Four Days Before The Meltdown...
The feeling soft lips that tasted like lemon flavored candy with a hint of sugar on his own left him disoriented and confused, if the rapid blinking, followed by his eyes going wide enough to near bulge out of their sockets was anything to go by. The owner of said lips isn't pushing or forceful, but just plain sweet, gently licking at the seam of Rix's lips and then sucking on his bottom lip gently, one hand holding on to one of Richard's hands, and the other gently caressing Richard's cheek.
Rix is suddenly aware of the possibility of someone coming into the room and seeing them, as they were in the school bathroom, and getting him in deeper shit than he was already sinking in.
He pushes the bigger boy away with strength uncharacteristic to someone of his slight build.
"What's that for?", Rix looks equal parts confused and angry as he gives the bigger boy a once over, watching said boy's brows scrunch up in confusion.
"I thought you'd like that. You know, since they say you're gay", the boy has now gone from confused to embarrassed, if the last part of his sentence being almost an unintelligible mumble, was anything to go by.
"Andy?", Rix calls gently and the bigger boy looks up at him, "Yeah, Rix?", he sounds so small when he answers and it nearly makes Rix falter but he has to steel his nerves and determine if he has to break a jaw or comfort the gentle giant.
"Did Robin put you up to this?", Rix was already forming a fist with his right hand and tensing his legs slightly.
"What the heck. No, Rix! Never", the boy is quick to counter.
"They kept calling you gay and making fun of you, so I just wanted to comfort you and let you know that you could find a friend in me. That I'm not opposed to the thought of a boy liking another boy, you know. I think liking a person is just about the person and stuff like that, not gender", Andy is chewing on his bottom lip, insecurity no doubt eating him up as badly as he was munching on his lip.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Andy, but you should give a warning or just ask for permission, please", Rix settles on comforting the boy who had just tried to comfort him and the smile that stretches Andy's lips makes Rix let out a sigh of relief and mirror the boy's smile.
"I guess I'll get going, Rix. Have a nice day", Andy looks better now and Rix is glad.
"Sure thing", Rix keeps his answer short but still with a gentle tone.
"Let's hang out sometime. I don't care when. But we can play cards or video games", Andy beams and exits the bathroom, not waiting for an answer, maybe because he was shy or didn't want to wait for a rejection of his offer and Rix has to laugh softly at this
"By the way, I don't want to do anything sexual with you. Though I won't be opposed to the thought of going out with you but only if you're comfortable. Still, we can just hang out like friends, yeah", Andy pokes his head back inside the bathroom to say quickly and then he's off, for real this time.
Rix stands there, stunned, for a few minutes before he shakes his head and splashes water from the tap on his face, slapping his cheeks a few times before wiping the water off with his handkerchief and he's out of the bathroom.
–
"What's up, Andy?", Rix looks up from tying his shoelaces and perks up at the sight of the bigger boy coming into the locker room and walking towards him, but it's the lack of a reply from Andy that has Rix going still and observing the boy walking towards him, biting his bottom lip, literally chewing on it, as he approached Rix.
"Is everything okay, Andy?", Rix raises a brow and stands up from the bench he'd been sitting on, alarm bells going off in his head as the taller boy stood in front of him, his bigger frame casting a shadow over the slighter Rix as he cornered him against a locker.
"Are you going to kiss me again? I told you I don't like that, especially when we're in school", Rix murmured, vaguely aware of the voices right outside the locker room, people who may know that Rix was still in the locker room and had probably seen Andy coming in.
"I'm really sorry, Rix. Robin is an fucking asshole and I'm a stupid coward", Andy murmured and grabs Rix by the collar and rips the front of his tee before yelling out and faking a stumble, pulling Rix down with him.
Rix's eyes go wide as he scrambles to get up and off Andy when the voices outside get louder and damn near frantic.
"The fuck is wrong with you, Richard!", Andy yells and pops open the button of his jeans and pulls Rix down on his chest properly to kiss his roughly, teeth clacking and cutting each other in the process. Rix hisses at the pain and Andy gets his tongue in his mouth, surprising the boy enough to bite his tongue bloody.
"Fuck!", Rix jolts and slaps Andy so hard a nice red handprint is forming on the nearly pale skin and the sound of the locker room door slamming open makes Rix angry and he punches Andy in the nose, triggering a nose bleed and scrambles to get up while Andy tugs his jeans down a bit as he scrambles away from where he and Rix had tussled a bit on the floor.
"Ha! The faggot finally reveals jus true colors!", the voice is unmistakably Robin's, that condescending tone that is no doubt followed by a nasty sneer and then the signature smirk that means he had succeeded in humiliating Rix. But this time it was far worse than the usual 'putting Rix in an uncomfortable position' kind of thing. This had to be a full blown scandal.
Rix knew his it looked, how he looked and how Andy looked, to Robin and to the small group of students that would no doubt blow this whole thing up and tattle on to their parents or guardians.
"Got anything to say, Fag?", Robin had a satisfied smirk on his face and Rix had to fight back tears as he stood under the disgusted looks of so many people, students.
He turns back to look at Andy who at least has the decency to keep his head down, in remorse, apology or shame, whatever that look could be called, and Rix is running, pushing past the crowd, shouldering past boys and girls alike to run out of the locker room.
This was way beyond pranking. Richard was dead meat.