Chapter Text
FIVE DAYS
TW
Bullying, abuse, sexual assault, swearing, EXTREME CRINGE, kissing (nothing spicy), romance
Chapter 8 is especially cringe 💀✌🏻
If you are uncomfortable with these topics, go get a snack and watch a nice movie like the Lego Ninjago movie or Matilda :)
There are 3 “parts” to this story:
Five days: chapter 1-5
Strawberry doughnuts: chapters 6-8
The aftermath: chapters 9-?
‘The aftermath’ is full of small little one-shots, but they are still canon to the story
CHAPTER 1
“Watch where you're going, you freaky, weird ass dork!” Someone said whilst tripping Lloyd with their dusty, mud stained, white trainers, making Lloyd fall to the hard concrete floor with a THUD, mildly injuring his hands. Lloyd looked at the dude who tripped him, realising it was one of his main tormentors, Gary Grey. Lloyd somewhat feared Gary, mainly because of his friend, Jack. Jack had threatened him with physical assault and possibly even sexual assault a month ago, and if Lloyd were to tell on him or do something ‘against’ him, Lloyd would be in a lot of danger. Lloyd just picked his dropped stuff up off the floor, glared at Gary with a vexed look and walked off, not wanting to start any problems. Trying to muffle out the noise of giggling and laughing behind him, Lloyd felt as if he had a “kick me” post-it note on his back.
Lloyd’s day was made even worse when he found out that the students had graffitied on his locker AGAIN, words like “fag” and “marriage ruiner” sprayed all over it. When he opened his locker, he saw a bunch of hate letters fell out, telling him to drop out, get a tutor because he was stupid, to harm himself, etc. Lloyd just put them in the recycling bin, not wanting his day to be ruined by reading letters telling him to die.
Lloyd stopped and started pondering, is bullying him the new fashionable trend now or something? And why do the teachers do nothing? They walk in the halls quite often, how do they not see Lloyds suffering or even his graffitied locker? Also, why do they bully him? What has he done to be bullied? He knew and accepted that he was gay but that's not a valid nor a good reason to bully someone. And also, a lot of the insults directed towards him don’t even have to do with his homosexuality. Things like how he was the reason his parents got divorced, why his mother cheated and his father left Lloyd with that monster of a mother. How stupid he was, even if he got great grades. Lloyd felt as if he was bullied for simply existing. Lloyd decided to skip maths class, because he asked the teacher if he could do the test they would do today early so he could focus more. Lloyd spent a majority of his ‘skipping class’ break to clean his locker, borrowing the art teacher's paint remover to do so. It took Lloyd 25 minutes to get it all cleaned up.
Lloyd looked at his schedule, photography class (his 1st elective) and afterwards, lunch. A lot of students loved lunch, having an hour and ten minutes to do almost anything they wanted, but Lloyd was not one of those people. The people in the grade used lunch as a way to abuse Lloyd even more. One of the reasons for this is that Lloyd accidentally exposed the fact that he has phonophobia, the extreme and/or irrational fear of loud noises and sounds. Because the cafeteria had a lot of acoustics, they would talk as loud as they could, making a sound almost equivalent to a heavy metal concert. They would also throw things at him, from food to even sharp utensils. He would sometimes get the occasional scrap paper ball hit his head. But he still came to lunch because he didn’t eat breakfast, so he was starving. He also wanted to see his mother as little as he could.
The photography class was nice, though, because it also tied into the photography club, which Lloyd was also a part of. The photography club/class provided pictures to the student council, who was in charge of the school newspaper. Lloyd would usually be in charge of taking pictures at the football, basketball, track, and softball/baseball games, meaning Lloyd would travel with said teams to the matches. Frequently he would take pictures of the cheerleading squad however, being easier to take photos of, which usually the council wouldn’t mind. But he did take some photos of the actual players themselves, making sure to take photos of the winners.
He liked taking pictures of one cheerleader in particular, the head of the cheerleading team, Chen Chad Trent Chen, which is a very odd full name. Chen used to bully Lloyd, from 2nd grade to 9th, he most likely just got swept into the “bully Lloyd” trend. But Lloyd would catch Chen looking at him weirdly enough, in class and at lunch. Lloyd always wondered what he was thinking, was he mocking him or was it something more positive? He loved taking pictures of Chen because his features just fit him so much. His chocolate brown hair matched his dark beige eyes, his constant need to wear the school's cheerleading jacket was cute and funny, and his confidence was so inspiring and impressive. He understood that what he was thinking was wrong, but he couldn’t help it. Lloyd knew he was in love but never wanted to accept it, because he knew he would be rejected if he even brought it up, if he had enough guts to even talk or have a conversation with him.
