Chapter Text
Matteo gripped his phone in his sweaty hand, shaking from the tight grasp. It was past midnight and Dave still hadn't come home. There was no way he was meeting someone or at a bar, fucker couldn't do it even if he wanted to. Atleast if he did, he'd let Matteo know. But — again — even if he did, something felt wrong.
Matteo had called Dave atleast 50 times, and all went straight to voicemail. Matteo tried to imagine that it was Dave telling him that he was busy and couldn't come to the phone in real time, but that wasn't the case.
Matteo's hand rubbed his scalp in anxiety, his urge to drive around town to find him getting stronger and stronger and—
DING DING!
The doorbell. Was it the pizza that Matteo had ordered for their night in? As much as he was hungry, he hoped it wasn't.
Matteo practically ran to the door and pulled it open, his blood running cold at the sight infront of him. "Holy shit... Dave.."
Dave was leaning against the doorframe, his basic ass clothes torn and bloodied. He barely took a few steps in before collapsing to his knees, and Matteo couldn't catch him. "D-Dave! Shit..." Matteo sank beside him, his shaky hands holding him up.
Dave saw him as a blurry mess with black stars intruding his vision. He let out a wet cough, which he couldn't tell was bile or blood, but it felt warm for the state he was in. Dave's eyelids drooped unwillingly, his body giving out on him.
"Dave! Hey, c'mon, stay with me." Matteo exhaled heavily, locking eyes with Dave's drooping ones for a split second before they roamed over his injuries. "Jesus christ, what the fuck happened?!" Seeing past his torn white shirt into the bruises on his skin, and some scars of his having reopened made panic seep into Matteo, and he put pressure on what he could with one hand, the other tapping Dave's cheek, trying to get him to stay awake. "Hey, buddy, you with me? C'mon, f-fuck.. Stay with me, asshole!"
But all attempts were in vain. Dave's eyes closed as he sank into a painful slumber.
Matteo swore under his breath, his arms moving below Dave's knees and back, picking him up bridal style with a grunt.
He basically made a sprint upstairs, setting Dave down on their bed. He sat him up so he wouldn't swallow the blood pooling in his mouth, letting it run down his chin. He grabbed a couple of towels to wipe what he could.
Then, he carefully took off Dave's clothes: His shirt, his jacket, until his chest was fully exposed. Then he would actually see the extent of his injuries.
Matteo couldn't help but let out a gasp, bruises and new scars covering Dave's torso and arms like a painting. Who would do this to his bestfriend? He was going to get answers. He needed to—
"Patch him up... I need to patch him up first.. Fuck..." Matteo muttered to himself as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Matteo got some Betadine and antiseptic wipes and bandages, and.. Well, you get the point. He rushed back to Dave's side — almost tripping on the way — as he started wiping off the blood scattered on his chest. Dave let out a groan, stirring slightly but not waking up, and Matteo winced in sympathy. "I'm sorry, buddy, I have to..."
Matteo took a glance at his back and let out a relieved sigh: There were only small bruises — Thank god. Matteo was really contemplating rushing Dave to the hospital right now and he didn't need more shit to explain.
He laid Dave down on the bed, propping his head up with a pillow. He held his breath as he continued cleaning Dave's wounds with antiseptic wipes, his heart clenching everytime he saw Dave grimace or stir in pain.
Matteo finished up a while later with bandages and gauze all over Dave's body, taking his clothes and throwing them away. Everytime he looked at them, he felt the anger flare up again.
Matteo got his comfortable sweater that Dave stole from him all the time, and very carefully put it on Dave.
In his anger, Matteo couldn't help but smile sadly seeing Dave's unresponsive form, and he eventually leaned in to kiss his forehead again before getting up to clean up around the front door and make Dave something to eat.
While cleaning up, Matteo tried to think of who could've done this. He laid out every single person Dave knew — which weren't alot —, realising it could've been some tweakers who just wanted cash. Dave would've given it to them, though. He wouldn't get himself in this situation without even calling Matteo for help.
Could it be Connor? Could it be Randy?
Dave had some enemies merely because of his "diseases", but it never got to a point where they'd hurt him so brutally.
Dave doesn't even get into fights like that, fucker even refused to press charges against that one guy at work who thought he was a zombie and whacked him in the head with a baseball bat. He had had a concussion for three days and some solid nightmares about that event too.
After cleaning up, Matteo had noticed he was staring at the — now clean — floor, zoned out. He blinked a few times before standing up, throwing the towels in the trash before going into the kitchen.
He looked around the kitchen, then at his watch, remembering the pizza delivery that would always come late. Matteo sighed, rubbing his eyes. He decided he would make Dave vegetable soup: Something easy to make and eat.
Ten minutes into making the soup, the doorbell rang again, and Matteo grunted in frustration before stomping his way to the front door and opening it. Ofcourse, it was the pizza delivery, handing him the box. The pizza was cold now, Dave hated cold pizza.
"Sorry it's late.. There was—"
"Traffic, yeah, that's what you say everytime. Just.." Matteo whipped out the money from his pocket, practically slamming it into the delivery guy's extended hand. "Fuck off."
