Quinn physically relaxed. He wasn’t getting suspended or expelled. Now he could only hope his parents wouldn’t be called.
He listened to his punishment and nodded gently, looking over at Ollie and shaking his head. “I don’t want to mix Ollie up in this anymore… but it would be nice to have him there.”
Mrs Rowe sighed softly, looking between the two boys, “My decision is final, then. He’ll join you in the community service,” She looked to her computer, typing for a few seconds, “Now off you go. And Quinn, if you do anything like his again I’ll call your parents and you’ll be suspended. Don’t let that happen.”
Quinn nodded curtly, standing as he was granted permission to leave. Her comment about his parents made him pale but he nodded anyways, biting his lip and offering his hand to Ollie.
“I won’t, Mrs. Rowe…”
Ollie didn't take his hand, just stood on his own with a small nod, "Thank you Mrs Rowe." He mumbled, heading out the door once she said goodbye to the two of them.
Quinn let his hand drop sadly by his side. He followed after Ollie, watching the back of his head. His stomach felt like a lead ball of guilt. He didn’t mean to bring Ollie into all of this.
“I-I’m sorry….”
Ollie huffed a small, quiet laugh. A sound that was unexpected from the small boy, "You're sorry? You're only sorry because you realise how bad you messed up."
Quinn recoiled at the words. They felt like a knife in his chest. “Ollie I didn’t mean to- I didn’t want this to-“ he tried to explain, but found no words.
"No but you did mean to," Ollie turned around, clearly very upset, "Because you've been so angry at the world that you were just waiting for the opportunity to get back at it. And you got it. And you used me to make a point and didn't even think about how I felt because you were just thinking about yourself. And I know that if that teacher hadn't stepped in you wouldn't have stopped fighting and you would have knocked him out and injured him worse. And know look whats happened," He shook his head.
Quinn cringed, his mouth hanging open as he tried to find some way to clear this up. “Ollie…” he murmured weakly, his voice barely working. Tears began to grow in the corners of his eyes.
"I… I thought you were better then that," He swallowed, "The one thing I told you not to be when we first got together was forceful. And you went and did what I told you not to do. Even in a heat of the moment type of situation I thought… I thought you'd still think about how your actions would effect me and… and it really… really hurts."
“Ollie please! I didn’t mean to! I swear!” Quinn tried to reach for Ollie’s hand, the tears flowing freely now. “Please!”
Ollie let him reach for his hand, just standing there and not making eye contact, "Just because you said you didn't mean to, doesn't mean it didn't happen."
“How can I make it up to you?!” He didn’t take Ollie’s hand. He didn’t even touch Ollie, too afraid he’d upset the other even more. “Let me fix this…”
"I don't know how you can!" He dug his palms into his eyes, "You… You need to figure that out for yourself."
He reached out once more as if he wanted to pull Ollie into a hug but he didn’t ever pull through with that. Instead he very gently pulled Ollie’s hands away from his eyes, still sniffling. “I won’t hurt you purposely… please know that. I went back on something I promised you… I’m sorry Ollie.” And then he slowly pulled away and looked down at his feet, his mind turning over. Tears fell onto his shirt as he wiped his nose. There was only one thing he could think to do.
“I… I think we need to end us. I can’t think of any ways to make it up to you and… I’m not sorry for starting that fight, you’re right about me only thinking about myself. I would have beaten him to death if that fight would have continued. I have too many issues right now Ollie. I don’t want to do something rash again. I could hurt you worse next time… I could do something horrible and make you hate me.”
(nuuuuu :((((( )
Ollie whimpered softly but he nodded, "Right… yeah," He swallowed hard, wiping at his eyes and his face as he took a step back, "You can um… y-you can still stay in the apartment until you find another place to stay just… not for long."
(Let’s get sum angst in here. It’ll all work out for these babieees because I ship them so hard. I have an idea tho where Quinn’s aunt takes him in and learns about all this and is like: “you coward! Go apologize and get your man!” And then yeah)
Quinn nodded curtly, wiping at his eyes. “I can find a hotel to stay at… I don’t want to bother you anymore than I already have.” He murmured gently, sitting down in one of the chairs outside of Mrs. Rowes office. “I’m really sorry Ollie… I’ll always love you.”
yeyeyeyeye, sounds good)
Ollie bit the inside of his cheek, "Yeah… I know," He whispered, "I'll leave your things by the backdoor of the pub, you can get them later." He sighed. He knew he shouldn't skip school, but with all of this he would rather be anywhere but here, "Good bye, Quinn." He turned away, walking down the hall.
neaaaat thnx for letting me do the idea)
“Thank you… I’ll stop by after school.”
