A whole year without us, then you're bombarded with us again, you unfortunate beings. We probably won't be able to update for a week or two cause I'll be gone, but we'll see what we can do! And in those two weeks we'll be writing loads anyway :D Enjoy! :)
You know when people say that something is so amazing that it can't be put into words? Well that's exactly how I felt about the showers after coach's insane four hour training sessions. Most of the other guys frequently claimed that the showers were better than sex, but I guess they just never had my kind of sex.
The smell of sweat and deodorant in the locker room was enough to suffocate a small country, but I didn't care. Football was my life.
I remember the day I made the team back in freshman year, when they said I was a rare talent that only came around once every five or six years. From that day on, I never missed a training session. I never let anyone pass me out on the team, and I always ran the fastest, kicked the furthest and scored the most touch-downs. One by one, I gained the respect of every person on the team, the captains, the players and the supporters.
However, I had zero leadership abilities. I was perfectly happy being the sheep that follows the rest, the sexiest sheep but a sheep nonetheless. Anyway, that left Daniel to be the captain.
When I first came out at school, I wasn't bothered by what people said or how they treated me, as long as they remembered who it was that won them three national titles in a row. They didn’t have time to doubt me because I managed to win them the last match of the season the night after I came out. After that, the guys left me alone for the most part. They didn’t pass comments unless the opportunity presented itself or unless Josh was around.
Originally, I had been great friends with Josh. To say that he was a little homophobic would be an understatement. He punched me right in the face and wouldn't speak to me at all, unless he was passing some crappy gay joke. I wouldn't even mind if he could have at least found some funny ones.
Daniel had been the only one to stick by me through it all. When people mocked me or picked a fight with me, he was always there to back me up. I had always known that Daniel was a great friend, but I discovered that he would do literally anything for me, including social suicide. I guess I'd do the same for him. Hell, I'd take a bullet for him if I had to.
We all stood by facing our lockers, towels covering our lower halves, but apart from that we were all pretty much naked. Not to sound like a creep, but I loved these few moments after practise. Not because of the large amount of muscular naked men around (not that that was a turn off), but because the guys seemed to forget I was gay for these ten minutes, or else they just liked to pretend it wasn’t real. Outside of the locker rooms, I couldn’t look at a guy without being accused of making a pass at him, but for some reason they didn’t care as much in here. My theory was that they were all closet homosexuals and secretly loved to see me walk around in all my glory.
"Are you going to Sam’s party tonight, Shaun?" Matthew asked me. Matthew was a nice guy in my books, for the sole reason that he had never acted homophobic towards me.
"I didn’t know he was having a party."
"Yeah, his sister just found out she isn't pregnant and he wants to celebrate."
I put on some deodorant. "I don't think I can do tonight, sorry Matt."
Just then, Adam walked through the locker room doors. He smiled at me and sat down on the bench next to me.
“Ready?” he grinned.
"Almost, just give me a minute to get dressed."
“Take your time,” he replied, lying down across the bench and closing his eyes.
“Where are you two going?” Matthew asked awkwardly, trying his best to deflect the sudden tension that had filled the room.
Adam’s eyes opened but he didn’t sit up. His eyes met mine and I sighed quietly.
“We're going on a date,” I said, forcing a smile on my face.
“Oh, uh, that's nice,” Matthew smiled.
Adam closed his eyes again, this time with a small smile on his face.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I heard someone laugh from behind me. I turned to see Josh leaning against his locker, sneering at me.
"What?” I demanded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Matthew sigh and turn back to his locker. Adam's eyes opened again and he sat up, his smile fading fast.
"Hey, watch it, Josh," Daniel warned in a low voice from the other side of the room.
“You’re going to miss the first party of the school year for some stupid gay date with that fag?” Josh glared at Adam.
Daniel groaned loudly and muttered something about Josh's low level of IQ.
My hands balled into fists at my side, and I dropped my shirt onto the bench.
“Yeah I was actually, you got a problem?”
“Oh, no. By all means, go cook dinner for your boyfriend like a good little house wife. After that, maybe you can do each other’s nails and talk about boys,” he mocked.
