On Top of the World

''Frank...?'' Mikey called out to me, waving his hand in front of my face.

I didn't flinch, or make any recognition to acknowledge my friend.

I had been on a cloud all afternoon since my encounter with Martin earlier, but that incredible feeling had faded, and was replaced with this incredibly haunting feeling that now settled in my gut. I couldn't do anything to shake it off, and it pretty much scared the hell out of me.

''Dude, seriously, what's going on?'' Mikey asked, shaking me this time, finally making me snap out of my daze.

''I'm sorry, Mikey. I don't know what came over me...''

We were in gym class, our last period of the day. Neither of us had bothered dressing out; there was no way we were going to participate in basketball or soccer. We were going to get points taken off anyway, so why bother?

I slouched down against the wall where we were standing, trying to pinpoint where my uneasy feeling was coming from. Maybe it was just my nerves getting the better of me. I mean, Martin did say he was going to come visit me during gym...

Yeah, that must be why I'm feeling so anxious. I put my head in my hands and groaned out loud, realizing that little theory did absolutely nothing to settle my nerves.

''Um... Frank?''

That wasn't Mikey's voice...

I shot my head up and my eyes scanned over the guy who had addressed me. He wore a letterman jacket, but I hadn't seen this one yet.

''Yeah...?'' I answered, raising my guard up.

I was a bit confused as to how he knew my name, but decided the fact that he did call me by my actual name and not some generic typical emo-boy nickname, I took that as a good sign and figured he didn't pose much of a threat. He didn't seem like the typical douche bags like before.

''Um... something's happened... you need to come with me,'' he stammered, his voice coming out as if it was shaken up. He immediately sprinted out of the door that lead outside to the football field, leaving Mikey and I speechless and staring wide-eyed at each other.

''What the hell...?'' Mikey asked, reaching a hand out to help pick me up as we rushed out the same door that guy went through just a few moments ago.

We looked around for a second, trying to figure out where to go from here.

''Frank, look!'' Mikey pointed, and I followed his gaze to a figure wearing that stupid letterman jacket. He was standing on the field, looking down at something- or someone, I should say, laid out on the ground.

''No...'' I whispered, dreading the possibility of that being Martin lying there.

I took off running towards them, my insides feeling like they were being ripped apart when I realized that figure lying on the ground was in fact Martin. I couldn't see his face because he was covering it with his hands, but that spiky hair and those famous jeans of his were a dead giveaway. He was covered in his jacket that had 'I like boys' now scribbled on it in what looked to be permanent marker.

My heart sank, realizing why he was broken and beaten before me. Me.This was all because of me...

''Fr...Frank?''

Martin was crumpled up on the ground, apparently beaten, yet he was asking about me. Regardless of the situation, my heart fluttered that he was still thinking about me and wanted me by him, even after all of this.

''I got him, he's right here,'' his friend said, getting up from his crouched position next to him.

Martin removed his hands from his face, to reveal a bruise on his cheek and a busted lip. I immediately fell to my knees beside him, a silent tear falling from my eye as I slid my hand in his.

''Frankie...''

He looked up at me and smiled, making my heart swell with happiness.

''I'm here, baby... I'm here,'' I whispered, burying myself all around him, hugging him gently. He winced, making me shy away from him but he still held on to my hand and smiled at me nonetheless. I kissed the good side of his lip gently, feeling him smile although I could tell he was screaming in pain from the inside.

I removed the jacket and threw it aside, revealing the very bruised and banged up Martin that lay underneath. He was clutching his side in agony, and crumpled up even more when he saw that he had been revealed.

He was perfection; he was still the prettiest fucking thing I've ever laid my eyes on.

''What... what happened?'' I asked, suddenly regretting my words when I saw his eyes blink shut and his face contort in pain.

''They saw us kissing earlier... and I..." his words trailed off, but he had said enough.

''He stood up for you, Frank,'' his friend said, making me jump. I'd completely forgotten about him and Mikey still being there. ''And I'm damn proud of him.''

''Paul..." Martin said, taking his eyes off of me to look at his friend. I stared at Martin in shock, my eyes filling with even more tears as the words that his friend, Paul, just said.

Martin stood up for me. He was lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp, all because of me.

"Why?" I asked, my eyes desperately searching his for some sort of answer.

"Because I like you, Frank, and I'm not ashamed of liking you. I wasn't about to back down to them, I've done that for too long now and I can't do it anymore, I won't. All of this is nothing, I'm fine, I swear," he said, trying to get up but immediately regretted it as he groaned out in pain again.

I stuffed the jacket into a ball and laid it underneath his head, and he stretched out so he was now lying on his back. His very tiny shirt revealed a tattoo that I had previously failed to see before, and also revealed a very generous amount of skin.

My heart sank, when I saw a little bit of what looked to be just a tiny part of what I'm sure was a huge yellow and purple bruise forming under the rest of his shirt. I tried to lift up the shirt so I could see the damage that lied underneath, but he immediately pushed my hand away and shoved the shirt down, groaning out again because he now made it clear something was wrong with his left arm as well.

