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1658 Words
"I'm in a relationship, Jonah," Jaxon complained as he fielded another sad attempt to get his attention. Two weeks ago, he'd been sick and didn't have to deal with this pain in the ass. Now the jerk was at it again.
Glaring at the man, Jaxon snarled, "I'm about to beat you with my textbook and believe me, I know how not to leave a bruise. I told you, I'm taken. Now get the f**k out of my face before I go psycho on your ass. I've watched enough horror movies to know how to make it look like an accident."
"If you don't go out with me, I’ll kill myself!"
Jaxon shook his head. "If you're that desperate, go see the school counsellor."
"Why do you hate me so much? I love you, Jaxon," Jonah begged, falling to his knees.
Exasperated, Jaxon held tight to the last shred of his sanity. Lukas was sick at home, so his backup wasn't around to help him. He looked down, rolling his eyes at the absurdity that the young man was getting on with. "While you're down there, would you mind tying my sneakers?"
With his friends snickering behind him, Jonah said, “But I’m literally begging for a chance! Is this how you treat people? I’m embarrassing myself because you won’t give me the time of day!”
Jaxon snarked. "As if I actually care about your narcissistic views. What part of 'I have a boyfriend' was too difficult to understand? Mark and I have been together since I was fourteen, and I have no plans on cheating nor leaving him anytime soon."
A cold, calculating smirk lifted Jonah's lips. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed Jaxon and kissed him.
Jaxon’s shock was quickly beaten back, replaced by anger. Letting go, he grabbed Jonah by the front of his shirt and flipped him over his shoulder. He listened as the man gasped for air. Not letting up, he grabbed Jonah by his hair and yanked his head back, making the older man scream. Hearing the commotion, a professor ran out of the nearest room, yelling for Jaxon to let go of his classmate. Complying, Jaxon made sure to bounce the guy's head off the linoleum without drawing blood.
Turning to the woman, he snapped: "Then tell him to stop harassing me! I'm sick and tired of telling him no. I'm not interested, and I will not be held responsible when I put him in the hospital for not laying off after the first warning."
The teacher looked around, spotting a few students with their phones out. They were laughing, staring at the screens. Walking over, she plucked one from the nearest student and sighed in disappointment.
“Hey!”
“Be quiet, Keegan,” she snapped. “s****l harassment is a chargeable offense, and you clearly didn't take no for an answer. Mr. Marks, take a breath to get your bearings."
Jaxon slumped against the wall, sliding down until he reached the floor. He sobbed, knowing that they had likely sent something to Markus.
Someone dangled a bottle of water in his face, and he looked up in panic. Without a word, Markus sat beside him. "I saw what happened, Jaxon. Are you okay?"
Breaking down, Jaxon let the tears fall. "I hate it! Every damn day he's at it, and I hate it. He's always trying to get after me, but today he went too far and I lost my cool. I completely flipped my lid, and I don't know how to feel."
"Having Luke always around helps, huh?" Markus watched as Jaxon nodded. He wanted to be angry when he saw that guy kiss Jaxon, but the teen's reaction told him that his boyfriend was not a willing participant. "You could charge him for it."
Jaxon shook his head. "Dad's going to burn this place down if I say anything, and I like the teachers. I don't know what else to do short of putting him in the damn hospital. I mean, would that count as aggravated assault or self-defence?"
Putting an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, Markus sighed. He'd come to OTU as a favor to David. Getting in wasn't hard, but having to walk around a corner and see some random dude literally attacking Jaxon had him seeing red. "You might be better off asking Memphis. He’ll be able to tell you considering he’s in law school.”
Leaning into his man, the teen sobbed. "I like going to school here, but I can't take the way people treat me. It's not just the teachers, either. There are some students who think that I’m too young to be here, those who think that my being gay is a cover to get girls, and some who believe that me having a boyfriend is a lie."
"Mein Engel," Markus murmured as he kissed the side of Jaxon's head. "It's not your fault that some people are perpetual children.”
