Disc: I do not own Sky High or the characters associated with it
Pairings: Will/Warren, Will/Layla (supers smidgen)
A/n: my first Sky High fic, which was supposed to be really short, and ended up turning into something else altogether. But dude, how hot was Warren for Will when he was staring at him in the cafeteria? They are just begging to be written…
"When you touch me, I feel there's nothing you can do to turn me away" -Texas, I'll See It Through
Part One
Warren Peace stared down at the paper in his hand with a mounting sense of dread.
Shit.
He so did not need this right now. As if he didn't get a big enough 'responsibility lecture' every time he walked through the door as it was.
He was screwed, plain and simple. He could expect grounding after this. Honest to God grounding.
Double, triple and quadruple shit.
Warren sighed, stuffing the report into his pocket, not caring in the least that it got rather crumpled as he did so, and adjusted his backpack as he walked towards the school green.
At least he had a shift at the Paper Lantern straight after school, so he could avoid the inevitable just that little bit longer. Not that the Paper Lantern was exactly relaxing. He had long, hard shifts which usually left him drained and exhausted. He would have quit, but then that would be yet another thing for his mom to lecture him about.
"School's expensive, Warren," she would say. Yeah right. She just wanted him to stay out of trouble. It was her favourite past time, making sure Warren didn't turn into his father by stopping him from having any sort of fun whatsoever.
Not that he didn't love his mother or wasn't grateful to her for caring so much about him, though he generally loathed to admit to either, but sometimes she could just be a bit…overbearing. Controlling. On his case twenty-four seven.
And now this fucking report.
It had been dressed up with fancy eloquence, but Warren knew exactly what it boiled down to: one more screw up and he was out. Principal Powers had finally had enough, and was threatening to expel him if he landed himself in Solitary one more time.
Shit.
Oh, his mom was gonna be so pissed.
He slumped into his seat on the bus, glaring hard at the headrest in front of him, catching himself just as the polyester covering began to smoke. That was all he needed, 'setting fire to school property' to be added to his crimes.
He pulled the crumpled paper out of his pocket and read it again, grimacing at Powers' description of the fight in the (mad) science lab.
It wasn't exactly as if he'd meant to set Lash's hair on fire. Not really. The guy was pissing him off. He was pissing everyone off. Someone had to do something.
Through the bus window he could see a group of freshmen gathered by the school steps, laughing as a figure in the centre talked animatedly, gesturing wildly with his arms.
His scowl deepened as he recognised Will Stronghold, most popular freshman in school and the bane of Warren's existence.
Smarmy little brat. Saves the school once and thinks he's a fucking Hero.
The most annoying thing was he couldn't even hate Will, because Will was a fucking nice guy. He talked to Warren in the halls and in classes and always paired with him in Save the Citizen. He sat with Warren at lunch and drew him into conversations with his friends. He swung by the Paper Lantern for take out, even though he hated Chinese, and left a tip. He was nice.
And that was what pissed Warren off the most. 'Cause if Will had really been a smarmy little brat, he could have told him to take a hike a long time ago. But how do you ask someone to leave you alone because they're being too nice to you?
Warren hated the word nice.
He hated that Will was nice, and that anyone might automatically assume he was nice by association.
Warren didn't want to be nice. He didn't want to be popular and he didn't want to be liked. What he wanted most in life was to be left alone. But it was impossible to be left alone when Will Stronghold had appointed himself your best friend. Because where Will went his admirers followed, and if there was one thing Warren really didn't want it was anything to do with Will Stronghold's admirers.
He sighed and closed his eyes, tipping his head back against the seat and trying not to think of the long shift ahead, or the even longer argument with his mom when he finally got home, or the way Will looked when he was impatiently pushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Hey."
Opening one eye, he shot a half hearted glare at the girl next to him, though it lacked any real force.
Just as he couldn't bring himself to hate Will, he couldn't bring himself to hate Layla either, even though she constantly lectured him about what to eat, which grated on his last nerve. Plus there a definite feeling of guilt attached to anything Layla related. But not because he had more than friendly feelings for her boyfriend. No way.
"You look tired."
