Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The lopsided clock mounted on the wall ticked agonisingly slow. Despite only watching the hands move for the past 47 minutes it felt much longer than that to Henry. He looked down at his math book, a double page spread of circle theorems' rules but with poorly drawn circles, diagrams, horrible spacing and hand writing. It was scruffy and clearly uncared for but it reflected perfectly his thoughts on the stupid teaching. HIs teacher, Mrs Whittle-Baker, was nattering on about revising and the importance of studying for their GCSE mocks over the half-term break that was coming up soon. He didn't care for it, he knew he wouldn't revise properly even if he tried. He'd just ask for Brian's revision notes and read them before the exams.

"You have homework due for tomorrow, I still expect every single one of you to bring me proof that you didn't cheat by writing notes..."

Henry inwardly groaned, he'd still cheat but it would just take him longer now. Finally, they were allowed to pack up and leave. He stuffed his pencil case into his bag, swung into onto his bag and dropped his book onto William's behind him so he wouldn't have to put it away himself. William tried to protest but one look and the weepy child backed down, just like last time and the time before that. He smirked as he watched William walk to the back of the room. The bell rang and the teacher let them go for lunch.

Henry walked the wrong way down the stairs to get into the canteen quicker. He pushed in front of some mouthy year eight girls that were wearing way too much make-up that made them look like orange with massive drags of black around their eyes. He grabbed a soggy sandwich and a dry cake, paid and made his way to the table everyone knew was his and his friends. Well, everyone but this random year seven. He sat down and kicked her calf from under the table. She burst in tears, got up and ran off with her bag but left an uneaten waffle. Who was he to turn down free food?

"Henry!"

He turned as he heard his boyfriend call his name and felt a smile creep its way up his lips. He waved Ralph down and they started watching the newest season of Gross Class Zero on Ralph's phone because his parents had taken his again. It was confiscated because he didn't finish his dinner and had scrapped the rest onto his brother's, Peter's, plate and even though the little snot would of happily eaten the healthy beetroot, he still snitched on Henry and got him in trouble. Soon the rest of friends showed up: Al showed up first, being as punctual as ever, with a football under his arm; Burt showed up next with a tray of slop passed of as food and sat quietly; Graham showed up next with a tray as well with food pilled high and when he sat down he got a lunch box out of his bag that was also stuffed with snacks; and finally, Brian showed up with a heavy bag that was obvious filled with books and school work, he vomited words of excuses to his lateness before he even sat down.

Henry would never admit it but he loved these kids, they were like a family to him and all their quirks and oddities made them all the more loveable. He rolled his eyes and told Brian to sit. It wasn't much later that Brian perked up again.

"Hey guys, did you hear about what's happening during half term?"

"If you mean the extra tutoring classes and catch-up courses then don't bother, Brian." Ralph retorted.

"No I mean the 'study group' that Gurinder is holding at her house."

"Why would we want to study with her?" Al asked sweetly, a tad oblivious.

"Al, Brian doesn't actually mean 'study group' it's code for a party." Henry chimed in, catching on to the monotone kids messaging much quicker than his friends.

"Yes, that is what I mean. There's supposed to be alcohol too." Brian whispered, hiding his excitement but also being cautious.

"Well are - we gonna go?" Graham spoke with a mouth full of food, he almost choked and Al patted his back helpfully.

"Well duh." Henry rolled his eyes, "When is it?"

"It's two days after your birthday. It starts at 8 PM."

"I forgot about that - I'll probably sneak out 'cause there's no way my parents would allow me to go that late and Peter will probably get me in trouble before then anyways."

"My mum would probably let me go." Ralph had set up a paper wasp and elastic band and was aiming it at a group of year 10 nerds.

"I'm not sure if my dad would let me stay for long but I'll probably be allowed to go. What about you, Burt?" Al smiled kindly at the boy next to him, trying to include him into the conversation.

"I dunno. Maybe?" Burt had never been one for talking but had been getting more comfortable with speaking since their Primary School days.

Henry had finished his sandwich and sponge cake and he was now onto the waffle. Ralph and Graham had already finished their food. Burt had almost finished and Al had taken some snacks from Graham. Brian had barely touched his, Henry kept an eye on this. He noticed Ralph had put his phone away and was fully engaging in conversation now.

"What are doing after school? We going to the music rooms or going to Lidl to muck around?"

"Music room, we have the school auditions on the 24th so we need to practise."

"I have football training after school but I'm only playing until 3:45 so I could be there after until 4:30."

"I dunno, I might come..."

"Just come if you can, we really need to work on our original song and the instrumental of the cover songs."

