Chapter 45

On Tuesday, Killer decided to confront Drake. He hadn't seen him on Monday, apparently he had been sick, but during Latin, the first hour of Tuesday, Killer saw him again. He was immediately reminded of the fact that the bastard had kissed his boyfriend. But also of the fact that apparently, he had a crush on Killer. Killer still had a hard time believing that, since he had never noticed anything. Except for maybe that one time when Drake had complimented his arms, and Killer had had to admit to Penguin he had been flirting. But other than that…

Killer vowed to pay more attention to these kinds of things. But for now, he would have to let Drake know he couldn't just go around kissing Penguin. Without, obviously, letting him know that Penguin was his boyfriend. He had no idea how to do that, though. So, he just glared at Drake when the latter sat down next to him.

Drake looked questioningly at him. "I'm sorry, was this seat taken?"

Killer glared some more. "No." How could he say 'stay away from Penguin' without giving himself away? Killer gritted his teeth angrily, as he couldn't think of a way.

When Drake turned his head to get his books, Killer noticed some dark spots on his neck. This was when he realized what Penguin had actually said. "Poor Drake already gets beaten up at home…" Shit… was that true? He'd been so angry at Drake for kissing Penguin, that he hadn't stopped to think about it.

"Hey." Killer placed his hand purposely on Drake's arm. "Are you okay?"

He saw Drake freeze, his head slowly turning to face Killer. He looked down at the hand on his arm for a moment, and then up to meet Killer's eyes again, a blush covering his cheeks. "Y-yeah. Why?"

Oh God, Penguin was right, wasn't he? Drake really did have a crush on him… Killer wanted to test this a little more, just to make sure. He brought his other hand up to Drake's neck and let his fingers brush lightly over the dark spots on his skin. It almost looked like someone had tried to choke him with their bare hands. "I just noticed you've got these bruises…"

Drake's eyes widened and he stared at Killer for several seconds, his chest rising and falling heavily with every breath, and his face bright red. Then he pushed Killer's hand away from his neck, covering the bruises with his own hand, and he turned his face away with a mixture of annoyance and sadness. "I'm fine. It's nothing."

Killer pulled back his hand, not sure whether to keep flirting to see if Drake really had a crush on him, or to take this more seriously. "You sure?" he asked. He didn't want to intrude, but if Drake needed help… "I can beat someone up for you if you want."

Drake still didn't look at him. "That's not necessary. But… why would you do that for me?"

Killer thought long about his answer, and Drake carefully turned his head towards him again. "I… don't want you to get hurt," Killer said, and he immediately realized it was the worst answer he could have given. Still, he was curious to see how Drake would react to it.

Drake turned towards him some more. "Why?"

Killer noticed from the corner of his eyes how Drake reached out a slightly trembling hand, and then he felt Drake's touch on his leg. Killer's heart skipped a beat, and in an attempt to remove the last piece of doubt in his mind, he placed his own hand over Drake's. As a result, he saw Drake's face turn a deep red again. Yep, Penguin had been one hundred percent right. Drake did have a crush on him.

"Because I think no one deserves to be abused by their parents," Killer answered him quietly.

It was only then that he realized what the fuck he was doing, in the middle of their classroom, and mainly, how this had to look to anyone who was watching them. Fuck, he was so careful not to be gay with Penguin in class, and now he was full out acting gay with Drake. Shit.

He grabbed Drake's hand, and lifted it from his leg to place it on Drake's own. "Just… you know, if I need to beat up your abusive dad or anything, I'd do that for everyone."

Drake turned away from him again. "Yeah, of course, that's what I thought," he mumbled. "But you know, abuse is such a heavy word… It's not like that at all."

Killer pursed his lips together. Somehow, he didn't believe Drake. But it wasn't his business. So, he turned towards his homework.

"Killer…" Drake started, a few moments later. "C-can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Killer answered him, without looking up.

Drake seemed to hesitate for a moment, before opening his mouth again. "Are you…"

"Okay, class, I would like to start!" the teacher interrupted him.

Only then Killer looked at Drake. What had he been about to ask? Was he what? Killer tried to pry the rest of the question out of Drake with his eyes, but Drake had already looked away again. Killer tried to imagine what Drake had wanted to know, and then his eyes widened as he thought of what the most logical option was. Fuck, of course Drake would want to know that.

Killer stared at the teacher now as well, suddenly very relieved she had interrupted Drake. Killer didn't want to lie to Drake, but he also really couldn't tell him the truth if Drake had asked him if he was gay. Not that he would really mind if Drake would know, he was gay too, after all; he knew what it was like. But there was always the possibility of Drake telling someone else. Especially when he would find out Killer didn't reciprocate his feelings, as he might feel the urge to lash out then. Besides, Killer hadn't forgotten how Drake had forced Penguin to share his sexuality with the whole class. He was not gonna let that happen to him.

