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On a Very Special Arthur	By : 8inchCaliper Category: +1 through F > Arthur Views: 6509 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
The final chapter. I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier, but:

Disclaimer: Arthur and all of its characters and subsidiaries (except for “Jake”) are property of Mark Brown and/or PBS inc.This story is fiction and no copyright infringement was intended. I am making no profit from this. No animals were harmed during the writing of this fic. Supplies are limited. Results may vary.

Brain wakes in the morning to find himself in a warm tangle of blankets and pillows, horizontal patterns shining down on him from the window blinds. He opens his eyes slowly and watches silently as Ratburn moves to the kitchen to stir creamer into his coffee.

Brain can see the new lines around the man’s eyes and across his forehead as he chews nervously on his lip, not noticing Brain’s following eyes. Aside from the worry etched on his features, Nigel looks peaceful and natural here, in his own house, wearing sweatpants and t-shirt and pro-socks. Brain smiles as he watches him scratch his unshaven chin absently.

“Good morning.” Brain says softly, his voice ringing in the silence of dawn.

Ratburn seems to have forgotten he wasn’t alone as he meets the boy’s eyes from across the room, looking slightly startled.

“Yes, good morning to you.” He says, his voice groggy and thick. “Did you sleep well?”

Brain sits up a bit. “I don’t remember.” He smiles.

Ratburn returns the smile, turning his eyes downward, feeling somehow simultaneously ashamed and gleeful.

“Are you hungry?” Ratburn starts opening and closing cupboard doors. “I may have some bran flakes or… granola…”

“I’m fine.” Alan says, watching the man’s back as he searches for something. “I was hoping we could…maybe…talk.”

Ratburn hesitates before meeting the boy’s steady gaze again. He shrugs. “Yes, I suppose that would be fine.”

He brings his mug over to the couch and perches on the edge, as far from the boy as humanly possible. Brain watches him curiously, hands itching to touch him again, but knowing it won’t be received the same way.

“My offer still stands.” Brain says in a strong voice. “We can pretend nothing ever happened. That way, you can return to school and everything can be like it was.”

Ratburn looks down into his muddy coffee. “Brain, it’ll never be like it was. I don’t know why you can’t grasp that.”

“It can be like it was…” he repeats himself. “…just give it a try.”

“No.” Ratburn says, taking a sip of his warm java. “Lets do this my way.”

“And what way is that?”

Nigel hesitates before turning to the Brain. “I’m going to turn in my resignation tomorrow to Mr. Haney.”

“No.” Alan looks crestfallen. “You can’t. Please…”

“It’s the only way.” Ratburn shrugs. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to deal with…this.”

“Fine.” Alan says. “Then I’ll transfer schools. I’ll tell my parents I need a different environment. Just…don’t leave. They need you there. They don’t need me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Alan.” Ratburn tries to level with the boy. “They’re your friends. They’ll miss you. You’re a vital part of the group. I’m just a teacher.”

Alan feels himself welling up with anger as he tosses back the blankets and stands. “How can you be like this? We didn’t even do anything!”

“We did enough.” Ratburn murmurs in a sober voice. “It’s better this way, believe me.”

“No! I will not believe you!”

“Apparently, I overestimated you, Alan.” Ratburn says wearily.

“Oh yeah?” The boy says, balling his fists. “How so?”

“I’ve always given you credit for being so much more mature – and here, you’re behaving exactly like what you are. A child.”

“You bastard…” Brain breathes. “I hate you!”

The boy suddenly jumps on the man, hitting him in the chest with blow after blow as Ratburn tries to push the boy off of him, lingering someplace between fury and hysterical laughter. Had he never witnessed this display, he’d have never thought the Brain capable.

“Get off, you!” Nigel says, wrestling the boy onto his back. “Stop this…”

Brain wraps his legs around Ratburn, trying to kick him and hurt him but failing miserably as Ratburn grabs his wrists and holds them down easily. Brain struggles, his youthful vigor nearly getting the best of Nigel’s steady, aged strength.

“Damn you…” Brain shouts, still struggling, twisting from side to side as Ratburn holds him down with his hands and with his body.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Ratburn says in an amused voice. “But you’re leaving me no choice.”

“I hate you so much!” Brain says in a defeated voice. “Everyone hates you!”

“Yes, I know.” Ratburn says, smirking. “I’ve heard it all before.”

“You’re a miserable bastard!”

“Uh huh…”

“Who gives too much homework!” The Brain groans, a last ditch effort to break free of Ratburn’s strong grip.

