Author's Note: Next Chapter is Valentine's Day. And just when the stores have finally stopped carrying all those pink hearts too.
EvilChick101: Thank you for the most entertaining review. :3
A Boy Named Troy
Chapter Twenty-Four
"I have certain feelings for Derby. I do not. I have certain feelings for Derby. I do not. I have certain feelings for Derby." Bif sighed quite deeply as he watched the final petal drift the long fall to the snowy ground. "That is the fourth one."
Had someone been watching the tall, broad-shouldered, red-haired boxer, they most likely would have found it strange to see a boy such as him plucking petals from flowers one by one. After all, it was a game most often played by grade school girls. Perhaps an onlooker would pass it off as a lonely guy doing an absentminded activity. If one thought about it for awhile though, they'd remember that it was winter. There were no flowers outside of convenience stores. Had the miserable looking chap perched upon the wide railing of Harrington House's balcony purchased the bouquet simple for that pointless pastime?
Bif had a very strong feeling that no amount of flowers was going to help him settle his mind. He bought them as a present for Derby, then figured that he had nothing to lose by testing out a question on a few of them. Strange things were happening inside his head ever since that arrangement with Kirby. No, they were there long before that as well. Maybe they went as far back as to when Derby first agreed to take him under his wing and teach him the ways of a preppie.
Recently, Tremblay was having more and more difficulties with hiding from his wrong thoughts and feelings. Three days previous, Derby had taken ill with a persistent flu. His status was too far above receiving help from the shady school nurse and Pinky, of course, was no where to be found. She would never even consider tending to her sick 'boyfriend.' That left Bif to be in charge of tending to his ill, handsome friend. He did not mind in the least; he had been in the position of Derby's nurse plenty of times before.
This time, though, something was quite different. Bif found that it was excruciatingly hard to tear his eyes away from the attractive build of Derby when helping the blonde change into fresh pajamas each morning. Also, every time his friend's name spilled from anybody else's lips it registered as more and more vile in Tremblay's ears. Just the night before he gave Chad the fright of a lifetime when he asked how Derby was doing. The redhead instantly dropped any items he was holding and took a firm grip of the utterly confused prep's shoulder. "You have no right to be so formal with him." he growled before realizing what he had been doing. The boxer retired to his room very quickly after that. He had only emerged from it an hour or so ago; it was still early in the morning and he did not wish to disturb Derby before he woke naturally, so walked to town and purchased the flowers and a get well card.
`*~~~*`
"Bif, my dear friend, you really do take such good care of me." The blonde's normal roar came weak and sloppy. On the first night he took ill, Derby had a very high fever and became somewhat delusional. Watching his leader become terrified of everything he saw when he woke from restless fits of sleep was almost as hard for Bif to do as it was to come to terms with his homosexual crush. Luckily, the flu was now leaving Harrington's mind alone for the most part.
"Are you certain that you do not want anymore soup? I can make you some more with no trouble."
A feeble chuckle accompanied the reply, "It is only when you say things like that, that I remember you truly are a pauper. No proper heir should have any clue as to how to utilize a kitchen."
"Now Derby, even if I were loaded, I would still take care of you." Bif smiled, taking a silver tray from his leader's lap. Harrington did not wake in time for breakfast, which was perfectly fine for the red head; soup was the easiest thing for him to make and it gave him time to sneak the remaining flowers into a vase on Derby's nightstand.
"I highly doubt that; you would have no reason." The blonde shifted around in the chair at the table at which he was seated. "And don't you give me that friendship excuse. There is no such thing for the rich and powerful."
Tremblay laughed on his way to the door, balancing Derby's half eaten lunch in his arms. "Are we not friends?" He knew the answer well, but it was nice to hear.
"Of course we are. In fact, I think you may be the only one I have." there was a pause in his words to allow him to rub his sore eyes with both hands. "But you are neither rich nor powerful." As Bif opened the door to take the dishes down to the kitchen, the young sick Harrington called after him, "You are coming back up when you are done, correct?"
"I can."
"Splendid. If this disease does not kill me, I think boredom shall." This time, Tremblay held his laughter until he was far out of earshot.
`*~~~*`
"It is nice to be needed." Bif happily thought to himself as he rinsed out the recently used dishes. He whistled as his strong hands carefully danced a bowl in and out from under the steaming water of the faucet. A few of the preps would place their dishes in the dishwasher, but most just left them somewhere in the kitchen (if the maid was lucky). The star boxer was the only one to actually rinse them first. He liked their house cleaner, a short man with unevenly cut carrot hair, and felt bad for the way the others treated him.
"B-Bif?" A counterfeit British accent timidly called out from behind him. Tad cleared his throat, but the boxer had already heard the slight fear. Word must have gotten out about the incident he had with Chad. "A few of the boys and I would like to visit Derby. Is the ol' chap doin' any better?"
