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Chapter Text

The not-so excited voices of students boomed in front of the school's entrance. Buses stopped and left soon after, with kids scrambling out of them - afraid of missing the first period. With as much will as possible, Rhys stepped out of the school bus, pushed aside by other nervous human beings prancing around him.

The school year had just begun this week, and this was Rhys' first time at this particular school after a rather uncomfortable move from his hometown. 

Why? Because his parents found new jobs that paid better money than whatever they earned at the Dahl corporation.

With a quick glance at the rundown high-school building, Rhys concluded that it looked worse than the one he grew up attending. There were kids already hiding in the shady parts of it (albeit the whole building seemed shady to him), smoking a substance he wouldn't be able to identify even with his out-of-date version of the ECHO-eye. Rhys really despised substance abuse, especially when it meant losing control of one's own body. Might've had something to do with spending way too many months in different hospitals throughout his childhood.

Nevertheless, he needed to be careful with his body, one wrong move and all that hardship he had to endure when it came to both his arm and his eye would go down the drain. That was one of the reasons why he avoided going out late or talking to suspicious people. Not only that, he also rarely drank alcohol, only when it seemed safe to do so. Even then, he was careful not to drink too much. 

But the point was, the school did not leave a good first impression on Rhys. Neither did the students loitering around. But that didn't matter to him. He had to survive the next two years of his high-school life there and he'd be damned if he spent them pitying other kids.

He pulled out the headphones from his ears- realizing that the volume was loud enough for his new classmates to make out some of the words.  He quickly turned off the music, checking his surroundings to see if he got any weird looks. Thankfully he didn't, successfully avoiding an unnecessary morning anxiety attack. With nothing else to do, he carefully put both his phone and the headphones into his bag as he began walking towards the entrance of the school.

With the occasional bump and push, he made it through the mass of students and found himself in a long hallway filled with people of different ages, all standing or passing by the large number of lockers. The layout of the building was nothing special, with classes lined up next to one another, the school cafeteria at the end of the long hallway and faculty offices hidden behind doors Rhys would rather avoid for the time being.

The interior of the school didn't look as bad as the exterior, not by a large margin though. The lockers seemed old, and the walls had the occasional crack or two on them. Rhys realized that not everything has to be rainbows and sunshine, that maybe he was looking too deeply into the situation, and quickly walked towards the reception where his locker number, the code for it and all other necessities were already waiting for him. He had a few minutes to spare as he finally found his locker, which he expected to find in a worse state. He mentally thanked the last occupant before retracting his words, noticing a fresh stain in one of the corners, its contents unknown. Yeah, he definitely needed to get something to clean that tomorrow.

He carefully placed the books he didn’t need into the locker, pushing his worries about the stain to the back of his mind. He made a quick reminder to bring one of the books to class, so as to not die of boredom, and placed it on top so he wouldn’t forget.

A roaring laughter grabbed his attention, his first instinct to hide himself behind the door of the locker, imagining the worst scenario; he did something embarrassing without realizing.

But that couldn’t be the case, he hasn’t done anything besides opening his locker and putting his personal literature inside. Either way, he couldn't help but make sure he indeed didn't embarrass himself on his first day of school and took (what he initially assumed would be) a quick glance.

Perhaps he should've chosen a more subtle approach to staring at the most handsome man he's ever seen in his life. Call him cheesy, corny, whatever you want, but at that moment, Rhys felt like he had just found what he's been looking for his entire life. And for the record, up until that point, he called love at first sight bullshit.

It was the soft smile on the boy's face that he caught the glimpse of at first. A tender crook of his lips, an aftermath of his contagious laughter, something completely opposite of the boy's body features. He was tall, had muscle, his hair was the perfect shade of brown and his eyes were mesmerizing; one blue, the other green. If Rhys didn't have that one bit of self-control there, he probably would've drooled a bit.

But the moment of glory ended as fast as it came. Well, to put it into a different perspective, as fast as someone ran into the door of his locker.

"Oh my god! My nose! Is it bleeding? Please say it's not bleeding!" He heard a boy's voice, its owner lying on the floor, his hands covering his nose and his glasses on the floor next to his head.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... well, to do that. Your uh- your nose is not bleeding," Rhys knelt next to the boy, scrambling to put his things into his locker and help him. When the victim of Rhys' locker seemed to be ready to stand up, Rhys grabbed the glasses off the floor, giving them back to the boy and receiving a simple, "Thanks."

"I'm really sorry, I should’ve closed the locker-“

"It's okay. Hey! Your face is new, haven't seen you around here before."

"Oh, uh. That's cause it’s my first day here. I'm Rhys, by the way." He awkwardly waved to the boy.

"I'm Vaughn. I heard some rumors about a new student, which is weird cause who’d want to study at this this junkyard, am I right?”

"I um…" Rhys looked around the hallway, the trash littering the place not making his opinion less true, "I see your point."

"Hold on a second, is that the book of "Doctor Crypto and His Family of Skags" volume 2? Holy crap! You’re the first person I know that actually gives a crap about that franchise."

"Yeah, I've been trying to re-read the books while waiting for the next one. I heard that his son might become the next villain, but it just makes no sense."

"I don't know, maybe they just want to throw people off? Have something really surprising at the end?" And with that, the two of them fell into a casual conversation about the franchise's theories, what they liked and hated about the characters, and how excited they were for the upcoming movie, amongst other things. Rhys was thankful for his new distraction, not noticing the pair of mismatched eyes watching them leave the hallway.

"Looks like you got yourself a new lover-boy. Not the fastest time, but it's pretty close."

"What?" Jack stared at the girl next to him, Nisha, who seemed to pick up on something he wasn't quite aware of. She let out a chortle, shaking her head. Before she had the chance to explain, Jack’s other friend, Wilhelm, commented, "Don't tell me you didn't notice that boy looking all lovey-dovey here," he laughed at Jack's expense, "or maybe our Jackie over here went blind? What did you even do during summer?"

"He probably stared at the sun really hard and tried to convince it to not burn his ‘abs in progress’."

Jack could only roll his eyes at the remarks, ignoring his friends when he heard the school bell finally ring, "Oh look, how convenient. Now I don't have to listen to you two shits for another two hours. See ya, kiddos!" He finger-gunned his friends, laughing at the looks he received. He made his way to the homeroom, grateful that his classmates were dense enough to leave some of the seats in the back free.

He lazily slumped behind one of the desks, putting on a charming smile as he greeted his fellow classmates, trying his hardest not to scream his lungs out because of how much he absolutely despised going to school. He had another two years to endure this hellhole, but all he could think about was going home, making some popcorn, laying down on the couch and geeking out over his favorite shows.

But he couldn't do that, could he? Not if he wanted to graduate. And he knew damn well what not graduating meant. He wouldn't be able to find a job, which meant he wouldn't have enough money to buy a subscription to watch his shows, that's what it meant. If it were up to him, he’d make all the subscription services free. But no, that’s not how the real world worked. In this moment and time, he was forced to finish high-school. Only then will his dream of becoming a successful CEO of whatever subscription service had the best shows get closer to reality. And then, once he became such CEO, he’d slowly but surely monopolize the entire market for his own benefit.

Jack pushed his thoughts away when a certain new student walked into the class, a smile stuck on his face like he had just heard the best joke in the entire world.

So, the kid just so happened to have the same homeroom as him, neat. That meant Jack finally had someone new to tease, at least for the first half of the year until the kid would realize that Jack wasn't as bad as he seemed. That's what he did last year. The year before that and the year before that.

Jack watched the boy look around the classroom in search of an empty seat, actively avoiding looking at anyone.

A shy one. Even neater. Unfortunately, the only seat left was in the front of the class.

Fortunately, Jack knew how to fix that little issue. However, he couldn't do much because as soon as the kid sat down, the teacher decided to barge into the classroom with that stupid scowl on his face. That was basically all Tassiter could do with his face; scowl, look mad and make even unborn babies cry.

"Calm down, all of you. As you may have noticed, the school year has officially started for all of you and I'd appreciate it if it went smoothly and preferably without any complications." Mr. Tassiter started his speech, which seemed to be very similar to the one from last year, "Especially without what here, our dearest Tina, demonstrated last year. I'm sure others have appreciated Spongebob's cameo during the prom, but need I remind you that Miss Hill has a rather unfortunate past with the cartoon character?"

"Whaaat? How was I supposed to know that she'd pass out? She never mentioned this during class, not even once! And besides that, it's not like I planned that because she made me want to drop out of school five times in one month!" Tina joked, earning a few chuckles from the rest of the class. Those soon stopped, however, when Mr. Tassiter slapped his hand against a student's desk, "Behave yourself, Tina. You do not want to end up in detention on the first day."

"Is that a challenge, Mr. Tassiter?" She questioned, but the teacher decided to completely ignore her question, focusing his attention on the new student that sat in the front. Rhys decided then and there that he did not like the stare of his new homeroom teacher, and that he'd rather avoid him from now on. "Ah, I see you successfully found your way into the school, Rhys. You'll have enough time to get to know your classmates during the school year. Now we have other, far more important things to take care of."

Rhys let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Mr. Tassiter wasn't one of those teachers that demanded introductions at the beginning of the school year. Maybe this school wasn't going to be bad as he thought.

"As you may have noticed, the principal has decided that you'll indeed have accounting this year. All of you. Which is a shame because I don't see any of you near a penny or a dime in the future." The class could only roll their eyes at the comment, the teacher satisfied with the answer he received.

And the rest of the lesson went just as that, with Mr. Tassiter giving his students basic information about the school year, what would be new and what would stay the same as last time. He gave them their timetables, letting them know they'd receive their books during the next lesson. Rhys was grateful the day was passing by quickly and without any trouble. 

However, he couldn't shake the feeling of people watching him. After all, it's not every day people see someone rocking the Hyperion-issued, fully functional cybernetic arm along with an implanted ECHO-eye manufactured by Dahl. Sometimes, Rhys felt like a walking ad for the companies.

His suspicions came true when he casually looked around the classroom, only to see a few people whisper something, trying to subtly point at him. Of course people would immediately jump to conclusions, talking about Rhys behind his back instead of directly speaking to him. That's what he hated the most, those curious looks but no direct questions aimed to clear the air of any misunderstanding.

But Rhys couldn't do anything about it, ignoring the whispers for the time being. 

The bell finally rang, signifying a short break before the next lesson. He scanned his timetable once more, if only to make sure there weren't any mistakes on it. He felt somewhat satisfied when he counted how many times he'd have English in one week, but soon found out that the number of French lessons was alarmingly high. Aside from that, there were the usual classes like Math, Biology, Geography, Arts and P.E., whilst Economics and Accounting were quite a surprise. Rhys never had much interest in those subjects, but they were still better than having Theater class, where he'd be forced to speak to others despite his preferred avoidance of strangers.

A sudden presence in front of him startled Rhys. A girl, presumably one of his classmates, grabbed a chair and sat across at the other end of his desk. Her booming smile was the first thing Rhys noticed; her eyes filled with excitement. "Hey, I'm Janey! Nice to meet you!" Her strange accent took Rhys by surprise, the girl lightly waving her hand at him.

"I... I'm Rhys."

"I know, Mr. Tassiter kind of already spilled the secret." She winked, chuckling, "Tell you what, I bet by the end of the next lesson, he's going to ask you to come with him for the books. Spoiler alert - he always asks the new students."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I don't think you're going to carry them all by yourself. No offense, you look like you could pull your weight with that arm of yours. But I bet he's going to send you off with either Maya, that blue haired girl, or maybe Aurelia, the one that looks like she could kick your ass with a wave of her finger." Rhys looked at the two girls, who seemed to be in a deep conversation with their other friends, "They seem to be on his good side, that's why he uses them as much as he can. Otherwise, he hates everyone equally."

"And here I thought it wouldn't be much worse than my old school."

"You thought wrong!" Janey said with as much fake enthusiasm as she could, "This place is worse than the insides of a Rakk Hive."

The bell rang once again, indicating that the second lesson officially started, and that Mr. Tassiter would soon come back into the classroom. Janey glanced towards the door, then back at Rhys, her smile never faltering, "Well, I guess I should go back to my seat. Tassiter’s unnecessary speeches always kill my mood. Good luck to you, though!"

Rhys was left with a small pout on his face, but it quickly disappeared when Mr. Tassiter entered the classroom, sporting his usual scowl. He didn't even get to his desk before pointing at Rhys, the suspected demand already at the tip of his tongue, "You, come with me."

Rhys let out a quiet, "Okay." and stood up from his desk, obediently making his way over to the teacher. Mr. Tassiter opened the door leading to the hallway and let out an order, "Wait outside, there's something else I have to take care of."

Rhys obligated, staying a short distance from the classroom so as to not raise any suspicion from possible passers-by. He waited quite some time, hearing only two muffled voices behind the classroom door. With a sigh, he leaned against the lockers, his eyes boring an imaginary hole into the ground. Although he didn't mind spending some quality time alone, it did get boring after a while.

When the door finally opened, Rhys quickly glanced up, regretting doing so not even a second later.

All it took was a short-lived glance into those blue and green eyes for Rhys to realize what was happening. And he decided that he did not like his realization.You see, Rhys had concluded right then and there that he had an undeniable crush.

And the only way to make it disappear was to avoid the boy standing next to him like he was the black death incarnate.

Not only did he find it to be stupid that he had a dumb high-school crush on a boy that was so totally out of his league, but he also knew how much trouble he'd get himself into if this continued for more than a day. But Lady Luck refused to side with him that day, because there Rhys was, his face probably already crimson red from the blush that was spreading on his face like wildfire, trying his best to avoid the boy's gaze.

"Nice arm."

"Huh? Oh. Th-thanks." Rhys tried to say as casually as possible, shyly hiding his cybernetic away from his classmate. Thankfully, the boy didn't push the conversation further, perhaps because of Mr. Tassiter’s presence; the teacher’s attention on the two of them, "Let's not waste any more time. You two have knowledge to carry."

The boy rolled his eyes at Tassiter, following him down the hallway as Rhys tried to recollect his emotions that would've bounced off the walls had someone decided to rip his body open.

The boy said he liked his arm.

Rhys was already cursing himself for even thinking that he meant something more by that. Of course, he knew the arm would spike some interest sooner or later, hence the whispering in class earlier. Only he didn't think people would be that interested in it. After all, it was a cybernetic like any other.

Rhys quickly realized that he had been caught up in his own thoughts again, so he walked slightly faster to catch up with the teacher and the classmate. They soon came to a halt when they arrived at their destination, a small room filled up to the ceiling with books of different kinds, both old and new. "Take the first two stacks to the class and then come back for more."

Rhys hurriedly took the first stack, his foot already halfway out the door when the boy stopped him, "Hey, wait up. I don't wanna look like a nerd by myself."

With a heavy sigh, Rhys waited until the boy grabbed the books as well, refusing to even glance in his direction and silently wishing to be nowhere near the source of his confusing feelings.

They walked down the hallway, quiet as mice. A state of being for which Rhys was thankful.

Jack on the other hand not so much.

It's been close to twenty minutes since they left the classroom. The kid, Rhys, hasn't said a word. At first, Jack thought that maybe he didn't talk much, or that the school was too overwhelming for him. But he saw him having a conversation with that other nerd just fine.

This was getting ridiculous. Jack needed to try something because the silence was killing him. "Like seriously, who stays quiet for more than twenty minutes?" he thought to himself, "No one, that's the problem."

"That cybernetic, does it have any cool features?" Jack asked out of nowhere, but Rhys remained silent all throughout the question and after it. Jack rolled his eyes, trying once again, "Can you like, punch people really hard? Can your fist shoot out of your wrist? Or shoot a laser beam?"

"No, no and no."

"Huh, would be friggin’ cool if it did," Jack exclaimed, hoping that this conversation would lead further. They were already on their way back to get more books when Jack asked, "Okay, I'm dying of curiosity here. Can it even do anything cool?"

"Nope."

"Dammit," Jack cursed under his breath so Rhys wouldn't hear him. And if he did, he didn’t even comment on it. 

It went on like that for the next half an hour; Jack trying to make the boy talk, Rhys only giving him one-worded answers. Questions like "Is the arm heavy to carry around?", "How did you get it?", "Do you like it here?", "Are you ever going to give me an answer that includes more than one word?" were just a few amongst a dozen more. After the two finished retrieving the necessary books, Rhys thought his head would fall off his neck from resisting the urge to give in and talk to his classmate. He didn't even know his name, and he insisted on letting it stay that way to keep himself from trouble.

When the books were finally given out to the students, it was time for Mr. Tassiter to let everyone go home early. After all, there wasn't anything they could do with most of the teachers busy with their respective classes. Rhys hurriedly grabbed his things and tried to push through his classmates and out of the classroom, when he heard someone calling his name.

Not just someone. Him.

"Hey, you need help?" Rhys heard Janey, who instantly linked their arms with a wink toward the unknown boy’s direction, dragging Rhys out of the school in a hurry. At that moment, Rhys was so grateful, so very grateful. He thought Janey was sent to his aid by the angels. 

When they were finally out of the school and the coast was clear, Rhys praised his classmate, "Thank you, you saved my skin.”

"Who's this?" a girl asked, pushing a few stray locks of her purple hair out of the way. Janey took a step back, letting go of Rhys and interlocking her arm with the girl, "Oh, this is my friend."

"Another one?" The girl asked in disbelief, as if someone couldn't have more than one friend. Janey let out a soft giggle before introducing the two, "Athena, this is Rhys. Rhys, this is Athena, my girlfriend."

"Why the red face?" Athena asked, to which Rhys could only hide his face in his hands. "Oh my god, is it that obvious?"

"Did something happen while you two were gone? Some girls were already placing bets. Not that I wanted to do the same or anything, I'm just curious." Janey explained, patting Rhys' shoulder to try to comfort him.

"H-he was asking me all these questions and I just… I couldn't even look at him, ‘cause- “

"Wait, who are we talking about again?" Athena asked.

"Jack." Janey worriedly looked over at Rhys, noticing the goosebumps creeping up his neck.

His stomach flipped at the reveal of the boy’s name. At that moment, Rhys made the conscious decision to hate that name. Why? Because in his mind, hate was stronger than some stupid crush.

"Huh, so you survived Hurricane Jack. You don't see that every day. Just a tip though, try to avoid him.” Athena warned, to which Rhys could only let out a quiet, "I'm trying." as she continued, "He does this every year. Picks a new kid to bully and won't stop until god knows when. Just try to avoid him if you can. Or ignore him entirely. He'll stop when he gets bored of you."

Rhys nodded, the advice sinking into his head. Yeah, that's what he was going to do. Avoid Jack, slam his own heart into a dumpster, light it on fire, get rid of his stupid emotions, and then hide in his room and wallow in self-pity.

Good plan, great plan.

Chapter Text

The second day of school came unexpectedly fast. At least it seemed that way to Rhys. He got up from his bed in a surprisingly good mood, already hungry for his favorite cereal, Captain Scarlett and her Crunchy Booty. It was a rip-off of Captain Crunch, except it was better (that was merely his own opinion, he knew others would disagree.)

He wolfed down his breakfast before grabbing his backpack from his room and hurrying off to the bus stop. There weren't that many people there, but he did notice a rather taller girl giving him strange looks, her bright brown eyes piercing right through him. Did she know him from somewhere? Or was she only curious about his cybernetic?

He decided not to dwell on it and mind his business. If she wanted to talk to him, she would've approached him by now.

The first three periods passed by rather quickly to Rhys' surprise, maybe because he was already used to the routine of Math and English and he didn't have any problems with Econ. However, the next lesson was supposed to be Accounting. He had already heard pretty bad things about the subject from the quiet murmurs of his classmates, and if it was as bad as they said, he'd be relieved to survive the rest of the school year.

He managed to get to the class before the bell rang, noticing that there were only a few seats left. Some in the front, one next to a certain person Rhys was currently avoiding. "The front it is, then," Rhys thought to himself, taking his seat as fast as possible without Jack noticing him. Unfortunately, Janey wasn't in his group to save him from the disaster. Rhys cursed himself for choosing French instead of German, like she did.

It felt like eternity until the teacher finally came into the classroom, minutes after the bell rang. And all the while Rhys tried to keep his head low, he couldn't shake off the feeling of someone watching him. He had his suspicions; he just wasn't brave enough to check if they were true. Relief washed over him when the doors finally opened and the teacher walked in; an older lady, probably in her fifties, but she didn't look as scary or menacing as Mr. Tassiter. "Sorry for the long wait, some girl thought it would be funny to throw a fake skeleton down the stairs. Don’t get me wrong. It was. It hit Miss Hill directly on her head." The class let out a few chuckles.

"Anyways, my name is Mrs. West, I'll be your teacher for this class for the next two years. I just want to point out, whatever any of your friends from the other classes have told you, it's true. All throughout this year, you'll be at the edge of your seat. I can guarantee that you won't have any idea whether you’re even capable of understanding the curriculum. You're only going to learn the basics, and since our amazing educational system only allowed me to have 2 years of this class, we're going to sky-rocket through this. By the end of it you're only going to remember about ten percent. Got it? Any questions?"

Someone from the back hesitantly raised their hand, "Based on what you just told us, what grades do you expect us to have at the end of the year?"

"Well, if any of you have the brains for Maths and understanding something without even trying to, I'm guessing they're going to be average or even below that. Next question."

"How can we use this in real life?"

"I don't know, how can you? I'm pretty sure none of you want to have your money stolen by your future boss, or maybe I'm wrong?" Mrs. West looked around the classroom before continuing, "This is a good opportunity to learn about what happens in a company regarding money and everything connected to it." Her answers were as straightforward as they could get, Rhys noticed.

Throughout the entire lesson, the class seemed keen on asking different questions about the subject, with Mrs. West kind enough to answer most of them. However, when she was listening to one of Maya's questions, some of Rhys' classmates in the back got bored and decided to disturb the flow of the lesson.

"Is there a different topic you'd like to talk about, boys?" Mrs. West glanced towards the group. The boys didn't notice her at first, oblivious to the sudden attention they gained from the teacher. However, when everyone else seemed to wait for their reaction, they were bound to find out they had been caught.

"Uh... What? I didn't hear the question." one of them retorted. Of course, it had to be him, who else would be too busy enough to ignore the teacher. Rhys rolled his eyes, turning around in his seat and facing away from the group of troublemakers. He busied himself with watching the clock slowly tick whilst the teacher talked to Jack, "I asked if you'd rather have the whole class discuss whatever you three were talking about, since it seems to be more important than Maya's question."

"I... we'd rather not. It's stupid," Jack mumbled, "Sorry for interrupting you."

"What's your name?"

"Jack Lawrence."

"Lawrence? Twin brother of Timothy Lawrence?" Mrs. West asked, smiling like she'd just heard the best news in the entire world, "I thought you looked familiar. My sister teaches him English at his school. How come you two don't go to the same one?"

"We basically hate each other. Plus, our parents are divorced, so there's that. I couldn't care less about him though," Jack said casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

For one reason or another, Rhys felt pity for the boy. Both of them. He didn’t know why; he wasn’t in a similar situation, never had been either. But he couldn’t imagine what it must be like living without both parents being there. And if what Athena had mentioned the day before, it made him think that there was a different reason why Jack seemed to pick on his peers, that it was all merely a distraction from his suppressed feelings about his family.

But that was only a theory Rhys had, meaning there could be a possibility that it didn’t apply to the menace sitting next to him.

Wait, when did Jack sit down next to him?! "Heya cupcake, whatcha doin'?"

"Jack, I didn't send you there to start another discussion. Whatever it is you want from your classmate can wait until after class," Mrs. West narrowed her glare at Jack, forcing him to stay quiet for the rest of the lesson.

But talking wasn’t the only option Jack had of getting under Rhys’ skin. He didn’t waver for even a second, refusing to look at anything other than the newbie he was forced to sit next to, pressuring Rhys to keep his attention on the ticking clock above the blackboard, afraid that any movement would start an avalanche of questions directed at him.

There were only ten minutes left of the lesson. Ten minutes of staring forward, blinking only when he needed to and making sure that he did not, for whatever reason, turn his head to the right to meet Jack’s gaze. As soon as the bell rang, Rhys would book it, get lost in the crowd and go straight to his next class. Yeah, that sounded like a solid plan.

It was just five minutes now; five more minutes and he'd be able to run away. Unfortunately, whilst in the middle of his transfixed stare at the clock, Rhys seemed to forget why he was so intently forcing himself to keep his head forward, making the mistake of quickly glancing at his surroundings- particularly to his right, where Jack sat, his head resting on his forearms, pleased with his view. He had been staring at Rhys the entire time. Or maybe he was looking at something else?

Nope, he had been most definitely staring at Rhys this entire time.

Rhys quickly turned his head the other way, the blush on his face now obvious to the knowing eye. Just a minute and he won't have to suffer. Just forty seconds. Only thirty more. Almost there.

"Oh, thank god." Rhys whispered to himself, immediately grabbing his belongings and pushing past his classmates, desperate to be out of the classroom as quickly as possible. His hopes went sky-high when he made it to the hallway in one piece. Although his plan was to get to the next classroom, he hadn't bothered to look at his timetable, where he was supposed to go, nor what the next lesson was, for that matter.

Rhys stopped at his locker, taking out the timetable from his bag. Ah yes, torture class. Or officially known as Physical Education. His least favorite of all. If it was going to be as bad as the one at his school, Rhys was surely in for a great time.

For the nth time that day, Rhys was surprised to find his expectations exceeded. Maybe, just maybe, it was because he didn't have to endure Jack during the class. He was supposed to be in there too, at least according to the other students. Why the boy didn't show up was a mystery.

Rhys noticed that they shared the lesson with another class, finding that a bit strange. However, there weren't that many boys in the two classes, so it was probably ordinary to have one group instead of two.

One of Jack's friends, Wilhelm was in the group as well (Rhys had found this out after he was “accidentally” hit in the head by him). Wilhelm kept giving him strange looks, and Rhys had to remind himself that it was because of the metal arm on his side. However, he did notice that Wilhelm was acting a bit more violent than everyone else during the friendly game of dodgeball. Maybe he didn't actually hear the word friendly?

Either way, no one was surprised when Wilhelm threw the ball too hard, once again, and some kid had to leave the class to see the nurse. P.E. ended soon afterwards, and Rhys had one last lesson to attend before going home.

He met Vaughn during the short break, who introduced him to Yvette, his classmate. The two of them quickly got along after Yvette told him stories about how Vaughn tried to hit on her a few years ago and eventually made a fool of himself more times than she could count on her hand. Of course, Vaughn refused to comment on the topic, the memories of him accidentally buying Yvette flowers she was allergic to still fresh in his mind. But he did admit that he realized Yvette simply wasn't interested, so he eventually moved on.

Now, they were good friends minding their own business, meeting other people, and hanging out when the time was right. Vaughn suggested that Rhys should join them this weekend, that they wanted to see the new Doctor Crypto movie. Of course, Rhys had already planned on going to the premiere on Friday, but now that he had someone to go with, he decided it didn't really matter when he'd see the movie.

Only there was a little obstacle in front of him. He had to endure school for the rest of the week to even make it to Friday. More specifically, he had to endure Hurricane Jack, as Athena had called the menace plaguing Rhys' proximity at any given moment.

Wednesday seemed relatively calm during the first few classes. That is until Econ class rolled around. Rhys thought his mouth would've fallen off with the amount of curses he wanted to send the teacher's way. For one reason or another, she had decided that it would be a great idea, a brilliant idea even, to pair up the students for an assignment. Rhys, being the new kid at school, barely had the time to even think of picking a partner. Everyone seemed to already be paired up before he even had the chance to raise his head.

Everyone except for him and, of all possible people, Jack Lawrence.

"Come on, cupcake. I don't bite." Jack snickered from behind his desk, eyeing Rhys, who seemed like the perfect prey to devour. Rhys looked around the classroom once more, making sure that there was indeed no one else who didn't have a partner (or perhaps to look for a possible escape out of the classroom, either one of the two.) He would've preferred to work alone than to have to endure Jack. What the boy wanted from him was a mystery, yet he insisted on having Rhys in his vicinity, no matter what.

Jack patted his desk excitedly, already waiting for his involuntary partner for this class.

Rhys let out a frustrated sigh as he grabbed his pen along with the assignment and sat down across from his crush. He didn't even bother to look at the boy, hurriedly burying his head in the piece of paper, filling out the answers he knew and skipping the ones he didn't.

Jack's curiosity about the new kid at school was anything but satisfied. He wanted to know more about him, and if Rhys wasn't going to talk, he had to come up with a new way of communication. Fortunately for Rhys, Jack wasn't that smart to come up with an original way of communication. 

Rhys noticed a slip of paper near his hand, one presumably put there by Jack when he wasn’t paying attention, but the boy refused to admit to doing so, looking anywhere but at Rhys.

He contemplated opening the folded-up paper, his eyes darting between the hidden message and the assignment in front of him. He couldn't deny his curiosity any longer. He caved in, dragged the paper closer and carefully opened it, the contents of it a simple, "Hi :)". Rhys rolled his eyes and threw the paper away, returning to the task at hand; finishing the assignment, handing it to Jack so he could copy his answers and then getting the hell out of the classroom.

Another slip of paper slid Rhys’ way, his patience wearing thin. He opened it without a comment, giving Jack a glimpse before he read the short message, "It's rude not to say hi back :(”.

Rhys folded up the paper, throwing it next to the other one, but before he could return to the assignment, another message dropped in front of him, "I want to be friends. Do you want to be friends?" Rhys rolled his eyes, deciding to give Jack the cold shoulder with his written answer, "What are you twelve?"

"Twelve inches in your mom!" Jack wrote, snickering to himself. When Rhys read his words, however, he did not find them that funny, crumpling up the paper and throwing it onto the growing pile. Jack quickly wrote up an apology, slipping it across the desk, "Sorry, that was rude. It's cool if you care about your mom, no one should make mom jokes like that."

"You just did." Rhys wrote back, thinking that he had finally triumphed over Jack. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that he had fallen right into his trap, "Duh, cause I knew it would get your attention. So, hi :) how are you?"

Rhys read the letter repeatedly, debating whether to respond, meaning he'd let Jack win, or ignore it. Given his overall goal of ignoring the epicenter of his affectionate feelings, Rhys decided to be smart, play it cool, and add the piece of paper onto the pile. There were only a few questions he needed to answer on the assignment. After that, he could simply excuse himself from the classroom and hide for the rest of the lesson.

The pile kept on growing with each minute, Jack's persistence never wavering. Rhys had even stopped opening the letters, hoping that the boy would get the hint. He didn't. Or maybe he did and he decided to ignore it out of spite. Rhys couldn't be too sure.

When he finally answered the last question on the assignment, Rhys threw his pen on the desk in triumph, rising from his seat. He didn't even care if Jack didn't finish his own; Rhys needed to get out of there as soon as possible. He grabbed his bag and placed the finished assignment on the teacher's desk, racing out of the classroom with an excuse that he needed to use the restroom. Jack did the same a second later, turning in an empty paper, saying that he suddenly got a nosebleed and that he needed to see the nurse. 

Both were lying, naturally.

Rhys picked up his speed when he heard a pair of footsteps behind him, his bag hanging loosely over his shoulder. Jack ran after him, calling out his name in hopes that the boy would turn around and acknowledge his existence.

When he didn't, Jack raced to catch up to him, forcefully shoving him against the lockers. There was no way he'd be able to escape now, not when Jack had him in his grasp.

But the kid was smart. Couple that with a not so cheap cybernetic, and he could throw a pretty mean right hook. When metal met skin, Rhys fist hitting Jack’s jaw, Jack's head jerked to the side from the collision.

Rhys' body froze in disbelief; shock written across his features.

Punching his crush straight in the side of his face was not how he wanted his experience at this high school to be written down in history.

Jack moved his jaw around, his face feeling like it was hit by a bag of bricks, or rather a wakeup call he clearly needed. Not even a bucket of ice-cold water would've convinced him that he had crossed more than a few boundaries that day. And when the kid decided to run away, he let him. Because Jack was not that kind of asshole.

