I appolgize in advance if i would accidentaly insult any irish person.
Logan's POV
That disgusting, slithering, Irish freak! How dared he sit next to my Jamie and act as though it was his rightful place! If anyone were to sit next to Jamie it was me or in worst case one of the asian brothers. Not that… thing! I was this close to going over there when something wet was pressed against my neck. I jumped in surprise before I was finally reminded of my girlfriend. We had yet to talk over last weakened, nor the fact that I wasn't really allowed to see her but she was insistent on still dating me. I forced my eyes away from my Jamie to look at Carrie.
"Dude, you've been watching those freaks all lunch." Luke commented in annoyance when he realized my attention were on them. I gave a non-caring shrug.
"I don't like the new kid, that's all." I muttered, sending a last glare at the quartet.
Carrie rolled her eyes as she pulled herself away.
"Why can't you just like, like people?" she asked in annoyance before shooting a glance. "I know he's wierd and all but at least he's not as ugly as the other three."
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes but I restrained myself from snapping something at her. People were already doubting me as it was. The bell rang above our heads and I cast a final glance to the freak table.
"Let's go to class." I muttered with an arm slung around Carrie's shoulder. "We don't want to be late."
As the finall bell rang I waved goodbye to Carrie and the other's and headed the other way, lying and saying that I forgot something in my locker. No-one could know where I was going or my reputation would be ruined. My steps lead me carefully to the school's auditorium, though it wasn't a very big one. A small stage in the front and aproximately 100 seats. Mr. Williams was sitting ruefully at the stage while I and another 20 something students entered the room and I gave him a lazy wave while I sat down in a chair, feeling in a surprisingly good mood.
"Well this is a surprising sight." A dark voice whispered in my air, causing me to jump. I glanced behind and found Esteban grinning at me.
"Dude, I didn't know you were into drama." I whispered, feeling a bit guilty that I didn't. Esteban winked.
"It's a new thing that I'm trying out. What are you doing here?"
"That's classified." I responded, unable to keep the grin from my face that always came when Esteban and I hung out.
"I like to live it dangerously, amigo. Can you at least tell me why you're so happy today?"
I had to pause and think about that. In the beginning, I'd been very doubtful about the thing but since this morning and learning that Jamie would be in the class as well, I had been in a much better mood and I wasn't sure why. Then, my eyes landed on the entrance, or more particularily on Jamie. He was practically glowing with happines and his smile made my stomach flutter strangely. It was that smile that explain my happines. I was given the change to spend two full hours after school with nothing better to do than watch Jamie's bright smile. And better yet, I wouldn't have to share it with the irish freak. Esteban followed my gaze.
"He's been smiling a lot more lately." he murmured. For the first time I turned my head to look at him fully. Esteban looked the same like always, though he might have gained some weight.
"What makes you think I'm looking at Jamie?" I asked but regretting it when I saw the glint in Estebans dark eyes.
"I never said I was talking about James, you know."
I was about to retord when I realized my mistake and quickly shut my mouth.
"You're a jerk." I muttered instead and Esteban laughed quietly.
"I know. But it is nice to see that he's made a new friend."
I wrinkled my nose at the mention of Jamie"s new "friend".
"I'm so glad I don't have to see him in this class."
Esteban's smile faltered.
"You migt wanna check again, amigo."
I frowned a little but turned my head in search of Jamie. Sure enough I could vaguely make out red hair right next to Jamie's unmistakable curls. Instantly my mood soured but I wasn't given much time to do so because suddenly Mr. Williams began to speak.
"So did you here the story, of the Johnston Twins?" he asked and I was surprised by how strong his voice sounded. He usually wasn't a very loud person. Most of us shook our heads in confusion, but Mr. Williams continued.
"As like each other as two new pins, of one womb born on the self-same day." I could feel shivers run down my spine because there was something that I didn't like about his tone. Mr. Williams smirked.
"How one was kept and one given away."
By now everyone were stunned silent. Mr. Williams suddenly jumped off the staged and continue talking as he walk down the aisle.
"And did you never hear how the Johnston's died, never knowing that they shared one name."
His voice lowered until it was just a whisper, echoing in the room.
"Till the day they died when a mother cried, my own dear sons lie slain."
He walked back to the stage until he was standing in the centre where everyone could see him.
"And did you never hear of a mother so cruel, there's a stone in place of her heart."
He gave us a sly grin.
"Then bring her on and judge for yourselves, how she came to play this part."
His last words echoed into silence a moment before the auditorium broke into a round of applauce. Mr. Williams bowed gracefully in response. I on the other hand sat completely blown away, sitting there dumbly and staring at my teacher as if he'd grown two heads.
