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Next to Normal (CLOSED)

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AlexsSketches

AlexsSketches

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Joined
Aug 29, 2011
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School
Oliver took a deep breath, he could feel the bruises under his shirt and jeans. His brown hair was nearly matted to his from sweat. His brown eyes were a puffy red. He had to get away and he had run as fast as he could to the cafe that was his sanctuary. He grabbed his arm and rubbed it, it still hurt, hell his entire body hurt. He fidgeted before opening the door. "Hey Nick." he said and smiled as much as he could, waving to his friend. The only person he found that was normal in his life now.

He found a place to sit down and ordered a glass of water, his hands were shaking and he was trying to keep them down and out of sight, this fight was bad. He was positive that his eyes were red, but he was hoping that they weren't he didn't want Nicholas to see him like this. He rubbed his eyes, hoping that would magically get the redness out of his eyes.

Oliver nodded at the man who gave him the glass of water, and started to sip at it. He fidgeted in his seat, wincing every now and then when a bruise brushed up against his shirt or jeans. Jack was being an ass today, Oliver hadn't taken in the garbage that morning and Jack got mad at him, saying that Oliver didn't love him because of it.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Nicholas Shafer looked out the window of his small café and scowled slightly at the gray clouds accumulating in the sky. That would make it the third day straight with overcast and rainy weather, something that wasn’t serving as a particularly good remedy for the mood he was in. The new medication his doctor had put him on for his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was proving to be incredibly ineffectual, and his disposition had steadily deteriorated with each restless night that he endured.

And it didn’t help that he had two younger brothers to worry about. Of course, they were both adults, but since he had helped raise them after their father died, his self-proclaimed title of their protector had never really left him, especially after their mother was interred into the earth after he graduated from high school. The middle child had moved back to Germany after college and had gotten married, becoming a freelance photographer, while the youngest was currently enrolled in West Point.

He had contemplated taking the day off and just staying inside to try and catch up on his sleep, but he had ended up coming to the realization that going to work at his little corner coffee shop was the only escape he got from his “mental instability.”

Nicholas had been attempting to wipe some flour that had gotten on his dark blue button-up shirt when Oliver walked in, the German immigrant looking up with one of his rare smiles and greeting the younger man, though his grin was dampened by the rather obvious fact that something was wrong. He wasn’t about to make assumptions, but he had a pretty good idea what it was.

After the younger man’s water had been brought to him, Nicholas nabbed one of Oliver’s favorite pastries from the display case and put it on a plate, bringing it to his table and pulling up a chair next to him. He winced when he saw the boy’s puffy red eyes and trembling hands. Suppressing the tinge of anger that made his frown deepen, he crossed his arms over his chest and said in a low, slightly accented voice, “I don’t suppose saying that I’m available to beat someone up would make this any better, would it?”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver shook his head and set the glass of water down before he broke it. He shrugged "I should have taken in the garbage can, that's all. It was my fault." he said and fidgeted again, only to wince. He rubbed his eyes again "I mean, it really wasn't that bad. He's never broken any bones, just a few bruises here and there." he said, trying to cover up the wince that he had when he moved to grab the plate with his pastry on it.

He smiled a bit, Nicholas sure knew him well. Every time he came in here it was the same deal. Water, waiting, pastry, talking, deciding, it probably should have gotten old to him, but Oliver loved it. He liked that he could go somewhere and talk to someone about his problems. Nicholas always brought him this pastry, every time. He always new when Oliver was having a bad time, or there was an argument, and he always managed to make Oliver smile somehow by the end of it.

"It really hurts though this time...there's a lot..." he mumbled, trying hard not to fidget. He pushed his hair out of the way only to reveal a cut he didn't know he had, it wasn't all that bad, a small one where he had managed to escape a blow from some glass that was thrown at him. He needed to get out and fast, even if he wouldn't admit it.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Nicholas’s face remained relatively even throughout the whole of it, set in the same stony gaze that he traditionally wore, a look that intimidated most but seemed to never have any effect on the younger man sitting across from him. That was something that had always stuck the German as interesting; out of all the people he had frightened off with his brooding disposition, Oliver of all people had seemed to completely ignore it. They did look like an odd duo, the big angry-looking ex-Marine and the younger skinnier man who, when there wasn’t some domestic dispute, was rather bubbly.