“Do I, really?”

“Yeah!” Brain stops struggling. “Yea…” He tightens his legs around the man over him, licking his lips. “You give way too much homework.”

Nigel smiles at the boy, thinking him adorable. “I do it to help you.”

“I don’t care about that.” Alan murmurs. “Kiss me.”

Nigel swallows, hard, their faces inches apart. “No.” He says, bending his head low, lips so close he can inhale Brain’s exhale.

“Please.” Alan tries to reach up, to meet Nigel’s lips with his own. “Oh God, please…”

Nigel shuts his eyes, willing himself not to do it. “No, Alan…I…I can’t…we can’t do this…”

With great difficulty, he pushes himself off the couch as Alan’s legs fall apart, allowing the man up. Alan’s eyes shut as he silently curses Ratburn.

“I’m going to call your parents and…loosely…explain the situation.” Ratburn straightens his shirt, absently smoothing his clothes as he begins to pace. “Then I’m going to arrange a meeting with them and with Haney and tell them everything that has transpired.”

“Don’t do that.” Brain says. “They’ll blame you when it was all my fault. I’m begging you not to.”

“I’m to blame for this. I let it get too far. I kissed you. I… hit you.”

“I wanted it. I forced you.”

“I’m going to call them now.”

“No.” Alan shakes his head. “I’ll go home and explain it to them. You arrange the meeting with Haney – but let me deal with my parents my own way. I swear to you I’ll handle everything.”

Ratburn considers this, feeling somewhat relieved about not having to deal with Brain’s parents straight away, but wondering if maybe he shouldn’t prolong the inevitable. They’ll want answers sooner or later.

“Fine, Alan.” Ratburn nods. “Do what you want.”

“Really?” Alan smirks.

Ratburn shrugs, resigned. “Sure. Fine. Whatever.”

Alan grins as he approaches the man and stands on tiptoe, tugging his face down and kissing him squarely on the mouth, as Ratburn stands there dumbfounded, too shocked to react quickly enough.

“Christ!” he says, taking a step back from the boy.

“Well, you said do what I want – and I did.”

“Anything but that.” Ratburn touches his lips, his brows furrowed with anger.

“Well,” Brain slips on his sneakers. “I knew you wouldn’t kiss me goodbye, so I had to take matters into my own hands.”

As the boy dashes out the door, Ratburn looks after him, a tangle of emotions too complicated to put into words.

o o o o o o o o o

The next day, Ratburn stands outside of Mr. Haney’s office, nervously ringing his hands together. In this instant, he understands the anxiety that accompanies going to see the principal – especially after having committed some kind of horrible crime. He shudders at the thought. What will Haney think of him? How will he react? Will he notify the police? Or will he at least let him leave with a shred of his dignity. After all, it took every fiber of his being to resist the Brain’s advances, but he did resist – for the most part. Some boundaries were crossed – but not by him. They boy did all the work, but of course, Ratburn could have put a stop to most of it, could have notified the boy’s parents. This is where the lines get a little crossed because on his part, he was merely letting the fantasy unfold, certainly not playing a proactive role – but definitely not putting a stop to it.

“Nigel?”

The principal’s voice breaks through Ratburn’s reverie like a rusty knife.

“Mr. Haney. Hello.” Ratburn wipes his sweaty palms on his slacks.

“My God, you look awful.” Haney says, looking concerned over his half-moon specs. “Can I get you something? Some coffee? Tea? A Valium?”

“I’m fine.” Ratburn says following the man inside his office.

“Well, I know what fine is, and it doesn’t look like this.” Haney closes the door behind him and regards the teacher. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I needed to talk to you…about the state of things.”

“The state of things?” The bear reaches inside the candy dish on his desk and absently plucks a lemon drop, popping it into his mouth.

Nigel nods, feeling anxiety threatening to take his breath away. How does he confess to having an improper relationship with a child and make it sound ‘okay’? His shirt clings to him as he begins to perspire. He must do this.

“I need to hand in my resignation.” He says quickly.

Haney starts to cough as he chokes on the lemon drop, startled and reddening beneath his glasses.

“Oh my God.” Nigel rushes to him. “Mr. Haney, can you breathe?”

Haney continues to sputter and choke as he bends over and Nigel, thinking quickly, slams him hard on the back, once, twice, three times until the yellow confection comes flying out and sliding across the tile floor.

