"You'll be fine, babe," Helen said, glancing at the door again and biting her lip nervously. Once again, Adrian turned to look, only to find the space empty.
"I'm... fine, El. Are you expecting someone or something?" He asked, and then he smiled as Osmond was suddenly in the doorway. "Hey Oz!"
"Hi," Osmond said, but he looked uneasy. "Um, Helen. I saw..." he glanced at Adrian before looking back towards the girl, "someone in the lobby looking for... uh, someone. He asked me and I-"
"Did you tell him?" Helen asked and Adrian glanced at his friend in surprise for understanding whatever the fuck it is that Osmond was saying.
"Of course not". Osmond looked confused as Helen huffed loudly. "Was I supposed to?"
"You were," She claimed, and suddenly Oz's face turned sour. "Oh, Osmond. I'm sorry-"
"It's fine," he said, his voice cold and Adrian wanted to know what had just happened between his two best friends.
"Could someone please explain-"
"No," they both snapped at the same time and Adrian rolled his eyes.
"Let's just practice," Osmond said, moving across the room and taking a seat at the piano. Adrian shrugged, bringing his mouthpiece to his lips, but then ignoring his cue as Helen moved to leave.
"Where are you going?" He asked her and she looked momentarily panicked, as if she needed to think of something to say to him instead of the truth.
"Ummm," she trailed off, "the bathroom. Will you be okay without me?" She asked, her eyes worried and he rolled his eyes.
Ever since she had talked to him about smoking too much and he agreed to stop, she had been worried about his stress levels and constantly checked to see he was okay.
"Yeah El, I'm fine. You went to the bathroom like three minu- why are you running away?!" Before he could ask further questions she was out the door. He raised his eyebrows, turning to the pianist.
"What is wrong with everyone today?" he asked Oz, who was avoiding his eyes and shrugged. "Are you okay?"
"Let's take it from the allegro," the younger boy said, his voice soft and his eyes down on his hands.
"Don't you need your music?" Adrian asked, and Osmond turned his head to him then, looking up at him with his wide gray eyes as he said:
"No," and then smiled charmingly. "From the allegro".
They played through the part three times. The first two Adrian messed up on the fast part, and on the third Osmond completely stopped playing.
"Oz, I did it that time. What are you doing?" Adrian asked, and Osmond looked behind him, and then at Adrian, before he stood from the piano bench and walked away. Adrian looked at the sport that his friend hand been occupying for a long moment, and then turned to address him.
His words froze in his throat as he watched Osmond slide around Ezra to get out of the door. His fingers tightened on his saxophone and his chest ached, recalling all of the things he had said to him nearly a week before over the phone, "Leave," Adrian demanded, trying to sound strong and confident but failing miserably.
Ezra just looked at him, slowly shaking his head as if to say I'm not going anywhere.
"Fine," Adrian said, walking forward. "Then I'll go". Ezra did nothing to stop him, but when he reached the door it was slammed shut in front of him. He tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. Through the glass he could see Helen grinning at him, and then Osmond behind her looking very annoyed with the situation. Adrian turned, huffing, to face Ezra. "What do you want?"
"To explain," he said softly.
"I don't care-" Adrian began to lie but Ezra cut him off.
"I know I don't deserve for you to hear me out, and I know that you hate me now-"
"I don't hate you," Adrian mumbled and Ezra's very blue eyes fixated on his own for a minute and Ezra's lips twitched up at the corners.
"But Helen did," he said, and Adrian raised his eyebrows, not getting his point. "Helen hated me and I talked to her twice and now she's agreed to lock you in a classroom with me".
"What's your point?"
Ezra eyes flashed mischievously and Adrian wanted to fall to his knees and hug the others legs and confess that he still loved him and missed him. He didn't. "Don't you want to know why?"
Adrian knew that he could very well say no, and that Ezra would leave, and life would move on with them separated, but despite everything that had happened so far, he didn't want that. "Talk".
"I came out to the soccer team," Ezra explained, picking right up where they left off. Adrian stood there, eyeing him head to toe as Ezra walked over to one of the desks and leaned against it, his eyes never leaving Adrian's in the process.
"And?"
