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// Who Did This to You? (14) 
// Story: Gale Watch 
// by Grainne Ni Bhroin 
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Haki lay in his bed waiting for the knock he knew was coming, the two colts had spent practically every night of the past two years in each other’s bed and they had it down to a routine. Lights out, wait 10 minutes for Gale’s parents to go to bed, another 10 to make sure Haki’s folks were asleep and then there it was, a gentle knock at the connecting door and a voice softly called out, “Haki?”

The zebra slid out of bed and made his way over to the door, he undid the latch and opened the door to reveal the face of Gale on the other side. The two colts shared a quick kiss and silently made their way to the pegasus’ bed.

Gale slid under the covers first and scooted to the side to give Haki room. The zebra wasted no time in joining Gale and with a nuzzle wrapped his front legs around him, but as his hoof brushed against the inside of Gale’s leg the pegasus whimpered in pain and jerked in Haki’s grip.

“Gale? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, ignore it.”

Haki sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. “Are you hurt? I’m really sorry if I hurt you.”

“I said it’s nothing,” he replied, hints of fear creeping into his voice.

“That didn’t sound like nothing, let me see.” Haki reached for Gale’s leg but the pegasus pulled away from him. “Gale? You’re starting to scare me.”

“Promise you won’t tell,” said Gale, his voice shaking

“Won’t tell who?”

“My parents, promise you won’t tell them.”

Haki stared at Gale for a long moment before he spoke. “I promise, now please let me take a look.”

Another long moment passed until, shakily, Gale held out his leg towards Haki. The zebra took hold of the leg and, looking closely at the inside, found a row of small cuts.

“Gale what happened here?” Anger crept into Haki’s voice. “Did someone do this to you?”

“No! It’s fine Haki, just forget you saw it”

“No Gale. If someone’s hurting you I’ll fucking kill them! Who did this to you?”

“No one did this to me Haki!” He tore his leg from the zebra’s grip and held it close to his chest.

“Then how did this happen!”

“I did it to myself!” he said with tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Please don’t hate me.”

“You did it to... Why?”

“Because it hurts less than doing nothing.”

Haki grabbed the other colt and pulled him into a hug. “Gale, if you’re hurting this much you need help”

Gale buried his face in the zebra’s chest. “I don’t need help, I can deal with this myself.”

“Gale, at least let me help you. I love you.”

“If you love me please just let it go. I don’t need help, I just need you to hold me okay.”

Haki took a deep breath and gently kissed the top of Gale’s head. “Okay, I’ll let it go for now.”

He leaned over and switched off the lamp as Gale laid back down. Haki pulled the blankets back over the pair and carefully wrapped his legs around the pegasus again. With another kiss to Gale’s cheek he whispered, “I love you Gale.”

After a pause Gale replied, “I love you too Haki.”