Poison

Give Me Your Word

Clyde walked down the hall, his bag thrown over his shoulder and his hand intertwined with Enoch's beside him. His eyes faced forwards as they talked. It was second period, he planned to go to the bathroom after he makes it to Enoch's class. He looked at him, stopping and pulling him close. He wrapped his arms around Enoch's waist and kissed his forehead lightly. "I love you," He smiled as he turned to walk away.
   "I love you too! I'll message you!" Enoch cooed as he always did. He hated watching him walk away, but sighed and walked into his classroom without hesitation. He pulled out his phone and messaged him, knowing it would be a few minutes before he responded. "Hi!" He messaged, hiding his phone. August was also walking down the hallway, heading to the bathroom to skip his second period. He seen the boy, smirking lightly but looking at the ground.
   See, with Enoch, Clyde was a very confident boy. He wasn't afraid to be himself. And he would make sure to show that when Enoch could see him. But just walking away from him made that  insecurity come back but he hid it. At least until he turned the corner. His eyes immediately fell to the floor, his hands finding their way into his pockets. Every now and then though, he'd glance up. And he seen august walking towards him. Probably planning on passing him but he wasn't gonna let that happen. He looked forward now, leaning his shoulder in as he got a little close. And as soon as they were inches apart, he rammed his shoulder into August's, still a prideful smirk on his face. August stumbled a bit due to the hit, smirking. Chaos. He fed off of chaos when it didn't involve Ethan or his family. He stopped dead in his tracks to look at the boy, tilting his head to the side. "You're that dumbass who got his phone smashed, right?" He said, knowing it would piss the other off behind all belief that he was saying it.
   Clyde stopped in his tracks, his smile disappeared. "What did you say?" He turned around, snarling. His hands stood by his side. "I think you might need to repeat that." He took a couple steps toward him. "I think you heard me just fine." He taunted, giving a condescending smile. "If you'd have just shut that big mouth of yours when he said, you'd have been fine." He added, being a smartass. His thick English accent being laid on a little heavy. This was how he was to strangers. People who didn't know him. Though, he probably wouldn't have said anything if it weren't for Clyde making the first move.
   "Right." He smirked and cleared his throat. "I don't have time for this." He turned around, but didn't move. "Fucking freak." He mumbled under his breath, making us way down the hall again, ready to just get that cigarette. The presence of him alone pissed him off. His existence even. He just wanted to get in there and get to class. He knew he couldn't get in trouble, he has to stay away from being in trouble.
   August heard the comment, snarling his lips angrily and following after him. He was a couple inches shorter and had less weight on him due to practically starving himself over the past week, but he didn't give less of a shit. He came up behind him and put both hands on his shoulder blades, shoving him forward, hard. "Pardon?" He asked, his voice a sinister sound. He was angry. Really angry. Clyde's back hit the wall and on sudden impulse, he took a swing. Clyde was.. pretty big. And could do damage when he wanted. His hand met the boy's cheek. It wasn't hard enough to take him down, but to let him know he was done playing games. "I said you're a fucking freak!" He grabbed him by his log hair, tangling his fingers in it as he threw him to the floor.
   August turned with the hit when he saw him reel his fist back, so he took less of the hit than was intended by the other boy. His eyes had a subtle glow, but he kept himself calm. For now. Until he was thrown at the floor. His body making a loud thud as he made contact. "Don't fucking call me that.." he warned, getting in a position so he could swing his leg, his own meeting the foreleg to the other and taking him down instantly. August moved to get on top of him, sitting on his abdomen as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and reeled his fist back to throw a punch, landing a blow to the boy's jawline, hard.
   Clyde took the full hit, closing his eyes. "FUCK!" God it hurt worse than he remembered. He lifted his arms, grabbing August's hair from the back and pulling hard to pull him to his back. He was able to stand now. He lifted his foot and stomped down on August's legs. The same spot he kicked him in. August yelped loudly with that, his legs stinging get with pain from the kick and he scooted back, just enough to pull himself to his feet. His legs felt like jello though he knew no damage was done. It couldn't have been done. "Bastard!" He growled in a low voice like that one Ethan got when he was angry. He gave his legs a minute to go numb before lunging at the other, tackling him to the ground again, this time it stunted him for a moment because it as the expected.
   He lied there, looking at him. What the fuck was he supposed to do at this point. "OKAY OKAY!" He was giving up, grabbing August's wrist before he could do anything. "Okay just stop! Alright you win!!" He hated it. He hated giving up. He hated losing but he knew he had to stop. This kid was fucking crazy. August looked down at him, emitting an evil laugh after hearing him give in so easily. "Oh.. oh you think this is about winning?" He asked, looking at him with a twisted smile and false empathy in his voice, his eyes starting to glow. "This is about the thrill.." he whispered, making eye contact with him as he looked down at him, his now messy hair falling over his face, making him look demented.
