Three days had passed and, each night, a new dispute occurred ; once for a bad mark, another time it was for he shoes in the hall... but the one time I really felt bad for him, was when he returned home after his mother discovered that he hadn't been to school for the whole week.... phone, TV, video games, books... everything had been confiscated... even his evening meal.
About eight p.m, his mother went to bed while I finished washing the dishes. Half an hour after that, I went up the stairs and, walking by Keith bedroom's door, I heard quiet sobs coming from it. I returned down stairs, went to the kitchen, took a bag of biscuits and a glass and climbed up the stairs once again. I stopped before his door and knocked lightly on it.
-"Keith, can I come in...?" I asked. As nobody answered, I entered and found him curled up on his swivel chair by his desk. I approached silently, laid the plate and glass on the wooden furniture and, seeing that he wasn't going to move, I walked back towards the exit.
-"Eh, frenchy... why d'ya do that...?" he asked as I passed the doorstep.
-"We all have our 'ups' and 'downs'... and sometimes, to get on top... all you need is a little boost..." I answered as I grabbed the knob. He replied nothing as I went out in the corridor and, just before I had completely closed the door, I heard a faint 'thanks' coming from the brat ; I wished him good night.
This Saturday, Keith came back around eleven in the morning. He rushed past the living room and ran up to his bedroom. I had just finished washing the mirror in the lounge, when I saw, via the reflection, something red laying on the hall's carpet. I approached it and assumed that it was blood ; something felt off. I got up and went to the next floor to see if things were ok.
A metallic sound came from the bathroom. I entered and found Keith ; his joints bloodied and his face covered in scratches with an already puffed black eye.
-"What the Hell has happened...?" I asked as I strode towards him. I took his face in my hands and stared at the damages.
-"It's nothing... let go..." he snapped, backing off. I insisted and, made him sit on a stool as I tended to his wounds.
-"You sure you don't want to talk to me about it...? Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you barely kno-" I stopped ; he was crying.
I went to the shelf to get him a tissue, opened the pack and gave him one. He blew his nose but kept on crying. Softened by such a display of weakness, I embraced him and tried to calm him down as best as I could... I had done it for Jack, why not for him?
-"You promise you're not telling a soul?" he asked once his sobs had stopped. I nodded ; he told me everything.
It had all started during his first year in high school ; he had friends and one that strangely started to appeal to him more and more. Other thing that he had found odd, was the lack of interest that he had for the pictures of naked women that his friends gawked at in between classes. Around the end of the year, he caught himself starring a bit too long for his liking at the boys who were taking showers, but more than anything, he really had a hard time not peeking at this very particular friend ; a certain Mathew.
At first he thought it was just a phase but, when a girl kiss his best friend, he felt the sting of jealousy right in his heart. He couldn't pray his eyes off them ; he couldn't bring himself to but, when those two where smooching... he just felt like vomiting!
Later on, he found himself dreaming of Mathew ; holding his hand instead of his girlfriend, making him laugh with a bad pun, embracing him... but each time he saw him in real life, he saw that the gap between his arms was full.
So, during two whole years, he tried to stay afar, to keep his eyes off him, to not dream of such silliness... But, one week ago, as he went to buy bread, he caught sight of Mathew's girl kissing another full on the mouth. Shocked by such a treason, he took a picture of them and sent it to his friend and now deceived lover.
The next day, his friend came to Keith home disappointed ; he missed her badly and couldn't comprehend why she dumped him for an other. Keith then tried to comfort him but, without realizing it, he sort of confessed something that shocked his friend greatly... so much so, that he exited the room, running ; the day I arrived.
Since that day, Mathew took grate care in avoiding him ; he blocked him on Facebook, switched groups in class and even found a way to sit far away from him in every class they were together ; but it was just the beginning.
A few days ago, as he went for his locker, he only found a busted door, torn books and shredded papers allover the floor. And just because it wasn't enough, the word 'queer' was written in a vibrant red on the now lumpy door and all the belongings that seemed to have resisted.
At that moment, his crying doubled and he threw himself in my arms. Poor thing, he hadn't done anything wrong... he who only asked for affection had been elevated to the rank of criminal... and all for a thing that wasn't a crime to begin with...! 'after all, even if 'preference' and deviance' rime... it doesn't mean that they are alike!' I thought as I hugged him close.
-"Who do you think would have spread it?" I asked him as I stroke his hair absentmindedly.
-"It's not him if that's what ya think... no, he's bein' beaten up too..." he replied when calmed down.
-"Maybe it was the girl you saw cheating on him... she might have sought revenge on you... after all, you're the one that showed her true colors..." I thought out loud.
-"Does compute..." he replied. An awkward silence then overtook the room and, as I was about to offer him assistance, we heard the front door being shut.
I looked at my watch and saw that it was already past noon. I gave Keith a slight pat on the shoulder and went in the kitchen where Avalon already was. And, after she shouted at Keith for tearing his new jeans, we sat down and ate in silence.
Out of pity for the guy and knowing that Avalon would be staying home for the afternoon, I asked Keith to come with me to the supermarket, making it look like a punishment in Avalon's eyes.
Thankful, she let us out and, once in the car, I heard the boy sighting heavily.
-"How about we celebrate our liberty with a bit of music?" I proposed smiling. He nodded excitedly and it's on the tune 'Highway to Hell' that we departed for the supermarket and, maybe, I'll use my guide to find the 'Grossman's house...
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femme!reader x Laughing Jack : arc 2 Paranoia (English)
Fanfiction-"Hey, d' you got a lighter?" a voice asked on my left. I then pointed the panel listing everything that was forbidden to do, during the trip in the tunnel under the English Channel. He snorted and returned to his car. 'All we need now is for some i...
