Masks and Underwear

Chapter 23

"J-Jonah?". The teen froze at the mention of his name. He slowly let his hands down and turned towards the noise, his face still covered in tears. It was Mrs Lancaster. "I-I'm sorry" the boy choked out before crying out loud again. "I-I'm s-so sorry!". He fell through his knees as Mrs Lancaster ran towards him. She fell down next to him, pulling him in a hug. "Ssh, none of this is your fault Jonah" she whispered.

"Why don't you start by telling me where you were? Are you okay? What happened?". "I-I confronted him" Jonah cried. "H-he was here f-for me! And I knew that! I-I didn't want this t-to ha-happen, I-I swear... H-he beat m-me up... H-he wanted to k-kill me but I got a-away a-and... A-and I thought h-he would s-st-stop b-but I only m-made it worse!". Mrs Lancaster froze at the explanation. Never had she considered the shooter was here for a specific someone.

"I-it's all my fault" Jonah whimpered, hugging Mrs Lancaster. "No, it's not, don't say such things" Mrs Lancaster whispered, pulling away. "You didn't shoot anyone, did you? He did". She got back up and helped Jonah on his feet. "Do you know who did this?". Jonah shook his head, he couldn't give Dean away, no matter what. He knew Dean was the one that erased security footage of him as Dragon-Man, so he owed him this much.

"I-I only know he was after me... I-I decided it would be better if I laid low for a while so he wouldn't find me, b-but I just couldn't not attend t-the wake..." Jonah sniffled. "I-I didn't know s-so many d-died...". That wasn't a lie. Jonah hadn't really been watching the news or anything lately, he just spend as much time as he could in that sauna before flying off. He hadn't even slept last night. That's probably also the reason he's spilling everything out to his teacher...

Jonah just stared at the ground in silence for a while, Mrs Lancaster didn't really know what to do either. "I-I'm going to the bathroom" the boy whispered before walking off, leaving the shocked and flabbergasted Mrs Lancaster behind. The teen grabbed his phone for the first time since the shooting and turned it on. A thousand notifications popped up but he ignored them, even though his 'OCD' wanted to get rid of all the annoying numbers by his apps.

His phone only rang once before he got an answer. "Jonah?! Are you okay?" the worried voice of Gabriel Griffin sounded through the phone. "Define okay" Jonah muttered. "Could you come and pick me up at school? Like, now?". "O-of course! I'll be there in 10, don't move". Jonah sighed, putting his phone down again. He knew he could count on Gabriel. And just as he promised, said man stood in front of the school in 10 minutes.

"Hey" Jonah sighed, seemingly exhausted. "Just... No questions right now, just drive". Gabe nodded, starting the car and doing what he was asked to do. "Everyone has been worried sick about you, you know" he said quietly. "I even had to drag Dean out for a drink so he wouldn't drown in his sorrow". "R-really?" Jonah choked out. "Yeah, he really cares about you" Gabe shrugged. "You're the first one in years to, so congrats"

This made Jonah blush a little. So Dean really did care? But why did he try to kill him? Was he conflicted about his feelings? "You want me to drive you to DI? See it for yourself?" he asked, looking at the teen. Jonah was actually planning on crashing at Samuel's place for a bit, knowing the older man wouldn't mind even though they didn't really had a lot of contact anymore now that Jonah stopped working at Cassey's Coffee...

"Jonah?". "Huh?". "You want to go to DI or not? We're only a block away right now". That's when Jonah noticed he'd been driving to the tower all along. "Oh, uhm, yeah, whatever...". He knew that as long as Gabe was with him, Dean wouldn't try anything. He to wanted to protect his secret.

"Mr Davis? There is someone waiting for you in the lobby" a woman stated after knocking on his office door. Dean groaned, waving her off. He dragged himself out of the chair and into the elevator. He'd tried to track down Jonah all day and hadn't found a thing! The chances of the kid being dead became bigger and bigger every hour and guilt flew through his veins. He didn't want to be responsible for Jonah's death but at the same time he wanted to snap the kid's neck. Does Dean know he should probably be locked up in some psychiatry? Yes. Does he give a fuck? No.

His eyes widened when he saw the all to familiar frame of the teen standing in front of a small table. On said table was a candle burning, a picture of Edward next to it. He noticed Gabe standing next to the boy, the guard noticed and smiled weakly at him. He whispered something to Jonah before walking up to Dean. "Don't screw this up, alright? That kid is a mess, I don't want you to make it worse" Gabe hissed, pushing Dean towards Jonah.

"H-how did you find him?" Dean breathed. "He called me" Gabe shrugged. "Now don't fuck it up. I've got the feeling this really is your last chance". Dean knew Jonah heard all of that, advanced hearing and all, but the boy didn't seemed fazed by it, just staring at the photo in front of him.

"H-hey" Dean stuttered as he walked up to Jonah, who didn't responded at all. "I-I uhm am glad you're alright Jonah". "Sure" the boy spit out, venom in his voice. He turned his head to face Dean and what he saw there wasn't sadness or pain, it was anger and hatred... "You killed them" Jonah whisper-hissed at him. "I know, I was there" Dean stated but frowned once he saw it triggered the wrong reaction. "I hate you!" Jonah shouted angrily.

[Next chapter is going to be the last chapter!]