15Couple things:
1- This is an AU and therefore there will be changes. Most of it is still canon though and what's not will become apparent.
2- For example Clark is no long Reed's halfbrother, but his regular brother.
3- Don't get too excited. If you like Clark (and I do too) you won't in here.
Yes it will be a chapter fic. And don't worry, I will still update my other stories, I just can't stop writing new ones.
Title from the song My Beloved Monster by Eels.
My beloved monster is tough
If he wants he will disrobe you
But if you lay him down for a kiss
His little heart it could explode
He will always be the only thing
That comes between me and the awful sting
That comes from living in a world that's
so
damn
mean
Shane was surprised at how much he liked college. He wasn't expecting too much out of it seeing as he wasn't exactly the best academic student, mainly due to laziness rather than stupidity. But he loved to dance, and at his college in New York, that was considered his most important class, never mind the other boring stuff he wasn't so good at.
Which was why this assignment was so important. Sacrifice your entire summer to volunteer at your community of choice and earn a college credit. This was a no brainer. It kind of sucked having to do this every week day of the summer but he figured it would be better than a whole semester of some terrible class. That and staying home and watching Kurt and Blaine be lovey dovey with each other. No thank you.
So when he found himself waiting to sign up for some sort of community service, he wasn't too upset about it. Actually he was grinning. Maybe it would be fun.
But when he got to the sign up sheet, three days later than most people, he was disappointed to see there wasn't much left. He had been thinking maybe an animal shelter, playing with animals all day would be pretty nice. But every single shelter was taken. He shouldn't have been surprised, who wouldn't want help adorable little animals. They were probably the first to go.
In fact there was only a couple of slots open.
His eyes scanned down the list, a knot of disappointment growing in his stomach at each passing opening. It didn't seem like much fun to volunteer at a nursing or retirement home, that would probably make him sad. But it seemed like that was all that was left. Until...
The very last thing on the list made his eyes grow large. It took him all of two seconds to start scribbling his name on the line next to it. This was far more interesting than a nursing home, if not still a little depressing. At least it would guarantee excitement.
Silverton, the psychiatric ward about twenty minutes away from where he lived with Kurt and Blaine. A mental hospital. How many times did an opportunity like this arise? And Shane wasn't someone who let it go, even though judging by the fact it was one of the last things blank, it seemed like no one else felt the same way. Which was fine. Shane started grinning again. This would be fun.
"Are you crazy!" Blaine asked in incredulity later that day, after Shane broke the news.
"No and I would refrain from making comments like that in the future, considering where I'll be working."
Kurt snorted from the kitchen, but said nothing. Shane was a little surprised to see Kurt look so impressed, like he agreed with him.
Blaine on the other hand, did not. "You could get hurt! What if one of them goes into a fit and ends up hurting or killing you! Shane this is dangerous!"
Shane rolled his eyes. "You're overreacting. It'll be fine. There are other people who work there, and they survive. Besides, they have medications and sedatives to keep these people calm. It'll be fun."
Blaine was staring at him across the table with his mouth open. When he finally regained himself, his eyes narrowed slightly. "You have a really messed up idea of fun."
Shane laughed but didn't have a chance to say anything because Kurt chose then to join the conversation.
"I agree with Shane."
Blaine turned to him, shocked expression back in place. "What?"
Kurt shrugged. "I mean, it should be interesting. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Uh death?"
Shane sighed, rolling his eyes again. "I'm not going to die. Stop worrying so much, nothing is going to happen. I probably won't even get to see the patients. It could be dreadfully boring."
Blaine scoffed, and Shane could tell he was hoping what he just said was true. But Shane didn't. He wanted to remember this experience. Hopefully there was something there, good or bad, that would stick with him for the rest of his life.
Shane woke the next Monday to about ten different text messages from the twins, all stating about the same thing.
Good luck at the insane asylum!
Tell us all about it!
We'd like to know about the place we'll end up in one day.
Take pictures!
Shane shook his head smiling. He would be sure to tell them about it, but there was no way he was going to go around taking pictures. He didn't want to look like an idiot.
He showered and dressed in no time, but really that wasn't new. He never put much thought into what he wore or what he looked like.
At breakfast Blaine wasted no time in reminding Shane of every bad thing that could possibly happen.
"Criminally insane, Shane. Criminally. Insane. As in criminals!"
Shane sighed, resisting the urge to throw a spoon full of cereal at his annoying brother. "Yeah, I've gathered."
"That means they could have murdered someone. Murdered!"
Throwing cereal was seeming like such an appealing idea. "No offense but if you don't shut up, I might do the same to you."
Kurt laughed but Blaine didn't look so amused. "I'm serious. Be careful."
