Surprising

"I'll take you to sleep over at my home," he whispered quietly and Chao rose up immediately. when Yitian continued, he calmed down again. "Don't worry, I haven't seen my mother for three days. She won't be probably coming home tonight." Chao calmed down and sat back to the car seat. The taxi stopped in front of the apartment building and Chao looked up, he was always riding alongside these tall apartment buildings, but he was never in one. Just because they lived in a villa and he never visited a friend before.

"How high are you?" he asked, a bit excited. Yitian blinked twice and shook his head.

"Only the eighth floor," Yitian said and opened the door, they took an elevator upstairs and he opened the door for them. Chao was looking around amazed at the elevator and even in his weakened state he was quite excited to have his first friend visit. When Yitian opened the door, Chao hadn't expected this. It was a clean apartment, bigger than he thought, modern furniture. When Yitian led him into the room, obviously his. Chao was surprised even more. By the beatings Yitian was getting, Chao thought he would have a futon and gray walls in his room looking like a jail. But hell no! Yitian's room was white, clean with a double bed, a big table, and a big library with loads of books.

"Do you want some water?" Yitian asked when Chao nodded he went to get some to the kitchen. It was a quick trip, so he was back with a glass and handed it out to Chao. "What about a shower? Clothes?"

"Can I? Would you find something for me? I dirtied myself when I fell to the ground." Chao said while looking down. His shirt and jeans were dirty from the grass and mud he fell into. He was now a bit embarrassed about it. How could he end up like that? It wasn't an image someone in his position should have. Yitian just nodded, showed him where the shower was, and gave him a towel.

"I will look for something you can wear. I have some oversized shirts that may suit you." Yitian said and closed the door. The shower was small but pretty nice. Chao took off his clothes and entered the small space. He picked up some random shower gel and shampoo and proceeded to clean himself. When he heard knocks on the door.

"I'm coming in," Yitian shouted and jerked a bit when he saw the opening of the door, because, let's be honest, they weren't so close to seeing each other naked for sure. But he only saw a hand, then a bit of shoulder and a tiny bit of head with closed eyes, laying some clothes on the shelf next to the door. He calmed down and finished his shower. When he got out to put on the clothes he was surprised how stylish they were, black shirt with a simple blue sign on it. Yitian was definitely the one picking this shirt out in the shop. The sign held one important message, it was a blue handprint. And Chao knew this blue color was against child abuse. Oh, how clever Yitian was. He put on the trousers that were a bit shorter than he needed, but he went out. Chao met Yitian with a bunch of clothes and he slipped around him to the bathroom. He didn't know what to do so he went to Yitian's room.

Chao decided to take a look around. The bed was clean, fresh. The table had many books open. What he was pleased with was his note pinned to the notice board at the wall.

'Call me. I finally found you. C' He wrote an English letter as a signature and his number. Hoping for Yitian to get the message. What he really did not know was that Yitian had no phone. So surprising. More glances around the room revealed that Yitian was an amazing painter. When Chao saw one of the paintings laying beside the bed, he instantly knew it was painted by Yitian. Such a sorrowful and sad painting. He heard the doors open, so he jokingly jumped onto the bed. Yitian came in and saw him lying there.

"I'll sleep on the couch then," Yitian said and opened the door when Chao shouted.

"Don't! The bed is big enough for us two. I won't rob you of your place to sleep. And if I take up too much space, you can kick me down." he laughed and Yitian too. Chao was touched by the gesture of Yitian. He had so little but he was still kind. He picked up a drunk him on the street, lent him clothes, and let him sleep on his bed? That was such an amazing trait, that many people nowadays did not have. They were greedy, rude, and power-thirsty. He had met a lot of people like that. People who wanted to use him, befriend him for a profit. But this little guy sought nothing back. Heck, he even refused to become friends before. Chao smiled to himself. Somehow he knew he was safe here. With this thought, he drifted off to sleep. Calmed by the regular breathing of the new friend beside him. Who climbed up to join him, after a few seconds of thinking.

***

"Mommy, there is a black car behind us." His mommy glanced into the rear-view mirror. He saw her eyes widen. But he did not know why.

"Mommy, what's happening?" he asked more.

"Nothing, honey, just close your eyes and sleep. You must be tired," his mommy said in a kind voice. She was the kindest person he met, even his childhood friend said that. He was so glad he had her. He closed his eyes and slept. She was right, he was tired.

***

Chao jerked himself in his sleep. Yitian was half woken up by it. And he did the thing that someone did to him. He took Chao's hand and squeezed it. Then fell asleep again, without knowing, he helped this poor boy to his first sleep without nightmares, in four months.