Take Care

Jack was awoken by sobbing. And trembling. Alex had turned his back on him but Jack could clearly hear the heart-wrenching sounds he was making.

“Alex?” he asked cautiously.

Alex surprisingly enough turned around. Jack saw that his eyes were very swollen and red and the wound on his forehead had unfortunately started bleeding again. He still seemed a little drunk.

“I’m scared,” Alex whispered. He looked like a lost puppy except for the blood on his face which was kind of scary.

“May I hug you?” Jack asked. He had no idea what he was doing but it felt right to propose a hug.
Instead of a reply, Alex just crawled into his arms. He seemed so small, all curled up while Jack held him carefully and tightly.

“What are you scared of?” There was a small pause, but then, Alex replied.

“Him.”

“Who?” Jack noticed how Alex had started shaking a lot more.

“I… I can’t do this,” Alex cried.

“Shh, you can. And if you tell me who you are afraid of, I can help you better. I am here to protect you, Alex.” Jack was starting to think that this all might have something to do with the bruises on Alex’s arms but he decided not to jump to conclusions.

“I… my boss…” Alex stammered. Jack couldn’t help it, he immediately thought of the bruises.
“What about your boss?” Jack asked. He didn’t dare breathe, he was so nervous.

“He… did some bad things to me,” Alex whispered, almost inaudibly. Jack could feel his heart contracting painfully. He had been right.

“What bad things?”

“N-no...”

“You don’t have to tell me, but I think it might help you. Nothing bad will happen if you tell me,” Jack whispered reassuringly, even though his heart was pounding hard.

“He… forced me…” Alex swallowed. Jack patiently held him, trying not to become angry at Alex’s boss. “Forced me to have sex…”

Jack felt the blood draining from his face. He felt like someone had removed the bed underneath him and he was just free-falling. His skin started to feel hot all over his body while his heart felt like it had been left in the Antarctic for a year.

Alex started to sob again. All Jack could do was hold him. But there was one more thing he had to know.

“Lex… Are the bruises on your arm from him as well?”

Alex didn’t care anymore. He was still drunk, the alcohol blurring his thoughts and vision. All he felt was pain and anxiety, a muscle in his foot cramping and an incredible urge to puke.

“No.”

Jack was confused. He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Where are they from then?” he asked softly.

Before Alex could answer, he sat up, grabbed the bowl and threw up. After some heaving, he laid back again, crying even more now. Jack ignored the smell and cuddled him again.

“I did it.” It was so quiet, Jack barely heard it, but he did. And he had thought that he couldn’t feel more shocked. But he had been wrong. His heart skipped a few beats in the worst way possible.

“Alex… Wow. I don’t know what to say.” Jack had never been in this situation.

“Doesn’t matter. Won’t remember anything tomorrow anyways.” Alex mumbled. He snuggled closer to Jack. The latter held him, not knowing what to do. But he recalled how his mother had held him when he had been scared as a little boy. And she had always sung a song to him. Jack still knew every syllable, every note. So he sang it to Alex.

His voice was rough and a bit broken but he sang nevertheless. The words came out of his mouth, mixing with the melody to a wonderfully calming song. He could feel Alex relaxing in his arms.

---

When he woke up the next morning, the bed next to him was empty. No Alex. Just a small paper-scrap. He took it and read the small, scribbled words on it.

“I know I told you I won’t remember, but I do. I can’t stay here. I’m sorry. Thank you for everything. –Alex”

These few words ripped Jack out of his lingering dreams. He read it again, noticing how shaky the writing was. He got up, quickly put on the first thing he found and left the bedroom. He poured himself a glass of milk, drank it and grabbed his keys. He had two hours until his shift at the café started. Two hours to find Alex. When he wanted to open the front door, he saw another scrap of paper on the ground.

“Don’t go looking for me. I don’t want anyone to find me right now. I’ll be okay. –Alex”

Jack’s heart dropped for what felt like the thousandth time in the last 24 hours. He realised that he didn’t even know where to look for Alex. Nevertheless, he opened the door and stormed outside. It was raining hard, the air smelling fresh. He ran to his car.

At first, he just drove through some random streets, through the city centre but also more towards the suburbs. However, he eventually ended up at Alex’s workplace. He was about to go in when he noticed someone curled up on the sidewalk. He took a closer look and was delighted and shocked at the same time. It was Alex. Jack checked his watch. He had thirty more minutes. He crouched down.

“Hey Lex,” he said softly. Alex looked up, resembling a small fawn with his huge dark eyes and his light-brown hair all messy and dishevelled.

“Let me help you,” Jack cooed. He tried to gently touch Alex’s arm to help him get up but Alex jerked away, trembling and panicking. “Alex, I promise I won’t hurt you. Please let me help you.”

Alex just looked at him and Jack could see the sheer panic in his eyes. Alex was scared for his life.
“Alex, I will pick you up and we can drive away from here. You are safe with me. Do you understand?” Alex did the tiniest nod so Jack carefully and very slowly proceeded to pick him up and put him in his car. Alex was tense all over, curling up as soon as he was seated again.

“It’s okay, Lex. You are safe. I’m with you.” Jack looked at Alex worriedly.

“Your car smells funny,” were the first words Alex croaked out. He gazed off into the distance, looking like wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings.

