Our Strange Love

Chapter 9

"Hey! I need to talk to you!"

Riley was walking home from school when one from a group of three boys—wearing the same school uniform—shouted with an unfriendly grimace.

Was he supposed to know this guy? None of the three looked familiar. Riley took his hands out of his pockets, and without a word, allowed himself to be escorted away by two who he determined were flunkeys for the one that 'needed to talk to him.' He's gonna take a swing at me, I know. But... I can't afford to hit back. He recalled what the police officer had warned. His reputation with the teachers was just that of a lazy student with average grades, but if they decided he was violent... That would open up a can of worms Riley had been methodically trying to keep tightly sealed. Maybe I shouldn't even dodge, and just take it. Then he'll be satisfied and leave me alone?

Riley was led behind a building. Decent benches had been thrown out, stacked against the building's side. They were definitely within the area that marked the shift between Uptown and Midtown. The idiots that lived there were snooty enough to throw out usable benches, but low class enough to toss them out so haphazardly. The building was sandwiched between a side street and a fence blanketed by ivy, so Riley figured there was little chance someone would see them.

When the four of them stopped, Riley's suspicions about what would happen were confirmed. The problem was that the guy had taken a swing towards his face. Unable to risk any visible wounds which could result in the school knowing, Riley dodged by leaning away.

"Haha," Riley laughed nervously, holding up his hands defencelessly. "At least tell me what this is about first."

"I'll let you know after I punch your face in."

Riley wanted to make a face, disturbed by the guy using such a cliché phrase. 'Grab 'im boys!' he mockingly half expected the guy to say.

"Hold 'im down."

Riley snorted, trying to hold back laughter, causing the other three to pause in surprise. "Sorry," he tried to straighten his expression. "I'll be serious."

"Don't fucking mock me."

Riley was getting irritated. "You bring me back here, spit out some outdated lines, all without telling me why. Aren't I the one being mocked?"

One of the flunkeys piped, "You got almost perfect score on the exams."

The leader snapped at him, "Shut up." He turned to Riley. "You're getting cocky. Let me teach you a lesson." He tried to punch Riley's face again.

"Why always my face?" Riley thought aloud whilst dodging by stepping back. Unfortunately, he met with a counterattack from the legs of a bench. "Ow," Riley rubbed the back of his thigh. He had been blocked from dodging fully, so additionally the guy's fist had slightly met with his chin. Riley tasted blood on his lip. 'Never talk during battle.' How could I forget? He'd bitten his lip himself.

Seeing Riley defenceless, the guy took the chance to jab him in the stomach. Shit, now I hurt in two places. Riley crouched down, holding his stomach. He smiled, "Haha, assist by the bench," he muttered. The guy pushed Riley down into a nearby dirty puddle left over from the rain that morning.

Were these guys so insecure that they had to beat someone up in order to have the highest grades in class? It's not like Riley was a contender for Valedictorian. Hell, salutatorian was probably a far reach for this guy.

Riley got on his knees as the guy grabbed him by the hair to hold his head still and force him to look up. "I can't stand that cocky smile of yours." Amused even by that statement, Riley couldn't help but smirk. Provoked, the guy was obviously planning on giving Riley a full facial punch. "Be careful on the midterms," he warned.

Oh, so that's it, Riley thought as he prepared to be hit.

"Whoa!" he heard a joyful, excited voice. The guy's grip on his head loosened. "Looks like fun." Riley wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wanted to run away. My knight.

His knight pushed passed the confused students by knocking one off balance and into the other, and then looked down at Riley.

Riley gave a helpless, 'oops-you-caught-me' smile—the same smile he'd given the first time he'd been picked up from the police station.

Eran put his hand on Riley's attacker's hand and twisted or pushed something that forced the teenager to release Riley's hair. The three guys still stood there, obviously confused as to who this peculiar young-looking stranger was.

Eran straightened Riley's hair with his fingers. This is the strangest dream. And if it's not a dream, it's still strange. Riley felt his body getting hot at Eran's gentle touch. It was brief and when Eran finished he gave the sweetest kick to Riley's arm. "Ouch." Now Riley was hurt in three places.

Eran pulled up on Riley's ear.

"Ow ow ow. I'm standing. I'm standing." Eran let go once Riley got shoulder level.

"W-we're," a flunkey stuttered, "We still—"

Eran's glare shut the teen up quickly. "Let's go," he said to Riley, giving him a gentle push forward.

"Don't think you got away with anything!" the leader called after Riley. "Don't—" Eran looked back and coldly glared, but the student gathered his courage and continued. "Riley, we'll really make you regret it next time. Remember what I told you."

Riley, feeling that he should probably leave with Eran as soon as possible, turned away and continued walking in the direction Eran had pushed him. But Eran didn't turn away and continued to look coldly at the insolent student.

Eran walked towards the student and Riley stopped and sighed. The attacker (soon victim) tried to stand his ground. "This is between Riley and us."

"Anything that has to do with someone other than me hitting or threatening Riley is my business," Eran retorted in a dangerous monotone. He took a step closer to the teen who reacted by backing up unconsciously. "If you touch him again," Eran glanced at the teen's hand, "I'll break each bone in every single one of your spoiled little fingers. Understand?" The teen said nothing, and Eran repeated himself, demanding consent. "Understand?"

The student tightened his jaw and muttered, "Yes."

Eran gave a heartless smile.

"C-can I go home?"

Eran paused before replying, "Please do."

The teen ran off and his friends, who had been hiding behind the corner in safety, followed.

Riley could hear Eran irritatedly muttering as he came back. He looked at Riley with a little concern. He reached up towards Riley's lip but retracted his hand just as smoothly, before it reached halfway. "Let's go take care of that, and your other wounds."

Riley wanted to object, but the thought that he could be with Eran longer and maybe even be touched triumphed over any reluctance or desire to set boundaries. So he obediently followed Eran, walking a step behind at Eran's side. The scenery looked familiar and Riley quickly realized they were headed to Eran's apartment.