It was Monday morning and Robin already felt exhausted, the funeral had only been on Thursday, less than four days ago, yet here David was, determined to go to school. Both Regina and Robin had tried their best to dissuade him, the school had been sorted out before they knew when the funeral would be, they were certain he wouldn't be in the right frame of mind three and a half days after saying goodbye to the only family he had ever known. But David was insistent, in fact him telling them that he would be going to the taster day was one of the very few things he had said since the funeral, he had even refused to agree to hold off just a few more days. He was so bloody stubborn, Robin had grumbled in his head and to Regina.
Regina was equally as worried about David, but Robin could only tell that because he knew her so well, she was good at hiding her emotions, but he could always see them shining through her brown eyes. She assured him that if David needed Robin the school or David would call him, but it was clear that she was trying to convince herself too.
Roland huffed again into his cereal, his head in his hand as he deliberately clanged his bowl with his spoon under the pretense of moving the hoops from the milk. "It's not fair." he grumbled for the eight time in as many minutes.
Robin and Regina managed to refrain from rolling their eyes, David hadn't even heard him he was just staring into space, but Henry was not so polite, he rolled his eyes as he shoved a spoon of choco flakes into his mouth, when he swallowed them he had a big somewhat cocky smile on his face. "Everyone in the high school gets to wear their own clothes, I can't wait until I get to go, you've got to wait for years."
Regina shot her oldest a look. "Thank you." She told him, clearly meaning the opposite. She placed a cold smoothie in front of Margot and felt her head for a temperate at the same time. It was still high but she hadn't expected any different, Robin would be taking her for a check up after he took David to school anyway. She debated, not for the first time getting someone to cover for her just until after lunch when David would be home and she could make sure that her daughter and step son were both okay, but she knew she couldn't, too many people were already off sick. A glance over at David, staring off at absolutely nothing didn't make her feel any better about her choice, or lack thereof.
David had tuned out the noise of breakfast, he had been getting used to having these proper breakfasts, since he had moved in, recently he had been joining in with the boisterous debates his younger half siblings were having, but he had been avoiding them the past few days. He shifted in his seat when he felt a pair of worried eyes fall on him yet again, he was in a set of his new clothes, a white tee and a loose red plaid shirt, a pair of dark jeans which were tight enough that his leg brace fit over them with no discomfort, they all felt so new he had to move every now and again to remember that his body was his own.
His eyes blinked and suddenly he was not in the Locksley-Mills kitchen but in a motel in Pittsburgh, it could have been any motel really, they all looked near enough the same, the only way he could tell it was Pittsburgh was because James sauntered in with the familiar smirk on his face but his hair was cropped close to his head, something he had only recently done, and a dark leather jacket he had stole from the Goodwill while they were in Ohio, James said it was the only good thing in Ohio and they didn't deserve it. David was about to open his mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing here, but he wasn't sure if he was asking why James was in Maine, or why he was in Pittsburgh. But James just swiped a handful of bills from where their mom had left them the night before.
"C'mon Davey." He allowed his smile to twist younger, more mischievous, the brother who had always been and would always be there for David, a bond formed through trauma and time. "Ready for breakfast?"
A hard ball set in David's throat and he tried not to cry simply from hearing his nickname from James' voice again. But this wasn't happening, it wasn't happening, it wasn't-
The scene faded as quickly as it had appeared, his head snapped to the offending noise which had broken it. A plate full of breakfast foods, seemingly every breakfast food; bacon, turkey sausages, eggs, a pot of yoghurt, pancakes with butter, he followed the hand still holding the plate up to Robin and saw a green smoothie in his hand, the type he had seen Robin drink most mornings but had always refused the offer of.
It took him a few seconds to realise that the food on the table was for him. "I'm not hungry," he pushed it away, across the table towards Robin's place to demonstrate his point.
"You have to eat," Robin frowned. "Are you feeling okay?" He reached across the table to feel for David's temperature but David dodged it.
"I'm fine," David tried to sound calm but he was talking through gritted teeth, "I'm just not hungry."
Robin's hands rested on his hip as he looked down at his oldest. "You're eating or you're not going to school."