He stood there for quite some time, contemplating what to do. He couldn't deny that the contact between his jaw and Rhys' cybernetic made him feel some kind of way, a smirk creeping up on his face.

Rhys lied. That cybernetic could definitely do some cool things.

"And then he fucking punched me in the face, can you believe that?" Jack recounted as he finished telling the story to his friends during lunch break, holding an ice pack to his jaw. An already melted ice pack, that is.

"Sounds like a good excuse to ditch school for the day. Why are you still here, anyways?" Wilhelm questioned, wolfing down the remains of his lunch. Jack scoffed, taking off the ice pack and poking the side of his face to see if it still hurt as much as he thought it would. It did. "Duh, 'cause we have like two periods left. And besides, I need to apologize to the kid."

"Apologize?" Nisha laughed, crossing both her legs and arms as she eyed the cafeteria for the topic of their conversation, "The last thing you should do is talk to him. Don't make an idiot out of yourself, Jack. He's just another kid. Go bother, I dunno, Scooter or someone."

"But everyone else is boring!"

"Do you really want a repeat of what happened?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Jack blurted out, his friends sharing an odd yet knowing look. What they knew, however, was beyond him. The kid was on his radar now, that's not something he could simply ignore.

"Say you do apologize to him," Nisha narrowed her eyes at her friend, hoping that she could get through that thick skull of his, "What do you think is gonna be his reaction? At least wait until tomorrow, let things simmer down. He won’t change his mind about you if you keep hunting him down like a hellhound."

Jack drummed his fingers on the surface of the table, his eyes fixated on the space Rhys had occupied just a day ago all the way across the cafeteria. His new friends were there, but the boy in question was not. Wilhelm put his arm over Jack's shoulder, shaking him to his very core, "Chin up, Jackie-boy! Tomorrow's a new day full of new opportunities."

Jack froze in place, giving his larger friend a side eye. Nisha commented, "That doesn't sound like you-"

"Yeah, those words that just came out of your mouth? Pure vomit." Jack added.

Wilhelm shook his head, returning to his food in silence.

Half an hour later, Rhys was still keeping himself shut in one of the stalls at the boys’ bathroom, making sure he had locked the door more than three times in the midst of his nearing anxiety attack. He tried taking deep breaths, his heart refusing to calm down. The adrenaline in his body was all gone now, but regret filled its place soon after. Not only that, Rhys' cybernetic started glitching out, probably a direct result of that punch.

Was he supposed to go to the school nurse? Would they even be able to help him? No, he shouldn't go there. Jack would definitely be there with his perfect jaw now broken, probably already plotting the best way to shove Rhys against the wall and beat the absolute living hell out of him before he even had the chance to think about escaping.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Rhys whispered to himself, "Why was punching my first reaction? Why didn't I just try to push him away? Shit. But that would only make him follow me... But punching was a little too much. No, I definitely shouldn't have punched him. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have..."

“Reeeeeze!”

"Gah!" Rhys jumped at Tina's sudden presence in the bathroom stall, the girl laying down on the tiled floor, her torso sticking out from underneath the door, "What the hell are you doing?! This is a boys' bathroom!"

"Nu-uh. There's no sign on the door, which means that this is officially an all-inclusive bathroom."

"No, it isn’t!” Rhys argued, climbing up even further onto the toilet, his back hitting the wall, “Also, give me some privacy!”

“Nope! I am here on a mission! To retrieve you and take you back to class!”

“Who sent you, huh? Was it Jack?” Rhys demanded an answer, holding his bag close to his chest for protection. He worried about what awaited him outside the bathroom. Who knew, maybe Tina acted as Jack’s spy, scouting potential bully victims for him. Or maybe she was the main school bully all along.

“Would you have preferred it was him? Ooooh, did you punch him in the face? I see that dent on those metal fingies, lemme look, lemme look!” She crawled the rest of the way into the stall, looking over Rhys’ arm with her grabby hands, “Oh my gooood! This is amazing! I gotta get one of these!”

“Let go!” Rhys pulled his arm away from the girl, exchanging places with her, his back now to the door. Why was the only option at this school to run away? Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone?

“Geez, way to make a girl work for it, huh? At least you’re not ignoring me. I guess that’s good.“

“What are you talking about?” Rhys’ eyes widened, praying that he was overthinking things, and that the girl did not, in fact, take a liking to him. He did not need to juggle ignoring two people at once.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, weirdo. That thing on your shoulder would look hella great on Mushy Snugglebites!”

"Who the hell is Mushy Snugglebites?!” He reached for the door handle behind him, nervous by the girl's presence. She let out a creepy laugh, pulling out a plushie rabbit out of somewhere, some of its limbs dismembered. “That’s it. You’re weird. This entire school is weird,” Rhys pushed the stall door open, racing to get away from the girl. There were only two periods left, but even those were too much for Rhys. He knocked on Mr. Tassiter’s office, declaring that he wasn’t feeling well, that his cybernetic was acting out, anything that would convince the teacher to call his parents to pick him up. It was a coward’s way out, he knew that perfectly well, but he could not stay at this place any longer.

Three days in, and he was already thinking of switching schools.

“Do I need to be concerned?”

Rhys sat in the passenger seat, throwing his bag to the back of his mom’s car. He hid his cybernetic hand in the pocket of his hoodie, terrified of telling her that he probably needed to get it fixed. He kept his eyes on the road, even though they hadn't left the school parking lot.

“Rhys,” his mom called out to him once more, letting out a sigh when he wouldn’t respond, “I’m asking you something.”

“I want to switch schools.”

“And go where? The nearest one is an hour away.”

“I don’t care,” he replied without emotion, slowly curling his fists into the pockets of his hoodie the longer his mom interrogated him. “Is it someone at school? Are you being bullied?”

Rhys scoffed at the question, “You know I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Then what is it? Make me understand. It hasn’t even been three days. Have you made any friends?”

“Yeah?”

“Who?”

Rhys turned away from his mom, leaning against the window of the car, “You wouldn’t know them.”

“Of course I wouldn’t, that’s wľhy I’m asking,” she chuckled, starting up the car, “I know you miss your old friends, but sooner or later you would’ve walked different paths anyway. I guess, in a way, your dad and I only sped up the inevitable.”

“You took away two years of my life,” Rhys mumbled, regretting his words not even a second later. He didn’t want to fault his parents for doing something necessary, but where else was he supposed to direct all that blame? At himself?

“I know, honey. But look at the bright side! No one knows you around here. You could become whoever you want. Pretend you’re some popular kid who knows all the rich kids from your old school or something.”

“That’s some really bad advice, mom.”

“It is, but it’s not like I got a college degree in parenting before I had you. This is the first time I’m being a parent, so if you have some wisdom you wanna share with me, then go right ahead,” Rhys rolled his eyes, smiling at his mom’s words, “You wanna get some ice-cream before I drop you off at home?”

“Sure.”

After some necessary reasoning from his mom, Rhys decided to give the school another chance. He dreaded the next morning. The idea of apologizing to Jack floated around in his head before he fell asleep, solidifying itself throughout the entire night.

He stood in front of Jack's locker, already fighting an internal conflict. Throwing an apology letter into his locker was most certainly undermining his plan of ignoring his crush. It was quite the opposite, really. An acknowledgment of his existence and an acknowledgment of the possibility that, in some really screwed up way, Rhys liked this game of cat and mouse.

A wave of late coming students marched into the hallway, most of them happily conversing with their fellow classmates, others pushing through them to get their books from their lockers. Rhys' heartbeat quickened with their arrival, still undecided whether to go through with his impromptu plan or not. He let out a sharp breath and pushed the letter into Jack's locker. His heart wouldn't stop beating even after he was a safe distance away. He unsurely opened his locker, ready to grab his things and leave for the necessary classroom.

What he didn’t expect was a piece of paper lying on top of his books, one he was sure he did not leave there yesterday.

Neither did he notice Jack passing by him, hesitant about approaching Rhys. He decided to stay quiet for now, unlocking his own locker not too far from Rhys' and finding a similar piece of paper inside.

The two mirrored each other, one reading about a boy's pathetic display of ego, trying to prove something to himself and ultimately not being able to draw a line, whilst the other skimmed through a heartfelt collection of words that could be summarized in a single sentence, "Rhys didn't think that the two of them should be friends."

They both looked up at the same time, their eyes meeting across the hallway.

Rhys felt his heart stuck in his throat. He wanted to run away, but Jack’s eyes forced him into a standstill. He wanted to bury himself into the ground, but Jack closing in on him hurled his head into the clouds.

Oh no.

Jack was coming closer.

This was a mistake.

Coming to school was a mistake.

Putting that stupid letter in Jack's locker was a mistake.

Even remotely thinking that Jack wouldn't beat the shit out of him was a mistake.

Rhys' legs stayed planted on the ground, his body frozen in fear. No, not fear. Excitement. Exhilaration. A yet unexplored thrill. He wanted to take off that stupid bandage on Jack's face and kiss his perfect jaw better.

No, he shouldn't be having these thoughts. He hated Jack!

But Jack looked so cute bandaged up like that.

No, he didn't! He looked awful! Awful and scary!

Jack stood just close enough to grab the piece of paper from Rhys' hands, tearing both apology letters apart. And to make matters worse, he had the audacity to lean in, poking Rhys on his forehead, "See you in class, Rhysie."

Did he hear that right?

Rhysie?

Rhysie.

He called him Rhysie.

"He called me Rhysie."

"He called you Rhysie?"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Rhys placed his hand over Yvette's mouth, silently pleading the gods that she wouldn’t even mention the name of crush. He retracted his hand when she seemed to dislike the close contact.

"I mean, that's still better than him getting revenge and punching you square in the face," Vaughn said, playing a game on his phone, his lunch already finished. Rhys scoffed at his opinion, knowing that it would not help him at all, "How is that better, Vaughn? Please, enlighten me. How am I supposed to hate the guy when he won't even try to bully me?"

"Hate?" Yvette questioned with a chuckle, "Why would you want to hate the guy? I mean, he's Mr. Popular for a reason."

"Because it's either that or..."

Silence. Yvette looked at him with pity, already knowing the answer. Vaughn, on the other hand, seemed to be as clueless as he could be. Not that Rhys minded. He wondered how Yvette had managed to pick up on the fact that Rhys had a massive crush on Jack when he did everything in his power not to mention it in the slightest. Guess he should've taken that Theater class after all. "To be fair, he is known to be a bit of a heartbreaker, I can tell you that much. But I don't know, it's only Thursday and you've already got him hooked. Either he likes you, or you made yourself stand out."

"More like Vaughn over here made us both stand out. You know, with that whole locker incident. Which makes me wonder, why isn't he bothering you?"

"Uh, cause I'm clearly one of the cool kids, duh."

"And I'm not?" Rhys pouted, playing with the leftovers from his lunch. Talking about Jack made his stomach turn in ways he didn't know were possible, and the assortment of food on his tray looked anything but appetizing at the moment. Yvette gave him a look of worry, "You're not much of anything, really. Right now, you're the mysterious new kid. And it's going to be like that for a while, whether you like it or not."

Mysterious new kid, huh? He didn't think people would take new people that seriously. His old school was boring in that regard, everyone either minded their own business or they didn't care. But now he was turned into live bait, and it seemed like he had attracted all sorts of fish.

Rhys was left surprised by the lack of pestering from Jack for the rest of the day. Ditto most of Friday. Before Rhys could completely celebrate his victory, however, they were once again forced to work together during Econ class. A given when Rhys' answers ended up being complete nonsense and Jack turned in an empty paper. They sat in the back of the class, quiet as mice, whilst their classmates worked on a new assignment.

Rhys let out a sigh of defeat when a small piece of paper slid his way, opening it to reveal... the answers to questions ten through fifteen. He glanced up at Jack, the boy's head buried in the assignment, hard at work.

He stared at the paper, then at Jack, flabbergasted. Honestly, he expected a full barrage of messages from Jack. Maybe a simple, "Hi." like before. But no, Jack was mainly focused on getting the assignment done, only looking up when he wanted to share his answers with Rhys.

That punch must've really knocked some sense into him.

The rest of the day went on exactly like that, with Jack keeping his distance, occasionally trying to get Rhys' attention but quickly giving up when he wouldn't respond. Jack was persistent but didn't want to look like an asshole. Rhys, on the other hand, was riddled with guilt each time.

Friday evening quickly rolled around, which meant that Rhys could finally go and see the new Doctor Crypto movie with Vaughn and Yvette; the only thing that kept him optimistic throughout the entire week.

He stood in front of the movie theater, jacket loosely hanging over his shoulder. It was surprisingly warm outside, the last of the summer days pleasantly overlapping with the beginning of fall. He had forgotten to check the weather that day, but perhaps being safe would pay off when the sun eventually set.

He was even more surprised to be the one to arrive first amongst the trio. He thought Vaughn would've been the first, pegging him as the kind of guy to be everywhere a little too early. There were only about twenty minutes left before the movie would start when Yvette arrived, her bright smile easy to spot down the busy street. "Hey, nice outfit you got going there. Trying to impress someone?"

"Uh, what? No- That's not-"

"I'm just joking, Rhys." Yvette patted him on his shoulder.  Rhys could only let out an "Oh." before Yvette asked, "Where's Vaughn, by the way?"

"I got a text from him two minutes ago. He said he's going to be here soon." Rhys took out his phone, going over the text one more time. The two of them decided to wait inside the building, Rhys grateful to the poor worker that hadn’t forgotten to turn on the air conditioning.

"I have to admit, I haven't actually read the books. Vaughn tried to give me his own, but I don't usually read. Is there some lore I should be aware of?" Yvette said, looking at the poster of the movie they were about to see, Rhys standing next to her. He put his finger on his lower lip, deep in thought, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head. The book was alright, but I'm not going to spoil anything for you. I'm not the type of person to bash someone for not studying the material beforehand."

"That's a relief."

"But I am that kind of person! Seriously, how can you not like reading books? They're always better than the movies!" Vaughn judged from behind his friends, his sudden appearance startling the two of them, "You ready to go, guys? The movie is gonna start soon."

"Yeah, I can go get the tickets. You guys buy popcorn or something," Rhys suggested, the other two handing him the money for their tickets. The line wasn't as long as Rhys thought it'd be. He wondered if it was because of the other movies already playing in the movie theater.

There were only a few people in front of him when he noticed a crowd exiting one of the movies, his attention stolen by a particular group he knew well by now. Wilhelm sported a satisfied smirk whilst Nisha, the girl he had seen at the bus stop, and Jack laughed like they had turned crazy. "Oh god, that ending was priceless, I'll never forget the sight of that."

"Yeah, the kid was bound to fall off. I just didn't know he'd get eaten by a sand whale." Rhys heard Nisha comment, several groans of disappointment coming from the other visitors. Rhys glanced at the screen above the entrance, relief washing over him when he noticed they went to some movie called “Truxican Standoff”. He didn't want to have his movie spoiled minutes before watching it.

"Three tickets for the new Doctor Crypto movie, please." Rhys politely asked the worker standing behind the counter, taking out his wallet to pay. He picked the seats in the middle, thankful that there were just three left there. The cashier handed him the tickets before attending to the other customers. Rhys made sure to check if he was given the correct seats, looking over the numbers on the tickets when a hand on his shoulder startled him, "Rhysie! Didn't expect to see you here. Seeing a movie with someone?"

He turned around, thankful that Jack wasn't really paying attention to him, but rather to Rhys' friends, who were giving them both a stare from across the lobby, their looks full of pity.

Jack kept his eyes on them suspiciously long.

Was he... jealous? No, that couldn't be. Rhys was overthinking things. Jack had his friends with him. And he looked like he was having fun. There was no reason why he'd need to feel jealous. Besides, they weren't even friends. Far from it, really.

And even if Jack wanted to go to the movies with him, he made no effort to ask Rhys.

Or maybe he did, and Rhys ignored him.

But that was the plan, right? To ignore him?

But why would he willingly ignore his feelings? What was the point?

The point was to keep his distance, to keep himself safe from a possible heartbreak.

But Jack wouldn't break his heart, right? Besides, to ignore that handsome face, those striking eyes, that stupid smile that had Rhys' knees buckling... To ignore all of that would be the biggest mistake of his life.

"You there?" Jack snapped his fingers in front Rhys, a bit too close to his face, "Earth to Rhys. Didn't hypnotize you, did I?" Rhys blinked once, twice, Jack's words going into his ear and out the other. What did he say? Did Jack ask him a question? Was he supposed to answer?

He looked towards his friends, silently pleading them for help, but they were too busy enjoying this beautiful exhibition of human awkwardness. He looked back at Jack, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks when he didn't know how to get out of this mess of an interaction. Ignoring Jack at school was easy, a walk in the park, if you will. But anywhere else? Where his attention was not a given, where he chose to talk to Rhys and specifically Rhys for reasons unknown?

He wondered if the boy really had a plan to make his last two years of school a misery.

"I..." Rhys began, unaware that this was the first time he has talked in front of Jack since the first day of school. Unaware that Jack was paying attention, curious to hear what he'd say, "I have to go."

"Alright," Jack chuckled, his lingering smile something Rhys absolutely hated (adored) in that moment, "I'll see you at school."

Before Rhys could embarrass himself any further, which he was obviously not planning on doing, Jack left him with a light squeeze of his shoulder, joining his friends who were already waiting for him outside the movie theater.

"Rhys, are you okay?" He heard Yvette ask, dragging him by his arm away from his spot in the middle of the lobby.

"No." Rhys squeaked out, holding the tickets in his hand like they'd escape if he held them any gentler.

"Oh."

"You know, let's just forget about that whole thing and watch the movie." Vaughn suggested, unaware of how such a task was impossible for Rhys.

If you were to ask him what the movie was about, he wouldn't be able to give you an answer, even when he had read the book more than three times. The plot was alien to him, forgotten; his mind occupied by one person, and one person only.

Jack Lawrence.

Rhys was down bad for the boy. To the point where he was terrified of whether he'd even be able to survive the next week.

He kept thinking about his smile, about the way Jack looked at him during lessons, about the way Jack's hand fell on his shoulder and how he left it there for just a bit too long. He didn't even know it was possible to be so into someone. Thought that all the romance movies were lying, that having a crush was nothing more than fiction.

That clearly wasn't the case.

God, he felt absolutely ashamed of himself. His entire movie experience was ruined by a stupid crush. His old friends would've laughed at him if they knew.

Will laugh at him when they know. 

Rhys needed some outside perspective. Getting advice from people who already knew Jack was getting him nowhere. Athena said he's bad news, Yvette thought there's some possibility. And Vaughn? He had no idea what Vaughn thought, to be honest. The guy was too busy with his own stuff to care about some relationship problems.

With a heavy sigh and his heart ready to be worn on his sleeve, he shut the door to his bedroom, slipping onto the floor like he had just finished running a marathon.

Having a crush on someone was hard work.

Actively trying to undermine that crush was even harder.

He tiredly grabbed his laptop from his desk and sat on his bed, looking through his contacts. He hesitated to click on the call button, knowing that he'd catch flack for not contacting his friends sooner. It was now or never, he reminded himself. "Hey."

"Hey yourself, took you long enough to call. Fiona thought you got hit by a bus." Rhys smiled at the girl on the screen, spotting her sister sitting behind her on her bed doing her schoolwork and whatnot, "Seriously, why didn't you call sooner? We were worried."

"Sorry, I kind of... maybe... forgot?" Rhys tried to say without sounding like an asshole. Fiona scoffed at his excuse, moving towards Sasha to sit next to her, "Could've at least said you didn't have time. Looks like you're still an idiot."

"Yeah, about that. I need your help."

"What? Already got a crush on someone and you need our relationship advice?" Fiona joked. An awkward silence befell the call when Rhys didn't respond, a quiet, "Dammit." escaping Fiona's lips.

"Ha, I win!" Sasha exclaimed, taking a five-dollar bill out of Fiona's hand with a victorious grin. "Seriously? You made bets?!"

"Yeah?"

"I can't believe I used to be friends with you."

"Used to? What’s that supposed to mean?! You live a few hours away from us, if we wanted to, we could come and kick your door down tonight!" Fiona threatened with that fake serious tone she used to use at school to manipulate the teachers into giving her a better grade, "Okay, how bad is it?"

"Worse than that whole Axton thing you had to survive two years ago." Rhys sighed, his head hitting the wall behind him. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, the question from one of the sisters just an echo in his room. "That bad?"

"He's just... ugh."

"So, it's a guy." Fiona remarked, to which Rhys could only nod. His head was already buried in his hands, flustered by the mention of the boy. He couldn't bear to look at his friends. They've never seen him this embarrassed.

"What's his name?"

"Jack."

"How did you two meet?"

"It wasn't exactly a meeting, more like me seeing him at school. It sounds ridiculous.... I sound ridiculous." Rhys rubbed at his forehead, trying to collect his thoughts so he could explain the situation to the best of his ability, "I was looking through my locker when I heard him laugh at something with his friends. I thought they were laughing at me, because, you know, I'm a loser or whatever. So, my first instinct was to look at him and his friends and I... I thought I was dreaming. I know I sound pathetic. This whole thing is pathetic! But it's true! I felt like my legs stop working if I stared for any longer. He didn't notice me at the time... or at least I don't think he did."

"That sounds really vague, can you give us some details?"

"Oh, I don't know. He's slightly taller than me, but not by much. But if you’d compare the two of us, he's like a tower. He’s got a perfect body, not that that’s his best quality, but I wouldn’t complain if he wrapped his arms around me. His smile is so contagious. And his hair is this really unusual shade of brown that you’d see on a guy in a magazine. And his eyes? They’re different colors! Naturally! And easy to get lost in! God, I hate him so much.”

"Wait... hate?" Fiona questioned in disbelief, "Sasha, give me my money back!"

"Keep the money Sasha, that was just my personal comment." Rhys stopped the two sisters before they could fight over some dollars. "So, do you like him or hate him?" Fiona asked.

"Both, I guess."

"You guess?"

"You know exactly what I mean! I didn't want to date anyone during high school! You know,

cause it always ends in a failed relationship and people hating each other when their personalities do a complete one-eighty after school ends. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s way out of my league. So please, I’m begging you, what am I supposed to do to get rid of this?”

"Have you tried ignoring him?" asked Fiona, to which Rhys could only roll his eyes, "Yeah! That's literally all I've been doing!"

"And?"

"And it's not working! He knows something’s up. He's been trying to get me to talk this entire week! It's the only thing I can focus on during school. Like, seriously. Who does that? And- and then there was this whole thing where we got paired up in class and he'd try to send me notes.. I didn't know what to do, so I bolted out of the classroom, but he ended up following me."

"That's... kinda weird, not gonna lie," Fiona commented, her expression a worried one. Rhys let out a groan of frustration, unable to keep his emotions in check in front of the sisters, "Is it? Does it justify a punch to the face?"

"You punched him?!"

"Which hand did you use?!"

Rhys lifted his cybernetic into the air, the girls' expressions a complete opposite of what he had expected. Honestly, were they not completely horrified; he wouldn't have thought about how abnormal punching someone was. Especially in this day and age. That school was definitely getting into his head.

"Holy crap, you probably broke something."

"Yeah, I dented my fingers!" Rhys put his metal fingers in front of the camera, craving pity from the girls.

"I meant the guy! Is he alright? Did you at least apologize?!" Sasha pointed an accusatory finger at the screen, showing more concern for Jack than Rhys. "I did. Both of us did, actually. I... god, this is even more embarrassing than I thought."

"The suspense is killing me," Fiona said sarcastically, moving out of the frame, "You gonna get on with it or can I go do my homework?"

"Fi!"

"What?! This is worse than trying to listen to a toddler!"

Sasha narrowed her eyes at her sister, clearly not happy with her attitude towards their friend's discovery of romance. The elder sister walked away without another word, Sasha shaking her head, "Whatever. Continue."

"Uh. Oh yeah, there was this whole thing on Thursday where I basically put an apology letter into his locker, only he decided to do the same. And then he tore them apart! The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"My guess is he's trying to provoke you?"

"Think that's what he's been doing the entire time. I'm not that stupid to not notice. Also, that doesn't explain why he'd keep his distance after I punched him. I don't know. I'm just..."

The call went silent. Talking out loud about this week's events definitely put some things in perspective for Rhys. He hadn't had time to process everything yet, including moving houses right before school began. Everything was still new to him, so perhaps he was simply overreacting to the changes.

"I wish I could help you, but this is beyond the usual drama we have over here." Sasha said, feeling genuine concern for her friend, "Maybe you could stop ignoring him? I hate to say this, but the only other solution I see is getting your heart broken. That's like, one of the fastest ways to get over a crush. Or see him do something absolutely questionable, that also works."

"Hey! None of that shit, alright? Rhys, you're gonna go talk to him and see where things go from there. Don't jump into conclusions, don't make an opinion without knowing the guy. If he likes you, fine. If all he wants is to be friends, then that's fine, too. But don't be an idiot and let your assumptions about high school relationships dictate how you feel about a guy."

The two stopped to look at Fiona, who had come back into the view of the camera, her words quite inspiring, "Wow Fi, where did you hear that?"

"Don't ask."

Rhys' mind dwelled on both the girls' advice, unable to decide which one was right. He was down bad for Jack, that was as clear as day. But would he be able to keep his feelings at bay if Jack only wanted to be friends and nothing more? Rhys has never gone through anything like this before, his past crushes only lasting a few minutes before he realized that it was pointless. But with Jack, everything was different, for some reason.

"I guess you could try giving him a chance. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Alright," Rhys simply responded to his friends, wishing not to dig deeper into how embarrassing it'll be when he eventually approaches Jack of his own volition. The three of them talked for a while after that, the girls filling him in on all the gossip at his old school, Rhys telling them about the new school and all the people he's met already. They eventually ended the call when Rhys realized that it was well past midnight.

He quickly turned off the computer, changing into his clothes and laying down on his bed. He slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping that the weekend would be relatively calm. Or at least calm enough so he could come up with a good plan on how to approach Jack on Monday.

Chapter Text

Sunday definitely seemed like a lazy day to Rhys. He had already finished his homework, even managed to clean his room, play some video games and chat with his friends for a while. On top of that, he had the whole house to himself because his parents were… visiting his aunt or something? He wasn't too sure.

He decided to spend some time in the backyard, book in hand, his legs crossed as he relaxed on one of the wooden chairs, strawberry smoothie already finished. Rhys definitely didn't regret being outside on this kind of day, when the sun wasn't as unbearable, and he could enjoy his time in peace and quiet.

That is until his neighbor decided to use their garden as well, several people talking and laughing about topics Rhys couldn't care less about. He groaned, shifting his legs, and turning the page so he could get to the next chapter. The calming sound of leaves softly shifting next to one another in the wind were drowned out by a loud conversation coming from the neighbor’s place; Rhys unable to focus on the words in front of him. He grabbed his phone, plugging in his headphones and playing some calm, acoustic guitar playlist so that he could tune out the voices.

It worked, at least for a while, until he heard a sharp, "Oh shit." and felt something fly into him. As in, directly into his face and bounce off onto the grass.

"And here we can see a wild nerd, resting in his natural habitat. Usually, they don't come outside very often, but this one must be an exception to the breed."

Rhys took off his headphones and looked around himself, spotting a red frisbee lying next to the chair he occupied. He hesitantly put his book in his lap and picked the frisbee up, wondering where it came from.

"He's noticed the bait. I repeat, he's noticed the bait. Now we wait. Let's hope he doesn't take it back to his den."

Rhys turned around, finally spotting the trio of interrupters standing just tall enough so they could peek from behind the fence. He had known that Nisha lived next to him for a while now, having seen her take the bus a few times. But he did not expect Jack and Wilhelm to be casually hanging out in her garden, of all places.

Maybe he should've expected it. Maybe Jack wouldn't have showed up because Rhys would've expected it.

Nevertheless, Rhys had promised himself that he'd approach Jack on Monday. As far as he was aware, it was Sunday. Which meant exactly that; no approaching Jack allowed.

He narrowed his eyes at the trio, taking off his headphones and perfectly throwing the frisbee at them with his cybernetic. Jack gave him an award-winning smile as soon as he caught it mid-air, a gesture that defied all the rules Rhys had set up for himself. The thought of Jack approaching him hadn't even crossed his mind. Damn that sly bastard. "Thanks, nerd."

"I'd prefer the term geek, thank you very much."

"Oh, so he talks. Extraordinary," Jack commented with his fake accent that he had used before, throwing the frisbee back into Nisha's garden, the other two troublemakers disappearing behind the fence. Jack, on the other hand, stayed put, perfectly happy watching Rhys do his thing.

Rhys turned back around, taking the book from his lap to continue reading.

"So, whatcha got there, geek?" Jack asked, but Rhys couldn't bother answering, his mind already occupied by the words in the book. When it looked like the victim of his teasing wasn't going to say a word, Jack sighed heavily.

And then he sighed again.

"Do you need something, Jack?" Rhys asked without even taking one look at the boy. Jack was slightly thrown off balance by the use of his first name, not expecting to get more than a few words from the boy. Nevertheless, he reapplied that charming smile of his, proud that he had finally caught Rhys' attention. Now he only needed to keep it as long as he could, "Oh, not really. Just thought that we could have a little chit-chat. You know, just you 'n me.”

Rhys put the book back in his lap, sitting sideways on the chair so he could face Jack, "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I dunno. The weather? School? You ignoring me all week?"

"I'm not ignoring-"

"Sure, cupcake. You keep telling yourself that. But I can see right through you," Jack pointed right at Rhys, a menacing smile plastered on his face. But that quickly changed when he noticed the frown on Rhys, "Whatever your friends told you, it's not true. I want to be best buds with you!"

"Really?" Rhys more said than asked, not actually believing Jack for even a second.

"Yup."

"Great."

"So, how about we start again," Jack said before he disappeared behind the fence. After a second, he jumped back up, "Hi, I'm Jack. What's your name?"

"Rhys." the boy hesitantly answered. Jack's smile only growing wider as he realized that his comeback was working, "Rhys, that's a really nice name. Now, would you like to join us? We were about to summon a demon in Nisha's backyard."

"Please don't tell me you're serious."

"About you? A hundred percent. The demon? I dunno, depends if you're up for it." Jack giggled, wiggling his eyebrows at the boy, "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I'd love to but-"

"Great! Nisha is going to be so happy. Between you and me, I'm pretty sure she has a crush on you. I could be wrong though, you'll have to find out for yourself." he winked at Rhys, who was at this point contemplating hiding in his house or straight up running away. Unfortunately, he couldn't do either now that Jack was expecting him on the other side of the fence.

"Did you really use me as cover to get into the kid's pants?" Nisha accused her friend, standing just a few feet away with the frisbee in her hand. With a scoff, Jack looked at her with fake hurt written all over his features, "What? Nish, you should know me better than that."

"You used me as cover to get into Nisha's pants last year!" Wilhelm commented, which earned him a betrayed glance from Jack, "Yeah, but that was a one-time thing. And besides, it didn't even work!"

"So, now you're trying it again. What, you think it'll work this time, cowboy?" Nisha laughed, remembering how bad it ended for Jack that time. Jack groaned at the memory, looking at his friends, "I'm not- you guys are assholes, did I ever tell you that?"

"Whatever you say, Jackie. Just keep it in your pants." Wilhelm snickered before Rhys came into view. Jack greeted him with open arms, "Rhysie! Welcome!"

"Rhysie." Nisha silently mouthed at Wilhelm, who seemed just as entertained by the situation as her.

"Where's the candles?" Rhys questioned the group. They all seemed puzzled by his question, until he clarified by saying, "You know, for the demon... or something."

"Oh, yeah. Jack here already did the summoning. Only he got an entirely different entity to show up." Nisha threw a knowing look at Jack, biting her lips to keep herself from laughing. Jack squinted his eyes at the girl, thinking of ways on how to make her pay for this later. He quickly glanced at Rhys, who seemed to feel awkward between the three friends. Poor guy probably felt left out.

