Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

\"Hey, Bri!\" Kevin said excitedly. He was dying to let his older brother know that things were going well in Connecticut.

\"Hi, Kev,\" Brian said softly. \"How are things going?\"

\"Uh, fine. I\'m more interested in how you\'re doing, though.\"

\"Things are fine. Nothing going on here.\"

Kevin gripped the phone tighter when he heard the pain in his brother\'s voice. He knew things were going too well up till now. He knew he shouldn\'t have left Brian there.

\"I know something\'s wrong,\" Kevin had hissed. \"I can hear it in your voice.\"

\"It\'s nothing,\" Brian protested again.

Kevin looked up as Jason sat up straighter in the desk chair and turned to him. Kevin shrugged as he assumed the determined expression he usually wore when dealing with Brian\'s evasiveness.

\"Bull,\" he grunted into the receiver. \"Spill.\"

\"Kevin.\"

\"Now, Bri, or I\'m on the next plane home.\"

Brian sighed on the other end and Kevin knew he was having trouble coming to terms with whatever it was that had happened. If Matt had done anything to Brian, Kevin swore internally, he was going to pay.

\"Gary showed up at school today,\" he mumbled.

Kevin\'s insides went cold. He\'d almost forgotten the other, more potentially dangerous factor in the situation his brother was now in, and he also felt a tinge of guilt. Matt would have to be going to extraordinary lengths for a cruel joke, if Kevin really believed he was still intent on hurting Brian. And Kevin was now beginning to see the ridiculous effort that would be. Gary was a very unstable individual, too. They should have seen that one coming when he found out the money was gone and so was Kevin.

\"What?\" he yelled into the phone. \"Are you okay?\"

\"Yeah,\" Brian replied in a small voice. \"Matt got him off me before he had a chance to do too much damage.\"

\"Too much?\" Kevin asked deliberately keeping his voice soft. \"How much?\"

\"Nothing really,\" Brian hurried to reassure him. \"I just have a small bump on my head from the lockers. Matt tackled him right after. I swear I\'m fine.\"

\"You are not fine,\" Kevin seethed. \"You\'re scared. I can tell.\"

\"But I\'m okay,\" Brian pointed out. \"I told you Matt wouldn\'t let him get me.\"

Kevin knew there would be no point in pursuing that avenue right now, as Brian didn\'t seem to have come out of shock yet. In fact, he immediately switched the subject back to Kevin\'s new school and the friends he and Jason were making. Kevin numbly relayed what had happened, still worrying about his brother\'s safety. Then there was a rustling sound and Matt asked Brian to ask Kevin if he could speak to Jason. Kevin relinquished the phone pensively and Jay went to another room.

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Jason went into another room because he sensed that this was going to be another conversation he and Matt needed to keep under wraps. When he said he was in a quiet area, Matt immediately filled him in on what had happened with Gary earlier. Jason cringed inside knowing that Brian was probably a wreck and that Kevin undoubtedly wanted to fly back him.

\"He\'s back to the way he was last week, Jay,\" Matt sighed into the phone. \"I don\'t know how to comfort him.\"

\"Do what you did last week,\" Jason advised. \"He needs to be held.\"

\"But what if I get . . . an inappropriate reaction to him,\" Matt argued. \"He\'ll really freak now. That son of a bitch should never have been able to get near him.\"

Jason smiled at that. Matt was really worried about Brian\'s safety, from every threat, including himself. This was good to hear, but not quite what Brian needed right now. He needed to feel safe and Matt represented safety. In Jason\'s opinion, that overshadowed everything else.

\"I think you have more control than that,\" he said. \"Look, man, you can\'t change what happened. But you have to help him get back on track. He was doing pretty well before this. He needs to see that he can have a normal life.\"

\"How, with his stepfather after him?\" the jock demanded.

