Part Six

[honeyandvinegar]

Title: "Standing Up (Part Six)"

Pairing: C/Z, Z/OFC

Rating: R for language

Synopsis: More than one revelation comes forth



“Do I even want to know?” Stan groaned out, looking to Casey’s face intently as they stopped at a red light.

Casey didn’t feel like answering; the light turned green as he searched for a reply. he breathed in deep as Stan drove along the snowy roads, the ice glinting bright in the streetlights. “I can’t go back home,” he replied softly. He saw Stan glance to him, looking concerned.

“Can’t, meaning…?”

“My dad kicked me out.” Casey stated, looking into his lap. “He said he doesn’t want… a faggot living at his house.”

It was silent a moment as Stan kept driving; Casey noticed his knuckles growing tense, whitening clear enough to see in the low light. “So he hit you.” Stan stated blankly.

“He’s never hit me before. He hit me… yesterday.”

“And that bitch back at Zeke’s… fucking Christ,” Stan said, lifting one hand to his cheek, rubbing it. “Do you want to stay with me, Casey? My parents would be happy to have you. When Zeke gets back home, maybe then he can rule the roost enough to keep her in line.”

Casey bit his lip, fearing more tears. “Stan I don’t… know what to do…” he whispered. “All my stuff is in Boston; for all I know, my fucking roommate’s been selling my shit for drug money. I have no way to get it. My dad fucking hates me…”

“Easy Case… we’ll find a way, trust me. Even if we have to get some moving company out there, we can get it done,” Stan said in a reassuring way. Casey shook his head as they pulled into the hospital parking lot and found a spot. Stan parked the car and shut it off; Casey looked up and sighed sadly.

“I made a mistake coming out here.” He sadly stated. “I’m obviously not wanted; Zeke’s too laid up, like he should be worrying about me. His girlfriend is a fucking bitch. My parents hate me… why did I fucking bother?”

“You bothered ‘cause you gave a shit, Casey. If you don’t think Zeke appreciates that, then you’re wrong,” Stan replied sharply. “He’s astounded that you’d come out here, and for what? To see him in some hospital bed, making sure he’s okay. You could have called me for an update, or Delilah, but no- you came out yourself. If that isn’t being a good friend, then I dunno what is.”

It was quiet again; Casey lifted his eyes to stare at the snow covered bushes in front of them, seeing glistening ice tips glowing in the street lamps. Before he could become entranced, Stan sighed deeply.

“You know you didn’t deserve that, right?”

“Sure Stan. Just like I didn’t deserve getting the crap kicked outta me at school, or being able to be happy with a beautiful girlfriend, or being able to live my life the way I want,” Casey said in a rushed manner, eyes stinging. “I’ve come to live with what I do or don’t deserve. Just like Zeke had said way back when: it’s my ‘birthright’.”

Stan opened his mouth to reply; instead his lips closed shut tight and he opened his door. “C’mon, let’s go see Zeke,” he said.

Casey followed Stan into the hospital and up to Zeke’s floor, feeling dazed. As they got off the elevator, they were instantly greeted with the noise of a distant ruckus. They both frowned as they began walking down the hall, until they heard one voice ringing out, loud and clear.

“That fucking HURTS!”

It was Zeke… oh God, what was happening? Casey and Stan rushed their steps to reach his room, looking inside.

“We have to check you, Ezekiel,” a nurse was saying; two large men were on either side of Zeke, holding his shoulders.

“Oh God…” Casey muttered under his breath. He had no idea what they were doing, but Zeke was resisting it as if they planned on killing him.

“FUCK!!” Zeke suddenly yelled.

“I’m sorry, I know it stings-“

“FUCK you know it stings, Jesus fucking- OW!”

He was getting a shot of some kind, it seemed. The nurse was now backing away, tossing a hypodermic needle into a marked ‘hazardous waste’ trashcan. The two men now backed off, standing nearby as Zeke tried to move up. “All right, Mr. Tyler. That’s all we had to do,”

“All you had to do…” Zeke hissed through gritted teeth.