"For godsakes Blaine, what can I do to mess this up? It's not like I'm gonna enter one of the cells and try to have a conversation with the patients. That would be stupid."
He just wanted to catch a glimpse of someone. Maybe learn a few rumors and see for himself if they were true.
He wasn't going to put himself in danger by doing something stupid like that.
The twenty minute drive went by quickly. Shane could tell he had the right place due to the high fence and locked gate. Even the outside of the building was eerie with what few windows there was being barred down tight. He even had to wait for someone to unlock the door so he could get in. It made him wonder how bad the people they were trying to keep from getting out were.
The first person he saw was a tall man with a badge. He figured he was in charge since he led him to an office like room, making him sign a bunch of papers he didn't read. He could hear Blaine scolding at him for that.
"What happened? Was everywhere else taken?" The man, who had told Shane to call him Mark, asked after Shane finished signing.
"Actually no. This just seemed like the most fun." He grinned but the smile fell when he saw the man staring at him with a judgmental look.
He looked like he thought Shane might belong there, and not just to volunteer. After a long stretch of uncomfortable silence, he spoke again. "You have a really weird idea of fun, kid."
"Yeah," Shane drew out the word, exhaling. "So I've been told."
"Okay well, you're going to want to follow this hallway to the end, then take a right. You'll find the room I'm talking about. You'll meet the other three workers there. They'll tell you what to do."
Shane's eyebrows furrowed. "There's only three other workers?"
"Only three you'll be working with. You won't be with the nurses or physiatrists."
Well duh. Now Shane felt kind of dumb. But if he wasn't going to be with them, who was he working with?
He followed the directions, knocking hesitantly on the right door. He heard shuffling inside and seconds later the door flew open, revealing the brightly smiling face of an Asian boy.
"Hey! Are you Shane! Come in! I'm Wes!"
Shane followed him into the room, feeling some of his tension relieve to see this person so excited, though he didn't know why.
"Jeez Wes, calm down a little." The voice came from the other person in the room, but as far as Shane could tell, that was it. There wasn't anyone else, so who was number three? "I'm David and I think he's just happy that someone new is here." David walked over to where Wes was still grinning, throwing an arm around his shoulder.
Shane eyed them curiously, not being able to stop the question from leaving his mouth. "Are you two together?"
Both of their eyes widen and they jumped away from each other, looking embarrassing. Shane wanted to laugh.
"No! No! I have a girlfriend," David was quick to defend. "Wes used to. We're not gay!"
Shane couldn't resist. "I am."
Their expressions were priceless, as were their explanations. "Oh! Well we didn't mean it in a defensive way, like being gay is bad. Because it's not! If it helps I'd totally be gay with David if I swung that way."
David was saying quite the same thing and Shane couldn't hold it in anymore. They both stopped speaking when Shane started laughing, watching him in surprise and it only made Shane laugh more.
"Very funny," Wes reprimanded, but his eyes and mouth were smiling.
"It was too easy." Shane shrugged in defense. "But it was amusing to see you try."
"Well for the record. Everything I said was true." David threw a wink at Wes, making him and Shane laugh, before walking back to a chair in the corner of the room.
The room looked like a lounge, with a TV, couch, tables, and chairs spread throughout. There was also a refrigerator and microwave but Shane wasn't really paying attention to the normal things. He was looking at everything else. There were dozens of medication bottles on an iron shelf, more than Shane could count. Beside that there was a type of metal trolley covered with paper cups and labels. The room was also filled with tons of paperwork and folders.
"Uh, what exactly do we do here?"
Wes pointed to the shelf Shane was still studying. "We have to go through all those, and issue the right medicine, in the right dosage, to the right patient. It takes a while."
"And then we get the joy of distributing them," David added but his attention was otherwise occupied by a piece of paper Shane couldn't see.
Wes continued on. "We get to do this three times a day!" His voice was full of false optimism and Shane took a guess that he had been doing this for a while. "We get to deliver the food sometimes, too. But don't worry, we don't have to make it."
That was a relief. Shane could follow recipes but that by no means made him a chef or meant he wanted to cook every day.
"So when do we have to do this?"
Wes walked to the trolley and pulled a folder out. "You missed the first round. Second is in a couple hours for lunch."
"And until then?"
Wes handed Shane a couple of papers stapled together, sitting the folder down and pointing to the medicine bottles. "We start sorting."
"Have fun," David said in mocking voice, not looking up from the table.
It turned out that figuring out how much of which medication went to who took a long time, even with help. And Shane wasn't used to this at all. He had to double check the list about six times, every time to make sure the patient in question (which was just a number on a cup so far) had the correct pills and dosage. It didn't help that every single one had to take more than one type of medicine. That reminded him that they all probably had multiple problems, and that made him curious as to what they were.
