annnnd Chapter 3 is up. Pardon it being submitted a bit...lateish, kind of. I couldn't get to a computer after when I put up the first two yesterday. [/shrug] What're ya gonna do.

ANYWAY. As of now, the raw version of PFL is finished, but the edited versions are not. I want to say we have a good 3-4 chapters after the most recent one-that is, 10. But hey, sequels are being written man, and-

River Song: Spoilers~

Oh shut up and get to your own TV show.

Here we go guys.

PLOT TIME. Now things get kinda serious, so put on your seatbelts.

Again this is an RP between myself and May Sparrow.

This time, the posts were translated into a proper chapter by her as were several other chapters. Which is kinda incredible. Please do check out her work.

None of the original belongs to us!

Tuesday lunch bell found Conrad on his way to the office. Whereas other teens his age were enjoying their lunches or chatting with their dear friends, Conrad would usually head to the library and bury himself into a quiet corner to read, but today he had to do a couple things before he could be free to dive into his current novel.

Slipping into the office, Conrad greeted the nurse with a polite (if not dull and robotic) nod to her warm "oh hello you again".

"It's Tuesday," he began. "I just get the blue and round ones today, right?" She nodded at him, then turned back to shuffle through the cupboard to find his medication. Meanwhile, Conrad seated himself in one of the two seats beside the door, dangling his feet lightly, knocking them back and forth in the slightest bored fashion.

The kid had been asking for it, really he had. All Luce had done was given him a quick punch to the jaw for calling his sister a whore. After all, Luce took a lot of shit from kids, but no one was allowed to mutter a word about his flesh and blood. If there was a code Luce stuck by, it was this:

1. Never kick a man when he's down. Kicking, punching, biting, any of that shit was messed up and indecent, and Luce did have at least one moral bone in his body.

2. Never hurt a person that's clearly incapable of fighting back. This went for druggies and little kids, and sometimes girls, even though a few had proved quite capable of taking care of themselves.

3. Never, ever insult a person's family member when you know the person could beat the living shit out of you.

That last rule had been broken today, and a fight had broken out quite too easily. It had ended just as quickly, and as it figured, Luce was sent to the office all by himself. It wasn't that he minded, really, because he was there all the time; he just would have preferred that asshole to have joined him so he could hit him a couple more times before they arrived.

At this point, Luce's nose was bleeding something awful, and he was covered with bruises and scratches from his opponent (a little dickhead that went by the name Lamont Toucey). In a sort of fashion much like that of a jailer getting a final meal before the death sentence, Luce was allowed to the nurse's office to clean up before being sent into the principal's office. He mumbled something incoherent to the secretary before walking into the nurse's room rudely, not bothering to knock. He plopped into the seat closest to the door, which was vacant, before realizing that there was someone else beside him. A certain someone, actually.

Luce couldn't help a smirk from breaking across his face, partially hidden behind the hand that was plugging his bloody nose. "Allo, kiddie," he muttered cheerfully, his voice nasally. "Long time no see. Ya 'ere fer a tampon er s'meth'ng?"

Conrad jumped a little from the older boy's presence, almost immediately muttering, "Oh god not you!" before looking up to the nurse in a pleading expression that screamed for her to give him the pills so he could go, yet unfortunately for him, she had noted the senior as the higher priority, and she, of course, was the only one on staff.

"Oh you little rascal- another fight? Hang on Conrad, I need to stop this bleeding!"

"No, wai-!" Too late. She had already left the tray of prescription bottles on the counter to find the first aid kit. Conrad took a deep breath, praying for nothing bad to happen. Nothing could happen, right? They were in the office; the older kid couldn't do anything here! ...Right?

He felt himself coil up in retaliation to the rude comment. "I'm just here for my medication... You-" he paused. It was pretty obvious why he was here, he nose was bleeding. Why was he going to ask? "I mean... ho-" also pretty obvious. It was Luce, it was pretty clear he was the sort of boy to get into fights on a daily basis. In that moment, Conrad felt like an utter idiot. He stopped talking.

Luce snorted, accidentally swallowing some blood in the process, eliciting a grimace. "Meds, 'uh?" His smirk never faded. "Now, what wouldja need meds fer?" Quickly noting the pill box so carelessly left behind, he studied its contents, nitpick eyes easily recognizing the tablets from his mother's pill bottles. "The Lexies and Paxy?" He rolled his eyes; these were antidepressants, for a person with serious metal instability.

