A.N- Thank you S.J for your comment! Now how could I resist?
Hope you enjoy~
Chapter Three: 10.5
Kyle's parents, filled with guilt, were not difficult to convince (Kyle betted that they were secretly glad to send him away in the end). They even agreed for him to stay at Christophe's house until the end of summer, and granted, Kyle left the next day.
One suitcase was enough as Kyle rolled it through the small platform of South Park station. There were two platforms, one to go left and the other, right. His parents, although granted his wish, were busy enough to not watch him off. He wondered if they would have come if they thought that they would never see him again, although in that case they still had another, better son left. The thought that he won't be missed erased any shadows of hesitation that was still lingering in his chest. Kyle dwelt in the quietness until the whistle of the train took him.
Through the window, he watched the small mountain town through the fogged and scratched window of the train, until he was content enough to not feel the need to see it as if never again. The desolated train was perfect for thinking, but Kyle chose to stay away from his thoughts as much as possible. When he did think, all he could think of was his fight with his parents, and then Stan Marsh. He regretted it, but somewhere, he guessed that he was glad to have been able to hear Stan's true feelings. Now, at least, he won't be a burden to his dearest friend. Being a burden hurt, but carrying one must be worse.
Kyle only realised how little thought he had put into his actions when he arrived at Christophe's house. He had only been thinking about himself, and although he had Christophe's permission, his sudden invasion would be either a nuisance or an inconvenience. That's what he thought as he knocked on the door, but when it opened he was almost swept off his feet.
It was the first time Kyle had spent a decent amount of time at Christophe's house and with his family, well, his mother. She was French (which was clear by her thick accent, which Christophe had managed to improve by that time), and was enthusiastically welcoming, although Kyle was taken aback when Christophe told him to not mention being a Jew. She called Kyle le petit ange and accepted him adoringly, but the way she smiled with her deep staring eyes somehow made Kyle shudder. Christophe stated that she may be strange but she means no harm, and Kyle couldn't help but notice a slight coolness in his eyes as he said it.
'She doesn't even ground me anymore.'
'Well, I don't hear you say many naughty things about God!' Kyle laughed as he was taken to the guest room. 'Besides. It's like we're grounded all the time in that fucking school.'
'Really? I've never felt so free.'
Kyle made an awkward chuckle, wondering if that was a joke or not. But he didn't ask. Something made him stop asking questions. He had a few that lingered in his head, normal questions for Christophe about the rest of his family, like his missing father, and his time before he came to America; similar questions he had for Gregory. But something made him stop, like a cowardly shadow. Something always did. Even with Gregory.
The perfect blond came to Christophe's house for the last few days to join them, with the excuse that his grandmother was going back to England for a holiday. He was welcomed too by Christophe's mother, but not as dearly as Kyle was. He wasn't called le petit ange, at least. He was welcomed even less by Kyle, for he stole half the guest's bed from him. Kyle felt even more frustrated when Christophe offered to swop beds with Gregory but not himself (although the blond declined).
So when the time came for the trio to return to school, they all did so together. Christophe's mother was almost tearing when they were to leave. She kissed each of them on their cheeks, and Kyle could almost feel her lips shaking as she did so.
'Le petit ange!' She said and then hugged him. 'Son sauveur…'
Kyle still didn't know what her words meant, but her dramatic farewell made Kyle worried, almost scared, and he looked ahead of her shoulder to Christophe for help, but the brunet only watched with blank eyes. Kyle chose to let it go and think of her of just being a slightly emotional person.
'You can come to my place next time.' Gregory suggested once Kyle was free of Christophe's mother's hands. 'My grandmother would be slightly more stoic, even if you are un petit ange.'
Kyle decided that he hated that nickname and warned those two of using it again.
.
The first day of his new school year, Kyle quickly noticed a change to his school. The number of students returned for the new year had reduced dramatically, from small to less. It could be seen by the open space of the corridors and grounds, but even more than that, it was obvious because there were very few girls. But Kyle didn't need to ask others why that was. He remembered how his parents were determined to take him out of boarding school that summer, and imagined that the parents of the girls would have been even more determined. By the next year, the school had turned completely boys-only to avoid the humiliation and make an excuse as to why so few girls attended after the scandal. But it did not bother Kyle at that time. Christophe and Gregory had not quit, and that was all that mattered.