Unfortunately, those domestic disputes were occurring with a greater and greater frequency. At first it had been only once every so often, though the stories were no less repulsive to a man who had been raised for the over half his childhood by a father who abhorred violence. The growing number of beatings wasn’t lost on him, and he was beginning to become even more concerning than he already was.

Very rarely did he make remarks concerning these cases of abuse - Nicholas wasn’t as nearly as open about things as his younger friend was - but he wasn’t one to sit idly by when things such as this were happening. He had met the man - Jack, he recalled - on one occasion, and the German had immediately hated him. If anything, he was a good judge of character, and this person Oliver was involved with was nothing more than a ball of scum.

So when he spoke, his voice was low and his tone was measured and serious, “Perhaps it’d be best if you took a break, ja? Maybe stayed with someone for a few days while things die down?”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver looked up to Nicholas "You know I can't do that. Even if I wanted to..." he said and fidgeted again, wincing once again. Tears were starting to boil up again and he took a unsteady breath, closing his eyes. Inside he knew Nicholas was right, he knew he need a break from Jack. Maybe let him cool down from whatever was making him angry. It couldn't be entirely his fault, could it?

"Even if I did, where would I go? Mom and Dad...they...they don't even know that this is happening. I can't really tell them either. That would mean telling them I'm gay." he said and looked down, his hands were shaking again against the glass of water he was attempting to pick up and take a sip from. "And I'm not telling them. You know I can't." he said, there had been more than one conversation about Oliver's parents being very religious and viewing homosexuality as a sin. How Oliver didn't turn out the same way, he would never know. All he knew was he had seen how his parents reacted when Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed. His father had gone so far as to say that America deserved anything bad that happened to them after that, while his mom sat back and said nothing.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

The German kept a straight face, though he winced internally when he saw the younger man on the verge of crying. He wished to some degree that he understood what Oliver was really feeling so he could better gauge what to say. He had never had to deal with coming out to his parents, or keeping it a secret, since they both had died before he realized that he was gay. He didn’t quite know what was worse between the two of them, having parents who would disown you if you came out or not having any parents at all.

“You…must have some friends, ja?” he asked, his native language continuing to slip into his speech from force of habit. “I know you have friends,” he added resolutely whilst an odd voice piped up in the back of his mind, You have me. Nicholas almost shocked himself. That was an odd thought, especially for someone as closed off as himself. A crazy thought, in fact; after all, wasn’t he just the foreign friend who ran the café on the corner of Fifth and Third? But it was worth a shot, he figured, especially since he remembered how it had felt to come home wounded from Afghanistan with two brothers to take care of and no one to help.

“I, erm…” he began rather clumsily, his hand wandering up to scratch the rough side of his face, “I have a spare room in my apartment. It’s a little, uh…shabby, but if you need a place to stay it should do. It’d be healthier than where you’re at now,” he added as a sober afterthought.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver gave a half insane chuckled "Funny...I was able to talk to a total stranger about what has been happening to me more than I could my friends. I have a few, but..." he trailed off, but Jack wouldn't let him see them, let alone talk to him. He always risked coming out here as it was. Jack sometimes would get mad at him for staying out too long. When Nicholas's words finally caught up with his thoughts he looked up. "I-I couldn't ask you to do that, Nick...you have people to look after, you don't need another one." he said, though he was smiling a bit.

It was a very nice offer and Oliver really wanted to take him up on it. He fidgeted some "Are you sure?" he asked and was holding on so tight to the glass, it was a shock it hadn't shattered yet. "I could pay rent or something like that." he offered "Though I don't know how I'm going to get out of the house, all my stuff is there, I'd have to go back for it." he looked at the glass as he spoke. "I know you don't like to be around people too often, are you really sure about offering me this?" he asked.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Was he sure? That was a good question. As Oliver had noted, Nicholas and people generally didn’t mix well, but it wasn’t necessarily because he didn’t like to be around them. They just didn’t like to be around him, but considering the fact that the end result was the same, it probably looked similar to someone from the outside looking in. But Oliver seemed to like him well enough, or at least enough to not have been initially frightened by and to confide in him about his problems with Jack.

“Ja,” he replied evenly, resting his elbows on the table. “I have two brothers who are grown men, and the one who would need to be looked after is married.” The middle brother, Gerard, had always been the slacker, whereas Nicholas and Leon had been the more industrious and responsible of the trio. “I worry out of habit. Gewohnheit,” he repeated in German with something resembling a smile.