"Martin, please..." I pleaded with him, and he eventually let me lift the shirt up to reveal what I feared most. My hand immediately clamped over my mouth when I saw the huge purple and yellow bruise, taking up a very large amount of the left side of his ribs.

"Martin, why?! I'm not worth this, I should never have kissed you today it was a bad idea-"

"It was the best idea, Frank. And don't ever tell yourself otherwise, okay?" he corrected me, rather harshly but he did it to get his point across. I nodded, and allowed him to continue.

"You can go and get help now, Paul," Martin told his friend, and he and Mikey both laughed and took off towards the school building together. I'm assuming they were going to take their time, so Martin and I could have more time to talk before people started flocking towards us to see what the hell was going on.

''When they were beating me up, Frank... I felt like I deserved it for what I did to you. I did deserve it, and I don't deserve your forgiveness-''

''i forgive you,'' I said quickly, cutting him off. He smiled and sighed what I'm sure was a sigh of relief, obviously happy that I'd finally forgiven him for hitting me yesterday.

"Frank... I really fucking like you. Like, you don't understand... I'm so amazed by you, the way you carry yourself and you just don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about you. You are who you are and fuck anyone who doesn't like it. That's amazing. And then when you kissed me today, it blew me away. You didn't care what the consequence was, you just kissed me. And that to me... was simply amazing," Martin said, making me blush.

"It was nothing, really..." I said shyly, turning my face to hide the red I knew was spreading across my face.

"It was everything to me, though..." he admitted, lifting my chin so I could make eye contact with him. His eyes were so sincere, and made me happier than I think I'd ever been in my life.

"With the exception of them 'teaching me a lesson', today has been the best day of my life. I really do like you, so... here,'' he said, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

He put it in my hand and closed my fingers around it, kissing my hand before letting me have it back.

I glanced down at my hand and smiled, maneuvering myself to where I was on top of him, well my top half anyway. I wrapped my arms securely around him, hugging him as gently yet as hard as I possibly could, if that makes any sense.

He made this gentle moaning sound, which made my heart flutter. I could definitely get used to this...

I leaned up so that I could look at him, and it thrilled me beyond belief to see him smiling.

I removed a stray piece of hair that had fallen in his face, and he caught me as I tried to pull away, pulling me gently by my shirt collar so I could kiss him again. So I did, making sure to catch the good part of his lip that wasn't hurt. He moved at the last second though, making me kiss those delicious lips of his in their entirety.

I giggled, pulling away as Mikey and Paul made their presence known again.

''They're sending an ambulance. It'll be here soon,'' Paul said when they reached us. ''How are you feeling?''

''Never better,'' Martin replied, his eyes glittering as they locked with mine. His eyes wandered over to Paul eventually, as he reached his right hand up and slapped hands with him. ''Thanks for your help. Thank you, too.''

He said that last bit to Mikey, motioning for Mikey to come closer so he could slap his hand too, and I smiled. ''This is my best friend, Mikey. He's the very best.''

''Yeah, I'm Mikey...I don't know about the best, but I am his best friend,'' he said, making us all laugh. He kept smiling like a madman, probably because he was finally able to speak to the apparent star of the school that he was afraid to even look at yesterday.

Looking at Martin now, it might have seemed like that 'star' had fallen, but in my eyes he glittered brighter than ever.

There was something about him that I'd never seen before, something even prettier than I'd failed to see previously, and I was addicted. I was completely and utterly addicted to him, and I didn't care who knew it.

We heard the faint sound of an ambulance in the distance just as people started to flood out of the building. School must be over, and sure enough people began to crowd around us as the ambulance parked and the paramedics came sprinting towards us with a gourney.

A paramedic or two began asking questions, to which Paul tried to answer as best he could. Several others placed Martin on to the gourney, but he never broke eye contact with me or let go of my hand. We never quit smiling at each other, either.

They loaded him up into the ambulance, and then he was out of sight. Paul had decided he was going to ride to the hospital with him, and just as he hopped into the ambulance with him, the coach came storming over to us. He was furious and screaming very many colorful profanities as to why his star quarterback was being taken away in an ambulance.

''Why don't you ask the guys on the team what happened to him?'' I shot at him, with an amused look on my face. I hope they all suffered and got kicked off of the team for what they did to him.

I then turned to my best friend, and threw my arms around his tiny waist.

''Whoa, Frank! What's that for?'' he asked, patting my arm and trying to regain his composure from my sneak attack.

''For being my best friend. I frickin' love yooou,'' I said, giving him one last squeeze before releasing him from my grasp.

''And I love you, kid. Now come on, lets go home,'' he said, reaching his arm around me as we began the short walk to his house.

''So, you and Martin?'' he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me, nudging me.

''Oh man!'' I cried out, suddenly remembering the little piece of paper Martin had given me earlier. I was still clutching it tightly, in the same position he had curled it up in earlier.

I unfolded it, practically beaming when I read what it said.

He had given me his phone number, and signed it XO, Martin in that adorably messy handwriting of his.

''Me and Martin...'' I answered Mikey, grinning from ear to ear. What a day this has been!