As BB moves to go with the officers, A suddenly screams and dives for him, latching his arms around BB's shoulders and refusing to let go. The sight pains me heavily, and my chest seems to clench with every yell of protest that A gives. He's nothing like the quiet frail thing he normally is. Having BB torn away from him like this is unbearable for him, and unbearable for me to watch. BB looks slightly overwhelmed at the distraught sight of A, his eyes full of confusion as he doesn't know what to do. The police are tackling the issue in the completely wrong way. They're trying to pry A off BB physically and it's not working. BB clutches him closer and whispers something, but A's still struggling to be separated. Eventually, after protests and even a few hits from A to BB, the weakened teen drops to the floor in sobs of surrender. BB walks away quickly, the officers following his pace. I reach for A, pulling his frail self closer to me and Skyar as he cries away his fears; I look dazedly in BB's general direction. They cuff him as he resists slightly, pushing him into the car and driving off. The paparazzi are still there, camera's flashing, video's rolling and pens a'writing. I glare in anger.
"Are you lot fucking happy now?" I yell. "Go find some other story to tear apart" Skyar helps me and A into the limo quickly after my outburst and drives off just as efficiently. So he wasn't a chauffeur as such, but he sure as hell was a good body guard. Half way home, I notice that Skyar hasn't taken the usual route and isn't heading to BB and A's place, but straight home. He spots me in the mirror and smiles briefly. I smile back in thanks. I know for a fact that leaving A alone at a time like this could mean something serious, and I think Skyar knows that too. So he takes us back to our place and we sit on the sofa watching shit until we're bored. Even Rod doesn't seem to mind the ghostly presence of A, going as far to say "the pale lil' stick aint that bad on 'is own", which, from Rod, is a compliment.
We don't hear back from BB, even though we wait up past half two in the morning in case the phone rings. We fall asleep on the sofa unintentionally, completely and utterly exhausted.
Thursday 17th December.
We're awake pretty early in the morning considering we slept so late. I let A take the bathroom first, guarding the door of any jokes that might have been aimed at me (if they thought that I was I the shower). Skyar brings me the hot chocolate of the morning to drink whilst I wait, and it's all gone by the time A comes out, fully clothed, in damp but not sodden hair.
"Skyar's setting the table downstairs if you want to go down" I offer. He looks about nervously, looking uncomfortable. I notice he's put back on the clothes he slept in and wince slightly. "Why don't you go and wait in my room. Check the drawers and im sure you'll find something to wear"
"Or we could set off early and make a quick stop at Our place?" I nod in agreement. "I'll wait in your room, if that's ok Melly" I nod again and he disappears off, making me rush my shower in order to not keep him waiting. None-the-less, I blow dry my hair and we're downstairs with fifteen minutes extra to eat our breakfast. I'm brought my usual chocolate puffs and A's given the option of the same or toast, a fry up or pancakes. He opts for the pancakes and waits patiently for them to be brought. I'm finished when they do, but I wait for him to finish as I sip the glass of water as he eats. At half eight, Skyar drives us to A's place, where he hops out, rushes in (albeit tentatively) and comes back ten minutes later changed and (presumably) with today's books in his bag. We reach the school just in time for the bell to ring, the traffic held us up a little. I walk A to his class, or rather I follow him until he reaches his class and then realise that mine is in the opposite direction and it's not with him. I tell him to wait for me where he is and I'll meet him after class. He gives a nod and goes to get his seat. I pace my way to lesson and apologise for being late. The teacher ignores it, I'm usually a good student and under the circumstances it should be acceptable, so I take my seat.
The lesson goes fairly fast for the morning, and I ask the teacher towards the end (seeing as I've done all my work) if I can go to the toilet just before class finishes. He allows me to go, so I pack my stuff and leave, heading back to A's class (not needing the toilet at all) and waiting for his lesson to finish. The door opens and the first few bunches of kids file out. I peek around the door and slide into the room, eyeing around it for A. I thought he'd be up and packing his things away, but he's still sat down, gazing at the board as the people around him leave, some even targeting a few harsh words in his direction before doing so. I nudge them harshly as they leave, before making my way towards A's seat. I begin thinking that A's been sat like that through the whole lesson, just thinking, not learning or listening. My worries are confirmed when I spot his blank sheet of paper, headed barely with a scratched and apathetic scrawl of 'Notes'. I pack it away for him and guide him up. We leave the room in silence, finding our way to the hall were we normally sit. It feels bare without BB.
I don't go to taekwondo either; I completely forget about it as I sit with A under Our Tree, trying to avoid the topic of BB or Derrick and finding meaningless crap to talk about. In keeping him safe and sane I forget to go to taekwondo, but I don't mind so much today.
"Melly..." A begins hesitantly, fumbling his fingers over one another lightly. I turn to him to show him he has my attention. "...nothing" He looks hesitant before flashing me a smile. "Forget it" I nod and leave it, staring back to the blank space across the yard. I notice him bite his lip nervously, as if in debate.
"You're welcome to come back to mine today...if you want" He nods gratefully and sighs. The nervousness has subsided, it seems.
By the end of the day, just as I'm heading out of the building with A, my phone rings. We were in the middle of talking about what to do when we get home, and reached the half-conclusion of baking a jam cake for BB, but I pause and answer the phone.
"It's Me" Me being Rod. I smile a little.
"Hi, everything ok?"
"Sure, I thought you'd want to be the first to know"
"To know..." I drawl, encouraging him.
"BB got bail. They've given him a warning for attacking the police like that, but he's out"
"Yes!" I jump up a little, a grin plastering my face. I receive a few weir d looks and ignore them in my happy bubble. "We can pick him up on the way home, yeah?"
