Ezra was assaulted the second his car door slammed behind him. "What the fuck?"
Adrian's friend, Helen, Ezra recalled her name being, pinned him up against his car door, pressing his body there so hard that it hurt. He tried to push her back, but it was no use. "What are you doing here?" Ezra asked. It was only six in the morning due to early soccer practice, and usually only the players were here early. She completely ignored his question, looking furious.
"What did you do to him?" There was only one him that she could be talking about. Ezra swallowed.
Had Adrian told Helen that he, not once, but twice had sex with him and then told him that he didn't know if it was what he wanted. That would be an understandable reason for someone to be mad, Ezra thought. "I told him that I didn't know what I wanted".
"Well you made him cry". No. That was the last thing Ezra wanted. He had told Adrian that he wasn't sure of his feeling specifically so he wouldn't hurt the boy. His shame must have shown on his face because she commented, "yeah, you prick. Feel bad. He was sobbing yesterday and I-"
"Yesterday?" Ezra asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "I told him this on friday. The day I met you". Helen looked extremely confused and took a quick step back.
"You didn't do anything to him yesterday?" She asked, and Ezra shook his head.
"I didn't even talk to him yesterday," Ezra said. She was quiet for a very long time.
"David". Ezra had heard that name before and was about to ask about it, but she turned and left him.
"What was that about?" Spence asked, joining him and Ezra shrugged.
"Someone made Adrian cry yesterday". Even when it was him saying the words they made him angry. His jaw clenched and Spencer studied his expression.
"Ezra, I've never seen you act this way before. For anyone," he said, and Ezra's eyes widened as he looked at Spencer quickly. The boy stared back with unblinking blue eyes, seeming bored with the conversation.
"What are you saying, man?" Ezra asked, and Spencer shrugged and turned. Ezra thought he was leaving him behind, but Spencer glanced over his shoulder when he realized his best friend wasn't following.
"Come on man, we're going to late and I don't want to do suicides". Ezra jogged to catch up and then they walked at a fast pace towards the field. "You have some kind of connection with him. I don't know what it is, but you see him differently than you do others". Ezra had never really compared his feelings for Adrian to his feelings for everyone else. "Maybe you see him as a little brother or some shit like that, but I don't think so. It's different than that. It's more".
Ezra swallowed. Was it? He didn't know what more felt like. He had never been in a relationship that was more than a fuck.
"I don't know what I want Spencer," he said. They had reached the field and slowed their pace as they crossed it, noticing that they weren't the only ones missing.
"You should find out soon," Spencer advised, "If another boy is making him cry, that's not a good sign for you".
"It might not have been a guy," Ezra protested, but all he could think about was the name David. "Besides. Why should I be worried if this guy is making him cry?"
Spencer glanced at him out of the corner of his eye like he was stupid, and as his head turned, Ezra noticed a red mark just above the collar of his friend's shirt. This image was immediately wiped from Ezra's mind as he processed his best friends next words. "You only cry if you care".
Spencer left him then, going to join Landon and Francis who were standing a ways away talking amongst themselves.
Ezra agreed that he would need to make up his mind soon.
But part of him also felt as if his mind was already made up.
If Adrian was going to care about someone that way, he wanted it to be him.
***
Even though they had arrived on time, coach still made them run suicide drills, which is why Ezra was, rather unattractively, covered in sweat by the time he got to see Adrian. The smaller looked incredibly surprised to see him, especially standing before him in the lunchroom in front of all eyes.
"Could I talk to you please?" he asked, and Adrian nodded, looking up at him for a moment longer before directing his attention to the two people sitting across from him.
The black haired piano boy stood and left without a word, but Helen was more difficult. "Fuck no. Whatever you say to him, you can say to me".
"Helen".
"You had a bad day yesterday. You're fragile-"
"I am not fragile," he demanded, and he sounded rather convincing because she left, but not before turning to Ezra and saying:
"If you make one wrong move I will find you and kick your ass".
Ezra sank down into the spot she had recently occupied and smiled wearily at Adrian. "She terrifies me". Adrian eyed him up and down and then nodded shortly.
"She should". He looked tired, Ezra noted, but also really sexy with dark eyeliner framing his eyes. "What do you want, Ezra?"
"I was wondering if we could meet somewhere for dinner," he said, and Adrian's eyebrows raised. "Somewhere that we could possibly study. Our test is tomorrow, and I'd like to work with you once more before I take it". Adrian was just looking at him and he swallowed. "If that's okay".
