Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

Kevin walked Marly to her classroom and let her peck him on the cheek before going to his next class. He\'d been pretending to date her for two months now and it seemed to be easy. Yet he couldn\'t help feeling like he was betraying Jason every time he let her touch him. He also couldn\'t stop his jealousy whenever he had to witness an interaction between his boyfriend and Cindy. Why the hell did fate like playing with him so much?

\"Done escorting Marly to class?\" Trent fell into step next to him.

\"Yeah. Now it\'s off to bio.\"

\"At least you can see Jay after that class.\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"So, how\'re things going with him anyway?\" Trent tried to be casual about asking it. The truth was, he still had a huge crush on the small blonde. But in the last couple of months he\'d come to know Jason as well, and he felt a little guilty harboring such feelings.

\"Things are great with him,\" Kevin smiled easily. \"He\'s the best thing about my life.\"

\"That\'s good.\" Trent smiled, hoping it reached his eyes.

\"Tanya still giving you crap for hanging out with us?\"

\"Who cares?\" Trent laughed. \"I\'m out of this place in a couple of months and she won\'t have to deal with me anymore.\"

\"I\'ll miss you, though.\"

\"You will?\"

\"Of course!\" Kevin exclaimed. \"You\'re a great friend, Trent.\"

\"I\'m not sure Jay thinks so.\"

\"Jay\'s jealous of every guy I talk to,\" Kevin chuckled. \"But he likes you. I can tell.\"

\"How?\"

\"Well, he didn\'t complain when you and the guys started sitting with us at lunch. Plus, he\'s starting to talk to you now.\"

\"Only about sports,\" Trent shrugged.

\"Ah, but that\'s how he is with his friends.\"

\"he used to talk sports with you.\"

\"Occasionally. But then again, I\'m not sure we were ever just friends, even in California.\"

\"What happened out there, anyway?\"

Kevin stopped and looked at Trent for a long while before responding.

\"I\'m not supposed to talk about it,\" he finally sighed, feeling guilty. Trent was his friend after all.

\"I understand.\"

\"I want to, though,\" Kevin resumed his pace. \"Jay and I talk about it all the time, but I feel like he\'s too close to me to really be objective, you know?\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"Hey, do you have anything right now?\"

\"Just study hall,\" Trent replied.

\"I\'m going to blow off bio.\"

\"Kevin . . .\"

\"Kelsing said that anyone morally against dissecting fetal pigs doesn\'t have to come. We just have to read the extra chapter and do the take home test,\" the small blonde explained. \"Besides, I feel like talking now that you got me started.\"

\"If you\'re sure.\"

\"I can trust you, right?\"

\"Absolutely!\" Trent nodded vehemently.

\"Then okay.\"

They walked down to the almost deserted classroom where Trent usually spent his study hall and took a seat in the corner where no one would hear them as long as they kept their voices down.

Kevin pulled out his sketchbook and pencil then looked at Trent as if asking if he minded.

\"If you want to draw, that\'s cool with me. You know I love what you do.\"

Kevin smiled and began making the outline of a large flying serpent. He hadn\'t decided yet if it would be a dragon or not.

\"When I was little,\" Kevin began, \"my brother would tell me stories about fantasy creatures and far-off lands.\"

\"Jason?\"

Kevin stopped and looked up at Trent with a mysterious expression. \"I can trust you completely?\" he asked seriously. \"You won\'t even tell Jay?\"

Trent nodded mutely, intrigued.

\"Jason\'s sister isn\'t really my sister,\" Kevin whispered softly. \"I\'ll explain how I ended up living with them another time. My brother\'s name is Brian.\"

He took his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it so Trent could see. There was a picture of Kevin and another small blonde who looked a lot like him with lighter hair, yet different. Where Kevin had a defiant sparkle to him, the other boy wore a defeated expression, one that made Trent think life had forced him to grow up too soon. He looked beautiful and fragile, and Trent couldn\'t help but feel something stir inside him.

\"Brian is still back there,\" Kevin went on, closing his wallet, much to Trent\'s disappointment. \"And no matter how great things are here for me, a part of me is going to be terrified for him until the whole thing is over.\"

\"What whole thing?\" Trent asked.

\"That\'s for another time,\" Kevin murmured as he went back to his sketch.

\"But maybe I can help. If he\'s all alone there. . .\"

\"He\'s not.\"

Trent\'s spirit sank.