"So, um," he finally broke the silence sometime after the first two hours. "What are the people here like?"
Wes looked up at him from the other side of the table they were at. "How do you think?"
"Well, I have no idea so I don't know what to think. I've never been to a place like this."
"It's not all that bad. Most of the people are nice enough, they smile at you, talk to you, you'll see them walking around the halls or part of the building they're allowed in but we're not. But some aren't so friendly. Particularly floor three."
"What's so bad about floor three?" Wes was still working, but Shane stopped to listen.
David answered from where he was still across the room. "It's the top floor, where the worst cases are. They aren't allowed out no matter what."
"It's gets worse the higher up you go," Wes continued. "The first floor is the floor above us, which technically means it's second, but we don't count this one. Then there's the second above it. They both have other areas the patients can go, if they're allowed. But the third floor." Shane saw how he lightly shuddered. "It's dim and secluded. It's just that hallway, too. There's nothing else up there. And don't be afraid if people grab or scream at you up there."
Shane was a little afraid already. It sounded like the third floor was something out of a horror movie.
"It won't be that bad. Don't scare him Wes," David commented.
"I'm not scaring him, I'm preparing him! I almost peed my pants my first trip up there." Wes scoffed and David laughed at the memory. "And it didn't help that you couldn't stop laughing!"
Shane smiled. He liked these guys already, even if he was a little frightened by the third floor.
"Anyways," Wes shook his head and continued explaining. "You don't want to do anything to upset anyone on floor three. So you probably shouldn't speak to them, don't even wave. The further you go on the floor, the worse it gets. Three thirty three is the worst though. Last door on the right."
Shane sat up, instantly interested. "What's wrong with three thirty three?"
"He's insane." When Shane fixed him with a 'duh' look, Wes continued. "He's the only one on the third floor who doesn't talk. He doesn't do anything. It's like he's not even there, until he looks at you. He eyes are like knives. And you just want to get the hell out of there. We don't even stay to make sure he takes the pills."
Shane's eyebrows rose. "But shouldn't you?"
Wes just stared at him blankly. "We'll let you go to his door today. See how long you can stand there with those eyes fixed on you."
Shane felt a little annoyed for getting himself in this position, but then again he had been hoping this wouldn't be boring, maybe this was just the entertainment he wished for. But he still felt a little uneasy.
"So what did 333 do to get in here?" The way Wes described him made it seem like he was just a quiet person with a pair of evil eyes. But that didn't mean his eyes matched his soul.
"We don't know the details. We don't get to read the files. And he won't tell us. He never does."
Shane could tell by the way this was worded that the 'he' in that statement wasn't referring to 333. "Who won't tell you?"
"The only person who reads the files. He's not supposed to, but he sneaks and does it anyway."
David spoke up again. "He claims he's just educating himself so he can properly protect us in the case of emergency."
Shane blinked. "What?"
"He thinks that if he knows what's wrong with a certain patient and if he or she goes a little crazy, he'll be better equipped to help them."
Well that made sense to Shane. He was about to point that out when Wes started talking again.
"Which would be awesome except for the fact he won't let us in on it. He says he's the only one who needs to know what these people have been through."
"What's even more than that," Shane turned to watch David speak. "When we confront him about why he gets to be the one to know he replies with 'It takes one to know one.' What the hell?"
Shane's eyebrows shot up again. Did that mean this guy considered himself crazy? "Who are we talking about anyways?"
"The other worker. He's supposed to be here helping us but he likes to make rounds to the first and second floor rec rooms to talk to some of the more sane patients. Which he isn't allowed to do either."
Oh. The mysterious missing number three. Shane got the feeling this guy was a bit of a rule breaker. He wondered how he got away with it.
"Well has he told you anything about 333?"
David had stood up and was walking to them now. "It just so happens that 333 is the only one he flat out refuses to talk about."
Shane frowned. How else was he going satisfy his nosiness? "Why?"
"Well, he is the last door. He's the worst. God only knows what he did to deserve a life sentence."
Shane was now so curious he was about to burst. The nerves were replaced with anticipation to see this guy, and he wasn't scared anymore. Maybe if he got to look in those so called devil eyes, he'd get a glimpse of who 333 was and what he did.
He was also curious as to who number three was. But he didn't need to ask that question, because just then the door opened and someone he'd never seen walked in. This guy didn't look any older than him, and the first thing Shane noticed about him was the hair. It was black as night and stuck out in every direction. Shane could relate, even if this guy's hair wasn't curly. He was strikingly pale though, even more so than Kurt, so that was about as far as their similarities went.
"Hey Dwight," Wes greeted before Shane had the chance to. "This is Shane, the volunteer. Shane this Dwight, the guy who reads all the files but won't let us."