Henry and Roland, who at this point were arguing after Henry had unsuccessfully convinced his younger brother that his favourite cartoon had been cancelled, both stopped arguing immediately and dropped their spoons and forks into their bowls and onto plates.
Robin turned his head towards his younger sons. "You're both eating and going to school." He gave them his 'dad' look while trying to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up into a smile especially when they both let out groans and eyerolls, but they began eating again, Robin didn't miss Regina hiding a laugh into her coffee. He turned his attention back to David. He pushed the plate closer to him. "Eat."
"I'm not-!"
"David." Robin cut him off sharply. "I'm serious. If you're going to insist on going to school today then you're going to eat, you're going to take your medication, you're going to take my old phone and you're going to call me after each class so I know that you're okay."
David opened his mouth again to protest but the dad look Robin had used on his brothers was now dialled up and trained solely on him, with no hint of a smile to the serious thin line of his lips. David let out a sigh, picked up his fork, and grumbled a "Fine," as he moved the food around his plate. He only felt Robin's eyes leave him when he had eaten two forkfuls of pancake.
As he half listened to Robin and Regina talking about things about people he didn't know, and asked the boys and Margot questions and listened to their stories David thought about his brother again. Robin had told him this mismatch of breakfast foods was a first day of school tradition, but he had to force it down as he tried not to think about the traditional first day of school breakfast of an Apollo chocolate bar he and James would split at every new school. He was just glad that Robin hadn't added any chocolate to this meal or he might just have thrown up.
"Margot, not on David, he's still healing."
Regina's voice cut through his thoughts and when he looked up he sore Margot close to his side. Her bottom lip jutted out at whatever she was being denied, probably to be able to sit with him.
"But he's not got his arm thing."
Ah, that had been a point of contention between him and Robin, while his arm was still healing and sore it was no longer strictly necessarily that he wore the sling, he had only won as he pointed out that it would make it harder to get around and write while still using his crutch, and both the doctor and the physio had signed off on it.
"It's still poorly, munchkin, d'ya wanna come sit with me?" Robin sounded sympathetic.
David guessed that Robin was probably as powerless against her pout as he was, it was only made harder to resist now she was unwell, a nasty cold which required a checkup, she had already cried once that morning when she found out that David would be going to school for half the day. David reached out and tapped her arm with one finger, when she came a little closer he picked her up and shifted her onto his lap, he was rewarded with a huge smile from his sister and a barely contained sigh from his father. He counted both as wins, especially annoying Robin, it served him right for being in what David had taken to internally calling a 'dad mood' all morning. He wasn't in the mood for being parented.
Robin stopped himself from telling David to be careful with his arm, his leg, and the numerous other parts of his body still bruised and healing from being stitched back together, David already knew and catching sight of the purple bags under the teenagers eyes made Robin feel bad. He watched David squint ever so slightly down at his plate, the same thing Robin did when he was feeling worried, he wanted to ask if he was okay, if he was sure he didn't want just a few more dads at home. But neither of those would have worked on him when he was fifteen, he doubted they'd work on David.
He watched David place a happier mask on his face as he looked at Margot, then cut his pancake with his fork and pass the fork to her. It was sweet, it really was, still, Robin stood up, walked to the kitchen and came back with another fork, he held it out to his oldest child.
David looked up cautiously, waiting to be lectured or scolded, but Robin placed in on the table between them before holding his hands up in surrender. It was an olive branch. David felt bad at how hostile he had acted that morning, usually that was James' first day of school act, David had picked it up in his brother's absence. It just felt so alien to not be doing this with James. David picked up the fork and began to eat again.
Robin kept a close eye on both David and Margot as he shovelled cornflakes into his mouth, sugar heaped on before and after the milk was added like his mother had instilled in him growing up, he was rushing more out of habit than necessity as he and Regina were splitting up the school run. He also made a point of being extra involved in his boys' conversations, as he would be missing their usual school run conversation. Henry was talking about the gaming console he desperately wanted for his birthday, rather than discussing the birthday venue which Regina was trying to lock him into. Roland, on the other hand, was complaining that Henry's birthday was during the summer vacation while Roland's wasn't so he had to go to school, he looked between Regina and Robin as though either could do a thing about it, Robin became distinctly aware that Roland only had a short amount of time before he realised, like Henry before him, that his parents weren't as powerful or in control as he once thought, and after him Margot would discover the same. He felt suddenly cheated out of having the extra years with David. He tried to shove it from his mind even as he watched David sip the smoothie in front of him and surprise appeared on his face, then he took several more sips.
