As they came closer towards us, they started shouting hurtful comments.
"Oi! Skinny jeans! Who's yer boyfriend?" came from who I assumed the gang leader was.
His followers laughed at the stupid joke, like a pack of hyenas. Charlie came closer towards me, showing me he was willing to protect me. I wanted so hard to be able to reach out and take his hand, but we both knew that would just encourage them to continue the torment.
"We'll just walk right by them, and we can get a train instead, so we won't have to hang around for any longer, the stations not that far" he said to try and calm down my uncontrollable shaking.
If only it was that simple, I'd tried walking by them several times, and look where it got me.
They were nearly right next to us when we attempted to go in the opposite direction, Charlie silently leading the way. Someone smoking a cigarette pushed Charlie backwards, by his shoulders. It felt as though my heart had skipped a beat.
"Where do you think you're going, gay boy?" the guy who pushed him asked.
The name stung us both, knowing it was directed at each of us. He was one of the smallest, but if we fought back his friends would just join in.
"Away from here, if you'd kindly let us pass" Charlie replied, politely enough.
The group exchanged glances and "ohh-ed".
"You're not going anywhere!" the same guy said, stamping out his cigarette.
Charlie gulped and took a few steps backwards, trying to find me, to make this all better for both of us.
One of them grabbed me by the collar, and basically flung me into a nearby brick wall, but without letting go. My feet couldn't touch the ground by a few centimeters, and my head spun. The impact jolted my entire body, and it was hard to breathe. He threw I sickening punch into my stomach, and I grimaced in pain. I could hear a gasp, shouts and sirens in the background, at which point I was let go of. I collapsed to the ground, still quite dizzy. But it wasn't over yet.
They didn't all get away when the police came, only the people that stuck around to hit us some more were arrested. Once I collided with the ground, someone kicked my back, and whilst I lay there defenseless, he attempted to rob me. Luckily, he didn't know I wasn't that keen on owning stuff, and he was the first person to be taken into the police car, handcuffed. A policeman took him away, whilst another helped me to my feet.
"We're taking you and your friend to the hospital to check neither of you have broken anything" he said seriously, in an extremely deep voice.
I nodded.
"Thank you" I said quietly enough it could be classed as a whisper.
He smiled.
"It's my job, now come with me, your friend is desperate to know you're alright".