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Inside The Heart - Chapter 2

viarayy01 - previous chapter here

Even with the twelve hours of rest he had gotten, Evan still groaned when he was woken by someone shaking his shoulder. He swiped away at the hand that gripped his arm and pulled the covers completely over his head. It only took a second for the cool air to hit him once again.

“Five more minutes.” He mumbled. He pulled his legs to his chest and reached at the bottom of his bed for his blanket.

Whoever was in his room groaned and tugged Evans reaching arm until he flipped around to face them.

“Evan. You gotta get up. Dads calling for you.”

Without another word Evan sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Looking up at the perpetrator of his sleep, he instantly recoiled. Micheal.

“Seriously. I would hurry down if you don't want to get a scolding.” Said his older brother with a tang of British accent. Evan nodded cautiously and watched Micheal leave his bedroom. Mike slowly closed the door and yelled something to their father from the top of the stairs.

He stared at his closed door for a few seconds before blinking and jumping off of his mattress. The clock next to his bed read 6:45. If he got ready quick enough, he could rush to school in time to meet up with Cassidy before the bell rang–

Ah. Cassidy.

Evan combed through his hair with a sigh and pushed his slippers on. Facing his closet, he pulled out a loose sweater that had two light gray lines on the elbow of the sleeves. He tossed on the shirt, chose a pair of pants, and washed his face in the bathroom he shared with his sister. Makeup and various other skincare products crowded her side of the sink.

He pushed a few things away from his side and fiddled with his hair in the mirror. The bathroom light made his swollen eyebags look incredibly unappealing, but he tried his best not to focus on them. Finally satisfied with his appearance, he grabbed his messenger bag from his bedside and flew down the stairs as quickly as possible.

“Good morning, Evan.” Said his father, William Afton, from behind the sink. “There's a piece of toast on the island for you. Micheal made it while you were busy wasting your time up there. Try to hurry up in the future. Your lucky Micheal was in a good enough mood to make you anything.” He gestured to Micheal, who was sitting on the couch with his own piece of extremely burnt toast.

Evan nodded at him and pulled the food off of the paper towel Micheal had laid it on. “One time thing. Jam is on the table.” Micheal said to him between bites.

“Oh. Thanks.” He replied. William turned off the sink behind him and wiped his hands on a towel.

“Micheal, have you seen Elizabeth this morning? There were an obscene amount of dishes in the sink when I woke up. Seems like she was in a rush.” William called as he slipped on his coat. Well, that explained the mess in the bathroom. Micheal moved into the kitchen and emptied the crumbs from his plate into the sink.

“She left early for school.” He waved around the butter knife he had used for his food. “Club stuff or something.”

Evan sat on one of the barstools and splattered grape jam on the bread. “I…I remember her mentioning that she likes to leave early to hang out with her friends at the gas station..” He said quietly. William stopped wrestling with his coat and clenched his jaw.

Micheal stopped scrubbing his plate and flicked his head around. His eyes shot open and he chewed on his lip. Evan shook his head and furrowed his brows. Did he miss something or…?

“That godforsaken girl. Well. I'm going to have to tell her something about that afterschool. Cant have her wasting time like that, or even worse, wasting her money getting into trouble. If she's not going to do anything academic in the mornings, she's not going to be going out anywhere for fun either.” William replied gruffly. He twirled his keys on his index finger and opened the garage door. “Goodbye, boys.” He didn't wait for their response before slamming it shut. Evan and Micheal stood silently until they heard his car pull out of the driveway.

Micheal shoved his plate into the open dishwasher and kicked it shut. “You just had to go and open your mouth Ev.” He sighed. Evan drew back from his seat.

“What?”

Micheal leaned against the counter and rubbed his face.

“I said , you just had to say something to get Liz in trouble. You and I both know that she's not studying in the mornings when she leaves early. Or hell, that she's studying ever. She's going out to screw around with guys or something. And now father knows. She's gonna kill you. Better yet, he's going to kill you for lying when she weasels her way out of it!” He laughed. Evan swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I- I didn't know he’d get upset!” He threw his hands in the air. The paper thin relationship he had with Elizabeth was already on the verge of tearing. “Maybe he will forget. Maybe she really was out studying! I really didn't mean to.” Evan cursed himself as tears began to trickle onto the marble. Micheal nervously flung off the counter and looked downwards at his brother.

“Hey, I'm not mad, it's fine. Just keep your mouth shut next time alright? Last thing I need is dad finding out what I do after school, too. Okay? Everyones on edge already with mom gone. Elizabeth really doesn't need another thing harboring on her mind.”

Evan immediately met his brother's gaze, wanting to move as far away from this conversation and his tears as possible. “Okay. I'm really sorry.” Micheal gave him a thankful look and snatched the half eaten bread from Evans hands.

