It was nearing midnight on Halloween eve and Damien's father was still no closer to getting Oliver out than he had been that Wednesday.
"I'm sorry son," his father said. "My lawyer is working as hard as he can on this project, but parents and students each sign a contract when they attend Westlake which states that punishment is at the sole discretion of faculty. And they won't budge."
"Surely solitary confinement counts as some sort of civil liberties' violation!" Damien argued.
"It's a private school Damien, one which has millions of dollars at its disposal to throw at any law that might come their way in order to protect students."
"What if we argued that he's staying with us? And therefore doesn't require the suspension corridor because he has somewhere to go?"
"We tried that already," his father countered. "As neither I nor your mother are his legal guardian however, we are not permitted to just declare ourselves such."
"So he can't spend the holidays with us?"
"I don't think the school honestly cares what he does, they're just trying to be argumentative to make a point. In the meantime I'm afraid I've exhausted the majority of my options here Damien, I'm sorry."
Damien sighed, "Thanks for trying father," he said solemnly, hanging up the phone. "Well that's it then," he said with a frown.
Carrie eyed him, "Surely you're not giving up now," she said.
Damien shook his head, "Carrie, as much as I admire your optimism I don't know what you expect from me. Money is one of the few languages that everyone seems to speak."
Carrie snorted, "So is sex," she replied with a smirk.
"You want me to seduce Principal Updike?" It was an avenue he hadn't considered, and he wasn't exactly thrilled to consider. Though he supposed for Oliver, he would try just about anything.
Carrie rolled her eyes, pulling out a set of keys from her bra. "No need, I already lifted these from Susie," she said.
Damien's eyes widened, "Holy shit! But what do we do if they notice he's gone?"
Carrie gave him a look, "No one will notice. Trust me."
"And if they do?" Damien asked.
"We bribe them," Carrie suggested with a shrug, though she didn't seem all that worried about it.
"Why didn't we think of that before?" Damien asked, already pulling on his trainers and making his way towards the door. "You mean I've spent this whole year worried about getting caught doing shit when I could have just bribed people?"
"What kind of rich kid are you anyway?" Carrie asked.
"The kind who tried not to be gross with their money," Damien replied, getting to his feet.
"How's that working out for you?" she asked making her way towards the central living area.
Damien sighed, following after her. "Let's just get this over with," he said running out the door, toward the stairs.
"I mean, just because you can bribe people doesn't mean you should be an idiot," she said, shaking her head as she kept to the shadows.
Damien glared, "My boyfriend's been sitting in a cell for two weeks! I'm furious!" he said. "I just want him back!"
Carrie nodded, taking the stairs two at a time in order to get to the bottom as quick as she could.
"Do you know where you're going?" Damien asked jogging down the stairs behind her.
Carrie grinned, "You know it babe." At the bottom of the stairs, Carrie turned abruptly and sprinted down the hall, Damien followed quickly at her heels. The faculty staircase would be locked by now, she pulled out Susie's keys and began to look through them for the one that would lead to the faculty staircase, slipping it in and turned the lock, and snuck inside. Damien followed quickly after her, closing the door behind him. Carrie turned on her phone's flashlight, and walked down exactly six steps, then turned right, pushing on a false wall. The wall moved to the side and Carrie quickly searched through the keys again, trying several to no avail, when she finally picked the right one, and shakily turned the lock, opening the door on the staircase, and made her way inside. Damien followed her once more. His whole body was buzzing as they made their way down the hall.
"Oliver," she whispered into the darkness. There were rows of doors on either side of them, all looking like prison cells from the Dark Ages. One of the flaps opened with a loud creak.
"Carrie?" Oliver's voice called. Damien sprinted to the door in question, feeling as though he might cry as he bent down to the flap and stared at Oliver. "Damien?" he asked, eyes wide.
"We're here to spring you," Carrie said excitedly, as she went through her keys trying to find the lock for Oliver's door.
"Hurry," Damien hissed anxiously, the whole corridor felt thick with tension, and it made his skin crawl.
"Patience darling," she said slipping a key into the lock. The lock turned and it was all Damien could do not to scream as she pulled open the large door and Oliver was finally free. Before Oliver could even move, Damien had run into the room, and wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight, and just sobbed.
Oliver hugged him back, somewhat weakly, crying into his shoulder.
Carrie smiled, "As touching as this moment is guys, we gotta go," she said. "Best not get caught down here hmm?"
Damien nodded, allowing himself a brief look around the room at Oliver's surroundings.
Oliver shook his head, pulling Damien out of the room, heaving a sigh of relief as he stood in the open hallway. Carrie closed the door behind them, locking it back up so no one would be any the wiser. "Come on," she said making her way towards the stairs. Damien held tight to Oliver, helping him up the small staircase.
Once they were out onto the main stairs, Carrie locked up the door, and replaced the false wall. Oliver stumbled on one of the steps, nearly slipping backwards. Damien and Carrie caught him, and pulled him back upright.
Oliver shook his head, "Sorry," he whispered.
"Don't worry about it," Damien whispered back, holding onto him tight, and gripping the railing, helping him carefully up the stairs, back towards the entrance hall.
Oliver sighed happily, stretching as they reached it. Damien barely wanted to let him go, but he realized his clingy-ness, might make Oliver feel a little claustrophobic at the moment, and so, reluctantly he pulled away from the other boy.
"I'm not sure I can handle the stairs all the way to the top floor," Oliver said solemnly.
Carrie smiled, "Lucky for us," she said holding up a white plastic card. "The teachers have an exclusive elevator."
"No fucking way!" Damien said excitedly.
"Oh yeah, the monitors use it all the time," she said. "Susie said a few of them just patrol the halls with the elevator and never have to deal with anything else."
Oliver shuddered, "I'm not sure I can handle another box," he admitted.
"I'm sorry love," Damien said staring at him worriedly.
Oliver shook his head, smiling at him, "Thinking about you was the only thing that kept me going," he told him, cupping Damien's face in his hands. "God I missed you," he said softly.
"I missed you too Oli," he whispered, softly pressing their lips together.
"There might be somewhere else you can spend the night," Carrie suggested.
Oliver and Damien both turned to face her then. "Susie said there's a private, monitors only clubhouse by the football field."
"Wouldn't a monitor be using it?" Damien asked.
Carrie shook her head, "It's technically closed after some teachers found a couple of monitors fooling around in there in the late '90s."
"Perfect," Oliver said. "I could use the fresh air anyway."
Damien couldn't argue with that. "It's settled then," he said with a smile. "Lead the way."
Oliver smiled, wrapping his arm around Damien's waist as they made their way out of the entrance hall, into the chilly evening air.
"Will you stay with me?" Oliver whispered in his ear. Damien blushed, and nodded. How could he possibly refuse? "Happy birthday by the way baby," he added.
Damien smiled happily. "Thanks love," he replied.