Firebug: Ch. 22 - Where There's Smoke...

It was like Theo had wandered into a horribly surreal dream, watching the smoke curl off his textbook. His hands weren't even tingling that much, or so he thought. When the first tiny flame leapt off the pages, reality hit him harder than Jasper's knuckles.

Instinct took over before logic had the chance to dictate his actions. In two sharp swats, he extinguished the flames completely, slamming the book shut to ensure they were smothered. His panicked faffing did not go unnoticed, though. Nor did the wisps of smoke still trailing from his fingertips.

"Mr. Quill!" Mr. Hastings' eyes were as wide as dinner plates, brimming over with well-deserved outrage, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"...I..."

"Quiet!" the teacher thrust out his hand with a scowl, "Bring me that book! Now!"

Feeling his entire head heat with mingled shame and dread, Theo sheepishly rose from his desk. He did as he was told without a word, cringing when Mr. Hastings opened his still smoldering textbook. The moment his teacher saw the blackened, crumbling remains of Tolstoy's finest work, Theo knew his goose was cooked.

For a long minute, all Mr. Hastings could do was stand there making a strange choking noise. Eventually, he closed the book with shaking hands and cradled it to his chest like an infant.

"Out," he snarled, "Out, I say! Y-You... You depraved Philistine!!"

This couldn't be happening. Theo had never once been in this much trouble with a teacher. Not even in primary school. Two reprimands in one day already had him shaking; a condition that his bruised ribs and gut only exacerbated. Now he'd earned himself a third strike - from the same teacher, no less - for something he literally had no control over.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. It wasn't his fault. And it was all he could do not to burst into tears in front of his classmates.

"M-Mr. Hastings, please," he wheezed, "It's... I-It's not what you think. I would never-... N-Not on purpose, I mean-"

"Is that so?!" the teacher mused, setting the singed book carefully on his desk, "Please enlighten me then: how does one 'accidentally' set fire to perfectly good literature?!"

Theo wasn't given time to come up with a plausible answer. The next thing he knew, Mr. Hastings pushed him face first into the blackboard, patting him down like a criminal on the spot. Although it was beyond humiliating, the pain was far worse; every rough grab and grope aggravated Theo's injuries tenfold, forcing him to grit his teeth to hold in his anguished whimpering. Thankfully, it only lasted a minute before something was torn from Theo's left jacket pocket.

"So," Mr. Hastings sniffed, "It seems I have my answer! I'll be taking this, just in case you get the urge to cause any more 'accidents'!"

Theo blinked several times, too dizzy with pain to focus on the object waving under his nose. When he finally got a good look at it, it only sparked more questions... as well as unbridled confusion and outrage. Mr. Hastings held in his fist a cigarette lighter; the plastic, disposable variety one could buy at a convenience store for a few dollars. Theo had never seen it before, and had no idea where it had come from. That is, until he happened to look across the room and lock eyes with Jasper, grinning at him like a housecat with a belly full of canaries.

That loathsome bastard.

"It's... I-It's not mine," Theo insisted, "Mr. Hastings, you must-"

"Get out of my sight, Mr. Quill!" Mr. Hastings warned, "You may sit in the hall and think about the egregious travesty you committed... or you can do so in the principal's office, if you prefer!"

Between his physical pain and emotional spiraling, Theo could hardly breathe. Every eye in the room was on him; every voice whispering behind their notebooks and cupped hands. He'd seen looks just like those before, from the students at his old school in Birmingham. Their shock, confusion, and horror was unmistakable. Like he was a human oddity on display at a Victorian Era sideshow.

A freak. A monster. A deranged psychopath.

His hands shook uncontrollably, tingling so severely that they bordered on burning. He pulled down his jacket sleeves to hide them from view, stuffing them in his armpits afterwards for good measure. Without another word, he limped out into the corridor, his eyes fixed on his shoes the entire way. Mr. Hastings dragged a vacant desk out after him along with Theo's rucksack. Once Theo was in it, he was instructed to write a three-page paper on why it was wrong to incinerate school property, which was due by the end of class. Less than a minute later, Mr. Hastings retreated into his classroom, slamming the door behind him.

Even if he wanted to write that ridiculous paper, Theo was in no shape to do so. Everything hurt. He was far too upset to focus. He was too afraid to even pick up a pencil, certain he'd reduce it to charcoal in a snap. All he wanted was an extra-strength aspirin, and a long soak in a tub full of ice.

No: he wanted Roman.

As soon as he had the thought, Theo shook it from his head. Roman already had far too many things on his plate to deal with. It was selfish to ask any more of him, no matter how desperately Theo wished to. All he would do was wind up worrying Roman in the end, especially if the Student Body President knew Jasper and Luna were to blame. Theo kept circling back to her warning in his head, ruminating on it until he gave himself a migraine.

"This is only the beginning... and I promise it'll only get worse from here."

Theo bit back a groan and probed his aching ribs gingerly. Right now, he wasn't sure he could take much worse. Getting the stuffing beating out of him was bad enough... but planting a lighter on him was an entirely new level of frightening. Luna had made jabs in the past about Theo's "talent" for starting fires, so he reckoned she'd most likely put Jasper up to it. If that was the case, then there was no doubt she knew about his past. He just didn't know how she'd managed to find out. Thaddeus had paid a mint to keep the Incident out of the papers, and as far as Theo knew all records of it were sealed. Someone must have told her... but who?

