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The rest of the day left Shane feeling uneasy and tense. He hadn't been able to get Chase's eyes out of his head. And it didn't help that Reed was year older than him, and therefore not in any of his classes. It sucked, but at least he could see him at lunch.
His hope was shut down when he arrived, sitting down with the rest of the conspirators. He ignored Wes and David loudly arguing with the twins, who were not being proved wrong without a fight. And he tried to ignore Kurt and Blaine, shamelessly flirting and threatening to send his lunch heaving back up. Dwight had his nose buried in a book that had no words on the cover, only strange looking symbols. Shane figured it was best not to ask about that one. But where was Reed?
"Uh…" He was hesitant to disturb anyone's… activities. "Where's Reed?"
Kurt was the one who answered, turning away from Blaine long enough to do so, "With Chase. He usually is, unless Chase wants to be alone with his Stuart friends." He said this as though it was totally normal. But to Shane, it didn't seem that way.
"So what… this is normal for them? He makes Reed stay with him until he wants to be alone and then just tells him to get lost?" Shane knew he was dramatically paraphrasing but he didn't care.
"Pretty much." Kurt said, rolling his eyes. Shane could tell Kurt was just as annoyed by this as he was. "Chase says jump and Reed doesn't even bother with the 'how high' he just does it."
Shane pushed his food away, no longer feeling very hungry. This whole day was nothing more than one disappointment after another. And with absolutely no Reed since this morning.
And with that thought Shane was remembering this morning, the nearly black eyes.
"Can I ask you guys a question?" he spoke quietly, feeling nervous once more.
"Is it about Reed?" Blaine asked, playing with his food, bored.
Shane didn't even dignify that with an answer. "What's Chase like?"
That surprised him. Blaine stared, a little startled. "Didn't we tell you about him last night?"
"But that's not what I'm talking about. I mean what about his personality. What's he like?"
The twins stopped their conversation, looking at him with expressions Shane wasn't quite sure of, but scared him just a little. "Why do you want to know?" As soon as the question was asked identical smirks spread across their faces and Shane could now tell that the previous look meant mischief.
He sighed, deciding to just be honest. "This morning, when I saw him for the first time, his eyes were like… black." He suppressed a shudder. "He looked at me like he wanted to kill me or something."
He was surprised to see everyone shrug it off, as though they were used to it.
"That's Chase," Blaine said simply, offering no other explanation.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Evan leaned in close to Shane to whisper in a voice that wasn't quiet at all. "That's his way of telling you he doesn't like you."
Ethan leaned in as well, "He doesn't tell you with his mouth, you see. He tells you with his eyes."
"Like we said last night," Evan continued, "He won't openly say it, but you can tell."
Shane blinked. "But I haven't even really met him. He doesn't know me, how does he hate me?"
Kurt looked just as unfazed as Blaine did. "You were talking to Reed. That's why he doesn't like you."
Mouth open, Shane had to shake his head for a moment, trying to process this. "Wait, so he just automatically hates everyone who has anything to do with Reed? Is that why Reed isn't here with us right now?"
Kurt's shoulders shrugged lightly, repeating, "Pretty much."
"But doesn't that seem kind of…" he struggled to find the right word. "Unfair. Inappropriate? Like he's trying to control him?" Wasn't that one of those things those Lifetime movies talked about?
Wes looked back to his food, "He's probably just protective."
"This is where we disagree," Kurt said, more to Shane than anybody else so Shane could automatically tell they were all on different sides of the fence about this, they all had their own opinions. "I think like you do. I think it's messed up that he tells Reed what to do."
"Then why don't you try to change that?"
Kurt sighed, "Believe me I have. I think we all have at least once."
They stopped talking there, leaving Shane looking expectant. "And? What happened?"
Looking thoughtful, Kurt leaned back. "Well, Reed agreed with us at first. But then when he tried to confront Chase about it he suddenly became kind of… I don't know… withdrawn? He stopped talking to us for the longest time and stayed with Chase. And that's what happens every time we bring up Chase's flaws. So we've just stopped trying. It's better to have him in our lives only sometimes than not to have him at all."
"But if he's mean to you then why does Reed still like him?"
"Well," Evan began slowly, "He's never actually blatantly mean to us, just unfriendly. And he's not like that with Reed."
