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“No,” I promised him. “You were a bully, not an asshole.” I huffed out a chuckle, the motion pulling at my lip and splitting the wound there open again. “Well, you were, but no. You never actually beat me up.”

“So who did?”

“Stop it,” I snapped. “I’ll take care of it.”

I wouldn’t though. I’d just go on with my life and keep a better eye out in dark parking lots. Trevor had never beat the shit out of me, but I was a scrawny nerd all through school. He wasn’t the only bully I’d dealt with over the years.

“And you didn’t ask for it?” he asked softly. “I mean, we’ve never discussed what we’re doing, so it’s not like you’re not free to get your kicks wherever you want.”

“Trevor,” I said, reaching out to touch his face, but pausing as I realized my hands were still bloody and covered in peroxide. “No one touches me like that but you. We don’t ever have to talk about what we’re doing, but there’s no one else.” I didn’t bother adding that there would never be anyone else. “This was schoolyard shit. Okay?”

He grunted, turning away from me, but I grabbed his arm, fuck the peroxide.

“Tell me you understand,” I demanded.

“I don’t understand,” he said, wrenching his arm free. “We’re…I don’t know what we are, Andy. But we’re something. And I don’t understand why you won’t fucking talk to me. Tell me who did this to you!”

I flinched as he screamed the last part at me.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m blaming you and that’s not fair.”

He was right, it wasn’t fair. And honestly, if it had been anyone but Mark, I might have told him. Might have sicced him on them and let him protect me the way he so desperately wanted to.

But there was something going on with Mark that I just didn’t understand. And until I could figure it out, I wasn’t going to say a word to Trevor. And he could deal with it, or he could go.

He stood up and for a minute I thought he was going to leave, but he just went back to the medicine cabinet, returning with the first aid kit before settling in beside me once more.

“I’m going to bandage up the worst of it,” he said, keeping his tone soft. “Then you’ll need to get out before the water gets too cold.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I told him.

“Yes, I do,” he insisted. “It’s my job to take care of you. Because clearly you don’t take care of yourself.”

I rolled my eye but didn’t bother arguing. He was going to be pissy and honestly he had every right to be. But I wasn’t going to change my mind.

He started opening bandages and I was kind of surprised at how many he ended up using. I knew Mark had landed some pretty good punches, but it hadn’t felt like my face was as bad as my stomach and back.

“Your sister is going to kick your ass when she sees you,” Trevor said as he pulled the plug on the tub to let the water start draining. “Unless she was the one that did this and that’s why you won’t tell me.”

“Stop it,” I complained, letting him help me climb out of the tub.

He grabbed a towel and turned back to wrap it around me, but paused, raking his gaze over me as I dripped water onto the floor.

I glanced down and could see bruises along my ribs and let out a sigh as I snatched the towel from his hand and wrapped it around myself.

“Goddamn it, Andy,” he growled.

“Enough.” I stepped past him to head to my room and I heard him gasp from behind me.

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed.

“What?” I asked, turning around to see a look of horror on his face. “What’s the matter?”

“How could you let me do that to you?” he asked, turning me around again and gently touching the skin around the bite mark he’d left in my shoulder Sunday morning. “Never again.”

“If that’s what you want,” I said, stepping away from him and walking out of the bathroom to find my sister sitting on the sofa. “Fuck!”

“Jesus Christ, Andy!” she shrieked, jumping to her feet and rushing over to me. “What the fuck?”