wiped out! - snowbaz

2 - simon

        

being the new kid is pretty exciting. a new beginning, an opportunity, a fresh start. but my god, isn't baz pitch grumpy?

simon rides the bus home with him, and the whole time he just sits there, listening to his music and not saying anything. and it kinda sucks, 'cause even though he's really... emo, or whatever, he seems like a pretty cool guy. he's kinda tall, taller than simon, but he walks hunched over like he wishes he was shorter. and he's got long hair, like, longer than normal for a boy, and it's really dark. pitch black. ha, pitch.

simon smiles to himself. he's sat in his new room, surrounded by cardboard boxes of his belongings. he moved to hampshire with his mum a few days ago, and he hasn't unpacked yet. the house is nice, a tad small, but better than their old one. at least it doesn't have steve in it.

honestly, simon would rather pretend that steve doesn't exist, that he didn't do what he did and that his mum doesn't have anything to recover from. but he knows that it happened and that there is no way around that. the bruises on his mum's skin are still there. faded, but still there. a reminder of steve's... unfortunate existence.

but simon's got hope. they're here now, and he's made some friends, and he's not failing his classes just yet, so life's pretty damn peachy. the problem is, he's bored. he's done his homework already, and he doesn't have penny's mobile number. or baz's. he'd like to text baz right about now. see what he's up to.

simon can't actually wait to go back to school.

-----

simon makes a real effort the next day. tells himself he's trying to look good for the ladies, when in reality he actually just wants to impress baz. 'cause baz is cool, and he'd like to impress him. yeah. that's right.

so simon gets on the bus, wearing a black hoodie like baz's over his blazer, and he's got some comic books in his bag to read. simon likes comic books a lot. especially batman. huh, baz actually looks a bit like batman, with all those black clothes and a beanie bulled down to his eyebrows. haha, simon could start calling baz bazman if he wanted to. actually, no. baz probably wouldn't like that.

he sits down next to baz, and baz pulls out one earbud.

"morning, snow."

"hey! how are you?"

"dead inside, as usual. copying my style, i see."

"oh yeah, of course. you're like my number one fashion icon. you're like the gigi hadid of black hoodies."

and baz actually laughs. he has a nice laugh, simon notices. sort of like when a dog woofs, but quieter, more of a low gravelly chuckle than a laugh. it feels kinda precious, really, 'cause baz doesn't laugh much. he doesn't really smile much, either. simon decides that he needs to get baz to laugh more. so he cracks a lot of jokes about his comic books, and then baz starts reading along with him.

when they get to school, it's raining. baz pulls up his hood, and starts to run awkwardly towards school, closely followed by simon. but david mage has other ideas. he bounds past simon and pushes baz, hard, off the curb. and then, in what seems like slow motion, baz falls backwards into the huge puddle next to the pavement. everything is soaked, and mage is laughing loudly and calling his friends to look.

simon's vision kinda tunnels at this point, and he finds himself sprinting to catch up with david.

"why the hell would you do that?!"

"ooh, basilton- your boyfriend's here."

baz hisses at him.

simon's stomach clenches, and his cheerful mood shatters into a billion pieces. and then he punches david mage right on his stupid nose.

-----

simon doesn't really know what happens after that. he somehow ends up in his year head's office with a sopping wet baz sat next to him, and mage on the other side of the room clutching a bloody tissue and sporting a purple nose that's practically pulsating. serves him right.

"simon, it's your second day here. you can't just... punch someone. for no reason. we don't promote violence at Watford, you understand that, don't you?"

"of course, sir, but i was... provoked. or at least baz was, and i was standing up for him."

at this, baz shrinks down in his chair, eyes narrowed, looking astonishingly like a wet cat. to add to the picture, he's hissing softly under his breath. baz seems to be pretty good at hissing at situations he doesn't like. hey, maybe he is a cat.

"well, i'm afraid that all of you will be in detention with me for the rest of the week, and i'm going to have to put a referral on the system, but... i suppose i'm going to let you off this time, considering you're new, simon... and your... past. but for god's sake, please try to not punch anyone again?"

"yes, sir. i won't."

-----

"snow, you twit! you got me into detention. goddamn it."

"aw, come on, baz. what else would you possibly be doing during lunchtimes? being sad and not eating, probably."

"i need to keep a good record, though... i gotta- never mind. you wouldn't understand anyway."

"try me."

"god, just shut up, snow."

"baz-" simon tries to grab his shoulder, but baz flinches. actually flinches, like his face screws up and he jumps back. and then his eyes fill with panic, and he starts to walk really fast.

"l-lovely weather, isn't it, snow? very... um... su-sunny."

but it isn't. the sky is slate grey, and fat droplets of rain have started to pattern the concrete below their feet.

"baz? what's wrong? come back," simon jogs to catch up with baz, who is now almost running. and his legs are pretty damn long, so simon's panting and not really thinking about why baz is acting so weird.

but then a thought pops into his head. a thought which doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

"baz. come here."

baz turns around, face fearful. they're inside now, and as luck would have it, there's an empty classroom just to the left of them. simon shoves baz through the door into it and than stands against the door so he can't get out.

"snow, we're supposed to be in class."

"we're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell that was."

"it was nothing. i don't know what you're talking about, i-"

"baz, we're supposed to be friends. c'mon, please tell me, i'm worried about you-"

"who said we're friends? not everything is about you, snow. jesus christ, you may think that the world spins for you, but it doesn't. not everyone wants you around, asking questions and sticking your nose in things that are none of your goddamn business. sod the hell off!"

and then baz storms past him, practically throwing him out of the way. and it looks like he's crying, but that could just be a trick of the light.