"Ignore her, she's just messing with you," Rhys heard Jack. He looked towards Nisha, who had a playful smirk on her face. She seemed like someone Rhys didn't want to mess with.

"By the way, how's your hand?"

"Huh?" Rhys stared at Jack, eyebrows furrowed from confusion until he realized what he meant, "Oh, it's alright I guess."

"Jack, I'd be more concerned about the head if I were you," By this point Jack was glaring daggers at his friends, who were acting like complete idiots. However, that soon changed when Rhys cleared the air of any confusion... or at least tried to, "He kind of hit me on the head three or four times during P.E."

"He... what?"

"We played dodgeball," Wilhelm clarified, to which Rhys could only add, "It was kind of fun." It didn't make Jack feel any easier, if only more worried about Wilhelm and his slight advantage over the other kids, and Rhys being at the receiving end of one of his hits.

"You should've been there. Where were you, by the way?" Wilhelm asked him. Jack thought about answering him honestly, but he didn't want to bring up the topic. At least not in front of Rhys, "Oh, you know. The usual."

"How's your..." Rhys awkwardly asked, pointing to the side of his face where Jack still had a pretty nasty bruise. He seemed especially embarrassed when Jack threw him a knowing smirk, "Oh, this? It's nothing. Just a small love tap."

Every kind of alarm sounded off in Rhys' head, searching Jack's face to see if he knew. He had to have known, right? Why else would he say that?

"Right," Nisha seemed to pick up on what he meant, successfully changing the subject to something else, "so, Rhys, how do you like our school?"

"It's alright," the boy tried to answer as casually as he could, given the situation, but Jack already knew where this was going. He held back a groan, having a small bit of faith that Nisha wouldn't ask the question, "Got your eye on someone special?" and there it was, along with that stupid wink of hers. This girl never knew when to stop. "Nisha..."

"What? I'm just asking."

"To answer your question, I don't really know," Rhys scratched the back of his neck, hiding his nervousness with the gesture. He didn't know? The hell was that supposed to mean? Either he liked someone, or he didn't.

Or he was hiding this person's identity from them.

"That's completely okay, you have plenty of time to figure it out. Right, Jack?" Nisha looked towards Jack, the other boy ready to kick her ass into oblivion because, well, she was being an ass. Just because the kid caught Jack's interest didn't mean he wanted to get in his pants. Unfortunately, Nisha's hormones didn't help her imagination at all.

"Right..." Jack answered, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, "By the way, I didn't get an answer. What were you reading earlier?" He asked in hopes of changing the topic once again.

"Oh, it was the third Doctor Crypto book, I was just finishing it."

"Wait, didn't you and the two other kids go to that Doctor Crypto movie yesterday? How was it?" There was a light pout on Rhys' face when Jack asked the question, he wondered why. "It was alright, I guess."

The trio gave him strange looks, but he quickly saved himself by asking, "What movie did you see?"

"The Truxican Standoff." Nisha answered. "My favorite part was when they killed the wrong person at the beginning." Wilhelm added.

"Hey, watch out for the spoilers. I fell asleep at the beginning." Jack playfully argued with his friends, Nisha adding, "Oh yeah, I thought you'd start drooling."

"I don't drool."

"No, you don't." Wilhelm commented, his two friends giggling like idiots, eventually joined by Rhys.

The boy seemed at ease from then on, engaging in their conversations here and there, which made Jack happy. Too happy, by his friend's standards, but who cares. The kid was talking, that's the only thing that mattered. Honestly, the last time someone had to endure the disaster that was Jack's group of friends, they had no chance of saying a word. Rhys, on the other hand, was different.

At first, Jack thought that he was one of those shy kids that didn't really talk, but soon found out it was quite the opposite. Rhys had no problem talking to Janey, or Athena, or those two other kids. Even Tina managed to get him to talk, boasting her achievement when the kid wasn't at school (and proudly presenting herself as the reason why he skipped the last two periods on Wednesday.)

But when it came to Jack? Rhys just liked to keep his mouth shut. Drew a distance between them for some reason. So naturally, Jack made it his mission to find out why. And he'd be lying if he denied that it confused him to hell and back why the kid had no problem conversing with him and his friends now. Did something change and Jack hadn't noticed?

He looked at Rhys like he'd find the answer in his eyes, but the boy quickly turned his attention elsewhere, as if he'd been caught doing... something.

Jack wondered about it even when he got home that evening. Was he really that detestable? Surely not. Maybe some people hated him for acting like a devil-possessed child the years prior, but he was on his way to clean up his act. And he knew perfectly well that he hadn't done anything to Rhys that could be considered bullying.

Right?

He looked at himself in the mirror of his bathroom, applying a pain numbing cream onto the bruise on his jaw. A smile slowly crept up on his face as he remembered the moment when Rhys' cybernetic collided with his face. But he quickly reminded himself that he shouldn't be happy about the fact, that he shouldn't find vigor and excitement in such an act of violence. That that punch meant what it meant. A clearly drawn line.

One Rhys immediately crossed when he put that stupid apology letter into his locker. Or rather, a challenge in written form.

Jack didn't like to overthink. Especially what others thought of him and what he thought of others. He acted on a whim, on needs and instant wants. Maybe it was his way of coping. To not care about others' opinions. He didn't think it was important, not after his parents' divorce and what happened between him and his brother two years ago.

They used to be best friends, the twin duo. Jack and Timothy. Some would think they'd be a stereotype, one in love with learning, the other a sports fanatic. But it wasn't quite like that. Both were pretty lazy, yet smart in their own ways. One cocky, the other diffident. But they made it work, helped each other throughout their childhood. 

Then it hit them like an earthquake. Something they couldn’t see from a mile away. Their parents’ divorce.

At first, they thought nothing of it, that it was their parents' choice. But then it began with Tim. He’d start overthinking, telling himself that maybe it was their fault. That they could've treated their parents better. And soon after, those same thoughts seeped into Jack’s mind, his conscience weighing heavy on his heart. He didn’t want to believe it though. And in this denial, they fought over who was right and who was wrong, with both fists and words.

Their worst fight happened at school, just as the school year had started. The divorce was supposed to happen in a week, but by that point the two of them grew to detest each other.

Then, it all crashed down. Their father moved away along with Timothy and Jack stayed behind with their mother. Neither of them had tried reaching out. Jack hoped it would stay that way for a long time.

Speaking of time, Jack didn't even realize that it was already well past midnight. He couldn't bring himself to sleep, something that had to do with too many thoughts running through his head. An unusual behavior for him. He debated watching something on one of the countless TV apps his mother had got him to keep him entertained, but there really wasn't anything interesting to keep his mind occupied and he'd rather watch something when he wasn't half-asleep.

He grabbed his phone from the bedside table, unlocking it and going over the contacts. He thought about calling Nisha, or maybe Wilhelm, or maybe the pizza house. But he immediately stopped at the first name in his last called contacts.

Even Jack was surprised he managed to get the kid's number.

He opened the messaging app, adding Rhys' contact in and shooting him a text.

J: hey

Jack waited a few minutes, furrowing his brows when he didn't get a reply. He tried again.

J: hey

J: hey listen

J: Rhys

J: hey

This time, he got a response almost immediately.

R: what

R: why do you sound like Navi

J: lol I thought you wouldn't get the reference

J: anyways

J: wyd

R: I was kind of in the middle of sleeping

Jack scoffed, turning on his side. He quietly laughed at his innuendo before hitting send.

J: sleeping? There are so many other things you could be doing right now ;)

R: it's almost 2 am

R: I have school tomorrow

R: so do you

J: way to rub it in my face...

J: and here I thought we could hang out

R: I'm not going outside at 2 am

J: :'(

J: but I'm boreeeeed

R: go to sleep

J: what if I like sneak into your house

J: that way you don't have to go outside

Jack stood up from his bed, leaving the phone behind. He looked out the window, noting that it was raining pretty heavily outside. Guess he was going nowhere in that kind of weather. He heard the phone beep on the bed, indicating that he got exactly three new messages. He laid back, unlocking the phone with excitement dwelling deep in his stomach.

R: please don't do that

R: Jack

R: JACK DON'T

J: I was just messing with you

J: it's raining outside so it's a big fat no from me

It took a while until Jack got a response from Rhys. He locked and unlocked his phone a few times, hoping that a new notification would appear when the screen lit up. Yawning, he went back into the messaging app, getting a reply almost instantly.

R: thank god

Maybe the kid was slowly falling asleep, that's why it took him so long. Jack let out another long yawn as he typed his next few messages.

J: you better not fall asleep on me here Rhysie

J: and don't accuse me of waking you up

J: you wrote me back so it's your fault

R: I'm too tired to argue with you

R: goodnight

J: wow

J: I'm gonna kick your ass tomorrow

J: you better watch out

R: really?

J: cupcake

J: I don't do ass-kicking

J: there's barely anyone that wants to start beef with me

J: but if it's something you want then hmu

R: no thanks

J: aw :( you were getting my hopes up

J: also weren't you going back to sleep just now?

J: or did I make you change your mind? ;)

R: I just caught a mild case of a sickness called "not being able to fall asleep" from a certain someone that woke me up

R: so there's the answer to your question

J: last time I checked, it wasn't supposed to be contagious

J: maybe you're just missing some vitamin me :)

Jack chuckled at the message, yawning afterwards. Okay, why was he getting tired all of a sudden?

R: you're weird

J: at least I'm not a nerd

R: for the last time, it's geek

R: and how else would you know about Navi if you weren't one too?

R: boom, you've been exposed

J: did you just...

J: okay I take back everything I said earlier

J: you're getting your ass kicked

Jack hit send, watching as the screen slowly faded to black whilst he waited for Rhys' message. He made the mistake of closing his eyes once, immediately falling asleep when he did so. The phone fell out of his hands and a content smile spread across his face.

When Jack woke up the next morning, he felt like a fool for staying up so late. Having no proper sleep schedule was bound to get him in the long run. He knew that very well. But he made no effort to change his habits.

He checked his phone, which had fallen onto the floor by the time he had woken up, and his mood instantly improved. Who knew that a few messages could do that?

R: I'm pretty sure if I skip 4th and 5th period we won't see each other all day

R: you know what, I might as well do that

R: also I can't believe you fell asleep first

R: I'm not surprised though, just disappointed

Jack got out of his bed, taking the phone with him as he made his way to the kitchen. He made a simple ham sandwich for breakfast, too tired to try anything complicated. He sat behind the table, loudly chewing on the food as he enjoyed the blandness of the taste.

Maybe he should start thinking about learning how to make better food for himself instead of relying on the same old recipes he knew from his childhood. Especially when his mother didn't seem to care enough to teach him anything, too busy with work and whatnot. 

He unlocked his phone, typing away with the sandwich in between his teeth.

J: good morning :)

J: also, not my fault, I need my beauty sleep

R: says the guy that woke me up at 2 am

R: morning

J: you're not gonna drop that are you

J: it was an ice-breaker

J: it worked

R: excuse me?

J: you're excused

R: omg

R: I can't believe you just did that

J: you better believe

J: also you can't avoid me forever

J: I live closer to the school

J: and I know where your locker is

J: no chance you won't need it all day

J: also I know where you live

J: wait hold on that sounds kinda creepy

R: you think?

R: I might as well hide in the basement

J: you won't ;)

R: how do you know that?

J: I just know :P

J: now if you'll excuse me, I need to do my morning beauty routine

R: you are excused

J: that's not funny

R: it wasn't funny the first time

Jack rolled his eyes, putting the plate into the dishwasher before going back into his room to get ready for the day.

When he arrived at school, he found his friends at their usual spot already waiting for him so they could hang out before first period. Of course, that spot was near Rhys' locker, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.

Jack stared at the boy's locker, half-listening to his friends' conversation as he waited for Rhys. "So, have you heard the news?"

"What news?" He heard Wilhelm ask, Nisha quickly adding, "Miss Hill got a concussion. She's going to be out for a good amount of time. I don't know the details, but I'm pretty sure I have to thank Tina for not having to endure that nightmare every Tuesday from now on."

"Wasn't me." Tina suddenly appeared in the middle of the trio, startling even Jack.

"Tina, what are you doing?" Nisha asked the girl, who seemed to be in a staring contest with Jack. Or more so of a "I know something you don't" kind of contest, which Jack was clearly losing. To his defense, it was a familiar figure in the background that caught his attention, Tina following his gaze with a knowing smile on her face. "I'd hit that."

"What?" Jack let out, more aggressively than he intended to. He could see the tiny girl's smirk only grow wider at his reaction, her eyebrows raising up and down in a teasing manner, "You would, too, wouldn't you?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the girl, obviously annoyed. But she wouldn't stop. If there weren't any corners on her mouth, her smile would probably go all around her face. And, Jack really wanted to push the girl away, especially when Rhys noticed and... oh god, he was coming towards them.

"Tina."

"Reeeeeze." Tina dragged the e for far longer than usual, causing Rhys to raise his brows in confusion. The boy looked towards Jack, giving him a slight wave of his hand as a greeting, "Jack."

"Cupcake."

It was too late for Jack to know what was happening, Tina already rolling on the ground, laughing like a psychopath. Jack slapped himself across his forehead, letting out a long groan. And wait, was that an actual blush on Rhys' cheeks? Yeah, this situation was getting weirder by the minute and if it weren't for his friends, it would've been even worse, "Tina, cut it off. Go annoy someone else."

"I will be back! You won't escape the wrath of Tiny Tina's knowing eye, Handsome Jack!" Tina yelled down the hallway, running off to some nook or cranny she had crawled out of that morning. At least she was gone.

“Handsome Jack?” Nisha gave him a puzzled look, Jack shaking his head, "It's a Bunkers and Badasses nickname. One she picked for me, okay?" He lied.

"When the hell did you play Bunkers and Badasses with Tina?"

"It was a long time ago, alright? What's up with all the questions? I did not get enough sleep to warrant an entire investigation into what I do in my free time," Jack rubbed his eyes, a yawn escaping his lips, "Anyways, what the hell was that? Am I right?"

Both Nisha and Wilhelm gave him a worried stare, and when they didn't respond, it only confused Jack more. For a moment, he thought he was still in his bed. That whatever this state of awkwardness was, it must've been conjured up by his mind.

But that clearly wasn't the case.

Tina's presence had completely thrown Jack off balance and if it weren't for Rhys excusing himself to go to class, Jack would've stood there, confused for the rest of the day. He followed after Rhys with a wave of his hand towards his other two friends, catching up to the boy just in time to take the seat next to him in class.

Jack didn't know how to approach the question plaguing his mind, so he chose to be blunt and straightforward, "What's Tina to you?"

"A biohazard at best."

Jack furrowed his brows at the answer, waiting for an elaboration. Rhys placed his bookmark into the book he was trying to read, closing it to look at Jack, "I hate to be the odd one out, but one thing I've noticed is that people here really don't seem to get the idea of personal space. I mean, who in their right mind thinks that crawling into an occupied bathroom stall would be a good idea?"

"Huh," Jack let out, turning his head to look at the menace of a girl at the other end of the classroom, "that's not what she bragged about."

"What?"

"Nothing. She's just... unusual. Try to ignore her if you can," Rhys chuckled at those words, going back to his book as Jack returned his attention to him, "Something funny, pumpkin?"

"No, not really." Rhys answered with a sneaky smile on his face. Jack decided to let it be, perfectly fine with catching some much-needed z's before the lesson started.

Chapter Text

Rhys expected the end of September to be uneventful. School had started a few weeks ago, so there weren't any exciting events planned. 

At least he thought there weren't.

A white envelope greeted him at his locker one morning, the contents of it rather surprising. An invite to some girl's eighteenth birthday party. And it seemed like Rhys was amongst the dozens more who got invited. A quick glance at his phone suggested that it was taking place at the other side of town. A more rich side, if you will.

"Hey, what's that?" Vaughn grabbed the invite out of Rhys' hands, skimming over the contents, "Oh shoot, wonder if I got one, too."

"Don't worry if you didn't, you can have mine."

"What? Why?" Vaughn gave the invite back to his friend, puzzled by the sudden decision not to attend, "You should go! If anything, it'll be like your official initiation into this school."

"I don't know man," Rhys read the invite once again, hoping that it'd change his mind about going to the party, "I don't really like crowds."

"Well, if you're not going, then I'm not going either-"

"Why?" Rhys questioned, feeling hypocritical of himself when he had tried justifying his own reason only a few seconds ago. Vaughn gave him a shrug of his shoulders, "Duh, 'cause I'm not about to let my best bud in the making be depressed on a Saturday evening by himself."

"Bro."

"Bro."

The bell suddenly rang, indicating the start of the first class. The two shared a pained look, knowing they won't see each other until lunch break. 

Rhys sat down in his usual spot, noticing the ones around him already filled, with Jack nowhere in sight. He wondered if the boy was sick and couldn't make it to school that day.

The buzz of his phone in his pocket quickly alerted Rhys that wherever he was, Jack still had time to annoy him during class. Fortunately for Rhys, this school had a very strict no phone policy, with teachers regularly taking the students' devices and only returning them at the end of the day. Rhys did not want anyone touching his phone. His dad would probably bury him alive if anything happened to it.

After class, he quietly left towards his locker, only checking his phone once he was sure he got the right books for the next lesson. Having silenced the device earlier, the wall of texts from Jack were nothing short of a surprise.

J: hi

J: Rhys

J: guess what

J: nvm you're prolly in class

J: I'm gonna be home for the rest of the week

J: doctor's orders

J: didn't want me spreading this shit

J: unless you wanted it

J: could spend some quality time together playing video games ;)

J: would even hook u up with a console

J: or you could come over to my house :o

Rhys smiled at the texts, wondering if Jack was only joking. Whatever the sickness was, Rhys hoped he'd get well soon.

R: is it that contagious?

J: wanna test it out?

R: I'd rather not

R: mom would probably kill me if I got sick three weeks into school

J: aw :(

J: anything new?

R: aside from Tassiter ranting about mlm no

Rhys put his phone back into his pocket when it seemed like Jack stopped responding, quickly making his way to the next class before the bell rang. He ran into Yvette, who seemed in a similar hurry as him, her lesson being at the other end of the building. Rhys' phone buzzed once again as soon as he sat in his seat, a quick glance at his notifications showing him two more messages from Jack.

J: WHAT

J: what do mlm have to do with anything???

R: ?

R: multilevel marketing

J: oh

R: also some girl was handing out invites to her birthday party

J: when is it?

R: Saturday

J: ...

J: u going?

R: idk probably not

Rhys hid his phone when the teacher made her way into the class, officially starting the lesson. The buzzing in his pocket wouldn't stop, however, forcing Rhys to silence his phone again. Jack didn't seem to understand that while he had all the free time in the world, others still had to fulfill their academic duties.

What awaited Rhys, however, was a decision worse than him deciding to stop ignoring Jack altogether.

J: why not? :(

J: I mean, I probably shouldn't go either

J: but who cares!! I'm gonna be there

J: I'll be a bit late tho cause I have something else that day

J: not gonna say what cause it's a surprise

J: but if you wanna know what it is you'll have to go to the party ;)

J: scratch that

J: I'm gonna drag you there whether you like it or not

J: btw you don't have a girlfriend, do you?

J: if not, I'm gonna be your wingman :D

J: you're gonna have the best wingman in the world

And that's how Rhys found himself going to the party- against his own will, nonetheless- wearing the most party appropriate outfit he could muster up the courage to wear. A shirt he hasn't worn in over a year that still surprisingly fitted him, and some jeans he hoped fit his figure just right.

Rhys thought he couldn't be peer-pressured under any circumstance. Turns out, he could absolutely be crush-pressured, and if that wasn't a thing before, then it definitely was now.

He checked himself for the twentieth time in the mirror, slicking his hair back, cursing that one single strand of hair that seemed to ignore his orders. It was too late to shove his head in the shower now; Vaughn had texted him about ten minutes ago that he was on his way to his house. And if Rhys wouldn't get that strand of hair under his dominion, then he'd just have to suffer for the rest of the night.

He let out a sigh of defeat when he realized he'd be suffering either way. To say that he was dreading Saturday was an understatement. Jack had texted him every day since Monday, building up the hype around the party (and around this supposed surprise he couldn't wait to show Rhys, whatever it was.) It only made Rhys more aware that they hadn't seen each other all week. And now that Jack had all he wanted from Rhys, which was his undivided attention, he could use him however he wanted. 

At least that's what that one dejected part of Rhys' brain tried to convince him of.

His phone buzzed on his bed; an incoming call from Vaughn. Rhys furrowed his brows. He knew Vaughn would've simply rang the front door if he was already at his house. He picked up the call, "Yeah?"

"Rhys! Sorry bro. I have to bail."

"Is everything ok?" Rhys asked, fearing the worst. The heavy sigh from the other side told him enough; something serious must've happened, "It's Buddy. I just got a call from mom, we have to take him to the vet."

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know, I have to get back home first. I knew something was wrong when I left-"

"Hey, it's not your fault, alright?" Rhys reassured his friend, "I'll come by your house, okay? And I'll go with you to the vet."

And despite Vaughn's protests, Rhys still turned up at his house. Just as Vaughn had promised him, Rhys wasn't about to let his best bud in the making be depressed on a Saturday evening by himself either. His bro needed emotional support.

The party could wait. So could Jack.

The drive to the emergency vet was as stressful as it could be, with Vaughn carefully holding the poor beagle in his lap. The sun had already set by the time they made it to the clinic, the vet expecting them by the door.

Waiting was a nightmare, especially when none of them knew what was wrong with the pup. Rhys tried his best to reassure Vaughn that everything was going to be alright, that whatever his dog was going through would pass and everything will be okay. But that was hard when both of them were being bombarded with texts demanding to know where they were. Rhys tried his best to explain the situation to anyone who asked, even on Vaughn's behalf.

It was well past nine when the vet came out, a very distinct smell lingering around him. He let out a distressed groan, calling over Vaughn's mom. Rhys and Vaughn stayed behind, silent as mice, listening intently to anything they could hear through the closed doors. 

Relief washed over Vaughn when he heard the words, "He's going to be fine," and his mood immediately improved. Buddy soon came out of the room, wagging his tail as fast as he could from the excitement of seeing his owner. Vaughn's mom soon came out of the room, apprehensive about the topic.

"Did he say what it was?" Vaughn asked, looking up at his mom. She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out an annoyed sigh, "Yeah, a plastic toy in his belly."

"What?!"

"One of your figurines at that."

"Buddy, no!" Vaughn shed a single tear, praying that it was one of the cheaper ones. The dog whined at the revelation, nuzzling closer to Vaughn. He couldn't stay mad at the dog for too long, already rubbing his belly in relief. The four of them left the emergency vet after paying the bill. Rhys was glad that it wasn't anything serious, he couldn't imagine what it would be like losing a dog at such a young age.

He was also grateful that they were kind enough to drop him off at the party, even when Vaughn decided to spend the rest of the night home.

"Are you sure you don't wanna go?" Rhys asked for the second time that night, hoping Vaughn would change his mind and allowed himself to have some fun. He understood, however, that Vaughn would rather spend time with his dog after such an evening. 

"Yeah. Have fun though! You can tell me about everything tomorrow, alright?" Vaughn and his mom drove off after they said their goodbyes, leaving Rhys to face his fears all alone.

The house where the party was held wasn't that far from where they dropped him off, it's location made clear merely by loud music and cheers of fellow party goers. The girl must've invited at least half the school or more. Rhys wondered how she, or rather her parents, managed to afford this.

He saw a good chunk of his classmates, some he hadn't had the chance to talk to yet, all of them seemingly happy to see him as cheers erupted in his sudden presence. He hadn't even made it inside the house when Yvette approached him in the backyard, drink already in hand, "Rhys! You made it!"

"Yeah, sorry it took me a while," Rhys scratched the back of his head, "How does this work exactly? I feel bad that I haven't brought anything. I mean, I don't even know the girl."

"The invite said no gifts necessary, right? So stop overthinking. Here," Yvette dragged him off towards a keg, pouring him a cup of beer, "Drink this, relax, and have some fun. Where's Vaughn, by the way? Thought he'd be with you."

Rhys eyed the plastic cup, apprehensive about drinking when he was still underage. "Whatever," he thought to himself, "One beer never killed anybody." He gulped down the entirety of the drink, deducing that whatever brand it was, it couldn't have been local. "He went home after that whole thing with his dog."

"Oh."

"Is, uh... is Jack already here? He hasn't texted me all day today."

"You guys text each other now?" Yvette smirked, sipping on her own drink. Rhys rolled his eyes at her comment before he went to check for his phone, patting the pockets of his jacket. Nothing. He checked the back pockets of his pants. Nothing either. "Shit."

"No phone?"

"Yeah, it probably fell out when I was getting out of the car. Can you text Vaughn just in case he might've found it already?"

"Sure."

Rhys retraced his steps towards where he was dropped off, praying that he'd find his phone without a scratch. But the sun was nowhere to be seen this late (he wondered just how late it was anyway), and the streetlights were no help at all. With a dissatisfied grunt, he returned to the party, hoping that either Yvette or Vaughn found it. "Good news! It was in his car."

"Oh, thank god."

"He said he'll drop it off at your house, that they're in the area."

The two of them entered the house after that, regretting it almost instantly once they realized that the entire place was packed. Yvette stopped to chat with some of her friends whilst Rhys tried to find a less crowded space. People were already drunk off their asses, some even on the border of passing out. Rhys felt the music pumping through his veins, his nervousness quickly exchanging places with excitement. Every room had people playing some kind of game, from beer pong to truth or dare. Some were even playing a very thorough game of pretend, with sticky notes taped onto their foreheads and talking like the person written on there.

"Mr. Strongfork, I believe you're late for class." Jack approached him in the kitchen, his voice nasal, to either to support his impromptu impression, or because he was still sick.

"Oh, hi." Rhys greeted him, reading the sticky note on his forehead, "Really? Tassiter?"

"Wasn't my idea, cupcake. Where the hell have you been anyway? I texted you like half an hour ago." Jack asked, the nonexistent change in his voice clueing Rhys that he was still, in fact, sick. He took off the sticky note, leaning on the counter and ogling the assortment of food on the table.

On the other end of the kitchen counter, Rhys tried his best not to ogle over Jack, doing his best to look at anywhere but the current source of his nervousness. To say that the boy looked nice was an understatement. He had a fresh haircut, wore a shirt that perfectly complimented his built body and even smelled of a distinct cologne that Rhys couldn't get enough of when he was near. Not to say that the faint bruise on his jaw made him look that much more handsome.

Rhys cleared his throat, trying to speak over the music as loudly as he could, "Vaughn and I had to go to the vet with his dog."

"The short one? What, he got rabies or something?"

"No, the dog ate a plastic toy."

"Oh," Jack let out, already munching on different canapes, "That doesn't explain why you haven't texted back though."

"I forgot my phone in his mom's car," Rhys explained as plainly as possible, "Do you know what time it is, by the way? I haven't seen a single clock around this place."

Jack pointed towards the microwave, snickering, "You got somewhere else to be?"

Rhys took notice of the time, knowing that he had about an hour and a half before he'd need to leave, "Kind of? I'm supposed to be home by midnight."

Jack raised his brow, stopping himself from finishing the rest of the bread in his hand, his eyes suddenly fixated on Rhys' shoes. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just checking to see if you came here with glass slippers on."

"Huh?"

"Like Cinderella?" Jack chuckled, finishing the rest of his food. Rhys looked at his shoes for a brief moment, a blush creeping up on his cheeks when he realized what Jack meant. He reminded himself that it was only a joke and that Jack probably meant nothing by it. "Speaking of. I did say I was gonna be your wingman for the night. Well, wouldn't you know, there's this cutie already waiting for you somewhere around here." Jack pointed towards the living room, grabbing one more bread before he dragged Rhys back into the crowd.

Whoever Jack had picked out to witness Rhys' attempts at showing no interest, he hoped they'd be at least somewhat understanding. Rhys already had enough feelings on his platter nowadays, he didn't need to add another person to the mix.

Fortunately for him, that person was more than understanding. 

An excited scream pierced through the crowd, drawing a genuine smile on Rhys' face. He let the girl run up and force him into a hug, the two of them unable to hold in their excitement, "Rhys! I didn't think you'd be here!"

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd be here either. Is Fiona here too?"

"No, I tried to convince her to come, but she must've caught something. She's been in bed all week." Sasha, the younger of the two sisters, answered. She eyed Jack, who seemed more than surprised that the two already knew each other, "Guess you guys don't need an introduction."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Jack, this is Sasha. Sasha, this is Jack. We used to go to the same school before I moved away." Rhys gave Sasha a warning glance, letting her know that she should watch her mouth around the boy. Of course, she took that as her cue to get a proper look at Jack, her mouth unable to stop, "You're the Jack? Why didn't you say so?"

"Well, yeah, of course I'm the Jack!" Jack smirked, puffing his chest to show just how proud he was of that statement before he thought about it for a brief moment, "Wait, which Jack are we talking about?"

Every kind of alarm went off in Rhys' head, his body going on autopilot and pulling Sasha out of this conversation as quickly as he could, "Can you give us a minute, Jack? There's something Sasha and I have to catch up on."

"Sure," Jack said, unsure whether or not Rhys even heard him as he watched the boy walk away with his friend. His eyes lingered on the back of Rhys' head for quite some time, his mind thoughtless.

He felt someone bump into him, reminding Jack that there were other people around him, and that standing in the middle of a crowd and staring aimlessly was probably not a good idea.

Jack nervously checked his phone, counting down how much time he had before Rhys would have to leave. An hour at most. Good. That was more than enough.

"Are you kidding me? Him?" Sasha let out excitedly when the two were far enough, hanging out in some hallway with not too many people in it. 

"What? Is it that bad?" Rhys chuckled nervously, unable to read his friend's expression.

"No! He's cute! Might have to steal him from you," she winked his way, retracing her words at the notice of his pout, "I'm just kidding. But he seems to like you!"

"Wouldn't be my wingman if he did."

"Oh, so that's what that was about! But the way he talked about you-" she stopped, a knowing smile spreading cheek to cheek, "He definitely likes you. You should've heard the things he said."

"What did he say?"

"Oh, I dunno. Started by asking if I wanted to get to know a guy that was both smart and good-looking. I was pretty apprehensive at first, cause he wasn't the first guy that approached me. But then he went on this rant about how you needed some boost of confidence, that you could get any girl, or guy, you wanted."

"Huh?" Rhys stared off into space, ingraining her words into memory. Jack said he was good-looking. And smart. And could get anyone he wanted.

Except for Jack, of course. That whole area wasn't unlockable even if he had the right cheat code. Jack was so off-limits to him it was almost laughable. Definitely pitiable.

To no one's surprise, Rhys didn't come back from his conversation with the girl, the two hanging out around the house. He saw him around the living room once, then again around the pool in the backyard. Wherever he was, Rhys was always surrounded by too many people for Jack's liking. And getting him out of there seemed like such a daunting and selfish task.

Jack soon realized that Rhys wouldn't have come back to him even if the girl didn't turn out to be his friend. It was his own idea to be Rhys' wingman for the night, for goodness sake.

So, why did he feel so... upset?

"You let him off your leash, that's what's wrong." Nisha commented, trying her best to comfort the slouching mess of a friend next to her, "If it were up to me, I wouldn't even let him talk to other people."

"What the fuck?" Jack furrowed his brows at Nisha's comment, clearly agitated that she'd even talk about Rhys in that manner, "Is that how you treat your own girl, huh? No wonder you guys keep breaking up every other week."

"Hey asshole, keep Jul out of your mouth, alright?" She slurred at Jack, holding a can of beer to her lips, "And besides, you've been claiming your territory all week. Seems like you dug your own little hole with that wingman shit you pulled."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack looked toward Wilhelm, who seemed just as clueless as he was. "Hey, Nish. Think you might be overdoing it. How many have you had?"