******
His phone dinged as he waited in the parking lot. Having seen for himself that Lukas wasn't just spewing nonsense, he knew he had to try to protect his young boyfriend. Picking up the call, he listened to Kennedy talking to Francis in the background. "Yeah?"
Memphis laughed. "Where are you now?"
"Parking lot of his school. They wouldn't let me stay outside Jax’s classes because I apparently made the other students uneasy," Markus replied as he sized up one of his nails. Biting the offending hangnail off, he spat it out the window before laughing. "He flipped the guy over his shoulder, man. I've never seen him so pissed off, but that was something I'll never forget."
Kennedy laughed. "I'll send Keith. He knows them, and they know him."
"I appreciate it," Markus said. Hanging up the call, he waited for Jaxon to walk out of the building. A few minutes after three, when the masses of students had departed the building, there was still no sign of Jaxon.
Strange, he thought. Jax isn't usually late.
Getting out of the car, he walked toward the entrance to the university. Spotting a girl sitting on a bench reading, he approached her cautiously. "Excuse me?”
“Yeah?” the girl said, looking up at him.
He smiled. “Hi, um, you don't happen to know if Jaxon Marks is running late, do you?"
She frowned. "Jaxon? No, he left class the same time I did. Why?"
"He hasn't come out yet, and I'm a little worried. He was assaulted by some Jonah guy earlier," he said as he looked around.
Her frown deepened. "Jonah, huh? There’s a walking douchebag. You’re Jaxon's boyfriend, Markus, right? He talks about you all the time to the girls in the study group we’re in. Not to mention that he and his friend are top of their classes and crazy smart."
"Yeah, you got me. I’m his boyfriend, and Luke is my brother," he answered.
Putting her book away, she grabbed her stuff and led him inside. "Come on, I'll help you find him."
As he followed her inside, he pulled out his cell phone. Not getting an answer from Jaxon, his worry began turning into all-out fear. Calling his father, he told him that Jaxon was in trouble.
"I'll let David know," Trace said. "Your brother's too sick to be left alone at the moment, so I can't leave."
A minute later, the fire alarm blared through the halls of the university. Turning, Markus grinned at the girl behind him.
"Go," she shouted over the alarm.
He didn't need to be told twice. Taking off at a run, he scanned his surroundings until he spotted two of the four guys from earlier in the afternoon. One took a swipe at him, but he was in full training mode and knocked both out with a few well-placed hits.
Trying the door, he found that it was locked. Furious, he beat his fist against the door. "Jaxon!"
He heard a muffled cry inside the room before someone said, "He just broke my nose."
Backing up, Markus looked down the hall he'd come from to see her running with a man not far behind. "Dad, hurry!"
Fumbling with the keys, the man unlocked the door in time to find Jonah and Ryan holding Jaxon down. A small switchblade was poised over the teenager's bared stomach.
"What the hell are you doing?" the man exclaimed in shock.
"Dad!" Jonah yelped.
Jaxon saw his opportunity and kicked. Jonah dropped to the floor, groaning as he clutched at his crotch. Ryan let go of the teen's arms as he backed away.
Stalking into the room, Markus caught Jaxon before he hit the floor. "I got you, babe. Rest now, you're safe."
Clutching his boyfriend's arm, Jaxon pulled himself to his feet. "I want to press charges. They attacked me when I was leaving and dragged me in here.”
Pulling out a rag from his back pocket, Markus gently wiped the blood from Jaxon's lip. "Are you okay? I had to call it in when you didn't show up on time. Your father is on the way, too."
Nodding, Jaxon said, "Thank you."
"Thank your friend," Markus replied, pointing to the girl.
Jaxon looked at the girl. "You helped him find me? I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Thank you, so, so much, Erika."
"Hey, come on. I might not be a nice person all the time, but I'm not going to let my brother hurt anyone just because they wouldn't give him what he wanted,” she replied with a smile.
Markus swept Jaxon into his arms before he started back down the same hall he'd come from. Halfway to the front door, they met David coming in. Swallowing, Markus looked at the fuming man. “I got him.”
"Good. Now, get gone while I deal with this," David said darkly.
- Writer
