A/N: Ho-kay, sorry there was no update yesterday, I was dying of sunburn from the ridiculous heat of Sunday D: I'm still sore, but at least I'm past the moaning stage... a little lol. Sunburn is the curse of ginger people :( But I guess there's got to be a drawback of being so naturally beautiful xD Thanks to everyone reviewing and reading as usual! I can't think of the word I want to use... but it sure keeps me wanting to continue this story! What's the word...? Also if you haven't already go vote on the poll on my page. I'll be using the one with the highest vote tomorrow (I already have a character outline that I sent to the lovely brilliantmemories, but gender can be changed - I actually think it would be quite interesting if I flipped the gender from what it already is...) But it'll be whatever you decide :D

MOTIVATION!! Yes, that's the word! I knew I knew it xD

Twenty Five:

Anticipating Confrontation

Pete hadn't even realised that he had fallen asleep until he opened his eyes and saw Gary's pale, grinning face hovering over him. He jerked and opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but instead of words only a strained squeak escaped. This tickled Gary and he chuckled happily.

'Aw,' he smirked, moving away from the tattered couch Pete had slept on. 'I almost didn't want to wake you, but I didn't want you to mess the couch. You looked like you were having another one of those dreams about Jimmy on stage in skin-tight leather.'

Pete blinked, trying to readjust to the reality of being awake. Finally his brain allowed him to take in his surroundings and he swung his legs off the couch and onto the floor. Gary was back by the bed, rummaging through what appeared to be a shopping bag. A moment later and there was a can of soda flying towards Pete's head.

'C'mon, Femme-Boy,' Gary sighed in exasperation. 'Get on the ball, will you? We've got a lot to get through tonight.' He tipped the bag out on the bed. Bars of chocolate and more cans of soda tipped out.

'Tonight? But I thought you said we would have to wait until...' Pete glanced to the boarded up window and frowned. It looked dim out there, but it must be dawn. He was sure he hadn't slept through the whole day...

'That's right, my friend,' Gary answered the unasked question jovially. 'You slept all day. You lazy little bastard. But at least you're not going to fall asleep or anything.' He tossed a chocolate bar towards him. 'Make sure you get plenty of sugar in you.'

Pete wasn't particularly hungry or thirsty. In fact he felt a little bit sick, but last night had certainly taught him a lesson; don't argue with Gary. He cracked open the can and took a small drink. Gary chose to down his own can, and his encore was a loud belch that made Pete grimace slightly. He tossed the can over his shoulder and grabbed another shopping bag, this one full of clothes.

'Where did you get all that stuff?' Pete asked, already feeling bloated.

'While you were snoozing away, Sleeping Beauty, I was off being practical.' He checked the size on a hooded jacket and threw it at Pete, followed by a white t-shirt and black pants. 'They should be your size. I had to guess. I was going to check on your pants, but if you'd woken up you probably would have thought I was trying to get my end away and you'd have gotten into position.'

Pete's cheeks reddened a little. 'I thought you had no money.' He said, quickly changing the subject.

'Yeah, thanks to you. But you don't need money these days. Especially if folk leave the doors to the stock rooms unlocked. I think the people of this town are just as gullible as you sometimes, Petey.'

Pete sighed heavily. He couldn't be bothered with Gary's abuse. He couldn't be bothered with anything. He still felt tired and weak, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was sneaking around Bullworth Academy in the dead of night. He couldn't bear to think of even seeing Jimmy, let alone trying to convince him that it hadn't been him that killed Zoe. It would be especially hard with Gary lingering behind him with that infuriating smirk on his face. The more he thought about it, the sicker he felt. And the more he believed that he was probably going to end up killed.

'Maybe we should... y'know... just leave.' Pete heard himself saying.

Gary glanced up to him, halfway through removing his t-shirt. 'Leave?' he repeated. His brow darkened.

'Yeah.' Pete continued, despite his brain screaming at him to shut up. 'Leave Bullworth. I mean... what's going to happen when we get back to school anyway? Say all this goes to plan and I manage to convince everyone I didn't do anything... then what? Yeah, I'll be free – but they'll just ship you right back to Happy Volts. You'll probably even get transferred to some high security place or something.'

'You saying you want to elope with me, Femme-Boy?'

