Toddlers

Little Boys (Ch. 6)

Paul stared up at the stars, hearing the grass shift around.

"Wha's that?" He asked.

John hummed in response.

Suddenly, they heard it again.

"Quit movin' Johnny" He whispered.

"Oi 'm not moving! That's you!" John replied.

"'S not me" Paul frowned.

The two boys remained awfully silent for a while longer, staring above and dazing out.

"Maybe 's a rabbit"

They both giggled, but suddenly, Paul's chuckled turned into a sharp yelp.

John lifted his head up a bit to see a very tall figure of a man holding Paul, a firm arm around his waist and another holding Paul's mouth shut.

The smaller boy's eyes were bulging in complete shock.

"Hey!" John shouted, squirming to get up, but feeling like a turtle on its back. "What 're ya doin'!?"

"Shut up kid!" The man growled, wrestling to tighten a hold on the struggling boy in his arms. "Quit. Fuckin'. Moving!"

"Get off him!!" John jumped up and pulled and grabbed at his legs, scratching desperately. "Stop it!"

The man kicked John hard in frustration, causing him to cry out and fall on the grass. Paul shrieked in the man's arms seeing poor Johnny fall. The younger boy flailed his arms and legs around.

"Oh, yer a cutie aren't ye, yet a real fuckin' squirmer" The man growled disgustingly into Paul's ear.

The smaller boy shuddered in disgust, feeling the man's hot breath on his neck.

The man chuckled breathily, then suddenly cried out when he felt small, sharp teeth pierce into his hand.

He dropped Paul and waved his bleeding hand around, gritting his teeth.

Paul quickly crawled away, but couldn't get far at all.

"Get back 'ere!" The man grabbed his feet, pulling Paul back.

"No! Let go of me!" Paul cried as he was dragged, he clawed at the dirt and grass.

John held his stomach, a few tears streaming down his cheeks. He saw through blurry eyes as Paul desperately trier to crawl away from the insane man, kicking his legs around.

"No!" John screamed, he stood up on shaky legs and held onto Paul's tiny wrists, pulling his back towards him.

Though, sadly, he was not stronger than the much older man. He was only a child.

"Stupid kid!!" The man bellowed and gave a hard yank, causing Paul to bawl in pain, almost as thought his hands disconnected from his arms. The man pulled the younger boy right out of John's hands and held Paul down, a knee over his neck.

John growled and jumped at his neck, simply not giving up, wrapping his arms around his neck and scratching his face with all the strength a 6 year old could possess. He pulled at his hair hard, reaching for his eyes and clawed there.

The man shouted out in pure agony, and again, let go of Paul.

Paul crawled out from under the man and began to kick and scratched at the man as well.

The two boys harshly attacked the man.

"Fuuuck!! Little shits!!" The man cried out and attempted miserably to cover himself.

"Fuck you too!" John shot back, pulling at his hair and shaking his head violently, giving him a hard, final kick. "C'mon Paulie!"

John jumped off his back and pulled Paul, dashing away with his younger friend.

They ran to the front of the house and John quickly crawled under the porch, helping Paul with him.

John put a finger over his lips and wrapped an arm around his friend and they laid on their bellies, hidden safely.

Paul's eyes were wide and watery, he held John's hand softly and John couldn't help but feel a tingly sensation in the pit in his stomach.

He would keep Paul safe no matter what.

They heard someone walking on the grass and held their tiny breaths when they spotted the man's boots stumble in the front yard. They paused

John and Paul heard the man groan and suddenly, he was walking away into the streets and out of sight.

"C-Can we go now?" Paul asked weakly.

John squinted, he couldn't see much, but he was sure the man was gone.

The only sounds of the night were the owls whoo'ing lightly and the crickets chirping.

"Yeah.." He climbed out first and helped Paul on his feet, the younger boy wincing in pain. And only then did he notice the dirt, bruises, and scratches on his face and body.

"Are you okay??" He asked with worry.

"U-Uhm, yeah.." Paul rubbed his sore arms.

John held his hand again and they quietly entered the house. The first thing the older boy did was lock all the doors.

He peeked in on Mimi sleeping in the living room, then climbed up the stairs with Paul on his heels.

"C'mere" He lead Paul to the bathroom.

He turned the tap on the tub and let the warm water flow.

"Ye look worse" Paul shook his head, laughing weakly.

"M' fine" John shrugged. "Take off yer clothes."

"Bath time?" Paul toed off his shoes and slipped off his shorts.

"Well, we're dirty"

The next minute, the two boys sat naked in the now-brown, warm water, opposite to each other with their knees up and arms wrapped around them.

"Here" John reached up and grabbed a yellow bar of soap, tossing it in the water near Paul.

The younger boy scowled and searched for the bar of soap in the filthy water. He lathered himself from the dirt and handed it back to John who did the same.

The two boys then sat quietly, John playing with the water.

"Hey Paul?" He called to the spaced-out boy sitting thoughtfully across from him.

"Hm?"

"Don't tell anyone what 'appened. K?"

Paul blinked.

"Why?"

"Cuz then we'll never see eachother again.." John looked at him with sad eyes that made Paul nod slowly, agreeing. Though, it was against everything his mum had told him, he would never speak a word of this.

He wanted to be with John. Protective, fun, comical John. He had a very good feeling the two of them would go places. Have adventures. Explore. And Laugh.

It was silent in the bathroom again.

"We beat that man up" Paul suddenly laughed.

John grinned. "Did ya see how I kicked him??"

"Scratched his eyes out!"

"I think I heard 'im cry!"

"He was all like ahh! Argg!" John made an impression, covering his eyes and pretending to be in pain, then playing dead.

Paul giggled and splashed water onto his friend's face.

"Hey!!" John sat up, splashing some water at Paul. The two contuinng their little water fight, laughing childishly.

Yes, Paul definitely made the right call going with that strange woman John called Mimi, because if he hadn't, he would have never met his best friend.