Call it Fate, Call it Karma

When we got back to the apartment, I groaned at the sight of about 7 people, all passed out in the living room...Nick and Niko included.

"Take him to the bathroom." I told Albert and Fabrizio.

Once Julian was sat on the edge of the bathtub, much against his will, I knelt down and peeled the bloody shirt off of his arm. After examining the deep cut on his forearm for a while, I sent Albert to go grab some disinfectant and a bandage from the first aid kit I knew we had somewhere. Julian watched closely with a frown the whole time I cleaned up his arm.

"Fab, be a sweetheart and go steal a shirt from Albert's room?" I said to Fab when I was somewhat content with my work and had gotten the bleeding to slow down. Fab nodded and whizzed out of the room, whilst Albert walked in with all the things I'd asked for.

"This is gonna sting." I told Julian as I poured some of the disinfectant onto a damp cloth. Julian winced in pain as I applied it to his wound, but it was over quickly and I wrapped the bandage around his arm. "We'll take you back later to get it stitched, okay?" I would've said 'tomorrow', but it was nearing 6AM.

As I stood up to wash off the blood from my hands in the sink. Fabrizio rushed in with a gray T-Shirt.

Albert scrutinised the shirt with a frown. "Is that mine?"

"Shut up." I nudged him, snatching it off Fab. "Okay, you guys go get some sleep. I'll stay with Jules."

Fab leaned in to whisper. "You sure you're gonna be okay alone with him?"

"Yes, go." I shooed them out of the bathroom and closed the door. I turned back to Julian, who was still shivering. I could still see most of his ribcage through his skin, which made me feel another pang of hurt for him. I handed him the shirt. "Put it on."

He didn't take his eyes off of me as he slipped it over his head.

I closed the lid of the toilet and sat down on top of it, stifling a yawn. "Are you gonna talk to me now, Jules? What happened to your arm?"

"I don't need your pity." he spoke in a low tone, his voice hoarse.

"And I don't need your fucking attitude!" I yelped, pointing a finger at him. "Tell me what the fuck happened!"

He took a few shaky breaths, thinking if he should speak or not.

"I still care about you, Jules." I said. "We all do. Please let us help you?"

"I got in a fight." he croaked. "There was...there was a guy with a knife."

"A knife?!" I couldn't believe my ears. "Why the fuck were you in a knife fight?!"

"I didn't have a knife." he weakly shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't pay the guy what I owed him."

"We'll talk about that shit later...wait a minute," I paused to think. "Please don't tell me you're caught up in drugs."

Julian shrugged again and extended his arm. I could see sores and little dots all up his arm -- pricks from needles.

I did my fair share of drugs when I was messed up, but I was always too scared to try anything involving needles, so that freaked me the fuck out.

"Oh, Julian no!" I gasped and started to aggressively rub my temple with one hand. "Why, Jules?!"

Julian looked away, going silent again. I felt so sad, but I couldn't cry in front of him. I needed to show him I'd matured.

I took a sharp breath in, still rubbing my temple. I couldn't make him feel bad about it. He needed to know that he was safe and loved.

"You look hungry. Are you hungry? Of course you're hungry!" I jumped up and grabbed his hand. "Come."

Julian hesitantly followed me into the kitchen and watched me rummage through the cupboards, looking for something satisfactory that he could eat.

"I don't need anything from you." he finally spoke. "I'm not hungry."

"Shut the fuck up, you look like a skeleton." I hissed, pointing a finger at him. "Don't you lie to me."

After forcing some food into him, he finally eased up and drank the glass of water I gave him without being persuaded to do so.

The sun began to shine through the kitchen window, making me sigh. "I'm gonna have to call in sick for work." I said as I lead Julian into my bedroom and closed the door. At this point, I was too tired to pick up the phone and have a conversation with Colin. "Meh...Albert can do it for me."

"Can I leave now?" asked Julian, standing awkwardly by the bed.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" I scoffed, pulling aside the covers for him. "Fuck no! Get in."

Julian reluctantly laid down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. For some reason, I didn't feel weird about sleeping beside him. He just needed help. He needed love...someone to care about him again. He looked as though he'd been deprived of those things for quite a while.

I crawled into the bed beside him. "Promise me you won't leave again? Please, Jules..."

Julian said nothing and closed his eyes. I reached over to gently move his long, scraggly hair out of his eyes, he frowned as I did. I made a mental note to make sure to tell him to shower when we got up as I flicked off my lamp.

"I don't want you going back to the life you had just before we found you, okay? You have people who love and care about you. Don't ever forget that." I sighed. "I know you felt like we all betrayed you, but we did it because we cared. We looked for you for so long, man. We were so scared you might've been dead somewhere!"

The sound of Julian turning over to face me made me wish there was a light on so I could see him clearly. The early morning sun was no match for the drawn blinds on my window.

"I'm sorry." he whispered.

"Me too."