Question: do you have any severe scars?

Answer: I have a scar on my left thumb from a deep cut, but it's not that serious. Tell me about yours. Hehehe.

(Friendly warning: this chapter contains really graphic, intense violence.)

Chapter 51 - Everything Goes Wrong.

Oliver

Wednesday and every one of us were doing whatever we wanted to with our time. We were just a bunch of students in school without a purpose. There were no lectures or group experiments, but the professors were still in school, attending to the students who cared to come to them.

However, the library was open and Kevin had been spending most of his time there. Not for the reasons you think. The main reason he spent so much time at the library was because Lighthouse WiFi was almost absolute garbage, and he had these reality competition shows he was streaming. He hated the glitch and hang which were almost nonexistent whenever he streamed in the library. 

Khalid and I had realistically been spending all of our time together. Well, except at night whenever we had to go to sleep. But even then, we sometimes stay up till 3 a.m. During the day, when Kevin was at the library, we would stay together in my room watching movies… and sometimes make out. Then in the evening, we would go strolling. 

Today wasn't any different. Kevin had gone to the library in the morning, Khalid had spent the entire half of the day in my room, and we'd gone strolling in the evening, just minutes after Kevin got back from exploiting Denberg's kindness to their students.

We'd taken our usual routes, strolled through the next two streets before getting to the lake. We would normally spend the most time here before deciding to stroll back. 

Since some students had already left the school for their houses, the streets were a lot more desolate than they usually were. We hadn't strolled too far away from the path that led right to the lake when a familiar voice called out my name. Well, my nickname-- the one literally no one calls me anymore.

"Oi, Jimmy!" 

We both stopped and turned around to see this _person, and I kept hoping beyond hope that it wasn't who I thought it was. Unfortunately, it was. 

There was Casper and three other boys. One of which I recognised from the party to be his _minion; the one who had spanked my buttocks after Casper had walked away. 

"Let's just keep walking. Let's just get out of here," I hastily tugged at Khalid's shirt, attempting to pull him with me but he remained still.

"No, we won't do that. You've already put him in his place, you shouldn't be scared of him anymore," Khalid replied, rejuvenating my courage. 

Some minutes after hearing him stay that, I stood my ground and schooled a straight face. However, I still had a bad feeling about this encounter.

"What are you two muttering about?" Casper casually asked, swaggering up to us with his friends trailing behind. 

"What is it, Casper?" I asked coldly, feigning a bored expression. 

"I told you we were going to finish that conversation some other time," he began, gesturing to our surroundings, he continued. "Under different circumstances." 

"I told you we wouldn't," Khalid rounded on him, furious. "Get off our backs, boy."

"Who are you calling boy, you foreign Muslim terrorist?" A wry smile formed on his face but there was sneer in his voice.

"I would advise you not to say that again," Khalid warned, the rise in his temper audible through his tone. "Actually, never say it again."

"Fucking Muslim terrorist," Casper cussed with such composure. 

"But of course you wouldn't listen to me," Khalid deadpanned. "Let's go, babe." 

He draped his arm around my waist and turned us around. But when we did, two of the other guys with Casper blocked our way, stopping us from leaving. 

"I don't think you're going anywhere until we're done talking, lads," the boy from the party smirked. "I wonder why you're a poof. If you take a proper, bick dig like mine you wouldn't want to be gay anymore, trust me." 

"You mean--" 

The other guy standing beside him started. 

"I know what I said, Josh. Shut up!" He snapped. 

But he cut the boy off before he could completely voice his thoughts.

"Over here, Jim. Look over here," Casper sang, tapping my shoulder before roughly spinning me around. 

"Hey!" Khalid yelled, smacking his hand away. "Don't you dare touch him again!"

"Ouhh, I'm scared," Casper acted, covering his mouth with his hands. "Look here, Arab, you should really watch your tone now. Just because we were in your safe space, you were feeling all high and mighty. Here, in these lovely, lonely streets, you're absolutely nothing. You should know that."

"Are you asking for a fight?" Khalid pushed me behind him, standing in between Casper and I while sizing up to him. 

"Oh, no, I'm not," Casper withdrew, taking a few steps, and for a second I felt relief until he continued. "I'm not even here to see you. My business is with Oliver," he turned to me. 

"You've no business with him," Khalid refused with a plain, cold voice filled with disdain. 

At this point, I just hid behind my boyfriend. This was getting so heated up, I wasn't ready for this. I couldn't ever be ready because I hadn't even been in a fight before. My heart had begun to race and my palms grew all sweaty all of sudden. I didn't even realise that I was fisting Khalid's t-shirt until he placed a soothing hand over mine to help me relax. 