A small win that morning but a win nonetheless.
After he had eaten nearly half of the breakfast and all of the smoothie David was led into the living room by both Regina and Robin, while his brothers collected their bags and put on their shoes, he steeled himself prepared for yet another round of them trying to convince him to stay off school for a little longer, to stop being stubborn, was he stubborn? Probably. But that didn't mean that he was going to change his mind.
Instead the second he passed through the doorway Regina turned to him with a permanent marker. Okay now he was really lost.
"You're not going to make me have Robin and your numbers written on me in permanent marker, are you?" He injected humour into his jokey tone.
"Nah," there was a glint in Robin's smile and his mouth wove itself into a smirk like smile, but one full of humour rather than challenge, unlike James', "if we were doing that we'd be using a tattoo gun."
A laugh escaped David's mouth without his meaning to, still, he eyed the marker in Regina's hand. She smiled at him and he felt his fraying nerves calm at least a little, she nodded towards the doorway before him and he turned his head to look at it automatically.
"It's a family tradition for the first and last days of school, normally there's more time between then but it's still a tradition and it's still your first day." She eyed Robin and watched him shut his opening mouth, stopping himself from telling David that it didn't have to be his first day, presumably. She focused her attention back on David and found a blush in his cheeks, he looked flustered, and unless she was mistaken his eyes had a slight watery shine to them. She felt her heart flutter but before David could try to talk his way out of it, as she had noticed him doing normally on their behalf, she nodded at the doorway again. "Come on, before I go to work. Robin has terrible writing, if he does it we'll never be able to read it again."
Robin rolled his eyes but when he protested "It's not that bad!" he was clearly laughing.
David closed the gap to the doorway and stood back against it as Regina directed him to, he slowly edged himself onto his tiptoes.
A cough came from Robin and when David looked he saw the amusement on his face, David fell back onto his flat feet, his ears reddening ever so slightly at being caught and more so at Robin's clear amusement at his childish antics.
Regina marked the line then shooed David to the side, it was the tallest one but only a little taller than Henry's, he added his name, '9th Grade', and David's age- fifteen years and two months.
David couldn't take his eyes off of it. He had gone to so many schools that it was no longer seen as a big thing by Ruth, not that she had ever marked his height on the doorway. He looked at his siblings marks and ages, the shortest of which was Margot earlier that year when she started, there were marks racing up the wood with Roland and Henry's names, grades, and ages. His eyes fell on his own name, his own age, the new age mere months younger than he thought he was, but that loss felt like years when written in black permanent marker.
David was still staring at names on the doorway when the boys came thundering into the room. He was forced to look away from the marks which seemed like they should be so out of place in the massive and immaculate house, but somehow they weren't, they seemed perfect there, making the place feel like a home David wished, not for the first time, he could have lived in all of his life. Henry and Roland both hugged Robin goodbye, the older boy didn't even look embarrassed at doing so, unlike he had been when David had first moved in, they were becoming more like family.
And just like that Henry had locked David into agreeing to have a gaming session that night, something which was fast becoming a habit with the two brothers, Henry probably wouldn't have asked but David hadn't joined him in the days before and since the funeral.
Robin shared a secret smile with Regina when they heard the boys, David hadn't really been doing anything since the funeral, he had been staying in his room, he had been quiet, obediently eating only when Robin or Regina told him he had to, it had even made David pushing back over breakfast a small relief. Their smiles became less secret when David, in response to Roland's immediate pout, suggested all three of the brothers played Mario Kart on the old wii in the den, Roland beamed in response and Henry didn't seem too put out about having to share his bonding time with his older brother, David was still healing, but he would be okay, Robin was certain of it.
A little over forty minutes after Regina and the two younger boys left Robin packed Margot into the car with David waiting behind them to be able to get into the passenger side without hitting Robin with the opening door. Robin shut Margot's door and stood ever so slightly out of the way, David went to open the passenger door but Robin placed his hand on it stopping him.
