patchy4vam
in
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Growing Up Is Overrated Chapter 13
Okay, you guys didn't like the shortness of the last update, so to make up for it this one is extra extra long... and I mean it ^-^ I exceeded my three-four page average. Oh, and this has a lot of swearing in it, just to warn you.
Title: Growing Up Is Overrated
Author: Craig (patchy4vam)
Rating: Mild
Pairing: Vam
Summary: Ville's family died in a devastating car crash, and he's been sent to live with the only family he has apparently got left. His first shock comes when he's told they live in America. His second shock is when he finds out that his two cousins are his age, one of whom is openly homosexual. The other however, Ville comes to think is insane. He is due to attend their high school, where he will meet some rather... unusual... friends. Ville's life is about to change, a lot. Especially when he meets a skater boy with cerulean eyes...
Prologue And Chapters 1-10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13: Ville To The Rescue
"You wanted to impress me?" Bam asked, surprise evident in his voice. Ville nodded and lowered his eyes to the floor, feeling a blush creep across his cheeks. Bam placed his hand under Ville's chin and tilted his face slightly so Ville would look at him, and he smiled. "It worked, you know. I'm very impressed." If Ville could have gotten any redder, he did. Slowly, Bam leant forward, his face barely an inch from Ville's. He ran his tongue over his top lip, and was about to close the gap between them when a shout from the Halfpipe caused him to look around. Craig was running across the concrete towards a dishevelled blonde walking into the skate park.
"Is that... Brandy?" Ville asked, following Bam's eyes to see what had caused him to stop.
"I think so, come on!" Together, they ran over to where Craig was sitting beside the blonde, an arm around his shoulders. When they reached him, they saw that it was indeed Brandy, and he was in a bad way. There was a cut under his eye, and his lip was split open. Dark bruises were already forming on his throat, and Ville caught his breath as he spotted the slash marks on Brandy's left arm.
"Holy shit, what happened?" He gasped. Craig glanced up at them and shrugged. Clearly Brandy hadn't told him yet. The blonde brushed his hair out of his face, and Ville got a closer look at him. It was obvious he had been crying. Ville knelt down in front of him and placed his hands n Brandy's knees, looking up into his face. "Tell us what happened, Brandy, slowly. Take your time." Brandy sniffed miserably and ran a hand over his eyes, hissing in pain when he caught the wound under his eye.
"I was at Carter's and everything seemed to be going okay..."
Flashback
Brandy leant back against Carter, who smiled and slipped an arm around his waist. They were spread across the sofa situated in Carter's room, a random movie playing on the TV screen. Neither of them were really watching it; it was more like background noise than anything else.
"Hey babe, fancy a drink?" Carter asked him, lightly stroking Brandy's stomach.
"Depends on what you mean by 'drink'." Brandy smiled, looking up at him. Carter grinned.
"I was thinking along the lines of... hmm, maybe some whiskey." Then he winked and licked his lips. "Or even some brandy, if you get what I mean." Brandy giggled slightly.
"If you think you're getting some that way, forget it. I told you, I can't tonight. If my dad so much as suspects anything, I'm dead. You know what he's like about his sons being gay." This comment caused Carter to roll his eyes.
"But you're not even GAY!"
"No, but I have a boyfriend. In his eyes, that must mean I'm gay. I told you how he acted when he found out his nephew, my cousin Lance, was gay. He hasn't spoken to him since and he won't let Todd or me near him. If he ever found out I was even slightly into guys, he'd kill me. Or you." Brandy paused. "Most likely you, and then me."
"I wish you'd just tell him about me. I want to be able to touch you and kiss you when I'm at yours. I want to be open about us to everyone." Carter sighed in frustration and removed his arm from around Brandy's waist. "And you're not letting that happen." Brandy sat up quickly and turned to him, frowning.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Well you could just tell your dad. It's not like you have nowhere to go if he kicks you out. It's not like you don't have a second set of parents to look after you."
"It's fair enough you saying that Carter, but your parents aren't my parents, are they? I don't want my dad to hate me, is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes if it means you're not being honest with him!"
"Honest? What the fuck do you know about honesty?" Brandy snapped. "If I'm not mistaken, you were going around saying I was a girl! You only told your parents about me because Sarah found out and you didn't want her to tell on you! You're always stealing stuff when you could buy the whole fucking store in one go! And you're talking to me about being dishonest?" Carter went to reply, but Brandy wasn't finished. "You know, people warned me about you. Several times I was told that you are just a lying, cheating whore, a spoilt brat... even a drug addict. Oh yes, I've been told many things about you Carter. When did you plan on telling me that you like injecting and snorting substances every day?"
"I did that once! ONCE! I haven't done it in months!"
"Oh, so it's true? You have done drugs?" Brandy's fists clenched and he glared at Carter. "Were you going to keep that to yourself? I thought we told each other everything."
"Don't even start that, Brandy. Were you going to tell me that you once kissed your brother?" Brandy's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in horror.
"How did you..."
"I've done some listening too. I spoke to your sister Tiffany. She was the one who caught you at it, I believe." Brandy bowed his head and refused to look up from the floor. "So don't lecture me on being dishonest when you yourself haven't been completely honest with me."
"I was going to tell you." Carter laughed harshly.
"Bullshit."
"I was!" Brandy looked up. "It's not exactly something you bring up in an everyday conversation, is it? 'I love you Carter, oh and by the way, I once kissed Todd when we were younger, so how was your day?'"
"Drop the attitude Brandy, you know I hate it."
