Dear all, it's been such long time since I posted a new chapter or something here. My sincere apologies for long absence and believe me when I say that I missed everyone and everything related to this, and that I missed writing very much.
I know this is not a full chapter, but it's just a sneak peek, but well, until I complete the chapter, I wanted to give you something to read, even if short.
Did you miss Anatoly and Oleg? I sure did. And they all missed you!
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful messages and for the incredible welcome back you gifted me with! As always you are FANTASTIC!
I want to dedicate this sneak-peek to a special friend, Purva194. Thank you for everything babbu :-)
On the right a wonderful banner made for me and a song that I think will fit part of this. You will let me know about that.
But no more talks and here it comes.
As always, enjoy!
-SNEAK-PEEK CH.8-
EXTERNAL POV:
“If looks could kill, we would be all dead meat.”
This without doubts was the general thought that crossed everyone’s mind as they stopped in front of the intimidating figure belonging to Oleg Azarov.
The man stood there and observed each of them with granitic and hard expression, assessing each of them for a long moment, for then focusing on Anatoly, being helped by his brother Dmitri and his friend Aleksandr, his other friends, River and Adrian, stood behind them and Adrian as well had signs of a recent fight on his face, but way less visible than Anatoly’s, who had a purple and swollen eye, cut lips and dried blood on his face and knuckles. Nothing seemed broken at first sight, but the man standing there in his impeccable suit would not let this accident pass by as nothing. He would make sure to have a proper talk with the responsible person and make sure to have that person pay, pay dearly indeed.
They all kept silent for long and painful seconds as they felt that man’s eyes on them, his palpable but contained and well masked ire, his irises darker than usual. They all knew that man was beyond mad. Actually, to be more precise, they all suspected he was rather upset; only Anatoly knew he was dangerously livid and trying to restrain it for the role and position he had in their family. He knew he was screwed. He also knew he wanted to go back and beat the shit out of that dimwit once more, but probably better leave it for now and pipe it down, as that man was about to bury all of them six feet under with just his glares.
Anatoly met Oleg’s eyes and gulped. He had already seen them blazing in that way, or more correctly, deepening in black and anger till becoming like two black holes.
Anatoly had seen those eyes already two times in the past; once when they found him on the street after he left the gang and the second time when he had listened to what had happened to him in school with that teacher.
Anatoly gulped again and for a moment prayed to disappear, but at the same time held his head up and stared at the man with equal intensity. He didn’t ask for that fight, he didn’t ask for being beaten up, but deep inside he knew it was all caused by his twisted past. He swallowed feeling pain in his mouth and Oleg did not miss it. He clenched his jaws and silently took a deep breath to restore necessary calm in his maddened self.
Anatoly was scared of having screwed things up once more and mostly was scared of something more that didn’t dare to admit to his self. He was scared of having ruined things and the delicate balance with Oleg. He was scared of losing a person that slowly began to mean more than he could think, to lose that person once more like it already happened in the past. Anatoly was unconsciously profoundly scared of losing that man. However, all of this was so deep into his heart and mind that he couldn’t realize it clearly yet. He had something that seemed to function like a block to his emotions and that he had created himself without even realizing it. Anatoly knew he was afraid of something, but couldn’t understand what, and the mere idea of being scared made him very upset with himself, as well as the idea of doing anything that could ruin what he had finally hardly reached.
On the other hand, Oleg was searing mad with whoever dared to touch and hurt Anatoly. He was burning mad with himself for having let something like this happen. He shouldn’t have let this happen; but how? Locking that stubborn brat somewhere? That was not a normal solution and he knew it; Anatoly was not person to be locked up or controlled. It would sort opposite effect and did Oleg want to really close him somewhere? No. That man wanted Anatoly to be from everything weighting down on his heart and mind. But it was not easy.
