Before I knew it, I was in the hospital. The man who saved me was at the side of the bed looking at me with pure joy in his eyes. I reached up to take off my oxygen mask. "Thanks," I whispered, wanting it to be louder but my voice wouldn't let me get it any higher.

"Hey, Alfred, do you need some water?" he said already handing me some without my consent. I drank it anyways seeing how dry my throat felt. The water was gone in mere seconds. I sighed, feeling refreshed. "My name is Arthur, by the way, Arthur Kirkland," the self proclaimed 'Arthur' offered my a warm smile. I gave one back.

"Um… how long was I out?" my voice was louder than before, almost normal but still sounded hoarse. I had a coughing fit after talking though. Arthur patted my back softly, which made me feel better. When the coughs died down I smiled 'thanks' to him.

"You were out for around a day and a half. So not that long." I smiled to myself. He really did have a beautiful smile. There was a moment of silence before Arthur started to speak again. "I don't mean to be rude, but what happened if you don't mind telling me?"

I assumed he was going to ask anyways, but I still didn't feel like telling. For crying out loud, I have only known this man for what? Like a day? I guess it couldn't be too bad telling him one part. "I was thrown out of the house." I said quickly. He tilted his head not quite grasping what I had just said. I took in a deep breath, "I was also beaten by him."

Arthur was stunned. It looked like he had never heard anything so horrific. He didn't talk for the next few minutes. I expected him to say something like, "oh my gosh, I am so sorry," or , "that's absolutely terrible," or something similar. When he did talk he said, "well, you survived until now, so now you can actually start living." This time I was the one who was shocked.

"Oh, yeah I guess…" I started twiddling my thumbs, "I guess I could go try to find to find somewhere to live until I see Mattie again," I started to talk to myself as I looked to the ceiling. I wanted to see Mattie as soon as possible.

"Well, seeing as how you will need to be taken care of and right now you don't really have anyone, I could let you stay at my place," Arthur said scratching his cheek and blushing.

"I couldn't ask that of you. Not after all you have done for me," I really didn't want him to go through any trouble because of me. Plus he probably had a girlfriend, or he lived with his parents. "You don't need to do that. I've probably caused you a lot of trouble already"

"I live alone, so that wouldn't be a problem. I'm not in a relationship either, and my schedule is pretty clear, well, besides work. I can taken off for a couple of weeks cause I have sick days I have yet to use." It was like he actually wanted to take care of me. I really had no choice but to let him take care of me.

"Are you sure? I mean, I-I'm a complete stranger."

"That can be changed, though. Tell me about yourself." Arthur smiled.

"Oh… um… okay, where should I start?"

"The beginning. Maybe start when all the beatings started."

"I don't really know when. They started since I could remember, I guess. So I was like, around three or four?"

"Oh… wow, that sucks…" I nodded in agreement. From there on I told him any happy memory I ever had, which only happened when Mattie was around. I really didn't want to go into detail on what happened during beatings or that godforsaken rape. I told him all about Mattie and I, and how we were going to meet when we turned 18. Soon enough, he was telling his own story, about how when he was a kid his parents died when they were robbed. Every detail, every word, I felt mesmerized. The way his sweet voice soothed me like a lullaby. "Oh, did you fall asleep, Alfred?" along the way, I had nodded off to the beat of his voice.

"N-no, I'm just a little tired," I responded.

"That's okay. Visiting hours are almost over, but I'll come back tomorrow," he informed me, "and just so you know, you'll be released in a week depending how you are doing. Goodbye and sleep well."

"Bye," I was almost asleep, "thank you so, so much," and with that I was a sleeping.

When I woke up, my body ached a lot more than yesterday. I tried to reach my for my cup of water but that only made my arms and stomach throb in pain. My black eyes felt swollen but not to the point of them making my eyes shut… Well, at least one of them.

I waited anxiously for Arthur. Everytime I heard a sound outside the door, I looked at it hoping it would reveal Arthur. My hopes were smashed each time it was just a doctor or a nurse. Eventually, I just stared out the window for him to walk up to the building.

My doctor decided to take some tests to see if he missed anything. I was put on a gurney and wheeled past the waiting room. Arthur was there, and when he saw me he nearly knocked over a couple chairs getting to me.

"Alfred, thank god. I was getting anxious because they wouldn't let me in to see you!" His hand cupped over mine. It was warm and soft. I smiled.

"I was a little anxious, too. I started to think you forgot about me. I was really worrie-" Arthur cut in.

"Like I would forget you. So there is no need to worry," his voice got cracky, "please, don't think like that. How could I forget someone I saved?"

