Protection ~ Expensive Headphones ~ Be More Chill Fanfic

Chapter 2

Rich slipped into his usual light blue tank top and his camo shorts. He grabbed his phone and dashed out the door, trying to rush out before his dad could notice. He hopped down to Jeremy's house and knocked on the door.

Jeremy's dad, Mr. Heere, opened the door, smiling softly.

"Why hello there, Rich. Jeremy said you'd be over here soon. You can come on in." He moved out of the way, letting Rich step into the house.

"Thank you, Mr. Heere." He said, rushing inside. He walked downstairs to the basement just as  Jeremy walked out of his room, noticing Rich.

"Oh, hey man. You can head in. Michael's in there. I was just gonna grab snacks." He said. Rich nodded and walked in, closing the door behind him. Michael looked over from Jeremy's bed and frowned.

"Oh yeah...I forgot you were coming." Michael groaned. Rich sighed and sat next to him.

"Michael, can you pleath give me a thecond chance? I promith I'm not gonna be a dick anymore." Michael stayed quiet, focusing on Jeremy's TV.

"Honethly, you're kind of being the dick right now." He said. Michael turned to him.

"At least I'm not a homophobe." He shot back.

"I'm not a homophobe." Rich defended.

"Yes you are, remember the teasing, the backpacks."

"That wath when I had a thquip."

"Sounded more than directions to me."

"Dude, I'm not a homophobe."

"Prove it."

"I'M BI!"

Rich quickly slammed his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. Michael looked up at him looking equally shocked. Rich turned behind him and saw Jeremy in the doorway. Jeremy was the only person who knew that Rich was bisexual.

"I-I'm thorry..." Rich mumbled, rushing out of the room. He ran upstairs and ran to the door. He unlocked it and went to leave before someone stopped him.

"Leaving so soon?" Jeremy's dad asked. Rich turned to him. Jeremy's dad was sitting at the kitchen counter, frowning.

"Y-Yeah. I jutht...need to go home before my dad geth mad." Rich said, his voice harsh.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Jeremy's dad asked. Rich nodded slowly, walking to the counter. Mr. Heere slid a glass of water across the counter. Rich took a small sip, his eyes staying to the ground.

"What happened?" Mr. Heere asked, bluntly.

"I-I juth...I accidentally came out of the clothet to Michael and I didn't want to." Rich said quietly. Jeremy (Jeremy's dad shares his name) put his hand on Rich's.

"You can tell me anything, son. Don't worry about it." He said. Rich smiled softly and nodded.

"I'm bithexual. No one except Jeremy knew, but now you and Michael know. Pleath don't tell my dad!" He begged.

"Don't worry, Rich. I'm not going to tell your dad." Jeremy Senior said. Rich breathed a sigh of relief.

"I juth...don't know if I can trutht Michael to not thay anything to my dad. He'd probably love to watch me thuffer." Rich said. Jeremy Senior shook his head.

"I'll make sure he doesn't. Now you run along." He said. Rich nodded and hopped out of his seat. It felt good for him to talk to someone. He rushed home. He quietly opened his door. All the lights in his house were off. He sighed in relief and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. Then, the lights flicked on.

"Where the hell were you!?" His dad slurred. Rich froze up.

"I-I wath at a friend'th houth. Thorry dad." He said, stiff. His dad stumbled up to him, backhanding him in the face. Rich fell to the ground with a yelp. Tears spilled from his eyes.

"GET UP YOU QUEER!" His dad shouted. Rich quickly stood up, shaking.

"I-I'm th-thorry d-dad...I wath j-juth with my friendth Michael and Jeremy--"

"Shut up!" His dad screamed. He smacked Rich again. Rich fell back into the door. He quickly opened it and booked it outside. He heard his dad screaming from behind him.

'FUCK FUCK FUCK I'M SO DEAD!"

He thought. He hopped fences into other people's yards. He hopped the fifth fence and was exhausted. He tried to run through the last backyard, but fell to the ground.

He passed out.

~~~~~

Michael couldn't focus on his game. He died so many times and Jeremy took notice. He paused the game.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"I...feel like a total asshole. I can't believe I lost control on Rich."

"Hey, it's fine. I'm sure this will blow over." Jeremy said, patting Michael's back. Michael nodded and went to un pause the game. Then, his phone went off.

"It's my mom." He said. He picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

Michael! You need to come home right now! We found a kid passed out in our backyard and his face had bruises on it. He looks your age and I need to know if you know him.

His mom, Evelyn, said. She sounded panicked. Michael quickly stood up.

"U-Uh okay. I'll be home right away." He said, quickly.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked.

"My moms found a kid passed out in our lawn." He said, quickly putting his shoes on.

"Oh, that's awful." Jeremy said, setting his controller down.

"Yeah, I gotta go." Michael rushed out.

"Bye Michael." Jeremy Senior said. Michael waved and rushed out. Michael hopped into his PT cruiser. He raced home, trying not to go over the speed limit. He parked quickly and rushed inside.

"Mom!?" He called.

"I'm in the guest room, sweetie." Evelyn called from down the hall. Michael rushed down to the guest room.

"Where's mom?"

"Charlie's out getting pain meds for this poor kid." She patted the boy's head. Michael looked to the kid in the guest bed. His eyes widened.

"RICH!?" He yelled. His mom whipped her head to him.

"Oh good, you know him."

"Yeah, he goes to my school. What happened to him."

"Well, I was sitting inside and I saw him hop the fence. He ran halfway through the yard, then he just collapsed. I had to carry him in." She stood up and walked to the doorway.

"I'll go grab some water for when he wakes up. You watch him." She said. She walked out of the room. Michael turned back to Rich. His face was bruised. He traced his hand lightly around the bruises. Rich twitched, whimpering. His eyes opened and he looked over to Michael. He jumped and sat up quickly.

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE AM I?!" He yelled.

//TO BE CONTINUED//