"Got it!" Brian replied, a bit too loudly. He had finally eaten a bit but a book had migrated from his bag which he was now reading.

The conversation died down soon after and Henry had rested his head on Ralph's shoulder. He hadn't slept well last night, his parents had been shouting at him all evening. He had to do his chores once they finished and do homework on top of that so he slept very late. Ralph put an arm round his back and held him close. They weren't out to many yet but the few they were hadn't judged them. Except Margaret, Henry's nosy neighbour, who found out accidentally and used it to blackmail them often. She was a snot-brained, spoiled, toxic bitch. She wasn't homophobic but she knew that they didn't want to be outed and used that against them. Henry needed dirt on her and soon.

He had almost drifted off to sleep when the harsh screeches of the bell rang through the hall. They got up and tidied their area of their rubbish, put the trays on the rack and started heading to their next lessons. He walked to English with Ralph and they passed by Peter who was in the lower years. He had his gang of goody-two-shoes still. He was heading out of the library with said gang, holding piles of printed papers and books for various teachers. Henry walked past, tempted to make Peter drop the books but with a teacher right behind them he decided otherwise.

The next few hours went by eventually and they met up in front of the music rooms. Henry walked into the music classroom and talked to the teacher. Ms Legato was one of the few teachers that liked Henry. She passed the keys to Henry for the music room with a smile.

"The recording room is open today if you want to use it."

"Thanks, Ms." Henry took the keys and grabbed a few music books for different grades of drum, guitar and piano before heading back out to unlock the corridor to the music rooms. He led Ralph, Burt and Brian into the music rooms and right at the end of the corridor he unlocked the recording room and headed in. Brian flicked the switch and the lights came to. They started setting up and Henry went into the side room and set all the amp nozzles and turned the record button up so it was ready.

Henry sat down at the drum set, he set the dampener onto the snare drum and adjusted the toms positions and the hi-hat's tightness. He waited for everyone to finish setting up there instruments before they started running through a few songs in practise. Henry logged the changes in a notebook so they could keep Al up-to-date. He had realised recently how much music meant to him and sharing his passion with his family made him stupidly happy. He put all his energy into the drum beat and by the time Al had come and caught up they were ready to record at least one song.

He watched Ralph during his guitar solo and added rim clicks to the beat and added extra emphases when re-entering the chorus and he quietened down for the verse so Brian's piano playing could be heard. With Burt and Graham on bass guitars, he made sure to lead them in the dynamics they needed to be so they could hear Al and at times Ralph and Brian singing. All in all, it went well and if Henry went a little hard on the riffs in the outro, no one complained about it.

They were sat in the recording booth listening to the playback of the recording and other than a tweak or so it sounded incredible. Henry struggled to keep himself from grinning stupidly. He saved the recording onto a USB stick and then they tidied up the room and headed out. Henry locked up after himself and handed in the keys and the USB stick. She listened to it and was pretty impressed with it. She pointed out the same tweaks Henry had noticed earlier like the dynamic changes in the chorus and the timing in between the intro and first verse and then handed the stick back to Henry.

They walked home together, joking and messing around but slowly kids dropped off. Brian and Graham got on the bus and Al had to split off to walk home early on and they passed Burt's house soon after that. That left just Henry and Ralph. They had their pinkies entwined as they walked slowly down the street in a comfortable silence. Ralph reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes. He led Henry over to a nearby garden wall and started rolling a cigarette. He flicked the lighter a few times before it came to light, the flame flickering in the light breeze, and lit the end of the stick. 

Ralph took a long and deep drag from the cigarette before offering it to Henry who gladly took it and had his own drag. Ralph tidied up his stolen packet before continued walking, them sharing the blunt. The smoke they inhaled seeming like clouds as they felt calmer and less stressed than they had all week.

"God, Ralph, I really needed this!" Ralph laughed at him, putting an arm around him.

"You looked like it, no offence." Henry huffed and punched Ralph's arm lightly. They walked around aimlessly for a while. The butt was snuffed out on a tree long ago but now they were nearing Ralph's house.

"What time is it?"

"6:51, you're Mum is going to be livid at you."

"I know! I was supposed to be home like two hours ago. Peter's probably eaten my dinner by now."

"You know your parents suck right?" Henry went silent, no longer in the easy mood the ciggies had put him in. He held Ralph a little tighter in response, however.

"Can we... not talk about this, right now?" Ralph sighed and squeezed Henry slightly. They stopped at Ralph's house and hugged tightly. Henry watched him walk down his path and go into his home before trudging home slowly and unconcernedly. 

