Yay for free time and spring break! Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Aldrick quietly sat in the passenger's seat of Cid's truck as they drove off to a Halloween party. Cid was dressed like an airplane pilot, and Aldrick...well, he was a very unhappy moogle.
"Don't look so depressed. It's not fitting for a moogle." Cid said as he turned a corner.
Aldrick gave the 'pilot' a glare, than started to stare outside his window, thinking about how he got dragged into this mess.
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"I don't want to go, Cid." Aldrick had said as he sat in the lacrosse player's living room.
"You need to get out more. This is the perfect chance." the older teen called from upstairs.
"But it's not even Halloween."
"It's the week before. Close enough."
"This wasn't part of the deal."
"What deal?"
Aldrick let out a stressed sigh. "You said you would check for any new cuts, would check up on me, and occasionally make me leave my home. Nothing about a party."
"...Oh. Well, you're going anyway."
The gray-eyed teen hung his head in despair. "But...I don't have a costume..."
Cid now walked downstairs and into the living room, a moogle costume in his hands and dust bunnies on his shoulders. A cocky grin was plastered on his face. "That's what this is for."
Aldrick looked at the furry white suit, and shook his head. "I'm not wearing that."
"If you want me to stop bugging you, you will wear it."
Knowing the battle was lost, Aldrick got up and took the costume.
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Aldrick blinked as he realized they had arrived. Cars seemed to create a line as far as the eye could see along the side of the street. Music blared from the house, shaking the leaves of nearby bushes and the glass in the windows.
"Cid, I really don't want to..." Aldrick said as he gave a worried glance to the house, and jumped a little as Cid nudged him.
"Don't worry. It won't be that bad." After saying that, the lacrosse player got out of the truck, lit a cigarette, and headed to the house. After a deep breath, Aldrick quickly followed suit, sticking close to Cid as they entered the house.
The music had stopped, the DJ taking a small break to find another CD for the party-goers to listen to, and Aldrick was surprised that the house could hold so many people and not burst at the seams. Angels, demons, ninjas, pirates, celebrities, and many more different costumes were worn by the partiers, and Aldrick could even recognize a few familiar faces from school. Grabbing onto Cid's pilot jacket to make sure they didn't get separated, the gray-eyed teen looked up at the second floor landing as someone yelled, "Yo! Cid!" from up above.
Unable to pinpoint where exactly the voice came from, Aldrick continued to follow the lacrosse player, and eventually went upstairs and into a bedroom. There were four people already in the room, each one sporting an identical long, hooded black coat with matching gloves and boots. Aldrick couldn't help but scan his eyes over each person. The first one was extremely tall and looked like he could use a good meal, his hair a flaming red and spiked beyond reason. The next guy, the shortest of the four, was blonde and had large, sapphire blue eyes. The next one was blonde as well, his hair color almost exactly like Aldrick's sandy blonde, and had his shaped like a mullet. The final one, whose hair was a bluish silver, had his falling in front of his face, covering his right eye. They were all sitting around the room on whatever seats they could find, but the red-head got up and spoke first.
"Took ya long enough, Cid. I thought you'd never come." Aldrick could tell from his voice that this was the person who called Cid earlier, but was surprised when he bent down and put his face in Aldrick's, his emerald eyes examining the shorter teen. "I take it as this is Aldrick?"
Taking a long draft of his cigarette, Cid nodded while looking around the room. "Where's your ashtray?"
Pointing to the nightstand, the tall red-head continued to stare at Aldrick, who was starting to get uncomfortable. Finally, he smirked and offered his hand. "I'm Axel. The short one is Roxy, and the other two don't matter. Got it memorized?"
The short blonde boy groaned at this. "Axel, I told you not to call me that. My name is Roxas. Say it with me now. Roxas."
"Roxy!"
Putting his face in his hand, Roxas let out another groan, obviously defeated in his battle. This, however, allowed the guy with the mullet to say "Hey! We're important! Right, Zex?"
The emo-looking male just shrugged, causing the blonde to slump his shoulders and sigh. "You're not helping." This lead to another shrug from 'Zex.'
After shaking his head, the mullet-guy waved and gave a goofy smile. "I'm Demyx, and he's Zexion. Cid's said a lot about you, Aldrick."
The gray-eyed teen gave a look to Cid, who just turned away, muttering about having another cigarette. "What did he say, exactly?"
Axel sat on his bed, his smirk still present. "Oh, nothing much...well, 'cept that you're smart, stubborn, friendly, and surprisingly brave."
Aldrick's face quickly reddened, which deeply contrasted the white fur of his moogle costume. Axel started to laugh, but was interrupted by Roxas' elbow to his gut. Aldrick went to the open window, letting the cool air brush against his face to try and make the red recede as he watched the sun set.
"Axel" the gray-eyed teen could hear Demyx say.
"What? It's true. And the reaction was priceless."
A silence followed, where people and music could be heard outside the room. That silence, however, was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. Aldrick turned and saw Cid digging into his pocket, retrieving the black ringing device and looking at the number. "It's Yuffie..."
"Shame her parents wouldn't let her come." Axel said offhandedly as Cid answered his phone, which he quickly handed to Aldrick, saying "She wants you...Something's wrong..."
Taking the phone, Aldrick could hear sniffling on the other end. "Yuffie?"
"Oh, Aldrick! I...I...I'm sorry! My mom told him! She didn't know! I'm so sorry!"
Furrowing his brow in confusion, Aldrick responded with "What are you talking about? You have to calm down for me to understand you..."