"You know I hate drugs."
"I was depressed! I did some stupid things when I was depressed, okay? I took drugs, I self-harmed, I started drinking..."
"You started going out with me." Brandy's emotionless voice took Carter by surprise.
"That's not a bad thing. I started getting better after that." Carter reached forward and took Brandy's hand. "Don't think that I only started dating you because I was depressed..."
Flashback Break
"I thought it was gonna get better from then. He got us a couple of drinks from his personal stock and we calmed down a bit. But then we started arguing about my dad again..." Brandy trailed off, and a single tear escaped his eye. Craig leant towards him and took one of his hands and held it tightly.
"What happened then?" He asked quietly. More tears rolled down Brandy's cheeks and he started shaking. Ville swallowed hard, dreading the answer he would get for his next question.
"What did he do to you Brandy?"
Flashback
"I know why you won't tell your dad about me. Why you won't tell any of your family. You're ashamed of me." Carter said quietly.
"No! I'm not!" Brandy exclaimed quickly, but Carter wouldn't have it.
"Or maybe, the reason you won't tell anyone is because you're not really bisexual. Maybe you're just leading me on. I bet you laugh about it with your friends from your old school. I bet when they see me, they can't contain their amusement at my stupidity."
"Carter, you don't know what you're talking about." Carter smiled wickedly and moved closer to Brandy, who shrank back, slightly afraid.
"Oh, don't I? I think I do, Brandy. I don't like being lied to. If you are playing a game with me, I'd like to know now. Quickly Brandy, wouldn't want me to get mad now would you?" Brandy's heart pounded in his chest, and he could barely speak. He never thought he'd see the day that Carter would scare and threaten him.
"I'm not playing games with you, C-Carter. I l-love you." He whispered. Carter frowned.
"Liar!" Then he pounced upon Brandy, grabbing him around the throat with an icy grip. Brandy clutched at Carter's wrist and tried to pull his hand from his throat, but if anything Carter gripped him harder. "The more you try to stop me, the tighter it's going to get." He growled darkly. "Now I want the truth Brandy. Are you playing games with me?"
"N-no." Brandy gasped out. He was already starting to gasp for air, and Carter wasn't easing up his grip. With his free hand, Carter punched Brandy in the jaw, splitting open his lip.
"Don't lie to me!" Behind the anger in Carter's eyes, Brandy could see that he was close to tears.
"I'm not... I love you." Brandy was beginning to feel faint. If Carter didn't let go soon, he'd lose consciousness. Carter's fist came down again, this time cutting his cheek, under his eye.
"S-stop l-lying!" Now Carter was crying, breaking down in front of him. Brandy sighed with relief as the tight grip on his throat loosened, and he was able to crawl away, taking huge deep breaths to try and get oxygen to his deprived lungs. When he looked back to Carter, he cried out. Carter had somehow managed to find a knife - he probably kept one in his room somewhere - and was placing the sharp edge against his wrist.
"D-don't!" Brandy tackled Carter to the floor, keeping the knife out of reach. However, as Carter was bigger and stronger, it was almost impossible to keep him still. Brandy gasped in pain as Carter slid the knife across the back of his left arm. Twice more this happened, before Brandy was finally able to gain possession of the knife, and he tossed it aside. Then he leant down to the sobbing Carter and gave him a soft kiss. "Hate me if you will, but I still love you."
End Flashback
"Then I ran out of the house and came here. I knew someone would be here." He finished. Ville, who had bent his head halfway through Brandy's story, looked up. Craig was three shades paler than normal, and had tears in his eyes. Bam looked as though he were frozen with shock, his skateboard forgotten and discarded to one side. Jude sat down beside Craig and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend, who buried his face in Jude's neck and cried. Slowly, Ville stood up.
"No one follow me. I've got to do something." Without another word, he left the skate park. He cursed as he realized he didn't know where Carter lived. Still, he carried on walking, trying to look as though he knew where he was going. He turned the corner and almost walked into a guy leaning against the wall. "Sorry." He mumbled.
"Ville?" He looked up and saw Pete smiling at him. Ville held back the urge to sigh when he saw the concealed bottle in his hand.
"Hey Pete, sorry I can't talk... I have something to do." He went to walk off, when something clicked in his head. He turned around. "Do you know where Carter lives?"
"Sure dude. End of this road, turn left, then turn right down the first side road, and it's number 1425."
"Thanks!" Ville took off at a run, leaving Pete to wonder what his hurry was. He reached the end of the road and headed left, looking for the first right-handed turning. When he found it he slowed down to a jog, looking at the numbers on the doors. The houses were well spaced out, mainly because each one was absolutely huge. Obviously this was a rich part of West Chester. "Number 1425..." Finally he found it. "You have got to be kidding me." Looking up at the house, Ville couldn't believe that this belonged to a family of four. It was big enough to house half of Europe, it seemed. Slowly he opened the gate and walked up to the double doors at the front, and rang the doorbell. After a moment, one of the doors opened. Ville was prepared to face a tall angry blonde psychopathic guy, but instead found himself looking at a small, smiling blonde not-so-psychopathic girl.
"Hey there, what can I do for you?" She asked him in a sweet voice. Ville realized that this must be Sarah, Carter's sister.
"Uh... is Carter in?" He asked quietly. For some reason he was more intimidated by her than Carter. She grinned at him.
"Are you a friend of his? I haven't seen you before." Ville barely nodded. She seemed to be about eight or nine years old, and she was dressed in a lilac tank top with a black cat on it, and denim 3/4s. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, leaving a few strands at the front to make up a long fringe, and she had the same eyes as her brother.
