Standing in the Dark - Chapter Ten
"You're safe now."
The single, seemingly meaningless sentence uttered by the man before him echoed in Carlos' mind as his eyes slid shut and darkness clouded his vision. At first, the sentence didn't register and Carlos ignored it, focusing only on the exhaustion that overwhelmed his body and slowly dragged him into sleep. As the noises of the world around him slowly faded away, Carlos noticed that the sentence still lingered in his mind.
"You're safe now."
Eyes snapping open, Carlos jerked up into a sitting position, startling both the blonde that knelt in front of him and himself. Feeling his head pound in response to his sudden movement, he groaned loudly and brought a shaky hand up to his forehead. The rain had chilled his skin and the warm air inside the coffee shop had not yet warmed his body, so his hand did a good job at easing the headache. At least a little.
As the world started to come into focus again, Carlos began to notice all the sounds around him increasing in volume. He also noticed that someone was speaking to him.
"Carlos, can you hear me?" Bradley leaned closer to Carlos' ear, a concerned look in his dark brown eyes. He rested one of his pale hands on Carlos' still damp shoulder, reflexively jerking back when Carlos flinched against his touch. "Carlos?"
Shaking his head slightly to relieve the relentless buzzing in his ears, Carlos looked up at Bradley, meeting his gaze almost instantly. He could see the concern and alarm in Bradley's brown eyes, feeling a pain of guilt in his chest for causing the older man to be distressed. Nodding almost barely, Carlos uttered his response. "Y-yes."
Sighing in relief, Bradley smiled slightly and looked over his shoulder at the man that stood behind him. Carlos let his eyes travel from Bradley's face to examine the physique of the man who stood by the counter. He had dark skin, darker than Carlos', and seemed to be about the same height as the Latino. His hair was divided into several cornrows with black beads on the ends. The man was smiling and Carlos recognized him as Nate, the employee and friend of Bradley's that he had briefly met on the day Camille dragged him halfway across town to meet the blonde.
"Hey, Nate, go find him some clothes. He must be freezing." Bradley requested kindly and Nate nodded before turning around and pushing himself through a door labeled "Back Room". Bradley spoke in a very slight Irish accent and Carlos couldn't help but feel comforted by the way the man spoke.
He watched as the blonde pushed himself up off the floor and into a standing position before turning around and offering a hand to the Latino who was still on the floor. Carlos eagerly took his hand and noticed that Bradley's hands were unusually cold but warmed as Carlos held it. The blonde smiled at Carlos for a moment, still holding his hand, until a loud thud came from behind. Reluctantly letting go of Bradley's hand, Carlos reverted his attention to the door that Nate had disappeared through moments ago.
As if on cue, the door swung open and Nate stumbled out, chuckling to himself and holding a lump of clothes in his arms. The door was stopped from closing by a fallen box and Nate swiftly kicked the box back into the room and nodding to himself when the door shut with a satisfying click. Turning to face the two men who watched with in curious amusement, he extended his arms in Carlos' direction, offering him the clothes in his hands.
" 'ere ya go." Nate said happily as Carlos took the clothes gratefully before whirling around and walking behind the counter where the coffee machines and endless stacks of foam cups almost touched the ceiling. "We be needin' to close up shop soon, Brad. I'm guessin' we won' be gettin' a lotta customers in this storm."
Carlos raised his eyebrows at the way Nate seemed to just bounce over his words. It was like talking to someone who had a trampoline where a voice box was supposed to be. He turned to see Bradley shaking his head and laughing before turning to look at the Latino beside him. "Don't mind him, he's a nut. The bathrooms are over where," The blonde pointed across the small shop to a dip in the wall where a hallway led to a row of doors that Carlos guessed were the bathrooms, "You can change in there."
Smiling gratefully, Carlos headed across the shop and glanced over his shoulder when he reached the hallway. Nate and Bradley were shoving each other playfully as they stacked cups on the counter, talking amongst themselves about god-knows-what. Normally, Carlos wouldn't have come to trust people this easily, but there was something different about these guys. Something that seemed to fill the hole in his heart. The hole that had been eating away at him ever since his friends practically threw him away.
Making his way down the dim lit hallway, Carlos paused in front of the door labeled "Men". Pushing the dark green door open, he flicked on the light and closed the door behind him, locking it as he did so. Stripping away his shirt, Carlos glanced at himself in the mirror out of the corner of his eye. His jaw fell open as he saw that his torso was almost entirely black and blue, covered with several bruises and even a cut here and there. Since the incident in the apartment a little over a week ago, Carlos had refused to even look at the damage done.
