Chapter Text
Gold sighed contentedly. Just yesterday, his best friend had admitted he had feelings for him, and Gold couldn't be happier. Silver had always been a long-term crush, not just one of those love-at-first-sight types. Ever since Kindergarten, Gold had felt strangely attracted to the red-headed boy. Speaking of him, Silver was near by, talking with N and Touya, who were also a couple.
The group got picked on frequently because of their 'gay-ness', but they were pretty much used to it.
"Gold." Looking up, the black-haired boy saw Silver and grinned, silently urging him to continue. "Let me see your lunch."
Though the request was odd, and somewhat useless, Gold complied and dug his themos bag out of his backpack, handing it to Silver.
"Thanks." The red-head said softly, plopping down next to his friend. Gold noticed that Silver wasn't his usual self. Normally, though he wouldn't be as bubbly as Touya or as quiet as N, he did talk quite a bit when he wanted to. Perhaps he should lighten the mode?
"Hey, did you see the basketball game last night?" Gold asked with a large grin on his face, knowing Silver's favorite team had played and that he'd surely seen it.
The ruby haired boy let out a long sigh before meeting eyes with the other boy. "No." He let out something similar to a wince or whimper before looking up again. "Dad wouldn't let me."
Gold raised his eyebrows in confusion. Silver, though not exactly a walking bunch of kindness (people referred to N and Touya this way. At least, the non-douche bags did), didn't do things he wasn't supposed to do. And if he had, Gold would've definitely known. So what reason was there? The game came on at an hour where even the earliest of sleepers would be able to catch it, so he couldn't have been forced to go to bed early.
It was the whole point, so everyone could watch it.
"Do you want me to tell you what happened?" asked Touya cheerily as he sat in front of Silver on the plush green grass. N followed suit and sat down in front of Gold.
"Sure." Silver replied quietly, not sounding very interested in the game whatsoever, but he probably just needed cheering up. Yeah, he was just depressed because he didn't see it live.
Soon, they were all laughing and giggling at Touya's thoughts on the game. Even the depressed Silver let out a chuckle or two, and Gold had never seen N laugh before, so it was all kinda reassuring. Gold knew N had a cruel father, which became apparent when the green haired boy came to school with occasional injuries.
Despite the so-called-mildness of the situation, Gold couldn't help but wonder if Silver was going through the same thing as N. Luckily though, N's father wasn't home all the time. But Silver's father was.
"Hey losers!" The group of 4 groaned. Oh great, now the bullies were here.
It sucked, especially when no-one was around to stop them. They could fight, but it was the verbal damage that really did it, believe it or not. Gold himself had been reduced to tears by the time he'd gotten home from a day of harsh bullying. N had cut himself, but Touya stopped him which lead to them becoming a couple. Silver only seemed affected by the bullying if they said certain things, but when he got affected, boy did he react.
"What do you all want?" asked SIiver with an annoyed release of breath.
Normally they'd have a bit of relief from the bullies as long as Jamie and James were around. Those two somehow managed to thwart bullies, but it was only because they had 'extreme powers' in charming the opposite sex. Or, the same sex, considering they didn't seem to have a preference.
"You already know." One of the bullies responded with a wide grin on his face. All 4 boys looked up at them, confused. What did they have that the bullies could possibly want?
"Seriously. What is it?" Gold asked this time, getting more annoyed by the second. This group never knew when to quit, and they frequently ended up leaving only when the 4 boys themselves left. It was something similar to stalking.
"Well, there's 4 of us, and 4 of you, right?" The leader-who'd been dubbed with the name Phoenix due to shockingly red and orange hair- said slowly, as if he was explaining the alphabet to some little child.
All 4 of them nodded, agreeing.
"Well, how about we go on a group date?" Another one said with an actual straight face.
"But all 4 of us are already dating someone." Gold pointed out, scooting closer to Silver to prove this and Touya did the same to his boyfriend.
The bullies looked confused for a moment, though it was obviously mock-confusion, then laughed heartily once again.
"Oh, but it would be so fun~" Phoenix sing-songed, clicking his tongue after he spoke. It was then that Gold noticed Silver was having something similar to a panic attack, shaking and sweating violently.
Quickly coming to his assistance as he'd learned this in a medical class, N began rubbing circles on Silver's back before massaging his shoulders. This ended up calming the red-headed boy down and Silver managed to breath out, 'thanks' to N gratefully, to which the green-haired boy just smiled.