"Your parents are home". Adrian said it, sounding so sure, and Ezra nodded.
"They are".
"Can I meet them at some point?" Adrian asked, and Ezra studied him, noticing the other looked... hopeful.
There was really no reason for Adrian to meet his parents. Ezra was a senior, and after this year, he wouldn't need the other boy any more. This, for some strange reason that Ezra chose to ignore, made him feel sad. But despite all of this, Ezra found himself saying, "you can. I mean, if you really want. They're very embarrassing and in love and-"
"But that's romantic," Adrian said, smiling happily. The smile slowly faded. "I take marriage very seriously, you should know that". It was random, but Eza wasn't going to ask about it since Adrian looked very upset.
"Adri, are you oka-"
"Ezra". They both turned at the voice, and Ezra narrowed his eyes at Francis, and then looked quickly back at Adrian, who was looking the boy up and down with interest. Ezra felt jealousy creep into his chest but pushed it down. "What are you doing over here?"
"Go away Fran," He said, not looking at the other and Adrian met his eyes.
"He called me Adri," the small boy mumbled to himself under his breath but Ezra heard it and flushed. "You can go. I need to practice for state anyways". Adri stood, but Ezra reached across the table and grasped his wrist.
"I'll come and get you at six". Adrian's lips twitched, but he glanced at Francis and decided not to smile and hurried away.
"Date?" Francis asked, glaring at Ezra, who returned it with the same amount of fire.
"No". Ezra stood and walked past Fransis towards his usual table, where he dropped down next to Spencer.
Fransis's feet didn't move, but his eyes never left Ezra.
***
"We need to talk". Ezra looked up as his father sat down across from him at the table. The second he had gotten home from school, he had taken out his language arts book and sat at the kitchen table. Not only was the test tomorrow, but he wanted to impress Adrian when they got dinner.
"Yeah?" Ezra said, looking back down at the page of poetry he had been deciphering for the past forty minutes.
"It's about your grades".
"Well I'm working on that right now, dad," he said, raising his eyes only to glance at the clock on the far wall. He should leave within the next ten or so minutes, which meant his father would have to rush his prepared speech. "What do you want to talk about?" he snapped the text book closed and gave his father his full attention.
"Soccer, Ezra". Of course. That was really all his father liked to talk about. Every time that ate dinner together as a family, so the two days a week that his parents didn't have date night, his father would start the table conversation by asking Ezra how soccer was going. "Your mom told me you might get kicked off of the team, and after what happened last year, they need you for the game against Valley".
"I know dad," he said, "I have a tutor and everything. There's no way that I'm missing that game". Ezra couldn't wait to win.
"I just want you to-"
"Dad, I need to go meet my tutor for dinner. We have a big test". In reality, he still had a couple minutes before he needed to leave, but he had heard this speech, about the importance of the Valley Fall's game, so many times that he could predict the words before they left his father's mouth.
"For dinner?" His father asked. "Your tutor is a girl?" His father's expression went from serious to teasing. "Is this a date?"
"No dad".
"You're blushing". His father stood, and Ezra followed. When they stood across from each other, Ezra had to tilt his head down to address his much smaller father.
"No I'm not," he denied, but he could feel the heat in his face. "Whatever, I need to go".
He grabbed the book and his keys and left his father, who was still grinning stupidly, behind as he left the house.
Once again, to get to Adrian's house, he had to drive to the school first, and then find his way from there. There was something in his stomach, a feeling, that he was trying to ignore, but the more he tried to pretend it wasn't there, it got worse. Ezra was nervous, incredibly nervous, to see the younger boy. He kept trying to tell himself that this was no different from all their other times studying, but it was. They were going out. In public. To eat.
It did feel kind of like a date, and Ezra was absolutely okay with that.
The second he pulled into Adrian's driveway, the boy ran out of the house, his small hands gripping the straps of his backpack as he didn't look back. Ezra could see a short silhouette in the screen door, watching as Adrian climbed into the car, but they didn't move beyond that point.
"What was that about?" Ezra asked as he backed out of the driveway, and Adrian groaned loudly.
"I'm grounded for stealing the car yesterday".
"You stole your parents car?" Ezra spared a quick glance at Adrian before focusing his attention on the road ahead. "Aren't you too young to drive?"
"No," Adrian grumbled, but didn't elaborate. He sighed loudly and Ezra glanced over at him.