Right. Shane forgot about that part. Even if he wasn't particularly nice to his friends, he was good to Reed. Shane looked to the table, defeated. Even if he had unfair tendencies, if he treated Reed well Shane couldn't argue with that.
"I don't see what the problem is," Reed let out a small huff that sent the hair in front of his face flying. "Why can't we just go say hello. Just for a second. It's Shane's first day after all."
"Who's Shane?" Chase asked, looking bored. He was hardly paying attention to what Reed was saying at all.
They were standing near the entrance of the cafeteria, not completely in the room. "You remember, from this morning. He's Blaine's brother."
Chase didn't even look up from his cell phone. "Who's Blaine?"
Reed stared at his boyfriend incredulously. "Blaine. You know Blaine. A little on the short side, black curly hair."
"Ah," he nodded with recollection, "The hobbit who abuses hair gel."
"Hey," Reed defended softly, hesitantly. "Blaine is nice, please don't make fun of him."
Chase snorted, saying nothing else. He really didn't care enough to comment. That was until Reed said, "So can we at least go see how his day is going so far?"
He finally looked up, pocketing his phone and sneer replaced by a harsh glare that Reed instantly cowered under. "I said no." His voice was perfectly identical to his expression and Reed shrank back even further.
"Sorry," Reed whispered, letting his eyes fall back to where his group of unusual friends sat. He could tell from here that Shane looked troubled and wasn't eating, and he couldn't help but wonder why.
Chase followed his gaze closely, eyes narrowing when he saw where Reed was looking, who he was staring at. It happened so fast Reed barely had time to prepare for it. A cruel tug on his curls brought a frenzy of pain and he cried out as Chase pulled him into a deserted corridor by his hair. He was still whimpering when they stopped, and he was roughly shoved forward. He stood there shaking, facing his boyfriend who he could tell he had upset somehow.
"Reed," Chase started slowly, sounding angrier than before and Reed instantly looked at the ground, avoiding his fiery gaze. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Reed's head jerked up quickly. "Do you like this guy? Is that why you're so interested in talking to him?"
"No! No, I was just –" A sharp punch to his cheek stopped his words completely. He whimpered in pain again, unintentionally drawing himself back.
He knew Chase was really mad now. He hadn't gone for his face in a while, usually preferring somewhere that could be easily hid ever since Kurt threw a big fit over a recent black eye Reed had mysteriously acquired. Even though he never really out front accused Chase, he started being more careful about damaging Reed's "beautiful face" as he called it.
Reed tried not to cry, he had gotten use to holding in it and being quiet, but that didn't stop it from hurting all the same.
"Don't lie to me." Chase's voice had not calmed, and apparently neither had he. He grabbed Reed's upper arm tightly, making Reed wince and squeeze his eyes shut. "If I ever see you associating yourself with him, I can promise you will be sorry. Do you understand?"
His grip tightened, eliciting another cry from Reed. "Yes! I won't, I promise! Just please let go!"
He did, releasing his arm by throwing him up against the wall and walking by, pulling his phone back out as if nothing happened. Reed stood there, leaning weakly against the wall, wiping the tears away from his eyes with shaking hands. He tried to ignore the pain that was radiating from his back, arm, and most of all, face. He really hoped it wouldn't bruise, it had always been a hassle covering those up and trying to explain them. It was the only time he was ever grateful for his clumsiness. But judging by the force and the intensity of the pain, he would soon have another reason to use Kurt's makeup.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this wasn't how love was supposed to be. But he probably couldn't get any better. Besides, Chase wasn't always like this, so who's to say he always would be? And it would be selfish of him to leave just because things weren't looking so good. Reed knew every time Chase was forced to hurt him was because of something he had done wrong. It was his fault. If he didn't always do something wrong then Chase wouldn't have to resort to hitting him.
He could remember where it all began.
They were Chase's private room, arguing. They had only been together for a couple of weeks, but arguing was rapidly becoming a frequent thing, even if it was over things Reed thought were silly. He soon learned that Chase took things a lot more seriously that he did, and got a lot angrier over them, too.
"So you were flirting with him," Chase growled, not even bothering to use a tone of question. He already knew the answer. He saw them.
"No I wasn't," Reed looked away, rolling his eyes. "He just asked me a question. This was Derek for god sakes." He liked Derek, but there was no way in hell.
"Exactly. Derek Seigerson. The most notorious slut in all of Dalton. Of course he'd want to flirt with you!"