It was almost 7:37 PM when he got in, and it was 7:38 when the yelling started. The usual shit his parents had spat for years. They had obviously smelt the smoke on him and that angered them greatly. Threats and punishments were screamed at him left and right. "Go to your room," and "You don't get dinner for doing this to us," was yelled ceremoniously. Henry sighed and his eyes wandered as did his attention. Peter was smirking from where he was hiding behind the living room door. It angered Henry unreasonably so. He pushed past the screams of his parents and trudged his way upstairs and headed to his room.

He slammed the door behind him, chucked his bag down and laid down on his bed. Automatically he looked for his hamster: Fang. Fang had died years prior but his cage still stood on his desk in remembrance. It upset him but the thought of moving or getting rid of it infuriated him more.

He buried his head into his pillow in frustration, the angry thoughts aiding him as he fell to sleep. He hadn't eaten and had left his binder on, he wasn't comfortable but he couldn't care less. The tick of his alarm clock soothed him into the night up until the next morning. Just a regular and normal day. Just a normal day... right?

*Knock. Knock... Knock.*

Chapter Text

The knocking pattern was familiar to the groggy Henry. He groaned as he rolled over, his alarm read '2:47 AM.' He felt his chest pang in pain which caused him to groan again but he responded this time.

"Come in, Peter."

On que, Peter walked in with his nervous aura and had closed the door gently behind himself. The soft glow of the moon illuminated the way as Peter made his way to his bed. Henry glared at his brother for waking him up but he still sat up slowly and gestured for Peter to sit at the end of his bed.

"Henry?"

"Yeah, worm?" 

"I was wondering-I um-if I could... I was hoping-"

"Spit it out, nerd. I've got to get up in just over two hours for my rounds so make it quick."

"R-right, sorry. I just couldn't sleep so I was hoping you'd let me in with you again... like when we were little."

Henry sighed and leaned back against his headrest. He got under his own covers, having failed to do that yesterday and threw a pillow towards Peter in response.

Peter grinned and put the pillow by Henry's feet and got in. Despite being an annoying, goodie-two-shoes tattletail, Henry still loved his little brother and would do anything to protect and care for him, unlike his words would suggest. So he sucked up and top-n-tailed with Peter.

Henry soon dozed off to sleep but felt much less rested when his alarm pierced the air. He shut it off quickly and slipped out quietly so Peter wouldn't wake up. He grabbed some clothes that weren't too dirty and headed to the bathroom.

He turned the light on and covered his eyes as the bright light attacked his eyes. After a fee moments of adjusting to the light he started getting ready for the day. He got changed and ignored the pain that wracked his entire torso as he began to get ready for the day.

He chucked on deodorant and brushed his teeth and washed his face and grabbed a small washbag filled with his make-up. He grabbed a pencil eyeliner and started lining his inner eyes. He then outlined parts around his eyes then smudged it to make his heavy bags look purposeful. Henry then stashed the bag back into its hiding place and headed back into his room.

Quietly he made his way through the room, grabbing his school bag, his shoes, his coat, and his house keys. Then he left, pulling the door-to and creeping down the staircase silently. 

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and slipped into his shoes then walked into the kitchen. He didn't bother grabbing breakfast and he headed out of the backdoor, locking the door behind him as we went outside.

He picked up his bike and pushed it round the side of the house and out the front garden before mounting it and heading on his way to pick up the newspapers for his rounds.

He did his newspaper rounds quickly, dodging the dog that used him as a pee mat more often than not and early mormjng joggers that weren't watching where they were going. He headed home and walked the bike back into the backgarden and uheaded into the kitchen where he found the rest of his family.

Peter smiled and gave him a wave. His Dad hadn't even realised he was there, his nose deep in a newspaper and his mum gave him a once over then turned away.Henry ruffled his brothers hair as he headed to the fridge.

"Don't be horrid, Henry." His Dad muttered, having now noticed him. Henry sighed and walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs to his room. He looked at his clock on his bedside table which read '7:38 AM.' His phone was next to it and he had realisea Peter had worked his magic which brought a smile to his face. He pocketed the phone and headed to school.

The day went by slowly. The morning with boring lessons that Henry didn't have the energy to much around in.

Then break time, where he spent the entire time looking for Ralph and still didn't find him.

Then P.E, where he was the goalkeeper in a game of football. 

Then lunch, where he copied down his brainy friends notes for his next lesson

Finally, he had maths, which he succeeded in avoiding a detention in and Science which he shared with Ralph and Graham. 

Soon, the group headed home together, slowly losing more and more people until it was just Ralph and Henry, again.

"Do you want to come in?" Ralph stood at his house gate and looked longingly towards Henry. He didn't want to go home anyways so he may as well.

"Yeah, sure. You got any Bourbons?"