After mustering up enough strength to go to the cafeteria, he opened the doors as a blast of sound and noises filled the lunchroom's entrance. He brought his own food because he didn’t want to be attacked whilst in line. Sitting at the seat nearest to the door, just in case he gets overwhelmed. Usually Lloyd would have to make food for himself, because his mum was always out on “business trips”, usually just to go to a club or go off with a dude to do what she called “work stuff”. Lloyd would also sometimes have to make his mother food, especially when she’s drunk or sober, acting like a spoiled brat. Lloyd looked all around him, making sure no one was to disturb him, whilst looking, he noticed Chen looking at him again. Lloyd decided to stare at him a little longer, trying to figure out what Chen was feeling when he looked at Lloyd. Lloyd almost spat out his food when he realised Chen was flushed up, or as some might call it, blushing.
Somewhat Chen's POV:
Chen realised that Lloyd had seen him staring at him, he, quick like the flash, swivelled his head around. Now facing his other cheerleading companions, the two in front of him in particular were Maggie Linda Madhavan and Claire Grace, Chen's two best friends. They gave Chen a certain look, a look of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Chen looked at the girls in confusion. “Chen, why didn’t you go up to him?!” Maggie started, Claire then joined in, “he was literally staring at you too! Why don’t you ask him out? Or at least apologise?!”. Chen simply groaned as he thought about it. Was it weird that he likes the literal person he used to bully? It's like the bully and victim dynamic some fanfics use. Maggie, knowing that Chen had zoned out again, shook the table awake, startling him. “What the hell was that for?!” Chen said, “You didn’t respond to my question. I will ask it again, why don’t you tell Lloyd about your feelings? Or apologise at least?” She questioned. He had to admit, he didn’t know. How do you make someone you bullied forgive you?
Suddenly a scream came from behind Chen, he realised that the friend of Gary Grey, Jack Lyams, the scarier and psychotic of the two, was clutching Lloyds light beige hair as Lloyd sat on the messy floor. He really tugged at his hair, daring Lloyd to attack him. Lloyd just pleaded with him to stop and winces of pain could be heard from where Chen was sitting. I mean, who wouldn’t? It looked like Jack was going to rip Lloyds head off. Jack seemed to be having fun, his face plastered with evil delight. Eventually, Jack let go of Lloyd’s hair, disappointed and bored. Lloyd scrambled off in tears, clearly frightened by the situation. Chen felt the sudden urge to go after him, his mind trying and failing to convince him otherwise. He thought about it for like 15 seconds, before sprinting after Lloyd. Maggie and Claire looked at each other as they watched Chen run off after Lloyd, little smirks on the cheerleaders faces.
No ones POV
Lloyd dashed across the school's empty hallway, immediately running to the bathroom because nobody went there at lunch. Not even the horny 9th graders and the cigarette smokers would go there. Collapsing to the floor, covering his face as hot, wet tears dripped down his soft pale skin, turning his cheeks a pinkish red. Muffling his sobs and slight hiccuping with his hands over his mouth. Chen arrived a minute after Lloyd did, because Chen didn’t know where he went. Opening the door to find Lloyd curled up in a ball in the corner of the bathroom whimpering in pain. This caused Chen to think back, when he was also being bullied. When Gary and Jack forced him to bully Lloyd, and Chen did so because he didn't want to learn the consequences. Lloyd crying in the corner reminded him of when he would also do that, when he would stain his jacket with his own tears. Lloyd sobbing almost made Chen cry. Chen was afraid of how to approach Lloyd, afraid he would scare him, but Chen knew he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. He slowly walked towards Lloyd, but Lloyd had noticed that someone was watching him. Jerking his head upwards to see Chen right in front of him. Lloyd didn’t seem scared, more annoyed than sad. “Have you come to laugh at me or what?” Lloyd said, irritated by Chen's silence. He got up off the floor, facing Chen eye to eye. “Can’t you just leave me be?!” Lloyd yelled as more tears started to fill his face again.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Chen hugged Lloyd. His arms wrapped around his back in comfort. Lloyd was about to say something, but decided not to, instead hugging Chen back as he sobbed on his shoulder. Chen didn’t mind that Lloyd’s tears were soaking up his varsity jacket, he could always just wash it when he returned home. For a moment, Chen liked hugging Lloyd, Chen hoped that one day he would be doing this kind of thing with Lloyd without the tears and trauma. After more than 3 minutes, Lloyd backed away from Chen’s arms, wiping away the stains on his face. Lloyd had a look of confusion and thankfulness. “What's the sudden change of heart?” Lloyd asked, curious of Chens sudden change in behaviour, besides Chen watching him. Chen just awkwardly stood still, not knowing how to answer. He can’t tell Lloyd he likes him, that would be suicide, and even if he apologised, would Lloyd even believe him? Lloyd caught on, but he didn’t get upset, he just simply waited. Chen kept on thinking. Is saying I don’t know a good idea? Should I tell him a long genuine apology? How do you apologise to someone you’ve hurt in the past?!
