AN: As promised, here is another chapter. I gotta be honest, although I was perfectly awake writing this chapter, I have been actively falling asleep while editing. So if there's more typos than usual, I am very sorry. Enjoy!
After lunch came the class that Drake had been dreading all day: gym. If he didn't show up to class - like he normally didn't - then the school would go into lockdown to look for him in case he'd been kidnapped. That had been a fun tidbit to learn that morning. It meant that Drake had to go to class, but hopefully it didn't mean that he had to participate. If it came down to it, maybe Drake could just tell his teacher that he was still… sore, and that he needed to rest. How could Coach Remmers deny him?
"You gonna be okay?" Josh asked. They were both standing up at their lunch table. Josh would be heading to his locker and then his next class, while Drake would go straight to the gym, since it was right next to the cafeteria. Buck was already heading in there with some of the other jocks. Drake was dreading it.
"I don't really have a choice," Drake responded with a slight shrug.
"How about you come with me to my class, and we have my teacher call Coach Remmers so they don't lockdown the school to look for you?" Josh suggested. Drake pondered for a moment, but Josh continued. "I just don't want you alone with Buck. I know Craig and Eric are in that class with you, but I don't know if they're gonna be a good defense against the football team."
"Yeah, probably not," Drake muttered. "But I have to go in eventually. If I just keep avoiding Buck, he's never gonna stop messing with me. Somehow, I've gotta get him to see that I- I don't care, or something." That was going to be very difficult, since Drake cared very much, and it was clear that Buck knew it.
"Are you sure?" Josh asked. Drake put on a brave face and nodded. "Okay, just remember, you can always come find me. You know where my next class is?" Drake nodded again. "Good. I'll see you after class then."
"Wait, are you gonna be okay?" Drake asked. "If Mindy doesn't come back from the office, then you'll be alone too." Josh shrugged.
"I have to learn how to be without you just like you have to learn how to be without me, I guess. It sucks, but I know we can do this." Josh smiled and slung his right arm around his brother, gently pulling him close. "We're gonna be okay."
"Yeah," Drake muttered, returning the hug as carefully as he could, considering Josh's left arm in the sling, and just let his chin rest on his brother's shoulder. "It'll be fine." Drake could hear some snickers and comments from other kids, seeing their embrace, and took a deep breath, holding Josh tighter. "We'll be okay." He finally let go, and forced a smile.
"I better get going," Josh said. "My class is at the other end of the school. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"See you soon."
Drake forced himself to turn around and walk away from his brother. He made his way towards the gym, clenching his fists together under his too long sleeves in an attempt to stop them from shaking. He could do this. He was going to be fine. It wasn't as if the jocks were gonna do anything to him in class, where Coach Remmers could see. Everything was going to be okay.
When Drake entered the gym, all of the students were standing around, instead of in the locker rooms changing. Drake walked up next to Craig and Eric and stood slightly behind them. He crossed his arms and held himself tight, and forced himself to take a breath. The students around him stood there, making small talk with each other, for another minute until the bell rang.
"Students," Coach Remmers called out. "Today is the beginning of the swim unit. Here are your bathing suits." He gestured to two boxes on the floor, one labeled "boys" and the other labeled "girls". "Grab your size, then go change and meet me back here. We'll head over to the natatorium together."
Drake's stomach dropped. Out of all the units they could've been in, that one was the worst. Craig and Eric were groaning too, but the jocks all seemed perfectly happy.
Drake waited at the back, letting everyone else go before him so that he could talk to Coach Remmers alone. He ushered Craig and Eric ahead of him, telling them that he would meet them later.
After a minute, Drake was last in line.
"Mr. Parker, good to see you back, and actually in class," Coach Remmers said. Drake cringed, but forced a smile.
"Yeah, about that, I really don't wanna do this," he admitted, wringing his hands together. "Changing in front of other people, and only wearing swim trunks, I just- I can't do it. I'll go run a mile, or- or something, I just- I really don't want to swim."
Coach Remmers sighed. He looked apologetically down at Drake, giving him the answer without saying anything.
"I'm sorry, Drake," he said. "But you have to participate in the assigned activity. Just being here in class is not enough. If you don't participate, I will have to keep failing you in this class, and with your grades, failing this class will mean you have to repeat eleventh grade. Unless you have a doctor's note, you have to swim today if you don't want another failing grade. You can wear a shirt if you like, but you have to swim. Get me a doctor's note that says you're not ready, and you won't have to anymore."
