Chapter IV

Hesitantly, Draco stepped forward - nearer and nearer to Calcifer, and Draco could see a bright flush cross his face. Draco leaned forward, smirking as he clasped his hands behind his back. 

Calcifer looked awfully frightened, but for some reason, he didn’t step back. 

Draco’s face drew closer and closer, and Calcifer’s face became redder and redder. For some reason, the tall blonde could see Halper grin, his cheeks getting pinker by the second, apparently struggling to restrain a laugh. 

Draco focused intently on Calce’s face, realising that Calcifer was rather pretty - he had slightly warmer skin than the blonde, and his eyes were a piercing blue that seemed to be mixed with a certain shade of green…

As Draco finally reached the patch of moss where Calcifer stood, he himself flushed slightly, finding himself admiring the freckles speckling his enemy’s nose and cheeks. The boy’s warmly tinted hair fluttered around his eyebrows, casting thin shadows on his long caramel lashes. 

Slowly, Draco leaned in towards Calcifer, eyeing his soft-looking pink lips as the shorter boy leaned up, surprising the taller one. Too late to back out… Draco decided.

As Draco’s lips neared Calce’s, he suddenly brushed his face past his (seemingly former) nemesis’ cheek, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

“Who’s Gay now?” Draco whispered through a smirk. 

Calcifer jumped back, blushing furiously and glancing around at his friends, one of whom looked very smug, and one that looked positively horrified. 

“C-Calcie…” Geneva looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

Halper’s face fell. Whatever he knew, it looked like Geneva hadn’t.

The young girl stared at Calcifer, pure hatred now showing in her eyes.

“I thought you liked ME, not the rich pansy from that… that creepy old castle on the hill!”

Geneva looked furious. So furious, in fact, that she stomped her foot and pouted,

“Guess I’ll just leave you fags to it, then!!”

Geneva ran off crying, Calcifer blushing and making a halfhearted move to follow her. 

“Genna…”

Calcifer said meekly. 

He turned back to Draco, who was now half smirking, half smiling goofily at Calce. 

“I g-gotta… I gotta Gay… GO!!” The shorter boy squeaked.

Draco blew Calcifer a kiss and laughed out loud as the flustered boy ran after Geneva, grabbing his bike and hopping on, almost falling over while doing so. 

Halper, however, was still staring at Draco, his arms crossed and a smug look flitting across his face. 

“...Halper?” Draco was deeply confused now.

His attitude slowly began to fade, and he began walking towards the bemused boy. 

“What’re you looking so cheery about, then?” The gangly blonde asked, amused, but bewildered. 

Halper chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced to the forest floor.

“I guess you could say… I’m a little more accepting than I act,” Halper’s tan face grew goofier with every word. 

Draco smiled politely, perhaps misunderstanding the smaller boy’s statement.

“Halper, what exactly-”

Halper sighed, exasperated.

“Calcifer isn’t as “Normal” as he wants you to believe, Draco.”

Draco furrowed his brows as it dawned on the young boy just why Calce was constantly seeking his attention. 

“Calcifer doesn’t hate boys who like-”

“No,”

Halper agreed.

“He hates himself.” 

The smaller boy glanced at his shoes, kicking the dirt.

“Halper?”

Halper looked up, finding Draco, misty-eyed, his arms wrapped around himself, staring at him.

“Yeah?” Halper looked concernedly up at Draco.

“Is… is Calcifer okay?”

The shorter boy tilted his head, smiling sadly. 

“He will be. Eventually,” he murmured to the sky, his eyes squinting at the fluffy cumulus clouds hanging above them, heavy with rain.

Halper looked down abruptly, startling Draco.

He gave Draco a flat smile. 

“Well, best get home. Looks like rain.”

Halper patted Draco’s shoulder stiffly, going to pick up his bike.

Draco waved goodbye halfheartedly, now consumed in his own thoughts.

He suddenly remembered something; his Faery homes were most certainly not waterproof!

The lanky boy scrambled toward the houses, trying to find something he could use to shelter them. 

As it started to drizzle, he finally came upon a dock plant, its dark, wide leaves peeking out from a thicket a few feet into the forest from the formerly sunny clearing.

Draco rushed back, quickly sticking some twigs into the ground and using his roll of twine to secure a canopy across the little village. 

Draco sighed heavily, relieved, but sopping wet - not to mention worried about Calcifer. The boy's parents were most certainly not okay with boys liking boys. Whatever their reasons, they somehow thought it was wrong; “Against the word of the Lord!” they’d say.

The young boy laughed to himself as he trudged through the damp woods. How could the Broocks think love was wrong? Might as well say we shouldn’t have two scoops of the same ice cream.

Draco neared his front gates, splashing through the muddy puddles leading up to his family’s grand estate. 

He stepped inside, greeted by his parents and a warm rush of air, still wondering about Calce.

Wondering if he'd be alright.

Note from the Author

Thank you all so much for the support; I assure you, it is much appreciated.

I hope you enjoy the latest of Lavender Boy, and please feel free to owl me about any notes, concerns or questions.

Thanks again, and I love you all!

~ Gwen