"I'm not trying to annoy you sunshine, I promise, I just… do you want to do this, it's not too late to change your mind, give yourself a few more days, eh? Just enough that you put some distance between you and the fu-"
"- I'm fine." David cut him off before Robin could say the 'f' word. If he didn't say it then perhaps David could pretend that Ruth and James were still out there somewhere, they were having adventures, that he was no longer part of it but that was okay because at least they were still alive.
"Stubborn bastard." Robin muttered not unkindly as he shook his head, the same feeling of not wanting to let go as he had when all of his other kids started school. He also had a very bad feeling about this, and he was powerless to stop it.
The Storybrooke public high school was like no school David had ever been inside. It looked kind of like the well funded high schools he saw on tv shows, where they tried to make out that every high school was like that, rather than the ones in the wealthy neighbourhoods where people cared about the kids. The only reason why he was even certain that it was a public school was because there was a plaque on the wall which he read as they waited, declaring it one of the top twenty schools in the whole of New England. Part of the quieter part of his mind wanted to joke with Robin about him settling in a newer England than he had come from, but he felt too sick to let it pass his lips.
David felt like he should have been made to take a shower in the lobby, he was not like these sparkly clean model-like teens roaming the halls heading to homerooms, he was raised in the dirt and now he was out he wasn't sure he really wanted to be. He was playing the part well enough, his hair was smoothed down as well as it ever was, he had a brand new Norwegian sounding backpack, packed with pens and notebooks which were all miles and miles better than the ones he and James had stolen from the front desks at motels and out of the pockets of waiters when they hadn't been looking. In his front pocket of his jeans was Robin's old cell phone, it didn't seem old, it had a few scuffs on it but that was all, apparently Robin had been upgraded early but David wasn't so certain. It was a larger cell phone than he was used to but the pressure against his leg was a little box of security, reminding him that he would be okay, and that if worse came to worse he could call Robin, even if it felt like admitting defeat.
They were called into the office of the principal and David didn't think he had ever actually been to the actual principals office when he started at new schools, normally he was sent to a school administrator who would hand him a schedule and expect him to deal. This principal eagerly shook his and Robin's hands, welcomed David to Storybrooke, talked about the school, the AP classes, the help if David needed it, their councillors, their school field trips, extracurriculars and special guest lecturers. David was silent through it all, trying with all his effort to simply stay present. He let Robin field the questions for him. The principal went on to talk about how this would be a taster week and the teachers would casually evaluate him during his classes while they worked on attaining his school transcripts, with the help of David's social worker, they were welcome to try, but David doubted they'd be able to find them all, he couldn't and he had lived it.
"If you have any problems or you're in too much pain to continue just tell your teacher and we can sort out you going home early. Is that okay?"
David realised that the headteacher was talking to him, she was looking at him hopefully, like he was a bright young scholar, the promising future of the country, not the usual way headteachers looked at him as though he was five minutes away from turning into a juvenile delinquent. "Yeah, that's fine, it's good."
David wondered if the principal was surprised to hear his distinctly american twang compared to Robin's english lilt; they would have heard about how he was Robin's son, Storybrooke was a small town after all. The feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb was so familiar to David that he found some comfort in it.
"We'll have another meeting on Friday," she sent him a reassuring smile, "we're aware you've been through a lot, both recently and having a somewhat halted education, it could be that you benefit from attending our summer school program, or perhaps redoing your freshman year here." She waved her hands in a swiping gesture seeing something on David's face he didn't even know he was showing. "But we'll play it by ear and discuss this again later. If you have any questions at all my door is always open, I'm sure you'll see me around the campus, I try to make myself as available as possible."
And just like that it was over. They all stood, the principal first, then Robin and David, the principal shook their hands and told Robin that he could meet David in the lobby after lunch to take him home, and that she would take David to his homeroom where he would be meeting the boy he was to shadow.
It was only be there that David realised what Robin had clearly already cottoned onto, Robin was being excused, sent away. David felt a lump in his throat, he didn't want his father to go, by the looks of it Robin didn't want to leave him. But David's eyes shifted to his unwell younger sister who had been sitting so quietly with her doll at the side of the room David had almost forgotten she was there. It wasn't fair to ask Robin to delay taking her to the clinic, he had to be the bigger man.
