All the usual disclaimers apply. This is a work of fiction and any similarities to real people or circumstances are a coincidence. This series will eventually contain sexual acts between minors, which you shouldn't read if such material is offensive to you or illegal in your jurisdiction.

For the record, this story is on a bit of a slow burn and this first chapter does not contain much in the way of sexual content. I hope you enjoy it regardless, but I admit this is more a case of me getting a story out of my head and onto paper. I wanted to explore the implications of this particular world, and the erotica comes second to that.

I welcome feedback. Send any comments to broadstead-academy@mail.com.

Thanks for reading.

* * * * *

1. The Hangover

I want a drink.

"Hey, See, we're coming up on the grounds. Look at all that space."

I didn't see her do it, but I knew Deanna was giving me the side-glance. I didn't answer her, which she took as a cue to keep trying. "I bet they've got a track team. Hell, you could probably play any sport you wanted. How much you wanna bet there's an archery range somewhere on the campus?"

I felt my eyes close as I let a breath out my nostrils. It fogged up the window. The glass had warmed up to my forehead; it'd probably leave a nice little red mark when I got out of the car, at this rate. I finally sat up, stretching my stiff neck, rubbing at a cramped spot with my left hand, but I didn't take my eyes off the window. I wasn't even really seeing what was outside. I couldn't say for sure exactly what I was looking at. Wasn't looking at my reflection, either.

I blinked. Okay, now I was, since the thought occurred to me. My reflection stared tiredly back at me. Soft brown Indian skin, tousled black Indian hair, but who gave an Indian shit? I looked terrible. Hadn't slept properly in days, still hung over, ugly bags under eyes still red from crying - goddammit. I rubbed them furiously, like I could just wipe the blotchy veins out.

"Still tired?" Deanna asked.

Really? I did look at her this time. Well, glared. She had that mask of fake innocent curiosity on her plump face that adults always get when they're trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Her brown curls were frizzing.

"Okay, okay, I know. Stupid question," she conceded. I looked out the window again.

She was quiet for another minute, and then when she spoke again her voice was gentle, probing. "How bad was it?"

I shrugged. Started to reply, cleared my throat. My voice sounded gross and husky, but somehow I still sounded like my usual, high-pitched, twelve-year-old self. "Normal. Must have been drinking till, I don't know. Three? Passed out around then."

"Him or you?"

"Probably both." I rubbed my eyes again. "Not that it matters."

Deanna turned sharp eyes on me. "Don't talk like that."

"It doesn't!"

"Stop it, See."

"But--"

"Stop!"

She looked back at the road, and I went back to my sullen window-watching. I saw a parking lot. Not empty, not super busy. I wanted a drink. I really, really wanted a drink.

Deanna pulled us into a space next to an attractive-looking silver Lexus, put it in park, turned off the car, but just sat there a minute. Fine by me. Any delay was a good delay. Besides, I knew what was coming next. Another lecture about positive self-talk, and how his actions don't define me, blah, blah, fucking blah.

She lasted about thirty seconds. "Look, See--" She caught herself. "Sorry. But... come on. Of course it matters. You're not him. You are your own person. You are a courageous, intelligent boy who--"

"Bullshit." I glared at her again. I could feel tears coming but I didn't want to let them. I'd done enough crying today. "Three times. It sure as fuck isn't their problem."

"That doesn't make it your problem, and you know that! See..." She sighed. "You don't control any of this any more than they do. And now we've finally found the answer. This place..." She gestured out her window, at the annoyingly modern-looking building on the other end of the lot. "This is it. This is gonna be different."

"And what if--" My voice caught halfway up my throat, and I felt the tears insisting on their freedom.

Deanna spoke softly. "What if what, See?"

I put together a shaky sigh, hoping I wouldn't want to cry anymore. It didn't work. My cheeks were wet. "What if it isn't different? Who says this place won't kick me out, too?"

I felt her hand on my shoulder. "They won't. They've dealt with a lot worse. That's why you spent so long on the waiting list, remember?"

