-Blaine-
On the first day of school, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I could be in the same home room class as Luka.
When I was asked to introduce myself, I stuttered through my name, but most of the attention was on my boyfriend beside me. Although we were in the same class, we were assigned to sit in different seats, really far away.
Luka, just like a true male protagonist in life, sat at the very back, right beside the window. While I had to sit in the middle row, against the wall. Luckily, there were a pair of twins that sat around me, and they quickly chatted up a storm.
Surprisingly, even with my shoddy introduction, when break time came around, a lot of them came up to talk to me. The girls in the class were especially enthusiastic, some of them petting my head and letting out squeals when my face reddened from all the attention. It felt as if I were a baby chick and the girls were mother hens, fawning over me.
"A-Are they always like this?" I asked one of my newly-made friends and my desk mate, Eros, after the girls had left. He shook his head, but as he was about to explain, his twin brother, Evan, came over, draping an arm around him.
"Hey, new kid! Don't you look cute?" Evan smirked, while Eros frowned disapprovingly. "But man, you get way less attention than Prince Charming over there. Like, I get it, he's hot and smart and rich and my dream boyfriend but still?" Evan complained, grinning at me. "Even Blainey over here doesn't get that much attention."
"You're just jealous." Eros rolled his eyes.
"Am not!" Evan huffed, smacking his brother on the back of his head.
The twins were the most popular in this class, and they got along with everyone. When I was assigned my seat, Eros was the first one who spoke to me, and he effortlessly carried the conversation even when I couldn't give him any interesting answers.
Wait..
"My dream boyfriend"? Evan said that, did he not?
"Are you guys gay?"
The question slipped out of my mouth before my brain could process anything. The twins looked at me, and looked at each other, before the both of them started laughing.
"Something like that, I guess. We're bi. We've always been. I don't care if you find it weird, at most, we'll just not be friends." Evan shrugged. "Pity that being attracted to both genders doesn't make them automatically attracted to me. We still don't get bitches even though we're not that picky."
"Speak for yourself, dickhead. I'm attractive as hell, and I get more bitches than you ever will." Eros quipped, and the twins started bickering, while I giggled.
"I..I don't care what gender you guys are attracted to," I said quietly. "I mean, I have a boyfriend too."
"Hah?!" The twins turned their eyes onto me in tandem, their gazes boring a hole through my skull.
"Yeah. He's so nice, and amazing, and I really love him.." My voice went lower and lower when I spoke.
"Waaah, I'm so sad," Evan crumbled dramatically onto Eros's table. "Even Blainey has a boyfriend, all my chances have flown away.."
"I mean, come on. Look at him! It'd be a miracle if he wasn't already taken." Eros gestured at me. I tilted my head confusedly, smiling along.
"Hey, do y'all think Luka there has a lover? Hell, is he even bent?" Evan frowned, squinting at Luka.
"Yeah, he has a boyfriend too.." I spoke abruptly, before realising my mistake. I wasn't supposed to know anything about Luka.
"Oh? How'd you know?"
"W-Well, we came from the same school previously, and then we became friends because we got transferred into the same school, here." I explained hastily, hoping that they wouldn't prod further. Thankfully, they dropped the topic, and moved on to others.
When break time came, Luka came up to my table.
"Hey. Wanna go for lunch?" He smiled brilliantly, leaning forward on my desk.
"Not hungry." I shook my head, looking down at the assignments we had just gotten. Wow, this high school was definitely different from the old one.
Before I knew it, Luka's face was in front of mine. Kneeling down, he rested his chin on the front of my desk, looking pitiful. "Haven't we talked about this, honey?" His voice was lower than a whisper, so only I could hear him. "You eat three meals a day. And besides, I'll be really lonely, eating alone. At least eat a snack."
Ugh, this man really knew how to pull on my heartstrings. "O-Okay."
As we walked to the cafeteria, I told Luka about what I'd told the twins, about us being friends, so that we could corroborate our stories.
"I wouldn't have minded if you exposed our relationship, you know." He replied, sounding a little bit downcast. I rubbed my hand against his, looking at him worriedly. "Sorry. I just don't want anyone to look at you weird."
A hand came to rest on my head. "I know. You're so thoughtful. Too thoughtful, sometimes. I worry you'll be taken advantage of." I laughed at his reply. I was quite air-headed, I could admit that much, but not so much naive. After having to read expressions to understand what people wanted from me from my first second of coherence, I was sure I could tell when I was being made a fool of.
Luka, for the most part, was sincere. It was only when I told him of my past that some semblance of anger would slip out, hastily covered by worry and sorrow. He was quite an enigma, seeing that he'd never wanted me to do anything to give back.
Well, maybe except for when in bed.
"I won't. I'm not that silly." I chuckled, as we found an empty table in the increasingly busy cafeteria. "Of course. You're the strongest, smartest boy I know." Smiling, Luka continued. "I'll get us some sandwiches? Or would you like something smaller?"
"Sandwiches sound good."
"Okay."
I took the time to take in my surroundings, from how our new school was definitely richer than Sarea, even viewed from the cafeteria alone. It was nearly 3 times the size of our old one, and the tables were arranged neatly from row to row.