"I can handle my alcohol, babes. You, on the other hand," she suavely waved her finger in front of Jack's face, not missing a beat to make him feel like a fool, "can you handle yourself?"

"You're drunk off your ass, Nisha. What the hell are you even saying?"

The girl suddenly stood up from her seat, her face contorting in pain when she tried to find her footing, "I'm fine, I'm fine." she let out, finishing her beer in one go before she resumed her plan. Whatever the plan was. "Follow me, boys. I'm about to make a lot of people happy."

She strutted through the backyard and around the pool, collecting more and more people as she walked. An empty bottle under the staircase caught her attention, playing right into her cards. Even her primary target was in the vicinity, dragging Rhys away from his friend with a half-assed excuse, "Sorry, dear. I need to test a theory of mine."

Sasha followed after the group out of curiosity, and the need to make sure Rhys didn't get himself into trouble. Nisha's drunken smirk never left her face, even as she managed to convince everyone to clear some space in the living room, forcing the group playing truth and dare to get out of her way. She grabbed Rhys by his chin, her nails digging into his jaw, and with a smile on her face, she announced to everyone that had gathered, "Anyone wanna kiss this cutie I have with me? Huh? I know you're all just dying to get a piece of him."

"W-What?" Rhys' eyes widened at her words, triggering his flight or fight response. He was absolutely opposed to hitting girls, but his ways of escaping were limited to none when Nisha had such a deathly grip on him. And her smirk only grew bigger, eyes glistening in a way that screamed mischief, "Come on, Rhysie, what's the harm in playing a little game of spin the bottle?"

"Hey, Nish? You don't wanna do this." Jack came to the rescue, but his words were ignored with the rush of people demanding to play a few rounds, a circle forming without her needing to say more.

She wouldn't let Rhys go. All three of them knew that. And so, all Jack could do was join the circle, hope that he and Rhys would get chosen by the bottle, and drag him out of this nightmare.

Jack's forced smile quickly faded after the first few rounds, neither of them picked by the bottle. He would have guessed the chances were slim, but he didn't expect them to be that slim. "Alright, assholes. As much as this is entertaining, we can't have so many people at once," Nisha forced several people out of the circle and spun the bottle once again.

Rhys' stomach dropped when the bottle suddenly spun to face him. The crowd that had gathered around them roared in excitement.

Why him, of all people? Who did he wrong in his life for this to be his punishment? Having to participate in spin the bottle was the epitome of everything he did not want to experience during high school.

He took a deep breath when Nisha spun the bottle once more, deciding his fate. The bottle suddenly faced the person to his immediate right. He had almost lost his mind before he realized who sat there. "Ha! Would you look at that? Come on, let's get this over with!" Sasha chuckled, facing Rhys with determination.

"W-what? No. No!" Rhys protested, earning a few disappointed boos from the crowd.

"What's the problem? It's not like we haven't kissed before."

"Yeah! In second grade! That was a long time ago! Also, I don't think you can even call that a kiss!"

"Stop being such a baby!" She said, pulling Rhys towards her and planting a light peck on his lips. He blinked a few times, a hint of red on his ears. The crowd went silent in surprise.

"What the hell was that? That was weak sauce!" Nisha groaned, watching Jack for his reaction. He, on the other hand, looked everywhere but at Rhys, unamused by Nisha's pathetic attempts to make him admit something he didn't want to think about.

There were a lot of things Jack hated about people. Them assuming they knew Jack better than he knew himself was one of those things.

Determined, Nisha spun the bottle once, twice, at least five more times until it landed on Rhys again. The boy looked ready to book it if the opportunity arose, but Nisha never let go of his arm, her smile growing wider when the bottle suddenly faced her. She looked at Jack from across the circle, and through a half lidded look, she forced him into a vow to watch the spectacle unfold. Her hand snaked its way up to Rhys' chin, holding him in place as she launched a full on frontal assault on his lips, putting on a show not only for Jack, but for herself as well.

Jack clenched his jaw the longer it went on, staring with animosity towards the girl. He curled his fists into carpet underneath, holding himself back from stopping her relentless charge. The cheers of the crowd made his blood boil; how could they not see that this was wrong? That she wasn't supposed to be kissing Rhys? That none of them were supposed to be kissing him?!

And when she pulled away, Jack could not look at Rhys, otherwise he'd see the flushed red face and the nervousness in his eyes. He could not look at Rhys, or he'd witness his own need to be the one that left the boy so breathless. He could not look at Rhys, or he'd admit that his mind was overtaken by jealousy.

He could not look at Rhys, or it would mean Nisha was right all along.

And so he stared at her instead, making a silent promise to himself that she'd feel his wrath when the right time would come. Single or not, she'd face the consequences of playing with someone else's feelings.

Nisha sat back in her spot, licking her lips; an aftertaste of her victory, "Not bad. Might go for round two later." Rhys' response, on the other hand, was to shamefully look away, finding comfort in the other girl next to him. 

For the twentieth time that night, Nisha spun the bottle. Jack could've sworn that she had somehow managed to rig the game, knowing that the bottle would turn to him after all of that. And it did, allowing him to express his discomfort of kissing anyone in the circle. Nisha chuckled at his words, spinning the bottle once more to pick his partner.

Jack didn't need the bottle to point him in the right direction. His eyes had already wandered off to the empty spot between the two girls.

Rhys was gone.

"Where's Rhys?" Jack questioned, already on his feet and searching the living room. No one had seen him leave, let alone knew where he had wandered off to. Jack could not explain the growing pit in his stomach, nor would he even try to. What mattered to him was to make sure Rhys was safe, that he wasn't hurt. Or worse, that he wasn't dealing with the aftermath of Nisha's idiocy on his own, "Where the hell is he?!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down, asshole!" Nisha stood in his way, blocking him from going anywhere, "He's probably just basking in the afterglow of my kiss. I mean, who wouldn't be?"

"Get out of my way," Jack ordered, desperate to push past her. Even Wilhelm came to his aid, holding the girl back from causing any more drama. "That's enough. Stop being an idiot."

"I'm the only one here who isn't an idiot, you fucks!" She yelled, trying to wiggle her way out of Wilhelm's grasp.

Jack was beyond done with Nisha for the night, ignoring her screams as he continued his search. He pulled out his phone, cursing himself for forgetting that he couldn't call Rhys directly. He asked around the house, questioning anyone who could've seen him that night. But his alcohol induced peers were of no use, pointing Jack towards dead ends. He checked his phone once more, hoping to see a message that someone had found Rhys.

Nothing.

The clock in the upper corner of the screen screamed at Jack, clueing him as to where Rhys might've disappeared to. Ten before midnight. Time enough for Rhys to get out of the house, but not enough for him to race across the entire town back home. Jack prayed that his gut feeling was right, sprinting out of the house and into the streets, looking for any signs of an adolescent running home to save himself from the rage of his somewhat overprotective parents.

He thought about shouting the boy's name, but he didn't want to alarm the entire neighborhood. What if Rhys went a completely different route? Did he even know the way home without his phone? Did he hitch a ride with someone?

Jack's stomach flipped at the thought of Rhys trusting a complete stranger. That because of Nisha, he had lost all the trust Rhys put into him. He could've done something, prevented the girl from having her way with Rhys.

But he didn't.

Why didn't he?

Nothing could've prepared Jack to see Rhys casually walking down the street, head hung low and hands in his pockets. If it weren't for the yellow of his cybernetic, Jack wouldn't have even noticed him in the dark, thankful for the street lamps lighting up the sidewalks this late in the night. He had almost caught up to Rhys when his legs wouldn't take him further, forcing him to catch his breath and still his beating heart. And the boy kept on walking, minding his business and ignoring the breathy mess behind him. 

Jack began walking behind him, lost in his dilemma on how to approach the dreaded conversation. He hadn't even noticed when he passed right by Rhys who stopped to look at him. Jack's only cue to come to a halt were Rhys' words, "A crow sits next to a crow."

"Huh?"

Rhys stayed quiet, passing Jack as he continued his march. Jack walked after him, taking exactly five steps before Rhys stopped again, "Why are you following me?" He turned around to face Jack, who still couldn't find the right words. What would even be the right words in this situation? He felt like an asshole. Begged Rhys to come to that stupid party, only to have him thrown to the wolves. One wolf, to be specific.

But Rhys needed an answer, an explanation, something to latch onto, to know that Jack was on his side in this mess, "I... I wanted to make sure you're safe."

"I am," Rhys averted his gaze, "Anything else?"

"Yes," Jack thought, "There are so many things I need to tell you." But he couldn't. He didn't know how. Or where to begin.

The disappointment in Rhys' eyes could tear him to bits, but it was Jack's unwillingness to get his feelings in check that made this so much harder. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he comfort his friend? Where was all that bravado he had put up in front of the boy hours prior?

"Thought so," Rhys mumbled, turning away and resuming his walk back home. But Jack couldn't allow himself to stand there. Even in silence, he wanted to stay by Rhys' side.

And so he walked, completely absorbed into the idea that his only purpose was to follow the boy, to keep watch over any dangers lurking in the dark and to keep him safe. It didn't take long for Rhys to give in and slow down his pace, the two soon walking side by side in complete silence, guided by the streetlights and their own mismatched sense of direction.

Even when disturbed by Jack's presence, Rhys was somewhat glad to have him by his side. That isn't to say he wasn't mad at him and his friend. But he could've been walking till sunrise without some navigation. The streets on this side of town were all unfamiliar to him.

But Jack knew the directions like the back of his hand, probably thanks to knowing where Nisha lived.

Rhys felt awful remembering the girl. Even more so remembering their kiss. So he didn't, refused to even think about it, the mental image making him want to crawl out of his skin.

The light on the front porch of his house was on, Rhys' parents probably worried beyond reason about his whereabouts. But he couldn't say goodbye yet, conflicted about what to think. He sat down on the steps, head in his hands, and for the first time since they met, Rhys was at a loss for words. 

He let out a shaky breath, trying to find his confidence to speak, to say what's on his heart, "...I don't like her."

"Yeah, I'm kind of on the fence myself-"

"I hated it, Jack." Rhys cried, bringing his legs closer to try to make himself as small as possible, "I hate kissing. I hate the bullshit excuses to like someone. I hate crushes. I hate love. I hate pretending that that was okay to do when it wasn't. I hate it all."

Jack was taken aback by the sudden outburst, unable to find proper meaning in Rhys' words. Was he only angry at Nisha, or Jack, too? Was this something that had to do with him wanting to find Rhys a girl for the night? Did he...

It never crossed Jack's mind that Rhys could be avoiding a relationship on purpose. That there was a reason why he was  disinterested in other people.

"Would it help if I promised I'd beat the shit out of her?"

Rhys looked up at Jack, eyes wide as the moon, looking for sincerity in his words. He gulped down the lump in his throat, unable to think straight. He wanted Nisha to know how much he hated the kiss. But physical violence was not the answer, he knew that, "No." Rhys brushed away the loose strands of hair from his forehead, hiding his head between his knees and his body.

Even if Rhys said no, Jack was ready to do anything for him at that moment. He was ready to kick down every last door, find every last person who had ever wronged him and beat the living crap out of them. That included his own best friend, Nisha.

Why? Because in that moment, he saw a flash of innocence in Rhys' eyes. Connected the dots for the first time. And he painfully recalled the last seconds before Rhys disappeared from the party. When the bottle suddenly faced Jack, when he had traded his want to keep Rhys safe with his own selfish need to get a taste of his lips.

But that's not what Rhys wanted. He made it clear. That's why Jack chose to bury whatever feelings began to bloom that evening. For Rhys' sake.

"Would it help if we talked about it?" Jack sat down next to Rhys, wading into unknown territory. He rarely offered consolation to his friends by talking, used to his fists doing the talking for him. But he didn't want to be like that, not when it mattered the most.

He wanted to be Jack Lawrence, a thoughtful and selfless guy his friends could turn to when needed.

That is to say, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when Rhys shook his head. He was not ready to be that kind of Jack Lawrence yet, despite wishing to be him already. "I don't think talking about it is gonna help. At least not now."

"Well, what else do you want to talk about?" Jack asked, easing the tension in the air. Rhys took a sharp inhale a few times, as if to say something, but ultimately decided against it. Jack wondered what else was on his mind that night that seemed to tear him apart.

A few minutes passed before Rhys gave him an answer, "The surprise."

"Hmm," Jack let out a chuckle, "you remembered."

"Well, it was kind of hard to forget when you've been reminding me at least twice a day. I wanna see it."

Jack raised his right arm into the air, pulling the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a bandaged up wrist. The concern on Rhys' face was priceless, laughable even, "Don't worry, I didn't hurt myself. I got a tattoo. Although I kind of forgot that it's supposed to heal before I can wear it out and about."

"You got a tattoo?" Rhys asked to make sure he heard right, receiving a nod, "Isn't that against the school rules?"

"Well, you know, I'm somewhat of a troublemaker," Jack gave him a toothy grin, earning a smile in return. He leaned back against the deck of the porch and pulled out his phone, showing Rhys the design, "Here, this is what it's supposed to look like."

Rhys shyly looked at the phone, surprised by the simplicity of the design. A three-band wrap around the wrist, with the middle wider than the rest and running wide in a zigzag square like manner. He thought Jack would've gone with something more complicated, but Rhys liked the design nonetheless. It fit Jack, and he couldn't wait to see it when it was fully healed, "I like it."

"Good," Jack put his phone back into his pocket, "Would've been a pain in the ass to get it replaced if you didn't."

"You don't mean that."

"Probably not. I don't know," Jack teased, turning his attention to Rhys, his eyes scanning the empty canvas in front of him, "You ever thought of getting a tattoo?"

"I- kind of? But I wouldn't get one until at least college. And even then, it would probably be something small," Rhys lied, unable to admit that he had planned to cover at least half of his body at one point in his life. The part that wasn't cybernetic by then, that is.

"Really?" Jack hummed, amused, his body turning to Rhys, "Would've thought you'd go all in like a dum-dum, get an entire sleeve in one go."

Rhys couldn't help but look away, his ears tinted red. He couldn't believe that Jack got him all figured out like that. What else did he know? "W-What? No. That would hurt like hell... probably."

"It would. But what's a little pain for that kind of thing? I mean, if it makes you happy, why not go for it?" Rhys turned his head to look at Jack, unable to decipher whether he meant that literally or figuratively. And the slightest tinge of red on Jack's cheeks should've told him otherwise, but Rhys wrote it off as the boy being cold, or him still feeling the leftover sickness. He was desperate for any sane reason to grow the distance between them, terrified of the pain that would pursue him if he didn't.

But the two sat side by side that night. All it would take was a skip or perhaps a single step to the other side, to bridge the gaps right then and there. A few words of confirmation, maybe a slight show of affection, and they'd be on the same page.

But that's not what Rhys wanted, Jack reminded himself, "I should probably go. It's getting late. Your parents must be worried about you."

The two stood up in tandem, despite neither wanting the other to leave. Jack took one last good look at Rhys, forcing a grin on his face, "Goodnight, Rhys."

"Goodnight. Text me when you get home. I want to make sure you're safe."

Jack raised his brows, eyes blinking from surprise at such a request. His forced grin turned into a genuine smile, murmuring a simple, "Okay."

Rhys stepped into the house, turning off the porch light before he closed the door. He hid his face in his hands, an exasperated sigh escaping his lungs. He was going insane. Completely out of his mind. All because of a boy.

"He seems nice," a soft voice spoke from the living room, Rhys' mother pretending to read a magazine in the dimly lit space, "Is he the one you punched a few weeks ago? He looks familiar."

"H-How do you know about that?" Rhys stammered, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I was called into your school the day after. Even saw the footage."

"And you didn't say anything?" He asked, dumbfounded, "Why?"

She shook her head, placing the magazine on the coffee table, "Well, for starters, you told me you weren't being bullied. Looked like the opposite of that to me. But I wanted to believe you could handle it on your own, just like you claimed you could. Seems like you did."

Rhys leaned on the doorway, pointing an accusatory finger at his mother, "Or you couldn't be bothered to step in. I mean, it's not like I needed your help, but it would've been nice to know you got my back."

"I'm your mom, I always have your back," she gave him the sweetest smile, hiding her worries behind it, "What's his name?"

"Jack."

"Hmm," she sat upright on the couch, taking off the blanket she had been covered in, "Well, he's certainly a looker."

"Mom!"

"What? All I'm saying is, if I were a few decades younger, he'd be my type. Fortunately for you, I don't have a recipe for a youth serum and I'm stuck with your dad," she joked, letting out a long yawn. Rhys wondered if that was supposed to be some kind of approval, or rather his mother being too tired to use her word filter, "Anyways, I'm off to bed, now that you're here. Oh, and your other friend, Vaughn I believe, dropped off your phone. I put it in your room."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

"Night, sweetie."

Rhys flopped down onto his bed, too tired to move his body anymore. He found his phone on the nightstand, fully charged and filled with messages from his friends, all worried about where he was. He messaged them all in hopes of easing their worries, yet he hesitated opening the messages from Jack.

Why? He didn't know.

And even as he waited for the confirmation text from Jack that he got back home safe, he hesitated, finger lingering over his name. His exhaustion soon took over, eyes closing against his volition. In his last moments of awakeness, he recalled the events that took place at that party, helplessly trying to forget the stupid game, that stupid kiss with Nisha and his stupid wish of having the bottle face Jack instead of her.

What his heart desired, however, his mind couldn't  help but conjure.

He sat on the living room floor, a beer bottle in front of him, pointing his way. As far as he could tell, there was no one else there.

No one else except for Jack.

Rhys felt a heavy weight on his chest as he looked up from the bottle, unable to decipher Jack's expression. Was he happy? Sad? Angry? Excited? Rhys couldn't tell. 

Rhys' hand moved on its own, fingers grazing the glass of the beer bottle. He felt the subtlety of another hand on top of his, turning the throat of the bottle around. His eyes trailed alongside the arm that seemed to hold him in place, unable to tear his gaze away from the boy across. Jack smiled as he brought himself closer, their fingers interlocked. And he asked an important question, one that Rhys didn't realize he already had the answer to, "Do you really want to do this?"

"Yes." Rhys didn't miss a beat to respond, the two now sitting directly across from one another, only separated by their own bodies being in the way. He could feel Jack's hand on the back of his head, tugging him closer, their noses barely touching. Rhys leaned his head to the side, stuck in a moment of falter. He wanted this. He needed this. Nothing else in the world mattered to him as much as this kiss.

So, he gave in. Slowly and painfully, he gave in. And even when he knew the kiss wasn't real, he gave in. A turmoil of his mind, a wave of unwanted recognition. His feelings for Jack had far outgrown a simple high school crush, despite his best efforts to destroy its existence. Rhys had fallen head over heels for him, unable to separate his feelings of affection with the platonic ones.

He felt a strange sensation in his hand, his mind slowly waking up from the dream. He sat upright in his bed, realizing that he hadn't changed his clothes since he came home. He couldn't have slept long, the moon softly illuminating his room through the window.

A quick check of his phone told him that it was sometime past one in the morning, and a text from Jack must've been the thing that woke him up.

J: hey, I made it back in one piece :D

J: although I did run into some idiots who wanted to steal my wallet

Rhys rubbed his eyes, drowsy and disturbed by the shortness of his nap. It took him a few tries to read Jack's text and give the boy somewhat of a normal reply.

R: are u ok???

J: yeah lol I booked it 

J: if I wanted to get beaten up I would've called you

J: ;)

R: omg

J: jk jk

J: or am I?

R: my mom knows about it

J: about what?

R: me punching you in the face

R: she got called into school

R: also she saw you today

R: how big is your ego?

J: uhh

J: I'd say relatively normal sized

J: why?

R: she said if she was twenty years younger you would've been her type

J: HA I LIED MY EGO IS THE SIZE OF A PLANET

J: is she cute?

R: NO

J: what's her name? :)

R: JACK STOP

J: you should introduce us :)

R: ...

R: she's happily married to my dad

J: who says you shouldn't introduce me to him too?

Rhys read the message over and over again, trying to decipher whether it was his mind playing tricks or if Jack was trying to tell him something.

J: you there?

R: yeah, I was trying to figure out whether you wanna bone my dad too or what

J: lmao

J: no

J: he's probably too old for me

R: AND MY MOM ISN'T??

J: I don't know what you're talking about

J: I never said I wanna bone your mom :)

R: weirdo

J: :P

J: btw, what are you doing tomorrow?

J: or today rather

R: nothing important... why?

J: would you maybe perhaps possibly let me copy some of your homework from this week?

J: I'll let you play something at my house in the meantime

R: you want me to go over to your house?

Rhys felt a sudden shiver run down his spine, uneasy about the idea of the two of them hanging out. Alone. At Jack's house.

What if he accidentally spilled the beans? Confessed without meaning to? What would he do then?

J: well, seeing as you don't want me to bone either of your parents, where else?

What was he supposed to say? "Sorry, no. I don't feel comfortable hanging out with you because I am in fact in love with you and I don't know if I can keep my mouth from accidentally confessing when I'm around you"? No, that wasn't a possibility. There was no way he could just stay quiet around Jack for the next two years. That would never work.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard on the screen, wavering over the possibility that it could, in fact, work. Even if he declined now, Jack would want to hang out with him another time. And what better way to test his own resolve than to dive right into the shark's maw.

R: when?

R: and do I need to bring all of my notebooks?

J: 3 pm?

J: I'm def gonna be hungover by the time I wake up

J: so not earlier than that

J: unless you want to deal with me being grumpy

J: also no don't bring everything

J: I'll check what I need and let you know 

J: I'm gonna hit the hay now

J: goodnight :)

R: night :)

Rhys almost didn't notice the permanent smile on his face when he turned off his phone, catching his reflection on the screen.

He was a dumbass. An idiot. A fool even. But he'd be damned if he didn't admit that being in love felt amazing.

Chapter Text

Was this heaven or hell?

On one hand, Rhys would get to spend some alone time with Jack, the person that made him feel like he was walking on cloud nine.

On the other, Rhys would have to spend some alone time with Jack, the person that made him feel like a ticking time bomb.

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Jack could've simply asked him to send in the photos of the notes and homework he needed. Instead, he had Rhys drag his ass (and his backpack) through half the town. Willingly, of course. But that isn't to say that Rhys wasn't puzzled by the implications of their arranged meetup. He'd have to ask Jack about it. If he had the guts to do so, that is.

He rang the doorbell, feeling like a nervous trainwreck in front of the one-story bungalow. The surrounding area seemed busy in comparison to the where Rhys lived, with stores and whatnot lining the streets opposite the house. He wondered how long Jack's lived here.

The front door opened, revealing a very groggy looking Jack on the other side. He ran his hand through his mess of hair, holding the door open for Rhys. "Heya."

Not even a second later, and Rhys already felt like passing out. Jack still looked hot, arguably more so in his dishevelled and hungover state. Rhys took a deep breath before returning the greeting, "Hi."

"So, you got the stuff?" Jack leaned closer, arms crossed, eyeing Rhys with interest.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Rhys pointed to the bag loosely hanging over his shoulder, "it's all in there."

"Good. Give it here and get out of my sight."

Rhys' eyes widened, letting out a yelp as he took off the bag and readied himself to give it to Jack and run the hell away. Jack let out a laugh, shaking his head as he grabbed the bag, "I'm kidding, pumpkin. Come inside."

"O-Okay."

"Welcome to la casa de Jack! Mom's not here, so we have the whole place to ourselves. If you see something weird; no, you didn't. Living room's over there. Make yourself comfortable, I just gotta get some of my stuff," Jack disappeared off to some other part of the house, leaving Rhys to explore what little he was comfortable with exploring.

The house had an open floor plan, with the kitchen connected to the living and dining room, the three rooms only separated by a see-through bookcase. It was nothing out of the ordinary, however Rhys couldn't help but notice the lack of family photos on the walls, something he expected to see in every family home.

He sat down on the couch in the living room, taking out his notebooks from the bag. "Econ, Biology, Geography," he said to himself, checking to see if he had all the subjects that Jack needed to copy from. "I brought English, too. You said you didn't have the notes from two weeks ago, right?"

"Yep," Jack came back with his hands full of his notebooks, eager to get his work done as soon as possible. He left them on the coffee table, opening one of the drawers near the TV that had a pretty good collection of games for different consoles, "Now, which one is it gonna be?"

Rhys walked over to get a better look, noticing the sizable collection of Legend of Zelda games as well as some first-person shooters. What piqued his interest, however, was a game he hasn't played since he was a kid, "No way!"

He gleefully picked up the case of SSX 3, holding it like it was a priceless treasure. Intrigued by Rhys' reaction, Jack let out a giggle, "Guess we have a winner."

Not even a minute later and Rhys was already sloping the mountains in the digital world, basking in an unbelievable nostalgia trip. Everything he remembered, every shortcut and every mechanic, was there for him to gush over. Over the next few minutes, he joyfully reminisced about the countless hours he had spent playing this game. His childlike glee caught Jack by surprise, and he couldn't help but watch Rhys be in his own little world, completely forgetting about what he wanted to do beforehand. "Do you usually get this excited over video games?"

"That depends. Do you have a secret stash of all the games I used to play as a kid?"

"Wouldn't know if I did. You'd have to look through all the games I have to find out." Jack grinned his way, sitting on the floor and holding his unopened pen over one of his notebooks. He finally took the first step towards starting his task, busying himself with the text he needed to rewrite, "Would take you more than one trip over here to accomplish that, though."

"Are you boasting or trying to convince me to come over more often?"

Jack looked up at Rhys, who seemed to pay no attention to him, looking at the TV with concentration. Jack couldn't help but notice the way Rhys' slender fingers gripped the controller, a sign of nervousness. What he was nervous about, Jack couldn't tell. "Depends. Did it work or should I try something else?"

"What do you have in mind?" Jack was momentarily stunned by such a bold question. A million thoughts raced through his head, most of which ended in a rather suggestive way. His eyes trailed back towards Rhys' hands before he shut all his inappropriate thoughts away, shaking his head and focusing on the homework. "I'll, uh- I'll let you know if I come up with something."

"Okay." Rhys responded, paying half a mind to what was happening next to him. Their brief conversation ended at that, each paying attention to their respective distraction. The sound of the video game coming from the speakers, coupled by the ever-changing landscape on the TV, were unashamedly diverting Jack's eyes from the homework in front of him and right towards the screen, but he didn't mind, if only because it meant that the longer he copied the notes, the longer Rhys would have to stay over.

A win-win situation in his book.

That is, until the boy decided that he had enough of his video games and sat on the floor next to Jack, "You need help with that?"

"Hmm?"

Rhys pointed at the pile of notebooks Jack had yet to open, "There's a lot to go over. It's gonna take you ages to copy everything." He reasoned. Jack scooted further from the coffee table, giving Rhys some room, "You got somewhere else to be, cupcake?"

"No, but I don't think it's fair to see you discover America every time you try to read my handwriting. Also, I feel bad that I'm having all the fun and you're not."

"Who says I'm not having fun?" Jack teased, grabbing the controller Rhys had left on the table and turning off the console, "But fine, if you want to leave your very clear and not at all confusing handwriting in my books, be my guest."

Rhys tried to hide his smile as he grabbed a pen and began writing down the notes, surprisingly unbothered to sit so close to Jack. For now.

Rhys could see Jack watching his movement in his peripheral vision, peering over his shoulder. Rhys was curious to know why, "Is... is it that bad?"

"I mean, I can always ask you for some personalized notes to explain the stuff I can't read, right?" Jack turned to Rhys; his head too close for comfort. Rhys, on the other hand, felt anything but. Maybe a bit nervous, but the warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest made up for that. He leaned back slightly, enough to meet Jack's gaze, "If you can't read my normal notes, how are you gonna read the personalized ones?"

"I'll find a way." Jack winked at him, returning to his spot on the floor.

Oh, Rhys would definitely be thinking about that wink later on.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Jack bury his head in the homework, tapping his pen on the surface of the coffee table as the gears turned in his head. He grabbed one of Rhys' notebooks, writing down something Rhys would certainly not be able to check until he got home that day. It killed him that he didn't know what Jack wrote down, his curiosity disallowing him to focus on anything else.

And when Jack didn't even comment on it, Rhys let out a quiet hum, returning to the task at hand. To the best of his ability, of course.

"There, all done." Jack announced, leaning back against the foot of the couch, the pen aimlessly falling out of his hand. He stretched his arms and legs, feeling crampy from sitting on the floor for so long. As his head fell onto the couch, he turned to look at Rhys, thoughtlessly studying his face, his expressions, and his features.

Rhys was a cutie, as Nisha had mentioned. And Jack couldn't deny that. It was a shame that he wasn't interested in anything that had to do with dating, though. Guess Jack would have to take another loss. For the second year in a row.

Not that Jack couldn't land a date if he so desired. Quite the opposite. There was always a line up of girls that seemed to be interested in him. None that seemed to meet Jack's criteria, though. Those included requirements such as "Don't be a boring ass bitch", "Don't be annoying" and "Don't try to force your interests on me". Unsurprisingly, these requirements overlapped with what he expected of his friends. And so far, Rhys has met most of them.

At first, Jack could've done without the occasional awkwardness between them. But over the course of the three weeks that they knew each other, he grew to find it endearing. Perhaps it would pass over time, but that didn't mean Jack wouldn't do anything to enjoy it when it was still present. Rhys' stammering and loss of words was quite amusing to witness.

"I'll be done in a few-" before Rhys could finish his sentence, Jack had managed to grab the pen out of his hand, throwing a controller in front of him, "Nope. I wanna play a few rounds before you go."

"A few rounds of what?"

"That game you were playing." Jack plugged another controller into the console before he turned it on, "Didn't even know I had it. So, since you're already here, you're gonna teach me how to play."

"I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory."

"Nuh-uh. I wanna play like you. I want to know the shortcuts. What the bonuses do. Stuff like that." Jack exclaimed, sitting down next to Rhys, "You looked like you knew what you were doing. And I want to learn from the best. Who knows, I might even finish first."

"Ha, I highly doubt that." Rhys chuckled, setting the game to multiplayer, "It took me a lot of time and patience to play decently. Don't expect to be a pro right from the start."

Whilst Rhys meticulously explained the basic mechanics of the game, Jack tried his best to keep his character from falling off the sides of the map, landing face first into the snow or absolutely breaking its bones from a failed attempt at a snowboard trick.

"Don't hold the button if you're too close to the ground!"

Jack's character failed to land again, resulting in him getting overtaken by the rival AI. He quickly mashed the button to get up, trying his best to catch up, "I don't get it. You make it look so easy."

"It's all muscle memory." Rhys said, finishing the race in first place, "Is there a game you play so much that you can basically play it blindfolded?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I bet if I tried to play it, I'd suck at it, too."

"Hey! I don't suck! I'm just... not used to the controller," made the excuse, slowly but surely gaining speed to finish in seventh place, "Damn. Maybe I do suck."

"Hold on, I think there's a better stage for you to practice on." Rhys went into the menu, selecting another one of the stages. The characters were then transported to the peak of the mountain, with no AI to overtake them and no signs to navigate them.

As soon as the two characters landed on the snow, Jack accidentally managed to press one of the shoulder buttons, resulting in his character punching the air. Rhys didn't seem to notice his revelation, blissfully unaware of Jack's forming plan, "Heya, cupcake. Wait up. I wanna show you something."

Rhys slowed down his character, waiting for Jack to catch up. What he didn't expect was his character to be completely knocked down by Jack, resulting in shocked laughter from Rhys, "What? How did you do that? I didn't even know that was in the game!"

Jack snickered, his character speeding down the slope to escape from Rhys, "I don't know what you're talking about. Must've been the wind passing by."

"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" Rhys laughed, pressing every button on the controller to find out how Jack had managed to punch him in-game. When his character finally did the desirable action, Rhys used his boost to catch up to Jack, catching him just before a jump. He readied his fist and landed a perfect hit on Jack's character mid-air. "What? Not fair!" Jack laughed.

