When I'm With You

Title: "When I'm With You"

Rating: T

Summary: "When I'm with you, I'll make every second count - cause I miss you, whenever you're not around." Petey can't help but cry in front of his friend after that unforgettable night.

Authors Notes: So this is a little onshot of a character death. Someone who most of us, adore. I've had a rough time lately and I needed to express my feelings somewhere. Therefore, this story was born. I also wrote this in a different style, somewhat. It goes betweent the present (the hospital) and the memories of the incident. This was mostly inspired by two songs, When I'm With You by Faber Drive and Gravity by Sara Bareilles

Disclaimer: I do not own "Bully" and if I did, I'm pretty sure Zoe would have fallen off the roof instead of Gary.

Why him?

Of course he had it coming to him, but not like this. Not with each limb twisted a different sick way. The memories of the attack made him cringe, sending shivers down his spine. His facial features were hardly visible after the beating. Charges would be pressed by the school – even if those Townie scumbags couldn't afford it. They would pay with blood.

Petey's skin crawled at his own, violent thought.

His breathing kept in sync with Gary's heartbeat on the machine. He would have to leave soon, visiting hours would soon be over.

***

"Gary, c'mon! Why can't we go do something together?" Petey scowled. Gary turned around and shot him a death glare.

"Don't ever think we'll be lovey dovey," Gary grunted like he always did when Petey brought up the relationship the two shared. "I only hang out with you at school because I feel bad. Too cool to be a nerd but too much of a loser to be associable with the ladies, femme-boy." Gary smirked, somewhat smiling for once.

Pete frowned, crossing his arms as he sulked on the bed. Gary rolled his eyes as he shut their dorm door and made his way over to Petey. "C'mon, you know I don't like it when you're like this."

"Shut up, Gary."

Before Petey could get another remark in, Gary captured his lips with his own – pressing him up against the wall. He could practically hear Petey's heart pound mercilessly as the smaller boy's arms dropped to his side. He wanted more than anything to put them around Gary's neck, but that would be too far.

Before anything else could happen, Gary pulled away – avoiding Petey's eyes.

"C'mon! A place like... um, just the town! Please, Gary?" Pete begged, "We barely get any time together and when we do... I want to make the most of it. It's Christmas, Gary... Please?"

Gary turned at looked at the blushing boy and sighed in defeat. "Fine, let's go."

Petey beamed and jumped off the bed, launching himself into Gary's arms. Gary groaned and finally pulled away from femme-boy and opened the door to their room. "Ladies first," Gary gestured to the door like a gentlemen. Petey didn't care that he was making fun of him, he was with Gary and that's all that mattered.

***

He could feel a lump in his throat as he looked at Gary's scarred hands.

"Mr. Kowalski? You have ten minutes left," Dr. Crawford informed him as he lingered at the door. Petey shrugged and kept his eyes on Gary – afraid that if for one second, he took his eyes off of him, he would be gone.

"It's always hard to see a younger child in the hospital like this. I know it's Bullworth and we get situations like this monthly but I can't help but feel like trash when I can't help them. Mr. Smith is in a stable condition but it's hard to predict whether he'll make it out of this or not."

"He'll make it though, I know he will," Petey whimpered, feeling the tears stringing his eyes. "It'll be a Christmas miracle."

***

"Gary, shut up!" Petey scowled, pushing Gary's shoulder but only caused him to stumble slightly.

"What, you don't like it when I do that?" Gary smirked and pressed his lips against Petey's more aggressive than last time. His hands grabbed both of Petey's hip and pushed him hard against the brick wall, earning a little squeak from femme-boy. Finally, Petey built up the courage and slowly snaked his arms around Gary's neck and pulled him closer. Their breathes were hot in each other's mouth and Petey couldn't help but release a small moan as Gary slipped in his tongue. The sensation was overwhelming and just before Petey was about to join Gary, a pair of voices caused them to pull apart.

"Oh, look at the queers!" Clint roared with laughter, a bat over his shoulder like always. Gary scowled and took a step in front of Petey out of haste. Petey whimpered as he stood behind Gary, trying to look over the shoulder at the drop outs.

There were four of them.

"Fuck off, townies. I'm surprised you even know what queer means," Gary sneered, putting one step forward – ready if they jumped him. None of them made a move towards him. "Let me guess, another shitty bat for Christmas? Or did you just pick that off of the ground."

"We're sick of you little school shits," Omar's voice called from behind Clint's. "Think you be better than us!"

Gary snored, "Like you can't tell." Petey gave him a light punch from behind. Gary turned around to look at the trembling little boy. "Oh calm down femme-boy. I got this all under-" and with one sickening crack, Gary's body was smacked down to the ground. Petey squealed, bringing his hands to his mouth. There was a murderous gleam in Clint's eye as he picked up Gary and smashed him against the brick wall. Before Petey could react, a townie grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into the deepest corner of the alley.

***

Dr. Crawford had left, leaving Petey to Gary once again.

His face would never be smooth again. The scar on his eye was nothing compared to what was on his body. They had pulled a knife. Their fists had beaten him down until he couldn't breathe. The memory pulled at Petey's heart and he instantly burst out crying. He never wanted to talk to somebody so bad before – but even if Gary woke, he would be in excruciating pain.

"Petey... shut the fuck up," Gary wheezed, lazily moving his hand to swipe the crying brunette.