After a moment, Yuffie started to explain. "...Someone called here looking for you. The way I talk about you and Cid, my mom assumed you were at Cid's house..."
"Who called for me?"
The was a short silence. "...He said his name was Stahn..."
Fear pierced into Aldrick's heart. "What...?"
"...Mom said he sounded drunk...I'm so sorry..."
The gray-eyed teen shut the phone, disconnecting the call, and panicked. /He's trying to find me?! I did something to piss him off! But...Oh god! He's heading for Cid's house!\
"Cid, we need to get to your house now!" Aldrick said this, his voice filled with fear and panic, as he headed to the door, Cid following without a single question, knowing full and well that if Aldrick was panicking, there was something wrong.
Not even saying farewell to the four guys, the moogle and the pilot made their way through the crowd and to the truck. Quickly driving off, Aldrick noticed how the moon was starting to be covered by storm clouds, with thunder sounding in the distance.
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The two teens made it to the older teen's house relatively quick, and Aldrick saw no trace of his father. They ran inside, only to be greeted by a short, plump woman, whom Aldrick assumed to be Cid's mother.
"Mrs. Highwind. Has anyone come by looking for me?" the gray-eyed teen asked, making Cid give him a confused look.
"Why, no. No one's come by since you two left."
"Good...then there's still time..."
Cid grabbed Aldrick's arm, saying "What's going on? I didn't ask anything before because there was a rush, but you can't leave me in the dark now."
Aldrick looked to the floor, quietly saying "...My father's coming..."
"Then why did we have to rush?"
Before the gray-eyed teen could say anything else, the sound of a car screeching to a halt, immediately followed by the crunch of metal breaking wood, could be heard from outside.
Mrs. Highwind, who had gone to the window, exclaimed "Some man just knocked over our mailbox!"
"Get out here, you fag! Now!" The man started to yell from outside.
Aldrick moved to the door, turning to Cid and saying "Please...stay inside...both of you..." before leaving and walking up to the man who was yelling; his father.
Holding a bottle in one hand and a rag in the other, Stahn sneered at his 'son.' "You thought you could hide it from me?"
"...Hide what?"
"The money under your bed."
Aldrick's eyes widened as Stahn stuffed the rag into the top of the bottle, reached into his pocket, and pulled out two pictures, both of which had been mostly burned. "You didn't deserve to touch these...you're nothing but a fag! My son and wife both died, and you have no right to have a picture of either of them!"
Grabbing at the pictures, Aldrick saw the trace of a silver angel charm on one of them. "No...no...that was...all I had of her..."
Sneering again, the drunk stared at the house. "So, this your fuckbuddy's house?"
As Aldrick said nothing, the man moved forward, drawing a lighter from his pocket. "I'm sure he'll burn up real good with the rest of his house."
The teen quickly stood in front of his father, his arms outstretched to bar the man's path.
"So, you think you can get in my way?"
Aldrick stared defiantly into his father's eyes. Stahn, not liking this, threw a punch to Aldrick's gut, causing the teen to double over onto the ground, gasping for breath. "Serves you right..."
As the man moved closer to the house, Aldrick got back up and got in his father's path once again, only to hear the front door open as Cid now came outside.
"Please, Cid! Don't come any closer!" the teen cried out as his father raised the alcohol bottle and brought it crashing down into the side of Aldrick's head.
The teen fell down, his vision blurring, as he felt the bottle break on his head and blood trickle down from a cut. He could hear Cid start to run forward, and Aldrick reached over and grabbed his father's leg, crying out "Cid, no! I'll hold him! Just, please, stay away! I don't want you to get hurt!"
Hearing the running stop, Aldrick gripped the leg he grabbed tighter, only to hear a chuckle. "So, you think a fag like you can stop me?" Sudden pain started to shoot up the teen's back as Stahn repeatedly stomped on his back, until, after what seemed like forever, Aldrick passed out.
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Aldrick woke up lying on his back, staring at a grey metal ceiling. /What...happened? I know I was at Cid's...and then...!\
Sitting up immediately, the gray-eyed teen cried out "Cid!", only to lie back down due the pain in his head and back.
"You shouldn't move so suddenly like that, you idiot." someone nearby said. Aldrick turned his head slowly, and saw not only that the 'room' he was in was tiny, but Cid was next to him, along with what looked like a medical worker.
"Where am I?"
"An ambulance. That bastard hurt you pretty bad."
"Where is he?"
"After you went unconscious, I tackled him to the ground, and the police showed up. My mom had called them when you went outside. He's on his way to the police station."
"So, you and your mom..."
A small laugh escaped from the lacrosse player. "We're fine. It's you that got hurt."
Turning his head away a little, Aldrick said "I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize. That was pretty brave. Fucking stupid, but brave."
There was a short silence, before Cid asked "Is what your father said true?"
Aldrick looked at Cid with confusion and asked "What?"
"Are you really gay?"
A new pain made itself known in Aldrick; a pain in his heart. "Yes...you must hate me now..."
"You're wrong..."
Aldrick looked right into Cid's eyes, and could see the sincerity in the older teen's sky blue orbs. A smile escaped the grey-eyed teen as the moonlight shone through the ambulance window, making the metal interior shine a bright silver hue.
To be continued...
This leads to big questions. What will happen now between Cid and Aldrick? Where will Aldrick go now that he's homeless? How will everything work out?! ...Guess you'll just have to wait and find out...eventually. Still working on that story for english...