Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ When Darkness Falls ❯ Chapter Twenty Three ( Chapter 23 )

A group of students were outside during break, playing a simple game of tag football. Locke went for a long pass, laughing when he caught it. "Go back some!" He shouted to his friends, preparing to toss the ball. "Farther!"

Setzer walked outside, and sat on a bench with his head down glancing up at Locke every once in a while. He knew he was gonna be in serious trouble if Locke found out he'd been talking to Seifer. He didn't even wanna think about the beating he'd get from either of the two brutes.

Seifer wasn't outside yet, but he was well on his way but he's first gone to find Selphie, whom Seifer didn't know doesn't have a free period right then.

"Hi." Rinoa said taking a seat next to Setzer.

The guilty teen turned to her and smiled faintly saying, a little low in volume due to a nervously dry voice. "Hello." He continued looking down at his lap twiddling his thumbs together. Rinoa had only seen him a few times, but every time she had he was around Locke. That must mean he knows him.

"My name's Rinoa, what's yours?" She held out a hand.

Taking it and shaking it he replied. "Setzer, nice to meet you." She nodded, and leaned forward to look him in the face and he returned the look saying. "Can I help you?"

"No, I was wondering why you have your head down; are you embarrassed about something?" She asked then corrected herself. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She nodded a second then continued saying. "I always hate it when people do that to me anyway, so..."

"...It's alright." Although his expression read: Weirdo.

The two were silent a moment. "So... How do you know Locke?" Rinoa asked.

"We used to go to school together in another town, I moved here and I guess he did too. So, here we are."

The charasmatic girl smiled at him. "That's great that you're still friends, I see the two of you around school together sometimes, but I didn't know if I should talk to you or not."

He shrugged. "I don't mind," he murmured. "Today's just not a good day for me, that's all."

'Can't argue with that.' She thought.

The two of them went about watching Locke play football when a strange bundle of clothes walked up to the gate behind him. "Ow!" Locke cried out when a guy knocked him to the grass. The toppled players laughed then got up, the tackler running off while Locke got ready to launch the ball. "Mr. Barret, catch!" He shouted to his homeroom teacher that had to join in. Throwing the ball, Locke watched it sail and smiled at the distance his throw cleared.

The huddle of clothing reached an arm through the holes in the metal gate clipping Locke on the corner of his ear.

"AH! Shit...!" His hand went straight to where the pain had come from. Turning around, Locke looked at the strange bundle of tattered brown rags, wondering who or what it was.

"Locke..." A voice came from it, and it sounded very familiar to the brunet.

Walking back to the gate, Locke cocked his head trying to see underneath the hat on the person's face. "Whose under there?" He asked. Pausing in his onward pace over to the figure, knowing that a few feet away was close enough. Locke could see a faint hint of blond hair sticking out from under the hat. "...It can't be." His eyes went wide having a series of flashbacks from when he first met this figure to when he'd last seen him outside his doorstep wanting a place to live. There was no doubt about it, it was him... "...Zell." Locke stated barely above a whisper.

"Locke, please help me..." His ex said pulling the hat off, knowing that he has been found out.

Locke could see hardened red in Zell's blond hair, and a bloody bruise crusted on the side of Zell's head. His shirt sleeve was torn and there were holes in his forearm like teeth marks. His ex also looked paler and thinner than before.

"Locke..." Zell sniffled holding in tears. "I've tried so hard... to just get over you and live out on the streets, but.." Zell began to walk with Locke following him on the other side of the gate. "It's just too hard.. I've been hurt almost everyday I've been out here...?"

"No." Locke covered his ears though he felt a twinge of pain run through him.

He doesn't want to hear this. It was too sad; whether anyone believed him or not, he did find what happened very miserable. He didn't know Zell would get thrown out of his house, but he didn't wanna get thrown out of his home either so he lied and pretended it never happened. But deep down Locke knew he was wrong for doing it.

"Locke, please, just until I can get a job and find someplace to live..." Zell pleaded.

Locke noticed that they were dangerously close to the door of the gate, which is where Zell had been leading him to.

Panicking, Locke began to back away from the gate instead. "Look, I'll give you money, just... stay away from me!" He warned turning to run, but Zell was already running inside the gate.

"I don't want your money." Zell growled.

Locke ran as fast as he could, but Zell picked up a greater speed chasing after him. The determined blond was bending over now, running after his prey on all fours until he was close enough to pounce on him.

"Aaahh!" Shouted Locke rolling over onto his back. "Get off!" He struggled beneath the unknown strength of the shorter blond. "Get off, you fucking fag!"