Dwight rolled his eyes before entering. It seemed like he was used to being criticized for this. "You don't need to know."
Wes ignored that. "We were just telling Shane about the patients, particularly 333. He's wants to know about him."
Dwight kind of froze but recovered so fast that if Shane wasn't watching him he would have missed it. "There's nothing to know. Just don't talk to him. Don't even look at him."
Dwight had his back turned to them now so Shane couldn't study his expression when he said this. He wished he could. Just what was that supposed to mean? "But why not?"
Dwight turned to face him this time, his eyes narrowing. "Just don't do it." He walked back out the door, leaving it at that.
Talking to him didn't help at all. It only made him all the more curious.
When it was time to hand out the medication at lunch, Shane was feeling antsy. The sane part of his mind was kind of scared, but another part was hoping 333 lived up to the hype.
The first floor was pretty tame. He got to hand it out to almost half the floor. Every door had a window and a slot. The slot opened to a shelf sitting in the other side of the door. All he had to do was hand the cup over through this slot, watch the person swallow the pills, and move on.
The second floor was a little more intense. He was either talked to, smiled at, or ignored on the first floor. Now he was either ignored or glared at. And the glares were quite menacing. But still, the first two floors weren't too bad. He could definitely see why some of the people were there though. Others seemed relatively normal.
As they took the elevator to the third floor, Shane bounced on his heels. He was suddenly feeling a lot more excited than fearful.
The door opened and Shane could see that Wes didn't exaggerate. This floor was just a hallway, and it was pretty dark. Shane figured they kept the lights so dim to keep the patients from wanting to escape, maybe if it was dark out they'd want to stay put.
Shane remembered when he first arrived. There was only three rows of barred windows, which meant floor three had none. Honestly, Shane could see why.
Making his way down from door to door proved to be as frightening as he expected, but David and Wes (he had no idea where Dwight had wandered off to) seemed to handle it all in stride so there was no reason he couldn't. After all, he did sign up for this. Who cared if a bunch of terrifying looking people screamed, cussed, and threw things at him. His eyes kept drifting to the last door anyways.
Butterflies were kicking in his stomach as the door got closer and closer. When there was only one cup left of the tray, Wes and David stood side by side grinning at him. Wes thrust the cup to him, and pointed to the door silently.
Shane rolled his eyes, but inside he was jittering. Time to find out what the big deal was.
There was a window on the door, just like all the rest. But Shane noticed that the bars on them got thicker with each floor. That made perfect sense to him considering the kind of people on this one.
He reached for the handle to the slot underneath the window, pulling it open before he allowed himself to take a peek up. His hand froze midair the second he did.
The room was dark, but Shane could still make out the shape of a body lying in the middle of the floor with his knees drawn up. He was staring at the ceiling when Shane first looked up, but at the sound of the slot opening he looked over.
Every one of Shane's muscles locked in place. The eyes. Wes and David weren't lying. Shane felt like he was being dissected just from one look alone. His eyes were piercing and so dark they looked black. It was like they could see right through him.
But it wasn't just the eyes that captivated him, it was that face that held them. He had delicate features and gleaming hair that almost looked crimson. He was so small, almost pixie like, and, Shane was startled to see, very adorable. He looked so young. Shane was having trouble imagining him doing something to warrant being here, not to mention being the worst one.
Shane realized his mouth was hanging open and he had forgotten how to breathe. He was just staring.
Pink lips curled into a devious smirk that matched his eyes perfectly. It was like he liked Shane's reaction.
Shane snapped out of it at that. He swallowed nervously, feeling like a bug under a microscope with this guy observing his every move. He sat the cup on the ledge with shaking hands, shutting the slot and running away as fast as he could.
Wes and David were smirking at him, and even though they didn't speak, and they hadn't since arriving on this floor, Shane could hear them saying 'I told you so.'
By the time they were supposed to distribute the last dose of medicine for the day, the chills down Shane's spine had still not disappeared. He wasn't ready to look into 333's eyes again, or rather, feel him boring a hole in his face. He let David do it this time.
David was smart enough to keep his eyes down and put the cup down as quickly as possible, retreating without having to look up once.
And even though 333 was the only thing on his mind for the rest of the day, he didn't bring it up again. He already dwelled on it so much this morning, Wes and David were going to think he was obsessed with him. Which maybe he was. He couldn't stop thinking about him for anything.
The next day he decided he was going to stay there. He wasn't going to be scared into running again. He was going to stay there and make sure 333 took his medicine, like they were supposed to, no matter how uncomfortable he made him feel.
But the time Shane was required to come in was after the breakfast round, so he would have to wait until lunch. That was fine though. Shane was so nervous he couldn't stop moving, even when they were sitting there sorting through the medication.
