Chapter 5: Halloween's a Bust

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Jimmy trudged into his bedroom, kicking his shoes off to the corner. He got undressed with a heavy sigh, peeling off the stifling mask and the body suit. He didn't bother with pajamas; he just left on his undershirt and boxers, and crawled into his bed. Every fiber of his body ached, though they really didn't do much tonight. Maybe his body didn't really ache- maybe it was just his stomach. 'What a creep,' He thought, frowning and tugging the covers over his shoulder. 'Gary... ugh.' He curled up in bed, closing his eyes. 'What the hell was he talking about, anyway? Having me eating out of the palm of his hand...?' His eyes suddenly went wide, thinking of other things that his words could mean, not realizing the obvious. 'Was he talking about...? Oh, God, ew, ew, ew!' He smothered his pillow over his head, trying to shut the thoughts out of his head.

Now that his mind was silent, he suddenly noticed something- somebody was mumbling in the next room over. Jimmy paused, letting the pillow flop away from his head and strained his ears. Who was it that was in the room next to him...?

"Gary... stupid... can't believe..." Jimmy sat up suddenly. Of course, Pete and Gary slept in the room next to his. They shared one, like most of the boys did. (Jimmy was thankfully without a room mate. He couldn't imagine having to put up with somebody else's problems.) He stood, walking quietly over to the wall, pressing his ear against it. They were thin enough, and he could hear Petey clearly now.

"Stupid Gary. He's always such an asshole..." The last word ended in a slight whimper. "Jimmy just had to agree. Real mature Jimmy, let's have fun making a dog barf." Jimmy narrowed his eyes at that, but continued to listen. Petey sighed. "I shouldn't have walked home by myself..." He mumbled, letting out a small, pained noise. "I think Trent broke something..."

Jimmy frowned, pulling away from the door. 'What the fuck did Trent do to Petey?' He paused, hearing another whimper from across the wall. 'Ugh, what the hell is with everyone? I bet Trent thought, just because I was protecting him, I like him or something...' He shook his head. Well, he never did choose his boyfriend for his brains. It was the charming looks and his charisma that persuaded him, and Trent's tongue really sealed the deal.

Right now, though, he couldn't care less about Trent. Making up his mind, Jimmy pushed open his door, walking towards Pete's room. He rapped on the door, and the forlorn mumbling stopped. There was a shuffle, and Petey opened the door.

"Sorry, Gary, I... oh." Pete's sad face brightened slightly. "Hey, Jimmy. Uh, what do you want? It's kinda late..."

Jimmy took a step forward, and Pete stepped back, flushing slightly. Jimmy smirked, leaning in the doorframe. Petey felt his face turn hot as he looked Jimmy over. He was only in a pair of boxers and a wife beater. He'd never worn that little in front of him before, and, well, Jimmy looked pretty good. "You still haven't taken off your suit, Petey." He tugged on one of the ears, and Petey frowned, swatting at Jimmy's hand.

"Look, if you came here to make fun of me, I'll get plenty of that when Gary comes back from doing God knows what. Now, goodnight-"

Jimmy held the door open, stopping Petey from shutting it close. "Look, Petey, I didn't come here to be an ass. I wanted to make sure you..." He trailed off, finally noticing that the sleeves of his costume were rolled up. On both of his arms were big, ugly bruises, and Jimmy reached out, grabbing his hand. "What happened?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Pete squeaked, stumbling closer to Jimmy so he wouldn't yank his arm off. "Uhn... it's nothing, I fell coming back-"

"It was Trent, wasn't it?" Jimmy growled. "What a jerk."

Petey nodded. "...Yeah. It was."

"Did he just punch you on the arm?" He pulled Petey closer, and he nearly tumbled into Jimmy's chest.

Pete shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like how Jimmy was scrutinizing him; the sudden caring was too much for a boy who was always in the background. "No, he just beat me up like usual, it's alright."

"No, it's not. Jerk did it because of me..." He let go of Pete's arm, suddenly turning. Petey watched him curiously as Jimmy ran into the common room, a loud clunking sound coming out. He came back with a soda, pushing right past Petey, and pulling the smaller boy fully into the room.