"And some of them didn't take it well". Ezra paused, thinking, "that's not true. They all seemed fine with it. The only person who had a problem was Fransis. He got really mad and was yelling at me about how it wasn't me and I wasn't a-" Ezra cut off, looking distraught and Adrian wanted to comfort him, "fag". He spat the word, scowling as he dropped his eyes and Adrian swallowed. "I didn't know what to do, Adri. He was going to get all of them to hate me. My own team. All of my friends". Ezra laughed then. "I broke up with you because I couldn't imagine my life without them, I couldn't live with them hating me, and then I made them do just that".
"The game," Adrian said, trailing off and thinking about the bruises that still lingered on his face now.
"Caleb," Ezra said and Adrian winced at the name, "he's the one who tripped me last year, so I already didn't like him, but then when I found out that he was the one who did that you you... I was livid, but Spencer told me to control myself, and I did, until... well, you saw what happened. He was whispering in my ear about everything he did to you-"
"Everything?" Adrian asked, dropping his eyes. It was quiet between them until Ezra said, his voice just above a whisper:
"Everything". Adrian nodded, still refusing to meet the other's eyes as he continued. "I just lost it. Adrian. I had already begun to realize that I had made a mistake choosing soccer and my team over you. I had always loved the sport like nothing else, and I just figured that that's how it was going to be for me. Most boys loved girls, I loved soccer... but then I met you and I realized that I didn't love soccer, I love you, and I was stupid to throw everything away for a sport that my father made me play-"
Ezra was rambling now, his eyes on his shoes, and Adrian stepped forwards, leaning towards him and pressing his lips against Ezra's soft ones, cutting off the other's words. The older seemed shocked, frozen against Adrian for what felt like a very long time before kissing him back, his hands moving down to his waist and holding him gently.
Adrian pulled back a bit, looking up at Ezra, who was grinning with his eyes closed as if he was having a spectacular dream. "Say it again, please," Adrian asked, and now Ezra's eyes opened and he cupped Adrian's face, looking directly at him as he said, with great confidence:
"I love you". And then they were kissing again, trying to get as much of each other as they could as Adrian held onto Ezra's shirt, holding on for dear life as the other boy ravished his mouth.
Ezra moved to kiss down his neck, smiling against the skin there as Adrian breathed out a breathless, "fuck I love you". And it was so good and perfect and exactly what it should have been a long time ago.
"How do you remove this thing," Ezra asked, pulling back and pulling at the neck strap which was holding Adrian's saxophone against his chest. "It's kind of in the way". Adrian laughed, reaching down and pulling the strap over his head, setting it down safely on one of the tables behind Ezra before pulling the taller back to him.
Ezra's tongue eagerly traced his own on repeat, as if he was worried that this kiss would be their last and he wanted to memorize every last crevice of his mouth, but Adrian's wasn't about to let that happen. This wasn't the end. If he could help it, there would never be an end.
His hands pressed against the skin of Ezra's neck as his fingers threaded into his hair. God, had he missed this.
Eventually they had to pull away for breath and Adrian rested his head on Ezra's chest, wrapping his arms around his waist and melting into him as Ezra returned the hug. Adrian never wanted to move. He would forget about state, and about school, and about everything if it meant that he could stay here, in this position, with the boy he loved, who loved him back.
But they couldn't stay like that forever, and eventually the sound of the door opening drew them apart. A line long line of people came into the room. Benson followed by Helen followed by Osmond followed by Spencer followed but Liam, and Adrian raised his eyebrows at the strange couple what had joined their group. Ezra must have saw is confusion because he ducked forward and whispered in his ear, "they've been together for three years, apparently," and Adrian raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
"That's all sorted out?" Spencer asked and Ezra grinned, wrapping his arms around Adrian's waist that pulling him back against his chest. Adrian tried not to notice Osmond looking anywhere but at them, but he couldn't help it. Helen noticed this also and wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, even though he was taller than her and she had to reach up. "Good".
"As lovely as this reunion is," Benson began, looking between Ezra and Adrian, "you need to play in three minutes, so if you guys want to watch you need to go get seats".
