A/N: As you can see, it's not like the regular stories. It's okay, it's not supposed to be.
Chapter Three
Ryan got up, same routine every day, quickly changing into his 'appropriate' clothes before Sister Abigail came in. He watched as the other woke up too, most of their bodies being on an alarm for itself. Ryan looked over at the new kid, Brendon, seeing he was fast asleep. Last night Ryan went over, making sure Brendon was okay. He knew he must of scared the boy, coming in the middle of the night without warning, but he was just watching out for him. Sister Abigail came in, ushering the boys out for breakfast. Everyone ran out except for Ryan, knowing that no one else would wake up Brendon. Ryan went over slowly, watching the boy sleep a little before gently pushing his shoulder. Brendon made a grunting noise, mumbling something about him not meaning to do it. Ryan's eyebrows knitted in confusion, shaking the boy more so that he would open his eyes. After a while, Brendon's eyes fluttered open, quickly going wide at the sight of Ryan. He scooted away quickly, making Ryan frown heavily. After realizing it was just Ryan, the boy who seemed to help him throughout the first day, he calmed down while sitting up. Brendon stretched, his arms going up as his back cracked a little, then rubbed his eyes for a while. He could feel Ryan poke him again, making him stop and hold Alexander as he smiled at him weakly. He had tiny bags under his eyes, showing that Ryan was correct, he didn't have any sleep whatsoever.
"He-Hey Ryan," he mumbled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The room was cold, making him sigh deeply. He hated to be cold. Ryan quickly went over to his bed, pulling out the pad of paper and pencil, writing down some words before handing it to Brendon. Get dress. Was all it said, making Brendon nod. Brendon quickly got his bag from under his bed, pulling out some ripped, loose blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt. After writing down for Ryan not to look, he got changed quickly. Even if he wasn't going to get naked, he still didn't anyone to see his body. Only his mother has seen him like that, maybe his father if he could remember. His father must of, he had to at least change him when he was a baby. After Brendon was done putting on his old tennis shoes, he wrote quickly on the paper. Where to? He asked, making Ryan write down just as fast. Breakfast. Brendon nodded, waiting for Ryan to put the piece of paper and pencil away before walking out the door. Brendon could see Ryan look around, making sure no one was around, and grabbed Brendon's hand to dash to the cafeteria door. After getting in, they quickly got their trays, getting what it looked to be burnt bacon and toast, applesauce, and milk. Brendon headed for his table, knowing that he would have to sit alone once again, not that he wasn't used to it by now. He wasn't surprised when Ryan sat somewhere else though, knowing the boy was just helping him to be nice. He didn't want to be actual friends with the boy. Brendon sighed, eating the bacon, leaving the toast and apple sauce. He hated both of them. He quickly finished his milk before putting the tray up, waiting for one of the Sisters to take them to wherever they were going next. One Sister Abigail came in, he smiled happily. Brendon really liked the Sister, knowing that she was nice and kind to the children.
"C'mon everyone!" she called, Brendon quickly getting up to get in the front this time. Once he was up there, Sister smiled at him sweetly, and lead the boys out the door to a tiny white walled room. Brendon's eyebrows knitted in confusion, not getting why they were in such a tiny room. A nun came up, giving him a piece of paper and color pencils, and it finally clicked. It's an art room! Brendon grinned, taking the materials and going to an empty corner to draw in. He knew exactly what he could draw. After getting started, he saw Ryan come up to see by him. Brendon smiled widely, Ryan offering a small smile back, and quickly got back to work. Brendon got done quite quickly, but he had drawn Alexander so many times he had lost count. After hearing that they would be showing their drawings, Brendon got really nervous. What if they don't like it? What if they laugh at me? Brendon chewed on his lip, watching the boy with dreads go up and present his. What.. What is it? Brendon squinted, seeing random shapes and colors everywhere. It started to hurt Brendon's eyes after a while, so he just left it. Next kid was a chubby brunette by the name of Spencer, and he looked just as nervous as Brendon did. His baby blue eyes hid behind the paper, showing a kind of Halloween setting. Brendon liked it though, it was really cool looking. "Brendon!" Sister Abigail called, making him frown slightly. He got up, still chewing on his lip as he went in front of everyone. He could feel Ryan's hazel eyes watching him carefully, making Brendon feel slightly better than before. He held up the drawing, looking down as he spoke quietly.