'Poor bastards.' Gregory said, lacking the sympathetic tone in his voice as he observed his fellow male students pondering out their bedrooms for dinner. 'I wonder how long they'd be able to keep their minds in tact without a single girl in sight.'
'You sound like you don't care' Kyle looked to his right to face the neat blond chuckling at his comment.
'I don't.'
'Three months.'
'What, is that how long you think you're going to last?' Kyle looked to his left to Christophe.
'No. Why would I need a girl when I have such a pretty friend like you?'
Christophe's tone was always hard to read and Kyle didn't know whether to burn or pale, so he did both as Gregory cringed to keep in a laugh.
'You've already lost it Chris—'
A firm contact to his chest interfered Kyle's words, making the redhead look ahead to realise that he had just walked into an elbow. The elbow that poked him moved out of his vision as the student turned and now, Kyle was looking up into two fierce eyes glaring through sandy hair.
'Watch it shrimpy.'
Kyle batted his long lashes blankly, before his eyes copied the boy's glare.
'Fuck off Derek. And I'm not a fucking shrimp.'
'You are to me.'
'Well,' Kyle crossed his arms in front of his chest as he acknowledged the height difference between them. 'If anyone shorter than you is a shrimp, then everyone fucking is, Bigfoot.'
A snort from Christophe encouraged him, but Derek did not laugh. His frown sunk deeper into his face as his brick-like nose tensed crookedly.
'You better really watch it Broflovski.'
The large boy poked Kyle in the chest warningly, almost bruising him, before he finally turned and walked away like a bear. Kyle let out a small, relaxed sigh as he turned around the corner.
'I don't know whether to call you courageous or stupid, Broflovski.' Gregory shook his head with a smile as they began to walk.
'What do you mean?'
'I mean you should take on somebody your own size.'
'Oh yeah? Like Christophe? Or maybe that'll be unfair to him; I do have an extra inch or so.'
'That's the illusion of curly hair Kyle. He'll soon outgrow you.'
Kyle ignored him.
'Who would stick up to that freak Derek, then? You?'
Christophe smirked and Gregory chuckled. They both knew that Gregory didn't think of Derek to be even worth his time. Only Kyle was not smiling, instead he had an unsatisfied pout on his lips, and Gregory noticed this, still amused.
'No, but seriously, Kyle. Did you not see his muscles?'
'No. I was a little distracted with his eyes glaring daggers down at me, actually.'
'Well, you should observe your enemy more closely, my friend. He looks as though he could snap your arm in half with a light squeeze.' But then the amusement fell from Gregory's eyes, along with his charming smile. 'And he doesn't look like he would have the brains to stop himself from doing anything stupid.'
Gregory blinked, and his smile quickly returned as he noticed Kyle staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
'Yeah, you're right. I guess he does look like a bonehead.'
'Maybe you should ask Christophe to be your bodyguard then? Skill outweighs both weight and height.'
Kyle looked at Christophe, who had turned his head at his name, yet it was clear that he had not been listening.
'I'll do anything to protect you.'
Kyle scrunched up his face annoyingly and glared at the boys on each side of him, stopping their feet as he did. 'God, won't you guys stop being dicks and not tease me for once?'
The brunet blinked at Gregory in confusion as the redhead began to walk again.
'I will protect him, though.'
The blond rolled his eyes and pulled Christophe in Kyle's stomping direction.
'Yes, I know Mole. Come on.'
The trio were the last to enter the cafeteria, but nobody noticed them as all the boys were focused on munching and chewing away at their dinner. At least, that was what Kyle thought until he passed Derek's table and met eyes with the sandy blond again. He glared at the fierce eyes, but turned without a word and kept on moving, his red hair flicking in the air provokingly as he did.
