Crestfallen

13: Maybe I Will

I couldn't watch for half— well, the entire time. It was just so gruesome to watch. The blood dripped onto their tile floor and I took the liberty of cleaning it up. Once she had finished and Jeremy was sitting unconscious in the chair, Macy pulled me aside with a curious expression.

"What the hell happened?" She demanded, looking over at the boy in her dining room.

"I think a dog bit him," I told her, following her gaze, watching as the brown haired boy's chest rose and fell.

"Casey, that's not a dog bite. That looks more like an untreated gash created by some sharp metallic object," she told me, her brown eyes holding worry amongst their depths. "There were also remnants of previous stitches in his leg."

My brows creased with confusing and I eyed Jeremy's sleeping figure warily. "So what happened exactly?" Macy inquired. I told her the true story with all the details I could remember and she nodded occasionally.

Jeremy stirred and we rushed to his side eagerly, desperate for some answers. "Jeremy? How do you feel?" I asked, running a comforting hand up and down his arm. He adjusted himself upright as he came to and eyed us with a grimace.

"Fine," he replied, using the table to stand.

"Stop it, you'll tear my stitching!" Macy exclaimed, sounding horrified. Jeremy glared at her as he proceeded to take a step on his uninjured leg. He tried to take another step, but his leg buckled out from under him. I rushed to his side, barely catching him in time. Jeremy said nothing as I helped him up.

"I gotta take him somewhere Macy, who knows what your parents would do if they found him here," I said, helping Jeremy to the door. He groaned, drifting in and out of consciousness as I practically dragged him.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" She sighed, watching me struggle. I opened the door and eyed the snowstorm warily.

"Maybe a jacket?" I suggested, smiling sheepishly as she pulled two out of the closet. I tried my best to get the jacket on Jeremy while keeping him upright. Once I was done, I proceeded to lead him out of the house. Macy shivered from inside but watched us go nevertheless. The storm was merciless as it tore through the city, but I kept walking with Jeremy by my side.

I tried to think of places I could take him, crossing off options as quickly as I thought of them. My final option floated around my head.

"Jeremy, we have to go to your house. It's the only choice." He groaned, seemingly somewhat awake, but not liking the idea. "Please, it's the only place. I can already feel a cold coming on."

"Fine," I heard him mutter weakly. His voice was raspy as he grumbled directions. Soon enough, we found ourselves back at the school. He lead me through the football field and behind the bleachers, through a hole in the fence that created much difficultly for Jeremy and I.

"W-Where the h-heck are we g-going?" I asked him, shivering as I held him.

"Home," he whispered. I exhaled shakily as I kept pulling him forward. Then, almost out of nowhere, appeared a shack. It was made of wood and worn down. There was no way anyone lived here, let alone Jeremy Storm. Brown-haired, green-eyed, hot, Jeremy Storm lived in a shack behind the school. It just didn't seem possible.

He opened the door, untying a rope that held the door shut. It swung open, narrowly missing us. He limped inside where it was hardly any warmer. I grabbed the door and used my entire body to pull it shut. Once it was closed, I tied it with a rope on the inside that served as a lock and turned around. The shack was smaller on the inside than it looked on the outside if that was even possible. There was one counter with a stove you'd pack for camping. There was also a mini-fridge and one single cabinet. Jeremy was sitting in an old wooden chair at a cardboard table. On the floor right beside me was a pillow and one thin blanket that'd warm nothing at all. There were Christmas lights that lined the top of the shed and Jeremy turned them on with much effort to reach the switch. I figured I'd question him later so I sat on the floor in front of him.

"Uh, thanks Casey," Jeremy muttered awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. It was no longer gelled upwards so I laid flat on his head. Somehow it was still a good look on him and I was starting to dislike him for looking so great even at this time. I probably looked like the grinch.

"No problem. If anything, I should be thanking you," I said, pausing to think for a moment. "I like your place, how long have you had it?"

He tried to laugh but quickly groaned afterward as he clutched his leg. He rolled up his pant leg and looked at Macy's stitching job.

"Is your friend fucking visually impaired? These are less straight than James is," Jeremy huffed, glaring at his leg with disdain.

"James is gay?"

"Obviously."

I frowned and creased my eyebrows. "I didn't know that," I stated, looking up at Jeremy.

"Obviously," he repeated, this time glaring at me instead of his leg. There was a moment of silence before I decided to ask some more questions.

"What'd you do to your leg?" I inquired curiously, eyeing it with concern. I shivered and hugged the coat tighter to my body. The thin shed walls did hardly anything to shield us from the blazing winter outside.

"What are we? Buddies now?" He mocked me, rolled his pant leg back down.

"Sorry, I just—" he cut me off with a laugh.

"You just what? Thought that because your friend fixed me up that we're friends now?" He sneered, narrowing his eyes at me.

"S-Sorry," I stuttered, partly from the cold, partly from nervousness. "I should get going, it's late. I hope you get better soon," I said with a small smile, staying positive and kind.

"Get me a fucking card then," he snapped, his green eyes piercing my thick skin.

"Maybe I will," I replied with a smirk as I opened the door and shut it behind me. It was a blizzard out here, but I had to get home. I trekked through the storm, desperate to get home.