by Elaine White
The chapter started off in familiar territory; in the middle of a battlefield, with the main character slaying his way through the enemy. It was a historical novel, very Viking-esque thinking and behaviour, which he actually found that he loved. When he got home, he'd be looking up more books with that theme.
He was getting to the gruesome part, where the main character, who was only trying to protect his family, was captured by the enemy. He was placed on his knees, hands bound behind his back, wild dark hair framing his face in a poetic and beautiful manner. He spoke of how the enemy might have captured him, but that they had lost, because his people would be safe for one more night, in which they would choose a new leader. Younger, more reckless, and they would destroy the enemy until they were wiped from existence.
Harrison felt himself tearing up during the speech and couldn't help but smile. This time, it wasn't so much sadness that he cried from, but pride and awe. This character was brave and true to his people, willing to lay his life on the line for their protection and the future of their culture.
As his head was cleaved from his neck by the enemy, Harrison closed the book and sighed in satisfaction. Not because he was dead, but because this reading was much more positive than the previous one.
Tucking the book into his bag, he grabbed his class book and began making notes on his feelings, the comparisons from last time, and how he was filled with much more hope, but that it could be from knowing the ending. Which was that he was right; his people mourned his loss with a celebration that night, chose his wife to take over and she was ruthless in her revenge.
In the end, his people had succeeded, as he claimed.
A sudden rustling made him flinch and glance over his shoulder. There was nothing there that he could see, so he turned away and crumbled up his rubbish from his sub roll, got up and dumped it into the nearby bin. Both urgent tasks done; lunch and his reading; Harrison walked back to his bench to grab his bag and pack up to head back to school.
He was two steps away when someone came running out of the bushes behind his bench and tripped over it, flipping right over the stone bench and landing with a thud that made him wince.
Rushing over, Harrison grabbed the guy by his shoulder and turned him onto his back, while grabbing his bag and dragging it across. With a quick rummage in the pockets, he found his phone and switched it on. Just as he swiped up the screensaver, his wrist was caught in a strong hand and the poor guy moaned.
“Hey.” He instinctively dropped the phone and placed both hands on the stranger's face, one going to his neck to check for a pulse, while the other pulled up the man's right eyelid. He looked confused and groggy enough to suggest he'd hit his head. “My name is Harrison. Can you talk to me? Let me know you're okay...or what happened?” he asked, worried that he wasn't going to be strong enough to get this guy onto his feet.
At around six foot, he was far too tall and muscled for Harrison to even attempt a 'rescue', but he knew there was no point phoning his friends, since they switched their phones off for RPG.
Sitting back on his heels, he was about to phone for help again, when the man groaned and actually showed real signs of life.
“What happened?” he asked gruffly.
“No idea, mate.” Harrison sighed and brushed his hand over the man's forehead to push his hair back from his eyes. “You came barging out of the trees, never saw my bench and went head first right over it. I think you might have bumped your head on the ground, but I don't see any blood. If you hold still, I'll call for help,” he explained, already reaching for his phone.
“No. Don't bother,” he argued, releasing a deep sigh as he reached up and rubbed his forehead. “I was minding my own business like usual, when this dog came over and started freaking out. I was just sitting there, in a clearing further in, trying to get some peace and quiet,” he complained, going on to shake his head.
When he winced, Harrison sighed and shook his head. He grabbed his phone and brought up a text.
Sterling, can you bring your Pops first aid kit. I have a stranger in the park who is hurt, but doesn't want help. X
He knew his friend would come, even though he and Fearghas were supposed to be enjoying a quiet lunch together in the cafeteria. He carried that first aid kit for a reason and he'd never yet had a need to use it. No doubt his curiosity would help get him the rest of the way.
Harrison turned back to the stranger and made a face at the way he lifted himself onto his elbows and began poking the back of his head with fingers. He smacked the hand away by instinct. “Stop that, you stupid idiot. You might make it worse,” he protested.
Suddenly, he had the man's full focus and when those deep blue eyes met his he realised that he wasn't quite a man yet. Older, yes. Maybe even out of high school already. But there was something innocent about him, too. Something that made Harrison wonder why he was out here alone, sitting in the middle of the trees for his lunch break, when he could be surrounded by people.
Until he realised how that sounded and smacked himself on the forehead.
“Us loners really need to learn to eat somewhere public,” he grumbled, lowering his hand to glare at the man. “You're lucky I'm as much a loser as you are, or there would have been no one here to help you, in the state you're in.”
The man chuckled lightly, then sank onto his back and took a deep breath. “I guess you're right. What now?”
“I texted my friend. He'll bring a first aid kit, we'll get you on your feet and you can come back to the school nurse to get properly checked over,” he explained, pretty sure that was a sensible course of action. He really wanted to call the cops or an ambulance, especially if there was a dog running around chasing unsuspecting people, but he'd let this man have a few more minutes of peace, and hope the nurses had some obligation to report the incident. Then it wouldn't be his fault.
“Great. I'll close my eyes until then,” the man decided.
“You will not! And if you so much as blink for too long, I'll slap you until you open them again!”