After another long moment, I nodded. Deanna pulled her keys, opened the door, and pretended not to notice me wiping the tears off my cheeks. I grabbed my pack and got out into the unseasonably warm weather. I'd worn a jacket - I mean, it was March - but I really didn't need it. I trudged around the car while Deanna got my suitcase out of the trunk, and then the only sound came from its wheels as we trundled on across the parking lot.

The place was called the Lucas Broadstead Academy for the Bonded. Subtle. It was build recently (obviously) and still had that kind of brand-new-building air to it, like how the grass hadn't fully overgrown next to the footpaths, and how the outer concrete walls with their tall, chic-looking windows looked cleaner than they should have.

I frowned. That was another one. Chic. Thanks, Dad.

Then I abruptly snapped back to attention when I noticed the security guards at the door, which was glass and clearly well-secured with another door a few feet behind it. The whole thing gave me a pang of dread. Just what was Deanna getting me into, here? Was I being locked up? Was this a prison?

The guards stopped us before we even got close to the door, and one of them asked for our names. I tuned it all out as I peered through the window. No orange jumpsuits... no bars... no cops with nightsticks. It didn't look like a prison on the inside. Actually it looked pretty welcoming. There was a fountain in the middle of the entry hall, with a bunch of benches around it. No kids that I could see, but then I remembered it was the middle of the morning. Maybe they were in classes or something.

The security guards eventually decided we were supposed to be there, and one of them swiped a fob against the reader next to the door. It swung open, leading into a skinny hallway with an intercom on the wall next to the second glass door I'd just been peering through. One of the guards followed us in and tapped the intercom, followed by a short back-and-forth with the disembodied voice on the other end, and then we were in.

I knew the hall had to be big, what with the fountain and everything, but the scale of it almost made me forget why we were there in the first place. Staircases led up to the next few floors away from the doorway, with glass railings and against smoked glass windows leading off to other hallways, I guessed. The fountain was a lot like a mall fountain, just a spout of water in the centre of a round pool, but there were pint-sized stone children holding hands in a circle around it. It was so wholesome it made me want to barf.

Deanna led me off to the right, stopping only to take a pamphlet from a passing rack and hand it to me, telling me to take a look. I had nothing else to do, so I did.

The Lucas Broadstead Academy

Giving our bonded children a fresh start at life.

I snorted. How poetic.

We walked into a space that looked kind of like the main office of every school ever, except totally sleek. Flashy new computers, glass countertops, the works. Plus comfy chairs for people to sit and wait in, which Deanna pointed me to while she talked to the secretary, an unpleasant-looking bald-and-mustachioed guy whose nameplate said F. Dougall. I obediently went and sat down, setting my backpack between my legs and slouching down. I opened the pamphlet again to fight the boredom. Most of it was just bullshit about the facilities and programs and stuff, until I got to the section entitled "What Is A Bonded Child?"

Nearly ten years before this academy began construction, Dr. Johann Gerensk famously patented the "Baby Bond," a subdermal implant given to new parents and their babies that transmitted a degree of the emotions and sensations of the infant to the parent. This device allowed the parent to feel what their baby was feeling, allowing the parent to respond more quickly to the needs of their child until around age 2, when it would be removed. The Baby Bond saw massive success, and tens of thousands of babies were given the implant over the following years. However, many children continued to experience "bonding" after the implant was removed, in various ways ranging from difficult to dangerous.

Yep. Understatement of the century. I glanced around. Deanna had gone into a meeting with the school's headmaster. "F. Dougall" wasn't paying me any attention. I kept reading.

Bonded children are often subjected to thoughts, sensations, emotions and experiences usually reserved for adults, and many more have difficulty being apart from their parents, or distinguishing their own feelings from those of their parents. The Lucas Broadstead Academy was created to provide a supportive academic and social environment to assist bonded children in learning to with live the continued influence of their bonds to their families.

I snorted again, bitterly. Good fucking luck.

"See!"

