Luca- Luxembourg
Erikur- Iceland
Marianne- Monaco
Angelique- Seychelles
Cheng- Macau
Elise- Liechtenstein
Mei- Taiwan
Xiang- Hong Kong
Oscar- Hutt River
Andrei- Moldova
Alin- Romania
...
No I am not starting a new story. Well, technically I am, but it's a one shot! Okay, I might write one or two more chapters, but only when I feel like it! Plus, the thing I was working on, I'd worked on for so long my brain was turning a bit stagnant. But now writing this has freshened me up so we're good to go!
Plus, I kinda owe everyone a happy luxmold fic…
…
It was Luca's first taste of alcohol.
Most kids usually had their first drop at Christmas or their birthdays, surrounded by family to keep an eye on how much they were drinking. To make sure they weren't out on the street doing stupid things. To make sure they didn't do anything rash or reckless. Or illegal.
Like what Luca was doing now.
It had been Erikur's idea. Their 'gang' of well-off suburban kids had been wandering around a nearby council estate trying to intimidate school kids and pensioners when the teen had suggested that Marianne- the eldest- should try her luck buying alcohol. The sixteen year old agreed, unbuttoning the top button of her blouse and pulling her brunette hair out of its plait. Five minutes later, she'd returned with a large keg of cider.
Now here they were. It was Luca's turn with the keg, and he glanced around at his friends' faces before taking a tentative sip. His brows furrowed at the taste. It was like apple juice- to his pleasant surprise- but with a slight chemical aftertaste. He shrugged before taking a larger gulp.
"Hey go easy on that," Angelique warned, taking the keg off him, "pisshead."
"Mean. I just like the taste! It's quite nice, actually."
"That's how they all start," Cheng joked, sat cross-legged on the pavement playing blackjack with Marianne for matchsticks. He never played for money, despite how much she protested. Her little sister, Angelique, was sprawled on a wooden bench with Elise, and Cheng's little brother and sister: Mei and Xiang. Luca himself was resting on the cold, damp pavement tangled in Elise's legs. Next to him, Oscar took the keg off Angelique and took a deep swig, handing it to Erikur on his other side.
Luca glanced around. Behind them, a field of brown, tired grass bridged the gap between their bench and the looming tower block, one of many he could see. Most of the lights in the windows were still on, a few people milling about on their balconies. A fox slipped in and out of the shadows a few metres away and pigeons picked at an abandoned take-away carton. This was the life, huh? All those morons home and warm had no idea what they were missing out on.
"Look, it's getting a bit late," Luca began, running a hand through his soft hair.
"You're not scared, are you?" Xiang gave the smallest of smiles, nudging Luca's back lightly with a foot.
"No," he blushed, "I'm just a bit tired."
"It's only eight!"
"Exactly, I have all that French homework," Luca shrugged, "and my sister doesn't like me staying out late."
"Dunno why you're doing French," Oscar commented, "you can speak it fluently!"
"Gonna be an easy GCSE," replied Luca with a wink, "same with German. It's a shame they don't do Luxembourgish as a subject too."
"How lazy," Angelique smirked.
"All I need are my fine art and textiles GCSEs," he sighed, "gonna be a famous fashion designer, one day!
"If you can sober up long enough!" Xiang joked.
"I took two sips! Just you see. I'll be in all the magazines and fashion programmes. That'll show you all!"
"You and me both," called Marianne, "maybe we could team up sometime?"
"I'd like that. Now, if you delinquents will excuse me, I'll go do that homework now."
He pulled himself up, wiping down his trousers and setting off. Luca was half an hour away from his house, and he didn't like walking around after dark, which is something he found himself doing a lot of since his friends started reaching certain ages. At fourteen, he was one of the younger members of the group, and wasn't comfortable with some of the things they were doing, not that any of them were very good at being antisocial in the first place. Regardless, Luca didn't like staying out after six on school nights, or walking around trying to intimidate people. He'd certainly protested at Erikur's daft idea to buy alcohol. All of them were underage! What if a policeman saw them? They could go to jail! He'd never be able to look his siblings in the eye again!
Luca sighed as he stuffed his hands into his designer jacket pockets, kicking a rock absent-mindedly.
"Ow!"
Luca's head shot up and panic washed over him as he spied a young boy rubbing his thigh and glaring at him. The rock lay innocently in between them on the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" he gushed, staring at the kid curiously. He was scruffy, with dark hair and a large, patchwork coat too big for the boy and making him look like a tiny, mobile tent. He was sat on the pavement, battered shoes in the gutter, chin resting on his hands.
"Yeah, if you say so…" he glared ahead, sighing dramatically. Luca decided to join him.
"Hi," he threw a grin in the other's direction, "I'm Luca."
"Andrei."
