Chapter 58

�Hello Uncle Sean.�

Sean gently embraced his nephew being careful to try and avoid the most battered areas. �Hey Caley,� he said with a gentle smile, ruffling Fergie�s hair. �I take it the bastards been at you again.� He referred to David as �the bastard� as he always did.

Fergie nodded with a small wry smile, before his attention was diverted by Marcus� hand skating across his cheek. �Oh!� he said, softly, taking Marcus� hand in his, �Uncle Sean,� he said quietly, almost nervously, �This is Marcus � my boyfriend.�

Uncle Sean raised an eyebrow, letting his eyes flicker over Marcus with a genuine smile. He held out a hand for Marcus to shake, �Nice to meet you Marcus,� he grinned, �I�m Sean.�

�Nice to meet you too,� Marcus grinned back, shaking his hand, �Finally a bloke in the family who�s nice to Fergie.�

�Hey,� Fergie punched him lightly on the shoulder, �What about Tor? He�s nice to me.� He said indignantly.

�Yeah,� Laughed John appearing at the door of the hospital room, �But he�s straight.� He walked over to Sean, kissing him on the cheek, as he slipped the car keys into his boyfriend�s pocket. �Is this Fergie�s boyfriend?� he asked, nodding towards Marcus.

�Yeah,� Marcus said with an easy grin, �I�m Marcus.�

John grinned, wrinkling his nose slightly as he did, �You�re cute!� he laughed.

Bianca tugged softly on Marcus� sleeve from where she stood hidden behind him, �Marcus,� she muttered softly, �Who�s these people?�

Fergie reached out and took Bianca by the hand, �This is my Uncle, and his boyfriend,� he introduced them.

Bianca smiled up at him, not looking at Sean and John, instead still staring nervously at Fergie, �Are they nice people?�

�Yeah,� Fergie laughed, �They�re nice.�

John knelt down in front of her, �Hello,� he said softly, �What�s your name?�

Bianca giggled softly, �I�m Bianca,� she whispered.

�Oh God,� Sean muttered softly to Fergie as his boyfriend struck up a conversation with the child, �This is John�s latest phase,� he sat down on the edge of his nephew�s bed, �He�s decided he wants kids, which,� at this Sean blushed a little, �isn�t really genetically possible.

Fergie smiled softly and reached up a bandaged hand to stroke his uncles cheek.

�But,� Sean interrupted Fergie cheerfully before he could open his mouth to speak comforting words, �I�m not here to talk about my woes. How are you?�

Fergie attempted a shrug, �Ok, I mean, I�m really upset, because I didn�t get much of a chance to talk to mum or Frankie.�

�Oh,� Sean remembered, �Your mam sent me a text to say she�s sorry she couldn�t come and see if you�re ok and she hopes you�re enjoying school and she thinks Marcus is great and she�s really.�

Fergie�s face split into a grin, �Bless her,� he muttered.

It wasn�t until much later in the day that David and Catherine went home and so it was a while before Tor managed to go and visit his Twin. When he did eventually arrive Fergie was extremely grateful, as Sean and John had left over an hour earlier and Marcus had just disappeared to make sure Bianca got safely back to Seth�s house.

�I don�t know why,� Fergie shifted painfully over on the narrow single bed to make room for his brother to clamber in beside him, �I just don�t like being alone at the moment.�

Tor kissed him softly on the cheek, �Caley,� he whispered, �You were just raped and really badly beaten.� He continued to shower the less bruised areas of Fergie�s face with gentle kisses, �I don�t think I�ve seen you this bad in quite some time.�

Fergie nodded snuggling closer to Tor. �I hurt.� He whispered, it was an admission he didn�t often make.

Tor nodded in understanding and placed his arms loosely about his twin, �I�ve got you,� he whispered comfortingly.

And for the first time in a long time, Fergie began to cry.

�Right,� Art addressed the lower sixth the next morning, �Just as with last half term, I�ve got lots of exciting things planned for you to do.�

�Oh God,� Ally muttered, but loudly enough for everyone to hear, �Not camping again,� he said, complaining about whatever Art had planned, despite the face he�d really enjoyed camping. He did it on principal, he didn�t like Art.

�Nope,� Art grinned at him �This half term we�re going to be doing lots of different activities. Now,� he continued, ignoring the mixed reactions of the students, �because yesterday was almost guaranteed to be stressful, we�ve planned an evening activity for today so you can rest during the day.� Everyone silently added in their heads that it was so Fergie might be feeling well enough to have fun.