“It’s either that or you risk infection. That’s something you REALLY won’t want,” the nurse said. Her and the two others now left, one of the men patting Zeke’s shoulder as if to say ‘sorry, man,’ Casey swallowed as they walked out, nodding to the both of them. “He’s a bit… off tonight, I’ll warn you now,” the nurse hissed to them. Stan sighed as he walked in, Casey following closely.

“Hey,” Stan said quietly, getting to Zeke’s bedside. Zeke opened his eyes and breathed in deeply.

“Hey… what’re you doing back here?” he asked, his voice sounding raspy. He turned his head and saw Casey standing by the curtain. A small smile came on his lips. “Hey,”

“Hey,” Casey replied, trying to smile back.

“He wanted to come see you; I figured I could give him a ride,” Stan said, tapping his knuckles on the bed’s rail. Zeke nodded.

“That’s cool. I was wondering why you didn’t come with Gilda. She just said you were busy,” Zeke explained. Casey must have turned three different shades of red to make Zeke’s face turn into a confused frown. “What…?”

“I guess… for whatever reason, Gilda told him that she was only gonna be ‘stopping by’,” Stan said. Casey crossed his arms and looked away as Stan continued. “She was just going to get things straight for Friday; is that what she said, Case?”

Casey shrugged, turning aside and going to the window seat. He knew Zeke was still staring at him in confusion. Zeke made a loud swallow and shook his head.

“I don’t know why she’d do that, man,” Zeke mumbled out. “She can be pretty bitchy, but… man, that’s just fucked up. Why would she do that?”

It was silent now between the three of them. Casey bit at a nail nervously; he really didn’t know what to say. Deep down he knew why, in the weirdest of insight; but there was no way to explain it out to everyone. “She’s always been weird around your friends. Especially… us,” Stan offered.

“Yea well, she’d better put the fucking brakes on it. I’m in no mood to corral her like some wild bitch in heat,” Zeke grumbled out. “Like I don’t have anything to worry about, I’ve got my girlfriend acting like a total toad,”

“I’m sorry,” Casey said, barely audible enough to hear. It caught Zeke’s attention however as he turned to him.

“What the hell are you sorry about?”

“I really just should have… called, not come. I should have known nothing good would come out of just uprooting and taking off,”

“Fuck that, Casey. Did you want to come out here?” Stan asked.

“Yea, of course, but that doesn’t mean it was needed or wanted by anyone else,” Casey said, looking to the wall.

“I’m fucking glad you came.” Zeke said sternly. “Seeing as I’m the one you came out here FOR, I’d say that’s the only fucking thing that matters… what the hell, Case?” he suddenly blurted. Casey looked towards him, confused.

“What?”

“What the fuck happened to your face?”

Casey lifted his hand to the bruised cheek, touching it lightly. Trying to look casual, he shrugged. “Me and my dad… we got into an argument over my coming back here. When I told him I didn’t want to go back, he just… got really mad,”

As Zeke’s jaw dropped and eyebrows furrowed, Stan shot Casey a confused look. Casey ignored it and dropped his eyes, leaning forward. Zeke sighed with a growl. “That ain’t fuckin’ right, Case.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s right or not. I’m practically all but disowned now,” Casey said, his voice cracking slightly. It became silent in the room; Stan looked between Casey and Zeke a few times then sighed deeply.

“Look, I’m gonna go see if the caf is still open. I never got a hold of some dinner,” he said. “I’ll be back. Anyone want anything?”

“No,” Zeke said. Casey shrugged.

“I need some sort of sugar. Mind grabbing me a soda?”

“No prob,” he said, walking out of the room. Once he was gone, Zeke shifted in his bed, turning to Casey fully.

