Take Me From This Pain, Brian's story

Gary made his way to the bank on the first of the month, as usual. He was in a good mood because he hadn\'t had to deal with those damned kids for almost a week now. He stood in line for a few minutes then handed his withdrawal ticket to the teller when he approached the window. She clicked a massive amount of keys on her computer then frowned at her screen. A few more clicks later she looked at him apologetically and handed his ticket back to him.

\"I\'m sorry Mr. Cleary, but that account\'s been frozen.\"

\"Frozen?\" Gary repeated, confused.

\"By the court,\" she added.

\"What do you mean by the court?\"

\"It says here that all activity ceased as of this morning.\"

\"Why?\" he demanded angrily. He knew those kids were somehow involved in this. When he got his hands on those bastards, he\'d beat the snot out of them.

\"It doesn\'t say here,\" she read the screen again. \"It only says that the accounts are frozen by court order.\" She clicked a few more times. \"Hmm.\"

\"What does that mean?\"

\"Well,\" she looked up nervously, apparently noting his increasing agitation. \"It seems that $20,000 was moved out of it yesterday and into another account.\"

\"WHOSE?\"

\"Sir, please lower your voice,\" she admonished softly. She began typing again. \"Brian R. Canton.\"

\"I\'m his guardian,\" Gary growled. \"How was that done without my consent.\"

\"It appears it wasn\'t needed,\" she replied still reading the screen. \"The money was transferred upon his 18th birthday.\"

Gary stared at her silently, seething in anger. He knew he couldn\'t cause a scene though. It wouldn\'t get him his money and he needed that money.

\"Well, what about the rest?\" he shot back. \"I\'m still his brother\'s guardian!\"

\"Sir, I can\'t give you access to that money,\" the teller replied, looking behind her to her manager for support. \"The court\'s order forbids it.\"

\"But it\'s MY money!\"

\"According to the court, the account\'s under investigation,\" the bald headed manager explained, patting the teller on the shoulder. \"We can\'t give you access to it until the matter is cleared.\"

Gary stared at both of them in astonishment. How was he supposed to get his weekly smack supply now? When he got his hands on Brian he was going to make him bleed for this. Badly. He silently cursed as he headed out the door.

Brian was humming to himself as he made his way to his locker so he could get what he needed for homework. Matt and Ryan were talking to some of the guys from the team not far away. He opened his locker easily and put away his English and math books, grabbing his history and science books to stuff into his backpack. When he zipped his bag up and closed the door, he turned to walk back to Matt, only to run into someone.

\"S-sorry,\" he mumbled then looked up and shuddered in horror.

\"Did you think I wouldn\'t catch you?\" Gary seethed, slamming Brian against the lockers.

The small blonde yelped as his head connected with metal. He wanted to cry out to Matt but his voice wouldn\'t work.

\"Answer me!\"

\"P-please l-let me g-go,\" Brian whispered.

\"When I get my money!\"

\"MATT!\" Sherry suddenly screamed from behind Gary\'s shoulder. \"Brian needs help!\"

Matt and Ryan came running over and Matt tackled the scraggly man before he saw him coming. He punched him in the stomach, then the jaw. Ryan pulled Brian away from the wall and picked up the kid\'s backpack.

\"Don\'t you EVER grab him!\" Matt grunted as he hit the man again.

\"What\'s going on here?\" a teacher demanded as he moved to break up the fight. He looked at the wiry man he\'d just removed the star quarterback from and scowled. \"Who are you?\"

\"Name\'s Gary Cleary,\" the man growled. \"And I come to pick up my stepson from school.\"

\"Bullshit!\" Matt cried.

\"Watch the mouth,\" the teacher frowned at him.

\"Sorry, Mr. Pitman,\" Matt huffed. \"But this guy\'s lying. He\'s not here to pick Brian up, he\'s here to kidnap him.\"

\"What?\" the teacher looked alarmed. He glanced around at the crowd and looked back at the students and the man. \"You\'ll all explain yourselves in the principal\'s office.\"

They trudged the short walk to the office where Mr. Pitman explained to Mrs. Campbell, a stout but nicely dressed woman who was also the principal, what had just transpired. She then looked to Brian for an explanation, but he was still visibly shaken and wouldn\'t step away from Ryan and Matt.