"I'll see you later." He grunted and before he knew it he was being tugged into a hug.
"If you need me just call, I'll be here. Call me even if you don't need me, or text, yeah? Promise?" Robin whispered, holding his son tight until David nodded, then reluctantly let go.
As David was led off, limping after the chattering Principal, he could hear Margot crying over leaving him.
David didn't bother to try and memorise the school corridors as he was led through them, he had enough experience to know that each school had its eccentricities in layout and that it was in his best interests to just figure out who was in the same classes as him and follow them around until he learnt the layout himself, at worst he would just be late to all of his classes. He doubted Robin would give him too much hassle over being late, it wasn't like he had to stay invisible to avoid the attention of teachers and CPS, like he had while on the run with Ruth and James.
The homeroom James was dropped off in was full of other freshmen, they were all smiling and laughing despite the early hour, it was nearly summer vacation and judging by the way they all slumped in their chairs or hung over others desks laughing they were ready for classes to be over. Upon seeing the principal who led him in they quietened down and returned to their seats, but the wild smiles were still on their faces. The principal said good morning to the class and the practiced chorus of "Good Morning Ms Smith" rang back, David was introduced to the homeroom teacher, Miss Abraham, who seemed a little frazzled but otherwise nice. He didn't bother to remember too much about what she was saying, he was only going to be there for the last week, then he would be moved along with his group to their next year, complete with a different homeroom and tutor… if he was smart enough to be with this class or even the same year of course… He shouldn't think about it. Easier said than done.
He was introduced to a boy named Thomas, a sandy haired tanned guy a little taller than he was, when he came close to David to shake his hand David could see both the stubble forming on his jaw and the straight pearly white teeth when he smiled. And just like that he felt inadequate again. He tried to mask it and half listened to him as he chattered about the school's football and lacrosse teams and what lessons David would be shadowing him for, but David was busy looking behind him at the rest of the homeroom class. He immediately noticed the group he had seen in the diner a little over a week earlier while he was with Robin, the girl with the short dark hair was smiling at him again, there was a look of recognition in her face before her attention was won by the bronze haired guy in front of her.
"Mr Locksley-Mills? David?"
David flinched when he realised that not only was the homeroom teacher talking to him, but that he had been called by Robin's last name, his official last name, he supposed. He covered it up by giving the 'couldn't care less' look he had learnt to copy from James.
"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"
James would have said that he didn't, but David couldn't go quite that far. He turned towards the class again who were all now staring at him, no doubt evaluating his clothes, his hair, the clutch he was leaning against, the brace on his left knee.
"I'm David, I've moved around a lot of places but the last place I was in was Pittsburgh, now I live here with my dad." He focused intently on making sure his ears didn't turn red at referring to Robin as his dad for the first time, outside of his head of course. There was a beat as the teacher waited for him to expand on his introduction but David didn't have anything else to say.
"O-Okay," She clapped her hands together and gave a look to the class. "I'm sure everyone in the class will join me in welcoming you to our town and school David, and if you have any questions, worries, or concerns feel free to ask myself or one of your peers."
The first actual lesson David sat through went okay… theoretically. He didn't get kicked out, picked out to give an answer he didn't know, or yelled out. If it weren't for the fact that he had to try and keep himself calm the entire time he would have called it a success.
The next lesson, math, was much worse. It was like the wake all over again; he couldn't breathe, he felt like he was running on fight or flight, the crowded corridors on the way to the class had made it worse and now just sitting in the seat pretending to listen was nearly impossible.
It wasn't even half way through when it all became too much. He couldn't breathe, he tried the methods Doc Hop had taught him to centre himself, but he couldn't focus on the things he sensed, they were all just overwhelming, there was too much to see, to hear, he couldn't help but feel everybody's eyes on him as a bead of sweat rolled from his brow, everyone was looking at him, they must know everything about him, how he was the reason the car crashed, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't even focus.
He stood up so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor before hitting the wall he had been pressed against. He didn't bother to speak or to even excuse himself before getting out of there as swiftly as he could.
David found himself in a janitor's closet. He hadn't been able to find the bathroom and he had already made it halfway down the corridor by the time he had realised he had forgotten the crutch, he was able to limp still which was all that mattered, he just had to get away from that classroom, he needed somewhere quiet, somewhere where no one could see him, the closet was perfect.