The principal slumps down in his chair, the natural color returning to his cheeks as his breath begins to flow easier. His glasses are askew and Nigel hovers over him, deeply concerned.

“Mr. Haney…”

“I’m fine now…” His voice is thick as he wipes tears from his eyes. “…that was close, huh?”

Nigel goes to the water cooler and brings the man a cup of cool water as Haney drinks it down, coughing lightly to clear the phlegm.

“Okay. Well. Now that that’s over…” He regards Nigel with a new light, as his savior. “What were we talking about?”

“I hesitate to say.” Nigel clears his throat. “Um…I wanted to resign.”

“What?” Haney looks flabbergasted. “But that’s impossible. You’re the best teacher I have. You like it here. You told me yourself.”

“I know, sir. I do like it here – and I do appreciate having this position, but there have been things… there’s been…something…”

“Yes?” Haney prods.

“Something has come up.” Nigel swallows. “To tell the truth, I may not be as suited to this job as I had previously thought.”

“What do you mean? You’re perfect for this job! The fifth grade tests scores have gone up considerably since you’ve been here. We’re third in the state – as far as reading goes – and climbing even higher every year. Not to mention math and science. You’re the best thing to happen to this school in a while. I can’t let you go that easily.”

“Well, sir…” Ratburn stammers. “…you may not want me around after you hear the reason behind my decision. You see, there’s this student…and…God…I don’t know how to put it…”

“If there’s a student here that’s giving you trouble, Nigel, just let me know and we’ll nip that right in the bud!”

Nigel smiles in spite of himself. God, if only he knew…

“It’s not that, sir. I don’t even know where to begin. It all started with…a note…”

“A note? What sort of note?”

Nigel swallows again, convulsively, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Well…it was the sort of note that… I couldn’t ignore…”

“Well, what was this note? Who wrote it?”

Ratburn exhales deeply. “That’s the thing, sir, it was written by…well…a student…”

“Yes, yes, a student. You already said that, Nigel…what ever became of it? This note, I mean? Maybe I should have a look at it…”

“It’s not really the note that’s the issue; its more an issue of how I handled it that…really might raise some eyebrows. I hadn’t meant for it to happen like this, but…”

“Hadn’t meant for what to happen?”

“I hadn’t meant for…him to…”

“Ahh…so, it was a boy then. And what did he do? Toilet paper your tree? I’ll handle it right now!”

“What? Mr. Haney, I didn’t say…”

“Just give me his name, and I will get his parents on the horn and we’ll deal with this, ASAP. No snot-nosed brat is gong to run my favorite teacher out of this school – not if I have anything to say about it!”

“Mr. Haney, it’s not that…it’s nothing like that…”

“Just give me his name. Who was it, Binky Barnes? I should have expected as much!”

“No. Not even close! It was…”

“Just tell me, and I’ll handle it!”

“Sir, it’s…”

Just then, Brain bursts through the door with his parents in tow, and Nigel Ratburn feels the color draining from his face as they step in through the threshold. Mr. Haney wears a furrowed brow as he looks between the three of them, speechless.

“Don’t accept this poor man’s resignation until you’ve heard the whole sorted story.” Mrs. Powers says, holding Brain by the shirt collar. To Ratburn’s confusion, however, Brain seems to be smiling.

“It’s all my fault, Mr. Haney.” Alan says quietly. “I was so angry about having been suspended that I tortured Mr. Ratburn.”

“You did what?” Mr. Haney asked, confused.

“Tell them about the note, son.” Mr. Powers looks down at his shoes, as if ashamed at his son’s behavior. “Go on, Alan, tell them.”

Alan nods, not looking at Ratburn but instead focusing on Mr. Haney. “Weeks ago, I wrote a note to Mr. Ratburn, a joke note. Binky dared me to do it and I did it. I take full responsibility. It was like…a secret admirer note.”

Ratburn feels his heartbeat thundering in his chest. He wonders how no one can hear it.

“This is the note you were talking about, Nigel?” Mr. Haney addresses Ratburn who has gone paper white.

He nods, slowly. “Yes. That’s the note.”

“Anyway, I didn’t mean it. Nobody likes Ratburn so we all thought it would be funny.” Alan looks at Ratburn for the first time. “I’m sorry about all the trouble it caused you. I didn’t mean any harm by it. To be honest, you’re the best teacher we ever had. It was stupid.”

Ratburn doesn’t know what to say, so he simply nods.

“We’ve made arrangements for Alan to finish out the rest of his elementary years in a school across town.” Mrs. Powers says. “It just seems best given all he’s put us through this term.”

