angel | dealor

four

warning- homophobic slurs

Another couple of weeks passed before the next event, which happened at the end of the day. I had a Chemistry class last period, but had hurried to the other end of the school to meet John. He was coming over to mine for tutoring that night. We'd agreed to meet in the English corridor, with his final lesson being at that end of the school, and it being nearer to the exit than the science rooms were.

I had a smile on my face as I walked through the school, excited to spend more time with John. It quickly dropped when I rounded the corner to the hallway I was meant to meet him in and saw it almost empty. There were a few kids at their lockers, but none of them John. He'd never stood me up before, and I was almost certain he never would, even with the evidence right in front of my eyes as it was. John wasn't there.

I contemplated waiting, wondering if he'd just gone to the toilet or he was speaking to a teacher and would be back soon, but I didn't have long to consider my options. My thoughts were interrupted by a squeal and a thud. Nobody else in the hallway moved, as if they'd not heard it. Or, as if they had heard it so often that they'd become numb to the sound. Sadly, I presumed the latter.

In an attempt to trace the producer of the horrific sound, I hurried around the corner. Around the corner was simply a long stretch of lockers with both male and female toilets and a few common rooms. One of the few places staff rarely ventured in the school. At the end of the corridor there was a huddle of boys, boys I recognised. Without even seeing, I knew exactly who was on the receiving ends of their evil taunts.

"Why are you even here? You're worthless."

"Fucking fag. You're disgusting,"

"Where's your boyfriend, hm? Not coming to save the day?"

Oh, these fuckers were begging for a beating.

"Get the fuck away from him!" I yelled, storming down towards them. "You're all fucking cowards. There's, what, six of you, and one of him? And you've dragged him down here so nobody can see you? Yeah. Real brave, guys." I rolled my eyes, pushing past and pulling John away from the crowd by his forearm. The ugliest of them all, whom I could only assume was the ringleader, laughed and stepped closer to me.

"Is he good in bed? I doubt it, but I can't imagine any other reason you would want to be with that piece of shit. Then again, you fags would fuck anything.." He smirked, folding his arms over his chest as if he'd just won.

Rage took over my body. Hearing him toss around those slurs and slag off John at the same time majorly rubbed me up the wrong way, and I was seeing red when I grabbed his collar and slammed his back against a locker.

"Don't you fucking talk shit about me or any of my friends ever again, dick. Just because your parents don't love you doesn't mean you have to take it out on everyone else." I pulled him forwards and slammed him against the locker again, smirking slightly at the shock on his face as I released him from my grasp and turned to John, starting to head down the hall. "Come on, Johnny. Let's go."

He murmured something once we were walking down the steps to leave the building. It was quiet, but I could just about make out what he said to me.

"You're my angel.."

———

John's face screwed up in pain and a small whine left his throat. The younger boy's body jolted as I pressed against him, my lower lip caught between my teeth. I felt bad for causing him pain, but knew he'd appreciate it after.

"A-Ah, gentler, Rog... That hurts.." He whimpered, one hand releasing its white-knuckle grip on the bedsheets and coming up to grab my forearm with a similar level of force. "Not so hard.."

I couldn't help but laugh at his phrasing, releasing a little pressure on the bag of frozen vegetables I had pressed against his bare shoulder.

"I'm so glad my mum's not home yet. She'd definitely get the wrong idea," I chuckled, and his face instantly reddened. He blushed all the time, and it was quite cute. "Here, you hold it, then."

John lifted his hand and gently put it on the bag, taking its weight as I moved away.

The noise I had heard earlier in the day had been John. One of the bullies had landed a pretty hefty punch on his shoulder, and it was bruising up quite nicely. I couldn't bear to think what would have happened, had I not intervened.

"Thank you for this, Roger..." He mumbled, watching from the bed as I loosened my tie and pulled it off. I just shook my head, turning to face him once I'd hung it on the hook behind my door.

"Don't worry about it, John. Really.. I'm sorry for not getting there sooner," I meant it. I had been feeling guilty about John getting hurt. I'd hardly ran to meet him, in fact I'd stopped briefly when I passed Freddie in the hall. If I hadn't, maybe I could have got to him before they did.

"It's not your fault.. it would have happened anyway.." He murmured, his pain obvious in his voice. What could lead someone to hurt such a gentle soul? What sort of evil scum looked at John and saw a punching bag, rather than a kind, funny, sweet boy with a heart too big to be good for him.

"Don't talk like that.. Do you mind if I get changed?" He shook his head and I nodded in response, starting to unbutton my shirt. "I hate wearing stupid shirts. They're so uncomfortable. The tie, too. I got told off earlier 'cause I'd taken it off," I explained, sighing as I dropped the shirt in my wash basket.

"At least you kind of get to choose what to wear. I wish I could wear flares to school," He nodded at my trousers, a small smile on his lips. He had a point, my choice clothes were definitely more comfortable and fashionable than any uniform.

"The school's not a massive fan of my fashion sense, but I think they've realised I don't care because today was the first time in a few weeks they've mentioned my shitty dress," I laughed, finding a loose t-shirt in my wardrobe and pulling it over my head, then swapping my trousers for some more comfortable jogging bottoms. "We'll skip the tutoring tonight, yeah? You've had a rough day, we can just chill." He nodded in agreement at that, which made me smile.

I just really didn't want to do any biology.

For quite a while we just sat on my bed and spoke. Well, I laid down on my back and he sat with his back against the footboard, still nursing his poorly shoulder with the frozen vegetables (which had more than likely defrosted). It was quite some time before I eventually plucked up the courage to ask the question which had been plaguing my mind ever since I heard those kids taunting him earlier.

"So, John... Are... Are you gay?" I asked, quickly scrambling to explain myself when I noticed him freeze up. "It's just, uh, those guys earlier said- They said some really shitty stuff, and they mentioned, y'know... I won't judge."

He paused for a while, looking down at his lap whilst he thought about how to respond. His response came in the form of a slow nod, followed by a pause before he spoke again.

"Do you hate me now?" He asked, his voice quieter than usual. I propped myself up on my elbows to look over at him, sighing at the sight in front of me. How could I ever hate him?

"Of course not. Have you met my friends? Freddie's the gayest person you'll ever meet. And I'm hardly the straightest," I paused when I noticed a tear trickling down his cheek. Fuck, I'd made him cry. "Come here," I whispered, holding my arms open.

He easily obliged, leaving the bag of vegetables at the foot of my bed and crawling up to lay in my arms. I pulled his body close to mine, being gentle so as to not hurt his shoulder, and gently ran my fingers through his hair.

"Get it out.." I whispered against his head, feeling his tears dampening my shirt. "Just get it all out.."