The next two years flew by, Quatre only getting beat up by Ralph at least once every month. Richie still called Quatre "dweeb" while Trowa never talked to him, period. Quatre still had no friends, and spent most of his days hiding from everyone in the clearing.
Iria and Catherine grew to be best friends and always went on double dates with their boyfriends. They still argued over who the cutest N*SYNC member was, Iria claiming it to be Justin while Catherine argued that it's Lance.
Mr. Barton, being a doctor, would often look at Quatre's wounds when Iria brought him over after seeing her brother's bruises. He soon grew fond of Quatre and would listen to him play his violin whenever Quatre felt like playing.
Mr. Winner rarely returned home, being the successful businessman that he is. Rashid still worked for Mr. Winner and watched over Quatre and Iria very often.
During lunch at school, Quatre would try to sneak over to his hiding place. There he would try to clean it up as much as possible. He even brought his father's hammer and a few nails to school and nailed in pieces of wood into the trunk of a tree so he could climb up onto one of the higher branches. Since he was still small in size, Quatre never worried about anything falling under his weight. Plus, the tree was very sturdy.
Because Iria and Catherine were in high school, they often stayed after school to participate in school activities. This allowed Quatre to stay in his hiding place to pick up the lost balls, or to sit by the river to think. Quatre also signed up for after school music lessons with the band teacher who thought Quatre had "potential."
* * *
"Trowa!!" Catherine hollered from her room. Some things just don't change. "What did you do to my shirt?!"
"It's the new style!" he called back.
"Trowa Barton!" Catherine yelled as she stamped down the stairs. "I was going to wear this tonight."
"You have a million shirts, Cathy. Wear something else."
"Arrrrg!" Catherine made a run for her brother. Mr. Barton came home in time to stop Catherine from clobbering Trowa.
"Now kids. Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. That's it."
"Dad, look at what Trowa did to my shirt." She said handing over the piece of clothing. It had huge black stains all over it.
"Trowa?"
"I needed something to wipe the ink off my shoes."
"So you used my shirt!!"
"It was the only thing there..."
"Trowa...You'll have to pay your sister back for this with your allowance. Understood?"
"Awww, dad..."
"Understood?" he said more sternly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."
"All right. Now no more fighting." Mr. Barton looked at his children before walking to the kitchen to fix a snack.
Catherine tossed her hair over her shoulder and made her way back to her room.
"Ugh...girls..." Trowa mumbled.
* * *
"Hey, Tro." Richie called as he sat on the top of the monkey bars.
"What?"
"You know that girl that keeps buggin' you?"
"What about her?"
"Well, guess who's her brother."
"Why?"
"Humor me."
"Bob."
"You're no fun."
"Too bad."
"Anyway...her brother happens to be none other than Ralph Flores."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying." Richie jumped down from the monkey bars. "It's true. It turns out that the girl, what's her name again?"
"Bob."
"Diane. It turns out that Diane and Ralph's parents split when they were younger. Diane went with her mom and changed her last name to Rodriguez, while Ralph went with his dad and stayed with Flores."
"And why do I care?"
"Cause. After the way you dissed her today, I'd steer clear of Ralph. He'd probably kick your ass, like what he does with the dweeb."
Trowa scoffed.
"I can't believe Ralph still wastes his time on the runt. And I can't believe that the idiot never fights back."
Trowa scoffed again.
"You know what, Tro?"
"Hm."
"You don't talk much."
"Hm."
The school bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Trowa made his way back to his fifth grade class with Richie talking about anything and everything.
'He might have a point about Ralph...' Trowa thought. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ralph Flores glaring at him before entering his classroom.
* * *
"Hey, Barton!" Ralph yelled.
Trowa rolled his eyes before turning to look at Ralph.
"I've got a bone to pick with you!"
Trowa just turned around and continued walking.
"Hey!" Ralph ran up to Trowa, his friends surrounding the banged boy. "I said-"
"I heard what you said. So?"
"Why you..." Ralph growled, fists clenching. "I don't appreciate the way you treated my sister. I think I should teach you a lesson."
"Ugh...Richie." Trowa looked over at his friend. Richie looked at Trowa and back away slowly, as well as his other so-called friends.
"Grab him." Ralph snarled. Ralph's friends grabbed Trowa's arms before Trowa could make a run for it.
"Richie..." Trowa called out more urgently.
"Hey, man. This is all on you." Richie said. Trowa growled. He was being pulled to the spaces between the classrooms, the perfect place for bullies to beat their prey since yard duties couldn't spot them.
Trowa was forced to his knees by the two guys holding him. Ralph smiled evilly at Trowa while cracking his knuckles. "I'll show you for making Diane cry like that."
Ralph brought his arm back, ready to strike. Trowa shut his eyes and prepared for the blow and absolute pain.
"Leave him alone!!" someone called.
Trowa opened his eyes. Ralph turned to look at who yelled at him. He smiled.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here, boys. It's smarty pants."