"Are you okay?" He pulled up to a stop sign and glanced behind him to make sure there were no other cars before he slid it into park.
"What are you doing?" Ezra turned to look at Adrian. "Do you know how to drive? Ezra, you can't just stop in the middle of the road".
"Well I did". As Adrian was glancing over his shoulder, Ezra raised a hand to cup his face and Adrian froze.
"Adri, I-"
"You called me that at lunch today". Adrian relaxed, leaning into Ezra's hand.
"Is that okay?" Ezra asked, absently brushing his thumb over Adrian's lower lip, feeling the smooth skin of his lips and remembering how they felt against his own.
"I like it. Some people call me Dri, but I've always preferred Adri".
"I like your name," Ezra said simply, his finger still moving against the other's mouth and Adrian's lips curved into a dazzling smile. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Adrian repeated, and Ezra nodded slowly. "I'm fine". His smile suddenly looked a little less genuine.
"Please don't lie". Adrian swallowed, forgetting that Ezra's thumb was pressed against his lower lip and quickly swiping his tongue out against it.
"You won't judge me?" he asked softly, and Ezra shook his head.
"Of course not".
Adrian's eyes squeezed shut. "I had a... not a boyfriend, but a something. David, his name was". Jealousy. That's what Ezra felt, but refused to let it show. "We had been... been intimate for over a year, but we weren't really together. We didn't go out on dates or do anything in public".
Ezra couldn't resist. "Was he the one on the other end of the phone that day?" Adrian's eyes opened, looking directly into Ezra's.
"That was him." Adrian suddenly grimaced. "He was the person in the car that honked at us the night of my bir- the night that we had sex the second time, and he saw you kiss me on the porch, and I never let him kiss me. It was... It was intimate to me. Too real. Too relationship like, and he saw that I let you do it, and he got upset".
"Why'd you let me kiss you?" Ezra asked, and Adrian's skin flushed.
"We can talk about that later," he said, suddenly avoiding Ezra's eyes. With a soft hum of agreement, Ezra glanced off to the side to make sure there were still no cars behind them. There weren't, and he directed his attention back to Adri when he began to speak again. "David stopped answering my calls, and I thought it was because he was angry with me, but he agreed to meet me yesterday and-" Adrian made a choking noise and his eyes filled with tears. "I did something bad".
Ezra raised his thumb and wiped away a single tear. "Baby, nothing you've done has ever been bad".
"But I did," Adrian said. Only a few tears had fallen, but he still looked completely wrecked. "He was married. He has a baby. I helped him cheat on his wife and I didn't even know it because I was too careless to find out more about him".
Ezra really wasn't expecting this, but he most certainly didn't feel any less of Adrian. "That's not your fault. It's his. Don't feel bad for something that you didn't do on purpose".
"But I really didn't need to have sex with him," Adrian said, looking down and Ezra shook his head.
"You didn't, but you didn't know". A honk interrupted them, and he sighed, slowly putting the car in drive and pulling through the intersection. "It's not your fault that he was an ass hole".
Ezra was actually relieved. After what Spencer had said this morning, about Adrian crying over another boy, he had been a bit worried. This still wasn't fair though. If Adrian wanted to, he could date whoever he wanted. Ezra had no say. He wanted to.
"Adrian-"
"I know, Ezra. I'm just going to feel guilty. It's who I am". Ezra's hand was still pressed against his face, and Adrian turned into it, kissing his palm.
"You're a good person," Ezra said softly, and he felt Adri's lips curve into a smile.
"Thank you for thinking that," he said, and when Ezra glanced at him his eyes were very bright.
"Well I kind of have to think that, don't I? I mean, because of you, I have a D in language arts".
"A D!" Adrian asked, and then he looked troubled. "Does that mean you don't need me anymore?" Ezra's hand tightened on the wheel.
"I still need you". Ezra swallowed as Adrian giggled. "I mean, if I bomb this test, I'll have an F again". This suddenly seemed like a great idea, there was just one problem. "If I fail will I possibly be able to get my grade up in time to play for the Valley game?" Adrian laughed this time as he raised a small hand and pressed it against the back of Ezra's.
"You're not allowed to fail on purpose, Ezra". He couldn't help but to show his dazzling grin.
"Damn," he said, still driving with only his left hand so he didn't have to let go of Adrian. "You caught me".
Ezra meant this in more ways than one.