Take Me From This Pain, Brian's story

Brian walked out of his English class smiling. He knew he\'d aced the test! Without Gary beating on him causing him to stay out so much, Brian actually concentrated on his studies and his grades were going up in all of his subjects. It would make transferring to a new school easier. He pushed the paper into his binder as he leaned against the wall waiting for Matt and Ryan.

A loud noise from the opposite end of the hallway drew his attention, then he suddenly found himself sprawled out on the floor, his papers scattered around him.

\"Look at the little story the dweeb wrote,\" sneered a voice from behind him. It sounded like Darren. A chorus of laughter confirmed that his friends were there as well.

Brian could feel the tears building behind his eyelids so he kept them tightly closed. The last thing he\'d wanted to do was cry in front of them. The story in question was the one he was working of for Kevin. Thankfully, he\'d left the drawings at Matt\'s. He\'d hate to have lost them to Darren and his cronies.

\"A dragon story?\" Darren laughed after a few moments, the delay probably caused by his scanning the page. \"Dude, no one reads that shit anymore!\"

\"How would YOU know?\" Matt\'s voice suddenly cut through the crowd.

Brian looked up to see him and Ryan standing angrily on the opposite side of the hallway. Relief shot through him, followed closely by another wave of shame. Matt would probably get tired of protecting him sooner or later.

\"Matt, uh . . .\" Darren started, frozen in place.

\"Matt, uh . . . what?\" the jock taunted. \"Did you think I was kidding when I said I would wipe the floor with you next time?\" He walked forward threateningly while Ryan stood in place and cracked his knuckles.

Darren held his ground but he looked warily back and forth between the two jocks. His friends closed in behind him: five other guys from the lacrosse team. Six to two. Brian knew that the two football players were outnumbered. They didn\'t look concerned though.

\"Look, I don\'t get why you\'re covering his ass,\" Darren finally said, apparently more confident that his friends were showing their support. \"You used to pick on him all the time. Now you\'re his best friend? I\'m beginning to wonder about you, Henshaw. You\'re leaving in a couple of months anyway.\"

\"And?\" Ryan prodded sarcastically.

\"You can\'t watch him from college,\" Darren shot back with a smirk.

\"Don\'t bet on that,\" Matt growled.

\"Whatever,\" the lacrosse captain grinned. \"We still outnumber you.\"

\"Don\'t bet on that, either,\" Chris Sanchez spoke from behind Darren and his crew.

They turned around to see Chris standing by with most of the rest of the football team. Suddenly all of the lacrosse players started dispersing, leaving Darren alone still clutching Brian\'s story.

\"I suggest you drop that and run along before you hurt yourself,\" Chris smiled helpfully.

Darren looked around once more and dropped the paper, scurrying down the hallway after the last of his teammates.

\"Thanks for stopping by, Sanchez,\" Matt grinned as he bent over to gather Brian\'s papers.

\"Any time, man,\" Chris smiled. \"You need any help?\"

\"Nah, we got it covered,\" replied Ryan as he finished gathering up the rest of the papers while Matt pulled Brian up.

The football team dispersed to their various classes.

\"Thank you,\" Brian whispered meekly.

\"Hey, none of that,\" Ryan instructed sternly. \"Those pricks are not ruining your day, okay?\"

Brian nodded but his face remained tight and Matt knew he was ashamed of not being able to stand up for himself. It bugged the jock, too. He loved being Brian\'s protector but he hated what it did to the kid\'s confidence every time something like this happened. He decided he and Ryan should do something about it. But he\'d wait to discuss the idea with Ryan when Brian was in class. He wanted to be sure they were on the same page.

\"Let\'s go to lunch and you can tell us how you did on that test,\" he said guiding Brian away from the hall.

It worked as the blonde brightened.

\"I aced it!\"

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\"Are you going to the prom?\" Brian asked Matt later that night as they lay in bed.

It had become a nightly ritual for the two to talk in the dark before sleeping. Brian kind of liked talking to Matt this way. The other couldn\'t see his face while they spoke and he could hide his blushing better.

