Well, here's yet another story that I shouldn't be starting! This was partly inspired by Yazzy's fic Insane which is one of the best fics I've ever read. The summary's kind of weird,I know, so I'll explain it more fully now.
Okay, this chapter is about Ray getting a concussion, and the rest should be about how him and Kai met and got together.
Ray yawned and stretched lazily. His arms found Kai's space: cold and empty. With a disgruntled hiss, he woke up slightly. Yawning widely, he tumbled out of bed and got dressed, having to stop five times to redo a button, or check that he hadn't put on odd socks again. Dragging a brush carelessly through his unruly black hair, he stood up and started going downstairs.
He stood at the top of the stairs, breathing in the delicious smells of frying bacon coming from downstairs.
"Come on, you lazy idiot!" Kai yelled affectionately from downstairs.
"I'm coming!" Ray yelled back. He took the first step downstairs, then tripped, his hand, only loosely clenched on the banister, tightening too late.
The downstairs hallway flashed before him as he tumbled head over heels down the stairs, instinctively curling up in a ball. He would have a few bruises, but nothing worse, he thought with relief. He made the mistake of relaxing slightly, his head coming out from his tight ball. With horror, he saw the large wooden step attatched to the banister, no one knew what for, approaching rapidly. He let out a terrifed scream, then-
CRACK! His head thudded into the corner of the wooden step and bounced off. A blinding pain shot through his head and he passed out.
"Ray? Ray, can you hear me?" Ray forced his eyes to open, hearing the scared note in Kai's voice.
"Uh-huh..." he said faintly. The blur that was Kai's face changed colour in the middle, as Kai grinned with relief.
"Ray, you stupid bastard, don't you dare do anything like that ever again!" he said tenderly, running a hand gently over Ray's forehead. Ray blinked a couple of times, his vision clearing.
"Don't worry, I won't."
"How do you feel?" Kai asked softly. "Any pain?"
"No." It was true, Ray thought. All he had was a slight headache, and a sick, numbing feeling that was spreading throughout his entire body.
"Come on, " Kai said, taking Ray's hand. "Let's get you to bed." He pulled slightly. Ray didn't move.
"Can't I just stay here...I feel pretty tired..." Ray murmured, closing his eyes. Kai looked down at him, seriously worried now.
"Ray, I don't think that you should go to school today." he told him. Ray opened his eyes a crack.
"Don't be ridiculous. I just need to sleep...I'll be fine after that." Kai bit his lip.
"Fine." he sighed. "But you can't go to sleep down here." Ray shrugged weakly and closed his eyes again. Kai sat down on the floor and gently manouvered Ray's head on to his lap. Ray wriggled slightly and let out a pleased hum. Reassured, Kai leaned back against the wall and waited patiently for Ray to wake up.
Ray walked slowly into the school corridor.
"Hey, Ray!" He turned to see a slightly younger boy come hurtling down the corridor. Tyson Granger was one of the very few pupils who had absolutely no problem with Ray being gay, maybe because his brother, Max, was. When Ray had first come to the school, he had learned to his cost that it was sometimes better to keep your mouth shut.
"Oh, hi, Tyson." Another thing that people had a problem with was the fact that Kai was a year older than Ray, and on medication almost constantly. Once again, this didn't bother Tyson in the slightest.
"Ray, are you okay? You look kinda...I dunno...shaky. You got a headache or something?" Ray gave him a faint smile.
"Yeah, a bit. I fell down the stairs this morning." He pulled a face. Tyson laughed.
"Ow! Bet that hurt!" Ray nodded.
"It hurt a bit. Kai tried to make me stay home, but I've got my mocks this week. I can't afford to miss anything." Tyson nodded in understanding.
"How is Kai?" he asked.
"Kai's...okay...now." Tyson blinked.
"Put that in English." he suggested. Ray sighed.
"His grandfather managed to send him another letter a couple of days ago, I don't know how. Wish I did. Mr Dickenson, you know him?" Tyson nodded. "He's been trying to figure out how he sent it. I did tell you that he's Kai's guardian until he turns eighteen, didn't I?" Tyson nodded again. "Kai tried to kill himself again after he read it, but I found him and stopped him in time. I think he was quite glad, really. He doesn't really want to kill himself, he just doesn't know any other way of dealing with it. They changed his prescription afterwards, so he's been a bit anxious for the past few days, which was why I didn't want to worry him." He sighed again, and closed his eyes briefly.
"It's hard, isn't it?" Tyson said quietly. "Coping with that sort of thing with just the two of you." Ray nodded. The shrill jangle of the bell broke the companionable silence. Tyson groaned loudly. "Okay, here comes another dead boring day at school. See you in PE!" Ray nodded again, waving as Tyson dashed away to his form room. He gave a slight chuckle as he turned and walked towards his own form room, only a few doors down. It was typical of Tyson's "all or nothing" attitude. The only class that Tyson actually liked, he ended up taking the GCSE a year early! He rubbed his throbbing head, and went into his form room.
