Acquired Tastes

Chapter Fifteen

The following week began suspiciously well; it was easier to deal with all the little competitions when it felt like Roman was truly on his side, doing his best, giving Neil reassuring words and smiles. In fact, Neil began to wonder if he was getting too comfortable when Roman won a fight and practically tackled Neil to the ground in a frenzied, relieved excitement. Roman was still smaller than most of the other guys, was still unable to beat most of them head-to-head, but when he tried, he was good at anything individual, whether it was running, participating in some test of strength in comparison to body weight, or any challenge where socializing played a role.

After a few good days, the heaviness of living came back stronger, more overpowering, and Neil found himself struggling more than ever to pull himself out of bed each morning. Perhaps the worst of it came on Thursday; after trying to bury his emotions throughout the day, Neil went for a run, hoping for something to distract him and minimize the time he'd spend lying awake in bed, trapped with his own thoughts.

On his second lap through the woods, distracted by his music and the chaos in his head, he didn't hear the pair of students approaching him until they caught up, shoving him forward. Knees hitting the dirt, he barely had time to even brace himself for the fall before both students were dropping on top of him, pinning him down.

No time to even process what was happening, Neil tried to escape, but there were two of them and they'd caught him off guard. Time didn't seem to pass normally for the twenty seconds or three hours that Neil spent struggling, fighting back, until finally, one of the students met his eyes, still struggling to keep Neil's arms pinned beneath him.

"Win the fight tomorrow," hissed the student, his eyes dark and determined and terrifyingly close to Neil's. "And this will seem like nothing compared to what we'll do to you."

Neil just glared back at him until the student pulled back slowly, like he was afraid of what would happen when he let go of Neil, but Neil had no desire to prolong this interaction by even a second. He let the students recede and disappear into the darkness before getting unsteadily to his knees and beginning a slow walk in the opposite direction.

By the time he made it back to the room, the frustration had done nothing but grow. He hesitated outside the door for several moments before pushing it open.

Roman looked up from where he was sitting on his bed, drawing and eating, when Neil came in, his eyebrows rising in surprise. He pulled the nearest drawer open and shoved the mostly-empty bag of chips into it, pushing himself to his feet. "What happened?"

Neil just shook his head, still trying to bury his frustration and find appropriate words. He dropped heavily onto his bed, pulling his shoes off and tossing them at the door, only looking up when Roman sank onto the bed beside him, offering a clean cloth and roll of bandages. Neil took them, realizing for the first time how shaky his hands were, how quickly his heart was still racing. Roman gave him a sad little grin, turning to face Neil, and took them back, pouring some disinfectant onto the cloth.

Heart racing for a whole new reason, Neil sat while Roman cleaned the blood off his cheek and chin, then gently tilted Neil's head back enough to wipe the drying run of blood down his neck. He watched Roman put a bandage on the sharp scratch running down Neil's neck, admiring the concentration on Roman's face, but when Roman's eyes met his, Neil couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's go somewhere."

Roman raised his eyebrows at him. "What?"

Neil got to his feet, heart still racing, legs still shaking. "Let's get out of here for a little while. Leave this tiny fuckin prison of a place. Just for a night."