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kyrene_writesTitle: Born to Blossom, Bloom to Perish: Part Two
Author:kyrenekyorl
Pairings/Characters: Eames/Arthur, Ariadne/Robert Fischer, Cobb/Mal, Saito, Yusuf
Rating: R
Word Count: 6,785
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Just another high school AU, rather self indulgent. This is dedicated to TooRational because without her encouragement and enthusiasm I probably wouldn't have gotten past the idea stage for this fic! *hearts* Happy Christmas, New Years, and birthday, my lovely!!
Warning: bullying, age difference
Author's Note: Also, Many thanks to my ladies, Fyredancer and Ginandironic, for helping me with the high school stuff (since I was homeschooled)!
"Born to Blossom, Bloom to Perish"
Part Two
by kyrene
Eames really hated when Ariadne dragged him to parties. He always felt awkward and out of place, always felt as though disaster of some sort was hanging over his head, even though it was always okay and Ari always took care of him.
But she shouldn't need to, should she? She should be enjoying herself at any given party, not babysitting him. Even when there were plenty of sophomores at whatever party it was, there were almost no freshmen. Though Eames was in the same class as the older kids, he was still a year younger, having been advanced, and he never felt it more than he did in social settings.
Ari never treated him like a child, of course. And she was only one year older. But that didn't make Eames any more comfortable when she invited him along with her. Which she did most of the time; possibly in some misguided attempt to get him to have fun. As though a raucous gathering was his idea of "fun".
It was no wonder people thought they were dating, Eames thought despairingly as they showed up at the current get-together... well, together.
They were at the Fischer house. Or, as Eames would say, manor. Ariadne called it a mansion, but Robert just called it home. His father was out of town on business, and that was cause enough for celebration as far as Robert was concerned.
And, actually, Eames felt a little better about coming to this party than he did to most others. He still owed Robert for saving him from Nash in the locker room the other day. And he liked Robert. Or, at least, he wanted a chance to get to know Robert and hopefully come to like him. Because anyone who stood up for those smaller and weaker than themselves had to be a hearty helping of all right in Eames' book.
Robert was easy on the eyes as well. Not that Eames was interested in him that way, of course. Eames and Ariadne had discussed the guys at school from time to time, and Ari had said that Robert was for sure straight. And she was never wrong about things like that. Eames was pretty sure she'd guessed about him even before he had told her about his tryst with Dom, even before he'd confessed his own definite leanings.
At any rate, just because Eames wasn't interested in someone, that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a nice view. He wasn't really attracted to females, but he found Ariadne to be incredibly aesthetically pleasing. He'd sketched her, he intended to someday get her to sit for him as he did a likeness in oils, and it was nice sometimes to just sit and look at her when they were hanging out. There wasn't anything wrong with that, and it was actually probably more healthy than being a giant horny arsehole about everyone. Even though Eames was about at the age to start sexualizing everything.
He was smart, though, and he was in control of himself. And Robert was a nice guy in addition to being pretty and intelligent. That was why Eames had no qualms about introducing him to Ariadne -- not that they all didn't know one another, but Eames had described to Ari how Robert had come to his rescue during the Nash debacle -- and that was why he was completely unsurprised and in fact completely delighted when the two of them really hit it off.
They pretty much spent the rest of Robert's party sitting side by side and talking. And since Ari was his ride, Eames stayed nearby, but he did try his best to stay out of their way.
He got a few pitying glances, which made him angry, but he swallowed that down and presented a stiff upper lip, so to speak. He and Ariadne weren't dating, and they'd both tell anyone who asked. Ari was perfectly free to chat up a good looking guy, and Eames would do nothing but encourage her in this. She'd been spending time alone with him exclusively for far too long, and she deserved a boyfriend, more than any other girl Eames knew.
Which might have been assuming a little too much.... Except for the way that Ariadne raved about Robert all the way home after the party ended. And the way they gravitated to each other at school. And the fact that they started to go out on what could only be termed actual dates.
Eames was thrilled. Yes, Ariadne was spending less time with him, but that was okay. Robert made her happy, made her face glow, and Eames only wanted her happiness, honestly. She still made sure to include Eames in some of her activities; especially if Robert couldn't make it. She never once dropped him as though he didn't matter, and it was actually quite skillful the way she was able to balance a budding, intense relationship with Robert and her steady, comfortable friendship with Eames.
Of course, everyone at school acted as though Eames had been dumped. Which was just ridiculous, since he and Ari had never been together in the first place. But Eames was adept at ignoring whispers. Some of the looks he got were more pitying than derisive, and those actually made him even more upset, but overall he tried to remain above at all.
It was no one's business whether he was with Ariadne -- which he had only been as a friend -- whether he minded her being with Robert now -- which he absolutely didn't -- and what he spent his time doing when Ari was off with Robert. He was thrilled for her, and nothing made him happier than to see the light in her eyes when she was talking to Robert, or even just talking about him.
Eames was so happy for Ariadne and so intent on ignoring the reaction of the general populace, in fact, that he forgot about one very important thing.
Whilst most of the kids in school viewed him with varying combinations and levels of scorn, pity, or indifference, there were those with a more vested interest. Or, well, maybe only one.
But Nash had a grudge and he was a right bastard. And now that Ariadne wasn't with Eames each and every moment of the school day, this gave Nash more opportunities to corner and accost Eames in a private venue.
If Eames had been forewarned of this, he'd never have left the safety of his peers. But their flat and pitying looks got to be too much for him at times, and he was inclined to seek out solitude whilst Ariadne and Robert were having some of the alone-together time they so richly deserved.
Ariadne had been keeping him safe for so long that Eames had almost forgotten what it was like to need protection, to need that buffer.
It would really have been nice to have gone without a reminder, Eames thought. Especially in the shape of Nash's knuckles.
***
Arthur was a bit nonplussed by the way his sister had completely fallen head over heels for Robert Fischer, but he wasn't going to complain.
Granted, he was an older brother, so he was pretty sure that no one would ever be good enough for Ari. But Robert came close. He was almost as intelligent as Ari was, he was good looking, dressed well, was wealthy, drove safely.... There wasn't much not to like, aside from his emotional issues with his father, and most people had that or something similar.
Also, Arthur still hadn't forgotten that Robert had been the first to leap to Eames' defense in the locker room that one time, chasing Nash off. That had won him a lot of points, and Arthur was fairly certain that it was part of the reason Ariadne had given Robert a chance in the first place.
Arthur still felt a little bad about his own inaction. Granted, Robert had acted before Arthur had been able to. But Nash had been insulting both Eames and Ari, and Arthur had just stood there eavesdropping, not doing or saying anything. It made him feel guilty and he didn't care for that feeling. No matter his own personal opinion of Eames, bullying was bullying, and Arthur had always thought that he had a zero tolerance for bullies, no matter who they were picking on.
He hadn't really felt the need for a chance at a do-over, though. And certainly not when it meant blood and pain for anyone.
But it almost seemed like fate when he and Dom were walking down an empty corridor next to the school library and they basically stumbled across an altercation.
Well, the word "altercation" generally indicated some back and forth. And maybe this conflict had started out that way, but by the time Arthur and Dom came upon Nash and Eames, the older boy definitely had the upper hand and there wasn't a whole lot of arguing going on.
Eames was bleeding, and even if he wasn't Arthur's favorite person this made him see red; figuratively as well as literally. Eames looked tiny and helpless, huddled defensively against the wall, hands protecting his face, but from the blood streaked across his upper lip and spilling down his chin, it was a little late for that.
Despite his history with Eames, Dom felt the same way about bullies that Arthur did, and he was the one who reached down and yanked Nash off of the younger boy with powerful, broad hands, throwing him across the hall so that he slammed into the opposite wall.