Drake looked up at the coach, but there was no compromise in his eyes. Silently, Drake reached down and grabbed a pair of swim trunks. The medium might be baggy, but that was better than being tight across his ass or showing too much of his thighs. He didn't want to look like a whore, not like how he must have used to. Besides, the drawstring would keep it secured.
Drake stepped into the locker room and made a beeline for the bathroom stalls. If he had to do this, he was going to do it as privately as he could. Even if people made fun of him, changing in a stall was better than changing out in the open. He could hear the jocks mumbling together, and Drake knew it had to be about him. When he'd walked through the door, they'd instantly quieted.
He purposely didn't look at his body as much as he could while he exchanged his jeans and boxers for the swim trunks. They were loose, but comfortable, the bottoms nearly touching the middle of his knees. Drake knotted the drawstring twice to secure them, then cursed. He'd gone straight to the stalls, so he hadn't stopped to grab his tee shirt from his locker. He was running out of time, too, so he was going to have to change out there.
Drake took a deep breath and stepped out of the stall. He sighed in relief at the sight of most of the jocks walking out back into the gym. Drake rushed over to his locker and quickly opened it. He pulled out his tee shirt and pulled off Josh's sweatshirt and Josh's tee shirt that he was wearing under it.
"Damn, Parker," came a low voice from around the corner.
Drake's head snapped around to see Buck standing there, staring at him - staring at the bite mark on his shoulder and the twin bruising peeking up over both his hips. The deep purple was finally starting to turn into a slightly more green color. Even with the swim trunks on, it was still pretty clear that the bruising was part of the shape of hands. Drake threw on the tee shirt as quickly as he could. It was tighter than Josh's. He didn't like it.
"I knew you liked it rough, but wow."
Drake tried to ignore him. He took his shoes and socks off and set them in his locker, slamming it shut.
"Come on, Drake, why so quiet? I just know you're a screamer."
"Just shut up and leave me alone," Drake muttered. He kept his eyes down and shouldered past Buck, who darkly chuckled as Drake walked out of the locker room and back into the gym. The nerds, like him, were also wearing tee shirts. The jocks, of course, were not, all showing off their gym bodies and flexing to each other. He went straight for the nerds and carefully inched his way between them. They weren't exactly good protection, but it just felt safer to have people he knew and somewhat trusted on either side of him. The nerds, being nerds, were smart enough to recognize what he was doing, and graciously moved to give him room between them. Drake gave them a small smile in gratitude.
Coach Remmers motioned for everyone to follow him, and out of the gym and down the hallway to the natatorium they went. Drake kept his arms crossed in front of him. In just a tee shirt and shorts, he was cold. He was always cold these days.
The good thing about the natatorium was that it was heated. The moment Drake stepped in, he felt a wave of relief as warm air hit him like a gentle hug. He stopped shivering, but kept his arms crossed.
"You know how to swim, right?" Eric asked him. Drake looked at him quizzically, then slowly nodded. Of course he knew how to swim. He was seventeen and he had lived in San Diego his whole life. "Oh, good, we know how to swim too, obviously."
"Yeah, we're- we're great swimmers, we go swimming all the time," Craig added.
"Yeah, that sounds really convincing," Drake deadpanned. He couldn't say he was shocked. "It's not hard, you'll do fine."
"Alright, everyone!" Coach Remmers shouted. "Into the pool! Start swimming laps! Today is just about making sure you know how not to drown. I'll be watching you all."
The jocks all jumped in at the same time, laughing as they splashed water onto girls who hadn't gotten in yet. With a sigh, Drake walked to the edge of the pool, sat down, and pushed himself in.
Drake gasped as he began kicking his legs in the cold water. He was already freezing. The nerds were sitting on the edge, not having gotten in yet.
"Come on, guys," Drake encouraged as well as he could. "Don't make me do this alone. Swimming isn't hard, I promise. Coach Remmers is gonna yell at you if you don't get in anyway."
The nerds looked at each other, turned around, and lowered themselves in, gasping at the cold water as they held onto the edge.
"That's so cold," Eric complained.
"I know, it sucks," Drake agreed. "Just start kicking your legs, that's what keeps you above water. Come on." Drake swam away, hoping the nerds would figure it out on their own from there. He didn't like leaving them, but if he didn't get a passing grade that day, then changing and swimming at all would be pointless. He couldn't let it be for nothing.
