Pietro's #1 Crush – Chapter 08
(See Chapter 1 for full disclaimer and
legend)
'Things cannot get any worse,' Pietro thought as he processed this new information that Evan had told him. When he was sure that his rival had gone, he grabbed his stuff out of his locker and sped off to his next class.
He was wrong. The day could, and did, get progressively worse as Pietro thought more and more on what Evan had told him. Not only would he have to hide his feelings for Lance, which in itself wasn't new to him, but he would also have to hide any relationships that he might have. He sure as hell didn't want Lance to scare any of his boyfriends off. Images of Lance shaking down the boarding house while a cute guy ran screaming for his life flashed through Pietro's mind's eye. His thoughts followed in this vein until the bell signaling the end of class startled him out of his reverie. With a mighty sign Pietro gathered his stuff and walked out the door of his final class to his locker. People were rushing past him, but he didn't notice. For once he didn't want to rush into the future. He just wanted to linger in the present for as long as possible. Postpone the awkward discomfort he knew he would have around his newly discovered homophobic friend.
Todd had already claimed the front seat of Lance's jeep by the time Pietro shuffled out into the parking lot. Pietro didn't care though; he was in no mood to argue and instead he walked up to the window to talk to Todd. He hid himself behind the young amphibian, hoping not to catch the attention of Lance who was leaning out the driver's side window, engaged in light conversation with Kitty.
"'M gonna walk home," the downy haired boy mumbled to Todd as he approached the passenger side of the beat-up jeep. Lance was still chatting with Kitty, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Pietro breathed a mental sigh of relief and looked back to Todd.
The green eyed boy looked at him funnily. "You okay, 'Tro?"
"Fine. I just want to walk," he said shortly, not wanting to explain further. 'Damn, I hope Lance doesn't bug me about this.'
"Something wrong, Pietro?" Lance's voice came from the driver's side. Apparently his crush had noticed him standing there.
Pietro just shook his head, staring intently at the door handle. "Gonna walk," he repeated before quickly turning around and leaving his friends with puzzled looks on their faces.
Lance looked at Todd who shrugged. 'That was weird,' Lance thought to himself as he turned his attention back to Kitty who was merrily chatting away. Lance politely excused himself, saying something about having to go shake things up.
She giggled at his lame, well-used pun. "Okay then! Like, call me tonight?" She batted her eyes at him, innocently.
"Maybe. I dunno. We'll see," Lance shrugged as he put the Jeep into gear and drove away, leaving Kitty to find her ride with Scott. Kitty was nice enough, and Lance didn't mind talking to her; he just didn't like how clingy she could be at times.
Turning the jeep onto the main road, the brotherhood drove past Pietro's solitary form walking along the sidewalk. 'What the hell is up with Pietro?' Lance wondered, seeing the fair-haired youth and wondering about his odd behaviour. He hadn't seen the boy all day, and when he did see him at lunch, Pietro was reserved and left as soon as he was done eating. Lance had tried to find his friend before class to see what was bothering him, but couldn't find him anywhere. It seemed almost as if his friend was avoiding him for some reason, but he was clueless as to why.
Lance pulled the jeep up to a stoplight and waited for the light to change. His mind was busy trying to figure out why his, normally hyperactive friend, was being sullen and quiet when he was startled by a loud car that pulled up along side him. Glancing over Lance saw Duncan Matthews with a convertible full of his football buddies. A few faces he recognized from classes; Greg Adams and some guy named Paul that had given him a hard time in Math class. Lance didn't enjoy spending time with them in school, and would be damned if he had to be around them outside of school. He turned back, trying to ignore them and hoping that the light would change before they said anything to him. No such luck.
"Hey, Alvers!" Duncan called out.
"What?" Lance said, trying to sound as apathetic as possible.
"Have a fight with your boyfriend?" Paul asked in-between chuckles.
"What are you talking about?" Lance shot back as rudely as possible. A million thoughts began racing through Lance's head at once. 'Did they find out about my conversation with Rogue? How could they? They don't know about me. I'm straight, damnit. Why did I tell Rogue anything? I thought I was going to keep it secret! Did she tell them?' Lance quickly dismissed the thought with a light chuckle. Rogue wouldn't be caught dead talking to Paul. He gave her a hard time every time he saw her. Lance put on his best scowl and glared at the red head.
"We saw that little fag of yours walking home all by himself. What's the matter, Alvers? He not putting out?" Greg chimed in maliciously.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Now Lance was confused.
"Maximoff you freak!" The red haired football player yelled, a grin spreading across his face.
"Yeah! That guy is such a queer!" Greg yelled out high-fiving Paul and adding to the already hyper-intelligent conversation.
Lance scowled at the boy; hatred for their words burning in his eyes.