"But I wouldn't want to flirt with him!" He knew Chase didn't like it when he yelled back, but he couldn't help it. "Derek's not even gay!"
Something changed in Chase's eyes that made Reed want to step down. "I don't give a fuck what he is, don't flirt with him."
Reed sighed dramatically. "I wasn't!" Before he got the chance to say anything more, Chase drew his hand back, using all the rage he was feeling to slap Reed forcefully, making him cry out. He stumbled back, hand on his sore cheek and mouth open. He stared at Chase's angry face, utterly stunned.
"You…" he finally stuttered, not sure what to say. His bottom lip quivered, and he tried hard to fight the tears off. "You can't hit me!"
Chase sneered, "You're not a girl. I can hit you all I want." He emphasized this by pulling his hand back again, this time balling it into a fist and sending it straight to Reed's stomach. Reed fell backwards, crashing into the wall and to the floor, gasping and struggling to breathe. The pain of this blow caused the tears to start falling. Chase hovered over him, entirely unmerciful. "I'm strong and you're not. How are you going to stop me?"
"I…" He couldn't think of anything to say, he was still too shocked. And scared. Chase had gotten mad at him before but he'd never actually hit him.
Chase had a fist full of his hair before Reed could continue. "You what!" His grip was tight and he pulled hard, causing Reed to cry louder.
"I'm sorry!" His hands flew up to his head, trying to lessen the pain.
Chase pulled harder. "Are you going to flirt with him again?"
Reed was sobbing openly now, but managed to shout, "No! I won't, I promise!"
Seeming satisfied, Chase let go, but not before slamming Reed's head against the wall. His head erupted in pain, and he couldn't hold back the loud yelp that was followed by more sobs.
"If you talk to him again you're going to regret it."
Reed nodded, not daring to look up. He couldn't believe what just happened, but the pain was real, and it was the reminder that everything that just happened was, too.
"And those Windsors," Chase didn't go on, but Reed could tell by his tone that what he was thinking wasn't pleasant.
Reed sniffed, and he tried his best to speak with a trembling voice. "They- they're just my friends. I swear I'd never f-flirt with them, and they wouldn't with me." He hoped to god Chase believed him, not only because it was truth, but he didn't want to get hurt anymore. It hurt to breathe and his head was still throbbing.
He kept his eyes trained on the floor, but he didn't need to see Chase's face to feel the glare he was giving him. "You better hope for your sake that you're right. You don't want to know what will happen if that changes."
Reed gulped, too afraid to say anything else. He remembered how the twins shamelessly hit on him when he first moved to Windsor and prayed that they never did again.
He jumped when Chase started shouting, "Are you listening to me!"
"Y-yes!" He flinched, preparing to be struck.
He wasn't. Chase only said a short, "Good," before heading to the door, leaving Reed alone to shake and cry on the floor.
He hoped that if he was good enough, and listened to everything Chase said, he wouldn't be hurt again. But there was always something, something he didn't do or did wrong, something that made Chase mad, something that called for punishment.
He might have hoped it wouldn't happen again, but it was far from the last time. He always seemed to mess something up, like nothing he did was good enough.
And Chase had been right. He was a boy. And no one cared if you hit boys. He had every right to do it, but Reed still somehow knew he had to keep it a secret, even if Chase was allowed to hurt him, he kept it from everyone, knowing they'd make a big deal out of nothing. If Chase wanted to do something to him, he couldn't stop him, and the last thing he wanted was his friends trying to.
That would be disastrous.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Chase, who was half way down the hall now, shouting, "Let's go!"
Collecting himself, he ran to catch up, trying not to think about the fact that he was following the same person that was responsible for the throbbing on his face and back.
His last class was finally over, and even though Shane was glad that part of the day was done, he was still incapable of feeling any sort of excitement thanks to the conversation he had at lunch. He couldn't believe Reed was so attached to someone who wasn't even that nice, even if he was nice to him.
He found himself bitterly comparing all of the known attributes about Chase to ones that related to himself. He for one, would never tell Reed who he could hang out with, or keep him from his friends. He also would never be straight out cold to any of them. He wouldn't be mean to anyone he knew meant a lot to Reed, and he didn't understand how anyone who claimed they cared about him would. His hostile thoughts soon turned into neurotic revelations that he would be so much better at what Chase was supposed to be doing: loving Reed. But after dwelling on it for half the day he remembered it wasn't his place to judge their relationship, only support what Reed wanted and that obviously wasn't him. He just had to be Reed's friend. That was good enough… Wasn't it?