"So what's wrong with you?" he asked curiously.
Andrei blew a tuft of fringe from his face. "I'm running away."
"Oh? How come?"
"My brother's gonna kill me."
"I doubt it."
"He probably will," Andrei's eyebrows shot up.
"Nah, he won't! Why would he, anyway?"
"I let his hamster out of its cage."
On instinct, Luca let out a shriek and shot up. Andrei gave a small yell at the sound and Luca blushed, suddenly self-conscious as he sank back down.
"Don't like rodents," he explained, "horrible little squeaky things. Oh, no offense."
"None taken," Andrei gave a small smile, revealing a pair of tiny fangs, "Boian can't hear you."
"Boian?"
"The hamster."
"Oh, I see," Luca paused for a moment, "why did you let it out of its cage? Releasing it into the wild?"
"I just wanted to pet him!" Andrei sobbed, "Boian's so soft and fluffy! I can't resist cuddling fluffy things, never can. So when my brother was out, I opened the cage and picked Boian up. He bit my finger, I dropped him by accident, and he scurried away."
"That's a shame," Luca ruffled his hair reassuringly.
"I've been looking for him all afternoon but he's gone!" Andrei wailed softly, burying his face in his hands.
"You mean it's still on the loose?" Luca looked around nervously. He really hated rodents, especially ones not in a cage that could easily sneak up on him.
"Yes, and my brother probably got home a few minutes ago. I can't go back now and tell him his hamster's gone!"
"He's probably more worried about you being gone," warned Luca, "look, I'm sure if you explain things to him, he'll understand."
"Probably," Andrei's lip quivered.
"Your brother isn't some big, brutish bully, is he?"
"No!" exclaimed Andrei, "Alin never hits me, or shouts at me even when he comes home pissed. I'm his most favourite person in the world."
"So he's probably really worried about you," Luca patted Andrei's back, and pulled himself onto his feet. "Shall I escort you home?"
"Sure, that'll be nice, thanks," Andrei grinned, taking Luca's outstretched hand and scrambling up. "It's kinda scary at this time."
"Yeah, there are some pretty unsavoury characters hanging about," Luca agreed.
"True! I saw some scary-looking kids wandering about earlier, drinking and talking loudly." Andrei glanced around nervously.
"Hey, those were my friends!" Luca exclaimed, "and there's nothing 'scary' or 'unsavoury' about us!"
"Alright, alright, keep your hair on," Andrei snorted, starting to walk across the field.
"Well, I'm sure all teens look scary to a little titch like you. What are you anyway? Nine? Ten?"
"Twelve!" Andrei poked him in the chest.
"Could've fooled me." The pair walked towards one of the tower blocks, and Andrei took out his keys.
"Wait, you only live here?" Luca frowned at him.
"Yeah."
"Didn't get very far with your running away, did you?"
"My brother says I'm not allowed to cross the road," Andrei shrugged, opening the door and walking inside. Luca blinked before following.
The landing was grubby with cracked floor tiles. The light flickered above them, and Andrei's footsteps echoed against the steps as he began to climb them.
"No point using the lifts," he called back, "we only live on the next floor up."
"Right." Luca stepped forward to follow him, when what appeared to be a tiny, fluffy ball scurried across the landing at the foot of the stairs. He shrieked and threw himself back, landing against the front door with a thud.
"What's wrong?" cried Andrei.
"Rats! The whole place is infested with rats!" He pointed at the fluffy ball for good measure, as if that would show the little pest who's boss.
"Huh?" Andrei followed the direction of his finger, and broke into a grin when he saw the apparent rat. "Boian!" he dashed down the stairs and scooped his pet up.
"That's your little gerbil thing?" Luca realised he'd broken into a sweat.
"You found him!" Andrei beamed at the other, hamster safely curled up in his hands. "You're a hero, Luca! Well, my hero at least."
Luca didn't particularly feel like a hero at that point, eyeing Boian anxiously, but Andrei's grinning face seemed to have an effect on him. A strange effect that made his stomach fizz and heart soar. If Andrei thought he was a hero, then he was happy to let the kid think that. Hamster or no hamster!
"No problem," he laughed shakily, following Andrei up the stairs and making sure to put some distance between him and Boian. He was positive that thing had glared at him. They climbed the stairs and walked along a bleak, graffiti-covered corridor before Andrei came to a stop in front of one of the doors. Andrei paused.
"Are you sure Alin won't be angry?" he whispered in a tiny, terrified voice.
"Course he won't be!" Luca assured him, "and if he is, I'll… I'll… break his nose or something." He knew it was an empty promise; Luca couldn't even break a school rule, let alone an adult's nose! It seemed to reassure Andrei though, but Luca couldn't help but wonder just what sort of character this Alin actually was. He guessed Alin was some big, tough, hardnut skinhead with arms covered in tattoos, a string vest and a criminal record. He probably had a big, barking pit-bull with a spiked collar too. Luca suddenly found himself feeling very protective of Andrei.
