Chapter 31: Love is Blind
His clothing was wrinkled, his hair a tousled mess. His eyes were blazing with fear and anxiety. The second he stepped out of the elevator, Queenie and Fred turned to face him.
"Is he okay?" Will asked, in a hoarse, frantic tone.
"Why do you care?" Queenie snapped, her almond eyes narrowing into angry slits.
"I didn't know what to do, so I called the club and Enrico told me you were here with him," he explained.
She pushed herself away from Fred's body and turned to face Will. "Go and look at him," she hissed, as she gestured toward the shut door to Angel's room.
Will obeyed, walking over and looking in the window. Angel was asleep, the bruises on his face glowing vibrant shades of blue and purple. He had one skinny arm lying on top of the stark white sheets. Cuts and bruises lined his arm like stripes. His eyes were swollen so much that they looked as though they couldn't open. Gasping, Will stepped backwards, inching away from the room that housed his lover. He began to breathe heavily, barely able to believe what he had done Angel.
"You did that," Queenie said quietly. Laughing bitterly, she continued to stare him down, "You stupid fuck up, you're the one that hurt him that bad. You think he deserved that, huh? You think Angel deserved any of this? He's too good for you."
Not knowing how to respond, Will just stared at her, his heard beating furiously inside his chest.
"I fucking hate you!" she screamed, the shrillness of her voice echoing through the empty, tranquil hospital waiting room. "Look at him!" she yelled again, heavy sobs making her shoulders shake, "He could have died!"
Fred approached her, attempting to comfort her, but she stepped away, clearing her throat and pointing at Will. "I hated you from the very beginning, and now I know why. You're a selfish, fucking bastard and I knew you'd fuck him over!" Fred continued to try and hold her, as she eventually collapsed onto him, worn down from all of the emotion stress.
"Get the hell away from me!" She shrieked as Fred guided her out of the waiting room and into the elevator to take her outside. "Fuck you!" she yelled from behind the elevator door, loud enough for Will to hear it.
Unsure of what to do, Will looked around, noticing that he was the only one in the waiting room. He had come here to see Angel, and now was his chance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flowers sat on the nightstand next to Angel's bed, their scent flowing through the little sterile room. Lying peacefully in the bed, Angel slept quietly on his back. Will sat in the chair next to the bed and looked at him, realized the damage he had caused.
Whispering almost inaudibly, so as not to awaken Angel, Will spoke to him, "Look at what I did. I'm so sorry Angel, all I wanted was you. I thought Chad would fix everything, and getting to know him has only made this worse." His words got caught in his throat as he began to cry silently. "I only hope that you can find in your heart to forgive me."
As soon as the crying silenced him completely, Angel began to stir and awaken, looking over at the occupied chair next to his bed. Will snapped his head up and wiped the tears away quickly. Staring into Angel's deep, pained eyes. "I'm surprised you even cared enough to come here," Angel said, with a surprising amount of force behind his words.
"I was worried," Will reasoned, immediately realizing how stupid he much have sounded.
"You weren't too fucking worried about me when you were beating the shit out of me tonight," Angel said bitterly, trying to turn away from Will but only wincing in pain as he could barely budge an inch.
"Jesus, I can't even begin to -," Will started to say.
"Save it. Save your breath, I don't want to hear it."
"If it'll make you feel any better, you don't deserve any of it, and I'm a jackass for doing what I did. I don't deserve you," Will explained, the guilt in the pit of his stomach tormenting him.
"You know what? You're right," Angel answered, "You are a jackass. You're more than that. I don't even want to see you right now." He paused. "Fuck that, I don't want to see you again ever. You aren't a part of my life anymore, Will. I want nothing to do you."
Will felt the pain of Angel's words slicing through him. For the first time, he began to feel the amount of pain that Angel felt when he was beating him. "Give me another chance. I can change, I promise," he pleaded, his voice getting smaller and weaker with every word.
"I'm not taking you back this time. What's gonna happen next time? You could have killed me, Will," Angel said, harshly, "and I'm not about to risk my own life on a lost cause."
"God, Angel I'm -."
"Just get out."
"But -," he pleaded one last time.
"Now!" Angel yelled, as he felt tears well up in his eyes. He couldn't be angry, shouldn't be angry.
Will hung his head in pure shame, looking at his beaten lover again before he left.