"Probably. Hurry up, Hen." Henry did just that and they headed into the empty house quickly. It wasn't ling before they had settled on Ralph's bed with a vareity of snacks and comics with music coming from Raloh'a phone.

"Your Mum always gets the best snacks!"

"I know. She'll be back from her shift soon so don't eat too many or you won't eat her cooking."

"I could never reject your Mum's cooking but fine." Henry leaned back against his boyfriends chest. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Ralph's mum had come home and started dinner and they still hadn't moved or spoken again but they didn't need to.

Until Ralph spoke.

"You know this isn't normal right?"

"What?" Henry almost whispered it.

"Your parents, they don't treat you normally."

"Duh, smartarse."

"I'm serious Henry!" The serious tine that was so unfamiliar to Henry made him turn and stare at Ralph in disbelief. "Your Mum and Dad need serious help if they think that is normal."

"Really?"

"Yes Henry! When was the last time they said 'I love you,' too your face."

This made Henry pause and think. He realised he couldn't give an example of when they had said it from before Peter was born.

"That's what I mean, Henry. They don't appreciate and care for you properly. But you know that you don't deserve that right?"

Henry didn't respond again, still deep within his thoughts. He was spiraling until Ralph's voice, strained, uncertain and desperate, broke his train of thought.

"R-right, Henry?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course."

"Good. You don't deserve to be treated like any less of a person just because you aren't their perfect image."

Henry smiled at this. He could only fall even more in love with this boy.

A shout creeped its way uo the stairs but it wasn't one he was used to. Despite it being loud it was still filled with love and care. "Tea is ready boys, come down an' eat."

As Henry got up, ready to head downstairs, he felt Ralph grab his hand. He elbowed his boyfriend lightly and began walking down.

It was hours later, in his own bed, after being shouted and cursed out again for being 'horrid' and 'rude' that he truly took in the words.

"This isn't normal... Right."

Chapter Text

Two weeks had passed since Henry had truly realised his life wasn't normal. He didn't want to think about it but he knew that even before Ralph basically spelt it out for him that his parents didn't treat him well but he was in denial until then.

Right now, however, he and Ralph were in the teachers lounge during the most optimal time of the day: first lesson.

This was the time of day where evrry teacher was busy and nobody was occupying the room which made it the perfect time to snoop around and pull pranks. 

A few days prior, they had overheard the teachers talking about the new supply of snacks they had in so it was an inevitable fact that they would sneak in to steal some.

Ralph was on his hands and knees digging through the bottom cupboards whilst Henry was stood on the counters to reach the highest shelves of the cupboards and ontop.

"Eurika!" Henry cried out as he found an assortment of biscuits, Pink Panthers, Bourbons, Custard Creams, Oreos, JaffaCakes, Digestives, Rich Tea and Marylands.

"You found them, then?" Ralph asked, standing up and closing the cupboard behind him. He walked over to where Henry had started grabbing packets of biscuits and dropping into Ralph's arms when he got there.

Ralph placed the goods on the counter then made his way to the door where they had dumped their backpacks and picked up Henry's that was emptier. He brought the bag over and started shoving the contents into it.

Henry had hopped down and started wandering around the teacher's lounge: there was a raggedy sofa that was clearly used often that Henry avoided like the plague; a bright rug that clashed with the matte colours of the room; and a built in storage cupboard that had a broken lock.

Henry pushed the door open slowly, it was small and stacked up to the ceiling with shelves, aplliances and knickknacks. He took a step in and flinched as the dangling light switch hit him in the temple

He held his head as it throbed in a low ache and angrily pulled on the switch making the filament bulb burn bright and cast the storage room in light.

Henry felt an urge of curiosity and mischeif crawl over him as he started looking through the cupboard.The cuoboard, as Henry eoulf soon find out, did not hold the usual teacher supplies and stationary. Instead, most of it was used as what appeared to be a confiscation cupboard.

"Ralph, come 'ere!" Henry called him over, beckoning with his hand, "Leave the bag, quick."

"What is it Henry? Wha-?" Ralph cut himself off as his mouth dropped open in shock as he realised that they had just found something priceless.

They could take some of the stuff for themselves or take it and sell it to people but they had to be careful with this new acquired knowledge.

Creak

"Shit, hide!" Ralph called pushing Henry into the confiscation cupboard and darting under the hanging island in the kitchen.

The door opened moments later as a student teacher walked in and started grumbling to herself. The clack of her heels indicated that she was heading to the kitchen. Raloh realised both of their bags had been left out, Harry's on the kitchen floor and his now behind the door.

The teacher to be grumbled to herself and tiredly went through the motions of preparing to brew a coffee. She had closed her eyes, resting her head in her hands as she lent over the table, waiting for the kettle to boil.

