It started out as an innocent kiss, stolen behind a tree. Both of you hesitant at first, your faces red - two people who knew nothing about love and who were experiencing it for the first time.
Then the kisses began happening more often. Away from other people's sight, in the corner of a dark hallway or behind the school building during lunch time. Followed by a squeeze of the hand, a tender glance in each other's eyes.
It went on that way for a month. Every second spent with Todd made you the happiest person in the world, and you were always impatient for class to end so that the two of you could spend a couple of minutes together hidden behind a bush or inside the janitor's closet.
But soon, you found yourself frustrated - frustrated to not be able to be out in the open, to hold hands in public, to exchange a kiss before going inside the classroom, to hold yourselves in each other's arms without worrying about what other people would say.
All of that because of your brother.
Charlie had made it crystal clear to everyone on your first day at Welton that whoever got too close to his sibling would immediately regret it. You were only a year younger than him, but he still acted very protective of you, which would often push you to yours limits. You got along with everyone in his group of friends - Knox, Meeks, Pitts, Neil and Todd. For almost all of them your feelings stopped at the "friends" level and he knew that very well, yet he'd always make a disapproving remark whenever you were left alone with one of the guys.
As much as you appreciated Charlie trying to protect you from the guys who would try to grope you in the hallway or stuff like that, you really hated it when he kept you from spending time with your friends.
And because he acted like this, you knew that there were zero chances of him approving of your relationship with Todd.
Of course, Todd knew all of this, and he had grown a bit terrified of Charlie. He'd often start panicking when the two of you were talking about him, wondering what would happen if your brother found out. But you always managed to calm him down, convincing him that Charlie had no say in your personal life.
Then one day, as the two of you were snogging behind the school building, you pecked at your boyfriend's lips and then whispered, "Todd?"
"Hmm?"
"I - I think - " You shook your head, trying to force the words out of your mouth.
"What's the matter?" He sat up, looking at you straight in the eye with a worried look scrunching his face. "Is there something wrong?"
"I think that we need to stop hiding. I think that it's about time we let everyone know that we're a couple - "
"No!"
You jumped, startled by his sudden shout. He bit his lip and looked away, his face flushing red.
"But - Todd! We can't go on like this forever. I can't go on like this forever. It's too hard for me not to be able to hold your hand when we're sitting next to each other, or to just - act normally! To be myself!"
"Charlie will kill me," Todd said in a tremulous voice. "I - I - he's going to be furious and - "
"If he even simply threatens you, you won't be the one getting hurt," you retorted. "I won't let him ruin our relationship, and I certainly won't let him harm you!"
Unfortunately, your brother had an incredibly hard time containing himself when he was angry - and it just got even worse when it came to you. He'd already punched one of your friends, Arthur, who'd simply hugged you in a friendly way. Since then Arthur had distanced himself from you and you barely spoke to each other. Another time, Charlie had slammed a guy against the wall for asking you on a date and would have probably beaten him up, had the bell ringing not forced him to go to chemistry class.
You knew that the instant he found out that you and Todd had been in a secret relationship for weeks, he'd go absolutely bonkers - but you also knew that you were not going to let him, of all people, control your life when it came to your love life.
"Todd, look at me. Look at me!" You gently cupped his cheek with your hand and forced him to meet your gaze. "Charlie has no right to stop me from being with you. And I love you, and I want to be with you, and that's how it's going to be regardless of what he thinks!"
Todd opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out, and he looked away, shaking his head.
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling lunchtime.
"This conversation isn't over, Todd" you declared as you stood up.
When the two of you arrived in the dining room, you saw your friends sitting at the end of the long table, with two empty spaces saved for you. Knox and Meeks were having a passionate debate about the right way to hold a fork and a knife, with Pitts as a passive moderator, while Neil, Charlie and Cameron were trash talking Mr. Slateford, your geography teacher.
You sat down beside your brother and Todd took a seat next to you, so that you were now sitting between Charlie and him. Your leg lightly brushed his but he retreated it like it'd burnt him, blowing a flash of pain to your heart. You glanced at him with a hurt look, which made him blush.
"Sooooo, how's my favorite sister?" suddenly asked Charlie, headlocking you.