\"I hadn\'t thought about it.\"

Matt was busy playing with a lock of Brian\'s hair gently so that the blonde didn\'t feel it. He liked to touch Brian and their sleeping arrangements made it easy to indulge that urge.

\"Why not?\" the small blonde asked. \"You should go. It\'s a once in a lifetime thing.\"

\"Yeah, I know,\" Matt sighed. \"But I don\'t have a girlfriend.\" For obvious reasons, he added silently. \"And I hate these things.\"

\"But you may regret later on if you don\'t go. It\'s not like you HAVE to be going out with the girl you take. You could even go as just friends.\"

Matt smiled to himself in the darkness. Brian had come up with an agenda for this conversation, he could feel it. It was oddly comforting to know the small blonde could get his mind off of Kevin and Gary for a change. Even if the topic was as mundane, and to Matt as annoying, as the prom. He couldn\'t understand why anyone cared about that tradition anymore. And why would a gay guy want to go if he couldn\'t bring the boy he wanted to bring?

\"Why is this important to you?\" Matt put a hand on Brian\'s shoulder, close to the kid\'s neck. He could feel the warmth spread and knew that the blonde was blushing. It was kind of cute, not to mention a cool trick.

\"Well, I know Ryan\'s going with Sherry\'s friend Trina, and I figured since you and Sherry are friends again and she had no one to go with . . .\"

Matt hid another smile in the dark. He was getting to know Brian pretty well since he\'d moved in and this didn\'t surprise him. He also knew damned well that Sherry had no idea what he was up to either or she would have skinned him. He and Sherry had come to an informal truce of sorts, but he was sure she wouldn\'t refer to the two of them as friends by any stretch of the imagination. And yet, he did feel a little sad inside that she had no one to ask her to the prom. He knew she wanted to go. She\'d always talked about it when they were dating.

\"How do you know she doesn\'t have a date?\"

\"She was dating one of Darren\'s friends,\" Brian said sadly. \"When he told her about the lunchroom incident, she told him off. Today, when one of the football players told her about the hallway thing, she flipped out and broke up with the guy.\"

\"Hey, it\'s not your fault.\"

\"I know,\" Brian whispered, though unconvincingly. \"But when I asked her later why she was so mad, she said it was because she would have to return her dress now, and I felt bad.\"

Matt quietly digested the story. It wasn\'t Brian\'s fault the guy chose to follow an asshole like Williams. But it wasn\'t fair that Sherry had to miss out on something important to her just because she was dating the wrong guy. His life seemed so much easier before his conscience woke up, he grumbled to himself.

\"I\'ll think about it.\"

Silence reigned for a moment or two. Then Brian broke it.

\"Please?\"

SHIT! He DOES have me wrapped around his little finger.

\"All right,\" Matt sighed dramatically. \"But only because you asked me to.\"

\"Thank you,\" Brian said softly, but Matt could feel the blush again and knew he was smiling, probably pleased with himself.

\"Welcome.\" Matt twirled Brian\'s hand between his fingers and breathed in slowly. The scent of shampoo, soap and Brian filled his senses, warming him inside while Brian warmed him outside.

\"Do you really want to take me with you when you graduate?\" Brian asked softly. He could feel a slight tug on his hair but he figured part of it was trapped under his shoulder or something.

\"Absolutely,\" Matt replied with conviction. \"I\'m not leaving without you.\"

\"Where would we go?\" Brian asked in wonder. It still fascinated him that Matt wanted to take him.

\"Wherever you want.\"

No,\" Brian protested. \"This is your college career we\'re talking about. You choose the place and I\'ll follow you.\"

Matt grinned in the dark. He definitely liked the sound of that. Brian would follow him, huh? He certainly hoped so.

\"Okay. How do you feel about Boston, then?\"

A shudder went through Brian and Matt hoped it wasn\'t because of what he\'d said.

\"Boston? As in Massachusetts?\"

\"Um, I think that\'s the only Boston. If not, well it\'s the only one I know.\"

Brian suddenly turned over in the bed and hugged Matt.

\"I\'ve always wanted to go to Boston!\" he exclaimed. \"And it\'s on the same coast as Kevin!\"

\"Yeah,\" Matt laughed, clamping his arms around Brian. Who was he to waste a hug?