"Thanks," he snapped, but the remark lacked any bite. Layla only said stuff like that because she was worried. And Layla worried a whole lot. She worried about Greenpeace, and the ozone layer and whether mobile phones could really give you cancer. She worried about stray dogs and Starbucks taking over the world and whether fox hunting in England would bring about another endangered species. Warren sometimes wondered if at night she just lay in bed and worried about every single thing she could think of, unable to shut her mind off and just relax.
"Long day?"
Warren shrugged one shoulder and felt the eye roll she directed at him.
"You have to work tonight?"
With a sigh, Warren dug the letter out of his pocket and thrust it at her. It's not like she would have given up before she got to bottom of his unusually sullen mood anyway.
He watched her as she read it carefully, then stared at him with wide eyes.
"Wow. This is, um, serious."
"Tell me about it." He let his head flop back onto the seat. "My mom's gonna freak."
Layla patted his arm in sympathy.
"Maybe if you explain-"
"What? That I set fire to another student's hair? On purpose?"
"Well, when you put it like that…"
They sat in companionable silence for a few moments as around them more kids began to fill the bus. Warren glared at Stronghold's little entourage, who still hadn't bothered to make a move.
"Why aren't you out there with your boyfriend?"
This time it was Layla who shrugged, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"You have a fight?"
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"
"Fine, fine."
Warren held up his hands defensively.
Layla glared moodily past him for a moment, out of the window.
"We did have a fight."
Warren waited.
"He's just such a jerk these days. It's like, whenever we're together, his mind is on something different. I think he likes someone else."
"He said that?"
Layla looked at him scornfully.
"No, you idiot." Warren let the 'idiot' comment go. "But little things, the way he talks to me, or doesn't talk to me in front of certain people anymore. And I know he's been checking this person out. He can never be bothered to make that extra effort anymore."
Warren thought, suddenly, of Will writing out an extra copy of that homework assignment for their joint Hero Negotiation Skills class, when Warren had been stuck in Solitary last Tuesday. Not that that meant anything. Will was just nice like that.
"I'm thinking of breaking up with him."
"And you're telling me this, why?"
Layla looked surprised.
"You're his best friend. You know him best."
Warren scowled.
"Let's just get some stuff clear. I am not Stronghold's best friend. Nor do I know him best. In fact, most of the time I have trouble just sticking the little bastard. I would be more than happy if he would fuck off and leave me alone once and for all."
He had been speaking more loudly then he'd intended to, he realised afterwards. It wasn't even as if he meant it. He was just in a bad mood, and Stronghold was the one he was focussing it on.
There was a sudden hush on the bus as the surrounding students heard his words, their eyes turning collectively to Stronghold, who was standing frozen in the centre of the aisle, one hand in mid air above the back of a seat.
For a split second their eyes met, and Warren saw a distinctive flash of hurt before Will laughed.
"Don't bother to mince your words," he joked, and the other students let out a relived half sigh, half laugh, aware of how volatile Warren could be, and what exactly (another) fight between the two of them would look like.
Will slid into the seat in front of them, tossing his backpack down beside him in a clear invitation for everybody not to sit next to him.
"Hey Layla. You wanna go for Chinese tonight?"
Warren glanced at Layla, but not before he saw the side glance Stronghold threw his way.
"I can't," Layla said shortly. "I'm busy."
"Oh."
He watched as Will ducked his head down for a moment, before turning to look directly at him.
"You working tonight?"
Warren shrugged.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes it's a yes!" Layla snapped. "He's busy. Go and find someone else to annoy."
Will looked taken aback.
"Well. I know when I'm not wanted."
Warren watched as he picked up his backpack, scanning the bus for somewhere else to sit.
Layla sighed.
"Will…"
"It's fine. I'm just looking for someone else to annoy."
They both watched him march to the front of the bus and sit next to someone in Warren's year, back ramrod straight.
"Crap. I didn't mean to yell at him."
"But you did," Warren pointed out.
She glared at him.
"Like you're any better. You told the whole bus exactly what you think of him."
"Maybe you should go and talk to him."
"You go and talk to him!"
Warren looked again at Will's back, stiff and angry.
"Maybe we should just let him calm down. Talk to him tomorrow."
Layla looked relieved.