"I've only just moved here. I met Carter last week."
"Okay, you seem nice. My name's Sarah."
"Ville."
"Ville? That sounds funny." She giggled. "Are you Finnish?" Ville was amazed. How did this young girl know he was from Finland? He felt as though he were more scared of Sarah than Alex...
"Y-yes, how did you know?" She giggled again and tapped the side of her nose with her index finger.
"Little birdie told me. Come on in Ville, I'll take you to see my big brother!" Ville stepped into the house cautiously and she closed the door. Then she took his hand and skipped over to the stairs, Ville in tow. "It's just up the stairs." Ville looked up and gasped. There were a LOT of stairs.
"No wonder Carter seems so fit, if he has to climb these every day..." He murmured to himself. Sarah was skipping up the stairs now, humming to herself, and he had to concentration on where his feet were going, otherwise he'd fall over. He was glad when they finally reached the top, and she let go of his hand and ran over to a black door at a right angle to the top stair. Upon the door was splashes of red paint, seemingly at random, but as Ville stared at them, he could see that they were in fact a picture. It was two figures, one in a hooded cloak, the other on the floor surrounded by blood, and beneath it was the word 'Wrath'. Carter was definitely a good artist.
"My brother painted that. It's a bit scary, because it has blood in it, but that's my brother for you. He likes scary things, but he doesn't let anyone show me scary things. He doesn't like me getting scared." Sarah giggled again and knocked on the door. There was no reply. So she knocked again, harder. The door swung open and Carter stood there frowning in anger. However the anger soon disappeared when he saw Sarah.
"Sorry Rah-Rah, thought you were Brandy." He said in a soft voice.
"That's okay!" She said happily. "You have a friend Kay-Kay, his name is Ville and he's from Finland!" She pointed behind her at Ville, who felt very small the moment Carter's gaze fell on him. "He wants to talk to you."
"Thanks, you go off and play, okay?" Sarah nodded and went to walk off, but then she turned back.
"Kay-Kay, will you come and play with me after? It gets lonely by myself." Carter smiled.
"Okay, but it might take a while." Grinning, she skipped off to another room. Carter then turned to Ville, and the smile was gone. "In. And make it quick." Ville hurried into the room and Carter slammed the door closed, and then leant on it. "What do you want?" It was a command, not a question. Ville took a deep breath and wondered how much he valued his life, for it was sure to end very soon.
"I've just spoken to Brandy..."
"Oh so he sent you, did he?" Carter spat into a glass on the desk beside him and walked away from the door, to a small cabinet beside a huge bed. He took out a bottle of Jack Daniels and drank from it. "What are you, his little messenger boy?"
"No, I came here of my own doing. I just wanted to talk to you." Ville had to fight down his nerves. He could tell from the way Carter was standing and the fact that the bottle was almost empty that the blonde was drunk, or close to.
"Well start talking Ville, I don't have all day." Ville paused. He hadn't planned out what he was going to say. He didn't even know what he thought he was going to do when he got here. "I don't hear any talking Ville." Carter turned to him and placed a now-empty bottle on his desk.
"Uh well... I..." What could he say? He wasn't about to tell Carter he had no right to treat Brandy like that, even though he wanted to. Carter was at least twice his size in height and muscle, and could tell from the state of Brandy that he could do a lot of damage.
"Does he hate me?" The question caught him off guard. Carter wasn't looking at him now, but he was staring at the desk, his hand still gripping the neck of the bottle.
"What?"
"Brandy. Does he hate me?" Ville ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"No. I, I don't think so."
"Is he hurt bad?"
"Well... he has a few cuts and bruises but... I think he's hurt more on the inside than the outside. He seemed pretty shaken and very upset." Ville suddenly felt awkward. What did he think he was doing, messing with someone else's relationships? Did he honestly think he could fix this one? He barely knew them.
"I'm so stupid..." Carter whispered. "I don't know what I was thinking... I always told myself that... I'd never, ever hurt him... I've hurt too many people in the past..."
"C-Carter?" Ville was getting scared. Carter seemed to have blanked out everything else, and his knuckles were white from gripping the bottle. And he seemed to be talking to himself more than anything else.
"I promised myself I'd never let my paranoia take control again. I promised myself, I'd never hold a knife to someone's throat again, or to threaten their life in any way, ever again... I promised to never scare someone I love... I broke all my promises... I'm pathetic, and stupid... I don't deserve him. After all I did to him, and he still doesn't hate me... why won't he HATE ME!" Glass shattered, and flew everywhere. Where the neck of the bottle had been, Carter was now grasping thin air. Blood dripped from several cuts in the palm of his hand.
"Are you okay?" Ville asked quietly, moving closer to the distressed blonde. But if Carter could hear him, he didn't respond. "Carter?"
"How can someone love me that much?" Ville almost smiled. However he felt that if he did he'd lose his face... so he chose not to.
"Because that's what love is, Carter. Love is knowing that there are faults in people, but not judging by them. Love is forgiving when they do wrong. Love is caring even when they do bad things. Love is wanting to make them happy, no matter what it takes." Ville paused, thinking of how he could word his thoughts. "Brandy knows that you have problems, but he doesn't judge you by them, and so he ignores them. Brandy cares for you, even if you hurt him. Brandy will forgive you, no matter what you do. And Brandy wants you to be happy, even if that means getting hurt himself." Carter looked up at Ville, and tears shone in his eyes.
