Adrien Walker
Something in me snaps as soon I lay my eyes on Nicki, Matt and Tom.
"Hey man!" Matt shouts as he claps me on to back hard.
"We're waiting for that little shi-" I don't let Nicki finish his sentence as my fist connects with his face, he stumbles backwards backing himself into a corner.
I continue to plummet him with punches, I needed to work on my left and right hooks so this is great practice.
Just as I'm getting into a rhythm two arms try to hold me back.
"Adrien, come on man that's enough," Matt says trying to pull me away, "He hasn't done shit, man."
Not done shit? Like hell, he fucking hasn't.
I elbow him hard which causes him to back off. I deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to his head. His body crumbles to the floor and I can't help but feel quite satisfied.
And now for this dick. I turn around and stare at Matt, will he try and throw a punch?
Once he realises that I'm in no mood to talk he tries to throw a punch which I easily block followed by a quick one-two combo - jab and then a right cross. I'm quite proud of my last punch when he stumbles backwards with the force.
He catches himself and stands defensively as if ready to block anything I'll throw at him, but the crescent kick catches him completely off guard, before he has a moment to fall I swiftly deliver a right cross to his face, and he falls face flat with the knockout punch. Damn, even I'm impressed with myself. Practice really does pay off.
I look around for Tom but he's already dipped.
I would go after him, but Tom didn't put Ethan in the hospital.
I look back down at Nicki and Matt, for good measure, I kick them both a few times in the head and stomp on Matt's leg he lets out a sickening scream so I stop and turn to Nicki, stomping on his arm I don't stop despite his begging and pleading.
Don't do to others what you can't stand to happen to yourself.
"What the hell is going on here?" Someone bellows making me stop.
I turn around to see Coach standing just inside the circle of the crowd staring at me in shock, we stare each other down before he turns to look down at Nicki and Matt. He looks back at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a disagreement Coach," I say looking him in the eye.
"Alright then, the three of you get cleaned up and everyone else head to class." He nods before walking away.
Someone whistles and shouts, "Dayumn."
But I can't see who it is.
I wait for the crowd to disappear before looking down at the bloody bodies of Matt and Nicki laying on the floor. Deserves them fucking right.
I crouch down, and they both stare back, "Now I don't want to keep having to repeat myself so I'm only going to say this one last time. Leave Ethan the fuck alone. Do I make myself clear?"
They both nod, wincing as they do.
"I said, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
I nod and then walk away.
Before going to class, I stop at the toilets.
Upon taking one look at myself in the mirror, I immediately leave.
First I stop off at the Nurse's office. I don't bother knocking, instead just walk straight inside.
Macie looks up from the puzzle book she's doing, it takes about 2 seconds for her to react.
A small gasp leaves her mouth before she jumps up, "Goodness Adrien, are you okay?"
"It's not my blood," I say going over and sitting on the bed.
"Right, I'll get you a shirt to change into. Then I'll take a look at your face and hands."
I just nod and let her get on with it.
She wipes some blood off my face, letting me know that there's no cuts or bruises. She goes quiet when looking down at my hands. She grabs two rolls of bandages and wipes. She gently wipes away the blood before bandaging up my hands.
It's strange, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if she was my mother instead.
Macie and Dad were high school sweethearts at this very school. Dad decided to stay here for college and Macie wanted to move away, so they broke up. Macie ended up moving back here a few years ago after her mother became ill.
Would she have wanted me?
Would she have moved away not even two weeks after Dad's death?
Would she have done that to me?
Would I have grown up with two loving parents instead of one?
"Right we're done. No need for stitches, it'll probably continue swelling and bruising so I'll grab you an ice pack," She says smiling before getting up to leave.
I nod before shrugging off my top and changing it.
"Just bin it," I say nodding at the soiled top when she returns.
Macie nods as she hands me an icepack, "I will do. Now I want an honest answer. Where can I find the ones on the receiving end of those fists of yours?"
I pause.
Should I tell her?
I mean, do they deserve it?
They left him to just bleed out, they deserve the same.
"Adrien. You better tell me right this second where they are. They definitely need medical attention. And may just need to go to the hospital if the amount of blood that was covering you was any indication as to what state they're in right now."
Good. They better fucking need to go to the hospital. It'll teach them not to land people in there.
But I don't want to be as heartless as those pricks, I refuse to stoop that low.
"Outside the front entrance," I say just as I leave the little room.
I don't have the energy to continue with the rest of the day. I know it's only like 2 hours into school, but today just isn't the day.
So instead I leave school, going to the one place I didn't really want to leave.
Back at the hospital, I had to ask the man in reception where he was as I wasn't sure if he'd been moved rooms.
He was asleep when I walked in. So I decided to sit on a chair near the wall, away from the bed.
Not having anything better to do, I scrolled through various different social media apps.
A continuous high pitch beep suddenly sounds causing my head to shoot up. I'm about to say something, but it stops just as suddenly as it started.
His heart rate probably spiked when he woke up not immediately realising where he was.
I don't say anything as I watch him lay his head back down on the pillow. He just lays there staring up at the ceiling, not doing anything.
Should I say something?
I stand up, "Hey."
I watch him jump and quickly stare at me.
I lower myself into the chair near his bed, "So how you doing?" I ask rather awkwardly to fill the silence.
"Okay," he says, his voice wavering slightly.
"Really? Two fractured ribs, a busted leg, and I can't even count how many bruises and cuts you're covered in. Plus, I don't even know what's going on with your head but I bet it kills. But you're just okay? Damn. Then again you're probably pumped up with pain meds and can't feel anything."
Am I nervous?
I feel nervous.
But why the hell am I nervous?
"Maybe," he says quietly.
"Hmm," I say, not having a clue what I said and what he's agreeing to.