Arthur and Dom would both want to be on the right side of this when the Principal invariably looked into it, but they couldn't help it if a few blows landed on Nash's head and torso before he managed to pull himself away and flee.
"Eames, are you okay?" Dom asked, as they crouched before the boy. Arthur was a little startled by the real concern in Dom's voice, but he was more focused on the fact that Eames seemed to be having trouble catching his breath, and there was a lot of blood streaming from his nose. Arthur hoped it wasn't broken, hoped that Nash hadn't cracked any ribs.
"We'd better get him to the Nurse's Office," he suggested before Eames could answer, glancing at Dom.
"No, 'm fine," Eames slurred, and whether he had a broken nose or not, he definitely had a split lip. He was clearly not "fine" and Arthur wasn't about to let him get away with claiming he was.
"Come on," he said, more to Dom than to Eames, as he gripped one of Eames' upper arms and tried to urge him to stand.
He was actually taken completely by surprise when Dom shouldered him out of the way and collected Eames into his arms, lifting him and beginning to carry him down the hall.
"All right. That works too," Arthur mumbled, raising one brow as he stood and followed. Someone was going to have to report to the Principal, but he wanted to go with Dom and Eames to the Nurse's Office, wanted to make sure Eames was in good hands and that he would be okay.
Eames protested a couple of times while Dom carted him through the empty halls, but then he had to lift his shirt to try and staunch the flow of blood from his face and his words were muffled. It wasn't as though Dom or Arthur would have listened to him anyway, Arthur thought with grim humor. Not the shape Eames was in. He really was being ridiculous, resisting going to the Nurse's Office like this.
The school nurse was a placid, cheerful man who insisted on being called just-Yusuf, though Arthur was unclear as to whether this was his first or last name. He raised his brows, his round, brown face fixing in a look of faint surprise as Dom carried a bleeding and quietly complaining Eames into his office. It was probably the most animated Arthur had ever seen him -- aside from his usual pleasant half smile -- and it didn't last long.
"Set him there," Yusuf instructed, waving a hand toward the cot in the center of the room. "Is anyone else hurt?"
Arthur pulled a bitter face. "Nash probably has a few bruises," he stated honestly. "But I don't think anyone should care much about that."
Yusuf nodded and his dark brown eyes were bright even while the rest of him remained calm and collected as he moved to examine Eames.
Now that he was actually here in the Nurse's Office all of the fight seemed to go out of Eames, and he looked up at Yusuf with big, pained eyes. He looked all of ten years old for a moment, and Arthur actually felt really bad for him.
"Who's going to go and talk to the Principal?" Yusuf queried, shooting both Arthur and Dom a pointed look over his shoulder.
"I'll stay here," Arthur spoke up, casting a look at Dom. He didn't think Dom wanted to spend any more time with Eames than he had to, considering what had happened between them. Besides; " I'll text Ari, if I can do it in any way that won't have her freaking out."
Dom nodded absently, his brows were knit as he watched Yusuf begin fussing over Eames, mopping up the blood all over his lower face and checking for damage.
"She'll freak out no matter what," Dom said, his blue eyes strangely intent as he stared at Eames, not even glancing in Arthur's direction even though he was obviously talking to him. "Especially once she sees what Nash did."
Arthur sighed, because it was true. Eames looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears, though whether it was over the thought of Ariadne being upset on his behalf or whether it was due to the pain of Yusuf pressing gently at the bridge of his nose, Arthur wasn't sure. Honestly, it was most likely to be both.
"Get going," Arthur prodded Dom. Principal Browning liked both of them so he'd undoubtedly take their side over Nash's, even though he seemed to have something against Eames. Arthur suspected it had to do with Mr. Saito being Eames' guardian, since Eames himself had never been anything but a quiet and conscientious student.
Dom moved to do as directed, then paused with his hand on the doorknob.
"Eames," he said, low but intent, and his voice carried perfectly well across the small room. Yusuf was at his cabinet, getting gauze or something, and Eames had a clear line of sight to meet Dom's bright blue eyes. Which he did, some sort of powerful emotion in his own clear grey gaze.
"I'm sorry," Dom continued, and he meant the apology, it was clear to read in his voice. "I'm really sorry. For all of it."
Eames' face went blank, as though it had shut down, and before he could respond Dom was gone, out of the room. But Dom had said it and they had all heard it. And while Yusuf was ignoring the sudden tension in the room, and Eames was very determinedly not looking in Arthur's direction, Arthur suddenly had a feeling as though the ground had opened at his feet, and he knew he had an awful lot to think about.
Because Arthur wasn't stupid, and he had been Dom's best friend for a long time. He was pretty sure he could parse the meaning behind Dom's heartfelt apology without even straining his brain.
The thing was, he knew how Dominic Cobb could be. In fact, one might say that he had firsthand experience, in the most literal sense.
Hands had definitely been involved, along with some sweat, heavy breathing, and almost embarrassingly fast ejaculation. But then, they were teenage boys.
Arthur had never taken it for more than it had been and it hadn't happened more than the one time. Dom might fool around with guys as well as girls, but when it came to dating and relationships, he was strictly into females all the way.
If he dwelled on this fact, Arthur supposed that he considered it to be a quirk rather than a flaw. And he had certainly never come close to having his heart broken. He was well aware of his own sexual preference, but he and Dom had been friends too long and he knew Dom too well to have been at any risk of falling in love. Even though Dom was incredibly good looking, handsome to the point of being pretty.
So he could see where Eames might have been swept up in this beautiful intensity... especially being two years younger than Arthur and three years younger than Dom.
Eames himself was quite pretty. Well, not right now, with his nose, mouth, and chin a blood-smeared mess. But Arthur knew that those lips were plush and looked as though they'd been built for cocksucking. Back when Eames had first arrived, before he'd become friends with Ari, Eames had been less skinny, still sporting a little bit of baby fat but heading toward full adolescence with a certain amount of inborn grace.
Arthur remembering thinking that Eames was quite lovely for a barely fifteen year old. Evidently Dom had thought the same. Never mind that Dom was eighteen -- though he may still have been seventeen at the time, like that made it any better -- and ought to have known better and ought to have been mature and responsible enough to leave Eames alone.
After all, Arthur knew full well that when he wanted something, Dom had no shame.
Evidently he had no qualms about lying his ass off either, Arthur thought angrily, as he seated himself on a stool and sent Ariadne a brusque text; Eames is in the nurse's office. You should come if you can.
Everything that Arthur thought he knew about Eames was wrong, he realized, and every time he'd treated him poorly suddenly felt like the hugest asshole move on the planet. God! Dom had a lot to answer for, but it was Arthur who was left feeling like the bad guy.
Well, it had to be worse for Eames, Arthur thought with a tremendous amount of guilt weighing on him. All this time Arthur had treated Eames like he was the one in the wrong, and all along it had been Eames who had been the victim.
This thought led Arthur to the realization that Eames probably didn't really want Arthur here in the room with him, when he had been such a dick to him in the past. So the minute Ariadne roared into the nurse's office, eyes blazing with worry and righteous fury -- Robert in tow, his own expression more concerned than anything else -- Arthur made his excuses and slipped out the door.
He had a lot to do to make things up to Eames, if that was even possible at this point. And he dearly wanted to give Dom Cobb an earful.
Only it wasn't any of his business. And he supposed that there was the outside chance that he had guessed wrong. Still, he didn't think he had done so. Not the way Ariadne had always been so explosive in her defense of Eames, the way she'd always glared at Dom as though he'd personally offended her. Not knowing Dom the way Arthur did.
Arthur was sure that there was virtually no chance he'd come to the wrong conclusion. But he would ask Ari about it tonight, once the furor had died down and they were at home.
