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1
Robin was skipping class again. He ducked into one of the Boys’ bathrooms when he heard the sound of keys jigging against each other, a sure sound of a teacher. He was just gonna wait it out. He paused on the journey to the sink. In the corner of his eye, a boy laid in the corner.
Dark brown eyes met dark brown eyes. Finney Blake, his best friend, sat in the corner. He held his stomach in pain. His light brown eyebrows furrowed and sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Fuck,” Robin knelt next to the boy. “Was it them again?”
The brown haired boy only nodded. Robin frowned, “Do you have your first aid?” He asked but he didn’t wait for an answer as he grabbed the other boy’s bookbag. He dug through it till he found what he needed.
He knew Finney kept a medkit on him at all times. He knew because Finney often used the same medkit to patch him up. He grabbed Finn’s chin, softly moving his face around as he examined the damage. As he got to work, he cursed, “Those little pussies. I swear, Finn, I’m gonna beat all of they’re asses!”
“Robin, it’s fine.” He spoke, or more so whispered. Robin looked the boy in the eyes, and eyes looked back. He nodded, “No it’s not, Finn.”
He pulled the boy’s shirt up, disinfecting and bandaging his battered cuts. “Thanks.” He mumbled. Robin packed everything in the medkit. Then, he slid next to Finn. “Anytime, buddy.”
“What are you doing out here, anyways? Shouldn’t you be in class?” Finn asked.
“Me? Shouldn’t you be in class ?”
“I was in class!” The blonde boy defended. Finn’s hair changed from light brown to blonde. It depends on the lightning. Robin thought he looked good either way. “I was going to the bathroom and.. You know.” His voice trailed off at the end. He didn’t want to talk about the bullying or his injuries. Robin would be sure to make it perfectly clear next time that they can’t fuck with Finn anymore. They’d get the message, one way or another.
The two sat in a comfortable silence. Before it’s broken with, “...You were skipping, weren’t you?”
“Oh, of course.” Robin said, like it was a no-brainer.
2
Robin never got the appeal of baseball. Football, he could understand, soccer, sure, basketball, of course, but baseball? Nada. He didn’t get Track, either. Who just runs for fun??
Finn was good at baseball, though. And Robin always came to his games and even his practices when he had nothing better to do. The team was going through some different drills. They were trying some new things out in preparation for their game. One of those new drills were the players switching positions.
Robin didn’t listen, of course, but their coach said something about stepping into each other’s shoes. If they understood different positions, they could support each other better. This meant that Finn, who was a pitcher, was playing battar. Robin gave him a smirk as he grabbed the bat and went up to swing. His grip tightened around the bat’s handle and he got into stance. The ball came hurtling towards him and..
Cracked his best friend square in the nose. Robin jumped down from the stands and onto the field (or whatever the fuck it was called. Robin didn’t play baseball.) Blood dripped past the boy’s soft, pink lips and further down his chin, until it stained the pinkish sand. The whole field froze.
“Hey Finn, what’s happening?” He joked. Finn shot him a glare. Robin was sure he would’ve gotten a mouthful if the other could speak without tasting blood. Robin grabbed his chin and pushed his head back in an effort to stop the nosebleed.
His teammate had brought over the medkit and he did the honors of cleaning Finn up of his nosebleed. Once it finally came to a stop, Robin observed him. “Stay still, Finn.”
“Huh.. for wha-” Robin brought a hand up to cup and support his cheek. Then, two fingers grabbed either nostril and another grabbed the top part of the nose. He tugged left, sharply. Finn’s nose went back in place with a satisfying crack that was followed by a gruesome curse. One Robin wouldn’t expect to come out of innocent Finney’s mouth.
“ Ah, fuck!” He grabbed his nose in pain and groaned.
Robin gave him a toothy grin. “Great job”
“I hate you.”
3
Who the fuck was knocking at his door at 1AM? Robin, who was in nothing but pajama pants and his bandana (yes, he slept with his bandanna) swung the door open. Dark brown eyes met dark brown eyes. Finney, who looked like he’d just got hit by a truck, was standing at his door.
