Hide Away With Me

The house located at 120 Willace Ave. had been abandoned for as long as the folks of Halberd County could remember. The run-down wooden structure was rumored to have belonged to an old witch who was burned during the witch trials. Ryan suspected that was an old wife’s tale made up by the locals to keep children away from the dangers of the dilapidated building. The stories must work because no one ever trespasses out this way except tonight. Ryan hugs his jacket closer to his body. the autumn air was crisp, a cold chill telling of the oncoming winter. He knew the old ruins wouldn't shelter him from the cold perfectly but at this point it was better than going back home. A shiver rattled through his body causing his bruised ribs to ache and take his breath for a moment. ' Just a few more feet, then you can rest.' Ryan thought to himself cursing the pain his stepfather had so generously gifted him earlier that evening. A few more days and his mother would be back from her business trip and the beatings would stop, for a while anyway. Ryan stepped gingerly up the old stoop testing each wooded board for sturdiness. The front door was slightly ajar, and Ryan could see an orange light filter out into the night. He slowly pushed the door open whispering a cautious "Hello?” Inside Ryan could tell the glow was coming from an old propane run heater set up on the far wall next to the stairs, but he could not determine who had set up the heater in the first place. “Hello.” Ryan heard the repeated greeting before a man appeared from around the landing of the stairs. It was Zane. His face was framed by the hood of his jacket and the low gleam from the heater reflected a yellow orange across his face, his blue eyes glinting with slight amusement. Zane Andrew Mason was a 6-foot tall, 21-year-old reputation. His athletic build and strength made him a must have on the football team 4 years ago, but he had refused to try out every time the coach asked. He always wore the same solid black hoodie, a band tee and blue jeans. He was pale in complexion with short black hair and the bluest eyes Ryan knew in existence. Blue eyes that made women faun and men jealous. He was notorious for turning down advances from anyone who tried and preferred to spend his days alone. Zane’s past was a mystery to the whole town, bar the fact that Sheriff Mason and his wife adopted Zane when he was nine, no one knew anything. “I didn’t think anyone came out to this place.” Ryan’s statement was one of shock and confusion. None of his friends would be caught dead in this place but he guessed Zane was counting on that. Zane let out a low half chuckle placing his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie,” I could say the same to you, what are you doing out here this late kid?” “I’m not a kid, I’m 18 and… none of your business.” He probably didn’t need to be so snobby, but Ryan felt insulted at being called a kid, he was a senior in high school after all. The look Zane shot his way didn’t seem too impressed by Ryan’s bravado even in the low light, he looked annoyed. They stood staring at each other for a moment before Zane shrugged and went to sit back down by the heater. “Fine, stand there or come sit where it’s warm, up to you.” The words took Ryan by surprise, part of Zane’s reputation was that he liked to be left alone and often scared people off when they tried to approach him. Ryan stood for a second longer before another shiver wracked through his body, he tried desperately not to groan with the pain radiating from his ribs as his muscles contacted from the cold. If Zane noticed, he didn’t say, much to Ryan’s relief. He figured that the heater was the best bet for the time being and made his way over to what appeared to be an old mattress Zane had repurposed for a sitting area. Ryan chose to sit on a lumpy spot just to Zane’s left and slowly lowered himself to the mattress. He didn’t realize how difficult it would be until he had managed to sit down, the small act of sitting hurt. Ryan hugged his ribs tightly hiding the action by pulling his jacket tighter, Zane noticed. He gave Ryan a quizzical look and shifted slightly, turning to look at Ryan face on. “You good?” the question came out concerned and Ryan looked at Zane with a surprised gaze. “What?” the second question was likely a reaction the look on Ryan’s face. “Um… no… nothing I just didn’t take you for the concerned citizen type is all.” Ryan’s attempt at deflection clearly didn’t work as Zane continued to stare at him leaving Ryan to wonder if the man could read minds. “Is that supposed to be a joke or an attack of my character, because it didn’t work either way.” The statement was dry and a clear testament to Zane’s introverted personality. Ryan just shrugged one shoulder wincing when the movement was more than his body could tolerate. He didn’t know what to do or say at this point and just wanted Zane to stop asking question and for the love of God, to stop looking at him like he was a kicked puppy. “I’m fine okay, please just drop it.” He sounded defeated even to his own ears. Zane looked at him for a while longer before settling on a simple “ok.” The response was so quiet Ryan almost missed it, he let out a small sigh, relief wafting over him as he settled into his spot for the night. He didn’t think Zane was too keen on sleeping in an abandoned house all night and figured he would head out soon, after which Ryan could hunker down and hide for a day or two. However, this was not the case. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, the quiet so relaxing Ryan started to fall asleep. He woke with a start when his head lolled onto Zane’s shoulder, pain zipping through his ribs like little lightning bolts coursing through him. This time he couldn’t hold out the grunt of pain and curled up, arms wrapped tightly around his upper body. “Woah,” Zane sounded surprised shifting next to him. Zane placed a hand on each of Ryan’s shoulders, applying a little pressure to help Ryan sit up. Blue eyes met brown, concern flooding Zane’s features “You’re not fine.” Again, a statement, one that left no room for rebuttal, so Ryan conceded. He shook his head no and shivered as a gust of cold air rushed in from the open front door. “Okay. Do you think you will be able to stand up?” Zane asked the question with some hesitation. Ryan shook his head yes since breathing and talking go hand in hand and his breathing had become somewhat labored after his jolting awake. Ryan shifted so he sat on his right knee lifting his left to plant his foot on the ground, placed his left hand on the wall behind him keeping his right hand tucked up next to his ribs, and attempted to use the wall and his left leg to leverage himself into a standing position. The motion hurt but he managed with a little steadying from Zane, who stayed close incase Ryan fell. “Alright we should probably get you home it’…….” Zane’s sentence was cut short by a firm “No!” Ryan surprising himself with the force in which he said that one word. The fear of heading back into the hell he had escaped from earlier in the night making Ryan’s heart race, the throbbing of his blood rushing through his body making his head hurt. He leaned his weight on Zane then, his shoulder settling into Zane’s chest as he tried not to cry, wishing he could just make Zane understand without telling him anything. “Please…. I …. I can’t go home, not right now.” The words were low, spoken so quietly Zane could’ve missed them if he hadn’t been so focused on the young man currently leaning on him. It dawned on him suddenly that he hadn’t asked for a name and had instead opted for hardly any conversation in hopes the kid would eventually leave. “Okay, okay…...Alright, uh…” Zane let out a sigh as he tried to figure out a game plan, he couldn’t just leave him here alone. Zane rubbed his forehead absently with his right hand and tried to think. “What’s your name?” Another surprising question that caught Ryan off guard, this guy really needed to quit doing that. “Huh?” “Your name, what is your name?” Zane enunciated the last part of the question looking at Ryan with exasperation “I don’t know your name, I didn’t ask when you showed up.” “It’s Ryan.” He almost sounded unsure of his own name still taken aback by Zane’s original question. “Nice to meet you Ryan, I’m Zane…. Now why can’t you go home?” Ryan didn’t know how to answer the question, he knew if he said anything things would just get worse at home, but he wanted to make Zane stop looking at him with that puzzled and concerned expression. Ryan decided not to say anything and instead decided to stare at the lumpy mattress they were currently standing on and shifted so he was no longer leaning on Zane. “Fine don’t tell me but you can’t stay here all night, it’s freezing, and the heater is about to run out of propane, so we need to figure out a plan B.” He didn’t want to admit it, but Zane was right, Ryan’s plan to hide out here all night was not a very good idea, and he didn’t even think about a heat source for after Zane had left. Zane let out another sigh and ran his hand through his hair, brushing his hood off his head. “Look, it’s late and cold, you can come hang out with me for the night, but you need to go home in the morning and if I think whatever is going on with you is getting worse, I will take you the hospital. Deal?” The last word was placed as a question to which Ryan responded with a simple nod of his head. He didn’t know if going home with Zane was a great idea, but it was better than the other two options he currently had. “Good.” He stepped away from Ryan and walked over to turn off the heater and carefully stash it off to the side of the room, then made his back over to help make sure Ryan didn’t trip trying to get out of the house. They walked up a small, raised area near the side of the house, Ryan assumed it was the side yard at on point, and down a small stone path that led to a hidden clearing about teen feet from the old yard. There hidden away was Zane’s shiny black 1970 Chevelle, fully restored by Zane himself. The man was extremely proud of his little project car, as he should be it looked great. Ryan remembered when Mr. Henley had the thing sitting in his driveway with a for sale sign taped to the windshield, No one though the car would ever run again let alone look brand new, but here it is 3 years later and the envy of all the hormone driven teenagers in town. Zane walked around and unlocked the passenger side door for Ryan and helped him get into the car, before closing the door and getting into the driver’s seat. He stuck the key in the ignition and turn, the car roaring to life with that classic muscle car sound Ryan had thought only existed in movies. He reached over and turned on the headlight and turn the radio volume down, shifted the car into drive and carefully made a u turn in the small clearing which led out onto the