Ever since the first day of boarding school, the boy had been nothing but a bastard to Kyle, but the redhead didn't take it personally. The guy was a dick, to everyone and everything that came in his path. Kyle had just managed to piss him off, unintentionally promoting his existence to the large teenager with self-control issues.
.
The glowing screen of Kyle's laptop reflected in his emerald eyes. They widened as Kyle tapped his track pad, then rolled before the redhead sighed as he closed the lid of his computer.
'Dude, we should totally get rid of those cameras we hid up around the school.'
'Why?' Gregory asked without taking his eyes off his own computer, long fingers wrapped around his warm cup of earl grey.
'Because I'm catching all these weird things on camera, and they're really disturbing.' The two other "club" members barely hummed at Kyle's words, clearly uninterested. Kyle tensed his nose in frustration and sat up cross-legged to glare at the two foreigners. 'You know what I just saw? I just saw a guy giving another guy a fucking hand job behind the lockers in exchange for exam papers.'
To that, Christophe's eyes twinkled excitingly and he looked up to Gregory.
'Three months.' The French boy said, making the blond roll his eyes and throw a box of cigarettes to the brunet, who caught them with a victorious chuckle.
'Don't bother now.' Gregory went on to answer Kyle's suggestion. 'You can do it while most students are away for Christmas. It'll be easier then.'
'What, aren't you guys going to help me?'
'I'm not the fussy one.' Gregory shrugged with a smile.
Kyle didn't even bother to look at the brunet, smoking away happily in his wheelie-chair. The smoke from his cigarette rose in circles as Christophe twirled in his chair and smoked, and Kyle wondered why it didn't make him feel sick.
Sighing, Kyle lifted the lid of his laptop, only to slap it shut again with a blush. Another sigh leaked out of him. He couldn't wait to bring down the cameras during the Christmas holidays.
.
A couple of weeks later, the halls were emptied of students talking excitedly of their plans for Christmas and New Years, of how they'd get a girl, how they would kiss and fuck 'and get married and have babies and get a divorce after realising how much they hate each other', Kyle mocked. Although there was the exception of the handful of students who stayed at school for the holidays, including Kyle, Gregory and Christophe. The lack of students felt so refreshing to Kyle, the quiet and emptiness of the hallways made him skip his way to the showers.
He was forced to take a shower at the shared shower room for once because Gregory was taking his time grooming himself in their en suit. But with everyone gone home, the idea didn't seem so bad; in the large, open showers, Kyle could fucking sing at the top of his lungs and dance and not care, if he wanted to, but he was already humming. Life is a cabaret! Old chum.
But that all crumbled the second Kyle opened the door and the sound of raining water entered his ears. His body froze as his mind debated whether to turn back and return to wait for Gregory to finish like always, but by the time he decided, it was too late. Two cold eyes were looking his way.
'What are you looking at, Shrimp?'
Kyle's eyes twitched at the name, and his mouth opened automatically.
'I told you I'm not a shrimp Derek, you, Big…' Kyle's words slowed to a stop as if his voice drowned in the air entering his parted mouth. He was shocked with what he saw. Derek merely raised his eyebrow at Kyle's unusual reaction, before going back to rinsing the soap out of his hair. Kyle gulped his mouth back shut as his eyes stayed on the teenager taking a shower before him. For the first time, Kyle saw the reality of Derek's muscles, as they were free from the clothes that normally hid them. His thick arms, shoulders and back, the strong tones moving like waves as he rinsed his hair aggressively, his arse, thighs and calves, still as he plant his feet firm on the ground, were like steel.
Kyle didn't know whether to feel intimidated or embarrassed. His cheeks subtly lit up as he remembered Gregory's words that he should take on somebody his own size. He suddenly felt self-conscious about his skinny arms and legs, the tenderness of his belly and bottom hiding behind his clothes, and even his skin now, white and unloved by the sun.
He wanted to turn back, but now he couldn't if he didn't want to prove himself chicken to the bully taking his shower as if he didn't care about Kyle's gaze. Breathing in the air he had stopped from nervousness, Kyle began to undo his school shirt with a stronger nerve. He could tell that Derek looked back at Kyle's unexpected action, but Kyle tried not to care, and took down his pants.