Right now, Arthur should probably go and report in with Principal Browning. Not because he didn't trust Dom to have charmed the guy around his finger, but because he wanted to make sure that there was no way Nash got out of being punished for what he'd done to Eames.
After all the shit he'd put Eames through, it was really the least Arthur could do.
Besides, he had to do something. He couldn't just stand around and twiddle his thumbs.
***
Ariadne was a bundle of volatile emotions, and Robert really was her rock.
She was livid that Nash had hurt her Eames, had split his lip and bloodied his nose and given him a knot on the back of his head. It was fortunate that his nose wasn't broken, but that was small comfort when his beautiful face was going to be black-and-blue and crimson for days, weeks, maybe longer.
She felt a tremendous amount of guilt for having left Eames on his own, so that Nash had been able to get his slimy hands on him. Eames was absolutely not blaming her for this, had told her so in as many words because he'd anticipated her reaction, but that did nothing to absolve her of her feelings of being at fault.
And she throbbed with sympathetic pain for Eames and his poor battered face. Her baby, her best friend, the boy she considered to be her other brother, and he was hurt, and there was nothing she could do to make him heal faster.
She felt something over the fact that Dom and Arthur had been the ones to come to Eames' aid, but she wasn't quite sure what that something was. It didn't make up for the way Dom had debauched Eames or the way Arthur had always been so rude to him, but it had been good of them.
She had to make sure that Robert didn't think that she in any way blamed him or their budding relationship for the fact that Eames had been alone when Nash had attacked him. Because she didn't. She should have made sure that Eames wasn't alone, but that was entirely separate from Robert.
Beside which, Eames ought to have been able to walk anywhere in the school, alone or in company, without being set upon by asshole jerks with an irrational grudge.
By the time she got home Ariadne was exhausted. She'd driven Eames home because no way was he taking the bus in his state. She'd fussed over him, had made sure he'd eaten and then took the pain pills the school nurse had given him -- which she was pretty sure required a prescription, but if Yusuf wanted to render Eames pain-free she wasn't about to narc him out -- and she'd wanted to spend the night, but Eames had insisted, already drowsy from the pain meds, that he'd be fine and that he wanted her to go home.
Ariadne figured he was probably a little humiliated over having been beaten so soundly by Nash -- never mind that the older teen was both bigger and stronger than Eames -- and so she didn't argue. Even though she felt like he shouldn't be alone right now.
But he was sound asleep before she let herself out of the house, and even with the fact that Eames was hurt, she didn't think her parents would liked the idea of her spending the night alone with a boy. Even if he was gay and her best friend in the world. And it was too late to ask if Eames could stay in one of their guest rooms, since he was already sunk deep in a drugged slumber. So she resigned herself to a stressful evening and sleepless night, and resolved to be at Eames' place first thing in the morning so that he didn't have to spend any more time alone than absolutely necessary.
She'd been prepared to tell her parents all about what had happened at the dinner table -- with Arthur's help, since he'd been more directly involved than she had been -- and so they had done. She'd known she was going to crash hard once it was time to head for bed. But she hadn't expect that Arthur would come knocking on her bedroom door before she had even gotten in her pajamas.
"What?" she greeted inelegantly as she let him in her bedroom. She was tired and she just wanted to get Robert on video chat and talk to him for a while, long enough that he might manage to make her feel better, then fall asleep.
And Arthur looked all super-serious. She knew her brother, so she knew when something was bothering him. And right now something was definitely bothering him.
"So, I owe Eames an apology, don't I," he said without preamble, and he spoke it as a statement rather than a question.
"Yes," Ariadne responded immediately, then, "Wait, what?" She blinked. "You're the one who stopped Nash from beating him up. You and Dom, right?"
Arthur grimaced and sank down to sit in Ariadne's chair at her desk. She frowned and flopped on the edge of her bed, peeling off her socks.
"I meant for...." Arthur flapped one large hand as though this was supposed to explain anything. Ariadne raised her brows, waiting.
Arthur sighed. "When we took Eames to the Nurse's Office today, Dom told Eames he was sorry," he said.
Ariadne wrinkled her nose in distaste, the way she usually did when her brother mentioned his best friend. "So?"
"So," Arthur's forehead furrowed. "So it's not like he was apologizing for stopping Nash. I'm not dumb, Ari. I can pretty much guess why Dom was apologizing."
This wasn't anything Ariadne had been expecting, but she thought that it might go a long way toward explaining why Eames had been so quiet ever since she'd joined him in the Nurse's Office. Well, aside from the split lip and the bruises on his ribs and his sore nose, of course. But emotional turmoil made as much sense as physical discomfort and pain.
"Ugh," she said, making a face that she readily admitted was unattractive. There was only her brother here to see it and she was thinking unattractive thoughts right now. "Dom can manage to make things worse even when he's trying to be nice."
Arthur didn't defend Dom; in fact he nodded in agreement with Ariadne. Which surprised her, it really did.
"So what actually happened?" he asked curiously. "I can make a good guess, but...."
Ariadne bit her lip and fidgeted. "I can't tell you," she said ruefully. "Eames made me swear not to ever tell anyone, and I'm pretty sure you count. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you're pretty high on the list of people he wouldn't want knowing the details."
Arthur frowned more deeply, but not in a way that told her he was angry at her. "I can respect that," he said slowly. "But can you at least tell me whether I'm guessing right?"
Ariadne pursed her lips, thinking. Arthur hadn't told her what he had guessed, but she didn't think she needed to ask him for specificity. All things taken into consideration, they were probably on the same page. And it seemed as though Arthur disapproved of Dom's actions just as much as Ariadne did.
"I can't verify anything," she said carefully, because even though she wanted Arthur to share her outrage and to realize that Eames had been the one who'd been hurt by Dom and not vice versa, she really, really couldn't betray Eames' trust like that. "I promised Eames."
Arthur nodded, and he looked thoughtful. "All right. But I'm taking the fact that you haven't offered me any refutation as a implicit sort of confirmation."
"Really?" Ariadne rolled her eyes. She'd understood every word of that, but she still felt that Arthur was beyond pretentious for wording it the way he had done. "Been hitting the PSAT vocab books a little too hard there, Arthur."
Arthur ignored her, and now he was frowning again. "So, the question stands. Do I owe Eames an apology?"
"Owe him? Yes," Ariadne replied with blunt honesty, since this was a question she could answer without giving anything away. "But I don't think you should actually apologize."
"No?"
She shook her head, smiling a little at her brother's surprise, but mostly concerned about Eames and his feelings. "No. If you apologize, he'll know why you did it, and it'll embarrass him. He's already been through enough shit thanks to Dom. You should spare him that."
"Okay," Arthur gave in easily enough. "But what about.... Ari, I think I'd like to get to know him now. Like, really get to know him. He's your best friend and he's a good guy. Now that I'm not being an asshole because of Dom's lies, I'd like a chance to get to... maybe hang out with him the way you do?"
"Really?" This was more than Ariadne had expected of her brother. But she supposed she shouldn't be so surprised. She'd only been singing Eames' praises to her family ever since they'd first become friends. Even though he'd been soured on Eames by stupid Dom, Arthur had heard a majority of what she'd said, and some of it had to have processed.
And, besides, Eames was really good looking and Arthur was the kind to be appreciative of a good looking guy who was also a sweetheart....
But before she went matchmaking, Ariadne had to make sure that Arthur deserved Eames. It was a little strange to think of it that way when Arthur was her brother and Eames was only her friend, even if he did feel like family. But Eames had been hurt by Dom back when he'd been too young to know better. When he'd definitely been too young to protect himself. And he was still so young. Arthur was fine, he'd be fine. He was older and his heart was intact.
So, yeah. Arthur was going to have to prove himself, both as Eames' friend and possibly as more.