"Th-This is m-my stuffed an-animal A-Alexander," he mumbled, making some of the boys laugh loudly. He could the kid with the dreads laugh loudly, pointing at him as he elbowed some of his buddies. Brendon could feel his eyes sting, quickly leaving the center of the room and going back to his corner. As he sat down, he crumbled up his paper, throwing it at the wall, making it come back and hit him on the nose. Brendon almost lost it then, but pulled his knees up to his chest as he ignored the worried look Ryan gave him. He could feel his hand on his shoulder, making Brendon scoot away to the wall. He didn't need comfort. I've been through worse.
Ryan frowned as Brendon scooted away, looking at the piece of crumpled paper. He picked it up, stuffing it in his pocket for later. The drawing wasn't bad, it was actually really cute. The older boys just made fun of it because Brendon was stuttering. Ryan thought it made Brendon even more adorable, but he knew the younger boy must of gotten made fun of all the time. Ryan got up, knowing when Sister Abigail called everyone, and poked Brendon's shoulder. Brendon revealed his head, eyes wet but his face dry. Ryan knew that if Brendon kept keeping in his emotions he would break sooner or later. Ryan sighed as he outstretched his hand, Brendon taking it reluctantly as he stood up. They filed out of the room, now going outside to play for about an hour. Ryan just sat in the corner, watching all the boys. He didn't bother joining them, and they didn't bother asking. They have a silent agreement since day one.
"W-Where are w-we going?" Brendon asked, making Ryan turn around to face the shorter boy. Brendon didn't know any of the schedule except for Math class, showers, bed. Ryan pointed to the door, Brendon still confused because he couldn't tell where it went. "Why won't you talk?" he asked, slightly irritated with Ryan, wanting to hear his voice for once. It's probably nice and soft. Ryan just shrugged, making Brendon even more angrier than he already was. He didn't ask again, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. I might never at this rate. Brendon soon found out as the boys entered a large yard, with equally large stone walls to keep anyone from running. There was even spiky barbed wire on the top to make sure. It is a prison. Brendon looked around, seeing some kids running to play four-square, tag, or jump rope. Brendon wanted to go play four-square, knowing that he could easily beat everyone. He was a four-square master. Brendon went over, seeing all the extremely older kids start to play, and waited in line like the rest. After a couple people getting in and out, it was Brendon's turn to get in. He grinned, stepping into the square, but something wasn't right. No one was playing. Brendon looked around confused, frowning heavily as he saw the four-square leader; the dreadlocks kid.
"You can't play here," he said, smirking as he looked around at the other boys for approval. The other older boys exclaimed in agreement, making Brendon scowl at them.
"W-Why n-not?!" he spoke up loudly, making some of the other boys snicker at his stutter. Brendon's spirit sank back down, knowing he would never be taken seriously if he kept the stutter.
"B-Be-Because we d-don't pl-play with fa-faggots!" the dreads boy laughed, rolling his eyes as he bounced the red ball a couple times. The other guys were laughing hard, grinning as Brendon could feel tears rim around his eyes.
"S-Shit, Pete!" one of the boy's laughed loudly, Brendon squinted his eyes, growling as he spoke up loudly. So his name is Pete?
"W-Well! I do-don't play wi-with douchebags," he yelled, storming off quickly before one of the kids beat him up for it. Brendon made his way to Ryan, throwing himself down by him. Brendon brought his knees to his chest, wrapping them with his tiny arms. "I ha-hate this pl-place, no-nobody likes me," he grumbled, wiping his eyes quickly before any tears could fall. Ryan looked over, frowning, putting his arm around the boy's shoulder. Brendon scooted closer, hiding his face in Ryan's shoulder for the rest of the hour. Brendon must of fell asleep again because he woke up to Ryan poking his shoulder. Sister Abigail was calling them in for lunch, and Brendon smiled a little as he thought about eating. Brendon got up, walking with Ryan as they exited the court yard to the dirty cafeteria. As they got their trays, Brendon could smell something like pizza. His wide eyes looked around to see it was infact pizza, but it looked burnt as the bacon. Brendon sighed, taking the cheese pizza, applesauce, and chocolate milk, then headed for his table. He started to open his milk when Ryan sat beside him, Brendon smiled widely at the older boy. Ryan offered a tiny smile as he started to eat his food. "Wh-Why is Pete s-so me-mean?" he asked, chugging down most of his milk already. Ryan sighed a little, shrugging as he started to eat his pizza. Brendon knew that would happen, and he started to eat his pizza slowly.
