Inhuman [Keveridge/Shier]

12

"And then this strange man got out of a van and started shouting at him, wondering where he'd been..." I whispered cautiously to Laurence, the both of us buried in my bed sheets while facing each other. My bedroom light was turned off, hopefully giving my Mother the impression that I was asleep while I freely spoke to Laurence. "He told me his parents weren't around much so I don't think it was his Dad, but... I don't know; I'm worried about him, you know?"

Laurence nodded, a deep frown on his lips as he listened to my every word.

"The guy didn't seem kind, and Shane was really nervous." I continued, pulling the quilt high above our shoulders. "He seemed scared, and I don't know why."

I watched as Laurence flicked his tongue over his lips, raising a hand to my cheek, but centimeters away from touching my skin. However, I still smiled, noticing the action as one of affection and comfort.

"I love you." I whispered, unable to stop smiling as I saw his hand so close to me. He grinned, mouthing a loving 'I love you too' in return, before finally moving his hand back to its previous place at his side.

I fell asleep shortly afterwards, moving as close to Laurence as humanely possible yet I still knew he'd shuffle away so we wouldn't touch. I couldn't understand why he never wanted touch me, he told me he loved me. It had been the same since we first met, he'd say that he was insecure and wasn't ready for us to engage in physical contact, but we'd been like this for so long now; I needed someone to hold me, but he still wouldn't.

The sound of my phone ringing caused me to groan, my tone croaky and slightly high-pitch from the rude awakening. Reaching blindly over to where I thought my bedside table was I grabbed what I believed to be my phone, accepting the call before holding the device to my ear.

"H-Hello?" I mumbled, yawning moments later.

"Where the hell are you? I had to do the first half of English by myself and so help me god you better get your skinny dumbass ass into college immediately before I get you myself. There's no way I'm spending lunch alone!" I recognised the voice immediately as Drew's; a very irritated sounding Drew, that is.

"Where's Shane?" I replied, moving slowly into a sitting position before attempting to remove the quilt from myself with only my feet, my free hand rubbing my eyes.

"Where do you think he is?!" Drew shouted, causing me to move the phone slightly away from my ears and flinch at the sound. "Ignoring me and probably hanging out in the art room as always."

"Alright, alright," I grumbled, winking in the direction of Laurence who was giggling silently at my desk. "I'm on my way; give me 10 minutes. Grab me a sandwich, yeah?"
"Grab your own fucking sandwich, Lazyarse," was the last thing I heard from him before the call ended. I rolled my eyes, Laurence still chuckling while I got myself ready for the day, but irritated at the feeling of clothes against me without showering beforehand.
"See you later, Sweetie." I whispered to him, waiting for him to make a heart with his hand in response before I left for College. Mother had appeared to have already left for work by the time I'd left the house myself, meaning I was left to walk there, which'd more than likely take longer meaning Drew's anger was going to hit unreasonable levels by the time I'd reach him.

Putting in my earphones I hummed all the way, ignoring the sound of my phone ringing on numerous occasions and various disgusted stares; Laurence said he loved me, which was all that mattered right now.

By the time I'd reached the college there was only ten minutes left of lunch, meaning I sped my stride slightly to buy my sandwich before finding Drew at our usual spot.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He cried once I eventually appeared. However, there was a large grin on his lips.

"I was asleep, was up late last night." I chuckled, jumping up to sit on the table beside him and open my sandwich.

"Oh yeah?" He mumbled, leaning back against the wall behind us while continuing to smile at me. I supposed he was just happy because he didn't have to spend the rest of the day alone. "Where were you yesterday anyway? I called round for you to hang out but there was no answer."

My smile slipped slightly, forcibly taking a large mouthful of my sandwich while I gathered my thoughts enough to think of a suitable response; I didn't think he'd appreciate knowing I'd spent the day with his boyfriend who was currently ignoring him.

"I, umm, just went out," I shrugged. "Sorry, I should have let you know where I was going so you wouldn't have made a pointless journey."
Drew looked at me suspiciously, his eyebrows rising while nodding.

"Okay," He mumbled in response, laughing slightly and rolling his eyes, causing me to gulp at the thought of him confronting me on my behaviour; I didn't want to cause any trouble right now. "Go anywhere nice?"
I shook my head, my tongue anxiously flicking over the surface of my drying lips. "Had a doctor's appointment, then I went to see if there was anything interesting on in the cinema... nothing that great really, so I just went home... I must have just missed you."

"Huh." He mumbled in response, nodding gently before looking down the corridor before us.
"So, umm," I began, immediately wanting to change the conversation to something other than my whereabouts. "Heard anything from Shane yet?"
Drew shook his head, releasing a small sigh as his lips dropped to a frown. "Nothing yet," He grumbled, running a hand through his blond hair. "But I'm planning on going to his this evening to try to speak to him then."
I merely nodded, not entirely comfortable at the idea of Drew forcing conversation by cornering him in his own home, but I knew there was no chance of him listening to my opinion.

"Who does Shane live with?" I questioned, brushing off any fallen cheese while trying to seem as innocent as possible. "Just out of curiosity."

"His Mom and Dad." He answered easily, shrugging. "But they're hardly home, to be honest, so his Uncle comes to stay with him quite a lot. His parents are suspicious of how he acts while home alone, you see."

I nodded, eyes widening at my discovery. His uncle; Shane's afraid of his uncle?

"He doesn't really speak to me about his family though," Drew continued, still looking out at the corridor we're in. "I've never gone to his while his family are there either."

Chewing my lip in thought I nodded, leaning back against the wall with him. "Mind if I come with you tonight? I could be there for moral support." Admittedly, there was something gnawing at the back of my mind, desperate to visit Shane tonight so I could see him again for reasons I wasn't sure of myself.

Drew's eyebrows rose, but he nodded. "Sure, if you want. Just as long as you don't start arguing with him though; I just want to make sure he's okay. That's all."

I nodded, raising my pinky finger to make a promise with him, but he merely laughed it off, pushing me lightly. I felt as if a large weight had been lifted from my shoulders, a smile forming on my lips at the thought of visiting Shane, but that only added to my confusion of why I cared in the first place.