Nico exhaled shakily, his fingers gripped the bathroom basin tightly as he drew himself nearer to his blurred reflection. He painfully pried his right eye fully open, his left was no good, the upper lid was angrily swollen into a blotch of blackened purple, his right was awash with scraggly red veins and a pinkish glow. Nico took this as a small relief, it meant that the flying fist that had sent him scurrying into the high-school toilets had not in fact left him with a broken, bloodied and busted nose that would have complimented two black eyes. No, it meant that Nico would only have one eyesore of a black eye.
Nico continued to breathe heavily as his only working eye periodically scanned the reflection. The left eyes bruise was now creeping downwards to flush his lower lid in a shadow. Nico raised a hand to his face and pushed two digits to the light flush of red on his jawline from his attackers hand, where the teenager had gripped Nico's jaw before shoving him backwards and punching colour into the smaller boys face.
The reflection stared grimly back at Nico. The complexion a sickly yellow in the glow of overhead lights, the red and purple splatterings a stark warning to others not to speak up against the bullying wrought down upon them. When the realisation had sunk in that, yes, Nico had just been attacked, his eye became glassy behind the tears and he threw himself backwards into a bathroom stall door and howled into the lights. His lungs hammering against his chest with each sob that shook his body. Nico had never felt so alone as he did then, hunched over in his schools toilets beaten and crying himself hoarse. His fingernails scratched at his jeans as he began to hiccup dramatically, his body jerking and his head dizzy.
'Hello!'
Nico couldn't comprehend the sudden voice among his anguish. He only realised a figure was before him when he heard a gasp that didn't belong to him.
Flinching, Nico drew his shoulders up and sunk backwards, the stall door creaked backwards and knocked against the opposing plastic and Nico slid with it util he was squinting at Jason Grace, head prefect and all around good guy who isn't so bad at javelin practice as he makes out to be, who was simply staring wide eyed.
'Oh, Nico,' Jason murmured, his hands gently finding Nico's arms. 'What happened to you?'
'Pl-please-take-me-h-home!' Nico hiccuped, his nose beginning to run.
'Of course,' Jason firmly replied as he pulled his friend into a hug, squeezing him into his chest and wrapping his arms around the slender shape. 'I have last period free-so you can come back to mine and I'll clean you up! And I'll make you lunch and we can talk and we can watch something if you want or...'
Nico pushed himself up onto his tiptoes. He nuzzled his jaw into the warmth of Jason's neck and his arms found them self snaking around Jason's back, returning the hug. He could already feel the ache in his chest unwind as Jason rambled on about how he was determined to cheer up Nico and find the bully.
'They laughed at me first...for admitting I saw Bianca's ghost,' Nico admitted into' Jason's neck, 'but I saw her, I really did'.
I hope you enjoyed the story. All typos are my own and constructive criticism is welcomed.