The Boy and Mr Barrow
by: alternativebrooke
WARNING: Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers, violence and M/M
"Good evening Lord Wyatt " Alec walked in from the yard, stopping in the hallway when he saw him, he was always careful to be polite when in the presence of the owner of the estate. He knew that if he were to upset Lord Wyatt he would be punished and unfortunately Lord Wyatt was the kind of person to become easily upset. The tall sandy-blonde haired man looked Alec over tilting his head to the side and clenching his fist ever so slightly, Alec knew what it meant when Lord Wyatt did that. "Scudder" He said exhaling loudly and slowly in a way that made Alec's skin crawl. "I expect I'll see you tonight" Lord Wyatt grinned, but not in a kind way, the way his thin lips curled up made everything he said or did look sinister. Alec nodded and walked down the hall only to bump into Lord Wyatt's valet who shoved him backwards. "Sorry" Alec stuttered trying to move out of the way but the valet kept moving in front of him and laughing as he pushed Alec again. Alec stumbled letting out a huffed breath as he turned around and hastily made his way back outside to the yard where he would take the long way around the estate to get back to his room.
Thomas sat on a chair next to Alec's bed watching the slow rise and fall of Alec's chest and praying with all the faith he had left that Alec would wake up again.
Doctor Clarkson hadn't arrived yet but Thomas had already carried Alec up to his bed and stitched up the gashes on his head. The gash on his forehead was the worst it was deep and stretched an inch and a half just below his hairline.
"In here Doctor Clarkson" Carson informed while opening the door to Alec's room. Thomas stood up immediately.
Doctor Clarkson stepped in and moved quickly to Alec's bedside.
"Mr Barrow I'm assuming you stitched him up?" asked Clarkson as he examined the head wounds.
"Yes Doctor Clarkson" Thomas replied coldly.
"Hmm, yes well he's definitely had multiple bashes to his head with a blunt weapon of some sort. Have you examined the rest of his body yet?" Clarkson looked over Alec's still fully clothed body.
"No, I haven't" Thomas looked down to the floor.
"Right" Clarkson began removing Alec's clothing which earned a grimace from Thomas.
There were red marks all over Alec's chest and stomach some of which were already developing a bluish bruised tinge, his legs were the same although he had a particularly large area on his right leg and upper body, Doctor Clarkson bent over to closely study Alec's chest.
" It looks like he'll have a fair few cases of bruising to the bone, especially on his sternum and patella, maybe even some fractured ribs and a definite concussion but I can't be sure until he wakes up..how long has he been unconscious for?" Clarkson asked.
"Nearly an hour" Thomas replied quickly.
Clarkson nodded in response.
"Will he be okay Doctor Clarkson?' Thomas spoke eagerly awaiting an answer.
"I'm not sure Mr Barrow I'll know more when he's awake" Clarkson's voice was low as he looked back up to Alec's almost unrecognisable beaten face "If he wakes up that is".
Thomas fought off the sudden urge to be sick "What do you mean...if?"
"Mr Barrow you know exactly what I mean, we will be able to distinguish the severity of his head injury when he awakens...or if he does not" Clarkson's voice was formal and slightly irritated.
"I'll give him a shot of morphine now so he won't be in pain if he wakes up in the next few hours" Clarkson held onto Alec's arm and injected the pain reliever "It'll wear off in a few hours so you may need to inject him again after he's woken up I'll leave a few more doses here" Clarkson put the doses on Alec's bedside table
" You'll need to inject a dose whenever the pain comes back and trust me he will need it these sorts of injuries can be excruciating without any kind of pain relief. Now I'll be back in the morning hopefully he'll be awake by then." Clarkson nodded and went to leave the room.
"Yes Doctor Clarkson, thank you very much for coming down" said Carson as he shut the door behind Clarkson.
"Do you have any idea who might have done this Thomas?"
"No, I don't" Thomas replied glumly.
Carson sighed "We should go downstairs anyway".
"I think I'll stay here actually, just so there's someone here when he wakes up" Thomas tried sounding as professional as possible.
Carson looked at Thomas strangely for a moment as if he were having an internal battle with himself about what to reply, Carson's eyes glanced over Alec and then back to Thomas "Very well Mr Barrow" He said in an unsure voice and then he was gone.
Thomas sat back down on the chair next to Alec's bed hoping that something, anything would happen.
The clock struck 11. It was time for Alec to go to Lord Wyatt's room. He swallowed hard, leaning against the owners door for a moment before he opened it. Lord Wyatt was already naked and on his bed, his valet walked over to the door and grabbed Alec by the arm yanking him aggressively over to the bed even though Alec was not fighting him. He knew it was the only way, if he didn't do this Lord Wyatt would fire him or kill him. The valet ripped off Alec's coat, followed by his shirt, he had ruined most of Alec's clothes and soon he'd have none left. He wished he could go to back to his previous employers, the Durham's seemed like saints now. He wished he'd never gone to Europe where his plans of employment fell through. The valet grabbed Alec by the hair and threw him towards the bed, making sure he hit the post of the bed before falling into the grasp of the man who had destroyed him.