"Why are you telling me this, Ville? Why are you trying to help me, and Brandy?"
"Because... because I care. I'm a friend, and that's what friends do..." Ville was suddenly aware that Carter was very close to him. He felt incredibly small as he towered above him. However, Carter then dropped to his knees and hugged Ville's waist, crying.
"I want him back Ville... I just want him back..."
"You can't have him back Carter," Ville said bluntly. Carter looked up, shocked, but Ville just smiled. "Because you never lost him."
Carter winced as Ville ran a washcloth over his cut up hand. He was sat on the edge of the bathtub, his left hand outstretched, as Ville cleaned the wounds.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side Carter." Ville smiled. "You have some grip."
"I guess I have more strength than I knew about... Ow!" He jerked his hand away and cradled it to his chest. Ville rolled his eyes.
"You know, for a six-foot-something giant you sure act a lot like a baby," Ville said, taking Carter's hand and finishing off the cleaning. He then picked up a bandage and started to wrap it round his hand. He cut the bandage and tied it, and grinned. "There, all done." Carter sighed.
"Thanks Ville. You know, if you hadn't have come over, I'd probably be lying in a pool of my own blood right now... I hate myself so much for what I did to him." He pulled back his sleeve and sighed again. Ville looked in amazement at the criss-crossing scars that covered his arm. "I have more you know." Ville looked up at Carter's face and saw that the blonde was close to tears again. "On my other arm, on my legs, my chest, my stomach... and then the big one," He arched his neck slightly, and Ville gasped at the thin white scar that ran across his throat. It was very faint, almost invisible unless you were looking for it. "That was my seventh attempt. Bad thing to do, I'd advise against it. Ruined a good shirt of mine." He laughed slightly. Ville sat back on his knees and removed the sweatband on his left wrist. The crimson lines were fading, but still visible.
"I know mine don't compare to yours..." He said quietly with a shaky laugh. Carter lurched forward and gripped Ville by his shirt.
"If you ever do it again, I swear I'll slit your throat for you." Ville was stunned. Carter let go of him and sighed. "Sorry. I know I must sound like a hypocrite but... I hate it when my friends do that shit. Especially friends that help me." He gave Ville a smile.
"Speaking of friends... I have to get back to Bam. He's probably freaking out about where I am and if I'm dead or not." Carter laughed.
"I'll walk with you." They left the bathroom and Ville followed him down the stairs. A streak of black shot past him and he turned to see a black cat perched on top of the handrail, balancing expertly. Carter grinned. "That's Shade. She's my darling, aren't you sweetie?"
"Mrow!"
"We figured that usually means yes." Ville laughed. Carter opened one of the doors leading outside and they stepped out into the front yard. Sarah was skipping on the grass. "I have to take Ville back to our friends Rah-Rah, but I'll be back soon okay? Then I'll play with you."
"Okay! Bye-bye Ville, say hey to Bam-Bam for me!" She giggled. "Hurry back Kay-Kay!" As they left via the gate, Ville turned to Carter.
"Your sister scares me." He laughed.
"I'm sure you said that to Craig, too..." He grinned. Ville nodded.
"I'm not going to ask how she knows things about me... but I do have one question."
"Shoot."
"Why does she call you Kay-Kay?" Carter smiled.
"Simple. If you'd have met me before high school, you'd have known that my name is actually spelt with a K. However, complications arose as people always ended up spelling it with a C, so I just changed it to avoid confusion. It's still legally K, it's how it's spelt on all the school files and shit, but informally... it's C." He explained. "And I call her Rah-Rah because Rah is the last three letters of her name."
"I caught onto that one." Ville grinned.
"In no time, you'll have a nickname. She was the first one to ever call Bam Bam-Bam. She calls Craig Patch-Patch and Alex Lex-Lex. Brandy is the only one who doesn't have a nickname. She's still trying to think of what to call him." The mention of Brandy caused Carter to grow quiet.
"Carter, he'll forgive you. I know Brandy, even though I only met him last week, I know how much he loves you." They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, Carter occasionally humming a few songs Ville recognized, and playing with the tie on his bandage. Ville could tell he was feeling a lot better than he did earlier, and that made him happy. He heard a startled yell from the skate park when they approached, and Bam came running up to him. Carter ignored him and walked straight over to where Craig was standing in front of Brandy, Jude at his side.
"Patchy, babe, I'm not going to hurt him." Craig eyed him suspiciously for a moment before stepping aside, and Brandy looked up at Carter with fear in his eyes. Carter sighed. "I'm so sorry Brandy... I know it's not going to change what I did but..."
"Believe me Brandy, he was going to kill himself because of what he did." Ville stepped in, and Brandy smiled slightly.
"Promise me you'll never do that Carter, if you die, I die." Carter nodded.
"I promise. And that's a promise I'm not going to break." He glanced at Ville - the only other who knew what he meant - and Ville grinned. Brandy then threw his arms around Carter's waist and buried his face in his chest. Smiling, Carter returned the embrace.
"Ville, you're amazing. You performed a miracle." Jude grinned, standing beside Craig and wrapping an arm around him. Craig gasped overdramatically.
"My god! You're JESUS!" Everyone - even Carter and Brandy - burst out laughing.
"Way to lift the mood, Patchy!" Bam grinned.
