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A/N: Picture of hot boi Paul above 🙂
The party was in full swing in Cam and Leo’s dormitory in Draco and loud music blasted out of the speakers. Cam picked his way through the crowd of dancing bodies, trying to keep everything from going far out of line and his frustration was visible on his face after he kicked a couple out of their bathroom.
Leo walked up to him and placed an arm around his shoulders, his other arm holding a red plastic cup.
‘Come on, Cam, it’s a party let them have their fun if they want.’
Cam wrinkled his nose. ‘You may be content with having people copulate in your bathroom but I don’t relish the thought of a baby being conceived in mine.’
‘You know what your problem is? You are too wound up. Here have a drink and let loose. Where is that wild free-spirited Cam I know and love?’
‘He never existed.’
Leo shook his head in disappointment and took another swig from his cup and Cam fixed him with a look.
‘Are you drunk?’
‘I can still walk in a straight line and I remember the marks from my last test so not drunk enough. What’s a fella to do to get drunk around here?’ he shouted this last part to the room and received a cheer in response. A couple of guys from the swim team carried him over and flipped him upside down over a keg stand, where he proceeded to drink from the tap as the room hollered and counted loudly.
Cam rolled his eyes at his best friend’s idiocy and walked away. On the other side of the room, Samuel and Jayden stood with cups of their own in hand as they watched Leo’s performance with amusement.
‘You’ve got to hand it to him, he does know how to party,’ Samuel remarked bemusedly as Paul walked up to Leo and brought him down.
Jayden hummed non-committedly and seeming to remember something, sat up straighter and looked about him.
‘Where’s Noel? Did he already arrive yet?’
‘I didn’t see him come in. He was probably caught up with something.’
Jayden nodded but he soon began to grow worried as the hours ticked by and there was still no sign of him. Samuel noticed his anxiousness and placed his cup down.
‘Maybe we should go look for him.’
Jayden nodded, mirroring his action. On their way out, they bumped into Paul who was half-carrying a now fully drunk Leo.
‘Where are you guys off to? The party hasn’t ended yet.’
‘We are going to look for Noel but perhaps, it’s time it should,’ Samuel replied, eyeing Leo’s inebriated form.
‘Pfft, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly fine,’ Leo responded slurrily. He attempted to stand on his own only to fall back into Paul’s arms.
Paul regarded him with mild exasperation and propped him up gently before turning back to Samuel and Jayden.
‘If you see him, tell him to get over here quickly before Leo uses his name again as an excuse to make another toast.’
He walked off with Leo still hanging on his arm. Samuel and Jayden made their way out of the dorm and through the hallway where the party had spilled onto.
They stepped out into the clean night air and Jayden turned to him. ‘I’ll go and check if he’s in our rooms, can you check if he’s still in the locker rooms?’
Samuel nodded. ‘Sure, we’ll meet back here later then.’
They split up and Samuel stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, whistling softly to himself as he made his way along the cobbled pathway. The lamps cast a warm yellow glow on the path and as his footfalls sounded softly on the cobblestones he noticed how deserted the environment was.
A light breeze blew past and he hugged his arms to his body, grateful to have decided to put on a sweater tonight. He soon arrived at the pool and as he made his way closer to the locker room he grew aware of the soft sound of running water.
He frowned to himself, wondering who on earth could have been so irresponsible to leave the shower on. He entered the locker rooms and looked around. Noticing that nothing was amiss and the place had been put in order, he surmised that Noel must have finished cleaning up.
He walked into the showers with the intent of turning off the tap only to suddenly stop dead in his tracks. Noel was curled up against the wall, shivering slightly as the cold water hit his naked body.
Samuel took a step closer but paused when Noel winced sharply and curled further into himself.
‘Noel? What happened? What are you doing?’
Noel didn’t answer and he refused to meet his eyes. Samuel’s brow creased slightly and as he took in the scene before him; the frightened look on Noel’s face, the bruise marks on his arm and the tears that were rolling down his face- his jaw set tightly as it finally dawned on him.