"Good idea. I'll try calling him tonight."
"To break up with him?"
"To apologise." She waited a moment. "Do you think I should break up with him?"
Warren shrugged.
"Do what the hell you like. Frankly, I couldn't care less."
Layla smiled sadly.
"We noticed."
Warren thought the comment was more than a little cryptic, but didn't call her on it. He had enough to think about right now. Like how he was going to paint setting Lash's hair on fire in the best light possible.
Warren sighed and pushed a strand of long hair back from his face with his forearm, trying not to let his tempura covered hands touch his face.
"Peace! Order twenty three's up!"
Warren glared at his dirty hands.
"Be right there."
He tossed the leftover tempura shrimp into the garbage can, then rubbed his hands briefly on a nearby dishtowel before grabbing the plates, balancing them along his arms and weaving his way toward the right table.
The woman glared at the plate of mushu pork he placed in front of her.
"I asked for the scallops in ginger."
Warren stared blankly at her for a moment.
"Oh. Um, there must have been a mix up. Just let me check with the kitchen." He glanced uncertainly at the man sitting opposite her.
"Is your order correct, sir?"
"Fine, thank you."
Warren picked up the pork and forced an insincere smile.
"I'll be right back."
He checked the table order.
"Shit."
He'd written it down wrong.
Fucking idiot. How the hell had he managed to get mushu pork and scallops in ginger mixed up?
"Could this day get any worse?" he muttered, scribbling down a new, priority, order and shoving it through the kitchen window.
He made his way back to the table and the woman glared at him from over the tip of her nose.
"I'm terribly sorry, but it appears there was a mix up. Your meal will be just a few moments."
"A few moments?" she repeated, powering up a scary death glare. "And is my husband just supposed to sit around and let his food get cold while you correct your little mix up?"
Warren shifted.
"I can put your husband's food back in the oven to keep it warm while you wait."
"And let it dry out? What kind of an establishment is this?"
"Cynthia, leave it."
The man offered Warren an apologetic smile.
"Don't worry, I'm sure these things happen. I don't mind waiting."
Cynthia sniffed, but Warren shot her husband a grateful smile, before darting back towards the kitchen to collect the next order.
The bell over the restaurant door tinkled, and he groaned inwardly. More customers. Just what they needed when the restaurant was practically full to bursting.
He deposited the food at the table, thankfully the right order this time, then went back to pick up Cynthia's scallops and was turning to refill a family's water glasses when he came face to face with Will Stronghold.
"Oh great. Just what I need."
Will didn't reply, and it took Warren a second to see the redness of his eyes.
"Have you been crying?"
"No," Will snapped.
Warren raised a disbelieving eyebrow, and turned back to the water glasses.
"Can you take a break?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Look around, Stronghold. It's not exactly a graveyard around here. What do you think?"
Will followed him to the kitchen.
"I need to talk to you."
"I'm busy. And you can't come back here."
Will stopped on the threshold of the swinging door and looked dejectedly at him.
"Layla broke up with me."
Thanks a fucking lot, Flower Power.
Warren sighed.
"Just give me five minutes, okay? I'll see you outside."
Will was sitting on the sidewalk when he came outside, head held in his hands, and Warren wanted to give him a good hard smack and tell him to stop being so pathetic.
"So, what did you do this time?"
Will shrugged.
"I have no idea. She came round to say sorry for earlier, you know, on the bus, and we were making out and everything was fine. And suddenly she said that she 'couldn't do this anymore and that I just didn't understand'." He looked at Warren. "Know what the heck that means?"
Warren smiled sardonically.
"She's a girl, isn't she? You're not supposed to understand her." He sat beside Will and nudged their shoulders together in an uncharacteristic gesture of affection.
"She'll get over it. You guys are always breaking up and getting back together."
Will shook his head.
"Not this time. This time I think she really meant it. And to be honest, even if she didn't, I'm not so sure I would want to get back together."
Warren raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Lately…I've been thinking about other…options, you know?"
"You like someone else?"
Will looked uncomfortable.
"Not specifically."
Warren resisted a strong urge to roll his eyes. If Stronghold had something to say, why didn't he just come out and say it?
