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Sorry it took so long for the next chapter, but here you go!

Picture of Zack to the >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Enjoy. :)

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Aiden's P. O. V

The day didn't get any better, it only seemed to get worse as the hours progressed and lunch came around. As I was headed towards the cafeteria I was stopped by the last two people I wanted to see today: Jake and Samuel, my two former friends.

When I had resolved myself to become a better person and leave my bullying life behind, that had included these two, as much as that made me out to be an asshole, abandoning my friends like that, but let's face it, the decision of doing that was the best thing for me.

Jake and Samuel weren't the best of influence. They hated gays as much as I had let other believe and were part of my gang of bullies. Granted they never went too far in their bullying and whatnot, but they weren't exactly nice.

And if I'm trying to change, hanging out with people who hates gays isn't the smartest of choices, I'd probably get pressured in acting like I was straight and my somewhat coming out as a joke, and I don't want that.

So here I was, walking along and minding my own business down the empty hallway to the cafeteria - I had been held back by the teacher to discuss private matters -- when they stepped out in front of me as if they had been waiting to ambush me.

I could tell by their faces that they meant business, so with a resigned sigh I let them pull me into an empty classroom, causing a sense of Deja Vu to enter me as I realized it was the same classroom Kyle had been beat up in by me and my ex-friends.

Now isn't this ironic, I thought with distaste. The same things probably going to happen to me. I guess this is karma for you.

When the door closed behind me I got straight to the point, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. "What the hell do you want?" I asked and crossed my arms across my chest and glared at the both of them, not really in the mood to deal with this.

They appeared surprised by my demeanor and hesitated for a second before speaking up. "Aiden, you're not really a faggot right, your just joking around, because if you are, it's not funny," Jake said, being blunt like usual, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

I rolled my eyes at him. I knew they were going to do this, didn't I say that. God, so predictable it wasn't even funny. In fact, this whole predicament was just as ridiculous as could be, it wasn't even necessary for them to do all this really, but when has this world ever benefited me, so I might as well suck it up and stop complaining while I'm ahead.

"No, this isn't a joke. Now if that's all you have to say, then I'm leaving, because I'm hungry and lunch is going to end soon," I said and turned to leave but was torn off my feet and slammed against the wall, making me wince in slight pain from the impact.

"You're not going anywhere," Jake threatened angrily and tightened his grip on my shirt when I glared at him.

"Let go of me," I warned him but he hardly listened and only increased the pressure he was putting on my chest from where his elbow dug in. A smirk spread along his face, as if he thought he was so superior then I at that moment and my blood boiled with growing rage.

"You know, I've always known there was something wrong with you, it was just something about you that got to me, but I could never figure out what it was, but then you go ahead and pull this stunt and it all made sense to me. I couldn't believe I missed it, the evidence had been right in front of me the whole time," Jake said, sounding upset about it.

"Yeah, well, that's too bad," I said sarcastically and hissed out in pain when he only dug deeper in response.

"Don't interrupt me," he warned and I gritted my teeth in anger, my glare turning into a glower as my rage simmered, baked.

He was really getting on my nerves, and if he didn't back off soon, there was no telling what I'll end up doing in my out of control state, and there was a part of me that didn't care. I don't even know why I was letting this happen to me, I was capable of taking these two on by myself, so why not save myself the trouble and kick their asses, maybe then they'll know not to mess with me anymore.

But no, that stupid rational side of me was getting in the way, the one that told me not to fight, that I had graduated from such childish acts. It kept reminding me that if I went back to my old ways then Nathan would never come to like me, that the old me was the reason for the new Nathan.

I hated that side of me because I knew it was right, so I held my temper and endured the hardship as it was and hoped that I would get out with the minimalist of damage, but we all know that's not going to happen.

"As I was saying, at first I had actually thought it was all a joke since I had known you for so long so there was no way you could be a faggot, but like I said, I had always known something was wrong with you, so-"

"Yeah, I think we established all that already," I snapped out, interrupting him yet again, bored with his repetitiveness. I couldn't help it really; he was acting like those stereotypical bad guys that talk way too much before doing in the good guy.

But then again, usually in those situations the good guy either ends up turning their unfortunate predicament around to were their able to defeat the bad guy, or help arrives in time because of how long the bad guy takes to kill the good guy.

But I might as well give up on that happening to me, I was never that lucky, and it's not like someone would actually come save me, no one cared enough about me to be my savior, it was a sad thought really.

"Shut up," Jake growled and slammed me into the wall again, hard enough to make my head rattle and put me in a slight daze for a few seconds.

I blinked back the blurriness and wrapped my hands securely around his writs and removed them from my person, though with difficulty as he fought the whole way, a glare of concentration on his face.

"Your pathetic, the both of you, for doing this, ganging up on me just because of some petty dislike for another person's sexual preference," I sneered and pushed him away from me forcefully.

He stumbled back a few steps and came to a stop by Samuel. He rubbed at his writs where my tight grip had left bruises. "You're going to regret doing that," he said hatefully.

I snorted out a laugh of amusement. "Oh, I sorely doubt that," I replied. "Now, I'm going to go now, so don't try anything stupid, or you'll find out just how much I've been holding back for the past week," I informed the two, making sure to emphasis my words so that there was no mistake in my intentions if they came after me.