His collarbone and arms only held a few bruises, only one nasty one on his left bicep, but the real damage was on his ribs and stomach. He knew that his ribs had been broken but he had no idea it looked like this. His entire left side had been turned purple and as he ran the pads of his fingers over his bruised flesh, he could feel the spots where his ribs had been cracked. They were slowly healing but that didn't keep him from wincing. All over his stomach were yellow and green bruises that made Carlos' eyes water just by looking at them. The pain pills kept the bruises from hurting too bad, but what really hurt was the fact that the people he once considers his best friends had done this to him.
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Carlos stripped away the remainder of his damp clothes and began to dress himself in the clothes Nate had collected for him. It was a black polo shirt with the coffee shop logo on the front and bringing the soft fabric up to his nose; Carlos inhaled the warm sent of fabric softener and coffee. Pulling the black polo over his head, Carlos adjusted the collar and looked away from his reflection as he pulled on the dark jeans that seemed to fit perfectly. Nate was the same height as Carlos, so maybe they wore the same size clothes.
Gathering his wet clothes, Carlos unlocked the bathroom door and made his way down the hallway and back into the small shop. He could hear the patter of rain against the windows and the low rumble of thunder but he ignored it as he crossed the room towards the counter where Brad and Nate were cleaning the coffee makers.
" 'ey, he's back!" Nate announced happily as he noticed Carlos' return. He danced around the corner and made his way over to the Latino, eagerly taking his damp clothes and smiling at Carlos. "What do ya wan' me to do with his clothes, Brad?"
Bradley was too focused on taking apart the coffee grinder to look up but he managed a response. "I'll take them back to my place and dry them there."
"Don' you think he will be wantin' to go home-"
Carlos' eyes widened in alarm at Nate's words and he interrupted quickly, "Uh, no thanks. Home is the last place I want to be right now."
Bradley looked up from the coffee grinder and raised an eyebrow at Carlos' words. Exchanging a glance with Nate as if having a silent conversation, he set the machine down on the black counter and made his way around the counter to where the other two men stood. Keeping his eyes on Carlos, Bradley spoke, "Nate, can you handle that coffee grinder for me?"
Nate nodded and quickly made his way to the spot where the blonde previously stood; eyeing the machine as he swiftly took it apart with ease. Picking up a small container, he pulled out a few white slips that smelled like cleaner as he began to wipe down the machine in the process of cleaning it. Carlos felt Bradley grab his shoulder and looked away from Nate's work as the blonde led him across the shop towards the windows that looked out onto the street.
Taking a seat at the table nearest the windows, Carlos watched as the rain continued its downpour outside. He could see the sky lighting up in the distance as the worst of the storm began to cover the city. Rain pounded against the windows and made it hard to see much outside but Carlos could make out the large, silver letters that said "Hawk Records" across the street.
"Carlos."
Bradley's voice shook Carlos from his thoughts as the Latino slowly turned his head to face the blonde. Bradley was sitting in the chair across from him, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed and eyebrows furrowed. Carlos couldn't help but notice that Bradley's facial expressions, especially his eyebrows, reminded him of Kendall. Sure, the two looked nothing alike, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness when he thought of his former best friend.
"Yes?" Carlos replied, refusing to look into Bradley's eyes and instead looking at the table and picking at a chip in the wood with his index finger.
"Now that you're dry and warm, I want to ask you a question." Bradley spoke, his voice almost grave, as he leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on the table as he looked at the Latino.
"Shoot."
Taking a deep breath, Bradley looked down at his arms for a moment, seeming to be getting his words together before looking back up at Carlos with questioning eyes. "What happened?"
"I don't know what you-"
"God damnit, Carlos! You know what I'm talking about!" Bradley snapped, causing the Latino to flinch in surprise. They're eyes locked for a moment before Bradley's face softened and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Since I dropped you off at the Palm Woods that day, I've been talking to Camille a lot more. She's told me how you used to be so happy, one of the happiest people she knew, but you've had a very hard month."
Carlos avoided Bradley's eyes as he spoke, continuing to pick at the chip in the wood. Never looking away from the table, Carlos responded, "What has she told you?"
It was Bradley's turn to look away now, gazing out the window as he watched the intensity of the storm increase. "Everything."