"I'm just thinking about trying new things, so to speak. Different things. Different experiences. A new…perspective. Side of the street?"
"Stronghold, are you trying to tell me you've decided to turn gay?"
Warren's laughter dried up in his mouth when Will didn't join in.
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
There was a distinctly uncomfortable silence in which Will chewed on his bottom lip and Warren held his breath.
"I don't know if I am," he said finally. "I'm just…curious."
Warren wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
Will stared at him.
"Aren't you going to say anything?"
Warren shrugged.
"Whatever your sexual preferences are, I couldn't give a shit. You're still going to be an annoying, glory hogging freshman who follows me around all the time. Unfortunately, you turning gay won't change that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow."
He touched Will gently on the shoulder, the gesture belying his uncaring words.
"Thanks," Will said softly.
Warren bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself smiling. He was about to turn back to the restaurant when a sudden thought struck him.
"Does Layla know?"
Will shook his head.
"You won't tell her?"
Warren snorted.
"Like I don't have anything better to do than spread rumours about your sexuality. Later."
He couldn't get his mind of it the rest of his shift, of course. He may have told Will it was no big deal, but the fact was it was. If Will really did turn out to be gay then he was going to be facing a lot of shit from people who did care less and wouldn't be afraid to let him know it.
And Warren had a feeling The Commander wasn't exactly going to be thrilled.
It was almost enough of a deal to make him forget about setting Lash's hair on fire.
Almost.
His mother was waiting for him when he got back in, her face wearing that pinched look that told him he was in for some serious shit.
"How was your day?"
He shrugged, hanging his jacket on the hook, his back to her.
"Your principal called."
"Goody," he muttered.
His mom grabbed his arm and wrenched him around to face her.
"Don't you dare give me any attitude tonight! Do you know what I've had to put myself through to get you a place at that school? And now you're just going to throw it all away because you can't control your temper?"
Warren stayed silent, staring determinedly at the patch of wall behind her head. He'd heard this speech a thousand times before. Next she would blame his father.
"Or should I say your father's temper?"
Right on cue.
"That good for nothing…Well don't just stand there! At least tell me why you did it."
Warren shrugged.
"For God's sake, Warren! What can I do to get through to you? Why can't you understand what a thin line you're walking?"
"I'm sorry I'm not the perfect little angel you wish I was."
"I don't care if you're perfect! I just don't want you to end up like him."
"Better than ending up like you!"
Her palm was sharp against his cheek, and it took him a few seconds to process that she'd actually hit him.
The silence in the hallway was deafening as he turned his head slowly to face her.
There was a flash of fear in her eyes, and in that moment he knew why she worried he'd turn into his father.
He turned and walked away, out of the door, closing it quietly behind him.
He had no idea where he was going, but somehow wasn't surprised when he turned up at Stronghold's door, half an hour later.
Will didn't look surprised either, when he answered it.
"Are you okay?"
Warren shrugged.
"Can I come in?"
Will nodded and stepped back into the hall. They went into the kitchen and Will got them both some milk and cookies. Usually this was the point where Warren made a crack about pre-schoolers, but tonight he just stared at the table top, crumbling his cookie onto the wood.
"She hit me," he said finally.
"Who?"
"My mom."
He heard Will's sharp intake of breath and resisted a wry smile. He doubted Will's mom had ever raised a hand to him in her life.
"I deserved it," he admitted. "I said…some stuff. It wasn't very nice."
"She didn't have to hit you," Will pointed out.
Warren shrugged.
"Wasn't the first time."
When he dared look up, Will was staring at him with big eyes.
Warren waved a careless hand.
"It's not a big deal. She just gets angry sometimes. It's nothing."
Will was silent for a very long time, then reached a steady hand to Warren's face, gently stroking his left cheek. The skin stung slightly. His mom could have quite a hand on her sometimes.
Without thinking about what the hell he was doing, Warren leant forward and kissed him.
Will's lips were soft and dry. For a breathless moment they remained motionless, then his hand tightened on Warren's face and he kissed him back.
Warren supposed he should be quite glad Will's parents came home right then, because he really had no idea why he'd kissed Will in the first place, or exactly what he was planning on doing after he'd finished kissing him.
