Luke and Chris

Chris had never been so angry in his entire life. He stood pacing in the bedroom, the only thing stopping him from flying out the house and beating the shit out of Tristan McCormick, was the bloodied and sobbing Luke lying on the bed.

Chris had been at work when he got a call from Mark telling him to come back to the flat immediately. He was expecting some kind of dispute among his room mates which he'd have to resolve, but what he found made his heart stop and his blood run cold. Luke was lying on their bed, his blond hair streaked with red and his face bruised and cut so badly the boy could hardly open his eyes.

Ollie was sat beside his friend staring blankly at the floor too shocked and scared to speak. He felt guilty now, but Chris had yelled at Ollie asking what had happened and why he hadn't taken Luke to the hospital. It had turned out that Ollie was already at their biology class and left half way through to find his friend curled up and crying in the boy's toilet. He'd practically had to carry his friend to the car park as Luke was unable to stand without a wave of pain crashing down on him. Ollie wanted to call an ambulance but Luke had begged him not too, so instead he'd called Will who drove them back to Chris's flat.

Luckily Will knew a thing or to about treating injuries as his parents were both doctors so he'd cleaned up Luke as much as he could.

"Chris...." Luke mumbled weakly, worried and scared by the look on his boyfriends face. "Please Chris....don't do anything stupid!" Although Luke was in a a lot of pain and hated Tristan and the others for what they'd done, he didn't want Chris to get hurt, or worse arrested.

"Sweet heart I have to go! Ollie told me where that bastard lives and I've gotta go over there!" Chris was still fuming and not thinking straight. He had no idea what he'd do when he found Tristan, but at that moment all he wanted to do was make him pay!

"No please Chris, I want you here with me!" Luke began to sob again, after the abuse he'd suffered from his ex Kyle he was extremely scared when anyone got angry...and he hated violence! "Please Chris...I'm scared!"

Chris stopped pacing finally and looked hard at his lover. For the first time he stopped thinking of revenge and saw clearly that his boyfriend needed him. He looked petrified. "Ok....ok sweetheart I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I'll stay I promise!" Chris walked over to the bed and sat own on the edge next to Luke. He stroked the blond boys bruised cheek and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I love you so much Lukey!" Chris whispered, feeling tears come to his eyes. Luke tried to smile but his split lip stung too much "I love you too Chrissy."

Leaving the couple alone Will, Mark and Ollie left the bedroom and Chris lay down on the bed next to his lover. Snuggling his face into his boyfriends chest Luke drifted off to sleep with Chris's arms protectively wrapped around him.

*

In the living room the three other boys sat in a stoney silence, each one looking almost shell shocked. Ollie had been completely terrified, finding Luke that badly hurt and seeing Chris so angry made him realize just how serious all of this was. Ollie had always known that Luke was picked on...he was too most of the time....and although Luke had been beaten up before it had never been as bad this. Tears began to form in Ollie's blue eyes and fall down his cheeks as he silently began to cry.

Seeing this Will put his arm around Ollie, not quite knowing what to say. He hadn't known Ollie long, but in the time he had known him he'd always seemed so strong and it shocked Will to see his friend cry. "hey, don't cry Ollie...Luke's gonna be fine! He's got a few bruises thats all!" Ollie sniffed and looked down at his feet.

"But...What if it happens again? I mean I knew it was happening....It's all my fault!" Ollie burst into tears again, feeling guilty as Will pulled him into a hug. "Hey its not your fault! There was nothing you could have done! Even if you'd been there all that would have happened is you would have been hurt too and..." Will stopped suddenly, pulling away a little from Ollie embarrassed.

"What?" asked Ollie looking up at the attractive brunette.

"well, I just....I would be very sad if you got hurt....I really care about you" Will looked away unsure of how the blonde boy would react to this admission.

Ollie sat up straight now and gently put one hand on Will's cheek and turned his face towards him. Will was about to speak when Ollie stopped him and gently planted a kiss on the other boys lips. They kissed softly for a few seconds before Ollie pulled away, Will's eyes were still closed as he relished the kiss they'd just shared and his heart beat fast. Ollie had been with a few guys, but none of them had ever cared about him that much. Being with Will was completely different...and he liked it. This time it was Will who leant in and kissed Ollie, their kiss a little harder and more heartfelt this time. When they both pulled away Ollie was smiling for the first time since that morning. "There we go....that's what I wanted to see" Will said softly also beaming.

Feeling really awkward Mark got up off the sofa and headed to his room. He realized the others had probably forgotten he was there, and so he slipped into his bedroom and closed the door quietly.

*

A couple of day later Luke was feeling much better but still had bruises on his face and body. He'd stayed home from college since the attack and Chris had taken some days off work to look after him. Luke lay on the sofa with a soft blanket covering him and pillows beneath his head. Chris was just a few feet away making soup in the kitchen.

"You don't have to stay here with me!" Luke said for the fifth time in two days "I'm fine really! And I don't want you to get in trouble at work because of me!

Chris sighed as he heard the same line again. They'd had this conversation many times and so he gave the same answer. "Luke as I've told you before I've spoken to my boss and he's fine with this! And no matter how "fine" you think you are, its my job as your boyfriend to look after you!"

Luke was still feeling bad and was about to protest further when Chris came over with two bowls of soup. "Look, just shut up and eat your soup!" Chris snapped playfully and Luke sat up, his bruised ribs causing him some pain.

"Thanks" Luke said taking the soup and spooning some into his mouth. "Ow!" he yelled as the soup burned the roof of his mouth.