Jack sniffed, surprised that Alex had said something. It really smelled kind of weird, he realised.
“I don’t know why,” he replied, smiling a little. Alex didn’t reply this time.

“I’ll drive us to the café. My shift starts in a bit, you can sit down and I’ll bring you hot chocolate and tea and whatever you want, really.”

At the word ‘shift’, Alex tensed up even more. He hurriedly checked his surroundings, looked at Jack, the fear back more prominently in his eyes.

“Alex? Did I say something wrong?” Alex looked at him, frantically clutching at the piece of paper in his hands. It caught Jack’s eyes and he decided to take a look at it.

I will find you. No matter where you hide.

“Alex, who gave this to you?”

“N-no.”

“Please, I need you to reply to this one question,” Jack pleaded.

“It w-was my boss. Ex-boss.”

Jack felt the adrenaline from the fear and fury kick in. He immediately started the car and they drove off. Only a few blocks away did he realise what Alex had just told him.

“You quit?” he said, turning to Alex. The small ball of fear nodded slowly. His eyes filled with tears.

“He will kill me…” he whispered, looking more scared than anyone Jack had ever seen before.

“No, shh, he won’t. We will go to the police later and they’ll help us. We’ve got this sheet of paper as proof.”

“The police won’t do shit,” Alex mumbled.

“They will. A friend of mine has a boyfriend that is a police officer and he will help us.”

“I-“

“Alex, believe me. I’m here with you. It’ll be okay.”

Alex didn’t look convinced but he remained silent. Jack pulled up at his parking space at the café.
“Want to come inside? I’ll make you tea and I don’t know, do you want some cake?”

“Thanks,” Alex murmured.

Inside the café, Jack had Alex sit down at a secluded table, making sure he always had him in plain sight but the other customers were not too close. He told his colleagues to leave Alex alone unless he requested something.

During his shift, Jack regularly checked up on Alex. He brought him hot drinks and cake. Alex drank all the tea but barely touched the chocolate cake. He felt nauseous, the picture of his boss with this awful look on his face not leaving his mind. It felt like he was cornered by him. He constantly checked the windows and doors for him. Every time someone entered the café, Alex jumped slightly. It was exhausting, to be honest. In addition to all this stress, he was horribly hungover. His head felt over-stuffed with cotton wool while his entire body was aching as well. His nausea didn’t exactly help. He had localised the trashcan and the closest bathroom pretty soon after arriving.

He had thought about using the small stone in his pocket to relieve some of his tension but he felt like the cotton wool in his head was somehow blocking all motivation even for this. He felt too broken and exhausted to engage in self-destructive behaviour. That was a first.

So he just sat there, focused on not puking, trying to warm his ice-cold insides with the chamomile tea Jack brought him cup after cup.

When the customers all seemed pretty content, chit-chatting away, and nobody had requested anything for a few minutes, Jack got out his phone. He dialled the number of his friend Zack.

The conversation was short but Jack was happy with the outcome. He had Zack’s cop-boyfriend’s number. He had only made some vague remarks about why he needed the number and Zack had seemed unsuspicious.

He kept an eye on the guests, Alex specifically, and dialled again. He knew that Martin was free, Zack had told him. And sure enough, Martin picked up.

“Martin Johnson?”

“Uh, hey, it’s Jack? Jack Barakat? Zack’s friend?”

“Oh yeah, Jack! I remember you! You were the dude who sang Single Ladies at that karaoke bar, right?”

“Um, I suppose.” Jack’s memory was maybe the tiniest bit blurry concerning that night. The tiniest bit.

“Yeah, that’s you,” Martin laughed. “What’s up, man?”

“Zack gave me your number. I have a question for you as a police officer. But like, keep it between the both of us if possible?” Jack scratched his neck. He felt hot.

“Sure, shoot!”

“Uh… So I know this guy and his boss did some awful things to him and now he finally quit his job. But the thing is, the boss - ex-boss - is threatening him now. I really don’t think he’s safe.” Jack chewed on his lip and took Alex in once more. He looked appalling. Pale as a ghost, constantly kneading his hands and checking his surroundings like a chased animal.

“Mhm, do you have any proof?”

“He and I can testify against the boss? And we have a handwritten note from him that says he’ll find my friend wherever he goes that sounds really threatening? Is that enough?”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. Can you come to the station?”

“Yes, of course. Where is it?” Jack asked, patting himself down for his waiter’s notepad. Martin gave him the address and Jack told him they’d come soon.

He talked to the other waitress and she agreed that he needed to go help Alex. She would cover his tables in the meantime. He went to Alex.

“Hey Lex. I’ve called my friend and we’re going to the police station.” Alex looked up at him and nodded a little.

“Do you still have the paper?” Alex’s reaction was a little movement with his head to indicate it was in his pocket. Jack nodded. “Okay, let’s go. Everything will be alright.”

He brought Alex to the car, half carrying, half dragging him along. Alex seemed like he was about to pass out. As he buckled up his seatbelt, Jack prayed to every known deity that Alex would be okay and that his torturer would have to face the consequences for what he’d done to him.

Notes

Long time no see! Finally managed to write this, I've had problems with a bit of writer's block for ages and finals and other stuff on top of that. But I hope you are happy with this chapter!

Do you have any suspicions what might happen next? Tell me what you think in the comments!

Take care,
-Laura :)