Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

(13) Trusting him

Andy didn't feel time pass as he lay in his bed. He barely took note of the passing movement of the sun and moon, when Sue came in with food which he ignored, when Mike poked his head around the door to see if he was still going. Of course he was, he was just feeling vulnerable and raw. Like the lines that marred and scarred him were etched so deep that the scrapes against the expanse of his soul. And he could feel the knife like edge of them and they left him immobilised and frozen with a fear that was purely mental.

A week had passed since the cancellation of the pranks and he hadn't moved. He hadn't come into school. Rye had noticed the lack of the blond walking through the corridors, enveloped by his team in a sheen of protection. He didn't understand how far he'd gone. All he knew is that he must have almost uncovered something that would break him that much. Rye remembered the look of blank panic, the prey-like scrabbling as he attempted to free himself. The fear that was so raw and undiluted he wanted to stand in front of him and protect him.

"You still with us Mr Beaumont?" A voice pried through his thoughts and snapped him back to the room. The irritating and grating voice of Mr Collins, his Physics teacher continued. "I hope I'm not interrupting you Ryan, but if you would please pay attention to the board thank you"

What a sad and nosey little man, Mr Collins, who smirked down as if he had made the joke of the century. His mismatched red jumper and green trousers paired with the small frameless rectangular glasses perched on his nose, made him the subject of many a joke, but as much as Rye would have adored to retort with his usual wit and charm- as this kind of joking around, he didn't mind- he just was drowning in a sea of confusion.

"No sir, I'm sorry for interrupting" Rye opted for instead. And sighing he returned his attention to the board. And planned to find out where Andy lived so he could see him. The need to see the blond was eating away at him, an itch he couldn't scratch. Which proves to be inescapable and utterly all-consuming all though the day. You know when you really want something to happen, and it's going to happen on five minutes, and that five minutes seems like a lifetime. That was Ryan's whole and entire day.

The final bell rang and Rue had never heard a sound so beautiful, well, except for the voice of that bl- 'oh shut up brain'

Hurriedly Rye rushes out of the school building and over to the hockey team. When they heard what he wanted to know they looked at him in confusion and mistrust. One of these boys stared at Rye, the eyes pierced though his being, and when he spoke, the team listened. Nodding at Rye, he was told Andy's address. This boy grabbed Ryes shirt and said very quietly
"I see what he means, I'm not blind and I see that there's something you want to explore, but you treat him as a conquest and I'll be after you until you regret this moment for the rest of your life" upon the release of his shirt Rye promised vehemently that he wouldn't.

Five minutes later he realised what the parting smirk had been about, who was this boy and how did he just know. How did he see into the deepest and darkest desires of Rye. It wasn't like he'd act on them too publicly in case his dad found out. And while his dad wasn't abusive, he certainly didn't want to push the alcoholic over the edge. But to everyone who saw him knock at Andy's house, he was a friend from school.

'Why would people knock so loudly, it's intrusive and loud and cruel and fuck my shit it's Ryan Beaumont and nope no n o no nope' Andy's brain was fucked. Messed up and confused with memories of his past, he did not need that additional confusion to walk in and confuse the heck out of him further. But. Sue had instilled these horrendous things called manners into him. And so he Pulled on an abandoned jumper and answered the door. Where the oh so confident golden boy looked a little nervous and out of place.

That was enough to make Andy look at him, and see the person beneath it all, the boy who helped and made him feel safe. In that moment of weakness, a voice he didn't know he possessed said
"Would you like to come in?"

And an awkward and confuses response " yeah if it's okay " accompanied by Rye scratching the back of his neck and slowly walking over the threshold.

"So" Andy said

"So" Rye murmured
"How are you feeling? I am trusty sorry, I didn't mean to trigger you or make you feel like crap"

Andy sighed, he had been so focused on hating the golden boy , that he had forgotten that not all people are the dame as the façade they put out. And deep within the chocolate eyes there was hurt and sadness. A hurt that Andy understood, and hoped that this not-so-cocky golden boy wasn't hurt as deeply by the cause of that sadness.

"It's okay, we never really talked or anything. It was all competition. It was a good prank and I handled it badly that's all" Andy responded, shrugging off the sadness that lingered. The sadness that had lessened as Rye walked in.

As the two boys talked, a friendly banter arose and the dark house was lightened a little as the two competitors poked fun at each other. As the day wore into the evening and Rye realised he should go home to care for his father, the two boys left on a different note, feelings left lingering in the air for each other.

Andy felt the lightness in his chest diminish as Rye had left, they had been talking for a couple of hours, teasing each other about whose sport was better and whose team would beat the other in a variety of scenarios. Andy had made a new friend though the visit of his trauma, and he was happy that the golden boy wasn't all as bad as he seemed. He looked back on his conversation, and realised he hadn't lied once, the conversation had been easy and free and he felt a glimmer of hope form in his heart. And he thanked the golden boy for his visit, and wished it hadn't ended so soon.

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Guys I'm trying to get these out there. I'm not sure how many more chapters to do. But I want to wrap it up at some point
I hope you all like it.
Please drop a nice and wordy comment and I'll chat in the comments with you xx
Till next time
B xx