A Good Guy & A Bad Boy

Ch. 6

The next day, Jake was laying on the living room couch, wearing a colorful eyepatch over his black eye. He suddenly heard a knock at the door. He went to answer it, seeing Nick with a warm smile.

"Nick..." Jake said.

"Come on, Boy Scout," Nick commanded.

"Uh, where we're going?"

"We're going to the yard, then we're going to the street..."

"You're up to something. Should I be scared?"

"Not at all. Now grab your jacket and your bookbag and let's go."

Jake, reluctantly, listened to Nick, grabbing his backpack and jacket and following Nick down the street to his apartment. When they entered Nick's apartment, Clair and Gerald were standing in the middle of the living room.

"Nick, what's going on?" Jake asked.

"I told my parents about your situation, so they agreed to take you in," Nick explained.

"If you don't mind, can we see your black eye?" Clair asked.

Jake removed the eyepatch, Clair covering her mouth after seeing his eye.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through abuse like this," Clair said.

"You can stay here with us," Gerald stated. "All we want you to do is do what you have to do in school."

"Thank you so much," Jake replied.

"Because we only got two bedrooms, you can sleep with me in my room," Nick said. "We don't have an inflatable bed, so we'll have to share mine. You cool with that, Boy Scout?"

Jake's face turned red, "S-sure. I don't mind."

"Don't worry about your clothes," Clair said. "We'll go shopping at Pender Mall for some new ones. In the meanwhile, you can wear Nick's clothes."

"Okay."

Later that evening, after dinner, Jake and Nick were watching TV from Nick's bed. Nick was sitting down at the foot of the bed, while Jake was laying down, having his ankles resting on Nick's thigh.

"Nick, thanks for talking to your parents about letting me stay here," Jake said.

"No problem, Boy Scout," Nick replied. "No one should go through abuse, especially someone like you."

"What're we gonna do about Becky? She's gonna notice that I'm gone."

"To be honest... I don't know. But one thing for sure, she's going down."

"Nick? Tell me... why are you doing this for me?" Jake asked.

Nick looked at him confused, "What you mean?"

"A delinquent like you wouldn't do so much for a goodie-two-shoes like me. If anything, you wouldn't pay me no mind."

Nick repositioned himself to face Jake, one leg folded and the other dangling from the bed; Jake did the same but with his legs crossed.

"You are my friend... my first friend," Nick said. "You knew I'm a delinquent, but you stayed. And to be honest, you're kinda special to me."

"Nick... I'm so lucky to have you in my life," Jake replied. "We've only known each other for two weeks, and we've gotten so close."

"Yeah..."

Jake gave Nick a genuine smile, Nick replying with a sly smirk. Jake laid back down, one leg across Nick's leg and the other behind him. Nick slid his body inbetween Jake's legs, the two boys' faces inches apart. Jake's hands were placed on Nick's face. They closed the space between them, locking lips with each other. Seconds later, they break apart, looking at each other.