He fell back against the door, sliding down it as he gulped down the chemical lemon scented air. He squeezed his eyes shut, he didn't know how much time passed but when he still couldn't breathe he dug his nails into the palms of his hands as he clenched them into fists, he kept them pressed even when he felt the twinge in his left shoulder, even when he felt the sharp in his palms. The pain was helping a little, reminding him that he was here, he was present, it brought himself back to himself enough to feel the ache in his whole body. It was too much, he shouldn't have even come, Robin and Regina were right, he couldn't do this, he couldn't sit in class, he couldn't even breathe.
Breath. Just breath. He continued to urge himself. He felt tears roll down his burning cheeks, he could hear himself hyperventilating.
James.
The worried look on his face which he tried to hide. Crouching in front of David, his hands on his knees, eyes flicking from David to the motel door and back again, debating how fast he could hotwire a car and drag David to hospital.
"Davey, just breathe. C'mon man, just slow your breathing. It's alright, I'm here, you're not alone. D'ya need some water?"
David shook his head. "N- No. I'm, it's okay. I'm okay. I just need…"
"Your dad?"
David physically startled. James was in the supply closet right in front of him. No he wasn't. He wasn't. He couldn't be. He was dead. James didn't even know about… "We're not brothers." He croaked, his voice a whisper, David knew that James wasn't really there, but still. "You knew."
"I wanted to tell you, when I figured it out." James hung his head. "I didn't want to lose you. We're a team, remember?"
David nodded his head slowly. The revelation, or the realisation, slowed his breathing. "I can't do this."
"That's okay."
"I don't want you to go… I miss you."
"That's okay too." He reached out and squeezed David's injured shoulder but it didn't hurt.
"You're not even here."
James shrugged and gave David his crooked smile. "You want me to say some cheesy crap about how I'm always with you?" He nodded his head towards David's jeans.
David dipped his shaking hand into his pocket, plucking out his cellphone, trumbling he unlocked it and picked one of the five numbers on the list.
"Hey, bud, how've your lessons been? You at break?"
David took a shaky breath, shook his head, before remembering that only James could see him.
"Kid? David?" Robin's voice grew louder and more concerned over the phone speaker. "Are you okay?"
"Robin?" David's voice was barely a whisper. "Can you come get me? Please? I can't…" Tears began to form in his eyes again, he took another shaky breath, James gave him a silent encouraging nod, "I can't do this." He could feel the tightness in his chest even with James in front of him and Robin at his ear, possibly because of them, he was no longer on his own but that only made it worse.
Robin's panicked tone was clear even through the cell phone, even when he tried to keep it calm for David's sake. "Sunshine, are you in class?"
There was a noise as Robin moved wherever he was, and Margot's voice but David couldn't make out what she was saying, possibly a question. David shook his head before remembering he could not see him. "Janitor's closet." He mumbled.
"You alone?"
James placed his finger to his lips, a glint in his eyes.
"Yeah."
"Stay where you are sunshine, okay? I'm on my way now, I'm going to come and get you, just stay where you are, I'm coming."
David kept his phone pressed to his ear even after the disconnected tone sounded, he hadn't even realised Robin had hung up, he was too busy trying to breath, watching James scan the janitor's supplies in the room which was too dark for David to properly see. He had to breathe, just breathe, and hope that the room didn't run out of air. He put the phone back into his pocket.
A knock on the door sounded, David's head snapped to James, but his brother was long gone. He tried to stay silent, tried not to breathe too fast, to be too loud.
"David?"
Mary had been in math class talking to her boyfriend and walking on the equations on the board in front of her, or more honestly she had been trying to avoid talking to her boyfriend. Herc, full name Hercules much to his disdain, had been trying to talk her into attending the end of year celebration at his parents empty lake house, it wasn't a big deal that the house was empty it nearly always was and he would throw parties at least once a month, but Herc was always so proud of the extravagant end of year parties. The difference was this year school would not be ending on Friday for Mary, she wasn't bitter about it, she had the summer to come and catch up, but it did dampen her desire to celebrate with the rest of her friends and peers.