"Seriously Phoenix, get lost." Though the others in the grassy area of the park were surprised at Silver's outburst, this only earned a laugh from Phoenix himself and his 'gang' quickly followed his example, forcing themselves to laugh along.
"Oh, is poor little Silver scared?" Phoenix taunted, grin widening when Silver's eye size intensified, though he quickly caught himself and resumed glaring at Phoenix.
"Maybe if you all stopped whoring yourselves, you'd have a life." The orange-and-fire haired boy remarked, quickly scanning their faces for reactions. Touya looked extremely hurt and upset, as did N, while Gold looked angry and surprised. Silver looked...frightened. Like there was something that was going to hurt him.
"Silver, what's wrong?" N asked his friend softly, knowing that a sweating face and clenching fists meant something was causing another panic attack. But what? It couldn't be the bullies, could it?
"I'll tell you what's wrong with him." Phoenix began, a haughty smile already making its way onto his face. But before he could begin saying anything, N cut him off with a rare outburst of the emotion known as anger.
"You've done enough, Phoenix." The green haired boy whispered angrily, narrowing his emerald eyes at the laughing boy in front of him. "He seems unstable, and it's all because of you!"
Though Gold was just as angry as N was, he couldn't help but be confused. Silver had never, ever, shown this type of weakness towards bullies. So why show it now? It seemed more related to his personal life than anything else. He couldn't help let his mind wander once more to the face of Silver's father, Giovanni.
"You don't understand." Phoenix informed N, who had since calmed down, but the flame-haired boy wanted to continue the argument. "What if it isn't because of me?"
N looked at Phoenix quizzically. "I don't...understand." The harmonia murmured to himself, trying to wrap at least one inch of his brain around Phoenix's suggestive sentence.
But Phoenix simply grinned, and with a parting 'fuck you later!', he plodded off, followed by his gang of laughing bastards. When the bullies finally left, the other three boys quickly surrounded Silver worriedly. Especially Gold, who had noted that his boyfriend was still shaking.
"Silver, what's wrong?" asked Gold soothingly, giving his friend a pat on the leg. But the moment he did this, the red-headed boy shrank away in fear, pupils dilated and arms raised in a defensive position.
This surprised everyone. If there was anyone Silver could confine in, it was Gold. But the boy had pushed him away in utter terror, as if Gold was some sort of wild animal trying to kill him.
"I-I'm sorry." Silver spoke finally, head bowed towards the ground.
"You don't have to apologize." Gold said with a sympathy-filled expression. Despite Silver's actions, he hadn't been hurt or offended in the least. He was far to concerned about his friend to even think of himself.
"Thanks for letting me stay over, Gold." Silver remarked as he watched his friend remove ice cream from the freezer.
The golden-eyed boy smiled slightly. "Of course."
The guilty feeling returned when Silver saw the partial smile on Gold's face. Was the raven-haired boy hurt by his earlier actions?
"Silver, look, I've got strawberry!" Gold's voice interrupted Silver's sad thoughts by cheerfully sliding a bowl full of ice cream towards his friend, who smiled broadly as he accept his favorite flavor.
Now, at this point, Silver knew that staying over at Gold's house would get him in trouble. But lately, he hadn't been able to see any of his friends, especially Gold. Thankfully his father knew nothing of their relationship. Or so he hoped, that is.
A knock at the door broke the train of thought.
Silver glanced at Gold, trying to mask the worry on his face. What if it was his father? Well, of course it wasn't. His father was too much of a busy man to supposedly visit such a 'lowlife' household.
Standing up, Gold marched over to the door and swung it open, revealing a middle-aged man Silver recognized as his butler.
"Reginald?" Silver asked aloud, obviously confused by the appearance of his normally-working at this hour butler. It was a weekend and the red-head had thought he was supposed to be able to do whatever he wanted. Besides, the school was still being fixed, so it'd be closed for awhile anyway.
"My lord, your father wishes to speak with you." Reginald announced, face completely blank and unreadable, though Silver knew this was an act. His butler was a kind man, not an emotionless one.
Confused, both Silver & Gold stuck their heads out of the door way. There was a black limo, and within it sat another figure, whom Silver knew was his father. But since when did his father care where he was, so long as it wasn't a relationship?
"Say goodbye to..." Reginald paused, looking at Gold for confirmation of his title.
"Gold, sir." The boy responded with a cheerful grin, though it was slightly forced. Silver couldn't just leave with his father! Who knows what he might do!