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Chapter Eight

The streets were flooded by the orange light of the retreating sun. Quinn and his friends had just finished a game of basketball and were getting ready to head back home together. The boys were grabbing their shoes and socks, and some of them that had hung their t-shirts on the pools were stretching to grab them and put them back on.

Quinn had gotten ready minutes earlier and was losing his patience with his friends. He thought about it for a bit, and after a few minutes of evaluation decided that he had to leave immediately.

"Hey, why are you leaving without us?" Karl asked when he saw Quinn heading towards the gate. "Is something wrong?" he added, raising a brow at his friend who seemed to be ready to jump and sprint.

"I need to go home early," Quinn said, squeezing his hand into a fist and he tightened the grip he had on his school bag handle. "I'll see you guys later," he muttered, heading for the gates without another word before anyone could stop him.

He heard Karl let out a sigh from behind him, and he did hear a few of his other mates' grumble at his decision, but he didn't care. The truth was that he had seen Cody get up a little while ago to leave. He couldn't wait for his friends to grab their stuff. If he did, he would lose Cody before he could catch up to him. It was evening now, and it would get dark soon.

Quinn broke into a run when he walked past the gates. He sprinted through the grass field until he was in the main street maid with concrete and black granite. He looked from end to end before remembering and following the path Cody had taken. He kept running, wondering when he would meet up with the boy. He almost gave up, but when he spotted a dot in the near distance his cheat flooded with relief. Cody was a few meters away. He was wearing jeans today with his usual graphic t-shirt.

"Hey!" Quinn yelled at the top of his lungs when his legs got unbearably tired. He stopped running and crouched over to take deep breaths. "Hey! Cody, please wait!" he yelled, hoping the boy heard him.

To Quinn's relief, the frail boy stopped at the sound of his name. Quinn, stood straight, watching as Cody turned to face Quinn. His eyes went wide with shock, and he cast his gaze to the ground as quickly as he had raised it to look at Quinn. Quinn rose a brow, wondering why the boy looked so blue. He walked up to him, stopping in front of him before touching his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a small voice, bending his head so that he could see the side of Cody's face. The boy didn't give him a reply, and that worried Quinn.

"Is something wrong?" Quinn asked, and he was still met with silence. Quinn sighed. "Come on, talk to me," he insisted, taking hold of Cody's face before bringing it up to meet his gaze. Quinn blinked in shock at the sight of the boy. Cody's face and eyes were red and puffy from the silent tears he'd been shedding. There was a bruise forming at the side of his left cheek that was going purple??it wasn't new. It looked about a few hours old.

"W-what happened to you?" Quin asked. His voice was soft, and it shook a bit. He touched the side of Cody's face, careful not to press too hard in order not to cause pain, but Cody flinched anyway, shutting his eyes. It must have really hurt. Quinn's chest squeezed up and a frown took form on his face as anger filled him. He didn't know what to do??where to start. He just knew he wanted to beat the shit out of whoever had touched Cody. It could be people at school, but Quinn was sure he hadn't seen Cody during the break period even though he had searched.

Cody remained silent for a bit, and when he responded his answer wasn't helpful. "N-nothing." He insisted, pushing Quinn's hand away from his face before moving to cover the bruise on his cheek. The boy was heaving, and he refused to make eye contact with Quinn. The two were in the middle of the street, and Quinn was starting to worry that his friends might find them.

"Don't lie to me," Quinn sighed as his expression became worried. "Come on."

Quinn's voice was soft??sweet, and the mere sound of it seemed to send Cody into a fit of sobs. His eyes teared up, and he couldn't keep it in anymore. Quinn stared at the crying boy, unsure of what to do. He eventually took a hold of his shoulder before leading him to the empty stairs of one of the nearby buildings before sitting him down.

Quinn then sat beside the boy before reaching to pulling the small boy's head down with his hand until Cody was resting his head on his shoulder. He didn't ask anything again??he didn't want to hear the throaty cries that sounded like the boy was about to die, so he just stayed quiet and pat Cody's head. After what seemed like hours, the boy stopped shaking from sobs. His silence left a void that was drenched in questions that needed to be asked.