Ralph took this opportunity to grab the bag and prayed it didn't make much noise as he jostled the biscuit filled bag to his chest under the hanging island.

Luckily, the student teacher hadn't even glanced near Ralph and left soon after the coffee was finished and she couldn't find any Rich Teas or Digestives.

They waited a little bit before coming out of hiding. They shared one look before bursting into laughter. They weren't sure what exactly they were cackling over but it was definetly hilarious to the boys.

"Why hadn't she... noticed us?" Henry cackled.

"I dunno, Henry!" Ralph snorted in response.

Soon, the laughter died down and they had mostly composed themselves. Ralph had rested his hand on Henry's shoulder during the laughing fit and now he squeezed it comfortingly.

"Come on Hen, let's get out of here before the bell rings?" Henry nodded and started heading for the door. He picked up Ralph's backpack and put it on whilst Ralph but on his fully.

The rest of the day went by much slower.

Second lesson was English and Henry had flicked paper wasps at the substitute teacher. 

Recess was boring and Henry hadn't even gotten food or disrupting teachers further.

By third lesson, History, Henry's devious mood had not subdued as he disrupted and mocked the teacher and almost got sent out of the lesson. 

Lunch was much more eventful. Henry and his usual posse was sitting at their usual lunch table when Margaret and her gang had sauntered over to start drama.

Margaret had an even bigger growth spurt a few years ago and now towered over most people. She was over a head taller than Henry but that hadn't detered him from standing next to her in a silent dual. Her fiery red hair was splayed in a ponytail behind her but now straightened instead of wild. 

"Snotbrain." 

"Slugface."

Margaret responded to this insult by grabbing Henry by the sleeve and dragging him out of the cafeteria. Ralph followed quickly but no one else even thought to leave the current stand-off. 

Margaret dragged Henry along despite his protests until they were outisde and round the corner where she pushed him up against the wall harshly.

Ralph managed to catch up and immediately tried prying Margaret off of his boyfriend but she kicked him in the knee and kneed his stomach. She didn't even watch as he fell to the ground with a thump.

"Hey! What do you want carrot-nose?" He demanded. Margaret smirked conceitedly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone and tuened it on.

It only took a few minutes before she turned her phone round for Henry to see. His eyes blew wide in shock as the photo was a perfect capture of him and Ralph. 

The photo was them at a park that they knew was emoty at the time, or at least they thought. They were on a bench with their hands intertwined and sharing a kiss. 

Henry tried grabbing for it but Margaret pulled her phone away and tutted, "Henry, Henry, Henry. I thought you were smarter than that. Clearly, I don't want to just show you this. I want something."

"What? No, fuck off Marga-cunt. I'm not doing shit for you."

"Well if you won't do it then I can just send this to your parents, then." She smirked again as a look of horror tore itself open on Henry's face.

Ralph was too shocked to move, he didn't know what the photo was on but Henry's reaction scared him, there wasn't much that could make Henry drop his mask.

Henry recovered quickly and scowled and muttered through gritted teeth, "Fine, what is is?"

Margaret softened her hold on Henry and relaxed a bit, going into her happy, manipulative persona. "You'll find out, I just wanted you to be aware for now but when you do it I'll delete the photo."

She pushed off of Henry, pushing him into the harsh bricks breifly before letting him go and sauntering off with not a word more.

Ralph got up quickly and gently held Henry, nudging him into a hug. He could tell this had upset him even if no tears had spilt.

"Take your time, Hen. You're gonna be okay. You are okay." Henry sighed and nodded into Ralph's neck.

Eventually, Henry had told him what the photo was about and Ralph was just as shocked that Margaret had gotten a photo of that but he was even more shocked that she was so heartless to threaten Henry with this.

She had done this before, threatened to out them but she never had physical proof and had never demanded something for it, yet.

Ralph scoffed in disgust at this.

The next two lessons were agonizingly slow. Double science was always slow but with Henry worried about what Margaret's favour would be it went on for much longer.

It did end, however. It was a quick walk, quicker than usual but it wasn't long until he and Ralph was in the slightly upgraded Purple Hand Gang fort.

"What are we gonna do?" Henry whispered, breaking a long silence. Raloh wrapped around Henry more and rubbed his head gently before continuing to run his fingers through Henry's hair. 

"I dunno, Henry... We'll figure something out, we always do."

They sat in that fort for an age longer until Peter came to get them. Ralph was invited to dinner and he stayed but left after Henry was sent to his room for having a gob and backchatting.

Henry sat in his room, procrastinating on his homework as he stared at the treehouse of his enemy. 

