Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Inside Out ❯ Snow Angels ( Chapter 11 )

He'd cried for about ten minutes, and deciding that he shouldn't feel sorry for himself any longer, the boy had made his way to the school. Probably a stupid move on his part, because Elias was sure that if he was seen by any of the administrators, he'd be held in the office and his mother would be called. That was, if his mother had even bothered to call the school and fill them in. He hoped she hadn't.

 

Hesitating outside the doors, Elias swayed on the spot, clutching his chest. He was tired from crying, cold from crying in the snow, and just wanted to be someplace warm where his mother wouldn't badger him every five minutes.

 

The doors opened quietly underneath his shaking hands, and when he stepped into the building, it was a mild surprise to find that the halls were filled with kids. No one really gave him much of a glance, until he had reached his locker. People who walked by turned their heads over their shoulders, or they whispered to their friends who were walking with them to their next class.

 

He felt weird and out of place and oddly, detached. It was like a dream to him. Elias didn't recognize these faces, the laughter that rose above him in the hall. It made him dizzy. Leaning back, he pressed his palm to the surface of the locker door to support himself.

 

A hand fell onto his shoulder, and for one brief, single moment, Elias had thought it was Lucas. Turning his head to look up at him, he was shocked to find Curtis looking down at him with a worried expression.

 

“Elias? What are you doing here? Weren't you…in the hospital?”

“How'd you know?”

“Everyone knows what happened.”

“What happened?”

 

Curtis's grip tightened on his shoulder, and he turned away from his own locker, which was still beside Elias's. Pulling the other boy with him, he led him down the hall and cut a very sharp corner. The corridors were thinning out, so by the time they reached the stairwell, the halls were relatively empty.

 

“Why are you here?”

“I can't be at home.”

“Does your mother know where you are?”

“Like she'd just let me walk out of the house?” Snorting, Elias rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. An attempt to hide his shivering. Curtis stepped forward and pushed Elias up against the wall, away from the eyes of curious students. Lowering his voice, he kept his hand on his shoulder.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Elias didn't know what it was. The concerned look on his ex-best friend's face, everything that had happened that day or in the past few months, or just the state he was in, but he could feel his mouth twist into a frown, his lower lip begin to tremble. Lifting his hands, he covered his face. And although his sobs were silent (thankfully), the shaking of his shoulders gave him away.

 

“Hey, hey, Elias, don't cry.”

 

His words were soft, and the finger's that had been digging into Elias's shoulder released their death grip on him. Instead of letting him go however, the taller of the two pulled him forward and against his chest in a hug.

 

“It's okay,”

“No it isn't, Curtis!” Elias bit out through clenched teeth. He was angry with himself for doing this. He hadn't come here for sympathy; he had just wanted to be alone. He didn't want Curtis to be hugging him like this; he didn't want him to tell him it was okay. Because it wasn't.

 

“You need to relax, Elias.”

“No.”

“I have something that will help.”

“I don't want anything,” he sniffed. He was careful to keep his face pressed against Curtis's chest. He didn't want to look at him. Didn't want to see his face.

 

“C'mon, Elias, it'll help. You can come back to my house and sleep for a little, okay?”

“This was a bad idea,” Elias mumbled. Pushing himself away from Curtis, or Curtis away from him, he wasn't sure, he turned on his heel to head back down the hallway that they had previously been down.

 

Curtis extended an arm and caught his wrist, and even though the smaller of the two gave a quick, violent yank of his arm, it did nothing to loosen the firm hold he had on him.

When he looked back over his shoulder, Curtis had his gaze fixed on him, and a solemn expression was written along his features.

 

“Come with me.”

 

-

 

“Just swallow it.”

 

Elias's eyebrows disappeared in his hair as he inspected the pill that Curtis had dropped into his hand. The sound of the locker door slamming closed was enough to snap him out of his thoughts, and he gave a suspicious glance to Curtis before shaking his head.

 

“What is it?”

“Just swallow it; it'll relax you.”

“How do you get all these drugs?” Elias muttered under his breath. “You're fifteen!”

“You'd be surprised,” Curtis replied dryly before giving a quick glance around the vicinity. Taking Elias by the elbow, he led him down the hallway and towards the door.

Hand delving into the confines of his pocket, he fished out his keys before placing them into his palm.

 

“Nobodies at home, so just go up to my room and get some sleep, okay?”

 

Skeptically accepting the keys, Elias held the pill in his other hand while Curtis gave him a nod and turned his back. He watched as he sauntered back down the hall and entered his classroom, before he looked down at the objects within his fingers.

 

I could go home, he thought. If this helps me sleep, I could go home and sleep.

 

Did he hate Curtis that much? No, he didn't think so.

He just didn't trust him anymore.

