"Gray! What happened to you? I thought we were going to play games? I was waiting for you!" Castle asked when they met at the school this morning.
"Sorry... Something came up."
Castle already knew the answer when he saw his facial expression. "Your mother again?" Gray sighed and nodded. Last night has been really exhausting for him. He feels like a lot of things happened.
I'm fact, He could still feel Lucas' warm body next to him and his rapid heartbeat.
Last night, when everything has seemingly calmed down, Lucas pushed him away slightly and left without even saying a word. He just stared at his back in silence. He expected this already. It's already a miracle that he let him be this close to him.
'Is he okay now? He didn' t say a word at all last night. I wonder if he's here at school now.'
"Gray... Gray!"
He snapped out of his thoughts when Castle shouted at him. "What is it?"
"Are you okay? If not you could go home and rest, i' ll cover you up to our teachers."
"No, I'm fine."
They both entered the classroom and saw Lucas already there, quietly reading a book. He chose not to disturb him and went straight to his chair.
'He seems fine, but I' m still not sure. I wanted to ask him how he is doing but he'll probably ignore me.' He glanced at him secretly only to find him already staring at him.
He could feel his heart beat going wild. All of sudden, memories of what happened last night flooded through his brain. Lucas' warm body on his, and his rapid heartbeat...
'What is wrong with me?' He quickly looked away as he could feel his cheeks burning. It's the first time he felt this way, it's scary yet something tingles inside of him. Something... He can't explain.
'I' m thinking of him way too much. It's bad.'
Their teacher then enters the classroom. He noticed the CD he' s holding in his right hand.
"As you can see, I have a CD with me. Today, you're going to review a movie. I need you to write a 500 word essay on what you have learned at this movie." A loud protest can be heard to the students. The teacher shush them immediately.
"Can someone help me set this up?" He asked. One student stood up and set the CD. Minutes later, the movie began playing on the TV just above the white board.
Gray felt a slight panic upon seeing the title of the movie. Castle glanced at him in worry when he sensed the situation.
"Gray..."
"I-I'll be fine..."
"But-"
"You two, stop talking and watch the movie!" Their teacher interrupted them. The movie started off just fine. With the lead actors throwing memorable lines in between. The problem only started when it reached the middle part of the movie where one of the actors started acting violent towards the others.
Gray lowered his head. Beads of sweat are starting to form on his forehead, his hand trembling and him feeling cold all over, so bad that he's shivering. He doesn't have a problem to the movie but to the genre of the movie.
He closed his eyes and covered his ears when a loud shout echoed the whole classroom.
It's coming again. The memory he's been trying to forget is coming back to him like a flash flood.
An image of a kid with a bruise all over his body pops up on his mind, then a loud voice, calling him names and other hurtful things. It's as if he's been back to that time. He could feel the pain everytime the whip touches the poor kid's body, the blood slowly leaking out, he could hear the voices, the voice of the kid pleading so hard to stop it.
"S-stop it... P-please... I-I'll be a good boy... Please... No more..." Gray trembled, his voice cracking. No matter how hard he closed his eyes, the memory just won't let him go.
"Gray!" Castle shouted when he saw his state. He's almost reaching the floor, his body shaking so bad. He's mumbling the word 'please' over and over again. The teacher quickly turned off the movie and hurried to him.
"What happened to him?"
"Gray... H-has an emotional trauma. It comes back every time he hears a loud, angry, shout."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Bring him to the infirmary now. I'll call his parents."
Castle nodded. "Gray, let's go..." Gray seemed to not hear him. He's still shivering in fear, mumbling the same words over and over again. Castle then leaned over and sang him a children's song. Then, slowly, Gray started to calm down.
"Let's go, take a rest at the infirmary." He said again after some minutes. Gray would nod and just follow his friend up to the infirmary. The nurse then checked him up and told him to lay down on the bed.
"Go to sleep, Gray. It's fine, no one will hurt you."
Gray only covered his eyes with his forearm and didn't said anything. The image of a kid crying full of bruises still won't leave his mind.
"I... I hate them. I hate her. I hate all of them." He whispered and as if on command, his tears started falling down. Caslle could only stare at him, unable to do anything. He may be able calm him down using a children's song but there' s nothing he could do if started crying. So he just let him cry until he fall asleep.
-
Gray wake up feeling a throbbing sensation on his head. He got welcomed by a blinding sunlight that escaped from the window when he opened his eyes. It took him a while to adjust and be able to fully open his eyes.
He looked around and found he's at the infirmary. He checked the clock that's on the wall and it says 3 PM. How long has he been here? The last thing he remembered was he's at the classroom and they were supposed to watch a movie. But the movie...
"Castle!"
He looked around one more time and saw Lucas sitting beside the bed. He stared at him in surprise. He stared back but this time he could see a slight emotion on his eyes. Was it worry? He couldn't tell as he easily masked it away with emptiness.
"Why are you..."
"You're planning to help me when you need help yourself." Lucas said in a low, chilly, cold voice. His eyes never leaving his.
"I..."
"You pity me, right? You see yourself in me that's why you wanted to help me." He stayed silent, unable to answer his question. "Do you really think that by helping me, you will help yourself too?"
"No. I... I don't pity you." He saw the surprise on his face by what he said. He continued. "And what we're dealing with is different with each other so there's no reason for me to see myself into you. I just... I just wanted to be your friend, and it's not because of what you're thinking."
"Why?"
"Your eyes... It looks so lonely."
The air between them grew thicker as the silence continued for another minute. They maintained eye contact, trying to read each other's thoughts.
"Those rumors about me." Lucas suddenly spoke. "The rumors that I killed someone. What if I say that it's true? Someone died because of me. Would you still want to be my friend?"
Gray's mouth opened but a word didn't come out. He just stared at him silence. Lucas then stood up and left without giving him a chance to answer.
-
"Are you sure you're okay now?" Castle asked. He came minutes after Lucas left. The class has ended so they're now heading home.
"I'm fine now. Thank you for earlier."
Castle nodded. "Just don't scare me like that again."
"So you were scared? Were you worried too?" He suddenly pulled him into a hug while rubbing his cheeks on his cheeks. Castle then wiggled like a worm, trying to get out of his embrace.
"I swear to God Gray if you didn't let me go..."
Gray laughed and let him go. He actually feels embarrass to Castle but he's also thankful that he's at his side. He's too shy to thank him properly so he'll just annoy him instead.
"Castle... If I did something bad, would you still want me to be your friend?"
He looked at him confused by a random question. "It depends. What could you have done wrong?"
"Like, if I killed someone."
"I don't know." Castle answered non chalantly.
"What? Answer me right! What would you do?"
"Nothing. Cause I'm probably beside you when you do that crime."
"Meaning... You're willing to go that far for me?"
"Enough with the questions, okay? You're getting freaky." Castle dismissed him and walked faster while mumbling. "Where did you even get that questions..."
'I must be crazy. What am I thinking?' He shook his head and followed Castle. But they stopped in tracks when they saw a car parked not too far from the school. It's a car they're both familiar too. Especially Gray.
"Oh shit. I forgot to stop the teacher when he said he' s going to call your parents." Castle said. "I'm sorry, Gray."
Gray's expression grew darker upon seeing the car. Even if it's tinted, he could clearly see who's inside it. "Don't mind her. Let's go." He nodded and they started walking again, this time a bit faster.
The car opened revealing Gray's mother. She hurriedly ran towards him.
"Gray! I heard what happened! Are you okay?" She proceeded to check his body and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw nothing. "I was so worried about-"
He quietly snatch his arms away and started walking. Castle hesitantly follows. She will try to follow him but fails. She just watch him in distance while crying.