Carter's Army - 19. Chapter 19

December

Absolution is not something a person can easily attain; it isn't something that can be given freely. Absolution must be earned, in the heart as well as in the mind. For some men it is impossible to earn the kind of forgiveness needed to move forward in their lives. They remain trapped within a single mistake, and exist within it for the rest of their days.

William Carter, son of Major David Carter, closed the book and stared out of the window at the gentle dusting of snow that fell. It seemed all it would do was snow for the remaining days until Christmas. He was again sitting in his customary spot in the library, a refuge from the rest of the school, putting the finishing touches on his english paper.

Completed and satisfied with it, he examined it, smiling at the emotion he had put into the paper. It had been a simple examination of a character in a dusty play, but Will had seen something personal in it; finding a resonance in it had allowed him to write about it, and what had been a simple assignment had gotten more complex as he had just lost himself in it.

He struggled to his feet and straightened his simple white shirt. For the first time since he had been "updated" as Lisa was fond of referring to his complete wardrobe overhaul, he had worn simple whites. It was a silent tribute to his cricket days, cool and relaxed. Most hadn't noticed, except for Coach Thorburn who remembered all too well Will's affinity with the game.

He tucked the pen away and gave a kind smile to Miss Harriet, the older lady who kept a careful watch over her precious books. She had originally been suspicious of Will's near constant presence in her domain, until she had found him wedged in a corner one day, knees tucked up to his chest, wrestling with a couple of reference books. She had given him the knowing smile of a kindred spirit and had left him be after that. Book mice were a strange breed.

Back out of the sanctity of the library and into the realm of the regular lunch time din, Will felt a little self conscious that he hadn't spent his lunch with Lisa, but she was off with Charlene and her Harridans ogling basketball players in the gym.

Will felt a little jealous of that; Andrew liked to spend time in the gym either playing or watching from the sidelines, a benevolent monarch ruling over his kingdom. But Will didn't belong there. He had never followed Andrew to the gym, it wasn't his place. Even though he knew Andrew would never have complained about it, Will still felt awkward about being too close to Andrew at school.

It was the last day of the school before the blessed relief of the break. Will was looking forward to not having to deal with the near constant looks he got from some of the students. What they didn't say to his face showed on theirs, and as he passed he often caught the word 'faggot' thrown at his back. He had never realized how much that word had stung, he had used it himself, even gone so far as to refer to himself in his own thoughts as one. But now that it was hurled at him directly, he shied from it. It stung worse than one of his father's punches. But no one dared use it when Will was accompanied by one of his friends. Jared was someone no student wanted to anger, and Lisa was too valuable to one's social career to upset.

Word had spread quickly of Andrew's scuffle with Todd Gadreau, and no one dared to touch him directly. Cold shoulders he could deal with, he could even deal with the harsh words, but the prospect of being protected irritated him still. But he understood why Andrew was doing it, after all he was...

He stopped and considered that a moment, what exactly was he now? Most people just wrote it off as Andrew's pet project, that thin academic kid that needed to be looked after. No one had associated the two of them as anything more than passing friends. Andrew's mother had even invited him to join them for Christmas Eve, something he couldn't just pass up, it was a chance to spend the day with...

"Where do you think you're going?"

Will jumped; he had just been winding his way towards his locker, that quiet and disused corner of the school that he liked. He fumbled for a reply, "My locker."

Todd Gadreau was shorter than Will, but was broader. He was perfectly built for his role as a defenseman and as he blocked Will's path with two others from the Storm' defensive core, Will had a sudden respect for any opposing player who had to face them.

Todd remained silent for a moment, studying Will closely, and Will looked at the three of them. He knew the looks they were giving him, he had seen it a hundred times in his father's eyes. He was in trouble.

He made to step by them, as the two other defenders, Robbie Tomlins and Bruce Gautier, grabbed him by the arms.

"Just a minute Carter, you're not going anywhere." Todd's words were icy-cold and laced with dangerous intent.

"Let me go!" Will struggled against the two older and more athletic young men. They responded by forcing him up against the row of lockers

"No one here to save you this time Carter," Todd said, balling his hand into a fist as his face twisted into a sneer. He pulled his hand back ready to swing...

The crash caught them all by surprise, a fist impacting against a locker door rattling it on its hinges. And all eyes turned towards the young man leaning against the bank of lockers opposite them. His arms were folded in a casual way, and he flicked cigarette ash irreverently onto the floor.

Brody!

"What do we have here?" he said, taking another long drag on his cigarette, "What, it takes three tough guys to beat up one queer?"

Todd swore rounding on the shop jock, "Fuck off; this doesn't concern you!"

Brody shrugged, "One-on-one, sure that doesn't concern me. Three-on-one, I call that a party..." he lifted his cigarette, "And we all know how much I like a party." He took a long drag again, his eyes glittering darkly.

Todd curled his lip, "Let him go." He commanded, and his two accomplices released Will.

Will straightened up, a smile playing across his lips, Todd was going to...

The fist connected squarely with his temple, Will felt it and staggered slightly but kept his footing. Surprised, Todd hauled off and punched him again, blinking as Will continued to stand before him.

Years of the fists, years of the backhands, years of learning to take a blow, counted. The Major was easily twice Todd's size, and definitely stronger. If he couldn't keep Will down, a high school bully sure couldn't. Will's own fist knotted as he hit back, catching Todd unprepared for the first blow.

Todd reeled, as one of his cronies balled up his own fists to step in. Brody came fully upright, sending his cigarette spinning down the hall as he stepped forward. Robbie lowered his hands and stepped back, letting the fight play out on even terms.

Will struck again, but Todd's hands swept his wide swing away as he punched with his other fist into Will's stomach trying to knock the wind out of Will. It would have worked, should have worked. Will felt the blow, swallowed against the pain as he swung again, the force of his own punch knocking Todd back a couple of steps.