\"But I\'m not thrilled with his supposed savior.\"

\"Huh?\"

\"Matt,\" Kevin spat the word out like it had a bad taste. \"He says he\'s there for my brother now. But he was one of Brian\'s biggest problems before.\"

\"He\'s causing this?\"

\"Oh no,\" Kevin sighed. \"I didn\'t mean it like that. I guess I should tell you more. Brian and I are orphans. Our dad disappeared when we were really little. Our mother died almost three years ago. Our stepfather is causing the real problem.\"

\"Oh.\" Trent wasn\'t sure why or what, but he wanted to do something.

\"Matt used to beat on Brian,\" Kevin snarled. \"As if my brother didn\'t have enough going on trying to keep Gary away from me at night, he had to deal with Matt during the day.\"

\"And he\'s WITH this guy?\" Trent hissed. \"Why isn\'t he here with you? If Jason can\'t help both of you, I can help, too!\"

\"Um, but you don\'t know Brian.\"

\"But you\'re my friend and he\'s your brother,\" Trent replied. \'Crap, that didn\'t sound believable, did it?\' He fumbled for a second. \"Hey, you would help me if I was in trouble, right?\"

\"Yeah, but I\'m not so sure about Tanya.\"

\"Liar,\" Trent grinned. \"You not like her, but if I needed you to help her for me, you would.\"

\"Well, maybe,\" Kevin smiled back. \"But not without duress.\"

\"Uh huh,\" the larger boy returned. \'Phew!\'

\"Anyway, Matt stopped Brian from doing something REALLY stupid,\" Kevin grimaced. Trent could figure that out on his own. \"And Brian refused to leave him.\"

\"Are you worried that Matt\'s still beating on him?\"

\"Oh, hell no!\" Kevin exclaimed. \"I know he isn\'t. I talk to both of them every night. Matt seems remorseful even. But I still can\'t forgive some of the shit he pulled. Maybe I\'ll get into what he and I went through another time. Just believe that it was bad for me and horrible for him.\"

Trent nodded.

\"I just wish he was here, too, so that I could stop worrying.\"

\"He won\'t leave this Matt guy?\"

\"Not right now,\" Kevin sighed again. \"But I\'m hoping that after the school year ends, he\'ll come here to stay with me. Matt\'s a senior and off to college in the fall.\"

\"Well, I hope you\'re right,\" Trent said as casually as possible. He didn\'t want Kevin to know how interested he was quickly becoming. \"I think it would be cool for you two to be together again.\"

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\"Hey, Bri!\" Kevin greeted as soon as his brother answered the phone. \"How\'s it going?\"

\"Great! I just aced an English test!

\"Grades are going up, huh?\"

\"Yeah.\"

Kevin looked at the phone for a second and frowned. His brother seemed to be deflated even as he described his English grade.

\"What happened?\"

\"No, it\'s nothing.\"

\"Brian!\"

Brian made a groaning noise into the phone and Kevin waited for him to come clean. He knew he shouldn\'t feel so annoyed about his brother keeping things from him. He still hadn\'t told him about himself and Jason yet, but he had to know what was wrong. If Matt went back to his old ways . . .

\"Darren Williams and the lacrosse team started something with me after English.\"

\"What!\"

\"But Matt and Ryan got there right away and the rest of the football team backed them up.\"

\"The rest of the football team?\" Kevin couldn\'t believe it. \"You mean the guys I used to fight with?\"

\"Um, they\'re not like that anymore.\"

\"Like Matt and Ryan changed?\"

\"Um.\"

\"Brian, sometimes you\'re more naïve than I can believe,\" Kevin sighed.

\"They helped me, Kev,\" Brian murmured. \"That\'s all that matter.\"

\"You can still come here, you know.\"

\"Maybe next year.\"

\"You mean it?\"

\"I said maybe,\" Brian replied. \"I still want to stay with Matt for as long as he lets me.\"

\"But why?\"

\"I feel safe with him.\"

\"Can\'t you feel safe with someone else?\"

\"I don\'t think so,\" Brian said. \"Anyway, I\'ll come visit you either way.\"

\"You will?\"

\"Yeah, I told Matt and he said he wants to see his dad anyway,\" Brian laughed. \"I\'ll see you after school, lets out and the grad parties are done.\"

\"Cool! That means you can meet my friend Trent!\"

\"Uh, okay.\"

\"I keep telling you, Brian, he\'s a jock like Matt but without the bully background. You guys would get along great!\"