"Oh, but I do. You see, I've been waiting for this moment all week. For days now, I've been watching the both of you stroll down this street, and I've just been waiting for the right moment to chat with Jimmy," Casper announced. 

"One thing: I need you to stop calling him that," Khalid demanded, inching closer to Casper with a menacing glow in his eyes. 

"You know what, I think I've had enough of you. Nate, please get him out of my face," Casper ordered then stepped back.

"Of course." 

The boy who'd assaulted me at the party, whose name had turned out to be Nate, said with a malevolent giggle in his voice as he lunged forward and shoved Khalid, who quickly caught both of his hands, threw them aside, and landed a punch on his face. The punch had almost made him lose his footing, but it surely turned off the lights in his head for a few seconds.

The brutal force, the crack sound, the dark glow in Khalid's eyes-- everything was terrifying. Shuddering, I held my hands to my chest. My nose was unable to get a sufficient amount of air into my lungs as I kept gasping for air. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Khalid quickly apologised, almost instantly regretting his impulsive decision to smack Nate across the face. "But you need to stop. I'm warning you," he finished with a hard tone which he tried to make sound calm. 

Nate, however, did not heed to his warning. He lunged forward and quickly caught Khalid's jaw with his right hook. I gasped and took shaky steps backwards. My teeth chattering, my eyes stinging with tears as I unconsciously mumbled 'Please stop' continuously under my breath. 

Khalid instantly retaliated, giving him an equal blow and following with a second one which I thought was sure to knock Nate out but he only staggered backwards and spat bloody saliva out of his mouth. 

"You're so dead, you terrorist," he growled and attacked Khalid again. 

But Khalid skillfully and effortlessly maneuvered him, throwing him hard to the ground. Once Nate was on the ground with his back, the other two rushed to Khalid and tackled him to the floor when he wasn't even looking. They were all hovering above him now, showering him with blows as he tried to protect his face with his hands. 

It took all three of them to keep him pinned to the floor. Nate had taken a minute to stop the ringing in his ears, but once he'd recovered from Khalid's beating, he'd joined the other to beat Khalid into a mess. 

"That ought to keep him down," Casper uttered, content with the job his minions had done. "Now come, I've business with you." 

Casper took a fist full of my hair and harshly pulled me along. Pain seared from my scalp down to my face and to my eyes, making the tears welled in them stream down graciously. My entire upper region was overcome by acute pain, and I thought my hair was going to be pulled right out of my head. 

"C-Casper, please. Please, don't do this. P-please," I trembled, crying and begging but he didn't listen to me. He didn't seem to care about the pain he was inflicting on me at all.

When he pulled me some distance away from where his friends were battering Khalid, he took my left arm and twisted it all the way back. He twisted it to the extent that it literally snapped. I couldn't help it, I let out a loud, shrill cry, wailing at the pain I felt in my shoulder and my elbow. It was like none I'd ever felt.

When he let go of the hand, I didn't care to move it or check its condition. I just let it swing painfully by my side. A content smile was plastered on Casper's face as he watched me cry out of immense pain. 

"That didn't sound like a 'Shut up, Casper'," he imitated me, giggling to himself. 

Before I could stand up straight and check my arm, he rushed towards me and slammed his fist into my stomach. The action had me gasping for air, while whatever that had been regurgitated from my stomach back into my mouth, poured right out through my nose and mouth.

My other hand searched the air, looking for something to hold on to because I was losing my stamina. I couldn't even see clearly any longer. Casper approached me and caught my good hand which searched the air, then held me up against his body. 

"Aw, is poor Olly with his silver hair in pain?" He mocked, punching me yet again in my guts, and I hadn't even recovered from the first one. 

That was it. I fell to the ground on my knees, leaning over with my good hand clasped around my stomach as I retched and gasped for air. My eyes were teary and blurry, black dots cavorted around my vision, and my head got all fuzzy due to the lack of oxygenated blood flowing to my brain. 

"Now, let me tell you one thing, I'm very concerned about my ego, and you made so many dents in it when you said all that rubbish to me in your dorm. You've to pay the price for that, you wazzock," he said, standing over my kneeling figure. 

He then placed his foot on my head and forcefully kicked back, tipping me over to now lay on my back. He then got on one knee and turned me over, aggressively pressing my face against the hard, cold, tarred road. 