‘Noel,’ he began gently, crouching slowly until he was at eye-level with him. ‘I hate to ask you this but,’ he paused and composed himself, closing his eyes and opening them back to look directly at Noel’s face. ‘To make sure that we both fully understand and acknowledge what happened, I’m going to ask it. Were you raped?’
Noel didn’t respond for a moment then he closed his eyes tightly and nodded as a small heart-breaking gasp escaped from his throat. The tears flowed more freely as he curled even more further into himself, hugging his arms tightly around him.
Samuel’s eyes welled up and he felt his fist clench with both fury and overwhelming sadness but he took a deep breath and controlled himself. Now wasn’t the time for that.
‘Okay, look at me,’ he ordered in a gentle voice. ‘Look at me, it’s going to be alright. He isn’t here anymore, it’s just me. You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again.’
He outstretched his arm slowly. ‘I know that the last thing you want right now is to be touched but we need to get you out of here so I need you to trust me. Trust that, I would be able to help you because I promise you that I will not rest until I do.’
Noel shook his head furiously leaning further away from Samuel but Samuel continued in a gentle voice.
‘What happened to you was wrong and no one should ever have to go through that. He tried to take away your dignity and your pride but those things can never be taken by him or by anyone, they need to be given. These next few days are going to help shape the way you see yourself, either as a victim or as a survivor and I believe- no, I know that you are survivor. Let me help you to see that too. Let me help you to take that first step.’
Noel stared at Samuel’s open palm.
‘Please,’ Samuel pleaded.
He looked up from Samuel’s palm to his eyes which were red with unshed tears but firm in his conviction. It was that conviction that made him slowly reach out his hand and place them in Samuel’s own.
Samuel’s face filled with relief. ‘Thank you.’
He guided him out of the shower and draped a towel around his body.
‘I’m going to take off my sweater now,’ he said gently. ‘You need to put on something and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to even look at the clothes you came in with.’
Noel hesitated and nodded slowly. Samuel raised his arms and pulled off his sweater then helped Noel into it. The sweater was oversized on Samuel and on Noel’s slender form, it almost reached his kneecaps.
He tugged anxiously on the sleeves as he averted his eyes from Samuel’s bare torso. Samuel walked back into the showers and the locker room soon fell into silence after the sound of running water was abruptly cut off.
He came back and glanced around before looking back at Noel. ‘It’s better if we don’t spend any more time in here. Would you mind if I carried you?’
Noel looked uncertain but he didn’t think he could walk back on his own so he gave a slight shake of his head. Samuel turned around and crouched before him, offering his back and Noel slowly placed his arms around his neck as he climbed on.
‘Do you mind if you don’t… if you tried not to breathe so loud?’ Noel asked hesitantly.
Samuel nodded and they walked back to the dorms in silence with Samuel trying to keep his breathing as low as possible. They didn’t meet anyone on the way and it didn’t take them long to arrive at Noel and Jayden’s dormitory.
Samuel set Noel down gently after they entered and helped him to his bed.
‘I’m going to make you a hot mug of chocolate.’
‘I’m not hungry,’ Noel mumbled.
‘I know but you need to keep your strength up. You also need something warm, you were shivering a bit on the way here.’
Noel said nothing and shortly later, Samuel came back in with a steaming cup and after a few gentle coaxing he proceeded to take a few sips from it. They heard the door to the dormitory open a few minutes later.
‘That would be Jayden,’ Samuel speculated, standing up. ‘He was out looking for you. Do you want to see him?’
Noel hesitated and nodded.
‘Are you sure? I can make something up.’
Noel sighed. ‘He is far too smart for that. It’s alright, it’s better if we get this over with sooner.’
Samuel bit his lip and nodded. Jayden looked up as he walked out of Noel’s room and there was a look of relief on his features.
‘You found him then? He wasn’t here when I first came in and I went back and waited at where we were supposed to meet up but you didn’t show up either.’
He made to move into Noel’s room but Samuel blocked his way. Jayden frowned and stared at his boyfriend.
‘What are you doing? And why did you change your clothes?’ he added, suddenly noticing that Samuel was wearing his hoodie.
‘Before you go in, there’s something you should know.’
‘What is it? What happened?’ Jayden demanded.
