Distractions.
"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." -Albert Campus
Bob was a little worried. He drove towards Springfield high, his focus less on the road than it probably should have been. He didn't know why he was worried; surely nothing that could happen at Bart's school could ruin anything. His plans were based on Bart's loneliness, which school hadn't changed before Bob came along. So, surely, everything would be alright when he picked Bart up.
He drove around the administration office and parked as close to the doors of the building as he could manage, and then he waited. It was five past three, so Bart shouldn't be long, he figured. With nothing else to do, Bob found himself staring at the building doors. Some teachers exited and entered, some kids, too, but none of them were Bart. When it struck half-past, Bob frowned in annoyance, got out of his car and entered the building.
Inside, the school was quiet, with most of the students already gone home. Bob spotted the principals office and marched over to it, but before he reached it he witnessed Eric exiting via the door. The Headmaster spotted him and Bob immediately noticed Eric's concerned expression as the man beckoned him to follow before retreating back into his office again.
With a growing headache, Bob followed him and closed the door behind himself firmly.
"What happened? Bob asked darkly.
Eric sat in his chair and didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. "I don't know, exactly."
"Please explain. And be specific."
"The fire alarm went off, and everyone assembled outside, as routine, but I don't know what happened to Bart. I couldn't find him, and he's not answering his phone," Eric said. He pushed back his dark hair and leaned back in his seat. He looked extremely frazzled.
Bob crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "You lost him."
Eric frowned at Bob. "I didn't lose him. I wasn't supposed to be watching him- I couldn't!"
Rolling his eyes, Bob didn't respond to that and instead went on to look thoughtful. "Do you think he's still in the school?" he asked.
Eric shook his head. "I called him up to the office over the P.A. and unless he's hiding, a teacher would have sent him up. And I mean, why wouldn't he, anyway?"
"Then he left the school." Bob looked out the window from his position near the door. "You don't think...?"
"No," Eric shook his head again, more firmly this time. "I rang the police to remove the kids from the car park as soon as Bart didn't answer his phone during the fire alarm. I should have done it sooner, but I didn't want them to be suspicious. Anyway, the police told me they sent them away, despite their protests, so they can't have gotten Bart."
Lightly throwing his arms up in defeat, Bob shrugged. "Well then where the hell is he? Does Millhouse know?"
"Millhouse didn't come in today."
Eyebrows furrowing, Bob looked away from Eric and instead looked at a blank wall. He knew Bart could take care of himself, but he still didn't like this. There were so many things that could go wrong if he didn't know the kid's whereabouts. Worst of all, Bob had no idea what his next move was. How could he find someone when he had absolutely no leads?
-~X~-
"Dude, you live here?" Bart asked. They were in a really bad part of town, one that even Bart had visited only a few times during his time as a lackey for Mark. There was trash strewn about carelessly, tall buildings that housed many small-looking apartments, stray animals, and tough looking individuals strolling about and eyeing them- mostly Bart.
"What's wrong with it?" Nelson asked sternly.
"Everything."
Instead of being insulted, Nelson laughed. "I guess it would be like that for you."
"How do you not get robbed? Bashed? Knifed!?"
"Pah! These are my people!" Nelson grinned, opening his arms wide and gesturing to the area in general. Then he added, "and they know I'd put up a decent fight."
Shaking his head but smiling nonetheless, Bart shoved his hands in his pockets and walked with Nelson up to the front door of a particularly shabby-looking building. It was then that he realised that his pockets were empty. Eyes widening, he fumbled around and fished through his pockets, but came up empty. Along with the realisation that he'd lost his phone, he also inconsequently realised he'd lost Bob's lunch container.
"What's up?" Nelson asked.
"I've lost my phone..." Bart muttered darkly.
"Well shit," Nelson offered flatly.
"Yeah. Shit is right." Bart sighed and scratched his head. "Maybe I should go back to school."
"What? Why?" Nelson sounded incredulous as he pulled out a key-chain and slid a key into the lock on the door, jiggling it around before it turned properly and clicked.
"My ride was picking me up there."
"So just walk home from here- after we play some games," Nelson said. "Your house isn't that far."
Biting his lip, Bart glanced at Nelson as the boy walked inside the building and held the door open for Bart to follow. He walked inside and heard the door close with a thud and a clunk behind him when Nelson let go of it, automatically locking itself again.
"Uh, I'm not going home."
As they walked up the stairs, Nelson glanced at Bart over his shoulder with a confused frown. "Then where? Millhouse's is only a walk away, too."