"Mr. Williams is awesome, isn't he?" Esteban whispered behind me with a hint of admiration in his voice. All I could do was nod dumbly but other than Esteban, I doubt anyone noticed.
"The play is called Blood-Brothers." Mr. Williams explained once the cheers had settled down. "It was written by Willy Russell in 1982 and it just so happens to be our project for the semester. "
A murmur ran through the class and judging by what I could hear they seemed pleased.
"Is there anyone who has seen the play?"
At first I thought no hands had risen but then an unmistakable hand rose from the group, belonging to no other than Patrick. Mr. William's eyebrows rose but then he smiled.
"I don't think I recognize you. Are you perhaps the new student?"
"Patrick Kirkland." Patrick clarified and for a moment he seemed almost chocked and concerned before he started smiling again.
"Well, welcome to Paron, then."
"There's something really wierd about all this." I muttered to myself as Esteban and I left the auditorium. I couldn't even remember the last time we walked home together. The last couple of months it had either been friends or Jamie.
"What is?" Esteban asked in confusion.
"Patrick." I muttered making sure there was a bit of a distance between us and them. "One day our life is normal and the next one Arthur is acting all jittery and stuff and it turns out we have a bunch of uncle's that we didn't know about."
Esteban raised an eyebrow.
"Do you think he's hiding something?"
I bit my lip, a habbit I thought I'd gotten rid of, then shook my head.
"I won't meddle in Arthur's bussiness. He'll tell us if there's something we need to know."
Esteban patted my back sympathetically.
"If it helps I'm pretty sure, what ever he's up to is for your sake."
I cringed.
"It doesn't."
"What doesn't?" I almost jumped out of my skin at the sudden voice and looked to find Jamie on my other side. He was cute, smiling like that, with his head tilted slightly to the side and his bangs falling in his face. How come I had never noticed how Jamie's hair glowed in the sun-light? And was it just me or did his eyes sparkle?
"What doesn't?" he repeated, his smile faltering slightly.
"N-nothing." I muttered with a blush when I realized that I must have been staring at him. "Where's Fre…" I paused. "Patrick?" I corrected myself but it didn't seem like Jamie noticed.
"He and Arthur were going shopping, I think."
I shrugged.
"So it's just the three of us, then." I concluded with a slight grin. This was exactly like the good old days.
"Just the three of us. " Esteban confirmed with a bright smile of his own.
Things were going fine.
"So Arthur is actually forbidding you from seeing her?" Esteban asked in dissbelief.
"That's my old man." I muttered.
"But you have to look at it from the bright side, forbidden relationships are the best."
"I doubt Logan thinks that." Jamie commented. "He's been nuts about Marie's secret boyfriend for ages."
I shruged.
"Some bastard is touching my little sister so of course I have to be protective."
Jamie smiled.
"I never said it was a bad thing, I'm just saying that maybe you're over analyzing."
I shot him a raised eyebrow.
"Over analyzing?"
"Well," Jamie explained. "We don't really have any proof that she has a boyfriend. Maybe she's just… hanging with some friends. I wouldn't judge her for wanting some female company once in a while."
I paused to ponder that for a moment. Maybe I was just thinking too much and tried to see a conection where none were to be found. I mean Marie had always been running off to places, then comming home late without anyone complaining so why did I try to make this any different?
"Is that Marie stepping out of that car?" Esteban interupted and we all turned our gaze in the way he was pointing. Sure enough all three could recognize Marie's dark hair and the blue dress she had worn earlier that morning and instantly my calming thoughts vanished.
"Thank's for the ride." I heard her say to which the driver said something in return. I couldn't hear what was spoken but it was obviously a male's voice. Suddenly, Marie had leaned in through the window at the driver's seat, before she said something else and the car drove off. I was not over analyzing.
Patricks POV.
"So how was your first day in school?"
I was tempted to give him a short 'whatever' but I was honestly glad to get rid of the silence. Having grown up with Shamus, I wasn't used to it.
"Okay, I guess. "
"It looked like you got along rather well with James and his friends." Arthur commented with a hint of a smile.
"Yeah they're cool." after a short pause, I added. "I guess."
Yet again, his lips twitched.
"It's good to know that your making new friends."
"I guess." I muttered. It may not have seemed like it but I was really trying to keep up a decent conversation. I just clearly sucked at it.
"Here we are." Arthur said suddenly and stopped the car.
I sighed heavily. It's not like I wasn't grateful for clothes other than these to wear but looking at him it was clear they wouldn't be any clothes I actually liked. Much to my surprise I didn't find myself looking up at a huge mall. Instead…
"This is a punk-shop." I stated in confusion and wondered for a moment if we were walking the rest of the way to a mall but Arthur was already heading to the door of the small shop.
"Come now, lad. We don't have all day."