Matteo kicked the door shut, leaning his back against it as instant regret began to sink in.
If Dave had heard him, he would've lectured him for god knows how long about being nice to those people. Matteo would always roll his eyes, but now he'd give anything to hear his tired ass voice again. It had felt like an eternity of just looking at his wounds when he was cleaning him up, wondering who jumped him so violently like it was personal.
Tears welled in his eyes but he pushed them away — Now was not the time.
—
When Matteo was done with the food, he carefully brought it up to Dave's room. It was a tray with a few of his medications, a glass of water, a bowl of vegetable soup and a few slices of heated-up pizza.
He gently set it down on the nightstand beside their bed, and it didn't take too long before the smell of warmth awakened Dave, a groan leaving his chapped lips.
Matteo stood up in a hurry when he saw Dave's eyelids flicker, almost knocking off the tray from the nightstand, and he rested his hand on Dave's head, his thumb rubbing his forehead softly.
"Hey, bud..." Matteo smiled warmly, watching as Dave's eyes flickered confusedly like it was the best sight he'd ever seen. "You— You with me now?"
Dave winced, trying to sit up after realising that he was at their house, and Matteo was next to him, looking rather angry than worried.
"Hey, nonono, don't try to get up.." Matteo gently rested his hands on Dave's shoulders, pushing him down. "Rest for a minute, okay?" "How do you feel?"
"'m... Fuck..." Dave sucked a breath through his now gritted teeth, his face scrunched in agony.
"It's okay, you're safe..." Matteo exhaled, looking over at the tray and hoping he included any pain meds. "What the fuck happened to you?" Matteo's hand pulled away from Dave's shoulder while the other smoothly flew down his arm and grasping his hand.
Dave grunted, letting out an exhale as he looked up at Matteo's eyes. "I, uh... I don't..—"
"Who did this?" Matteo glared at him, and Dave knew all too well that if he told him, then all hell will unleash.
"M'tteo..."
"Dave, I want answers. Who did this to you?" Matteo's voice cracked. "A-and don't you dare use the 'I slipped and fell' excuse— Because you know d-damn well it's not gonna work this time."
Dave sighed, about to give in when his stomach started grumbling, begging for food.
When Matteo heard the angry rumbling of his stomach, he knew he couldn't be mad at him for much longer, so he sighed, gently pulling away from Dave. "C'mon, buddy. Let's get you up, you need to eat something." Matteo carefully sat Dave up, propping his back against a couple of pillows so it was less painful.
Saved by the bell.
"Mkay..." Dave looked down at Matteo's sweatshirt that he was wearing, finally noticing the bandages scattering his chest and realising Matteo had seen him half-naked. It wasn't new but it still made Dave blush a little.
Matteo's eyes softened at his vulnerable voice, unable to imagine the hell he went through. He looked like he had been passed around like a fucking tennis ball.
He shook the thought away and picked up the tray, carefully setting it down on the bed. "Careful.. I'm gonna feed you, a'ight? Just eat what you can, and let me know when to stop." Dave just nodded, not making eye contact with Matteo and instead on the pills on the tray, one he had recognised merely by its vividly red colour: Zonatil.
As Matteo fed Dave, he noticed his weakened state: His body was almost completely tensed up from pain, and he was chewing way too slowly. That fucker would normally take down a hotdog in one or two bites.
Ofcourse it was delusional to expect him to do something like that given his state, but he just wanted it back, he wanted to laugh at Dave and call him an absolute dumbass and an embarrassment at dinner tables in fancy restaurants again.
Dave ate one slice of pizza and the whole bowl of the comforting, warm, over-salted soup before shaking his head, way too full to eat anymore.
"Okay… I'm gonna keep the rest here, okay? If you want them later, just let me know." Dave just nodded, smiling awkwardly at Matteo.
Matteo set the tray back on the nightstand, trying to quiet down his racing heart but he was pretty sure anyone from the next building would've been able to hear it.
He sat by Dave for a while, feeling weird in the silence. He knew Dave was probably too weak, or didn't want to talk about it, but he wanted— no, needed answers. "Dave..."
"Mm?"
"What happened?"
Dave didn't answer, his eyes drifting to the blood-stained bed sheets with a tired expression.
"Please, just let me in…" Matteo leaned closer to Dave which made his breath get caught in his throat, but he didn't visibly react, atleast he didn't think so.
Eventually, Dave looked into Matteo's eyes with those puppy ones of his that seemed to melt the most solid of stones. He always fell for that stare. "Can you just hold me..? Please? I'll— I'll tell you after.."
Matteo smiled softly, concern still flooding his mind but he knew his weirdo needed some comfort right now, so he sat beside Dave, carefully pulling him into a hug, a hand on his back and the other on the back of his head as if he was a human shield. "You need to learn how to fucking fight back, dumbass..." Matteo muttered, kissing Dave's head softly. He was just glad Dave made it when he did and that he was okay.
Dave smiled, wrapping his arms around Matteo albeit the movement making him wince. "Sure, man. Whatever..."