"Skyar's agreed to make a detour on your way back" Rod says.
"Good"
"I have to warn you...an informant of ours in the police force has told us that they're doing some digging on BB's past... is there anything we should know about, y'know... to erase?"
"I don't think so...not anything obvious I mean. He's not exactly the sanest person, and sure, he's had his brushes with them but...no, I don't think there's anything too bad"
"Good, we'll keep you updated"
"Thanks Rod"
"Sure" I hang up, still grinning. I turn to A, who's giving me a questioning look. "A, what could make you grin as much as I am, right now?" He blinks and answers instantly.
"Having BB back with me" I suppress the urge to squeal like a girl and settle for a manly laugh.
"We're picking him up on the way home – he got bail"
The look of whatever it was on A's face was priceless. If I had a camera, I'd make it a huge poster and stick it on my wall. I won't ever forget the face he made. Everything filled his eyes, from love to happiness and relief and sheer emotion that i swear my heart skipped a beat. I began to wonder if it was dangerous to love someone so much, that this was the effect.
"Then why are we still talking?" A blurts, grabbing my hand and spinning me in the direction of the door.
As we pull up to the police station, BB's waiting patiently outside. A's unbuckling his seatbelt before the limo has even rolled to a stop. I grab my phone, stick it on record and dive across the seats, managing to get the reunion of A, slamming his whole body straight onto BB, as he cries softly and refuses to let go. BB gives me a rare genuine smile, letting his guard down and stroking the back of A's fluffy white hair before realising I'm recording; he sticks his finger up and I stop with a laugh. I save it and pocket the phone, clambering out and swinging my arm around him.
"Nice to have you back"
"Yeah well, they had me twenty four hours, but had nothing on me. Couldnt keep me in there with no evidence, could they? 'Sides, he's not dead, is he" He gives a grin, but then his face turns stoic. "A?" A lifts his teary-eyed head from his lovers shoulder and smiles. "I hope there's something jammy waiting for me" He pauses, grinning. A looks nervous; we were planning to make him a jam cake before Rod called. "Something beautiful...sweet...yummy...something...sticky" A blushes and wriggles awkwardly. "I simply meant jam" BB says innocently. "But that would work too"
"BB!" A shoves the chuckling mad-man away slightly and heads for the limo, clambering in. BB quickly follows with me behind him. He reaches A, just as he's got one leg in and one leg out of the car.
"I like the view, A...don't move"
"BB, stop it" He whines, crawling in and curling up in a ball on the other end of the seats. BB follows nonetheless, taking A in his arms and wrapping them securely around the frail body of A. I catch the low confession of 'I love you' before A sighs contently and simply fits onto BB's lap. I slide in, as taught, and shut the door.
"Skyar?" I raise my voice and lean towards the driver's seat. "Drop em' off at their place, ok?" Skyar gives me a nod and I lean back.
"Thanks Melly" A smiles softly.
"Sure, we'll make that jam cake another time" I grin.
"Jam cake? What'd I miss?" BB snuggles his face into A's hair and breathes in, then huffs. "Hm. We should celebrate. Me n' you t'night" A goes all bashful again, covering his quickly reddening face with his pale hands. "Tomorrow, we'll all go out and celebrate properly"
"I'm in!" I exclaim, grinning childishly.
"Only for a while" A mumbles, an uncertain look crossing his face. I smile as BB attacks him with kisses of reassurance and promises of a good night. Its nice having the trio back again.
Friday 18th December.
It's weird thinking that today is our last day of school before Christmas Break. I actually think I'll miss school, cause I'm a geek like that. But seriously, I do miss it, but being religious I understand the importance of the upcoming holiday, so I respect that. In addition, I think that the break from school will do us all good, but I'm determined to enjoy our final day.
Counselling is boring now. I tell her about BB getting bail, about how excited I am for the weekend and the upcoming holiday and how much happier school seemed, despite only being in for three and a half hours until I talked to her, and having less than three and a half hours to go before it ends.
BB receives strange looks throughout the rest of the day, but that's to be expected, so he ignores it with a not-so-evil grin, but a confident smile nonetheless. Friday turns out to be a good day, and a nice day. The sun is out with a cool breeze for balance, and it is still warm by the time school finishes. I text Skyar telling him I'd walk home, so I walk the long route to A and BB's place, and then doubling back on myself towards my home. By the time I get there it's half five, but I'm comfortable and happy with the leisurely pace that I walked back in. An hour later, I've had dinner and I'm getting ready to go out with A and BB again. We're going out, and planning on staying out until the early hours of the morning. I warn Rod of this before I leave, but considering I'd been near-depressed for most of the week, I don't think he believed that I wasn't on happy-pills. Skyar drops me off at A and BB's place and leaves. Shortly after, we leave. A's still a little apprehensive and BB's pretty psyched up for a good time, that makes two of us. A says something about not letting it get out of hand again, and we promise not to drink too much. BB suggests Flying again, and A admits he'd rather Fly-High than drink. We walk to the nearest club and start our night there, the music instantly curing our problems like there would be no tomorrow.
General Hospital.
On the second corridor of the ICU ward, the nurses and doctors are changing shifts. The day shift are leaving and the night shift are entering, hoping for an easy going night. Though, being a Friday night, they know to expect some drunken people along with some stubborn admissions, horrible wounds and accidents that could have been prevented. As the last person on the day shift of the ward leaves, the night shift settle into their routines and checkups, patrolling the corridors and checking on their patients. A doctor checks on one of the more prioritised patients, noticing no improvement in his condition. He begins to write his observations. Suddenly, the heart monitor blips from its usual rhythmic mechanical beeping, flat lining a long and monotone drawl. The doctor calls for backup and begins resuscitation.