~ BRAD ~
Once he left the Music room, he immediately went to the school's parking lot, where he saw his boyfriend impatiently waiting for him. When they made eye contact, Brad could see Tristan's fury.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Tristan yelled in question.
"I was at the Music room and--"
"So you're choosing music over me? That's such a shame, Brad."
"No, that's not what I meant!" He protested.
"What do you mean by that, then?" He replied sassily. Brad knew that Tristan wouldn't listen to what he had to say anyway, but he still decided to be truthful.
"I--I lost track of time." He said truthfully, not wanting for Tristan to know about Connor.
"Of course you did. I can't help but think that you've become very distant, Brad. Have I not given you everything?" Tristan kept blabbering, and Brad had nothing to do but listen to his boyfriend rap without music.
"I literally spent every time I can with you, and you don't give it back to me? You hate school so much, so why would you want to be in there longer? I gave you a watch, where is it? I thought you were trustworthy and caring, Brad. What happened? You're supposed to take care of me, not someone else."
That's when Brad and Connor's gazes met. Connor gave him a look of sympathy, but then his friend, who he knew was named Kath, pulled his arm away. He looked up at Tristan and saw that he had stopped talking and that he was looking at the same direction as he was.
"You know what, I'm done, okay? If you're not going to listen, fine." Tristan said, and started to walk away. Brad took Tristan's arm before he could walk any further.
"Is it because of him?" Tristan said, referring to Connor. Brad shook his head sideways and Tristan raised his eyebrow.
"H-he's just my music partner. We had a lot of fun writing stuff for our project that we lost track of time." He told his boyfriend calmly, hoping that Tristan didn't hear him stutter at first.
"That's it?"
"Yes, there's absolutely nothing to worry about."
"Fine. I believe you, but don't you think that I'm not taking this seriously." Tristan told him, his tone scaring Brad a little. He had no idea why he was scared, though. He unlocked his car and opened the passenger's door for his boyfriend, who gladly went inside the vehicle. He closed the door, walked around the car, got in, and drove to his boyfriend's house. He thought deep and hard while he was driving, which almost made him crash at one point, leading to another one of Tristan's rants.
"Thanks for the ride." Tristan said as he removed his seat belt. They shared a peck on the lips before Tristan went out of the car. "Love you, bear."
"I love you, too." Brad replied, then he watched Tristan go inside his house. Knowing that he's safely home, Brad went home.
He walked through the front door and he was greeted by a happy Jesse who immediately leapt up on his legs. He returned the favor by rubbing her whole body, which always made her happy ever since she was still a small puppy. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of vitamin water from the fridge. He looked through the cupboards and grabbed a packet of Haribo gummy bears. He took his loot and went upstairs to his room.
He changed out of his school uniform to his house clothes, which was basically an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers. He grabbed his schoolbag which was resting on the foot of his bed and grabbed his homework for today.
---
When he was about to sleep, after calling Tristan goodnight and letting Jesse sleep next to him on his bed, of course, he thought of Connor. He stared up his ceiling, which magically became a flashback screen that showed what happened between him and Connor today. He was imagining the sight, of course, but he was sure that he wasn't just imagining the smile on his face that he wore while he was hanging out with Connor. He smiled at the thought, and he suddenly felt happiness envelop him under his duvet. For the first time in ages, he slept with a smile on his face.
He didn't wake up early the next morning. He woke up just in time to prepare himself for school.
When he got there, he saw Tristan leaning on the side of his car so that he'll be able to greet Brad with a kiss. Brad went out of his car and closed the door.
"Hey babe, long time no kiss." Tristan said as he took Brad by surprise by kissing him full-on on his lips. Brad kissed back, of course, while standing on his toes. The kiss was slowly turning to a heated make-out session, and another one of their friends had to pull them apart.
"Sorry." They both blushed profusely.
They went to school with smug looks on their faces, and when they walked through the corridor where Connor was walking, Tristan gave the boy a scary glare while Brad waved him a shy and small hi. Connor waved back, then his smile turned to a frown when he saw Tristan glaring at him. He continued walking down the corridor, Tristan's gaze not leaving him.
~ TRISTAN ~
He looked away from his boyfriend's music partner, and continued walking down the corridor. To say that he was furious at Connor was an understatement. He was not going to let anyone take Brad away from him. Brad was his and no one else's.
When he went inside his class, he couldn't help but think of Connor and how he's going to steal Brad away from him. Brad was his, don't get him wrong, but the fact that somebody was about to steal him away was just...not good. Took too long in the music room? And what? Doing something PG-13? Who would believe that bullshit? He was beyond pissed.
