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cookies-over-yonder · 11 months ago

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masked weakling

Erica spots Taylor getting bullied at school, and she decides to do something about it.

ao3

It’s another regular day in the life of Erica Drippins. Student council duties, cheer practice, upholding status, just generally being perfect, the whole deal.

And she’s wandering the hall during lunch when she hears a commotion.

Filtering through the sea of students, she spots Taylor face to face with Jared Jorts, known bully.

“You better leave me alone ‘cause I could kick your ass!” Taylor shouts.

“Oh yeah?” Suddenly, Jared is holding Taylor’s cane up and out of his reach, and shoving Taylor against the locker loud enough for a bang that echoes throughout the hall. Taylor yelps, and then bites his lip. “You can’t even fucking walk, old man.”

“ Hey! ”

Erica makes her way to them and presses an index finger to Jared’s chest. “Leave him alone and give that back!”

Jared scoffs, but he lets go of Taylor and throws his cane at him, hitting his torso. Taylor winces in pain before picking it up off the floor, panting.

“Thanks,” he says, barely meeting her gaze. His eyes are glassy, and there’s a slight tremble to his voice.

“No problem. Are… are you okay?”

The bell rings.

Time for class.

And as the hustle and bustle of students floods the hallway even more than before, Taylor is gone.

He did not look okay.

And, well, with the hall passes she has for every class, it’s impossible for her to get in trouble for skipping.

So she decides to look.

Once class has started, the halls are rather empty, and it’s easier to search.

It takes a while, but eventually she reaches a far corner of the school littered with abandoned classrooms and a disgusting bathroom.

And she hears a shuddering breath.

And then a sob.

“Taylor?”

The crying stops. Erica suspects he’s holding his breath from how quickly he went silent.

She turns the corner, and he’s there. Curled up and shaking on the floor beneath the steps.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she says, scooting to sit under the steps across from him.

Taylor’s arms are holding his head and keeping it pressed into his knees. He seems to finally let go of his breath, because Erica hears shallow breathing again. “I’m fine—”

He cuts himself off with a sob, shaking harder. He’s got his hair in his fists, and from the way he’s pulling at it, his scalp must be stinging.

“I’m not gonna pretend that I know you and how you work, but you don’t look fine. That guy back there is an idiot, and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about—”

Taylor lifts his head up and meets her eyes.

His face is red and blotchy, and bits of hair are stuck to his face, and his breathing is far too unsteady.

“Why—why do you care?”

“Because you didn’t deserve to be treated like that. It was cruel and unfair.”

“‘S fine,” he mumbles, averting his gaze from her eyes, “‘M okay now.”

“Still, he shouldn’t have—”

“He was right, anyway,” Taylor says before another sob rips through him again. He buries his face in his hands, and Erica notices the red flecks at the ends of his long nails. She hopes its not blood, but considering the way he was tearing apart his hair earlier she can’t be sure.

“Taylor…”

“I can’t—I can’t do shit,” he says between sobs. “I’m weak. I can’t… I can’t—”

Taylor whines, and his breathing gets more desperate, like he’s gasping for air.

“Taylor, hey, it’s okay—”

“You should, you ssshould go back to class,” he sputters out, strained and quiet.

“It’s fine, I’m not missing much. Can—can you take a deep breath?”

Erica really wishes she had gotten to the scene sooner. Especially now, when Taylor shakes his head with a whine, hyperventilating. She hears him just barely curse under his breath.

“Taylor, hey , can you hear me?”

He nods. “Fuck, suh…sorry�� fuck —” his gasps get louder, and he continues forcing out apologies, and god, he is trembling violently.

“You don’t need to apologize. Can… can I touch you?”

Taylor nods.

She pries one of his hands away from his face and holds it. He squeezes it so hard she nearly flinches.

Rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb, she feels her own eyes getting teary.

“Breathe in,” she says, squeezing his hand.

He does so shakily, running his free hand through his hair before planting it on the floor.

“And out…”

Taylor sighs, slumping forward a little.

“Okay, in… out… in… out…”

After a few more deep breaths, Taylor’s breathing is a little more stable.