I slammed my fist against the locker and glared at Josh.
“I will kill you, do you understand me? I will slam your face on this locker so hard, you’ll lose what’s left of your brain,” I threatened.
“Yeah? Why don’t you come and show me then?"
I advanced towards Josh, but Adam reached out and grabbed my wrist. “Don’t,” he pleaded quietly.
“Adam, let go of me,” I warned.
“Please Shaun, I don’t want you to hit him,” he begged.
"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend. You wouldn't want to break a nail or anything, right?" Josh taunted.
I pulled out of Adam’s grip and continued towards Josh. But just before I reached him, I was suddenly thrown backwards and hit the locker hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
I looked up in time to see Adam's fist flying towards Josh’s face. It connected with Josh’s jaw, and after another punch to the stomach, Josh was sprawled across the floor on his back.
The room, which had been filled with whispers and the occasional cheer from one of Josh’s friends, now fell completely silent.
“You can hit me and you can call me every name you can think of, but don’t you for a second think I’ll just take your shit,” Adam yelled.
Before Josh had a chance to react, Adam grabbed his hand and pressed it to his crotch. “Do I look like a girl to you?!” he continued to yell. Daniel laughed loudly.
God, I loved Adam.
Josh ripped his hand from Adam like he had been burned. He began to stand up when Adam punched his nose and he went crashing to the ground again.
Adam turned, breathing heavily and walked to my side. I had stood up and was watching, mouth wide open in complete shock.
“Ready to go?” he asked, picking up my shirt and placing it in my hands.
I nodded, glancing at Daniel in amusement and picked up my bag. We walked through the group of stunned football players and over a speechless Josh, leaving the locker room without another word.
Neither of us spoke until we got to my car. He sat nervously, tapping his foot on the floor. I reached out and held his leg steady.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
"Adam, what just happened?"
“I don’t know what happened,” he shrugged.
"You can do better than that, babe."
He sighed. “I don’t always need you to fight my battles for me, Shaun. I feel like the entire school see me as the girl in this relationship, hell even you sometimes.”
He paused, giving me time to respond, but I didn't. I didn't know what to say.
Adam sighed and continued. "Look, I know you love me and I love that you want to protect me but I need you to know that I can protect myself.”
I leaned back in my seat, blowing out a breath and gripping the steering wheel. “I know you can, it’s just that ninety percent of the time, you let them get away with it or you just take it. Do you have any idea how much it hurts to know that you just let them beat on you?”
“Do you have any idea how much it hurts to know that you got hurt protecting me?” he countered.
“So you just want me to sit there and listen to them talk about you like that?” I demanded, growing angry.
“No, I want you to come and tell me and then we’ll talk about it together!”
I pulled a face to show how unproductive that would be. Adam laughed and took my hands in his.
“Don’t look at me like that, Shaun. I've had enough of cleaning up your blood."
I looked down at our hands and noticed his cracked knuckles. “Looks like I’ll be the one cleaning you up for once.” I brought his hands to my mouth and kissed where they were cut. Adam took my touched my face gently and waited for me to meet his eyes.
“I will always need you, but I can protect myself, alright?” he said softly.
“I know, I can feel it,” I laughed, rubbing my back.
He frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said sadly.
“I think I’ll live,” I chuckled.
“I’m glad, because I couldn’t live without you.”
“Me neither, Ad, me neither,” I said, placing a kiss on his lips. He smiled into me as our kiss deepened.
After a couple of minutes we reluctantly surfaced for air, and I kissed every inch of his face, his neck and then his lips again.
“I love you so much, you know that?” I smiled.
“I know, and I love you too.” His smile melted my heart and I kissed him again, holding on to him as if my life depended on it.
Afterwards, Adam relaxed back onto the seat and I started the car. "Ready for date night?"
Adam flushed. “Let’s just go back to the studio, I don’t really feel like going out tonight.”
“But I thought you really wanted to go to dinner,” I said, confused until I looked into his eyes and then lower... much lower.
I sat back quickly, put the car in drive and sped out of the parking lot.