He wanted her to pay. But he had to be debt free first.

Chapter Text

AUTHORS NOTE OF: 2025-04-17

Hey yall, I want to thank everyone that ls supported this series. This was originally a vent fic for me to deal with all my issues whilst going through GCSEs but Id love to actually finish it. Would people be interested in a continuation, a rewrite or leaving this story and starting a new now that I'm actually a better writer and can plan and plot books accordingly without creating the haphazardous plot on the spot and linking them poorly and omg without so many mistakes.

I really appreciate everyone whos stayed during this journey and I apologise for promising without delivering, it was simply that i no longer needed to vent as much and I got too lazy to finish without that pure hatred fueling me.

AUTHORS NOTE OF: 2025-07-09

So I will keep this authors note up because I want to keep the comments and have major updates or important info placed here at the end. I will be redoing the previous 3 chapters because their pacing, spelling, grammar and such need to be updated however I won't change any major content, probably not much of the content at all so if you do not reread those you'll still understand the future but 16 year old me wrote this fic in a rage and did not Beta-read. Also I pissed myself off rereading those chapters and pressing next chapter just for the authors note. How did ya'll put up with me TOT.

Chapter Text

Henry was fine. He was doing very well, actually. Margaret had threatened to tell people before but she never had, even if it would have benefitted her. She hadn’t had proof then either but surely she was just bluffing now. He had known Margaret since they were little. He knows she won’t do shit. Despite her doing stuff in the past she definitely knows better now. He was fine because nothing was even going to happen. It was no matter to him, anyway.

A shrill ring pierced his ears which he immediately answered without looking at the caller ID. He released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding when he heard Ralph’s voice over the line.

“I’m outside your door.”

“You’re what?”

“Outside. You gonna let me in?”

“Fine, gimmie a second,” Henry sighed as he hung up the call and walked downstairs, missing the creaky step and opening the door. Henry melted at the sight of his boyfriend with a lopsided grin on his face and arms stretched out as the rising sun settled upon his body delicately. If he wasn’t already his boyfriend, Henry would have confessed right then.

Henry collapsed into the hug in the doorway and sighed happily. He was fine. How could he not be when he was tucked safely into Ralph’s arms. The hug lasted several moments until Henry pulled Ralph inside and finished getting ready for paper rounds. Ralph had briefly mentioned leaving his binder behind but one glare from Henry ceased any talk of that. Henry got into his school uniform even if he didn't technically need to, grabbed his bag and walked out the back.

Henry grabbed his bike and wheeled it to the front garden where Ralph was and hopped on. Ralph climbed onto the handlebars and they set off to collect the papers then deliver them in a timely manner. They were only a few papers in when Ralph swapped with Henry, and rode the bike, adjusting the seat for his longer legs and making it easier for Henry to hop on and off the handle bars to deliver his papers.

They finished much earlier than Henry usually did and was ready to go back home when they turned down a road and Henry knew they were heading somewhere else. Ralph turned down the path that led into the park. The groundskeeper was very adamant that people stay off the grass, which is exactly why Ralph rode all over the grassy fields causing a ruckus and a belt of laughter over every small bump or ditch.

Henry had never had so much fun on a paper round before. He was fine. He wouldn’t be cackling with painful laughter if it wasn’t okay.

Ralph pulled the brakes as they went down the small but steep hill towards the river that was barely even a stream. He parked the bike against a tree after they both hopped off and proceeded to plop onto the hill in his uniform, uncaring if it was muddied.

The boys sat there for an age, watching the muddied brown of the stream gently lap over rocks and sidle up the sides. Henry breathed in this smell of dew and mud and freshly cut grass greedily, grounding himself before a day full of trouble. A grin crawled onto his face as he caught Ralph staring at him.

Henry and Ralph headed to school not long after, already prepared but they stopped off at the corner shop to grab some breakfast first. Ralph grabbed a meal deal whilst Henry grabbed a chicken and bacon baguette, in his opinion, the superior choice. And ever so slightly cheaper. After they both felt like they had been royally scammed for their food they bid the vendor goodbye and rode up to the school.

Henry's first lessons were quite boring. He talked to a few peers, did the bare minimum of work and back chatted with the teachers. He received a few warnings but nothing for his record. He was ultimately fine and his usual self.

Lunch rolled around quickly and Henry was surrounded by his family without interruption. He was more than fine with the ones he trusted and held the closest. He was fine, why couldn't his brain just quiet down already. They sat at their table, sharing food and stories and laughs, having a grandiose time until something had to come up. Henry had just snuck a bunch of food onto Brian's plate as Al was recounting his latest match to the group when small puttering footsteps and a posh fake cough got their attention.

