This Is Us - Chapter 17: Chapter 17

MATTY POV
"W-w-what happened?"
Luca stuttered as he hopped on one foot, his arms wrapped around Thomas and my shoulders when we helped him towards the house.
"Let's get you sorted out before we talk about that. Don't even think about it right now," I tell him and he tries to step on his other foot only to cry out in pain.
"Stop walking on your right foot, you know it's only going to hurt you," Thomas growls and Luca whimpers a bit, but he stops stepping on it and continues hopping. Once we reach the front porch which was now covered in glass we have him raise both his bare feet as we bring him in.
Thomas whistles and Houston reluctantly follows us inside, not wanting him out there in the dark with the wold lurking.
"We'll have to check his paws for glass," I tell Thomas and he nods as we stand in the entryway.
"Let's bring him to the guest bedroom, then he can lay down while I get a good look at him and you can make him something hot. He needs to eat something after being out there in the cold and throwing up," I command and Thomas nods as we turn into the guest room, putting Luca gently down on the bed.
The moment we do, it gives me flashbacks to the first night he was here, completely helpless and drenched from the rain.
"I'm sorry, I told you guys I should have slept in the guest house," Luca tries to say, not even picking his head up to look at us from the shame of it all.
"Don't you fucking dare feel guilty about what happened. It's not your fault this happened, it's whoever the fuck hurt my perfect angel so deeply that he scarred you like this. What would you have done if you were alone in that fucking house? Huh? About a mile out from us on the other side of the farm? We would have found you dead in the middle of the field. No. You're not going anywhere. If anything this proves our point that you can't be alone and on your own anymore," Thomas argues. I could tell he was pissed off but it wasn't at Luca, although it sure did seem like it.
"Hey, I'm just going to grab the first aid kit, We'll be right back. Got it?" I gently brush my hand on Luca's muddy shoulder and he nods. Still having head tilted to the floor. I then grab my husband's hand and yank him outside the guest bedroom, shoving him into the kitchen before having my say.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? The man just went to hell and back, he doesn't need you scolding him and telling him we were right. What he needs is for us to be there for him, to comfort him, and to love him got it? Save it for tomorrow and calm the fuck down. I know you're pissed off because I'm just as angry as you are! But he's going to think we're mad at him and it's not going to end well," I whisper-shouted at Thomas who stood up against the kitchen counter with his hands closed in tight fists.
"I want to know who hurt him, who did this to him, what happened to him even, but I'm frustrated because we know nothing. All we know about his past is his name was a fucking brainwashing scheme and he thinks...he thinks he's unlovable. And oh my fucking god Matthias what happened to your face," He quickly grabs my face but I shove him off.
"I'm fine. I think Luca just bumped into me with his elbow in the dark on accident," I quickly lied and he believed it.
"Are you okay? When I found you the two of you were on the floor. Is the baby okay?" he asked and it had completely skipped my mind that I was pregnant when I was chasing Luca down and I physically gulped.
"Yeah, I'm sure the baby's fine, they're all cushioned and shit," I try to ease his worry and he gently rubs the bridge of his nose with one arm crossed over his broad chest looking stressed as fuck.
"I'll talk to Milo and tell him we won't be going to practice for the next few days. You need to put your feet up and we need to figure out a new treatment plan for Luca cause clearly the old one isn't working anymore," He grunts and I try to hug him but he turns before I can, shutting me out again.
"Go," He waves me off which I know by now means he needs some time to himself to cool down and I decide it's best to leave him be. I grab the first aid kit from upstairs and make my way back to Luca. Surprised that Jaydean slept like a rock with all the ruckus going on.
"So what happened?" Luca asked again as I entered the guest room and closed the door behind me.
"Don't worry about it honey, let's just worry about bandaging you up," I told him, making him take off his dirty clothes as I got to his feet, picking the glass out with a pair of tweezers before working on his legs.
"What happened to your face?" He asked and I looked up, meeting his pale blue eyes as he looked on in fear.
"Nothing hon, you just had a little panic attack and thought I was someone else," I said and he moans out, tilting his head back in pain.
"No, no, no, no...I hurt you?" He whimpers and after I get the last piece out I stand to my feet, grabbing his chin and holding it in my hand. Realizing now that I can only see him out of my left eye.
"I'm fine," I reassured him but he gasped, covering his mouth.
"No, no, no, I can't...I can't hurt you, I didn't want to hurt you, Matthias..." he would have probably cried if he hadn't spent all his tears out in the field.
"What about the baby?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.
Or at least one eye.
"You punched me in the face, not the stomach you dummy. I'm sure the baby's perfectly fine," I chuckle but he doesn't even crack the slightest smile.
"You must be exhausted from all the running, come on let's get you in the shower and then I'll patch you up," I say, looking at his swollen foot. That explained the cracking sound I heard in the grass.
"Hold on," I sighed as I took off my shirt, revealing my growing little belly and he finally cracks a teeny tiny smile.
"You're so beautiful when you're pregnant," He comments and I smack him with my shirt.
"Are you calling me fat?" I jokingly grunt and get down to nothing before reaching out and pulling him off the bed.
"No, I just said you were beautiful," He quietly repeats himself and I decided I won't mess with him too much as we get into the large standing shower together.
I sit him down on the bench and let the rain shower fall on our backs as I reach up for the body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.
