Chapter 8: He's a Good Guy

TWs: Mentions of Abuse, Swears, Bullying, Mention of Panic Attack, Homophobia and Slurs

It had been a month since Ranboo had found Freddie in his house and Freddie's dad still hadn't done anything to find him, which is probably a good thing. Freddie has been staying with Ranboo and Wilbur since that night and he was loving it, he didn't have to worry about being abused by his so called father.

"Freddie! It's time to get up for school" Wilbur told the sleeping boy, shaking him in hopes of waking him up from his slumber.

"Oh, okay" Freddie replied, slowing opening his eyes to a new day, rubbing them to extract any potential sleepy dust.

Wilbur proceeded to leave the bedroom, letting Freddie to get up and ready for school. Freddie was staying in a relatively large guest room in the mansion of a house that belonged to two of his teachers.

"How's he doing today?" Ranboo asked from the kitchen of the house, eating a simple piece of buttered toast, seeing Wil walking down the stairs.

"He's fine so far" Wil answered, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a mug out of a high cupboard to make himself some coffee.

"Cool" is all Ranboo said before he continued to munch on his toast.

Punz pov:

Me, Jack and Callahan were on our way to school for the day, Jack and Callahan were just talking bullshit about what they were going to do to Freddie today. I hated them doing it to Freddie but if I ever did anything to stop them they would beat me up as well. To be honest I was currently at my breaking point and I don't know how much longer I can keep my anger contained.

End of Punz pov:

"Remember Freddie, both mine and Ranboo's classroom doors are open if you need help with anything" Wilbur said keeping his eyes on the road as the three of them were in a car on the way to the school.

"Yes I know, Mr Soot" Freddie replied, groaning as he said it. He liked living and spending time with the two teachers but he didn't like that they were babying so much like he can't do anything himself.

"Why do you still call him Mr Soot? You've lived with us for a month now and you still call us by our teacher name's" Ranboo wondered from the passenger seat.

"What?" Freddie asked as he wasn't listening.

"Never mind" Ranboo said as they were pulling up to the school.

As soon as they had parked, Freddie got out of the car as quick as possible. Ranboo and Wil stayed in the car to talk.

"It's been a month and he still hasn't opened up about anything, I am pretty sure he said more words to me on the night I found him than any day after that" Ranboo told Wil.

"Yeah, but whatever happened to him at home for years was probably really bad but I'm sure he will be more open about it soon enough" Wil replied.

"Yeah, you're right, I just wish he trusted us a bit more, I guess" Ranboo said, sounding sad. Wil gave him a pat on the shoulder before exiting the car.

"Are you coming with or you going to stay here?" Wilbur asked, peeking his head through the open car door.

"I might stay here for a minute, then I'll come" Ranboo answered and Wil left, probably to set up for his first class.

Everything went great for Freddie at school, but it always did, until lunchtime that was. Cause just like every day, as Freddie was going through his locker, the three boys approached him, one of them, Callahan, slammed his locker door in Freddie's face.

"Hey Fag!" Callahan spat, glaring into the eyes of Freddie.

"Seriously, you guys are still not bored of bullying me for no reason". That earnt Freddie a slap to the face courtesy of Jack.

"Of course we aren't, Faggot, we will never be bored of hurting your weak ass" Jack insulted, stepping even closer to Freddie to try to intimidate him but as Jack raised his fist to deliver a punch to the boy, it was stopped, it was stopped by Punz.

Punz pov:

The constant insults, slurs and beatings were now too much for me to handle, I needed to do something to stop his 'friends'. I saw Jack raise his fist to punch Freddie, so as he went back to hit it, jus before it collided with Freddie's face, I put my hand out to grab his fist. Jack and Callahan instantly changed their attention to me with hatred and anger in their eyes.

"What do you think your doing, Punz?!" Jack shouted, getting his hand out of my grasp, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't take them two on one I would be destroyed but that wasn't going to stop me.

"I am stopping you from hurting him, you've already done too much to him for the past few years and it's fucking stupid. I'm annoyed at myself for staying around you guys for so long. He's a good guy, he doesn't deserve you guys throwing him beatings and slurs all the time when he gets it from his father at home!" I had snapped, something was going through me. As soon as I finished my rant I felt a fist connect with my face and before I knew it, I was out like a light on the cold, hard ground.

Freddie pov:

Why?, Why do he try to help me?, and now he was knocked out on the floor, because of me. I was starting to have a panic attack but I needed to make sure that Jack and Callahan, who were now laughing at their knocked out friend, didn't notice cause it would make the insults even worse.

Jack and Callahan were now looking back at me but before they could do anything the sound of Tubbo, Tommy and Ranboo running towards the commotion. Jack and Callahan ran at their top speed to get away. I did know that the reason they were even still in the school was because they were the sons of rich parents that were very popular around the law department so if Principal Philza would expel them, their parents would sue the school and most likely win.

Ranboo instantly went to check on Punz, as he looked lifeless on the ground, luckily he was still alive but Ranboo immediately took him to the school nurse. Tommy and Tubbo stayed with me to make sure I was alright.

"What happened, Freddie?!" Tommy asked, very concerned for his friend as usual.

"Uhm...Jack and Callahan were insulting me as usual but when Jack went to punch me, Punz stopped him and got punched instead, that's why he was knocked out. He helped me for some reason" I explained, my breathing shaky, still sort of having a panic attack.

"Oh well, I'm sure he will be fine and it's good that someone is helping you, I'm just sad that we are never here to protect you" Tubbo responded, pulling his friend into a hug.

"Thanks, guys" I said melting into the comforting hug.

Ranboo pov:

I quickly rushed to the medical room, carrying the knocked out Punz in my arms.

"What happened?" asked the school nurse, worry in her voice, she had a good bond with most of the kids in the school, including Punz.

"Got knocked out cold by Jack and Callahan" I rushed saying, breathing quickly from running whilst carrying someone. It took a lot out of me.

"Jesus Christ, we need to get rid of those kids. How is Freddie, I've heard he's now living with you and Wil?" the nurse questioned, checking on Punz.

"Uhm, he's fine, me and Wil are trying to get him to open up about the sort of things his dad did to him but he won't" I answered, my voice and mood deflated whilst talking, it made me sad that Freddie clearly doesn't trust me enough but I get it.

"Oh, sorry, if I upset you with that?" the nurse comforted, noticing my quick mood change.

"Oh, no, it's fine" I assured her.

"Did Freddie get hurt in all this mess?"

"No, I'm pretty sure he's fine"

The school day had finished and Ranboo, Freddie and Wilbur were now at the house.

Ranboo had decided to do a big stream tonight. Freddie was on the couch, currently watching him set up his stream so he could leave before he started it. He had no interest in being in Ranboo's stream so as soon as he heard Ranboo start streaming he quickly made his exit.

"Welcome to my two million followers special!"