It would be kind of awesome, Ariadne thought, if Arthur and Eames got together. But that was getting ahead of herself. Right now Arthur was only asking if she thought he could become friends with Eames. The rest of it... well, if it happened, that could come later.
"I don't know if he's going to trust you," she said honestly, watching Arthur's face fall and thinking that he had a much better chance because he actually, really did care. "And I still maintain that you shouldn't apologize to him outright. But if you start treating him the way you should have all along, being friendly instead of cold, being nice because you want to and not out of forced politeness...."
Arthur was nodding. "Will you put in a good word for me?" he asked, and Ariadne smiled warmly. Sometimes he could be a blockhead but she really did love her brother, and she wanted him to be happy.
"If I can without giving the game away or sounding too weird," she offered. "It'll be easier the more he gets to know you. But don't be surprised if he doesn't want to give you a chance, at least at first. There's a lot of bad blood to overcome, after all."
"All of it my fault," Arthur bemoaned.
"Well, Dom's fault," Ariadne reminded. "But, honestly, Arthur, you should have known better. Did you really think all this time that I'd be best friends with Eames if he hadn't been a wonderful person?"
"I should have known better," Arthur agreed, nodding, his expression earnest. "I do now. So hopefully I can fix things between me and Eames."
"I'll help if I can," Ariadne vowed. "But if it seems like it might mess up things between me and Eames, you're on your own."
Arthur grinned suddenly, smiling for the first time since he'd entered her room. "Fair enough."
"Now, get out of here," Ariadne directed, yawning widely. "I wanna get ready for bed, talk to Robert, and then sleep."
Arthur stood and crossed to the door as directed, but he paused before leaving the room. "Are you.... You're going over to see Eames tomorrow morning, right?"
"Too much too soon," she informed him, though she approved of his resolve. Arthur never did do things by half measures. "Wait until the next time I have him over, okay? And then if it doesn't make Eames too uncomfortable, you can hang out with us a little. I'll keep us in the den for a while, since it'd be really weird if you came into my room all of a sudden when you never have before."
Arthur nodded, gave her a last sweet smile, and left.
Ariadne yawned again, scrubbed at her face, then changed into her pajamas as quickly as possible. She had even more to talk to Robert about now. She'd promised not to tell anyone about what Dom had done to Eames, true, and that included her boyfriend as well as her brother. But that didn't mean that there weren't other things she could talk to him about.
Like the fact that she was beginning to think that Arthur and Eames might make a good couple.
It might seem crazy to someone who didn't know them as well as she did, but Robert would understand, she was sure if it.
It was a great idea, almost as great as her and Robert, and if she hadn't been so exhausted she'd have been even more excited about it. As it was, she was suddenly consumed with the need to tell someone about it. And who better to tell than her boyfriend?
Besides, she'd been going to talk to Robert anyway. It was the next best thing to having him physically with her, and since she couldn't have that she could at least see his pretty face on her computer screen before she fell asleep and hopefully saw it some more in her dreams.
***
When Eames woke up, everything hurt. For a long moment he couldn't remember why. Then he went to roll over, his entire face throbbed, he remembered what had happened, and he kind of wanted to cry.
Not so much because of the pain, though that was nothing to be shrugged off. It was only Thursday, so he couldn't stay home sick, even though he was sure that the school nurse, Yusuf, would have supported him in this.
Mainly, he wanted to cry because he was feeling rather humiliated. Nash had really done a number on him. True, Nash was bigger and stronger and older than Eames, but Eames really felt as though he should have held up better. Or been able to run faster and get away. Or something.
And then it had been Dom and Arthur who'd come to his rescue. Dom, who had done wrong by him, and Arthur who had never given him a chance. Eames didn't really feel like thinking good thoughts about either of them, and now he owed both of them. He really didn't want to, but he couldn't change what had happened, and he wasn't going to be so churlish as to ignore it.
Dom had apologized to Eames before leaving the Nurse's Office, and Eames didn't know what to do with that. He didn't want to do anything with it, honestly, but he didn't know whether or not ignoring what had happened was an option.
If anything the apology had made Eames feel worse. He didn't think that was what Dom had meant when he'd done it, but that didn't really make any great difference.
Eames was just pulling himself together enough to get out of bed when Ariadne showed up. She'd had her own key for most of the time they'd known one another and was never shy about using it. Eames didn't think that Mr. Saito would have been really chuffed if he'd known about it, but he didn't like being home alone and knowing that no one else had any way to get in. Besides, he knew that Ariadne was utterly responsible and would never abuse this privilege.
Well, aside from her taking the opportunity to enter Eames' room whilst he was still in bed.
"Hey, Eames," Ari cooed, her brows knotted up in a little frown, her eyes dark with worry. "How are you feeling?"
"How do I look?" he asked, a little surprised when his voice came out in a hoarse croak.
"Like shit," she replied candidly, because she was a good friend like that.
"And there you go," Eames concluded, smiling at her even though it really hurt to do so, especially with his split lip. But he felt better already with Ari here, and even though he was still embarrassed by everything that had happened the day before, he was grateful for her presence and her concern.
Ariadne gave him a careful hug, mindful of his ribs. It still hurt, but he couldn't begrudge the hug. Not when he felt as though he needed the embrace at least as much as she evidently did.
"I'm going to go make you some tea," Ariadne said, kissing his cheek lightly. "Go ahead and get ready for school... if you're going."
"I'm going," he mumbled, then went to bathe.
It wasn't until he got a good look at himself in the mirror that he realized how tactful Ariadne had been in her assessment of his looks. He supposed if Dom and Arthur hadn't come to his rescue he might have looked worse, but it was hard to imagine how.
"You're coming home with me after school," Ariadne informed him as she cooked them up a breakfast that he had no stomach for. With his split lip it hurt enough just sipping hot tea out of a mug. Then again, he couldn't take any more pain pills until he had something in his stomach. Dammit.
Eames didn't argue, even though he didn't particularly feel very sociable. He knew that Ari still felt guilty, even though he'd specifically told her not to, and so anything that might make her feel better....
"Just don't mind if I fall asleep and drool on your bed," he mumbled, a little slurred because evidently speaking through a giant scab on one's lower lip really hurt; who knew.
"I never have before," she replied impishly, setting a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him with another affectionate kiss, this one to the crown of his head. It felt a little strange, being mothered by a girl only one year older than he was, but he didn't really mind. Not when he was as sore and upset as he still was.
Speaking of parents, Eames didn't really want Ariadne's mother and father seeing the state he was in. But there was no way Ariadne was going to let him go back on his word and head straight home after school.
And if he was painfully honest, he didn't really want to be alone again. He didn't have anyone here; not even Mr. Saito. Ariadne was like a sister to him and she was perfectly willing to share her own family. Who was he to turn that down?
Showering and getting dressed whilst Ari had made them breakfast had been an ordeal. Drinking his tea and eating said breakfast had made his split lip throb. Somehow Ariadne seemed to intuit that his right arm ached -- possibly the fact that he ate his eggs with his left hand had something to do with this -- and so she offered to do his hair for him. He didn't turn her down, though he did have to ask her to be tender around the back of his skull, where Nash had slammed him into the wall.
"I love you, Eames," she said with all affection, kissing him yet a third time once she was done with his hair. Her eyes were dark and a little wet, and Eames hoped she wasn't feeling guilty for the fact that he'd been alone in that corridor.
"Love you too," he replied, squeezing her fingers with his good left hand. He generally preferred to express such emotions through actions rather than words, but he knew that sometimes people just needed to hear it. And Ariadne had said it first; it would have been impolite not to reciprocate.
Then she proved her love by getting him some of his meds before bundled him into her car. He didn't really want to go to school, but with Ari by his side, he was going to do okay.
