What Happens in Art Class...

“Are you sure?” I asked, only slightly skeptical. Mikey was offering to look after Ryan, and I wasn’t entirely convinced that it was the best idea.

“C’mon, Gee, I can handle it. I am an adult. Besides, you’ll be fired if you keep skipping work with no reason.”

He had a point, but I still wasn’t sure. Mikey wasn’t exactly the most responsible person in the world, and Ryan was still banged up pretty bad. Sure, they were getting along fine, but that didn’t make Mikey able to properly look after another human being. Actually, I was 99% convinced he couldn’t on the basis that he could barely look after himself.

“I can see that you’re still doubtful, so what can I do to prove that I can handle it?”

I narrowed my eyes at Mikey, “You get one day. If I come back and get a bad report from Ryan then you will not go within a hundred feet of the kid again, understand?”

I don’t know why I finished my sentence. Mikey was bouncing up and down like an excited puppy after the word “day”. He wasn’t listening anymore.

“Thank you, Gee! I won’t disappoint you!” and with that he ran towards the living room, presumably to tell Ryan what was up.

It had been a few days since the incident with Mikey, and he and Ryan had become inseparable buddies. It was nice to see them both find companionship, but they could get a little rowdy with their video games sometimes. I didn’t mind too much, except for the time Mikey threw my $50 controller against the wall. He quickly apologized and offered to buy me a new one.

I also made Frank continue to go to school and start to stay at home. Having him around was nice, but it wasn’t good for his education and I knew his mom wouldn’t keep being so supportive of us if I kept kidnapping her child. It didn’t matter though, because now I would be joining him in the classroom again. And I did, but my nerves got the best of me that first day and I bolted out of the classroom before even getting to say hello to Frank. I just uttered a hurried, “Sorry, I gotta check on Ryan.”

When I got home I discovered the boys sprawled out on the couch watching a sci-fi movie with what looked like the remains of two sandwiches sitting on the table. I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, “Oh good. You’re alive.”

Ryan looked up at me, “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I shrugged, “I figured Mikey would have either starved you or forgotten about you and gone somewhere or let you play in the street…”

“I’m not a dog.” He said, giving me an annoyed look.

“Fair enough…” I said, “What are you guys watching?”

“Something with aliens, lasers, and bad acting,” Mikey said, not looking away from the TV.

“Sounds great. I’m joining you,” I said, sitting on the couch. The mountain of papers in my bags could wait to be graded.

…

Even after Mikey proving his capability, though, I was too skeptical to leave him in charge for too long. Especially since I knew how destructive Ryan could be. So I kept rushing home after school, leaving Frank with hurried explanations. I felt bad for it, but things would even out once Ryan was feeling better.

However, once the next Friday rolled around I couldn’t say no to him anymore, and so I let him climb in my car as I was headed home. By this point Ryan’s injuries were down to yellowed bruises and little scrapes so I wasn’t in as much of a rush to get back to him.

The idea of a peaceful night with Frank was immediately shattered when we heard, “Are you crazy?!” upon entering and Frank ran into the kitchen to investigate. I decided to stroll casually, but by the time I got in there I had gotten the gist of everything. Ryan was prepared to go back to his abusive home life and keep himself in a cycle of destruction.

“I’m used to it,” He said with force as I came up behind Frank. I took that as my cue to give my input.

“You’re not leaving.”

He glared at me, “Says who?”

“Me. You don’t want me reporting your dad to the cops. That’s fine and dandy. But I’m at least going to have a talk with the guy before just sending you back to him. It would be irresponsible of me to do otherwise.” Sure, I was possibly overstepping my duties as an educator, but I wasn’t about to send a kid back to an abusive home.

“That’s a bad idea. If he’s sober, he’ll turn you in for kidnapping. If he’s drunk he’ll try to beat your ass.” He said with a huff.

This was starting to become frustrating, “Well what am I supposed to do? I can’t just send you back.”

“Yes you can!” He was getting angry now, “It’s my life. Let me deal with it, because it’s none of your damn business!” he stormed up to me, getting right in my face.

I lost it, “None of my business?! Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’ve been living in my house eating my food for the past week! I think I have a right to stick my nose in.”

I was expecting more anger, denial, more of Ryan being a stubborn little shit. I was not expecting him to burst into tears, although if I had been I also would have expected Mikey to go after him. As it was I just stood there shocked and feeling like a douchebag.

“Shit, Frankie, what’d I just do?”

“It’s not your fault. Ryan can be a little shit sometimes.” He told me with a hug.

I knew he was right, but still…“That’s not an excuse for me to yell at him like that, though. He’s got enough on his plate as it is.”

After a couple of seconds he kissed my cheek gently with a small smile, “It’ll be okay. Mikey’ll get him to calm down and then we can have a quiet dinner. Okay?”

This was a little strange, Frank comforting me after a tough day. I wasn’t use to it, but it made me laugh, “I feel like this isn’t right. If anything, you should be upset and me comforting you. You’re too young to be my conscience.”

“I’m not that much younger than you. And I’m your boyfriend, so I have every right to cheer you up.” He was so sweet, but I couldn’t let him win this.

“Oh do you now?”

“Yes. In fact, it’s a duty.” He said with a smirk.

“Oh? And how serious do you take your duty? I can’t have you slacking on the job.” I smirked back at him. I could feel out faces growing closer, but I wasn’t about to pull back.

“Very serious. After all, I don’t want to get fired.”

“Like I’d fire my star employee. I couldn’t ask for a better one.”

He giggled then, high pitched and adorable, before finally closing the gap. We shared a slow, sweet kiss before falling back into our admittedly lovey-dovey chatter. Then Frank had the wonderful idea to move to the couch so we weren’t in the kitchen, and I obliged. Once there we just carried on where we left off…Until Mikey decided to ruin it.

“You guys are gross. Can’t you at least go to the bedroom?”

“No,” Frank said, “Where’s Ryan?”

“He…went home.” He said quietly, glancing away from us.

And this is why I don’t leave me brother in charge of other humans.

“What?” I exclaimed in unison with Frank.

“Well, I decided to sit and talk to him instead of yelling objections at him, and…he had a point. We don’t have a right to keep him here. If we aren’t going to report his dad then we might as well let him make his own decisions.”

Okay, so maybe he had a point. Maybe I was thinking irrationally, but that was a direct undermining of my authority. I stood and grabbed his collar, “So you just let him go?”

”Of course not. I made him promise to come back if he ever felt endangered again. Because the most we can do in this situation is let him know that he has a safe place to run to.”

That made me feel a little better, but not nearly enough. I dropped my brother reluctantly, “Whatever. I don’t like it, but you’re right. Call us when dinner’s ready. Come on Frankie.”

I led him into the bedroom where we laid down. Frankie decided to jump right into foreplay. I assumed this was his way of making me feel better once again. I let him go at it for a while (it wasn’t unpleasant after all) but then I decided it was time for sleep. Mikey was still in the house after all, and I had just remembered something important…..Dinner with Frank’s mom.

Notes

See? SEE!? I didn't abandon you! I'm here! right here! Today I got some free time and thought "I should watch anime...No! The readers need me!" and so here you are! The next installment! I won't say chapter 20 will be quick, because it probably won't, but hopefully it'll take less than 3 months. heh heh. Sorry bout that. Anyway vote, comment, that crap makes me happy ok? ok.