He shrugged through the doors to Windsor later than everyone else due to his slow walking in which he stared at the ground, thinking unpleasant thoughts about the boy he'd only seen once. Now that he was back he had to deal with mounds of homework the first day at a new school brought. This day had started off bad and only went down from there.
All his books were piled onto one of the kitchens counters. He figured he could get more done being the only one in the kitchen than he could in the noisy common room or the dorm he shared with his brother who was doing homework with Kurt and would undoubtedly be making lovesick googley eyes at him which Shane didn't particularly care to see.
He was staring blankly at one of the papers that made absolutely no sense when his peace was disturbed by a door opening and someone walking in. He could hear the muffled sound of mayhem from beyond the door but didn't look up until he heard whoever it was that entered speak.
"Oh," there was a short stall. "Hi Shane."
He'd recognize that voice anywhere, even if it was only the second time he got to hear it that day.
"Reed!" he jumped up, knocking one of the books he was holding down to the ground. But he didn't care about that the second he saw Reed's face. "What happened to you?"
He walked over, placing a gentle hand on the swollen patch on Reed's cheekbone that was beginning to color.
Reed instinctively flinched away from the touch, Chase's earlier words ringing in his ears.
If I ever see you associating yourself with him, I can promise you will be sorry.
Worry and fear started flurrying through his stomach. What if Chase found out he was talking to Shane. I can promise you will be sorry. He didn't have single doubt that that was true.
"That's going to be a shiner," Shane commented, completely oblivious to the terror Reed was feeling just being near him. He was trying hard not to show it. He didn't want Shane to get offended. "How'd you manage this one?"
Finally he dropped his hand and Reed was able to somewhat relax long enough to think of an excuse. "I… I tried to open the door but ended up hitting myself in the face with it." He was glad that he just met Shane, he had already used that excuse too much with everyone else.
Shane smiled easily, thinking this sounded entirely plausible. He had no way of knowing just how far from the truth that was.
"Be more careful next time, okay?"
Reed tried to smile, nodding as he looked down at his feet nervously. He knew he shouldn't be scared of Shane, and he wasn't. He was scared of being near him, of what might happen because of that.
He snapped out of his thoughts from Shane watching him expectantly and asking, "You okay?"
Reed shook his head, trying to get over it. "Yeah. Yeah I'll be more careful."
Shane backed up, returning to his seat. "Good," he was still smiling at Reed completely carefree. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt would we?"
Reed gulped, nodding weakly. He felt guilty and wasn't even sure why. He decided to change the subject. He couldn't think about this right now.
Gesturing to the tower of books and paper, he asked, "So is this all your catch up work?"
Shane groaned, turning back to face it all. "Yes. Thanks for reminding me."
Reed found himself smiling despite the fear he still felt from being there. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."
"Hopefully," Shane mumbled, picking up the discarded book on the floor. He faced Reed again once he was upright. "This might sound odd, but can you help me out?" At Reed's surprised stare he quickly explained. "What I mean is you've been through transferring here and being in my grade. So that means you're older and wiser, even if you are shorter."
Reed glared playfully. "I should say no just for that."
Shane's carefree smile was back. "I'm sorry. That was rude. What I meant to say was you're smarter than me and older than me and I would very much appreciate your help, oh wise one. Also you are not short."
Reed laughed and all fear instantly disappeared. Being with Shane was easy, and he felt strangely happy, even if he would be forever paranoid that Chase would somehow find out and terrified by the consequences of that happening.
But there was no way Chase could find out if the only time he was around Shane was in Windsor right? After all, Shane's room was directly across the hall from his, he was bound to see him a lot. Even if that theory was completely logical he knew Chase would never see it that way. He would blame him for instigating communication with Shane and he knew he would be sorry.
Reed knew if he was caught he would be. So he had to rely on the fact that Chase would never find out, not as long as the only time he saw Shane was in his own dorm house. Chase never came to Windsor except to escort Reed somewhere anyway.
"Okay," he finally answered, feeling comfortable about being around Shane even if there was the underlying fear. He could ignore it though.
He just hoped he wouldn't regret this.