If he couldn't do it for himself, then he would be able to do it for her.
next
Author:
kyrenekyorlPairings/Characters: Eames/Arthur, Ariadne/Robert Fischer, Cobb/Mal, Saito, Yusuf
Rating: R
Word Count: 6,785
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Just another high school AU, rather self indulgent. This is dedicated to TooRational because without her encouragement and enthusiasm I probably wouldn't have gotten past the idea stage for this fic! *hearts* Happy Christmas, New Years, and birthday, my lovely!!
Warning: bullying, age difference
Author's Note: Also, Many thanks to my ladies, Fyredancer and Ginandironic, for helping me with the high school stuff (since I was homeschooled)!
Part Two
by kyrene
Eames really hated when Ariadne dragged him to parties. He always felt awkward and out of place, always felt as though disaster of some sort was hanging over his head, even though it was always okay and Ari always took care of him.
But she shouldn't need to, should she? She should be enjoying herself at any given party, not babysitting him. Even when there were plenty of sophomores at whatever party it was, there were almost no freshmen. Though Eames was in the same class as the older kids, he was still a year younger, having been advanced, and he never felt it more than he did in social settings.
Ari never treated him like a child, of course. And she was only one year older. But that didn't make Eames any more comfortable when she invited him along with her. Which she did most of the time; possibly in some misguided attempt to get him to have fun. As though a raucous gathering was his idea of "fun".
It was no wonder people thought they were dating, Eames thought despairingly as they showed up at the current get-together... well, together.
They were at the Fischer house. Or, as Eames would say, manor. Ariadne called it a mansion, but Robert just called it home. His father was out of town on business, and that was cause enough for celebration as far as Robert was concerned.
And, actually, Eames felt a little better about coming to this party than he did to most others. He still owed Robert for saving him from Nash in the locker room the other day. And he liked Robert. Or, at least, he wanted a chance to get to know Robert and hopefully come to like him. Because anyone who stood up for those smaller and weaker than themselves had to be a hearty helping of all right in Eames' book.
Robert was easy on the eyes as well. Not that Eames was interested in him that way, of course. Eames and Ariadne had discussed the guys at school from time to time, and Ari had said that Robert was for sure straight. And she was never wrong about things like that. Eames was pretty sure she'd guessed about him even before he had told her about his tryst with Dom, even before he'd confessed his own definite leanings.
At any rate, just because Eames wasn't interested in someone, that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a nice view. He wasn't really attracted to females, but he found Ariadne to be incredibly aesthetically pleasing. He'd sketched her, he intended to someday get her to sit for him as he did a likeness in oils, and it was nice sometimes to just sit and look at her when they were hanging out. There wasn't anything wrong with that, and it was actually probably more healthy than being a giant horny arsehole about everyone. Even though Eames was about at the age to start sexualizing everything.
He was smart, though, and he was in control of himself. And Robert was a nice guy in addition to being pretty and intelligent. That was why Eames had no qualms about introducing him to Ariadne -- not that they all didn't know one another, but Eames had described to Ari how Robert had come to his rescue during the Nash debacle -- and that was why he was completely unsurprised and in fact completely delighted when the two of them really hit it off.
They pretty much spent the rest of Robert's party sitting side by side and talking. And since Ari was his ride, Eames stayed nearby, but he did try his best to stay out of their way.
He got a few pitying glances, which made him angry, but he swallowed that down and presented a stiff upper lip, so to speak. He and Ariadne weren't dating, and they'd both tell anyone who asked. Ari was perfectly free to chat up a good looking guy, and Eames would do nothing but encourage her in this. She'd been spending time alone with him exclusively for far too long, and she deserved a boyfriend, more than any other girl Eames knew.
Which might have been assuming a little too much.... Except for the way that Ariadne raved about Robert all the way home after the party ended. And the way they gravitated to each other at school. And the fact that they started to go out on what could only be termed actual dates.
Eames was thrilled. Yes, Ariadne was spending less time with him, but that was okay. Robert made her happy, made her face glow, and Eames only wanted her happiness, honestly. She still made sure to include Eames in some of her activities; especially if Robert couldn't make it. She never once dropped him as though he didn't matter, and it was actually quite skillful the way she was able to balance a budding, intense relationship with Robert and her steady, comfortable friendship with Eames.
Of course, everyone at school acted as though Eames had been dumped. Which was just ridiculous, since he and Ari had never been together in the first place. But Eames was adept at ignoring whispers. Some of the looks he got were more pitying than derisive, and those actually made him even more upset, but overall he tried to remain above at all.
It was no one's business whether he was with Ariadne -- which he had only been as a friend -- whether he minded her being with Robert now -- which he absolutely didn't -- and what he spent his time doing when Ari was off with Robert. He was thrilled for her, and nothing made him happier than to see the light in her eyes when she was talking to Robert, or even just talking about him.
Eames was so happy for Ariadne and so intent on ignoring the reaction of the general populace, in fact, that he forgot about one very important thing.
Whilst most of the kids in school viewed him with varying combinations and levels of scorn, pity, or indifference, there were those with a more vested interest. Or, well, maybe only one.
But Nash had a grudge and he was a right bastard. And now that Ariadne wasn't with Eames each and every moment of the school day, this gave Nash more opportunities to corner and accost Eames in a private venue.
If Eames had been forewarned of this, he'd never have left the safety of his peers. But their flat and pitying looks got to be too much for him at times, and he was inclined to seek out solitude whilst Ariadne and Robert were having some of the alone-together time they so richly deserved.
Ariadne had been keeping him safe for so long that Eames had almost forgotten what it was like to need protection, to need that buffer.
It would really have been nice to have gone without a reminder, Eames thought. Especially in the shape of Nash's knuckles.
***
Arthur was a bit nonplussed by the way his sister had completely fallen head over heels for Robert Fischer, but he wasn't going to complain.
Granted, he was an older brother, so he was pretty sure that no one would ever be good enough for Ari. But Robert came close. He was almost as intelligent as Ari was, he was good looking, dressed well, was wealthy, drove safely.... There wasn't much not to like, aside from his emotional issues with his father, and most people had that or something similar.
Also, Arthur still hadn't forgotten that Robert had been the first to leap to Eames' defense in the locker room that one time, chasing Nash off. That had won him a lot of points, and Arthur was fairly certain that it was part of the reason Ariadne had given Robert a chance in the first place.
Arthur still felt a little bad about his own inaction. Granted, Robert had acted before Arthur had been able to. But Nash had been insulting both Eames and Ari, and Arthur had just stood there eavesdropping, not doing or saying anything. It made him feel guilty and he didn't care for that feeling. No matter his own personal opinion of Eames, bullying was bullying, and Arthur had always thought that he had a zero tolerance for bullies, no matter who they were picking on.
He hadn't really felt the need for a chance at a do-over, though. And certainly not when it meant blood and pain for anyone.
But it almost seemed like fate when he and Dom were walking down an empty corridor next to the school library and they basically stumbled across an altercation.
Well, the word "altercation" generally indicated some back and forth. And maybe this conflict had started out that way, but by the time Arthur and Dom came upon Nash and Eames, the older boy definitely had the upper hand and there wasn't a whole lot of arguing going on.
Eames was bleeding, and even if he wasn't Arthur's favorite person this made him see red; figuratively as well as literally. Eames looked tiny and helpless, huddled defensively against the wall, hands protecting his face, but from the blood streaked across his upper lip and spilling down his chin, it was a little late for that.
Despite his history with Eames, Dom felt the same way about bullies that Arthur did, and he was the one who reached down and yanked Nash off of the younger boy with powerful, broad hands, throwing him across the hall so that he slammed into the opposite wall.