\"We\'ll settle that soon,\" Jason assured him. \"But right now, Brian needs to get some confidence back. He\'s probably pissed at himself right now.\"

\"What?\" Matt groused. \"Why?\"

Jason couldn\'t shake the sense that Brian was upset over more than just Gary\'s current actions. He remembered what he was like when he was younger, before his father was sentenced.

\"Did he call out when he was attacked?\"

\"No, I don\'t think he did.\"

\"He\'s angry at himself for not standing up to Gary,\" Jason assessed. \"And that\'s a good thing.\"

\"How is that good?\"

\"It means he\'s reevaluating his actions,\" he replied patiently. \"He\'s rethinking his value as a human being. Progress.\"

\"Slow though.\"

\"Take slow over none at all.\"

\"I guess,\" Matt sighed. \"How are things between you two, anyway?\"

\"Status quo,\" Jason smiled humorlessly. \"But as long as he\'s away from that guy, I\'ll deal.\"

\"Yeah, I wish I could get Brian away.\"

\"Having second thoughts about not letting us take him?\"

Matt was quiet on the other end and Jason knew he\'d hit the nail on the head.

\"Well, don\'t,\" he added. \"That kid needs YOU, not me. Step up to the plate, jock boy, and deliver on your promise.\"

\"I have no intention of NOT,\" Matt growled back playfully. \"Thanks, man.\"

\"Any time.\"

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\"I knew I shouldn\'t have left him there!\" Kevin muttered from his bed in the darkness.

Jason knew this issue had to be addressed and was just waiting for this moment.

\"And what are you thinking of doing about it?\" he hissed.

Kevin hadn\'t been prepared for Jason\'s sharp response. He didn\'t even realize his friend was still awake. In the darkness he couldn\'t see Jason\'s normally mild mannered features for reassurance either.

\"Uh, I wasn\'t going to do anything,\" he whispered softly.

\"Bull!\" Jason replied. \"You want to fly back there, don\'t you?\"

\"How?\"

\"I KNOW you have flight money hidden away here somewhere, Kev,\" Jason had silently stalked over to Kevin\'s bed and the smaller teen could hear his friend speaking close to him. \"I\'m not stupid.\"

\"I never said you were,\" Kevin replied feebly. He couldn\'t understand why Jason sounded so irritated.

\"Brian asked me to look out for you.\"

\"I know!\"

\"If you go to them I can\'t protect you!\"

\"Why is it so important for everyone to protect me?\" Kevin shot back, sitting up. He could feel Jason\'s weight on the side of his bed.

\"Gary wants you because you\'re the only link to the rest of the money, Kev!\" Jason\'s frustration sounded like it was growing. \"You know what will happen to you if you go back there.\"

\"I\'m stronger than you think!\"

\"Stronger than Brian?\"

\"I wasn\'t going to say that!\"

\"No, but you were thinking it,\" Jason replied. \"He raped your brother and beat him like a dog! He\'s stronger than YOU think!\"

\"I\'m not going to let him hurt my brother anymore!\"

\"Matt won\'t let him get near him again,\" Jason assured him. \"He said his father\'s hiring private security.\"

\"Still . . .\"

Suddenly he felt a soft pair of lips lightly touch his own, and a small tear running down Jason\'s cheek.

\"Just please don\'t go back there,\" Jason finally gasped as he pulled away Kevin and across the room. \"Matt can protect him.\"

\"Jason?\"

\"Please, Kev?\" Jason\'s voice sounded pleading, but Kevin was no longer sure if they were fighting about Matt\'s abilities or Kevin\'s new interest in discussing what had just happened. And he didn\'t want to cause Jason anything else to worry about.

\"I won\'t leave,\" he finally sighed.

\"Thank you,\" Jason whispered and got back into bed.

\"I think we should talk about what just happened, though,\" Kevin whispered.

\"Not now,\" Jason\'s tortured voice whispered back.

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Jason lay on his bed in silence, cursing himself for what had happened. Now things would get awkward between them. He knew that Kevin would figure out what was going on inside Jason\'s head. And he wasn\'t sure what the smaller teen would do about it.