Dee raised her hand slightly as she asked, �What are we going to do?�

Art grinned and tapped the side of his nose, �That�s a secret,� he said, laughter sparkling in his eyes.

�Go on then,� Andi laughed, �Bugger off, relax, have sex, do whatever it is you lot do in your spare time.�

Seiji wrapped both arms around his boyfriend�s waist, �Does that mean we an stay in bed all day,� he whispered into his ear.

Art glanced nervously and hopefully at Andi.

�Oh go on,� she sighed, pretending to look fed up, but not really minding, �I�ll do the rest of the paperwork,� she knew Art would do, and indeed had done in the past, the same for her.

Art grinned and slipped his hand into Seiji�s leading him to his room upstairs.

�I think,� Mikey muttered to Ally as they were wandering back to the dorm room, �This might be an opportune moment to slip way to our hayloft, before anyone notices.�

Ally grinned in reply and quietly they skipped away from the crowd and ran to their secret hiding place.

�You know,� Ally said with a grin as they tumbled into the hay, pulling up the ladder behind them, �we really ought to have an x-box up here.�

�Or,� Mikey wrapped his arms around his boyfriend�s waist, �at the very least a TV�

�mmm,� Ally snuggled closer, trying to keep warm, �I�m sure we have plenty of other ways to keep ourselves occupied,� he laughed.

It was almost mid-day when Fergie returned to the boarding house. As soon as he was inside his dorm everyone started fussing over him. Tor was making his bed all comfy for him, Raven was asking if he wanted anything to drink, Nienna was insisting that he really should eat something and what did he want? Ash was offering to wrap ribbons around the bandages to make them look prettier. Mara kept on opening and shutting the window trying to keep the room at a constant pleasant temperature.

�Guys!� Marcus yelled from where he sat cross-legged on his own bed, manuscript paper on his lap, pen in his hand, �Just leave the poor sod alone.� He said with a half laugh.

They all froze and, muttering apologies to Fergie, went back to what they�d been doing before.

Fergie sank down onto his bed, flashing a grateful smile at Marcus.

Slowly, Marcus abandoned what he�d been doing, and, taking his time, wandered over to where Fergie lay, sitting gently on the edge of his bed, a faint smile playing gently at the corners of his lips, �Spliff?� he offered simply.

Fergie grinned and shook his head, �Nah,� he muttered, �I�m up to me eyeballs on painkillers, it�s probably not such a good idea.�

Marcus tried again, �smoke?�

Fergie thought about it, but shook his head, �I can�t be arsed to go outside to be honest with you.�

�Cuddle?� he offered.

Fergie grinned and shifted over so Marcus could climb into the narrow bed beside him.

Smiling, and kissing Fergie�s forehead, Marcus wrapped his arms tenderly around the fragile boy, holding him safe.

�I love you.� Fergie muttered, trying out the sound of the words in his mouth.

Marcus grinned, and leant closer, their lips brushing together, �I love you too.� He whispered, before capturing his lips in a kiss.

It was much later that night that they were all stood outside the boarding house, cold as the sun was beginning to set.

�Where are we going?� Seiji tugged at Art�s sleeve as a toddler would.

Art grinned at him, �That�s a surprise,� he intoned for what felt like the one millionth time that day, before turning to Fergie, �Are you going to be ok?� he asked, drawing the boy to one side.

Fergie shrugged, �I don�t know,� he said softly, not wanting the others to hear how weak he was feeling. �What are we going to be doing?�

Art bent down and softly whispered the evening�s plans into Fergie�s ear.

Fergie�s face split into a wide grin, �Hell yeah I�ll be ok.� He laughed, �I wouldn�t want to miss that for the world!� As he walked back to the rest of the group, the question on everybody�s lips was, �What is it? Where are we going?�

Fergie grinned, looking over at Art, �It�s a surprise,� he said, much to the annoyance of the rest of the year. They were however prevented from pestering him further, by Marcus glaring at them, and sliding an arm around Fergie�s waist, smiling at him.

Together they all started to walk down the long school drive, Fergie trying hard not to limp, he so wanted to have a good time.

Marcus, however, noticed it, �Put your arm around my waist,� he whispered, �You can lean on me.�

Fergie smiled gratefully up at him, and did as he�d been told.