Arthur and Dom would both want to be on the right side of this when the Principal invariably looked into it, but they couldn't help it if a few blows landed on Nash's head and torso before he managed to pull himself away and flee.
"Eames, are you okay?" Dom asked, as they crouched before the boy. Arthur was a little startled by the real concern in Dom's voice, but he was more focused on the fact that Eames seemed to be having trouble catching his breath, and there was a lot of blood streaming from his nose. Arthur hoped it wasn't broken, hoped that Nash hadn't cracked any ribs.
"We'd better get him to the Nurse's Office," he suggested before Eames could answer, glancing at Dom.
"No, 'm fine," Eames slurred, and whether he had a broken nose or not, he definitely had a split lip. He was clearly not "fine" and Arthur wasn't about to let him get away with claiming he was.
"Come on," he said, more to Dom than to Eames, as he gripped one of Eames' upper arms and tried to urge him to stand.
He was actually taken completely by surprise when Dom shouldered him out of the way and collected Eames into his arms, lifting him and beginning to carry him down the hall.
"All right. That works too," Arthur mumbled, raising one brow as he stood and followed. Someone was going to have to report to the Principal, but he wanted to go with Dom and Eames to the Nurse's Office, wanted to make sure Eames was in good hands and that he would be okay.
Eames protested a couple of times while Dom carted him through the empty halls, but then he had to lift his shirt to try and staunch the flow of blood from his face and his words were muffled. It wasn't as though Dom or Arthur would have listened to him anyway, Arthur thought with grim humor. Not the shape Eames was in. He really was being ridiculous, resisting going to the Nurse's Office like this.
The school nurse was a placid, cheerful man who insisted on being called just-Yusuf, though Arthur was unclear as to whether this was his first or last name. He raised his brows, his round, brown face fixing in a look of faint surprise as Dom carried a bleeding and quietly complaining Eames into his office. It was probably the most animated Arthur had ever seen him -- aside from his usual pleasant half smile -- and it didn't last long.
"Set him there," Yusuf instructed, waving a hand toward the cot in the center of the room. "Is anyone else hurt?"
Arthur pulled a bitter face. "Nash probably has a few bruises," he stated honestly. "But I don't think anyone should care much about that."
Yusuf nodded and his dark brown eyes were bright even while the rest of him remained calm and collected as he moved to examine Eames.
Now that he was actually here in the Nurse's Office all of the fight seemed to go out of Eames, and he looked up at Yusuf with big, pained eyes. He looked all of ten years old for a moment, and Arthur actually felt really bad for him.
"Who's going to go and talk to the Principal?" Yusuf queried, shooting both Arthur and Dom a pointed look over his shoulder.
"I'll stay here," Arthur spoke up, casting a look at Dom. He didn't think Dom wanted to spend any more time with Eames than he had to, considering what had happened between them. Besides; " I'll text Ari, if I can do it in any way that won't have her freaking out."
Dom nodded absently, his brows were knit as he watched Yusuf begin fussing over Eames, mopping up the blood all over his lower face and checking for damage.
"She'll freak out no matter what," Dom said, his blue eyes strangely intent as he stared at Eames, not even glancing in Arthur's direction even though he was obviously talking to him. "Especially once she sees what Nash did."
Arthur sighed, because it was true. Eames looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears, though whether it was over the thought of Ariadne being upset on his behalf or whether it was due to the pain of Yusuf pressing gently at the bridge of his nose, Arthur wasn't sure. Honestly, it was most likely to be both.
"Get going," Arthur prodded Dom. Principal Browning liked both of them so he'd undoubtedly take their side over Nash's, even though he seemed to have something against Eames. Arthur suspected it had to do with Mr. Saito being Eames' guardian, since Eames himself had never been anything but a quiet and conscientious student.
Dom moved to do as directed, then paused with his hand on the doorknob.
"Eames," he said, low but intent, and his voice carried perfectly well across the small room. Yusuf was at his cabinet, getting gauze or something, and Eames had a clear line of sight to meet Dom's bright blue eyes. Which he did, some sort of powerful emotion in his own clear grey gaze.
"I'm sorry," Dom continued, and he meant the apology, it was clear to read in his voice. "I'm really sorry. For all of it."
Eames' face went blank, as though it had shut down, and before he could respond Dom was gone, out of the room. But Dom had said it and they had all heard it. And while Yusuf was ignoring the sudden tension in the room, and Eames was very determinedly not looking in Arthur's direction, Arthur suddenly had a feeling as though the ground had opened at his feet, and he knew he had an awful lot to think about.
Because Arthur wasn't stupid, and he had been Dom's best friend for a long time. He was pretty sure he could parse the meaning behind Dom's heartfelt apology without even straining his brain.
The thing was, he knew how Dominic Cobb could be. In fact, one might say that he had firsthand experience, in the most literal sense.
Hands had definitely been involved, along with some sweat, heavy breathing, and almost embarrassingly fast ejaculation. But then, they were teenage boys.
Arthur had never taken it for more than it had been and it hadn't happened more than the one time. Dom might fool around with guys as well as girls, but when it came to dating and relationships, he was strictly into females all the way.
If he dwelled on this fact, Arthur supposed that he considered it to be a quirk rather than a flaw. And he had certainly never come close to having his heart broken. He was well aware of his own sexual preference, but he and Dom had been friends too long and he knew Dom too well to have been at any risk of falling in love. Even though Dom was incredibly good looking, handsome to the point of being pretty.
So he could see where Eames might have been swept up in this beautiful intensity... especially being two years younger than Arthur and three years younger than Dom.
Eames himself was quite pretty. Well, not right now, with his nose, mouth, and chin a blood-smeared mess. But Arthur knew that those lips were plush and looked as though they'd been built for cocksucking. Back when Eames had first arrived, before he'd become friends with Ari, Eames had been less skinny, still sporting a little bit of baby fat but heading toward full adolescence with a certain amount of inborn grace.
Arthur remembering thinking that Eames was quite lovely for a barely fifteen year old. Evidently Dom had thought the same. Never mind that Dom was eighteen -- though he may still have been seventeen at the time, like that made it any better -- and ought to have known better and ought to have been mature and responsible enough to leave Eames alone.
After all, Arthur knew full well that when he wanted something, Dom had no shame.
Evidently he had no qualms about lying his ass off either, Arthur thought angrily, as he seated himself on a stool and sent Ariadne a brusque text; Eames is in the nurse's office. You should come if you can.
Everything that Arthur thought he knew about Eames was wrong, he realized, and every time he'd treated him poorly suddenly felt like the hugest asshole move on the planet. God! Dom had a lot to answer for, but it was Arthur who was left feeling like the bad guy.
Well, it had to be worse for Eames, Arthur thought with a tremendous amount of guilt weighing on him. All this time Arthur had treated Eames like he was the one in the wrong, and all along it had been Eames who had been the victim.
This thought led Arthur to the realization that Eames probably didn't really want Arthur here in the room with him, when he had been such a dick to him in the past. So the minute Ariadne roared into the nurse's office, eyes blazing with worry and righteous fury -- Robert in tow, his own expression more concerned than anything else -- Arthur made his excuses and slipped out the door.
He had a lot to do to make things up to Eames, if that was even possible at this point. And he dearly wanted to give Dom Cobb an earful.
Only it wasn't any of his business. And he supposed that there was the outside chance that he had guessed wrong. Still, he didn't think he had done so. Not the way Ariadne had always been so explosive in her defense of Eames, the way she'd always glared at Dom as though he'd personally offended her. Not knowing Dom the way Arthur did.
Arthur was sure that there was virtually no chance he'd come to the wrong conclusion. But he would ask Ari about it tonight, once the furor had died down and they were at home.