He said something, but I didn't quite hear him because of the ringing in my ears. It seemed my silence annoyed him because then he pulled my head up and roughly smashed it into the ground. That was all I needed for my eyeballs to start rolling back into my head. 

"Answer me! Answer me! Answer me!" He demanded, lifting my head and smashing it back into the ground every single time he spoke. 

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," I speedily answered, weeping and praying he would just stop assaulting me. 

But he didn't. Even after I replied, he kept smashing my head into the ground until I thought it was going to pop open.

"Casper, you need to stop! And we've to go!" 

The boy who sounded like Nate yelled at him. It seemed they still had Khalid pinned to the ground, or maybe he had passed out, or given up the fight. 

"Fucking Casper! Shit! We'll get caught!" Nate yelled again. 

Casper smashed my head to the cold ground a few more times before getting up and sprinting away with his friends, leaving only Khalid and I to suffer our pain. I personally was on the verge of giving up. I couldn't hold on to my consciousness any longer. I was losing so much blood from the wound in my head, and my entire body was marinated with excruciating pain. 

"Oliver," Khalid moaned. I couldn't move any part of my body, I couldn't see. But I could tell he was a bloody mess, as well. I could hear him crawl up to me with his hands and knees. 

When he got to me and saw me bleeding out from my head, he seemed to get a new supply of power and energy because then he instantly got agile and got up.

"Oliver! Oliver! Please don't close your eyes. Don't do it," he begged me, but I couldn't hold on any longer. I could feel the warmness of my blood around my forehead, my head was drenched in it. 

"Ya 'ilahi!" He exclaimed and got his hands under me. 

I tried to say something to him, but once he lifted me up, everything went black and I passed out. 

* * *

Waking up to pain originating from almost every part of my body, I couldn't tell exactly in what condition I was, or where I was. 

Fluttering my eyes to clear my vision, I got the smell of drugs, and I recognised the feel of a soft pillow under my head, the warmth of the blanket my legs were covered with. When I achieved a clear vision, I looked around, and the first face I saw was Mason. He was also the only person I could see around me. 

Apparently, he was the only one in the room with me. This was the first time I'd seen him since I almost broke him-- since he'd told me that he needed some time away from me. He probably couldn't stay away any longer after hearing the news of what had happened from the others. 

"Hey," I muttered with a throaty, husky voice to get his attention, because he was bent over, leaning on the side of the bed I was laying in. 

On hearing my voice, he drew his head up immediately and scanned my face. 

"Oh, you're awake," his voice came out soft and worried. 

"Yeah, I am. Where's this place?" I asked the first question on my mind. 

"You're at DUTH," he answered and I released a sigh of relief. 

Thankfully, I wasn't somewhere terrible or somewhere my mum would be aware of what had happened to me. I was at Denberg University Teaching Hospital. 

"What time is it?" I asked another question.

"9:25 a.m," he answered monotonously. 

"What day?" I started to wonder how long I'd been unconscious. 

"Thursday." 

"Oh," I muttered, calculating for myself. "So I was out throughout the night."

"So I was told. I just arrived this morning. I relieved Jess, Yadiri, one other of your dorm mates, and your boyfriend." He said the last word like it was really bitter in his mouth. "They left to take a shower and they'll probably come back with something for you to eat."

"Oh, thank you," I muttered, trying to find a way to keep my head without it hurting so much.

"For what?" 

"For relieving them, and for coming to see me even after everything," I stated. 

"Life isn't to be joked with, Olly," he replied dryly.  

"Ugh, my head hurts. My whole body does," I moaned, muffling a cry. 

"Sorry about that, but the student nurse just left. She should be back with your pain meds in a few minutes. Just wait a little, okay? I mean, it's not guaranteed that the pain meds will make the pain go away, but at least it'll make it bearable," he announced.

"Yeah," I agreed. 

Taking an inventory of where all this pain actually came from, I could tell my head was wrapped in a bandage, my arm was in a cast, and there were tiny band-aids over cuts on my face and legs.

"God, it hurts so much," I muttered. 

"You've got a hairline fracture and a dislocated arm. I understand and I know that it hurts," Mason agreed with flat tone, motioning to my head and arm as he spoke.

We stayed in silence for a while before Mason spoke up again.

"So, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you about what?" I babbled, slowly bringing my eyes to his. 

"About Casper. Why didn't you tell me, or Jess, or anyone that he was still bullying you? I wanted to wait till later to bring this up, but I just can't. I just can't understand why you didn't tell anyone." 

Mason sounded thoroughly annoyed, but it seemed he was more mad at himself than at me. 