The jumped apart at the sound of the door, Will's chair skittering across the linoleum, and Warren stared at the table, afraid to raise his eyes as Mrs Stronghold came into the kitchen.
"Hey sweetie, we're…hey Warren. Little late to be making house calls isn't it?"
"Warren had a fight with his mom. Is it okay for him to stay here tonight?"
Warren looked up at Will through his hair. His lips were slightly pink.
Mrs Stronghold turned concerned eyes on Warren.
"You okay, Warren?"
He nodded.
"Of course you can stay." It wasn't the first time this had happened. "Just make sure to call your mom and let her know you're safe, okay?"
"Thanks, Mrs Stronghold."
She smiled, a warm, motherly smile.
"I'll make up the guest bed for you."
He couldn't sleep of course, as he lay in the Stronghold's spare room, staring up at the dark ceiling.
Why the hell had he kissed Will? What the fuck had he been thinking?
As if the kid didn't have enough to deal with right now. Hell, Will wasn't even sure he was gay. Having your supposedly straight best friend lay one on you wasn't exactly going to help matters.
And he'd certainly never thought about Will like that before. Will was too young for him for a start. Not to mention insanely annoying. He'd never thought about the way Will looked as he peered up through his eyelashes. Or how he laughed. He'd never just watched him as he struggled with a problem, chewing on the end of his pen. He didn't like Will like that. Yeah right.
But now he'd fucked everything up. Why had he done it?
He was still asking himself the same question as he got up the next morning, too early for anyone else to be awake, and walked back to his own house, intending to change before school and get his books.
He hadn't called his mom the night before, and she was asleep on the couch, the telephone clutched in one hand, her eyes red and swollen.
Warren sighed and covered her with a blanket, ignoring the empty bottle of red wine by his feet. He wished it was the way it was before. Before his parents went into battle against each other. Before, when his mom was strong and capable and confident.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I love you."
He kissed her gently on the forehead, then went upstairs to take a quick shower, pushing all images of Will Stronghold firmly from his mind.
Will tapped his pencil impatiently against the edge of his chair as he waited for the class to finish.
Their teacher was droning on and on about the importance of code words between Heroes and Sidekicks, in case one of them was ever cloned and they needed to identify the true form. Will wouldn't have minded, but the lecture had been going on for well over forty five minutes, and how often would any of them ever be cloned anyway?
"So in conclusion, it is vital you and your partner or Sidekick develop some sort of secret password or question. Something no one else could ever possibly know. Then you'll never have any problem telling the difference between a clone and the true form. I'll see you all on Thursday."
Will breathed a sigh of relief and shoved his chair back with lightening speed, dashing out into the hall and toward the bank of Sophomore lockers, hoping desperately he hadn't already missed Warren.
He didn't have long to wait before he spotted his friend, head bent in his usual surly pose, long hair hanging in his face. He didn't seem to notice Will until he was too near to back away, or Will was sure he would have run in the other direction.
"Hi."
Warren shot him a questioning look from under his hair and spun his locker combination.
"You left early this morning."
Warren shrugged.
Will closed his eyes and prayed for patience. He hated it when Warren was like this.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Will shot a nervous glance down the hall.
"That you're…gay."
Warren shrugged again
"You didn't ask."
"Don't bs me."
Warren looked at him then, glaring hard.
"I'm not 'bs-ing' anyone. You didn't ask, I didn't tell, end of story. I have to get to class."
"Wait."
Will reached out to grab Warren's arm, and Warren glared even harder.
"Don't you think we should talk?"
"About what?"
Will spluttered.
"About what? You kissed me, Warren. Doesn't that mean something?"
"Not really. You wanted to know if you were gay or not. It didn't mean anything."
Will tried to control his expression at these words. Because it wasn't like he'd enjoyed it or anything. It wasn't like he'd thought about it all night. It wasn't like he couldn't wait to see Warren again. No way.
"What, you think it meant something, Stronghold? You think I kissed you because I was in love with you or something?"
His laugh rang harshly in Will's ears.
"Believe me, you are the last person I would want. Let's face it, I've hated you since the day you came to Sky High. Why the hell would I want anything like that from you?"