Right now, Arthur should probably go and report in with Principal Browning. Not because he didn't trust Dom to have charmed the guy around his finger, but because he wanted to make sure that there was no way Nash got out of being punished for what he'd done to Eames.
After all the shit he'd put Eames through, it was really the least Arthur could do.
Besides, he had to do something. He couldn't just stand around and twiddle his thumbs.
***
Ariadne was a bundle of volatile emotions, and Robert really was her rock.
She was livid that Nash had hurt her Eames, had split his lip and bloodied his nose and given him a knot on the back of his head. It was fortunate that his nose wasn't broken, but that was small comfort when his beautiful face was going to be black-and-blue and crimson for days, weeks, maybe longer.
She felt a tremendous amount of guilt for having left Eames on his own, so that Nash had been able to get his slimy hands on him. Eames was absolutely not blaming her for this, had told her so in as many words because he'd anticipated her reaction, but that did nothing to absolve her of her feelings of being at fault.
And she throbbed with sympathetic pain for Eames and his poor battered face. Her baby, her best friend, the boy she considered to be her other brother, and he was hurt, and there was nothing she could do to make him heal faster.
She felt something over the fact that Dom and Arthur had been the ones to come to Eames' aid, but she wasn't quite sure what that something was. It didn't make up for the way Dom had debauched Eames or the way Arthur had always been so rude to him, but it had been good of them.
She had to make sure that Robert didn't think that she in any way blamed him or their budding relationship for the fact that Eames had been alone when Nash had attacked him. Because she didn't. She should have made sure that Eames wasn't alone, but that was entirely separate from Robert.
Beside which, Eames ought to have been able to walk anywhere in the school, alone or in company, without being set upon by asshole jerks with an irrational grudge.
By the time she got home Ariadne was exhausted. She'd driven Eames home because no way was he taking the bus in his state. She'd fussed over him, had made sure he'd eaten and then took the pain pills the school nurse had given him -- which she was pretty sure required a prescription, but if Yusuf wanted to render Eames pain-free she wasn't about to narc him out -- and she'd wanted to spend the night, but Eames had insisted, already drowsy from the pain meds, that he'd be fine and that he wanted her to go home.
Ariadne figured he was probably a little humiliated over having been beaten so soundly by Nash -- never mind that the older teen was both bigger and stronger than Eames -- and so she didn't argue. Even though she felt like he shouldn't be alone right now.
But he was sound asleep before she let herself out of the house, and even with the fact that Eames was hurt, she didn't think her parents would liked the idea of her spending the night alone with a boy. Even if he was gay and her best friend in the world. And it was too late to ask if Eames could stay in one of their guest rooms, since he was already sunk deep in a drugged slumber. So she resigned herself to a stressful evening and sleepless night, and resolved to be at Eames' place first thing in the morning so that he didn't have to spend any more time alone than absolutely necessary.
She'd been prepared to tell her parents all about what had happened at the dinner table -- with Arthur's help, since he'd been more directly involved than she had been -- and so they had done. She'd known she was going to crash hard once it was time to head for bed. But she hadn't expect that Arthur would come knocking on her bedroom door before she had even gotten in her pajamas.
"What?" she greeted inelegantly as she let him in her bedroom. She was tired and she just wanted to get Robert on video chat and talk to him for a while, long enough that he might manage to make her feel better, then fall asleep.
And Arthur looked all super-serious. She knew her brother, so she knew when something was bothering him. And right now something was definitely bothering him.
"So, I owe Eames an apology, don't I," he said without preamble, and he spoke it as a statement rather than a question.
"Yes," Ariadne responded immediately, then, "Wait, what?" She blinked. "You're the one who stopped Nash from beating him up. You and Dom, right?"
Arthur grimaced and sank down to sit in Ariadne's chair at her desk. She frowned and flopped on the edge of her bed, peeling off her socks.
"I meant for...." Arthur flapped one large hand as though this was supposed to explain anything. Ariadne raised her brows, waiting.
Arthur sighed. "When we took Eames to the Nurse's Office today, Dom told Eames he was sorry," he said.
Ariadne wrinkled her nose in distaste, the way she usually did when her brother mentioned his best friend. "So?"
"So," Arthur's forehead furrowed. "So it's not like he was apologizing for stopping Nash. I'm not dumb, Ari. I can pretty much guess why Dom was apologizing."
This wasn't anything Ariadne had been expecting, but she thought that it might go a long way toward explaining why Eames had been so quiet ever since she'd joined him in the Nurse's Office. Well, aside from the split lip and the bruises on his ribs and his sore nose, of course. But emotional turmoil made as much sense as physical discomfort and pain.
"Ugh," she said, making a face that she readily admitted was unattractive. There was only her brother here to see it and she was thinking unattractive thoughts right now. "Dom can manage to make things worse even when he's trying to be nice."
Arthur didn't defend Dom; in fact he nodded in agreement with Ariadne. Which surprised her, it really did.
"So what actually happened?" he asked curiously. "I can make a good guess, but...."
Ariadne bit her lip and fidgeted. "I can't tell you," she said ruefully. "Eames made me swear not to ever tell anyone, and I'm pretty sure you count. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you're pretty high on the list of people he wouldn't want knowing the details."
Arthur frowned more deeply, but not in a way that told her he was angry at her. "I can respect that," he said slowly. "But can you at least tell me whether I'm guessing right?"
Ariadne pursed her lips, thinking. Arthur hadn't told her what he had guessed, but she didn't think she needed to ask him for specificity. All things taken into consideration, they were probably on the same page. And it seemed as though Arthur disapproved of Dom's actions just as much as Ariadne did.
"I can't verify anything," she said carefully, because even though she wanted Arthur to share her outrage and to realize that Eames had been the one who'd been hurt by Dom and not vice versa, she really, really couldn't betray Eames' trust like that. "I promised Eames."
Arthur nodded, and he looked thoughtful. "All right. But I'm taking the fact that you haven't offered me any refutation as a implicit sort of confirmation."
"Really?" Ariadne rolled her eyes. She'd understood every word of that, but she still felt that Arthur was beyond pretentious for wording it the way he had done. "Been hitting the PSAT vocab books a little too hard there, Arthur."
Arthur ignored her, and now he was frowning again. "So, the question stands. Do I owe Eames an apology?"
"Owe him? Yes," Ariadne replied with blunt honesty, since this was a question she could answer without giving anything away. "But I don't think you should actually apologize."
"No?"
She shook her head, smiling a little at her brother's surprise, but mostly concerned about Eames and his feelings. "No. If you apologize, he'll know why you did it, and it'll embarrass him. He's already been through enough shit thanks to Dom. You should spare him that."
"Okay," Arthur gave in easily enough. "But what about.... Ari, I think I'd like to get to know him now. Like, really get to know him. He's your best friend and he's a good guy. Now that I'm not being an asshole because of Dom's lies, I'd like a chance to get to... maybe hang out with him the way you do?"
"Really?" This was more than Ariadne had expected of her brother. But she supposed she shouldn't be so surprised. She'd only been singing Eames' praises to her family ever since they'd first become friends. Even though he'd been soured on Eames by stupid Dom, Arthur had heard a majority of what she'd said, and some of it had to have processed.
And, besides, Eames was really good looking and Arthur was the kind to be appreciative of a good looking guy who was also a sweetheart....
But before she went matchmaking, Ariadne had to make sure that Arthur deserved Eames. It was a little strange to think of it that way when Arthur was her brother and Eames was only her friend, even if he did feel like family. But Eames had been hurt by Dom back when he'd been too young to know better. When he'd definitely been too young to protect himself. And he was still so young. Arthur was fine, he'd be fine. He was older and his heart was intact.
So, yeah. Arthur was going to have to prove himself, both as Eames' friend and possibly as more.
