--
Shane watched Dustin as he talked to Tori after classes a few days later, wondering how he was doing without Hunter again. He tried to tell himself he really didn't care, but he couldn't. He did care, much more than he wanted to.
Things had returned pretty much to normal, though considerably more strained between the three teachers at the Wind Academy. Things were only getting worse, it seemed, Sensei had even brought it up to them. Shane couldn't wait to get out. Sensei had accepted his papers, but he was staying till after the holidays so they could get everything figured out. He still hadn't decided what he was going to do afterwards. Nothing seemed right.
He didn't know if he could last until Christmas vacation, though. It was killing him, being with Dustin every day, so close to him and yet not at all. Apparently Hunter hadn't told Dustin what Shane had said, or he would have tried to talk to him about it. Thankfully Dustin seemed out of the 'trying to talk' stage anyway.
Shane had actually thought about talking to Dustin, letting him know what was going on, but he'd never quite gotten up the nerve. He had no idea how Dustin would react, and it wasn't like it would fix anything. It would just make things worse.
Shane went over to Dustin as Tori left, not sure exactly why. "Hey," he said.
Dustin's expression was one of pure surprise. "Hey," he said hesitantly. "What's up?"
"Nothing really," Shane said. "I just—"
"Well, look what we have here," came a mocking voice as Jeff approached them. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Shane said. "Just finished classes." He started walking away.
Jeff nodded and went over to Dustin. "Hey, how's it going?"
"Fine," was his quiet answer.
Shane stopped and listened silently, then walked back to them before Jeff could start his usual rounds of insults. "Hey, just leave him alone, okay?"
Jeff frowned. "What's your problem?"
He shrugged, trying to look casual. "Just give it a rest." He could feel Dustin's surprised gaze but he didn't look at him.
Jeff paused. "I wasn't doing anything." He looked at Dustin, slapping his arm. "Just checking up on things. Heard you and Hunter on the phone last night. How're you doing without your boyfriend here to take care of you now?"
"Fine," Dustin said shortly, starting to walk away. "I have to go."
"Oh, come on," Jeff said, grabbing his arm. "Stick around for a while."
Shane put a hand on Jeff's shoulder, giving him a look. "Jeff, let him go."
Dustin pulled his arm away and shook his head. "I'll . . . see ya." He turned, walking away.
Jeff watched him go, then turned to Shane. "Okay, what's going on?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, I just think you should give him a break."
"Right," Jeff said, shaking his head. "We'll, I'll see you around."
He started to leave but Shane stopped him. "Jeff, I mean it. Just leave him alone, okay?"
Jeff looked at him a moment. "Sure, whatever."
Shane nodded and continued walking, heading back to his room. He took a deep breath, shaking his head. He really couldn't do this much longer.
--
Hunter sighed as he got off the phone with Blake, wishing thing had gone better for him. All Hunter had wanted all his life was for his brother to be happy, and now there didn't seem much hope for that. Not for a while anyway, it was going to take a long time for Blake to get over Tori. Hunter felt bad telling him what had happened with her, almost feeling intrusive, but Blake was glad. Or said he was. He called Tori after that, and it was over. That was two weeks ago.
Hunter had tried to convince him to give her a chance anyway, but Blake wouldn't. Which wasn't really surprising, the way he and Hunter had always been with each other. It would be nearly impossible for him to have anything with Tori if she felt the way she did about Hunter and Dustin. But Hunter still felt like it was his fault, and he hated that Blake was so unhappy.
Only about two weeks till he saw him again. He couldn't wait for that, he'd never gone so long without seeing him. It bothered him more than he'd ever let on. Hunter wanted to talk to him about everything going on, try to help him. He probably couldn't really do any good, but he could try.
He went back over to where Kara sat on a bench outside, writing quietly as she waited for him. "Hey," he said "Sorry about that, it was Blake."
"It's okay," she said with a smile. "How're things going with him?"
"Not too good," he said, sitting down. "He and his girlfriend broke up, he's having a rough time."
"Too bad," she said. "So, is Thanksgiving still on?"
"Yeah," he said. "You know if you can make it yet?"
"I think so," she said. She smiled. "I can't wait to meet Dustin. He's got to be pretty special."
