Title: Stays Out
Disclaimer: Me no own, You no sue.
Warnings: Character death; language; implied Rock/Jason
I.
He stays out of it.
He watches as the others dance around like monkeys on crack. He could tear them all apart, but he stays on the couch. Refusing to be near the woman who led his brother to his early death.
So, he stays out of it.
II.
For his sake as well as the others, he keeps his distance. He knows what'll happen if he stands too close to her. He'd send her to meet their brothers.
So, just for now, he stays out of it.
III.
He quietly laughing at the fear hidden in all their eyes. They know what he's capable of. What exactly his brother taught him. The principal may have thought that Ray was the most screwed up and evil one out there, but, oh, she hasn't seen anything yet.
Screw it; he says to himself, striding to the middle of the dance floor, he'll jump.
IV.
He loves the way the others part for him, because here, he is King. He is Raymond Rockwell's baby brother and damned if that name still doesn't carry any weight as Rock takes her hand and his revenge. He leans down and kisses her, playing his role as a love-struck teen who's decided to put the past behind him.
Too bad though, no one really knew the depth of he and Ray's relationship, the love that was there the fuel for Ray's hatred of anything or anyone that hurt Jason. That love now converted to hatred for LaRhette and anyone associated with her.
He's in it now, sneering at LaRhette as she weeps at his feet.
V.
"I hate you," he whispers in her ear, crouching so that his face is level with hers. "I could never have loved you even if I tried."
She's still crying when he leaves the dungeon. The others don't say anything as he walks up the stairs. Only Ramos is able to look into his eyes, but there is no condemnation there, no loathing, only perfect understanding because he, too, has an older brother. He pauses as Dulaine comes through the door, his black eyes taking it all in. Dulaine doesn't stop him as he cautiously walks by.
He's done, he went in and then came back out.
VI.
"She killed herself last month; did you know that?" Pierre Dulaine asks him.
"Don't try to make me love again," Rock says, looking up at Dulaine from underneath his lashes, defiance burning in his dark chocolate eyes. "Don't you dare." Jason Rockwell shakes his head before burying it in his hands. "I hate her so much," he says, words muffled by his fists. "I always will."
"She had nothing to do with it," Pierre sits down next to the younger man, his voice soft, not arguing or condemnng, merely presenting a point.
"Guilt by association," Rock says, the words sounding automatic as they scrolled off his tongue like a machine, as if they had been thrown into his face on many different occasions.
"Do you really believe that?" Pierre asked, never losing his temper, never getting frustrated.
Rock said nothing, just glared up at the older man.
And that was that.
-End
