Slight Trigger Warning for Blood! Everyone is fine, don't worry, but there are a few minor injuries involved.

*   *   *

The rest of Sunday had gone by pretty slowly, though it was Monday before Jimmy even realized it. Classes went by like a flash a lightning, and soon enough, he was on the theater stage.

They'd begun to work on Act II, and Jimmy almost regretted auditioning for Romeo then. Sausage had gotten the part of Mercutio, and it wasn't that Jimmy didn't like Sausage, but working with him had been a bit more than difficult. It was relief when Ms. Gold and Mr. Harding had moved on to something else.

Jimmy had been going backstage - for what, he'd forgotten - when he overheard a conversation between Zach and Scott.

"What are you doing?" Zach demanded, and Jimmy peeked out from behind the curtain to see Zach hovering over Scott, who was looking down at the phone in his hand.

Scott rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Nothing," he answered, earning a glare from his boyfriend.

"That doesn't look like nothing to me."

The cyanette sighed before looking up at Zach. "Mind your beeswax, asshole," Scott snapped. "It's none of your- mmph!" Scott squirmed in Zach's hold as the latter clamped a hand over Scott's mouth, though Zach let go no more than a few seconds later when Scott bit him. "What is wrong with y-"

"Watch your tone with me," Zach warned coldly.

Scott huffed. "What does it matter what I'm- Hey!" Zach reached over and snatched the phone out of Scott's hands. Scott reached up in response, bouncing on his toes to try and get his phone back from Zach. "Give it ba-" A choked gasp forced its way out of Scott's throat when Zach shoved him against the wall, hard. Scott's back and shoulders took the brunt of the hit, followed by the back of his head slamming against the wall.

Jimmy was about to step in when his phone buzzed against his leg in the pocket of his jeans, and he pulled it out to see a text from... Scott?

hey, jimmy. wanna hapjxw00 ofa

Uh... what? Jimmy looked up from his phone, gaze switching between Zach and Scott. Zach had Scott's phone in his hand, so... Zach must've accidentally sent that, then.

"God, why are you so fucking rude?" Scott said, rubbing the back of his head.

Zach didn't seem to be listening as he glared down at Scott's phone. "Who the hell is Jimmy?" he sneered.

Scott groaned and reached for his phone again, though it was futile as Zach only held it up again.

"Who is Jimmy?"

"No one!"

Zach scoffed. "No one, huh?" He brought Scott's phone down again, holding Scott back with one arm while he read off some of Jimmy's and Scott's texts. "On Friday you texted, 'Hey, Jimmy. Wanna meet at the Moonshine Diner down the street from the school tomorrow?'" Zach glared down at Scott, who had already been scowling back. "Yeah, he's definitely nobody."

"Am I not allowed to have friends?" Scott deadpanned, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall. "He's the guy that plays Romeo."

"Of fucking course it is," Zach grumbled. He shoved the phone at Scott, who gladly took it. "What's with your little infatuation with him, anyway? I'm supposed to be your boyfriend."

Scott sighed. "I dunno," he said. "He's funny. 'Kinda cute." He looked up at Zach with a sarcastic smile. "Oh, and he's not a jerk."

"So, I'm a jerk now?"

"Put two and two together, idiot," Scott spat, sticking his tongue out.

Zach let out a frustrated huff. "Watch it, cupcake."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Make me."

Zach shoved Scott against the wall again, though this time to press a harsh kiss to the other's lips. Scott squirmed, his sounds of distress muffled against Zach's mouth until Scott was finally able to push the blackette away.

"Get off of me!" Scott whined as he turned his face away, presumably so Zach wouldn't be able to kiss him. The cyanette whimpered when Zach grabbed his jaw and forced his head to face him. "You're such an ass-"

It wasn't until Scott whined again when Zach slid his knee between his boyfriend's legs that Jimmy realized Scott had been crying.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Jimmy stepped out from behind the curtain, finally having enough of watching this.

Zach turned to glare at Jimmy, who stepped backward. "What?" Zach growled. Scott made another uncomfortable sound beneath him, and Jimmy didn't miss the way Scott looked at Jimmy.

"I said," Jimmy began, stepping closer again, "leave Scott alone."

Scott squirmed again, somehow managing to pry Zach's hand from his face. "Jimmy, don't, it's fi-"

Zach's free hand collided with Scott's cheek, and Scott let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a gasp.

Rage filled Jimmy like fire in his veins, and he was seeing red. Time seemed to freeze as Scott froze in a dazed state, his hand on his stinging cheek and Zach standing over him, a cold, dark glint in his eyes.

Jimmy hated that. He hated the way Zach looked at Scott. Like he was worthless, a disgrace and a disappointment. That gaze of disgust made Jimmy dizzyingly furious.

He didn't remember taking that first step forward, nor did he remember the next, or the one after that and the one after that. He couldn't recall what was going through his mind, even if he wanted to, as he pulled his fist back... and swung.

Working out during swimming season clearly paid off, as Zach had stumbled back from the force of the punch.

"Jimmy!" Scott gasped, though Jimmy wasn't paying attention enough to hear him as Zach retaliated after a moment of recovery. "Zach!"

Jimmy had fallen to his bottom on the floor, and Zach didn't hesitate to pull him back up by the collar of his shirt and knee him in the stomach, hard. When Zach let go of him, Jimmy fell to the floor again, on his knees and clutching his arms around his torso.

Scott, horrified, ran off to the other side of the curtain after glancing between the other two boys. He ended up on the stage, mind foggy, where Sausage and Grian were rehersing Scene IV. Everything seemed to stop when disheveled Scott walked out from behind the curtains, stumbling as he wiped at his nose - which he'd only just now realized was bleeding.