Everyone heard taboo word pierce the atmosphere, and turned their attention to the two guys rolling along the grass.

"...Is that?" Rinoa stood up and looked past the on coming crowd. "Zell?"

Zell was trying his hardest to pin Locke's arms over his head, but his ex wasn't giving up without a fight. "Please, Locke, I need your help! I'm sick.." Zell pleaded through the struggle.

"No!" Locke fought. "Get ooooff!"

Zell was persistant and unmoving, he leaned down close enough to Locke to kiss him, but he instead hugged him latching on tight because Locke's hands were free and trying desperately to push him away. "Please, Locke... I still love you. And I know you love me. It's horrible out there; I don't know what to do..."

The frightened blond sheds tears against his ex's cheek planting kisses along it. The crowd gasped all at once seeing this and instantly started their chatter. Locke is gay, Zell's back at school - Zell is gay as well! What's going on? Some laughed, others were shocked and disgusted looking to get away from the situation quickly.

"Get this fag off meeee!" Shouted Locke, still pushing with all his might.

Three of his guy friends came up from behind and pulled Zell free instantly. Tossing the creepy little fruit fly aside like a bothersome speck.

Undetered and persistent, Zell begged again. "Please... didn't I mean anything to you?" Asked the homeless teen, panting a little from the struggle of being held away from his ex.

Locke sat up scooting backwards until he met with someone in the crowd's legs. "Keep that guy away from me." He said in a panicked voice.

"Stay the fuck away from our friend, you little fudge packer." One of the guys growled at Zell.

"Yeah, fuckin' fairy!" Said another. The third boy apperantly couldn't think of anything rude to say and instead began to kick the unsuspecting teen in the stomach.

Zell sprawled over in pain, the brutality was enough that he spat a little blood from his mouth. He bent over licking it up from the grass; everyone nearly puked seeing it.

"What the fuck kind of shit is this?" The first guy wondered in mortified curiosity. When he apporached to give Zell a little parting gift of his own via punch, the short blond turned his head spitting the blood on the bully's face.

"Aahh.." The kid frantically wiped himself from it, screaming he's got aids. His friends were nervous about that, but they didn't want their buddy to go un-avenged and moved in to attack the cause of their friend's fear.

Zell tensed waiting for the pain, but was shocked to see one of the creeps go flying back from him. Looking up over his head he smiled seeing one of his new friends reaching down to help him up. "Shadow? What are you doing here?"

Smiling at Zell, Shadow helped him support himself around his shoulders. "Course I did." The thief pat him on the shoulder.

Seifer just arriving and, not knowing what was going on, pulled his fist back slamming it into Shadow's face. Zack brought up the rear smashing his fist into Seifer's gut. Almasy was about to his the older stranger in return, but ended up brawling with one of Locke's friends. He knocked him to the ground where he then punched him in the nose repeatedly.

It was a complete mess of Zell's actual offenders beating on his defenders and his defenders, confusedly, beating up each other as well!

Shadow recovered himself from the ground and helped Zell up again. He had a brief thought of staying to finish Seifer, and the others, off but he chose to retreat instead. Walking a distance with his fellow shelter resident attached to him, the leader of their small group looked over his shoulder whistling for Zack's attention, showing that he got what they came for.

"Let's go."

With a final punch to one of the three who'd started in on Zell, Zack stood from the guy he was hammering to run off after his friends.

Seifer was pushing through the crowd of people to see what was going on, catching a glimpse of Zell as he retreated with the two other guys. 'Who..?' He wondered.

Mr. Barret seemed to not care about the fight at all. He just waved a hand at the commotion, pulling out a cigarette as he started back to the building.

"Zell?" Seifer said lowly watching them leave. "He's still here."

A winded Locke was helped up off the ground by Rinoa and Setzer. "Did you see that?" He was saying to the crowd. "That's why Zell left school..." He slowed his breathing back to normal. "It's because he's a fa-..." His words were strangled when Seifer smashed his fist into his face.

Rinoa and Setzer were forced back by the punch but didn't fall, so Locke remained on his feet. Seifer grabbed the rat by his shirt and yanked him up to his face saying loud enough for everyone to hear. "You're the faggot, asshole!"

Locke's eyes went wide hearing that, and he pleaded silently with Seifer that he not say anything. But Seifer was hardly one to take pity on, or orders, from others. Especially people he didn't particularly like. "You see everybody... Locke here has a nasty habit of bad breakups."

Everyone was listening now, even people who didn't seem interested. No one has seen Locke with anyone since he arrived at school, his love life was a mysterious lust to all the students and hell maybe even a few teachers.