"Close your eyes and keep them closed,"
I command and he does so without asking why, trusting me with his body as I gently run my fingers through his wet hair, pushing it back behind his ears. I take the shampoo and run it through his scalp with slow but precise movements. Scratching his head and running small circles with the honey-scented shampoo and water.
"Mmm, that feels heavenly,"
He sighs and I giggle he makes a face when I tilt his chin up to the water and wash the shampoo out of his hair. Putting in conditioner but leaving it there as I grabbed the soap, running it on a light cream colored loofah and slowly scrubbing the blood, sweat, and dirt from his beautiful body.
After getting all the grime off, I put down the sponge and start massaging his freckled shoulders. Kneading my fingers into his tight knots as the water ran over both of us. I'm pretty good at giving massages but these needed extra work that I couldn't provide right now because I was too tired.
My poor Luca tiredly wraps his wet arms around my waist, pressing his head against my stomach as I lightly scratched his back and washed the conditioner out of his hair.
"You're so cute," I mumbled under my breath as he let out a small moan that sounded more like a purr of satisfaction and relaxation.
"I'm just going to wash up really quick, okay hon," I warn him as I stepped away from him and he whimpered a little from the loss. I quickly washed my hair with just shampoo and ran the soap over my body in a rush, wanting to get it over with so I could get Luca out, feed him, and hope that he sleeps again.
The steam from the shower fogs up all the glass and I draw a little smiley face on the door as I washed the soap from my hair. A small chuckle draws my attention and I turned to see Luca had his eyes open and was now watching my every move.
"And you say I'm the soft one," He mentions and I go back to getting all of the soap off.
"I thought I told you to keep your eyes closed?" I narrowed my eyes at him but he just shrugged me off in response.
"I missed your presence and wanted to see what you were doing. I thought you left me," he says with a small pout of his perfect pink lips and I walked back to him, leaning over and kissing those stupid lips in the heat of the shower water.
"I would never leave you," I remind him and help him stand up, he wraps his arms around my shoulders and kisses me again, but this time I'm pinned back against the cold tiled wall as he kept his broken foot rested on the bench.
"I would hope not to cause that would be more pathetic than being left at the altar. I can see it now, man dies after being abandoned in the shower by his lover," He says before his tongue presses against my lips begging for access and I give it to him, curling my hands around his tight ass as our naked bodies rubbed together.
"No, If I was going to be dramatic there are worse places to leave you," I moaned between our exhaustingly messy kisses and he groans.
"Thank you for taking care of me," his soft voice catches on my ears and I open my eyes to meet his beautiful blue ones.
"I love you, Luca. This is what you do when you love someone so much that it hurts," I told him as I swiped his wet bangs off his forehead, pushing them back and he finally breaks into a smile.
"I can tell by how red your face looks right now," he coos as he gently swipes his hands across the cheek of my swollen eyes.
"If I punch you in the face we can match," I tiredly suggest and turn off the water as I grab our towels.
"Ooo, black eye buddies! We can be besties and compare our healing process," He suddenly squeaks and I laughed so hard I nearly slipped, throwing the towel at him and ruffling my own towel through my hair.
"Fuck, we need to sleep," I say and he nods his head in agreement.
"I'm hungry, sick, and tired at the same time. It's not a good combination," he says as I help him up and bring him back into the guest room so we can change together.
"I'm sure Thomas can fix one of those problems really soon," I suggest and once we're dressed I have him lay down so I can grab him something to eat.
I walk out to the hallway to find that in the amount of time it took me to wash off Luca he manages to sweep up all the glass, cover the door in a tarp, and mop up the blood before Jaydean woke up and thought someone was murdered in her sleep.
I saw a small tray in the kitchen with Luca's food and wanted to track down Thomas but maybe he's still cooling off. On the tray was a small pack of frozen peas for my face and I smiled when I thought of how thoughtful he is. On the tray was a small bowl of broth and a few slices of bread to hold Luca down for the night without making him sick.
"Thomas?"
I called out his name just in case I'm blind and he's hiding somewhere only to hear a small grunt. I looked over and found him asleep on the couch with his neck crooked and his legs in awkward positions. I walked over and tugged a small throw blanket over him, grabbing a decorative pillow from beside the tree and placing it under his head so he wouldn't wake up with neck pain.
Right before I let him be for the night, I gently kissed his forehead, making sure he was nice and toasty with his legs straightened on the couch before grabbing the tray for Luca.
I walked back into the bedroom and found Luca sitting on the bed waiting patiently as I put the tray down next to him. He wolfed down the bread first as I started bandaging the small gashes left behind from the glass. Putting antibiotic ointment on each one and making sure they were sealed so he wouldn't get an infection. When I finished, I placed his foot on a pillow to elevate it and grabbed the bag of frozen peas.
"You're good at patching people up," Luca mentions as he finished slurping down the chicken broth and put the tray to the side.
"If I wasn't a singer, I think I would have been a nurse or doctor of some kind," I mention and crawl up next to him.
"Man, that would be hilarious. I could see you as the most passive aggressive doctor the hospital has ever seen," He chuckles and I pat my thighs. He rests his head on my lap and he lets out a long sigh.
"Yeah, I've always wanted to help people, to fix them back up and stuff," I confess and Luca goes silent. Letting me trace small letters and shapes into his back before he slowly falls asleep once more.