I glanced up. Deanna was on her way back around the secretary's counter, accompanied by a young-ish looking guy with short, deep brown hair, a neatly trimmed goatee, and one of those grins that, on anyone else, would look completely fake, but on him it looked totally genuine. I hated him already.

Deanna waved me to my feet and I grudgingly stood. "I want you to meet Mr. Gary, the headmaster."

Oh, Jesus. One of those guys that did the Mr. First Name thing.

"Mister" Gary held out a hand to me. "You must be Surinder. It's my pleasure to welcome you to Broadstead."

"See," I corrected him as I shook the hand. I tried not to clench my teeth.

"See? See what?"

Teeth officially clenched. Oh, God, I want a drink.

Deanna rescued me. "His name. He goes by See."

"Oh. Oh! I'm sorry." The grin looked a tad sheepish. Good. "All right, well, we'd best get you and your things up to your room. I'll call Yuri down from class so he can show you to your room. I'll, uh, See you in a moment!"

Deanna squeezed my shoulder apologetically as Maestro Gary chuckled his way back to his office. "He really does seem like a nice guy, though, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," I replied, unclenching my jaw with only a little extra effort. "A real winner."

"Give him a chance. Maybe he won't be so bad." She pulled me sideways into a little hug. I let her. She was the only one who seemed to want to hug me these days. "So I've agreed with the school that I'll stay on as your case worker, and I'll come see you in a couple of days to see how things are going. Think you'll manage that long?"

I leaned into her, part of me wishing she would just take me out of there with her. "...Yeah. I guess so."

"I know you will." She planted an affectionate kiss on the top of my head, and I scowled as she let go, re-tousling my hair.

"E-excuse me... Mr. Dougall?"

Deanna and I turned toward the office door. A boy had appeared there, which was weird, because from the voice I was expecting more of a mouse. Still, he looked mousey enough, though a little bit chubby. Short brown hair, small mouth, beady eyes, twitchy. His hands were folded up in front of him and I swear both of his feet were pointed inwards. It was just short of cartoony.

"Mr. Gary called for me, h-he said I was supposed to, uh, come...?"

Secretary Dougall glanced up from the depths of whatever he was doing, then over his shoulder. "Gary? Yuri's here."

"Already?" floated Monsieur Gary's voice from around the corner, followed shortly by His Exuberance himself. "Good grief, that was fast."

The boy - Yuri, I assumed - smiled shyly. "Well, my class was right around the corner, so..."

"Hey, what good luck," the headmaster replied as he reached us, putting a hand on Yuri's shoulder. Almost put one on mine, but thought better of it, although he did turn that beaming smile of his back on me. "Yuri, this is See. He's the new roommate we told you about last night."

"O-oh! Oh, um..." Yuri looked a little flustered, but eventually held out a hand. "Uh, hi. I'm Yuri."

He was so awkward it was almost adorable. I shook his hand with a little less reluctance than usual. "See."

"Yuri is a year younger than you, but he's been a great sport about all this," Major Gary continued on. "I understand he was up after hours clearing your side of the room. It's not often we have new students on such short notice."

Yuri blushed. "It was no trouble..."

I didn't really know what to say, so I didn't, leaning over instead to pick up my backpack, and then grabbing the handle of my suitcase.

Master Gary - shit, I was running out of nicknames - gave Yuri a little nudge, and he seemed to snap out of a little trance. "O-oh! Um, let, let me get that. I can..." He trailed off as he reached to take the suitcase handle from my hand.

I pulled my suitcase a bit closer to me. "No, that's... that's okay. I'll get it." I caught Deanna's eye for a second, then added, "uh, thanks."

She nodded, grinning her approval. "I think that's my cue to exit. See, be good. Okay?"

I tried to smile. "Okay."

She gave me a thumbs-up, and swept out the door, back to the other lost souls she was supposed to be saving. It would have made me look like a wimp to go running after her. Still, almost did. Almost.