"How is that not fair? You punched me first!" Rhys chortled, avoiding another punch from Jack.

"Nope, pretty sure you did first," Jack feebly pointed to the faint bruise on his jaw as he tried his best to attack Rhys' character, successfully doing so before both of them got struck by an avalanche, resulting in their characters spawning nowhere near each other, "Oh."

Rhys let out a menacing chuckle, spotting Jack just ahead of him. He readied his fist, aimed... and punched the air. "Nooo!"

"Ha! Take that!" Jack knocked down Rhys' character once more, laughing in victory as he finished the race in first place. "Let's gooo!" Jack pumped his fists in the air, gripping the controller in pride, "The student's become the master. Didn't think I had it in me, did you?"

"You clearly cheated!"

"Nope!" Jack stuck his tongue out at Rhys, the other boy laughing at his childishness.

Their entertainment was soon interrupted by the front door opening, a woman hurriedly passing by them and going straight into the hallway, "Hey. I won't be long, just gotta grab some stuff."

"Hi, mom," Jack said, disappointed by her words. He bit the inside of his cheek, eyes trailing to where she had been just a moment prior. She came out of her bedroom, still unaware that Jack had company over, "Here's some money for takeout. I'll be late today." She placed a twenty-dollar bill on the counter, rushing to get out of the house before Jack could say anything.

The front door closed, and all Jack was left with was bitterness on his tongue, "Bye, mom."

Rhys could sense the sudden uneasiness in the air, desperate to make light of the situation, "She seems... nice."

"She's a bitch," Jack commented, "Gets that from grandma."

"Oh," Rhys let out, worried about the implications. Jack must've noticed his discomfort, offering, "Wanna order takeout?"

"Sure, but I'll have to go after that."

"...And then she asked me, 'Are you still playing? It's three in the morning!' Then the electricity went out, probably because she turned it off to make me go to sleep. I basically lost all my progress that night."

"Geez, should've bought a spare memory card," Jack chuckled, finishing the rest of his pizza. Unamused, Rhys reasoned, "Wouldn't make a difference. My console broke a few days after that. That was... over four years ago? Haven't played anything until now."

"Oh, you didn't think about getting a new one?"

"Well, money's tight when I want to have this piece of wonder on my side." Rhys weakly lifted his cybernetic into the air, "And besides, I needed a computer for school, which took a lot of years of begging until I finally got it for Christmas."

"Huh," Jack let out, "well, you're free to come by anytime and totally destroy me at any game of your choosing."

"I'm sure there's some game I don't know how to play," Rhys smiled, closing the pizza box as he grabbed his last slice.

"Rhysie, I don't think there is. I picked both Tekken and Gran Turismo because I was sure I could beat you."

"Well, Jack, you're just gonna have to try a lot harder next time, I guess."

Jack raised his brow, unable to stop the toothy grin spreading across his face, "Next time, then."

With Rhys' homework copied, takeout finished and their bellies full, Jack knew that their time together was running short. The sun had already set by the time pizza arrived, but he didn't want Rhys to leave yet. "Think I'm gonna call it there. Mom's gonna be worried about me."

"Want me to walk you home?" Jack tried, grasping for any last minutes he could spend with Rhys that day.

"Nah, that's fine."

"At least halfway?" He tried again.

Rhys let out a defeated sigh, unable to say no to Jack, "Okay."

It didn't take long for Rhys to pack his things, the two setting on their way. Rhys hid his hands in the pockets of his jacket, feeling the near freezing temperature of the night. Had he not read the weather that day, he would've thought bringing a lighter jacket was a good idea. Who knew there could be such a drastic change of temperature just a day apart. "You doing okay?" Jack asked, noticing his shiver.

"Yeah," Rhys replied, unconvincingly. Not even a moment later, Jack took off his beanie and put it on Rhys' head. "There. Is that better?"

"Yeah? But what about you?"

"I'm gonna be fine." Jack crinkled his eyes and nose, feeling the chill of the night hit the back of his head. He didn't mind though. Seeing Rhys wear something of his was heartwarming enough, "Also, I don't wanna catch flak from your mom for making you sick before I even had the chance to introduce myself."

"Is that why you're walking me home?" Rhys let out a chuckle, "Because you want to meet my mom?"

"Maybe," Jack said with a cheeky smile, "I mean, you've already seen mine. It's only fair if it goes both ways."

"Sure."

The two continued their walk towards Rhys' house, even when Rhys pressured Jack to go back so that he wouldn't catch an even worse cold. Jack insisted on walking him the rest of the way though, so Rhys had no choice but to cave in to his wishes. Nonetheless, the two enjoyed each other's presence, despite Rhys thinking that Jack only walked him home out of politeness and Jack hoping that Rhys wasn't sick of him yet.

The front porch light greeted them in the distance, just as it had the night prior, signifying the end of their time together. Rhys took a single step onto the porch before realizing he still had Jack's beanie on his head. As he reached his hand to take it off, Jack stopped him, "Keep it. I like it on you."

Rhys looked back at Jack, his breath stuck between his lungs, but then he promptly took off the beanie, "You coming to school tomorrow?"

"I was planning on it."

"Then you need it more than I do," Rhys nervously put the hat on Jack before he went to unlock the front door, "Wait here."

Jack waited by the door, hands in his pockets, leaning against the doorframe. Rhys' mom soon came to view, standing in the kitchen across the hallway, holding her phone in her hand, "Oh! Hi there!"

"Hello." Jack awkwardly greeted, giving her a wave. She soon came towards the door, inviting Jack in, "Aren't you cold? Come inside!"

Jack stepped into the house, closing the door behind him, "Oh, uh, thanks."

"You must be Jack, right? Are you good friends with Rhys?"

"I try to be." Jack answered, hands in his pocket, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under her eager gaze, "He didn't exactly make it easy to approach him."

"Well, thank you for sticking around. I felt bad that we had to drag him out of his old school. He had a lot of friends there."

Rhys soon came down the stairs, a scarf in hand, surprised to see his mom making a casual conversation with Jack. He stood awkwardly by the stairs, flustered by his decision to give Jack the scarf now that his mom was there. She seemed to pick up on his nervousness, "Oh, well, I won't keep you any longer. Thank you for bringing Rhys home."

"My pleasure."

She walked by Rhys and straight into the kitchen, but not before he could notice her teasing smile. Something told him that there would be a thorough investigation taking place at the dinner table one of these days.

"This is for you," Rhys handed the scarf to Jack, avoiding his gaze, "so you don't, uhm- you know, get cold."

"Is this your-"

"Just take it," he pushed the scarf into Jack's hands when the older boy seemed apprehensive about taking it. Jack looked at the piece of clothing, then at Rhys, unable to decipher the meaning of the gesture. Nevertheless, he put it on, proudly showing off to Rhys, "Hey, this doesn't look half bad!"

"I want it back by tomorrow, though. It's my favorite."

"A favorite, huh?" Jack smirked, "Shouldn't have said that, pumpkin. Now I'm thinking of keeping it."

Rhys' pout made him backtrack on his pseudo threat, tightening the scarf around his neck, "I'm just kidding. I'll bring it back to you. Oh, and thanks for letting me copy your homework." He opened the front door and stepped outside before taking one last good look at Rhys, his eyes lingering on the boy just for a moment too long, "I had fun today."

"Me too." Rhys smiled, leaning against the doorframe. "Text me when you get home?"

"Okay."

Rhys closed the front door behind him, hiding his flustered face in his hands, just as he had done the day prior. Was this going to become a common occurrence, him bashfully trying to get ahold of his feelings every time Jack walked him home?

He ashamedly sprinted up the stairs into his bedroom, hiding himself from his mother's knowing eye. He couldn't allow her to know. She'd only embarrass him!

But the persistent smile on his face was undeniable. One good look and she'd see right through him.

Half an hour later, he laid in his bed, hair wet from the shower he took beforehand. His phone briefly lit up the room with a new notification. His wish of getting a message from Jack was fulfilled, but he could only stare at it so long before looking away, completely absorbed by embarrassment, affection, wishful thinking and all the adjacent feelings that were the direct result of being absolutely infatuated with someone. 

Jack had sent him a picture. Not just any picture. A picture of him wearing Rhys' scarf, holding it close to his face, with a rather appropriate follow-up text.

J: I take back what I said, I'm keeping it, it's too comfy ;)

Rhys' relatively happy mood had turned sour as soon as he stepped foot into the school building. Scratch that; even before he stepped foot on the bus.

No one could've prepared him for the strange looks he received from his peers. Nor the mocking kissing sounds when Nisha got on. He couldn't even look at her, faulting the girl for being at the center of the unwanted attention. Everywhere he looked, there was at least one person there already maliciously snickering at him. Truth was, he didn't even see most of these people at the party. How could they know about the kiss?!

"Rhys, are you okay?" Yvette approached him in the hallway with a look of pity, impatiently holding her phone in her hand. "I swear these people need to learn to mind their own business."

"It's fine-"

"It's not, though! Look!" She raised her phone in front of him, showing him a wall of mocking pictures, memes, and such, all from the party, most of which were calling Rhys a pussy for fumbling so hard. The comments underneath each post were an assortment of different insults, to put it lightly; aimed at him, Nisha, and surprisingly Sasha, too. "I know I'm making things worse by showing you, but if this were me, I'd need to know."

Rhys hid behind the door of his locker, mumbling to himself, "So it's not him that's gonna bully me. It's the entire school. Great." He leaned back, putting on a fake smile, "You know what? It's fine. I don't care. That kiss? It didn't mean anything. It was just a stupid game- which, by the way, I did not consent to playing. If everyone here thinks they could've kissed her better," he turned to the rest of the hallway, angrily yelling, "they're free to try!"

"I'm sure it's gonna pass in a few days when everyone finds something else to make fun of," Yvette reassured, fixing her bag over her shoulder when one of the students bumped into her. "If you need someone to talk to, though, I'm here."

"Thanks."

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," Rhys felt a piece of fabric loosely wrap around his neck from behind, Jack's voice sending shivers down his spine. His heart skipped a beat when Jack placed his hands on his shoulders, turning Rhys around, "Yup, definitely looks better on you."

"You brought it back." Rhys smiled in disbelief, "Thank you."

"No, thank you! It got really cold on my way back, so this kept me nice and warm," Jack said, playing with the ends of the scarf, "Oh, and you're Yvette, right?"

"Yeah," the girl replied, raising her brow at how comfortable they seemed to be around one another- or at least Jack, "I have to go to class. See you at lunch?" She looked at Rhys.

"Yeah, see you."

"Uh, pumpkin, why's everyone staring at you?"

Without the need to look, Rhys let out a sigh, unwrapping the scarf from around his neck and placing it into his locker, "It's nothing."

Jack couldn't let go of the feeling that it was, in fact, not "nothing". He was used to people staring at him, either out of jealousy or because they really, really liked looking at him. But this sudden attention on Rhys made him feel uneasy. "I'm gonna go grab my books. See you in class?"

"Sure."

Something told Jack that this "nothing" had something to do with his very dear friend, Nisha. And what better place to teach her a lesson than the very public hallway of a high school, "Morning, sunshine! Surprised you didn't drink yourself into next month!"

"Fuck off." Nisha slammed her locker shut, avoiding Jack's judgmental gaze.

"Sure, I'll do just that. Once you apologize to Rhys." he stopped her from walking away with his arm in her way, taking a wide stance, "Or would you rather I tell Jul what happened?"

"Geez, I kissed your boyfriend. Get over it, pussy."

"He's not-" Jack cleared his throat, pushing her against the locker, "He's not my boyfriend. Apologize or else."

"No."

"Fine. I'm sure Jul's gonna be very happy to hear about you kissing other guys-"

She narrowed her eyes at Jack, holding her ground, "She won't mind."

"-and getting carried away with alcohol again."

She bared her teeth at Jack, pushing him out of her way, "I said fuck off, alright? You don't get to tell her shit."

"We'll see about that," Jack mumbled to himself as he watched Nisha leave, taking out his phone to send a quick message to the person in question. What he didn't expect was to see a barrage of notifications from different groups and apps, all of them having one thing in common.

People mocking Rhys for the stupid kiss.

To say that Jack was pissed would be an understatement. He was seething. Whoever posted the photos was clearly not aware of who they were messing with. 

"Hey, do you by any chance know who got these pics?" Jack asked one of his classmates in the hallway, hoping they could lead him to the culprit.

"Oh, hi Jack!" one of the girls greeted, too eager to help him out, "I'm pretty sure it was Barry. You know how he is. That's him over there," she pointed down the hallway at a group of boys laughing at something.

"I don't. But thank you anyway," he said, rolling his eyes when she tried to make casual small talk with him. He stormed off, his eyes set on the group. "Which one of you's Barry?"

"That's me. You need something?"

Jack stared down at the boy, trying to hide his anger, "Yeah. I heard you got more pics from that party on Saturday. I'll pay you good cash for some of that new kid."

Barry checked his surroundings, noting the unusual amount of people that could potentially see their shady transaction, "Not here. Come with me."

Jack couldn't believe how stupid and oblivious the kid was. He led him to a place with no cameras, no witnesses, no one to peep about their transaction. "So, what are you looking for? I have more pics from that bottle game, or are you looking into something more... saucy?"

Jack pushed the kid against the wall of the bathroom, landing his fist in his gut, "Shut your mouth, you sick fuck." The kid dropped his phone onto the tiled floor, clutching his stomach. "What the hell man?!"

"Those photos you took. I want them gone," Jack snatched the phone off the ground, "wiped, erased, shredded and burned if you have any printed out."

"You think that's gonna do anything? People share that shit. They'll be back in a matter of minutes."

"Then you better damn make sure they're gone. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to end your entire future." Jack waved Barry's phone over the toilet, hoping to get the message across, "You seem like a reasonable guy. So, make a reasonable decision. Otherwise, this won't end well for you."

Before Barry had the chance to say anything, Jack dropped the phone into the toilet, walking away as the kid tried his best to fish it out with his hands.

Rhys had saved the seat next to him in class in hopes that Jack would come in right after him. He couldn't help but worry when the boy was nowhere to be seen minutes after first period started. Rhys hoped nothing serious happened, mindlessly looking through his notebook to catch up on last lesson's curriculum.

He had completely forgotten to check the note Jack had written there the day before, surprised to see it. Rhys couldn't believe it at first, racking his brain for why the message seemed familiar. He grabbed his Doctor Crypto book out of his bag, turning the pages to find what he was looking for.

The message Jack had written was a quote from one of the characters, one too far into the book to be picked out randomly. Which meant that Jack had probably read it in his spare time.

The door to the classroom suddenly opened, Jack hurriedly running inside before the teacher managed to take note of him being late. He sat next to Rhys, desperate to catch his breath. Wherever he was, it must've been quite far, judging by the panic in his eyes. "I'm not late or anything, am I? Did I miss something?"

"No," Rhys reassured, moving his notebook towards Jack to catch him up to speed, "but when were you going to tell me you read the first book?"

"Huh?" Jack looked over at the message Rhys was pointing at, caught off guard by his question. He completely forgot he had left it there, "Oh, that? I dunno, didn't wanna brag or anything."

"Sure, you didn't." Rhys smiled, putting the notebook away, "You do realize that I'm gonna start bothering you about it now, right?"

"I wasn't expecting anything else, pumpkin."

Chapter Text

Despite Rhys' wishes and Yvette's reassurances, the stares of their fellow peers didn't subside. Rhys had noticed that the pictures posted online of him kissing Nisha and Sasha were deleted as soon as he got home that day, but that didn't stop people from making inappropriate comments and sharing their unsolicited opinions over the coming weeks. Through gritted teeth and strong will though, Rhys tried his best to ignore them in the hopes that people would start minding their own business.

So what if he didn't want to kiss anyone during that stupid game? It wasn't like it was his own idea to start it. And who cares that he was totally out of practice? Most of the people who were being rude couldn't even kiss their mom on the cheek under pressure.

That isn't to say there weren't times when Rhys felt completely under the weather, especially when the comments would get to his head. And Jack would notice, despite Rhys being completely unaware that he knew why.

The two were almost inseparable in class, with Jack always taking the seat next to Rhys to maximize the time he could spend with the boy, even if they couldn't directly talk during the lesson. And even when the teachers would specifically seat Jack away from his new distraction, he'd still find a way to let his presence be known, sending paper messages across the entire classroom which often contained a meaningless greeting, or a joke Jack had remembered in that moment. It was all worth it however, if only to see Rhys roll his eyes and try to hide his smile.

One particular time, when the last lesson seemed to drag on and there was no end in sight, when Jack was doodling something in his notebook whilst the teacher talked everyone's ears off, he came upon an idea. One that he wished he would've thought of earlier.

Seeing as he didn't share this class with Rhys, he had to come up with a plan on how to get to the boy before the school day ended, knowing that he won't be able to catch up to him if he waited any longer. He excused himself out of the classroom, bag already over his shoulder, and raced out before the bell had the chance to ruin his plan.

All the way on the other side of the building, Rhys couldn't wait to get out of class, his brain already beyond fried from the heavy load of new information it had to absorb that day. He checked the clock above the blackboard every three seconds, unable to contain himself. He wanted to get out of here, to go outside and breathe some fresh air, or do literally anything other than sit on his ass and listen to more lectures from the teacher.

He couldn't wait to go home that day.

With a heavy sigh, he looked around the classroom, checking to see if anyone else was even paying attention to the teacher. His antics caused by boredom caught the attention of some of his classmates. Seemed like they were in the same boat.

The teacher suddenly stopped talking about the current topic, assessing the state of the class. He noticed everyone's sour mood, deciding to stop the lesson there, "Well, I guess that's all for today. I think we've covered more than enough for the next lesson. As I said, I won't be here next week, but I'll make sure to give the substitute teacher some assignments for you. See you in two weeks."

Rhys stretched his arms, his stomach growling in reaction. He thought about stopping in a convenience store on his way home, but he halted all his daydreaming when he noticed Jack waiting outside the classroom, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just waiting for a friend of mine," Jack grinned, his smile only growing wider when Rhys wasn't sure who he was talking about. The boy looked around, noticing that no one else seemed to be approaching Jack, and then promptly pointed at himself in question. "Yeah, I'm waiting for you, cupcake. Come on, I wanna show you something."

Rhys followed after Jack, feeling somewhat reluctant about having to stay at school any longer than he had to. The two ended up in a relatively unknown part of the building, taking the staircase to the basement. Rhys didn't even know students were allowed there, but alas there they were, standing in front of a locked door, "What's in there?"

"Remember how I don't really go to P.E. class? Well, the teacher and I don't really get along because, well, he's an asshole. So, the principal allowed me to occasionally skip the class, but only under one condition," Jack unlocked the door, revealing a dark room filled with bizarre items. There were cobwebs everywhere, from the ceiling to the shelves lining up along all four of the walls. Jack turned on the light, making the space a bit less... frightening, "I have to clean this up by the end of the half-year. And yeah, I have to admit that it still looks like I haven't done a lot of work. But I'm only one person and this room is huge!"

"So you dragged me in here to help you?"

"What? No! I wouldn't do that to you. This mess is mine to clean up. I just thought you'd wanna see the stuff that's in here. Everything's gonna be thrown away, so I thought you might wanna snag some freebies- I dunno."

"That still counts as me helping you clean it up."

"Does it? I mean, I can do all the heavy lifting-"

"It's fine, Jack," Rhys reassured, leaving his backpack by the door, and walking past Jack into the room, already absorbed into seeing what treasure he could dig up. Amongst the dozens of books, there were also some very dated electronics, someone's personal collection of cassettes and several folders with old school newspapers. Rhys wondered what happened to the club that used to print them out, unaware of there being any new issues.

"Wonder if any of these still work," Rhys exclaimed, pulling a cassette out of one of the boxes.

"Huh?" Jack came over to check on Rhys, a stack of books already in his hands, "Oh, that? I dunno. There might be a cassette player somewhere in here."

With a quick look around the room, Rhys noticed what seemed to look like an old radio atop one of the shelves, "I think I found it. Is there a ladder anywhere?"

"Nope," Jack answered from the other side of the room, his voice muffled by the shelves in the way. Rhys mulled over what to do, grabbing a chair to see if he could reach it. "Dammit," he let out, barely able to reach the radio. Without hesitation, he stepped up onto the shelf, latching onto the the top part so he wouldn't fall. He hadn't even considered the chance that the entire shelf could topple over and discard all of its contents on top of him, too focused on getting the radio down.

"A little to the left," Jack suddenly said from behind him, startling Rhys enough to almost lose his balance. He held onto the shelf with all his strength, thankful for his cybernetic, even when he knew he'd definitely feel its strain on his shoulder that evening. He let out a shaky breath, stepping onto his tiptoes to reach over and grab the radio. Even that wasn't enough apparently. "A little further and more to the left."

"You know, if you boosted me up-"

"No, I think you're fine on your own."

"Seriously?" Rhys grumbled, reaching his cybernetic even further. He knew he must've hit something when the metal of his fingers audibly clashed with another object. Slowly but surely, he lifted his heels into the air as much as he could, "Almost... got it..."

"You don't have to rush or anything," Jack let out, sitting on the desk behind him and enjoying the view with his arms crossed and a content smile on his face. The view being specifically Rhys showing just enough of his lower back to entertain Jack's imagination.

"Nope, I got it," Rhys said, pulling the radio off the shelf. Before he had the chance to celebrate his success though, he still had to climb down the shelf. Unfortunately for Rhys, he had completely forgotten that he was, in fact, not standing on a chair, the lack of surface underneath his feet throwing him completely off balance. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach the second he realized that there was nothing else but air that separated him from the ground, the radio falling out of his hands.

"Rhys!" Jack acted on his gut feeling, sprinting to catch the boy. 

The sound of plastic against concrete rang throughout the entire basement. Rhys slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to assess what happened. He felt a strong pressure around his body, one under his arm and the other around his waist. When the pressure slowly subsided however, he realized that it was Jack's arms wrapped around him, the boy slowly lifting him back on his feet, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Rhys let out, flustered by his sudden proximity. He clenched his jaw, unable to keep the butterflies in his stomach at bay. He could tell that his face was probably beet-red from the embarrassment of falling, Jack's hands on his body only adding fuel to the fire. 

"I gotta say, that was one hell of a trust fall, cupcake."

"Oh," was the only thing Rhys could let out, feeling Jack's hands slowly retract when Rhys seemed to be fine on his own, "thanks."

"Anytime." Jack grinned; his eyes attentive to Rhys' flustered expression. The two then looked towards the radio on the floor, kneeling down to assess the damage, "Wonder if it still works."

Rhys grabbed the device, plugging the cord into the nearest outlet. Some of the plastic cover had scraped away from the fall, but the device still seemed to be in one piece. "Can you hand me one of those?" Rhys pointed towards the box full of cassette tapes.

Instead of taking one, Jack grabbed a handful of them, unsure which one Rhys would like to try out first. The bands were all unfamiliar to Jack, perhaps some of them were local. He handed one of the tapes to Rhys, looking over to see him struggle to open the compartment, "I think you can just push this open," Jack lightly pressed on the front of the radio, allowing Rhys to put the tape inside.

"I'm surprised you know how this works."

"Yeah, my parents bought one of these when I was still a kid. Tim and I used to play music on it all the time."

"Tim?" Rhys looked at Jack out of curiosity, unaware if he had heard the name before.

"My twin."

"Oh," Rhys looked away, feeling somewhat gloomy about the topic. He didn't want to pry into Jack's past, especially when it was none of his business, but at the same time, he wanted to know what made Jack the way he was, "Do you two still talk? I mean, I remember you mentioning something in class-"

"Yeah, no. We're more strangers than brothers at this point," Jack played with the radio, setting it to rewind the tape to the beginning. "Haven't seen him in about three years."

"And your parents?"

"Well, as you already know, I live with my mom, but she's more at work than at home. Dad left with Tim. He calls me from time to time, but he makes it very clear that it's more out of obligation than him looking for some genuine father-son time."

Rhys felt somewhat conflicted by Jack's words. Living like that must've felt lonely. 

"And you? You got any siblings?"

"No." Rhys shook his head, "I've always wondered why, though. Mom said one kid's enough in her book, so I guess that's that. She always says I'm a handful, but I feel like there's still room for some mischief, you know."

"You looking to cause some?" Jack smirked, sitting down on the desk. The radio finished rewinding the tape, and with a single press of a button it roared to life, playing some unfamiliar yet catchy pop tune, "Ha! Guess it works after all."

Rhys made a pained expression when the radio suddenly hitched and stopped, "Or maybe it doesn't."

"Here." Jack handed him another tape, the result being much the same, except this time it wouldn't play at all, "My money's on the radio being busted."

"Well, maybe if you helped me like I said-"

"Jack?" The two turned towards the source of the voice, noticing an uninvited guest standing in the doorway, "Oh, you're here, too. Good."

"What do you want?" Jack grumbled at Nisha as she made her way towards them, her expression somewhat remorseful, "I came to apologize. To both of you."

Rhys stayed quiet, apprehensive about talking to the girl. If she wanted to apologize, then fine. But that didn't mean he had to forgive her. "Well? Get on with it." Jack ordered.

"I'm sorry about how I acted at the party. Guess I can't handle alcohol as much as I thought." Jack scoffed at her words, turning away from the girl to mess with the radio. "I didn't mean for things to get out of hand. And I'm sorry about the kiss, I don't know what got into me. I was dealing with my own things at the time and might've gone a little overboard. If you left because of me-"

"I didn't." Rhys corrected her.

"Well, I still feel like shit for ruining the night for you." she turned her attention towards the door, looking out of place in the basement, "I guess that's all. I'll see you around."

She left the two without another word, closing the door on her way out. Rhys couldn't help but dwell on her words, his puzzled expression noticed by Jack, "Something on your mind, cupcake?"

"Well," Rhys scratched the back of his head, eyeing the door in thought, "she said she came to apologize to both of us, but she didn't address you at all."

"That's fine."

"Huh?" Rhys turned to Jack, surprised by his answer.

"I didn't really expect her to apologize to you, to be honest. Guess word must've gotten around," Rhys wondered what kind of word, and to whom exactly. Nisha didn't seem like the type to make genuine apologies. Quite the opposite, actually. Rhys found some comfort in the fact that even her own friend recognized this side of her. "Anyways, I don't think this thing is gonna work. To the trash it goes!" Jack unplugged the radio, placing it next to a sizable pile near the door. 

An hour later and the two had managed to find some very interesting, yet questionable items. Rhys felt especially awkward when he pulled out a very old magazine with some spicy pictures of women that were probably in their fifties by now. The more he dug, the less this place felt like a storage room and more of a recreational space for the students. If he ignored the dirty magazines, of course.

He noticed Jack pondering over something on the other side of the room, a strange piece of machinery in his hands. The sight of Jack mindlessly tinkering with an electronic brought a smile on his face. He looked like he was enjoying himself, taking apart the item in question fuelling his genuine curiosity. A single glance the younger boy's way, and Rhys could tell that he had been caught staring.

Jack raised his brow, the idea of Rhys watching him work quite peculiar. He waved him over, carefully pulling Rhys' cybernetic onto the desk he had been working at. Jack couldn't deny his curiosity any longer, wishing to study the arm in greater detail, rather than from afar, "How long have you had this?"

"This model or...?"

"In general." Jack elaborated, gently looking over the arm as Rhys sat down next to him, opening his palm for ease of study. "Well, mom said I was born without an arm, but I feel like telling people I fought off a skag at the tender age of zero is way cooler."

"Must've been one weak skag." Jack chuckled, tracing his fingers over the indents where the metal separated into different parts. He noticed a few scratches here and there, noting that Rhys must've had this particular model for quite a while. "And the eye? Is that just to go along with the whole cyborg look you got going?"

"No, I've had problems seeing in my left eye since I was a kid. We didn't have money at the time, but my dad worked at Dahl, so he pulled some strings and had me undergo a surgery at the company. You know, being a kid, I didn't realize how sketchy that whole deal was. Made me feel like a superhero, considering I was one of the first to get an ECHO-eye. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I was just a lab rat being experimented on. Nowadays, it's more comforting to see more and more people having it, too."

"You want more people walking around with eyes that shoot lasers? Damn, that's kinda dark."

"That's not what I meant." Rhys narrowed his eyes at Jack, instinctively pulling his cybernetic away, even when he had no reason to, "Also, mine doesn't shoot lasers. They wouldn't let me go to school if it did."

"I know, I'm just joking." Jack took a hold of the cybernetic, gently pulling it back towards the desk. He noticed a slight dent above where the knuckles would be, tracing it over out of curiosity, furrowing his brows. He slowly put two and two together, looking up at Rhys in question, "Did you mean to punch me that day?"

"No?" Rhys said sincerely, losing his trail of thought when Jack slightly tilted his head. Rhys' heart crooned at his expression, completely forgetting how close they sat near each other. If only he could've felt touch with his cybernetic, he would've realized that their fingers were almost intertwined, would've felt the hesitation in Jack's touch.

"Really? I thought you didn't want me around back then." 

"No, that's not what it was."

"So, you admit to wanting me around," Jack smirked, pulling his hand away before Rhys could notice, "Well, good for you, 'cause you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Rhys didn't know whether to believe Jack's promise that day. His heart fought to accept it as factual truth, but in his mind, he knew that nothing lasts forever. And even when it seemed like the two were nearly inseparable, spending more and more time with each other as the weeks passed, the earliest seeds of doubt had already begun sprouting.

Not even his friends' words of encouragement would deter Rhys from taking into account the strange stares he received from the other students whenever Jack was around. Stranger than the usual ones, anyway. He'd hear them whispering, yet no one dared to say something directly. And the more he heard, the more he felt self-conscious. Was it him? Was he not good enough to be around Jack?

He had to admit that he felt out of place whenever he was around Jack's group of friends, just like Jack looked out of place whenever he was seen around Rhys' group. Their interests never aligned with the other's friends, but despite that, Jack would always try to make conversation with Yvette and Vaughn. On the other hand, Rhys only awkwardly stood by, unable to find common ground with Nisha and Wilhelm.

And the more he thought about it, the less sense it made for Jack to want to be friends with him.

"So, he's got you all wrapped around his finger, huh?" Rhys hadn't expected Athena to make casual conversation with him that morning. Well, as casual as conversations with Athena were. The girl never approached him directly, only being there whenever he was talking with Janey. But the other girl was nowhere to be found this time, which made Rhys feel more on edge than usual.

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't help but notice you two spending a lot of time together. More than the healthy amount, anyway." she crossed her arms, keeping her distance from Rhys as she eyed his cybernetic with interest, "You might stand a chance, but don't let him cloud your judgment just because he looks nice and talks fancy. Out of the two of them, he never was the nicer one."

"You know about his brother?"

"Not only him, I know about a few others. Some stayed, others left this school precisely because of Jack. Ask around and you'll get your answers."

Left because of Jack? That didn't seem right. From what Rhys understood, his brother left because of their parents’ divorce. Why would Jack have anything to do with it? And besides, why wouldn't Athena tell him directly? Rhys hated when people spoke in riddles, more so when they gave out completely useless clues.

The first person Rhys went to was Yvette. He considered Vaughn, but he didn't seem like the type to take interest in highschool rumors. Yvette, on the other hand, seemed to know more than she let on. "Hey, remember when I was in the middle of a crisis regarding Jack?

"I'm not sure I follow-"

"During the first week of school, you said something about him being a bit of a heartbreaker," Rhys elaborated, hoping that the girl knew more than just that. He could sense her hesitation as she furrowed her brows, "Why are you asking me this? Did something happen?"

"No, not really. I'm just curious about what you meant by that. Is there anyone in particular you had in mind?"

"Well, there was that one time last year when he had a hot streak of turning down ten girls in one day. I think this was sometime before Valentine’s Day, so it makes sense why there were so many girls lined up to get a date with him. But other than that, there's only a few odd cases that come to mind."