Chapter 3
The stranger was still staring at him like he was an alien when Sterling and Fearghas showed up.
Harrison let out a sigh of relief and waved his greeting as they walked through the same entrance he'd used to get here. The normal way into the park. “These are my friends,” he told the stranger, keeping his eyes on his friends.
Sterling rushed over and sank to his knees beside the stranger, already digging into his bag for the first aid kit. “We also brought a snack and a drink, just in case,” he explained, as he extracted the small boxed first aid kit and popped it open. Acting purely on the instincts his Pops had taught him to harness in this kind of situation, he began removing items and handing them to Fearghas if he didn't need them right away.
“Okay.” He cracked his knuckles and craned his neck. “What happened precisely and where does it hurt?”
Harrison gave a quick rundown of the story as he knew it and watched Sterling think it over. With his directions, they helped the stranger sit up and droop his head so that Sterling could examine the back of it for a bump or cut. As he raked his fingers gently through his hair, the stranger winced a few times and grunted in complaint.
“Well, the good news is that I can't find any real injury. There's no bump, but one may develop over time, if you did hit your head hard enough,” Sterling explained, packing away the items from his kit as he spoke. “Do you have any allergies? If I give you painkillers, are you going to have a reaction to them?” he asked.
The stranger sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “No. I'm fine with paracetamol or ibuprofen, but nothing stronger. They make me confused,” he admitted, looking away from them all as if that was something to be sorry for.
Harrison patted his shoulder, only because it felt like the right thing to do. While the stranger turned to raise an eyebrow at him, he noticed Sterling looking shocked as well, so he withdrew his hand and placed them both on his lap. “Can you sta
nd? We'll get you back to the nurse,” he suggested, deciding to cut into that awkward moment where he'd apparently done the wrong thing by trying to comfort the poor man.
“Sure.” The stranger nodded and watched Sterling and Fearghas get to their feet before accepting Harrison's hand. Together, they rose at the same time, the stranger leaning on him just enough to make him feel small and frail.
“Follow us,” Sterling said, with a smile. Then he and Fearghas clasped hands and walked towards school.
Harrison released the stranger long enough to grab his bag, make sure it was shut tight and return to his side. “Do you need to lean on me?” he wondered, ready to be a support if necessary. But then the stranger straightened and he really was as tall as he thought, dwarfing Harrison's five foot three.
“You're a little pocket rocket, you know that?” the man remarked, before comfortably leaning his elbow on Harrison's shoulder. “But, yeah, I could use a hand. I still feel a little dizzy,” he confessed.
With a nod, Harrison stood still and let him lean on him as they began to walk forward, getting their steps in sync with each other. As they did, the stranger began to talk, out of nowhere.
“I'm sorry to barge in on your day. I was just looking for a quiet spot to read and then that little ball of fur and teeth came at me,” he complained, shaking his head and limping beside him. “Bit my ankle, before I could get off the grass, then chased me all the way through the trees. I thought I was never going to get rid of it, then just before I crashed into your bench it heard another dog and took off. I wasn't going to wait for it to come back, so I kept running.”
Shaking his head, Harrison withdrew his phone and typed the information into a note. “That's ridiculous. Dogs shouldn't be wandering around here freely. This isn't a dog park; if it got its teeth on another pet or human, or any of the kids from school, there could be serious damage done,” he explained, in protest to the thought of someone letting their dog run off like that, without a leash. “I'll report it to the principal, so she can alert the police and animal control. Do you know what kind of dog it was?”
“Some scruff of a thing. A mutt, probably.” The man shrugged and winced a little before walking on a little more hurriedly. “About the size of a boxer, all hair and teeth, piggy little eyes and a squeaky bark. Probably some cross-breed or some designer dog,” he grumbled.
Harrison smiled despite himself. He loved all dogs, no matter whether they were designer, mutts or from the pound. But it sounded like this guy had probably just been turned against every dog in existence. “I'll tell them to look for a raging ball of fur and teeth, then,” he teased, glancing up at the man in amusement.
“Ha ha.”
They continued walking, finally reaching the parking lot, and the strangers complaints became more pronounced.
“Sorry, the concrete can't be helping. At least the grass was a little squishy. But we'll be inside soon enough and you can lie down,” he admitted, tucking his phone into his pocket so that he could support the stranger a little easier. With one arm around his back and Harrison's hand pressed to his stomach, he was unlikely to fall over as they weaved through the cars parked in illegal spaces to get to the front door.
“You said your name was Harrison, right?” the stranger asked, surprising him into looking up.
“Um, yeah. I never got your name,” he realised.
“Austin.” He went quiet for just a moment, before following it up with. “And, thank you. I appreciate you sticking around.”
“No problem.”
“Alright class, that's all for today. Get home and have a good night.”
Harrison sighed as he packed his science books into his bag and rose from his seat. After dropping Austin off at the nurse, he'd been sent away, so he joined Sterling and Fearghas at their table in the cafeteria. He was still intrigued by Austin, but it was no longer any of his business and he wasn't going to be of any help.