Will stared at him.
"Why are you being like this?"
"Because I'm sick of you hanging all over me. I'm sick of you being on my fucking tail every step I take. I don't even like you. Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?"
Will shook his head. He could feel his legs shaking.
"But last night. You came to my house. You…we're friends."
Warren gave him a scornful look.
"Last night I needed a place to crash. When are you going to get it into your head? We are not friends. We never have been. You've just been entertaining this little illusion for the past four months."
He leaned toward Will, so close their faces were almost touching.
"Listen up, Stronghold. I don't want anything to do with you."
He shoved Will, hard, into the bank of lockers, then turned and stormed down the hall.
Will stared after him, fighting the burn in his throat. He was not going to cry in the middle of the hallway.
Across the hall, Layla was watching him with concerned eyes.
"Will-"
"Don't."
She bit her lip.
Will sighed and leant his head back against the lockers, closing his eyes.
A moment later he felt Layla slip her arms around him and he let his head fall onto her shoulder, squeezing his eyes tight to prevent the tears.
"It'll be okay. He's just pissed and taking it out on you."
Will muffled a broken laugh against her t-shirt.
"He must be really pissed then."
She held him a little tighter and then kissed the top of his head.
"Let's get some sandwiches. We can eat them outside."
Will smiled gratefully at her and followed her to the cafeteria then out to the front steps where he flopped down beside her.
"There's some stuff I need to tell you," he said.
"I think there's some stuff I already know."
He whipped his head to look at her.
"Like what?" he asked suspiciously.
She shrugged.
"Like you have a thing for Warren."
He frowned.
"But even I didn't know that until last night."
Layla laughed.
"Will, I've known you since forever. Like you could hide anything from me. Even stuff you don't know yourself. I've suspected for a few months now."
Will looked sideways at her.
"Is that why you broke up with me?"
"Partly." She sighed. "Let's face it, Will. We weren't exactly working."
"Better as friends?" he asked.
She nodded, looking sad.
"Better as friends."
They were silent until she spoke again.
"So what exactly happened last night?"
Will picked morosely at his sandwich.
"He kissed me."
"Wow."
"Yeah, until this morning when he told me he hated my guts and didn't want anything to do with me."
"He didn't mean that."
"Yeah he did."
He ran a tired hand through his hair.
"Let's face it, Layla. There's about as much chance as me getting with Warren as there is of his dad being released from Solitary."
She placed a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"I know he cares about you. He's probably scared."
"I don't care," he snapped, pushing her away. "The things he said…and after I-"
He broke off suddenly, aware that Warren wouldn't exactly want anyone knowing his mom had hit him.
"After you what?"
"Nothing. I have to go."
She stood up as he did.
"Go where? I'll come with you."
He sighed.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I just want to be on my own right now."
"Will-"
"Catch you later."
He kissed her cheek quickly, then ran back into the school.
He just needed a quiet place to think.
Preferably that somewhere was far, far away from Warren Peace.
Warren inhaled on his cigarette and blew the smoke at the gathering clouds in defiance.
He was feeling shitty.
What he'd done to Will was…well, it hadn't been very nice.
He'd almost lost his resolve, right at the end. Their faces had been so, so close. It would have been easy to reach out and kiss him again.
He'd been thinking about it all the way to school and through his first two classes. He couldn't let Will into his life. Not like that.
Warren wasn't a good person. He wasn't nice. He didn't have a great home life. He was constantly screwing up. Sometimes he got a desire to hurt someone, really hurt them, burn them until he could smell their skin shrivelling.
He couldn't drag Will into all that. He couldn't taint him.
He didn't know if there could have even been anything between them.
But he didn't want to find out. And he didn't want Will to find out the truth about him. He didn't want Will to know what he was really like.
He took one last drag on his cigarette, and stubbed it out on the grass just as the clouds broke.
He tilted his head back into the light rain and thought about lying there for the rest of the day, just getting wet.
In the end he got up, went inside and went to his next class.
Just as if nothing had happened.
It was about two weeks after he'd told Will to get lost for good that it happened.
Nothing much had changed for Warren, expect that Will no longer dropped by the Paper Lantern for takeout, and Layla didn't sit next to him on the bus.