Still very much confused I followed him inside and gazed longingly at the ripped jeans and leather jackets that decorated the place.
"What are we doing here?" I asked once I reached Arthur at the pay-desk.
"Well, we're not buying furniture, Patrick." he answered in amusement. Then he looked at me seriously. "I won't be the one to stop you from dressing however you like. It's clear you have a unique sense of fashion but know this." He looked me straigt in the eyes, sending shives down my spine. "This isn't Dublin. People around here aren't as accepting so be careful with who you piss of. Some people won't shy from violence." I scoffed weakly, trying to conceal my nervousness.
"Whatever."
"You should listen to the lady, kid." I swirled around in surprise and found a pale albino leaned against the counter. "Or you might just end up like me." First then did I notice the nasty scar that decorated the right side of his face. He turned his face to Arthur instead.
"No time, no see, Kirkland." He looked at him silently for a moment. "You've changed."
Arthur scoffed, much like I had done only seconds prior.
"I can't say the same about you. You look just as brain-damaged as you did 15 years ago."
The albino gave him a challenging grin.
"Then how come I've got a better job than you do."
Arthur smirked and leaned over the counter as well so that they were face to face. It was really quite odd. He was acting like a teenager again.
"Because you got it from your daddy?" he suggested. The albino laughed.
"Yeah, mein Vater bought me a punk-shop. That's a good one."
Arthur sighed.
"I see you still don't get along with you father then. "
"We keep in touch."
And the conversation went on for a while longer until Arthur finally heaved a sigh.
"We are really getting old, aren't we Gil? Talking about job and family."
"Yeah, which reminds me. I belieave I've got a costumor."
At last, red eyes turned to me with an expectant glint in his eyes.
"Patrick Kirkland, eh?" he stretched out a hand to me. " The name is Gilbert Weilschmidt, the awesomest man you'll ever meet. Artie and I were buddies back in the days."
"Whatever." I responded at reflex. Even so Gilbert was still smiling.
"Gilbert has offered to give me a discount on everything is the store so go ahead and pick whatever you like."
I blanched for a moment.
"Whatever I like?"
Gilbert grinned widely.
"As long as there's a pricetag!"
An hour later found us with plently enough clothes for me to go by but I was honestly feeling bad about buying so much stuff. However, Arthur had assured me that it was no problem. At final last, we had everything in bags and Gilbert was once again leaning over the counter.
"I believe there was a payment?" he asked slyly and for some reason all he did was hand him an envelope.
"The only copies." he assured as Gilbert leafed through, what turned out to be photographs.
"And these are all of them?"
Arthur nodded in confirmation. "Each single one. "
Gilbert smiled sadly and all of the sudden he had hugged Arthur.
"Thanks Artie."
"What was that all about?" I asked after a while of silence. It had started raining on the way home but it didn't really matter. Arthur smiled.
"I used to work as a photographer before I started adopting, so I managed to get a quite a few pictues. I don't blame Gilbert for wanting some of them."
"Are they like pictures of hot chicks or something."
Arthur shook his head.
"They are pictures of his boyfriend. Back in the days, those two were like glued together. They were always together no matter what and didn't care what the world thought about."
I didn't know how to answer to that. I wasn't unused to homosexuality, my brother used to bring boy-friends home all the time and I'd had sex with several guys myself, but the way Arthur talked about him, it sounded like Gilbert was really in love, and that was the one thing I was not used to.
"So, did they like break up or something?" I finally asked, figuring since he was speaking in past terms.
We were nearing home now.
"They were attacked one night by local boys with knives and bats. Gilbert managed to fend them of for a while but it was no use. By the morning, they were found unconcious by a passerby and they were taken to the hospital. Gilbert survived but his boyfriend had lost too much blood. Gilbert's been alone ever since."
The bar was quiet as usuall and little attention was paid to the two men sitting at the corner of the bar.
"I know you want to ask." The first man said.
The second man hessitated but asked.
"How did it go with Arthur?"
The first man smiled a little.
"Well, despite the rain, I managed to get there but it seems you forgot to tell me a little detail."
The other man frowned.
"What would that be? Had he already left?"
The first man growled.
"No he hadn't left, you just forgot to tell me that Alfred Fucking Jones was in town as well!" the first man hissed furiously.
The second man laughed nervously.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't expect for him to find him."
"Well he did. Thanks to your ignorance, Jones got there before me and now Arthur is happier than ever!"
The second man gulped.
"I'm sorry, I won't let you down again. Have you heard that Patrick has moved in with him."
The first man blinked before a smirk spread across his lips.
"See, now that is excelent news." he patted the other man on the cheek. "Maybe your not all useless after all, my dear William."
Hopefully soon to be continued.