Chapter Text
Andre stares ahead of him through the windshield, not necessarily looking at anything in particular. Groups of teenagers walk past his car as they head to their homes or the store, all of them most definitely fussing over trivial topics. He leans his head against the headrest and glances back at his school, his eyes scanning the sea of students for Cal. The guy was taking so fucking long, Andre felt like he would melt in the car if he had to wait any longer for him. They had shit to do—time sensitive shit to do.
Another ten minutes go by in nothing but sweltering heat and still no sign of Cal. Annoyance bites at Andre and he looks around the parking lot again. When all he sees are more insignificant faces, he turns his gaze to the exit near the front office, and finally, he sees Cal. Despite being halfway across the school, Cal is looking directly at him as he walks through the maze of cars and students in the parking lot. Andre shifts his weight to the center console and huffs, his eyes stalking the blond with every step he takes. It’s then that he notices that Cal isn’t alone; a slightly shorter boy was trailing behind him, talking about something he could discern and something Cal clearly wasn’t paying attention to.
Andre’s annoyance spikes. Why the fuck was Cal bringing someone with him? He knew they were getting the guns ready today, was he trying to get them caught?!
Upon further scrutiny, Andre recognizes the little shit, some freshman that’s been hanging around the two of them in school for the past two months or so. Andre huffs and fiddles with his shades near his ear, racking his brain for the kid’s name. It proves to be a struggle; even though the guy was forcibly embedding himself into his and Cal’s daily lives, he usually ignored him; Cal was the one that did most of the talking to him. But from the few times he actually interacted with the kid, he was… unconventional, to say the least. To put it simply, he wasn’t the type Andre expected to necessarily care about the shit he and Cal got up to. But regardless, he couldn’t risk the kid finding out about what they were planning and running his mouth to his friends about it and inadvertently shutting down Zero Day all together.
Before he can get his thoughts together, Cal is significantly closer to the car. He stops a few feet short and turns towards the kid, presumably telling him to stay put, which he does obediently, before walking over to the driver’s seat and knocking on the window. Andre stares at him through the tinted glass, annoyed, and Cal stares back just as hard and knocks again.
“Roll down the damn window,” Cal hisses, the barrier between them muffling his voice. Andre waits another few seconds, not wanting to give Cal the immediate satisfaction before finally rolling it down.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Andre demands immediately and cocks his head to the boy waiting in front of the car, making sure to keep his voice low.
“I can’t get him off my ass!” Cal shoots back, agitation dripping from his voice.
“Just tell him to fuck off, we’ve got shit to do.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?! He won’t fucking quit.” Cal opens his mouth to say more but quickly shuts it again and drags a hand down his face, as if trying to physically rub the exasperation out of him. “Look,” he says after a moment, “he won’t care if he sees the guns. We can just bring him along and–”
“No! Are you stupid? What if he goes crying to his parents about two guys with guns, hm? Next thing you know, we’re getting searched by the fucking cops; he’s not coming with us.”
“You get him out of here, then! Since you’re so fucking–”
“Cal…? Is everything okay?” the younger boy’s voice cuts straight through their quiet argument, and both boys turn to look at him. The sight is pitiful; the kid stands a few feet from the car, awkwardly fiddling with the hem of his shirt, his desperation to be included practically dripping off of his scrawny frame.
Cal glances back at Andre, and he meets his gaze and jerks his head in the kid's direction as a silent demand. Cal makes a face in protest, but Andre pays it no mind and makes the motion again and again until Cal finally relents.
With a huff, Cal pushes off the car door and walks back to the boy. Andre watches them talk, watches the younger kid's expression as Cal finally tells him to leave. His face falls, hurt etching itself into his features before morphing into something closer to anger. He says something that Andre can't make out, but by the look on Cal’s face, it isn't anything good. The conversation drags on, but the longer it goes, the more it takes the form of an argument rather than a simple talk. A dark look crosses Cal's face as the other boy speaks, and after a moment, he walks back to the driver's door.
“Gavin knows about the guns already.”
Andre stares at Cal for a long moment, the six words dancing around his head in a taunting chant. “What?”
His gaze anchors onto the kid—Gavin—with a newfound rage hot enough he felt it would burn through his skin. Gavin simply stands there, playing with his shirt like some innocent little fucker, like he wasn't putting Zero Day in jeopardy. Without thinking, Andre bolts out of the car and shoves past Cal, ready to kill the shithead right then and there.
“Are we–” A large fist strikes Gavin straight in the jaw before he can finish whining, sending him stumbling back into another car with a yelp.
“What the hell was that for?!” The kid scrambles to get his feet back under him and get his balance back, but the moment he gets himself together, Andre slams him into the car and cages him in with his body, one hand roughly yanking Gavin’s hair to keep him still.