I stayed quiet while the doctors and nurses rolled me down the hall. Arthur was still by my side, so I just smiled at him. I just met the guy a couple days ago, a complete stranger, and now it's like we were inseparable. Glued together. Everytime I see him, my bruised stomach flutters with joy. I can't help not to smile when I'm around him.

When we got to the room, I said, "see ya, Arthur. I won't forget you, either. Not in a million years."

"Git, see you later as well."

I was in the room. I didn't know what they were going to do, but I just went along with it. They put me under anesthesia, so I had no clue what they were going to do with me.

A few hours later, I woke up. The first thing I saw was Arthur reading a book called The Hobbit. His emerald green eyes looked up to me. Arthurs smile was warm and comforting, but at the same time sad. "How are you? Do you hurt anywhere?" His hand was holding mine.

"I am fine, seeing as how I'm alive right now. I do hurt though. Like, everywhere," I joked.

"Do you want some pain pills?" he got a cup of water and placed it besides me and sat down with a small bottle in his hand, I assumed they were the pain pills. I nodded. He opened the bottle and shook out one pill. It was placed in my hand. I popped it into my mouth and took a drink of water.

"Thanks, Artie."

"Hm? That is not my name."

"I know. I just made up a nickname for you!" Artie looked at me in a disapproving look but said nothing. "Did the test results come in yet?" I tried to change the subject.

"Hm… Oh yes they did," he took out a folder that had a bunch of paperwork. " Nothing else came up besides what they already knew. So a couple broken ribs, internal bleeding, a torn ACL, a broken arm, a head injury, and a screwed up face." He chuckled at the last one, "You were pretty beat up, if I say so myself."

"So that's way everything hurts so much. I thought I just had a small little bruise on my stomach," I said sarcastically. He laughed. It was angelic. "Hey, don't you have work or something?"

"No." Arthur answered simply, "I took the next couple weeks off." I was genuinely surprised.

"Oh, wow… No one has ever done anything like this for me. Most people would just give up on me saying the they think I'm worthless," I looked away from Arthur, smiling inwardly.

"I don't think you're worthless. In fact, I just think that no one has ever bothered to get to know you. That's all," his words touched me. Not only has no one ever said that to me but they also made me feel all warm and fuzzy. "I don't think that you're worthless. You just haven't found out what you're good at yet."

I was speechless. Arthur had given me what I had always wanted, no… needed. Until now, I have only felt neglected. After everything that has happened to me, Arthur was by far the greatest. I don't know what it was about him, but I feel like I have known him for my whole life. I smiled a real smile in a long time.

"You are 17, right?" I nodded, "then I should probably call your school and tell them what is going on." I shook my head.

"No need. I already graduated. I was able to graduate early, so in December." I said, "if anything, I should call my work to tell them what's going on."

Arthur nodded, "what is your work number?"

"(***)228-6850 (A/N not a real number, but try to call it and see what happens! ^J^), it's Heta Bakery. One of the many Heta based businesses!" I gave him one of my happiest smiles.

He nodded and smiled politely, taking out his phone. He dialed the number I gave to him. "Do you want to talk to them or should I?" I thought for a moment.

"I think I should talk to them, considering they're my boss." Artie nodded and handed me his phone. It started to ring. I waited a few moments before they picked up.

"Hello, Heta Bakery. Ludwig speaking," a German voice came through.

"Oh, hey Ludwig. It's Alfred"

"Yes, hello, Alfred. Where have you been. You haven't showed up for work for the past two days."

"Um, yeah about that… I kind of in the hospital right now and didn't have the time to call you, so yeah. I won't be able to come to work for a few weeks."

"Oh, I see. You don't need to tell me what happened. Just feel better." With that he hung up. I gave Arthur back his phone and mumbled a 'thank you 'under my breath. He replied by nodding his head.

"Just out of curiosity, when do I get out of here?" I asked.

"They said that you could get out tomorrow morning," he thought for a moment, "speaking of which, I need to get my house ready for you to come over."

"Okay. What time is it."

"It's around 5:30, so I'd better get home. See you tomorrow. I'll be here around 8:30. got that." I nodded my head.

"Yeah, Iggy. I got it," when I called him, his face got all red then started to shout something about me being a git or a wanker or somthing along those lines. I started to tune everything else because all these pain pills make me really tired after I take one. I managed to say, "Good night, Iggy. I'm getting tired, but have a safe trip home…" the sleep caught up to as I said the last sentence.

"Good night, git." he said before leaving me.