Stand for Love Ch. 01

The next day wasn't good at all for him. He tried as hard as he could to speak normally to Adrian but what he was feeling was deep and he felt like he was doing something wrong. He had a normal conversation with Adrian but as soon as he had left, he missed him a lot and that was what followed for the next two-three weeks.

Only a week and 4 days was remaining for his wedding. His love for Jake had drastically reduced ever since he had started being around Adrian. His food was great, his presence was heaven, his smile and words were sweet. Nicholas just couldn't resist that. He couldn't deny the fact that he was feeling some form of attraction to Adrian, something that he didn't have with Jake. What surprised him was that for the past one week he has been having constant dreams about Adrian and him kissing, cuddling, caressing, something that normal couples do.

Nicholas was supposed to be dreaming about Jake. They were the ones getting married, right? It was supposed to be Jake instead of Adrian. His mother would never allow someone like Adrian to enter her house, never. He needed to talk to someone about how he was feeling, he just didn't know who.

He always met with Jake to have sex as usual and a little shopping for their wedding but he had been a confused lad for the last two weeks, thinking and missing Adrian whenever he was not around but at least the boy's mood had improved and he was glad he had been able to achieve that, at least before he got married.

Man, he was really going insane. Maybe being friends with Adrian had been a really bad idea, was it?

They sat, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Maybe Adrian had got to Nicholas with his food, opening a special place in Nicholas' heart, soul and mind. Nicholas had to do something before he got insane. Adrian was such a great boy and Nicholas was getting married. His wedding was the talk of the city.

*****

Adrian slowly opened the tap, ready to begin washing the plates which had been used for dinner. Even opening the tap, he was still confused and scared at the same time. He was confused because just a week ago he had a dream about Nicholas and they seemed happy and kissed. They were about to have sex before he suddenly woke up. Since then, he has been seeing Nicholas in a new light, like he was the guy for him.

He was scared because the more he tried to avoid thinking about Nicholas the more he realized his feelings for the sexy hunk. Sometimes he found himself holding on close to the handkerchief Nicholas had given him at the supermarket.

Adrian knew he had to bury whatever he felt, just a week and some days before the wedding. After that he would be free from Nicholas and whatever he felt would vanish. He knew that being friends with Nicholas was a really bad idea. Who was Adrian kidding? Even if he was falling for Nicholas, he knew that Nicholas was not of the same class with him. Adrian prayed for a miracle to happen and make whatever that was awakening deep inside of him to go away, disappear.

Adrian realized he was shaking really bad. He quickly washed the plates and began arranging them in their appropriate places. He was still lost and got ready to put the last one before it slipped from his hands and fell to the floor making a loud shattering sound that made his heart skip.

Adrian, seeing the glassware on the floor, broken into pieces made him really scared. It had been a week since he was last beaten but this time he was gonna get it. He had just broken a glass plate which his aunt claimed she had exported all the way from china. What was he going to do? He was not ready to receive any more whips on his body.

"What was that?" Adrian heard his aunt's voice rushing to the kitchen. His whole mouth shook and so did the rest of his body. He felt cold and he could almost feel his body in pain.

"What's...?" Jane trailed off as soon as she saw her expensive, exported glassware shattered on the floor.

"Is that my..." She laughed. "Is that my glassware?"

"I'm sorry," Adrian apologized. "It slipped from my hand, I swear."

"Do you know how much I bought that?" Adrian was surprised he had not received a slap yet. "Do you know how much?" Jane yelled, sending shivers all over Adrian's body.

"No, aunt, I..."

"Shut up," Jane yelled, clenching her fists. "That plate has more value than your life. What do you think your apologies will do, uh?"

"That's why I said..."

"Oh, please, shut up!" Jane bellowed as she backhanded Adrian across the face sending to the floor. Adrian was lucky his hands reached the floor first otherwise it would have been a disaster. But he was not safe as he felt his aunt grab his hair, holding a firm grip on it.

"Please, don't hurt me." Adrian begged. "It was not intentional."

"In all the wretched years you spent with that whore you called you mother, did you see something as precious as that?" Jane yelled, getting Adrian up with his hair. "Did you?"

"No," Adrian cried as he felt his hair ripping. "Please, don't hurt me like this. It was a mistake."