Quickly enough, the redhead trotted towards the showers, as far away as possible from the other boy, and turned on the water. He gasped at the sudden cold water shotting at his head, but it soon turned to warm luxury, and the only thing uncomfortable now were Derek's eyes on him.
His damp curls were now weighing down and sticking to his neck, and Kyle searched for the soap, only to find that the only one was in front of the blond showering next to him. He didn't want to ask for it, and he feared that reaching out for it would cause unwanted physical contact, making an awkward situation worse. He decided to wait for Derek to finish and get out, but he was still looking at him, not showing any sign of finishing.
'Why aren't you back at home for Christmas, anyway, Derek?' Kyle asked bitterly as he crossed his arms across his chest and subtly turned his back as he asked. But there was no answer, and Kyle felt a bubble of frustration pop in his head and he turned to face the boy. 'Couldn't your family afford the extra Christmas turkey for you—'
Kyle's lips curled to a shut the second he said those words as he watched Derek's eyes glow in anger. But just as quickly as the anger glimmered in Derek's eyes, they disappeared as they widened. Kyle's mouth parted in confusion as he watched the larger boy look down, but before he could tell anything, Derek turned off his tap and rushed to his towel and clothes.
But the confusion soon evaporated from Kyle's conscious as he spotted the free passage to soap and took it into his hands. He heard Derek exit the shower room in the distance, but did not bother to check before he began to hum under the water.
.
'Oh good. You're finally out.' Kyle mocked when he returned back to his room to find Gregory, all perfect and clean, reading a book at his desk. The blond merely brushed off the sarcastic comment with a smile.
'How was it like having the open showers all to your self?'
'Oh, not too bad. Except for the fact that I wasn't fucking alone!' Kyle spat, making Gregory raise his brows and Christophe take his eyes off the window to turn to the conversation.
'Who else was there?'
'Bigfoot Derek.'
Christophe scrunched up his face in confusion.
'Why is he here? He wasn't here at dinner.'
'Who cares? He probably got rejected by his family or something.'
'Did he do anything to you?'
Kyle's heart jumped at the question, and he blushed his disgusted expression.
'What the fuck does that mean!'
Gregory smirked at Kyle's taking of the question and shook his head.
'I'm surprised you kept your tongue behind your teeth.'
'I didn't.'
'How were you able to come back in one piece, then?'
'Well, I don't know,' Kyle exclaimed, kicking Christophe shoes out of the way annoyingly as he made his way to his bed. 'It was quite funny though. I told him that his family didn't want him home because they couldn't afford the extra turkey for him.'
'How mature. And he let you go for that?'
'Yeah! I was sure he'd throw a punch or something, because he was glaring fucking murder, but— I don't know. He just looked down and left, like that. Probably got a massive hard-on from my sexy ass.' Kyle expected a roar of laughter, but as nothing came, he looked up to find two eyes gawking at him instead. 'Dude! Come on, I'm joking! Who the fuck would be turned on by this, huh?' The redhead lightly slapped his right buttock to emphasise his point, before dropping himself on his bed. This made the blond scoff and the brunet take out a cigarette and turn his gaze back to the window. The cold air was piercing to the freshly showered duo, but the smoke of the cigarette kept them from complaining about the opened window.
.
It was past one at night and Kyle had come back from his midnight stroll. He placed two tiny cameras on his desk, before collapsing onto his bed.
'Is that all?' Gregory asked the boy sinking into his mattress.
'No. There's still one at the gymnasium, and then there's the one on the second floor that's broken now. But there will be no one there in the day anyway, so I'll do it tomorrow. I think it's good though, taking them down before anyone finds them…'
The end of Kyle's words drowned into his sleep, and his voice was replaced by the sound of his soft breaths. Watching the boy sink into his unconsciousness, Christophe grumbled at the blond to turn his light off, and the room soon melted into darkness.
