Safe with Me

Sharon walked into her sitting room, shrugging out of her jacket and replacing it with her favorite thick wool jumper. It wasn't until she had switched on the light beside the sofa that she noticed. Sitting in the middle of the coffee table, was Rusty's rucksack. Frowning, she looked at the object. She was sure he had had it over his shoulder as he left with Daniel the day before.

"Rusty?" She called out, turning around. "Rusty are you home?"

Fixing up her jumper, she walked down the short hallway and stopped in front of Rusty's room, knocking lightly.

"Rusty." She tried again. "What happened?"

"Can we talk about it in the morning?" His question was muffled slightly by the door.

Frowning at the evasive answer, she stepped in closer. "Is everything alright?"

When no answer came, she played her last card. "Do I owe Daniel a call?"

Just as she knew it would happen, Rusty hurriedly replied. "Wait wait wait, I'm coming, just…don't freak out. Okay?" He asked through the door.

Even though she knew he couldn't see, she tilted her head in acceptance. Few seconds later, the door slowly crept open. What she saw when the teenager stepped out of his room, shocked and angered her. Standing in front of her was Rusty with a rapidly bruising eye and split lip, that still has small traces of blood crusting around the small wound.

"Oh my god." She gasped, bring her hand up to cover her mouth.

"Look, don't worry. I didn't hit him back." He said, allowing the older woman to pull him out into the sitting room. "I just ran and I used the hundred dollars you gave me to get a cab."

Leading him to the sofa, she mumbled questions that Rusty wasn't sure about whether to answer or not. "Oh what did he do to you? Sit. Let me see you in the light."

Doing as instructed, he sat down on the end closest to the lamp with a heavy sigh.

Leaning forwards, Sharon brushed away part of his fringe. "What happened?"

"Annie, his obnoxious fiancé," He started, looking down at his lap, "was asking me like, all these really personal questions, what like, how I'd gotten along without my mother, and," He swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat, watching as the brunette pulled something from the fridge. "And I thought, why not get the whole 'Gay Hustling' thing out there, and when I did that, Annie kind of freaked out and Daniel took me outside to talk, and then he accused me of trying to ruin his wedding, and then I told him I could care less about his stupid wedding and," He looked away again as she sat down in front of him. "And then he hit me."

Lifting her hand up, Sharon gently as possible pressed the ice pack against his cheek, holding his head still in her other hand. "Why didn't you call me?" She asked quietly.

"Because Sharon, I knew you would be upset, and I wanted to think things through." As he spoke, he could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried not to smile. "And I think we're passed the ice stage." He said, trying to remove her hand from the side of his face.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, tapping his hand away with her own.

"I'm sure." He said, watching as she pulled the small first aid kit out and on to her lap. "My ah, my mother's boyfriend used to do this to me once a week." He could see in her bright green eyes that he had surprised her. "Till I beat the crap out of him," He said softly, "and then the next day, he and my mum dropped me off at the zoo."

For a moment, neither of them spoke or moved, but watched the other. It wasn't until Rusty lowered the ice pack from his cheek did either of them speak.

"Now you know everything." He whispered, looking away from her.

Forcing back the tears, Sharon once again raised her hands to his face, intent on trying to clear up the split lip.

"Look, do I need to apologize for-"

"No," She cut in, shaking her head. "We are past the apology stage of our relationship with Mr Dunn, and have moved on to the 'Please don't let me drive over to his house and shoot him in the head' phase."

Rusty looked at her, not quite believing what she saying. "On the bright side, I guess I don't have to go back over to Daniels house now, right."

Smiling slightly, Sharon picked up a tube of cream. "No, there's a good chance he's going to come to us…" She trailed off as an idea started to form. "Oh, hold on, before I put this on your lip, let me get some pictures." She said, standing up.

"What?"

Pulling out her phone, she opened the camera and zoomed in on Rusty's face. "Hold your head up."

Once again doing as instructed, Rusty turned his head up some before Sharon started taking photos. One after another, photos of Rusty's injuries were stored on the small device's memory. Finally after taking one last picture, Sharon slipped her phone back into her pocket and sat down again.

"Done?"

Nodding, she picked up the cream again. "Yes, but we may need to take some more tomorrow."

Nodding his understanding, Rusty slumped back against the sofa. "Okay."

Smiling slightly at the boy, she uncapped the cream. "Now this will sting a bit."

Hours later found Sharon holding a sleeping Rusty against her side, fighting against falling asleep herself. Sighing quietly, she shook his shoulder, not wanting to startle him into wakefulness. As he opened his eyes, she smiled at him. "Time to go to bed."

For a second, his eyes flashed with hope before it was gone, replaced with nothing. Nodding sleepily, he stood up and started for his room, only stopping when Sharon called out.

"Rusty."

Turning around slowly, he looked at her.

Seeing the hopeful look again, she faltered in her question. "W-Will you stay with me tonight? I need to know you're safe." She said, pretending not to see the look of relief on his face when he nodded eagerly.

Smiling, she placed her hand on his back and led him into her room, gesturing for him to lay down on the bed. "I just need to get changed."

Again he nodded, but this time less enthusiastically, as he pulled back the dark blue quilt. Shaking her head, she walked into the ensuite bathroom and looked at herself in the full length mirror in the corner of the room. She gave herself a small smile before she changed into her pajamas. Taking one last look in the mirror, she decided that what she was wearing was fine and flipped the switch for the light.

Leaving the bathroom, she paused at the sight of the teenager lying on his side, as far away from her side of the bed as possible without actually leaving the bed. Shaking her head, she walked over and pulled back the blanket, slipping in and lying in much the same position as her young charge. For some time, neither moved nor spoke, both trying to fall asleep with little success.

After several tense minutes, Rusty gather all of his courage and turned over. "Sharon?"

"Yes?" She asked, rolling on to her back.

"Can I-Can you-"

Smiling slightly, she nodded. "Of course." She reached out with both hands and pulled him back against her side, tucking him under her chin. She was rather surprised when he tentatively wrapped his own arms around her in return, but she smiled and squeezed him gently. "Good night Rusty."

"Good night Sharon."

Still smiling, she closed her eyes and relaxed for the first time all day.