Adrian felt his nerves pick up now and he grasped Ezra's hand, turning in his arms and looking up at him. "What if I mess up?" He asked, thinking about his mistakes in his earlier practice and worring on his bottom lip. Ezra leaned forwards, kissing the corner of his mouth softly.
""Then I'll still love you," he said, smiling at Adrian before releasing his waist. Ezra took a step away from him to follow the others out of the room, but Adrian gripped his shirt tightly. "Babe," Ezra said, laughing softly and placing his hand on Adrian's waist. "You've got this".
Adrian let him leave, pushing a hand through his hair and looking at his music teacher. "He's right you know. You really do have it".
Adrian sighed and moved to place his neck strap over his head once more. "I just don't feel like myself, you know? I mean, I've covered in bruises and my hair's in my face and I'm wearing black-" Adrian shifted uncomfortably in his cloths, "I don't know. It just feels different than I thought it would".
"You need to calm down, Adrian," Benson said, and then his eyes widened as he remembered something. He dug around in his pocket for a while before pulling out a black hair clip. "Helen also said that you might need this".
"God bless Helen," Adrian mumbled, smiling as Benson handed him the clip and he arranged it so his hair was out of his eyes.
"Are you ready now?" Benson asked, "you look more ready".
Adrian grabbed his music off of his stand and turned. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be".
***
The best part about the performance was looking out and seeing Ezra looking back at him. It may or may not have (it most definitely was) been distracting, but thankfully wasn't enough so that he lost his place in the song. After he finished, he thanked the judge of her time and hurried back stage when Ezra was waiting. After Adrian had finished performing and the judge gave him comments Ezra had stood and left the auditorium. At first this made Adrian nervous, until five minutes later something to his left caught his attention and he noticed Ezra standing there, directly behind the curtain grinning at him.
Ezra's arms were open when Adrian approached and he lifted the smaller off of his feet when he reached him. Adrian giggled, instantly wrapping his legs around Ezra's waist as the taller's hands moved to his ass to keep him from slipping. Adrian kissed him, their mouths open, tongues meeting in the middle.
"You're so amazing," Ezra claimed, grinning against Adrian's mouth and Adrian pressed his forehead against his-
"Are you my boyfriend again?" Adrian asked hopefully and Ezra blinked, his hands sliding from Adrian's ass up to his tights, as if just realizing now that the boy might not want the there.
"Well," Ezra said softly, "I was hoping so but I understand if-"
Adrian cut him off with a kiss and then pulled back, cupping Ezra's face in his hands. "I want to". Ezra smiled genuinely and he looked so happy that Adrian's heart hurt.
And it wasn't just the saxophone that was uncomfortable pressing into his chest, undoubtedly leaving more bruises on his skin.
"Kiss me," Adrian instructed and Ezra gladly complied, moving his feet until Adrian felt his back pressed up against the cold wall of the hallway.
Ezra tasted like mint and something sweet and best of all, Ezra. It was a flavor that Adrian desperately missed, as he had grown to crave it over the period of time that they had dated, and as he tasted it now he couldn't help but to be reminded of all the other times they kissed. Sometimes it was slow and sweet as Ezra cupped his face and bent forwards to connect their mouths. Sometimes it was lustful and desperate.
***Sex Scene removed (they moved to the bathroom)***
After a couple of moment, Ezra laughed, pressing his face into the crook of Adrian's neck. "I love you," Ezra said, sounding so ridiculously happy as he said it and Adrian couldn't keep the smile off of his face. "I thought I hated you for the past year but-" Ezra cut off and pulled back to look into Adrian's eyes. "You know I made a list of things that I hated about Adrian Vang?"
Adrian raised his eyebrows. "What was on it?" he asked, actually curious.
"How smart you are," Ezra said, kissing his temple. "You're dimples," he kissed his cheek, "how you dress. How you wear your hair." Ezra kissed the top of his head. "How short you are, how happy you always are, how everyone loves you, how small your hands are," and the list went on and on, but as Ezra said all of those things it didn't sound like he hated any of them at all. Eventually he cut off and Adrian smiled softly at him.
"Is that it?" He asked.
Ezra shook his head. "No, I was just thinking something though". Adrian leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth, urging him to continue with a soft humm. "I should change the name of my list".
"To?"
"The things I love about Adrian Vang".