Ash giggled as the breath that left his mouth was curling around him like mist, �It�s cold,� he laughed.

�Mmm,� Raven laughed, �It�s cold,� she echoed, but looking pointedly up at Alex.

Alex laughed and wrapped his arms around her, �I�ll keep you warm,� he whispered breathily, and huskily in her ear, making them both collapse with laughter.

Eagle glanced across, and nearly made a comment, but decided against it, Raven was so happy these days, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Alex wasn�t as bad as he thought he was. Instead, he turned his attention to Matt, �You ok babes?� he asked softly.

Matt glanced at him, and crept a little closer to him, �I love you,� he whispered.

Eagle grinned, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, �Love you too sweetheart.� He laughed, �What was that for?�

Matt shrugged, �Dunno, guess you�re being particularly loveable,� he said with a grin.

They walked for about two miles along winding English country lanes, until, as they came to the brow of a hill, Art spotted their destination.

�There,� he pointed to a set of lights gleaming in the valley at the bottom of the hill, �That is this evening�s destination.�

Ash squealed and clapped his hands together, before yelling in a very excited voice, �THE FAIR, We�re going to the fair!!!�

Raven grinned and turned to Alex, putting her arms about his waist and squeezing him, �We�re going to have so much fun!� she laughed, �I love the fair!�

Alex grinned back at her, unable to keep the joy off his face.

�Hey Mikey, hey Mikey,� Ally repeated like a small child, �We�re going to the fair, how cool is that?�

�Yes Ally,� Mikey muttered, trying to keep the amusement out of his eyes, �We�re going to the fair.�

Ally couldn�t resist a little squeal and a skip as he tunelessly sang, �We�re off to the fair!!!!�

Seiji grinned, and wrapped his arms around Art, whispering in his ear, his hot breath making his boyfriend shiver, �You are the best teacher ever.�

Art blushed, and leant back slightly against Seiji, trying to get as close to him as possible, �It should be fun,� he laughed.

Matt gently took Eagle�s hand and squeezed it, �It�s ok,� he whispered, �I�ll look after you. We don�t have to go on any of the scary rides.�

Eagle turned to him, laughter in his eyes, �Matthew,� he grinned, �I haven�t been scared of rollercoasters since I was about fourteen.�

�Mmm,� Matt frowned, sure that Eagle was still afraid, �What made you stop being scared?�

Eagle started to laugh, �You knew I was so afraid, so if you remember, you took me on one, and held my hand the whole time.�

Matt turned to him grinning, �How could I forget that.�

�I think,� Eagle dropped his voice, whispering seductively in his ear, �That maybe we can do more than just holding hands this time?�

They both laughed and started to run after the others.

As they got to the gateway of the fair, Art paid the entrance fee for all of them.

�Now,� he said, once they were inside, �Before you all run off, I want to make this absolutely clear. Meet back here at eleven o�clock, ok?�

They murmured that they understood, as they all ran off in different directions.

As they neared the front of the queue for the ride, Fergie turned to his twin, �Can I go with you?� he asked sweetly.

Tor frowned, being torn between caring for his brother and keeping an eye on his girlfriend. He turned to Marcus and said, almost in a growl, and trying to keep the distaste out of his voice for Fergie�s sake, �Walker-Brett,� he muttered, �If you touch her I�ll, I�ll�� he stuttered off, lost for a suitable threat.

Fergie looked over his twin�s shoulder at his boyfriend �please� he mouthed.

Marcus grinned his annoying easy grin, �I�ll behave myself,� he agreed, �But I�m doing it for Fergie, not for you.�

Fergie sighed softly as he leant his head on Tor�s shoulder, he just wished that they�d get along with each other, he loved them both so much.

As they passed the ticket gate the ride official barely gave Fergie a glance as he passed, if he wanted to further injure himself that was his problem.

AS they climbed into the two seat compartment that was preparing to shoot them high into the night sky Tor turned to his brother, �I love you,� he said with a smile, �You know that don�t you.�

Fergie grinned and slotted the safety bars into place.

Laughing, Tor wriggled his arm out of the chair locking mechanism and slung it around Fergie�s shoulders.

Behind them Mara slipped her hand into Marcus� smiling at him.

Marcus raised his eyebrows at her, �Is this being well behaved?� he asked her, too softly for Tor or Fergie to hear.

