Numbers.

*Josh's P.O.V*

I don't quite recall why I had decided to be so confident and kiss Oli again. I've never done something like that before. Okay, well I'm sure that I a probably have, but no other time has felt so...powerful. I was so drawn to him. I am his puppet on a string. Nothing but a Pinocchio. Maybe it was the way he always knew when I was lying. Or maybe it could have been the taste of his lips on mine, or the way he kissed so delicately; it was like kissing the inside of a rose. I think I finally pulled away when I realized what could happen to him if his shit-eating boyfriend found out. Then I got scared.

I stare into his hazel eyes as he stares back at my brown ones. Neither of us know who should speak first. Neither of us want to. We just stare. I almost thanked the 'heavens' when his mouth finally opened.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asks quietly. He folds his hands over in his lap. It was odd. His feet weren't tapping, hands weren't shaking and he was looking me straight in the eye. All anxiety had melted away in this moment. I knew it was still there, but I was glad that it had disappeared for at least a little while.

"You didn't do anything wrong." I answer honestly. "Oli, you're dating Mike. I shouldn't have kissed you, and you shouldn't have kissed back."

He nods briefly. "I know I shouldn't have. But you did, and so did I. And there's nothing we can so about it now, right? Might as well embrace it." He stretches his arms up, playing it off as nothing. Wasn't it eating away at him? His t-shirt slides up his stomach a little bit, and I find a bruise on his right hipbone.

"What's that?" I ask, curiously. How does someone get their hip bruised?

"Uh, Tom did it." He mutters bitterly, shaking his head. "Pushed me straight into a counter." He doesn't move. He just looks at me. And I look at the bruise.

"It wouldn't be that dark in such a short amount of time." I argue, reaching out to touch it, but he flinches away like I just branded him.

"Josh, leave it be. He just hit me really hard. It's tender."

I knew it must have been hard for him to lie to me like this, but I have to get to the bottom of it. So I continued to snoop.

"Yeah?" I ask, leaning against the bathroom cupboards, watching as he nods in confirmation. "Hm, that's awful. You didn't mention anything about your hip though. Forget?"

He nods. "Probably, I guess I'd assume that I'm pretty out of it." Well, that actually would have been extremely convincing to someone. Too convincing.

"Totally." I agree. "Maybe you should let me have a look anyway, okay?"

He looks unsure, but pulls his shirt up further anyway, exposing a bruise larger than I thought it was. If I had to estimate, I'd say it was about the size of a tissue box without all of the sharp angles. It was definitely a more circular shape.

I bite the inside of my lip and open up the first aid kit again. "Y'know, if you're going to be so reckless, you should at least clean yourself up afterwards." I say, jerking my head towards the practically brand-new medical supplies. I was honesty just trying to make conversation.

He chuckles at that, and I had to hold back a smile the best I could. Although I'm sure that some was visible.

"I would if I had the time." He replies easily, but his eyes widen at the ice pack in my hand.

"Make time." I say. I begin to shake the ice pack up, since that was something you have to do if you wanted to activate it.

"I'll do my best." He mumbles, looking away as I press the cold pack to his hip. I notice the goosebumps rise up on his tattooed skin, and it takes everything in me not to give in and make out with him while his butt was in the sink. I have a feeling that'd be romantic enough for him. It made me sad. He deserves so much more.

"Are you alright?" He asks quietly, looking at me with concerned eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I question.

He shrugs, a blush painting his cheeks. "You were just staring at my hip...it was freaking me out."

"I'm sorry, it's just...it really shouldn't even be there." I admit, watching as he shrugs again.

"I-I don't know, I was being a d-dick too so I might have deserved it." He replies softly, looking down to the floor like the right answers were written there.

But the fact that someone was purposely hurting him was being drilled even further into my skull, and it was aggravating me. I can't take it anymore.

"Who really did this to you?" I ask, like it wasn't the most obvious question in the world. I was done with the bullshit. He looked done too. His expression was flat as he looked up at me, only one name leaving his lips.

"Mike."