Quinn watched the love of his life turn and leave, his heart shattering. He wanted more than anything to grab Ollie’s hand and pull him back, to say he didn’t mean any of it and that he couldn’t stand to leave him.
But he didn’t. Instead he just sat and cried silently into his hands. It was too soon anyways… you’re too broken to love someone. Maybe you are just diseased in the mind, just some disgusting disappointment to your family.
Quinn never returned to class. Instead he found a study room for himself and locked the door, staring off into space as he tried to think of what he could do.
By the end of the day he had made up his mind.
He would go back to his parents place and tell them they were right all along, that he was sorry, and that he was definitely not a ‘perverted man with a mental illness.’ He would lie to them about it all, tell them he was straight. He would remain closeted for the rest of his life.
(ye welcome)
Ollie headed to the pub. As much as he didn't want to be there, he'd rather take the abuse from his dad then stay at school. His heart hurt. It was probably some of the most pain he'd felt in a very long time.
As soon as he to the pub it was already busy. His dad yelled at him to get to work, the mental abuse starting from the moment he walked in. He busied himself in the work. He didn't let himself think about Quinn, or the old men and weird women that touched him, or insulted him. He didn't think about his dad who joined in on the insults, didn't focus on the pain from each slap.
He was so done. With this. With being so alone. He thought he'd found someone in his shitty life. And now they were gone and he didn't know when he would ever see him again.
When he knew school had ended he slipped away for a moment to grab Quinn's things, hastily placing them outside the door before he went back to work.
The walk to the pub was a lonely one. The closer he grew the more upset he got. Fortunately for him, however, Ollie had placed his stuff out already. So it was easy to just grab them and hurry away. He pulled open his phone and unblocked his parents, sending them both an apology.
Neither of them replied.
But there was something strange about his house when he got there. For one there was a new car in the driveway, an expensive sports car he didn’t recognize.
He didn’t get the chance to wonder over it for very long before the front door opened and a very angry woman shouting vulgar phrases stepped onto the porch. Quinn recognized her as his Aunt Claire, his mother’s notoriously rich sister.
She turned around curtly and froze when she saw Quinn shivering on the lawn, his eyes wide and afraid. “Oh dear! Quinn! Come here! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Aunt Claire exclaimed, rushing over to him and fretting over the wounds to his face. “Your parents are assholes. I’m taking them to court to be your legal guardian, hun.”
Quinn blinked in surprise, shock coursing through his veins. He could see his parents at the door, their faces drawn into a scowl so deep their faces could as well have been stone statues.
He hardly processed what was going on before Claire ushered him into her sports car, the back seat piled with his old things.
None of this was making sense. Aunt Claire had only met him once when he was twelve. His family said all sorts of nasty things about her. They claimed she had married a rich man and killed off him for the fortune. They said she owned some sort of perverted company that sold Binders and safe sex items and adult toys to the LGBTQ+ community. They said she didn’t want to be remarried and told him that she was full of herself and too drunk to think straight.
And yet here she was, explaining to him that she was to be his new guardian and that she already had a place for him to stay. A glass of half finished wine was sitting in the cup holder but she didn’t touch it and grinned when he eyed it.
“I don’t drink and drive, love, don’t worry. I am 100% sober. That glass was my friends. I just dropped her off before coming here.”
Ollie’s afternoon dragged on and on. He didn’t get a break. But he didn’t want one. He didn’t eat or drink, he didn’t say anything apart from taking drink orders. The abuse got worse and worse as the night went on.
The longer the evening went, the more abusive patrons came in. The regulars. The ones that all knew about him and had joined in with his dad since he came out. Some nights before he would try and fight back and sometimes he would get away. But he didn’t night. He let them do whatever the hell they pleased whether that be physical absurd, mental abuse or other. He didn’t give a damn. It hurt, but he didn’t have the energy or strength to fight back.
By the end of the shift it was fairly late in the evening. Probably well past midnight, he couldn’t really tell. He was sore in places he didn’t want to be and yet he didn’t do anything to dull the pain.