“How do you know about that shit?!” Andre demands, paying no mind to Gavin’s weak attempts to get him off. When he doesn't get anything more than jumbled yelling and more weak hits as a response, he yanks on Gavin's hair hard enough to drag another yelp from the kid's throat.
“Answer me!” He rattles Gavin again and winds his arm back, ready to throw another punch.
“Wait! WAIT!” The smaller boy struggles uselessly against Andre and looks to Cal for some sort of help, but all he gets is an amused laugh from him in response. “I just– I saw one of your guys’ tapes, so I figured–”
“How the fuck did you get a tape?!”
“It was– I saw it in Cal's room.” Gavin squirms against the car, his hands scrabbling to get Andre off of him. Andre only yanks his hair harder and turns to Cal, who was standing with his arms crossed by the car.
“I thought you put all the tapes in the safe, dipshit!”
“You think I fuckin’ sprint there every time we finish filming? I was planning on locking them up tomorrow,” Cal shoots Gavin a pointed look, “Don't blame me for his sleuthing.”
Andre clenches his jaw, biting back a retort. He could yell at Cal for his sloppiness later, right now, he needed to focus on the little nosy jerk in front of him.
“I won't tell anyone,” he hears Gavin mumble, “if… if that's what you're worried about. I swear!”
Even though it was most likely well-meant, that simple sentence sends Andre’s blood searing with rage. How dare he? After everything Andre had done, everything he and Cal had put into planning Zero Day, all their work was in the hands of this weasel? He opens his mouth to yell at the kid, but Cal beats him to it.
“Damn right you're not going to tell anyone,” he walks up to the pinned boy and yanks one of his sleeves down, exposing an array of bright red lines etched into his brown skin. The color drains from Gavin's face, and he quickly tries to pull his arm away to hide himself from Cal and Andre’s eyes, but Cal jerks his arm right back.
“You wouldn't want your mom sending you to that madhouse again, right? So you'll keep your mouth shut. Or we can just shoot you first, you fucking–”
“Cal!” Andre hisses. Gavin almost shrinks into himself at the threat, his eyes shimmering with fear akin to a cornered animal. His gaze darts between the two boys as if looking for a glint of mercy, but when he seems to realize Cal isn't bluffing, he nods his head sheepishly and mutters an “okay.”
“I just– I just wanted to see it, you know? I swear I wasn't going to tell anyone anyway! Can I just come with you guys…?”
Why Gavin was so desperate to see the guns, Andre didn't know. Cal clearly knew more about him than he did, maybe the kid was just some edgy wannabe or something like that.
“Absolutely no–”
“You know what? Sure.”
“What?!” Andre's head jerks in Cal's directions, his eyes wide with disbelief, “No, he's not coming with us!”
Cal glances at him without turning his head, his blond hair obstructing some of his gaze. They have a brief stare-down, the air between them suddenly thick with tension, before Cal looks away and forces Andre to let go of Gavin. He tries grabbing the kid again, but he wiggles away before he can get a hold on him.
“What the hell are you thinking?!” Andre hisses.
“Relax,” Cal grabs his upper arm and drags him out of Gavin's earshot, ignoring the struggles Andre gives. “Gavin’s a talker, what are the odds that kid's going to go complain about this to his friends if he doesn't get his way? By the time we find out about it, we'll already have a horde of cops on our asses. Let's just get rid of him now, then we won't have a problem,” Cal murmurs.
Irritation spikes within Andre at Cal's plan. “And who do you think they'll be investigating when he was last seen with us, hm?”
Cal rolls his eyes, “Gavin’s got a shitty history, we can just make it look like suicide; the cops won't give it a second glance.”
“And if they do?”
“They won't. Do you want him holding that dirt over our heads?”
Another brief silence falls over the two of them as Andre mulls over Cal's rash plan. Cal was right; he didn't want Gavin to have the power to sabotage Zero Day, not after all the work he had put into it. And Zero Day was still three weeks away, that was a long time to manage a kid with such a big mouth. He didn't want to be at the mercy of Gavin of all people, and if this was the only way to make sure his plans would go through, then so be it.
Andre huffs, “No.”
Cal smiles and gives him a knowing look which Andre ignores and jerks his arm free, choosing to turn his attention to his car instead. Gavin was still there, waiting by the backseat and rubbing the growing sore on his jaw like some innocent little bitch. Just looking at him made Andre’s anger spike under his skin; maybe killing him wasn't as bad as an idea he thought. Cal walks past him to the passenger seat of the car, and Andre follows soon after, both anticipation and apprehension settling in his gut at what's to come.