Devil May Love

Gaibriel's alarm clock rang in his ear, the annoying bell reverberating through the whole room. Reaching over, he turned it off. He hadn't been asleep anyway, but instead was just lying there waiting for it to go off. He guessed that he might have gotten a few hours sleep that night… Four at most. His head had been buzzing when he finally got in bed Sunday night. It took him hours to even drift off the first time. And then he dreamed. First about Jullien, then about his father. Both dreams caused him to wake up in a sweat. After that, he hadn't been able to fall asleep at all, but just lied there staring out his window. He made his way to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. He was in the middle of drying off when he mother knocked on the door.

"Gaibriel, honey… Can I come in? I want to check on you," her voice barely drifted through the wooden door.

Gaibriel opened it, and stepped back to give her room to step inside. She left the door open behind her and pressed the back of her hand first to his forehead, then each cheek, and finally to his neck. Shaking her head, she said, "You're not running a temperature but you look like death. You have dark circle under your eyes…"

"I didn't get much sleep," Gaibriel mumbled, pulling his face away from her hand, which was still pressing against various parts of his face.

Getting the hint, she dropped her hand. "Are you sick? Do you feel sick? You said something about a stomach virus in the car."

Gaibriel almost shook his head no. He caught himself before he made any movement. He really didn't feel like school today and it wasn't like he would have any trouble catching up. And he did need the rest before he really did end up sick.

"Gaibriel?" His mother's voice held a hint of concern. "Is there something going on that you can't tell me about?"

Gaibriel shook his head. "No. I just don't want to miss school today, Mother." He silently pleaded for her to take the bait.

She did. "Gaibriel, I understand. I really do. But if you're sick… I don't want anything happening to you. At least, nothing I can prevent."

They both went silent. Thinking the same thing, it wasn't necessary for them to grimace at the things that comment could have implied. Gaibriel sighed. "Fine. But I want to go to school tomorrow. I don't want to get behind in my work."

She smiled at him. "That's a good boy. You just go back to bed, okay? I'll talk to your father about it. You don't need to… Well, uh… It's best if you relax when you're sick." With that, she turned and left, head held high and her hands in fists at her side. She would be his rock today. Gaibriel almost felt guilty.

He didn't bother to change out of his pajamas, but crawled right back into bed. About thirty minutes later, his mother brought in a tray with his breakfast on it. She laid it on his desk and kissed his cheek. "I have to go to work, so I can't stay with you. Call me if you get worse, okay?"

"Why do you have to go," he asked, more out of curiosity than concern.

"Your father says I should go. He thinks it bad enough that one of us is laying out of our job. But don't you worry about that. I left my number and extension on a piece of paper on the tray. Here's the cordless phone. If you get any worse or if you need anything, don't be afraid to call. Okay?"

"Okay, Mother." Gaibriel sat up and pulled the tray in his lap as she left. Toast, eggs, and sausage. 'I should get sick more often,' he thought with a smile. He ate about half of what was on his plate, then sat it aside. His eyes were feeling heavy again. He settled down, snuggling into his pillow and blankets.

---

Ringing. Again. But it wasn't his alarm clock. Gaibriel sat up groggily and looked around for the source of the noise. The phone his mother had left on the tray was ringing. Yawning, he answered it. His mother was on the other line, and asked him how he was doing. Assuring her that he would be fine, he said goodbye and replaced the phone back on the tray. He frowned at the cold breakfast sitting there and got up to make a sandwich for lunch. The clock read eleven. A little early, but he was hungry.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich in hand, Gaibriel made his way back to his room after a few minutes, sitting down at his desk to eat. He never did feel comfortable anywhere else in the house. He really didn't feel that comfortable in his room, but it was better than anywhere downstairs. As he chewed on the lump of bread and peanut butter, his eyes drifted down. His notebook was still there. He hadn't even packed his books up. Idly, he opened it, flipping through the pages. It was mostly a bunch of math class work and bored doodles. He shook one of the pages, knocking the crumbs off it before turning it.

That wasn't math homework. He stared down at Jullien's number for a moment or two before his eyes moved to the phone his mother had left beside his bed. He knew he could never call.... not as long as he was in this house. But that didn't stop him from thinking about it. He wondered how Jullien would act towards him now.... Now that he'd kissed him. Would he even acknowledge that it had happened? Gaibriel was pretty sure he'd confused Jullien when he did it. His expression was certainly one of shock afterwards.

Pretending it hadn't happened didn't seem like too bad of an idea, actually. He didn't know what Jullien was going to do. And he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He wasn't even sure he ever wanted to see the blonde man again. But then, yeah, he was sure of that.

