Sunrise over the tango factory's A/N: Me and Raging Tree Trunk knew where this story was going (we are the authors...merely monkeys with a typewriter and a lot of spare time) and we had all these 'things' Hazza could say...but when we came to write it, they didn't seem...bad enough.
I wrote most of the conflict scenes on MSN (the joy and bain of my life) and R.T.T kept going 'ouch' or 'oohhhh that's harsh' becuase some of the things Hazza (or more of me) was coming out with were so deeply personal and creul. I hated writing this to be brutally honest,I kept wanting to halt the scene and write it in that everyone forgave each other and decided to give Lister a big hug...but alas I couldn't.
I'd like to stress now that things are going to get better for Lister...peace out and pan fried noodles!
XXX Sunrise

Raging Tree Trunk's A/N:hello ppl whatever bex said I agree with unless its negative about me. If its negative towards bex i'm all for it. Otherwise sorry this chappie took so long, I didn't really do too much writing, more lay down the foundations and structure for bex, anyway ttyl Lotsa love Liz xxxx


Over the following weeks Lister watched as Hazza changed once again in front of his eyes.

He was getting A's and B's whereas before he'd have been lucky to scrape a U. Lister had tried talking to Hazza about it, but the subject was always quickly changed.

He found himself spending more and more time in Helen's office, talking about things he never even knew he, it helped a lot as she was a great listener

"And then-" said Lister, "he goes waltzin' off with Maria 'rod stuck up her arse' Staccato and ditches me...I mean, can you believe that!?!" he said, looking up at Helen, he then spotted her writing something. "What's that?" he asked, now very worried. Nothing good came from people of high authority writing things around Lister.

"Just some notes" she shrugged, putting her pen down and trying not to look guilty.

"Can I see?" asked Lister.

Helen grimaced "I can't actually let you read them.... school rules…sorry!"

"Oh" said Lister, crossing his arms,

"I can read them out, then we're not technically breaking the rules." she smiled, before clearing her throat "Dave is a energetic young boy who has dealt with everything life has thrown at him so far perfectly. Although he has been labelled a trouble maker by staff and other pupils, I believe there is more to him then a loud mouthed yob..."

Lister smirked "I wouldn't say loud mouthed...more of...chatty"

Helen laughed and flicked her hair.

Lister didn't like to admit it, but he fancied Helen a little…okay a lot! She was incredibly attractive but also she was a nice, friendly woman, and perhaps the only person in Lister's life who took the time to listen to him.

"I'd better go now," sighed Lister, watching Helen adjust her top,

"Good bye Dave, I'll see you next time" she laughed, "I'll be waiting..."

Lister nodded and closed her door before leaning on it "so will I..." he murmured.


Lister found himself once again sat in Helen's office; the one thing different about this trip was that Hazza was sat beside him, whistling in anticipation.

After hearing so much about Aaron Harrison a.k.a 'Hazza', she felt the need to meet the mystery man himself, at first Lister didn't want to have Hazza tagging along with him on a trip to his counselor.

Helen was the only person in the world Lister thought he could be himself with; bringing Hazza along would spoil the enjoyment of not having a persona.

In a moment of weakness Lister had asked Hazza to come along and they were now currently sat on Helen's comfy chairs, waiting for her to finish writing a report.

"Now…" smiled Helen, ruffling her hair "this is the famous Aaron Harrison"

"Infamous" Hazza corrected smiling back at her.

'Typical' thought Lister's bitterly 'has to flirt with every bit of skirt that walked his way' he then remembered that he often flirted with Helen, but that was beside the point.

The 3 of them talked briefly of Hazza and Lister's friendship, the conversation naturally turned to how it had recently been going sour.

Helen sighed, "Dave, can you tell me you favorite moment that you've shared with Hazza?"

Lister bit his lip "I don't have one" he said, sneaking at glance at Hazza,

"Surely there must be one moment you enjoyed with him?"

Lister shrugged his shoulders "well…best time I reckon was when me and Hazza were at me girlfriend, Katy's house, and she was in the bath…and…we're were drunk…so for a laugh we tried on all her clothes…in the end we were dancin' round her bedroom signing 'like a virgin' dressed in her bras and skirts and stuff!"

Hazza grinned as the memories of that evening came flooding back to him "oh yeah" he laughed, "I remember that…we weren't drunk though!"

"We were" said Lister quickly, catching Helen's eye and cringing.

"Lister man, we were sober…for once…we just…you know wondered what it was like…personally I think a bras' pretty comfortable and I never knew Lister had such fabulous cleavage!"

"Will you ever learn to shut up?" hissed Lister, jabbing Hazza in the ribs,

"Don't be embarrassed" said Helen, halting the boys mid battle, Lister could have sworn she had a smirk on her face "lot's of teenage boys experiment, it's their way of determining their sexuality"

Lister laughed, "I know my sexuality…"

"Yeah but" said Hazza "how d'you know that you actually know what your sexuality is?"

Lister's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "eh?"