While being the first to sleep, Kyle was the last to wake up, as always. Gregory said that it was his long sleep that gave him his extra (unnecessary) energy and feistiness. The blond was the early bird, who could finish his morning jogging before anyone woke up. Christophe on the other hand, was more nocturnal; his corrupted sleeping habits created bags under his eyes that magically didn't stand out on his olive skin.
The clouds were a glowing grey, and it made no difference from the morning and after-noon. But the snow was gentle. Because of the lack of students, the ground outside was virgin snow, like a sheet of perfect white, untouched. Kyle felt a childish flutter in his heart as he made the first footsteps on the snow.
The broken camera was safe in the bin, and he only had one to go. Kyle could take his time; no one would care as long as he wasn't caught smuggling a camera out of the gym. He kicked the snow and looked at the sky. For some reason, he felt so liberated. All alone in the white grounds: free. The icy air made breathing seem so easy.
But a sudden sneeze made Kyle come to a halt. His body began to lose its excited tension, flowing out of him with his long breath. He looked down, and his white fingers were glowing with pink. He should do what he came to do before they got numb.
A little eagerly, Kyle pushed the door of the gymnasium open, and as he gained the sudden shelter from the snow, the sound of light tapping entered his ears. The heavy door closed behind him, making him jump, and along with that, the light tapping suddenly stopped.
Oh God. He must be jinxed. Kyle let out a big sigh as he accepted Derek's glare on him, the small handles of the skipping rope in the blond's hands crying in his firm grip. But Kyle brushed it all off with a roll of his eyes and turned.
'I'll come back later.'
'Do you have a problem if I'm here?' Derek's unexpected words stopped the redhead and slowly, Kyle turned.
'Apart from the fact that you're here? No, I don't really.'
Derek's invisible eyebrows twitched, and then he took both handles into one hand before taking his steps closer to Kyle.
'So what is your problem with me, then?'
'Oh, I don't know. Let's see.' Kyle flattered his eyes around sarcastically as he hid his uncomfortableness for the distance closing in between them. 'Well, firstly, you're always glaring fucking murder into me. You try to intimidate me by hunching over me like a bear. You keep on calling me shrimp, even if I'm not short. Oh yeah, and the fact that you threatened to break my ankle on the first day of school!'
Now Derek was barely one foot away from him, towering over him like the problem he had pointed out. But Kyle managed to keep his glare, even in his shadow.
'And how about you, Derek?' Kyle sneered. 'What problem do you have with me?'
With a sudden bang, the tension between Kyle's eyes dropped as he jumped in alarm. Derek's arm was beside his face, extended to the wall to cage Kyle in. The redhead gulped, before forcing the tension back to his eyes.
'What is my problem with you?' Derek repeated Kyle's words, face closing in to Kyle's horror. 'You have a problem with my eyes, I have a problem with yours. In fact, everything about you, I have a problem with.'
Without warning, Derek flung Kyle off the wall, but light enough so that he wouldn't lose his balance. It was the next second, that Kyle's body fell to the floor with a single blow to the chin.
.
'Where's Kyle?' Christophe asked the only other boy in the room. Gregory only spared a quick glance away from his book to look at the brunet closing the door behind him.
'He went to collect the rest of the cameras.'
'Now?'
'About half an hour ago.' Christophe blinked in suspicion of Gregory's words, before walking across to Kyle's desk to open up his laptop. 'He wouldn't like you touching his stuff—'
'He wouldn't mind.'
Gregory sighed at Christophe's insensitivity and turned to face the brunet, and noticed his frozen back.
'What's wrong?'
'Kyle hasn't taken down the camera. The last one's still showing the gymnasium.'
Gregory raised his eyebrows and stood up to look over Christophe's shoulder to watch the screen.
'There's no one in the gymnasium. He's probably just playing around in the snow, taking his time.'
'In this snow?'
'Well it only just began to strengthen.' Gregory shrugged as he returned back to his seat. 'You worry too much about him. Take it easy before it turns into an obsession.'
'Obsession?' Christophe finally took his eyes away from the screen to glare at Gregory. 'How am I obsessed?'
To that, Gregory sighed as if that was the one question he didn't want to answer.