A few Author's Notes... the Jesus line was purely a joke. I don't mean to offend anyone by it. Secondly, this whole argument/fight thing is based on something I was actually involved in, except obviously names were different and the actual argument was over something else but overall it's very similar... so... I don't know why I said that but I felt it was neccessary... thirdly, I don't care if I spelt neccessary wrong XD
Comments? =P
Title: Growing Up Is Overrated
Author: Craig (patchy4vam)
Rating: Mild
Pairing: Vam
Summary: Ville's family died in a devastating car crash, and he's been sent to live with the only family he has apparently got left. His first shock comes when he's told they live in America. His second shock is when he finds out that his two cousins are his age, one of whom is openly homosexual. The other however, Ville comes to think is insane. He is due to attend their high school, where he will meet some rather... unusual... friends. Ville's life is about to change, a lot. Especially when he meets a skater boy with cerulean eyes...
Prologue And Chapters 1-10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13: Ville To The Rescue
"You wanted to impress me?" Bam asked, surprise evident in his voice. Ville nodded and lowered his eyes to the floor, feeling a blush creep across his cheeks. Bam placed his hand under Ville's chin and tilted his face slightly so Ville would look at him, and he smiled. "It worked, you know. I'm very impressed." If Ville could have gotten any redder, he did. Slowly, Bam leant forward, his face barely an inch from Ville's. He ran his tongue over his top lip, and was about to close the gap between them when a shout from the Halfpipe caused him to look around. Craig was running across the concrete towards a dishevelled blonde walking into the skate park.
"Is that... Brandy?" Ville asked, following Bam's eyes to see what had caused him to stop.
"I think so, come on!" Together, they ran over to where Craig was sitting beside the blonde, an arm around his shoulders. When they reached him, they saw that it was indeed Brandy, and he was in a bad way. There was a cut under his eye, and his lip was split open. Dark bruises were already forming on his throat, and Ville caught his breath as he spotted the slash marks on Brandy's left arm.
"Holy shit, what happened?" He gasped. Craig glanced up at them and shrugged. Clearly Brandy hadn't told him yet. The blonde brushed his hair out of his face, and Ville got a closer look at him. It was obvious he had been crying. Ville knelt down in front of him and placed his hands n Brandy's knees, looking up into his face. "Tell us what happened, Brandy, slowly. Take your time." Brandy sniffed miserably and ran a hand over his eyes, hissing in pain when he caught the wound under his eye.
"I was at Carter's and everything seemed to be going okay..."
Flashback
Brandy leant back against Carter, who smiled and slipped an arm around his waist. They were spread across the sofa situated in Carter's room, a random movie playing on the TV screen. Neither of them were really watching it; it was more like background noise than anything else.
"Hey babe, fancy a drink?" Carter asked him, lightly stroking Brandy's stomach.
"Depends on what you mean by 'drink'." Brandy smiled, looking up at him. Carter grinned.
"I was thinking along the lines of... hmm, maybe some whiskey." Then he winked and licked his lips. "Or even some brandy, if you get what I mean." Brandy giggled slightly.
"If you think you're getting some that way, forget it. I told you, I can't tonight. If my dad so much as suspects anything, I'm dead. You know what he's like about his sons being gay." This comment caused Carter to roll his eyes.
"But you're not even GAY!"
"No, but I have a boyfriend. In his eyes, that must mean I'm gay. I told you how he acted when he found out his nephew, my cousin Lance, was gay. He hasn't spoken to him since and he won't let Todd or me near him. If he ever found out I was even slightly into guys, he'd kill me. Or you." Brandy paused. "Most likely you, and then me."
"I wish you'd just tell him about me. I want to be able to touch you and kiss you when I'm at yours. I want to be open about us to everyone." Carter sighed in frustration and removed his arm from around Brandy's waist. "And you're not letting that happen." Brandy sat up quickly and turned to him, frowning.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Well you could just tell your dad. It's not like you have nowhere to go if he kicks you out. It's not like you don't have a second set of parents to look after you."
"It's fair enough you saying that Carter, but your parents aren't my parents, are they? I don't want my dad to hate me, is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes if it means you're not being honest with him!"
"Honest? What the fuck do you know about honesty?" Brandy snapped. "If I'm not mistaken, you were going around saying I was a girl! You only told your parents about me because Sarah found out and you didn't want her to tell on you! You're always stealing stuff when you could buy the whole fucking store in one go! And you're talking to me about being dishonest?" Carter went to reply, but Brandy wasn't finished. "You know, people warned me about you. Several times I was told that you are just a lying, cheating whore, a spoilt brat... even a drug addict. Oh yes, I've been told many things about you Carter. When did you plan on telling me that you like injecting and snorting substances every day?"
"I did that once! ONCE! I haven't done it in months!"
"Oh, so it's true? You have done drugs?" Brandy's fists clenched and he glared at Carter. "Were you going to keep that to yourself? I thought we told each other everything."
"Don't even start that, Brandy. Were you going to tell me that you once kissed your brother?" Brandy's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in horror.
"How did you..."
"I've done some listening too. I spoke to your sister Tiffany. She was the one who caught you at it, I believe." Brandy bowed his head and refused to look up from the floor. "So don't lecture me on being dishonest when you yourself haven't been completely honest with me."
"I was going to tell you." Carter laughed harshly.
"Bullshit."
"I was!" Brandy looked up. "It's not exactly something you bring up in an everyday conversation, is it? 'I love you Carter, oh and by the way, I once kissed Todd when we were younger, so how was your day?'"
"Drop the attitude Brandy, you know I hate it."
"You know I hate drugs."
"I was depressed! I did some stupid things when I was depressed, okay? I took drugs, I self-harmed, I started drinking..."