Mr. Gary took no notice of the moment and clapped Yuri's shoulder. "All right, boys. Yuri, why don't you bring See up to his new room? You're excused from the rest of your classes today so you can bring him up to speed with how things work here."

"Y-yessir." Yuri smiled at me again and turned to leave.

The headmaster patted my back as I followed Yuri out, and I tensed. If he noticed, I couldn't tell. The jerk.

"I meant to say," he said, "I understand you had a bit of a rough night."

Christ. Here we go. I'd have to be careful, be responsible, blah, blah, blah...

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I'll have some Aspirin sent your way, and some chicken soup around lunchtime. Great for a hangover." He winked down at me. "If you'd rather eat in your room today, I understand."

Oh. I blinked. I couldn't quite find the words to say, so I just nodded, and then followed Yuri out into the entry hall. I could feel Mr. Gary's eyes on my back the whole way.

* * * * *

Once we got far enough away from the office, it turned out Yuri was a chatterbox. I couldn't decide how I felt about that. On the one hand, it was nice not to have to talk much. On the other, I was hoping I wouldn't spend the entirety of my time here wishing he'd shut up.

"The gyms are over that way, and there's a pool, but you can't go in there unless there's an adult. Especially after the time one kid's mom had a panic attack while he was in the middle of free swim. Oh and that's the meditation room over there, you can go in anytime. Lots of kids use it when their bonds are really acting up. I really don't do much meditating myself, though. I just can't get my brain to quiet down enough, know what I mean?"

Surprise surprise, I almost said, but I managed to hold it in. "So," I asked instead, "every kid here is bonded? All of them?"

"Well, yeah, that's what the place was built for." Yuri grinned. "Don't worry, we're not all super crazy, or anything. There are some kids with really serious bonds but we don't see much of them, most of them stay in their own wing and get special tutoring and coaching and stuff. There's a few with more intense bonds in regular classes, though. Like, certifiable head cases. One girl in my math class, her dad's a druggie and she'll miss days at a time. And this other kid, his mom drinks like crazy so he always comes to class hung over." We stopped in front of an elevator, and he pushed the button. "So, uh, what's your bond?"

"Alcoholic dad."

"Oh." He paled, then blushed. "Ohhh. Uhh..."

I raised my hand in a dry salute. "Surinder Chauhan, certifiable head case."

"I-I... I'm sorry... I, I didn't mean to--"

I shrugged. "It's okay. I've been called worse."

Yuri sighed. "Do you ever wish you could just sink into the floor?"

I snorted. "Should have seen me last night."

The conversation was a bit less animated by the time we were approaching my new room, but Yuri figured out enough of a way around his embarrassment to stay in tour guide mode. I'd never done the boarding school thing before, but it seemed simple enough: breakfast at seven thirty, classes at eight thirty till three with an hour for lunch at eleven, dinner at five, curfew at nine, lights out at ten thirty. Followed, in my case, by a fifty-fifty chance of the good Chauhan Senior making an alcohol-fueled appearance in my system. Neat.

"Well, this is it," Yuri said, standing in front of our door. We were in the boys' dorm, third floor, room 377. A neat little printed sign had our last names. Mine on the bottom - Chauhan - which meant Yuri's last name was apparently Sokolov. He produced a card from his pocket - student ID, I guessed - and swiped it through the slot above the door's handle, the kind of thing you see in hotels. Had to try it three times to get it to work ("Sorry," he said, "the stupid thing doesn't like me much.") but eventually the door opened and I was greeted by my new dorm.

It smelled kind of like Pop Tarts.

The place was spacious enough, I guessed, but still small. Wasn't really much to see. Bed on one side, bed on the other. Desk on one side, desk on the other. Door off to the left, closets set into the wall opposite the door. Side tables, ceiling lamp, garbage can. Yuri had a bunch of snack food near a mini-fridge on his side, including... yep. Pop Tarts. Called it. That plus probably the most awesome gaming laptop I'd ever seen on his desk. His closet overflowed with clothes, some of which were even on hangers. He had some posters up, including a Minecraft creeper over his desk and a big, fat Last Jedi promo poster on the wall behind his bed, the oversized kind you only ever see in the actual theatre.