"Hehe, yeah! One of these days we're gonna kick the shit outta that little faggot of yours, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Duncan called over to the Jeep while shifting the gears of his car. The Brotherhood members glared at the car full of grinning faces, none of them making a move as the laughter from the convertible grew. The light finally turned green and the convertible sped off with screeching wheels and a chorus of 'Fag' and 'Queer' being yelled above the noise.
"They're getting away!" Todd yelled, indicating that they should race after them. Lance, didn't make a move. Instead, his features became deadly serious as he furrowed his brows in concentration to reach his powers out to bridge the distance between his Jeep and Duncan's car. After a few moments, the ground ahead of them started moving; parked cars began to shake slightly and a large crack began to form in the ground under the Jeep. The fissure shot like a light from the force of Lance's command towards the helpless convertible. The road broke apart beneath the wheels of the car and left the vehicle immoveable. A lamppost then came crashing down on the trunk of the car, drawing yells of surprise and horror from the occupants of the car.
Lance opened his eyes to witness the result of his anger. A large split in the ash vault was visible and several storefront windows had broken, along with fallen lampposts and one demolished car belonging to Duncan Matthews.
There were several civilians who were picking themselves up off the ground, thankful that the earthquake had not been more severe. None of them seemed to suspect that the tremors had been an un-natural occurrence. Greg was climbing out of the convertible, visibly shaken while Paul sat in his seat stunned. Duncan, on the other hand, was cursing loudly as he jumped out of the drivers seat to inspect the damage that had been inflicted on his car.
With a small smirk of satisfaction, Lance reached down and casually shifted the Jeep into gear. He drove by Duncan and his friends, fully ignoring them. Freddy, on the other hand, shoved a muscular arm out the window and flipped them the bird while holding onto Todd with the other arm as the amphibious youth leaned out the window to slime the hood of the car. "Stupid jerks!" he yelled, before settling back into his seat.
"They better hope that I can't grab them the next time!" Freddy huffed, cracking his knuckles.
"There won't BE a next time," Lance said. The younger brotherhood members waited for him to elaborate, but were met with silence. Lance was visibly upset by what had been said about him and Pietro, and neither Todd nor Freddy knew what to say.
'So THAT is why Pietro was all upset!' Lance's mind buzzed. 'They must have been bugging him all day. Damn! Those guys are so stupid!' Lance began entertaining thoughts of getting back at Duncan in one way or another. He was in the middle of fantasizing about emptying a pack of crazy glue into the blonde's gym shorts when he was pulled back to reality by Todd yelling at him.
"Hey, yo! You missed our house!" Todd's green eyes were looking out the window at their house as it disappeared from view.
"Oh, sorry," Lance apologized and began to make a U-Turn. "I was thinking about things."
"Well, don't do it while driving, yo! You're going to get us killed, man!"
"Hmmm," Lance mumbled and pulled the Jeep into the driveway. He turned it off and climbed out without another word. 'Ugh! I do need a shower!' he thought. Using his powers always drained him and he was all sweaty and gross as a result of showing up the jocks. The house was only slightly cooler than outside and Lance began peeling off his clothes on the way to the bathroom. Todd and Freddy exchanged odd looks before deciding to continue the trek-a-thon that was on the Space channel all week.
Lance was down to his boxers when he got to the bathroom. He flung open the door in a mad dash for the cold-water tap and nearly fell over when he found that the room was already occupied. "Oh! Sorry Pietro!" he exclaimed, hiding his eyes in embarrassment. He nearly fell over himself while trying to turn around and get out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. The spectacle would have been highly entertaining if Pietro hadn't been totally mortified at being seen in the tub. He barely had a chance to say anything as Lance quickly closed the door and beat a hasty retreat.
With nothing else to do, Lance walked to his room to kill time until he could get his shower. The humidity was making his entire body sticky and gross, and Lance hoped that Pietro would hurry the hell up so he could get in there. He had half a mind to move the boy out of the tub and hop in himself. Lance grumbled as he flopped down onto his bed. "I'll never complain about cold weather again!" He vowed, wincing as a headache began to form. The heat always increased the severity of his headaches, which were bad to begin with. Lance closed his eyes and tried to rest while ignoring the pain growing in his temples.
x-+-x
He didn't know how long he lay there, but the next thing he was aware of was the hard stone floor under his feet as he ran through a labyrinth. The stony walls towered over him on both sides as he ran down a passageway that seemed to stretch on forever. He could see passages that would appear on either side of him as he ran, but he stuck to the main path. He didn't know when he had started running, or if he was chasing or being chased by something. The only thing he knew was that he must hurry! His mind pushed him forward with screams of urgency. The ground began sloping downward as he continued on the path into the bowels of the earth. The sky disappeared and was replaced by a ceiling of earth. He was underground! A passage appeared to his left, and instinctively Lance turned down this new path and quickened his pace. His body was screaming at him to slow down, his joints protesting this new punishment. Suddenly the path began to descend at an even greater angle and Lance was forced to reduce his speed.