 

Looking back up to the empty hallway, Elias popped the pill into his mouth.

 

-*-

 

Pacing.

That's all he had been doing since he'd gotten back to Sheek's apartment.

He walked back and forth in the living room, his arms crossed over his chest.

Sheek had been watching him for the past hour after having finished some sort of crossword puzzle in the Newspaper he'd picked up on the way back.

 

“You do realize that you'll wear a hole through the carpet?”

 

His voice held a wry humor in it, and although Lucas knew he was joking, he didn't feel like playing along. Not this time.

 

Giving him an irritated glance, Lucas stopped his nervous walking and slumped back onto the couch beside the other man. His head was still pounding, but he hadn't thrown up prior to his arrival. Maybe it had just been his nerves earlier, then. It was possible. The very thought of his mother made him nauseous.

 

“What do I do?”

“I really do hate to say this,” Sheek began, removing his glasses. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he uncrossed his legs and tilted his head back against the couch. “but you really did do this to yourself. However, it wouldn't have be such an issue for you, I wager, if you hadn't actually started feeling something for that poor boy.”

 

“I don't,” Lucas snapped, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the wall adjacent him. “I don't feel anything for him.”

 

“Then why are you so upset?”

 

“He's been Hospitalized twice in less then one week, and once was because of me.”

“You should go talk to him then, if it bothers you so much.”

“I can't talk to him.”

“Why not?”

“I can't talk to him right now. I just … I just can't.”

 

Getting up, Lucas resumed his pacing.

 

“What am I supposed to say? `Sorry, Elias, but you need to move on. I'm moving out, so you won't have to see me anymore'?”

“That is one of many things you could say, although it might not be the best choice.”

 

Eyeing the window and then his jacket, which was slung haphazardly over one of the kitchen chairs, Lucas stuffed his fidgeting hands inside of his pockets. Rocking back on his heels, he shook his head.

 

“Lucas,” Sheek said carefully, placing his glasses once more onto his nose. “Just go see him. It's probably not the best idea right now to leave him alone with your mother.”

“He can handle it.”

 

Giving Lucas an incredulous look, Sheek tilted his head and gently tapped the side of his cheek. After a moment, he arched an eyebrow.

 

“Are you sure about that?”

“Can I borrow your car?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

 

-*-

 

Elias didn't know what the hell it was.

But he couldn't walk. He couldn't even think straight. The ground felt as if it were moving and molding against his feet, and every soft snowflake that fell onto his skin gave him goose bumps. He realized he was cold, but didn't mind much due to the fact that he couldn't feel the harsh wind that had picked up on his way back from the school.

 

His eyes wouldn't focus on the street signs, and he wasn't even sure if he was anywhere near Curtis's house. He heard himself laughing, and before he could stop himself, he was on the ground giggling like a maniac. What was so funny? He didn't remember. Was there even anything funny to begin with?

 

Oh yeah, I'm lost.

 

This sent him into another fit of uncontrollable giggles.

Why didn't he feel like this all the time?

He didn't have any problems. Not really.

If he were being honest with himself, Elias would admit that he actually didn't remember what the whole issue was. It was there, though, in the back of his mind.

But he couldn't grasp it, so he didn't try. Instead, he spread out on the large expanse of snow-covered-grass and stretched to his full capacity, before moving his arms and legs to make the form of a snow angel.

 

The ground beneath him was wet, soggy, with the snow. It wasn't the solid kind, but the kind that melted right away as soon as it hit the sidewalk. Letting out another laugh, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. He imagined that the snowflakes were small, miniscule worlds, like Earth. And that he was eating them.

 

It felt good.

Stretching, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the ground spinning beneath him. It wasn't so terrible when he was lying down. In fact, it felt pretty cool.

 

-

 

“Elias.”

 

He didn't bother to open his eyes. His body was too relaxed. Instead, the boy let out a grunt. He did nothing else.

 

“Elias, Jesus, what are you doing?”

 

He felt an arm encircle his waist, and finally opening his eyes, Elias was surprised to find that snowflakes lined his lashes. Letting out a dizzy laugh, he leaned into the person who had hoisted him to his feet, and didn't bother to look up. He was in too good of a mood to actually care who was bothering him.

 

“Your lips are blue.”

“They feel like stars,” Elias giggled, before clasping an unfeeling hand over his mouth.

“Stars?”

 

They had been walking. Or more like the person had been dragging Elias along the sidewalk, and at the boys comment, they stopped abruptly.

“Hey, hey,” Elias stated, pointing to the car that was parked on the curb. “Is that yours?”

“Elias, are you high?”

With a loud laugh, Elias wrenched himself from the person and pitched forward.

 

“High on life! High on life!”

