Anger consumes Dan's body when he sees the stupid boy's stupid face. "Oh, honestly! Can't you just fuck off?" He growls as the boy stands by the school gates. Kyle isn't with him- in fact, he doesn't know where Kyle is at all. He presumes he's at home since he didn't meet Dan this morning. If he had waited any longer, Dan would have made himself late for school. He can't help but feel concerned about Kyle- he didn't mention it, but the blossoming bruise on Kyle's cheek when they went to go and see Kyle's dad really concerned him.
Catlin huffs a laughs out, shaking his head. "Oh, Smith. It's pathetic of you to think I'm bothered about you." His friends don't laugh this time. They don't find it funny at all. "I'm looking for your boyfriend, if anything. Thought I might be lucky enough to catch the little faggot alone today."
Dan sets his jaw, trying his best to not punch the boy. "Good luck, then." He replies with a voice as cold as stone. "I'm trying to, too. And don't call him a faggot."
Catlin just rolls his eyes at Dan, choosing to ignore the last comment. "So what, then? Has he run away? Yeah, I'm not surprised. I'd run away from my life if it was like his, too."
Dan chooses to bite his tongue and attempt to smother the angry fire which roars away in his chest. He wishes he could just stride up to Catlin and punch him right in the nose, he really does. Somehow, though, he manages to restrain himself from saying or doing anything and turns his back to walk away.
Confusion fills him now, though. Why didn't his friends laugh? They clearly didn't find the joke very funny, and that's very strange for that group. In fact, now that he thinks about it, they haven't laughed at any of the jokes that Catlin has made Kyle the butt of. They don't even try to cover up the fact that it's not funny anymore.
One of Catlin's friends- a boy called Jake that never pays the boy any attention- is in Dan's history class. The pair have never spoken since they sit on opposite sides of the classroom, so when Dan walks into the room and finds Jake stood by his desk, he can't help but feel surprised. Everyone else is still entering the classroom and preparing for the lesson which allows the duo to speak without interrupting the lesson.
"What?" Dan practically demands as he reaches his desk, not hiding the confusion etched upon his face.
"Look, I know you probably hate me, and you really have every right to do so. I would, too, if my boyfriend had been put through all the torment that Catlin thinks is funny for all these years. But things are going to go really downhill soon, okay? I don't know what he's planning, but he's going to do something soon and it's going to be bad. He hasn't told us about it, but he's up to something, so please be careful and don't let Kyle go anywhere without you. I know it sounds stupid but he's got everyone, and I mean everyone, wrapped around his little finger. Just be on the lookout, okay? Because that boy has problems."
To say Dan is confused would be a massive understatement. He is completely bewildered about the entire day and nothing even makes sense anymore. Why on Earth would Jake warn him if the two are friends?
The words circle around Dan's head for the whole day and even as he walks over to Kyle's house after school. A mental debate is taking place inside his head on whether or not he should tell Kyle what Jake has said. Surely it's some sort of sick plan just to make him and Kyle paranoid?
When the house comes into view, Dan shakes away the thoughts and lets them fall off of his shoulders. Everything about Kyle's house radiates the opposite to what home should feel like. Even the welcome mat on the floor is torn and half bare.
"Who are you?" A strange, rough, unfamiliar voice asks Dan when the door swings open. The man has to be at least a few inches taller than Dan, and his expression is rock hard. His salt and pepper hair only adds to his appearance, and Dan, like Kyle, immediately hates the man.
"Dan." The younger boy answers back, attempting to match the man's expression. He's aware of how much Kyle hates this man.
A flash of recognition appears in the man's dull green eyes, and he steps slightly to the side to let Dan into the house. "Well, I wouldn't go near him."
"Why?"
"He's full of cold. But usually, I wouldn't, anyway." The man snorts a pig like laugh which makes Dan just roll his eyes. He doesn't bother to take off his shoes in fear that his feet would freeze on the hardwood floor beneath them.
Kyle is lying in his bed, not even protected by blankets. His arms are wrapped around himself, and large white clouds of breath appear in front of him. His eyes are closed but Dan knows he's not asleep.
"Go 'way." He hears Kyle's rough, brittle voice from the bed. His usually much taller frame looks so small on the bed. Dan frowns.
"Kyle, it's me." He says softly, stepping into the bedroom. He immediately takes note of the mold spreading from the corners of the room. "Why aren't you covered up?"
Kyle opens his eyes to reveal them to be red and watery. His nose and cheeks are red, though when he places his hand to Kyle's forehead it's too warm. "Millie has them," he explains, his throat feeling as though it's being scratched.
"Why?"
"She needed them. She was cold last night. Slept in my room. I slept on the floor." Kyle closes his eyes once more, trying to hug himself tighter to keep his warmth in. It feels as though he's freezing half to death. "Dan I feel so sick..."
"That's because you have the flu, Kyle, and we need to get you somewhere warm before it gets any worse and turns into pneumonia or something like that." Dan strips himself of his coat and helps Kyle to sit up. He takes note of Kyle's dozy movements when he puts his coat on him.
"Come on, we'll go back to my house. It's warmer there, and I'll make you a cup of tea." He tells Kyle, pulling him to his feet. The taller boy looks almost zombie like, and doesn't complain all the way back to Dan's. Even his mum's boyfriend didn't seem to care. Dan reckons he was just happy to have Kyle gone.
"You lie here, okay? I'll go make a cup of tea," Dan smiles, running his hand through Kyle's hair. It feels sweaty and damp which makes Dan scrunch his face up. Kyle grunts in response, wrapping himself up in all of Dan's blankets. He hates the thought of making Dan ill, but the other boy had promised to sleep on the sofa. That makes him feel guilty alone.
Dan trots downstairs and sees his mum already stood at the kettle with three large mugs prepared. "How is he?" She asks Dan when he enters the room. Dan walks over and wraps his long, lanky arms around her, towering above her frame.
"I think he's got the flu. I said he could sleep in my bed tonight, and I'll sleep on the sofa. It's really upsetting, Mum- his house, I mean. He had no blankets on whatsoever and his little sister had all the blankets because she was cold last night and then slept in his room, so he slept on the floor. There's mold growing everywhere and Kyle could have gotten really ill!" Dan rants and raves, ridding of his frustration at once. His mum just rubs his back, not finding the words to speak with. What on earth could she say?
When the tea is brewed and ready, she hands two mugs to Dan. "Here, at least this will warm him up," she tells him with a smile, planting a kiss on her son's forehead- and having to stand on her tiptoes to do so.
"Thanks, Mum. You're the best," he grins before disappearing up the stairs and into his room. "Kyl- oh..."
Kyle is already fast asleep in the bed, a whole mountain of blankets covering him to keep him warm. He's miles away, and although it means a cup of tea has been wasted, Dan is just relieved he has a temporary break from being so ill.
