Hey Punk, Keep This a Secret

Chapter Thirteen: Danny Stewart

 We were sent to the lounge room for the recess. By the time we were there, Chance had certainly worn away all his energy. He barely held himself upright long enough to reach the chair next to me, where his head quickly fell onto my shoulder. It caught me by surprise at first, but I ended up finding it rather adorable (for reasons aforementioned).

"38," he said, like he could only speak a few words at a time.

"I know, Chance," I said.

"I can't believe that was in me," he explained, completely unaware that it was incoherent. "38... in me. And I didn't even know until... now."

"Me either, Chance," I said, pretending that he was making sense.

"Why weren't you there," Chance asked, and when the tears finally filled his eyes, he asked again. "Why weren't you there?"

Tears started to fill my eyes, too. That was the one thing that I wished I could have changed, and now it was coming to haunt me again. I couldn't bear to answer that question. I thought I'd sound selfish if I told him the truth. Instead, I just said, "You're exhausted, Chance."

"You're exhausted," Chance refuted. And with his remaining strength, he pointed his finger at my chest. "You." Then he took that hand and he opened it to me. "Hold my hand," he said.

I did as I was asked. It was hard not to crack a smile.

Chance desperately tried to form full sentences, but all that would come out of his mouth was, "Together."

"Together," I said back, acting like I understood.

I didn't need to know exactly what he meant by that. Only two possibilities came to mind, and both of them were worth blushing for.

While Chance and I were talking- or trying to at least- Landon and Taylor were having a conversation of their own:

"Why the hell would you try to fight Hart," Taylor asked. "I told you that the officers would take care of it if he tried anything."

"And I told you that I didn't trust them," Landon answered.

"I think they would have handled it fine," Taylor tried convincing him. "I saw them getting ready to apprehend him before you intervened."

"Fine," Landon sighed. "I won't argue with you about this."

Then, they both looked over at me.

Landon pointed over at Chance and I. "Look at him," he said to Talyor, "I don't think he can take much more of this."

"He can't take any more of this," Taylor corrected him. "He's completely beat. I'm sure he would love to go home and lie down right now, rather than have to fight with his abuser any longer."

"Unfortunately, I don't think he has a choice. This case isn't over yet... somehow," Landon sighed.

"No, it's pretty much over," Taylor said. "Hart- well, Brian- has already been made to admit to statutory rape, thanks to our overwhelming amount of evidence. That on its own will give him jail time, because their age gap is too large for an exception to be made. On top of that, he catfished Chance, which pretty much proved that his intent was always malicious. I'm sure that Brian will be prosecuted quickly after this, and we can go home."

"I guess you're right," Landon said. "That all makes sense, and even if it didn't, I'm not the one with the expertise in law." He looked over at Chance again, hoping that Taylor really would be right.

His eyebrows raised. "Is he asleep," he asked me.

I looked down at my chest and noticed that Chance had fallen asleep on my chest. My face went hot. "Yeah," I answered.

"Poor kid," Landon sighed. "We should put him on the couch. It's probably much more comfortable than letting him lay like that." Then, without another warning, he scooped Chance into his arms and carried him to the small leather couch that was next to us.

Taylor's eyes followed Landon as he set Chance across the black cushions. I noticed that Chance stirred upon being moved, but went right back to his slumber almost instantly.

"I'm surprised he didn't wake up when you picked him up like that," Taylor said the exact words I was thinking.

I thought that it was a rather reasonable statement, but suddenly, Landon began to argue with her. "What makes you think I would have woken him up? I'm pretty sure he trusts that we wouldn't harm him," he said.

"When did I ever suggest that he didn't," Taylor refuted. "Even if he did wake up just now, it could have just been a response to the sudden physical touch. It doesn't necessarily have to do with how much he trusts us."

"Well, I can imagine that he's so tired from all this shit that he wouldn't wake up if I smacked him upside the head," Landon said.

And for the first time, we saw Taylor get mad. "You're really going to wake him up if you keep raising your voice like that," she said.

Then, out of the blue, Devin burst into tears. "Stop that," he pleaded. He sounded so pained, you'd think they were beating him to death. "Chance has been through too much today. Just let him sleep! Please!"

We all looked at him, shocked at the response and unsure of what to say in return. I was surprised he hadn't included himself in the statement. Getting threatened and almost assaulted by Hart seems like it qualifies for having "been through too much," but I didn't want to point it out.

Finally, Taylor broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, Devin. We didn't mean to fight ," she said.

Devin wouldn't have it, though. "Yes you did," he insisted.

I looked back over at Landon and Taylor, hoping that one of them would say something else. Instead, I saw Landon run out of the room.