“‘M okay,” he mumbles. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I… I don’t know…”

“It’s okay, here,” she says, letting go of his hand in favour of wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

His head rests on her shoulder, and he’s warm. His hands felt hot, but really, his whole body is so warm. It’s not that uncommon for anxiety to cause fevers—Erica learned that the hard way—so maybe she shouldn’t think much of it.

“Look, I know that I… I don’t really… stray from the popular circles… but I can’t just sit around and let you get hurt like that.”

“Why don’t you?” Taylor mumbles into her shoulder, “I mean… isn’t it tiring? Keeping up appearances like that?”

Erica opens her mouth to reply, but then she closes it. “It doesn’t matter,” she says, “Are you feeling any better?”

“I… I… today… bad pain day…” he mumbles, “‘S why I was so off my game. Would’ve brought my crutches but…”

“But what?”

“He’s always saying things like that. I… I can’t walk without my cane though. ‘S hard.”

Erica doesn’t know what to say.

She’d always been one to, well, appease the crowd. But man, this is rough.

“I think your cane looks cool.”

“Thanks. I… I have some new stickers on it.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm,” Taylor pulls away from the hug and picks up his cane, pointing at the new stickers. “Totoro, Miku, Garfield, another Miku…” he mumbles slowly, eyes droopy.

“I didn’t know you liked Garfield.”

“Link does. He gave me that one. ‘S my favourite.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Mm… he’s probably wondering where I am. We have urology this period. Maybe I should…”

Taylor grabs the handle of his cane and starts trying to lift himself up. Erica stands up herself and offers him a hand. He takes it, and she pulls him up, but only for his knees to buckle.

“ Fuck ,” he winces as Erica catches him and helps him back to the floor. “My legs hurt so bad. Sorry. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, should I get the nurse?”

Taylor shakes his head immediately. “She doesn’t do shit.”

“Okay, uh…”

What can she do? Erica has never been the bottom on the cheer team, so she’s hardly confident in her abilities to lift another person…

“You don’t have to um, stay here with me, I’m fine now,” Taylor mumbles, running his fingernail between the tiles on the floor.

“I’m not just going to leave you stuck on the floor alone.”

“I really shouldn’t have been running,” he says, moving his hand to trace the stickers of his cane.

“Do you want me to get someone for you?” Erica asks, watching Taylor gaze at the Garfield sticker as he traces it.

“Could you maybe get Link? He’s in class so he won’t be on his phone, but I—I don’t know… you don’t have to—”

“I’ll be right back.”

Getting ahold of Link is easy. Every teacher trusts her when she says she means business, and soon enough, she’s with Link in the hallway just outside the door.

“Taylor needs you,” she says, watching his expression shift from confusion to barely contained worry.

“Is he okay? Where is he? Is he hurt? Did something happ—”

“He’s okay. He’s under the stairwell by the abandoned classrooms and the gross bathroom. He’s not injured but his pain is flaring up. He was approached by a bully toward the end of lunch and he kinda broke down afterward.”

And now they’re walking. Briskly.

“Okay. Okay. He broke down?”

“I found him crying, and then I think he kinda had a panic attack over it, but I helped him calm down.”

“Thank you,” Link says firmly, and at first she wonders why, but then she understands. They’re close.

And at last they reach the boy in question, and Link is immediately crouched down and hugging him.

Taylor hums, and then Link is lifting him up in his arms, and Taylor is whining again, though it’s more babylike than before.

Erica picks up Taylor’s cane and passes it to Link. He takes it with a smile and a nod.

“Seepy…” Taylor mumbles.

“It’s okay, you can sleep,” Link coos.

“Mmmkay…”

Taylor shuts his eyes and curls further into Link’s chest.

“I take it you both are all good now?”

“Yeah, I can take it from here. Thanks again.”

“Of course.”

Erica goes home that day with the picture of Link holding Taylor like that lasting in her mind. She doesn’t know anyone she could be that vulnerable with.

It’s not like she really can be vulnerable. Not with her status. Not with her plans.

But Taylor was with her. Maybe it was because she was the only one there.

But it was something.

And she wonders if he’d ever be as receptive to her vulnerabilities…

That’s absurd.

She doesn’t have any.

And a regular day in the life of pretty and perfect Erica Drippins comes to an end once more.

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