Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites so far!

REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! XD

Claude finally comes in on this chapter. ;)

BAD KIDS

Chapter 4: Drop The Formalities

Alois hated leather. The way it stuck to his skin and anchored him in place, the faint smell of cattle, the ugly brownish color, and the rough texture were all factors in his disdain. He found it to be cheap and old, not expensive and fancy. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why people would want that material in their car, house, or anywhere for that matter. It simply wasn't appealing to him.

So whenever Dr. Faustus motioned for him to take a seat on the leather sofa in his office, the blonde cringed, feeling instantly uncomfortable the minute his thighs came in contact with it. He pondered for a moment over whether he should wear pants from now on, but quickly swiped the notion from his brain, knowing that there was no need to change his wardrobe for such a tiny reason.

Dr. Faustus sat across from Alois in a matching leather chair, crossing his legs, and jotting something down in a notebook. Alois was curious as to what the man was writing, and voiced his question aloud, not feeling the need to hold back.

"What are you writing down?"

Upon hearing this, Dr. Faustus glanced up at his new patient, seeing the eagerness for an answer in his round, blue, and oh-so enchanting eyes. A smile rose to his lips, and he replied with another question, "Do you want to see?"

Alois nodded, taking the notebook from his doctor's outstretched hand and gave it a turn to read the neat, cursive penmanship lying in front of him. There wasn't much written down yet. The date, Dr. Faustus' name, and his own name were organized at the top near the margain. Alois searched the lone page for something else, but found nothing, and handed it back to Dr. Faustus.

"Not very interesting, huh?" His doctor inquired, watching his patient's lips part, exposing perfect, white teeth, then puckering out in a very subtle manner. If the man wasn't so vigilant, then he wouldn't have noticed the little gesture. "I have to get to know you before a file can be started."

Alois nodded again, looking to the handsome man before him. He could feel his heart beating rapidly for the second time in not even ten minutes, and a thousand and three thoughts raced each other through his jumbled head, causing his grip on reality to blur. The only focus he had within his own madness was this stranger, this doctor, who was far more attractive than any girl or boy he's ever seen in his life. He was waiting patiently for this man to speak again just because his voice was so delightful.

Everything about Dr. Faustus was entrancing.

Alois realized that he had phased out the real world once again when the man's hand was waving in front of his face. The boy shook the glaze from his eyes and hummed in response to whatever his doctor might've said.

"Do you often lose yourself like that?"

The inquisition caught Alois off-guard, and for the third time that day, he nodded, still a little hazy due to the aura Dr. Faustus was constantly emitting.

Something was slowly overcoming the boy's body and was showing signs in inconspicuous ways. His legs spread somewhat, his hands moving to the space they made and gripping lightly onto the material he loathed. He didn't notice it. All he felt was an unfamiliar tingling in his stomach, and a smirk crossed his face when he spotted Dr. Faustus' eyes wandering lower and lower and...

"Stop it, Alois!" He thought to himself. "What the fuck are you doing, slung forward like you want something... do you want something?"

The arrogant boy let his mental state cloud up like he always did, now pondering over a new topic. Did he want something? If so, what exactly did he want? He had the urge to slap himself for just thinking about such silly things. By the time the doctor had gotten his attention back, Alois couldn't even decipher what he was pondering over in the first place.

"I-I'm sorry, Dr. Faustus." Alois blurted out, bowing his head in apology and elicting a chuckle from the man he was beginning to wish would laugh more... because the sound was lovely. On the other hand, they had just met today, so there was plently of time to bask in the sounds that would come from his mouth in the future. Alois smiled at the subject.

"Don't worry about it. There are far worse wrongs to right now, and I'd like to begin as soon as you're ready to share." He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his chair creaking. "So tell me, what's it like being Alois Trancy?"

Alois wanted to laugh at his question, but refrained from doing so. It was such a broad question. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Well, I... it's boring."

"Boring? How so?"

Alois inhaled softly, then exhaled roughly, trying to bring his words to his lips without stuttering.

"Well, I wake up, go to school, then come home. It's not very eventful."

Dr. Faustus' smile faded due to his patient's lacking description. He figured there was no use in pushing him for more information.

"I see. How old are you, Alois?" He knew what age the boy was; he just wanted to hear him say it.

"I'm 14." He replied. "H-how old are you? If you don't mind me asking, sir..."