 

A firm hand grabbed his wrist and wrenched him away from the street. Strong hands fell onto his shoulders, and turned him around. Tilting his face upwards, Elias blinked away several snowflakes before looking into the gaze of his older brother.

“What did you take?”

“Take? I didn't taaake anything!”

 

He laughed and stepped closer to Lucas. For some reason, he was glad to see him. Wrapping his arms securely around the elder's waist, he pressed himself into the warm material of his sweater.

 

The body stiffened at contact, before hands came to rest on his back. They stayed like that for several moments before Elias was pushed away again, and he stepped back as Lucas stepped forward.

 

“Get in the car.”

“Where're we goin'?”

“To Sheek's. I can't let mom see you like this. Where did you get it?”

“Get what?” Elias yelled happily. “Get what get what Lucas, get what?”

Lucas opened the door and shoved Elias inside. Slamming it securely, he moved around to the drivers before slipping into the vehicle. Once the doors were locked, and Elias noticed how his hand remained firm on the steering wheel, they pulled away from the street and headed down the relatively deserted street.

 

“You're shaking,” he said, looking over to him. “You need a blanket.”

“Warm me up,” Elias whispered, and undoing his seatbelt, he leaned forward against his brother. Letting out a distracted growl, Lucas veered to the left before shoving Elias back.

 

“Get your seatbelt on!”

“I want you to warm me up!” he yelled. He felt full of energy for some reason, and he had suddenly had a very interesting idea. He didn't feel the heat moving through the vents in the car, and he focused on Lucas, who was trying to push him back against his seat.

 

By the time Lucas had managed to pull into the parking lot that was designated for those who inhabited his apartment, Lucas was yelling at Elias to shut up. He didn't care for this much, and he kept on yelling until they reached Sheek's suit. Just to piss him off. Sheek had opened the door to Lucas, who had Elias in a rather secure headlock. He had been pushing at his side, but it appeared that no matter how hard Elias was shoving; Lucas had no intentions of letting go.

 

“What's wrong with him?” Elias heard Sheek question, as he was pulled into the apartment.

 

“He's high.”

“High? When did this happen?”

“I don't know, I found him sleeping in the snow.”

“I wasn't sleeping,” Elias huffed, feeling the need to elaborate. “I was making snow angels!”

“Why weren't you at home?”

“Why do you care? Let me go! Sheek! It hurts!”

 

Lucas released him from the near painful head lock, and Elias whirled around on his heels. Pointing an accusing finger at his brother, he stated; “You thought I was sleeping. You just bugged me, that's all.”

 

“Does he have hypothermia?”

“I don't know, I can't tell. He has a fever, though. And his lips won't stop shaking.”

“Get him to lie down.”

“That's going to be impossible. He wouldn't get off of me on the way here.”

 

It made him mad how they could just ignore him!

Sheek sighed and rubbing his temples, extended his hand. Lucas deposited the keys into them, and he in turn grabbed his jacket and slipped on his shoes.

 

“Where is Sheek going?”

“I'm going to get some heating packs from the drugstore,” he replied to Elias's question. “In the meantime, you should get him to have a shower.”

“I don't need a shower!” Elias hissed as the door slammed with Sheek's departure. “I'm not cold!”

 

His shoulders were seized, and he was led down a narrow hallway that cut off with three doors. Opening the one on his right, Lucas pushed Elias into the bathroom and stepped inside with him.

 

“Get on the counter; I want to look at your eyes.”

 

He didn't want to take a shower, but Elias obliged. Pulling himself up so that he was seated beside the sink, he tilted his head slightly as Lucas's fingers brushed over his cheeks. He tilted the boy's head back further, and pried apart his eyelids. His own eyes were narrowed from his task, and he muttered `jesus' under his breath.

 

“How long have you been like this?”

“It's amazing,” Elias smiled. “You should try it.”

“What are you on, Elias?”

“What am I on? I don't know what I'm on, you tell me.”

 

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but Elias leaned forward and pressed his mouth to his. The older pulled away immediately; his eyes if possible, more narrowed then before, and he pushed Elias back up against the mirror.

 

“No.”

“Why not?”

 

And then he leaned forward and did it again.

This time however, he wrapped his arms around Lucas's shoulders before pulling himself closer. Or Lucas closer. He didn't know, didn't care. His fingers clung to the material of the other's sweater so that when he tried to pull away, and he did, he could only pull his mouth from his.

 

“You're high, Elias. You need to calm down, take a shower and get some sleep.”

“I know what I'm doing,” Elias giggled. “I just don't care.”

 

He pressed his lips to the juncture of Lucas's throat, before he slid his hand from the back of his neck. Fingers curling into the softness of his sweater, Elias pulled it down to expose more skin.

 

“Hey,” Lucas grumbled, his voice having seemed to drop an octave. It was more like a growl now. Elias didn't mind though, and he smiled against his brothers' collarbone.