He kept the image of those eyes in his mind, trying to prepare himself for when he saw them again, but he knew that wouldn't really help. 333's eyes were something he just couldn't prepare for.
Making his way up the floors with the other two, still no Dwight, he wasn't as afraid now that he knew what to expect. But then again just knowing what was going to happen when he got to the last door scared the crap out of him.
He grabbed the cup, skipping 332 to ensure Wes or David didn't try to do this for him, and stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath. He opened the slot before looking up, just like last time. But this time 333 was staring right at him, like he was expecting him.
Shane's body froze again, feeling goose bumps spark up his arms just from being looked at. He swallowed down the discomfort, and glanced down, putting the cup through the slot. His body was still rigid even though he felt like running. He wasn't going to. He forced his feet to stay still.
333 didn't stop staring. He was sitting up this time, right in the middle of the floor. Shadows fell on his face but Shane could still make out the glint in his eyes and the smirk on his lips. He felt like he was being analyzed by him again.
He was suddenly aware Wes and David were whispering to him.
"What are you doing?"
"Let's go!"
Shane only held a hand up silently, refusing to look away from the person who was scrutinizing him. He wasn't going to be scared away that easily.
When it became apparent Shane wasn't going anywhere, something in 333's dark eyes changed. He looked confused, maybe even curious.
Shane wasn't going to speak, he only let his eyes drift down to the ledge where the cup sat and back up to the boy on the floor, wordlessly saying he wasn't going to leave until 333 did what he was supposed to.
He didn't need to worry about his message being misunderstood, 333 seemed to understand. He was soon shifting onto his knees and crawling, crawling, across the floor. His movements were slow and he never took his eyes off Shane, that was until he disappeared completely. He was near the door now, and out of Shane's line of sight that the window allowed.
Shane strained to look down, but couldn't see anything. His eyes fell to the slot, surprised to find the cup was still there but it was empty. He completely missed 333 taking the pills, he must have done it so quickly.
Fear creeped up his spine when he realized he would have to reach in and take the cup back. Regardless of everything telling him to leave the cup like they usually did, he tentatively reached in and snatched the cup back quickly.
Nothing happened, but in the process of taking the cup back he caught sight of the very eyes that were burned into his head watching him through the slot. It was all he could see of the boy, but just with that he could tell 333 was smirking.
He slammed the slot shut and hurried over the Wes and David, walking with them back to the elevator in silence. Once inside, he was bombarded with questions.
"What the hell was that about?"
"Why'd you stay over there? I already told you we don't have to when it comes to him."
"What were you thinking?"
David was frowning but Wes looked a little excited. "Well what happened? What did you see? What did he do?"
Shane shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. He just stared at me."
"But how could you stand it? Didn't you feel uncomfortable?"
Like you have no idea. Shane didn't say that though. "A little. But honestly I'm more curious as to what's going on behind his eyes than what they look like."
Wes and David stared at him quietly, not sure how to respond. Shane could tell they were questioning his sanity though.
It was towards the end of the day and, like yesterday, Shane didn't try anything during the dinner round.
He was getting ready to leave when Wes and David brought up what happened again. They were still confused, and trying to get him to explain why he was so interested in 333. Shane couldn't give them and explanation though. He couldn't explain something he didn't understand.
"I don't get why you two don't feel as compelled as I do," he said as if that was a valid answer.
"Maybe because he's nuts," Wes said. He added the next part quickly. "Not to mention dangerous."
"I think there's more to it than that. I want to know what he did. He looks 16 and 90 pounds, what could he possibly have done that's so bad?" Shane drifted off into thought, unaware of the looks he was being given. "I want to know why he's here. And why he looks so…" He didn't know how to put it, but something about 333 didn't seem so evil, even with those eyes of his. "Scared."
He looked up and saw Wes and David thought he was crazy again. But that was fine. Maybe he was.
The next day Shane had a plan, a plan that would take every ounce of guts he had to put into action. He was quite aware that what he was doing was against the rules and could very well get him kicked out, but then again he didn't think he would get caught. It's not like anyone would check.
He slipped out of the room just before lunch, heading towards the office he had signed paperwork in a on his first day. He had a formulated lie in mind to get the room empty, but upon entering he found that was unnecessary as there was no one there.
It only made the illegal offense he was about to do easier. His eyes scanned over the key rack, seeing there was at least two on every key ring and they were all hanging underneath the number of the door they unlocked. Beside the rack was a much larger key ring, holding tons of keys together. He moved to inspect it, figuring they were spares. Each key had a number carved into it and it didn't take him long to find 333.
It was a little hard getting it off, but not impossible. He stuffed the key in his pocket and rushed out of the room before anyone could come back and catch him. Hopefully no one would miss the key. It didn't seem like anybody would need the third spare anytime soon.
