Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 20

Short chapter but next chapter will be up tomorrow!

Brian sighed miserably as he opened his gym locker. This had to be the longest Monday in the history of Monday's.

"Look alive good buddy," Joey said brightly, pulling on his gym shirt.

"I'm exhausted." Brian whined back, leaning against the locker door. "And my body hurts," he added in a whisper. It had been three days since the boys on the football team had attacked him. While no longer prominent, a lot of his bruises were still visible, and his body ached every time he moved.

"You could probably blow off gym if you really want to." Joey suggested, tossing his normal clothes into his locker and closing it.

"Nah, I can't. I already did Friday." Brian still hadn't begun to change, feeling incredibly self conscious.

"Blow off the run?" Joey suggested. "I'll cover for you."

Brian rolled his eyes. "How are you gonna cover for me on a run?"

Joey shrugged. "I'll figure something out. I'm Joey." He responded confidently.

Brian laughed as the bell rang. "Of course, how could I forget?" He teased as the class began to clear out.

Joey playfully punched his shoulder. "Take your time and get dressed. I'll text you when we're done with the mile."

Brian smiled at him gratefully as he ran off, waiting for the rest of the stragglers to clear out of the locker room. He looked around one last time, before finally pulling his T-shirt up over his head.

"I want names."

Brian jumped, slamming into Joey's locker with his shirt still around his head. He lost his footing and slid to the ground.

"Oh, fuck," Joe exclaimed, reaching down and pulling Brian's shirt off the rest of the way for him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you."

Brian stared up in disbelief as Joe offered him a hand. "H-hey. You're alive." He took Joe's hand, astonished to see his crush standing before him.

"I'm alive," Joe responded, laughing. "You think I was dead?"

Brian shrugged. "Just between rehearsal Friday night and Glee this morning, I was starting to worry."

"Oh. Yeah. That." Joe responded awkwardly, leaning against Joey's locker. "I've just been... taking some time for myself. But it's all good now, I'll be at rehearsal tonight."

Brian nodded, suddenly feeling very self conscious at the realization that he was shirtless and bruised in front of his crush. "Oh, well, good. Like I said, I—we, we've all been worried about you." He reached into his locker and quickly threw on his gym shirt.

Joe smiled at him, handing him his T-shirt. "You've been worried? You're the one who never texted me back letting me know if you were okay. I was worried sick all weekend." He looked around nervously, making sure that they were definitely alone. "Anyway listen, we don't have a lot of time. I want names."

Brian pulled his gym shorts out of his locker, fiddling with them in his hands because there was no way he was going to strip down to his underwear in front of Joe. "What do you mean?"

"You know what. Whoever did, this to you." He gestured to Brian, a sad look on his face. "I want their names."

"Joe, I—"

"Listen, not to pull the jock card, but I'm on the football team. And the lacrosse team. Meaning I've got friends on the football and lacrosse teams." Joe said confidently, stepping closer to Brian. "So I got people who can help me make sure that no one does this to you again."

Brian stared down at Joe's shoes, trying not to to flush over how close they were standing together. The whole situation wasn't messed up enough; how was he supposed to tell Joe that it was his friends on the football team who'd hurt him? "Listen, that's like, really nice of you. You're a sweetheart, but—"

"No buts," Joe responded firmly, playfully pushing Brian's shoulder. "Listen, I understand that this isn't something that you want to talk about. A similar situation happened with Nick our sophomore year. But eventually I got Nick to open up and tell me who hurt him, and believe me when I say no ones messed with him since I got to the bottom of it. So, let me do the same for you." He reached out, cautiously wrapping an arm around Brian.

Brian took a step back, wanting more than anything to melt into the hug, but Sam's message ringing around in his ears. He needed to distance himself from Joe, and yet here Joe was, trying to be his knight in shining armor. "I-I need to get to class." Brian responded simply, looking around. He knew he was being paranoid, but he couldn't stop envisioning Sam and Craig sweeping down on him the second Joe left. "I really appreciate you wanting to help. You're a great friend."

Joe sighed, a little bummed that Brian had rejected his hug. It wasn't quite as bad as when Zoey rejected his affection, but it was a surprisingly close second. "Okay. I understand. I gotta get to class too." He took a step back from Brian, looking around nervously again. "Maybe we could, um, talk during rehearsal? I was gonna go early to help out with painting the props, wanna join?"

Brian pursed his lips, thinking this plan over. He needed to stay away from Joe—but how would any of them know if he was spending time with Joe in rehearsal? A smile spread across his lips. Maybe he wasn't going to have to cut him off entirely. "Deal. Text me the time?"

"Does four p.m. work?" Joe asked, knowing his life would be easier if he didn't have to text Brian. "Since rehearsal starts at six."

Brian nodded, trying not to smile like an idiot. "See you then."

xXx

"So... how do I look?"

Lauren giggled at the sight of Joey wearing her long brown haired wig. "You look like a princess. My only concern is that it doesn't quite match the color of your mustache."

"Oh man, I didn't even think about that," Joey laughed, feigning concern. "I guess we could always just paint it."

"Brilliant. Maybe we can paint a mustache on me too?"

"But of course! What kind of lions would we be if we didn't have mustaches?"

Lauren laughed, a little too loudly, but Joey still found it adorable. "So, have we officially decided on costumes and makeup?"

"I think we have," Lauren said, sitting down on the floor across from Joey.

"Well, it's just our luck that we have to get this done during hell week."

"Don't remind me," Lauren whined, collapsing flat onto her back. "I'd like to take a rocket ship to Pigfarts to get out of all of this."

Joey laughed. "Perk up, you little shit." He teased, pushing her shoulder.

"I am ever so perky." She stated, propping her self up on her elbows. "So, do you wanna maybe start shooting today?"

"Today?" Joey responded, alarmed.

"You got a better time to do it?" Lauren teased. "We only have four days left."

"Oh god, we do." Joey buried his face in his hands. "Well it's a good thing we're spending our lunch period being productive."

"Ah yes, you trying on this wig is real productive." Lauren laughed. "So, you want to come over to my house after school? We can probably record this in my living room."

"I assume you're driving?" Joey asked, trying to remain calm at the idea of going to Lauren's house.

"I shall take you on a grand adventure in my rocket ship—I mean Honda Civic." The bell rang, Lauren grabbing her backpack. Joey was already on his feet, offering her a hand. She grabbed it, smiling up at him as she stood up. "So, I'll meet you here after sixth period?"

Joey shrugged, biting back a smile. "Sounds good."

Lauren smiled at him as they walked out of the choir room side by side. "It's a date."