"Hey!" you laughed, trying to wriggle your way out, but there was no need to as right then, Mr. Nolan stood up to say grace and all of you imitated him, forcing your brother to let go.
After which the noisy chatter took on again.
"Boy, it's only one pm," whined Steven, who'd apparently lost the debate against Knox. "And I'm already dying inside."
"Same here," yawned Cameron, which earned him an eye roll from Charlie.
"Has anyone been to the new bookstore lately? You know, the one they opened in town?"
"Nerd. Who goes to book stores?"
"I do, Charlie."
"Haven't you got better stuff to do than read?"
You zoned out from the conversation and turned towards Todd. He shyly smiled, as if to apologize for his gesture earlier. Your eyes fell to the wine red tablecloth covering the table, which fell way over its edge, landing in folds on your thighs. You also noticed that Todd had his hands on his knees. And an idea popped inside your mind.
Pulling the tablecloth even more over your legs, you slipped your hand beneath and found Todd's. His eyes widened and he tried tugging it away, but you held on tight.
"Charlie," he whispered in a barely audible voice.
"He won't notice anything," you reassured him. After a few seconds, your boyfriend relaxed a little and took a bite of his food, keeping his warm hand in yours.
"Y/N?"
"Yeah?"
"Where were you before lunchtime?" asked Knox. "I looked for you everywhere. We were all supposed to study for latin but couldn't find you."
Oops.
You'd forgotten about that.
Instead you'd gone with Todd to cuddle behind the school building.
"Oh... right. I'm so sorry, I forgot."
"Don't worry about it. But where were you?"
"Yeah, and you, Todd?" asked Neil. "We were wondering where both of you had gone."
Todd abruptly pulled his hand away from under the table, and you were unable to stop the heat from creeping up to your cheeks. Your face went all red, and that's when you noticed Charlie staring furiously at you.
Your blushing was basically a confession. His eyes darted back and forth from you to Todd, and very slowly, he stood up.
"Charlie, it's not what you think," you started, but it was already too late. Your brother grabbed your boyfriend by the collar, practically lifting him up from his seat, and shouted in his face:
"WHAT DID YOU DO? HUH? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YOU BASTARD? YOU STAY AWAY FROM Y/N, YOU HEAR ME? !"
Around you all of the students had gotten up to see what was happening, and right as Charlie was about to punch poor Todd, whose face was all pale, Mr. Keating grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him away.
"Now, now, everyone calm down!" barked Mr. Nolan, and the entire dining room hushed. You wrapped your arms around Todd, hugging him tightly against you. He was shaking like a leaf, and you would've sworn that you could hear his heartbeat.
"Mr. Slateford, Mr. Browns, will you be so kind as to accompany Mr. Dalton to my office?" started Nolan, only to be interrupted by Mr. Keating.
"If I may - I think a simple talk will suffice, sir."
And before the headmaster could say anything, he grabbed your brother by the arm and headed out of the dining room. "Charlie!" you called out, but he ignored you.
Grumbling, Nolan turned towards the rest of you. "Sit back down!" he ordered, before heading back to his own table, followed by the professors.
Meanwhile you still were holding Todd in your arms. He'd buried his face in the crook of your neck, and you rubbed his back, whispering in his ear that everything was fine, that Charlie wouldn't hurt him.
"You all right there, Todd?" asked Neil as he patted his shoulder.
"Y-Yeah..."
Todd looked up at the rest of the guys, then his eyes met yours. He seemed to relax a little, and then laughed nervously.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Then suddenly, without warning, he leaned down and kissed you.
A bunch of deafening whooping that not even Nolan could stop erupted from the cafeteria as you melted into the kiss. Finally, you thought. No need to hide anymore.
After what seemed like three times the eternity, you parted from him. You'd never seen Todd look so happy - he was smiling from ear to ear, half laughing as he held you tenderly in his arms.
From the corner of your eye, you spotted Charlie and Keating coming back inside, and for a second you worried again, but to your great surprise, your brother smiled and turned to Todd.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it..."
"No, really. I'm sorry." He paused. "But I will break your neck if you hurt Y/N," he added with an innocent grin, before heading back to his seat next to your other friends.
Holding hands with Todd, you sat back down and rested your head against his shoulder as your fingers intertwined with his.