Tiger roses (Boyxboy)

Chapter five: dirty little secrets

The end of the school year couldn't come any slower. Day by day, little by little troy began to shut down, he was drained of energy, he stopped talking to Kourtney, to Bryce, even Anne, and he didn't want to go on any longer. But one suicide attempt was enough, he had seen the after math of the first, the second would be tragic to say the least. It had been months since his anti-depressants had stopped helping. He stopped managing, his hair grew out, his nails only shortened when they chipped, and he only showered because that was the only thing that reminded him he was still alive.

The nightmares had gotten so bad he barely slept anymore, which prompted him to push himself as long as he could to stay awake, often resulting in him passing out. Most nights end up being similar to this one.

Sitting outside, leaning back against the only tree in the garden holding his legs close to his chest. Just staring into the crackling fire, that's occasionally interrupted by hooting of nearby owls.

The fires warmth causing him to take off his sweatshirt before getting up to get another log. Picking up the log he turns around, before hearing the crunch of leaves. He stops, before brushing it off and continuing towards the fire, until again the rustling of leaves halts his actions.

"Who's there?" He calls out scanning the area. He feels eyes on him, walking slowly he gets closer to the fire, tossing the log into the fire, he leans back against the tree. Then he hears the snap of a twig, quickly he grabs the fire poker next to him.

"C-come out!" He yells. The silhouette of a man begins to form. Quickly Troy tenses up, his heart begins to race, and his body is covered in goose bumps.

But when the figure revealed itself, the tension and fear had been replaced with confusion and uneasiness. The broad young man, stood there. Troy's heart pounded against his chest.

"L-Leo?" Troy said, pointing the poker at him.

Two boys stood before each other, one filled with anger, the other complete with pity and sorrow.

"Troy...I..." Leo stuttered.

"Leave..." Troy muttered, still not believing that Leo was actually there.

"What?"

"Leave."

"Troy I just want to..."

"Talk? Funny when you're on the other side of the line isn't it?"

Leo nods.

"Yeah I guess it is."

Waking up in his bed the next morning he shakes off what happened last night, shaking it off as a hallucination. After all why would he know his address or why would he want to talk to him? Although he was filled with anger, it was followed with sorrow, and perplexity. The whole thing that happened last year was unfathomably stressful.

Then there was the matter of Cody. The boy had, what seemed to be, a goal to remove troy, permanently. So what had set Cody off in the first place? Troy had been wondering that ever since the first day, he had gone to superior high. All he wanted was just to get away from the crazed hostility of solon, and his parents: but instead of finding a safe haven, he found a torture chamber.

He laid in his bed, with a continuous amount of question running through his head. He knew the only person who could person that could answer any of them was Leo, but why should he talk to him? When previously all that followed was Leo silencing him.