Cautiously I started backing my way towards the door, but of course, the moment I took my eyes off them to look for the door handle, they seized the opportunity and Samuel rammed into me before I could react, tackling me to the floor, knocking the breath out of me.

I groaned in pain and struggled to free myself from underneath Samuel, but it was no use, he had me pinned with his large body, unable to move even an inch. I let out a curse and they just laughed in glee, knowing I was caught in their trap.

"Get off me," I shouted, then inhaled sharply when I was lifted several feet off the ground and thrown backwards. My eyes widened as I practically flew and crashed into the wall, almost causing me to black out from the amount of pain it caused me.

Black spots dotted my vision and the throbbing in my head made it hard to concentrate. I pressed my palm against my forehead and tried to stand up but my unsteady legs made it almost an impossible task to accomplish. They kept shaking and collapsing underneath me as soon as I rightened myself even a little.

"Shit." I had not at all expected such strength from Samuel; to be able to do that, it required muscle, lots of it, and to do it with only one hand, unbelievable.

Had I underestimated the two of them? Was there a possibility that they could beat me in this shuffle? I questioned, but I found the answer to be unfavorable for me, and uneasiness filled me.

I squinted my eyes to somewhat clear my vision and saw Jake come to a stop in front of me and braced myself for his blows, but unexpectedly they didn't come and a curious frown formed on my face.

"This is your last chance to admit anything to me," he said, hinting at my choice of coming out and giving me a second chance to take back those words I had said and my frown turned into a scowl.

I knew this was his way of showing mercy, and I don't know why he decided to do this so suddenly, maybe because we had been friends at one point or some reasoning along those lines, and although I appreciated the effort he was putting up, I also didn't at the same time because it would mean that I would not only be lying to myself and everyone else if I denied what I had said, but it would also mean me going against everything I had promised to make right -- my relationship with Nathan and those around me.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I'll stick to what I had mentioned before: I'm gay, and there's nothing you can do about it," I proclaimed proudly and grinned at him, satisfied with the livid expression that overcame his face.

"You should have continued hiding like the coward you are," Jake hissed and the next thing I knew his fist was flying at me and smacking me right into the side of my face.

My head snapped sharply to the right and I fell backwards into the wall from the impact. Blinding pain engulfed me for a few moments, but I hardly paid any attention to it, my mind was focused solely on the boy in front of me and all his ugliness.

"I think you've got it all backwards Jake," I said slowly as I gradually regained my senses and spat out the blood that coated the inside of my mouth onto the tilled floor, "I'm not the coward here, it's you."

A promise of death reflected in Jake's eyes. "You better watch out from now on Aiden, because your ass is mine," he warned, pointing his finger in my direction, almost as if he were marking me.

"Jeez, didn't know you liked me like that Jakie dear. Sorry dude, but my ass is already taken for," I said jokingly, purposefully so as to piss him off even more and it worked from the murderous look he gave me.

"Son of a-," he went to go at me but Samuel stopped him right before he could touch me and at first I was confused as to why he didn't just let Jake beat me up because God knows the boy wants to, but his next words cleared up the confusion fast.

"We should get going, lunch is almost done, a teacher could be coming by soon," he said.

Jake growled in annoyance but backed off, knowing Samuel was right. "Fine," he said, then turned to face me again. "I'll be seeing you later."

"I hope not, I've had enough of seeing your ugly face for one day," I said smartly back and was glad when all he did was glare and shove past me to get to the door, almost causing me to tumble to the ground.

Samuel followed after him and as soon as the door was closed did the tension in my shoulders dissipate and I let out a relieved breath. I fell back against the wall and slide down it into a sitting position, feeling too exhausted and aching all over the place to stand any longer.

That was too close of a call, if Samuel hadn't of stopped him I'm sure I would be in the hospital right now, and it's all my big, sarcastic mouths fault.

I stayed there for a few more minute to allow myself the time to catch my breath and compose myself before getting up and heading over to the cafeteria, feeling at least like I had escaped that danger with my pride still intact.

I walked through the cafeteria doors and scanned around, spotting everyone in the same spot as usual and strolled over to them. As I came near the lunch table Kyle was the first to notice me, and when he did, a horrified expression crossed his face.

"Aiden, what happened to you?" Kyle gasped, a worried look on his face when his eyes set upon the bruise that was no doubt forming around my eye and jaw.

Shit, I cursed myself mentally for my slip up. I had forgotten all about the bruises that my fight with those two had left. Oh well, no point in hiding it now, he's already noticed them, he'll only be a bother throughout the day if I do keep them a secret.

"It's nothing really," I reassured Kyle, but he didn't listen to me and came over to get a better look at my wound, turning my face to get a better view of it in the light and he grew motherly instantly when he saw the extent of the damage.

I could see from the corner of my eye Nathan's concerned glances as Kyle fussed on and on about my injury, but he quickly looked away and pretended like he didn't care when he caught me staring.

I couldn't help the smirk that appeared on my face from knowing that Nathan did care about me, if only a little, but that was enough for me to know that I still had a chance with him.

At that moment I was glad about getting beaten up, just a little though, I still felt pathetic at allowing that to happen, and planned on getting revenge soon.

"What are you smiling about?" Kyle questioned, giving me a look that said he thought I was going crazy and my smile widened.

"Nothing," I replied, my eyes straying over to Nathan. "Nothing at all."

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So what did you think?

Next chapter will take a while to be posted.

Anywhore, V/C/F.

Until next time, peace out!

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