\"I saw it, Mrs. Campbell,\" Sherry started. She gestured to Gary. \"He slammed Brian into the lockers and wouldn\'t let go. I called for Matt. I live a few houses down from Brian and I can tell you this isn\'t the first time he was attacked.\"

\"I see,\" the principal nodded. She then turned a questioning gaze on the jock.

\"Look, there\'s a restraining order against this guy,\" Matt sighed. \"He\'s not supposed to be within 500 feet of Brian.\"

\"What?\" Gary exclaimed. \"That\'s ridiculous! I never done nothing to my boys!\"

\"Oh no?\" Matt turned a fulminating stare on him. \"So Brian bruised his own ribs?\"

\"I can\'t watch them every minute!\" the greasy man appealed to the principal. \"I have to work!\"

\"Brian?\" Mrs. Campbell asked softly. \"Is any of this true?\"

Brian looked at her with wide green eyes. It was apparent he was afraid of the man. He looked at Matt briefly then nodded slowly at the principal. That was all she needed to confirm it.

\"Why, you little -!\" Gary started to reach for the small blonde.

\"That\'s enough, Mr. Cleary!\" Mrs. Campbell stood at her desk. She looked over at her doorway and smiled. \"You\'ll be able to tell your side of the story to them.\"

Two police officers entered the office and flanked Gary on either side.

\"I don\'t want to see you anywhere near my students again,\" she hissed at the man as he was led away.

When the patrol car was safely pulling away from the curb, the principal nodded to her students that they could go.

\"Thanks, Mrs. Campbell,\" Brian murmured on his way out. She sadly watched as he trailed Matt and Ryan to the parking lot.

\"You okay?\" Ryan asked as he threw his and Brian\'s bags into Matt\'s trunk.

The blonde didn\'t even looked up. He just shrugged and crawled into Matt\'s backseat. Ryan glanced to the driver\'s seat and noted Matt\'s worried expression. But the jock didn\'t say anything as he put the car in drive and pointed it towards his house.

Brian was trying so hard to get rid of the numb feeling that had spread over him when Gary grabbed him. Why hadn\'t he been able to yell at the man or call for help himself? He knew the older man had no legal claim on him anymore and Kevin was safely out of the area. Why couldn\'t he have stood up for himself? He rubbed his arms nervously with his hands. He couldn\'t seem to get warm. He was so engrossed in his own self-reprimanding that he didn\'t even notice Matt had pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition.

\"Bri?\" Matt called softly, looking into the rearview mirror. \"Hey, kiddo, we\'re home.\"

Brian turned his eyes to Matt\'s in the mirror and tried to focus. He nodded and climbed out of the car, waiting for Ryan and Matt to retrieve their bags. Once inside the house, Brian immediately ran upstairs and into Matt\'s room, huddling under the covers of Matt\'s bed. Ryan and Matt soon followed, Matt sitting on the end of the bed and tapping Brian\'s leg.

\"Hey, he can\'t hurt you anymore,\" he said soothingly. \"The police have him.\"

\"They can\'t keep him,\" Brian muttered. \"You\'ll see. He\'ll be back again.\"

\"You\'re in a security-gated, private neighborhood,\" Ryan replied. \"And there\'s a restraining order against him.\"

\"He\'s so mad,\" Brian whispered. \"I saw his eyes. He won\'t stop, Matt.\"

\"He will,\" Matt said.

\"No.\"

Ryan was surprised how small the kid looked right now. It was weird that this kid was older than he was, and yet looked so young.

\"My dad said he was going to hire extra security for us while you\'re here,\" Matt tried again, hoping to get the small blonde to come out from the covers. \"I\'m going to call him.\"

\"No, please,\" Brian looked up from under the covers pleadingly. \"He\'s already done so much as it is. Kevin\'s safe from him. That\'s all that matters.\"

\"No, that isn\'t all that matters,\" Matt growled. \"You need to be safe, too. Maybe I should have let Jason take you, too.\"

\"I\'m sorry.\"

\"For what?\" Matt frowned.

\"For causing you so much trouble.\"

\"You aren\'t!\" Matt grimaced. \"I\'m trying to protect you like I promised. I\'ll always protect you from him.\"

\"School\'s almost out,\" Brian noted. \"And you\'ll be gone next year.\"

\"That\'s what you think.\"

\"Huh?\" Brian looked up again in confusion.

\"He\'s not going anywhere you\'re not,\" Ryan supplied helpfully. \"Especially after today.\"

\"Why?\"

\"Because I said so,\" Matt grinned.

Brian had the sinking suspicion he meant it, too.