Your Guardian Angel

15.
Out of everything, he has to ask about the feathers?! I scrambled for a lie, coming up with nothing. My mind was blank.
I sighed. "Are you sure that's really what you want to ask?"
He looked down. "Yeah. You promised me you wouldn't lie anymore and I want to know."
I swallowed, wringing my hands. "I don't lie because I hate you. I don't. I just want to protect you."
"Screw protecting me!" he suddenly exploded. "What are you keeping me safe from?! Why are you hiding from me?!" his plump lower lip trembled, blue eyes shining with tears. "Please.. I just want to know you..." he looked so sad.. So broken and distraught. "You're my best friend, Ashy. I just want to know you." he was so sad he hadn't even noticed the childlike nickname had slipped.
"I know you do, honey. Its been a long trip, bringing me to you." I sighed, gently combing my fingers through his snarled hair. "Been through a lot."
"Just tell me something. Anything." Andy pleaded. I smoothed down his wild bedhead. Putting the strands back in order, I stayed quiet. When his hair was untangled and sleek, I finally spoke. "I honestly don't know where the feathers are from, hon. If I could explain it, I would. I'm sorry."
"Y-you're lying again.. You are."
I shook my head. "I'm not. I don't know where they're coming from. I swear to god, I don't know."
"You are! You always lie! They're connected to you, I know they are!" He snapped, getting up from my lap. "I'm going out."
I had a bad feeling about that.. "Andy.. maybe you should stay in. I think we're setting off soon."
Andy flipped me off and grabbed his cigarettes, going outside. Damn, I hated his habit.. Being on tour with him, showers being few and far between, after a mere two or three weeks, the smoke was so far in his skin and hair that a hundred showers couldn't wash it out. Not that I minded, really. It wasn't exactly bad. Jinxx, however, I minded. That man, he was putrid sometimes.
CC peeked out from the aisleway. "You didn't tell him?"
I shook my head slowly, pulled from my reverie about my bandmates and their various smells. "I was going to.. He'd think I was insane! How could I just come out and say, hey, Ive been watching over you since you were born, surprise!"
"That sounds more creepy than holy." CC laughed lightly. "Maybe tell him you're an angel and not a creep."
I exhaled slowly. "He's upset at me because he thinks I'm lying-"
"Which you did." CC interrupted. "You said you didn't know about the feathers."
I sighed. "He's out alone in a place he doesn't know.. Maybe I should go find him..."
"Let him be alone for awhile." CC patted my shoulder. I smiled gratefully. They were right. Andy was an adult.. He didn't need to be protected. He could handle himself.. Right? I could only hope..
Blowing my fringe from my eyes, I sat back in silence to wait for him.
"You can't spend your whole life waiting for him." CC said quietly. "He's not going to wait forever."
"What are we waiting for?" I mused.
"He's waiting for you to come clean about who you are." CC looked at me. "He needs to know who you are. You can't lie to him forever."
I looked down. "I- if he knew.. Who knows what could happen?" I sighed. "Divine vengeance and all that jazz."
CC nodded, looking out the window. "He needs to know."
I opened my mouth to answer when something tugged at my heart... Andy! I scrambled up and out of the bus, knowing I needed to find him. I ran down the street, instinct growing stronger. The memory was strong of my first time like this, the first time I saw him crumpled up, curled up to protect himself... Like I saw him now. Bloody, bruised and battered.. My precious Andy was curled up on the sidewalk, lip swollen and split, one eye bruising too. There were three guys around him, kicking and punching him. My vision clouded red with my fury as I ran up to the group, kneeing one of them in the balls.
Once I'd ran them off, I knelt down beside Andy. He looked just like he did when he was sixteen, getting his ass kicked outside his school.. Bloody and broken, but oh so beautiful. So beautiful..
"Hey, honey.. How're you doing?" I asked quietly, brushing his hair back.
"A-Ash.. It hurts." he whimpered. "Wasn't doing anything a-and they j-jumped me.."
"I know, baby, I know." I comforted, getting one arm behind his head and the other behind his knees. I picked him up, cradling him. "You're okay, Batman. You're okay. You're safe now. I'll keep you safe. I always will." I promised.
His head lolled on my shoulder. "Promise?"
"I swear. Remember, hon? I'm your guardian angel." I smiled warmly, carrying him back to the bus. If only I could tell him how true those words were... My mind flashed back to that day, one of the last days of Andy's sophomore year. I had been watching, horrified as a group of jocks circled him.
"Hey, Ballsack!" one of the bigger boys called. "Where are you running off to?"
"Away from you!" Andy called back, clutching his notebook and a textbook close to his chest.
"Off to go be a faggot?"
Andy turned, sighing dramatically. "Fuckin' clever, douche. But yeah, sure. Will you leave me to that?"
"Fucking fag!" the boys advanced on him. I could hear each pop, each crunch. His nose was broken, spewing blood onto the sidewalk. His eyes fluttered shut as he drew his legs to his chest against the onslaught of violence. Before I knew it, I was standing next to him.
"Get away from him." I commanded the boys.
"Where the fuck did he come from?"
"Seems like he wants a taste!" one of them cackled. I caught his forearm, twisting his arm and kneeing his groin. Two of them bolted as I took out my vengeance on the other two. Andy finally was left alone.. I knelt down, kissing his forehead and saying a prayer over him, doing the cross over me. "You'll be okay, baby boy." I whispered. He was so beautiful...

He was still just as beautiful. Realizing how beautiful he was was the nail in my coffin yet I regretted nothing. I looked down at him. He giggled and laid like a noodle in my arms. "Why are people so mean?" he suddenly asked, eyes wide and childlike.
I readjusted my hold on him. "I don't know, honey. I really don't know." I walked back to the bus, setting him on the bathroom counter to clean him up. Checking his eyes, I determined he didn't have a concussion, just a black eye, split lip and a few bruises. He was okay..
"I'm sorry about that happening, honey. You'll be okay." I picked him up, laying him in his bunk.
"S-stay with me.." he whispered, faint. "Please.. Please stay with me..."
I smiled crookedly, climbing in beside him and letting him lay on my chest. "Go to sleep.." I hummed, combing my fingers through his hair again.
He mumbled something unintelligible, already asleep on me.