But hang on. These had some poor side effects: lack of sleep, withdrawal, lots of bad shit. Why the hell would an underage kid be taking these pills?

Worth grimaced again, leaning forward to keep the blood from trailing down his trachea. "You- Yer one'a those damn cutters, ain'cha? Fuck, das so stupid." His grimace didn't fade; as far as he was concerned, cutters were usually just asking for attention. Luce cut, on occasion, but it was only for the feel (and he liked it). "Sum depressed little shit t'at can't take care o' 'is own 'ide? Shit." His grimace deepened; the damned depressed kids were so caught up with their own problems, they could never see the world around them. It was irritating as hell.

At the accusation, Conrad's head snapped up, almost immediately shaking. "W-What? No! I don't cut- Jesus, why would you think that?" To say he was caught off guard was a slight understatement, but he didn't realize what Worth had seen; hell, he didn't even remember what each pill was even for!

At that moment the nurse returned, and he looked up hopefully, in vain.

"Luce, settle down and use this," she said sternly, handing the senior some medical tissue. "I'll be back with some water- Behave! The both of you!" With that, she left the room once more, and Conrad's face fell.

The elder boy just rolled his eyes, tissue dangling in one hand. "Da fuck am I s'posed ta do with dis thing, damn lady don't know how ta do her job," he muttered dully- nevertheless, he brought the tissue to his nose and blew loudly, squeezing the excess away. He blinked down at the bloody mess, making a face. "Errg."

Said boy returned his attention to his companion, expression deepening. "Why? Cuz dat shit's fer kids dat're messed up in da 'ead." To emphasize his point, he poked himself lightly in the temple. "What da damn docters don't tell ya is dat shit could act'lly mek it worse."

He blew again, snorting and wiping his nose. "Specially fer kid's yer age. Wut're ya, ten er s'meth'ng?" Luce poked the smaller teen in the chest, lightly but invasively. "S'Just gunna make shit worse fer ya."

Conrad scooted away slightly from the finger. "Don't touch me!" He was becoming angry now, from all the insults and invasiveness. "And I'm not messed up! My mom just makes me take these pills- not that this is any of your business!" His hackles lowered for a moment, and he directed the rest of his reply to what he thought he knew: "'Sides, you're lying. Doctors don't give you stuff to hurt you- you're supposed to trust them. Y-You're just trying to scare me. Again." To prove his disbelief, he crossed his arms tightly across his chest- but it came off as hugging himself instead. "So… shut up."

His last rebuttal didn't come off as very strong to the other teen, however, and Luce groaned. Why did it figure that the one time he was actually being brutally honest, no one would listen to him? "Yer mum, eh?" The senior rolled his eyes. "Parents dunno shit."

His expression turned to a glare at the kid. "I ain't gonna shuddup. I know my shit, and probly know more'en yer mum, too. Wouldn't be stupid enough ta' let mah kid tek all three damn antiwhatsits." He held up three fingers, then let his hand fall again to his lap. "Wouldn't be stupid enough ta 'ave a kid in da first place. Specially one with genes like yers." The hand rose again, to poke Conrad in the arms, despite the boy's defensive expression.

"I betcha she got fucked and didn even wantcha. Whetever problem's she got, she thinks you 'ave em. S'called..." Luce put his finger to his chin in an expression of thought. "… 'ctually, can't m'mber wet it's called." He removed his finger from his chin to wave it in the air, like some sort of wiseass proving a point. "Is real though." Later, Luce would recall the word he was searching for as projecting, but for now he didn't bother trying.

So far, Conrad had been able to withstand the rude comments; but those, those last ones, those were on a totally different level. It was clear that at this point, he really was hugging himself. "I-It's not my fault..." his voice shook, "Why are you..."

His expression was that of devastation, like a person that's been in denial and refuses to come out. "Why are you doing this!" His voice spiked dangerously high. "My mom- you can't say things like that! She's a good person!" He swallowed.

Luce pulled the tissue away from his nose to check the bleeding; to his chagrin, it had definitely improved. His annoyance only increased furthermore as the younger boy continued to deny his comments. "Lookit ya. You'da been better off if she hadn' kept ya. Lotta less moping an' crying an pills. I know what'm talkin' 'bout, Connie."

"She wanted me. She did! She kept me didn't she? That proves it doesn't? You wouldn't know!" Conrad's voice was definitely rising in fury. "I hate you! I bet everyone does! So you wouldn't know!" His eyes watered furiously, but his expression had twisted into anger and distress.