'No, I just mean-'

Gary shrugged and finished pulling off his t-shirt. 'I'm flattered, but don't you worry about me. I know I'll end up going back sooner or later. This is just... well, think of it as an unsupervised field trip.' Pete just stared at him, so he rolled his eyes and elaborated. 'C'mon, Petey. You really think that I'm going to ever be some kind of useful member of society? I could frolic off to Canada or some crap but then it would probably only be a few weeks before I got myself into some other predicament that ends up with me behind bars.' He put his arms in a black sweater and shook his head. 'I'm crazy, not stupid.'

Pete frowned vaguely. 'So... you know you're going back?'

'Yeah.' Gary nodded matter-of-factly.

'And that doesn't bother you?'

'Not really.' He popped his head out of the sweater and grinned. 'Does it bother you?'

Pete shifted uncomfortably, not enjoying the intensity of Gary's grin. 'No, but... y'know...'

For some reason Gary decided to pass up on the opportunity to poke more fun at him. Instead he picked up a chocolate bar and flopped lazily onto the bed. 'Doesn't bother me at all,' he replied peeling off the wrapper. 'As long as I get this one last chance to get into Bullworth Academy before everyone graduates. Fair enough there's a little while for that yet but... well, better sooner than later.' He shoved the whole chocolate bar in his mouth and reached for another. 'And anyway,' he added with his mouth full. 'Who could possibly pass up an opportunity to torture Derby Harrington?'

Pete was troubled about Gary's real intentions once he got into the school, but he smiled a little anyway. 'Yeah. Derby is a complete jerk.'

'Glad to see we're on the same page for once.' Gary replied. He suddenly sounded quite bored, and it was probably because they were on their way to having a civilised conversation. Well, probably not civilised, but at least it wasn't just a string of abuse being hurled at Pete. But Gary had always been the same; normality bored him.

'So um... what do you think will happen to you when you go back?' Pete asked, picking a piece off the chocolate bar and forcing himself to eat it.

Gary sighed. 'Oh I don't know. Perhaps a revaluation, a nice set of restraints... hopefully a hot nurse.' He tipped Pete a wink. 'The really crazy guys always get a hot nurse.'

'You're not worried?'

'How many times, Petey,' Gary almost growled. 'I don't care. Now will you quit with the patronising twenty questions? Or do you want me to stick something in that little mouth of yours to shut it up for good?'

Pete obediently fell silent. He reminded himself of one of those tiny, sad eyed dogs that have learned to lie still when their owner's voice hits a certain pitch. Gary finished off a third chocolate bar and lay on the bed for a moment, frowning at the ceiling.

Pete wondered what was going through his head. Was he worried about going to the school too? No, not Gary. Gary never got worried. He was probably going through the hundreds of different ways that he could get back at Jimmy. That didn't worry Pete though, because he knew Jimmy could handle Gary. A revenge attack on Jimmy would only backfire, and Gary probably knew that better than anyone. The thing that had Pete most worried was what Gary had in store for Derby Harrington. He was very much aware that the word 'torture' had already been used, and it was probably not an exaggeration.

A high pitched beeping sound interrupted Pete's thoughts, and it took him a moment to realise that it was Gary's watch. He sat bolt upright, like a vampire rising from its resting place, and grinned at the small plastic watch face.

'Right,' he grinned, eyes sparkling. 'Get your shit together, Femme-Boy, because it's show time. You ready?'

'I guess...' Pete mumbled, putting aside his half eaten chocolate bar and picking up the clothes Gary had thrown at him.

Gary hopped off the bed. 'Well what is it? You're either ready or you're not.'

'I'm ready, Gary. Geez...'

'Good.' Gary grinned broadly, then chuckled. 'Man, I should have bust out of that place months ago. I think I'm gonna mess myself I'm so excited.'

Pete shot him a brief frown and then quickly got changed. Before they left Gary pulled a black cap; a one matching his own, down on Pete's head. Just as they were about to leave the motel, Gary turned and grabbed Pete by his shoulders.

'You just remember what I said last night, Petey,' he said, voice low and serious. 'You've got to be a man if you want to get out of this in one piece, got that?'

Pete nodded, his stomach churning. 'Sure, Gary.'

Gary patted his cheek and then pulled open the door. 'Good man.' He said, and pushed Pete out into the cold night air.