"I'm 24... and you can just call me 'doctor' from now on." He winked.

Dr. Claude Faustus winked at him. Winked. Alois' heart jumped into his throat.

"Does he wink at everyone? Does he smile like that and laugh like that in the presence of everyone? Or am I special? Is there something about me that he loves like there's already a million things that I love about him? Will he think about me whenever I leave like I'll think of him? Am I thinking too much in the first place?" Alois' thoughts went on and on, but this time, he was able to flush them from his scull before Dr. Faustus noticed he was zoning out again.

"Your mother tells me you're stubborn."

Alois shrugged, not knowing if he should agree or disagree.

"She tells me it's gotten in the way of school."

Again, the boy shrugged, this time saying, "I don't think it does. Why would it?"

He regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth. He knew that he was coming off as a bratty, little diva, and he most definitely didn't want Dr. Faustus to think of him in that way. He bowed his head again, slinging justifications at him like mud. It only caused the doctor to smile wider, and Alois took in the sight with sudden pleasure.

"It's quite alright, Alois."

The man said his name again. Inside the cracks of Alois' brain, he was squealing like a fanatic and jumping up and down. Outside, however, was a whole different story. He was on-edge, but maintaining his composure like absolutely nothing was running through his psyche. "I'm good at this." He thought, giving himself a mental pat on the back.

"You know, I've only had two other patients before you."

Although it seemed random for him to state such a thing, Alois was all ears, even leaning forward to listen closely.

"My first patient was one of those people who would spill their guts as soon as they would come into my office. There was nothing she wouldn't inform me about. She had a lot of different worries, but that was to be expected considering her husband of many years had died of cancer, and she was left with their only son. She managed, though. After months and months of helping her, she got through that rough patch in her life."

Dr. Faustus fixed his glasses before continuing on.

"My second patient was a younger girl who claimed to have these friends that she would speak to named Elizabeth and Victor. All kids probably go through an imaginary friend phase, but she wasn't going through anything like that. She honestly believed that these friends of hers would threaten to lock her in the attic if she didn't do what they said, which usually had to do with messing things up or trying to run away from home."

Alois gulped, the story sounding like a horror movie.

"One day, Elizabeth and Victor told her to jump out of her window on the 3rd floor. She did."

Dr. Faustus saw that his patient's jaw was dropped to the floor in repugnance, and he immediately stood, then knelt in front of the boy, capturing his hands and staring him dead in the face.

"Alois," he began, "I can tell that you're not crazy like that girl. But people these days see one flaw in their perfect world and start pointing fingers at whoever appears out-of-place. It just so happens that you were swept up in the whirlwind that these people create out of nothing, and it makes you feel like you're slowly going insane, like there's no way out of the living Hell you've been forced into. This is the way out. I won't let you jump out a window or run away. Alright?"

The boy was speechless, tears tugging at his pupils and hands trembling beneath his doctor's still fingers. He needed so badly to express himself by sobbing and sobbing and sobbing some more, but he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of this doctor that he was quickly beginning to trust and admire. He didn't want to contradict his words... he didn't want to...

But he did, the tears streaming down his blushing cheeks. His hands flew up to his face and wiped them away as they fell, feeling ashamed for crying in front of a stranger... but he didn't feel like a stranger anymore. This was their first meeting, but there was already a connection between the two. Perhaps, Dr. Faustus saw some of himself in Alois. Perhaps, he knew exactly what he was going through. Just maybe... he didn't pity him and instead understood him.

Or maybe this was all just part of his job.

Alois felt a hand come in contact with his head, patting his blonde locks gently and carefully.

"Crying doesn't mean that you're betraying yourself. Alright?"

Alois nodded, feeling so much better than he did before.

Suddenly, a buzzing sounded through the room. Dr. Faustus stood and took his cell phone from his pocket, pressing a few buttons before announcing that their time for today was up.

Alois was a little upset. He wanted to spend more time with the doctor, and an hour didn't seem like enough for him. Without voicing his distress, he stood as well, craning his neck in a bow and causing Dr. Faustus to laugh once again and give him a pat on the shoulder, saying, "You're very systematic. Are you always like that?"

Alois shook his head, laughing quite uncomfortably and scratching his forearm. "No. It's not like me at all." He replied.

"You must really like me then."

The blonde boy's attention averted in shock at his statement, and he repeated it over and over to himself.

"You must really like me then."

Oh, if only he knew.