The pain began to recede, but he did not care; he was close now. Lance quieted his breath and crept along the passage, careful to not make a sound. What seemed like an eternity passed and Lance started to become complacent with the situation before a sound made his heart in jump into his throat. The sound of laughter rang out from an entranceway, only now dimly visible further ahead in the passage as others joined the deep echoing in a chorus of laughter and shouts. Lance inched along the path, his back to the wall. Those voices were not that of humans. A dark aura of fear permeated the air each time those creatures spoke, making Lance all the more wary of the situation.
Cautiously Lance peeked around the corner of the opening before quickly pulling back with fright. Several large creatures were sitting around a fire. The flames leaped high and licked at the ceiling of this underground room. The creatures were speaking in some language that Lance did not recognize and they kept gesturing to a corner of the room. Straining to see in the shadows, Lance could see the outline of a person shackled to the wall. "Pietro!" he yelled when he saw his friend at the mercy of these creatures. He took two steps into the room, wanting to help his friend, but he quickly saw that his outburst had unfortunately alerted the creatures to his presence and they turned towards him.
"How sweet! Fresh meat!" one exclaimed in an oddly familiar voice as they all began to advance on him while another howled with laughter and took a running charge at him. Lance ducked out of the way at the last minute and sent the large beast flying into the wall. With one creature down Lance now turned his attention to the remaining two. He still didn't like his chances, but he had to do something! He focused his mind, trying to draw any amount of rock down upon these demons, but nothing happened. A rumbling sound could be heard in the distance, but nothing more. "Wha…?" Lance asked, looking at his hands.
"You shouldn't have come here, Lance!" A voice said next to his ear. Lance turned his head to look, but nothing was there. Everything had suddenly disappeared, leaving Lance in a void of nothingness. He wasn't even sure if he was standing or floating.
"What the hell do you want!" he yelled at the darkness, panic setting in. He didn't like this one bit. Laughter assailed his ears then, and the void consumed any echo and rendered the sound mute the moment it reached his ears.
"You cannot save him." another voice taunted him. "You haven't the courage!" whispered from the darkness behind him.
"What are you talking about!" Lance demanded. "Who!"
"Pietro," came the reply. "He will be lost to you," the voices were becoming high-pitched. "Forget about Pietro," they squealed before turning into screams of glee.
"What have you done to him? Where is he?" Lance shouted above the noise, truly confused as to what was going on.
A bolt of light flashed brightly before Lance's eyes and when he opened them he was on solid ground again. "Pietro?" he called out cautiously. He didn't know where the creatures had gone, and didn't want to get their attention again. He wondered what to do next when a soft glow appeared to his right drawing him closer. The closer he got, the warmer the air was, full of a warm scent that Lance was sure that he recognized. "Pietro?" he called again, growing bolder this time. He could somehow sense that there was no more danger. He liked the aroma this place had; it was warm. He breathed deeply, inviting the scent into his lungs.
x-+-x
"Pietro… Hmmmm?" Lance lifted his face from the pillow where he had buried it. He opened an eye to look at the clock, the offensive green numbers showing him that it was 4:36pm. "Ugh…. weird dream…" Lance mumbled intelligently as his thoughts were slow to focus and he stumbled out of his bed and down the hall to the bathroom. He walked into the small room, seeing that it was now vacant and closed and locked the door behind him, not wanting anyone to burst in on him. He peeled off his boxers and started a shower for himself.
A small sigh escaped his lips as he stepped under the cool spray of the shower. Lance began to let his mind wander as he let the water rush over him, cooling his heated skin. A grin spread over his face as he could feel his long hair spread down his back in a chestnut wave of silk. 'So relaxing…' he sighed.
Suddenly a frown twisted Lance's handsome features as thoughts of his encounter with Paul and Duncan instantly ruined his relaxed mood. 'Those stupid jerks!' Lance thought, clenching his fists. 'They probably said something to Pietro to make him all upset…it sure as hell pissed me off!' Lance angrily grabbed the shampoo and began squeezing the last drops from the bottle, growing angrier as the stubborn liquid refused to cooperate. Frustrated, he grabbed a bottle of Pietro's shampoo and started squeezing copious amounts onto his palm, hoping that his friend wouldn't mind him borrowing any. Once he was satisfied that he'd taken enough shampoo he returned the bottle and began to run his fingers through his hair, all the while trying to figure out how to cheer Pietro up. By the end of his shower, Lance still had no idea what to do with his friend and was even more frustrated with the incident earlier that day. 'Guess I'll go talk to him,' Lance sighed to himself and wrapped a towel around his damp body before going out to look for his friend. 'I'll figure something out,' he reassured himself as he opened the bathroom door. He wanted to take care of things before he lost his nerve.
End Chapter 08