   Clyde's eyes went wide, and he started to whine a little bit. "Dude, dude come on it's over." His voice was shaking a little. He was terrified too scared to try to pry him off, scared to piss him off even more. "Seriously get off of me." His breathing was starting to pick up a little, his hands shaking. He didn't notice his eyes until now, and it didn't help. August listened to the fear in his voice, listened to how desperate he was becoming. He looked at his wrist, which Clyde was still gripping so tightly. He easily slipped his arm from him, moving his hand to be wrapped around the others throat. "You said I'm a freak. You haven't seen SHIT. And.. It.. it's never over." He snickered, keeping eye contact and leaning in closer. "Not until I fucking say it is. ME." He released his grip as he slowly pulled himself back down to earth, using Ethan as he anchor as he was taught to. He realized how bad he was acting right now, slowly releasing his grip and getting off of him.
   He felt his hand on his throat and grabbed his arm. All he could do is stare. He squeezed his arm tight, trying to get what little bit of air he could. He felt the grip loosen, he could see August coming back to himself and the second he got the chance, he pushed him August off of him, stumbling to his feet. "Fucking Christ..." he picked up his bag from the floor. "What the hell is wrong with you..?" But August couldn't hear him, he was already speed walking away.
    August watched him walk away, looking down at his hands and still feeling himself holding the boy there. Had he shown what he was? Did his eyes glow? Did the other see..? The questions raced through his head and the fear started to grow. He fucked up. Badly. He grabbed his bag up off the floor and slung it over his shoulder, deciding not to go to the bathroom to skip. Rather.. he sped walked to Ethan's class. He didn't know if he had a class right now, he didn't know if it was his planning period, but he needed to be with him before something broke loose in his head. So.. he got to Ethan's door and threw it open, slamming it behind himself and going to his spot in the back of the room. He didn't acknowledge if there was anyone else in the room, he just knew his seat was empty so he took it. His hands were shaking as he propped his elbows on the desk and took a deep breath, putting his hands to his face. His knuckles were bloodied from the good hit he'd got in, but there was no cuts or bruise or anything. It had all healed. So had his cheek. And legs.
    Clyde made it to his second period, wiping some blood from his lip.
Ethan looked up at him from his book. The room was empty. He sat his book down and stood. "What the hell? August what happened?" He saw the blood on his hands and of course, he started worrying. The teacher looked at him, raising a brow. "You're late. Again. Go get a tardy slip." The teacher ordered. Which meant Clyde had to go back out into the same hallway where August just tried to kill him. Danger. August was tapping his foot violently, shaking his leg. "I think I fucked up. I think I really fucked up." He was speaking fast, too fast for Ethan to keep up with his words. His mind was racing with the thoughts of being an experiment to the government again, the thoughts of Clyde telling someone. His breathing picked up to the point he couldn't breath, the room getting hazy and darker. He was having a panic attack.
     Clyde looked at the teacher, "I can't go back out there." He felt some blood drip down his nose. He was panicking. He just shakily sat down in his seat, wiping away any trace of blood. Ethan walked to him quickly, sitting down beside him. "Hey.. hey calm down I can't understand you." He tried to comfort him. "August!"
    The teacher saw the blood before he could get it and heard the fear and desperation in his voice, then noticed the new bruises on his neck and face. "Clyde?" He asked, getting up. "Can you come with me?" He nodded towards the lab which was a smaller room in the same classroom, like the one in your seventh period. "Please?" He added. Clyde didn't actually have a choice, but the teacher was being polite about it as to not embarrass him further. August looked over at him, trying to breathe. "I can't breathe." He murmured, his voice desperate. He was terrified of what he'd done. He got in a few good breaths, reaching over and just grabbing the man's hand giggly to calm himself further. "I hurt somebody. I don't know if they saw my eyes.. I don't know if I used my powers on them.." he admitted.
    He looked at him. Barely able to stand, he stumbled to his feet and nodded. He knew he had no choice. He followed him into the smaller room, his legs instantly giving in when the door closed behind them and he found a chair. "Y-yeah..?" His voice was quiet, still a bit shaky. He's a normal kid, hes Fucking traumatized at this point, someone tried to kill him. Sure, he gets depressed sometimes, sometimes he wishes for death but that.. that was different. He's happy now. He loves where his life is going and someone is trying to take that from him.
Ethan grabbed August's face gently, making him look at him. "August just calm down. Breathe, okay? Just breathe." He bit his lip hard and squeezed his hand tight. "It's okay.. it's okay we can figure it out." He tried to smile at him a little. "Just calm down..."
   The teacher followed him, gently shitting the door behind himself and taking a seat in front of him. "Can you tell me what happened while you was out there?" He asked softly. He'd have to report this. But for now he didn't want to push the boy's nerves any farther by involving everyone. Principals and parents, maybe even police judging by the traumatized look in his eyes. "Why can't you go back out into the hallway?"