“You can always go back and clean your things out when he’s not there, assuming he has a job or something of the like,” Nicholas offered. “If not…there’s old clothes at my apartment, things Gerard has left from when he visits. Those should be able to keep you until you can get some new clothes, or you can break in and steal your things back.”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

"Ge-ge..." he tried to repeat the word that Nicholas had said, failing horribly, languages were not his strong suit. "What?" he asked. Even if they weren't his strong suit he liked to learn new words from other languages.

Oliver nodded "I suppose. Would it be ok if I went with you tonight?" he asked, "I really don't want to go home right now, he might be there waiting. I don't want him to think something is wrong, I should be able to get my things tomorrow. Maybe I'll just leave them for a while, as long as your brother doesn't mind me borrowing his clothes." he said and rubbed his arm. He took a sip of the water and set the glass down. "Thank you." he said, looking back up to Nicholas. "This means a lot to me, you don't have to do this for me. I'm glad I have a friend in you." he added after a little while.

He had calmed down considerably from the way he was in the beginning of their conversation, he wasn't shaking nearly as much, his eyes were less red and his hair wasn't sticking to his face because it had dried. He ran his fingers through his hair "It's probably about time I leave him isn't it. He's not really happy with me...and I love him, so I guess, maybe I should let him go?" he was asking, not telling. Oliver really wasn't sure himself.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Nicholas chuckled when the younger man attempted to repeat the word, his pronunciation as clumsy as the German’s had been with English when he had first come to America. “Gewohnheit,” he repeated, trying his best to take the natural gruffness out of his pronunciation. “It’s German for ‘habit.’”

His behavior was surprising him. He was normally so aloof and distant, the fact that he was having a conversation like this with someone else after inviting them to live in his home was rather startling even to himself. “Tonight will be fine. And I assure you, Gerard won’t mind. He probably doesn’t even know their gone. I swear, that kid would lose his own head if it weren’t attached to his neck…” The German allowed his voice to trail off, shrugging to himself absentmindedly.

He looked down at the table for a moment before trying not to look surprised at the fact that Oliver considered him a friend. Those had been hard to come by for Nicholas, especially after he came back from Afghanistan with a whole slew of new problems to deal with.

“Let ‘im go,” the older man said, a hint of anger in his voice. “The man’s an arschloch.” He caught himself, then apologized, “Sorry. That’s German for ‘asshole.’ And it’s true,” he added.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver smiled at the German slipping into his native tongue, he found it kind of endearing. He sighed and nodded "I don't agree with you. He is really sweet and caring at heart, I'm sure it's something else." he said, but he knew he probably shouldn't ever go back to Jack. For his own safety. "I'll wait here for you, once you get off work." he said and started to sip at the water again. "Thanks again." he said and fiddled with the the plate a bit.

He felt a little awkward getting help from someone he barely knew, but they were friends. Which was good enough for Oliver, and if Nicholas was okay with it, than Oliver shouldn't mind. He could pay for rent as well anyway, it's the one thing Jack hadn't taken away from him. His job he had managed to get over that summer. He worked as an assistant coach for just about any little league sport out there. He wasn't supposed to go anywhere but there though.

Now, all he would have to worry about is Jack finding him. Which wasn't that hard since the job only met at one place, and the only other place that Oliver really ever went was the cafe. That made him shiver, scared to think about what Jack would do to him if he found him "H-hey, Nick...what am I going to do if he finds me?" he asked.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

The older man’s frown deepened slightly, but he let the matter rest. While he wasn’t what one would call judgmental, Nicholas did have a very firm opinion on certain types of people, and “asshole” was a relatively mild term for what he thought this Jack guy was. There were certain things that he had a low tolerance for, and the bullshit that Oliver’s boyfriend was pulling was ranked at the top of that list. But he bit his tongue all the same and looked down at the old table.

His head rose again at the inquiry of what the younger man should do if the said asshole in question were to locate him. In truth, the German hadn’t really thought of that, but the amount of time he spent thinking about his answer was short. “Well…assuming he’s not a complete idiot, he shouldn’t come in, not if you’re in my apartment. If he is…well, I’ve got a gun.”

Then he realized that that perhaps wasn’t the best thing to say to someone like Oliver who, if his guess was correct, wasn’t as easy with using a gun as he was. “Er…scratch that then. Just lock the door. If he tries to get in you can call the police and have him books for an attempt to break and enter, or something like that. Of course, I’m not as fond of him as you seem to be, so maybe my advice is a little more harsh than you’re looking for.”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver nodded "Ok." he said and took yet another sip from the water, he wasn't really sure what had happened to the pastry when he went to grab another bite of it, all he could assume was that he had eaten it. "Thanks again, Nick." he said and looked at him. "I mean it." he added after a little while.