"A mistake," Jane yelled. "A mistake, you are also a mistake in this house. I'll show you never to be so careless with my things again."

"Please, no," Adrian begged, his tears flooding his face. "I'll never do it again. I'll be careful, please..."

Before Adrian could finish the sentence, he was pulled closer to Jane and he felt his whole head respond as a wave of pain moved through him. It was excruciating, he felt like his vision was becoming blur.

"What's going on here?" Adrian heard Jake's voice. That voice sounded angry and even if it was not, Adrian knew that Jake was the last person on earth who would save him from the torture that he was gonna go through because of a simple glass. They valued ornaments more than him, poor Adrian.

"Just look at that?" Jane said angrily, pointing to the broken glass on the floor. "He broke one of my valuables and he still had the guts to tell me that he'll be careful next time. What no sense."

"I'm sorry," Adrian yelped in pain. "I'll take anything you say but please let go of my hair. It's really hurting a lot."

Jane laughed wickedly at Adrian's pleas. She even got more courage and pulled on his hair as hard as she could.

Adrian felt like his whole energy had escaped. His whole mind concentrated on the pain Jane's hand was giving him. It hurt really badly. He had just recovered from the pain they had inflicted on him about a week ago when he accidentally woke them up and now he was being given another. It was really, really painful.

"Please, anything else but the hair," Adrian cried, wailing at the top of his voice even when he knew no one would save him.

"Look what you did to my valuable." Jane yelled, pulling Adrian's hair more. "I'll make sure that you regret this."

"I'm sorry," Adrian pleaded. "It just slipped away from me and..."

"And that's the reason why you have to be punished." Jake laughed. "I'll take it from here." Jake smiled at his mother. "Just go and relax in the living room and I promise to deal with this matter."

Jane smiled at her son and left but that was after she backhanded Adrian sending him flying to the floor. The pain that Adrian felt was too much. He hit his hand on the broken glasses and it cut through his flesh and blood was coming out of his skin.

Adrian slowly got up and knelt down as soon as Jane had left. He knew Jake was a heartless person who hated him for no reason at all but he was gonna try and see if he truly had a heart.

"Please, Jake," Adrian begged. "I'm your cousin and I'm bleeding. Just let me go. I swear that one day I'll replace..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Adrian received a hot slap across the face that landed him to the floor. He was crying really heavily even as Jake took both his hands, sat on his tummy and began giving him slaps across the face. Adrian's face was on fire as every slap left a bruise on his cheek. He had no idea when it would stop but whatever he felt was painful.

Jake was holding his hands so tightly it hurt like hell. There was blood coming from the cut, bruises being left by the hard slaps and a headache left by his aunt's hand. He had no strength to fight Jake. Even if he did, he wouldn't live to tell a story if he tried anything. He just had to accept that he was their punching bag whenever they were stressed, angry, had lost a deal even if the weather was too hot.

"That's enough," Adrian heard a voice which he recognized as his uncle's.

The slaps stopped but not the pain and the wails from Adrian's mouth. His strength had left him and he didn't know whether his uncle had saved him or just preserved him for later.

"You are lucky dad has stopped me otherwise you would have regretted breaking that plate." Jake said, furiously rubbing his mouth. "I'll really miss beating you when I am married but I'll make sure I do it at every chance I get."

Adrian didn't even care what Jake was saying. The pain he was inflicted on was too much and all because of a plate. No matter how valuable it was, they should have understood him but he was beaten for it.

Jake left laughing and Adrian slowly got up, trying to gather whatever strength that was left in him. He got up still heavily crying and saw his uncle wearing a grimace on his face, his arms folded and looking at Adrian in the most disgusting way possible.

"Hey," Todd shouted. "Will you shut your fucking...trap?"

Adrian tried to stop crying but his voice could still be heard. He knew better than to obey his uncle's instructions or there was gonna be trouble but he couldn't control his voice.

"Didn't you hear what I said you little fucker!" Todd snapped attempting to slap Adrian before his wails stopped. He was now sobbing. "Now that's better. If I hear one more sound from you, I'll make sure I send you to hell. Now clean that up." His uncle yelled and stormed out of the kitchen.

Adrian was lucky because his uncle was the one who gave him the most painful beating, belt, whip even shoes if they were near. He was lucky his uncle hadn't beaten him for at least a two weeks.