It would be kind of awesome, Ariadne thought, if Arthur and Eames got together. But that was getting ahead of herself. Right now Arthur was only asking if she thought he could become friends with Eames. The rest of it... well, if it happened, that could come later.
"I don't know if he's going to trust you," she said honestly, watching Arthur's face fall and thinking that he had a much better chance because he actually, really did care. "And I still maintain that you shouldn't apologize to him outright. But if you start treating him the way you should have all along, being friendly instead of cold, being nice because you want to and not out of forced politeness...."
Arthur was nodding. "Will you put in a good word for me?" he asked, and Ariadne smiled warmly. Sometimes he could be a blockhead but she really did love her brother, and she wanted him to be happy.
"If I can without giving the game away or sounding too weird," she offered. "It'll be easier the more he gets to know you. But don't be surprised if he doesn't want to give you a chance, at least at first. There's a lot of bad blood to overcome, after all."
"All of it my fault," Arthur bemoaned.
"Well, Dom's fault," Ariadne reminded. "But, honestly, Arthur, you should have known better. Did you really think all this time that I'd be best friends with Eames if he hadn't been a wonderful person?"
"I should have known better," Arthur agreed, nodding, his expression earnest. "I do now. So hopefully I can fix things between me and Eames."
"I'll help if I can," Ariadne vowed. "But if it seems like it might mess up things between me and Eames, you're on your own."
Arthur grinned suddenly, smiling for the first time since he'd entered her room. "Fair enough."
"Now, get out of here," Ariadne directed, yawning widely. "I wanna get ready for bed, talk to Robert, and then sleep."
Arthur stood and crossed to the door as directed, but he paused before leaving the room. "Are you.... You're going over to see Eames tomorrow morning, right?"
"Too much too soon," she informed him, though she approved of his resolve. Arthur never did do things by half measures. "Wait until the next time I have him over, okay? And then if it doesn't make Eames too uncomfortable, you can hang out with us a little. I'll keep us in the den for a while, since it'd be really weird if you came into my room all of a sudden when you never have before."
Arthur nodded, gave her a last sweet smile, and left.
Ariadne yawned again, scrubbed at her face, then changed into her pajamas as quickly as possible. She had even more to talk to Robert about now. She'd promised not to tell anyone about what Dom had done to Eames, true, and that included her boyfriend as well as her brother. But that didn't mean that there weren't other things she could talk to him about.
Like the fact that she was beginning to think that Arthur and Eames might make a good couple.
It might seem crazy to someone who didn't know them as well as she did, but Robert would understand, she was sure if it.
It was a great idea, almost as great as her and Robert, and if she hadn't been so exhausted she'd have been even more excited about it. As it was, she was suddenly consumed with the need to tell someone about it. And who better to tell than her boyfriend?
Besides, she'd been going to talk to Robert anyway. It was the next best thing to having him physically with her, and since she couldn't have that she could at least see his pretty face on her computer screen before she fell asleep and hopefully saw it some more in her dreams.
***
When Eames woke up, everything hurt. For a long moment he couldn't remember why. Then he went to roll over, his entire face throbbed, he remembered what had happened, and he kind of wanted to cry.
Not so much because of the pain, though that was nothing to be shrugged off. It was only Thursday, so he couldn't stay home sick, even though he was sure that the school nurse, Yusuf, would have supported him in this.
Mainly, he wanted to cry because he was feeling rather humiliated. Nash had really done a number on him. True, Nash was bigger and stronger and older than Eames, but Eames really felt as though he should have held up better. Or been able to run faster and get away. Or something.
And then it had been Dom and Arthur who'd come to his rescue. Dom, who had done wrong by him, and Arthur who had never given him a chance. Eames didn't really feel like thinking good thoughts about either of them, and now he owed both of them. He really didn't want to, but he couldn't change what had happened, and he wasn't going to be so churlish as to ignore it.
Dom had apologized to Eames before leaving the Nurse's Office, and Eames didn't know what to do with that. He didn't want to do anything with it, honestly, but he didn't know whether or not ignoring what had happened was an option.
If anything the apology had made Eames feel worse. He didn't think that was what Dom had meant when he'd done it, but that didn't really make any great difference.
Eames was just pulling himself together enough to get out of bed when Ariadne showed up. She'd had her own key for most of the time they'd known one another and was never shy about using it. Eames didn't think that Mr. Saito would have been really chuffed if he'd known about it, but he didn't like being home alone and knowing that no one else had any way to get in. Besides, he knew that Ariadne was utterly responsible and would never abuse this privilege.
Well, aside from her taking the opportunity to enter Eames' room whilst he was still in bed.
"Hey, Eames," Ari cooed, her brows knotted up in a little frown, her eyes dark with worry. "How are you feeling?"
"How do I look?" he asked, a little surprised when his voice came out in a hoarse croak.
"Like shit," she replied candidly, because she was a good friend like that.
"And there you go," Eames concluded, smiling at her even though it really hurt to do so, especially with his split lip. But he felt better already with Ari here, and even though he was still embarrassed by everything that had happened the day before, he was grateful for her presence and her concern.
Ariadne gave him a careful hug, mindful of his ribs. It still hurt, but he couldn't begrudge the hug. Not when he felt as though he needed the embrace at least as much as she evidently did.
"I'm going to go make you some tea," Ariadne said, kissing his cheek lightly. "Go ahead and get ready for school... if you're going."
"I'm going," he mumbled, then went to bathe.
It wasn't until he got a good look at himself in the mirror that he realized how tactful Ariadne had been in her assessment of his looks. He supposed if Dom and Arthur hadn't come to his rescue he might have looked worse, but it was hard to imagine how.
"You're coming home with me after school," Ariadne informed him as she cooked them up a breakfast that he had no stomach for. With his split lip it hurt enough just sipping hot tea out of a mug. Then again, he couldn't take any more pain pills until he had something in his stomach. Dammit.
Eames didn't argue, even though he didn't particularly feel very sociable. He knew that Ari still felt guilty, even though he'd specifically told her not to, and so anything that might make her feel better....
"Just don't mind if I fall asleep and drool on your bed," he mumbled, a little slurred because evidently speaking through a giant scab on one's lower lip really hurt; who knew.
"I never have before," she replied impishly, setting a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him with another affectionate kiss, this one to the crown of his head. It felt a little strange, being mothered by a girl only one year older than he was, but he didn't really mind. Not when he was as sore and upset as he still was.
Speaking of parents, Eames didn't really want Ariadne's mother and father seeing the state he was in. But there was no way Ariadne was going to let him go back on his word and head straight home after school.
And if he was painfully honest, he didn't really want to be alone again. He didn't have anyone here; not even Mr. Saito. Ariadne was like a sister to him and she was perfectly willing to share her own family. Who was he to turn that down?
Showering and getting dressed whilst Ari had made them breakfast had been an ordeal. Drinking his tea and eating said breakfast had made his split lip throb. Somehow Ariadne seemed to intuit that his right arm ached -- possibly the fact that he ate his eggs with his left hand had something to do with this -- and so she offered to do his hair for him. He didn't turn her down, though he did have to ask her to be tender around the back of his skull, where Nash had slammed him into the wall.
"I love you, Eames," she said with all affection, kissing him yet a third time once she was done with his hair. Her eyes were dark and a little wet, and Eames hoped she wasn't feeling guilty for the fact that he'd been alone in that corridor.
"Love you too," he replied, squeezing her fingers with his good left hand. He generally preferred to express such emotions through actions rather than words, but he knew that sometimes people just needed to hear it. And Ariadne had said it first; it would have been impolite not to reciprocate.
Then she proved her love by getting him some of his meds before bundled him into her car. He didn't really want to go to school, but with Ari by his side, he was going to do okay.
If he couldn't do it for himself, then he would be able to do it for her.
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