Stars Uncrossed (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 8

Trigger warning: References to violence and homophobic/misogynistic slurs

Two years ago...

"Dude, let's just out of here." Aidan lowered his cocked fist before he could even land a punch on the pretty cheerleader. His face was badly bloodied from the beating he'd endured from Braxton, but it was the pained pleading look in his eyes that stopped Aidan from being able to hit him. He glanced over towards Endri who just stared numbly at the bleeding, bruised cheerleader. This wasn't the plan. This wasn't what they wanted to do. They were just going to rough him up a bit but Braxton took it too far. Much too far...

"C'mon, Taylor. Don't be a pussy. Just do it." Braxton sneered as he glanced down smugly at Aidan. Braxton Weathers was one of the seniors on the Varsity team with Aidan and Endri; who were only sophomores at the time. This was all his idea; to get revenge on Crenshaw by ambushing one of their football players. But when the only person they saw was Crenshaw's singular male cheerleader. "Be a fucking man. They raped one of our cheerleaders, so let's beat the shit out of him.. An eye for an eye. It's all part of the rivalry. Besides, you seemed on board with it before. What's your deal? You a fucking faggot or something?"

"I'm not a fucking fag, Weathers. Are you?" Aidan seethed at Braxton, earning him a smug scoff from the arrogant red-head. "You've got your revenge, Brax. Drop it and let's get the fuck out of here."

"You both are pussies, Fuck you both, I'm outta here." Braxton stammered defensively before flashing a punchable smirk at Aidan and Endri and taking off towards the parking lot to high tail it out of there.

"C'mon, dude. Let's go." Aidan said as calmly as he could manage at the time, all the while Endri gulped nervously; staring down at the dark haired boy on the ground who was shivering in the cold. Grabbing Endri by the arm they both ran back to the parking lot and prayed that nobody saw them.

"Dude, Aid... We..." Endri stared at Aidan with labored breaths as he watched his friend run his hand through his blond hair frustratedly. Aidan's breath was clearly erratic, his eyes wide and dazed as he glanced between his car and back towards the stadium as if debating what he should do. Now that Aidan wasn't under the scrutinizing eye of Braxton, the panic of the situation was truly setting in. Deep inside he knew he should have gone back, but he was sixteen and scared of the consequences so he did all he thought he could in that; run away.

"I know, dude..." Aidan said coldly, his eyes clearly watering with guilt and his face visibly pale as he gulped nervously. Endri knew Aidan since they were kids so he could clearly tell when he wasn't okay, which he very clearly wasn't. "Shit it's cold out, my eyes are watering." Aidan said with a forced chuckle, though Endri could see right through it; guilt and regret were written on his face.

"Dude, what the hell, that wasn't the plan! That kid... We could have killed him!" Endri stammered out shakily as he stared at Aidan with a look of horror that Aidan never thought he'd see in his best friend's dark eyes.

"Nothing happened. I didn't let it happen." Aidan's voice cracked as he took a deep breath and glared at Endri. "But we seriously need to get the fuck out of here before someone sees us, and we can NEVER speak of this EVER again. Understand?" Aidan said strongly, though his eyes kept gravitating back towards the stadium.

Endri nodded docilely as they both got into their separate cars and started their engines. They were about to pull out of the parking lot, but something kept pulling at Endri's conscience. He got out of the car and knocked on Aidan's car window, waiting for the dazed looking boy to roll down his window.

"Dude, I think I left my phone back there. I'm gonna run back and get it." Endri lied, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh... you want me to come help you look for it?" Aidan blinked confusedly, as though his mind was somewhere far away.