It had been hours since Doctor Clarkson left and Thomas was now smoking by Alec's window.
Alec jolted awake with a loud choking gasp as if he had been strangled in his sleep he clutched at the bed his face was completely flustered and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, His vision was blurred causing him to panic even more from the corner of his eye he saw a figure make its way quickly to his bedside. Alec tried moving away but was overwhelmed with dizziness and his head once again hit the pillow. His breathing was shallow and painful as his vision slowly returned to normal. He blinked away the tears and then dared to look up at the figure again.
"Alec!" Thomas anxiously hovered over the bed.
Alec didn't reply he just stared at Thomas as if they had never met.
it's me..it's Thomas" .
Alec he still hadn't said a word. This scared Thomas more than anything in the world, 'Does he know who I am?..please god let him know who I am' Thomas thought.
'Alec ..Alec please talk to me"
No response.
"Alec please, I need to know if you're alright..I'm begging you" Thomas reached out to touch Alec's face but pulled back quickly when Alec flinched away from him. That hurt more than anything, it hurt more than what the Duke had done to him, or Edward.. even Jimmy's rejection. Not Alec, not him too.
He looked at Alec and he saw it. Alec wasn't the same anymore. The beautiful boy who was always so full of life was no longer there. Alec now looked as if he had no trace of happiness left in him. He was a shell of his former self all that was left was a bruised and broken sobbing mess.
Thomas stood back, making his way back to the window, allowing Alec the space he needed and watched in utter horror for the next 20 minutes as Alec cried violently knowing he could not a thing about it. He couldn't go near Alec if Alec didn't want to be touched, he knew how that ended.
Eventually the sobs lessened and Alec's breathing started returning back to normal, Thomas hadn't taken an eye off Alec since he awoke. The bed covers ruffled a little as Alec turned his face over to Thomas by the window, flinching a little at the pain of the movement. Alec studied Thomas's unsettled and terrified expression and he began to feel even worse than before, if that was even possible.
"I'm sorry Thomas" Alec said, his voice straining from the crying.
Thomas eyes widened when he realised Alec had used his name, but he still kept his ground by the window.
"Please come back here" Alec's lip trembled as he pleaded.
Thomas walked over cautiously and sat down on the bed, reaching his hand out much slower this time and began stroking Alec's hair. Alec studied Thomas. His skin, his lips, his eyes god did he love his eyes. Alec smiled involuntarily, It was as if Thomas was his cure because the longer Alec studied him the further the memories of Wyatt buried themselves into the darkest part of his mind. As long as he could stare at Thomas and touch him he would always be fine.
He clutched desperately at Thomas' arm, pulling him down and burying his face into Thomas' chest, which was another part of Thomas that he loved inexplicably.
"You're safe now " Thomas reassured wrapping an arm around Alec and Alec gripped onto Thomas as if he'd never let him go. They lay there silently for a while comforting each other with gestures rather than words. Eventually Alec tilted his head to look at Thomas his face still resting on Thomas' chest.
"I was sure I had gone to hell' Alec stated.
"Well you didn't, and you're okay now" Thomas swept a tendril of hair off Alec's face. "What happened?"
Alec swallowed, the pained expression returning to his face. "I was attacked on my way back here" Alec suddenly realised when trying to recall the memory how much his head was throbbing.
"Did you know them? did they steal anything?" Thomas questioned worriedly.
"I couldn't see anything it was too dark and no they just..attacked me." Alec shuddered at the thought. and Thomas gripped him a little tighter.
"Where was Jimmy when this happened?" Thomas asked, watching Alec with concern.
Alec sighed "Probably at the pub, I was angry at him so left by myself"
"Why were you angry? did he do something to you?" said Thomas protectively.
Alec looked down at Thomas' chest "..It's not important"
"Alec it's important to me if he hurt you" Thomas caught Alec's gaze again
"He just..he got a little drunk and he started yelling at me for not being mad at you because of the kiss and then he started making a scene and calling you and I queer.. so I left" Alec said sighing.
Thomas huffed angrily and dug his fingers into his temples. "You don't need that..not you"
"Thomas it's-" Alec started speaking but his voice trailed off when the throbbing in his head became much worse, Alec suddenly felt nauseous, he shut his eyes tightly and groaned.
