Dexter walked into the classroom that he was supposed to serve his detention in. Anna was already there, one hand doodling on a piece of paper, the other flicking over the screen of her iPod under the desk. They smirked at each other when they made eye contact.
"Mr.Collins sit here," the proctor said, pointing to a desk across the room, the one farthest away from Anna. Dexter gave one last smirk at his friend before sitting in his seat. "Get some homework out, no talking, no listening to music, and no cell-phones." He lectured looking at Dexter. Behind him, Annastuck out her tongue and waved her iPod over her head. Dexter unsuccessfully tried to suppress a laugh. "No laughing." added the proctor sternly.
Dexter dug in his backpack for his recently assigned math homework his phone glinted at the bottom reminding him of his present predicament He'd called Robert during lunch, explaining to him what had happened before school started. Robert had been upset, both at Dexter and Anna and the people who were bothering him, but he'd understood, and agreed to take about an hour off work to pick up and watch Nathan, and to call him if Nathan was having a tantrum he couldn't handle.
Dexter sighed to himself. Nathan is not going to be happy…, he thought, looking down at the worksheet covered with meaningless numbers.
About halfway through his detention, Dexter's phone rang. Dexter trust his hand into his backpack knowing only one person would be calling him. The proctor shot him a look of death and started to reach his hand out to take the phone away, but Dexter scurried out of his seat, looking at the screen that currently blinked Robert Hunt.
"Sorry sir, family emergency." Dexter muttered. He turned, met Anna's worried eyes and mouthed Dexter, before running out of the classroom and into the empty hallway. He answered his call on the last ring and was greeted by a screaming Dexter and a frantic Robert.
"Dexter? When are you going to be home? Nathan's a little upset, he's been screaming your name for the last fifteen minutes," Robert said, sounding like he was at his wits end. Dexter listened with his eyes closed hearing Nathan's screams in the background. "DEXTER! WHERE DEXTER?! WANT DEXTER!"
"A little upset? He's having a full blown tantrum!" Dexter was pacing up and down the row of lockers now, one of his hands kneading at his hair, all the long mentally screaming at himself for being stupid enough to fall himself in detention.
"Well, I don't want to have to carry him to his room and leave him to calm down on his own, with him like this," Robert said, sounding more and more hysterical, "but all of the techniques that his therapist suggested-" The phone connection suddenly died, leaving Dexter quite confused and worried. Dexter stared blankly at the face of his phone for another five minutes waiting for it to ring again. When it didn't, he put it on his pocket and turned around.
With a sinking feeling of dread, he walked back to the detention room and trudged back to his seat, plugging his ears to the proctor's rant about how you were not supposed to just run off in the middle of detention, and how he shouldn't have gotten into a fight if he had had previous family obligations. Anna looked sympathetic and slightly guilty as the proctor proceeded to take Dexter's phone from his as it rang a second time. With a glare that could incinerate, the proctor took the battery out silencing the phone mid-ring and telling Dexter that he would need a parents' note if he wanted his phone back.
Dexter sat at his desk poking holes in his notebook, not even bothering to try to finish any of his homework and resisting the urge to run out of the room that moment. He finally snuck a look at the clock and breathed a sigh of relief. 4:58. Two more minutes until he could get out of here and home to Nathan. He shoved his stuff into his backpack and impatiently watched the red second hand circle slowly around the clock face.
Fifty-six.
Fifty-seven.
Fifty-eight.
Fifty-nine...
Exactly at five o'clock Dexter shot out of his seat and ran out of the room barely hearing the proctor oh-so-helpfully reminding him that he had detention the next day as well. Anna quickly swiped the stuff on her desk into her backpack and raced behind him to catch up with Dexter, trying to zipper her backpack up at the same time.
"What's wrong? Is something up with Nathan?" she panted, running up beside him and pushing open the doors of the school.
"Yes, he's having a tantrum and Robert can't calm him down," said Dexter shortly, slowing his pace as they reached the bus stop and bending over to catch his breath. Dexter looked up at her with worried eyes as their bus pulled up to the stop. "He's not used to me not being there to pick him up or me not being home. He's probably been screaming since he got off of his bus." Dexter said, still panting. He suddenly glared at Anna. "If he's hurt... This is your fault!" He screamed suddenly at her, his nerves fraying. "If you hadn't punched Luke I wouldn't have had detention and..." He trailed off as they got on the bus and paid their fares.
Dexter silently sat as close to the door as he possibly could and Anna plopped down beside him, chewing on her lower lip. "Dexter...I'm sorry for, you know, over reacting with Luke and everything. This is really my fault you know, I know that. You don't even deserve the detention you got!" She said looking out the window and not meting Dexter's eyes. "I-I-I can talk to Mr. Jones about revoking your detention and maybe doubling mine instead."
Dexter didn't reply. Instead he ignored her while twisting and fiddling with the straps of his backpack, a sure sign that he was extremely worried or anxious or both.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Anna quietly giving him a side hug.
Dexter shrugged her arm off roughly. "You don't know him." He said harshly.
"Maybe I don't but I know you enough to know that you need to calm down," reasoned Anna.
"Whatever..." muttered Dexter, making it clear he didn't want to talk. The two feel into an uneasy silence for the remainder of the ride.
When the bus came to his stop, Dexter jumped off the bus and ran down the block until he got to his door, Anna hot on his heels. He fumbled for his door keys to the apartment building and jammed them into the lock, cursing when he couldn't find the right one. Finally, after trying what felt like almost a million keys, Dexter found the right one and yanked open the door. He left the door open and his keys in the lock, instead charging down the hallway intent on reaching Nathan. He ran up the stairs, his mind apparently forgetting about the elevator in his panic. At the top of the staircase, he sprinted into the hall and the last thirty feet to his door, already hearing shrill screams echoing down the corridor.
He slammed open the oddly unlocked door and ran across the apartment to Nathan's room, throwing aside his backpack and tripping on clothes and fallen furniture on the way there. At Nathan's door, Dexter didn't even stop to take a calming breath before running in, and grabbing Nathan from Robert, who was currently on the floor unsuccessfully trying to calm Nathan down.
Nathan faltered his screeching at the new pair of hands that was handling him, and looked to see Dexter, still breathing heavily from his mile sprint from the bus stop and up the stairs. To everyone's surprise, he stopped crying altogether and gave a giant smile through his tears. Dexter did a mental double take as he looked at the boy in his arms. Even he hadn't expected it to be that easy. Nathan rocked back and forth in Dexter's arms humming calmly and then looked at Dexter right in the eyes and did something that rendered Dexter, Robert, and Anna completely wide-eyed shocked.
Nathan leaned up and kissed Dexter. Full on the lips