"You started going out with me." Brandy's emotionless voice took Carter by surprise.
"That's not a bad thing. I started getting better after that." Carter reached forward and took Brandy's hand. "Don't think that I only started dating you because I was depressed..."
Flashback Break
"I thought it was gonna get better from then. He got us a couple of drinks from his personal stock and we calmed down a bit. But then we started arguing about my dad again..." Brandy trailed off, and a single tear escaped his eye. Craig leant towards him and took one of his hands and held it tightly.
"What happened then?" He asked quietly. More tears rolled down Brandy's cheeks and he started shaking. Ville swallowed hard, dreading the answer he would get for his next question.
"What did he do to you Brandy?"
Flashback
"I know why you won't tell your dad about me. Why you won't tell any of your family. You're ashamed of me." Carter said quietly.
"No! I'm not!" Brandy exclaimed quickly, but Carter wouldn't have it.
"Or maybe, the reason you won't tell anyone is because you're not really bisexual. Maybe you're just leading me on. I bet you laugh about it with your friends from your old school. I bet when they see me, they can't contain their amusement at my stupidity."
"Carter, you don't know what you're talking about." Carter smiled wickedly and moved closer to Brandy, who shrank back, slightly afraid.
"Oh, don't I? I think I do, Brandy. I don't like being lied to. If you are playing a game with me, I'd like to know now. Quickly Brandy, wouldn't want me to get mad now would you?" Brandy's heart pounded in his chest, and he could barely speak. He never thought he'd see the day that Carter would scare and threaten him.
"I'm not playing games with you, C-Carter. I l-love you." He whispered. Carter frowned.
"Liar!" Then he pounced upon Brandy, grabbing him around the throat with an icy grip. Brandy clutched at Carter's wrist and tried to pull his hand from his throat, but if anything Carter gripped him harder. "The more you try to stop me, the tighter it's going to get." He growled darkly. "Now I want the truth Brandy. Are you playing games with me?"
"N-no." Brandy gasped out. He was already starting to gasp for air, and Carter wasn't easing up his grip. With his free hand, Carter punched Brandy in the jaw, splitting open his lip.
"Don't lie to me!" Behind the anger in Carter's eyes, Brandy could see that he was close to tears.
"I'm not... I love you." Brandy was beginning to feel faint. If Carter didn't let go soon, he'd lose consciousness. Carter's fist came down again, this time cutting his cheek, under his eye.
"S-stop l-lying!" Now Carter was crying, breaking down in front of him. Brandy sighed with relief as the tight grip on his throat loosened, and he was able to crawl away, taking huge deep breaths to try and get oxygen to his deprived lungs. When he looked back to Carter, he cried out. Carter had somehow managed to find a knife - he probably kept one in his room somewhere - and was placing the sharp edge against his wrist.
"D-don't!" Brandy tackled Carter to the floor, keeping the knife out of reach. However, as Carter was bigger and stronger, it was almost impossible to keep him still. Brandy gasped in pain as Carter slid the knife across the back of his left arm. Twice more this happened, before Brandy was finally able to gain possession of the knife, and he tossed it aside. Then he leant down to the sobbing Carter and gave him a soft kiss. "Hate me if you will, but I still love you."
End Flashback
"Then I ran out of the house and came here. I knew someone would be here." He finished. Ville, who had bent his head halfway through Brandy's story, looked up. Craig was three shades paler than normal, and had tears in his eyes. Bam looked as though he were frozen with shock, his skateboard forgotten and discarded to one side. Jude sat down beside Craig and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend, who buried his face in Jude's neck and cried. Slowly, Ville stood up.
"No one follow me. I've got to do something." Without another word, he left the skate park. He cursed as he realized he didn't know where Carter lived. Still, he carried on walking, trying to look as though he knew where he was going. He turned the corner and almost walked into a guy leaning against the wall. "Sorry." He mumbled.
"Ville?" He looked up and saw Pete smiling at him. Ville held back the urge to sigh when he saw the concealed bottle in his hand.
"Hey Pete, sorry I can't talk... I have something to do." He went to walk off, when something clicked in his head. He turned around. "Do you know where Carter lives?"
"Sure dude. End of this road, turn left, then turn right down the first side road, and it's number 1425."
"Thanks!" Ville took off at a run, leaving Pete to wonder what his hurry was. He reached the end of the road and headed left, looking for the first right-handed turning. When he found it he slowed down to a jog, looking at the numbers on the doors. The houses were well spaced out, mainly because each one was absolutely huge. Obviously this was a rich part of West Chester. "Number 1425..." Finally he found it. "You have got to be kidding me." Looking up at the house, Ville couldn't believe that this belonged to a family of four. It was big enough to house half of Europe, it seemed. Slowly he opened the gate and walked up to the double doors at the front, and rang the doorbell. After a moment, one of the doors opened. Ville was prepared to face a tall angry blonde psychopathic guy, but instead found himself looking at a small, smiling blonde not-so-psychopathic girl.
"Hey there, what can I do for you?" She asked him in a sweet voice. Ville realized that this must be Sarah, Carter's sister.
"Uh... is Carter in?" He asked quietly. For some reason he was more intimidated by her than Carter. She grinned at him.
"Are you a friend of his? I haven't seen you before." Ville barely nodded. She seemed to be about eight or nine years old, and she was dressed in a lilac tank top with a black cat on it, and denim 3/4s. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, leaving a few strands at the front to make up a long fringe, and she had the same eyes as her brother.
"I've only just moved here. I met Carter last week."