Leaving the classroom, he wasn't surprised to bump into his friends outside, since they were in the room next door for physics class. Being right next to the back exit of the main building, they'd all taken care of their locker tasks before their last class, in preparation for leaving immediately after the bell.
Which was just as well, all things considered. The hallways were jam packed, so taking the quickest exit would stop them from getting caught up in the usual front door clog for the parking lot.
“Shame you can't stay with him,” Sterling commented, with a hint of a smile.
“Well, he'll be fit enough to get home soon, even if the school calls a taxi for him,” Harrison admitted, since there wasn't much more he could do. He'd told the principal and the nurse about the rogue dog on the loose and the way it had attacked Austin, who would be treated and helped home. After that, it wasn't his place to interfere.
They took what was laughingly called the long way to the parking lot, around the side of the school and towards the front. But, truthfully, by avoiding the locker area they got there before anyone else did.
“It really doesn't matter, anyway,” Fearghas insisted, out of nowhere. “I overheard the nurse earlier. Sounds like Austin went to school here, because she said something about how she never expected to see him back here again,” he explained, turning to wink at Sterling, as though they knew something he didn't. “In fact, he told her that she'd be seeing more of him, because he might 'pop back' some time.”
Harrison felt his face flush, as he realised what Fearghas was digging at. Then he got himself together and dry chuckled, in mock amusement. “You're a hoot.”
At the time, he hadn't let himself really think about anything but whether Austin was okay. But, looking back, he'd been pretty good looking. A little rugged, older and with a faint hint of an accent he couldn't place. Not to mention his dirty blonde hair, long enough at the front to give a Lord of the Rings vibe, while the rest was tied back at the nape of his neck. Actually, when he thought about it, Austin had more of a Viking look about him, as if he'd walked right out of the book he'd been reading.
Yeah, Viking. Tall, rugged and with long, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, he was practically the epitome of every Viking he'd seen on TV or read about in books. Right down to the slightly gruff nature.
But, there was no point having his head in the clouds. He still had to walk home and try to keep up a conversation with Sterling and Fearghas, which would have been a whole lot easier if he hadn't spent lunch with them. This was why Sterling hated changing his schedule, because it made things more complicated later.
Just a little into the parking lot, approaching where Fearghas had parked his car, Harrison opened his mouth to speak, only to be surprised when Sterling squeaked and stopped as though he'd walked into an invisible wall.
“Baby? What's wrong?” Fearghas panicked, as he tended to do when Sterling was anything but sunshine and daisies.
It was an instinct Harrison loved to see, since that meant he was just as concerned about his nightmares as everyone else was. But only time would heal those mental wounds, according to his Pops, so Harrison was willing to offer what little help he could in the meantime.
“Um, I totally forgot to tell you that we can't offer Harrison a lift home,” he explained, all of a sudden changing their plans, which wasn't like him at all. “Pops wants us to grab some shopping on the way and it wouldn't be fair to keep Harrison back, when he's supposed to be looking after the dog tonight. You know, with his parents out of the house for that herbalist convention thing that starts tomorrow,” he said, making his eyes go wide and staring at his boyfriend intently.
For a minute, Harrison thought he'd gone nuts. Then he looked towards Fearghas' car, trying to figure out why he was refusing to get him home quickly, so that he could do what he had to do with the dog. And there was the reason. Leaning against the short wall at the far end of the parking lot, standing right beside the only vehicle parked so far away from the entrance. A motorbike. With a helmet dangling from the handlebar.
/> Harrison turned to Sterling in panic, but his friend merely flashed a smile and grabbed Fearghas' hand.
“See you tomorrow, bestie,” he said, dragging his boyfriend along behind him, while leaving Harrison standing there like a total plonker.
Looking back in Austin's direction, his heart racing like a drum, his chance for escape was lost. Austin smiled and waved at him, waiting for some kind of reply. When Harrison just stood there, locked in place and feeling stupid, the strange man gestured for him to head over. A clear invitation.
“Oh God,” he whispered to himself. “Right, okay. You can do this. It's just a 'thanks for saving my ass' and then he'll be gone and you'll have to walk home. But that's okay, because it's fine. You can do this,” he told himself, before taking a deep breath and taking that first step forward.
It felt so much more meaningful than that.
Chapter 4
One Week Later
To Harrison's surprise – a pleasant one, at that – that really was all it was. Austin simply wanted to say 'thank you' to a complete stranger who had helped him.
It had all been rather innocent and a little awkward.
“Um...are you waiting here for me?” Harrison asked, though he kind of knew Austin was.
Austin smiled and gestured to the bike. “Yeah, I got the all clear from your nurse. Just a bump on the head and the bejesus scared out of me by the dog,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Got off lucky, I guess. So, I thought I'd stop by and say thanks and...maybe you'd let me give you a ride home, to pay you back?”
Hitching his bag higher onto his shoulder, Harrison looked around at the lingering students spying on him, whispering and staring. “Sure. Thank you, that would be nice,” he agreed, because he'd be stupid not to. The guy was gorgeous and he was voluntarily choosing to talk to Harrison when he didn't have to. He would have been crazy to say no.