It Takes Two(boyxboy)

Chapter 8: Broken inside

"Well, HE sure is gonna be hard to find." Was Gage's intelligent reply after Darby vanished. 

"Well no freaking duh! He can probably fit anywhere to hide from us! I don't even know where to start looking, not to mention we have a deadline!" I shout furiously, fussing up my hair and pacing. Gage sighs, and rubs the back of his neck. 

"Then maybe we should start now, before he gets too far." I stop pacing, and widen my eyes.

"You, sir, are a genius!" He rolls his eyes, but looks amused nonetheless.

"We should also split up. You go down that hall, and I'll go down this one. Those are his only two options, anyway." I widen my eyes again, then shake my head in disbelief.

"You really ate your smart cereal today, didn't you?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Levi, you know for a fact i'm not anywhere near dumb. Now let's go already." 

"Whatever." I grumble, and begin to jog down the hall, looking left and right for Darby. Now, where could he have gone?

I pass the Janitor's closet, but that's locked, so he isn't in there. The rest are classrooms, and  he wouldn't be desperate enough to go in one of them while classes were going.  Then I pass the boy's locker rooms, and grin. Come on, he HAS to be in there!

I stop at the door, looking left and right before cracking it open slowly, poking my head in. Floor to ceiling lockers row the walls, and groan. He could be in any one of these! I enter and shut the door behind me, locking it so I would hear if he somehow managed to slip by me unnoticed. 

Okay. I guess i'll just start peeking in every locker, I think, sighing dramatically. Starting to my left, I work my way over, slamming empty locker after empty locker in dismay.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are." I sing quietly, feeling like a rapist or something. Suddenly I hear a bang to my left, and immediately run over there, catching sight of Darby just as he dashes around a corner.

"Aha!" I shout, and chase after him down rows and rows of lockers, panting by the eighth. Darby then makes a mad dash to the door, me about to run back after him when Gage opens the door and Darby slams right into his stomach.

Gage grunts, and grabs the top of Darby's head before he runs away. Whew. I walk up to a glaring Darby and smiling Gage, feeling completely winded.

"Thank goodness. I was not going to be able to chase him for much longer. But, man, do I feel like a bully." Gage shrugs, grinning. Geesh. I am about to call him a bully when a sharp pain in my ribs causes me to wince, and instinctively clutch my stomach. Running just after getting a whooping from dad? Not smart.

"Are you alright Levi?" Gage asks in worry, and I nod.

"Just really outta shape is all." He still watches me worriedly, and I force a smile. 

"Really. Forget about it. Let's just do what we have to here with our little friend." Darby scowls, clenching his fists. Poor little Darby.

We all leave the locker rooms, with Gage holding Darby by the arm, and me looking around cautiously. Minutes later we are heading out of the school. I don't exactly know where it is that we're going, but we are out of the school.

"Okay Darby," Gage says, "Time to get this show on the road." He immediately pushes Darby to the ground and starts rolling him, like a doughy pizza pie or something!

"AGH! What the heck!" Darby yells, somewhat muffled as he is being rolled.

"There there little one. We just need to get you a tad filthy is all." Gage says in a mockingly sweet voice.

"A TAD?! URFGH!" Darby's face got particularly squashed on that last roll, and I flinch, the guilt panging. What are we doing to this poor child? 

At last Gage stands, wiping his hands together as if he just finished a masterpiece. I look back to Darby, and he stands up wobbling, covered in dirt and other grime that was picked up from, the sidewalk. Ew. 

"Did you really have to do that, Gage? What if we've scarred him for life?" He waves a hand in dismissal towards a stumbling Darby.

"Nah, he's had worse." That....doesn't make it better. Sighing, I go over and steady Darby, while he tries to glare but sneezes. AW! I bite my lip, trying not to cuddle him. I haven't had the urge to cuddle something cute in like a month.

I felt guilty again, like I was starting to get over her death too quickly, but I realised I wasn't over it. I think my heart was just trying to tell me it wanted to start healing, with all of this behavior. Sulking and sourness weren't getting me anywhere, but it was my way of forming a protective shell against something that might hurt me again while I was vulnerable. While I was healing.

Gage can hurt me though. He already had hurt me. So why was I beginning to get comfortable around him after just a few days again? My mind flashes back to all that he said to me that day, and my chest starts to hurt, making me want to close up again. Ugh, I don't know what's going on inside my heart and head! What am I trying to tell myself?

Snap, snap snap. The heck is that? I blink, and see Gage snapping his fingers in my face, trying to get my attention. Unexpectedly, tears form in my eyes, and I rub at them furiously, trying to make them disappear, but Gage had already seen them.

"Levi? What's the matter?" His voice floats to my ears, surprisingly soft again. Not now, I can't deal with this right now. All these mixed, vicious emotions rocking me to the core, I-I can't! I turn and run again, this time to the parking lot, and drown out all noise.

I run and run and run, until i'm at the very edge of the lot, and hide behind a big Jeep's tire. 

I stare at my shaking hands, trying to figure what was wrong with me, why I couldn't figure myself out. I squeeze my fists shut and wrap my arms around my torso, bringing my knees up to my chest, as if trying to protect what was inside. 

----------I know, short and sucky. Sorry :( Got a burst of inspiration at 2:00 AM and had to get it in there lol. Comment? <3----------