"I didn't want to bother anyone. I wanted to deal with Casper alone. I wanted to show him to respect me by myself, and I did, for a while. That's why he came after me like this," I revealed. 

"You seriously did not think it wise to tell at least one person that Casper was still bullying you?" 

"Chris knew," I voiced a stupid counter which sounded better in my head. 

"Who on Earth is Chris? And did your mother ask him to take care of you and stick by your side just like she asked me?" Mason retorted, unable to keep his voice from pitching. 

"No," I mumbled, looking away from him, feeling nothing but utter disappointment in myself. 

"I can't believe this, Olly. You kept me this far, yet I thought we were so close," he let out a humourless laugh. Wiping a tear away from his eye. 

"I'm sorry, Mason. I really am. I just thought I could handle this one thing myself." 

"It's alright. The damage has already been done. Literally," he motioned at my bandaged head and my cast. "I can't let Casper get away with this, though."

"Please don't do anything rash. I'm begging you," I quickly interjected that thought. 

"Yes, I've heard you. Don't worry about me," he waved me off and sounded a bit sarcastic. 

It hurt me to know that he thought I actually do not worry or care about him. I worry so much about him, and that was exactly why I did not want to get him involved with Casper. 

"Jess, Yadiri, and your boyfriend should be back soon. Your boyfriend will be the one driving them back," he informed. "Seems like Casper also gave your boyfriend a beating," he kept saying the word 'boyfriend' like it was bitter in his mouth. 

"Casper had friends who helped him." 

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry for your boyfriend's face," he apologised with a voice devoid of any emotions.

"His name is Khalid. You could just call him Khalid."

"No," he blatantly refused. 

"Oh, okay." 

"So, um, one of my closest friends is performing at the end of semester concerts. We're all going to be there to support him. I don't know if you're coming, but if you're not, you should come, too. And if you are, then you should sit with us," I said. Then quickly added, "That's if you don't have people you're going with already."

"I wasn't really planning on staying till the end of the entire event, but if you're staying, I suppose I will then," he answered, rubbing his eyes. 

"Oh, okay, thanks. I guess we'll meet there?" 

"Yeah, we will. Which one of your friends is performing?" He asked, smoothing out my bed sheet. 

"Mako," I answered. 

"Do I know him?" 

"I don't think so. But he stays in my dorm. You might've seen him before," I announced. 

"Hmm, okay then. As long as it's not your boyfriend," he said coldly. 

Well, crap.

"No, it's not," I asserted. 

Mason left immediately the girls returned with Khalid. The tension in the air before he left was palpable. It was glaringly obvious that they didn't like one another, and probably couldn't stand themselves for more than an hour. 

Mason was right, Khalid's face was in a mess. He was covered with cuts and bruises, but thankfully, nothing was broken, I hope. I think his nose was, though. But when I asked him, he said it was fine. Yet he spoke with a throaty voice, like air couldn't pass through his nose any longer. 

It was pretty obvious that he was just being strong for me because unlike me who had fractures and dislocations, he just had bruises and cuts. 

The doctor said that I would have to spend another night in the hospital so I could be monitored properly, and if everything was fine by morning, I would be free to go. This was good news for me, because that meant I could still make it to the end of semester concerts to watch and support Mako's performance. 

Everything was alright by the next day, so I was discharged with drugs and a ton of pain meds because, as the doctor said, I would need it. My arm was still wrapped in a cast, my head was in a bandage, and I was given an arm sling for support. 

That was my very first time using an arm sling. Hell, it was the very first time I even touched one-- all thanks to Casper. However, I refused to let him do away with all the happiness I'd suffered the entire semester to acquire for myself. I chose to look over all of this and focus on the bright side only. And yes, there were bright sides. 

My arm didn't hurt as much as my head did. Thankfully, the pain meds were really effective, but sleep inducing. I couldn't use them if I wanted to stay awake for a long time.

Getting back to my dorm, taking a shower was almost an impossible mission with the cast, and I was too embarrassed to ask for help. However, Khalid came from absolutely no where, barged into the bathroom, and helped me out. He also showed me ways to bathe with a cast because he'd had one before. 

It was a surprise I didn't die of sheer embarrassment while he was in the bathroom with me, looking at my completely naked and wet body. But then, he was my boyfriend. That was his job and I couldn't stop him from doing it. 

I loved that he loved to do it.

* * *

AN: No words for this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Or didn't, anything is fine.

Please don't forget to leave a vote! Till next time, Gemstones. Stay happy, stay safe.

Also, don't forget to take a glance at the book of short stories on my profile.