Slowly, Ray got off his chair, his head immeadiately kicking up a violent protest. The past two hours of non-stop revision really hadn't done anything for his headache. It felt as if something was trying to push its way out. He groaned quietly in part annoyance, part pain, and went to break.
"Hey, lookie here! Here comes the faggot! Hello, you arse-fucker!" Coarse laughter ground into Ray's tender skull. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the gang which tormented his days.
"I'm not in the mood." he said calmly.
"Not in the mood? Not in the mood for what, may I ask? Were you looking us up, huh? Huh? Answer me, you fucking poof-" A yell of pain cut off the taunt, and the bully bent double.
"He said he wasn't in the mood. That means you leave him alone." Tyson said through tightly clenched teeth. "Or the next one'll be harder, you got that?"
"Who're you, his bodyguard or summing?"
"No, I'm his friend. Fighting scum like you is beneath him, but I'm not so choosy." Anger made Tyson's dark brown eyes go almost black, his whole body quivering. The gang backed off hurriedly, muttering obscentites. Tyson turned to Ray, breathing hard. "Sorry for interfering, mate, but they're the same people who used to beat the hell outta Max, so I've got a bit of a personal vendetta, you could say." He took a step forwards, his face creasing with concern. "Hey, are you all right? You're as white as a ghost!" Ray nodded weakly and muttered something along the lines of his headache being a bit worse. "A bit worse, I'll say it is!" He took hold of Ray's arm. "Come on," He started tugging him down the corridor. Confused, Ray didn't put up any resistance.
Tyson pushed open the library door.
"Hey, Max, you in here?" he said in a loud whisper.
"Yep. What is it, Ty? Oh, hi Ray!" Ray gave the blond-haired boy a strained smile. Tyson led him over to where Max and a petite dark green-haired boy, whose name Ray vaguely remembered as Kevin, were sitting.
"Ray's got a bit of a headache, so I brought him in here."
"Yeah, it's quieter in here," Max agreed. "Sit down, Ray." He patted the seat next to him. Ray collapsed into the soft, comfortable chair and closed his eyes.
"So, why're you two in here, then?" he asked, resting his aching head on his folded arms. The soothing darkness of the little cocoon he had created eased his headache slightly, making him feel alert again.
"Safer." Kevin said bluntly. Ray raised his head, blinking in the light.
"Safer?" he said questioningly. Kevin nodded.
"Uh-huh. No one's quite forgiven us for being gay yet. At least in here, we don't get yelled at."
"Or get things thrown at us." Max broke in.
"Or get thrown at things." Kevin said dryly, grimacing at a memory. "Or get beaten up...the list goes on, really. You're pretty lucky. You're still a relatively new element here, people are still wary of you." Ray made a non-commital noise and put his head down on his outstretched arm.
"How old are you two again? I know I should know how old you are, Max, but..." He trailed off.
"Hey, no problem. We're both fourteen." He pulled a disgusted face. "Both doing our SATS. Ugh..." He shivered. "Two weeks...urgh...horible..."
"As you can tell," Tyson grinned. "Max is not looking forwards to them!" Max nodded vigorously. Kevin gave a long-suffering sigh and put his arms around Max's waist. Max leaned his head on Kevin's shoulder. Suddenly, a metallic tune blasted through the quiet library. Ray swore under his breath and dived for his school bag, yanking out his mobile phone.
"Shit, shit, shit...Yeah, Kai? What is it?"
"I just wondered how you were." Kai's voice was slightly hoarse.
"My head's aching a bit, but I'm fine, really. Revision sucks. How're you?"
"Fine..." Oh, God, Ray thought, recognising the slight edge in Kai's voice. He lowered his voice and stood up, walking a few steps away from the table.
"Kai, you haven't taken your pills, have you?"
"Yes."
"Don't lie to me!"
"D-Don't yell at me!" Ray thought a long stream of swearwords. If Kai was so bad he was getting scared when he, Ray, raised his voice slightly...he needed to take his pills now. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
"Okay. I'm sorry that I yelled at you, Kai, but I know that you haven't taken your pills. You know that you need to take them, don't you?" He kept his voice soft and reassuring. The last thing he needed was for Kai to start having a panic attack.
"I don't want to."
"Well you have to." Ray said bluntly. Silence. "Please, Kai." He couldn't stop his voice breaking mid-word as composure fought a losing battle with pain.
"Ray? Are you all right?"
"No." A tear slid down Ray's cheek, but he brushed it away. "My head feels like someone's splitting it open with a hammer and chisel. I don't have the patience to argue with you anymore, Kai. Please, just take your pills. And...take the maximum dose." He heard Kai get up and walk around.
"Fine, I will. Do you want to come home? You sound pretty rough. I-I'll come and pick you up-"
"No. I'll live. Make sure you take your pills, and I'll see you at four." He ended the call and stood still for a few seconds, fighting down tears. I'm sixteen. I'm not going to cry. He felt Tyson rest a hand gently on his shoulder.
"You okay, mate?"
"No," Ray whispered, his eyes half-closed. "Not okay..." Max came up behind him and gently put his arms around him. Ray buried his head in Max's shoulder and closed his eyes, wanting to fall asleep until his head stopped hurting and everything was back to normal. All too soon, the bell rang for the end of break. Shakily, Ray raised his head, the world blurring for a second, before settling again.