It seemed as if there were more tables than students, almost, and I caught myself pondering on that possibility all the way till Luka came back.
"Here." He handed me a sandwich still wrapped in its plastic, with the little sticker of the brand and the ingredients used stuck carelessly on.
As I peeled at the sandwich, Luka started to ask me about how the first day of school was like. Our conversation flowed so naturally, it was almost jarring when the two twins from class sat down on either side of us.
"So, we heard you guys knew each other in your old school. Sasa High School, or something." Evan grinned, passing me a chocolate.
"Sarea." I corrected, accepting the offering.
"Right. How was it there? I heard it's been under investigation for a bunch of things. Discrimination, sexual harassment, hell, even minors were involved. A real shitshow."
Blinking, I glanced at Luka, only to see a carefully neutral expression, eyes gazing back at me in hidden concern. I felt my heart jump, and gave a smile. "Well, it was never nice there. I'm glad I'm here now."
"Course," Eros piped in. "Our school's one of the best in the state. Which begs the question, how'd you guys get in? We have waiting lists, and you two don't seem like the type to..." Bribe.
"My parents were owed a few favours, and since we're close friends," Luka reached over to tousle my hair affectionately, "I could bring a plus one."
"Don't get me wrong, though." He continued, poking at his half eaten sandwich. "We took the entrance test, passed better than those on the waiting list, and got in by being blessed with my set of parents."
"I shouldn't even be telling you guys all this, but it's fine. A secret given for one exposed. It should be alright, since our parents are quite similar." Luka waved his hand nonchalantly, but the way the twins' eyes narrowed and identical smirks crept up their faces made my heart skip.
"Damn." Evan said, after a beat. "Not even some of our classmates of a few years know of us."
Know what? I was confused, and let out a sigh. I didn't like being kept out of the conversation.
"Sorry, Blainey. Didn't mean to leave you out. It's just that we've found someone interesting." Evan smiled, offering me another chocolate. I took it while sulking, even as the sweetness of the chocolate made me happy.
I remember when Blair would give me candy. She always said that she linked the taste of sweetness to happiness, so she'd always be eating a candy. I had unconsciously followed after her reasoning, and loved sweets to death.
Luka had to hide from me the sweets I got from her to ensure I didn't get a toothache.
"As we were saying, Sasa High."
"Sarea."
"Right. Sarea High."
We skipped over that weird tense part, and I nibbled on my sandwich while Luka's leg would bump against mine under the table when he saw me becoming tense.
As the break time ended, Luka cornered me in the washrooms, and locked the door. Scurrying around each cubicle to check that nobody was inside, he then caged me against the sink with narrowed eyes.
"You alright?" After cupping my face in his large, warm hands, he turned my head from side to side, as if to inspect for any injuries.
"Hehe, I'm fine." I giggled, holding both of his hands. "But what do you mean a secret given for one exposed?" Wasn't that quite a stupid philosophy?
"Ah, I'll tell you when we go back, alright?" He gave me a kiss. "Sorry." He was apologetic about keeping a secret from me. How silly.
__________
As I found out, the teachers in this school took studies very seriously. Even though it was only the first day of the semester and the first day for me and Luka, we still obtained a gift— a pile of homework.
Before heading home, I wanted to check out the library while Luka went to talk to the headmaster. What they talked about, I didn't know, and honestly didn't really care. But Luka came back with no homework, which made me feel jealous.
When we got home, Luka finally explained to me about how the twins, Eros and Evan, had parents that had some under-the-table dealings too. They owned an entertainment company, and hence had lots of connections, even some linked to Luka's family.
"Then the thing about your parents?"
"Not really a lie. I just didn't tell them that my parents were one man, and an adoptive dad too." He was talking about Aiden. "Aiden's always been fulfilling both roles of mother and father. Well, ever since his wife left us."
I kept silent, snuggling up to him.
"Speaking of which, I won't be going to school for a few days. I'll still send you to school, but afterwards I'll have to leave."
So he didn't want to talk. "Okay. Will you be coming home?"
I liked that word. Home. It made me feel fuzzy.
"Yeah. Actually, I'll just be going to my organisation's base. I've handed Claire the acting CEO position, just to bribe her into taking that role full time." He chuckled. I smiled, pinching his cheek.
"Why though?" That question suddenly froze me. I had so much trust in Luka that I didn't even think to ask him why he'd be leaving.
"Will you be afraid?" Not answering my question, he asked another one. "What if I told you that I had to interrogate some lowlifes?"
His hold on me loosened slightly. Slightly offended, I grabbed his hand and held it tight against my hip. "Excuse you. It's not as if I'm that naive. Rude of you to think I'd leave just because of that."
He seemed quite surprised, face pinking, before a smile bloomed. "I'm sorry, honey. I was just worried, so I wanted to give you some space."
"What if I say I don't want that space?" I huffed, searching the room for scotch tape to stick his hand onto my hip. For such a flirty man, he was surprisingly dense. Did he only churn out nicknames with that brain of his?
Before I could locate the tape, I was pushed down.
"I really, really love you." He nuzzled at my neck. I huffed, helplessly laughing as he pecked my cheek and trailed down.
We spent the night together.
__________
..if anyone saw that initial title, no you didn't.
love y'all. okay goodnight