And that he'd had nowhere to go that night his mom had drunk a little too much.
He knew Will had noticed the bruise on his face that day. Warren could feel his concerned eyes watching him during Save the Citizen. Warren had sat out of that game.
It was in their combined Hero Negotiations Skills class that Warren lost his temper.
Ever since the incident with Royal Pain, he had found Lash and Speed more and more difficult to stomach, probably because they still marched around the place as if they owned it, as if they hadn't spent an entire month in Solitary Confinement for their part in Pain's master plan.
It didn't help that they continually dropped hints about meeting Warren's father, something he was sure was untrue, during their stay.
Warren was concentrating on his assignment, trying not to feel Will's eyes watching him from across the room, when Lash appeared, taking advantage of their teacher's temporary absence, draping his long arms across the edge of Warren's desk.
"Working hard, Peace, like the good little Hero you are."
Warren surveyed him coolly.
"You hair still looks a little thin."
Speed appeared on his other side.
"Your daddy would be ashamed, you know, if he saw you trying so hard."
Warren gritted his teeth.
"You know fuck all about my father."
Lash grinned.
"We know more than you ever will, Peace. How does that make you feel, to know a couple of low lives like us will have spent more time with him than his own blood son?"
Warren lost it.
With a cry of rage, he flung Lash backwards, catching his arms and knocking him into Speed, carrying them both round in a circle.
He dimly heard Will calling his name but was too furious to listen, raising both flame covered hands and slamming them into his desk, the wood charring beneath his finger tips, the table collapsing.
"Warren, stop!"
The words were right in his ear, Will's arms tight around him despite the flame that engulfed his body, and he was aware of Will's clothing disintegrating between them, the flames licking along Will's bare chest.
He pushed Will back with a cry, turning and staring in shock at the scorched skin. Will stared back, breathing in heavy pants of pain.
"What is going on in here!"
Principal Powers surveyed them in dismay, her eyes travelling from the burnt desk, broken in two halves, to Will's ruined shirt, to Lash and Speed crumpled unconscious in the corner.
Warren knew he was about to get kicked out of school.
He took a deep breath.
"It was me, Principal Powers."
Warren stared at Will in disbelief.
What?
"Lash and Speed were taunting Warren about his dad and I just lost it. Warren tried to hold me back."
Warren opened his mouth to disagree, no way was Will taking the fall for this, but Will silenced him with a firm look.
Principal Powers looked doubtfully at Warren.
"Was that what happened, Mr Peace?"
Warren nodded silently.
"Well Mr Stronghold. I think you'd better come with me. I'm afraid we will have to call your parents. And I can guarantee a long stay in Solitary for this little stunt."
Warren watched as Will followed Principal Powers out of the classroom. At the door he threw a brief glance at Warren over his shoulder, then he was gone.
"Well?"
Warren glared at Layla as she put her lunch tray down next to him. He thought he'd managed to break her of that little habit during the last two weeks. He should be so lucky.
"Well what?"
"Well, why is Will spending a whole week in Solitary? I know you have something to do with it."
Warren shrugged.
"Spill it, Peace!"
He sighed and poked at his meatloaf.
"He took the fall for me," he said eventually.
"For what?"
"Losing my temper."
To his surprise Layla smiled.
"He must have done it to stop you getting kicked out of school. Wow. He really likes you a lot."
Warren glared at her.
"No, he doesn't."
"Yeah right. Just because you're being an ass doesn't make him like you any less. And by the way, while we're on the subject-"
"I wasn't aware that we were."
"-what you did to him was really low, Warren. You really hurt him."
"Good!" he snapped, shoving his chair back with a loud clatter. "Then maybe he'll take the hint and leave me alone. Everyone, just leave me the fuck alone."
He threw his tray onto the stack and stormed out of the cafeteria and outside, fumbling with the cigarettes in his jacket pocket. He really needed to stop smoking.
It was a week before he saw Will again.
He finally came out of Solitary to a gathering of students who crowded round him like mindless idiots. Warren watched from the school field, smoking a cigarette.
When Will saw him, he turned and walked away.
As far as he was concerned, it was over. Before it had even really begun.
tbc