Hazza opened his mouth to reply but Helen butted in,

"Have you two ever kissed?" she asked, pen raised in readiness.

"WHAT!" Lister and Hazza screamed in unison.

"You sure?" asked Helen, smiling expectantly at them.

"No" said Lister, resisting the urge to gag "I'm not a bloke's bloke…I'm completely straight!"

"He does fancy me though," offered Hazza,

"I do not," said Lister, his voice had gone high with shock and disgust.

"He does…he likes my arse" said Hazza, leaning towards Helen and smiling.

"I don't" said Lister, getting really agitated now, "I don't…honest!"

"Oh dear" sighed Hazza "he's in denial"

"I'm not in denial," laughed Lister

"See" said Hazza, feeling this proved his point perfectly,

"Shut up before I shut you up!" hissed Lister, grabbing Hazza by his shirt,

"See anger! Shit mate, you're going through the stages a bit quick...denial...anger...next you'll go in a sulk!"

Lister dropped Hazza, turned away and crossed his arms defiantly.

"See...he's gone in a sulk" smirked Hazza.

"Haven't," muttered Lister moodily.

"Yes you have! You've gone in a sulk because it's been proved that you fancy the pants off me!"

Lister was about to hurl abuse at Hazza, when he decided to play along, that'd freak him out!

"Oh yes Hazza" he sighed, laying a hand on Hazza's thigh and gazing deep into his eyes "I fancy you soooooooo much and I want you to touch and kiss me the same way as you touch and kiss Maria!"

To Lister's annoyance, Hazza was fully aware of what he was doing and he was playing along with Lister playing along

"Yeah" he grinned, "I bet you'd like that bitch, come' on bend over, let me spank you!"

"What" said Lister, quickly yanking his hand away shocked.

"I'm horny and I want it baby, so say my name bitch!" moaned Hazza, hurling himself at Lister.

It was like the Romeo and Juliet thing all over again; only Lister and Hazza had switched places, and this time it wasn't funny…

"I think that's enough for today," cried Helen, trying not to laugh.

It couldn't have come at a better time for Lister as Hazza was trying to put his tongue in his ear.


Once outside Lister stormed off,

"That was a bit of a laugh, wasn't it" grinned Hazza, but he found he was talking to thin air.

He ran to catch up to Lister,

"Where you goin'?" he asked, grabbing his friends arm but only to have it thrown off,

"Away from you!" snarled Lister.

"What've I done now?" asked Hazza. It was obvious the mood had dramatically changed, one moment everything was fine…the next he and Lister were at each other's throats. It had been getting progressively worse over the last couple of weeks, they'd gone from never having a crossed word between them to full scale slanging matches over things so trivial they were laughable.

Lister spun round; his eyes flashed dangerously "I'll tell you what you've done! You're taking the piss, you just don't seem to understand Hazza, that there's a right time for your crappy jokes and in there…" He pointed towards Helen's office "was not the right time!"

Hazza rolled his eyes "you've changed man" he muttered, turning to walk off.

Lister laughed, "I've changed? What about you, what happened to the Hazza who went 3 months without washin'? The Hazza who handed in his math homework 8 months late!?!"

"He's gone," said Hazza coldly.

"Yeah" replied Lister, "she made him go FUCKIN' MARIA STACCATO!"

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Hazza yelled, clenching his fists.

"I can talk about her any way I like" smirked Lister, at seeing Hazza getting so wound up. "She's a stuck up self centred, manipulative bitch who thinks by "changin'" the schools worst student into a so called "decent" person, she'll be loved and admired by everyone- and i'm telling you now, that wide hipped trollop'll drop you like a hot potato once she's finished with you and then move onto some pretty boy blond git with wads of cash and a 2 figure I.Q and she won't even spare I thought for you when your jump off that bridge heartbroken- dump the bitch now! Before she dumps you!"

Hazza stayed silent, his heavy breathing the only thing interrupting the silence of the empty corridor "you and me, Lister" he said finally in a strangled voice "we're gonna fight…"

Lister felt his mouth go dry and his heart hammered inside his chest "w-what?"

"You heard me!" snarled Hazza, rolling back his sleeves to reveal his muscled arms. "we're gonna finish this- right here, right now!"

Lister was about to laugh, convinced this was a joke but something about Hazza's face made him freeze. This wasn't a joke…this was real!

"I don't wanna fight you, Hazza," mumbled Lister, staring at the floor. Part of him wanted to, but Helen had told him violence only hurts people, not just physically but mentally.

Hazza smirked. For some reason he was really enjoying this, for weeks he'd endured Lister bad mouthing Maria. Now he was getting his own back…
"Coward" he laughed maliciously whilst leaning against the wall as if this were all a joke.

"I'm not a coward!" Lister found himself yelling.

"Then fight me then" said Hazza, he flung his arms out wide as if to mock Lister "if you think you're a real man, go ahead and hit me!"

Lister didn't move, he stayed put, merely staring at Hazza, trying to remind himself that Hazza was his mate…or at least he thought he was.

"Oh I forgot," said Hazza snidely "you're not a real man are you!"

