Chapter 9 - Fears Coming Alive

"Cailen?" came a voice from somewhere in the washroom.

He didn't look up, he didn't respond because he didn't want to be found.

Not like this. Not crying in a corner surrounded by paper towel that had fallen from the holder he had stumbled into.

Not with blood and snot dripping from his nose, not when he looked so gross and pathetic.

"Oh my gosh, Cailen!" they said more urgently and soon, there was a pair of hands on his shoulders, pulling him up right from where he was leaning against the wall into a sitting position.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Asher asked as he frantically moved the hair from Cailen's face to see where the blood was coming from.

Cailen pulled away from him. He didn't want to be seen like this but he couldn't make the tears stop. He couldn't make them stop because he was a pathetic excuse for a boy.

Only girls cry. That's what the boys had told him and Cailen knew they were right but he couldn't stop them.

"I'm gonna go get Eden," Asher said beginning to stand. This quickly dried Cailen's tears.

"No!" Cailen shouted, frantically grabbing for Asher's arm and pulling him back down.

Asher stumbled a bit but righted himself so he was kneeling in front of Cailen.

"No, please don't tell Eden. Don't tell anyone."

"Cailen-"

"No. Asher, don't. It's fine," Cailen tried to assure him while wiping at his tears.

"It is not fine. Look at you! You're bleeding!" Asher said.

Cailen shook his head. "That was my fault. I tripped and fell, honest. They didn't hit me."

It was true, sort of. They had pushed him back when he tried to leave and Cailen being the klutz he is, tripped on his own feet and stumbled into the paper towel dispenser causing it to break open.

But however truthful it was, Asher didn't look like he was buying it.

"Cailen, they're just going to keep doing it unless you say something," Asher tried.

Cailen shook his head again. "Please, Asher. You don't know what you're talking about. You're too young. Just- please don't. I won't let it happen again," he promised even though he had no way of upholding said promise.

"You said that last time," Asher stated with a sigh.

Cailen gripped his arm tighter, desperately trying to get him to agree somehow.

"Please, I don't want to go back there," Cailen whispered. He knew then that he had convinced Asher when the younger boy sighed and shook his head.

"Okay. I still don't think Eden would do that but okay," Asher sighed, reaching for one of the paper towels on the ground. "But if it happens again, I will tell. No matter what you say," he warned as he used the paper towel to clean up Cailen's face.

The bleeding had stopped a little bit ago so it didn't take long in cleaning it up.

"Okay. It won't though. I'll stay away from them," Cailen said quietly.

Asher nodded and kept wiping at Cailen's nose. After Asher managed to get the blood off his face, Asher wet a new paper towel and dabbed at Cailen’s shirt that was thankfully a dark color so the blood wasn't so easily seen, not that there was a lot on there.

Once Cailen looked like he hadn't just been beaten, Asher stood, offering his hand to Cailen who took it willingly and was pulled to his feet.

"Thank you, Asher," Cailen said meeting the younger boy’s eyes.

Asher nodded with a small sad smile and started picking up the rest of the paper towel. He threw them all out then grabbed Cailen by the hand and pulled him out of the washroom.

Asher also picked up Cailen's bag that was sitting outside the door and handed it to him before dragging him down the hall and out to Eden's car.

He was thankful for Asher helping him, more than he could convey to the boy right now.

He knew Asher was only doing it because that's who Asher was. Cailen has learned that much over the lunches he's spent listening to the trio talk.

Asher was so polite and kind to everyone, even when William would teasingly make fun of him, Asher just sat there and took it, sometimes dramatically laughing or smiling  but he never returned the comment.

Asher would never think of hurting a fly so he for sure wouldn't leave a kid to cry on the floor of the bathroom.

It had nothing to do with Cailen and Asher wanting to befriend him, because of course, who would want him as a friend?

He was pathetic, he had been told so many times. He's annoying and disruptive and he wouldn't be into the same things as Asher was anyway. He never shared much in common with other boys.

They were all about sports and Cailen was... Not.

Cailen wasn't sure what his interests were. He wasn't sure how to classify himself. He just knew he wasn't like most boys his age.

"What took you so long, Cailen?" Eden asked as the two boys climbed into the SUV.

Cailen panicked for a moment. He hadn't thought of an excuse yet.

"He got lost," Asher jumped in, avoiding looking at him. "Found him in the music room, looking for the toilet."

Asher smiled though Cailen could tell it was fake.

Cailen assumed with the kind of person Asher was, all kind and honest, he didn't like to lie and now Cailen was forcing him to.

"So I took him there before we came out," Asher explained, still not looking at Cailen.

"Oh, alright. Thank you, love. That was nice of you," Eden said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

Stella sat in the front seat, a book in her hands as she completely ignored her surroundings. Matthew and William sat in the back, discussing what video games they were going to play and Asher sat beside Cailen in the middle, pointedly not looking at him.

Cailen knew for sure now that there was no way Asher would be his friend.

Not after making him do that.

Cailen could tell Asher was upset with him.

*****

Cailen of course wasn't able to keep the boys from picking on him.

It's not like it was his choice.

He tried to ask them to stop but that only got him laughed at more. Cailen was however able to hide it and keep Asher out of it. He learned that he couldn't just sit there afterwards and cry.

He learned he had to suck it up and get himself together before Asher or someone else came looking for him. It's not like it was an everyday thing, so Cailen would just quickly calm himself and clean himself up, whether that be tears or blood, he did it and would always think of some sort of excuse as to why he had a cut on his cheek or a bruise on his arm.

Cailen had told Eden he was quite clumsy, which wasn't a complete lie, but she had accepted it and had grown used to Cailen stumbling and getting hurt because it's what boys do, right?

Asher always looked like he didn't believe him, like he always wanted to call him out on his fib but he never did.

He kept quiet, sometimes giving Cailen a look that said he knew he was lying but Cailen would just look away. He couldn't let Asher get him sent back to the orphanage.

It seemed though that Asher started to come looking for him sooner and sooner up until to the point where Cailen would literally run into him when exiting the bathroom.

Cailen decided he would just have to be quicker.

Even with this happening, Asher seemed to forgive Cailen for making him lie that day.

He would invite Cailen over to play video games with him, Matthew and William, or invite him along on trips to the park that the boys made.

Matthew did it as well, always inviting Cailen along but he knew it was only because of William.

They were only being nice because he was William's ‘brother’, but he appreciated the gesture. This way Eden didn't seem to be worried about him at school and if he wasn't fitting in and making friends because in her eyes, he had friends.

But Cailen knew better than that.

He tried his best to pay attention in class, trying not to be disruptive because he was actually making it pretty far with this family, to his utter surprise, and he didn't want to mess that up.

Cailen was tip toeing around everything so as not to get in trouble and have Eden and Dean send him back. And for the most part, he was doing pretty good. He had yet to be sent to the principal's office, though he has been warned to pay attention and to stop kicking at the desk in front of him.

He's been warned that his homework was supposed to be handed three days ago and that if it wasn't in tomorrow, Ms. Tinsley would be forced to call home and Cailen didn't want that.

So it was going better than it usually did and Cailen was actually somewhat happy, bullying pushed aside.

At the house, Stella and William continued to want to play with him, Dean and Eden continued wanting to spend time with him, taking him out or staying in and watching movies.

He had been assigned some chores as well, not a lot like most families gave him but just simple things like taking out the garbage and doing the dishes twice a week.

Cailen's life was becoming normal, and Cailen was so happy about that.

He didn't want to do anything to disrupt that but of course, he just isn’t that lucky.