“You better go if you don't want to be late. I gotta go anyway. Someones gotta warn Liz that she's in deep shit when dad gets home.” He groaned. “Scram.” Evan did as he was told and left the house without another word.

The cool air hit his face as he ran down the sidewalk and through his neighborhood. He was thankful that he had stopped crying, it was never something he really had control over.

He was also thankful for Micheals shockingly good mood. If he had something like that a few months prior, his brother would have left him with more than just tears.

It was almost too good to be true.

Almost.

Hopefully things at school would go over a lot smoother than home…

– – – – –

Unfortunately for Evan, the only thing that was smoother at school than at home was the plastic texture of the bathroom floors against his face. Cool, sticky, and crawling with germs.

His head rang amongst the laughter of the kids who had sent him falling to the ground, some recurring bullies from his time at middle school. He didn't really know any of them, not anymore anyway. It had been a few months since the bullies had stopped targeting him. Right around the same time that Micheal had stopped sending Evan to bed with enough nightmares to paralyze him. The only one he truly recognized as he crawled off of the floor was Fritz, a kid who not too long ago had been a good acquaintance of his.

Well, maybe a bit more than not too long ago. Give or take five ish years.

Somehow, they looked the exact same, like time had never touched them as they grew into secondary school. Their hair color was similar to Elizabeth’s but slightly lighter. One of their eyes was a blinding light blue and the other was a chocolate brown.

“Fritz, he's staring at you.” One of the other boys snickered. Evan wiped his face and tried to move away from the group. Fritz lunged out and grabbed his arm before he could get away. “Yeah. He’s always had a problem with staring, haven't you, Afton?” They sneered before shoving Evan into one of the bathroom doors. “You really haven't changed, crybaby.”

Evan squirmed around and tried to break free, but to no avail. “I- I haven't even done anything to you guys! Please just let me go!”

The room erupted with laughter and Fritz dug their nails into Evans arms. “Exactly. Without Cassidy here to protect you, we figured you might need a reminder of what you really are.” Without another word, they motioned behind them and the tallest boy in the group, one with straight black hair, walked forward and gave Evan a swift punch to the gut. He doubled over as Fritz released him from the wall. Tears poured out of his eyes for the second time that day with no sign of stopping. He buried his face into his knees and prayed they would just kill him.

Fritz stood over Evan and glared down at him.

“Really.” They laughed. “You are still the same weak and worthless little wuss that your brother tried to kill all those years ago.” He leaned down and pushed Evan over with his shoe. “Don’t forget that. Otherwise we might have to give you another reminder, and I really don't know if your stomach could take another punch like that—“ Fritz continued, only to be interrupted by the bathroom door flinging open. Evan peered around Fritz to see who had been unfortunate enough to walk in at this exact moment. The only thing he managed to catch before someone started screaming were neon blue sneakers slamming upwards into one of the bullies legs.

Fritz quickly turned around at the sudden noise, his fists already clenched. “What the hell—?” They said.

Evan clawed at his chest and managed to get a better angle from the floor.

Standing far shorter than the other boys in the bathroom was Gregory, bending his knee back and forth as his sneakers slid on the linoleum. “Think I pulled a muscle doing that. Did the job, though.” He grinned. Evan glanced at the still wincing bully Gregory had kicked to the ground. He guessed it was the same one who had screamed. The tallest kid pulled the injured boy away from the center of the room and leaned him against the wall.

“Gregory! Stay outta this, you don’t even know him!” Fritz yelled, shuffling slightly backwards and away from him.

“Yeah, but I do know you, Fritz. And I also know that your one incident away from landing yourself in the principal's office. So my best advice to you is to get outta my way. I don’t really think you wanna risk getting kicked out of this school.” Gregory sneered. He looked way more pleased with himself than frightened, a reaction that Evan deemed completely unreasonable in this situation.

Even with his oddly shaped cowlick, Gregory barely stood above the height of a fourth grader, a trait that Fritz and the other bullies did not possess. From an outsider's point of view, this fight would’ve end in a blink.

Still, when Gregory stepped closer to Fritz, they moved away. When Gregory raised his fist and shoved it against Fritz’s face, the other bullies stood back to watch. When Gregory pulled Evan off the floor and supported him out the door, they let him go.

No fight. No backlash.

They just watched him leave.

“You alright? Looks like Nathan gave you a really nasty punch back there.” Gregory said as he helped Evan sit on one of the outdoor benches. Voices flooded the outside tables. He had almost forgotten it was still lunch.

“Yeah. It’s fine. Not the worst i’ve been punched.” Evan wiped his eyes and plastered on a reassuring smile. Gregory quirked his eyebrow but didn’t inquire about it further.

“So, your name's Evan right? Cassidy’s friend?” He asked. Evan nodded. “I figured. I heard them mention her name outside the door and figured she wasn’t here today.” Evan nodded again.

