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The next morning as Finney and Gwen had come to school, they stood next to Lucas as they watched Robin rock the shit out of Moose, one of the many school bullies. Robin literally looked like a 1978 version of the Karate Kid. Lucas watched the fight start, seeing Moose bully Robin for his ethnicity and swing at him, apparently not knowing Robin was literally the toughest boy in the school.
Robin had pinned him to the ground, punching him over and over, blood spilling all over Moose's face and splattering onto Robin's knuckles. Finney tries shouting for Robin to stop, which he eventually does, walking off into school, leaving the other boy to groan in pain. Lucas just snickers, walking after Robin, Finney and Gwen following.
After their first period class, Lucas and Robin walk from English across the school towards the bathroom near History, seeing Finney running down the hall in front of them, three other boys chasing after him. The two sigh, quickly walking towards the bathroom where they knew Finney would be hiding.
The three bullies stand in front of Finney as Robin and Lucas walk in, Lucas making his way to the window sill to sit and Robin to the sink.
"Hey Finn. What's going on?" Robin asks
"Just keeping on keeping on, I guess" The boy with the mop of brunette hair answers
"Moose got some damn sharp teeth. Knuckles bled all first period"
The three bullies go to leave but Robin stops them, Finney moving back towards the window sill and awkwardly leaning along the wall next to Lucas.
"Wait. Fuck with Finn again.." Robin turns to the boys, "I fuck with you. Same goes for Luke." A few seconds of silence from the boys leads to Robin dismissing them, starting to wrap his knuckles in paper towels.
"Thank you" Finney chokes
"You're gonna have to stand up for yourself one of these days."
"Yeah, I know." Finn answers, "Hey, why'd you fight Moose?"
"He was just shit-talking. Pretty sure he'd back down. Nope"
Both boys laugh as Lucas stares at the tan bathroom stall, zoning out into his own little world.
"I was so surprised when he swung, to be honest," Robin continues
"I mean, did you have to? Looked like you really hurt him"
"I was just gonna knock his ass down, whale on him a bit. But that wouldn't draw no blood. In a situation like that, the more blood, the better. For the crowd, you know?" Robin holds up his taped up knuckles covered in masking tape and paper towels, "It gives a stronger point. I've seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre Friday night, you seen it?"
"That movie's rated R. My dad would never take me to see that."
"My uncle takes me to the drive-in. We see everything. But man, that movie.. It's the best, ever"
"Better than Enter The Dragon?" Finney asks
"Well, okay. Maybe second best" The boys laugh
Robin asks if he could go over to Finn's sometime soon to study math, needing help understanding the topic because the teacher talked to fast. Finney agrees, informing Robin that Lucas was spending the night at his house because of an earlier incident that morning with his mom. Robin looks over at the zoned out, stuttering boy with a sigh, rubbing his temples.
Finney looked over at Lucas, Robin still leaning against the sink. Finney exhales, seeing tears form at the curly haired boy's eyes.
Finn, now concerned, shakes Lucas by the shoulders, snapping out of his trance to stare back up at him, silently questioning what had happened as he glanced to Robin.
"You zoned out, again" Finney tells the boy
"Oh." After a long pause Lucas speaks again, "I gotta get to class. See you guys at lunch"
Lucas then hops off the window sill, walking out of the bathroom, backpack now slung over his shoulder as he made his way to his next class, leaving Finney and Robin alone in the bathroom.
Entering the class, Lucas sits down at his seat in the corner, sitting his head down, miserable. The teacher pays no mind to Lucas or the fact Robin hadn't shown up yet, probably knowing some bullies had stopped Lucas and Robin went to defend him.
<•>
Later at Finney's, Lucas, Gwen and Finn were sitting in front of the TV, watching cartoons. The phone rings as Terrance answers, the three kids not paying much attention until he peered around the wall, looking at Lucas and Finn.
"Hey, Finney, Lucas? Did you know a boy named Robin... Ar.. Are.. Ar.."
"Arellano?" Finney answers
"Yeah"
"He's a friend from school, why?" Finn asks
Terrance sighs, "He's missing"
Lucas and Finn lose their breath, eyes wide as Gwen turns around. Terrance leaves the room as Finn and Lucas rush up to the Blake boy's room.
Finn collapsed onto his bed, watching Lucas call Ms.Arellano, to really see if Terrance was fucking with them. Robin couldn't just go missing, that was absurd.
Setting the phone down, Lucas exhales coldly, looking back at Finney, a face the boy with the mop of brown hair didn't want to see.
"You're joking, right?"
Lucas just shakes his head no, walking over to the bed where Finn was now holding his blanket to his face, starting to cry. Gwen was now in her room, just leaving the boys alone after she closed the door for them, seeing their both upset facial expressions.
Lucas just pulls Finn close to him, the Blake boy's head resting in the Smithson's lap, the blue blanket covering his face as he lay to the side. The lighter brunette plays with the darker brunette's hair, twisting it in his fingers and lightly straightening it out a bit without hurting the boy's scalp. Lucas could hear small sobs escape Finney's mouth, scared for Robin's safety like there was no tomorrow. He wouldn't go down without a fight first.
"He's guh-onna be okay, Finn. I puh-pr-promise."
Finn just sniffles, gripping onto Lucas' thigh as he smiles, small but meaningful.