I stood there in the doorway for a moment, taking it all in. "So, uh..." I cleared my throat. "What's your deal? Uh, bond?"

"My bond?" He sat on his bed and shrugged. "Nothing too interesting, really... just attachment issues. I, uh... don't like being away from my folks. The shrinks say it's 'cause I feel how much Mom misses me, and then I miss her, and she feels that, and yeah. Kind of just spirals out of control." He gazed out the window for a moment. "Dad sent me here because he figured it'd fix both of us."

"And?" I set my backpack down next to the other bed. "Did it work?"

He shrugged again. "I'm still here, aren't I? I'm guessing not yet. But it isn't always too bad. Mostly sucks at night."

"I know that feeling," I muttered, wandering over to the window. Still looked weirdly pleasant outside. Just a couple of clouds, nothing over the sun at the moment. We were on the shady side of the building, anyway. The window was right next to a fire escape ladder, probably because it was so far down the hall from the actual fire exit. Not that much of a drop, though, from the third floor. Probably easy enough without the ladder, if there was a fire or something.

"So anyway," Yuri said, standing up again, and I realized he'd been lost in his own head for a minute there. Say what you want about my bond, at least the effects aren't 24/7.

"This is the bathroom," he continued, opening up the door that had been to my left when I walked in. I followed him. Long counter on my left with two sinks, two--wait, two toilets? One on the far end of the counter, another one on the near end. Weird. And a bathtub opposite on my right. And, directly across from us, another door.

"Let me guess," I sighed, "we share the bathroom with the neighbours."

"It's not so bad," Yuri replied. "The twins are okay bathroommates."

"The twins?"

"Yep." He pointed to neat little labels on a couple of cups on the farther part of the counter. "Georges and Alexis," he read, although he said "Alexis" like "Alexee." Must have been a French thing. "They're total neat freaks, something to do with their bond, I think. So you never really have to worry about the bathroom being dirty."

I nodded, then turned to head back into the room, and then suddenly I felt my balance shift a little bit. I stopped and put a hand on the counter. Took me a moment to notice I was breathing a little heavier, because all I could think was, Fuck.

Yuri must have noticed, because he was right next to me a second later. "Hey, See? You okay? What's wrong?"

I shut my eyes tight, trying to breathe evenly. Please, no, I thought. I can't do this today. I can't do this right now.

"See? Hello?" Yuri was lightly shaking my shoulder.

I waved him off. "Stop it. I'm fi--I'll manage." When I opened an eye, Yuri hadn't moved, so I closed it again with a sigh. "He's been drinking."

"What? Wait, y-you can actually, like... feel...?"

"Not so much can as have to, but yeah." I went to step back to the room, and stumbled a bit. I was about to start making no sense and I knew it. And I also knew there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it, especially not while I was still rocking last night's hangover.

"Just need--I need the bed." Maybe I could sleep through it. Avoid making a total ass of myself.

Yuri was right in front of me, and I mean, credit where credit is due, he was keeping his cool pretty well. He had his arm around me and was guiding me to the bed when I stumbled a little too hard to the left, and it threw him off balance. We both fell down to the floor and I landed right on top of him. I felt the whoof of air as I knocked the wind out of his lungs, and I tried to push myself up a bit and get back to my feet. Didn't work, hand slipped. Things were starting to spin around a little.

I vaguely felt something poke me in the hip, and there was a horrified intake of breath from somewhere in the Yuri direction--Jesus Christ, what a soft carpet. I shifted right down onto it as Yuri got out from under me, and his hand was on his crotch for some reason, but I was a little more focused on how nice the carpet felt. I giggled. I think.

Yuri was talking. I tried to focus so I could hear him a little better. Something like, "on the bed." Good idea, actually, don't know why I didn't think of that. The bed looked really tall, though. I mean really tall. How was I ever going to get up that high? Oh, wait a minute. There were hands in my armpits. That was helpful. I reached out and grabbed the covers, pulled them right off. Not a good handhold. I lashed out with my hand again and found a bedpost this time, and then somehow in the next few seconds I ended up on the bed, and God. Damn. That carpet had nothing on this bed.