‘It… He erm, I… Noel… he was… he was…’ Samuel stammered, not sure how he should break it to his boyfriend.
Jayden grew impatient and side-stepped him but Samuel blocked him again.
‘He was assaulted.’
Jayden glanced at him. ‘Huh?’
‘Noel, he was assaulted.’
Jayden huffed impatiently and rolled his eyes. ‘Is that all? We’ve all gotten into a few scrapes, hell I was once beaten up outside a bar and my face was messed up for days. I’m sure he doesn’t look as bad as I did back then.’
‘That’s not the kind I was…’ Samuel started but Jayden had already side-stepped him again and made his way into Noel’s bedroom. Noel looked up as he entered and he flinched when Jayden tried to take a step forward.
‘Please don’t come any closer.’
Jayden halted and his brows creased in confusion as he studied his best friend. He noticed that he was wearing Samuel’s sweater and though it covered most of his body, his sharp eyes caught sight of the faint bruises that peeked above the neckline and in a testament to his acute intelligence; putting those facts together with the trauma behind Noel’s eyes, the pieces slowly rearranged themselves and clicked into place in his brain.
‘Sam,’ he spoke in a quietly dangerous voice. ‘When you said he was assaulted, did you mean…’
Samuel nodded grimly and his eyes grew aghast as they moved from his boyfriend to his best friend. He tried to take another step forward but held back when Noel flinched in reflex. His fists clenched tightly to his side and an eerily calm look appeared on his face.
‘I’m going to kill him.’
He wasn’t being boastful or exaggerating. He uttered this statement in a cool matter-of-fact voice that completely belied his rage and Noel could tell from the sound of his voice that he absolutely meant it. Samuel could hear it too and as Jayden turned to leave he found his way blocked once again by his boyfriend.
‘Move.’
Samuel’s blood turned cold at the ice in his voice and as he stared at the boy in front of him, he could hardly recognize his boyfriend in those empty dark eyes.
He firmly stood his ground and shook his head though he knew that Jayden was quite capable of moving him himself. Indeed, he was about to but halted when Noel’s voice reached him from the bed.
‘Please don’t go, Jayden. I need you here,’ he pleaded before turning to Samuel. ‘Can you give us a moment?’
Samuel glanced cautiously at his boyfriend before nodding hesitantly. ‘I’ll just be in the other room if you need me.’
Jayden waited until Samuel had left before turning back around to face him. ‘What do you need me to do?’
‘I’m tired and I just want to sleep. Can you… can you just stay here with me? I don’t think I can sleep alone.’
Jayden nodded silently and planted himself before the door, leaning against it and placing his arm on his drawn up knee. He remained at his guard post the entire night and well into the next day, not moving an inch even after Noel had fallen asleep.
For the next few days, Noel stayed inside his room because he wasn’t ready to go out and meet people after what had happened and Jayden had to skip school to stay with him. The story they told the rest of their friends and the teachers was that he had fallen ill with a fever from training to hard and needed to rest.
Paul, Leo and Cam brought up his homework from the classes they shared with him but they were prevented from seeing him.
‘He has a nasty cold as well,’ Samuel explained to Leo and Cam when they first tried to get in. ‘I’ve already been in contact with him so I can see him but makes no sense for you both to get infected as well.’
‘Poor guy,’ Leo muttered. ‘At least he’s got you and Jayden taking care of him. Here’s our notes from today, tell him I hope he gets better soon.’
As he passed the notebook to Samuel, he caught sight of Jayden from the edge of the open doorway, moving in the dormitory. He resembled a caged beast as he prowled up and down with a dangerous glower on his face and his fists clenched in frustration.
Leo shivered. ‘What’s got his knickers in a twist?’
Samuel smiled at them. ‘Anyway, I got to go. I’ll talk to you guys later.’
They raised their hand in a wave and turned to leave as Samuel closed the door. He turned to face his boyfriend who was bristling with pent up energy.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Everything is fucking wrong! You think I don’t know that you both are keeping me locked up in here?’ His voice grew steadily louder. ‘I can’t leave because Noel is too scared to be alone yet when you’re here I can’t fucking leave because you won’t let me! Why the fucking hell is he protecting him anyway? You can’t tell me he still has feelings for that contemptuous blight on humanity after everything that has happened?’
