AN: This story works as platonic or pre-slash, interpret it how you will. Personally, I read it as a prequel to Holding On For A Hero, (though it certainly isn't a crackfic) but it works as a standalone too. Rated M for drug references and implied child abuse.
This one is for FrankElza. Hope you enjoy this tale of two River Boys trying to get by in the world.
Dean leaned his surfboard against the wall and knocked on the front door of the house in Lansdowne Street. He really hoped Colby's stepdad wasn't home. The guy was an absolute arsehole, and Dean didn't want to have to deal with him.
Thankfully, it was Colby who answered.
"You ready?" Dean frowned, because Colby didn't look ready to hit the waves, decked out in jeans and sleeves.
"Na. Heath needs us to watch the patch today."
"Oh right," Dean said slowly, trying not to let his nervousness show. They'd known, or at least hoped, this day would come. It meant the Braxton's trusted them, and being on the in with the River Boys' top tier was definitely a good thing.
"Leave your board in my room and get changed. Heath's gonna drop us out there now."
Dean nodded and did as he was told.
xxx
Colby rode shotgun because he was older than Dean, and for today that put him in charge. Dean was more than happy with the arrangement. Heath Braxton had a reputation for having a short fuse, and Colby was less likely to piss him off because he was smarter and better at following instructions.
"Now all you boys have to do is sit there and look pretty. We don't expect any trouble."
"Then why do we have to be there?" Dean wondered.
Heath flashed him an annoyed look in the rear-view mirror. Shit.
"What Dean means," Colby intervened, "is what do we do if there is trouble?"
"Don't be cowboys. Just get what details you can, names, descriptions, vehicle details. We'll sort it out from there. Understand?"
"Yes," Colby answered for them.
Dean got another glare in the mirror.
"Yes," he added too.
"Alright," Heath accepted, and the rest of the drive was silent.
Half an hour from town, he dropped them off at what looked like a random patch of bush.
"Right," Heath said, "this is the only track in so if anyone shows up, it'll be through here. Walk down here a bit and there's an old shed you can hang out at. There might be a few bits and pieces in there that'll come in handy. And the goods are another couple of hundred metres past there."
xxx
They'd decided to take a peek. Just because they could.
The plants were taller than Dean and a shade of green like none he'd seen before.
"Don't touch it," Colby warned.
"How would they know if we took a little bit?" Dean was only thinking of enough to try, not to sell or anything.
"Just don't," Colby reiterated, so Dean didn't because Colby usually knew best.
"Let's go check out the shed," Colby suggested, so they did.
It was a shitty old tin shanty with a lot of rubbish and a few newer things like garden tools and binoculars. He wondered if they had anything cool like guns stashed out here. He couldn't see any.
"What are we supposed to do all day?" he asked. It seemed pretty boring out here.
"Our job," Colby said. "C'mon, let's go find a good place to sit."
xxx
Colby pulled a couple of cans of Bundy out of his backpack.
"May as well get comfy," he said, handing one over to Dean.
"Cheers."
They kicked back for a bit, sipping their drinks and taking it easy. Things were always comfortable when it was just the two of them. Even when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, risking their arses for someone else's reward.
"I'm gonna get out of this town one day, you know," Colby said. "I'm gonna be a cop."
"Seriously?" That sounded a little crazy considering they were babysitting a pot crop right now.
"Yeah, like my dad."
"They'd make you cut your hair."
"I'll figure something out," Colby smirked, running a hand over his ponytail.
"But didn't your real dad get killed on the job?" Dean didn't know much about it, but he knew that's why Colby and his mum had ended up in Mangrove River.
"Better than dying in some gang shootout over half an acre of weed."
"I guess," Dean allowed. He didn't wanna think about Colby dying for any reason. "Do you really think that'll happen to us?"
"No, but do you really wanna spend the rest of your life doing this?"
If he was being honest he didn't really give a shit what he did, as long as Colby was there too. In response, all he could do was shrug and take another sip of his rum.
xxx
"You hear that?" Colby asked, sometime in the early afternoon.
"Yeah," Dean said. "Sounds like a dirt bike."
"Probably just going along the main road."
They listened as the bike got closer, hoping that it would just continue past them, but it didn't.
"It stopped," Dean said, unsure about what they should do.
"Dean," Colby hissed. "Dean, go get those binoculars."
Dean took off to grab them, heart pounding. Were they about to die?
He came back to find Colby creeping through the trees to get a better look.
"Here," he said when he caught up. They both crouched down in the scrub to survey the situation.
The guy on the bike was just sitting at the trailhead. He had a helmet on so they couldn't see his face.
"What do you think he's doing?"
"Dunno," Colby said, lifting the binoculars. "The bike's registered. I can see the plate."
"What do we do?" Dean whispered. He didn't wanna piss the Braxton's off, but he didn't wanna end up in the clink either.
"Nothing. Heath told us not to."
They watched the guy for another minute or so, before he picked a direction and rode off again, away from them.
They both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Shit, that was close."
"Yeah."
xxx
It was dark by the time Heath came back for them, and Dean was glad when he showed up, the bush was creepy at night.
"Any worries?"
"Not really," Colby answered, "just one bloke on a dirt bike. A green Kawasaki. He kept going. We got the rego."
"Did he see you?"
"No."
Heath looked impressed.
"Nice work. Here you go fellas," he said, pulling out his wallet and handing them a fifty each. It was more money than Dean had ever had to call his own. He wouldn't have to be hungry anymore. "You keep up the good work and there's plenty more where that came from."
"Happy to help," Colby said, shooting Dean a look.
"Uh, yeah," Dean added. "Thanks."
Heath dropped them off at the milk bar, leaving them to walk home.
Dean glanced up at Colby. He was quiet and Dean knew why.
"It's pretty late. He's gonna be mad, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Colby sighed. "Yeah, he is."
Dean wished there was something he could do, but they both knew it was better for Colby to face the music now, delaying it would only give his stepdad more time to get worked up.
It was a shit deal and Dean couldn't blame Colby for wanting to get as far away from here as possible, even if it meant they'd have to go their separate ways one day.
xxx
Dean was woken by the sound of his bedroom window sliding up. He wasn't frightened, it happened a lot, and he'd been expecting it tonight.
He flicked the bedside lamp on and watched silently as Colby climbed into his room.
When Colby looked up at him, he didn't have to ask what had happened, the spilt on his lip made that clear enough. Dean's parents might've been neglectful, but they weren't cruel, not like Colby's stepdad.
Dean leaned over and pulled the half empty bottle of vodka from under his bed. He'd nicked it from his parents a while back, when they were too plastered to notice.
"It's not too bad," he told Colby as he dabbed at the wound to clean it. Even though it must've stung, Colby didn't flinch. He was used to pain.
Dean tucked the bottle away, sadly knowing it wouldn't be long before he'd have to use it again, then he peeled the covers back and shuffled over.
They were getting too big for the single bed now, but it didn't matter, he would never turn Colby away.
Colby settled down beside him, curling into his side, safe for the rest of the night at least. Dean wanted to be here for Colby always, every day for the rest of their lives if he could.
"Hey Colbs?"
"Hmm?"
"When you go join the cops, can I come too?"
Colby looked up at him, at little surprised at first before a warm smile formed on his face. It made his lip start bleeding again, but it was only a few drops. They'd bled for each other before.
"Yeah. I reckon you'd look good in blue."
"You'll have to wait for me." Being two years younger than Colby was a real pain sometimes.
"What's new?" Colby mumbled, tucking back into his side, right where he belonged. Dean had never had much to look forward to, but right now in this moment, the future didn't look so bad.