'Just— relax, okay? He's not a baby, oblivious and innocent maybe, but you are not his mother. Let him be. Let him learn on his own. Stop trying to monitor him for security. Treat him normal, like you would anyone else.'
Gregory's words ended, but Christophe stayed silent. He turned back to the screen, so it was impossible to read his face.
'But he isn't anyone else...'
One last, soft sigh leaked out of Gregory's nose and he nodded, either in resignation or acceptance of Christophe's words. The blond turned, and Christophe turned back to the screen showing the empty gymnasium. He didn't care much for Gregory's words. The feeling lurked in him that something was wrong, something that was causing Kyle to be late, and Christophe did not think of that to be obsessive, but caring.
The curser began to move on the screen as Christophe took it across and pressed on the rewind button. Time moved back in the empty gymnasium, until, with a twitch of the eye, Christophe began to play the footage. Slowly, suspiciously narrowed eyes began to widen. Without a breath, the brunet jumped out of his seat and rushed out the door, not saying a word to his alarmed friend staring at him leave the room.
Gregory looked back at the screen Christophe had just left open, but there was only the footage of an empty gym again.
.
The world was dark, and then it was a canvas of dimly glowing colours. Everything seemed so slow, his breath, his heartbeat, the parting of his eyelashes as he blinked. His body felt so heavy to Kyle, limp even, contrasting greatly from the light and quick sounds of rustling that began to enter his ears.
'What— what…' his words were slow as they weighed on his tongue. His eyes wondered around, and slowly took in from his surroundings that he was in the storage room of the school's gymnasium. '…What happened?'
'You passed out.'
'Oh…' God, it throbbed right under his chin, and his head too. Kyle reached out to touch the hurting flesh, to find that he couldn't move his hands. His eyelids were still drooping, but his heart rate was beginning to quicken. He tugged again to try and move his hands. 'Why— why can't I move my hands?'
'You're tied.'
'Why am I tied!' But Kyle suddenly stopped his desperate struggling as his mind began to function, and he looked up, to find Derek looking down at him. 'Derek… Why am I tied?'
Derek didn't answer, but merely continued to look down on Kyle with a blank expression. It was as if the large blond himself was asking himself the same question. Feeling his body heat rise up in anger and frustration, along with his heart rate racing with secret panic, Kyle narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth, ignoring his own vulnerable position.
'Are you going to bash me, is that it? Am I that much of an eyesore to you? Because I don't run away from you with my tail between my legs?' His words were still quiet, but challenging. Everything was beginning to clear now, his vision, the sounds, the air… the tightness of the muscles in his arm and the pain around his wrists. 'And still you have to tie me up? Coward. You're a bundle of muscle, but you're not confident enough to face me without—'
A heavy, cold sound echoed the room, killing Kyle's words in his mouth. Kyle's eyes were wide, as if he couldn't believe what just happened. A fist would have had less impact, but instead he was slapped. Slapped on the cheek with that wide palm.
When Kyle looked up, Derek's eyes were wide too, his mouth parted, and strange, with only one slap his breathing was quick and loud. But when the weight of his brain brought his eyes down from Derek's face, coldness attacked his chest, and for a second Kyle's breath stopped as his eyes caught Derek's crotch.
'The fuck…' Kyle muttered, staring at the bulge in Derek's exercise pants. But then as Derek moved to take a step, the redhead blinked out of his trance in subtle panic. 'Don't come near me! Fuck— stay away!'
Large hands grasped at Kyle's thrashing legs, bending them, pushing them up and over Derek's shoulders. The blond pushed in, and to Kyle's petrifying horror, their lips met. It was only brief, as Kyle managed to tear his face away from the distasteful invasion, but in its stead, raging hands pulled at his shirt, ripping off the delicate buttons to reach the skin beneath. The touch of his rough hands was cold, disgusting— but most of all, frightening to derangement. He forgot himself and froze under the touch, until the hands moved to undo Kyle's pants.
He shouted and cursed. The skin around his wrists was burning away as they pulled and twisted for freedom. Coldness finally attacked his lower body, and in despair, a small sob leaked out of his throat. Now he could feel the hands on his thighs, and it caused the world to blur. With one last curse, Kyle could feel cold hopelessness.