August looked back into his eyes, his own terrified. "I tried to kill somebody." He repeated, his skin cold to the touch. "He's gonna tell someone and they're gonna come after me and I'm gonna get taken away again, Ethan I can't.." it all came out in one breath. He wasn't normal. No. Nothing about their lives was. It never had been. But he had his limits, and this was one of them. Going back to the government. Losing Ethan again.
   He looked at the teacher helplessly. He could tell. He could tell his teacher everything and get August in some serious shit. But was he going to do it? Was he going to tell? No. He bit his lip, looking down at the teachers feet. "I ran into a wall.. I was being stupid. It's nothing serious." He stood up and turned to walk out the door.
Ethan bit his lip hard, feeling a small tear start to form in his right eye. He wasn't going to let it fall. He needed to stay strong. "It's okay. It's okay." Maybe he was just telling himself this. Maybe he was just trying to convince himself. "Who was it?" He was shaking now too. He couldn't lose his brother again. He couldn't handle it. "August who was it?!" His voice sounded so desperate, so scared.
   "A wall doesn't strangle a person." He said sternly, watching him stand up. "So what happened to your neck?" He asked. He was being patient but couldn't really force anything out of the boy nor report it if he wasn't told there was a fight. August looked at Ethan watching his eyes. Seeing that tear swell. But he closed his own tightly. "Remember that kid you smashed his phone yesterday?" He asked, trying to calm himself down. "I.. k tried to kill him." He repeated. He couldn't do this. He couldn't. He just fell halfway out of his seat and Into Ethan's arms. "I don't know what to do.."
   He stopped for a second. "Just leave me alone." He walked back out the door, taking his seat.
Ethan wrapped his arms around him. "It's okay. It's okay August. He won't say anything." He knew for a fact he was right, because he would make sure of it. He bit down on his lip hard, almost making himself bleed. "It's okay." The teacher sighed, getting up and going to his desk to sit down. He didn't say anything more to the boy, instead he look d back down to his book. Meanwhile, Enoch had been messaging him. "Babe? You okay?" He messaged, worrying about him and why he wasn't responding. August looked up at Ethan again, never wanting to let go. "How.. how are you sure..?" He asked. He rested his head on his chest, closing his eyes tightly again. He didn't want to leave this room. Not for the rest of the day. He couldn't think about being alone right now. Especially if there was a risk this would be the last time he saw his brother.
   He sat down at his desk and got his phone. He opened the conversation. "Jesus.. how long has it been..?" He mumbled quietly to himself. "Yeah, I'm alright, I'm sorry baby." Send. He turned it off, sit his phone face down on the desk and lied his head down. How is he supposed to explain that to him?
Ethan messed with his hair a little, avoiding the question. "Just don't worry about it Alright..?" Ethan wanted to get home, get August home. He knew what he had planned but he wouldn't let August know.
   "What happened? Someone messaged me and said something is wrong." He messaged him, letting him know someone from that class told Enoch he was upset. Bruised. Beaten. Enoch was worried sick.
"Don't make anything worse.. don't get yourself involved or they might take you away too.. you don't wanna go there Ethan.." he was talking about the labs. Where he got hurt. Or prison. His mind went to seventh period. He'd see the boy again then. "He's in seventh with us.. do you think we can talk to him..?" He asked, sniffling. He looked down at his phone, biting his lip. He read the message a couple times before responding. "Don't worry about me babe, I'm okay." He fucking hated lying to him. He fucking hated hiding shit but he didn't have a choice.
"I'm not.." that is right. The two was in seventh. He took a breath and nodded. "That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure he doesn't tell anyone." He looked up, a little bit off in the distance. "No one is taking you from me. Ever."
   "I always worry about you." He responded in less than a second.He was truly worried for him. The only classes they had together was lunch and seventh, and he couldn't wait to see him again. To hold him and make sure he was actually okay.
August took a deep breath,  doing. "Can I stay with you for a couple hours..? I don't.. I don't want to be alone.." he added softly. He was like a child when he got like this. Helpless. Like he needed to be protected. He hated hoisting himself off on Ethan though. He knew the man was stressed.. but he was the only one that ever actually helped him. Him and Gram, who was in class right now. Same class as Clyde. Sitting behind him in the corner.
   It made him smile a little. "I'll explain later.." he always hated when he wasn't there with him. He felt so alone without him. And he was so scared of what was happening when he wasn't there.
"Of course." He smiled a little, messing with his hair. "You can stay right there in your seat, alright?" Ethan knew how he got, and he didn't mind it. He liked being the one to protect him. He liked knowing that August was safe. It's all that mattered. The thought of gram being in the same room with Clyde, it put ethan on edge. Gram is... vengeful when it comes to August. And if he was to find out.. "August, don't... don't tell Gram about this okay? Just.. don't tell anyone." Ethan was practically begging him.
   "Promise me that?" Enoch messaged back again, just as fast as the previous message. Like meh had literally dropped all else to talk to him. Which.. he did.
August smiled lightly at Ethan's promise and nodded, thinking about Gram. Thinking about how they had the same class right now. "I won't.." he said softly. He'd keep that promise.