"Alec what's wrong?" Thomas asked
"M-my head, Thomas I can't even think.. it's my head"
Thomas remembered what Clarkson said, it was the morphine, it must have worn off. Thomas gently moved Alec off of him and grabbed the morphine.
Jimmy walked home from the pub, he hadn't had anything else to drink since Alec left and was now regretting what he had said more every second.
Jimmy entered the servants dining hall and was faced with the whole staffs prying eyes.
"Where've you been?" Alfred asked.
"Out, why wha-?" at that moment Jimmy caught sight of the blood stain on the floor.
'What the hell happened to Alec? he went out with you didn't he?" Alfred asked more sternly this time, a tone Jimmy had not heard since he had met Alfred.
"What do you mean?" Jimmy panicked.
"He's been beaten half to death, attacked by the looks of it" Alfred said sadly.
Jimmy face fell "what?"
"Beaten to a bloody pulp, you should've seen him his whole face was covered in blood, and his eyes kept rolling back into his head It was terrifying" Ivy explained from a few metres away.
Jimmy inhaled sharply "Is he okay?" .
"We don't know, but it didn't look good" Alfred looked grimly to the floor where the blood stain was.
"Where is he?" Jimmy dared to ask.
"His room" Ivy answered.
Before another word was said Jimmy darted up the stairs, he noticed there were blood splatters on the staircase and in the hallway which made his stomach heave. Once he got to Alec's door he yanked it open firstly noticing Alec's blood covered bed sheets and then turned his attention to Thomas who was striding towards him quickly.
"Get out!" Thomas shouted stopping barely a metre from Jimmy, his nostrils flaring.
"I need t-" Jimmy stammered, for the first time he was intimidated by Thomas.
"I won't tell you again" Thomas warned.
Jimmy looked over to Alec who looked to be writhing in pain on the bed his face was covered in gashes and bruises.
"Alec I-" Jimmy went to push past Thomas but was shoved back "You don't deserve to talk to him, I know what you bloody said Jimmy about him and about me." Thomas spat.
Jimmy didn't fight the shove, he accepted it as if he knew he deserved it. He felt sick now, physically sick with guilt.
Alec tried to get up quickly to see what was going on but the pain that shot through his chest forced him back down with an agonising cry, Thomas looked at Jimmy for a second before moving quickly back to Alec's side lowering his whole body back onto the bed, Alec groaned clutching Thomas' upper arm.
"I'll give you something for the pain" Thomas soothed showing Alec the morphine Doctor Clarkson left for him "I'm going to have to inject you, is that okay?
Alec nodded breathing heavily.
Thomas took hold of Alec arms, pushing the needle in as gently as possible, Alec stirred slightly and closed his eyes waiting for the medicine to take effect.
Thomas knew it had started working when Alec's grip loosened on his arm, Thomas rubbed his face with his hand and sighed before looking back over to Jimmy who was staring in horror by the door.
Jimmy looked to the ground and exhaled loudly before shutting the door and going back to his own room.
"Thomas?" Alec murmured breathlessly.
"Yes, Do you need anything?" Thomas asked.
Alec gestured his head at the bed and smiled dazedly, Thomas could see the injection had taken affect, He chuckled at Alec's calm and groggy persona.
Thomas sat down on the bed "Alec?" he whispered.
"Mmm" Alec replied tiredly.
"I'm sorry about Jimmy calling you what he did..if it wasn't for me he wouldn't of said it" said Thomas guiltily.
"I don't care about being called a queer Thomas" Alec mumbled.
"What? why?" Thomas asked, he had been caught off guard.
"Well think about it Thomas.. if I'm queer it means I get to have you.. and who wouldn't want to have you?"
Thomas leaned back, his facial expression in utter awe. had did he really say that?. It was as if every response Thomas thought of was not enough to match the statement Alec had just made to him, or was it a statement? it sounded more like a confession.' Thomas thought.
Alec looked up "Thomas?"
Thomas blinked a few times and looked around the room as if he was waking himself up from a beautiful dream, although this wasn't a dream, this was real.
"Did I just embarrass myself with that?" Alec said, his tired eyes looking at Thomas with worry.
Thomas shook his head and chuckled as he leaned down and kissed Alec on the mouth, it had been far too long since their lips last touched that they had almost forgotten how good it felt, Thomas pulled back and leaned his forehead on Alec's, they breathed together, smiling in between kisses and in that moment they were both perfectly queer and both perfectly happy to be so.
A/N: Yes I know.. how cheesy ha-ha :) I thought I'd end this chapter on a cuter note than the previous one. Be sure to leave reviews if you can! They're greatly appreciated and they're a great motivator for me to continue writing this fic!
ps: I wasn't really sure about the whole morphine thing, I did research it but there wasn't much on the usage of morphine in the 20's ha-ha so hopefully it made sense.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!