"Your supposed to blow it idiot!" Chris jibed, laughing at the sad puppy look on his boyfriends face. "besides...." Chris said looking down at his soup "we both know your good at that!"

Luke choked on his soup as his boyfriend winked at him, blushing a bright red he was clearly embarrassed.

Chris laughed and got him a glass of water. "Chris.....?" Luke started a little unsure of himself.

"Yeah sweety..." Chris replied placing the glass of water down on the table and returning to his noodle soup.

"Do...do you still y'know..." Luke muttered looking suddenly quite worried.

"Do I what babe?"

"Do you still find me attractive? I mean with all these bruises..."

Chris looked stunned. He loved Luke with all his heart but sometimes he found it very hard to make Luke believe it. It wasn't that Luke didn't want to believe it, it was just because of his bad previous relationship and the trust issues and low self esteem it had left him with.

"Luke look at me" Chris said quite sternly. Luke looked up at his lover, scared of the answer Chris would give. "I'm gonna say this once and I want you to listen and believe me ok?"

Luke nodded. "I have never, and will never love anyone as much as I love you. You are the most special, kindest and most attractive person I know and nothing in the whole entire world could make me stop being attracted to you!" Chris finished, meaning everything he had said wholeheartedly.

Luke looked up at his lover and smiled "you really mean that?"

"Yes I really really do!" Chris smiled back at his boyfriend, finally satisfied that he believed him, "Now eat your soup" he instructed, returning to his pandering boyfriend routine.

*

Will sat on his sofa with Ollie, snuggled up and eating pizza. It had been a couple of days since Luke had been attacked and Ollie had been staying round Wills house every night since. Before he'd left Chris had thanked him for everything he'd done for Luke but asked him to keep him and Ollie away from Tristan. No one else needed to get hurt, especially not for revenge.

Will and Ollie had become almost inseparable in those few days, hanging out at college, driving home together and staying at the same flat every night. Although the two boys clearly cared about each other they had both agreed that they would take things slowly, as Will really cared about Ollie and didn't want their relationship to just be about sex, like Ollie's previous relationships had. As a result it meant that Ollie had been sleeping on the sofa and Will had been sharing the bed with his friend Matt.

Matt and Will didn't technically live together but Matt spent most nights round Will's and used to sleep on the sofa, because he didn't get on with his mum's boyfriend.

"Hey guy seriously get a room!" Matt yelled as Will and Ollie made out on the sofa. "Seriously guys your putting me off my pizza!" Will pulled away from the kiss and smiled at his friends awkward demeanor.

"Don't be such a homophobe!" Will joked with his friend. Matt had never been a homophobe, in fact he had always been supportive of his friend when he'd come out. But, like a typical straight guy he wasn't all that comfortable around two guys kissing.

Ollie leapt up off the sofa and made towards the door "Just going to the loo, anyone want anything from the kitchen on my way back?" Will and Ollie both shook their heads content with their beer and pizza.

"So what happened to the whole "it's not like that" with you and Ollie?" Matt said, making reference to a conversation after a party almost a week ago.

"Well....things have changed" replied Will smiling and opening another Peroni. Matt smiled and took a sip of his beer. They sat in a contented silence for a couple more minute until Matt sat forward.

"Anyway bro, you heard about that new kid joining the rugby team?" Matt asked

"no, who is he?" Will replied, putting down his beer on the coffee table.

"Dunno who he is exactly, apparently he used to go to college but then he left for some reason. But anyway he's coming back and he's got on the team"

"Cool, you know his name?" Will asked not really interested

"Er yeah I think its....er...." Matt scratched the back of his neck, a clear sign that he was deep in thought.

"Kyle!" he shouted "that was it, his name is Kyle Jones!"

Will and Matt suddenly snapped round as they heard a glass smash from the doorway. Ollie stood in stunned silence, a look of horror and shock on his face, and his hand still open where he'd dropped the glass.

Will didn't know what was wrong with Ollie...all he knew was that when Matt had mentioned that name Ollie had become terrified...

*

The next day, Luke was feeling so much better and he decided to return to college. Chris had gone into the college the previous afternoon and had explained to the principal everything that had happened. The Principal had been shocked to hear about the abuse Luke had suffered, and it had turned out that his brother was also gay, so needless to say he was not happy about the homophobia in college. So finally Tristan had been expelled and Luke would be safe at last...

*

Ollie stood nervously at the college gates, desperately trying for the 10th time to get hold of Luke on his mobile. What he didn't know was that Luke's mobile had been broken in the attack at school and so he had no way of hearing the frantic answer phone messages Ollie had left. To make matters worse Luke had been dropped into college early that day and was already inside walking towards his first lesson. Realizing that he probably wouldn't reach his friend in time, Ollie ran inside the college the doors.

*

Luke walked down the corridor finally feeling free and relishing being able to walk around school without being bullied. He accidentally dropped one of his books behind a bin and bent down to pick it up.

*

Kyle walked down the corridor pleased to be back at college. He'd had to leave after his mum had re married, which was just as well as things weren't going well with him and his boyfriend at the time. Now that his mum's second marriage had failed he was back in town and back to college. Walking down the corridor he noticed how so much had changed...the walls were re painted and even the

floors had been relaid.

Kyle almost tripped as he narrowly avoided a boy bent down by a bin seemingly trying to pick something up. The boy was blonde and although Kyle couldn't see his face he guessed he was good looking. For a moment he considered stopping and helping him...after all Kyle had always had a thing for blondes...