Bruised

10.

Natalie didn't see him again for over a week.

It took her three days of not seeing him to fall back into her usual routine. School, homework, assignments, repeat.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed, but it couldn't be helped. Leon had a boxing ring to attend to. Natalie had an admission test to study for. She didn't think he was gone for good. 

Leon would show up again when he wanted to, and Natalie would let him in.

Except, she hadn't expected it to go like this.

She was walking her usual route from school to Sierra Grammar when she saw him. She almost missed him at first, her eyes glued to her colourful flashcards as she walked, until he muttered her name.

"Natalie."

She stopped, his voice registering immediately, and turned. Her eyes scanned the empty street ahead of her, then beside her, before she realised, she was looking at the wrong height. She looked down to find him slumped on the floor against the wall, one arm clutching his side.

She gasped, almost dropping her flashcards. Instead, she quickly gathered her thoughts, shoved them into her blazer pocket, and squatted beside him.

"Leon," she whispered. "What happened?"

One look at his face told her he wasn't okay. Half of his face was swollen, his eye so bruised and puffy that it was close to being completely shut. A cut lined the top of his eyebrow, just above his black eye, matching the blood of his busted lip.

She felt sick and anxious all at once. The sight of blood leaking from his face made her nauseous, but she couldn't leave him there.

He seemed to groan in reply and her mind began to whir. She glanced quickly around the street before leaning forward and grabbing his arm, pulling it over her shoulder. He groaned again.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I just—we need to go. You look awful."

He let out a light chuckle before wincing in pain, his grip on his side tightening. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special," he said, his voice weak and raspy.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "Can you stand?"

He nodded and on three, she pulled him to his feet. He groaned, his weight falling heavily onto her, causing her to stumble. She caught her footing, sucking a deep breath before beginning to move.

They moved slowly. Most of the way, Natalie was busy overthinking—about whether Leon was okay or not, or if he needed to go to the hospital, or if anyone would see the pair of them together.

It wasn't until they reached her house that Leon realised, they weren't going to Sierra Grammar.

It was a small house, one that looked like every other on her street. She unlocked the door, tossing a sideways look to each of her neighbours before dragging him inside.

"Where are we?" he asked as they pair staggered up the stairs. She led him to her room, forming a plan in her mind along the way.

"My house," she said. "I couldn't take you to the school. Not like this. Not unless you want my mum to walk in on me cleaning your cuts."

"That would be interesting," he remarked.

She laughed anxiously. Interesting was a mild way to put it. When they reached her room, she set him down gently on her bed and propped him up with pillows before running to fetch everything she needed.

She was lucky her mother was a nurse. Their medicine cabinet rivalled a hospital with the amount of bandages and disinfectants that were in there. Not to mention the number of ice packs that lined their freezer.