WARNING!! This story contains mentions of child abuse! If sensitive please do not read. 

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Searing pain radiated through me with every step I took as I made my way from the car park across the street from my apartment to the front doors of my building. 

My ribs pulsated painfully as I breathed and my legs ached. I could only pray nothing was broken. What excuse could I give at work?

'I'm sorry, but I won't be in today, you see I allowed a sick and dying old man to use me as a punching bag. So, standing before a class and walking won't be possible. In my defence, he's my father, so I had to let him beat me up.'

Something tells me, that wouldn't go down well. First of all, they knew nothing of my father's abuse and second, they'd most likely inform the police or insist I do it. They would also criticise me for going to see him. None of them would understand. I had no choice but to go, didn't I? 

Mia, my best friend since high school, was the only one who would understand and not criticise or judge me. Though she hates it every time I go. 

---

We've been best friends since she transferred to my high school at the beginning of our senior year. 

During high school, I'd told myself I had no intention of having friends and would be alright. In reality, everyone wants at least one friend if not more but with me, I had a reason.

My father!

He was and still is an abusive bastard. When I was a kid, he was fond of telling me how worthless I was and that I had killed my mother who had died whilst giving birth to me. 

He also liked to punch and kick me, to teach me a lesson, he would say. To this day I have no idea what lesson he was trying to teach me.

Friends like to hang out at each other's places and I didn't like the idea of anyone coming to my house. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice house in a nice neighbourhood. My father owned a popular bar, so the money was good. The house was always clean because he hired a maid that I was sure he was sleeping with. 

Mia, however, was persistent and annoyingly observant. She quickly figured out I was being beaten. At first, she thought it was some school bullies. I laughed when she told me to tell her who they were and she would knock seven bells of shit out of them. 

Then one day, after one of Father's usual verbal assaults followed by a punch, I realised she had followed me home.

There had been a faint knock on the door. I heard Mia's voice and my stomach dropped. Father played nice, invited her in and pretended to be charming. Once alone, Mia asked if it was my Father hurting me. I begged her to not say anything, to keep it a secret. 

Of course, she hadn't liked that idea either but reluctantly agreed. At least, being friends with Mia gave me an excuse to be out of the house as often as I could. 

--

The pain in my side brought me out of my memories. I didn't want to go to the hospital but I needed to know if anything was broken. 

Begrudgingly, I called a taxi and asked them to take me to the nearest emergency room. I contemplated driving myself, but the drive back from the hospice had been excruciating so I decided against it. 

Several hours later, I'd been x-rayed, bandaged and drugged up. Currently, I was waiting to be discharged so I could go home. Luckily, nothing was broken, just heavily bruised. 

Thankfully, I remembered I had a few weeks off before the start of the next school year. The doctors said that should be enough time to heal enough to be able to work, as long as I rested. 

"Right Mr Lee, how are you feeling now? Has the pain medication kicked in yet?" The doctor asked as he walked in. 

"Yeah, it's better now," I told him. 

"How did you get here tonight? Did you drive?" he asked. 

"No, I got a taxi, why?" 

"Do you live alone?" he asked, ignoring my question. 

"Yes, why?" 

"The pain medications I've given you are quite strong and can cause severe side effects like drowsiness. I don't like the idea of you making your way home or being alone at least for tonight," he eyed his chart again.

"Can someone collect and stay with you? If they can then I'll be happy to discharge you, if not then I'm afraid you'll be spending the night."

I sighed as I took out my phone. Mia instantly came to mind but I quickly dismissed her, Matt wouldn't be an option either. She'd kick my arse if she found out I went to see the old man again without telling her. 

When I left for college I thought I was done with my old man, at least that was what she insisted on, not that I disagreed. The plan was to work hard, graduate and forget all about him. That had worked out fine until that answer-phone message two years ago. 

'Hello? Is this Mr Nate Li? I am calling from St John's Hospice, the end-of-life care unit. Your father has been admitted due to severe liver and organ failure. He has named you as his guardian. We need you to come in to go over some documents. Please call us back when you get this.'

"So, is there anyone?" the doctor asked again, bringing me out of my thoughts. 

I told him there was, and he nodded and left whilst I made the call. It was the last person I wanted to call at that moment but I had no choice. I dialled HIS number. Gabriel Lopez. 

Despite his Latino-sounding last name, he was anything but. He was a white, six-foot idiot with dark hair and blue eyes. He's easy on the eyes but his mouth can put you off him very quickly, at least for me it can. 

"Nate? To what do I owe this pleasure? Are you missing me? Cause I'm missing you!" 

I rolled my eyes, he had always been an egotistical, arrogant jerk who loved to annoy me. I was in no mood for his attitude or jokes tonight.

"Hello, Gabe."

"Hello, my little ray of sunshine. What can I do for you? Something naughty I hope," I could hear the laughter in his voice. 

"Are you free?" I asked him reluctantly.

"For you, always," he crooned and I wanted to gag. 

"I'm at Mercy Hospital, they won't discharge me unless someone can pick me up," I told him. 

"And stay with you for the next day or so," the doctor added as he walked back in. 