So she was trying to focus on the math in front of her, her time off of school had only reignighted her academic curiosity, even if it had put her behind that of her peers, she didn't technically need summer school, but she wanted to finish high school with a perfect GPA and she had missed a few classes so had negotiated it. She was proficient in maths, so long as she studied, her missing classes made that a little harder. She started when the loud scraping across the floor sounded, the bang of it being flung back against the wall, her skid skidded across her exercise book, marking it in blue pen. Brilliant.
By the time she had turned towards the sound the new boy, David, storming out of the room with a face like thunder. She turned back to his vacated seat behind her as the rest of the class whispered excitedly about this sudden drama. He had left his empty exercise book, his pen, his backpack, even the crutch he had been using to get around. She frowned before dropping her own pen, scooping up his crutch and following in his wake, making sure her teacher saw her and nodded so she would not get into trouble.
She caught sight of his styled blonde haired head as he limped far in front of her, she went to call for him, he didn't know her but she knew of him, her mother was friends with his step mother she had known about him even before he had come here, she felt a sense of obligation to helping him succeed. The next thing she knew he was ducking into a janitor's closet.
She waited outside, holding his crutch, for a little while, a few minutes, waiting for him to emerge, when he didn't she began to worry. There were lots of things in there which could be dangerous to him, to other people too, but mostly to him - box opening knives, chemicals… She pressed her ear to the door then knocked.
There was no noise other than some faint breathing from the other side of the door.
"David?"
She knocked again. "Er, David Locksley-Mills, Robin's son, right?" She listened to him gasp, a low murmur, him sucking in a gasp of air. "I know your dad, Robin, Regina too, I'm Mary."
"Mary?" There was a pause. "You know Robin?"
"Yes." She could hear that fear in his voice, the one only someone who had been in the same place could hear, those solitary times she found herself locked in a toilet cubicle gasping for air and hoping that no one saw or noticed. "My mom has been friends with Regina since they were in kindergarten, once Regina met your dad they were attached at the hip, I don't think my mom had much faith in getting to know your dad too."
She wanted to say that she had known both of them since she was small, a baby, even before Regina and Robin had become an item, according to her mother, everyone had known they would one day end up together. But how was she supposed to tell him that she had grown up knowing his family when he had not? "I have your crutch." She told him instead.
Another pause. Mary opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by David.
"Thank you. I'm sorry." His voice was uncertain, guilty, as he carried on. "You can leave it outside and go back to class."
"I think I'll stay." In her mind she tried to line up this insecure version with the guy with the angry face storming out of the class. "You just got me out of a very awkward conversation with my boyfriend, actually." And just like that she began to talk, telling him all about how she didn't want to go to this party, about how she had to go to go to summer school, how she didn't have to go, not really, but how she needed to. How she saw him in Granny's the other week, how her best friend's grandmother has owned it forever, how they do the best shakes in the whole of Maine, if not the whole of the US.
Before she knew it there were footsteps down the corridor, she looked ready to try to assure them that she was allowed out of class, without a hall pass, but saw the principal with Robin Locksley-Mills, she could see the similar face shape between the two Locksley men, and the similar look on Robin's face that David had been wearing when he had left class. She smiled at Margot whose worried look cleared when she saw her. The child wiggled out of her father's arms and rushed to Mary, hugging her when she did. Mary hugged her back.
"Ms Blanchard, are you okay?"
She waved off the principal's worries with the flick of her hand and a smile. "I'm fine." She looked to Robin, nodding her head towards the janitor's closet. "David's in there. I think he had a panic attack."
Any colour left on Robin's face immediately drained. He started towards the janitor's closet, his hand reaching out to the handle, it was locked.
Mary detached herself from Margot, handing the principal the crutch, she spoke to Robin. "His backpack and things are still in class, do you want me to go get them?" Her eyes flickered from Robin, to the principal, then back again, uncertain about what was going to happen.
"Thanks." Robin told her absentmindedly.
She took her leave walking slowly in the hopes that she would catch sight of David coming out of the closet, another part of it knew that if she caught sight of him after this he would never let her get close to him, and she had really enjoyed talking to him.