Before long Oliver had his head on the table and was looking as if he was sleeping restfully for the first time in a year or two. He was sound asleep for the rest of the time. His shirt had ridden up slightly in the back, anyone coming up behind him would notice the bruises that were just now turning colours and a few cuts along with them that had healed over from a while ago.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Nicholas nodded politely, offering his best attempt at a smile. It suddenly occurred to him how brutally socially awkward he seemed and he quickly stood, taking the empty plate and returning to the back of the café. It was a relatively slow day, so he contended himself with attending to some odd tasks and things that needed to be repaired before it was time to close. When he finally actually really looked back out the window, Oliver was passed out rather comically on his table and it was nearly pitch black outside.

The German rubbed his tired eyes - he should have had more coffee when it had been hot - and grabbed his coat from a peg behind the counter. He tapped the younger man on the shoulder, grunting, “C’mon, kiddo. If you sleep like that you’re going to hate yourself in the morning. My apartment’s just a quick walk a few blocks from here.”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

Oliver jumped when Nicholas tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at him shocked for a second before realizing who it was that was there. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah." he said and got up grabbing his jacket from underneath the table and pulling it on. He followed the other home, constantly looking over his shoulder, he had never been out this late and away from Jack. He was starting to wonder if Jack was missing him or if Jack was ok. Though a part inside in him was worried that Jack would come after him.

As they walked more, the more Oliver moved closer to Nicholas. His thoughts psyching himself out about what was going to happen. The thing he most wanted was to get out of the clothes that he had on as quickly as possible, the rubbing against his bruises was starting to hurt. He glanced over to Nicholas, he didn't want him to see the bruises, he thought he had been good enough at hiding them, but who really knew but Nicholas himself.
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

His hands tucked away in the pockets of his simplistic black leather jacket, the German trudged at an easy pace along the chilly and desolate sidewalk. His thoughts were mostly preoccupied with thoughts about his café, what he would need to order, the payroll coming up at the end of the month, the crack in the wall in the back room that grew the more and more the building settled on its foundation, the next payment he’d have to pay for leasing the space, and the fact that in the ten minutes since they had left the café Oliver had considerably closed the gap between them.

He looked down at the younger man from the corner of his eye, contemplating just what it was that he was thinking about. Most likely about Jack and leaving him, and probably the smarting of the bruises that had gotten uglier and uglier as the day had progressed. He tried not to stare, but the simple fact that someone was perfectly fine with lashing out at someone else like that…

They reached his apartment building, a ten-story brick structure in a part of the city that was neither particularly good nor bad, and after a trek up three flights of stairs the finally reached where he lived. He led the smaller man inside, switching on a lamp and nodding towards the back of the small apartment. “The guest room’s back there. All of the clothes Gerard left should be there and the bathroom’s next to it. You can grab some painkillers from the medicine cabinet. They should be behind my, uh…” he paused for a beat before continuing, “pills.”
 
RE: Next to Normal (AlexsSketches, TheDemonBarber)

By the time they got to the apartment, Oliver was nearly falling into Nicholas, if it wasn't for him finally realizing just how close he had gotten to Nicholas, he probably would have falling into him. He headed up the stairs following Nicholas, and having a slightly hard time getting up them. Wincing every step of the way. Once they got into the apartment he looked around and gave a soft smile to Nicholas. He was still worried about Jack, but somehow finally being in a different apartment with someone that was starting to mean a lot more to him than he realized made him feel just a little better.

"Thanks, again. If you don't mind, I kind of would like to take a shower and then just go to sleep." he said and headed towards the back of the apartment. He would take up his offer of taking some painkillers, but he still wanted a nice shower. It would honestly calm him down a lot easier than the painkillers would. That combined with a good nights rest, together would help him ease his mind, if only for a few hours. He stopped by the bathroom and looked back at Nicholas "Nicholas, I know I've said this a lot today, but really...I am very thankful for this. If there is anything I can do to thank you, really, please ask. I can cook or clean or something." he said and smiled a bit before heading into the bathroom, finding the pain killers, trying hard not to snoop through the medicine cabinet. Luckily he was a little too tired for that.
 
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