Drake swam his laps in as much solitude as he could, for a pool filled with other teenagers. Most kids were staying in their own friend groups, including the jocks, and didn't bother other people. As Coach Remmers had said, all they were doing that day was just swimming around, so the teacher could be sure that every student could handle swimming for an entire class period without drowning, so Drake wasn't worried about having to interact with other students.
He glanced over his shoulder at Craig and Eric. They were both still very close to the edge of the pool, being talked to by Coach Remmers - probably asking them why they'd never been swimming in seventeen years. Drake chuckled to himself and turned back around in the water.
"Hey, buddy," Buck greeted, his voice sickly sweet. Drake's smile immediately fell. He tried to kick himself backwards to create more distance between them, only to hit something behind him. Drake flinched, turning to see another one of the jocks, Rick, behind him. Two more were closing in on his sides.
"Just leave me alone, okay? I don't want anything to do with you guys," Drake said. He didn't know why he thought reasoning with them would work, but he didn't know what else he was supposed to do.
"Oh, really? You mean, you don't want to hit on all our girlfriends anymore? You don't wanna keep trying to weasel your way into where you're not wanted anymore?" Buck mocked, getting up in Drake's space.
"Our parties, our girls, our chances at homecoming king. You don't want those now?" Rick echoed. He was even closer too.
"Or is it because you know they don't want you anymore? The only thing you're wanted for now- no, the only thing you're even good for now, is to be a piece of ass. Maybe next time my girlfriend isn't in the mood, I'll just come find you instead. After all, an ass is an ass and a hole is a hole, right? Besides, your ass is probably still tighter than her pussy, for now at least."
"Stop, okay, please, just leave me alone," Drake begged through clenched teeth. "You know I didn't want it. Stop acting like I did." His heart was beating out of his chest and he was desperately fighting the tears that were pricking up behind his eyes.
"What are you gonna do? Your brother isn't here to save you, and neither is his girlfriend. And besides, you may be dressing differently now, but who could ever believe that Drake Parker wasn't asking for it. Once a whore, always a whore."
"Hey!" The jocks' attention was stolen by a shout and splashing from across the pool. "Aren't we the ones you guys are supposed to be bullying?" Eric shouted as he and Craig desperately swam towards them, splashing more than anyone ever needed to splash in their attempts to stay above water. It took the attention of everyone in the pool, including Coach Remmers.
Drake took the distraction and pushed his way past the jocks that had boxed him in, swimming as quickly as he could to the edge of the pool. He was done. He couldn't do this. He just wanted to get to Josh and go home.
"Parker!" Coach Remmers called out as Drake climbed out of the pool.
"I'm done!" Drake shouted. "Fail me for the day, I don't care, I'm done." He grabbed a towel off the stack by the wall as he walked, and just kept going, his bare feet leaving puddles on the floor with each step. Drake shivered as he made his way back to the locker room. He was so cold. He needed Josh, but he also needed a shower. Drake could already feel the chlorine sticking to his skin, and he hated it. A shower was definitely first, just to rinse off and warm up.
Drake closed the door to the locker room behind him and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes as he leaned against the door and listened to the sound of silence. He was alone. He was okay. Buck and the rest of the football team were just messing with him. They would never actually do any of what they said, they were just trying to get a reaction out of him in order to make themselves feel better about their own inadequacies, or whatever Josh and Mindy would say. Drake opened his eyes and took another deep breath. It was even colder in the locker room.
A minute later he was in the shower, sighing in relief at the feeling of the hot water on his bare skin. Each stall had a curtain drawn across it, allowing him privacy even though the locker room was empty. He still wasn't the biggest fan of shower curtains, but that was something he was just going to have to get over whether he liked it or not.
Drake closed his eyes in relaxation. The hot water soothed his aching muscles, and felt good against his still healing bruises. He was going to be okay. He certainly wasn't going back to gym class, but maybe he could finish out the rest of the school day after all. Maybe he didn't even need to go get Josh.
Drake collapsed to the ground at the sound of the shower curtain being drawn back. He hugged his knees to his chest, trying to cover himself as much as possible as he sat under the stream of water.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted. "Just leave me alone!"