Robin turned the door handle but found it would not move. He couldn't help but think of all of the worst case scenarios, out of all of the places for his son to be lock, particularly after an anxiety attack so bad he had actually reached out and begged for help, the janitor's closet where way too many dangerous things were kept was nearly slap damn bottom of the list. He didn't have any evidence which would even begin to suggest David could, would, or ever had, harmed himself, but he didn't know him that well.
He should have never let David come today, he could have put up with a sulky pissed teenager, it was too soon, he had only just moved here, he had only just lost the only family he had known, he wasn't ready and Robin had known it. It should have just waited for summer school, or to start him a year behind but better at the start of the school year.
He knocked on the door but was met with silence. "Sunshine it's me. It's dad, are you okay? Are you-" He came to a sudden halt realising that he had called himself dad for the first time to David, he needed time to think about it, to analyse and over analyse it, but now wasn't the time, "Are you okay kid?"
He felt the second tick by like hours.
"Yeah."
The end of his word was swallowed by a hiccup, Robin pressed his ear to the door and could hear shaky breaths and sniffling. He would have broken that door down with his shoulder right then right there had he not been worried about possibly hurting David. "Sunshine, I need to know, and no matter what your answer is you're not in trouble: are you safe? Have you hurt yourself or gotten hurt or anything?"
Another sniffle but this time a clear "No" followed it.
He didn't seem to be lying and Robin thanked his lucky stars. "Good. That's good sunshine."
"I couldn't do it."
Fear froze the blood in his veins. "What? You couldn't do what, David?"
…. "School. It was too loud, everything was too loud, too bright too much," his voice hitched and after three kids Robin knew it was because he was beginning to cry, "it was too much."
"It's okay David. It's okay, it's not your fault, it was just too soon, that's all, I shouldn't have brought you here, it's perfectly understandable."
"-'m sorry."
"Hey, sunshine, it's not your fault. I'm the- I shouldn't have brought you. It's okay, we lived and we learnt." He really was turning into his mother wasn't he? "We can go home now, if you want?"
"...Home?"
"Yeah, bud, home, Go-Go and I came to pick you up, to take you home." There was silence. "Kid?"
"Y-yeah?"
"Can we talk without this door in between us?" He normally would have teasingly called him pretty boy but he wasn't sure if David was up to banter right then.
"... Y-yeah."
"Okay, good, that's good David. Can you unlock it for me?" He waited until he heard the click of the lock to turn the doorknob. He wasn't religious but he was thanking the gods for that noise and the feel of the turn. "I'm going to open the door now, sunshine, can you move back for me?"
He waited a few seconds before slowly opening the door.
There in the dark on the floor sat David, his hair was a mess, the same way Robin's got when he was stressed, his eyes were rimmed with red and still had tears falling from them, He looked exhausted, he looked distraught, he looked like a scared little kid, years younger than he really was. Robin didn't hesitate in closing the gap and crouching in front of him and pulling him into a tight hug, cradling the back of his head, pressing his lips to the top of it, rocking him ever so slightly.
Robin stayed crouched on the ground with him as long as his middle aged joints would allow. Finally he pulled back enough to see David's tear streaked face. Robin used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away some which had just fallen. He remembered his own father would carry a handkerchief and would sometimes give it to him to allow him to wipe his own tears away, when he was very small back in London, that was.
"Can we really go home?"
Robin's heart nearly broke, he wasn't sure if it was his own childhood memories sneaking beneath the banner he had in place, David's desperate tone, or the fact that he didn't pull away from Robin's fussing, which wasn't that bad other than it being a sign that David was truly wrecked. "Of course." He ran his hand through his son's golden waves before dropping another kiss onto them. "Let's go home sunshine."
He pushed himself to his feet, god he really needed to start going to the gym again, before helping his son up. The anxiety attack had really done a number on him, Robin threw his arm around his shoulder to support him.
Margot, who had been standing with the principal now had David's things beside her.
David didn't focus on anything other than breathing and putting one foot in front of the other, he didn't pay attention as the principal handed Robin all of David's things, save for the crutch which David held, preferring instead to lean against Robin. He didn't listen as Robin and the principal had a hushed and rushed conversation, David truly didn't care anymore.
As Robin led him off, Margot holding carefully onto his dangling arm, David looked back to the closet he had locked himself in. He wondered if James' ghost would visit him again, he wondered what it said about him that he was longing desperately for a hallucination.