Impressed and slightly jealous, Rhys wondered how Jack had the guts to turn down even one girl, let alone ten of them. Perhaps one of them had something to do with what Athena had mentioned to him, "Anyone who might've left this school on that list?"

"You're getting oddly specific, Rhys."

Rhys couldn't help but feel nervous about her observation. Was he suspicious with his questions? Extremely. But he knew that being cautious would pay off in the long run. Or at least he hoped so, "Just tell me. It's important."

"There was this one girl. Juliette, I think. She used to hang around his group for a while. Wherever they were, you could bet she'd be there, too. This is just my own speculation, but I think either she liked him, or he liked her, either one of those. And then one day she just disappeared. No one's seen or heard from her ever since."

"Know if she talked to anyone else? Had some other friends?"

"Hmm," Yvette pursed her lips in thought, "I think she used to play Bunkers and Badasses with Tina. That was last year, though."

As unfamiliar as it sounded, Rhys knew he heard the name of the game somewhere before. Nevertheless, talking to Tina would surely point him in the right direction. Rhys didn't want to break Jack's trust, but if Athena was wrong about him, he needed to be sure. He had no reason to distrust either of them, which meant that either one of them could be hiding something. But what would they gain from this? Athena had no reason to warn Rhys about Jack. Twice already. As far as he knew, she and Jack barely knew each other.

But Jack, on the other hand... Rhys couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty. He didn't like rumors. But if there were enough of them, then surely one of them had to be true. If they weren't, Jack wouldn't mind Rhys snooping around a little, right?

"Reeeeze! Welcome to my humble abode!" Tina opened her arms as a way of greeting, crouching underneath the staircase near some lockers. It seemed like she had made herself feel at home quite a long time ago, judging by the personal items she had on display there. Rhys wondered who even allowed her to claim a part of the school property, "What can I get you? Some biscuits? Tea? Answers to next week's Biology test?"

"I have a few questions for you, specifically about this Bunkers and Badasses game you played with a couple of people."

"You the new recruit? Where's your character sheet, huh?" She rummaged through her stuff, looking for a piece of paper Rhys could fill out on the spot. He quickly stopped her with his protests, "What? No, I'm not here to play. I just need to know if you've ever played with a girl named Juliette."

"Nope, never heard of her."

Rhys wasn't convinced, especially when he was so sure of the lead Yvette gave him, "Someone told me you used to play with her last year."

"Nope. I only had one campaign last year and the only people who played were Handsome Jack, Gallows Jul and some guy that left after the first session." So that's where Rhys heard about the game. Tina called Jack by that name a few weeks ago. But then that would mean that this Gallows Jul had to have been Juliette. "This Gallows Jul person, what can you tell me about them?

"I don't know, my memory seems to be kind of hazy nowadays," she reached her open palm towards Rhys, expecting... something. Rhys took out his wallet to give her whatever money he had left from his monthly allowance, but she quickly shook her head, demanding, "Your arm. Give it here."

"I'm not giving you my entire cybernetic, are you crazy?!"

"Come on, just a quick look! I promise I'll give it back."

Rhys' jaw clenched when he considered the odds of receiving his arm back. But this was important. But so was his arm, "Dammit. I can't unhook it now, even if I wanted to," he reached his arm out for Tina to study, feeling nervous for the expensive device, " If I see even a scratch on it, I'm telling the principal. Also, you better make it quick, class is gonna start soon."

"Ooooh, hell yeah baby!" Tina let out excitingly, opening the metal sides with ease. Even Rhys wasn't sure how she managed to do that, remembering his attempts at dismantling one of his older models. With hums of approval and grunts of disapproval, she basked in the glory of Hyperion manufacturing. Rhys stood by, feeling awkward from her attention, "You gonna start talking or...?"

She shushed him, holding the arm like it was a stray animal that would run away if she held it any lighter. She mumbled something to herself, the sound of metal clashing with metal hurting Rhys' ears. He prayed to the heavens she wouldn't touch the cables; he did not want to explain to his parents why he'd need a new arm.

After a moment of blissful silence, she looked up at Rhys, closing the sides of the arm, "There! As good as new."

"What did you do?" Rhys questioned nervously.

"Nothing!" She kept up her grin, hands behind her back as if signifying that she was indeed hiding something, "Now, you wanted to know about Jul, right? Well, here's the rundown. Handsome Jack and her? Best buds in the whole entire world! She followed him around like a puppy, kinda like you, actually. And the adventures they went on? Stuff of the legends! We never finished the main campaign though. One day she just up and left. Didn't even say a word."

"Hold on a second, what is this about following me Jack around like a puppy? I don't do that!"

All Tina could muster up was a laugh that drew attention to the two of them. Thankfully, there weren't that many people around, most of them enjoying their lunch break outside the school or in the cafeteria. "Whatever. Do you know why she disappeared?" Rhys asked.

"Could be anything. What I do know is that whatever happened, it seemed to break up Jack's little posse for a while. Ask Athena, she was there."

"Athena was friends with Jack?"

"I mean, if that's what you wanna call it."

Rhys didn't expect to be sent on a wild goose chase like this. If Athena was part of his group, why didn't she say anything directly? Why be so secretive? Maybe he should've asked Jack directly. But that would ruin the entire point of him snooping around.

"Is there anyone else you might've seen Jack hang around? Aside from the usual."

Tina reached out her hand once again, receiving a stern look from Rhys, "I am not giving you anything."

"You're no fun at all!" She retracted her hand, pointing towards some guy across the hallway. "If it's business you want to know about, he's the guy Jack talked to a few weeks ago. Don't know what about though."

"Business?" Rhys turned back to Tina, noticing that she had disappeared when he wasn't looking. "Dammit."

Rhys was wading into unknown territory at this point, talking to a complete stranger about Jack's ventures. He didn't know what this business Tina mentioned entailed, praying it didn't have anything to do with illegal substances. "Hey." Rhys greeted the boy, hiding his clammy hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

"Whatever you want, I don't have it." the boy eyed him with suspicion, impatiently crossing his arms, "Tell that asshole it's done."

"What's done?"

The boy squinted his eyes at Rhys, refusing to elaborate further, "He didn't tell you, huh? What a pussy." 

"Listen, I don't want any trouble. I just wanna ask a few questions." Rhys couldn't help but worry when he noticed the boy clutching the side of his chest, a pained expression on his face. "Are- are you okay?"

"Does it look like it?" The boy lifted his shirt up, pointing at the large bruise on his body, "That boyfriend of yours almost broke my ribs yesterday. Couldn't finish the job the first time, came for seconds."

"Boyfriend?" Rhys furrowed his brows, unable to decipher what he was talking about. This couldn't have been Jack's doing. Rhys couldn't believe it.

"Jack Lawrence, who else? Gotta admit, didn't think the guy still had it in him. Guess some people don't change." The more the boy talked, the less Rhys wanted to hear. But he couldn't stop, not when he was so near to hearing the truth. "Listen, if I were you, I'd steer clear of the guy. You don't wanna end up like me. Or Scooter. That guy got it the worst last year."

"What happened to him?"

"What didn't happen to him?" The boy scoffed, "Guy thought he was all buddy-buddy with Jack, only to be sent to the gallows when that asshole brought up all the shit he told him in private. What's even worse, he didn't even react to it. For all I know, he still thinks Jack's his friend."

"Is this Scooter guy still around?"

"Don't know. Don't care either."

The school bell suddenly rang, signifying the end of the lunch break. The two shared a look of annoyance. "What's your name, by the way? For reference." Rhys asked.

"Barry."

Rhys made a mental note to remember his name, same with Scooter. He needed to ask Athena about them.

He scrambled to get his books for the next class, sitting in his usual spot in silence. Jack joined him soon after, asking Rhys where he had been during lunch. He felt bad about lying to Jack directly, only saying that he had somewhere else to be. Rhys grabbed his notes for the class, excusing himself from the conversation by implying he needed to study.

He noticed Tina entering the class from the corner of his eye. She stood by his desk for a brief moment, as if she wanted to say something, but walked away soon after. Whatever it was, it had to wait until after school. He didn't need to raise any suspicion from Jack. Not when he was against Rhys talking to her in the first place.

Whatever the lesson was about, Rhys couldn't bother remembering it, his mind occupied with everything he found out. He felt uneasy about what Barry had told him, even more so about that Scooter guy. And the story Athena was spinning about Jack? It didn't fit in. From what Tina mentioned, Jack and Juliette seemed like good friends. Not only that, this Bunkers and Badasses game needed some dedicated players. It would be quite strange if she decided to play it with someone she hated, or vice versa.

"Spit it out. What do you know?" Rhys crossed his arms, stopping Athena from walking past the parking lot, her impatience clearly written across her features.

"Why should I? So you can go tattle on me to Jack? No, thanks. That's why I sent you off to other people."

"What the hell is your problem, huh? You warned me on the first day of school. You warned me again now. Clearly you care enough to tell me that something is off with him," Rhys took a step closer, keeping his voice down, "Why send me on a wild goose chase when you can get straight to the point?"

"So you'd believe me. If I told you everything off the bat, you'd call me insane. Probably think about mailing me a restraining order, like the other two people I warned. You're not special, Rhys. At least not to him."

Hearing it from her hurt more than if he would have told it to himself. He hadn't even thought about it now, but it made sense that Rhys wasn't special to Jack. Who was he even? A nobody. A kid that no one would pick out from a crowd. The least interesting person on this planet. That's who he was. 

"What exactly did you find out?" Athena asked.

"I know about Barry. And Scooter. And that there was this girl... Juliette," Rhys stammered, feeling sick to his stomach. Athena nodded, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it. When she stumbled upon what she was looking for, she turned the phone to him.

Rhys couldn't believe what he was reading. Conversations spanning days, texts talking about how the girl never wanted to see Jack again. How she was done with the entire school, that she was never coming back. "He was just using her. And this isn't the first time this has happened."

"What? No. There has to be something missing. Tina said-"

"Tina only saw a fraction of it, alright?!" She held her ground, looking Rhys straight into his eyes, "Neither of you were there. She said she felt used and told me about all of the things she saw Jack do. I couldn't believe it at first, but the more I asked around, the more it made sense. Hell, even I saw some things I ignored at first glance."

"But he's never done anything like that to me!" Rhys argued, unable to believe her, "Fucking hell, he even walked me home after that stupid party, you think he'd do that because he wanted to use me?!"

"Maybe he did," Rhys winced at her tone of voice, "I mean, what the hell do you think that whole game was about? Why would Nisha pick on you, of all people?"

Rhys stayed quiet. For the first time, he didn't know what to say. What to do to defend Jack.

Athena was right. Rhys felt humiliated after his kiss with Nisha. He was at his weakest, didn't see the warning signs. Maybe he should've. Maybe Jack purposefully following him home was a giant red flag he missed that night because he needed some semblance of comfort. And Jack saw his opportunity. Wormed his way into Rhys' heart. Made Rhys think that he could trust him.

Was Jack pretending to be interested in Rhys' interests only a front? A way to dig up some dirt, only to use it against him later on? "God, I feel sick," Rhys crouched down, unable to contain the anger within him. He wasn't even sure if he was angry at Jack or himself. All he knew was that he felt angry. So very angry.

"Gep up." Athena ordered, her stance firm on the matter, "You're better than this. I don't know what you want to do now, but you better do something. Time's ticking, it's only inevitable that he tries something soon."

Rhys' felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, absolutely terrified of unlocking it. What was he supposed to do now? Pretend like everything was normal? Stomach this entire thing? Cut ties with Jack?

He needed time and space to think this through.

He had at least tomorrow to get his head straight. Yes, that's what he was going to do. Come up with a plan and hopefully not lose his mind till tomorrow morning.

His phone wouldn't stop buzzing, even when he got home that day. He knew that Jack wouldn't leave him be, especially not after Rhys distanced himself after lunch.

J: hey

J: did you talk to Tina?

J: remember how I said I used to play this game with her?

J: bunkers and badasses

J: she asked me if I ever wanted to finish the campaign

J: and she also said that you could join in too if you wanted to

J: idk I think it would be cool :)

"Oh, so now Tina's cool all of a sudden," Rhys said to himself, throwing the phone onto his bed, "Yeah, right."

He left his bag by the doorway, making sure to shut the door behind him. Exactly like he shut himself off, unable to think for even a second before he felt his stomach twist and turn, his body slowly going numb.

How could he have been so blind? Was love really capable of such a perception of reality? Did everyone except Rhys see the red flags and warning signs? Why didn't he listen?

His heart was torn in two; one part wished for Jack to burst through the door, kiss him senseless and say that everything was going to be fine, that what everyone said wasn't true. The other part wished to never see the boy again.

That night, Rhys fell asleep with tears in his eyes, a fever holding his body hostage. And in his dreams, he felt the embrace of another.

His surroundings looked familiar. The basement light illuminated the closed off space where shelves stacked with old books and electronics stood tall, all beyond his time on this planet. He stood by an old desk; his body frozen in place.

The embrace felt comforting, warm. A consolation in a dire need. An unspoken apology that was too good to be true.

But it was the only thing that he'd been missing. And he could tell who those strong arms belonged to, Jack's body towering over him and keeping him safe. 

He rubbed away the crust from the corners of his eyes, craving the comfort of his dream as soon as he woke up. He couldn't tell what time it was; it felt like he had been sleeping for days, but the lack of light outside indicated that morning wasn't anywhere close. He checked his phone, completely disregarding the time when he noticed a single message from Jack that almost made him drop his phone.

J: someone saw you talking to Athena today... are you okay?

"Dammit." Rhys let out, quickly trying to think of what to do. He didn't want Athena to catch flack for trying to protect him. 

R: yeah, sorry for not responding, I felt really sick after school

R: she was giving me some pointers for the biology test next week

R: she already took it so that's why

He hoped that his half-assed lie would suffice for now. What he didn't expect was a response from Jack straight away, even in the dead of night.

J: you should've just asked me

J: I have contacts for that kind of thing :P

"Contacts? What is that supposed to mean? Is he blackmailing people now?" Rhys grumbled. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, wondering why he even entertained the idea of talking to Jack. Perhaps a small part of him still wanted to believe that he was innocent in all of this.

R: yeah I'll remember that for next time

J: don't get me wrong tho!!

J: it's not cheating

J: more like knowing what to look out for instead of wasting your time on the useless stuff

R: sure

J: btw what do you think about what I said earlier?

J: about the game I mean

R: I don't know, doesn't seem like my kind of thing

J: oh

J: well if you change your mind let me know :)

J: I'm off to bed now

J: goodnight :)

R: night

Rhys stared at the screen for the next five minutes, unable to think, to move, to do anything. He longed to forget about the things Athena said. He wanted to be fine with everything. Pretend that it didn't bother him.

But he was terrified. Only a mind reader could tell him what was running through Jack's head, why he insisted on pretending to be friends with Rhys for his own gain.

"Have you signed up for Sports Day already?"

"Huh?" Rhys looked dumbly at the boy next to him, realizing that they’d been standing in front of the poster wall at school for quite some time. Jack had been pestering him about hanging out after school ever since they met in the morning.

But Rhys couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness in his presence, unable to keep his thoughts from straying away. He noticed the worry in Jack's face, which sent an unsettling shiver down his spine. The lines between what was real and what he deemed to be a mere act had already been blurred. Rhys couldn't trust his eyes anymore. "Sports day. Next week. Come on, cupcake. You have a really good chance at winning the long jump with those legs of yours. If that Springs girl hasn't signed up yet, that is."

Rhys looked down at his own legs, his brain stumbling over Jack's comment. He didn't know what to make of it. "Oh good, she hasn't. So, you up for it?"

"Uh, sure," Rhys said without thinking, watching Jack write his name under the line for the long- jump before he wrote his own under the one for the long-distance run. "You're gonna be there, too?" Rhys asked.

"Duh, have you seen these muscles?" Jack waved his hand over to his legs, "No way anyone's gonna beat me. I've already won last year and the year before that. Unless you wanna compete with me? Can't promise I'll go easy on you, though."

Rhys wondered if showing up that day was even a good idea. Jack would probably expect Rhys to cheer him on, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, slowly starting to feel apathetic towards Jack's presence. He couldn't pretend that it didn't bother him, he couldn't stomach putting on a mask and waiting for the perfect moment to catch Jack in the act, to be the first to tell him that he knew his plan all along.

Rhys looked for an opening, a way of escaping the boy. He noticed the judgmental stares of his peers, felt their whispers slowly seep into his veins. 

He couldn't do it anymore.

"I have to go," he said, short of breath, avoiding Jack's gaze as he rushed towards his locker. Jack followed after him, if only out of curiosity. Rhys didn't believe there was anything Jack did out of genuine care. Not anymore.

"Rhys, stop! Where are you going?"

"Anywhere you’re not," Rhys answered, shoving his books into the locker and fleeing the scene. He couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't stand Jack anymore. He couldn't believe his words anymore. He couldn't...

Rhys ran without a goal in sight, ignoring the thousand-yard stare in Jack's eyes. He ran as fast as his feet could take him, only stopping when he felt his lungs longing for air. He fell to his knees underneath a tree behind the school parking lot, tasting iron on his tongue and the sides of his mouth. He felt pathetic running away and not facing the problem head on. Why couldn't he look into Jack's eyes and tell him the truth? Why couldn't he make this easier on himself?

"Rhys?" He heard a deep yet feminine voice call out his name, followed by footsteps coming his way. A sigh escaped the girl, "Did you tell him?"

"No."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Rhys said, finally looking up at Athena. Janey stood next to her, albeit her usually cheery personality replaced by a look of pity. 

Their eyes trailed towards the school entrance, where Jack stood, hands in his pockets, observing them from afar. Rhys looked away as soon as he noticed, holding his head in his hands, unable to face anything except for the earth underneath him. He felt Janey kneel next to him, rubbing circles on his back as a way of comfort.

"I think he's planning something," Athena said, finally looking away from their observer, "You might wanna consider cutting all ties with him."

“You don't owe him an explanation," Janey added.

"But I feel like I do!" Rhys cried out, "I feel like- like this couldn't have been for nothing. Like I'll regret it if I don't tell him why." Rhys didn't know why he suddenly felt regret for his actions. Perhaps he thought that Jack didn't deserve this kind of treatment. Perhaps it was his own moral compass screaming at him to do the right thing. But to explain his own actions, even at the cost of getting hurt? It terrified him.

"Maybe you should sleep on it, see how you feel about it in the morning."

Jack watched from afar, unable to decipher what was going through Rhys' head. He looked distressed from what Jack could tell, but why? And why was Athena getting mixed up in all of this? What did she have to do with Rhys?

Jack and Athena weren't on the best of terms. Their little group of friends had slowly dispersed with Timothy gone. Athena grew distant and couldn't find a reason to stay with the group. Jack sometimes wondered if things would've been different had Timothy stayed.

But that didn't matter now. 

Jack couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone wrong along the way. That feeling sick wasn't the reason why Rhys wasn't responding to his texts or calls. He'd been trying to contact the boy for the past two hours ever since he got home that day, even ignoring the homework that's been sitting on his desk.

He tried everything, from asking if he was okay, to trying to make casual small talk. No response.

J: when are you going to be at school on Tuesday?

That message was sent two hours ago. No reply, not even left on read. Nothing. So he texted him again.

J: Rhys

J: Rhysie

J: is this about what happened at school?

J: did I do something?

J: please don't give me the silent treatment

Not a single response from Rhys, despite Jack waiting quite a while between his texts.

J: Rhys

J: if you don't respond in the next ten minutes I'll call your mom

J: what's your mom's number?

J: okay I was joking about that

J: your mom is kinda scary

J: but she's cool

J: not as cool as you though

Jack frowned at the phone, hoping that maybe if it saw his sour expression, it would magically make Rhys respond.

J: hey

J: did you see that?

J: I just complimented you

J: I don't do that everyday

Jack put the phone on the desk, deciding that he should at least start doing his homework, since there wasn't anything he could do about the lack of replies. Of course, he quickly realized that doing homework and thinking about someone who was so blatantly ignoring him did not mix well together.

J: come on, I'm bored and I don't want to do my homework

J: Rhys

J: Rhys

J: Rhys

J: Rhys

J: Rhysie

J: hey

J: Rhysie

J: did I ever tell you how much I love

J: pretzels?

J: I just really love pretzels

Jack was about to type a really long message about pretzels when his phone buzzed in his hands, almost having a heart attack. From excitement, of course.

Rhys finally wrote him back.

R: god you're depressing

J: RHYS

J: RHYS

J: OH MY GOD

J: HEY

J: HI

J: RHYS

R: I was sleeping

J: oh

J: wait who sleeps at 5 pm

R: I was tired

J: alright

J: so, you wanna hang out?

R: sorry I can't

J: :(

J: what about tomorrow

Jack waited for a text back, mindlessly doodling in his notebook. His phone buzzed half an hour later. He read the text over and over again, his anxiety induced fingers already typing out his demands for an answer.

R: Jack I don't think we should be friends

J: what?

J: why?

J: where did you get that idea?

J: Rhys

J: come on

J: answer me

R: I'm sorry

J: ???

J: you can't just do that out of the blue

J: did I do something?

J: just tell me and I'll fix it

J: please don't ignore me

J: Rhys

Jack waited for any kind of answer, gripping the phone in his trembling hands. The silence was painful. If he had done something to break their friendship, he couldn’t think of what. And his confusion soon turned to anger, slowly regretting the next couple of messages he sent the boy.

J: you know what?

J: if you want to be a drama queen, then I'm not going to stand in your way

J: have fun without me

Why was this happening all of a sudden? Why now, of all times?  Jack knew he must’ve fucked up somewhere along the way, maybe he was too clingy, too demanding, crossed a line he shouldn't have. But he’d know if he did, right? His friends would warn him. Rhys would definitely tell him to fuck off. So why did he, out of nowhere, decide that they were not meant to be friends?

The following day, when everything seemed hopeless, when Rhys hadn't even texted him a simple, "haha JK this was all a prank," Jack decided to call Nisha over to his house. If there was anyone on this godforsaken planet that could help him, it was her. Mainly because she was the only person who magically knew what the hell was going on between him and Rhys. 

"So, what do you think?" He asked as soon as she returned the phone to him. She pursed her lips in thought, her brows furrowed as she grabbed it back to go over the texts once more. "He thinks you're a creep."

"Very funny, Nisha."

"Oh, no. I'm being a hundred percent serious. You know what this reminds me of? Last year," she snickered, finally tossing the phone over to him. "That whole thing where you and Jul tried to woo me at the same time? Yeah, didn't work out as well on your part as you thought it would."

"Is this your way of saying you actually have feelings for him?"

Nisha grimaced, putting her finger in her mouth to pretend that she was gagging, "Seriously? That's all you took from what I just said?"

"What the hell else am I supposed to take from it?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated beyond reason from how dense Jack could be sometimes, "Remember what happened when you asked me out first? And the rumor that followed because Jul stormed off?"

"The one where everyone thought she was into me?"

"Yeah, exactly that one."

"But I don't get how that-"

"People talk, Jack. And you don't have a reputation of keeping new friends for long," she glanced at her phone, quickly replying to someone's text before she kicked her feet up on the couch and over Jack's legs, "Now, either you find out what he knows and nip it in the bud or you don't do anything and let it get worse."

"It's already worse! It's at the worst stage it could possibly be, which is him refusing to even talk to me! How the hell am I supposed to find out what he knows if he keeps ignoring me?!"

"The same way you did when he ignored you the first time. You'll find a way, Jack. You always do."

Yeah, he was going to find a way to make Rhys talk to him, one way or another. And then they'll be best friends forever and live happily ever after.

Or however the saying goes.

Jack pushed Nisha's legs off him as an idea suddenly popped into his head. If Rhys didn't want to talk face to face, text to text, or over a phone call, then Jack had to do it the old-fashioned way.

He grabbed a pen, one of his old notebooks, and he began writing a draft of an apology letter. And he'd make sure it was the best apology letter he has ever written, including the only other one he's ever written, which was coincidentally also addressed to Rhys.

It had to be at least better than that one.

"Do you think a 'roses are red poem' is too much? Should I scrap the whole thing and write it again?" Jack asked Nisha, tearing out one of the drafts. He was planning on throwing the letter into Rhys' locker on Monday, but he needed Nisha's reassurance that it didn't look like a five-year-old wrote it.

"Give me that," she snatched the piece of paper from his hands, her eyes going over the words as she read it out loud, "Dear Rhys, I don't know what I did to you, if I hurt you in any way or if it's something you don't like about me, but I want you to know that I'm really sorry. I like you a lot. As a friend, of course. And I think we should talk it out. I don’t want to stop being friends with you. To show you how truly sorry I am, I wrote you a few poems.

I'm sorry for what I've done,

If it's not you then I don't need anyone,

You'll always be my number one.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Why did you leave me Rhys,

What did I do?

You're great,

You're amazing,

I'm sad,

Please don't ignore me."

"Well,” Nisha chortled after a few minutes of silence, re-reading the words on the piece paper, 

“If this doesn't make him talk to you, then I don't know what will," she burst into a full-blown laughter, "Please keep the poems in, I beg you."

"Are they that bad?"

"They're so bad that they might actually work. Might make him pity you so much he won't be able to resist you."

"Resist?" Jack stopped writing his other draft, eyes frozen in place, "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Nisha tried her best to hide her knowing smile behind her hand. She rarely did that, only when she wouldn’t let anyone else on a secret. Jack ignored it for now, happy of the half-assed approval she gave him.

When Monday rolled around, Jack clung onto his wish of things going back to normal. When he saw Rhys that morning, he was surrounded by his usual group of friends, the tall girl and the short boy, with the unusual addition of Athena and Janey. Jack's ears perked up at his laughter, eyes following the direction from where it came from. And he saw that stupid cute smile on his face, and how oblivious he was to Jack's existence. Oblivious to how Jack could feel the wrongness of their separation, how he wanted to have Rhys for himself.

But the boy didn't care, he looked like he was walking on air, his eyes never straying Jack's way. No half-curious look to see if Jack was watching him. Even in class, he kept to himself, sat in an unfamiliar spot, surrounded himself with the other classmates. All done on purpose, only so he could avoid Jack. 

And it drove him insane. 

Rhys drove him insane.

Were it any other person that ignored Jack, he wouldn’t pay them half a mind. But Rhys? Jack craved his undivided attention. He could barely untangle the mess of his feelings, but he loved the challenges Rhys put in front of him, and he wanted to prove to the boy that whatever the challenge, he'd overcome it with ease.

So, without question, Jack put the letter in Rhys' locker before the last bell rang for the day. He went back to his locker, patiently waiting and keeping himself busy with a game on his phone. The bell rang soon after that, a surge of students hurriedly stuffing their books into their crammy lockers so they could get out of school as soon as possible. He noticed Rhys opening his locker a moment later, the letter falling onto the floor as soon as he did so. He carefully picked it up, briefly looked at it and… crammed it into his bag.

And there Jack was, hoping... wishing... praying that maybe something more would happen. That the boy would read it right then and there, turn to Jack, run up to him, accept his apology.

He felt pathetic.

And so did Rhys. Ever since he came to school that morning, he wanted to go back home, shut himself in his room and avoid any human interaction for the rest of his boring life. He felt even worse when Yvette and Vaughn pointed out the odd glances from Jack in the hallway. Rhys fought hard not to give in and look his way. But he knew that it would only result in him getting hurt.

The letter waiting in his locker proved anything but that.

He sat on his bed, contemplating whether to read it or tear it apart and throw it in the trash. He knew it came from Jack. Who else? But was Rhys even interested in hearing what he had to say for himself?

Of course he was.

He grabbed his bag, taking out the folded letter he carelessly threw in there before leaving school. He could see his own fingers trembling with the letter in his hands, his breath shaky, heart pounding in his chest.

The letter he held in his hands was proof enough that Jack cared. About what? That depended on its contents.

Rhys unfolded the piece of paper, his eyes unfocused for a few seconds before he readied himself for the words in front of him.

Once he started reading, he couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot. The poems were stupid, to be fair, but they were Jack kind of stupid. And that's one of the things Rhys absolutely adored about him. And if it weren’t for the fact that Jack mentioned he didn’t want to stop being friends, the entire letter would’ve sounded like some sort of apology for a shitty breakup.

But the more Rhys read, the more his bittersweet realization unsettled him. The only reason why Rhys hesitated about explaining himself and why he couldn't simply let things go was because his feelings for Jack never disappeared. 

Despite the absolute terror he felt when Athena told him why Jack sought him out, he still cared about what the boy thought of him. He still wanted to see Jack, to have him in his peripheral vision, or even hear his voice. 

Despite everything that happened, he couldn't deny that he had truly fallen in love with Jack.

But staying away was for the best. Rhys had to remind himself of that. His own pride and ego was on the line, after all. All that talk about despising high school relationships couldn't go down the drain, could it? And besides, Jack only wanted to be friends. Nothing more, nothing less. Rhys would only hurt himself if he allowed that to continue. Strangled by his need to confess, he'd only shape himself into a burden to be around.

No, he’d rather stay away from the boy, his fear of rejection coercing him into a corner where he needed to keep to himself, to return to his stone-cold façade and pretend that Jack Lawrence, at least in Rhys' world, didn’t exist.

With a shaky sigh, Rhys readied himself for Sports Day, hoping that with the entire student body being in one place, his chances of running into Jack would be slim.

Rhys thought about skipping school, but Mr. Tassiter was "ecstatic" that at least a few of his students were decent enough to sign up. Not only that, Janey was competing as well, so Rhys decided to see just how good she was compared to him. Not that Rhys wasn't familiar with the long jump; it was one of the few things he didn't suck at when it came to P.E. activities (and Jack was right about the advantage he'd have with his legs).

"You ready?" Janey asked, sitting beside him on the grass, the two watching the other students perform. She seemed happy about having Rhys as her competition, not a lot of people wanted to go against her in the jump. Rhys reluctantly nodded, waiting for the teacher to call his name.

"I should warn you, try not to do that." she advised as they watched one of the younger students fall on his ass after the jump, "Not only does it hurt, but you'll end up with your hands behind you, which automatically means that your distance sucks."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Rhys remarked as he stood up from the bench and walked over to the starting line. Unexpectedly, the other students paid good attention to his jump. Or perhaps they were so bored out of their minds that watching the jumps was all they could do.

His mind went completely blank as he began running, his lungs expanding as soon as both of his feet left the ground. He let out his breath when he felt the sand underneath his hands and knees. This was only the first jump, yet he felt absolutely done with the entire day. Only two more and he could kick back and relax a little.

His jumps had earned Rhys the second place, with Janey ending up in first. He didn't mind though, she seemed much more skilled at the long jump than him. The two of them, along with Vaughn, watched as Athena competed in the discus throw. Nisha and Yvette played volleyball along with other girls, and Tina surprisingly won the 100m run. That girl had some fast legs.

The last competition for the day was the long-distance run. Rhys wondered if Jack would even show up, given the fact that he had not even seen the boy around Nisha or Wilhelm, the two being easily spotted in the large crowd. Maybe he had other, far more important things to attend than some stupid Sports Day.

Or maybe not.

It was the confidence with which Jack came towards the starting line that surprised Rhys. He came there to win. What exactly, Rhys wasn’t too sure. None of the competitors would get any prizes for their placement. It was only a friendly competition between the students.

Rhys shouldn't have been too surprised. Everything Jack did was built on confidence, like he had the perfect formula for every single problem in front of him. Would Jack have found a solution to Rhys' dilemma if they were to talk? He didn't doubt that for even a second. What he doubted was their agreement on the solution.

Rhys sat back in his seat, watching as the contestants readied themselves on the starting line. His eyes never left Jack's side, studying his face, his expression, the hesitation in his eyes as he turned his head towards the bleachers for a few seconds.

Was he looking for Rhys? Surely not.

The race began in the blink of an eye, Jack already at a huge head start, with Wilhelm right behind him. The two were in a competition of their own, always trying to outrun one another, yet always in front of the whole group.