I rolled over, back toward Yuri, towering over me next to the bed, maybe a few miles away. I giggled again, and then I started full-on laughing and pointing. "Youuuuu have a bonerrrr!!"

It was simply the most hilarious joke I'd ever told, and it was totally true. Yuri's blue shorts were poking out right in the really, really penis-y area. Yuri turned red and put both his hands over it, and he said "N-no I don't!"

But I could tell a boner when I saw one, and it was the bonerest boner that ever bonered. I laughed some more. "Come onnnnn," I drawled, "don't be shyyy, let me seee!!" I threw my hand out to grab a hold of his waistband and prove it, but he zipped away, zip, to the other side of the bed, all turned away from me, and he was blushing so hard even his arms were red, which only made me giggle harder.

"Ohhh, I'm gonna show you! Haa, ha-ha!" I launched myself at his butt and got a grip of his shorts, and I guess that surprised him because they came right down to the floor with me, so there I was hanging out with Yuri's shorts, and his ankles. Oh, and his underwear! His underwear joined the floor party.

And then so did Yuri! He lost his balance and he fell right down on his side, and rolled onto his naked little butt. He was trying to pull his feet away, but I didn't let him because it was super important that I show him the boner. I had a great angle from here, too, looking right up his legs at it. There was no way he could miss it now, the silly goose.

I crawled up between his legs, and I was still giggling. He wasn't struggling too much anymore, he was just giving me the weirdest look. But hey, that wouldn't last too long once I showed him where the boner was. He'd get it, and then he'd find it just as funny as I did.

"Seeeee?" I said. I took a finger and pushed the tip of the boner right down, so it sprang back up again and made Yuri's legs flinch. "It's right here! I told youuuu!"

And then I rolled over onto my back and laughed some more, and I closed my eyes because OH MY GOD the carpet was so comfortable, nothing on Earth could compare to the softness of this here floor. So nice, so very comfortable... so soft...

And then sleep took me.

* * * * *

When I woke up, there was a glass of water on the side table next to my bed, next to a couple of Aspirin tablets and a bowl of soup that had long since gone cold. I was alone.

I was too sick, and in too much pain, to move. In the brief moments I could open my eyes before slamming them shut against the headache, I figured out it was getting a little darker out. I held out a little hope that it was just a trick of the shade, that maybe I wasn't unconscious for that long, but no. A squinty glance at the screen of my phone told me it was almost six. I stuffed it back into my pocket, and then clutched at my stomach. I didn't dare try to roll over or sit up. I'd been here before and I knew what to expect.

Which didn't make it any easier. I could feel stray tears trickle down onto my pillow. Yuri was gone. I tried to piece together what had happened after coming out of the bathroom. It took me a while, but I'd had practice, and after a few minutes I had a rough idea of the sheer scope of the ass I'd made of myself. It wasn't anything I hadn't done before, but somehow that wasn't very comforting. No wonder Yuri wasn't here. I wouldn't want to be either. I'd want to get as far away from me as possible.

My pillow was getting damp with tears now. Always the same thing, when it got bad. None of the shrinks ever said it to me out loud, and neither did Deanna, but I knew it was him. My dad. It wasn't me. His perverted, shitty self infected me when he drank, made me do those things. Made me like doing those things. And now Yuri... It was enough of a fluke that they'd put me in a double room to begin with. After this there was no way I'd be seeing my new roommate again.

Behind me, a toilet flushed, and then I heard the faucet running. One of the twins. I wasn't about to get up and say hello.

I just about froze solid when I heard the door open on our side, behind me. It took me all of a split second to be pissed off. Who did these twins think they were, barging into someone else's room? Screw the headache. I started to push myself up so I could tell them to fuck off.