Out of nowhere, Chen dashed off. Lloyd called out to Chen, hurt by his lack of an answer, but Chen didn’t respond. His face looked like a cherry, embarrassed by his nonexistent answer. When he got far enough, he noticed Jack again, he froze, as if he had been touched by frostbite. Even Chen and, like, the whole school questioned Jack's harsh actions, specifically to Lloyd.
Some think it’s because of the fact that Lloyd has the same middle name as Jack’s last name. Lloyd’s full name is Lloyd Lyam Denek Bennett, a name less odd then Chens, but very coincidental too. Some think its because he's rich and just a d#ck to a lot of people, just really bad to Lloyd. Some think it’s because he can. Whatever the reason, almost everyone in school feared him, because everyone knows what he can do. Gary’s a toddler in comparison. And graffiti lockers, tripping people over and insults are child’s play to Jack. He has attacked other students, including Lloyd, but Lloyd has it worse.
He’s also known for making sexual advances on the girls, and other people who are Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual (like maggie) or people who are taken by someone else (like claire). But he hasn’t gotten ANY punishment for his actions?! Even Chen has been assaulted by Jack, this is because Jack demanded Chen give him his answers on the final exam in 8th grade, like two years ago. Chen refused however, and like the spoiled idiot Jack is, threw Chen into a locker in the changing room and left him locked there until he was found by the people who had gym afterwards.
The targets of his bullying seem to be the introverted kids, the cheerleaders (like Chen), the female sport members and Lloyd. As carefully and quietly as he could, Chen sneaked past him to go to his next class, which was home ec (his 2nd elective). Chen took
home ec to help out his family. Chen’s family was rather large. It was made up of 2 brothers, 3 sisters, 2 cousins, his mother and father (who were never home because of work), his 2 uncles and 3 aunts, and his grandma on his fathers side. So he would have to help his family a lot. But since he had his aunts and uncles, he was still able to do all of this cheerleading stuff, which sometimes/rarely included going overseas to some of the matches. Like going to Belgium and Germany. He would really only go to the football and basketball games, as well as the international cheerleading competition in spring (that doesn’t exist irl btw).
After learning about how to use a darn oven, it was after school. Chen tried to get out quickly, because he didn’t want to be caught by Lloyd. But someone gripped onto his arm, Lloyd. How coincidental. Even if Lloyd looks really weak. He's only 5 foot 7, and looks like a stick, not like that's a bad thing. But even if Lloyd looks weak, he can be quite strong. Chen was surprised by Lloyd yanking at his hand, gripping it quite hard because Lloyd was not gonna let Chen escape this time. “Chen.” Lloyd said with a monotone voice, his tone mixed in with annoyed expression. “Lloyd?” Chen slowly replied, invisible sweat dripping down his face. “Five days.” Lloyd whispered “What?” “Five days.” Lloyd repeated louder. Chen couldn’t understand what he heck Lloyd meant with ‘Five days’. Lloyd sighed, tired of trying. “I will give you five days to come up with a genuine apology, five days only. I can be from a letter to a conversation, but you're not getting away this time”. Lloyd then let go of Chen's arm, and exited the door behind them. Chen stood there, processing the information. He decided to discuss it with Maggie and Claire tomorrow, on tuesday.