LT’s Love, Bobby’s Blood

Running Toward Hope, Chapter 3

LT covers his face with his hands to ward off the blows.

He twists and rolls onto his stomach, but they just keep coming. Now the back of his head’s the target. He’s desperate to jump up and run. When he tries, his feet tangle up and fight him.

“Stop it! Fuck! Just leave me alone!”

“LT, sweetie! It’s just me, baby. Come on, wake up, please. It’s important.”

He can’t put a name to the husky voice, but just before sleep abandons him all the way, he starts to feel a little comfort. A little less guilty. A little more loved.

He blinks and finds Marissa’s green eyes just inches from his own. They’re hiding inside puffed up black bags, but they’re definitely his friend’s. He can’t remember where he is until he rolls over and dusty spears of sun sting his own eyes after lancing across the loft.

Now it comes back to him. He’s wrapped in a tattered blanket on a smelly couch Marissa found in the street a few weeks ago. By the look of the light stabbing in through the rusty grill, it’s still morning. He remembers a red glow already starting up by the time Tomas had finished grunting and grinding away on top of him.