Far Away – Chapter Two
"Check out the gimp!"
Chris cursed under his breath at Mark as he struggled to get his new crutches up the steps of the middle school. He couldn't keep his knee bent constantly to keep his injured foot high enough, so the toe of his brace kept catching on the steps and throwing him off balance. He could still hear Mark and his buddies laughing at him, and forcefully swung himself to the next step when his brace caught again and he lurched. He would have greeted the steps face-first if a familiarly purple clad arm hadn't swung out and caught him in time.
"Whoa!" Danny helped him regain his balance. "You okay there Chris?"
"I'm fine," Chris automatically replied in a grumpy voice that said he was anything but fine.
"So it's broken?" Danny asked, looking down at Chris' brace.
"Just sprained. My mom says I'm never allowed near your 'scooter' again." Chris made a face. "I had to beg them not to put me in a cast."
Danny made a funny noise then, and Chris glanced at his friend to see the strange look on his face – a mixture of guilt, sadness, and something else Chris couldn't identify. "I'm sorry," Danny mumbled. "If I had been more careful yesterday, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Chris couldn't take that look on Danny's face, so out of place it almost hurt to see. "Hey man, it's okay," Chris reassured, risking his balance to put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "It was an accident, and it wasn't your fault at all. That thing was just… butt-ugly."
Danny smiled at that, adding, "And slimey."
Chris could almost sigh with relief to see the smile again. "Seriously! I thought it had a massive cold or something!" His hand went back to his crutch and he started up the steps again. Danny wrapped an arm around Chris to help steady him. Chris could barely focus on the task at hand, his attention caught on the feeling of that warm arm offered without a second thought.
The moment was ruined only two steps from the top when Mark and his two lackeys passed and Ralph jeered, "How gay."
Danny's arm jerked free of Chris' waist. Chris wobbled on his crutches a second, more sensitive at the loss of contact than support.
"I'm going to pound him one day," Danny hissed under his breath as Chris finished the last two steps solo.
"And I will hold him for you," Sam said cheerfully as she walked up, Cathy tagging along behind her singing something to herself. Sam looked at Chris, taking in the brace and crutches with a sigh. "Looks like you're on intel only for a while, Chris."
"What?" Chris stared at her in shock. "But we're still trying to find that worm's nest!"
"And it won't help us at all with you slipping and sliding all over their jelly on one good leg!"
"John can take care of the base-"
"No," Sam said forcefully, then changed the subject as they headed down the hallway. "So are you guys ready for science class today?"
"Why, are we dissecting more frogs and have to listen to Cathy scream again?" Danny joked, keeping pace with her and Cathy while Chris struggled to keep up on his crutches.
"You know-" Sam started, and Cathy spoke right over her, stamping her foot in protect. "They look just like the Robbotids from our neighboring planet! How was I supposed to know?"
"Because this is Earth?" Danny suggested in a teasing tone. Cathy stuck out her tongue at him, and Chris smiled at the completely 'human' habit she had picked up.
"-had to get permission slips for it," Sam finished saying.
"That's today?" Danny asked.
Chris, discovering that coordinating crutches was difficult, had fallen far enough behind he didn't get to ask what was today because of the bell. He certainly found out later when he had finally dragged himself to science class just before the tardy bell. He sat down at his desk he shared with Danny, noticing something strange about the class.
He leaned the crutches against the desk and shifted about on the lab stool. "Where are all the gir-" he started to ask, before Mr. Fusster cut him off.
"Settle down class," he started in his weird, nasal voice. "Okay, I got permission slips from everyone's parents this semester, so we're all clear to watch the film."
There was a general murmuring of senseless talk as Mr. Fusster went over to the dusty VCR and television set mounted in the wall and turned them both on. As the title came up, something ending with "And You", Chris' brain recalled the paper his parents had to sign saying he was allowed to see a film with controversial content.
When the film started to explain that 'special time in life', Chris knew he wanted to be sharing a desk with anyone other than Danny. As it went on to show changes in the body, Chris wanted to be anywhere but the same room as Danny.
Who leaned over with a snicker to whisper, "Do you think it really looks like that?", his hot breath against Chris' neck.
Okay, Chris was ready to die any moment.
He shut his eyes tightly and tried to will the image from his mind, but more kept arriving. Danny was his best friend, and sitting right next to him! He shouldn't be thinking-
Danny leaned over to probably whisper something again, and combined with the image Chris currently entertained, his brain short-circuited.
Chris jerked away from Danny, tumbling off the stool and knocking over his crutches with a yelp of pain as his foot banged against the table leg. Chris grabbed at the brace as his foot throbbed, distracting him from his current…problem.
"Chris!" Danny was on the floor next to him in an instant.
"Christopher, are you okay?" Mr. Fusster asked into his nasal monotone. Chris opened his mouth to reply but it came out as a slight mewl of pain.
"He hurt his leg pretty bad yesterday, Mr. Fusster," Danny explained, moving to help Chris up. Chris curled in a ball on himself harder, knowing he would die of embarrassment if he stood up right now – watching this film, with Danny's arms around him.
"Chris?" Danny asked curiously.
"Sorry, just… hit it," Chris offered as a lame excuse. "Hurts." He could hear Mark stage-whispering "Gimp!" somewhere. At least the pain was making his other problem go away.
"You may go to the nurse to get an icepack," Mr. Fusster excused as he started to rewind the tape to when Chris had interrupted.
Anything to get out of this bad situation waiting to happen? Gladly.
"I'm going to go with him Mr. Fusster, he has trouble with the stairs." Danny gathered up his crutches for him, and finally Chris let him help him get up. He limped his way out of the classroom, acting up the pain for the benefit of Mr. Fusster, with Danny pausing to hold the door open.
As soon as it shut behind them, Danny stepped in front of Chris again. "C'mon, it's going to take you forever to get to the nurse's office this way."
Chris hesitated, weighing the chances of another problem emerging while being that close to Danny against the chance of being that close again. He ignored the part of his brain screaming a logical argument against it as he shifted around his clutches and Danny picked him. It was a little awkward as Chris held on to his crutches, but Danny's hands gripped tightly into his thighs and they made do. Chris hid his face against in Danny's neck as they made their way down the hallway and stairs.
"Does it hurt bad?" Danny asked.
"Not really," Chris confessed. He loved how Danny smelled – like clean earth and cut grass.
"Just wanted to get out of that film?" Danny teased, and Chris nodded against his shoulder. "Wonder if the girls are watching it too." He chuckled. "I wanna see the look on Wendy's face!"
The little bubble of contentment Chris had been building popped like a balloon at that name. He tried to mask it by commenting back, "Bet Cathy's wondering just how weird our human physiology is." The joke fell a little flat to his own ears. But Danny just asked, "Phys-what?"
"Body structure," Chris offered as they reached the nurse's office. Danny set him down, and Chris let go with some reluctance.
"Want me to stay with you?" Danny asked.
"No," Chris replied shortly, still nursing his hurt feelings. "Go back to class Danny, I'm fine on my own." Danny looked at him with a weird expression Chris couldn't even try to name.
"O…kay." Danny nodded slowly, but didn't leave until Chris limped his way into the office. The nurse looked up at him.
"Hurts?" she asked.
"Yeah," Chris mumbled before realizing she meant his leg.
To be Continued
Review for faster updates!