"Gary!" Petey cried, instantly grabbing the free hand. He laced his fingers in between Gary's, causing Gary to groan in pain.

***

Gary's body was lying unconscious on the floor and the big oaf, Duncan, had his grubby hands all over Petey.

"No! Don't touch me!" Petey screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would come by and save him. The Townies laughed as Petey felt Duncan's cold hand slip down his trousers. "Stop!" He felt numb and the world was spinning – Petey wanted nothing more than to pass out or throw up.

That's when he remembered hearing Duncan mutter curses and toss Petey to floor before he ran... Who had saved them though?

***

"Ugh, who saved us?" Gary croaked, not even bothering to pull his hand away from Petey's – even if it was causing him unbelievable agony. He could finally feel the sedatives wearing off and every cut and bruise on his body was on fire. He slowly moved his head over to see Petey, tears flowing down his cheeks. "You should leave if you can't handle this femme-boy..."

"No! When I'm with you... I'll make every second count because I miss you!" Petey yelled, causing Gary to flinch from the sudden outburst of anger. His quiet tears turned into sobs that echoed off the white walls of the hospital room. All of a sudden, Gary as if all the pain Petey had been carrying was added to Gary's own weight in his heart. He could feel his throat tighten and his whole body was in overdrive – as if it was trying to make it to the finishing line.

"Petey... I-I..."

"Gary, please, what?" Petey cried, his words almost impossible to understand.

"I love you," and with those words, his eyes fluttered closed and the machine flat lined.

Petey's blood curling scream signalled the doctors to the room where they immediately pushed the smaller boy out of their way. One of the nurses held Petey by the arms as he tried to make his way back to Gary, who had become completely still.

"Paddles, quickly!" Dr. Crawford yelled at his trainee who immediately shoved a cart at him. He picked them up and rubbed them together, making each agonizing second a personal hell for Petey.

Gary's body merely shook and fell back on the bed. The flat line's sound droned on, adding to the amount of pain Petey was going through. His first attempt made no difference.

Neither did his second.

Or third.

"Gary!" Petey cried, as the doctors looked at each other and began to put the equipment back. It was as if everything was in slow motion and he could only hear one thing above all others.

"Time of death – 3:16am. Let Mr. Kowalski say his parting words in private," Dr. Crawford spoke quietly and nodded to his team as they all filed out. The woman holding back Petey let go and joined the others. Petey glanced up at the doctor who shrugged. "I'm sorry, we did everything we could have."

"No you didn't!" Petey cried, his own heart betraying him. "You didn't keep trying! You just gave up, just like that! You could have saved him if you kept going!"

"He was dead from the start, Kowalski," he spoke gravely, pushing past the pale boy. Petey glanced at Gary – who looked as peacefully as ever. His eyes were shut as if he was just sleeping but Petey knew very well he wasn't sleeping.

He would never hear his ill-mannered voice again.

He would never hear him make fun of the other losers at school. He would never hear another one of his taunts towards Petey's feminine personality or appearance. Never again.

"Gary? I-I know you can't hear me right now... because... because you're in a better place. Somewhere where you can't feel a single bit of pain, which is good!" His voice cracked on the last word. "Gary, you're the only person who took me in when everyone else cast me away... and for that, I, well... um, love you. Love you more than words or actions could ever explain..." and with those final closing words Petey took the seat next to Gary's bed and said his prayers.

***

Petey stood on the highest hill of Bullworth, out looking the lake with a sad smile on his lips.

His parents hadn't cared what happened to their boy – therefore they gave the responsibility of his memories to Peter Kowalski. Petey choose to throw his ashes upon the highest spot in Bullworth. Gary would forever be higher than the rest of the idiots who challenged him – made something a little more difficult than it needed to be.

"Something always brings me back you. It never takes too long..." Petey smiled, imagining how Gary would just shrug at his words. He had flowers he would place here every time of that heartbreaking day. He placed the flowers down, red roses. He still loved Gary, even if he couldn't say it out loud anymore. Just hearing those three special words caused a tear to run down his cheek.

"It's been a year, huh?" A familiar voice asked, standing behind Petey. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't even hear the Greaser.

"Yeah, a year."

"Do you miss him?" Johnny asked, putting a hand on Petey's shoulder. He sniffled, blowing his nose in a tissue.

"Of course."

"I'm sorry we didn't arrive sooner... if we had just come five minutes earlier, everything could've played out differently."

Petey took in a deep, quivering breath.

"I know. But we can't dwell on the 'could haves'. It'll drive us insane, if we think of all the possibilities that could've happened. Everything's done, it's permanent. Thanks though, Johnny. I'll always be grateful for the extra time you gave me," Petey spoke gravely, staring off into the sky.

"So... what's gonna' happen now?" Johnny asked, stepping beside Petey.

"We continue our lives. I promised him that," Petey turned his head to look at Johnny, who's eyes were watering slightly. Before Johnny could understand what was going on, Petey had wrapped his arms around the Greaser, tears staining his leather jacket.

"Don't break that promise, kid," Johnny said as he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's body. Pete envisioned Gary, smiling at him from a distance – slowly disappearing into the light. The wind picked up, a flurry of snowflakes sticking to his cold, exposed skin. Gary was gone, it was time to move on and take a step forward. The first step in a year. Merry Christmas, Gary.

"I won't, I promise."