Better Sorry than Safe

27.

"Yeah, I'm fine I guess," Sem replied, sneaking in a quick glance in Connor's direction. He'd hoped Connor would be the one asking, but he hadn't said a word besides 'hey.'

"Your friend's too stubborn not to be fine," the nurse lady chimed in from her desk chair.

"Well," Connor cleared his throat, breaking his silence. "If you're alright, I should go. I, uh," Connor vaguely gestured at the door, "Have some urgent things to do."

"Oh... Oh, yeah, sure."

Sem knew it was probably an excuse. Connor was supposed to be having athletics training right now with Lisa. He wanted to ask Connor to please stay longer, to talk, to kiss him. But he refrained, instead mustering up a small, fake smile.

"Thanks for stepping by Con."

Connor gave him a curt nod. His eyes were trained on the floor as he turned, and Sem watched him walk away. He released a deep, longing sigh once Connor was out of sight.

"Hey you sure your brain's fine?" Blake leaned closer to Sem, smirking. "You're like, drooling a little bit."

Sem pushed Blake away with a playful scowl. "Shut up."

"At least you looked good in front of your man out on the field, babe. I mean, Jesus, you just totally went for it all of a sudden," Blake scrunched his nose,"I didn't think you'd be so literally taking punches instead of me."

Sem shrugged. "I didn't expect it to go smoothly anyway. That just doesn't work for me and my motor mouth."

It was strange, though. He'd always thought being outed, everyone knowing he was gay, would be the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Being kicked in the head and knocked out aside, he was... alright. Really alright. Maybe it was just shock and denial, and it hadn't fully gotten through to him yet what he'd done.

How alright he was would also depend on what Nick, and the rest of his team would do next. Woozy and blurry and with the putrid taste of vomit in his mouth, Sem wasn't exactly sure in what state he'd left his teammates and the field behind as he was being dragged off. They could have all picked Matthew's side, wanting to beat both him and Blake up now.

"Blake, what were you even doing at my football training?" Sem asked, the question suddenly occurring to him.

"I came because you needed a push, silly. Some mental support. And, to make you look good in front of your man when you defended me from those brutes of course," Blake replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "As if I'd be at a sport centre for any other reason. Ew. Exercise. Unless it involves a bed, it's just not worth it."

Sem tensed. "What? This was a set up? You're insane!"

"It was not a set up." Blake rolled his eyes, "Like, I didn't know you'd behave like actual cavemen and ram each other in the face. Nor that you'd go off blurting you're gay right there on the field."

"You're still insane."

"I won't argue with that babe. But it worked, no? Did you know Connor was the one who ran to get the coach, and your trainer Ralph? Should've seen the panicked look on his face. And he came to see you at first aid right after. He does care about you."

"Yeah..." Sem looked down at his hand.

"Look," Blake continued, "You wanted him to trust you. Now he's seen you can be, like, a decent human being once every blue moon, defending the cute twink. And you're out and proud, too. Problems solved! Go talk to him, do some kissing, and skip off into the sunset."