He pulled him into his house and locked the door, dragging him to his room by his wrist.He instantly started examining the boy. He had an eye that was sure to blacken, dried blood stained his face and tears stained his cheeks. “Who did it, Finn? I swear I’ll-”
“S-top…Robin. It’s not someone you can beat.” He managed to speak. Robin bit his tongue. He’ll beat anyone up for Finney. Actually, he’d do anything for Finney. He opened the medkit, wiping off whatever blood and cuts. Then, he wrapped band-aids or bandages around them.
The two sat in silence as Robin patched him up. Every once while, Robin would look up at Finn, anytime he flinched or let out a breathy sigh. When he was finished, his arm curved around his shoulder and Robin, softly, pushed him into a side hug.
“Finn…” He started.
“It was my dad..” Finn let out and just as everything else: It was barely anything but a whisper. He peered over, into his chocolate eyes, and he could tell Finn would break down at any moment.
He had so many questions, so many words, so much anger, but, for Finn’s sake.. The two boys sat in silence, huddled together with Finn’s head resting against Robin’s shoulder and Robin holding him, like he’d never let go.
4
It’d been a few weeks since Finn had come to his house at 1AM. The duo didn’t talk about it much because Finney didn’t seem ready. And Robin wanted to give him time, despite how much he really wanted to.
The boys were walking from school. He noted that the other boy’s hair looked more blonde. The sun’s bright rays were blessing Robin with such a site. Finn was healing fine. His black eye was gone now and the scars were beginning to fade away. Finney was back to his usual self, too.
“You coming over?” Robin broke the silence. They were getting to the one street where they broke off. Robin turnt on the left, while Finn went further down. Finn hummed, like he was thinking. “Can’t. Gotta go home today.”
Robin stopped, like he was thinking, too. Finn followed, staring back at the boy. Like he was trying to read the millions of thoughts that were flowing. “...Okay. Sure. See you tomorrow?” He spoke slowly, carefully, like he was treading on thin ice. Because the topic of Finn’s home and dad was thin ice.
“Friday, maybe” Robin grinned. That usually meant he’d be staying the night. Gwen went over to one of her friend’s houses and Finn would stay to watch over his dad. After the attack, though, he opted to stay elsewhere, too.
“Gotcha.” He nodded. Finn turnt. But, he didn’t make it far as Robin grabbed his wrist.
“If…” he paused, he was thinking again. If you asked Finney, he’d say smoke was coming out of his ears right now. Robin didn’t think a lot. It was all usually just punch, punch, punch. Unless it was about Finney.
“If you need anything or…you know..want to talk then..” His voice trailed off. And he cringed at the fact that he couldn’t tell his best friend that he’d always be there for him, whenever he was needed.
Finney’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Thank you.”
Robin nodded, “Anytime, buddy.” Then, the two went their separate ways.
A few hours later, Robin came back from eating dinner. His room was chillier than he left it. Window curtains blew from harsh winter breeze, and a body laid on his bedroom carpet.
“Finn..” He said, throwing his water bottle on the bed. He had kept his medkit in a closer area after Finn first came in the middle of the night. Now, he was happy he did.
Finn sat against the wall, his knees were up against his chest and his arms wrapped around himself, safely. He was bundled into a little ball and Robin would’ve thought it was cute, if he didn’t have blood, practically, gushing out the side of his head and tear stained cheeks. He looked up at Robin, almost apologetically.
“Don’t be sad. It’s okay. It’s okay.” He comforted. He joined his friend on the floor and set a hand on his knee. “I’m gonna need you to sit up straight, okay?” He said, with the softest voice he could muster. He failed, though, because he was just as scared as Finney was.
Finn complied and sat up straight, back against the wall and arms to his side. His eyes blinked, slowly. Like he hadn’t slept in a day and he was about to drop any moment. Robin, unfortunately, couldn’t let that happen. He had to stay awake, for now. He moved Finn’s brown locks out the way, pushing it to the other side so he could see the damage.
He cringed. On the side of his head, just under his hairline, was multiple cuts. Like glass had cut his best friend one after another. The blood traced down his head and stained the boy’s shirt. He got to work instantly. Wiping the excess blood and cleaning the cut. The usual job was even harder because his beautiful hair would get in the way. He collected as much hair as possible in one hand, which was hard because his hand was only so large. Then, he wrapped the bandage around his forehead.
Afterwards, he laid Finn’s head in his lap and played with the other’s hair. Maybe it was to help Finn, or to distract himself.
“Finn..” He started and he could’ve sworn he got Deja Vu.