Bart looked away from Nelson. What was he supposed to tell him? That he was staying at Sideshow Bob's because baddies were out to get him?
Nelson didn't stop, but kept glancing at Bart suspiciously. "You're being awfully secretive. What, you got a girlfriend?" Blinking at the question, Bart considered lying and agreeing with Nelson. "Maybe."
Giving a short laugh, Nelson shook his head at something and stopped after two flights in front of a battered blue door. He pulled out his key-chain again.
"What?" Bart demanded with a frown.
"Nothing, nothing," Nelson said with a smile before he shoved his door harshly to open it and walked inside. The interior was fairly bare, but there was an old couch and a T.V. and a fridge, which was all that mattered.
"It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be," Bart commented honestly. He'd thought there would just be a mattress on the floor or something. "Not great. But not bad."
Jabbing Bart in the side for his remarks, Nelson shut the door behind him and locked it before heading for the fridge and pulling out a couple of soda cans. He tossed one to Bart, who ceased rubbing his side in mock pain and caught it nimbly.
"I believe you promised me something?" Bart said matter-of-factly after he'd chugged some of his cola and swallowed the fizzy after-effect that came with downing it.
"You little addict," Nelson muttered, grabbing a fresh packet off his kitchen counter and passing one to the blond, who had approached eagerly. Bart lit it up as soon as he got a lighter in his hands. He shrugged.
"Not really. It just relieves stress."
"Which a sixteen-year-old who still lives at home should have lots of," Nelson snorted, moving to plunk down on his couch with his drink.
Ignoring Nelson's oblivious comment, Bart joined Nelson and fiddled with his can of cola. He was very stressed. How was he supposed to contact Bob if he didn't have his phone- which had Bob's number? Eric's, too. What was he supposed to do now? How could he be so stupid and careless? He couldn't go back to school either; he'd seen Mark's gang members there with his own eyes, searching for him. All of that plus the fact he didn't remember the way to Bob's house, nor his address, meant he was rather screwed.
"You gonna play or not?" Nelson asked, frowning at Bart.
Blinking back to reality, Bart glanced at Nelson before snatching the controller from him and crossing his legs.
"No feet on the couch," Nelson said idly, looking at the screen on his small T.V. as he booted up the game.
Making a face, Bart toed off his shoes and crossed his legs again and Nelson seemed to allow this because he said no more and just selected VS mode.
They played a few games and it became very apparent that Nelson was better than Bart. Mostly because he kept kicking his ass. Bart was distracted, but his losing streak caught his attention after a while of Nelson's mocking laughter.
"C'mon, I've never played this game before, gimme a chance!" Bart cried, moving his whole body with the controller and gritting his teeth as he tried to stop Nelson's character from beating his up.
The game announced Nelson the winner once again and Nelson laughed again. He didn't say anything, he just laughed, which made it worse.
"Lets play a different game," Bart huffed, dropping the controller in his lap.
"Fine. What do you want to play?"
"Something that doesn't involve me being beaten up."
Smiling, Nelson shook his head. "Then I don't have anything for you."
"Seriously?"
The brunette shrugged. "I like violent games, what can I say?"
Bart sighed and picked the controller up again, preparing to get his animated head bashed in again.
"How 'bout we watch a movie instead?" Nelson supplied.
"Sure."
Without asking Bart's preference, Nelson moved over to his T.V. and began rifling through his DVD's. He picked one out and replaced it with the game they'd been playing in his gaming console. Moving back to the couch, he yawned lazily and took another drink from his can of cola.
They watched the horror movie mostly in silence. Bart wasn't as fond of horrors as he used to be, but it wasn't a bad movie, and he watched it with mediocre interest. In a lull in the movie, Bart turned his curious eyes to Nelson. "How can you watch horrors when you live alone in a bad neighbourhood?"
Nelson smirked with humour at Bart. "These kind of movies are so fake, how can anyone be scared? I mean, if something bad is going to happen to me, it'd because someone was trying to steal something from me. These movies are about serial killers and psycho people and zombies and shit," he snorted.
"Still. They give you the creeps," Bart protested, though he could see Nelson's logic.
Shrugging, Nelson was already looking back at the screen. "Not really."
Defeated, Bart looked back at the screen again also, just in time to see a grisly murder. They watched another movie, this time a comedy, before Bart noticed the sky darkening outside Nelson's unwashed windows. Apparently Nelson noticed it, too.