There was a sharp, startled gasp, followed by a long enough pause for me to turn over and see Yuri framed in the harsh bathroom lights, letting out a sigh. "Y-you scared me," he said, shutting the door behind him. "I didn't think you were awake."

I relaxed, feeling the tension ebb away, replaced by guilt. My eyes found the bedspread. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I was just startled is all." He rounded my bed (giving it plenty of space, I noticed) and flopped down on his own, laying on his side and looking over at me. "How're you feeling?"

I shrugged, the headache and nausea coming back now that the adrenaline was gone. "I'll live. It's... usually like this after." That was a lie... it was worse than usual today. But I didn't want to say it.

I wasn't looking right at Yuri - I couldn't - but I could feel his eyes on me. He was quiet for a few moments, trying to decide whether he should ask the question on his mind. I hoped he wouldn't, but my run of bad luck was still going strong. "Is it... Is it like that every time?"

I felt myself tense again. "What do you mean?"

"Like... so fast. One moment you were totally okay, and then..."

I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Not the question, not yet. "Not every time," I answered him. "Mostly just when he drinks a whole lot, really fast. They explained it to me once, I don't really remember. Something about a delay in the bond, and how he can handle a lot more booze than I can." The pounding in my head grew more insistent as I spoke, and suddenly the Aspirin sounded like a really good idea. I reached for the glass.

"But you don't actually have the... the stuff in your body, right? I mean, why do you feel sick when you never drank anything?"

I finished swallowing the pills and laid on my back, one hand on my forehead. "I don't really know. It's... it's like my body is reacting as if the actual stuff were in my system, but since it never is, I never get used to it. Every time is like the first time." I sighed. "It fucking sucks."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Yuri flinch slightly when I said the F-word. I glanced at him. "You don't like swearing?"

"It's fine." He sat up, looking a little sad all of a sudden, his eyes downcast. I felt like he was going to say something, and I felt like I knew what it was going to be, and it was the last thing I wanted to hear, but I kept quiet.

Finally, he said, "I'm sorry for... before."

My head moved a little too quickly to when I abruptly turned back to him, and I felt another wave of nausea. "Sorry? What are you sorry for?"

"Well, I mean... when y-you... uh..." He blushed, stammering.

I rubbed my forehead. "Yuri. Spit it out."

He somehow managed to get more flustered. "I-I mean... when... when you f-fell on me, and I... I got... well, you know..."

"When you got... hard?"

He blushed even harder, staring at his feet, and nodded.

I felt like I was missing something. My headache wanted me to do nothing but roll over and sleep, but now I was curious. And still guilty, even more so now that the guy was actually apologizing to me. "I don't get it," I finally said.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I don't get why you should be sorry, after all that."

"You--" He cleared his throat. "You didn't find it, um... weird? That I... that it, um, did that?"

"No. Well..." I thought about it for a second. "Okay, yes, but compared to what I--" Cough. "... compared to what... happened afterwards, that was nothing. I'm surprised you're talking to me. I'm kinda surprised you're still here."

He frowned. "Why wouldn't I be? W-well, I mean..." he added hastily, seeing the dry look on my face. "I mean, I can see why, I guess, but what I mean is, it wasn't really you, you know? Like, it wasn't your fault. It just happened to you."

I blinked. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, didn't it?" He was leaning in a little, like I hadn't heard him or something.

It took me another few moments to find words. Finally I said, "are you always this nice?"

That was met with another round of blushing, and his eyes went back to the floor.

"No, really." I pushed myself up to my elbows, with some difficulty. "I pulled down your pants, practically tackled you to the floor, and touched your dick. Don't give me that look, it's what happened," I added, a little more harshly than I meant to, at the scandalized expression on his face. "You're supposed to freak out, or go tell Mr. Gary or whoever, and get me kicked out. That's what's supposed to happen when--" I cut myself off with a sigh, head hung back, eyes closed. Fucking hangover.

Yuri let another quiet moment pass by before he spoke again. "Did... this happen before?"