Gaibriel shook his head, growing confused at his own thought process. He just didn't know. He didn't know what to do, to say, or even to feel about the whole thing. Every thing he felt when he was around Jullien was bombarded by doubt as soon as they were separated.

Finishing up his sandwich, Gaibriel closed his notebook and shoved it roughly down into his backpack. Determined to make himself think of anything else besides Jullien, he made his way cautiously into his parent's bedroom. He could watch TV for a few hours before anyone would come home. That would get his mind off of it. He didn't dare sit on the bed. He would muss the covers and his father would more than likely notice it. Sitting down on the floor, he reached up, turning the power on. As usual it was on the religious channel. Gaibriel made a face and turned it, flipping through the channels until something caught his eye. He stopped on Cartoon Network and lost himself in the antics of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck for an hour or so.

Eye closed and hearing blocked in the middle of a yawn, he never saw it coming. The slap to his cheek sent him sprawling, crying out in shock and pain as his head struck the floor, making him dizzy. He opened his eyes, already wide with dread to see his father looming over him, hands on his hips. "Sick, huh," he spat, glaring daggers. "I told your mother you were lying. Look at you." He reached over and turned the television set off. "Do you feel any shame at all, Gaibriel?" His voice rose to a shout. "Do you?! Your mother trusted you and you lied to her! And you disrespected us both by thinking you would be smart enough to fool us! You may have fooled her, but I'm a lot smarter than your mother. Stand up!"

Gaibriel fought back his tears, the lump in his throat choking him but he did as he was told, too scared not to. He flinched when his father moved, expecting to be hit. He wasn' hit. Instead, his father grabbed his upper arm in a bruising grip, pulling him out of their room and downstairs to the kitchen. He shoved Gaibriel forward. "Call your mother."

Gaibriel looked down. The handset was still in his room. "I... I have to get it out of my room."

His father's arms crossed over his chest. Never a good sign. "There's a speaker phone, you idiot. Use it."

Gaibriel winced, and hit the button for the speaker phone. The dial tone rang out, seeming deafening in the silence. He dialed his mother's work number, then asked the secretary to connect them.

"Gaibriel? Is something wrong, honey," his mother's voice came over the phone, a little worried. He could hear her shuffling papers.

Gaibriel opened his mouth to speak, but his father beat him to it. "I can home early. Do you know what I came home to?"

His mother paused before answering. When she finally did, her voice was much quieter. "What?"

"Your son in our bed room, his eyes glued to the TV. He's not sick. He lied to us. I told you he lied to us this morning."

Another pause from his mother, longer. "I... Gaibriel? Why?"

Gaibriel opened his mouth to explain but was slapped in the mouth. He stumbled back, bumping into the chairs at the table.

"Jared! Don't hurt him! I'm sure he has a reason! He wouldn't lie to m-"

"Shut up! Don't you dare take up for him now! He has been caught Marissa! I will punish as I see fit. I just wanted you to know what happened. Maybe this time you'll learn not to argue with me! I expect you home on time today. No excuses."

His mother stumbled over her words for a moment, then finally said, "I understand."

His father reached over and hung up. Gaibriel felt his heart jump into his throat when his father looked at him. He didn't say anything. There was no need to. They both knew what was coming. His belt came off quickly and landed on Gaibriel just as fast. He cried at first, even begged his father to stop once, but eventually did like always and let himself drift. He really didn't know where he went. All that mattered was that pain didn't hurt there. There, it was simply a breeze. And the heat from the pain was nothing more than the warm sun on his back. Gaibriel felt his eyes roll back, looking up to the sky with blind eyes. And then he felt no more.

---

He woke up on his bed. It was dark outside and he had to use the bathroom. And his back hurt. 'Must have fallen on something,' he thought to himself as he got up and made his way to the bathroom. Once he was done, he returned to his room and changed into his night clothes. The bold red numbers on his desk told him it was almost ten o'clock. Opening the door to his closet, he dug around a few moments for clothes in the morning. He'd pushed three t-shirts aside before everything that happened washed over him in one quick, cold wave.

The hand he had resting against the clothes hanger trembled just a little as a few tears collected in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He shook his head a little and brought his hands up to dry his face. He hated crying afterwards. It made him feel weak and broken. Pulling out a random shirt and jeans, he tossed them over the chair at his desk and climbed back in bed.

Laying there, he stared at the wall waiting for sleep to take him over. As his body relaxed and drifted, his mind did the same. He remembered watching Looney Tunes and feeling happy... he wished he could do that more often. Cartoons made him smile and he wondered if it did the same thing to other people. Gaibriel yawned and closed his eyes. His mind quieted and he was sleep within a few minutes.