'Quatre...' Trowa looked at the boy standing in the only exit from the gap.
Ralph started to walk towards Quatre. His friends holding Trowa pushed Trowa onto the ground before joining Ralph. Quatre stood his ground.
"I wasn't gonna beat you up for another week, dork, but I think today is as good as any other day." With that, Ralph punched Quatre just below the eye. Soon all three boys surrounded Quatre, throwing punches left and right.
Trowa picked himself up off the ground. He hurried to the fight and pulled one of Quatre's assailants from the group and punched him square in the jaw. Ralph and the other boy looked to see the third boy fall to the ground, crying in pain. Trowa then turned to Ralph's other friend and punched him in the eye. Ralph, not wanting to get hit, pulled his friends up by their collars before running away, leaving a bloody Quatre on the ground. Trowa kneeled down and hovered over Quatre.
"Are you okay?"
Quatre groaned. "Yeah...I'll be fine." He sat up and looked at Trowa. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. They didn't touch me. Thanks to you."
Quatre nodded and attempted to get up. He failed. Trowa helped Quatre up.
"I'll take you to the nurse." Trowa took Quatre's arm and put it around his shoulders while he held on to Quatre's waist.
Quatre stumbled but Trowa's hold on him kept him from falling. As they stepped out of the gap, Richie ran up to them.
"Trowa! What do you think you're doing? Why are you touching the dweeb?"
"Cause he helped me!" Trowa growled, glaring at Richie.
"Wha..."
"He didn't run away when I needed help. Unlike you, you jerk." Trowa turned and half-carried Quatre to the nurse.
Quatre stumbled once more but Trowa didn't let him fall. When they were half way to the office, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Quatre pulled his arm away from Trowa and Trowa stopped to look at Quatre.
"Go to class or you'll be late." Quatre said quietly.
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. I've managed to get to the nurse by myself before." Quatre continued on towards the office.
"Quatre!" Trowa called out, a bit worried.
Quatre turned. "Go to class!" He continued back to the office.
Trowa sighed in resignation. He watched Quatre stumble to the office before turning to go to class.
* * *
Trowa waited patiently in the front of the school.
"Trowa!" Richie called, running up to Trowa. Trowa looked at Richie and rolled his eyes.
"Listen, Tro. About lunch. You know I would've had your back. But-"
"No buts. You're pathetic and I never want to see your stupid ass ever again. If you ever come by my house, I swear to God that I'll pound you on the spot. I'll even let Cathy take a few swings at you."
"Trowa..."
"Piss off, jack ass."
Richie sighed and walked away. Trowa rolled his eyes again before searching the crowd. There he spotted Quatre. His cheek was swollen and he had a band-aid across his other cheek. Trowa hurried over to him.
"Quatre!" he called to the boy. Quatre looked up and was shocked that anyone was approaching him, other than his sister, Catherine, or an adult. The biggest shock was that it was Trowa.
"How're you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess..."
"I'll walk you home."
"O...kay..."
The two walked toward their homes in silence. Just as they were about to step off campus, Quatre stopped in his tracks.
"Something wrong?" Trowa asked stopping shortly after.
Quatre looked up at Trowa. He opened his mouth to say something but he quickly shut it. "It's nothing."
Quatre continued to walk as Trowa eyed him suspiciously.
"Why are you doing this?" Quatre blurted out after five minutes of walking in silence. Trowa simply glanced at him. Quatre was looking down.
"Doing what?"
"Walking with me. Nobody does."
"Then consider me nobody."
Quatre stopped again and looked at Trowa. Trowa stopped at looked back at a Quatre. Quatre was serious.
"Why aren't you walking with your friends?"
"I have no friends."
"What about Richie?"
"What about him?"
"He's your friend."
"No he's not."
"You coulda fooled me."
"Friends don't run out on friends in times of need."
Quatre opened his mouth to say more but stopped himself. He continued to walk and Trowa walked beside him.
They soon reached the Winner residence where Quatre stopped one last time. Trowa stopped again and looked at Quatre who was looking at his feet.
"You didn't have to walk with me, you know."
"I wanted to."
"You never did before." Quatre looked up at Trowa.
Trowa sighed. It was his turn to look down.
"You don't owe me anything for lunch. I just don't think it's fair for people to gang up on one person." Quatre sighed. "Thanks anyway. It was nice to walk with someone new. You don't have to do again. I don't expect you will, either." Quatre turned and hurried to his house before Trowa could respond.
Trowa watched Quatre's retreating form. 'Quatre...' Trowa looked down once more before turning to walk home.
Author's Note: And here is part three. Reviews anyone? Please? Or I at least wanna know who reads this stuff. Just a simple message of hey. Nice story/Bad story. Keep at it/Quit now cause it's no good.
And just to let you know, this isn't one of my favorite chapters. Violence solves nothing. Take it from Quatre.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. I have no money!