The hands slipped away. The weight pushing down into his body suddenly left and he could breathe again, a sharp, resurrecting breath. And then a loud whack, and a strong, heavy thud tore through the room. But Kyle didn't blink to free his eyes from his blurred vision. He could hear quick footsteps and a panicked voice come towards him, and the next second, his painful wrists were freed. Without a breath, Kyle aggressively wiped away the dampness in his eyes to be reunited with vision, and saw the worried eyes of a friend looking into him.
There was now miraculously warmness on his skin, and Kyle found Christophe's coat covering his exposed body.
'Fuck— Christophe, I'm alright… Thank you…' the redhead said, softening the tensed hazel eyes as he pulled up his pants and grasped at his the front of his shirt shut underneath the coat. Kyle, wanting a reassuring smile from the French boy, added, 'He barely touched me. I'm fine, really.'
But before Kyle could observe the relieved smile, his eyes caught the figure rising behind Christophe and he opened his mouth to warn the brunet of it. The large fist that was raised looked powerful enough to crack a person's skull. Derek threw it down at the intruder, but all it caught was thin air before it stopped. Derek's massive body was frozen, and all by the one, olive-skinned hand that caught his punching arm in a killing grip.
Kyle relaxed his body in relief once he saw that Christophe had stopped the punch, but it didn't last. Christophe's eyes that were now on Derek, were merciless. A small moan escaped Derek's mouth from Christophe's grinding grip, and the next second it turned into a painful howl. The brunet had brutally twisted Derek's arm like a spanner, and as the blond's face cringed in pain, he threw a fist into his nose.
Derek fell to the ground with a spurt of blood, and Christophe straddled him, sending another punch into his face with the fist that was still holding onto the skipping rope that had been tying Kyle's wrists. Kyle, shocked, could not move as he watched Christophe attack, until, a small shock burst his heart.
The small, desperate sounds of Derek's chocking filled the quiet room. The skipping rope was in both of Christophe's hands, and its centre was tied around the neck of the boy struggling underneath him.
'Christophe! No! Stop!' Kyle dived up, tumbling over to the French boy chocking his attacker. But his voice didn't seem to be reaching the brunet as he kept on tightening the rope. Derek's mouth opened, choking, his fingers clawing at the rope around his neck. Kyle called in horror. 'Christophe! Stop! Stop— You're going to kill him, you're killing him! For fuck's sake, stop!'
Derek's eyelids slowly began to close, hiding the white balls behind it, and the strength in his shoulders, back, arms slipped away as his hands fell to the floor.
'Stop.'
Kyle's arms wrapped around Christophe's shoulders, his forehead on his back as if he was begging to his friend to listen, and finally his words seemed to have reached him. The power, sheer determination and instinct to kill, slowly began to flow out of Christophe's arms and out of the rope around Derek's neck. Kyle watched the lifeless body in dread, until Derek's eyes opened wide, and his loud coughing for air filled the room, shocking Kyle, yet sending deep relief in him at the same time. But Christophe only watched with hatred.
He stood up, and walked across the body struggling on the floor, and as Derek began to quieten with relaxation, Christophe silenced him under the point of a wooden baseball bat. Both Derek and Kyle watched Christophe with fear and worry in their eyes.
'The only reason why I'm not killing you now, is because Kyle asked me not to. But if you tell anyone about this, or try and hurt or touch Kyle again,' Christophe tapped Derek's temple with the bat as if for demonstration, 'I will blow your brains out. I will not hesitate to kill you.'
The snow was gentle again outside, and Kyle waited with hollow eyes, for Christophe who was finishing his job for him. When he returned with the last camera, Christophe was back to the person Kyle was familiar with, the quiet and menacing, yet kind French boy. But the cold, icy eyes that glared with threatening hatred into Derek as he choked him, was still burning in Kyle's mind. The eyes that made you think that it was truly the end, and seem to be sending you off to Hell. The eyes that seem to have already been there.
