Hero

The next morning Oli woke up in pain. A lot of pain. He whimpered and Jordan came in.
"Hey...you ok? I got some painkillers cause that's gonna really hurt."
"Really?...shocking..." Jordan laughed and Oli took the tablets before thinking.
"Don't worry, it's just ibuprofen, 250mg, I'm not gonna give you anything dodgy Oli." Oli blushed in shame.
"Don't worry about it, you're smart to be cautious." He sat down cross legged on the bed.
"You sleep ok?"
"Yeah...I'm sorry I was in your bed-"
"Don't worry about it, I don't usually make it into my bed myself so.." Oli nodded and Jordan cursed himself, he was gonna scare the kid off, but then he remembered what Danny said...
"Umm...you can like, shower and everything, I've got a clean shirt that'll fit you, but after that I'm taking you down the police station." Oli's eyes widened in fear.
"Oli. Those guys attacked you for nothing other than the fact that you're gay. They will be put away for a long time over this so they can't hurt you anymore."
"I can't...do that Jordan..they have other people who'd be more than ready to beat up the faggot that put them away." Jordan nodded sadly.
"I'll be fine. But thank you, I...I really can't thank you enough for...everything. I've never had someone be so kind to me, so thank you." Jordan met his eyes and on instinct they found themselves hugging each other tightly.
"If you ever get into any kind of trouble again, with anyone, or if your dad goes on the rampage, you know where I live ok? This is my number." He scribbled down his number on a bit of paper.
"Don't be a stranger Oli. I want you to call me if anything happens." Oli had welled up slightly and he sniffed.
"I will. Thank you." Jordan told him where the shower was and sat in the living room listening just in case he heard a thud of Oli collapsing again or something.

Danny walked out and sat with Jordan who stared into space.
"You know what he said to me?"
"What?"
"No one has ever been so kind to me before..." Danny sighed and rubbed Jordan's shoulder.
"This is so weird. I've never...done anything like this before, but it's made me realise how..dysfunctional I've become, and what you said the other day about is it really worth it? Well I've been thinking about it and no, no I don't think it is." Danny nodded.
"Well I'm glad you've come to that conclusion Jordan...but now it's just making that thought last. Cause you know when that kid's out the door you're gonna wanna go back to doing them."
"No. No I won't. Because..." Jordan ran into his room, got every single thing out of his stash and dumped it on the coffee table.
"I'm gonna wash it."
"Really?"
"Yep. Can you be my look out? Cause I don't wanna do it from the apartment just in case. I wanna do it with the hose outside by a drain." Danny nodded.
"I'm glad, of course I'll do it."
"Umm...Jordan?" They turned around to see Oli, dripping wet, in nothing but a towel. Jordan forced himself to look away from the water droplets travelling down his lean, tattoo-covered torso and lock on his eyes.
"Yeah?"
"C-could I have that top?"
"Oh! Yeah!!"

Danny looked at Oli, amused as a very flustered Jordan ran off, although Oli of course didn't realise that he was flustered because of him.
"Hi. I'm Danny, Jordan's roommate. By the way I'm straight so don't think you've got any competition." He winked at Oli who's mouth opened and closed like a fish.
"Oh please, you two have so got the hots for one another."
"H...he thinks I'm cute...?"
"Please honey I'm straight and I think you're cute!! Jordan's dying." Oli smiled, blushing and Danny shook his head.
"I wouldn't get into it with Jordan though Oli."
"What? Why?"
"He's a drug addict. Look at all this." He pointed to the huge pile of shit on the table and Oli's eyes widened slightly.
"Yeah. Now, I mean, he's been saying that he's gonna get clean, and he is gonna wash all this down a drain later, but I wouldn't get into anything until you're sure that he's clean and can stay that way. Cause you've clearly been through a lot," he gestured to Oli's beaten up body.
"...so you don't need that kind of hurt." Oli nodded, he looked heartbroken.
"But hey, I mean, when Jordan's set his mind on something, he can usually do it. And if you get into trouble don't hesitate to come here for help we're usually around." Oli smiled, but Danny could tell it was fake and sighed, Jordan came back in the room and handed him the top.
"Thanks." Danny watched as Oli met Jordan's eyes, they looked at each other so strongly...Danny was beginning to regret his earlier words.
Oli ran back in the bathroom and Jordan sat down.
"Holy crap..."
"What?" Jordan asked, looking at his best friend.
"Jesus Christ, that look turned ME on!! I was so wrong, you two-"
"No. You weren't wrong, and you know it. I need to get clean before even thinking about something like that." Danny nodded sadly.
"I'm sorry J."
"No it's fine. I don't care about that so much, it's more about if he's gonna be ok-" They stopped talking when Oli walked out.
"Thanks for everything you guys, I'm gonna go lay low for a while, I'm not going to school today so..I'll see you round I guess?" Jordan stood up and the two of them went to the door, Danny waved goodbye and went to his room, but he was listening intently.
"Yeah, I'll see you, but seriously Oli-"
"If I get any more hassle I'll come here, thanks again Jordan." Danny poked his head out the room and watched as they hugged one another before Oli left, not looking back. Jordan stood by the door long after he left before picking up his stash and asking Danny to come with him.