"Ray," Max said softly, rubbing his back gently. "There's no way you can do PE in this state." Ray nodded slowly, wincing at the renewed pain. The phone call with Kai had removed the comfortable blanket of ignorance that he'd been hiding behind. He had to face up to the fact that this headache was really bad, and was probably something to do with his fall down the stairs.
"Yeah...you're right...I can't." he said slowly. "Tyson, will you come and tell the PE teacher with me, back me up?"
"Of course." Leaning heavily on Tyson's supporting arm, Ray walked out of the library.
"I've got a headache, sir," Ray said faintly. The PE teacher's office was stiflingly hot, and the heat was making him feel disintoriated. The PE teacher had his head in his desk and was rooting around, looking for something.
"Yes, and so have I, but I still have to teach you bunch of idiots." he grumbled. "See how you get on." Tyson opened his mouth to make a furious retort, but Ray stopped him with a light touch on his arm.
"Leave it, Tyson." he sighed. "I'll just...have to not do too much...that's all." Tyson shot him a worried look and nodded.
Tyson pounded round the track, counting off the rhythm in his head.
One-breathe in, two-breathe out, three- His breath caught as he saw a crumpled figure by the side of the track. He sped up, noticing with rising fury the people who kicked Ray as they passed him, silently remembering them. He reached his goal and knelt down beside Ray's shaking body.
"Ray?" he said quietly. "Can you hear me?"
"Go away..." came the weak reply. "I'm going to be sick, you satisfied, huh? Leave me alone...please...just go away...my head really hurts..." Tyson laid a comforting hand on Ray's arm and took a deep breath.
"SIR! GET OVER HERE, RIGHT NOW!" he bellowed. Ray moaned at the volume and shifted slightly, pain creasing his face. Tyson watched as the teacher came jogging up. "You took your time!" he snapped. The teacher's eyes flashed with anger, which quickly changed to alarm when he saw Ray.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He did try to tell you he couldn't do it...sir." Tyson said sarcastically, staring the teacher down.
"Right. I'll sort you out later, Tyson, you can't talk to a member of staff like that, but now, let's get Ray to the medical room."
"Not before time!" Tyson snarled.
Ray opened his eyes, then shut them again instantly as bolts of pain shot through his head, making his stomach churn.
"Ray? According to the nurse, you've got really bad concussion, okay?" Ray felt something being slipped into his hand. He forced his eyes open to see his mobile phone in his hand. Tyson's voice lowered to an almost inaudible whisper. "Phone Kai. You need to go home."
"Thanks..." Ray murmured. Without needing to open his eyes, he dialled their home number.
"Hello? Ray?" Kai was back to normal, which meant, Ray knew, as overprotective as ever.
"Kai...come to the school...I want to go home..." He started sobbing, gasping noisily.
"Oh, Ray...ssh, it's okay, I'll come." Ray looked up, feeling Tyson tapping his knee to try and get his attention.
"Can I speak to him?" he mouthed. Ray nodded and let the phone slip from his feeble grasp.
Tyson grabbed the phone before it hit the ground.
"Hello, is that Kai?" There was a long silence.
"Who is this?" came the wary response.
"I'm Tyson. Has Ray ever mentioned me?"
"Yes, he has." Kai's tone was slightly warmer now. "What is it?"
"When you come," Tyson lowered his voice again. "bring the strongest painkiller you've got. I don't think Ray is going to able to get any rest at all without something, and the school aren't allowed to give him anything."
"What? Why the fuck not!"
"Wish I knew. You have to know a rule to be able to break it."
"Not the way I see it." Kai hung up. Tyson slipped the phone into Ray's pocket and sat down, aware that Ray had dropped into a restless, pain-filled doze.
Ten minutes later, he heard a commotion at Reception.
"Kai!" he called. "In here!" His call woke Ray, and the boy rolled over and looked woozedly towards the entrance to the medical room.
Ray looked on in dazed surprise as Kai burst through the door and ran over to him.
"Oh shit, Ray, you had me so scared..." he murmured, stroking Ray's cheek gently. Ray raisd his arms, like a child asking for a hug. Kai obliged, stroking his painful head and murmuring soothingly. "Sh, Ray, love, sh, everything's gonna be all right." He bent down and pressed his lips to Ray's. Ray's eyes widened in surprise as he felt Kai slip something into his unresisting mouth. "It's co-dydramol." Kai whispered, almost inaudibly. "It's the strongest painkiller that it's safe to give you."
"Thanks..." Ray whispered.
"Here." Tyson handed Kai a water bottle. Kai nodded his thanks and tipped a little of it into Ray's mouth. Ray swallowed instinctively and buried deeper into the comfort of Kai's arms. Fifteen minutes later, a welcome blackness rolled over him.
Well? Opinions? GCSE's are an exam we take in Britain when we're in Year Eleven, by the way. I've got a bit more about that in my profile, if anyone's confused. Please review! Please!