Oakleaf Academy For Boys

thirty one

"Alright, I'm sorry."

Benji was about to make a remark about how Elias never apologised for anything, but quickly found himself wrapped up in the taller boy's arms. His face was buried into his chest, his body caged in. "What're you doing?" He laughed, wrapping his own slender arms around Elias' broad shoulders.

"Hugging you." He said simply. "Is that allowed?"

It wasn't sexual, not in the slightest. It wasn't even a real physical sign of affection, like kissing. It was somehow better. It felt safe and warm and comfortable. If someone was watching them from afar, they might not even make the assumption that the two boys were romantically involved. It was just a hug. And it was amazing.

"Are you ready to finally open this place?" Elias asked once they had pulled away.

"Yeah." Benji sighed. "And no."

"Why?"

"What if people take it as a joke? They're gonna think I'm such a nerd-"

"So? Nerds are cute."

Benji's cheeks warmed as he quickly turned around and began busying himself by organising a perfectly organised shelf. "I didn't take you for a Jane Austen fan."

"The rest of the books in here are utter shite." Elias said bluntly, hopping back onto the table and laying flat on his back, glancing up at the ceiling blankly.

"They're not that bad." Benji reasoned.

"Half of them are cooking books. There's about a hundred copies of the bible, and the rest are just the cheapest ones Oakleaf could afford. The only decent books are the classics."

Benji couldn't argue with that statement as he wandered along the shelf, his finger caressing the spines of forgotten stories. "Eli, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What did you do to end up here?" He questioned tenderly. It was something he had been itching to know since the very first time he set eyes on Elias. He wasn't sure when the right time to ask was, and maybe it wasn't right now, and maybe it was never. But he just had to know.

"Nothing."

"I get it if you don't want to tell me-"

"I am telling you." He said simply. "I did nothing."

"I...I don't get it."

Elias sighed and shuffled into a sitting position, watching Benji from the other side of the room. The library somehow made silence louder than noise. It was eerily haunting. "I shouldn't be here."

"Eli, whatever you did, I'm not gonna judge you. I know you're not-"

"You're already judging me, Pup." He said softly. He sounded hurt more than he did angry. "I'm telling you I didn't do anything; if you decide not to believe me, you decide to judge me."

"E-Elias, I swear, I'm not." Benji assured him shakily. "I just... How can you be here if you didn't do anything? If you're innocent, how can you be so...?"

"So, what?"

"So...you know-"

"So, what, Benji?" He snapped. Benji flinched and quickly shielded his body with his hands, as if he was scared to be hit. Guilt flooded Elias' system, but he didn't let it halt his emotions. "I'm not a bad guy. This place turned me into a bad guy."

"Okay, and I believe you. But how-?"

"You send an innocent person to prison and eventually they're gonna become guilty."

Benji nodded slowly. His mind clouded and thoughts darkened. Something had triggered a response in his mind and trembles of horror began to ripple through his body. "I-I'm sorry." He whispered.

Elias watched Benji with concern and reached out to touch him. The second Benji flinched, alarm bells started ringing through his head. He had triggered him. It was his fault.

It was his fault.

"Shit. Benji, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He promised gently. "Are you okay?"

Benji nodded and blinked away the tears in his eyes, "I'm okay."

"Can I touch you?"

"Y-Yeah. Please."

As soon as he had his permission, he wrapped his arms around the trembling Pup and held him close enough to feel their hearts beating as one.