six

I grab his hand and push him outside the door of the store. I put the towels, tissue box, bandages and ointments on the counter and Ed hurries up after noticing my worried expression but doesn't question it. I hand him a few bills and rush out the door and sigh in relief when I find Sam still there.

"I'm taking you to my place." He opens his mouth to speak but shuts up after taking in my concerned expression.

I push open the door, not really concerned about anything but the bleeding.

It doesn't matter if I barely know him, he needs help and I'm gonna help him first.

I quickly push him onto a chair and crouch down in front of him.

"I'm gonna roll your sleeves up, I'm sorry in advance if I accidentally hurt you." I quickly manage to roll his sleeve up and the blood on it could've made me puke any other day but right now? No.

I clean the wounds using the new towels dipping them in water first. As the blood goes out of the way, the skin becomes clearer.

They're not wounds, they're cuts. Something you'd get only from a blade. I can tell from experience.

"I'll get you a multi-vitamin tablet and water, don't faint on me okay?" I ask caressing his hands with mine and he nods quickly making me smile a little.

I hand him the tablet and he tries to take it but the cuts on his wrist must have hurt as he kept it back shaking his head with a clenched jaw. I grab the pill and guide to his mouth feeding it to him and then help him take the water.

"You know, I could've used my other hand?" He whispers slowly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I panicked, I didn't think of that." I say rubbing the back of my head like Jim does. I picked up so many habits from him.

"Thankyou" He says with a quivering lip and I shake my head dismissively.

"Can I ask why?"

"What why?"

"Why do you hurt yourself? Are you suicidal or is somebody hurting you?"

He looks at me dead in the eye and I watch as his eyes water up before he blinks them away and looks up. I hand him a tissue and resist the urge to hug him and comfort him.

"It's okay, don't say it if it hurts you." He doesn't say anything for some time.

"Do you want a hug? You sure as hell need it but-" I don't even finish when he crushes me into a hug. I hear him cry as I try to take in what just happened.

"I-I'm very lonely Mia." He says in between sobs and I hesitantly rub his back. He pulls away after some time and I wipe his tears with my thumb.

"Don't do it again."

"That's not how it works. It's like, an addiction, I feel light after doing it."

"Why were you scared at the store today then? Your hands tell me you've been doing this for quite some time now." I trace over the bandages sitting on a chair next to him.

"I, was looking for bandages."

"Okay? With a bloody sleeve?"

"I wanted to shake hands with you tomorrow but," He stops mid sentence shutting his eyes close tightly.

"But, I ended up doing it again then I panicked and couldn't find bandages."

"I thought if you saw the wound you'd be scared like others before. I was happy to finally have a friend, then something happened and I-"

"Tell me tomorrow. Rest for now, are you gonna be on the couch or do you want the bed?"

"Do you have another bed?" He asks giving me his cute eyes again. There goes my heart.

"No, I'll sleep on the floor next to you, does that work tall-guy?"

He nods and I hand him a caramel candy from the kitchen.

"Candy?"

"Yes, I'll keep you on a sugar high from tomorrow so you stay happy and smiley."

I wink again, smiling and he chokes again.

"You're cute."

"Hey Sam, it's time to wake up." I whisper shaking him slightly. I'm a little awkward since I don't know if I should touch him like that or not. What if he gets irritated and doesn't talk to me and hurt himself again? We definitely don't want that.

"Good morning Mia." He says ducking inside the duvets to hide his face from the sunlight.

"Good morning Sam, I think you should wake up before I get angry." I warm him standing like Jackie Chan, with arms in front of me and one leg up.

"Could you give me a minute? My morning face isn't that great." He says still under the covers but laughing a little.

"I already saw it, you're the same as day and night but it's okay, I'll be nice." I go out the room waving my hands in the air. Well, that wasn't too awkward.

Ten minutes later, he comes out of the room, hair done and the cap back in its place.

"Sam, honey, do you really think it's a good idea to wear a blood smeared hoodie to school? Come, I'll give you one of Jimie's over-sized hoodie or shirt."I say leaving the eggs I was gonna make for us and dusting my hands off. I pull him along back in my room.

I check the cupboard only to find a black shirt Jim forgot after he got drunk at a party and a pink hoodie he gave me as a gift. It was his but he was going off for some work so he thought I won't miss him if I have the hoodie. He's so dumb but so cute.

"Here, I think it'll fit, Jim lost a lot of weight recently." I hand him the shirt and leave the room.

I'm concerned, Jim has been losing more and more weight, he looks good any way, weight doesn't really matter. I think somebody's talking him into doing this. I'll protect that baby.

The door open revealing a very gorgeous looking Sam. The eggs in my hand drop on the counter, staining my pants a little. The shirt fits him just right and the blue jeans are doing me no good. He looks perfect except one thing. The cap, why does he wear it?