There was only one lap left when Wilhelm seemed to be at the last of his strength, Jack happily taking the lead. Unsurprisingly, he won with a 4 second lead; Wilhelm finished right after him. The crowd went wild. Or at least as wild as one would expect from a group of unenthusiastic fifteen- to nineteen-year-olds.

After the race, both the competitors and the spectators gathered by the bleachers, waiting for the principal to give her speech about how thankful she was for all the participants, amongst other things. Rhys couldn't bother listening. For what it was worth, his eyes could bore a hole into the back of Jack’s head, the boy knowingly turning around before their mismatched eyes met. Rhys held his breath for a moment, Jack’s earlier confidence now replaced by a frown. 

Rhys couldn't tear his eyes away. He knew he'd be stuck in that spot if one of them didn’t look away, though. He inhaled a sharp breath, disappearing into the crowd until he was well out of sight. He didn't want to face Jack, not now, not ever.

How could he?

The students quickly scattered out of the school yard once the principal finished her speech, with Rhys stuck in the middle of all the chaos. He hated how small he felt in huge crowds, desperate to get away from everyone.

Through the usual push and shove, he didn't notice the hand on his cybernetic until he was forcefully pulled away. The back of Jack's head was all he saw before he was pushed in front of the boy, shoved through the crowd and back towards the bleachers. God, his heart was beating so fast, he thought it would jump out of his chest. 

The hands on his shoulders weren't as gentle as when Jack pushed him out of the school so they wouldn't miss the bus to Rhys' place. They weren't as gentle as when Jack would steal a book out of Rhys' hands, just to get his attention. Nor were they as gentle as when he had caught Rhys falling from that ladder, holding him in place.

They were harsh, impatient, and held Rhys' shoulders so tight it almost hurt.

Jack was angry.

"Talk." Jack demanded, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed at Rhys. But the younger boy couldn't talk, terrified that he'd say the wrong thing. His mind raced with different scenarios of how this could all go wrong if he dared open his mouth.

"Rhys…" Jack tried once again, but Rhys couldn't bring himself to speak. Jack was quickly losing his patience with each silent second, "Geez, kid. Didn't know you had it in you. I friggin' apologized, I even wrote you a letter, and you didn’t even acknowledge it. You're driving me crazy here, cupcake. You know that? What did I do to you to deserve this kind of treatment, huh?"

Rhys watched as Jack angrily let out his thoughts, "I wanted to be your friend. Hell, I even shared some things that I don't share just with anyone. And you just decide that this was all for nothing? What the hell?!"

His frown deepened when Rhys just stood there, silent as a nun, "Say something, dammit!"

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth, for friggin' example! Why did you decide that we're not meant to be friends? Who put that into your head?"

"No one!"

"Was it Athena? Huh? Or one of your friends? Or... let me guess, some rando off the street?"

"No! No one did!"

"Then what is it? 

Rhys sighed heavily, running his trembling hand through his hair before he began pouring his heart out, "That stupid game... You planned that, didn't you? I couldn't stop thinking about how weird it was that Nisha never apologized to you. Why would she need to? You used it to humiliate me, then pretended to actually care about my feelings by following me home. And here I thought you were a decent person, that whatever Athena warned me about was just crazy talk."

"The hell are you talking about? I never planned anything! How the hell was I supposed to know you were against that shit? If anything, I wanted to drag you out of that situation. I would've done anything to put a stop to it."

"Then why didn't you?!" Rhys screamed, tears welling up in his eyes, "Because it doesn't line up with the image of the tough guy you want people to see? Or because you had no good reason to?"

"I don't care about that shit, alright?"

"You don't," Rhys laughed, "clearly you don't. Otherwise you would've known all the shit people say about you."

"Like what?"

"The first thing I heard when I came to this school was how you pick a new kid to bully every single year. Imagine my surprise when I quickly realized that the new kid was going to be me. Of course, my dumb ass didn't want to believe it at first. But I guess I should have. There's no logical reason for why you'd genuinely want to be friends with me."

Rhys didn't even acknowledge Jack's silence as words poured out of his mouth, his word filter practically nonexistent at this point, "Even when I ignored you, even when I fucking punched you, you wouldn't stop going after me. How fucking condescending do you have to be to think that I wouldn't eventually find out? And god, that wingman shit you pulled? Thank fuck it was Sasha you met, otherwise I don't know where I'd end up that night."

"Rhys."

"Oh, but I guess this isn't your first rodeo, is it? Wonder how many other people you've done that to. How many people you've punched in the guts, both literally and figuratively. How many people you've humiliated. Or how many people you've betrayed."

"I didn't-"

"But you know what? I don't give a fuck about what you've done. I'm beyond caring. My only concern is that I can't be around you because I'm scared of saying the wrong shit. I'm scared of being seen as a burden. I'm scared of being used. I'm scared of getting hurt. I'm scared of being vulnerable around you. I'm scared of being with you. Even before this shit, I already knew how it would end. Even if I had the slightest chance, there was never going to be a happy ending, was there? God damn the fucking statistics of high-school relationships! Do you even know how many end after people get out of school? Seven out of fucking ten! And I don't need that! I don't need to get heartbroken because of some guy like you! Up until now, I was perfectly fine with keeping to myself. Fucking glad that I didn't need to rely on anyone else. That I didn't have the other half in my life. But here you come, waltzing into my life with that stupid face and that stupid smile and those stupid eyes that I can't ever get out of my head. I tried my best to push my feelings away, Jack. But you... Oh, you're a piece of work, aren't you? A persistent asshole that had to get under my skin. For no apparent reason! Do you know how much it fucking hurt? To spend all that time, all those moments, falling in love with an imposter? To pretend like I didn't feel anything towards you, because I knew that it would get me nowhere? I wanted to rip my heart out as soon as I realized how big of an asshole you are. I wanted to bury myself six feet underground so I didn't have to face you again. You're a piece of shit, Jack. I hope you're happy with yourself."

The silence between them was deafening. Rhys couldn’t believe that his own mouth betrayed him like that. 

And he prayed. 

Prayed that Jack didn’t hear a single word. Prayed that he was only imagining that shocked expression on Jack’s face.

But Jack heard and listened to every single word.

Rhys ran away, like the coward he was. It hurt when Jack did nothing to stop him, but what else besides a silent rejection should he have expected?

Chapter Text

Rhys hated kissing. He hated bullshit excuses to like someone. He hated crushes. He hated love. Rhys hated it all.

At least that's what Jack thought.

The reality was far from it. Rhys didn't hate love. Rhys hated being in love with Jack. Why wouldn't he? Jack was an asshole, a bully, an arrogant boy, who always got what he wanted. Didn't matter what he asked for, he'd find a way to get it eventually. The consequences of his actions had finally caught up to Jack. His outbursts, his treatment of others. They were all ought to get him one day, only Jack didn't care when that day would come.

"What the hell did you tell him?!" 

An arrogant boy, that's all Jack could ever accomplish to be.

"Nothing he wouldn't eventually find out on his own." Athena claimed, pushing past him in the empty school hallway, uninterested in his ranting. He pulled her back by her shoulder, already beyond done with people refusing to explain themselves, "Did Tim put you up to this? Or do you really hate my guts? Huh? Which one is it? Cause I sure as shit haven't done anything to you to deserve this."

"Maybe not to me, but you've hurt plenty of others."

"Who? Tell me a name. One single person I've wronged."

"Juliette." Jack let out a chortle, unable to believe what he was hearing. Out of every possible thing this could've been about, it was exactly as Nisha predicted, "Are you fucking serious? All of this over a fucking rumor that isn't even true?"

"You hurt her!" Athena argued. "Stop pretending like you didn't!"

"Because she started it! Hell, she even got what we both wanted, which was Nisha. And look where that got them. One week they hate each other's guts, the next they're back to dating." 

Athena searched his eyes for an ounce of truth, detecting only hurt. "You like Nisha?"

"Liked," Jack clarified, lowering his voice when he noticed a teacher watching them from afar, "and besides, we both made it pretty obvious. I mean, what the hell did you think that fight was about right before Jul left?"

Athena backed off, shaking her head, "If that were even true, it doesn't excuse what you did to Scooter, what you did to Alex and his brother, to those exchange students, or literally any new kid that showed up at this school in the past two years. Shoving them against the lockers? Picking them out of crowds? Literally stealing their lunch money? You were the textbook definition of a bully, Jack. And that's what you still are. Don't think I didn't see what you did to Barry. He's a talker, that one. But it's about time you admit who you are. Scooter might've turned out fine, but I can't even count on one hand how many others were, and still are, absolutely terrified of you."

"I was in a bad place."

"So were we! And so are they! Everyone's in a bad place!"

Jack gritted his teeth, letting his fist hit the side of the locker wall, "You don't get it, do you? You lost a friend. Me? I lost a brother. I lost a father. Fucking hell, I even lost my goddamn mother cause everyone knows she'd rather screw some corporate piece of shit than spend some time with her own son. I was abandoned by the only people that gave a damn about me. You don't get to dictate how I deal with that."

Athena clenched her jaw, unable to admit that Jack was right, "At least they're still alive."

"Don't you bring your sister into this." Jack warned, "You don't want to cross that line."

She scoffed, pushing him out of her way, "You already crossed it, Jack. Everyone grieves in their own way. That doesn't give you the right to hurt others."

"Where the hell are you going? I'm not done with you!"

"What else would you possibly want from me, huh? I have nothing to give you. You want to hurt me? You want leverage over me? Because I told some guy the truth about how you're just a self-absorbed asshole?"

"Some guy... He's not just some guy, alright?" Athena furrowed her brows at Jack's words, trying to decipher his goal, "What are you getting at?"

"You act all high and mighty, preaching about how I hurt some people. Sure, maybe I did. But when you do it, all of a sudden, it's supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows? Well, congrats. You hurt the bad guy. You made me miserable. But know that I'm not the only person you hurt in the process."

"I did it for his own good."

"You don't even know him! You can't even imagine what he's going through right now!" Jack was on the verge of screaming, clenching his fists to keep the frustration within himself, "So keep your bullshit rumors to yourself. If I see you talk to him again, if I even hear you were anywhere near him, you'll be grieving a lot more than your sister."

"Mr. Lawrence, that's enough!"

Jack turned around to face the teacher, pressing his lips together so he wouldn't mutter something more. He left the school after that, seething with rage.

Jack was restless that evening. He wanted to see Rhys. He wanted to tell him everything, to explain himself, to apologize a thousand times. But a simple text wouldn't convey what Jack felt. 

He needed to be with Rhys. He needed to hear his voice, to make sure he was okay.

"Fucking hell." Jack let out, running his hand through his hair as he laid on his bed. A few years ago, he would've laughed in his own face. Losing his mind over some boy.

But Rhys wasn't just some boy. He was Rhys.

Jack stared at the white ceiling of his room, contemplating every choice in his life, every word he had ever spoken to Rhys. Was he really that condescending? A creep? An asshole worth hating?

Did Rhys hate him?

He let out a groan, unable to be alone with his thoughts. He needed a distraction, something to clear his mind, to give him a new perspective. 

Talking to Wilhelm about Rhys was a big no-no. The guy groaned anytime Jack brought him up, unable to keep up with what Jack deemed to be an important tidbit to remember and what was only gossip. Nisha, on the other hand, had voluntarily gotten herself involved in his and Rhys' little quarrel. Now it was her job to help Jack fix it. 

He grabbed his phone from somewhere on his bed, tapping on the messaging app and sending the girl a few short messages.

J: hey

J: you did good today

J: at the game I mean

After several minutes of waiting, the phone finally beeped, informing him of a new message.

N: what do you want Jack? 

N: I'm talking to Jul right now so make it quick

J: wait you’re calling her?

J: add me to the group

J: please

Jack joined their call not too long after, "I need your help." being the first thing he said. Nisha rolled her eyes, remarking, "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Hi Jack!" Juliet let out, happily waving to the camera. Jack scoffed, faking hurt in his voice, "Hey yourself, possible love interest stealer!"

"Jack." Nisha warned, but the other girl didn't mind, instead giggling at his call-back to last year.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But we're not changing the topic," Jack demanded. The two girls furrowed their brows, asking in unison, "Why?"

"Rhys said he loves me."

"Well, people say that a lot." Nisha chuckled, to which Jack could only drag his hand across his forehead in annoyance, "I mean it. He meant it. He confessed, or at least I think he did. Maybe kind of blurted it out by accident, I’m not even sure anymore. But what's important is that he said it.”

"I thought it was the other way around," Nisha thought out aloud.

"Who's Rhys?" Juliette asked out of nowhere, confused about who or what they were talking about. Jack wanted to answer, but Nisha beat him to it, "The guy I told you about? You know, Jack going all soft on him?"

"Soft? What the hell, Nisha? And what do you mean the other way around?"

"Don't deny it, asshole. Ever since he came to our school, I haven't seen you pick on that Pickle kid once," She accused him. Jack quickly thought of some kind of argument to save himself, "That's because I never see him at school!"

"Because all you see is Rhys, dumbass."

Jack couldn't deny that she was right. He had been paying attention to Rhys a lot during school. Perhaps even too much attention. "Your point?"

"I thought you would've picked on him like the other kids. Have your fun with him and then drop him off. But you didn't. It's like you were obsessed with making him notice you."

"Well, he ignored me, and I like a good challenge-"

"Yeah, except when a person gets over a challenge, it ends at that. Challenge complete. You didn't stop though. Just like you didn't stop when I told you no four times before Jul even had the chance to say anything."

"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" Juliette giggled.

"You bet it's like that. He calls him cupcake, pumpkin, Rhysie... the whole shebang." Nisha smirked, sitting back in her chair, "Calls him over to his house, texts him twenty-four seven, looks at him like he's the most precious thing in the world." she laughed at his expense, "I would've known. You both did it to me a year ago. But imagine my surprise when our Jackie-boy wouldn't take the bait I put in front of him."

"Bait? What bait?" Jack stammered, bewildered by Nisha's claims.

"Spin the bottle."

A wave of acknowledgement washed over Jack as he vividly remembered the night, "Oh, I took the bait, alright? Only if you hadn't kissed him first, your little plan would've actually worked."

"The guy's been giving you puppy eyes ever since he came to our school! I just thought you needed a little push in the right direction."

"Yeah, except from what he told me that night, I thought he was asexual and wouldn't poke a possible date with a ten foot pole. As soon as I found out, I figured it'd be best to let things go."

"Shit."

"Yep."

"So why not confess, too?" Juliette leaned closer to her computer, studying Jack's flustered face. "Confess? What do you mean confess?!"

"Jack... do you like Rhys?" Nisha asked him as straightforward of a question as she could. Jack rolled his eyes, giving her the most obvious of answers, "Of course I like him. Who wouldn't like him?"

"She means if you like like him." Juliette clarified. Jack blinked once, twice, wondering if he heard right. Nisha let out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms when he wouldn't respond, "You have to be certain, Jack. Sure, to us, it might seem like you’re completely infatuated with him. You know, with all the shit I've seen you do around him. But if you can't make the decision on your own, how do you expect to face him tomorrow? What are you gonna say?"

Jack liked Rhys. To what extent, he didn't know. He never delved deeper into what Rhys meant to him. Even that desire to kiss Rhys was situational. Or the desire to hug him from behind when he fell off that ladder. Or to keep holding his hand. Or stare into his eyes.

Damn.

Maybe Jack didn't exactly let go of his feelings for Rhys. He couldn't deny that the idea of them together didn't float around in his head once in a while, but he always wrote it off as wishful thinking and nothing more.

Maybe Jack didn't feel the textbook definition of butterflies in his stomach, but seeing Rhys every morning standing by the lockers made him feel giddy inside. Walking up to Rhys and striking up a conversation made him excited to hear what the boy had to say. Being with Rhys made him happy. Unexplainably so.

Maybe Jack did like Rhys more than he thought.

He wondered what it would've been like had he let himself fully fall in love with Rhys. Would there even be a difference? Would he have chased after him when Rhys confessed? 

Jack scrolled through his phone, opening the messages between the two of them, frowning when he read the last message he had sent Rhys.

J: have fun without me

Have fun? It would gut Jack alive if he saw Rhys having fun without him. What the hell was he thinking? He couldn't even last an entire day without talking to Rhys. How would he last more than that?

"God, I'm an idiot," he admitted to himself, the phone falling out of his hands and onto his face. He quickly grabbed it, noticing that the call had ended. Whatever. Jack had what he wanted, which was an answer to his problems.

All that was left was to deal with the terror dwelling deep in his stomach. The entirety of their friendship, hell, their relationship, depended on Jack taking responsibility for his actions. Even when he never intended to hurt Rhys, it's what he did. And he needed to be held accountable.

Jack waited by Rhys' locker throughout the entire Wednesday morning before class started. He knew Rhys would need to pick up his books, so waiting there was as good a chance of seeing him as any.

But when the bell went off, announcing the beginning of the first period, and Rhys was nowhere to be seen, Jack felt a deep, gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of his stomach. When he noticed the empty seat in the classroom, his anxiety spiked up to abnormal levels. And when he didn't see Rhys anywhere during lunch, he was tormented by the realization that it might be too late.

"Why are you disturbing me during lunch? Don't you have far more important things to do?" Mr. Tassiter sipped on his coffee in the faculty office, reading something on his computer.

"Is, uh- do you know why Rhys Strongfork isn't at school today?" Jack asked, nervous to even stand in one place.

"Hmm," Tassiter placed his cup on his desk, reaching for his phone and scrolling through his messages, "Strongfork... Strongfork..." He stopped scrolling for a brief moment, as if reading a message, "No, I do not know why your classmate isn't at school."

"Bullshit." Jack mumbled, trying to come up with some good excuse to fish the information out of the teacher, "We were supposed to be group presenting today and he didn't show up with the presentation. He's not answering my calls either, so I was wondering if you have any information."

"No. And even if I did, I am not allowed to disclose such things with other students."

"That means you know something," Jack clenched his fists, "so tell me, I need to know."

"John-"

"It's Jack."

"This is a private matter that I'm only allowed to discuss with his parents and the principal. Now go, I want the rest of my break to be undisturbed."

Jack slammed his fist against Tassiter's desk, alerting every other teacher in the faculty office, "The hell it is. Tell me now!"

Tassiter placed his coffee on the desk, rising from his seat to look down on Jack, "Know your place, pupil. I will not repeat myself."

"Fine." Jack said, admitting defeat. Tassiter was a stubborn bastard. And an even bigger asshole, letting Jack leave more bitter than when he came into the office. "Oh, and if it wasn't clear, you can think about your actions during your detention today. And for the rest of the week."

It was already excruciating that Jack had to wait until he finished his classes. Now he had to spend two additional hours in detention, praying that Rhys didn't do anything stupid. 

He drummed his fingers along the desk, agonizingly checking the clock every few seconds. The minutes seemed to drag on forever, and Jack thought that he'd actually die of boredom before he could get to talk to Rhys. It was now past four and he had another hour in front of him.

"You seem... distracted." Mrs. West commented, her eyes focused on the exam she was marking down. Jack scoffed, looking away from the clock, "That's impossible. There's nothing here that would cure my boredom."

"I don't mean it like that. You've been distracted for a while now. That isn’t to say that your grades are getting worse, quite the opposite. But I've noticed you don’t pay any attention during class. My colleagues did, too." she finally looked at him, lifting one of the exams and pointing to the name on it.

Rhys.

Jack rolled his eyes, resting his head on his hand, "You don't happen to know why he's not at school, do you?"

"No. And I imagine Mr. Tassiter wouldn't put it past him to have me reprimanded if I told you." She put the paper back on the desk amongst the other exams she had already graded, checking the time on her watch, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I... I'm worried about him. That's all."

"I see."

Silence befell the room, Jack trying his hardest to make time move faster. With each second that passed, Jack's imagination ran wild, his assumptions and concerns growing in significance. "Do you... Did he... No, forget it. It's dumb."

"What's on your mind?"

"You teachers talk about other students, right? Was there ever any mention of him wanting to go to a different school?"

The teacher let out a sigh, rubbing her eyelids behind her glasses, "If I tell you, will you promise to keep it a secret?"

"Yes."

"His mother was called into the school." She continued marking down the exams, holding her pen with tension, "It's not unusual when a new student enrolls. Something to do with their academic performance and things like that. But like you asked, she raised a concern about Rhys feeling unsafe and that he asked her about the possibility of changing schools."

"Dammit."

The teacher raised her brows, looking at him through her lowered glasses, "Is that a concerned dammit? I thought you two were friends."

"We are! Or were. Listen, I know I fuc- did the wrong thing. I don't need to be reminded by a teacher of all people," Jack quickly corrected himself, the teacher shaking her head, "I'm not trying to be invasive, Jack. Whatever happened to you will pass. Or maybe it won't. But I did notice you took a liking to Rhys. It's an improvement."

"Improvement... over what?"

"Your outbursts. I like to read up on my students, and I've noticed quite a lot of oddities in your case."

"I'm not like that anymore."

"Or so I've heard."

Jack looked away, sick of hearing about what complete strangers thought they knew about him. The things written down in the school files were never about revealing the truth. They were there to warn other teachers, to force them into a biased opinion. So what if his life wasn't picture perfect? They had no right to pretend to know the answer to his problems. "You think just because I was... am- friends with Rhys, that suddenly everything will be perfect in the world?"

Mrs. West let out a chuckle, "If that's how you see it, why not? But know this, if your friendship has lasted this long, maybe he can be a good start towards a life without problems." she said.

"So what you're saying is that I should fix what we had in the first place and then maybe my life won't be falling apart right in front of me?"

The teacher sighed heavily, dropping the pen on the desk and glancing at Jack, "That’s what you want to hear. I didn’t say any of that.”

Jack furrowed his brows, puzzled by Mrs. West’s words. She mimicked his expression, adding, “He’s a good kid, Jack. And your reputation exceeds you. Maybe getting on his good side will get rid of that rumor that’s been circling around again. The girl was in my class, so I know what happened. But does he?”

“He doesn't."

“Thought so."

"But that doesn't give you permission to start preaching about what I should-" Jack tried to interrupt her, but Mrs. West was already in her own world, "Friendships should be built on trust. He won't trust you if you don't tell him the truth."

"You can stop now. I don't need to hear-"

"And it’s none of my concern either, but I know what it’s like to be young, dumb and in love. You two have the whole school talking, even the teachers. And frankly, I’d love to get my forty dollars from Tassiter.”

Jack's eyes widened, “You were placing bets? On what?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Ditto relationships between students.”

Mrs. West scoffed, reminding him of his place, “And how would you know? You’re not a teacher. We get bored from time to time. And there’s no harm done if no one finds out.”

“I did. I found out.”

“And you won’t tell a soul, not unless you want to spend the rest of your high-school life in detention.” she gave him a conniving smile, returning her attention to her work. Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Wouldn’t have thought you’d be the blackmailing type.”

“It’s not blackmail, Jack. It’s as simple as following the rules of this school.”

Jack squinted his eyes at her, wondering if he could somehow get out of this, "Say, what if I told you that I'd go to his house right now? You’d win your bet; I’d get out of here early.”

"I'm a teacher, Jack, not a savior." she laughed, shaking her head. Jack scoffed at her continued silence. 

The two of them waited for another hour before Jack rushed out of the classroom, Mrs. West yelling after him, “No running in the hallway!”

The storm outside was perfect for how Rhys felt that evening. As the occasional lightning lit up his room, it added onto the somberness of his mood. It was the only source of light he appreciated in his otherwise unlit room. And Rhys was perfectly okay with that, he didn't need the light to show him how big of a mess he really was.

The look Jack gave him when he poured his heart out hit him hard. Made him want to disappear from this town, be forgotten, turn the memories of him ever existing into oblivion. His mind would go over everything he said that day, and it slowly turned that look of shock into one of disgust and hate.

Rhys felt broken. Literally and figuratively. His torn out cybernetic laid on the floor underneath the window. He hadn't bothered to pick it up and throw it away, too tired from the never-ending flurry of last-minute appointments with different doctors. He didn't know whether it was Tina's tinkering with the arm, his own stupidity of refusing to get it recalibrated when they moved houses, or something else entirely. But the arm had served its purpose, and he wouldn't get a new one until Christmas.

He didn't mind though. There were several periods of time when he had to make do without his right arm, especially when he outgrew the fake limb, and his parents didn't have enough money to get a new one. Nevertheless, he felt strange having this empty space on his side.

He tried to find inner peace as he laid on his bed. He could faintly hear the raindrops hitting the roof of the house, even with headphones in his ears. He quietly mumbled the lyrics to the current song playing, fingers hitting the bed to the rhythm. It was almost six in the evening, but the storm outside made it seem like it was well past nine.

Rhys rubbed at his eyes, feeling like he'd certainly fall asleep any time soon. He made no effort to change his clothes, the task of putting another shirt on only reminding him of what he was missing.

He grabbed the phone from his side, the light blinding him for a second before he changed the song. He knew that he was acting like a drama queen, just as Jack described him. That lying on his bed and moping around wouldn't do him any good. But he couldn't help feeling like complete shit. Of course, he thought about calling Jack. Hell, even texting him would suffice. But he didn't want to pry. Or he feared another rejection. It was either one of the two.

There was a light knock on the door, followed by light creeping into his room from the hallway. Rhys had his back turned to the door, unaware of who it might've been. Though seeing the harsh light hurt his eyes, he turned around and looked at his mom standing in the doorway. He took off his headphones, staring at her expectantly. "I know you don't want to be bothered, but there's someone at the front door that wants to see you."

"Tell them that I'm sleeping, or that I'm sick... or something."

"I'd love to, but I don't think they would appreciate coming all the way over here for nothing." she said. Rhys rolled his eyes, mumbling, "Who cares?"

"Don't be like that and come downstairs." She left the room without another word, leaving the door open for Rhys. He let out a groan, unplugging the headphones from his phone and throwing them on his bed. With every step he took down the stairs, he could hear the house creaking in response, still as annoying as when they had first moved in. Almost as annoying as whoever wanted to disturb him this late.

He hesitantly opened the front door and, well, he could clearly see why the person wouldn't appreciate Rhys' fake excuses.

"You're all wet," Rhys commented, taking in the sight of a very soaked Jack. The boy briefly looked at Rhys' right arm… or lack thereof. If he had any questions about it, he made no effort to ask them. However, his sarcastic remark didn't help his case at all, "Yeah, thought it'd be more dramatic."

"Really?" Rhys let out more as a statement, frowning at the boy. He awkwardly let his arm hang at his side, waiting, wondering if Jack would get carried away with his jokes, like he did every time Rhys tried to be serious. What he didn't anticipate was the slight pout on Jack’s face, "No, I didn't catch the last bus and I left my umbrella at home."

Rhys looked at him expectantly, silently wishing to hear why he would want to walk through half the town on a Wednesday evening, only to look at Rhys with those stupid puppy eyes. "Can we talk? Inside? Please?"

When Jack didn't get any kind of reaction, he felt pathetic for even thinking Rhys would want to talk to him. He was almost sure Rhys would say “No.” and shut the door in his face. Sure that Rhys would leave him outside to think about his actions and soak up as much of the rain as possible.

But he didn’t, letting out a quiet, “Fine.” before he moved out of the way and let Jack inside.

"Mom, we'll be in my room." Rhys shouted, receiving a loud "Okay!" from his mother somewhere in the house. Jack anxiously followed him up the stairs. 

Jack didn't do anxious. Jack did confident. 

But this? This was all new to him, a new territory that he was bound to explore sooner or later, only he thought it would be later.

He always wondered what Rhys' room looked like, having only seen the ceiling and some posters that one time he managed to get a peek up the stairs when Rhys went to retrieve something. But being there, seeing it with his own eyes, everything about it screamed Rhys.

"Sorry about the mess," the boy said, grabbing his headphones off the bed and placing them on his cluttered desk. There were several books scattered all around the room, some from school, others Rhys undoubtedly read in his free time. Jack recognized a few from when he brought them to school. His eyes then wandered off towards the cybernetic underneath the window, noting how beaten up it looked.

Rhys noticed how disheveled and uncomfortable Jack looked, water dripping from his clothes. He opened his closet, digging through it to find something to keep him warm. "What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"You're soaked, I don't want my carpet to get wet. It would get moldy." Rhys answered, taking several things out of his closet, mainly a towel, a hoodie, and some sweatpants. "Here.” he offered to Jack, who gladly took the fresh set of clothes, watching Rhys leave the room without another word.

Jack quickly changed his clothes, the soft smell of lavender hitting his nose as soon as he put the hoodie on. Did all of Rhys' clothes smell like that? Did Rhys smell like that? Honestly, Jack hadn't noticed until now.

The door opened just as Jack threw the towel over his head, drying his hair as much as he could. He noticed Rhys taking the wet clothes from the room, but not a word was exchanged between the two of them. 

Jack still wasn't sure how to approach the topic lingering in the air.

He threw the towel over a chair by Rhys' desk, sitting on his bed with a sigh. Where was he supposed to begin? What were the right words to start with? Would Rhys even want to hear him out?

He did allow him into his room, so maybe he did.

Rhys entered the room soon after, looking like a stranger in his own house. He didn't seem to know what to do, where to sit, what to say. Jack patted the spot to his right, hoping that some semblance of closeness would suffice for now.

Rhys took the seat next to him, his gaze avoidant.

"I don't-" 

"I want-" 

They began at the same time, their words barely making any sense before they stopped altogether.

"Sorry, go ahead," Rhys said after a second, receiving a surprised look from Jack.

"I... thought about what you said. About being used and feeling like a burden." Jack began, taking a second to collect his thoughts, "I didn't- I never- look, it wasn't my intention to hurt you."

"What was your intention, then?"

"I don't know," Jack stared in front of him, unable to look at Rhys. And the silence that followed would've killed him that night, had he not found the guts to continue, "I like you Rhys. A lot more than you think."

"You do?" Rhys turned his head, gripping the bed sheets from how overwhelmed this revelation made him feel.

"Yeah. I mean, you didn't give me a lot to go off ofwhen we first met. I thought you were just some shy kid. But you had no problem talking to other people. The only one you didn't talk to was me. And it infuriated me to no end. I... wanted to prove to myself that I could make you talk, that I could be your friend."

Rhys slowly let go of the bed sheets, disappointed.

"And then, when you stopped ignoring me... I've never felt so excited-"

"You're just saying that."

"No, no! I mean it, Rhys. I..." Jack faltered, turning his head to look at Rhys, knowing that the right words were on the tip of his tongue, "I didn't follow you home after that party because it was a part of some grand scheme that I had. I'd never do that to you. And the kiss with Nisha wasn't planned, she was only trying to make me jealous. A-And that thing you heard about the girl? It's not true, okay? I have her number; I can call her right now. She can explain everything if you don't want to believe me. But please, don't think for even a second that I wanted to hurt you."

"How do you-"

"Athena told me, alright? And all she told you was a load of bullshit. It was all a rumor. Juliette never liked me. She only liked Nisha. So did I. It's stupid, I know. And I'm not saying that the other shit she must've told you isn't true, but I'm not like that anymore. Okay? I don't want to be like that."

"What are you-"

"And it's not like I like Nisha like that. Especially not after what she did to you. I like you, Rhys. And I don't want us to stop being friends because of how big of an asshole I was. Maybe I still am. I don't know. But please, please, please don't think about going to a different school because of me."

"What?" Rhys grimaced, confused about the last part, "I never- the only person I told I wanted to switch schools was my mom. And that was three days into school! Who told you?"

"Uh," Jack looked away, a hint of redness on his cheeks, "no one."

"Jack?" Rhys pushed, leaning forward to get the secret out of him, "Who told you?"

"No one, alright?! I already got detention today, I don't need to have it for the rest of the year."

Rhys blinked once, twice, tilting his head in confusion. Jack slowly turned his head back around, noticing the lack of distance between them. His hand was right next to Rhys', and it took all his self-restraint not to move it closer. Were his deep breaths noticeable? Was the strange feeling in his stomach a byproduct of his excitement to have Rhys this close?