Perfect Peter and his posse stood behind Henry. Henry half turned in his chair and shot his brother a look that meant he should talk quickly and leave.

"We need help. Please?"

Henry sighed, "What with?"

"Margeret and Susan are blocking our club room and won't let us pass. They're also being really mean to us but especially Ted." Peter stated clearly, pointing at Ted who was sniffling, holding back tears.

"Why don't you get a teacher?" Despite Henry being very fine with Margaret and only slightly miffed, totally, he didn't exactly want to tell her off right now. Besides he didn't want detention and a teacher would have much better luck.

"We tried but most of them ignored us or brushed us off and the good teachers are either in meetings or not in school today."

Henry sighed but pushed his chair out and stood up. He kicked his bag under the table unceremoniously.

"Look after my stuff, I'll be back in a minute." He instructed.

"I'm coming with yo-!" Henry cut Ralph off.

"No you're not. Lemme just handle this quickly and if I need ya I'll text you. Okay?"

Ralph grumbled but sat back down, stabbing the poor, soggy carrots angrily. Henry received a round of confirmations and well wishes from his loyal gang before he turned around and nodded to the year seven's.

They took no time at all showing him to the usually unoccupied room next to the printers that they had been permitted to use for their weird little club which always seemed to be changing its purpose. As expected, Moody Margaret and Sour Susan were blocking the door and laughing obnoxiously.

"Look Susie, the wittle sevens have gone and gotten 'back-up.' Isn't that hilarious?" Margaret air quoted "back-up" as she made eye contact with Henry. He scowled in response.

"Move out of the bloody way, Margaret."

"Or what?"

"Doesn't matter. You don't need to be a brat about a club room. You have an entire school to prance about in, but you choose here. Go vape in the bathrooms or something and let them just get into the room."

"I don't feel like moving," She leaned in closer, hot breath encroaching his personal space, creeping into his ear. "You know when I said I had something I wanted you to do for me? Well, consider walking away right now one of those few, little somethings. You wouldn't want that photo getting back to your parents would you?"

Henry was very fine. Even with this. He wasn't threatened. Not truly. So what if his parents that had just barely accepted his transition due to his rebellious acts and deal that he at least be as cisgender-heterosexual passing as he could? So freaking what? He had many couches to surf and even a few homeless shelters and hostels that he knows the locations of if things went absolutely off the rails. Things would be fine, Margaret's threat meant nothing. Why was his brain screaming contradictions at him- everything is okay!

He wasn't afraid of this. Of her. He was fine .

"Well, scram then." Margaret waved her hand in a shoeing motion, looking him up and down expectantly.

The pain exploded in his knuckles up his forearm before he even knew what happened. The flow of blood over his hands clouded his mind for the next age. He could hear shouting and screams and sobbs but he couldn't discern any of them. 

He felt a hand on his arm and promptly shoved it off, only just seeing the worried look it spurted from his brother before a teacher showed up and shooed Margaret and him towards the office. 

So much for not wanting detention.

–

It was much later when he was sitting in the office with his parents, Peter and his mates, Margaret's parents and Margaret who was holding an ice pack to her nose dramatically. 

"He punched me, he should be excluded!"

"She star'ed it, I was standin' up for myself an' my brother 'nd 'is mates!" Henry defended, enunciating each and to make it seem just slightly more justifiable but was shut off by a raised hand from their year leader.

"That is not an excuse for causing another student physical harm. I want the full story and I don't have the patience for any tall tales, understood?"

"Of course miss, I wouldn't dream of lying to you," Margaret croaked from under the ice pack.

"Understood." Henry replied quickly. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to mention the blackmail, it would probably clear him of his name seeing that that was illegal and he'd probably only get a slap on the wrist however they'd probably ask about what the blackmail entailed and his parents were shooting him angry looks already - he was fine, though.

He didn't hear Peter and his friends agreeing to tell the truth of the year leader as she started talking but he was sure the goody two-shoes did.. He heard Margaret spew her web of lies, however.

"I was minding my business, talking with a friend when Henry came up to me demanding for me to ‘move out the way’ when I wasn't even blocking anything! I told him to "shove off" and things escalated from there when he punched me square in the nose!"

Henry sighed and waited for Margaret's cries to stop and the adults to stop looking at her sympathetically before speaking up himself. He purposefully ignored Peter's eyes as he spoke, staring straight at his year leader.

“I was in the canteen with my friends when my little brother came over with his friends and practically begged for help to get into their club room because Margaret was blocking the door. They told us that they had asked nicely and had already tried to tell multiple teachers but were ignored. I went to go see what Margaret was doing and we started arguing. I got… angry and I punched her before even realising I wanted to.”