They washed every last bit of it, and wiped the bags before chucking them in a nearby bin.
"Woohoo!! This is the start of a new era!!" Jordan chuckled at his friend's antics.
"Come on let's go out."

Meanwhile:

Oli's heart hammered as he walked down an alleyway, he didn't know wether to go home and face his dad, or stay out here and face the gang.
He opted for going to the shopping centre and pretended to look round all the stores, that took up three hours, by then it was two o'clock and he was starving hungry, he had no money on him, so he had to go back home.
When he got there he crept in, his dad was, thankfully, passed out in a chair, Oli tiptoed past him and into the kitchen where he shoved a load of food into a rucksack and left again.
He spent that night underneath a bridge with several other people who just kept to themselves. He missed Jordan, and he was scared.

Jordan started looking for a new job and got an interview at a record company as a scout for new music. He was really excited and he thought the interview went really well but he got a call saying that he just missed it, but that they would recommend him to some other local record companies and music magazines if any vacancies came up, which he was very grateful for.
It had been four days and he hadn't even wanted to take any drugs, but he also hadn't heard from Oli. He'd thought about him constantly and he was worried.

Oli went into school, all his teachers asked him if he was alright, but he couldn't say no. He kept in mind what Jordan had said to him, as soon as he was eighteen he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. But he needed to get another job.
He managed to get a good bar tending job at a strip club that didn't care he wasn't 18, it payed well as it was long hours. He had to wear a black, tight outfit and angel wings, they loved him because he was good looking and skinny. He made really good friends with a guy called Matt Nicholls who also worked behind the bar and some of the girls who danced there were really friendly too.
Oli slept every night under the same bridge, it started getting warmer too so it wasn't so difficult to manage, and he learnt the names of the other two guys who slept under there, Harry, an older man, and Pete, a younger guy who'd got divorced and lost the house to his wife.

Things were improving, they were still crap, but they were getting better. Until one day when he went home to get his iPod charger....

And his dad was there waiting for him.

Jordan still couldn't find a job and he was beginning to get impatient. But what he was really angry about was that anything could be happening, or could've happened to Oli and he wouldn't even know.
Danny came back with some girl and Jordan had to try and block out the sound of them having sex with his earphones, but even with his music going full blast it still sounded like the headboard was gonna come through the wall.
He decided to go out to a different club, one where he wouldn't be tempted by drugs but by fit guys instead.
He walked in and paid at the door, and as he was getting a drink at the bar, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation that he wished he hadn't heard.
"Where's Oli, Matt?" One of the girls who must work up on stage asked him, he looked concerned.
"I don't know. He hasn't shown up the past two days Liz, I'm getting worried cause he obviously has trouble at home, I mean, have you seen the bruises on him?" She nodded and Jordan had to speak up.
"Sorry, is this Oli as in, 17 year old, brown mop hair, very attractive, covered in tattoos and bruises?" The bar tender nodded.
"Do you know him?"
"Yeah I do and I haven't heard from him in almost two weeks. I was starting to worry too..I'm Jordan by the way."
"Matt, this is Lizzie." He shook their hands.
"So we don't know where he is or where we could find him?" They both shook their heads.
"He's very secretive about stuff like that. We're quite close now but he won't tell us where his family lives."
"It's just him and his dad I think. Anyway, I've gotta go, but if he shows up can you ask him to ring me?" They both nodded.
"Sure thing. By the way his last name is Sykes. See you round Jordan."
"Yeah bye guys. Thanks!" Jordan started running the second he got home, Oli wasn't at his apartment either and he started to get really scared so he went to the hospital.