"You wanna stay here tonight?" Nelson asked, standing and stretching his limbs. "You can crash on the couch."
Bart thought about it. He didn't want to impose, plus this neighbourhood unnerved him a little. But he saw no other choice. He'd rather stay with Nelson than be by himself. Nelson was comforting; his attitude and demeanour was familiar, and rather calming. So he nodded.
"Thanks."
"Cool. Lets watch some more movies first, though. The night is young, and I want you to watch this one," he said as he waved another scary-looking movie around.
-~X~-
Bob was pacing again. He had tried to get himself out of the habit before, but it seemed to always come back with a vengeance.
It was midnight and he still hadn't heard from Bart, nor had Eric, who had called not even an hour earlier to report nothing. Bob hadn't exactly been worried to begin with, but now he certainly was. Was Bart okay? In one piece? Wandering the streets? That stupid, impenitent brat! What the hell had he done with himself?
He tried to get some sleep, but his mind was far too preoccupied and his body felt agitated and twitchy. Television proved even worse a distraction. By then it was two in the morning.
Grabbing his keys, Bob decided to go out and drive around town again in search for the blond. He'd already spent half his time since finding out of Bart's missing status driving around, looking for him; but sitting at home wasn't doing anything- in finding Bart or for his own sanity.
He'd only just grabbed his jacket and reached the door when his phone rang. Backtracking, Bob picked it up. "Hello?"
-~X~-
Bart stood outside Nelson's bedroom biting his lip. The door was slightly ajar, but Bart still couldn't see inside very well.
Even after they had eaten some instant noodles, said goodnight, and Nelson had gone off to his bedroom to sleep, Bart hadn't been able to drift into unconsciousness. His mind kept on going over what he was going to do tomorrow. Whether he should risk walking to school with Nelson in the morning, wander around and try to find Bob's house- there was even a part of him that desperately wanted to go home to his family and his room and his stuff- back to his life. And that's when he'd thought about using Nelson's phone to ring the school tomorrow. He should be able to find the number in the phone book and he could be put through to Eric. Then, something Eric had said popped up in Bart's head loudly.
"So I had your full name from that, and it was easy enough to just look you up in a phone book; not too many people have your name, you know."
Bob was in the phone book. That revelation (that really shouldn't have taken as long as it had) made Bart jump off the couch and make his way to Nelson's bedroom. But that's where his thought process ended, leaving him in front of the bedroom of a slumbering, oblivious boy.
He'd hate to get caught, but he needed the brunette's phone, considering he didn't have a landline. So he pushed the door, cringing as it creaked, and crept inside. Eyes adjusting to the increased darkness of the room, Bart looked around. Nelson was sleeping soundly by the looks of it, in a bed that looked like it had been left behind by the last occupants of the apartment. Again, the room was sparse with few furnishings. But the otherwise silent room was filled with Nelson's breathing and the light that shone from the moon through his bare window. Spotting the old phone on a bedside table, Bart crept up as quietly as he could and gently lifted it from the table. The phone was chunky and boxy, and looked to have once been a light blue in colour but was now rubbed back and a weird white-grey colour.
As quickly as he'd come, Bart turned and began creeping out again, but Nelson's deep voice startled him into freezing on the spot.
"Bart...?" Nelson asked, sounding drowsy.
Hesitantly risking a glance at the brunette, Bart hid the phone in his pocket quickly. Nelson was still in bed, surrounded by blankets. Bart stayed silent, afraid of the consequences of affirming Nelson's 'question'.
"What the...? Get out, you homo," Nelson mumbled gruffly but not seriously before there was some squeaks from the bed as he rolled over and then silence. Eyes wide and lips twitching up in scared humour, Bart rushed out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Not sure whether Nelson had been sleeping or had actually woken up, Bart shook his head and sighed in relief. He had been afraid of getting punched or something. Nelson was still tough and intimidating, regardless of whether you spend a day playing video games with him or not.
Phone in hand, Bart walked back to the kitchen and looked around for the phone book, only realising then that his whole plan was ruined and his risk redundant if Nelson didn't keep one. But he eventually found one in an empty cupboard and pulled it out before flicking through it.
"Terwilliger, Terwilliger..." Bart muttered softly to himself, fingertip running down the page before landing on the one and only Terwilliger in the whole book. He chuckled to himself; Eric hadn't been kidding. Hardly sparing a second thought to the time of night- or was it morning? Bart punched the number listed into Nelson's phone and listened to the dial tone.
Bob answered quickly.