"Theo?"

Theo's knees hit the underside of his desk he leapt so high out of his seat. Fast enough to give himself whiplash, he snapped his head toward the person who'd addressed him. Either someone upstairs had been listening, or his pain had reduced him to a state of delirium.

"R-Romeo," he stammered, sitting up as straight as his bruised ribs and organs would allow, "Wh-What're you doing here?!"

"My Student Council meeting ended early, and I'm free 'til next period," Roman explained, shifting his rucksack to his other shoulder as he leaned closer, "What are you doing out here?"

He didn't give Theo time to explain before his handsome face broke into a rakish grin. "Wait, don't tell me: you dropped your pencil and Hastings blew up at you. Right? I had him last year, and I know he can be a pain. He even threatened to write me up once just because he didn't like my shirt."

Theo did his best to mimic Roman's laughter, which quickly proved to be a poor decision. His weak peals devolved into hoarse groans within a minute, ending in a mild wheezing fit. Although he thought he'd done a decent job of hiding it, Roman seemed able to sense that something was a bit off.

"Hey... you okay?" he murmured.

His hand automatically moved toward Theo's, forcing Theo to instinctively pull it away. Before he had the chance to come up with a believable excuse, Roman's eyes softened with understanding. The next thing Theo knew, Roman was kneeling at his side and digging frantically through his rucksack. In under a minute, Theo's desktop was piled high with an assortment of medical supplies: bandages, ice packs, burn cream, etcetera.

"Romeo-"

"Show me your hands," Roman demanded softly, then added, "...please."

There was no fear in the Student Body President's gaze. No pity. No judgement. The calmness of his bearing washed over Theo like cool waves upon a sunbaked shore. Without even realizing it, his quaking hands unfurled on their own, stretching timidly toward Roman until they were on full display. That same minute, Roman cupped them gently in his, examining Theo's fingers and palms from every angle.

"Ah, it's not so bad," Roman mused, "Just a little crispy around the edges. Probably be all healed up by tonight."

He tore open a sachet of burn cream with his teeth anyway, dolloping it generously on both Theo's hands to soothe his tingling, hyper-sensitive skin. By the time he finished rubbing the cream in, his fingers were tenderly interlaced with Theo's. Roman hesitated another long minute, giving Theo's hands the softest of squeezes with the heaviest of sighs.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Theo shook his head, his throat tight and his body shuddering with his next breath. "Nothing worth talking about really," he sniffed, "thanks, Love; I feel better already."

"Bello-"

"I said it's nothing," Theo insisted, not realizing how sharp his tone was until several seconds later.

He gave Roman a quick peck on the lips to apologize, murmuring another sincere "thank you", before retrieving a notebook and pencil from his own rucksack. That paper wasn't going to write itself after all, and he didn't want to think about what may happen if it wasn't completed in time. The problem was that his hands were still shaking quite a bit. Theo dropped his pencil case twice before Roman took it from him and slipped it back into Theo's rucksack.

"Hastings told you to write something as a punishment, didn't he?" Roman guessed, a soft grin tugging at his lips. "I wouldn't bother. Half the time he doesn't even remember giving those dumb assignments out. And when he does, he never reads 'em anyway."

"Oh? Well, that's... th-that's good to know," Theo mused, running his trembling fingers through his tousled blond curls.

He was enjoying Roman's company, truly, but his other injuries were becoming too difficult to conceal. Theo did his best to power through, trying to preserve the precious scraps of dignity he still possessed. Unwilling to let Roman see the physical and emotional anguish plaguing him. It usually worked in the past, before they were an item. By now, however, Roman could read him like a children's picture book.

"Bello," he rumbled, his voice practically a whisper, "...do you want to go home? Be honest with me."

Theo was a little shocked by the question, mostly because he misunderstood it at first. He would never be foolish enough to leave school in the middle of the day without Thaddeus' permission. Besides, the last place he wanted to be right now was that dark little flat reeking of stale cigarettes and misery. When he looked into Roman's eyes again, Theo felt the small brass key resting over his pounding heart. Then, it hit him.

"Home" didn't mean the Quills' flat; it meant the apartment. Their home.

His throat ached too much to speak, full to the brim from the emotion he was desperately holding in. A quiet sniff managed to escape all the same against Theo's wishes, shortly before his head wobbled up and down in a silent, desperate nod. Roman smiled warmly in response, leaning up to press a kiss on Theo's lips. When he pulled back again, Theo discovered the keys to Roman's Jeep were in his hand.

"I'll catch up with you tonight, then," Roman said, "the directions are plugged into the GPS already. Just keep it under the speed limit, and remember we use the right lane over here instead of the left." His smile fell after a moment, his dark eyes studying Theo's face worriedly.

"Uh... you do know how to drive... right?"

Theo nodded, releasing a shaky breath, "Yes. Erm, sort of. I took a course back home, but I never got my permit. 'Too dangerous', Dad said."

"Okay," Roman nodded, his smile returning with a confident nod, "You should be fine, then. Text me when you get there, alright? And don't worry about things here. I'll cover for you."

Theo couldn't help echoing that lovely grin, clutching those car keys to his chest as if they contained the Crown Jewels. "I will," he sniffed, "What did I ever do to deserve a boyfriend as wonderful as you?"

"Hey, I'm the lucky one here," Roman winked, "Now get outta here."