"Okay, you seem nice. My name's Sarah."
"Ville."
"Ville? That sounds funny." She giggled. "Are you Finnish?" Ville was amazed. How did this young girl know he was from Finland? He felt as though he were more scared of Sarah than Alex...
"Y-yes, how did you know?" She giggled again and tapped the side of her nose with her index finger.
"Little birdie told me. Come on in Ville, I'll take you to see my big brother!" Ville stepped into the house cautiously and she closed the door. Then she took his hand and skipped over to the stairs, Ville in tow. "It's just up the stairs." Ville looked up and gasped. There were a LOT of stairs.
"No wonder Carter seems so fit, if he has to climb these every day..." He murmured to himself. Sarah was skipping up the stairs now, humming to herself, and he had to concentration on where his feet were going, otherwise he'd fall over. He was glad when they finally reached the top, and she let go of his hand and ran over to a black door at a right angle to the top stair. Upon the door was splashes of red paint, seemingly at random, but as Ville stared at them, he could see that they were in fact a picture. It was two figures, one in a hooded cloak, the other on the floor surrounded by blood, and beneath it was the word 'Wrath'. Carter was definitely a good artist.
"My brother painted that. It's a bit scary, because it has blood in it, but that's my brother for you. He likes scary things, but he doesn't let anyone show me scary things. He doesn't like me getting scared." Sarah giggled again and knocked on the door. There was no reply. So she knocked again, harder. The door swung open and Carter stood there frowning in anger. However the anger soon disappeared when he saw Sarah.
"Sorry Rah-Rah, thought you were Brandy." He said in a soft voice.
"That's okay!" She said happily. "You have a friend Kay-Kay, his name is Ville and he's from Finland!" She pointed behind her at Ville, who felt very small the moment Carter's gaze fell on him. "He wants to talk to you."
"Thanks, you go off and play, okay?" Sarah nodded and went to walk off, but then she turned back.
"Kay-Kay, will you come and play with me after? It gets lonely by myself." Carter smiled.
"Okay, but it might take a while." Grinning, she skipped off to another room. Carter then turned to Ville, and the smile was gone. "In. And make it quick." Ville hurried into the room and Carter slammed the door closed, and then leant on it. "What do you want?" It was a command, not a question. Ville took a deep breath and wondered how much he valued his life, for it was sure to end very soon.
"I've just spoken to Brandy..."
"Oh so he sent you, did he?" Carter spat into a glass on the desk beside him and walked away from the door, to a small cabinet beside a huge bed. He took out a bottle of Jack Daniels and drank from it. "What are you, his little messenger boy?"
"No, I came here of my own doing. I just wanted to talk to you." Ville had to fight down his nerves. He could tell from the way Carter was standing and the fact that the bottle was almost empty that the blonde was drunk, or close to.
"Well start talking Ville, I don't have all day." Ville paused. He hadn't planned out what he was going to say. He didn't even know what he thought he was going to do when he got here. "I don't hear any talking Ville." Carter turned to him and placed a now-empty bottle on his desk.
"Uh well... I..." What could he say? He wasn't about to tell Carter he had no right to treat Brandy like that, even though he wanted to. Carter was at least twice his size in height and muscle, and could tell from the state of Brandy that he could do a lot of damage.
"Does he hate me?" The question caught him off guard. Carter wasn't looking at him now, but he was staring at the desk, his hand still gripping the neck of the bottle.
"What?"
"Brandy. Does he hate me?" Ville ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"No. I, I don't think so."
"Is he hurt bad?"
"Well... he has a few cuts and bruises but... I think he's hurt more on the inside than the outside. He seemed pretty shaken and very upset." Ville suddenly felt awkward. What did he think he was doing, messing with someone else's relationships? Did he honestly think he could fix this one? He barely knew them.
"I'm so stupid..." Carter whispered. "I don't know what I was thinking... I always told myself that... I'd never, ever hurt him... I've hurt too many people in the past..."
"C-Carter?" Ville was getting scared. Carter seemed to have blanked out everything else, and his knuckles were white from gripping the bottle. And he seemed to be talking to himself more than anything else.
"I promised myself I'd never let my paranoia take control again. I promised myself, I'd never hold a knife to someone's throat again, or to threaten their life in any way, ever again... I promised to never scare someone I love... I broke all my promises... I'm pathetic, and stupid... I don't deserve him. After all I did to him, and he still doesn't hate me... why won't he HATE ME!" Glass shattered, and flew everywhere. Where the neck of the bottle had been, Carter was now grasping thin air. Blood dripped from several cuts in the palm of his hand.
"Are you okay?" Ville asked quietly, moving closer to the distressed blonde. But if Carter could hear him, he didn't respond. "Carter?"
"How can someone love me that much?" Ville almost smiled. However he felt that if he did he'd lose his face... so he chose not to.
"Because that's what love is, Carter. Love is knowing that there are faults in people, but not judging by them. Love is forgiving when they do wrong. Love is caring even when they do bad things. Love is wanting to make them happy, no matter what it takes." Ville paused, thinking of how he could word his thoughts. "Brandy knows that you have problems, but he doesn't judge you by them, and so he ignores them. Brandy cares for you, even if you hurt him. Brandy will forgive you, no matter what you do. And Brandy wants you to be happy, even if that means getting hurt himself." Carter looked up at Ville, and tears shone in his eyes.
"Why are you telling me this, Ville? Why are you trying to help me, and Brandy?"