The whole rest of the day he couldn't stop fidgeting. The key made his pocket feel ten times heavier and he had to keep checking to make sure no one could see the outline of it through his jeans. His hand was almost constantly clutching it for fear it would fall out. And then what would he do?
He hadn't worked up enough courage to put the next part of his plan into action until the next day.
Today and the day before he refrained from going to door 333, trying to give Wes and David the impression he wasn't so interested anymore. Maybe they would catch on to where he was going if they still thought he was.
It was sometime after lunch when Shane finally couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, interrupting Wes and David's conversation to announce he was going to try to find out where Dwight always disappeared to. They seemed fine with it and immediately went back to talking.
Shane dashed out the door and practically flew to the stairs. He thought taking the elevator might be too noisy and he didn't need anybody knowing what he was about to do.
As he climbed the stairs he was suddenly remembering what he told Blaine on his first day. He said he would never enter a cell and try to have a conversation with one of the patients.
Sorry Blaine, he thought, not feeling sorry at all. I lied.
He just couldn't feel any guilt over it when the only thing he did feel was obscene amounts of curiosity. He wanted to know everything about 333, including why he didn't talk. Maybe Shane could change that.
Entering the third floor alone was just about terrifying, but no amount of fear could change his mind once he got this far. Still, he kept his breathing shallow and his footsteps light and quiet. He didn't want anyone to know he was there.
When he reached the end of the hall he took a deep, jagged breath and slowly slid the key into the lock. Here goes nothing.
He opened it as quietly as he could and stepped inside the dark room, knowing with every part of his mind this was a really stupid idea. He still let the door close softly behind him, but he didn't really notice it.
He was frozen in his tracks again, but this time it wasn't for the usual reason. 333 was sitting on his usual spot on the floor (Shane still didn't understand why he didn't sit in the chair or bed) but he looked different. Way different.
Black eyes that were usually peering straight through him with varying degrees of malice were wide and brown this time. They were impossibly big and held extreme amounts of fear in them. His whole demeanor was trembling and showed how terrified he felt. Shane was sure he could see tears swimming in his large eyes.
He was stunned silent. 333 always looked menacing, but now, now he looked three seconds away from bursting into tears. Shane had no idea what to do.
"Are… are you okay?" he whispered dumbly. Of course he wasn't okay if he looked like that.
At the sound of his voice, 333 gasped and backed into the wall with a slightly open mouth. His shaking got harder and he cowered in on himself, rocking and pushing his head into his knees. His nails gripped onto his plain black pants and Shane could hear him crying.
Shane's mouth was hanging open. What was he supposed to do?
"Um," he began, moving slowly from the door and sliding down the opposite wall 333 was huddled at. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you I swear." He saw a glistening eye peek up at him from around a knee. He held his hands up. "I just wanted to talk to you. My name is Shane. What's yours?"
333 hesitantly looked up fully, and Shane was glad to see the tears had stopped, but he still looked petrified. He hugged his knees tighter and glanced back down, still shaking. Shane could finally find the word he had been looking for earlier, what seemed so surprising about 333. He looked innocent. But he figured 'scared' was still accurate too. He had just never seen him look quite this scared.
"You have a name don't you?" He asked after a long moment of silence.
333 still didn't look up. It seemed this was going to be harder than Shane thought.
"Hey," he said softly, trying to lure him into looking up. "I swear on my life that I'm not going to touch you."
The atmosphere in the room changed so fast Shane had trouble processing it at first. He could see 333's lips curl up into a now familiar smirk. He was still looking down when those lips parted and an intimidating voice came out. "Too bad."
Shane could barely register that 333 had spoken, let alone what he said. Or what it meant. "I'm sorry, what?"
333 finally looked up and Shane could see his smirk was reflected his now black eyes. "I said," he spoke slowly, mockingly. "Too. Bad."
Shane felt brain dead. Too many things were happening at once. First this guy wouldn't talk, and now that he was he was saying this while looking just as evil as before. Why was he so scared at first then, and what happened to change that? Shane had no idea what to say or do, but he didn't need to.
333 looked him over in a way oddly reminiscent of how a hungry predator looked over its prey. "You said you wouldn't touch me. Too bad."
Shane suddenly caught onto the innuendo and blushed brightly. 333's voice when he said that only made it worse. "Uh. I… Uh. What?"
333 laughed and the sound sent a chill rocking down Shane's spine. It seemed like he liked to see Shane blubbering like an idiot. His head cocked to the side and he licked his lips very leisurely. "You're cute."
Now Shane's face was a dark red color. "Oh. Um. Thank you?"
333 laughed another chilling laugh and sat up. "What exactly are you doing in here? Don't you know it's a bad idea to come to a crazy person's cellblock alone?"