Fortunately, during class, they were sufficiently distracted by the exercises they had to do, so Drake didn't have a chance to ask him again. When the bell rang, Killer made sure to pick up his things quickly, but unfortunately for him, Drake did the same, and as soon as Killer had left the classroom, Drake had already caught up with him. Killer cursed in his mind when he realized his next class was together with Drake as well.

"Hey, Killer," Drake started a conversation again, while they walked towards the classroom they'd had to be in.

Killer looked at him from the corner of his eyes, but didn't reply. He had to admit, the fact that he now was pretty sure Drake had a crush on him made him look at Drake differently. Killer had caught himself looking at Drake during class, wondering if he'd want to date him if he hadn't been together with Penguin. Obviously, that had to mean Penguin didn't exist, because if he had to choose between them, he'd chose Penguin every time, but he could admit Drake wasn't bad looking. Completely different from Penguin, and way less cute, but handsome in his own way, even with that X-shaped scar on his chin. Killer guessed, if Penguin wouldn't exist, he'd probably give Drake a chance, purely based on looks and the fact that he didn't know Drake all that well, so he couldn't say much about his character.

But Penguin did exist, and he wouldn't leave him for Drake in a million years. Now, Killer was just very aware of the fact that Drake had a crush on him. And even though it was a bit of an ego boost, it also made things slightly awkward between them.

However, the fact that Killer didn't reply, didn't stop Drake from continuing. "I eh… I saw your video, on TikTok."

When Killer realized he at least wasn't asking him if he was gay again, he turned his face towards Drake. "You did?"

"Yeah, I saw all of them, actually," Drake answered. "I didn't know you played the guitar. But you're really good!"

Killer chuckled, but couldn't take the compliment very seriously. Drake might as well just say that to suck up to him. "Thanks," he said, nonetheless. What else could he say? I don't trust you really mean that because you have a crush on me?

"But… ehm…" Drake seemed to hesitate. "You don't run the account yourself, do you?"

Killer raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think that?"

"Well," Drake said, shrugging, "the account name, and some of the comments."

Killer cursed himself for not getting more involved in the posting of the videos. He had only heard and seen the comments Penguin had read to him or shown him, and Killer didn't even know what the account was called. He didn't have TikTok on his phone, and he wanted to keep it that way. Besides, he didn't want to know when a video didn't do well or when he got negative comments, so he'd been fine with Penguin running it all. But now he wished he had at least asked Penguin a little more about it.

"Oh. Well, no, I let someone else do the posting and stuff." Killer didn't want to look foolish not knowing what Drake was talking about, so he tried to talk around it.

"So… who? If you don't mind me asking." Drake didn't look too happy to ask it, though. "Who is your… partner?"

Killer blinked. "Partner?" That was an odd way of putting it.

"Yeah, you know, your significant other… your boy- or girlfriend. You're dating someone, right?"

Killer choked. "What?! No!" he immediately exclaimed.

"No?" Drake repeated, and Killer didn't miss the hopeful tone in his voice. "In that case you should know that the person running the account is claiming you're their boyfriend."

Killer gritted his teeth. When he saw Penguin again… Fuck, he didn't know what exactly Penguin had said, but Killer was actually a little angry with him right now. How could he say that online for everyone to see?!

Killer tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath. Maybe, at least this was a chance to get Drake's hopes down a notch. "Well, maybe there is someone," Killer admitted. "But I mean, I'm not sure what we are yet," he pretended he wasn't really lying about dating someone just now, but just unsure.

"Oh."

Yep, if hopes weren't crushed, at least they were a little more realistic now.

When Killer walked into the canteen during the first break that day, he noticed several people looking at him. He ignored them, but he did wonder if it was because of whatever Penguin had said on TikTok about their relationship. Killer looked around but didn't see Penguin anywhere. Not that he'd confront him in the middle of all these people, of course, but it was good to know where he was. Maybe he'd have an opportunity to talk to him at the end of their break.

Suddenly, Killer felt a firm hand on each of his shoulders. A right hand on his left shoulder, and a left hand on his right shoulder. He was pushed roughly towards the alternatives' corner. "Walk." He recognized Wire's voice.

"Okay…" Killer said, a bit surprised by the way his friends treated him. He let himself be pushed into the farthest corner, where he was turned around to face Wire and Heat. With his back towards two walls and his front cut off by both his best friends, he had nowhere to run. And seeing the way they looked at Killer, he thought he probably had a reason to run. "What's going on?" he asked confused.

Wire crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Heat copied his pose. "Since when are you keeping secrets from us?" The latter asked.

Killer felt his heart stop. "Secrets?" They couldn't have found out about Penguin, could they?