"He takes the first vulnerable person he sees, and waits until they're nice and ripe for the picking, before he fucks them and tosses them out to the dogs."

Staring eye-to-eye with Locke, Seifer asked. "Isn't that right, Cole?"

Locke remained silent, which made everyone begin to whisper.

"It's true... Zell is gay, but there's something that Locke doesn't want you all to know..."

It was quiet enough to hear the Earth move as everyone waited to hear what Seifer was going to say. I mean, what a blow Zell Dincht was - is gay! They could only imagine what Locke's deal was in all of it.

"You don't..." Locke started to say in his normal tone, but had raised his voice so everyone would hear. "He doesn't know what he's talking about, he's lying!" He wriggled inside of Seifer's grip on his clothes but couldn't break free.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about..." The ticked-off blond went on. "He's slept with a lot of people in his life ladies and gentlemen," he shook his head. "but tsk tsk, not a one of them was... female. He gets a beard, but fucks men exclusively."

Everyone in the crowd began to laugh and point, saying this and that not a bit of it under their breathes. They couldn't believe how well Locke had hidden such a secret. Some of the girls that had a crush on him began to cry a little, while some of the guys, mostly the ones he had been playing football with, began to crack their knuckles remembering the contact that he's had with them. A gay! Touching them, rolling around in a tackle. They felt their skin crawl at the thought of Locke getting-off on it.

Rinoa's eyes shaded over in anger hearing Seifer's hissed tone. She had honestly thought the new guy had feelings for her. At least, that's what Locke had said. Setzer blushed moving back away from everyone, knowing that if Locke saw him he'd put it together that he was the one who had told Seifer everything about him. He had helped him stand, but Locke was so disoriented that it could have been anyone.

Seifer smirked evilly at the liar, who's now frozen in fear, and a laugh escaped his lips. "I'll leave you to them." He said to the crowd, tossing Locke to the grass.

His former friends who had pulled Zell off of Locke not long ago, now surrounded him against the crowd. Locke's eyes read pure terror, as he knew what was coming next. The one thing he feared more than anything in life... hatred, of being who he was.

"Pick a body part boys." Said the ring leader, punching his fist into his palm.

"No..." Locke shrank away. "He's lying." Tears stained his cheeks.

The trio advanced on him; and Seifer stood back watching with his arms crossing his chest. This went a lot better than he had expected it to. Unfortunately, he caught a glimpse of a teacher from the side of his eye so he wandered back through the crowd to avoid the downfall of detentions for the fight. His only conern now, is where Zell was headed. He can't waste time in the educational slammer.

...

"There you go." Shadow said smiling at his friend's bandaged bruise.

Zell had a well-enough welt on his torso where he had been kicked. Shadow patched it up for him. The two thieves took their friend back to the back of the van that's parked at the dump, where they were the night before.

It was nearing the evening now; the three of them were waiting around for Reno to show up and help them with the hit on Cid. Zell remained silent the entire way there and after. So many thoughts were running through his head right now, but he couldn't slow any of them down long enough to understand a single one.

Looking up at Shadow Zell opened his mouth saying lowly. "Shadow have you...?"

"Here he comes." Pointed Zack. A shadow passed the window behind them and the double-doors opened up beside them.

"Hello ladies." Greeted Reno, climbing into the back of the van.

"Took you long enough, did you bring the bats and shit?" Zack pushed him out of the way, quickly going through the plastic bags that he had left outside on the dirt.

Reno ran a hand through his red hair and pulled out a cigarette. "Fuck that, though." Yanking his jacket free the red head gestured at his shoulders. "Look what I got."

Clicking on the overhead light upfront, the pair moved in on their friend; Zell had just turned his head to look rather than study what was being exhibited, because Reno was undressing so he wasn't sure he'd be too interested. The reveal showed a bloomed rose tattooed on the front of each of Reno's shoulders.

"Shit. Did that hurt?" Asked Zack, reaching out with both hands brushing the pads of his thumbs over them. They admired the tattoos a bit more Shadow muttering he's always wanted to get one.

"These things are real fucking cheap at that place on the corner," Reno grabbed his jacket slipping it back on. "We can go get some tomorrow if you want."

"Yeah," His two friends agreed.

Zell said nothing.

Blowing smoke into the silent teen's face, the red head asked. "What's with you, forget how to talk?"

Zell turned his vision on him, but said nothing. His gaze shifted then to out the back windows, where he saw the moon coming out from behind the vast moving clouds as the sun set behind the hill. His eyes winced with some sort of feeling that he couldn't quite explain. Shaking off the feeling, his lips parted and he said to them. "Let's go."