The Latino remained silent, not sure how to respond to this new bit of information. He knew Camille wasn't the type to spill secrets, so she must have had a particular reason for telling Bradley about what was going on. Maybe she knew something that he didn't. Maybe she knew how Carlos felt about being in Bradley's presence. How it made him feel safe. Protected.
"Listen, I know it was none of my business and she was reluctant to tell me but she wanted me to know." The blonde explained.
Carlos looked away from the chip in the wood and up at Bradley, finally meeting his eyes. He could tell that the blonde was worried about him. Hell, who wouldn't be?
"Why?" The Latino asked almost silently. If Bradley hadn't been leaning on the table, he might have missed it altogether.
Sighing once more, Bradley ran a hand through his hair and let his arm fall back onto the table, rocking it slightly. "Because she knew that you wouldn't be safe at the Palm Woods. She knew that you were going to have to come find me sooner or later."
The Latino couldn't help but smile at Bradley's words. Camille had gone out of her way to protect him. He knew as well as she did that he wouldn't be safe at the Palm Woods. Even if he did stay hidden in her apartment, he couldn't stay there forever. She knew that she would have to find a place for him. A place where he would be safe.
"That girl." Carlos murmured into his smile, "What would I do without her?"
Bradley chuckled and stood up out of his chair, glancing over at Nate who was closing the shutters of the windows. "I'm going to help him close up shop. You can stay at my place for the night and we can grab some chow on the way there. What do you say?"
Carlos smiled and nodded, feeling happier than he had since hiatus started. "I'd like that."
"… So Mandy and Nate took the guy's cappuccino and poured hot sauce into it. The look on the guy's face was priceless." Bradley took a bite of his orange chicken as he finished his story, smiling as Carlos cracked up on the couch beside him.
"And they didn't get fired?" The Latino asked as soon as he stopped laughing, taking a bite out of his own box of fried rice.
"Nope. Our manager, Tony, thought it was hilarious and accused the guy of lying. Needless to say, he's never come back." The blonde chuckled, stabbing his chicken with the fork and twirling it around in his fingers.
Carlos smiled and leaned back against Bradley's black couch, gazing around his small apartment. It was a one-bedroom place with a small kitchen and a pretty decent living space – much like Lucy's apartment – and surprisingly, Carlos really liked it. Even though it was small, it was actually pretty nice.
"Are you done?" The Latino looked up to see that Bradley was standing in front of him, gesturing towards the now empty box of fried rice in Carlos hands. Nodding, Carlos let the blonde take the box and stood up as well, following Bradley into the kitchen.
"Thanks for the dinner." The Latino spoke gratefully, watching as Bradley tossed the empty containers into the trash and picked up a fortune cookie, handing Carlos one as well.
"Pleasure's mine." Bradley smiled as he snapped the cookie in half and pulled out the small fortune. "Next summer, you will dance to a different beat. Whatever that means."
"Your past success will be overshadowed by your future success." Carlos read aloud, looking up at Bradley with wide eyes.
"Nice." The blonde smiled and popped the cookie into his mouth, tossing his fortune into the trash as he did so. He walked past Carlos and picked up the Latino's pile of clothes that had been soaked once more on the trip from the car to the apartment building, smiling sheepishly as he turned to the Latino. "I'm going to go take these down to the laundry room for you. The couch folds out into a bed and there are blankets in the closet."
"Thank you."
"Any time."
"No, I mean, thank you. For helping me and letting me stay here." Carlos smiled warily at the blonde, who just chuckled in response.
"Like I said, anytime." Carlos watched as Bradley pushed through the front door and walk down the hallway as the door shut behind him, leaving Carlos alone in the small apartment.
Gathering a few blankets and a pillow from the closet near the bedroom, Carlos unfolded the couch and made himself a rather comfortable bed. Lying down on the makeshift bed, Carlos rested his head on the pillow, feeling the fatigue he had ignored all evening begin to overwhelm his body.
Letting his eyes slide shut, Carlos couldn't help but smile. He felt safe. He was free of the monsters he once called friends.
For now.
Phew! It really is surprising how writing can take a lot out of you. It requires so much thinking, head space, and energy, but it's so much fun!
I'm sorry for not updating sooner, like I said, it takes a lot out of you. I also apologize for not personally responding to your reviews, but I will let you know that I love each and every one of them. Every time I update, I don't expect the response that I get so it's always a rush to see what you guys have to say about my little story.
See what I did there? I made a rush pun. Ha... ha...
Anyway, thank you for all of your feedback! I love all of you and I hope you guys liked this chapter!
Smoochies! - Carnie