Hero or Villain

“You won’t be laughing soon you little twat.” Steve pulled his leg back, preparing to kick Ricky again. To his surprise, the blow was blocked and a large fist met with his face. Steve curled his fingers, prepared to make whoever was playing hero pay.

“Tsk I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The black spots in Steve’s vision, caused by the hard punch his face just took, cleared, and Steve was shocked to find a massive dude in a black baseball cap looking down at him. 

This dude was an actual giant and even 6’2 Steve had to crack his neck up as he attempted to catch a glance of the giant's face. A few of the onlookers bolted towards the school, and Steve would have done the same if his feet had allowed him to move.

It was like Steve was stuck there, bolted in place, now at the mercy of this creepy-ass dude.

“Wh-who are you?” Steve asked the scary man, his voice faltering. “I’m Ricky’s cousin, but that doesn’t really matter.” The man responded coolly. “Now Steven Beth Thomas, I suggest you stay far away from Ricky from now on, or I will personally make you wish you had never been born. You got that?” A few of his classmates snickered after hearing Steve’s middle name, but Steve didn’t really care. “Y-yes ss-sir.” Steve, now able to move his legs again, turned and sprinted as fast as humanly possible towards the school.

“GET OUT OF HERE!” The man roared, and the rest of the onlookers, except for William, turned and sprinted after their highschool idol Steven Thomas. 

“Who are you?” William asked Ricky’s cousin. “As far as I know, Ricky only has 4 female cousins who live up north, and none of them are Russian or tall.” William said matter-of-factly. 

The man ignored William, insisting that he was indeed Ricky’s cousin, but William wasn’t pleased with his answer.

“Oh yeah? Then what's Ricky’s parents name and how are your parents related to them?” William didn’t trust this guy, everything about him seemed sketchy, and the last thing William was going to do was allowing this dude to abduct his defenseless boyfriend.

“Ricky’s parents are Rhea Whitly and Tony Dagger. Gary, Rhea’s brother, knocked up Alyona Petrov, my mother, while visiting Russia.” The man said with a forced smile, then turned to scoop half conscious Ricky off the ground, carrying him bridal style. He tried to turn and leave, but William stood in front of him.

“When is Ricky’s birthday?” William asked with a smug look on his face. “July 13th, now we really must be going.” The man responded, side-stepping William.

“What’s his-” William started to ask, but the man cut him off. “His favorite food is peanut butter and vanilla ice cream, he loves horror movies, unless they feature creepy dolls, and he has one older sister named Milly. If that is all, then we really must be going, I need to evaluate Ricky’s wounds.” The man turned and walked towards a black sports car leaving William behind, mouth agape.

“WAIT!” William called out, causing the man to take a break from buckling Ricky into his car, so that he could turn and glare at William.

“Don’t act like you suddenly care about him now. You just stood there while Steven beat poor Ricky half to death. If you really cared about him, you would’ve tried to stop the fight before I intervened. Now go, I don’t feel like humoring you anymore.” The man turned and got into his car.

William, still in shock, jumped when Ren grabbed his arm. The small boy's face was twisted in fear, his white-blonde hair hanging in his eyes.

Ren was the exact same height and build as Ricky, though Ricky was slightly more muscular, the only major noticable difference between the two was that Ricky was a brunette, while Ren was a blonde. They had known each other since they were babies, their moms being best friends. Ren and William had only just become friends this year, after Ricky started dating the lanky boy.

 “Why did he take Ricky?!” Ren, who was normally calm, screamed in a panic. “It’s fine, '' William patted Ren’s head, “he’s Ricky’s cousin.” 

“Ricky’s cousin?” Ren asked, confused. “Yes?” William responded. “RICKY HAS A COUSIN THAT HOT, AND HE’S BEEN KEEPING HIM A SECRET???!” Ren’s previous worries dissipated and he jumped up and down excitedly. William looked at Ren, disappointed “of course that’s what you're focusing on right now.” 

“Your point?” Ren asked William, crossing his arms. “I don’t know, I just don’t trust that guy Ren,” William confessed. “What’s not to trust? He is very strong and tall and-” William cut Ren off. “Just because you think he’s hot doesn’t mean he’s trustworthy! I mean, I’ve never heard Ricky mention an Uncle Gary before, who is supposedly his father!”

“What?” Ren’s face grew pale and he started wheezing. “Ren?!” William asked, worried. Ren grabbed his inhaler from his back pocket and took a puff, before continuing to freak out.

“G-gary died at the age of 10 in a car crash. Th-there's no way-” Ren took another puff from his inhaler, “that he’s Gary’s son.” William quickly turned towards where the black sports car had been parked, but it was gone.