It seemed that something always had to happen to him and it took effort to repress the sudden and mounting anger that threatened to tear everything apart. It seemed that the more Oleg told himself to forget about everything and remember his duty only, the more destiny decided to play and foul around. The more he was challenged and tested. He deeply cared for that young punk and there was no sense in denying it, although he could not even admit more than that. Every time something or someone hurt him he felt deep pain and burning rage. The man observed Anatoly for a long and intense moment and realized the boy had misunderstood his present state of mood, but little mattered in that moment, as of course Oleg was not mad at him but at the vermin that did that. He as well knew that Mr. Denisov would be even more enraged the moment he would see his son, while Mrs. Denisov would wear herself off with more worry.
Anatoly and Oleg held looks for another moment and then the man spoke first.
In a way, they were both trapped in their emotions and roles. They both had created a mental cage and block that was able for the time being to hold back their growing emotions and feelings. They both had unspoken and secret fears that none of them would ever dare to confess. Weakness was not part of them and they both regarded it as a failure. The question was for how long those cages could resist? How long would it take to realize it was weakness what they experienced?
“Who did that?” Oleg enquired never shifting his gaze away from the group.
Three simple words spoken in Russian managed to freeze everyone’s blood in that room; even the ever composed and glacial Aleksandr felt something and sighed silently, while doing his best to help his friend, because yes, he considered Anatoly his friend and what happened before proved it enough. He scrutinized the man and then decided to speak, as he felt terrible thinking it had been his good for nothing cousin reducing Anatoly in that state.
“It was that piece of crap of my cousin Sergey. Him and his friends. Believe me when I say that we will not let it go as nothing; my father and my uncle will be both livid.”
Aleksandr clenched his jaws remembering something from the past and tightened the grip on his friend. His blood was already boiling, but a certain memory triggered more anger.
“I apologize on behalf on my family. I can promise that shit head will have it back completely.”
Adrian and River exchanged a look as the entire conversation took place in Russian, but they could grasp the general meaning and River could sense the turmoil going on in his friend. He was sorry for Anatoly, but ironically enough, he realized this experience was the final kick Sasha needed to open up completely. Back to the fight, he had thrown himself to those low-lives with all he got in himself, and the same applied to Dima. He was furious for what happened to his twin brother, especially because both friends had always hated cowardice.
“Mr. Denisov will see it personally and so will I.”
Oleg moved towards them and stopped in front of Anatoly.
“Now we need to call a doctor.” At those words he went to say something, as he had nothing broken and sure did not want any issues in some hospital, but that man’s stare had him quiet. “I will call a friend of mine and I believe we need to call your parents. I will do both.”
“I called my brother and he will be here in a few minutes.”
Oleg looked at Aleksandr and nodded.
“Very good.” They exchanged a look and the young Lebedev understood. He let go of his friend’s arm and let that man took his place. “Better to take him to his room. Can you walk the stairs?”
“I’m fine, just a bit bruised.” Anatoly groaned frustrated as he always felt uncomfortable when people fussed about him, but he sensed the anger coming from Oleg and so he decided to collaborate this time. Once in a while would not hurt, he had to tell himself. “I can walk them, really. At this moment I’m mostly pissed at that fucktard, but I know he’s not doing much better than me.”
“You bet, bro. We kicked his ass.” Dmitri grinned at that and then winked. “Ok, let’s get the princess here in his bedroom and then I will call our parents, Oleg. They should be back soon, anyway, am I right?”
“They stayed over as they wanted a moment of privacy for dinner.”
It was already dinner time and Anatoly grunted more.
“Mum will freak out, I’m telling you, and dad? Fuck me. That shit head…I wish to kick his ass once more.”
They walked him to his bedroom and made sure he was comfortable enough. Aleksandr paced around waiting for his brother, clearly impatient to reach his uncle’s place and have another talk with his cousin, while Dima sat with his brother and groaned about a cut he had inside his mouth.
“Man, my kitty will be super upset and damn it, those morons made me waste the ice-cream I had bought.” He scratched his air and massaged his neck.