"Here, you should- Petey!" Pete winced. Now that they were in full light, Jimmy could see the whole extent of his pains. His eye was dark, and his lip was cut. "Ugh, you're a mess. Here," He put the can of cola in his hands. "Press that against your eye."

"Uhm, okay..." Petey did as he was told, watching Jimmy scour the bedroom. "What are you doing…?" Jimmy suddenly walked off towards Gary's bed where there were bottles of pills all lined up in a row. They were all full, untaken for about three weeks now. He started looking them over.

"Those are Gary's," Pete stated anxiously, looking towards the open door. "You really shouldn't go through his stuff, I mean..." He rubbed his arm awkwardly. "He'd get really mad if he knew you were doing this."

"Screw Gary," Jimmy snapped, and Petey frowned, concentrating on a crack on the ceiling. Jimmy searched around, finally smiling as he saw a bottle he liked. He tossed it over to Pete, and he barely caught them, nearly falling over in the process.

"Take some of those," Jimmy ordered, walking back to Pete. "They should help with the pain."

"I'm not taking Gary's pills!" he sputtered. "You think I'm crazy? Why should I believe you?"

"Because," Jimmy frowned, crossing his arms, "My mother takes almost as many pills as Gary does. She's batshit crazy. Already on her fifth husband..." Pete stared dubiously at the bottle in his hands, and Jimmy pointed at it. "Besides, I'm one hundred percent sure those are for pain. I got expelled from my third school for selling those to a bunch of the druggies there."

"That's... comforting," Petey said dryly, opening the bottle. He took out one blue, square-shaped pill, popped it into his mouth and swallowed it. "This better not kill me..." he added, pressing the soda to his eye.

"It won't." Jimmy shrugged. "It only has one side-effect, and that is-"

The soda can suddenly dropped from Pete's hand, along with the pill bottle. He stumbled backwards, falling, and Jimmy gracefully caught him. "Uhm... dizziness and fatigue."

"Nice, Jimmy..." Pete mumbled, trying to stand. He stumbled again, and Jimmy sighed, holding onto him tightly. Petey blushed, his eyes drooping as he let out a yawn.

"Let me help you, Petey, you're going to fall on your face. And I'd feel bad, because I would have to laugh at you..." He slung Petey's arm over his shoulder, dragging him over to the bed. Pete yawned, leaning his head against Jimmy's shoulder.

"Thanks, Jimmy... even though your pills are stupid..." he grumbled sleepily.

"Whatever, you won't feel a thing tomorrow." Jimmy rolled his eyes, lugging Petey towards his bed. He was light, like a girl. "Anyway, just go to bed."

The entrance door suddenly slammed open, and Petey looked upward, blinking sleepily. Jimmy went rigid, looking towards the open door. He knew what was going to happen before it did, because that was the poetic irony of things. So when Gary showed his ugly mug, stopping dead in his tracks as he gazed surprised into his bedroom at a partially naked Jimmy Hopkins half-carrying a glassy-eyed Pete Kowalski, Jimmy was expecting the worse. Like Gary trying to kill him.

Instead, his face split into a grin. Jimmy frowned at him, noticing that there was still blood caked on his nose. "Look, Pete got the shit beaten out of him by Trent, I'm just helping him-"

"Are those my pills, James?" Gary asked, his voice that fake incredulous tone as he gazed down at the bottle on the floor. He walked over to them, bending over and scooping them up. His eyes twitched slightly. "Yes, they are. Funny. I always thought my stuff was never to be touched," he said icily, looking over at Petey.

Petey was still draped over Jimmy, half-asleep and dazed. He nearly whimpered. "I-I told him not to, Gary, but he wouldn't listen. I mean-"

"Well," Gary's smooth interjection immediately shut Pete up. His voice was so cold and dangerous. "Maybe if you two stopped fucking for a second, you could have told Magilla Gorilla more clearly, Femme Boy."

Jimmy growled, "What the hell is wrong with you with all of these sexual innuendos? Would you just cut it out!"

"Oooh, Jimmy," Gary smirked, placing his pills back were they belonged. "That was a dollar word! What a good boy!"

"Shut it, Gary," he snarled, turning to Pete. "Hey, will you be alright?"