“Don’t mind Gilda, Case,” he said. “I don’t have any idea why she’s acting so shit to you, but don’t listen to her. Listen to me; I told you that you could stay at my place, and that’s all that matters.”

“What did you tell her about me, Zeke?” Casey suddenly asked. Zeke blinked, looking confused. Casey now stared at him, feeling sick. “She says you told her all about how I was… before the whole invasion. How I was… the way I was.”

Zeke swallowed, shaking his head. “You know what I told her about you?” he asked. At Casey’s blank expression, Zeke continued. “I told her that for a kid that got his ass kicked all the time, for someone who took beatings like most people take breaths, you fucking showed them all. I told her that if Gabe or any other dickhead that had taken pot shots at you were in your place, we’d all have been transformed to some mutant life form. It’s the fucking truth. You know why you never stood up for yourself?”

“Because I was a fucking loser kid with no sort of-“

“NO.” Zeke said firmly, causing Casey to halt his words. “You took it because you knew you could. Yea, you didn’t have the muscle to fight ‘em off, but that’s why they picked on ya; because they WERE stronger than you. But you knew you’d get through it. So when MaryBeth ‘showed up’, that was some shit you WEREN’T willing to stand down for. I thank the fucking gods everyday that it wasn’t Gabe in your spot, because he wouldn’t have known what to do with himself. She was bigger and stronger and a hella lot scarier than him. Who dealt with shit like that all his life? You- geeky Casey Connor with his flagpole treatments; like you were gonna take that shit. So whatever I told Gilda was the truth; that the world was saved by a beaten geek who fuck all, wasn’t going to take it anymore.”

Casey was shocked into silence at Zeke’s revelations. He stared at him, taking in the look of admiration in his eyes, the way they looked at Casey like he was the best thing in the world. It made his own eyes start to sting with tears. “Maybe,” Casey mumbled. “So why am I taking shit now?”

“Dunno,” Zeke said, crossing his arms. “Why don’t you treat the world the way you treated MaryBeth?”

Now Casey had to chuckle. “What, stick pens of scat in everyone’s eyes??”

“Sure,” Zeke said, smiling a gorgeous toothy grin.

The night sky was clouded, blocking out stars. The moon would shine through every now and again, but otherwise became a blocked orb of light. Casey stared out the car window, sipping the last of the cola Stan had gotten for him.

“I take it… Zeke doesn’t know,”

Casey turned from the blurred trees and houses to Stan. “What?”

“Zeke doesn’t know… about you.” Stan replied, glancing over at Casey. Casey knew what he meant; turning his eyes to his lap he shook his head.

“No. He doesn’t,”

“I thought you guys were close, though. I figured out of everyone, he’d know,” Stan said. Casey shifted in his seat, biting his lip.

“Yea well, I never got around to telling him,”

“Oh,” Stan uttered. He chuckled a little. “I won’t lie; I wasn’t shocked when you’d told ME, but… I was, all at the same time. It takes a lot to ‘come out’, as they say. To be honest again, I felt a little honored,”

Casey smiled a little, turning back to the window. “You’re welcome,”

“Hah, well, yea,” Stan chuckled out. “Still, feels a little odd that you didn’t tell him. Didn’t he ask why you and Delilah broke it off?”

Casey tried keeping his movements under control, right down to his fluttering heart. “Yea… I just told him that- we didn’t want a long distance relationship when I went off to Boston,”

“But… you broke it off a month before school ended,”

“I know,”

“So it seems a little weird… don’t you trust Zeke?”

“Of course I do,” Casey said. Stan became quiet a moment before speaking again.

“So… why not just tell him?” he said. Casey’s lips shuddered, hoping that Stan couldn’t see.

“I have my reasons,” he replied. He saw Stan looking at him suspiciously in the corner of his eye; Casey didn’t react or say anything more. He didn’t have to.

“Oh Casey…” Stan said, his voice soft and apologetic. Casey nodded, fighting off tears once again.