
Pete took Patrick’s arm lightly, “c’mon… Let’s get these cuts clean ok?” Patrick wasn’t hesitant, he walked back into Pete’s apartment. Pete patted the sofa once again and Patrick took a seat. Patrick still felt very awkward. He didn’t know anything about this man…
“Um…. W-who are you? How o-old are you?” the questions came out fast and shaky.
Pete opened the first aid kit again and dumped out its contents, much like how he did before. He knelt down near Patrick and removed his wristbands. “Well, I’m Pete…. And I’m nineteen.”
“Only Nineteen?” Patrick blurted out. He quickly covered his mouth. His words were meant to only be a thought, but they just tumbled out of his mouth anyway. Pete laughed.
“Yeah…. Why?” Pete took Patrick’s arms and started to inspect the cuts.
“y-you look older….” Patrick blushed slightly.
Pete laughed again, “How old do I look?” Pete brushed his thumb over a few of Patrick’s cuts, causing him to shiver.
“Um… like… t-twenty one?” Patrick stuttered.
“Well you aren’t that far off! Only by two years! But good guess….” Pete pulled out the familiar spray and shook it once more.
“Now, this might really sting…. The skin is a little more sensitive here…. “Pete pulled the cap off once again….
“Hey what’s that?” Pete pointed away to something behind Patrick’s head and Patrick whipped his head around, Pete sprayed the cleaner onto a few of the cuts. Patrick felt a slight tingle. And he looked back at Pete with a confused expression. What was Pete pointing at?
Pete laughed slightly at Patrick’s confused expression.
“Hey Patrick….” Pete shook the solution again.
“Y-yeah?” Patrick cocked his head slightly to the side
Pete then proceeded to scream the alphabet. He sprayed more of the disinfectant onto the cuts. Patrick started to laugh, and he didn’t even notice the spray.
“I love your laugh!” Pete sprayed some more. “It’s very cute!” Patrick blushed.
Pete squeezed out more medicine from its tube and began to rub it into Patrick’s arm, making sure to cover every break in the skin. Patrick looked down at Pete, who was gently rubbing in the medicine. Pete smiled up at him. When Pete was sure that he had covered all the cuts with a thick coat of medicine, he got the bandages out and started to wrap his arms up gently. After wrapping both arms, Pete put a thin strip of wound tape to hold the bandages together; he packed up his kit and sat on the couch next to Patrick. Patrick was still slightly nervous and Pete sensed that.
Pete pulled off his hoodie, and he flipped his arms over and showed them to Patrick. Patrick’s eyes widened as he ran his eyes down Pete’s strong tattooed arms. He stared at the long, puffy, scars that covered his arms. They were all over. The pink, puffy scars were like neon signs, very noticeable and hard to ignore.
“These aren’t all of them…. There’s more were you can’t see…. ” Pete was quiet and pointed to one.
“My first, I was 9….” Pete sighed. “I overheard my grandma yelling at my mom…. She was saying how I was a waste of space…. That my mom should have gotten rid of me.” Pete’s eyes met Patrick’s. Patrick was very still and listening to Pete intently. “I used a pocket knife.” Pete finished.
Patrick smiled slightly and his nerves seemed to subside. He took off his wristbands and compared his arms to Pete’s.
“ I also have more scars you can’t see…..” Patrick looked down.
Pete lifted his face, “don’t we all?”