"Hey, Bob. So I was just wondering-" Bart began, but was cut off by the redhead.
"Bart! What happened? Where the hell are you?"
Bart scratched his head. "Uh, it's kind of a long story. Look, I'm sorry that I wasn't at school when you came to pick me up."
"What? That's- Bart are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm at Nelsons," Bart said casually.
"Give me the address," Bob demanded quickly.
"Uh... I don't know the address," Bart said, frowning. He hadn't paid attention to the street or the number of the
apartment complex. Bob was being all weird and snappy.
There was a long-winded sigh on the other end. "Then ask Nelson."
"I can't!" Bart exclaimed in a hushed tone. "It's two in the morning...he's asleep."
"Bart, I really am in no mood for this...just find the address- check his mail for all I care."
"Alright, alright! I'll go have a look, hang on a minute," he muttered before he walked around the counter to look at the white envelopes on the surface on the other side. One was not addressed to Nelson, but was to his mother from him. Nelson's handwriting was actually quite nice, despite what Bart had expected it to be like. Respecting his privacy, Bart went on to look at the next one, which was a bill addressed to Nelson. Bringing the phone back up to his ear, Bart riddled off the address to the redhead.
"Alright. I'm coming to get you. Stay put," Bob said firmly.
"What- now?" Bart baulked. "You're coming to get me now?"
"Well yes, Bart, now."
Frowning, Bart rubbed his neck. "I'm staying the night here, I just wanted to let you know where I was and that I was okay," he protested.
"That's ridiculous, Bart, you could be in unforeseeable danger. I don't even recall this Nelson character."
"He's fine. I'm fine- for now. It'd look weird if you just turned up in the middle of the night to pick me up, don't you think?" Bart reasoned.
Bob snapped again and then hung the phone up, apparently not swayed. Bart closed his eyes in irritation and stopped to think. There were two ways this could play out. Either he sneaks out without Nelson noticing and he apologises to him at school with a made up story of why he had to leave in the middle of the night; or he wakes Nelson up, apologises, and tells him some truth. Of all the people he knew, Nelson seemed less-likely to judge him on his criminal past. He might even help him. But could he keep it a secret? Bart didn't exactly hang out with Nelson all the time, either...
Making his mind up, Bart trotted back to Nelson's bedroom and walked back inside- a little more confidently this time. He walked over to Nelson's bed, put his phone back, and then vocally cleared his throat.
"Nelson," he murmured, trying to get the boy's attention. Realising that wasn't going to work, he raised his voice a little and tried again: "Nelson. Hey, Nelson."
Frowning, Bart reached out to shake him a little and had to rest a knee on the bed to stabilise him so he could reach Nelson's shoulder. Nelson reacted violently, twisting around, his arm lashing out and grasping the collar of Bart's shirt. Bart fell forward onto the bed with a gasp, his whole body in shock. He gripped Nelson's hand and tried to loosen the tight hold he had that limited his breathing. Looking up at the brunette, Bart saw anger mixed in with a bit of fear, but then the look was gone and Nelson had released him.
"Simpson. What're you doing?"
"I could ask you the same thing..." Bart dead-panned breathlessly, trying to sit up. He was a bit sprawled over Nelson but the taller boy didn't even seem to notice.
"You surprised me," Nelson offered easily, sitting up properly so his back was against the wall. He helped Bart sit up and gave him a weird look. "Why do you keep sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?"
Ignoring Nelson's mention of his last sneaking attempt, Bart shrugged a little. "I need to tell you something."
Nelson glanced at his bedside table. "Thanks for bringing my phone back. Wanna tell me what you needed it for now?"
Blanching, Bart sat back a bit. His leg was touching Nelson's lightly through the material of his blanket, and Nelson used their close proximity to bump him with his leg in an obvious prompt to speak.
"Uh," Bart began, "I needed it to call someone. They're coming to get me right now."
Frowning in distaste, Nelson grabbed his phone and looked at at it briefly. "It's quarter past two in the morning," he stated dully, looking at Bart pointedly.
"I know... They're a bit pissed I wasn't at school."
"They? Who's they?" Nelson asked as he rubbed an eye with the palm of his hand.
Not responding, Bart moved to get off the bed, but Nelson grabbed his wrist tightly and stopped him, pulling him back a bit. When Bart looked at him he saw Nelson's annoyed frown.
"What the hell, Bart, just tell me what's going on already."
I'm quite unsure about this chapter, so if anyone finds anything off about it (as I'm thinking you will) please contact me. You guys are my betas.