Hunter nodded. "You have no idea. It was his idea to invite you, he wants to meet you. Believe me, it's not just anyone that can befriend me this well."
She laughed a little. "Well, I can't say it was too easy."
He smirked. "Yeah, I know. I hope you can make it, though. Blake wants to meet you too."
"You two are really close, huh?" she asked.
He nodded again. "Yeah. We always have been. We were both really little when we were adopted, it never felt like we weren't really brothers."
Kara shook her head. "There's so much about you I don't know. I never would have guessed when I met you that you had a little brother, let alone that you two were so close."
He shrugged. "I'm full of surprises."
"I guess you are," she said. Kara paused. "Well, I guess we should be going."
Hunter nodded. "Yeah, probably." He stood and they left together.
--
Blake sat on the bleachers beside one of the tracks, watching his teammates ride. But his mind wasn't really on what they were doing. He kept thinking about Tori, couldn't get his mind off her. It just didn't seem possible that it was all over, even after three weeks.
He couldn't wait to see the others though, Hunter especially. It seemed like it had been so much longer than it really had. Only a week to go . . . He kept hoping he'd get the chance to talk to Tori, but he could never actually think of anything he'd say to her. There really was nothing left to say, but it seemed wrong to break up over the phone and then never talk to her afterwards. The least he could do was tell her how he felt to her face. Tell her that he still loved her, no matter what.
He heard a voice say his name and looked up. Nick was looking down at him. "Blake, it's our turn. You ready?"
Blake nodded, standing up. "Yeah, I guess so."
Nick looked at him understandingly. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Let's go."
--
Dustin sat with Marah at lunch a few days later, talking about the upcoming Thanksgiving Day. Both were looking forward to it and it seemed like all they could talk about. Dustin couldn't wait to have Hunter there for a whole four days, and then two weeks not long after . . . it made it all seem worth it. And it'd be great to see Blake again, just hang out with everybody like before.
No, not like before.
Marah looked at him curiously. "What're you thinking about?"
"Probably his hot, blond boyfriend," Jeff said from his table across from them. "Seems to be the only thing he ever thinks about."
Dustin looked over at him. "Will you just shut the hell up?"
Jeff laughed. "Make me, fag."
He gritted his teeth. "I am getting really sick of that word."
Jeff stood and came over to Dustin. "Yeah? What're you gonna do about it? Your boyfriend's not here anymore, and you're too much of a fairy to do anything to us." He shrugged. "Though Hunter's a pretty piece of work too, he's probably nothing but a pussy, like you."
Dustin stood quickly and shoved Jeff back, sending him staggering back against the table. "I've had enough of you," he said sharply. "You want a piece of me, let's do it."
Jeff straightened and looked at his friends, who stood and came over to him. "Fine." He punched Dustin in the jaw and Dustin stepped back, but recovered quickly and went at him, feeling his fist connect satisfactorily with Jeff's face a few times.
He knew he could make quick work of Jeff, but didn't think of his friends. Soon he was very much outnumbered, and he cursed to himself as the others joined the fight, knowing he'd gotten in too deep. Like he had so many times before, jumped in without thinking.
Dustin heard Marah's scared voice shouting something, but couldn't tell what. He fell to the floor as Jeff shoved him back and felt a brief rush of panic as someone kicked him in the stomach. He managed to stand but two of them grabbed his arms from behind and held him in place.
He struggled to get free and Jeff stepped closer to him. "Not going as well as you thought, huh?" he asked, smirking.
Dustin didn't answer. He looked around for Marah but she was nowhere to be found.
Jeff punched him in the stomach and Dustin doubled over, supported by the two holding him back. He gasped for breath as Jeff hit him repeatedly, and tried to loosen their hold to no avail. Jeff hit him across the face and Dustin heard a loud voice.
"Leave him alone . . . Now."
Dustin looked up breathlessly at the familiar voice. Shane came over to them quickly; shoving Jeff aside roughly and shooting the others a look that made them back away quickly. He put his hands on Dustin's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Are you okay?"
He paused, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good. Sit down." Dustin sat on the bench, holding his side and taking deep breaths as he watched Shane round on the others, his eyes piercing. He looked at Jeff pointedly. "I warned you."
Jeff laughed a little. "Yeah. Come on, Shane, what do you care?"
"I care," he said simply.
--