Angel shouldn't be upset. "No," he told himself out loud. "Not again. I'm not doing this again, I can't take him back." It was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do, but letting the door quietly close behind Will was a step in the right direction, and he knew it. Heartbroken, pained, and tired, Angel relaxed his weary body and began to fall into a fitful night of sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was still freezing and dreary one week later. Will shuffled his feet slowly along the sidewalk. It was at times like this where he wished he could go home and see Angel, knowing full well that Angel was not at his home, rather at the club with Queenie and Fred. Will had no intention of going back to his apartment to be greeted by dark emptiness. He figured that it was about time to meet Chad and make his living for the day. As the days passed, his hatred for selling the drugs increased, as did his addiction to the evil substances.
The chilly winter air made his eyes sting as he rubbed them to make the pain go away. he had found that when he was in bad need of a fix, his eyes started to hurt, along with many other things. Eventually, he arrived to the filthy apartment that was home to Chad's "meetings."
Climbing up the stairs, his head still hung in weariness, Will entered the room, expecting to be greeted by the circle of dealers. Instead, only Chad was there. The scene was almost surreal, with the light streaming in from the windows and Chad's larger than life shadow projecting in front of him. He looked almost like a supreme being. "Satan," Will mumbled as he approached Chad.
"William, I need to discuss a pressing issue with you," Chad insisted, as Will lifted his heavy head to meet Chad's eyes.
"What is it now?" he asked, wearily.
"You owe me some money."
Shocked and slightly confused, Will replied, "I don't remember owing you anything. How much do I owe?"
"As of right now, not too much, but I have a feeling it will get to be more. William," he sighed, speaking to Will as if he was a young child who had just misbehaved, "We've discussed this before. I know how much you need this job and the money that you get from it, but if you don't pay me, I don't pay you. I'm going to let this little debt slide, as long as it doesn't get any bigger. You need to watch what you're doing, or you'll crash and burn in this business. Got it?"
"Got it," Will mumbled, glancing at his feet once again. "Is that all?"
"For right now, yes," Chad replied as he handed the bags of heroin to Will to sell, "Meet me back here when this is gone."
Without answering, Will turned and exited the same way he came in. He should have been mad at Chad for assuming that he was irresponsible with his money. The sad part, he knew, was that Chad was right.
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A/N: So this chapter freakin' took me forever, and it isn't even very good. I've been so busy and just haven't had time to write this. The summer just kind of slipped away.. ok, Review anyway. I can handle the criticism. I hope to be able to update once a week from now on.
His clothing was wrinkled, his hair a tousled mess. His eyes were blazing with fear and anxiety. The second he stepped out of the elevator, Queenie and Fred turned to face him.
"Is he okay?" Will asked, in a hoarse, frantic tone.
"Why do you care?" Queenie snapped, her almond eyes narrowing into angry slits.
"I didn't know what to do, so I called the club and Enrico told me you were here with him," he explained.
She pushed herself away from Fred's body and turned to face Will. "Go and look at him," she hissed, as she gestured toward the shut door to Angel's room.
Will obeyed, walking over and looking in the window. Angel was asleep, the bruises on his face glowing vibrant shades of blue and purple. He had one skinny arm lying on top of the stark white sheets. Cuts and bruises lined his arm like stripes. His eyes were swollen so much that they looked as though they couldn't open. Gasping, Will stepped backwards, inching away from the room that housed his lover. He began to breathe heavily, barely able to believe what he had done Angel.
"You did that," Queenie said quietly. Laughing bitterly, she continued to stare him down, "You stupid fuck up, you're the one that hurt him that bad. You think he deserved that, huh? You think Angel deserved any of this? He's too good for you."
Not knowing how to respond, Will just stared at her, his heard beating furiously inside his chest.
"I fucking hate you!" she screamed, the shrillness of her voice echoing through the empty, tranquil hospital waiting room. "Look at him!" she yelled again, heavy sobs making her shoulders shake, "He could have died!"
Fred approached her, attempting to comfort her, but she stepped away, clearing her throat and pointing at Will. "I hated you from the very beginning, and now I know why. You're a selfish, fucking bastard and I knew you'd fuck him over!" Fred continued to try and hold her, as she eventually collapsed onto him, worn down from all of the emotion stress.
"Get the hell away from me!" She shrieked as Fred guided her out of the waiting room and into the elevator to take her outside. "Fuck you!" she yelled from behind the elevator door, loud enough for Will to hear it.
Unsure of what to do, Will looked around, noticing that he was the only one in the waiting room. He had come here to see Angel, and now was his chance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flowers sat on the nightstand next to Angel's bed, their scent flowing through the little sterile room. Lying peacefully in the bed, Angel slept quietly on his back. Will sat in the chair next to the bed and looked at him, realized the damage he had caused.