“Are you planning to call your chipmunk?” Anatoly asked somehow arching a brow even though it cost him pain.
“He will see it tomorrow anyway, so I better call him later, or else he’ll be very pissed at me, believe me.”
“Hard to think that midget could get pissed.” He smirked and Dima called him dofus. Tolya did the same and then suddenly stopped. “Thank you.”
“For the ice-cream? Well, it went wasted.”
“Ice-cream?”
“Yeah, the special one you bought the other week and that I finished. I went to buy it today and was planning to share it with you this afternoon, but shit, you know what happened man.”
“Share ice-cream in a park? What are you? Four years old, Dima?”
“Block head.”
They both smirked and Tolya groaned in pain again.
“Are you really OK?”
“Yes, mummy, just a stupid cut that hurts as fuck. Damn, I hope I broke a couple of teeth out there.” He rested down and looked at the ceiling, in silence once more. “Dima, I mean it, thanks. For the ice-cream too. Another time, maybe?”
“Always up to stuff my face with food.” He grinned and looked at his twin brother realizing what he had just said had probably cost him a lot. “With mum’s famous triple chocolate cookies? Deal?”
“Yeah, I sort of miss them.” He admitted. “But no stupid or moronic tea party, got it?”
Anatoly mocked his brother, but it was to hide the smile his words have caused him. And he clearly saw Dima running to help him and throwing himself in the fight without the slightest hesitation. The same did the Mighty Sasha, as Anatoly liked to call him, and River, who for mysterious ways came out of it with only a minor scratch, but not because he pulled back. Aleksandr had a bruise on his cheekbone, but the pieces of crap he had beaten were not so lucky. He had almost forgotten how wild his friend could be in a fight, almost like a beast.
Adrian stayed there a while with River and he had a chance to observe his friend’s room, to learn more about him. Anatoly really liked to read and that brought him a smile on his face. Adrian was sincerely worried for his new friend and he knew his sister would be the same; just she would voice it more loudly, way more loudly, which reminded him his parents would fuss a lot about what happened in the afternoon. Well, he would think about that later. In that precise moment Adrian had something else in his mind and it was a restless feeling hanging on his neck and couldn’t understand what that was; his sensibility and empathy had been always very strong, as he felt things, but never shared this with anyone, since most of the people would not believe it or understand it. River though seemed to detect something off in him and observed the guy for a couple of seconds.
“Is everything OK, Adrian?”
“Yes, thank you. Only my jaw hurts a bit and as well my right hand. I am not used to fights.” He masked his restless sensation with a smile, but he knew River saw beyond that. He looked somewhere for a moment. “I am worried for Anatoly. I don’t know what happened to him in the past and I am not in the place to push him to open up with me or to invade his privacy. I can tell he is slowly finding a delicate balance and I don’t want to do anything to break it; however, I am afraid this is not over. I don’t think Sergey will be stupid enough to provoke him once more; I can tell Aleksandr and his family, and that man, Oleg, will have his head, but there is something else.”
“What do you mean?” River asked studying his eyes.
“He had a couple of accidents in school; someone slashed the tires of his motorbike, and another time I think it was the headlights. I don’t think Sergey is the one, but maybe I am simply worrying over nothing. I don’t know; Anatoly had quite the past and reputation in our school.”
“Did you talk about that with him?”
“I think you know him better than I do. He doesn’t listen to people very easily.” River smiled at that and nodded. Yes, Tolya was very stubborn indeed and apparently it proved to be a huge problem for him.
“I think Oleg is aware of that.”
“I can believe that, given the way he almost murdered all of us with his glare, but that man cannot be everywhere, even if he seems to deeply care about Anatoly.”