“Elias, stop it.”

 

Pushing him back again, Lucas fixed him with a glare.

Suddenly becoming irritated, Elias felt as if a heavy weight was pressing against his chest. He didn't say anything when Lucas lifted his shirt, but he protested loudly when he pushed him away from him, and inspected his chest and abdomen. No doubt for any fresh cuts.

 

“You're not cutting anymore.”

“Maybe I'm doing something else,” Elias snapped, but he could already feel a smile on his lips. Lucas didn't say anything, and instead, made it his duty to get the boys pants and underwear off as fast as he could. Pulling him off the counter, for Elias had become rather flaccid through it all; Lucas turned on the water and helped him into the shower.

 

The water was warm, and only then did Elias become conscious of the fact that he was shivering. His shoulders trembled under the warm water, and his teeth began to chatter. Lucas's face remained grim as he leaned over, and getting his sweater wet in the process, grabbed a bar of soap.

 

Even though he was cold, Elias lifted his face to the falling water. It felt as if he could feel every single droplet. They warmed his skin, and his shivering was quick to subside. Lucas ran the soap over his back, and turning, Elias made a grab for it.

 

“I can wash myself, you know,” he smiled.

 

Lucas didn't look too pleased with this, and instead of giving the soap to him; he gripped the boy's shoulder and pressed him back against the wall.

 

“Stay still.”

“I can do it myself. Besides, you're getting your sweater all wet.”

“That can be fixed.”

 

Standing back, Lucas made quick work of peeling off his sweater. Elias watched with fascination, noticing his languid movements in what felt like slow motion. He became envious of his lean chest, which although wasn't as muscular as most men, still had a faint hint of muscle definition. He was confused by a sudden urge to reach out and touch him, and Lucas seemed even more confused, and surprised, then he, when he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him.

 

 

-*-

 

Did he not have any idea of what he was doing?

He had to know that this was breaking down Lucas's resolve. It was obvious that it was.

And it kept getting harder and harder for him to simply ignore the fact that his brother was naked in the shower, high out of his mind and more then compliant.

 

“Elias,” he hissed, as the boy wrapped his arms around him. “You're soaking wet, get back in the shower.”

 

“Does it matter anymore?” he giggled against his chest. “You don't have a shirt on.”

“You're shivering again. You need to stay warm.”

 

He struggled to release the boy's grip around him, and by the time he managed to get him back into the shower, he too had had his own fair share of water.

 

“You can wear one of my shirts. I'm going to call mom and tell her you're here.”

 

Frowning as Lucas dried him off, Elias looked over his shoulder at him.

“Why are you calling her? She doesn't need to know anything.”

“She needs to know where you are, at least. And that you're safe.”

“She doesn't care.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She just doesn't.”

 

They shared a moment of silence, and Lucas sighed inwardly. Standing up, he led the boy into Sheek's bedroom. Pulling a shirt from his backpack, he handed it to Elias, who was quick to drop the towel encumbering him and pull it over his head. It swallowed up his frail body, and Lucas held onto his shoulders when he started to sway.

 

He could tell the boy was tired, and getting anxious, Lucas pulled him over to the bed.

 

“Lie down and get some sleep.”

“I'm not tired.”

It was easy enough to push him onto the bed, and he yanked the covers back before pulling them over the boy. Elias blinked several times before making an attempt to throw them back. Lucas wasn't in the mood for it, and so he crawled over top of them and flopped down beside him. Draping an arm over the covers, Lucas reasoned that this way, even if he were able to kick the covers off, he could just yank them back up.

 

Elias didn't put up a fight however, and instead, he rolled over to face Lucas. They watched one another in silence, before the younger sighed and inched closer to him.

 

“Why are you staying here?”

 

This question.

He had wanted to avoid this question.

 

 

“I can't stand her,” Lucas mumbled, his hand moving over the covers that outlined Elias's side. “She's too…crazy.”

 

Elias nodded in acceptance of his reply, before tilting his head up so that his nose brushed Lucas's chin.

 

“I miss you.”

 

Lucas brushed his lips across Elias's forehead before his arm grew secure around his waist. Pulling him against him, he nestled his head against the crown of his head, before closing his eyes.

 

“I miss you too.”

“Do I have to go to sleep?”

“I'll be here when you wake up.”

“Okay.”

 

 

 

A/N: Less angsty. I tried to make it a little humorous what with the drugs, and I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Probably because of Elias. XD

So now, there is a little bit of a build up between the brothers, and I am sorry to say that I don't really know FOR SURE what I'm going to do in the next chapter. I have a rough idea though, so I'll be able to update soon! [hopefully…]
REVIEW PLEAAASE!! It makes me happy. ^^