Mara shrugged, �We�ll you�ve hardly got your hand up my skirt,� she said rather crassly.

Marcus looked at her, trying to keep a straight face and be disapproving, before bursting into laughter.

And so, with Marcus and Mara laughing, Tor with his arm around Fergie they were shot up into the air, knocking the breath out of all four of them.

Nienna grabbed Charlie by the hand, �Come on!� she squealed, �Lets go on the teacups!�

Charlie struggled to look uninterested, and straight, when he actually really rather wanted to go on the spinning cups, he loved them. He put an arm around her shoulders, �Whatever you want,� he said coolly and diplomatically, before kissing her on the cheek.

She grinned and ran off towards the spinning teacups, dragging Charlie with her.

As they stood in the queue, Charlie was almost crushed to the ground by two very tall boys jumping on him.

Nienna groaned, and put her head in her hands, she could really do without those two right now.

�You look so straight,� Ally ruffled Charlie�s hair, �going on the teacups with your girlfriend.�

Charlie shrugged, it had taken him long years to become immune to Ally�s taunts, but he thought he�d finally managed it. �And you look so bent,� he quipped back, �going on the teacups with,� he paused and frowned in teasing mockery, �with Mikey.�

Ally gasped, looking highly offended, in a very pantomimic way, �You know you�re the only man for me,� he laughed, grabbing Charlie around the waist and smashing their hips together.

Despite the face he now claimed to be straight, and have absolutely no interest in Ally Richards, Charlie still felt himself blush as his heart fluttered when he felt their bodies meet.

Ally smirked slightly, knowing full well what Charlie was feeling, he leant closer, whispering in his ear, letting his lips brush against his skin, �Really straight Charlie, really straight.�

Toni sat on the wall, a can of lager in her hand, �This is so boring!� she moaned.

�God yeah,� J sighed, sitting down beside her, �Most boring think ever. Art�s a crap teacher to come up with this.�

They had located the vast majority of the upper sixth, and were sat with them, getting drunk and being bored. Not because they didn�t like the fair, if they had decided on their own to go, they�d have been going on all the rides and having a great time, but they were sulking because it had been organised by Andi and Art. It�s called cutting of your nose to spite your face.

Ash wandered past, and caught sight of them, in particular caught sight of Elliot, huddled in a corner, looking lonely and vulnerable. Ash smiled sweetly, and walked boldly over to him. He held out his hand.

Elliot grinned and took the proffered hand, letting Ash pull him to his feet. �Come on,� Ash grinned, �lets go find something fun to do.�

Elliot grinned, and dropped Ash�s hand, instead sliding an arm around his waist, and placing a soppy kiss on his cheek. �Thank you Ash,� he laughed as they walked off together.

(A/N: This is no indication of Ash and Elliot getting together. They won�t. So don�t get that into you�re head.)

Mikey spun around, and found just what he�d been looking for. The sight of his boyfriend however, filled him with fear.

Ally stood, licking the last strands of crystallized sugar off a stick.

�Oh God,� Mikey groaned in desperation, �Who let Ally have candyfloss?�

Ally grinned back at him, holding the now empty wooding stick in front of him, like a lance. �You can�t stop me!� he laughed, his eyes shining with a kind of manic delight, before dancing away from them.

Mikey lunched forward and grabbed Ally byt the shoulders, �Ally bear?� he said slowly and calmly, �Do you have your Ritalin?�

�No!� Ally giggled, a high pitched and childish laugh, before wriggling out of Mikey�s grip, and running away.

�What the hell?� Art asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

�Ally�s ADHD,� Mikey explained, using the acronym for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. �Sugar sets him off. He�s not supposed to eat too much sweet stuff.�

�Uh oh,� Seiji muttered with a bit of a smirk.

Mikey sighed, and rolled his eyes at them, before going in search of his boyfriend.

He found him, hiding in a dark corner, giggling manically. Laughing slightly, Mikey slipped his arms around his waist, placing a gentle kiss on Ally�s cheek.

Ally grinned, and spun around to see Mikey, his eyes shining in delight. �Hey Mike,� he grinned, before kissing him full on the mouth.

Mikey laughed when he had recovered from the shock, before whispering in Ally�s ear, �Do you know how we could get rid of all this energy?�

Far away, back at school, Sir sat in his study. He finished the last sentence of the assessment report he�d been working on, and decided he was done for the day. He reached across to the tiny switched, and turned out the lights.