He could practically feel his little brother’s gaze, jaw slack and a defence budding on his tongue about Margaret's role when the year leader spoke up. The stout woman brushed her brown bangs out of her eyes.

“I'm hearing that you,” she pointed at Henry, “Escalated a problem that you,” she moved over to Margaret, “Started? Am I correct?”

Henry only nodded knowing that nothing he said would be heard over Margaret's wails. “I did nothing wrong though, miss.” The banshee cried, fat fake tears coming out of her eyes but no longer fooling the headmistress. Henry noticed she just looked tired and wanted to end things which he was more than happy to oblige with.

“Alright.” The headmistress whose name Henry always forgot began, “I have decided that Henry will be sus pended for 2 days and and extra 3 days of detention and Margaret will have 4 days of detention starting tomorrow. I am disappointed in this petty argument turning into a fight like this.” She pinched her nose in stress but Henry was trying his best not to look like he froze.  A couple of years ago he would've shouted or yelled loudly but he could feel his parents’ ire in cold icy gazes stabbing like icicles into his back. This was better than being expelled or exposed anyways.

“Peter, Gordon, Samuel, Theodore, please don't encourage students to sort out issues like this, I appreciate you went to teachers first but you should have waited for this to be sorted out. This is a warning for next time.”

Henry was relieved that they weren't being told off, although Peter and Ted both started tearing up, even this light discipline was everything they strived against. Margaret's continuous fake crying was starting to piss him off, however. He stood up, dragging the chair with a sharp screech. He didn’t even care if there was more to discuss. He had calmed himself enough that he could look his parents in the eyes. His Dad’s face didn’t show a lot of emotion, it was empty but Henry knew it’d be a stark red in the car. His Mother’s face was stern, pulled into a sharp frown, made more angular as she crossed her arms and turned her nose up.

The version of Henry that accompanied his 13-year-old self would’ve snarkily quipped, ‘surprised you didn't forget me this time,’ as they pulled away, resting his feet on the back of his Mother’s chair and smirking. Instead he handed Peter his earbuds, a gift from Al, and let him tune out the bloody murder their parents were screaming at him for giving Monstrous Margaret a bloody nose. Her nosebleed was the only joyous thing that occurred since school started. Once he’d heard his Father yell that he was grounded for the 4th time and they wanted his devices on the landing as soon as they got home he started zoning out. Their drabble was decent noise to accompany his all important window gazing that wasn’t at all dissociation. Not at all because Ralph said that’s concerning, especially how often he’d done it in the past but He, Horrid Henry was great today.

At least when he zoned out his brain was a little quieter, it wasn’t so direct when telling him all his flaws, regrets and horrifying truth.

Everything from the car to his bedroom was blurry. Not like he was ill or couldn’t see but he just wasn’t paying attention as it was happening and was having trouble recalling what had happened.

He wouldn't have thought anything that bad had happened if it wasn’t the bruises on his arms accompanying him to bed after he’d changed and pointedly removed his binder for Ralph’s sake. He had forgotten to wash his eyeliner off but oh well, that wasn’t new. He wasn’t even in pain. He set his stuff on the landing and had gotten in bed but he couldn’t sleep.

He stared at the popcorn textured ceiling unseeingly. It was probably just before midnight as he had heard his parents go to their room. He would have checked his Mutant Max clock but the thing had been knocked over a couple years back now and with a phone he never bothered asking for a new clock.

It wasn’t long till he heard his brother’s door open followed by his own. Peter was crying, his face red and puffy, his eyes looked beyond sore even in the pale moonlight. Henry closed the blinds, having forgotten they were open then coaked his wormy little brother onto the bed. Peter blubbered and whisper-yelled into his shoulder as Henry loosely hugged Peter. Henry rubbed his back for an hour. Or maybe it was five minutes, he couldn’t tell. He was only able to put together a small part of the picture.

Peter had whispered countless apologies for getting him in ‘the worst trouble ever!’ and hiccuped, ‘he’e shouldn h’ve grabbed you li-ike dat, I’m sorry…’. Henry continued to shush Peter and reassured him until he fell asleep. He would’ve moved Peter back to his own bed typically, in case their parents found out but not only was he not bothered but his brain was too loud.

It screamed at him. How worthless and useless must he be to just let Peter witness this. It was affecting him so much. Peter felt responsible for this, they made him afraid. He wasn’t ever okay. He wasn’t doing fine.

He wanted to yell from the rooftops that he was furious, absolutely livid, that he was scared and upset and startled even but just thinking of trying to explain his emotions he could only describe it as numb.

Henry felt dull.