"Hey faggot!" Pete yelled behind him, making Brendon flinch as he hoped they weren't coming over here. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" he yelled again, pushing Brendon's back as he came up, making Brendon whimper as old sharp pains ran up his back. When Brendon ignored Pete again, he felt Pete's fingers getting tangled in his hair, shoving his face into the saucey cheese pizza. Brendon whimper loudly, struggling to get Pete's hand off so he could breathe. Ryan growled, not being able to watch it anymore as he stood up, punching Pete in the face harshly.
"You fucking prick!" Ryan yelled, making Pete and his whole group's eyes go wide. Brendon quickly got his face out of the pizza, standing up as he looked at Ryan with amazement as well. He is talking. "C'mon," Ryan mumbled, taking Brendon hand, quickly walking out of the cafeteria to the bathrooms to wash Brendon up.
"Ry-Ryan! You're talking!" Brendon exclaimed, only to be shushed by the older boy. Brendon bit his tongue, wanting to say so much more, but they could get caught. Once in the bathroom, he let Brendon sit on the floor, getting a paper towel wet to clean his red face. Brendon watched as Ryan knelt beside him, softly wiping off the sauce off of his face. "R-Ryan?" he mumbled, Ryan didn't stop though, he kept wiping it all off.
"What?" he asked, finally getting it all off as he threw away the paper towel. Brendon looked at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to even say now that he was talking.
"Y-You're t-talking," Brendon said, making Ryan nod slowly as he stood up. He outstretched his hand, Brendon taking it quickly. Ryan didn't let go, their fingers properly intertwining, making Brendon blush. "Why?" he asked as they made their way out, Ryan stopping around corners to make sure no Saints or Sisters were around. They finally got to their room, Ryan leading Brendon to his bed. Once Brendon sat down, Ryan went off to get Alexander. "Why?" Brendon repeated, wanting to know. Ryan never spoke since he was here. It's been weeks since he was here too, not even one single peep from the older boy.
"Because Pete is an asshole," he finally said, crawling into bed and giving Brendon the lion. Ryan laid down, bringing Brendon down as well. "I'm sorry," he mumbled after a while, his fingers caressing Brendon's hair as he watched the ceiling.
"W-What for?" Brendon asked, holding both Alexander and Ryan close. He didn't expect the first couple of words from Ryan to be 'I'm sorry'. Well, he didn't expect Ryan to speak at all.
"Not helping you, leaving you alone. I'm sorry," he mumbled again, sighing loudly. "I should've talked to you, I knew I should've talked," Ryan rambled, making Brendon shake his head.
"R-Ryan, no, it-it's fine," he stuttered, Ryan cutting off Brendon again.
"No, trust me, I was being a dick," Ryan mumbled, feeling Brendon lay his head on his chest. Ryan pulled Brendon closer, knowing that he shouldn't have these feelings for the young boy. He's too young, he is ten! It stayed silent after that, no one daring to talk as they laid there. Ryan could've sworn that Brendon was asleep, but the younger boy spoke up.
"My m-mommy is s-supposed to pick me u-up on my bi-birthday," Brendon told Ryan, the older boy still keeping quiet though. Brendon knew his birthday was coming up, it had to be. It felt like he was in here for years now, only to be weeks in fact.
"When's your birthday?" Ryan asked, knowing that they were probably in class by now. Good thing that Sister Abigail was on duty, knowing that she wouldn't look for them. She was the only nice nun at the boy's home. The rest fake to be nice, but if you're out of line once they will punish you severely.
"Ap-April twelfth," Brendon mumbled, remembering his last birthday that they held at a circus. That was before his father left, and his mother was really nice to him. She would tuck him in at night, kiss him on the forehead, read him bedtime stories. She acted like a real mother. They had really cool clowns at his birthday, some zebras, and really flexible acrobats that walked on a tightrope. It was the best birthday yet, and he wondered what birthday his mother planned for him this year. Maybe it was going to be a aquarium themed birthday party, something told his mother months after his last birthday. The day before he father left.
"It's coming up soon," Ryan smiled, seeing Brendon's eyes get wide with happiness. Brendon sat up a little, looking at Ryan with unsure.
