Parted By Secrets and Pain BoyxBoy

Chapter 2

Malachai

"Hey," I put my hand on the small boy's shoulder. Yes, I did know that I was only about twenty minutes older, and I know that we were twins, but he just seemed so much younger. He, to me, was a baby.... My baby.

At the thought of him being my baby brother, I smiled broadly, which earned me a sheepish one in return. Riley had his head tilted down, but his sad blue eyes were fixed on my gaze. It was almost as heartbreaking as seeing him in the fetal position on the floor. Yes, somehow during the night, he had managed to wriggle out of my hold just to curl up on the floor.... and it hurt; I knew he meant nothing by it. It was simply just his way of isolating himself.... though I wish he would let me in.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you... not again... okay?" I gave his shoulder a slight squeeze of reassurance.... though the wince that followed made me wish I had died right then and there.

"Okay..." his voice was quiet, and would have been lost in all the other loud, boisterous noise had I not been paying such close attention.

"Now... go to class, okay? I'll see you at lunch..." I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace. Kids now a days were use to seeing affection, but a few stares and giggles came from passing kids.

Riley stood there awkwardly, making me sigh and stand back. Though, normally, he was cute and cuddly, little did he like people knowing he felt anything except depression. That's why kids always picked on him, no doubt.

As soon as I let go, I watched, as he turned almost immediately after. Seeing his small figure dodging and weaving through the oncoming wave of kids made my heart pound. All I wanted to do was walk him to his class. In fact, I didn't even want to let him go to class. I wanted to make sure he was going to be treated fairly; all day. I wanted to pound everyone's face in who decided to call him by the stupid nickname Damion had given him. I wanted to protect him from the awful life of highschool.

"Babbbbyyyy!"

I let out a small whoosh of breath as I turned around, a small, curvey brunette with brown eyes throwing her arms around my neck. That voice.... I wanted to kill myself.

"I know you were kind of grumpy last night!" She squeaked after smashing her lips against my own.

"But! I totally forgive you! So don't worry about it! I'm expecting you at my house for dinner! My parents aren't home so its just going to be me and you!" She winked playfully and gave out a soft giggle.

"Yeaaahhhh! Hey man!" I felt a slap on my shoulder as boisterous whoops and hollars were made by a big group of well built guys. The voice that had addressed me belonged to one of the defense guys; Leon.

I wriggled out of the psychotic girl's embrace to join the joyous teammates that I've come so far with. Being seventeen and in my Junior year of high school, I've been playing football since sixth grade, with every one of these players.

Within the noise of the crowd surrounding me, I heard a younger voice laugh. "Did you guys hear about what happened to PussyBoy? Got beaten to a pulp yesterday! Damion said he put up quite a fight, but he threw him down okay."

This earned a cackle of laughter from everyone in the group except Leon and I. There was a horrified look in Leon's eyes as my own searched the sea of boys for the source of where the "Joke" came from.

Finally, my gaze fell upon a rather small boy in the bunch. He was the wide receiver for the freshman team. He was gleaming with pride as he realized he had gotten everyone's attention.

Weaseling through the bodies, I stood chest to chest with the boy. He was about a foot shorter that I was, and he wasn't nearly as built. When he realized the seriousness of my facial expression, the gleam dimmed slightly.

Without a word, my fist connected with the boys chest. With a thud to the ground, the weak boy looked at me in horror. The rest of the group went silent. Leon had an all knowing look on his usually glowing face.

"What the hell man?!" The boy-- I recognized him as Damion's brother-- was the first to break that silence. Though he dared to get up.

"That Pussy Boy?" I said, my voice daring. "Was my brother."

Catching each and every one of the boys' sullen gaze, I turned to the class room behind the group. I glared at the obnoxious brunette, and brushed past her as I entered the class, not looking behind me.

Riley

I let a sigh of relief escape my lips as I walked out of the art room. Finally, time for lunch, I said to myself as I made my way to the cafeteria. Though, a voice addressing me by my real name startled me. It wasn't even a voice I recognized.

Looking up at the voice who had called me, my gaze connected with a deeo set pair of chocolate brown eyes. The warm smile that pierced his lips made me wince slightly. No one ever just smiled at me at will.

"Hey," he repeated, though I couldn't continue holding his stare. When I didn't respond, I saw him in my peripheral vision reach up and cup the back of his neck.

"So... I saw your painting? It... it was really good. You're a great artist." I saw a slight smile pull at the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks," I gave a shrug. All I wanted was to go to lunch.

"Yeah..... So, I see you around all the time. You don't really hang out with a lot of people, do you? Normally you're alone at lunch... Do you want me to sit with you!? I can. I'd like to get to know you... "

I shook my head vigorously, my eyes a dangerous grey as I looked at him. My gaze was intense this time, and unwavering. I didn't want anything to do with this boy, let alone want him to sit with me. That was my brother's job...