“I don’t-”
“Finn, no. I- I-” Robin sucked in a deep breath. “I can’t watch him do this to you..over and over again.” His vision of the beautiful boy below him watered and he had to whip a tear away before it fell.
“I’m sorry..” Finn whispered.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know but..I-” Finn paused, to yawn. Robin was sure he was very sleepy. “I keep bothering you and..”
“Buddy, you’re not….I don’t care if you bother me. I don’t care if you do your nerdy rants about space or if you sneak into my bedroom or knock on my door at 1AM, Finney. I only care about you.”
Finn mustered a sad smile.
“Tell me what happened. What did he do?”
He felt the boy below him readjust in his lap. “Gwen accidentally dropped a glass and…” He paused. “And he hit her so I just… I yelled for him to stop..” His voice cracked, like he was holding back even more tears. “He t-threw a bottle at me..” The first of his tears slipped, and Robin rubbed it away with a thumb. “Me and Gwen grabbed our things and left. She’s at Susie’s.”
Robin nodded. He reached down and kissed Finney’ bandaged forehead. He closed his eyes and his brows furrowed. He went back to rubbing his hair, softly. “I’m sorry, Finn…”
Finn didn’t react, but his brows furrowed and his frown went into a thin line. Robin didn’t even realize he was crying until a tear dropped on Finn’s cheek. He wiped that away, too. Finney’ breath came out roughly. Sometimes, he’d stop breathing for a long time, then take deep, deep, deep inhales. “Sleep, Finn. I’ll protect you, okay?” He whispered.
The boy nodded, softly. And for the first time of the night, Finn’s face relaxed and his breathing slowed.
“I’ll get us out of here, buddy, I promise…” He mumbled, sleepily. “You deserve the world and all the stars , Finney.”
+ 1
It had been a couple of days since Robin found Finney in the bathroom. He had told Finney he would make them pay and despite his own protests..
“Hey!” Someone yelled across the cafeteria. He could feel the cafeteria get quieter from the commanding voice. Tables of kids started whispering
“What’d I tell you three? I said, if you fucked with Finn. I’d fuck with you.” Robin stood at the edge of a table. At the table, sat 3 boys. 3 boys he easily recognized as his bullies. Finn sighed.
“Aww.. you mad about your faggot boyfriend.” One cursed.
“Say that shit again. I dare you.”
“Robin and his faggot, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I” He never got to finish his song because a bawled fist smacked into the side of his head and he dropped onto the floor. The rest of his goons got up and attempted to attack Robin. Only a few attacks managed to land, the rest failed miserably because he dodged and weaved.
The cafeteria was gathered around in a large circle, cheering and yelling. The 3 boys ended up on the floor groaning and whining. The circle dispersed when someone yelled “Teachers!!”
He could just barely see Robin disappear into the crowd and without a beat, Finney ran out, too.
He shoved the bathroom door open to find a bruised Robin on the floor. Finney dropped his bookbag and dug into it for his medkit. He chuckled, “We always end up here patching each other up.”
Robin grinned his normal toothy grin. “Yeah. We do, huh?”
Finn slid down onto the floor and grabbed Robin’s hand. Examining his fists before he went to clean and wrap up the first one. Not many words were exchanged during the process. “You didn’t need to do that for me, Robin.”
The shorter boy looked at him like he was stupid for a few seconds. “I told them not to mess with you.” He shrugged. “Their faults”
Finn moved on to his other hand. “I had it handled…” He lied
“No you didn’t” Robin accused, instantly. “But you’re gonna have to stick up for yourself some day, Finn.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I know.” He mumbled.
He could feel Robin staring at him as he worked on bandaging his knuckles. He could feel his cheeks rise in a pinkish heat.
“I’ll always protect you when I can, though.” He continued from a few minutes ago. “You know that, right?”
Finn grinned. He rubbed his finger over the bandaged hand. “I know…” A few seconds later, “Thanks.” Finn pushed himself off the floor and offered Robin a hand.
“You don’t need to thank me for caring about you, idiot.” Robin said, grabbing at his hand and pulling himself up. The boys stood face to face. He watched Robin’s eyes scan over his features and he blushed.
“Right…Let’s go before the bell rings.” Finney stepped away and Robin followed him out the bathrooms. The two talked about whatever came to mind as they walked to their next class.