The kid rang the doorbell, and it opened in seconds. And Luca came face to face with something rather different from his speculations.
Alin was tall and gangly, with long, shaggy brown hair and the most curious pair of eyes Luca had ever seen. Red eyes! Who on earth had red eyes? His face was pointed, and he had the same strange fangs as his brother, as well as a black t shirt and glittering bracelets.
"Andrei!" he cried, pulling his brother into a crushing hug, "where the hell were you? I was so worried! I was just about to phone the police!"
"I'm sorry!" Andrei burst into tears, throwing his arms around his brother and quite forgetting he was holding a hamster. Poor old Boian flew through the air.
Right onto Luca's jacket.
The teen found himself once more giving a rather embarrassing yelp as an unfortunate- and most probably terrified- hamster clung to designer nylon for dear life.
"Andrei! You mouse escaped again!"
He stood there, frozen, whilst Andrei tore himself from his brother's arms and scooped little Boian up, a challenge since the hamster's claws were dug deep into Luca's clothes, nearly digging into his skin. Eventually, boy and hamster were prized apart, and Luca began to breathe easily. For a second, anyways.
"Who the hell are you? What are you doing hanging around my baby brother?"
"Err… I… well…"
"He sat with me and listened and walked me home," Andrei explained.
"Did he now?" Alin raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Luca interjected, "he seemed upset; I felt it was my duty as a responsible citizen to help!"
"I bet you did," Alin shook his head, "hoping I wasn't home, most likely. But thanks anyway. Andrei gets scared easily when he's separated from me."
"Bro! Don't tell Luca that!"
"I'll tell 'Luca' whatever I bloody well like," Alin paused before sighing, "look, Andrei. Why… How could you just go off on your own like that? I was worried sick! I thought you'd been kidnapped or something!"
"Don't worry sir, if anyone did kidnap him, they'd probably return him after an hour," Luca joked.
Alin glared at him, pointing a finger in his direction. "Shut up."
"Just saying," Luca mumbled, "you gotta admit he pongs."
"I let Boian out of his cage and he escaped," Andrei blurted out before the other two started fighting. He held up the dazed, dazzled hamster up to prove it. "I thought you'd be really angry, so I ran away…"
"I am angry," Alin admitted, "but only because I thought something bad had happened to you!"
"I'm sorry," Andrei sniffed loudly, wiping tears and snot from his face with one of his fake-fur cuffs. "I keep messing up, don't I?"
"No, it's not your fault!" Alin knelt down and pulled him into another hug, "you're just a kid! You make mistakes and that's life. Big deal, huh? Just don't run away again! You're all I have left…"
"I won't," Andrei was bawling now, and Luca suddenly felt very awkward. He gave a small cough.
"It's a good thing your brother isn't allowed to cross the road, or he could've been miles away by now."
"Wait," Alin held Andrei out at arm's length, grinning; "you seriously just walked around the building for hours?"
"I sulked a bit too," Andrei shrugged.
"You're too adorable for words, my special little boy," Alin kissed Andrei's forehead and stood up. "Well," he began, glancing between the two boys, "you both better come in. I'll make some coffee for us all. Err, maybe warm milk for Andrei. A whole bottle of vodka for my poor nerves… And, Luca, you can phone your parents to pick you up."
"Thank you, sir," Luca nodded before following the brothers into a small, but cosy, flat.
"Please, call me Alin!"
"Okay, Alin." Luca sat down on the sofa next to Andrei, who had put Boian back in his cage and grabbed a pair of blankets folded in a little wicker basket, handing one to Luca and draping the other over himself to keep warm before kicking off his shoes. He leaned against Luca, and the other found himself blushing once more.
"Thanks for sitting and talking to me just then," Andrei mumbled, "it was real nice of you…"
"Hey… it's no problem at all."
"You're warm." Andrei let out a yawn, nuzzling closer, "I like that in a human. Please stay with me for a bit."
"Of course! I haven't even phoned my brother to pick me up yet."
"Don't phone him just yet…" Andrei closed his eyes, and Luca sat in silence in the warmth of the blankets, listening to the younger boy's steady breathing and pitter-pattery heartbeat.
This, he decided, was a far better way to spend the evening than sitting on the cold pavement drinking illegally.
That is, until an irate Alin came out of the kitchen and saw them snuggled up together.
…
Safe to say that Boian was the star of this fic.
Also, please don't walk strangers home. That's dangerous. And only do underage drinking in the presence of a responsible adult in the safety of your own home.