Petey nodded, his eyes darting from Gary to him. "Y-yeah... I'll be alright..." he murmured, his eyes drooping slightly. Gary snickered.

"Yeah, Jimmy, Femme boy will be fine. He could sleep through anything with those pills you gave him." His lips pulled into a tight smirk. "And when I say anything, I mean anything." The way he was eyeing Pete gave Jimmy the chills. The boy was practically dead on his feet. Even if he could feel anything with those pills, he wouldn't be able to fight back anyway. (Not like he probably could without pills in his system.)

Pete let out an indignant yelp as Jimmy suddenly hoisted Petey up, bridal style into his arms. Petey wrapped his arms around Jimmy's neck instinctually, not wanting to be dropped. Gary snorted incredulously, crossing his arms. "Aw, that's cute. I guess I gave you some good ideas, Hopkins?"

"Can it, Gary. I'm not letting a creep like you do something to Pete. Especially since it would be tons better if you have to just bare with your sick sexual fantasies, you pervert." Jimmy snapped. Pete's face was bright red, and he clung to Jimmy, hoping that he wouldn't drop him. "So, you can just fuck off."

Gary glowered at him, but didn't stop him as Jimmy carried Petey out of the room. He pushed into his room just as Gary loudly slammed the door closed to his. He nudged his door closed with his shoulder, and dumped Pete unceremoniously on the bed.

Pete sighed, sinking into the pillow. He closed his eyes, spreading out on the soft bed. "I can't sleep in your bed, Jimmy," he mumbled, rubbing at an eye to keep himself awake.

Jimmy rubbed his temples. "Petey, please, just shut up and go to sleep. I'll just sleep on the floor, I've got some extra blankets and pillows."

"But-!"

"Shut it!" Jimmy grumbled, grabbing some extra blankets and pillows from his closet. Pete sighed, mumbling about how messed up everyone was as he pulled the covers up around himself. They all fell quiet, and save for the gentle rustling of Jimmy making a makeshift bed, there was no sound throughout the room. Jimmy crawled onto the blankets, exhausted. He pulled them close, trying to will himself to sleep despite the fact he was cold and the floor was hard.

It was silent for at least ten minutes before a meek voice cut through the silence. "... Jimmy?"

Jimmy groaned. He had nearly dozed off. "What, Petey?"

"I'm really tired... but... I can't go to sleep in your bed. I don't feel right. Look, let me go back to my room, it's alright, really. I-"

Jimmy let out a frustrated sigh, stumbling up into a standing position. He dragged his pillow with him, walking over to his bed. "Make room!" he barked sleepily.

"Wh-what? No, I'll just-"

"MAKE ROOM!"

Pete turned a bright red, quickly scooting over. Jimmy got under the covers, grumbling obscenities under his breath. It was a pretty small bed, and no matter what, they were touching. Jimmy was facing Pete's back, his knees against the back of Petey's legs, and he could hear Jimmy's breath close to his ear. He was bright red; especially when Jimmy leaned slightly closer, nose against the pink fuzz of his bunny suit.

"Hey, Pete?" Jimmy asked, slightly muffled.

"Y-yeah Jimmy?" Petey stammered.

"…. Your costume reminds me of these pair of pajamas I used to have, when I was around five," Jimmy said sleepily, suddenly reaching his hand up, and petting Petey's arm. "My mom bought 'em for me, and made me wear them every night for a week once. It was kinda nice. She liked hugging me in these."

Pete blushed. "I-I had a pair of these too, when I was little."

Jimmy chuckled behind him, and he could almost feel the smirk that was on his lips. "I always knew you were a 'Femme Boy' through and through, Petey."

Petey frowned. "H-hey-!"

"Oh, shaddup, I was only kidding. Go to sleep," Jimmy mumbled. Pete sighed. Jimmy's hand was still on his arm, and that's how they passed the rest of Halloween. Asleep, in the same bed, with Gary Smith's ears pressed against the adjoining wall.

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Thanks for reading, everyone. ;D Just a head's up, if anyone likes Johnny/Peanut, I'm in the process of writing a big story, around six chapters maybe? Also, if you really like my writing, check out my livejournal. I post a little something every day, from Bully drabbles to sneak peaks of bigger writing projects.