Will swallowed as he gasped for breath, taking a step forward to follow through, but Todd raised his hands, "Enough," he said, as he rested a hand against the lockers.

The Englishman straightened up, and nodded, letting Todd's two friends help him up and help him back towards the stairs.

* * *

"You did what to who?" Lisa's voice raised an octave in complete shock.

Will gingerly touched his bruised temple, he was beginning to ache, and his vision swam a little. He must have looked a sight, sitting in the cafeteria, back to the wall, battered and bruised. Lisa was hovering over him in full mother hen mode once she had seen Brody help him to his seat.

Rumour was spreading quickly, the people who passed him looked at him with a mixture of respect and disbelief. And Will winced as he reapplied to his head the makeshift icepack made from ice wrapped in the coarse brown hand towels from the bathroom. He was getting a lot more attention than he felt he merited, and it unnerved him.

"Is it true?" Charlene swept up beside Lisa clutching her binder to her chest, looking eagerly about for confirmation to the latest gossip, "Did you really beat Todd Gadreau up?"

Will gave her a resigned shrug as he rubbed his bruised stomach. He felt like Todd had driven a truck over him and he simply wanted to curl up into a ball until the pain went away. But he wasn't going to get a chance, as more and more kids formed a semicircle behind Charlene and Lisa, all trying to get a peek at him in this state. Like any mob, they smelled blood and blood was exciting.

Will looked up at Lisa pleading for her to make them go away, but even as popular as she had become, she was completely powerless over a group this large. She shrugged helplessly at him and knelt to move the ice pack upwards a bit.

There was a murmur from the crowd as they parted to allow a very agitated Jared through; behind him sauntering at a casual pace, despite the anxious look in his eyes, was Andrew. As Jared began to fire off questions a mile-a-minute at Will, Andrew hung back beside Charlene, but he had a questioning look in his eyes that he directed towards Will.

Will looked down at Jared and lowered the ice pack, "It was nothing, honestly."

"Yeah, right," Jared said, pushing his raider's cap out of his eyes as he examined the nasty bruise on the side of Will's face, "You don't look okay."

"You should have seen the other guy," Will offered as a feeble joke.

"We did," Andrew said breaking his silence to a murmur of agreement from the ever-so-fickle mob who had only a few minutes before been sneering and talking behind his back. But then, when Andrew spoke they agreed with him. It was the sheer weight of his charisma that could sway them in ways no one else could.

He turned to them, "Alright, everyone back to their business; leave Carter alone." He gestured for them to leave, and as if by a royal decree they obeyed, filing from the cafeteria murmuring amongst themselves.

Charlene hung back, feeling that her newfound association with Lisa gave her the right to stay; popularity had its benefits after all. Andrew flatly ignored her as usual, kneeling down on the other side of Will from Jared and examining the injuries with open concern.

"You got into a fight with Todd Gadreau," he said evenly, aware that they weren't alone, but he allowed the worry to seep into his eyes.

Will shrugged, "He really needed to get something off his chest?" Will tried a feeble attempt at a joke.

"That son of a bitch," Jared shook his head, balling up his own fist in anger.

"It's sorted." Will said firmly, he didn't want it to go any further; it had already gone too far.

Jared eyed him suspiciously as he looked over at Andrew. Andrew in turn returned the look and Will leaned down, "I mean it, it's okay, it's sorted."

He stood; getting to his feet and feeling the dull ache in his stomach he rubbed it tenderly. He was going to feel that for a while. He picked up the crumpled paper he had been writing only half an hour before; it honestly felt like days before. Absolution came in many forms.

He waved off Jared's offer to help him with a friendly smile, "I'll be fine," he said taking a step and feeling a wave of nausea and dizziness sweep over him. He dropped the paper back down on the table as he leaned on it for support.

Andrew's arm encircled his waist, and that warm supporting grip helped him back to his feet. It was the closest they had been to each other in days and Will felt Andrew's strength holding him upright and he leaned in a bit allowing himself the support.

Jared moved to follow but Lisa caught his arm and motioned for him to join her over at the windows. Will didn't pay them much mind as he let Andrew help him down to his locker.

Once they were alone down by Will's locker Andrew turned Will to face him, "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked earnestly; without waiting for a reply he leaned in to examine the nasty bruise forming on Will's temple.

"I'm fine," Will said trying to push Andrew back a little, more from embarrassment over the sudden flurry of attention.

"I'll kick his ass if he touches you again," Andrew said his voice filled with determined sincerity as he reached out his other hand to encircle Will's waist gently.

Will shook his head again, what was it with everyone? He had successfully defended himself and it still didn't seem to matter. They still wanted to protect him, it was flattering and showed they cared. But Will still felt like he could protect himself, he had after all stood up to Todd Gadreau...

But one look into Andrew's concerned eyes and he melted. The love mixed with concern he saw reflected there couldn't be denied. Andrew was just trying to protect him from being hurt, just like Will would do if anyone even thought to hurt Andrew. He couldn't hold that against the boy who loved him. No matter how much he wanted to be independent, he just had to accept the fact that Andrew would look out for him.

He offered a lightly reassuring smile, "It's okay, you don't have to do that. I'm fine." He reached out a finger to lift Andrew's chin until he could see his eyes, "Honestly."

The gasp caused both to stiffen up and turn at the same time. Will's shoulders slumped in utter defeat as Charlene stood, almost in exactly the spot Greenwood had stood in a week before. She was clutching the english paper Will had forgotten on the table, and she looked obviously startled at the two of them so intimate: Will in Andrew's arms, his finger's lifting Andrew's chin slightly.

Andrews's eyes met hers in resignation, before she vanished like a startled rabbit up the stairs.