Ms. Gold stood from her place at the desk before the stage, Scott's condition off-putting. "Scott? Dear, are you all right?"

Scott shook his head. "I'm- I'm fine," he murmured. "Zach and Jimmy-" He cut himself off. What about Zach and Jimmy? Oh, right. "They're fighting backstage-"

Mr. Harding took that as a signal to leave, storming off presumbly to break up the fight.

Scott grimaced when the taste of iron hit his tongue and he wiped at his nose again. "Ew," he muttered looking down at the red on his hand.

Sighing, Ms. Gold made her way toward the stage to help Scott down the steps. "What happened?" she asked softly as she checked him for other injuries.

"They, uh..." Scott trailed off, the thoughts in his head as unclear as they could possibly be. "I got caught in the crossfire," he managed to lie finally, receiving an acknowledging hum from the drama teacher.

"Joel, sweetie," Ms. Gold called to the brunette, who sat cuddled up with Lizzie in one of the farther rows. He looked up with the type of face of someone who was dreading whatever was to come next. "Can you help Scott to the bathroom and clean him up a bit?"

Joel gave that little "Why me?" sigh while he nodded. "Sure," he said as he stood. He sounded exhausted, but not like he was tired. Like he didn't want to do this. Like he didn't want to be around Scott.

Ms. Gold smiled. "Thank you, dear."

*   *   *

Joel sighed as he set his phone down, turning the flashlight off, and Scott silently thanked the gods that that light was out of his eyes.

"So?" Scott said in expectance of something from Joel. His head was a bit clearer now, but it still felt like there was cotton stuffed inside his skull instead of a brain.

"It looks like you might have a minor concussion," the brunette said finally. Stuffing his phone the back pocket of his cargo pants, he gave Scott a strange look. "But you don't just get those from getting clocked in the face by accident." He reached over to the paper towel dispenser, taking a piece and running it under cold water. "Did you fall and hit your head on something, or what?"

Scott snickered despite his headache. "You sound like my doctor," he said, more hoarsely than expected.

Joel huffed a laugh as well. "Well, what do you expect from a dual-enrolled med student?"

"Woah, wait- You're dual-enrolled in med school?"

"Yep," the shorter of them answered while he wrung the towel out. "C'mere."

Scott stepped forward and Joel placed his hand on the cyanette's cheek as he cleaned off the blood smeared from when Scott wiped at his nose. Scott winced when Joel started touching his nose.

"Ow," Scott murmured, pulling away. "That hurts."

Joel rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, it hurts. You got punched in the face, what did you expect?" He sighed. "You never answered my question, though. What the hell happened back there?"

Scott fell silent for a moment. "I... When I got hit, I hit the wall," he fibbed. "Must've hit my head."

"You... don't remember if you hit your head or not?"

Scott shook his head hesitantly.

Humming, Joel nodded. "Right. So, um, why were Zach and Jimmy fighting?" he asked.

"Because..." Scott sighed. "I don't know. Because... because of me, I guess." He chewed on his lip as he thought a bit deeper about it. It really was because of me, huh...

Joel snorted. "You're so special, aren't you?" he said, and Scott couldn't tell if his tone was bitter or joking. "Little Prince Scott with his entourage of boys that swoon over him constantly."

"I'm- Is... is that what you think of me?" Scott asked, wrapping his arms around himself.

Quirking a brow at Scott, Joel shrugged. "I guess," he said. "I mean, half the school wants to be you, and with Zach, you've probably got the whole basketball team wrapped around your fingers." Scott shivered at that comment. "And don't even get me started on the things you make Jimmy feel. He's head over heels for you."

Scott looked down at the floor as Joel continued.

"And just look at you. You're- you're practically perfect in every aspect. You're slim, pretty. Hell, I'd even want to date you if I didn't already have the hots for Liz." He paused, and his expression changed from sarcastic to concerned. "You all right, there?"

Scott looked up, his eyes stinging. "I'm fine," he answered, though it was obvious Joel didn't believe him. "Just..." He shook his head. "'Didn't realize that... that's what people think of me."

Joel sighed. "If that's not what people think of you, I don't know what they think." A moment of silence went by before Joel spoke again. "You should probably be careful about your nose, and get some rest after a blow to the head like that. Nothing's broken, but it'll be sore a bit, I'm thinking."

Scott nodded. "Thanks."

"Yep." Joel paused. "Who was the one to hit you?"

"...Zach."

Joel nodded. "It wasn't an accident, was it?"

"What?"

Looking away, Joel shifted awkwardly. "Pretty much everyone heard you and Zach yelling," he explained, and Scott's cheeks turned a flaming red. "Why did he hit you?"

Scott felt like his body was frozen, both with fear and embarrassment. "I-" He shook himself, taking a deep breath. "Why... why do you even want to know? It's not like you care about me."

"Woah, woah, woah, I never said that," Joel objected, lifting his hands up. "Not liking you and not caring about you are two different things."

It was Scott's turn to fidget uncomfortably, wringing his hands as he wanted to shrink up from the amount of humiliation he felt. "Well, I just- I thought-" He looked down at his hands, which were now shaking, and squeezed his eyes shut when he felt them begin to water. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" His voice cracked and he clamped a hand over his mouth."Sorry-" Stepping backward, he tripped and nearly fell until Joel caught him by the arm.

"Calm down, I'm not trying to interrogate you," the brunette joked as he pulled Scott back up to his feet. "You don't have to tell me. I'm just... a little concerned."

Scott huffed a pathetic laugh. "That's kind of funny considering last weekend you looked at me like you wanted me to disappear."

Joel sighed. "Change of heart, I guess." He gave a soft smile, followed by a wink, which made Scott laugh. "C'mon, they're probably wondering why we're taking so long."