River reflected on that and quickly shifted his gaze on the man in question. He was talking over the phone with Mr. Denisov that apparently wanted to meet with Sergey’s father. He spoke in Russian, but River could guess the topic of the conversation; the apparently composed man had his jaw tighter than normal and a couple of times he had tightened his left fist. River’s careful eyes did not miss that. He wondered if he felt responsible for the role he had in the family, for what already happened to Anatoly before, or if because he genuinely cared about his boss’s son.
“Yes, you might be right. That man seems to deeply care about our Anatoly.” And that thought gave him reassurance, but Adrian was right. Even a man like Oleg could not be everywhere; after all, he was human too. “Will you keep an eye on Tolya?”
“I will.”
After a while Aleksandr’s older brother arrived with a more experienced colleague of studies and checked Anatoly, reassuring everyone that he had nothing broken or sprained. He didn’t even need stitches and that was pure luck. They just advised him pain killer, cream for his bruises and rest. Oleg made sure everyone was fine and not seriously injured, but somehow it was only Anatoly the one mostly damaged. Mr. and Mrs. Denisov hurried home and as predicted, they did not take it well at all.
“Tolya!” Mrs. Denisov rushed to his son’s side and carefully hugged him. “Oh my sweet baby, what happened? Where do you feel pain? Who did this to you?”
“Mum, slow down, I’m fine…” Anatoly muttered slightly embarrassed as he saw his friends witnessing that scene. “I’m OK, just a couple of bruises.”
“Did you call the doctor, Oleg? Is he fine? Does he have anything broken, does he need stitches? Who did this? When it happened?”
“Already took care of everything, Mrs. Denisov. Anatoly has nothing broken and needs no stitches. I waited for you to be back and then I will have a world with Sergey Lebedev and his family.”
Aleksandr clenched his jaw and mentally cursed.
“I am really sorry, Natasha. We just waited for you to be back and I already talked to my father. We will go immediately to talk to that idiot and you have my word he will pay for this.”
“I will come too.” She said with steel-made resolution.
“My love, I will go with Oleg and Aleksandr and maybe it is better if one of us stays here with Tolya, what do you say?” Mr. Denisov had gently placed an arm around her shoulders and gave both his wife and his son a tender smile. “How long does this go on, Tolya? Is he the one you often fight with in school?”
“It’s not what you think.” Anatoly immediately shelled up and switched on defensive mood; his father sensed it and gave him a reassuring smile.
“I know that, son. I trust you.” Those words left the young Denisov speechless. He swallowed down whatever came to him and pretended it was nothing. “I want to know how long is this being going on? I understand from his parents that he is going through some form of rebellious stage or something alike.”
Aleksandr snorted at those words and they both looked at him.
“He’s not going through some rebellious stage, Zhenya. He’s being like this since always; my uncle has just been too indulgent. I swear he’ll pay for this and I talked to my dad and he is not happy about that.”
Aleksandr had talked about Anatoly with Travis, his boyfriend, and Travis had said how he sensed that something happened to him in the past and that where was much than met the eye. Of course his love was right and the moment he let go of his stupid stubbornness he realized it was the only explanation. Tolya had changed too much and too suddenly. He just hoped his friend would open up with him completely, but he was aware his attitudes did not help in the task and that was why today he had fought with so much anger and resentment. Leaving out the fact what happened today reminded him what had happened to his love and that was a dangerous and painful memory for Aleksandr.
Author's chit-chat:
So dear all, your thoughts, ideas, reactions, comments on this? I am really looking forward to reading them! And I shall answer them :-)
I wanted to open this chapter with an EXTERNAL POV to show different perspectives and as well to somehow take to the surface deep emotions and feelings of Oleg and Anatoly that otherwise would be hard to explain through their POV. Let me know you think, please!
This of course is just a very short sneak-peek, but soon you will have the entire chapter. I cannot promise a specific date or day now, but I am doing my best working on it whenever it's possible.
Once more, I am very happy I am back and I missed all of you! Thanks for everything, you are wonderful fans and readers!
Cheers and meow ^.^
-TheWitchAndTheCat-