"Nah, I think I'm gonna take these," Buck said. He grabbed Drake's clothes and towel off the hooks. "You don't really need 'em." Buck laughed and walked away, Drake's clothes and towel in hand. He left the curtain open, and Drake naked on the floor.
"No! Bring it back! Buck!" Drake shouted, but Buck only continued to laugh, the sound getting more distant as he left the shower area, then the locker room entirely. Drake quickly reached out and pulled the curtain shut. Still curled in on himself, Drake leaned against the wall as the gravity of the situation sank in. He was naked and alone, there was still twenty minutes of class left, and no one knew that he needed help. Drake wasn't leaving that shower stall naked, alone or not. Buck had been able to sneak in without him even hearing, so there was no telling who else could. Maybe the entire football team was sitting quietly just beyond the showers, waiting for him to come out naked so they could pounce on him and make good on their threat. Maybe Buck had been serious after all.
Drake let his head fall to his knees. He couldn't stop the tears from falling this time. Where was Josh? He needed him. Drake was scared and he needed his brother.
At least, over the sound of the shower, no one could hear the sobs racking his shoulders.
Josh reread the same sentence in his AP biology book for the fifth time. He just couldn't focus. Mindy was supposed to be in class with him, but she hadn't returned from the office. She was probably getting suspended, for at least a day or two. Whether or not Jackson had deserved it, Mindy had broken his nose. Getting suspended was getting off easy. Really, she could've been arrested. Josh really hoped it hadn't come to that.
But aside from his stress about Mindy, Josh was worried about Drake. He knew that Drake hated gym class even on the best of days, and today was certainly not that. Again and again, Josh tapped his pencil against his book and looked at the clock. There was still ten minutes of class left. Josh had barely been paying any attention to the lecture, and he doubted that that would change for the rest of class. At least Drake's gym class was almost over. Coach Remmers should be letting them back into the locker room soon to change.
Nine minutes left.
Tick, tock.
Eight minutes left.
Tick, tock.
Seven-.
Banging on the door stole Josh's attention away from the clock. His teacher sighed and opened the door. Eric Blonowitz immediately stepped into the room, breathing heavily. He leaned down and put his hands on his knees. He was wet, and only wearing swim trunks and a tee shirt. Both were still dripping.
"Josh, you need to come quickly," Eric panted. He'd clearly run the whole way there. "It's Drake."
Josh was out of his seat and bolting down the hallway before his teacher could say anything.
"Locker room!" he heard Eric shout out from behind him.
Josh just kept running. He wasn't exactly a runner, but Josh was sure that he'd never run so fast in his life, despite the pain in his shoulder, and despite the shout of a deputy asking him what he was doing.
He was in the gym and throwing open the locker room door less than two minutes later. A number of guys were in the locker room, but Josh didn't see his brother.
"Drake!" he shouted.
"Over here!" Craig responded around the corner. Josh ignored everyone else and dashed around the corner. Craig was kneeling down on the ground, also only clad in a wet tee shirt and swim trunks, sitting in front of a shower stall. "Josh is here, it's okay."
Josh came to stand above Craig, and his heart broke at the sight before him: Drake, wrapped in a ball on the floor, crying, with only a towel around him to cover him. Josh fell to his knees and pulled Drake to his chest, uncaring to the pain in his shoulder or the dampness of his knees.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm here, I'm here now," he said as Drake removed one hand from the towel he had clutched around him to cling to his brother. "What happened?"
"I wanna go home," Drake cried. "Please just take me home."
"Okay, okay, we'll go home," Josh immediately agreed. "I'll get a deputy to take us home. Can you tell me what happened?"
Drake shook his head, still not even lifting it. Josh turned helplessly to Craig.
"Eric and I got in here, and we wanted to rinse off the chlorine in the private showers, and we found him here on the ground, no towel, no clothes. He said it was Buck. He left class early because of Buck, but only a few minutes later, Buck said he wanted to go apologize, so Coach Remmers let him leave early too. He came back another few minutes after that."
"I'm gonna kill him," Josh seethed. He forced himself to calm down as he held Drake a little tighter. "I'm gonna go find your clothes now, okay, bro?" he asked, but Drake just shook his head and held onto Josh tighter.
"Please don't leave," he said in a whine that broke Josh's heart all over again. Josh sighed. What was he supposed to do?
"Craig, can you get me more towels?" he asked.
