The Barefoot Violinist

Discord

At school Xavier was waiting for him at his locker again. Bennett frowned when he saw him and almost turned around, but Xavier had seen him.

"Hi." he muttered before opening his locker to rummage inside it and closing the door again.

"Hi," Xavier drawled with a lazy smile. "Where is your overprotective boyfriend?" he asked looking around for Cory.

"I don't have a boyfriend, so if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." he snapped, irritated by whatever game Xavier was trying to play. He was about to leave when Xavier grabbed his arm, and leaning in closer, he pushed an envelope in Bennett's hand.

"This will be our little secret then." he whispered seductively close to Bennett's ear. Moving away, he smiled at Bennett before strolling off with a wave and a wink.

Looking at the card in his hand, he shoved it in one of his books and went off to his next class, not thinking about it again. That was a very unsettling experience, he thought to himself, suddenly feeling like a baby seal being hunted by a polar bear.

--

"Do any of you guys know a Xavier?" Bennett sat down at their lunch table, opening a bottle of water.

"Beats me." Victor shook his head.

"Isn't he a transfer? I think he's a year above us?" Ellie asked looking over at Blue.

"No idea," Blue was inspecting her nails. Her eyes suddenly shot up, narrowing. "Why?!"

"He keeps popping up around me to make small talk that's all. He's actually starting to get annoying, you know, a little too pushy if you ask me." Bennett explained. He wasn't sure, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Xavier was trying to be a lot more than friends.

"I'll check him out." Blue nodded at him.

"No, he's only very pushy, that's all. I thought maybe you guys knew him." Bennett was still perplexed by Xavier. He was becoming almost as bad as Cory, they had no idea of such a thing as personal space. He sighed, at least Cory left him alone when he was in a crappy mood.

While Bennett was waiting for Cory at his car, Xavier came strolling along leisurely, a big grin on his face when he saw Bennett.

"Bennett!" He called, moving over to him.

"Xavier." he said in a clipped tone.

"When you say my name like that... it does something to me." he stopped in front of Bennett, grin getting wider.

"Like make you want to walk away?" he asked pointedly.

"Anything but my lovely Bennett, anything but." he leaned in closer to Bennett. "So what do you say?" he whispered seductively.

"To what exactly?" Bennett was getting annoyed. 

"Go on a date with me of course!" he put his hand on Bennett's upper arm, stroking it lightly, taking a step closer to him.

Bennett pulled back at his touch. "No thank you."

Xavier leaned in closer so that his mouth was close to Bennett's ear: "Such a pity my lovely Bennett." and with a light peck, he left.

Bennett could only stand there, no idea what had just happened. But he what did know was, that he needed to take a shower. He suppressed a shiver, looking around for Cory, who was approaching with a heavy scowl on his face.

"Hi," he smiled at Cory, who didn't seem inclined to say anything. "What's up with you?" Bennett looked over at him while they were driving. His features set, mouth pursed, Bennett could feel Cory's anger boil under his skin.

"You're angry." he stated

"It's okay." Cory responded through clenched teeth. "I don't want to interfere in your obviously very busy and exciting love life!" he snapped seconds later.

"O-kay." he frowned at Cory. "Obviously you've got something to say." he waited expectantly, but Cory ground down on his teeth harder. Bennett could see his jaw clenched as he was trying to control his emotions.

When they stopped at Bennett's house, Cory sat in the car, face still set. Just about reaching the steps, he realized that Cory was still sitting in the car.

"Not coming in?" he called back at Cory.

"When were you going to tell me!" Cory shouted at him from the car, looking straight ahead of him. 

"Come inside Cory. You obviously have a few things you want to ask." Bennett observed mildly. Not overly concerned about Cory's bad mood. Leaving the front door open, he moved to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"What is going on between you and that guy!" Cory came storming in, face flushed in fury. He came to stand in front of Bennett, arms across his chest.

"What guy? Xavier?" he asked almost laughing.

"Yeah, that little snot that's been hanging around you!" he spat. "So what? You go around kissing all the guys at school now?" he accused, his eyes narrowed, anger barely contained. 

"What are you talking about Cory?" He sighed at the furious man in front of him. Was this all about Xavier? Was Cory really jealous?

"I saw the note he left you! Don't deny it! When were you going to tell me you've been stringing me along?!!" he roared in anger, hands now shaking furiously at his side. "I thought I, we were more than friends!" he grabbed Bennett's shoulders, shaking him, the fury on his face almost frightening.

"Cory, let go." he tried to shake him off, but Cory's fingers dug in deeper. "You're hurting me, let go," but Cory held him in place.

Bennett gripped the glass in his hand tighter. This was a familiar feeling. He knew this feeling. His breath was coming out in shallow pants, he could feel the blood rushing past his ears. Gripping the glass tighter, he willed himself to stay calm.

"Cory, Let Go!" he tried to free himself from the steely grip, fingers biting into his shoulders. Bennett started to panic, he started feeling afraid. It was like he was staring in the face of a monster.

A loud pop made them both look down. The glass had broken in Bennett's hand, blood pooling on his palms.

Then he pushed Cory's hands off him and ran to the bathroom, feeling sick to his stomach. Leaning over the toilet, he emptied his stomach, heaving and coughing. He pushed his hands against the cold tiles to keep him up, wincing from the pain, but the room started spinning. In the distance he could hear a voice calling, he tried to answer, but everything went dark around him.