Lister's reactions were like lighting, before Hazza could even breathe he'd been grabbed by the shirt and flung bodily through the double doors that led to the school yard, he landed painfully on his back and for a moment lay there, dazed and winded.

"You Bastard!" hissed Lister, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him upright.

Hazza recoiled slightly, he'd never seen Lister this angry before, he'd seen him marginally pissed off but this was something different. There was a demonic quality about it and deep down it was scaring him…

"You fuckin' bastard" screamed Lister, pushing Hazza away with such a force that he stumbled, "I didn't want to fight you, cos you're meant to be my mate! You've ruined it Hazza! You've ruined everything!"

He then punched Hazza in the face just as the school bell rang for break, and students began to file out onto the yard.

A fight was something of a rarity in Ashford Comp and when one did happen it was often over something stupid and usually involved the two boys (it was always the boys) attempting to pull each other's shirts off. But to the pupils that now gathered around Hazza and Lister, this fight looked like it was going to be something spectacular.

Hazza was taken aback by Lister's punch, with trembling hands he felt where he'd been hit before snarling and punching Lister back.

The pupils' set off cheering, this fight was worthy of the name fight, rather then 'girly attempt to undress your opponent contest'

Hazza being the taller of the 2 should have had the advantage, he could easily push Lister away but it was proving difficult as Lister's punching hardly slowed enough to give Hazza a chance to defend himself.

He finally lashed out and managed to stop Lister's attack, this gave him enough time to grab his neck and force him against the porta-cabin wall.

"You're an arsehole, Lister!" he said in a dangerous whisper "you're a jealous little git, jealous of me and Maria" he scowled "you're pathetic, I wish I'd never met you…" feeling his point had been made; he let go of Lister and walked off.

BIG MISTAKE.

He had his back to Lister, who once the opportunity came he ran full pelt at Hazza, the crowd of pupils yelled their warnings but it was too late. Hazza found himself being knocked onto the floor for the second time that day.

"Care to repeat that?" mocked Lister kneeling on Hazza's back, grabbing hold of his arm and twisting it painfully whilst grinding him into the gravel of the yard.

Hazza groaned, "You're breakin' my arm!"

"You're lucky it's not your neck," snapped Lister

"Let me go Lister!" Hazza yelled, writhing about in agony "or I'll-"

"Or what?" laughed Lister "I don't really think you're in a position to argue at the moment are you Hazza?"

The crowd of students laughed, angering Hazza even more.

"Dave Lister, you jumped up little bastard, get off me!" he paused "or I'll tell them-" Lister went cold, there was something about the way Hazza had said that…it sounded bad...evil almost.

"Tell them what?" said Lister in a whisper; not noticing his grip on Hazza's arm had loosened

Hazza smirked and raised his voice "that you were dumped by your own parents!"

Excited whispers rippled through the pupils, some laughed.

Lister jerked away from Hazza, who got up slowly.

"It's true folks" he laughed, turning to the crowd of students "Dave 'cock of the school' Lister was left abandoned by his own parents underneath a pool table in a pub" more people laughed, "You'd think his own parents would like him enough to keep him? Obviously not!"

Lister was numb with shock; his former best mate had just revealed his deepest, darkest secret to practically the whole school. Within an hour everyone will know.

"You're a bastard Hazza," muttered Lister,

Hazza spun round, eyes fixed on Lister like a snake concentrating on it's prey "actually Lister" he yelled "you're the bastard, you don't know who your father is.... come to think of it" he laughed, "you don't know who your mother is!"

Lister calmly walked up to Hazza, gave him a fleeting smile before punching him on the nose, there was a loud cracking sound and Hazza held his nose, crying out in pain. The crowd gasped, some booed at the unfair play but Lister ignored them.

He was too busy beating the crap out of Hazza.

He kicked him as hard as he could in the balls, making him sink to the floor, one hand on pressed against his nose to stop the blood flow, the other on his injured manhood.

"I know it's wrong to kick a guy while he's down" he then kicked Hazza in the ribs as the crowd cheered and yelled "but i'm not one to play by the rules..." he bent down to Hazza's eye level, and smirked.

"I think we can safely say this friendships over, Aaron" he then took hold of Hazza's chin and moved his head to look him in the eye "and the next time you feel the need to publicly announce my life you'll not live to reap the glory!" He shoved Hazza's face away, "any last words? Traitor?" he asked.

Hazza was shaking in pain by now, he had his arms wrapped round his rips, "yeah..." he nodded "I FUCKIN' HATE YOU AND I WISH I'D NEVER MET YOU!"

For Lister, that hurt more than the punches. He stared at Hazza with pleading eyes, "why you doin' this Hazza? What've I done wrong?" he asked, blinking back the tears.

"You've been wrecking my fucking life Lister, if I continued to hang around with you, I'd probably be in nick before I was 20!" he paused and spat some blood onto the floor "like I said Lister, I wish I'd never met you! In fact I wish you were dead!"

Lister backed off; he pushed his way through the crowd, and ran...