Craig nodded and stood immediately. Josh could hear the sound of his bare feet quickly padding on the floor as he left in search of more towels.
"Once I get you covered up a bit more, we'll go sit out on a bench in the locker room, okay? I'll make sure everyone leaves. Then we'll find out what that piece of shit did with your clothes. Then we'll go home."
Drake nodded against him, but didn't say anything.
A minute later, Craig was back with three more towels. Josh muttered a thanks, then motioned with his eyes for Craig to get out once again. Once he was gone, Josh pulled back from Drake.
"Keep that one around your shoulders, and when you stand, here's another one we can wrap around your waist," Josh said.
Drake nodded again, and allowed Josh to help him to stand. Rage stirred in Josh's heart at the sight of the extensive bruising along Drake's thighs and hips. They were healing, but not fast enough. Drake quickly wrapped another towel around his waist, and walked with Josh out towards the lockers. He sat down right in front of his own, then took the other towels that Josh had provided to further cover himself. Everyone else was already gone, waiting in the gym to be released from class.
"Do you know which locker is Buck's?" Josh asked. Drake looked around for a moment before pointing to the corner.
"It's one of those ones, I think," he said, his voice small and sad.
Josh walked over to the corner and looked through the slits to see what was inside each locker. He was glad that they were gym lockers, and thus had a means of airing out, otherwise Josh didn't know how he would find Drake's clothes.
"I think I see them," he said. The locker had a four letter lock on it rather than a standard number lock. "And I bet I can guess the combination," he muttered. Buck was stupid enough that his combination was probably his own name. Josh tried it, but it didn't work. He shook his head. It was probably another word, only one letter different from his name.
This time, the lock popped open. Josh threw the door open and tossed the lock across the room. He pulled out Drake's clothes and walked them over to his brother, setting them down right next to him.
"I'll stand with my back turned, okay? I'm not gonna leave you," he said. At Drake's nod, Josh turned around.
He made himself take a deep breath. Drake was okay. He wasn't hurt. The cruelness of others had definitely escalated, but Drake was physically fine. Buck hadn't hurt him.
"Can we go home now?" Drake asked.
Slowly, Josh turned around again. He nodded, and put his arm around his brother's shoulders, uncaring to the water dripping from Drake's hair onto Josh's arm.
Josh stepped through the door back out into the gym first, and saw most of the students walking out, as class had officially ended. Craig and Eric, both still in swimwear, Buck, Rick, two other football players, and Coach Remmers, had all stayed behind. Deputies Villarreal and McClain were talking to them. The moment Drake and Josh stepped out of the locker room, Rosa's eyes went to them. She held up a finger to pause the nerds, and walked over to them.
"Will you please just take me home?" Drake asked her before she could even say anything.
"Of course, honey," she immediately responded. "We can talk about what happened there. Let me make sure McClain is all set, then I'll take you boys home."
"Thanks," Josh said with a sad smile. He kept his arm around Drake, and stayed between his brother and the jocks, whose backs were to them.
Rosa walked away to her partner, saying something into her radio about getting another deputy over to the gym. She spoke briefly with McClain, then turned back to the boys and motioned to the door. Drake and Josh met her over there without the jocks even seeing them.
Josh made a mental note to thank Craig and Eric for what they did later. He didn't want to thank them now and draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
The brothers followed Rosa out of the gym, then led her on their detour to their lockers to grab their backpacks. Hopefully, Josh would be able to help Drake catch up over the weekend on what they'd missed throughout the rest of the week.
They walked out to Rosa's patrol car in silence, none of them having spoken a word since their lockers. But the moment Drake sat down in the back of the car, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm really sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Rosa responded. "Just try to relax. I'll get you boys home."
The brothers nodded, and Drake moved from the side to the middle, right next to Josh. He leaned against his brother, resting his head on Josh's good shoulder.
"I'm sorry you had to leave class to save me," he muttered.
"Hey, don't apologize," Josh admonished. "You know I'd do anything for you in a heartbeat. I couldn't even pay attention in class anyway. It was great to leave."
"Then you're welcome, I guess," Drake said. He forced a smile, but he clearly didn't feel it.
Josh leaned back in his seat, just enjoying his brother's presence next to him. He didn't know how to get people to leave Drake alone, but at least they had the weekend to relax and figure out what to do next. It would be really nice to relax at home and not have to worry about anything, at least for a day. It was going to be really nice to be home.