“Well…” Haney straightens his glasses. “…maybe you shouldn’t be too hasty. I mean, it was just a prank, right? Nothing a few days in suspension couldn’t help…”

“Actually,” Brain interjects. “It’d be better if I went. I need some time away, I think. To do some growing up.” He throws Ratburn a sly glance and Ratburn turns away.

“Well…if you’re certain…” Haney seems disappointed, but he’s really thinking about how Alan helps to reflect well on the school’s overall test scores. Oh well. Que Sera…

As his parents are filing out, Brain remains behind, sitting outside Haney’s office as Nigel wraps up his business.

“I would never have guessed Alan.” Haney says, scratching his chin, thoughtfully. “I guess puberty hits some harder than others.”

Ratburn coughs a laugh, nervously patting Haney on the back. “It seems this situation has resolved itself.” He considers. “Although, I feel very responsible for the outcome.”

Haney looks puzzled. “I can’t imagine, why, Nigel. You did everything you could have done. You were even willing to sacrifice your position here. I’d say you went above and beyond the call of duty – to protect a student. You acted admirably as always.”

“Please, sir, don’t give me too much credit. I don’t feel deserving of it in this instance.”

Haney shrugs his shoulder, thinking people are just going crazy all over the place. “Oh well. Suit yourself. Oh – and should I presume you’ll be resuming your post here – eight a.m. Monday morning?”

Nigel nods, slowly. “If that’s what you wish, sir.”

“I do, indeed.” And the principal smiles and strolls off down the hall whistling as Brain slips inside his office, unnoticed.

“Hi.”

Ratburn turns and looks down at Alan. “You didn’t need to lie.”

“I didn’t lie.” He says. “I was protecting you because I knew you wouldn’t protect yourself. And it really was my fault.”

“I don’t see it that way.” Nigel exhales, slowly. “I wanted…I wanted so many things…”

“Me too.” Alan says. “I guess that was the problem. I wanted too much too fast. But maybe…in time…”

“When the time comes…we’ll see.” Ratburn reaches down to muss the boy’s hair and he giggles.

“I like you so much, Mr. Ratburn.”

Ratburn closes his eyes, feeling so melancholy. “I like you too, Brain.” He opens his eyes and takes a step back. “Now, you’d better go. Your parents are waiting.”

Alan takes one last long look at his teacher before slipping out the door and out of Ratburn’s life… but for how long?

o o o o o o o o o o

Later, at home, Nigel reclines on his porch, sipping lemonade and watching helicopters fly down from the maple trees. Ever since his talk with Haney, he hasn’t felt right about anything. His entire mood has been dreary and dark. In the end, someone had to lose, and he has the weirdest impression that Brain lost the most. He keeps replaying in his mind what could have happened differently and wondering how something could have changed the outcome. Would he be in jail now if he’d confessed to sharing a romantic kiss with a student? Or possibly under the care of a psychoanalyst?

He definitely can acknowledge that he has a problem – but none of the other students affect him like Brain does. None of the other kids can influence him in that way; make him feel so warm and naughty and yet strong and wonderful all at once. No one has ever made him feel that part of himself awaken before Alan…except…maybe…

Coming down the walk, pushing an old lawnmower is the resident bad boy, Jake. He has a crooked smile and a backward cap over his unruly hair. He is shirtless, of course, and Ratburn watches as his jeans slip down below his waist revealing the slimmest torso and just the tiniest bit of dark hair leading down from his sweaty navel, that trail of blasphemy.

Ratburn stands to watch as the boy gets closer, edging nearer and nearer to Ratburn’s walkway.

“Hey.” Jake says, stopping to appraise the slender man on the porch who wears a slight smile and holds a glass of lemonade in his one hand.

“Thirsty?” Ratburn asks in a casual voice, extending his glass towards the boy.

“A thousand times, yes.” The boy comes slowly up the steps, standing face to face with the man while he drinks from his glass, dribbling cold lemonade down his chin and chest. Ratburn openly stares.

“There’s more inside.” Ratburn shocks himself by murmuring, licking his lips.

Jake grins, fluttering his heavy lashes. “Are you inviting me in?”

Nigel shrugs, losing his nerve a bit. “I suppose I am…if you want to.”

Jake hands the glass back to Nigel, letting their fingers brush as he smiles brightly, making a silent promise to the man before him. “I’d love to.”

END
- 6
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On a Very Special Arthur