“She had something to take care of. Probably why they decided that today would be the day to give me a good punch.” He grimaced. He knew that Cassidy was good at keeping bullies away, but he didn’t realize that she was the only thing between him and permanent chest pain. Gregory laughed a bit and sat across from him on the adjacent bench.

“Sounds like something Fritz would do.” He hummed.

They sat in silence for a moment, only the sounds of the lunchroom and classrooms echoing around them before Evan cleared his throat.

“Th-thanks, by the way. You didn’t have to do that for me back there.” Evan mumbled. He chewed the inside of his cheek.

Gregory shook his head and crossed his legs. “Are you kidding? Thank you for letting me beat the shit out of Fritz Figueroa. I’ve been wanting to do that for forever!” He laughed.

“Plus, I’ve been wanting to get to know you for a bit. You seem like a really cool kid, Ev.” Gregory said, completely nonchalant. His amber eyes blinked patiently at the frozen boy across from him. Evan held his breath and let his own eyes open wide.

Nobody had ever said something like that to him before.

Before he could open his mouth to respond, the lunch bell rang and the outdoor area they were sitting in slowly drained of people.

Gregory tugged at Evans arm and pulled him off of the wooden bench. “C'mon! Let's get to class. English next, right?” He asked.

“Y-yeah. English.” He stuttered. Gregory let another infectious smile break out and pulled Evan into the school.

— — — — —

For the first time ever in his life, Evan was wishing that he had been bullied sooner.

There was no word to describe how easily Gregory clicked with him and how quickly they fell into conversation. It was almost a little scary to Evan. He didn’t know that he could ever be friends with anyone other than Cassidy.

Classes flew by like nothing and Gregory did everything he could to pair up with Evan in every single period. Really . Every single class.

By the end of the day, Evan felt like a million bucks. He liked that Gregory could make him feel less alone. He liked having someone who wanted to be friends with him.

It made everything fade away.

“No really. I mean it.” Gregory said confidently. “You should come hang out afterschool.”

They were sitting in the art room where they had spent their last period. Gregory was perched on one of the open windowsills’ and Evan was in his assigned seat.

Evans' eyes popped out of his head and he opened his mouth. “W-what?” Had he really heard that correctly?

Gregory took in his expression and burst out into laughter.

“Wow. I kinda knew that Cassidy had severed you from the rest of the world but I didn't know it was this bad.” He continued laughing. Evan flinched at the mention of Cassidy’s name but tried to fake a smile. Gregory flipped his hair back and out of his face, catching Evans' eye.

“Oh shit. Sorry.” He reached for his face. “I shouldn’t have said that.” He laced his fingers against his backpack strap. “Cassie says I don't know when to shut up. Actually, I'm pretty sure everybody in my family says that.” He chuckled.

“Cassie’s in your family?” Evan rested his arm on his desk. He knew that adoption was pretty common nowadays but had no idea that Cassie was one of those kids.

Gregory’s eyebrows shot up and he leaned against the classroom window. “Oh! No. Well not traditionally anyway. Metaphorical family. Like, she’s always hanging out with me and my dad’s so I just consider her part of it. Found family or whatever.” He waved his hands around to abbreviate. “Like a family friend who you call uncle or cousin. If that makes sense.”

Immediately Evans' mind wandered to his Uncle Henry, and his “cousins” Charlie and Sammy. “That makes sense. I call my dad’s business partner Uncle just because of how long they’ve known each other. I don't see him much anymore since he moved, but I get what you mean.” Gregory clapped his hands together and pointed at him.

“Yeah! Exactly! Majority of my family is actually like that.” He continued. The air conditioning kicked on and a light breeze ruffled his hair. “My aunt’s Chica and Roxane are married, and of course there's my dads, but my Uncle Monty and Uncle Eclipse are not blood related at all. Everyone just grew up together and ended up sticking like glue throughout college. Forming my weird, but somehow cohesive, family.” He sighed.

Evan stared at him dumbfounded. Ignoring the very strange names all of the adults in Gregory’s life possessed, he had never heard of a group of people quite like how Gregory described his family. Nobody was blood related? Everyone just stayed together because they were that great of friends? It sounded so unreal. It sounded too good to be true.

It sounded nothing like his family.

Gregory nodded and bounced off the window.

“Anywho, you up for a little after school fun? You’ll get to meet my aunts if you tag along.” He said enticingly. Evan rubbed his hand up and down his sleeve.

“Are you sure? I don't want to be in the way.” He still wasn’t convinced that Gregory hasn’t been doing this as an elaborate act to make Evan look like a complete idiot. It was one thing to hang out at school. It was another to hang out afterwards, too.

But it only took a second for Gregory to meet his gaze. “Dude. Of course I'm sure. You’ve had a pretty awful day, I think you deserve to have a break from it all. A break with your super cool new friend, Moi.” He laughed.

Gregory offered him a hand and smiled as brightly as he could.

And for once, Evan smiled right back.

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