Shane swallowed thickly. What was he doing here? He couldn't very well tell this looming person that he was inappropriately fascinated with him. "Um well I just." He paused, deciding to be partially honest. He looked 333 in the eye. "You seem different."
Shane thought he could see something flash in 333's eyes but before he could place what it was, 333 was back to smirking and was crawling over to him.
"Well you seem pretty different yourself. You're the first one who has done something like this."
Shane couldn't see why. There was something about 333 that was impossible to resist. "Well," he tried to focus on speaking and ignore how close 333 was getting. "I've been told I'm pretty strange."
333 spit out another laugh. "You and me both. Wow. We have so much in common." Shane gulped. This guy certainly was intimidating. He appeared to like Shane's reactions a lot. "What's your name?"
Shane had been sure he told him that, but wasn't about to argue. "Shane. What's yours?"
333 was only inches away, but he stopped at the question, sitting there and watching Shane with a tilted head. His smirk faded just slightly. "Why do you want to know?"
Shane sat up a little straighter, feeling defensive. "Well why did you want to know my name?"
The smirk was back with abundance. "Touché." His first finger made its way into his mouth and he bit down as he stared Shane over. A couple minutes past before he spoke again. "Fine. You really want to know my name?"
Shane nodded. There was an amused glint in 333's eyes that he didn't fully understand. "It's Riley." Before Shane could say anything, he was speaking again. "But only sometimes."
What.
Shane's eyebrows pulled together. "What does that mean?" he asked in confusion.
"It means," he drew the word out in over exaggerated impatience. "That I'm not always Riley."
Shane was just going to pretend that made sense. "And who are you when you're not Riley?"
333, or Riley, looked back at him, appearing to be completely serious. "Reed."
Shane's head was starting to reel. 333 was two different people? Did that mean he had Multiple Personality Disorder or something? Honestly, it wouldn't really surprise him since 333 was here of all places. "And you're Riley right now?"
333 nodded, smirk falling back into place. He crawled a little closer until there was no space between them left. "You'll like Riley," he whispered in a low voice. It sounded almost… seductive? "I'm a lot of fun."
Shane was still trying to keep up and figure this out but it was hard to do when Riley was talking like that and running a hand down his chest. "Um w-what?" He still had a bunch of questions.
Riley took his confusion as being over what he last said. "Do you want to see how fun I can be?"
Shane wasn't sure how to answer, and he really wasn't given the chance. Riley swung his leg over, climbing on top of Shane's lap and straddling him.
Shane stared up in shock at the boy sitting on him and smirking. He tried to say something but all that came out was a squeak.
Riley laughed at that, and racked his nails down Shane's bare arms. When he started rocking in his lap, Shane finally regained enough sense to speak. "What are you doing!"
Riley had a hand in Shane's hair. "Playing with my new toy," he answered simply before he leaned down to attach his lips to Shane's neck.
Shane was completely frozen. This wasn't exactly how he planned their conversation to go, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to 333. He was beautiful. And Shane was feeling incredibly turned on by the thought of being his 'toy.' It took a second for him to come to his senses and realize this wasn't what he wanted 333 for though. He wanted to get to know him, not take advantage of him. Although right now it seemed like he was the one being taken advantage of.
"Um, R-Riley. Maybe you should stop."
Riley's lips left Shane's neck only long enough to ask, "And why would I want to do that?"
"Because… um." Why did Shane want him to stop again? He couldn't seem to remember. He finally broke down, figuring kissing wouldn't be so bad. That's all though. He wasn't going to do anything more with someone he just met.
He started placing kisses up Riley's neck, causing the smaller boy to stop sucking Shane's skin and let his head fall back.
He only let Shane do this for a couple minutes before he took the control back and used the hand that was still in Shane's curls to jerk his head back roughly. He pressed their lips together, and instantly let his tongue lick over Shane's closed mouth.
When Shane deepened the kiss he could feel Riley smirking against his lips. He was awfully cocky, wasn't he.
Shane suddenly flipped them, trying to take that smirk right off his face. As soon as he was the one on top, he could tell he accomplished this when Riley's smile fell. He was feeling pretty good about that until he heard a whimper. It wasn't the good kind either. This one sounded scared and as soon as he realized this he also noticed Riley wasn't kissing him back anymore. He could feel small hands trying to push against his chest and instantly jumped back.
"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm. He didn't understand what happened.
333 sat up and scooted back to the opposite wall, watching Shane with wide, terror filled eyes. He looked like he was about to cry again.
Shane was so confused. "Riley?"
333 shook his head slowly. He was shaking now and wrapping his arms around his knees again.
It took Shane a minute to fully understand. "…Reed?"
He nodded but not before letting a few tears out.