Whispering almost inaudibly, so as not to awaken Angel, Will spoke to him, "Look at what I did. I'm so sorry Angel, all I wanted was you. I thought Chad would fix everything, and getting to know him has only made this worse." His words got caught in his throat as he began to cry silently. "I only hope that you can find in your heart to forgive me."
As soon as the crying silenced him completely, Angel began to stir and awaken, looking over at the occupied chair next to his bed. Will snapped his head up and wiped the tears away quickly. Staring into Angel's deep, pained eyes. "I'm surprised you even cared enough to come here," Angel said, with a surprising amount of force behind his words.
"I was worried," Will reasoned, immediately realizing how stupid he much have sounded.
"You weren't too fucking worried about me when you were beating the shit out of me tonight," Angel said bitterly, trying to turn away from Will but only wincing in pain as he could barely budge an inch.
"Jesus, I can't even begin to -," Will started to say.
"Save it. Save your breath, I don't want to hear it."
"If it'll make you feel any better, you don't deserve any of it, and I'm a jackass for doing what I did. I don't deserve you," Will explained, the guilt in the pit of his stomach tormenting him.
"You know what? You're right," Angel answered, "You are a jackass. You're more than that. I don't even want to see you right now." He paused. "Fuck that, I don't want to see you again ever. You aren't a part of my life anymore, Will. I want nothing to do you."
Will felt the pain of Angel's words slicing through him. For the first time, he began to feel the amount of pain that Angel felt when he was beating him. "Give me another chance. I can change, I promise," he pleaded, his voice getting smaller and weaker with every word.
"I'm not taking you back this time. What's gonna happen next time? You could have killed me, Will," Angel said, harshly, "and I'm not about to risk my own life on a lost cause."
"God, Angel I'm -."
"Just get out."
"But -," he pleaded one last time.
"Now!" Angel yelled, as he felt tears well up in his eyes. He couldn't be angry, shouldn't be angry.
Will hung his head in pure shame, looking at his beaten lover again before he left.
Angel shouldn't be upset. "No," he told himself out loud. "Not again. I'm not doing this again, I can't take him back." It was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do, but letting the door quietly close behind Will was a step in the right direction, and he knew it. Heartbroken, pained, and tired, Angel relaxed his weary body and began to fall into a fitful night of sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was still freezing and dreary one week later. Will shuffled his feet slowly along the sidewalk. It was at times like this where he wished he could go home and see Angel, knowing full well that Angel was not at his home, rather at the club with Queenie and Fred. Will had no intention of going back to his apartment to be greeted by dark emptiness. He figured that it was about time to meet Chad and make his living for the day. As the days passed, his hatred for selling the drugs increased, as did his addiction to the evil substances.
The chilly winter air made his eyes sting as he rubbed them to make the pain go away. he had found that when he was in bad need of a fix, his eyes started to hurt, along with many other things. Eventually, he arrived to the filthy apartment that was home to Chad's "meetings."
Climbing up the stairs, his head still hung in weariness, Will entered the room, expecting to be greeted by the circle of dealers. Instead, only Chad was there. The scene was almost surreal, with the light streaming in from the windows and Chad's larger than life shadow projecting in front of him. He looked almost like a supreme being. "Satan," Will mumbled as he approached Chad.
"William, I need to discuss a pressing issue with you," Chad insisted, as Will lifted his heavy head to meet Chad's eyes.
"What is it now?" he asked, wearily.
"You owe me some money."
Shocked and slightly confused, Will replied, "I don't remember owing you anything. How much do I owe?"
"As of right now, not too much, but I have a feeling it will get to be more. William," he sighed, speaking to Will as if he was a young child who had just misbehaved, "We've discussed this before. I know how much you need this job and the money that you get from it, but if you don't pay me, I don't pay you. I'm going to let this little debt slide, as long as it doesn't get any bigger. You need to watch what you're doing, or you'll crash and burn in this business. Got it?"
"Got it," Will mumbled, glancing at his feet once again. "Is that all?"
"For right now, yes," Chad replied as he handed the bags of heroin to Will to sell, "Meet me back here when this is gone."
Without answering, Will turned and exited the same way he came in. He should have been mad at Chad for assuming that he was irresponsible with his money. The sad part, he knew, was that Chad was right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: So this chapter freakin' took me forever, and it isn't even very good. I've been so busy and just haven't had time to write this. The summer just kind of slipped away.. ok, Review anyway. I can handle the criticism. I hope to be able to update once a week from now on.