But then Rhys leaned away, and all that excitement only made his blood surge through his body. He needed to bring him back, somehow. "Rhys, I-"

"It's alright. I know what you were trying to say. And I'm sorry about going behind your back and snooping around when I should've asked you directly."

"What? No! I don't care about that. I want to know if you still want to be friends."

"Oh." Rhys let out, displeased. He knew he was getting his hopes up for nothing. Jack liked him. But he didn't like him like that. It was obvious. And Rhys was only hurting himself by not letting it go. He glanced away, a small pout on his face, and took a deep breath, ready to give in to Jack's plea. He couldn't say no to him, especially not now.

However, before he could let a word out, he felt a soft tug on his hand, sensing Jack sneaking his own hand underneath. Rhys looked back at Jack as soon as their fingers intertwined, the other boy glancing at their linked hands with a soft smile. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Rhys shyly looked away once more. He didn't know what was happening. And frankly, his mind wouldn't allow him to intercept it as anything other than some sort of comfort before Jack would eventually break his heart again.

Jack ran his thumb along Rhys' knuckle, if only to stall and enjoy this moment of uncertainty in Rhys' eyes. He knew playing with Rhys' heart now, of all times, was cruel. But this was his payback for being ignored all those times.

"Jack?" 

Jack leaned in closer, his words just loud enough for Rhys to hear, "I wasn't done with the question. I want to know if you still want to be friends or if you'd like to add 'boy' in front of the 'friends' part."

"Really? You want to- Okay." Rhys let out, short of breath, "Yeah, I wanna do that." He wanted to pinch himself awake, but with his other arm missing, it was impossible to do so. He felt dazed, his eyes racing from their interlocked hands to Jack's stupidly adorable smile, and back to their hands.  

And then his back hit the bed, Jack following soon after, filling the room with laughter. The two of them stared at the ceiling, hand in hand. There were about a million thoughts running through Rhys' head, but only one through Jack's.

Rhys was his boyfriend.

He was finally his.

Jack looked to his side in awe, eyes trailing along the loose strands of hair on the side of Rhys' face and towards his mismatched eyes. He noticed the light furrow of his brows, but it was there for merely a second before Rhys blinked, as if something had just dawned on him, "Wait, does this mean-"

"That we're dating? Hell to the yeah." Jack finished the sentence, the two finally maintaining eye contact thanks to their undeniable affection towards one another.

"Am I dreaming?"

"I dunno, but it'd be a pretty cool dream to have. Dating the one and only Jack Lawrence, the best guy you could possibly ever dream of."

"Okay, it's not a dream." Rhys exclaimed. Jack squinted his eyes at the boy as he asked, "And how do you know that?"

"Because in my dreams you do less talking and more-" Rhys quickly stopped himself before he'd blurt out any more embarrassing things. Admitting that he's had a dream or two about Jack was embarrassing enough. He didn't need to know what they were about.

"More of what? Rhysie, come on, you're killing me here."

Rhys tried to think of anything that wouldn't sound... strange, to say the least. However, he could not come up with anything at the spot, so he let out a mumble, "Cuddling."

Jack let out an excited, "Oh." and with a quick tug here, a soft pull there, the two of them were suddenly in each other’s intimate presence, their foreheads against one another, arms and legs a tangled mess. Jack couldn't keep the smile off his face as he asked, "Like this? Is- is this okay?"

"Yeah."

They laid there for a while, with Jack unable to keep his eyes off of Rhys, studying his face, trying his best to memorize this moment. And Rhys fought his exhaustion to keep his eyes open for just a bit longer, but he felt content with the warmth beside him. Jack’s arm hung just behind his head, his chin on top. No amount of closeness could satisfy the butterflies in his stomach. Rhys was on the edge of drifting into a deep slumber when just a few words from his new boyfriend made him grin like an idiot, "This is nice. I like it. We should do it more often."

"Mmhm," Rhys quietly agreed, burying his face deeper into his new favorite pillow, the faint sound of Jack's heartbeat the last thing he heard before he finally gave in, snoring soundly in Jack’s arms.

His peaceful sleep was, however, soon interrupted by a knock on the door. Jack impulsively sprang off the bed, resulting in him falling onto the ground and making Rhys much grumpier by the lack of warmth next to him. The door opened a second later, Rhys looking very displeased at his parent, "Mom! Some privacy, please!"

"Oh, sorry. I was wondering if Jack wanted some tea or hot chocolate."

"That sounds great!" Jack exclaimed, still laying on the ground, "Thank you, Mrs. Strongfork!"

Rhys' mom scanned the room, puzzled by the disembodied voice. Rhys pointed at the floor beside his bed. "Oh, are you alright there, Jack?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, don't mind me. I thought I saw a spider crawl under here. Crazy how fast these things can be."

Rhys and his mom shared a look, "Well, if you happen to find him, do tell him to come downstairs in a bit." She closed the door after that, allowing the two some breathing room.

"Sorry, I panicked. I don't know how eager you are to tell your parents." Jack admitted, finally standing up from the ground.

"Tell them about what?"

"Us? Dating?"

"Oh." Rhys let out, "Oh! Sorry. I mean, if it's alright with you, I'd wait and see how things go." He rose from the bed, fixing Jack's disheveled hair from the fall, "Now, which one is it gonna be? Tea or hot chocolate? My mom hates waiting."

"Whichever’s as sweet as you, cupcake."

"I mean, you can put sugar in whichever-"

"Just pick one for me." Jack laughed; his gaze fixated on Rhys' flustered face.

"Okay. Hot chocolate it is then."

Chapter Text

Nothing could've prepared Rhys for the worried looks he got when he finally came back to school. The week before had been hell; constant visits to the hospital and meeting with different manufacturers for his new cybernetic arm.

Nothing could've prepared him for Jack's overprotective nature when people got too close, either. Was it embarrassing? Sure. But it earned Jack a whole lot of hugs, cuddles and holding hands when the two were finally alone. It seemed like life was finally back on track for Rhys. Both of them, really.

Better yet, fall break was around the corner, and Rhys couldn't wait to spend it at Jack's place.

Or at least that's what he thought he would do. "Mom! I can't go!"

"Why? You haven't seen your grandmother in ages! And besides, the whole family will be there." Rhys' mom argued, packing the suitcase in her bedroom, "A change of scenery is always good, Rhys. You'll get to talk to your cousins again!"

"But- but-"

"Rhys," His dad warned, standing in the hallway with a stern look, "It's only for a few days."

Rhys bit his tongue, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to win this argument. Not unless he told them the truth about why he couldn't go.

As much as he wanted the whole world to know, his relationship with Jack was still fresh. Untested. Unproven. For goodness’ sake, they haven't even kissed yet! Rhys tried not to let it bother him. He knew that rushing things was never good. But he couldn't help worrying once in a while, wondering if maybe Jack regretted his decision to date Rhys.

"Fine," Rhys admitted defeat, running off into his room as a declaration of his unhappiness. Life was cruel. Why would his parents decide on such a trip? During fall break, nonetheless; the only time he could finally spend some alone time with Jack. Aside from when they hung out after school, that is.

He let out an exasperated sigh, flopping on his bed like a diva and fishing out his phone from his pocket. No amount of convincing his parents would change their mind, which meant that Jack needed to know about their change of plans.

R: :(

Before Rhys had the time to properly explain what happened, his phone vibrated in his hand. Jack was already calling him.

"Hey."

"Are you okay? Did something happen? Should I call an ambulance? Should I *not" call an ambulance? Are you hurt? Do I need to-"

"I'm okay." Rhys smiled to himself, holding the phone to his ear. "But I do have some bad news."

The line went silent. Rhys wondered about the best way to rip the band-aid off. Probably getting straight to the point. "I won't be home during fall break."

"Yeah, cause you'll be at my house."

"No, that's not it." Rhys stared at the windowsill in his room, collecting his thoughts, "I- my parents decided that it would be a good idea to visit my family across the country. Listen, I know how shitty this sounds. I don't want to go. But I can't convince them to let me stay."

Silence again.

"You there?"

"Yeah. I'm just trying to think of what to do. Is there even a teeny-tiny possibility they'd let you?"

"No. Not unless I tell them about..." *Us*, Rhys never finished. He heard Jack groan on the other side, unable to deduce the true reason why. Was it the last-minute information about Rhys not being able to stay behind? Or was it because he wasn't ready to tell his parents yet? "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, pumpkin. This isn't your fault."

"Yeah, I guess. I just wish this didn't have to happen. Or that they told me earlier. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Can't you pretend like you're sick or something?"

"No, that wouldn't work. We'd probably all stay behind, and mom wouldn't let me leave the house."

"Do you wanna get kidnapped?" Jack suggested with a sultry voice, earning a hum of approval from Rhys, "By you? Always. But I'm pretty sure your house is the first one they'd barge into."

"How long are you gonna be away?"

"The whole break. Mom said we'll be back by Sunday afternoon though. So I guess it's not that bad."

"That's three entire days, Rhysie," Jack let out a sigh, "I'm gonna die without you."

Rhys giggled, knowing that Jack wasn't serious about his statement. This would be the first time since the two of them started dating that they'd be apart for longer than a day. "Don't be dramatic. I'll bring you a souvenir."

"Is the souvenir going to be a one-armed hottie that gives the best cuddles?"

"Maybe."

Rhys heard Jack laugh on the other side, which brought a smile to his face. He was glad Jack was taking it well and not freaking out. Rhys would've thought he'd come barging down the doors of his house to convince his parents to let him stay, which would've made things very hard to explain. "I gotta go pack my things. I'll text you when I'm done."

"Mhm. I'll be out on my run, so I might text you later."

"Okay. Love you."

Rhys hung up the phone.

Jack looked at the screen, his brows furrowed.

Panic started settling in.

It was a slip of the mind, right? Completely unintentional? Or maybe a force of habit?

What habit? Who else would Rhys tell "love you" to when ending the call?

So maybe he meant it? Was Jack supposed to say it back? Did he want to say it back?

Did he love Rhys?

Jack did not appreciate having two workouts at once. One for his body, the other for his mind. Even less so when he was forced into them.

As he rounded the corner of the street block, headphones in ears, he could feel a chill run up his spine. The end of October was strangely colder than usual, the trees already missing their colors. Jack could feel the chilly air burn his lungs as he continued his run, his mind doing a marathon on its own. He definitely should've texted Rhys first. But what would he say? He liked Rhys. But it was too early to tell if he loved him.

Jack didn't even know what loving someone meant. His past relationships were never as fulfilling as this one. Sure, he's dated Rhys for a few weeks now, but that didn't mean he knew where this relationship was heading.

Wouldn’t kill him to get set his head straight. Especially if he didn’t want to hurt Rhys. Once you’re in a relationship, you’re already past the point of uncertainty, right?

There was only one small problem though.

They haven't even kissed yet.

They were dating, which meant that they liked each other. Which consequentially meant that their first kiss was supposed to come fast and naturally, right?

Wrong.

Jack could count on one hand all the times he fumbled the bag, completely missed Rhys' hint, and only realized it hours later when the perfect moment had already passed. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why he couldn't do it. Kissing Rhys for the first time shouldn't be rocket science.

He heard a notification go off in his headphones, which stopped him mid-run. A message from Rhys.

R: sorry if that was weird, it was a slip up

Jack took a deep breath, knowing that he should not be responding until he’d cleared his head, but he couldn't leave Rhys on read.

J: did you mean to say it?

He waited for Rhys' response for quite a while, clenching and unclenching his jaw as time passed. He decided to wait whilst finishing his evening run, knowing that mixing sweat and the cold weather wouldn't give him good results later.

Not even when he came back home and took a shower was there a reply waiting for him. Jack worried that maybe his question came off as insensitive. He went to message Rhys, to clarify the meaning of it, but stopped when he saw the three dots pop up.

R: I did

Jack couldn't help but feel a tingle in his stomach, and an earnest smile spread across his face. He didn't want Rhys to feel ashamed of his feelings. Not now, not ever.

J: then it wasn't a slip up <3

R: <3
R: I'm all packed up, but there's no room left for you :(

J: how dare you, I thought you were taking me with you >:(
J: I'm gonna miss you tho :'(

R: I'm gonna miss you too <3

Two days in without Rhys and Jack thought he'd go insane.

To elaborate, he couldn't wrap his head around how he could be missing someone as much as this. Hell, he didn't even miss his own parents nor Timothy as much as he missed Rhys.

Jack ran his hand through his hair as he lay in his bed, the clock in the corner of his screen reading half past one in the morning. He could tell Rhys was slowly falling asleep by the time it took him to respond, yet Jack couldn't help but go re-read their previous messages, looking at the countless selfies Rhys had sent him as compensation for being so far away. Jack engrained each one into memory, hoping that when he'd eventually fall asleep that night, it would be to a dream where he was together with his boyfriend.

Half a day and they'd see each other again, Jack reminded himself.

The last day of Fall Break must've been the coldest one yet. Jack didn't mind though, knowing that he could always put on some layers if it got too bad. When he woke up that morning, albeit a little too late to still call it morning, he meticulously counted down the hours until he'd see Rhys again. He prayed there wouldn't be any bad traffic, an emergency or any other catastrophe that would ruin their reunion.

A short walk and a bus ride later, Jack could no longer contain his excitement. He ran down the streets, fueled by his need to have Rhys in his arms, and when he rounded that one specific corner and saw him standing on the front porch, Jack slowed down his pace, mesmerized by how pretty Rhys looked basking in the golden hour.

"Heya, handsome," Rhys said, leaning against the railings. Jack wondered how long he must've waited there, wearing no jacket, shuddering from the cold. Jack let out chuckle, pulling Rhys into an embrace as soon as he was close enough, "Hey, cupcake."

"I missed you." Rhys leaned into the crook of his neck, melting from Jack's delicate touch. Jack let out a breathy chuckle, running his hand across Rhys' back, "I missed you, too. Let's get inside, I can tell you've been freezing your ass off."

Rhys intertwined their fingers, sneakily guiding Jack up the stairs into his bedroom before his parents could even acknowledge the boy's presence. Rhys closed the door as quietly as possible, locking it, holding out his finger so Jack wouldn't talk yet. He put his ear to the door, intently listening to his parents' conversation, or at least what little he could make out. 

They didn't know a thing. Good.

A gentle hand wrapped around Rhys' waist, easing the worries in his mind. Jack turned him around, gently caressing his thumb over Rhys' hand. A moment later, the two laid in silence on Rhys' bed, each with a headphone in one ear, listening to their shared playlist and comfortable in each other's presence. Whilst Jack played with Rhys' hair, the younger boy made sure to keep himself occupied by studying every detail, every crook, and every callus of Jack's hand, holding it to his cheek when he'd had enough. He briefly pressed his lips over Jack's knuckles, giving his hand a light peck before he returned to his deep study.

Jack eyed his hand for a moment, taken aback by the gesture. Was this a spur of the moment thing? Or was Rhys trying to tell him something? "Does it bother you?"

"Hmm?" Rhys let out as he curved his head up, looking at Jack out of curiosity, "Does what bother me?"

"That we haven't..." Jack paused for a moment, gulping down his nervousness from the approaching subject, "kissed."

"Does it bother *you*?" Rhys answered with a question, letting Jack's hand rest on his cheek. A soft blush crept up onto his face when Jack ran his fingers across his lips, mismatched eyes staring intently into his.

"I thought it wouldn't, but it kind of does." Jack admitted. Rhys couldn't lie, he felt relief wash over him when Jack said that. Guess he wasn't the only one. But the relief quickly faded when Jack continued, "I mean, it's not like I don't want to. You're a great guy, Rhysie-"

"But?"

"But I don't feel like I'm ready. No, that's- that's not it. I feel like if I tried to kiss you, I'd just ruin the moment. I don't know, I'm not even sure of what I'm saying." Jack shared his absurd fears, the supportive smile across Rhys' features quickly turning into laughter. Jack felt confused, pathetic, even a little angry that his boyfriend would laugh at him like this. That is until Rhys explained himself, "Sorry. That's the last thing I would've expected you to say."

"Huh?"

"If that's the reason you don't wanna kiss me, then fine. I'm fine with that. I mean, as fine as I can be. If you feel nervous about it, then don't. It's just the two of us."

"You're not worried?"

"About what? We kiss, we don't kiss. Who cares? The world won't fall apart." Jack tried to take Rhys' words to heart, but it still bothered him. He wanted to be with Rhys more than anything. So, what was he so afraid of? There was no possibility of rejection, nor humiliation. Rhys was his and he was Rhys', it would take a different kind of betrayal to separate them.

"I have an idea that might help you." Rhys sat up across from him, smiling like he turned mad. He caressed Jack's face in his hand, planting a light peck on his lips, "There. Happy? Now you don't have to worry about a thing."

"That doesn't count-"

"It doesn't? Then let me take that back." Rhys smiled before repeating his action, letting his lips linger on Jack's just a second long enough for them both to crave the touch of the other. Jack slid his hands around Rhys' waist, refusing to let him escape his personal space. And Rhys stayed there, like a prey caught in a trap, their foreheads pressed against one another, "You're killing me here, cupcake."

"That wasn't my intention." Rhys giggled, his hand never having left Jack's face. He rubbed his thumb over his boyfriend's cheek, smiling like an idiot. Just then, a great idea popped into his head, "Hey, why don't we do just that?"

"What?"

"You're afraid of ruining our first kiss, right? Then let's practice it. And once you're satisfied with one of them, then that one will be our first one."

"I'm not sure that's how it works-"

"It can. I mean, it's not like we have to follow the rules." Rhys argued, holding onto Jack's arm, "Technically, we're already breaking a few. My parents don't know you're here, so you're basically breaking and entering."

Jack scoffed at the idea of him being anything but welcome at the Strongfork residence, "Yeah right. Your parents love me. Pretty sure that even if you were grounded, they'd still let me in just so they could hang out with me cause of how cool and awesome I am."

"Are you confident in that statement?"

"As confident as I am about this." Jack gave Rhys a light peck on his lips, surprising the younger boy. Rhys blinked a few times, trying to ground himself back in reality. Jack just kissed him. By his own volition. Or at least attempted it. There was still some progress to be made. "So, not so confident, then," Rhys joked.

"You dick," Jack laughed, pulling Rhys into a tight embrace.

When school began again, Rhys couldn't believe how many exams the teachers could cram into one day. He wondered what the quota of necessary grades was, not used to having to study for four separate classes in one evening. He could feel his brain frying from information overload, both at home and at school.

During one of the many achingly lengthy Econ lessons, he shared a look of boredom with Jack. What the teacher was on about was already beyond them, the two unable to focus on anything he said.

Jack turned his head to Rhys, resting it on his arms as he eyed the boy with interest. When he had been caught staring, however, Rhys gave him a worried smile. Jack flashed his signature grin at his boyfriend, wiggling his eyebrows to get a reaction. Rhys simply smiled, rolled his eyes, and turned his fleeting attention towards the teacher.

A moment later, and there was a note near Rhys' hand. He sneakily opened it, furrowing his brows at the message. "Basement during lunch break?" He turned his head to Jack, who quietly clasped his hands together, pleading for his invitation to be accepted. Rhys wondered if this had anything to do with their recent agreement to practice their first kiss, or if Jack had other plans. Nevertheless, he nodded his head, excitement welling up deep in his stomach.

When the bell finally rang and they were free to leave the class, it took all the restraint in Jack's body not to carry Rhys into the basement in his arms. It's like the boy knew exactly what Jack planned to do, teasing him with his overly sluggish pace. And when Jack had enough, he intertwined their fingers, eagerly dragging Rhys down the school hallway and the all too familiar staircase, locking the door to the storage room behind them.

"So, what did you want to show me?" Rhys asked, leaning on the desk Jack found himself occupying during the countless days when he'd tinker with the electronics he found around the place. Jack winked his way, holding his finger up to his mouth so Rhys wouldn't speak. The surprise Jack had prepared waited by the desk, and with a simple press of a button, the radio that they had previously deemed broken roared to life, playing a catchy and soft pop tune. "You fixed it? When? How?"

"Well, I had a lot of time to spare when you weren't around, so I asked a few shops around town if they couldn't help me out. It wasn't anything complicated, though."

"You're amazing." Rhys smiled as Jack's hands wrapped around his waist, holding him in place. Jack grinned back at him, a taint of red on his ears, "Really?"

Rhys cradled Jack's face in his hand, looking directly into his eyes, "Yes, Jack. Really." A look of embarrassment flashed across Jack's face, uncharacteristically flustered by Rhys' devoted attention. He gradually leaned down towards Rhys, pressing their foreheads against one another, their lips barely brushing past each other. Before he even had the chance to second-guess himself, Rhys finished the connection, his intention to make the kiss memorable evident by his need to have Jack as close as possible, greedily tugging at his shirt. Jack tilted his head to deepen their kiss, holding onto Rhys with pure want and devotion.

When they finally parted, both respectively out of breath, Jack's gaze never left Rhys' lips. Almost like they were inviting him back for more. "Does that count as our first kiss?" Rhys asked.

"Not quite." Jack whispered, going in for seconds, thirds, and so on; unable to satiate his undying need to claim dominance over Rhys' lips. Was it too late to tell him Jack had already stopped caring about their first kiss? Probably. But he couldn't help himself.

When December rolled around, and Jack thought that nothing could ruin his pre-Christmas mood-- or more of a pre-"spend the Christmas break with Rhys" mood, he quickly found out that their relationship was most possibly revolving around Murphy's law. Everything that could go wrong would go wrong. It wasn't miscommunication, nor their personalities clashing. Jack thought the world of Rhys, and he knew Rhys felt the same. But it seemed like the universe just wanted them apart.

R: :(

J: what's wrong??
J: did something happen?
J: are you hurt?

R: I won't make it today
R: I'm grounded

Jack felt a surge of anger followed by confusion.

J: what??? why??

R: econ exams
R: dad thinks it's gonna do me good if he forces me to shut myself away from the world so I'll get better grades
R: I failed the last one, that's why

J: then just say something along the lines of how I'm gonna help you study
J: or something
J: idk

R: I did
R: then he doubled down on how I'm spending too much time with you
R: said that it's cause of you that my grades are shit
R: can you believe that???

Of course his dad would say something like that. Jack saw it as well. Rhys' half year grades were... something else. And he desperately needed a tutor. Both of them did, really.

J: I can

R: not you too?? >:(

J: I'll be there soon
J: I'm gonna have a talk with your dad
J: or beat him up
J: depends on my mood

R: pls don't
R: he's already angry as it is

J: too bad, I'm already on my way :)

Grades be damned, Jack wasn't about to let Rhys being grounded ruin the date he had planned.

Jack walked up to the house, fixed his collar, and politely knocked on the door twice before he hurriedly rang the bell. Rhys wasn't answering, for obvious reasons. So it was only a matter of time before his dad would.

"Jack? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hiya Mr. Strongfork, I just came by to pick up Rhys. We were supposed to look over new material from-"

"Don't you kids have phones? I thought he already told you he's grounded."

Jack's mouth halted at the man's rude answer, desperately trying to think of some sort of comeback, "He did tell me. But given the reason for why he's grounded, I thought it'd be better if we went over what he missed on that econ exam-"

"Well, you thought wrong. Also, was it the new material or the exam you wanted to go over? Pick one or the other, kid. Stop wasting my time."

"Both?"

"The answer's still no," Rhys' dad said before shutting the door, leaving Jack to freeze outside.

J: Your dad's a dick

R: told you so!!!
R: he's only nice when he wants to be

J: I'm gonna hang at Nisha's
J: maybe you can sneak out ;)

R: unlikely
R: he's gonna be suspicious now that you showed up
R: this is the worst...

Jack pushed his phone into his pocket, giving Rhys' house one last good look before he made his way to the next one over, eagerly ringing the doorbell. Nisha answered soon after, letting him in with a snort, "Nice of you to visit."

"Is that sarcasm?"

"I saw you getting your ass kicked by the kid's dad, figured you'd come crawling here."

"Crawling? We're friends, Nish! I'm here to see you!"

"Uh-huh, sure. You keep telling yourself that," she half-mindedly returned to the living room, resuming the movie she must've been watching before the commotion outside interrupted her. Jack soon joined her on the couch, watching the door like a hawk, expecting Rhys to just pop up and say, "Hey, honey! I managed to convince my asshole dad to let me out of the house! Nothing can stand in the way of our love!"

Love.

Did Jack love Rhys?

"You know, you glaring at that door might be funny in theory, but even this shit show they're putting on TV has to have a better storyline than whatever's going on inside your head."

"Nisha, I am not in the mood."

"Then what the hell are you doing here, huh? I'm clearly not the one you wanna be hanging out with. I mean, I could call the other gonzo, see if he can smash some sense into that thick skull of yours. Rhys clearly doesn't wanna hang out with you today, so what's the big deal?"

"He does. That's the thing. We were supposed to go on a date. It was supposed to be perfect..."

"And?"

"He's grounded," Jack said with venom on his tongue, staring daggers at the door like it was the only thing separating him and Rhys. Clearly it wasn't. Add Rhys' dad, the door to his house- or the entirety of the house, to the list. If Jack wanted to see Rhys that day instead of having to wait two entire days to see him again at school, he needed to come up with a plan. "Hey, you don't happen to have a ladder somewhere that I could borrow for a while, do you?"

"I do. In the shed out back. Which you will clean up if you're even remotely thinking of borrowing it," Nisha narrowed her eyes at Jack, watching him scramble to unlock his phone, already texting his boyfriend.

J: I'm coming over
J: open your window
J: don't say anything to your dad tho

Jack didn't even manage to say thanks before he was out the door. It took him quite a while to find the ladder amongst the heaps of useless junk in the shed, having to take out tyres and such before he could eventually even spot the necessary object required for his quest. It took him even longer to drag it across the snowy sidewalk to the back of Rhys' house, careful enough so he wouldn't be spotted through the windows. Thankfully, the sun was already setting over the horizon; a given for winter when the days were excruciatingly short compared to the rest of the year. But that also meant he had a limited window of light to get the ladder in the right spot and climb up to Rhys', well, window.

"Are you kidding?!" Jack let out as soon as he noticed that the ladder had just barely missed the second floor. He shuddered from the cold, hiding his hands in his jacket for a brief moment as he calculated the best way to get to the window. Shimmying over was a no-go, there was nowhere for him to stand, and he was definitely not jumping from one window to another. The only solution was to jump off the ladder and hopefully have enough strength to pull himself up. It was a risky move, but the reward? Priceless.

He carefully climbed up the ladder, the stability of it more questionable the further up he went. He stood up on his tiptoes, head barely level with the bottom of the window.

Rhys was in his room. Good.

Jack knocked on the window three times before it finally opened, the cold air from outside drifting straight into the room. He held onto the windowsill, the ladder shaky underneath his cold feet, "Hi."

"Hey," Rhys answered, unable to hide his smile, "What are you doing here? I thought you went to Nisha's."

"Didn't you read my text?"

With a heavy sigh, Rhys shook his head, leaning over the window, "No. Dad took my phone as soon as you left. You wanna come in?"

"Oh, no, I'm perfectly comfortable just standing here, freezing my ass off. You look really pretty from this angle, by the way." Jack smirked, holding out his hand, "Come on, help me up, cupcake."

"Rhys? Who are you talking to?!" The two of them became alerted at the voice behind the door, Rhys trying his best to hold onto Jack who was just barely holding onto the windowsill, his feet no longer supported by the ladder. Panicked, Rhys quickly tried to come up with something as to not rouse any suspicion from his father, "No one! I'm just reading out loud!"

"Reading?"

"Uh, yeah! There's these new lines we gotta learn for theater class, you know how it is!"

Silence followed his explanation, the pair sharing a look of worry. With each second that passed, Jack's hand slowly began slipping out of Rhys' grasp, their bodies full of adrenaline. Rhys prayed that his dad wouldn't burst into his room and catch them in the middle of whatever this was. He was not ready to explain why one of his "supposed" friends seemed to not understand the concept of boundaries and was currently trying to break into the house.

But to reiterate, their story revolved around Murphy's law.

"Wait, you don't have theater class!" Rhys' father burst through the door, forcing Rhys to let go of Jack's hand, who just barely caught himself on the ladder in time. His weight, however, shook the entire ladder off the side of the house, sending Jack flying off the only support he had and falling straight onto the ground.

He lay there, his fall broken by the heaps of snow in the garden, his heart refusing to calm down. His eyes stayed fixated on the window in which stood Rhys, the boy nearly leaping out to go help Jack.

Jack was right, Rhys looked really pretty from that angle.

He lay there, entranced, unable to move from his spot. There was nowhere else Jack would've rather been than lying on the snowy ground, staring up at the most beautiful human being, thinking that it couldn't get any better than this.

And he lay there, laughing like a madman, unable to contain himself. He wanted to scream it into the world, he wanted to whisper it into the boy's ear. He wanted to spray it on the walls of this shitty town, he wanted to write it in a letter dedicated to him and only *him*.

He was in love with Rhys Strongfork.

"Are you okay? Did you break anything?" Rhys came rushing to his side soon after, a coat and a scarf hastily thrown around him. He knelt down next to the giggly mess, anticipating the worst; Jack got a concussion.

But when he was pulled into the snow, arms wrapped around him, Rhys couldn't help but laugh along.

It felt great.

Their laughter slowly died down, cheeks hurting from the sting of cold air and their never-ending smiles. Jack cradled Rhys' face in his cold hands, the boy suddenly flustered from the affectionate look that came across Jack's eyes. "We should get up. Dad's gonna see us," Rhys expressed his concern, his sudden disappearance from the house most probably raising some red flags. Jack on the other hand felt no worry; mismatched eyes focused on Rhys, to engrave this moment into his memory. "I don't care," he said, tugging Rhys closer. His lips remained close to Rhys', warm breath escaping his mouth before he finally gave in, rushing to capture Rhys' trembling lips in his and finally finding some warmth in this cold weather.

Rhys didn't know why this kiss felt so different from the previous ones. It wasn't the fact that his father could see them, or the cool air biting their cheeks, or that it was Jack who initiated the kiss. It was something else, something intangible, some reason he couldn’t grasp with his mind. 

Something about Jack.

And when he pulled away, staring into Jack's eyes, even then he couldn't quite pinpoint what this reason could be, or where it came from.

Jack gave him a moony smile, rolling Rhys onto his back so he'd be on top, snow flying off his jacket, "You're the best thing that's happened to me, Rhys. You know that?"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Rhys worriedly ran his fingers through Jack's wet hair, searching for a bump on his head. That kiss felt so surreal, Rhys couldn't help but wonder where the catch was. But Jack could only laugh at his boyfriend's worried expression, pulling Rhys' hand away from his hair. "You don't get the irony in this?"

"...No?"

"I fell for you."

Rhys pouted his lips, unable to connect the dots, "Yeah? That's why I'm trying to see if you didn't hurt yourself."

"No, Rhys," Jack shook his head, a sweet smile still lingering on his face, his voice like honey, "I fell for you. I'm in love with you. I-love-you." He dug his pointer onto Rhys' chest, where the other boy's heart threatened to burst out. Rhys' eyes widened, searching Jack's for any sign of a lie, deceit, or trickery. Anything that would point him to the obvious- that he was dreaming. But no, this was no longer something he had to dream about. It was as real as it could be; Jack's words akin to hooks dug deep into Rhys' heart and anchoring it to the only place where it belonged. "You... You do?"

"Yeah. I- sorry it took so long. I mean, there's no one else I'd rather climb the side of a house for- might as well stop kicking myself over what I'm feeling. I love you, Rhys." 

"Pinch me? Just in case."

Jack pulled at Rhys' cheek, careful not to hurt him, and sneakily slid his fingers behind Rhys' head to push him up and into another kiss. Was it of any significance? Maybe not to someone else. But for Jack, it sealed his words into existence. And for Rhys, it was akin to a tug, a wakeup call, a lull calling him into the perfect, dreamy life.

"I love you, too, Jack."