Feel Me?

Colt pulled Julian into the bedroom, away from the kitchen where they'd been making out for way too long, and sat down on the bed. After shutting and locking the bedroom door, Julian turned, stepped between Colt’s legs, and faced him.

Colt widened his stance, sliding his foot to hook it around Julian's calf. "Come on," he said quietly, feeling impulsive and on edge.

Julian huffed a laugh and leaned down, connecting their lips for only a moment before he pulled back and started yanking up Colt's shirt.

Except, something weird happened. Colt flinched and made a pained sound.

Julian stopped moving, still as a statue, before he turned his eyes up towards Colt's. Colt ducked his head down, refusing to meet Julian's eyes, and shifted anxiously on the bed. "It's nothing."

Julian's jaw clenched, and he let go of the shirt before standing up fully. "What happened?" He demanded lowly.

Colt sighed and took off his shirt painfully. Julian tried to reach out to help, but Colt had thrown the shirt to the ground before he could. Julian's eyes widened at the massive bruises decorating Colt's torso. Some of them were wrapping Colt's sides.

"What happened?" Julian asked again when his initial question received only silence.

Colt shrugged. "Just work. It's normal."

Julian narrowed his eyes at Colt. He's a fucking liar, and he knows it. "No one offered ice?"

Colt swallowed and looked away from Julian. He couldn't escape having to tell the truth anymore. Not with how perceptive Julian was.

"No one knew," Colt admitted as he stared at his hands in his lap. "I didn't wanna say anything."

Julian shook his head and left the room without a word. He went into the kitchen, pulled out one of the larger icepacks he had, and wrapped it in a hand towel.

When he came back into the room, Colt's head was in his hands as he cried softly to himself. Julian made a concerned hum and sat down on the bed beside Colt. He pushed the man's hands away from his face gently and held the icepack to his abdomen.

Colt sucked in a breath of air at the contact but took hold of the icepack himself. He shuffled back on the bed and lay down with the pillow under his head. Colt wiped his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. The room was silent.

Julian sat at the edge of the bed for another minute, thinking back to Colt coming over and showing zero signs of being injured. Julian didn't like those particular implications. After shaking himself free from his thoughts, he crawled up the bed and sat beside Colt, looking down at his glassy eyes.

"Were you afraid to ask for help?" Julian had to know. He can fix that. He can offer help in the only way he knew how if someone made Colt afraid.

"No…" Colt shook his head, and tears welled up in his eyes again. "I just- I don't like being needy, is all." He said it so casually. As if Julian wasn't absolutely ready to hunt down whoever made him feel like he was needy despite being injured.

"That's not being needy," Julian said firmly and lay down on the bed next to Colt, looking at the ceiling with him. "You're injured."

Colt sighed through his nose and turned his head a little in Julian's direction. "It's just bruises."

Julian felt his hand twitch in anger. Not at Colt, just everything that was happening. Everything that led to Colt being unable to ask for help like him.

"Bruises are injuries," Julian said quietly. He turned on his side to face Colt. "You need rest."

Colt shifted the icepack on his abdomen to cover another set of bruises. "Yeah…" He trailed off. "I'm really sorry for throwing this at you."

Julian's eyes narrowed. "What?" He's apologizing… for being injured?

Colt nodded, sure of his words, "Yeah, I'm sorry for coming over like this. You shouldn't have to deal with my shit, ya know? I'm an adult, I can take care of myself."

Julian was a little… dumbfounded. How do you respond to that? Even if you are good with words?

"Colt," Julian spoke softly now. "I'd rather you come here than suffer." He had to be open with Colt now; it was the least he deserved. Julian felt terrible. He'd put his hands on Colt's torso all night, and the man didn't even make a peep… Julian felt so guilty.

Colt sniffled and gave Julian a watery smile. "Thanks."

Julian hummed and looked down at Colt's bruises again. "20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. You know that, right?" He tapped Colt's hand holding the icepack so the man would know what he was talking about.

"Yeah, fortunately, they teach stunt guys how to treat their own wounds," Colt smiled at Julian, and Julian forced himself to hum in response. He was too busy processing Colt's entire situation, everything he'd just learned about the man in so little time.

Julian was too busy worrying if Colt understood his body's limits. Would he even listen if his body told him enough was enough? Or would he keep going until he dropped dead?

Julian closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Colt's shoulder. He didn't know what to offer Colt as comfort, so this was the best he could come up with for now.

"Stay tonight," Julian said. He wasn't really asking Colt. If need be, he'd stop Colt from leaving just to make sure the man got some legitimate rest.

Colt put a hand on Julian's upper thigh and squeezed. "I'll stay."

Julian threw an arm over Colt's chest and held onto his shoulder tightly, like he was anchoring the man to the bed. Colt pressed his head against Julian's and took a deep inhale. "Thank you…" He kissed the top of Julian's head lightly.

Julian squeezed his shoulder in response and lay there quietly until he knew Colt needed to move the icepack. He told Colt to put the icepack on a new spot and to let him know when it was warm so he could swap it out. Colt called him 'a mother hen' with a big smile on his face and then promptly fell asleep against Julian.

Julian kept an eye on him for another minute to ensure he was asleep before taking the icepack from him and putting it back in the freezer. He returned to bed silently and threw a blanket over the two of them, snuggling up against Colt's side but mindful of the bruises. He snuck a hand across Colt's chest to feel his steady heartbeat and fell asleep against him, knowing he'll have to broach this subject in detail with Colt at a later time.