two-lane road that ran through the mountains turning into main street in town. Zane headed west away from town and thankfully away from Ryan’s neighborhood which was situated 5 miles southeast of the old witch house. The Mason family lived on a small farm about 15 miles outside of town with woods and mountains surrounding the property. They had always preferred the quiet of the countryside given the busy career choices of Sheriff Hank and Dr. Julie Mason. Julie was the town’s only licensed OBGYN, the nearest large city being a forty-five-minute drive one way, meant she stayed very busy and well Hank is the sheriff. The Mason’s had two biological children Emilya the oldest and Helena the youngest, Zane just so happened to fit right in the middle having been adopted when Helena was six and Emilya was ten. The house was dark when Zane pulled up the drive, he reached up and pushed one of the buttons on the garage door open clipped to his visor. Ryan though that it was incredibly out of place in the old car, even the radio was era correct. The large gate to the right of the garage slowly slid open and Zane drove through it before pushing the button again to make the gate close. He slowly drove down the small driveway and parked next to what Ryan could only describe as a green house converted into a mother-in-law apartment. Zane shut off the car, getting out and walking to the passenger side and opened the door. “I can do that myself ya know I’m not an invalid.” He stated dryly hoping to convey a little confidence given that his ribs were hurting more than they had when the night had started. “And that is why chivalry is dead.” Zane’s tone was lighthearted with a slight touch of mockery, and it was the first time Ryan had ever heard of the man joking. Ryan huffed a half laugh and took the hand Zane had stretched out toward him thankful for the help since he had little faith in his earlier statement. Zane lifted Ryan out of the car as gently as he could, letting him right himself before reaching over to close the car door. Then walked around the back of the car to the front door so he could let them both in out of the cold. Zane dropped his keys in a small shallow glass bowl that sat on a low sitting shelf just to the right of the doorway and began removing his hoodie and Ryan walked in closing the front door behind him. Ryan looked around and decided he had been correct, he currently stood in a bedroom living room combo with two of the four walls consisting mostly of six-foot-tall windows covered in what looked like varying colors of spray paint. The wall that held the front door appeared solid from the outside, but a large dark red curtain was draped across it with the door tucked neatly one side facing the east. The opposing wall had a bed sitting against with a door to either side of the bed. Ryan assumed one was the closet and the other was the bathroom. The floor was concrete with rugs covering various areas, one in the living room area, another tucked just under the end of the full-size bed. Plants lined a long hand made wooden shelf that ran the length of the south wall of windows, bags of soil, garden tools and empty pots scattered under it to keep them out of the way. Despite the half hazard look, the small building was surprisingly cozy for being made mostly of glass which Ryan guessed was due to good insulation and a central heating and cooling system that was probably hiding somewhere out of sight. Zane kept the place tidy, and the plants made the space look more inviting. Zane had started to water and check on the plants while Ryan had been stuck trying to make sense of the new environment. “Don’t judge, I don’t like living in the main house, too noisy.” It was a simple explanation and clearly the only one Zane was willing to give. “No judgment, just a little surprised is all. It’s very DIY, and I didn’t take you for a gardener.” Ryan half joked not wanting to come off as rude. Zane chuckled at the comment and simply shrugged, looking intently at one of the leaves of what looked like a large elephant plant. Ryan shuffled slightly catching Zane’s gaze for a split second before he turned his attention back to his plants. “You can have the bed; I’ll take the couch.” The statement managed to surprise Ryan even though he figured he shouldn’t be surprised by anything Zane says at this point. He looked at the bed then back at Zane, then at the couch, only to get “It’s actually comfortable, I’ll be fine.” in response. He slowly walked over to the bed and sat on the edge contemplating whether to remove his jacket. Zane watched side eyed him quietly, waiting for what Ryan didn’t know, so he opted for leaving his jacket on and toed his shoes off. First the left then the right, taking his time so the movements wouldn’t jar his ribs. At this point he didn’t know if they were broken or just bruised but he was hoping for the former. Zane didn’t say anything about him not removing his jacket and walked over to a trunk tucked away to one side of the bed. He pulled out a blanket and two pillows and made his way to the couch. Ryan watched for a minute before deciding to try to lie down. He managed to find a semi comfortable potion laying on his back and tried to close his eyes. At some point Zane had gone into the bathroom and emerged in a pair of basketball shorts, his pajamas Ryan had assumed. The lights went out and he heard the couch groan quietly as Zane lay down for the night still not mentioning