Adrian's head hurt, his face was bruised, his hand was cut and bleeding and his hair was hurting too. He had to clean himself up. He quickly cleaned the broken glass and ran to his room where he cried for almost an hour. He cried of pain, help and desire to be set free. Those were the things that he really needed. He had been a happy, healthy boy two years ago but he was now a punching bag of his uncle's family.

Adrian's wound had stopped bleeding but his head and face were still hurting. He had to take a bath, some painkillers and a few hours of sleep which really helped him whenever he got beat up like that. He took a bath, attended to his cut and then checked himself in the mirror. His left cheek was red but his right one was not that bad. It was only a matter of time before they killed him.

Adrian laid his head on the soft pillow and it felt a little comfy. He though he was done with crying but the tears began flowing again. He cried a lot as he wondered how his life had turned out to be. He cried seeing how his whole life had changed from worse to worst. He prayed for a savior to come for him and get him away from the place of torment. It was what he needed to do.

Adrian quickly focused his mind on his mother. He wondered why she hadn't taken him with her when she died. That same night he realized that he had no purpose in life other than suffering. He needed answers or he would soon end it all. He couldn't bear the pain anymore. What he needed to do was end it maybe so that he could finally find peace.

"I am sorry mother," Adrian whispered, tears flooding his pillow. "I know you wanted for me to live but I don't think I have a purpose. I don't know if I can continue to live like this. Maybe I should just...end it so that I could be with you and father. I'm really sorry."

Adrian cried himself to sleep, feeling the pain once again.

****

Adrian slowly opened his eyes and he realized that he was not in his room. He was lying in a place filled with flowers and it was beautiful, nothing but beautiful flowers and a very sweet aroma. He slowly got up and looked around, realizing that there was blonde lady with her back to him. Adrian seemed happy to see her and he ran to her only to find his beautiful mother. He cried seeing her again, he really cried and he hugged her.

Maybe his wish had been granted and he had finally died, reunited with his mother in a beautiful world of flowers.

"Mother," Adrian sobbed. "I have missed you so much. Why have you been away from me?"

"I am always with you, my child." His mother said, planting a kiss on his forehead. "It's just that you can't see me but I've always been around until the day I depart from you forever."

"Why," Adrian exclaimed. "Take me with you so that we can be together."

"I can't do that." His mother smiled. "You are still needed by someone special."

"I'm suffering, mother." Adrian cried. "I just wanna..."

"Don't ever think like that my child." His mother said, cupping his cheeks together. "You must live and be with the man who'll make you happy. Though challenges will be there, you'll live happily together with your children."

"I don't understand mother. How can..."

"Very soon, you'll find that person who'll love you." His mother chuckled. "Just have faith and let fate lead your way."

"You are very unique my love," His mother said. "You are really unique and you have my blessing. You'll live with the one you'll love together with your children. Those are my blessings for you and it shall come to pass. Just endure a little more and let fate bring that person to you."

Love, children, unique, all those things were really confusing Adrian. He had no idea what his mother meant and he began thinking a lot about them. He felt a strong wind gushing on him and he covered his face. He later realized when he removed his hand that his mother was not there anymore but someone else, Nicholas and he was smiling so brightly.

To his surprise, he was being drawn towards Nicholas and they almost touched each other's hands when...Adrian suddenly woke up, sweating, teary and breathing so heavily.

A dream, Adrian thought. The dream felt so real and like all the events had just happened. He glanced at the clock and it was only 2.am. He knew he had to go back to sleep. His head was still hurting but he prayed for it to stop when he woke up to do his daily routines.

*****

Nicholas glanced at his watch, 12.03 pm. He knew the time had come for the boy who had been affecting him recently to come. He was eager to see him. He adjusted his tie, shirt and even his smile.

"Come on, Nicholas Miller, fucking pull yourself together. It's not like you are dating. You are just friends for fuck's sake."

Nicholas thought he was going insane. He was fucking going insane. The funny thing was that he felt like he was getting stronger as those emotions got stronger. It was really driving him nuts, fuck.