"Hello, sorry to bother you but I'm looking for one of my friends? No one can find him and there's a chance he could be hurt so I was wondering if he'd come here." The middle-aged receptionist nodded.
"Okay hon, what's his name?"
"Oli Sykes." She looked into the system and shook her head.
"I'm sorry he hasn't been admitted recently-"
"Recently? So he has been before?" She nodded.
"Would you be able to tell me when?"
"I can tell you when but not why. It was a few months back and then a few times almost every year before that." Jordan felt sick but thanked her and went back to his apartment, still no sign of Oli. He went to the police station but just couldn't go in, Oli had asked him not to. As he was walking back home the long way so as to avoid Danny and his date, he went under the bridge and there were two guys under there, and one of them was holding keys and an iPod that he recognised all too well.
"Excuse me, sorry I'm not causing any trouble." He reassured the young man when he tried to back away from him.
"Do those belong to a young man named Oli Sykes?" The guy narrowed his eyes.
"What's it to you?"
"I've been looking for Oli for the past few days, none of his friends where he works has seen him for a couple of days, he's not at the hospital, and I don't know where he lives. He could be really hurt."
"He's always really hurt." The older man on the other side said gruffly.
"What?"
"He's always beat up!!! It's that's damn father of his! He went back home to go get his charger for that thing, he left a few hours ago and he ain't come back."
"Do you know where he lives?" The man shifted, not trusting Jordan.
"Please I swear I don't want to hurt Oli!! My name is Jordan-"
"You're Jordan?" The young guy asked.
"Yeah why?"
"Oli's spoken about you to us...he said you helped him."
"Yes!! That's me! I did help him, please if you even remotely whereabouts he lives please tell me."
"Fine. He lives in the rough building by the newsagents that opened a few weeks ago."
"Ok, ok thank you!! Thank you so much!!"
"I don't know which apartment." The old man said.
"But if you find Oli. For god's sake don't let him keep on sleeping under this fucking bridge. He's better than us." The young one said and Jordan nodded.
"I promise I'll keep him safe from now on. Thank you guys." Jordan took off, running down the streets until he came to the apartment block. He went in and there was a couple fucking behind the stairwell, there were more people as he went up the steps, smoking god knows what. He asked a few of them if they'd seen him but no one was prepared to speak up.
"That's Michael's boy." Jordan looked up to see an older man with a young girl hanging off him.
"Could you tell me where I can find him? Which apartment?"
"No. Sorry mate."
"Why?"
"Michael ain't a guy you wanna be messin' with kid, he's a nasty git. Beats that boy within an inch of his life."
"Exactly!!! And that's why I need you to tell me where he is!! Look I will knock on every single door in this building if I have to!! But I know for a fact that Oli is either seriously injured or dead because he hasn't shown up for work the past few days, no one has seen him, he sleeps under a bridge and no one has seen him under there, he's not in hospital. I don't want the police involved in this so please just tell me!! I swear I would never tell his dad who told me where they live!!" The guy sighed.
"Fine. They're in 27a. Good luck kid."
"Thank you!!" Jordan kept running up the steps until he came to their door.
He caught his breath and knocked. No answer. He knocked again. No answer.
"Mr Sykes? Oli?" He called out, nothing.
"Mr Sykes if you don't open the door I'm getting the police up here so open up!!" Suddenly he heard a strange noise from inside and he listened more intently.
Someone from inside coughed and Jordan knocked again.
"Oli is that you?!" He tried to open the door and found that it was open but there was something jammed against it to keep it shut. He pushed with all his strength, he was so desperate to get to Oli that he managed to get the door open a fraction and he saw Oli curled up on the floor, blood surrounding him.
"Oli!! Oli!!" He squeezed through the door and saw his dad passed out on the couch. He dialled for an ambulance and picked up Oli, realising that there was a knife stuck in his side.
"Oh god...oh god Oli...Oli can you hear me?"
"J-Jor..dan..." He managed to get out and he carried Oli downstairs, past all the people who watched, shocked.
"Yeah it's me, I've got you, I've got you Oli you're ok. You're ok just stay with me alright?" Oli nodded slowly and Jordan waited outside for a moment before the paramedics got there and took him and Oli to the hospital.

Oli was in surgery for an hour, then he had other stuff done to him, it was almost three hours before someone came out to see him. He was broken by then, he'd cried so much that it didn't register at first when the doctor walked out.
"Are you the one who brought Oli in?" The doctor asked.
"Yes. I'm Jordan Fish, is he alright?"
"He's stable. He's asleep now." Jordan sighed in relief, holding in tears.
"Do you know who did this?"
"His father. I was gonna call the police but I didn't have time and-"
"No. You've done the right thing. Don't worry, we'll be getting in touch with the police ourselves." Jordan nodded.
"He has suffered a lot of injuries over the past few years, and especially the last few weeks, it is mostly bruising but he does have several broken ribs, a fractured elbow and obviously the stab wound."
"Ok."
"Are you a member of his family?"
"No. I'm...a friend." The doctor raises his eyebrow.
"I'm just a friend but you know, there's a possibility of us getting together at some point in the future." He nodded.
"Very well. Does Oli have any other family?"
"Not that I'm aware of. But if you're worried about where he's gonna live he can stay with me for as long as necessary."
"Very well. Are you sure that he can live with you for a long time if need be? Because I don't want him on the streets or back in that apartment."
"I'm absolutely sure Doctor." He nodded.
"Good. I will have to talk to Oli about this and see if he's alright with it, but if he is he should be able to come home with you either tomorrow evening or the day after tomorrow depending on his progress." Jordan nodded.
"Thank god..thank you so much Doctor." The man nodded and put a hand on Jordan's shoulder.
"He said your name before we put him under. You did the right thing Jordan."
"Thank you. Can I go in?" The doctor nodded before walking away, Jordan eased open the door and sat down in the chair next to the bed, slowly falling asleep holding Oli's hand.