"I thought you'd be here," Dan says clearly as he approaches Kyle in the forest after school that day. His stomach is bruised quite badly from the punch, an area of purple painting his pale skin. The other boy is sat against the large oak tree as he is most times the pair have been here. A bag is sat next to him. It's not his school bag.
Kyle looks up towards the voice, jumping slightly. When he realises who it is- none other than his best friend- a smile warms to his face. "I was hoping you'd come," he speaks quietly. Dan finds this annoying at times- it's something Kyle does at school so nobody can hear him stuttering, but Dan doesn't care if he stutters or not. He's still his best friend. "I'm really sorry for not being at school today."
"Yeah, where were you? Your mum didn't really give me much of an answer this morning," Dan asks curiously, taking a seat next to Kyle. His stomach begins to hurt as he sits which makes him groan slightly, and he places a soft hand over the area. Kyle's eyebrows furrow in confusion.
"Yeah, I had a bit of a rough morning." Kyle waves his hand in dismissal, "What happened to your stomach? Are you okay?"
Dan laughs, taking a deep breath- but even that hurts slightly. "Catlin didn't like the fact you weren't at school, and he told me so." He explains to Kyle, tugging up his school shirt. There's still some puppy fat on his stomach that Dan feels insecure about, but it's only Kyle looking, so who cares?
The other boy's eyes widen at the sight, the purples and browns painted on the fair skin of his best friend. "Don't laugh, Dan! This isn't funny at all!" He tells Dan with a frown. He inspects the area closer, and Dan can feel his heart rate increase with Kyle being so close to his stomach. "What happened?"
Dan shakes his head, "I'm not going to repeat it, Kyle. It really annoyed me. He shouldn't-"
"Dan, just tell me." Kyle looks up to the other boy's soft blue eyes and gently takes his hand in his own. "There's nothing he could say that he hasn't already told me."
For a moment, Dan can't help but let himself get lost in Kyle's eyes- but when he regains control, he diverts his gaze to the muddy floor. "He asked me this morning in science if you'd killed yourself, and told me that's what you need to do." His voice is laced with annoyance, and Dan uses his free hand to pull down his shirt. He likes Kyle holding his hand.
Maybe he's right... Kyle thinks to himself but quickly dismisses the thought. Catlin can never be right. "Oh..." He mumbles, the grip on Dan's hand loosening a bit. He feels a bit sick, and he wants to cry. Why are you such a wimp? He asks himself, "I- erm..."
Dan steps in, squeezing Kyle's hand. "Don't believe him? Yeah, me neither. I think you're wonderful, Kyle, if that counts for anything. I think you're kind, you're smart, you're generous, and I don't know where I'd be without you."
Kyle smiles, and he can't find the words to speak. Instead, he crawls slightly closer to Dan and lays his head on his shoulder. He likes being close to Dan.
"Oh, so you're back then, are you?" Catlin teases as the pair walk into school, "What a shame. I was hoping that we'd never see you again."
"Go away, Catlin." Dan says, walking straight past them with his head held high. Kyle matches his pace, though, as usual, he keeps his gaze on the floor.
"Oh, Danny boy, you know you won't always be there to protect s-s-stuttering Simmons over here, right?" He replies, grinning evilly at Dan.
"So what, you'll get him when I'm not here? Cowardly, if you ask me." Dan stops walking and turns to face the boys. "Good luck catching him when I'm not here, anyway."
"Oh, Danny. There will come a day when Kyle is alone. Actually, you might be with him. But six against two never works out."
"Just leave us alone. We've not done anything to you." Dan grabs Kyle's sleeve and leads the boy away.
"One day, Smith. One day in the future, I can promise you we'll get the better of you."
Time flies quickly when you're spending it with your best friend. Dan feels like it's gone too fast, and their GCSE's are now rapidly approaching since they're both fifteen now. Kyle feels like it isn't going quickly enough- he can't wait to get out of school and forget about incidents with Catlin that still pop up on a daily basis. The words the ignorant boy had said just a few year ago still make his heart drop. But he wasn't serious, right?
"What're you thinking about?" Dan asks Kyle as they sit in Dan's room, snuggled under the blankets together. Dan holds Kyle, and Kyle's head is resting against Dan's chest, the 'friendly' gesture providing support and love between them.
"How much I really don't want to go to school tomorrow," Kyle replies, slowly blinking in the darkness. The duvet covers them both, and Kyle likes it like this. It's like Dan is protecting him from the world. Kyle likes Dan protecting him.
"I won't ever let him hurt you, Kyle. I will never, never let him touch you." Dan tells him with confidence, grabbing the other boys hands.
Kyle wishes he could believe Dan. The only way he could escape from Catlin would be to leave altogether- but he doesn't want to do that. He's happy here with Dan, spending the majority of his time around his house with him. He doesn't like going home. His mum and dad still argue. Things are just as bad as they were when Kyle was thirteen- but Kyle is worse. The words got to him, and his thoughts were used a brittle edge to cut into the boy's wrists. He doesn't take off his school blazer anymore.
"I love you, Kyle," Dan says quietly, but Kyle knows he means nothing by it. Part of him wishes it meant something.
"I love you too, Dan," Kyle replies, snuggling closer to his protector and closing his eyes.