There was a knock on the door and Nicholas didn't take time to allow Adrian in. Nicholas was smiling brightly but Adrian was looking at the floor, his whole hair was untied and it covered almost his whole face. It was beautiful, dark, long hair which Nicholas found attractive but he couldn't shake off the hunch that something was definitely not right.

"Adrian, are you okay?" Nicholas asked with a voice that showed that he was really concerned.

"Um...I'm fine, sir." Adrian said. He really needed to leave as soon as he dropped the food on the table. He didn't want Nicholas to ask him any questions because his head was still in pain.

"Are you sure?" Nicholas asked, trying to see the complete view of Adrian's face but got nothing.

"Yes, sir,"

"Are you trying to hide your face from me?"

Oh my God, he knows, Adrian thought. Either way, he was gonna act as confident as he could even though deep inside his heart, he was hurting and weeping.

"No,"

"Then show your face to me." Nicholas said in a commanding voice. "Now,"

"I am sorry I can't." Adrian said, rushing to the table and dropped the basket. He turned to leave but Nicholas held on to his hand tightly.

"I know something is wrong with you." Nicholas said in pure determination. "Show me your face."

"I am sorry but..."

"Didn't you hear me?" Nicholas shouted in an angry voice that made Adrian quiver. "I said I want to see your face, now!"

Adrian was scared. He had never heard that tone of voice from Nicholas before. It was all so clear that Nicholas was gonna see the bruises on his face no matter what.

"I am sorry..."

"Fine," Nicholas furious stood up from his chair, pulled Adrian closer, raised his chin and then removed the hair from his face almost gasping from what he saw. It was really heartbreaking to see how bruised Adrian's face was. It was like someone had slapped him the whole night.

Adrian's eyes watered as soon as he looked at Nicholas. The guy's face turned blank and Adrian saw that his eyes watered.

"Where did you get those bruises?" Nicholas muttered. "Did..."

Adrian quickly released his hand from Nicholas. "It's nothing, sir. This is nothing to me."

"Nothing," Nicholas hollered, taking Adrian's hand by force. Adrian winced in pain making Nicholas wonder why. Nicholas diverted his eyes to Adrian's hand and realized that he had a cut on his hand too. What the fuck was going on? Nicholas was hurt, he was deeply hurt.

"How did you get those bruises and this cut?" Nicholas demanded. He knew he was being demanding but he was angry. His friend was hurt and he needed answers.

"Like I said," Adrian muttered, releasing his hand furiously from Nicholas. "This means nothing to me."

Adrian quickly turned to leave, tears leaving his eyes as soon as he turned. He began walking quickly before he felt Nicholas' hands on his shoulders. He quickly turned and almost bumped into Nicholas' head.

"Please, forget about everything," Adrian cried. "I think we should even forget that you saw me like this. I am used to this and I don't want to talk about it."

"Did...Jake do this to you?" Nicholas asked cupping Adrian's cheeks.

Adrian cried even more when he heard Jake's name. That expression was an answer to Nicholas. Jake had done that to Adrian and for some reason Nicholas got angry and hurt. He was angry at Jake and hurt for Adrian, such a young boy but such an inhuman treatment.

Nicholas needed to make Adrian stop crying before the whole staff concluded that he had made him cry. He knew he had to do it to make Adrian feel better.

"Adrian I am sorry," Nicholas muttered. "I am truly, truly sorry. I'll be honest with you. It hurts me to see you like this because you are my..." Nicholas gasped, before he finally gathered the courage. "...because you are my...friend."

"You don't have to be," Adrian said, slowly rubbing his tears. "It's not your fault that I got beaten. It's my fault anyway, I shouldn't have..."

"Shhhhh," Nicholas whispered, blocking Adrian's lips with his fingers.

Adrian raised his face and was just in time to stare into Nicholas' deep green eyes that were glowing like a morning star. As their eyes locked, Adrian saw through Nicholas' very soul and could read the emotions of the man before him. The way Nicholas was staring at him was different from the way any man had ever stared at him. The way his eyes were looking deep in his was sweet and the silence between them was captivating.

Nicholas was lost deep into those wonderful, sexy, attractive and hypnotizing piercing eyes of Adrian. They were so captivating and they took him places he never knew existed. He felt a cool breeze coming from Adrian's eyes into his own, giving him a strong emotion that he had never felt before, not even when he fell in love with Jake. This one was special and loving.