Walking up the stairs was hard. Just standing in general was hard. But Ollie climbed up and headed straight for his room, stripping from the little clothing he had on and putting something more comfortable on and hopped into bed.
He didn’t even cry, couldn’t cry. He was just so numb from everything that had happened. Eventually, he managed to fall asleep, but he only managed a few hours before he knew he had to be up and out for school again.
That night Quinn was given his own room. His aunt helped him unpack and claim the space as his. But Quinn’s heart wasn’t in it and she noticed.
“Hey hun what’s wrong?” She asked gently, sitting next to him on the edge of the newly made bed. “You don’t look too good. Is it about your parents? Don’t worry about them. Don’t listen to anything they say either. You can love whoever you want to lo-“
“I’ve heard that already. I don’t care.” He growled, turning away from her as tears once again fell from his eyes. “I had somebody. I met someone during the days I was out… he was everything for me. But people out there don’t give a fuck about our emotions. They won’t let a gay out in society live his life with the one he loves. So I gave up my boy…” he continued to ramble, spilling the entire story to a woman he barely knew. He just needed to get it all out, to cry until he had no more tears.
His aunt stared at him, her jaw working in place. “Quinn, you are an idiot.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned loudly. “If you love the kid then keep him! You’re hurting him more by letting him go so fast! Don’t you know anything About relationships!? You can’t just give up and expect everything to work out because then you’ll be lonely for the rest of your life. Quit being a coward and get your boy back. Talk to him tomorrow. Ask him to move in here with you. You’re such a stupid kid for being so goddamn talented.” She ruffled his hair and sighed deeply. Quinn only stared at her, frowning deeply. “You don’t want to lose the one you love, Quinn. I know you don’t me. And you’re probably confused and scared, but I do care about you. I’ve loved you since the day you were born. Your parents kept me away but I still watched you grow up through photos and stories. You’re a good kid. I care about you. Now, sleep and tomorrow bring that boy over here.” She smiled reassuringly at him but that didn’t fill the pit in his stomach.
He didn’t feel at home without Ollie.
Quinn laid down anyways, sighing deeply. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off into a restless sleep.
Ollie probably got a total of two and a half hours sleep. He felt like shit and looked at lot worse. He had major bruising over his arms, stomach, legs, back everywhere. The one around his neck had darkened considerably, he had a limp, a black eye and split lip.
He changed, though it took a while considering the pain he was in. He tried to cover up most of the bruises, though it didn't work very well. He looked like a ghost, pale with bags under his eyes. Yesterday had been the worst night of his life. He didn't have Quinn and the abuse had been the worst it had been for years.
He didn't have breakfast even though his body begged for him to have at least something small. He didn't, just grabbed his bag and headed straight for school.
Quinn came to the school in bandages. He sulked as he made his way through the halls, feeling like every eye was upon him. His heart raced and his stomach lurched uncomfortably. He felt like he was going to be sick. His aunt was right but he was terrified to face Ollie again.
In a moment of courage, Quinn sent a text to Ollie, asking if they could talk. The second he hit sent he wished he had just found the other and asked it one on one.
Ollie jumped when he felt his phone ping, pulling it out and stopping dead in his tracks when he saw it was from Quinn. Did he want to talk to Quinn when he was in this state? Not really, but he didn't want to say no so, he said yes and asked him where he wanted to talk. He hoped Quinn didn't make too big of a thing out of the bruises.
Quinn felt his mood pick up a little when Ollie responded. He gave a location - the empty study room he had spent the day in before - and sighed deeply as he moved to claim the spot. Luckily it was empty and he sat down with a soft sigh.
Ollie headed to the study room, hesitating slightly before he opened the door and walked in. He was suddenly very aware of the injuries he had, how bad he looked and felt, how numb he was to all this. He saw Quinn and slowly walked over.
Quinn had his eyes closed but when he heard the door open he looked up, gasping at the sight of Ollie’s bruised and beaten face. “Ollie!” He stood up faster than his mind could process and hurried over to fret over the state of the other. “What happened?! Oh my god are you okay!?” He gently cupped Ollie’s face and ran his thumb carefully over his blacked eye and then over the split in his lip. “Sit down, please…”
The bruises were still sensitive to the touch and he tried not to let out a soft whimper when Quinn touched them, "I… I'm fine." He whispered. He did what Quinn told him, hiding the limp as he took a seat. He was glad to sit down as it revealed some of the pressure and pain he was in.