It took me a long time to finally nod my head yes. "Last time it was my "foster brother." The one before that, a boy in the washroom at school."

"Oh..." He cleared his throat a little. "B-but still, it wasn't really you--"

I cut him off with a frustrated grunt and rolled back over. "Jesus Christ. You are too nice."

I thought for sure Yuri would say something else, but he took the hint. I heard him putter around the room for a bit while I tried, and failed, to sleep. The Aspirin helped, but not enough. I listened as he ate a snack from his little fridge, opened up his laptop, closed it again. It was definitely an awkward silence, I just didn't care enough to do anything about it. At this point I just wanted the whole day to go away.

I don't know how much time went by, but I heard him get back onto his bed. A couple of minutes later, he said, "It's my mom."

I sighed to myself. "What is?"

I heard him shift a little. "The reason I'm so, well... nice, I guess. She always sees the good side of things. Of people. The way my bond works, I kind of do too. I get that from her."

I snorted. "Must be great."

"I guess."

Something about the way he said it made me roll back over. He was hugging his knees and staring into space. I fiddled with the blanket for a moment. "I... never really said I was sorry. For all this."

He shook his head. "It's okay. Wasn't you. Besides..." He shrugged. "Like I said, I kind of started it."

"Started it? You mean your boner?"

His face went red again. "Yeah, that."

I tried to hold back a grin. "I mean, everyone gets them, right? It's not like your boner forced me to pants you."

"I guess." He giggled a bit, then chewed his lower lip. "Actually, I get that from Mom, too."

"What?"

"You know..." He poked his chin downward. "That. Boners."

"Uhhh... what?"

"Ew, n-not like that," he protested, shaking his head. "What I mean is, when she... you know, when she and my dad... or when she's... ohhh, you know-w-w..." He buried his face in his knees.

"When she's... in the sexy mood?" His head bobbed as he nodded yes, and I found myself scratching my head. "Okay, what... I mean, how--"

"It's my bond," came his muffled voice. "Like how I feel her feelings at other times, except it makes m-my... thing get hard. That's what happened before, on the floor, when you fell on me. I-I can tell, when it's not m-me."

"Oh. Um. Okay." I had to bite my lip really, really hard, but I managed not to let out a laugh. "That's... uh, that's really, um. That's--"

"It sucks," Yuri said, finally lifting his head again. "It's okay. Laugh if you want. I'd find it funny if it weren't me."

I shook my head no, but I couldn't help smiling a bit. "I just got thinking about if you're in the locker room, or a public pool or something... it must be super awkward."

"Tell me about it." He leaned back against his headboard and rested his head against the wall. "Anyway, I just... wanted you to know. So you didn't think I was, um. A perv. Or something."

"I didn't think you were a perv, Yuri."

"Well, good. And you aren't a perv either." He beamed at me.

I smiled back, but it felt a little forced. "I'm, uh... I'm gonna try to sleep more. Head still really hurts."

"Okay." He shifted to the edge of the bed and stretched. "Want me to bring you anything from the dining hall?"

"No, that's okay..." I frowned. "Wait, wasn't dinner an hour ago?"

"Yeah, but Mr. Gary said it was okay for me to eat late, so I could stay with you. In case, you know, if you needed something."

I swallowed. "So... he knows? About what happened?"

"Yeah. Well... most of it." He scratched his neck sheepishly. "I kinda left out the part about the... you know."

"Oh. Uh, thanks." I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm not hungry. Don't worry about it."

"All right."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him give me a little smile, and then one of those worried half-frowns when he thought I didn't notice. A moment later he was gone, and I was still staring at the ceiling. Or at least, it felt like a moment later, until I looked at my phone and another half hour had gone by. Jesus. I dropped my phone back on the bed and rubbed at my eyes. I was tired, and my head and stomach still hurt, and I felt guilty, and there were about a dozen other things I hated about my life at the moment.

I really was a head case. And damned if I was going to make Yuri deal with that.

I rolled over and tried to get a little more sleep. I was going to need it.

* * * * *