Tongue-Tied (Boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Todd, buddy! What's been happening?" Anthony said happily as he swung an arm around my shoulders. I frowned; this was a bit friendlier than usual. Normally we just did a head nod and said hello before continuing on our way.

"Not a lot. What about with you?" I replied slowly, and Anthony shrugged.

"Same old, same old." Anthony said and I stopped dead in my tracks as I realised we'd been walking away from the toilets back the way I'd come. I ducked out from under his arm and swung back around, alarm bells sounding off in my head.

"Good stuff. Sorry to cut this chat short, but I gotta pee." I said, smiling at him charmingly as I walked back to the toilets. Anthony grasped my arm, stopping me from going further before letting go and stepping in my way.

"I'm pretty sure this toilet is being cleaned. You might have to go to a different one." Anthony said easily, and I raised an eyebrow at him before looking at the toilet door.

"I'm pretty sure the cleaners usually block the toilets themselves, rather than expecting a student to waste their lunch standing outside to warn people off." I replied drily and Anthony sighed.

"Look, Todd. I like you, alright? You're a nice guy. It's probably best you don't get involved. I don't want to have to pick sides." Anthony said and I stared at him for a few seconds before it all clicked into place.

"Move." I snapped and Anthony sighed again before stepping aside and shaking his head.

"Don's going to kick my arse." He muttered and I rolled my eyes. As if he could, I thought about saying, before deciding to humour him.

"He's not that scary Anthony." I replied and Anthony smiled sadly at me, a flash of something that looked strangely like fear appearing in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly.

"You don't know him like I do." He said quietly and I frowned at him.

"Here's a thought. Lie. Tell him a teacher came by and you had to pretend to need help to get him to leave the hallway, and you had to go with him." I suggested and Anthony considered it for a few seconds before nodding his head and flicking his brown eyes towards the toilet door.

"You might want to hurry up." He said before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Anthony." I said, and waited for him to turn around. "If you need me to kick Donald's arse, I can do that for you. Anytime."

"I'll keep that in mind." Anthony said, a ghost of a smile present on his face before he turned on his heel and kept walking. Turning back to the toilet door, I took a deep breath and pushed it open, already dreading what I was going to find.

As soon as the door opened, a muffled cry drifted out and I stepped in, peering around the corner to find Donald holding Miles pinned against the floor with one large hand wrapped around Miles' jaw preventing him from crying out. I winced at the state Miles was in, he had blood smeared across his face from what I suspected was a broken nose and one of his eyes was swollen shut.

"Dammit Tony. I fucking told you to stay out there and keep watch." Donald snapped, not taking his eyes of Miles.

"Yeah, not Tony. Sorry about that." I said clearly, and Donald's head snapped around to look at me, before he looked back down at Miles and grinned, his hand sliding up Miles' chest and wrapping around his throat. Not squeezing, just holding. Miles made a sound of pure fear and his one open clear blue eye slid to me, begging me silently for help.

"Todd. Fancy seeing you here." Donald said calmly. I shrugged and leant back against the wall. I had to play this cool if I wanted to get Miles out without further damage. I couldn't risk pissing off Donald any more than he obviously was.