At the raised voice, he looked up, catching sight of the unshed tears, and frowned.

"Hate me?" He snorted. "Course they hate me, 'm the only one th'can see how stupid all this shit is." The scraggly teen's eyes suddenly became dangerously narrow. "I know 'zactly what I'm talkin' about. And you know it too."

At this point, it was obviously clear he was glaring at the boy, more than angered by his denial, by his childish fury. "There ain't a damn thing you kin do ta stop me. 'M the only one being fuckin' honest in this damn world. 'N you can tell. Why else wouldja be flippin' out so much?"

He reached out then, grabbed Conrad by his shoulders, trying to tell him to let go, to stop being a kid and to listen to him. "Ain't nobody in this world you kin trust, understand? Nobody." He shook him lightly, as though trying to shake him from his mindset. "Grow up an' get it through yer head."

Conrad's stamina and emotions were spiraling madly at the older boy's words. "Shut up shut up shu-" his shaking was broken off as physical contact was reestablished, and he stared blankly at Worth, insides churning and snapping.

Something, some final boundary, that had been thin and worn already, snapped and broke inside Conrad's mind.

"I said, DON'T TOUCH ME!" Head reared back, slammed forward into Worth's face, forehead against the boy's already fragile nose. Luce cursed loudly as his nose was crushed further, brain nearly screaming from the contact. He released Conrad and fell back into his seat, gripping his nose, and Conrad took the opportunity to pull farther away and scramble to his feet, hyperventilating.

Luce's mind was in shambles. His mind was screaming holy fuck holy shit that hurts. His nose felt utterly crushed at this point, and Luce resisted a yelp of pain as he tried to hold it in its proper place. He blinked at Conrad somewhat blurry-eyed, as the boy began to scream at him:

"I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME! I don't trust you, I'll never trust you! Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!" At this point, it was clear that Conrad had crossed a certain boundary, and was officially having what some may call an episode.

"…Well, fuck." The senior said nothing more until the kid had calmed some, meanwhile blinking and staring cross-eyed at the broken thing his fingers. "Did… Did ya just hit me?"

To say he was surprised was a bit of an understatement; he had never expected this kid, this pansy to really fight him, to fight back and defend himself. At this point in time the tissue had returned to his nose, and was soaked quite thoroughly to the point of dripping.

"You just hit me… Damn."

Conrad's hand were curled into small fists as his psyche tried to reign itself in; his emotions were having none of it. "Yes I hit you! I'd hi-"

Realization hit him like an iron fist, and the frightened expression returned to his face as quickly as it had fled. "Oh god - I hit yo-"

To his utter misfortune, the nurse finally reentered the room, hand wrapped around a cup of water he could only assume was meant for his pills.

"Sorry, dear, they were out of paper cups so I ha- oh dear." She took in the scene awfully slowly, piecing together what had happened.

"Conrad, go to the Principals office NOW. Wait there until I can get a hold of him and your mother."

"W-Wait! You ca- you don't under-"

"Now!" That set aside hastily, she returned her focus to Worth, forcing him to lean back. "...Yup, broken," she muttered to herself, eliciting a grimace from Luce (gee, ya think?) "You'll need to go to the hospital." That said, she tried to carefully stop the bleeding as a secretary escorted a clearly broken Conrad out of the room.

Luce waved her away in a dismissive manner, a grin breaking open on his bloody face. "Old up, lady. Bigger things a' work 'ere." He was actually beginning to enjoy the pain, being the masochist that he was, and he limped out of the room quickly, trying to catch the other teen.

"Old up, 'old up." He finally managed to get the secretary to stop, only a few feet away from the principal's room.

Conrad was not happy; he felt as though he was walking to his doom, and in one way, he kid of was. But they were suddenly stopped, and he turned; to his surprise, Worth had been the distraction. He was covered in blood, and the freshman resisted a grimace.

As he leaned down to look Conrad in the eye, an almost manic grin spread across his face.

"Goo' job, kid."

"Good job?" He… he just broke his nose- how could Luce be happy about that? "I do-"

A fist connected with his stomach, and Worth was rewarded with a nice squelching sound.

"Unnngh!" The underclassman fell to his knees, wheezing.

"Don' do it again," he heard faintly. The words were followed by laughter as Luce waved off the angry secretary, who furiously redirected her attention to the small pained boy, leading him into the principal's room and onto a couch to recover.

Luce Worth laughed once more and returned cheerfully to the frowning nurse. "Where were we?"