---
He went to the toilets to redo his hair, which was really messy because of the water spill during a science experiment, then he saw a familiar boy who was washing his hands. It was Connor. He went near the sink where Connor was washing his hands, then he put on his best fake smile.
"Hey, Connor, right?" Tristan tried to be friendly.
"Y-yeah. And y-you're--"
"Tristan. I know. I'm known by everyone here." He said as he flicked away some of the hair on his forehead. Connor just nodded at him while he continued washing his hands.
"I've heard you've been hanging out with Brad yesterday." Tristan blurted out, measly covering the fact that he was slightly jealous.
"I h-have been. He's r-really n-nice and f-friendly, t-too." He could tell that Connor was nervous, which he thought was something he should be.
"And that you had fun yesterday in the music room, too." Tristan was now getting closer to him, and it was getting scary and awkward, that is, if it was possible. Connor kept on walking backwards without saying a word to defend their actions yesterday.
"Stop hanging out with him." He warned Connor when his back hit the wall behind him.
"B-but h-he's my--"
"Do you think I care?" Connor shook his head no. "Then stay away from him, okay?" He told Connor, who was shaking like a naked person who was standing outside during the peak of winter. He was that nervous, and the fact that he's getting threatened by Tristan isn't helping.
"I've ruined many people's lives, Connor. I could do it to you, too." He told the scared boy, who just gave him a nervous nod and went out of the toilets as fast as he could. Tristan went on and fixed his hair.
He got out of the toilets with his hair back in its perfect state. He shuffled through the corridors and went to the Science Laboratory to continue with their experiment.
~ JAMES ~
When Tristan came back from wherever he was from, be had a slightly smug look on his face, which was something James, who was sitting in front of Tristan, noticed. Don't be mistaken - he wasn't staring at him, he just wanted to make sure that he was okay. Same applies to other people, as much as possible, he wanted everyone to be okay. He went on with the experiment and thought of nothing else but finishing it.
The annoying school bell rang, and they had to turn in their worksheets. He was able to finish it on time, whereas Tristan wasn't even halfway through. James witnessed Tristan as their science teacher took his paper away from him. Tristan was distraught, of course, and his teacher tutted at him.
"You haven't been doing well in this class, Mr. Evans." The teacher told him. Tristan just sighed, which was something he doesn't usually do. James slowly put his things inside his bag as he listened to the conversation between Tristan and their teacher. "You could get a low grade because of this."
"But, professor, I really have been trying hard. I'm just out of focus, that's all." Tristan defended himself.
"That's not good for your current situation. You need to have good grades, Tristan. You know that, right?"
"Yes, professor." Tristan replied with a frown as he looked down at his shoes.
"I suggest you read more about the topic. It helped me when I was little." His teacher told him, then he went out of the classroom. Tristan began to put his things inside his bag, muttering to himself as he did so. James sneakily went to the door, hoping that he wasn't seen by Tristan at all. As he opened the door, to his horror, it creaked, which made Tristan look up at him. He gave James a confused look, then he looked at him with surprised eyes. James pulled the door fully open so he could get out, and just when he was about to, Tristan grabbed his arm.
"What exactly did you hear?" Tristan, who had fear flashing from his eyes, asked James.
"Everything." James gulped as he said this. Of course, he was scared of the taller boy, as well.
"You didn't hear anything, you understand?" Tristan told him, fear and worry written all over his face, and he nodded his head. Tristan gave him a small nod before he went back to packing his stuff. James went out of the room, and he went to the school's canteen to look for Connor. To his surprise, he wasn't there, and he looked for his friend all over the school.
"Kath! Have you seen Connor?" James asked Kath, who he happened to run in while he was shuffling down the corridors.
"Unfortunately, I haven't, James." She said, then he looked at the girl who Kath was with. She was the girl who came to his house two nights ago. He went ahead and left them, and then he saw Connor's favourite key chain on the floor. He picked it up, and he started looking for Connor again.
He eventually found Connor inside the boys' toilets on the second floor. Connor apologised to his friend for being late, stating diarrhea as his reason. James didn't fully believe him, though - he could feel that something was up.
They both went to the school canteen, and they both ate lunch. James can't help but notice that his friend was a little off. He'll tell you what's wrong soon, he thought to himself as he watched his friend eat his chicken sandwich.
As usual, he went home by himself, and he was greeted by his younger sister with a hug. They always had each other's back ever since they were kids, and they knew when one of them was feeling blue.
"Are you alright?" She asked him after they both pulled apart from the hug.
"Of course I am, why would I not be?" He said, and she seemed to be satisfied with his answer. The truth is, he couldn't stop thinking about Connor and Tristan.
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Published: 08/09/16
Updated: 07/03/17