Tremblay cringed, but restrained himself against anything further. Derby had just invited him, and personally too, to spend time with him then. He knew that those fiends would suck the little energy he had right out of him. "Well he still has the flu, but I am quite sure that he would appreciate seeing his loyal group. When I brought him lunch, he made it clear that he is suffering from boredom nearly as bad as he is from the actual virus."
"Tremendous!" Italian leather shoes began to clack away, but then paused, just as Bif had expected.
"So he is still sick, huh?"
"Sick as a dog, but he would love to see you."
Even though his back had remained turned, he could imagine the brunette nodding, trying to weigh out his options. "He's not still- well you know."
He did know. The first two nights Derby's retching could be heard throughout the entire second floor almost. To Bif, that was actually quite helpful, for he could then go and assist his unlucky friend. Nobody else saw it as more than a grotesque disturbance though. "Not nearly as violently, but nothing has been able to stay down yet." Tremblay grinned evilly at his lie.
"Huh." By now Tad was probably trying to come up with any kind of an excuse. "There must be a terrible stench then." he mentioned to himself quietly, though the redhead could still hear him perfectly. "The sick always smell." Finishing the final dish, Bif turned and saw that the color in Tad had disappeared with his accent. "You know, I have just remembered that I have a chemistry final to make up right about now. Please send Derby my, all of our, best wishes."
"Can't anyone go visit him? You all cannot have missed the final."
"Y-You see, it was sort of a chain reaction th-thing. All of us skipped on the same day and so now we have to go to class." Tad was nearly shaking. He probably knew that Bif didn't believe him, but his shame would not let him back out of the lie. "I should go now. Be sure to send him our get wells and," here he put something on the kitchen table. "give him that. It's a card that we collected today." With that, he was out of the kitchen and probably out of Harrington House in a matter of moments.
"A card? Most people had the sense to get their cards and presents to him by yesterday morning. Who could be so rude with their tardiness?" Bif retrieved the folded paper on the marble and his questioned was answered without even opening it. On the front of the cheap card there was a generic blue sky and sun scene along with some stains that were not meant to be there. "Hopkins." he sighed.
`*~~~*`
When Bif turned to his leader's germ infested room, he found Derby had slipped back into bed. He thought the blonde, curled up into his silk black sheets, had fallen asleep again. As he began to walk back towards the door, he was surprised by the voice that always seemed able to tug at his heart. "I thought you were going to keep me company."
"Oh, Derby." he knew better than to let too much of his shock show through. "I am sorry; I thought you were sleeping."
"No, just cold." The redhead approached the side of the bed and Harrington's eyes focused on him. "You look terrible Bif. I must be running you ragged."
"Not at all. Would you like me to start a fire for you?" Tremblay began to turn towards the fireplace before Derby even had a chance to answer.
"No, the blankets do the job quite fine. I want you to take a break."
"I thought you wanted somebody here with you."
Using shaky arms, Derby pulled himself up and into a seated position. He adjusted the pillows to stand against the headboard and leaned back against them. With a shiny nailed hand, he patted the empty space beside him. "Sit down with me for awhile." Bif just nervously adjusted his weight from one foot to the next. "I won't bite."
Very slowly, trying his hardest not to show too many signs of his slight embarrassment, Tremblay climbed onto the tall bed. He sat back on top of the covers next to Derby. "Is this really fair of me to do any more? If Derby knew how I felt about him…"
"What's that?" Said blonde plucked the card out of Bif's hands as he asked. "Another card? Well aren't I mister popular?" There was a disdainful gleam in his eyes as he noted the stains. He opened it up.
"Who is it from?" Bif asked, more to show that he hadn't been a snoop and read it. If it was from anyone but Jimmy, they would be in water hotter than Derby's temperature had been.
Harrington's upper lip curled back. "That arrogant little fool!" he growled. "Is he truly trying to antagonize me while I am in this condition?"
Bif's eyebrows knitted together. "What does it say?"
"How dare Vendrome do such a thing." he flashed the card to Tremblay.
"Hope you feel better soon." was preprinted in the center, and three names were sloppily scribbled beneath it. "Jimmy, Gord, & Troy."
"Well?!" Derby snapped a little.
"To be honest, I don't see the problem."
"Gord is trying to pull off the 'I'm the better person' attack. It's ages old."
"It is not in his handwriting though. He might not have even known that Jimmy sent this."
"Are you defending him?"
Bif shrugged, it was easier just to shut up and agree. "Of course not."
Derby nearly cackled, startling the redhead slightly. "Little does the fool know that there is an entire plan created against him. Ha, that will be a fine punishment! How is Plan Northwick going anyways?"
Tremblay did not like where this was going. Hadn't Gord's expulsion from Harrington House been his punishment? The plan was created against Hopkins, not Vendrome. A whole entire plot was too much for one angered statement that Derby had provoked. Bif ignored this though, trying to keep his faith in his leader. "With the introduction of Trent, Jimmy's improvement has begun to slow."