"Yeah, first of all, you didn't tell us you were on TikTok?" Wire asked. "Why would you not tell us that? Why do we have to find out when you're already famous?"

"I'm not famous…" Killer protested.

"You've got over ten thousand followers!" was Wire's counter argument.

"Everyone at school has seen that last video," Heat added.

Killer felt the blood rise to his face. Had the whole school read Penguin's comments too? He really needed to get a hold of a phone with TikTok on it to check whatever Penguin had been saying online. He swallowed, and held up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, I'm famous. At least at school, apparently."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Wire asked again. "The first video was posted two weeks ago."

Killer shrugged. "I guess I forgot."

Both Wire and Heat stared at him with a mixture of disbelieve and hurt. "You forgot?!" Heat asked.

Wire turned around. "Bonney! Can you come over here for a second?" he called out.

Killer could see Bonney look up from the table where she was sitting with Perona and a few others, a slice of pizza between her lips. She seemed to be interrupted from watching something on her friend's phone, but got up and walked towards them immediately. "What's up?" she asked while chewing on her food.

"Did Killer tell you he was on TikTok?" Wire asked her.

She threw her hair over her shoulder. "Nope. Perona just showed me the video. Hadn't heard of it before." She also sounded a bit offended.

"So you forgot to tell all of your friends?" Wire's question was directed to Killer again. "If you forgot to tell everyone, it seems to me like you were keeping it a secret."

"I–" Killer started, but Heat interrupted him.

"Well, let's just say he forgot for now, shall we?" the look in his eyes was not amused. "Let's move on to the next secret. Maybe that'll shed some light on the situation."

Wire nodded and cocked his head. "Yes, please tell us… who's your girlfriend?"

Killer breathed in sharply, and looked at Bonney in a silent plea to help him out. But Bonney just crossed her arms in front of her chest, raised an eyebrow, and smirked. "Yeah Killer, who is your girlfriend?" Then she mouthed, 'Tell them.' Since Heat and Wire were looking expectantly at him, they didn't see this.

But Killer couldn't tell them. However much he might want to, he couldn't. The idea of telling his friends he was gay, not knowing exactly how they'd react and how the way they looked at him would change after that, scared him too much. They were a trio now. If he'd tell them, it might be the two of them and Killer. Two straight guys and their gay appendix. They'd accept him, but things would change. He wouldn't be one of the guys anymore, and they'd feel weird talking about girls and stuff around him. Or they might, at least. Just thinking about it made him feel like he couldn't breathe. He was suffocating.

"I-I can't tell you," he stuttered, but it broke his heart to see the look on his friend's faces. He didn't want to keep secrets for them. "She doesn't want anyone to know." He tried to make it sound like it wasn't his fault he couldn't tell them, but he immediately realized he made the lie even bigger.

Bonney rolled her eyes and walked away, back to Perona again, seeming not to want to be there for his bullshit any longer.

"So you do admit to having a girlfriend?" Heat asked. Killer nodded shortly. "But she doesn't want to let anyone know? Why? You're a catch."

Killer chuckled. "I don't know, but I respect her wishes."

"Well, if she doesn't want anyone to know," Wire started, "she shouldn't have called the account my guitar playing boyfriend."

What?! Holy shit, how stupid was Penguin? How did he think no one was going to find out? "She's not very bright," Killer said, annoyed.

"But… Killer." Heat sighed. "You can tell us, right? It's us! We're your best friends, we won't tell anyone else, we promise."

Killer shook his head. "I'm sorry. But when I can tell anyone, you'll be the first to hear it, I promise."

Wire narrowed his eyes. "I'm not gonna wait for that… We'll find out who she is."

Killer snorted. "Detective Wire and his trusted partner, Heat. Smoke some more pot and you might just find the answer," he joked. But underneath, he was terrified Wire might succeed.

Wire chuckled. "Not a bad idea."

"What makes me the partner and not the main detective?" Heat complained.

"You are partner material," Wire told him.

"That's… oddly sweet of you to say." Heat laughed.

Killer was glad to see his friends lighten up. Apparently, the interrogation was over, and they walked over to the table where more of their group were sitting.

Heat nudged him in the ribs and nodded towards Killer's bag that hung over his shoulder. "Cute charm you've got there."

Killer looked down at the little penguin keychain. He'd already forgotten he'd attached it to his bag this morning. Then he carefully looked at Heat's face. "It's a killer," he said as a form of explanation.

"I can see that." Heat laughed. "Cute." Then he sat down at the table and the keychain seemed to be forgotten.

Killer chuckled. Yeah, you're real detective material, Heat. Killer smiled to himself. He didn't think he'd have to worry.

TBC~!

Thanks so much CleoKitty20 for the review! ❤