‘Jayden, please calm down.’
‘Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!’ Jayden yelled as Samuel moved away from the doorway and silently made his way towards him. ‘Don’t you fucking dare!’
His voice broke down as Samuel wrapped his arms around him and held him close. They sat on the ground as the tears flowed freely from his eyes and he wept loudly as he placed his head on Samuel’s shoulder, circling his arms around his neck.
‘Why did it have to happen to him, Sam?’ Jayden sobbed. ‘It’s not fair. Of all people why did it have to be him?’
Samuel’s voice was heavy as he replied. ‘I don’t know, Jayden. I don’t know.’
They stayed in that position for a long time. After his cries had subsided, Samuel pulled him away and looked into his eyes.
‘Listen to me, we are not protecting him, you idiot. We are protecting you. He is not worth going to jail for, if anything he’s the one that needs to be imprisoned. One way or another, he will get what’s coming to him, okay?’
Jayden nodded and Samuel smiled and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears under his eyes.
‘It feels better after you’ve let it all out, doesn’t it? Now, go and rest. You must be tired, I’ll take over from here.’
Jayden nodded and stood up, making his way into his room. Samuel sighed and placed his back against the couch, the tiredness and stress of the past days showing on his weary face.
He looked up when he heard a sound behind him to see Noel standing at the edge of the couch. He smiled sheepishly at him and came to sit down before him.
Samuel looked at him as he faced him. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Okay, I guess but I would feel a lot better if you don’t ask me how I’m feeling again. It’s all I’ve been hearing for the past days.’
Samuel chuckled softly. ‘I would keep that in mind.’
Noel bit his lips anxiously. ‘I’m sorry you know.’
Samuel looked surprised. ‘Whatever for?’
Noel gestured around him. ‘All this. It’s easy to forget that whiles Jayden has to deal with my trauma and my nightmares, you have to deal with both of us.’
‘You heard everything, didn’t you?’
‘I didn’t mean to but yes.’
Samuel sighed and rested his head against the couch. ‘Don’t mention it but Jayden was right in one thing.’
‘What?’
‘We need to report Charles for what he did to you. I know you are not ready to talk about it yet but the sooner we do so the better it’ll be.’
Noel hesitated. ‘I know you think, I’m putting it off because I might still have feelings for him but it’s not that. I’m… I’m scared. If we go to the police then everyone will know what happened. Everyone will know what he did to me and I don’t want people to look at me or treat me differently because of it.’
Samuel was silent for a while. ‘I understand. How about we talk to the headmistress first? Jayden actually respects her so that means she can be trusted.’
Noel considered it for a moment. ‘Alright, I will. You’re right, it’s better if we do it sooner rather than later.’
That was how they found themselves sitting in front of Francesca Fontaine’s desk the next day. She didn’t seem surprised as she studied the three boys over the rim of her half-moon spectacles as if it was normal for her to receive them in the middle of the day while classes were in full swing.
‘Might I interest any of you in a cup of tea?’
The boys shook their heads.
‘A cup of hot chocolate? Coffee, perhaps?’
They declined once again and she sighed in disappointment as she poured herself a cup.
‘I hope you won’t mind if I help myself then. When one gets to my age, caffeine is the only thing that keeps one going. So,’ she began after she was done stirring. ‘As much as I undoubtedly enjoy your company, to what do I owe this unusual pleasure?’
Samuel glanced at Noel and he took a shaky breath before launching into his story.
‘W… well, it was after the swimming competition last week. I remained behind after everyone had left to clean up. I was on duty that day you see. After I was done, I went to the showers and while I was in there I heard a sound. I wrapped the towel around myself and left to check it out. It was Charles, he seemed to have taken the loss badly and was drunk. We talked a bit and it grew heated. We ended up toppling on the ground and my towel came undone. And… and… and he…’
Tears had begun to flow from Noel’s eyes as he relieved that painful memory. His voice broke and he couldn’t bring himself to continue.