The frail boy heaved before raising his head from Quinn's shoulder. "I'm sorry..." he trailed, wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

Quinn frowned. "For what?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know. For crying?"

Quinn sighed, reaching to dry under Cody's had with his fingers. "There's nothing to be sorry about." Quinn's words hung in the air like a hook. He waited for Cody to say something. Anything.

"I got into a fight with my brother," the fair boy confessed, looking down at the stairs.

"I see." Were the only words that Quinn could see fit to say.?So, he has a brother??He thought to himself. He had never heard of him, but then again Cody had been reluctant to share anything about himself.

Cody felt the bruise on his cheek with his fingers. He winced, pulling them away. "This is why I don't like staying at home. If I get within a foot of him, he'll swing his arms until he hits me."

"What? Why?" Quinn asked as his eyes went wide. He felt that they hadn't gotten along once, but Cody's words meant that this was a recurrent thing.

Cody shrugged. "He doesn't like me, is all. Sibling rivalry and all that bollocks." He laughed, but it was laced with so much anxiety it made Quinn wince.

Quinn sighed, turning to look at Cody with a frown. "You expect me to believe that?"

Cody brought his thumb finger to his lips. "No, not really," he muttered, chewing the nail.

Quinn felt frustrated. "He's bullying you??"

"Everyone bullies me. It's not new," Cody said, cutting Quinn off before he could finish his sentence. "It's just how it is," he added. His nihilism cloaked Quinn with dread. The whole thing was depressing. Cody was being depressing.

"Do your parents know?" Quinn asked, saying something so that the weight of the silence wouldn't crush him under its weight.

Cody sighed. "Yeah, my mum knows, and she really doesn't care. He'll probably hit her too if she said anything."

Quinn sighed, not knowing what to say to that. Dysfunctional families were common in the town. Poor finances meant frustrated adults, and frustrated adults meant poor coping mechanisms like drugs, violence, and alcohol. The kids and teens in town just seemed to learn how to work around it. Cody's case wasn't special in the least.

"You don't have to stay here with me you know?" Cody said in a soft voice, breaking the silence. "You can leave. It's getting dark." He added, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"What about you? You're not going home, are you?" Quinn asked, and Cody froze up, refusing to meet Quinn's gaze.

A sigh left Quinn's lips. "You can come to stay at my place for a bit, then maybe you can sneak back into your place early in the morning. Does that sound good?" Quinn asked, watching Cody's expression shift, but the boy remained silent.

Quinn leaned forward so that he could look at Cody's face properly. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a yes." Cody's words came out in a croak, but Quinn heard him. "That would be nice if your parents don't mind," Cody added and Quinn gave him a soft smile.

"They won't," Quinn muttered, reaching out to squeeze Cody's knee. His face warmed up when he had noticed what he had done.

Quinn took his hand away. "I hope you're not a picky eater," he muttered, after a while of trying to remember what was in the fridge but not coming up with anything.

"Anything's fine," Cody muttered, hugging his knees. His face was burning from Quinn's action from before. He wondered what was wrong with the taller boy. Did he just like touching people for no reason?

"Great!" Quinn grinned before getting up and reaching out his hand to Cody. Cody took it, and Quinn helped him get up from the step as well.

"We'll have to do something about your wounds first," Quinn said, reaching to touch Cody's cheek again. "We should have a bag of peas in the freezer," he said before taking his hand away.

"We'll get the swelling down, and I can warm up something for you to eat," Quinn said. "We'll have to share my bed, or I could lay down a mat for you on the floor," Quinn went on as the two climbed down the stairs.

Cody nodded. "Okay," he muttered, letting Quinn lead the way. Their hands remained entwined throughout their walk. Sometimes Quinn would squeeze Cody's hand, and the boy's hand and the boy would feel his body warm-up with delight. Quinn's hand was bigger, though softer than his rough ones. It felt nice to hold. He wanted to hold it forever.?

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