"The hospital? Why are you there? What happened?" he asked. 

The change in his tone startled me a little. He went from carefree and flirtatious to concerned and worried. 

"It's nothing serious. They've given me some pain meds that can make me a little sleepy. Can you come and get me?" I asked again. 

"I'll be there soon," he said before hanging up. 

Just as promised, Gabe turned up ten minutes later, demanding to know where I was. 

"What the fuck happened? Who did this to you?" he asked as he gently touched my face. 

I had a black eye as well as a bruise on my jaw, so I must have looked terrible. 

"I'm fine," I muttered as I moved to grab my jacket. 

Without another word, we walked out of the room towards the nurse's station for my discharge papers. Whilst we waited I finally took notice of what he was wearing. His best dark slacks, a black shirt and his best shoes. 

'Was he on a date?' I thought as I turned to sign the papers before receiving my medication. 

"What were you doing when I called? Were you on a date or something?" I asked once alone in the elevator. 

"What makes you think I was on a date?" he asked with his usual flirtatious tone seeping through his voice.

"You have on your best slacks, shoes and shirt. You only get dressed up like that for a date," I told him with an eye roll. 

He smirked as he turned to look at me. 

"You seem to know me pretty well," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Again, I rolled my eyes at him. 

"We've known each other for over ten years now. Is it that strange that I know things about you?" I asked. 

He moved closer to me with a strange look in his eyes. 

"That's true. We've known each other for a very long time. So, why don't I know you as well as you know me?" 

My eyes widened as I watched his eyes flicker to my mouth just before leaning in slightly. My body froze. In my head, I was screaming at myself to move or push him away but I couldn't. 

The idea of kissing a man wasn't the issue, I've always known I was gay. I came out just before college, not by choice, but it happened either way. 

My father had followed us and had seen me kissing a guy one night when Mia had dragged me to a college party. She had wanted to see what it was like before we went. 

The guy had been hot and I'd been tipsy. It was my first kiss and I had been giddy after it.

My father had left without a word and waited until I got home to tell me how he felt about me being gay. It took weeks for the pain and bruises to go away. 

However, the issue I was having right now was that the man leaning in to kiss me was Gabe. The idiot playboy who loved to piss me off. The guy who had a new girl in his bed every other week. 

Thankfully, we were interrupted as the elevator doors pinged open. 

"Did you tell Mia and Matt?" I asked to fill the suddenly awkward silence. 

I hadn't told him not to tell them, but I hadn't wanted them to know until the worst had faded. He must have sensed my panic as he placed a hand on my shoulder, which was oddly comforting.

"No, I haven't told them. I figured you called me because you didn't want Mia to know and Matt wouldn't be able to keep it from her. Don't worry, I won't say anything," he said with a small smile.

His car was at the far end of the car park, and leaning on his car was a tall, blonde bombshell of a woman. Her red dress looked like a second skin as it pushed her breasts up and out. I couldn't see the attraction to women like that but I guess she was Gabe's type. 

"Baby! What's the hold-up? What took you so long?" she asked in a high-pitched whiny voice. 

I wanted to cringe at her ridiculous attempt at pouting. Then, she noticed me and her eyes widened. 

"Oh! My! God! Look at you! Are you ok?" she called out. 

"I'm ok, it looks worse than it is," I told her as I moved away from her grabby hands.

"Christie, you'll have to find your own way back. Nate needs someone to take him home and look after him," he told her and her face went from concerned to pissed off. 

"What!" she screamed, pulling at Gabe's arm.

"You don't have to change your plans, Gabe. I only called because the doctor wouldn't let me leave alone. I can grab a cab, I'll be fine," I told him as I started to walk away but Gabe grabbed my arm. 

"No, it's not fine! That doc was clear that you should not be left alone for a few days. Plus," he started as he turned his attention to the blonde. "I didn't have any plans to begin with, did I, Christie?"

Christie pouted and looked a little sheepish like she'd been caught doing something wrong. I gave him a confused look. 

"I was at my club going through some paperwork when you called. When I came out of my office she followed me. She got into my car and I didn't have time to deal with kicking her out. I had no intention of taking her back."

He pulled me around her, opened the passenger door of his two-door Mercedes and told me to get in before going around to his side. 

Christie stepped back seething in anger as we pulled away. I could see her in the side mirror stamping her foot and grabbing her phone before we turned the corner. 

Gabe drove in silence and I finally allowed myself to succumb to the pain meds. When I came around, we were outside of a fancy-looking apartment complex. I could only assume it was his. 

"Why are we here?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Well, you were out for the count and I have no idea where you live. Plus it would be more convenient to take care of you here," he explained. 

He showed me inside and to the guest bedroom, before disappearing. A few moments later, he returned with some clothes for me to sleep in. I hesitated when I started undressing. 

Gabe seemed to sense my discomfort and told me to get some rest and that he was outside if I needed him. He shut the door and I got changed, crawled under the cool covers and fell into a deep sleep. I was unsure what the next few days would be like but I sensed that I would see a side to Gabe I hadn't ever seen before. I'm not sure I was ready for that.