‘I’m sorry… I can’t…’
‘It’s alright,’ Jayden said gently. ‘You don’t have to say anymore.’
His own eyes were red and he tried to hold Noel’s hand but Noel flinched and withdrew it away.
Samuel took over the story and recounted how he and Jayden noticed he was missing and how he found him in the showers. The headmistress listened with a stony face and didn’t seem to notice that her coffee had grown cold.
She waited until Samuel had finished with his narration before speaking.
‘I wish you had come to me with this earlier.’
‘I know, but Noel wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. He needed time. Are you going to report it to the police?’
Francesca sighed and took off her glasses. She steepled her fingers on her desk and stared at her students. ‘No, I won’t. There’s no point in getting the police involved.’
‘Why not?’ Jayden demanded. ‘You’re not planning on covering this up, are you?’
‘Let’s be reasonable-‘
‘No. I’m not going to allow you to cover it up.’
Francesca fixed him with a look and he grew silent.
‘If you had let me finish,’ she went on coolly. ‘You would have realized that the police are going to be useless. You know better than anyone the kind of power the Noble 52 wields. You have no proof, it’s his word against Charles’ and you can be sure that his family will use all the vast resources at their disposal to prevent any serious investigation into this.’
‘We’ll take it to the media then.’
‘For all the good, that will do you. Considering his background, everyone would just think he’s another gold-digger. It would not be the first time someone would have brought a trumped up charge of rape against a member of the 52 in the hopes of making some quick money.’
The three of them sat in stunned silence as the full hopelessness of their situation dawned on them. Jayden made an angry sound from his throat and stood up furiously. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me! Fine, if no one would do anything about it, I’ll deal with it myself.’
‘Sit down, Mr. Mills.’
Jayden hesitated but the look on Francesca’s face made him reconsider and he slowly fell back into his seat.
‘I said there’s nothing the police can do, I didn’t say there’s nothing that we could do.’
Noel looked hopefully up at her. ‘You believe me?’
Francesca looked straight at him. ‘I pride myself on being an excellent judge of character Mr. Allan and in my more than eighty year long life I haven’t been proven wrong yet so yes, I believe you.’
‘Those are nice words and all,’ Jayden cut in. ‘But do you actually have a plan?’
Francesca placed her hands on her desk. ‘We need evidence. Irrefutable and unimpugnable evidence. The best thing would be to get a confession from his own lips.’
‘I highly doubt Charles would be in the confessing mood,’ Jayden remarked dryly.
‘If you cannot say anything helpful Mr. Mills, I suggest that you don’t say anything at all.’
Jayden rolled his eyes and sat back with a humph, folding his arms petulantly across his chest.
‘I think I know how to get him to confess,’ Samuel intoned quietly. He glanced up at them with an apprehensive expression on his features. ‘But it would mean bringing in another person.’
*
‘Do you understand what you need to do or do you want me to go over the plan again?’
Paul fixed the wire into his clothes with an unreadable expression on his face. His jaw was set in steely determination and there was a hard flint in his eyes.
He had been surprised when he was called from class into the headmistress’s office and he had listened in silence when Samuel explained the situation to him, his expression growing steadily darker and after Samuel was done, all he said was, ‘What do you need me to do?’
That’s how they found themselves in the Jayden and Noel’s dormitory so late in the night as Samuel went over the plan again.
‘I know what I need to do,’ Paul interrupted him. ‘Don’t worry about me.’
Samuel stopped and glanced worriedly at his best friend. ‘Are you alright?’
Paul fixed him with a veiled look and stood up. ‘Again, don’t worry about me. Just make sure nothing goes wrong over here.’
He left the dormitory and Jayden and Noel gathered around Samuel as he turned the radio on. There was a brief static then Paul’s soft footsteps could be heard as he walked out of the elevator and into the cool night air.
‘Do you think it would work?’ Noel asked nervously.
‘I don’t know,’ Samuel answered honestly.
Jayden was quiet for a while before turning curiously to his boyfriend. ‘Why were you adamant that it should be Paul not anyone else?’
‘Shh,’ Samuel replied, fiddling with the knobs as the tape began to record. ‘Listen, you’ll find out soon enough.’