the fact Ryan was sleeping with a jacket on. Ryan couldn’t remember when it started raining but the gentle patter of rain on the window and metal roof of Zane’s little green house apartment worked like a lullaby rocking him to sleep despite the pain. Zane woke to a sudden thud, the sound of someone falling he mused. That thought yanked him from the half sleep state he had been in and brought him back to reality. Someone was in his house, Ryan…. Ryan was in his house, and he was hurt. Zane shot up into a sitting position looking over the back of his couch to see Ryan curled up on the floor holding his chest and trying desperately to catch his breath, pain contorting his face, tears filling his eyes. Zane jumped off the couch running over and huddled over the young to see if he could help. “Hey what happened?” Zane asked the question like he had deduced that Ryan had attempted to get out of bed and moved a little to fast collapsing from the pain. “I have to pee.” was all Ryan managed to say hoping to distract Zane form the fact he was currently laying in the fetal position trying not to cry like a baby. “You couldn’t have woken me up to help?” Ryan resented the question and glared a Zane in a way he hoped conveyed that emotion “Ok sorry I asked.” Zane said when he noticed Ryan’s death glare, “you do know asking for help isn’t a bad thing. I’m not sure what happened to you yesterday but falling could make things worse, then you will have to explain to someone what happened.” Zane grunted a little as he helped Ryan into a sitting position and then to standing. Ryan took a moment to catch his breath, using Zane’s forearm to steady himself. Once he had his balance and could breathe, he became very aware of how close Zane was. Yes, they had sat next to each other last night and Zane had helped him get into the car but at that time Zane was fully clothed and the lack of shirt in this moment was not lost on Ryan. Zane was fit, muscular where needed and toned every where else. Ryan felt his cheeks flush, and he moved away from Zane, shaking the hand from where he had been holding Ryan up. He immediately regretted doing so when Zane scoffed at the interaction throwing his hands up in a half-hearted gesture and stepped back. “Sorry.” was all he said. Ryan didn’t say anything walking slowly to the bathroom so he could finally pee. The bathroom was surprising big for the size of the apartment, containing a large stand-up shower with sliding glass doors, a toilet, and double vanity with a single sink. Various toiletries lined the counter, different face washes and hair products, a single toothbrush sitting in its holder accompanied by some minty looking toothpaste. There was a navy bath rug sitting on the floor in front of the shower with a matching hamper tucked behind the door. Everything aside from the cluttered counter screamed simplistic, very different from the controlled chaos that was the front of the abode. Ryan flushed and washed his hands wondering if Zane had an extra toothbrush he could use. He dried his hands on a small hand towel hanging from a hook next to the sink hoping that is what it was used for and made his way back to the living room. Zane sat on the edge of the bed scrolling through his phone absent mindedly only looking up when Ryan closed the bathroom door behind him. “My mom says breakfast and she wants to look at you.” Ryan could feel his eye twitch. “What!? What do you mean she wants to look at me?” Ryan knew he wasn’t being fair; Julie was a great doctor and he knew she wouldn’t say anything to anyone and Zane was only trying to help. It was the way Zane had stated it, like Ryan hadn’t been trying to hide what had happened to him for the last eighteen or so hours. “What did you tell her?” Zane looked confused and offended, then angry his bright blue eyes suddenly darker with the emotion. “The hell you mean what did I tell her?! I told her I have a friend who is hurt and collapsed in my house, that’s what I told her. I know we don’t know each other all that well but come on man… you expect me to believe that you’re fine. No, I’m not stupid.” Ryan hadn’t expected the outburst and took an instinctual step back, Zane’s anger setting off the internal alerts he gets when his stepfather is about to turn violent. “I…. I… I’m sorry.” The words choked out of Ryan he went into self-preservation mode. The sudden change in character did not go unnoticed to Zane and his anger fled replaced with concern and fear. What had happened to this kid? Zane took a slow step forward not wanting to spook him “It’s cool, I’m sorry I snapped. I just wanna get you some help that’s all. My mom won’t say anything if you don’t want her to. Okay?” another slow small step then another. After a minute or so Zane managed to clear the five feet that had been between them and stood in front of Ryan. He debated for a second if touching the young man was a good idea before deciding on a simple touch to on the forearm. Ryan didn’t flinch at the touch, but he was tense, Zane could tell he was fighting the urge to run. “I promise I won’t hurt you.” Ryan could’ve cried at the words but bit the tears back. There was no reason to fear Zane he hadn’t done anything but tried to help, and yet a something so simple like a raised voice made him want to run and hide. This time the tears came, he couldn’t stop them. He felt Zane’s arms around him leaving no chance for protest, so he tucked his own arms between them and sobbed.