Now Shane felt like shit. "I'm sorry, Reed! I thought you were Riley! He was…" He suddenly trailed off, not having any idea how to describe this. He still wasn't sure what just happened. "I'm so sorry I scared you." He should have considered the fact that there was more to 333 than Riley, and maybe Reed didn't want to be assaulted like that. "I am so sorry."
Reed watched him silently from behind his knees, not saying a thing. When he glanced down and hugged himself tighter, hiding completely, Shane realized he wasn't going to.
He stood up on shaky legs, backing away slowly. "I really am sorry. I'll just… go."
Reed still didn't look up, only shook harder. Shane wished there was something he could do, but he only seemed to make it worse.
As he left, he kept repeatedly mentally kicking himself. Because of him Reed was alone in a dark cell, shaking and crying. And for some reason Shane didn't like the thought of that at all.
"I think I have a crush on someone."
The random announcement was made at dinner that night after he got back home. He hadn't seen Reed, or Riley, since what happened. He let Wes give him his pills at dinner and didn't go back into the cell. He was sure Reed was terrified of him and he didn't know what to do about it. It made him feel awful though, and he spent the rest of the day in deep thought, trying to figure out why he cared so much.
His announcement was the conclusion.
Kurt squealed a little in delight. "Do tell!"
Even Blaine looked approving.
"Well he's from Silverton…"
Kurt nodded slowly as he tried to figure it out. "But I thought you said those two were straight?"
"I did. It's not them." Shane glanced down.
"Oh! Is it the other one? The one you said is really mysterious and never there with the crazy hair?" Kurt guessed again.
Shane shook his head. He had only told Kurt and Blaine about Wes, David, and Dwight. He never mentioned 333. He wouldn't know how to explain. Hell, even now when he did bring it up he didn't know how to explain it.
"But I thought you were only working with three people?" Blaine asked.
"I am," Shane admitted. "He's not a worker… He's a patient." He mumbled the last part quietly but he knew they heard it when silverware was dropped with metallic clangs.
"What!" they both shouted simultaneously.
Blaine didn't look so approving anymore. "Have you lost your mind!"
Kurt didn't say anything else but he seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"No, I don't think I have." Shane sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking over their stunned faces. "Just, I don't expect you to understand, but there's something about him. Something different."
Kurt seemed to perk up at that. "Like what?"
"Well," Shane tried to think of a way to start. He still didn't get it himself, how could he explain it to two other people? "At first glance he seems really patronizing and cruel, cocky and independent. But there's another part of him, too. He's really scared and innocent, sweet even. And very adorable."
Shane came back to Earth to find Blaine's expression hadn't changed but Kurt was smiling. "That's really good of you to see past his exterior."
"Actually, it's a little more than that." Kurt looked confused so Shane just spit it out. "There's literally two different sides of him. He has Multiple Personality Disorder."
There was silence. Blaine's face was frozen in shock. He shook his head and fell back in the chair, almost laughing at the sheer absurdity. "This is insanity."
"Isn't it though." Shane agreed, but he didn't really have a problem with it.
"Hold on." Kurt still looked puzzled. "How do you even know this? I thought you couldn't read the files and that guy that does wouldn't tell you anything?"
Shane coughed awkwardly. "I um, may have talked to him myself…"
Kurt raised a perfect eyebrow. "You learned all that just from giving him his medicine?"
Instead of answering, Shane fished around in his pocket. He slid the key across the table to Kurt slowly.
Kurt picked it up to inspect it, but Blaine was the one who talked next.
"You stole his key!" He jumped out of the chair and started shouting. "You stole the key! Why? So you could sneak into his cell and talk to him!"
Shane nodded. "That's exactly right."
Blaine looked genuinely even more surprised that Shane wasn't going to deny it.
"What the hell! You aren't allowed to do that! And I told you to be careful, you could have been killed! What is wrong with you!" He smacked Shane upside the head.
"Look, he's not dangerous, okay?" Shane rubbed his head in annoyance. "I told you. There's something innocent about him."
Blaine stopped pacing, holding up his hands in defeat. "I can't even deal with this right now." He started collecting the dishes and making his way to the kitchen.
Shane sighed and watched him go. He should have known Blaine would be more worried than anything else.
Kurt was starting to grin. "I think that's cute." He gave Shane the key back. "Like a bittersweet, tragic love story. You want to be with him but it's impossible for a multitude of reasons. Pretty romantic."
Shane pursed his lips. "You know oddly enough, that isn't really helping."
Kurt laughed and stood up to go find Blaine. "Well for the record, I'm on your side. Let me know if you need help breaking him out." He winked before walking out the room.
Shane stared after him, feeling a little funny. He hadn't thought of that before, but hearing someone else say it, it didn't seem like such a bad idea.