"H-How do you kn-know?" Brendon asked, since none of the Sisters or Saints told him what day it was. Even if he asked, they would ignore him and move on. Brendon couldn't understand why they didn't tell.
"I count the days," Ryan started, "See those marks over there?" he asked, Brendon looking over and nodding slowly. "I mark out the sticks when the day ends," he mumbled, "Been doing that since I came here," he admitted.
"O-Oh, how long h-have you been here?" Brendon asked, feeling sleepy. He didn't want to fall asleep though, he was fine talking to Ryan the rest of the time.
"Too long," Ryan laughed dryly, "Shh, you're sleepy... Go to sleep, I'll wake you," he mumbled, making Brendon nod as he laid his head back down. Brendon could feel Ryan's lips on his temple, smiling as he closed his eyes. Brendon fell asleep quickly as Ryan played with his hair, actually getting a good rest since he came here.
Brendon woke up to kids entering the room, Ryan genitally getting Brendon up before any of the sisters saw them together like this. As Brendon woke up fully, he could hear snickers from the other boys. He sat up quickly, yawning as he looked around to see most of them staring at them. Brendon blushed, quickly taking Alexander and jumping off the bed to put him away. Brendon tucked Alexander away, getting a slight shove from Pete once more.
"So your boyfriend saved you, huh?" he called, making Brendon frown. "Do you think that's gonna stop me?" he asked, shoving Brendon on the bed, making the younger boy flinch as he shut his eyes tightly.
"Fuck off Pete," Ryan came over, making Pete laugh as he back away with hands in the air. As Brendon opened his eyes slowly, he could see Ryan standing in front of him. Brendon eased a little, standing up behind Ryan. Since Ryan was so tall, he was mostly hidden from Pete.
"I like it better when you kept your mouth shut, Ross!" Pete yelled, storming off towards his bed. Brendon smiled slightly, knowing that he Ryan was around he would be be protected from Pete and his group. Ryan turned around, seeing Brendon smile made him do the same. Ryan's lanky fingers ruffled the boy's hair, Sister Abigail coming in so they could eat dinner. As they walked out, Pete shoved his way through again. Brendon stuck out his tongue behind his back, making Sister giggle slightly. Ryan rolled his eyes fondly as they entered the cafe, getting their trays to eat some more prison food. I wonder if it's going to be burnt this time. Brendon snickered a little, feeling way better since the past hour. Brendon got his food, a peanut butter jelly sandwich, fruit cup, and chocolate milk. Quickly going to their table, he scooted the peanut butter and jelly sandwich as far as he could.
"What's wrong?" Ryan asked as he sat down, his eyebrows knitted together. Brendon chewed on his bottom lip, getting his milk open.
"I-I can't have peanut bu-butter, I'm a-ller-gic," he mumbled, sipping on the chocolate milk quickly. Ryan nodded, his hand reaching out to take the sandwich, but gave Brendon his fruit cup. "Y-You sure?" Brendon asked, looking at Ryan with worried eyes. Ryan nodded, knowing that he wouldn't miss out on eating the fruit, but Brendon needed to eat all that he could. He was really tiny for his age, but so was Ryan really. Actually, all the boys here were underweight. Brendon smiled widely, taking the extra fruit up and opening it first to eat. After eating them both and drinking his milk, Brendon wasn't full, but kept his mouth shut.
Ryan spoke up, "Tell me if Pete starts being a dick again." The older boy meant no harm, just looking out for the younger boy, but Brendon took offense. He shook his head, sitting up straight as if to make himself look taller.
"I c-can take care of m-myself!" he boasted, scowling a little at Ryan. Ryan just weakly smiled at him, inside knowing he really couldn't unless he wanted to get beat up first. "I-I know how to fight," Brendon said, making Ryan arch a brow, his eyes asking when did he learn. "I-I had too.. I finally had t-to because of my mommy," Brendon confessed, Ryan immediately knowing about what Brendon was talking about. Brendon went quiet after that, not wanting to spare anymore painful details, even if he did trust Ryan a lot. Ryan gave Brendon a sympathetic look, ruffling his hair as he stood up to throw his empty tray away. Brendon drank the rest of his milk, throwing his tray away as well, and sitting back down with Ryan. Sister Abigail quickly called for the boys, Brendon and Ryan walking together like they always did.