"Because... because I care. I'm a friend, and that's what friends do..." Ville was suddenly aware that Carter was very close to him. He felt incredibly small as he towered above him. However, Carter then dropped to his knees and hugged Ville's waist, crying.
"I want him back Ville... I just want him back..."
"You can't have him back Carter," Ville said bluntly. Carter looked up, shocked, but Ville just smiled. "Because you never lost him."
Carter winced as Ville ran a washcloth over his cut up hand. He was sat on the edge of the bathtub, his left hand outstretched, as Ville cleaned the wounds.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side Carter." Ville smiled. "You have some grip."
"I guess I have more strength than I knew about... Ow!" He jerked his hand away and cradled it to his chest. Ville rolled his eyes.
"You know, for a six-foot-something giant you sure act a lot like a baby," Ville said, taking Carter's hand and finishing off the cleaning. He then picked up a bandage and started to wrap it round his hand. He cut the bandage and tied it, and grinned. "There, all done." Carter sighed.
"Thanks Ville. You know, if you hadn't have come over, I'd probably be lying in a pool of my own blood right now... I hate myself so much for what I did to him." He pulled back his sleeve and sighed again. Ville looked in amazement at the criss-crossing scars that covered his arm. "I have more you know." Ville looked up at Carter's face and saw that the blonde was close to tears again. "On my other arm, on my legs, my chest, my stomach... and then the big one," He arched his neck slightly, and Ville gasped at the thin white scar that ran across his throat. It was very faint, almost invisible unless you were looking for it. "That was my seventh attempt. Bad thing to do, I'd advise against it. Ruined a good shirt of mine." He laughed slightly. Ville sat back on his knees and removed the sweatband on his left wrist. The crimson lines were fading, but still visible.
"I know mine don't compare to yours..." He said quietly with a shaky laugh. Carter lurched forward and gripped Ville by his shirt.
"If you ever do it again, I swear I'll slit your throat for you." Ville was stunned. Carter let go of him and sighed. "Sorry. I know I must sound like a hypocrite but... I hate it when my friends do that shit. Especially friends that help me." He gave Ville a smile.
"Speaking of friends... I have to get back to Bam. He's probably freaking out about where I am and if I'm dead or not." Carter laughed.
"I'll walk with you." They left the bathroom and Ville followed him down the stairs. A streak of black shot past him and he turned to see a black cat perched on top of the handrail, balancing expertly. Carter grinned. "That's Shade. She's my darling, aren't you sweetie?"
"Mrow!"
"We figured that usually means yes." Ville laughed. Carter opened one of the doors leading outside and they stepped out into the front yard. Sarah was skipping on the grass. "I have to take Ville back to our friends Rah-Rah, but I'll be back soon okay? Then I'll play with you."
"Okay! Bye-bye Ville, say hey to Bam-Bam for me!" She giggled. "Hurry back Kay-Kay!" As they left via the gate, Ville turned to Carter.
"Your sister scares me." He laughed.
"I'm sure you said that to Craig, too..." He grinned. Ville nodded.
"I'm not going to ask how she knows things about me... but I do have one question."
"Shoot."
"Why does she call you Kay-Kay?" Carter smiled.
"Simple. If you'd have met me before high school, you'd have known that my name is actually spelt with a K. However, complications arose as people always ended up spelling it with a C, so I just changed it to avoid confusion. It's still legally K, it's how it's spelt on all the school files and shit, but informally... it's C." He explained. "And I call her Rah-Rah because Rah is the last three letters of her name."
"I caught onto that one." Ville grinned.
"In no time, you'll have a nickname. She was the first one to ever call Bam Bam-Bam. She calls Craig Patch-Patch and Alex Lex-Lex. Brandy is the only one who doesn't have a nickname. She's still trying to think of what to call him." The mention of Brandy caused Carter to grow quiet.
"Carter, he'll forgive you. I know Brandy, even though I only met him last week, I know how much he loves you." They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, Carter occasionally humming a few songs Ville recognized, and playing with the tie on his bandage. Ville could tell he was feeling a lot better than he did earlier, and that made him happy. He heard a startled yell from the skate park when they approached, and Bam came running up to him. Carter ignored him and walked straight over to where Craig was standing in front of Brandy, Jude at his side.
"Patchy, babe, I'm not going to hurt him." Craig eyed him suspiciously for a moment before stepping aside, and Brandy looked up at Carter with fear in his eyes. Carter sighed. "I'm so sorry Brandy... I know it's not going to change what I did but..."
"Believe me Brandy, he was going to kill himself because of what he did." Ville stepped in, and Brandy smiled slightly.
"Promise me you'll never do that Carter, if you die, I die." Carter nodded.
"I promise. And that's a promise I'm not going to break." He glanced at Ville - the only other who knew what he meant - and Ville grinned. Brandy then threw his arms around Carter's waist and buried his face in his chest. Smiling, Carter returned the embrace.
"Ville, you're amazing. You performed a miracle." Jude grinned, standing beside Craig and wrapping an arm around him. Craig gasped overdramatically.
"My god! You're JESUS!" Everyone - even Carter and Brandy - burst out laughing.
"Way to lift the mood, Patchy!" Bam grinned.
A few Author's Notes... the Jesus line was purely a joke. I don't mean to offend anyone by it. Secondly, this whole argument/fight thing is based on something I was actually involved in, except obviously names were different and the actual argument was over something else but overall it's very similar... so... I don't know why I said that but I felt it was neccessary... thirdly, I don't care if I spelt neccessary wrong XD
Comments? =P