This is awkward.
We sit in silence, not saying anything at all.
"Do you want to go back to sleep?" I ask
He looks at me for a few seconds, "I don't feel sleepy."
Well, that's a first.
I continue to stare at him, he looks fucking exhausted. But maybe that's all the bruising.
He looks over at me, then glances down at my hands and then back up at me with raised eyebrows.
"Just a little disagreement," I say lightly.
He nods but I can tell he doesn't believe me.
"You really should stop getting into fights."
"Wasn't really a fight," I say and it's true, with how one-sided it was I can't really call it a fight.
"Did you punch a wall again?"
I smile at him, "Something like that."
"You need to stop beating up walls."
I can't help but laugh, "They were offensive walls."
"Yeah, and you just end up getting hurt."
"Nah this is nothing compared to them."
He raises an eyebrow, "Did you manage to knock out a wall?"
"Something like that."
"Adrien."
"Ethan."
We stare at each other in silence for a few minutes, Ethan finally speaks up, "Did you beat up Nicki and Matt again?"
He sounds disappointed.
"They were just pissing me off."
"Adrien."
Yep, definitely disappointed.
"Why do you sound disappointed?"
"You said you wouldn't beat anyone up."
"I said I wouldn't beat anyone up without good reason."
"And someone pissing you off is a good reason? Adrien, everyone pisses you off."
"No, they don't."
"You got annoyed at Louise having an asthma attack," He replies crossing his arms and giving me his best pissed-off look.
"She was breathing too loudly," I try to reason.
"She was having an asthma attack!" Ethan shouts exasperated.
I don't know how to tell him that I was already on edge that morning. It was Dad's birthday that week, his first birthday since he died and I couldn't stop overthinking. The clock ticking wasn't helping at all and then fucking Roy wouldn't stop clicking his pen and it was all just getting too much. Counting to 10 wasn't working, and the grounding techniques weren't helping. I was on the verge of a panic attack and then Louise started breathing like a fucking dying pug. It was the last straw before I lashed out.
"I'm sorry," I say gently looking at him, "But why are you so upset?"
I get that he's annoyed, but getting this pissed at me for it is out of character.
"Am I not allowed to be upset?" He asks shooting me a glare.
"You can be as pissed as you like at me, but would be nice to know the real reason."
"You know why they beat me up so much after school?" He asks quietly.
I shake my head.
I know it's probably because I beat them up at lunch. Or maybe because they know they won't really be able to after I become captain, they know I won't hesitate to kick them off the team. Maybe that's why they put him in the hospital instead of gradually making the beating worse like Lewis did. It's probably both of those reasons.
"Because you beat them up at lunch, they told me. And because once you become captain they'll have to be more secretive so you don't kick them off the team. Don't you realise you're doing more harm than good?"
"They'll stop this time, I made sure of it."
They'll definitely have to miss tryouts today and anyone who doesn't turn up is automatically disqualified from getting on the team. They just kissed goodbye at their only shots of scholarships and tickets out of this town.
"Adrien, you can't guarantee that so stop trying to protect me, it's making things worse."
He's not completely wrong. If they're not on the basketball team it will be harder to keep tabs on them.
Would they risk another beating just to hurt Ethan?
I don't want to argue with him so I nod, "You're right, I'm sorry."
It goes silent again, and we both avoid looking at each other.
Maybe I should leave?
I doubt he wants me here anymore.
But he hasn't asked me to leave. Unless he's waiting for me to get the hint.
I don't want to go back to school, or to an empty house. I don't really have anywhere else.
So selfishly I decide to stay put.
After about 20 minutes the steady beeping starts to become unbearable.
"Wanna watch animal videos? They're mainly dog and cat ones. But should have a few panda and penguin ones," I ask hopefully.
"Okay."
I shuffle my chair closer to the bed before pulling up all my videos and gifs. I move the phone so we can both see.
We're watching a video of penguins falling when a nurse walks in.
"Lunch time. I know you're still feeling nauseous so just try to have a little soup, it's scotch broth," she says to Ethan before turning to me, "I grabbed you a cheese sandwich, I can swap it for ham, tuna or egg if you prefer."
"Cheese is fine, thank you," I say not expecting her to get me any lunch.
As soon as she leaves I peer into the bowl on the table, "I've never heard of scotch broth soup before."
"You can try some," Ethan says.
It resembles pond water, brownish looking water with what looks like chopped vegetables.
"I'm good, I'll stick to the sandwich. You should have it before it goes cold," I say trying to encourage him to eat. The doctor did say he was malnourished and dehydrated.
I push the table towards him more and hand him the spoon before grabbing my sandwich.
He takes a sip as I open the sandwich packet. Why are the sandwiches wrapped up differently in hospitals?
"How is it?" I ask before taking a bite.
Why the fuck is it so salty? I force myself to chew a few more times and swallow.
"Not too bad."
Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be good.
We finish eating and play a few rounds of 1:1 and team up Ludo. I haven't played in ages.
I can tell he's starting to get drowsy. I was expecting him to fall asleep a while ago, I mean this is the longest we've ever interacted for.
"You should get some rest, your body still needs time to recover," I tell him.
He nods slightly as he lays down and closes his eyes.
I know he'll be out in a few seconds.
"Tryouts," Ethan says tiredly.
I check the time on my phone and realise it's only 30 minutes until school finishes. I can't believe I spent most of the day with Ethan.
"Shit, I nearly forgot, but I'll make it in time. I'll come see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
Just as I reach the door I hear a very sleepy, "Thank you."
I look over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
"For what?"
"For staying with me. Thank you."
I find myself smiling, a big genuine smile, "It's alright, I had fun. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
--
Thoughts?
Aww, I do love Adrien and Ethan bonding! And their first argument too!