Sure enough, a moment later muffled voices came in from the speakers as a group of people walked past Paul.
Paul’s voice came in as he called out to one of them. ‘Can I speak to you for a moment?’
There was a hesitation and the muffled voices grew before disappearing. Then Charles’ voice came in.
‘What do you want Paul?’
‘I want to ask you about your relationship with Noel. Are you two together?’
There was a pause then, ‘And what if we are? How is that any business of yours?’
‘I want you to back off, Charles. You don’t deserve him.’
Charles scoffed. ‘As if that’s the only reason. You think I don’t know that you’ve been in love with him all this time? You want him to yourself.’
Noel’s eyes widened slowly in surprise and even Jayden looked startled at this piece of information. Only Samuel remained unmoved and his expression was grim as he continued to listen to the conversation.
‘And what if I do?’ Paul replied coolly back. ‘It’s obvious that I’m a far better choice than you. You never were better than me, were you Charles?’ Paul went on, hitting him exactly where he knew it hurt. ‘In the fifth grade, you tried to be class president but lost to me. In seventh grade you tried to ask out Alicia but she had eyes for only me. You wanted to be prom king at our junior high prom but you lost to me as well. All your life you’ve tried to best me but you always came in woefully second and it looks like this time you would be second as well.’
Charles was seething with fury. ‘I am better than you, asshole!’
‘Oh really,’ Paul sounded mildly amused which seemed to further grate on Charles’s nerves. ‘I am wealthier, more handsome, and more importantly I am royalty. You remember what coach said when he picked me to be captain of the football team instead of you?’
Paul mimicked the coach’s voice. ‘”You just don’t have Paul’s skills, Charles. It would better for you to just stand back and learn from him.” So just stand back and watch me take Noel. You couldn’t get him anyway.’
‘Oh yeah?’ Charles bit back. ‘Well he’s already mine. You hear me, he’s mine!’
Paul smiled cruelly. ‘You think he’s yours, but in reality he is mine.’ He bent down to whisper loudly in Charles ear. ‘I took his virginity tonight. I’m afraid that once again, you’ve come in second place.’
Charles laughed sadistically at that. ‘You are the one who came in second. I already took his virginity.’
Paul raised a mocking eyebrow. ‘You are lying. He always said he would wait till marriage why would he give it to you?’
‘He didn’t give it to me, I took it! He thought he could get away from me but I caught him, I held him down and I marked him as mine forever.’
Paul tried to control his fury. ‘So you raped him?’
‘Yes! Yes, I raped him and so what? He is mine anyway, I just took what belonged to me.’
Paul couldn’t hold it back any longer and his fist flew out, making contact with Charles’s face with a sickening crunch.
Charles fell to the ground, holding his bleeding nose as he smiled maniacally at Paul. ‘I finally beat your puffed up royal ass. How does it feel to lose this time?’
Paul stared at him with a ferocious look on his face. He grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up. His voice was menancing as he spoke.
‘I want to kill you with my bare hands but I’m not going to dirty my hands with a worthless piece of trash like you. I would leave you to the police.’
Charles laughed as he was flung down. ‘No one is going to believe you, you have no proof.’
His laughter faded as Paul stormed away. Paul paused at the entrance to the Draco building to snatch the wire from his clothes.
‘I hope you got what you needed,’ he spat before flinging it away from him in disgust, cutting the connection.
The three boys sat in stunned silence after the connection was lost. Samuel quietly reached out and turned the radio off after making sure the recording was safely stowed.
Noel stood up and wordlessly made his way into his room, closing the door softly behind him. Jayden watched him go with an expressionless face.
‘Samuel,’ he said after a while. ‘How long did you know that Paul was in love with Noel?’
Samuel considered the question for a moment. ‘A few days after Valentine’s Day. I confronted him about his attitude toward dating when he sort of blurted it out.’
He glanced knowingly at his boyfriend. ‘Even you didn’t realize it, huh? That was how well he hid it.’
Jayden kept quiet. This just put everything in a whole new light and as he glanced at Noel’s closed door, he wondered if things will ever be the same among them again.
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