"Well?" John's voice rang out again.
Edd flinched, looking down. He took a shaky breath through his nose, trying not to panic. He should've stayed with Ed. It was the only thing he could think about. He was scared, confused...betrayed, even. What was Kevin doing here? The thought that the redhead was involved was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach. He forced himself to look up again, back into the eyes of his boyfriend. He saw pain there, and fear, and then he couldn't see anything through the tears that were welling up.
The sudden display of emotion seemed to snap Kevin from his trance. He stepped around the chair, mouth set in a hard line, and began to work at the knots in the lanyard holding Edd's hands behind him.
"Hey!" John shouted. Kevin ignored him. "I said, hey!"
A heavy foot landed between the redhead's shoulder blades. The force of the kick sent him into the chair, pitching it forward. Edd clenched his eyes shut on impact, the left side of his face and his knees taking the full force of the fall. The added weight of Kevin on top ensured that the concrete floor took skin from Edd's cheek, and he whimpered through the ringing in his head. Kevin rolled off, shaking his wrist out. Instead of picking the chair back up and inviting another fall, he simply flipped it onto its side, continuing his efforts to free Edd. As soon as he was, the skinny teen scrambled to his feet, only to be caught from behind by Matt.
"Let him go." Kevin's voice was low with a dangerous edge to it, and he cracked his knuckles for emphasis.
Matt twisted Edd's arm up behind him, receiving a soft cry in return. "Why? You said it yourself, we're just having some fun."
"Not with him we're not." Kevin took a step forward and suddenly everyone was on edge. One of the graduating seniors tugged on the sleeve of another and the two left the locker room without looking back. "Let him go."
With a chuckle, Matt fished his phone from his back pocket, scrolling through it for a second before holding it out. "You got to have fun with him. Don't we get a turn?"
Kevin remained silent, staring at the phone without reaching for it. Just as Matt moved to take it back, he snatched it from his hand. His hand curled into a tight fist as he stared at the image on the screen, nails digging into his palm. It was the two boyfriends, wrapped up in each other's arms on the floor of the locker room those few weeks ago, blissfully unaware that anybody was watching. He felt sick with anger, a hot, bitter feeling that rose up from the pit of his stomach. He pulled his hand up and slammed the phone onto the ground, shattering the screen. Silence rang in the aftermath for just a moment.
"Oh, Kevin. You shouldn't have done that." Matt dropped Edd to his knees with a swift kick from behind. In one quick motion, he shoved the slender teen forward until he lay flat on the ground and placed the heel of his foot between Edd's shoulder blades, leaning his weight forward. "You break my things..." He pulled his foot away and kicked at Edd's ribs. "I break yours."
"You fucker!" Kevin lunged forward swinging. He landed a few hits, taking one or two in return, before he was caught on either side and dragged back. "Don't you fucking touch him again!"
Edd curled in on himself. His hands were finally free to pull the rag from his mouth and he clenched his jaw shut to keep from crying. Another kick to the ribs, just to spite the redhead, broke that resolve and with a gasp the moisture in his eyes overflowed. Kevin thrashed, and the guy on his left let go.
"Okay, Matt. Come on. I think you made your point."
"No one asked you, Brett," Matt snarled. "If you don't like it, you can leave, but I'm not stopping until this little piece of shit learns his goddamn place."
