A sharp smack to his lower back, only slightly padded by his leather jacket, broke Dae out of his thoughts. He came back to himself the following Monday, standing in a huddle with his friends in their usual spot. A smirk sits across Ryann's lips as she rubbed her hands together, readying to deliver another blow.
Dae's eyes focus on her, struggling to form words of protest, before Marco placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Told you one was enough. He's back among the living, mi vida. No need to assault him further."
Ryann pursed her lips as the rest of the group shared a laugh, "You're lucky, Dae. If he didn't bust out the Spanish, it would've been over for you."
Marco offers a small wink to Dae before smirking down at Ryann, "Por favor, guarda tu pasión por mí."
Dae couldn't help but smile back at Marco as Ryann faked swooning over him. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the rest of his friends--noticing for the first time that Leilani and Ant were standing away from each other. While the two were usually attached at the hip, Dae noted they had distance between them, and Cassidy stood far closer to Ant than on any other day.
As a sinking sensation started taking him over, Leilani's face broke into a relieved smile. Following her gaze, he saw Evan and Ro approaching the group--one more hesitantly than the other. While Ro hung back a little, Evan and Leilani wasted no time hugging, pulling the attention of the whole group--and causing Ant to bristle slightly.
"I missed you, beautiful!" Evan squeezes her harder, and Dae could feel the big stupid smile forming on his lips. Feeling eyes on him, he noticed Ryann looking at him with a raised eyebrow, but remained quiet.
"I missed you more; b-rate movies just aren't the same without your profound dialogue," Leilani said as she pulled back from the hug, but didn't quite let go of his arms. "And I see you've brought Ro with you!"
Ro seemed to jump at the mention of their own name; completely clamming up when Leilani engulfed them in a hug too. The usually eloquent Ro was at a complete loss for words.
Evan offered a small wave to Marco and Ryann; she waved back warmly, but Marco responded with a shake of his head and stepped forward with his arms outstretched. After a moment of confusion, Evan hugged him back. "Wasn't expecting that, but I do love hugs."
Marco offered a warm laugh, pulling away and looking at Evan. Dae watched Marco scan Evan's face before his own features settled on concern, "Güero...Are those pricks still bothering you? Dae and I can teach 'em a lesson or two if you want. I would offer Ant too, but uh...he won't do much in a fight."
Leilani's laugh rang out the loudest, and even Cassidy finally stepped away from him. Ryann shook her head and slapped his shoulder gently, stepping closer to the group. "Enough, enough. I know we love Evan, but we're leaving Ro out to dry. They didn't come all the way over here to just stand around."
Ro's face gave away their delight when Ryann used the correct pronouns, and they seemed to come to life after, "Honestly, I didn't really have a choice. Evan can be quite forceful when he wants to see Dae."
"What?" Anthony spoke for the first time, tossing a mortified look a Dae.
"Seriously?" Marco was, surprisingly, the first one to respond. "Ant, you can't be that stupid...Of course, they're into each other. Just look at how they stare longingly at one another. Get it together, man!"
"Oh!" Cassidy spoke, not doing her blond hair any justice against stereotypes. "Now it makes sense why you weren't into me! Either of you!"
"Oh sweetie," Ryann shook her head, "Dae still likes women...just not you. You're not gonna be everyone's type."
"Their loss if you ask me," Ro spoke before realizing what they said. A blush formed on their cheeks, instantly. "Which you didn't..."
Cassidy seemed to regard them for the first time before throwing a concerned glance back at Ant who had remained strangely quiet.
Evan chuckled, leveling his eyes once more to Dae. "I didn't realize I was so transparent..."
Dae's heart sped up, but before the conversation could continue, the bell rang. As they all prepared to say their goodbyes, Marco went in for another hug with Evan, before a flash went off. Standing to the side of the hallway were the same assholes who had been harassing Evan before, this time with a few more lackeys.
Marco pulled back from the hug--but Dae could see that he wasn't angry or embarrassed--he just stepped in front of Evan, protectively. "What the fuck are you doing, dude? Pretty sure we have to consent to be a part of your spank bank."
The guy who had taken the picture flushed red and started stuttering over a response before his partner in crime stepped up. "Calm down, Santiago. We're just collecting evidence for when you end up in one of his videos."
Leilani stepped forward with Dae on her heels. "Oh shove it assholes!"
But the crew seemed to pay them little mind. And Dae felt that same white knuckle rage swelling inside of him.
"Or you know," One of the newcomers pipes up, strangely confident, "in case we need to figure out why you shot up the school..."
Dae's entire world went red.
Vision blurred, voices faded away.
Only anger.
He lunged at the one holding the cellphone, forcibly wrenching it out of his hand and shoving the holder to the floor. Hard. He smashed the phone to the floor before stomping on it until it was in pieces. Turning, he bore down on the rest of the group ready to make them all pay--
Marco swiftly restrained him, locking his arms under Dae's and behind his neck. He heard Marco's voice--still warm but stern--in his ear. "Enough, Dae. Breathe and count down from ten...nine...eight.."
As he started to come back to himself, he took in the surroundings. The asshole he shoved to the ground was holding his arm close to his chest and whimpering. A teacher was rushing over flanked by another from the group.
His friends--sans Marco who still had him in a hold--all stared at him with confusion or sheer terror.
And yet Evan walked away, fuming. Dae couldn't find his voice in time, and Evan didn't even look back.
*****************************************************
One visit to the principal's office and an immediate suspension later, Dae walked quietly through the streets unable to shake the feeling that he messed things up again. Maybe for good this time.
Suddenly a horn sounded, causing Dae to glance up. In the driver seat of the car pulled to the side of the road, Dae could see the familiar flash of red. His heart started racing once more as he walked toward Evan's car. But he couldn't tell if it was anticipation or fear. Or a mix of the two.
"Get in." Evan wasted no time. He unlocked the door and waited, staring ahead out the window.
Dae quickly slid into the car, trying to think of something to say. "Are you skipping?"
A moment of silence met him as Evan pulled out into the road and continued to their unknown destination. Dae looked out his window, almost committing himself to the silence when Evan let out a soft sigh, "I...Yeah...I guess I am. I just need to clear my head."
"I don't think I'm gonna help with that. I just seem to make things worse." Dae spoke candidly before he could stop himself. His words hung in the air, unconfronted for seconds that seemed like an eternity.
"Is that...Do you really think you make things worse?" Evan asked, pulling his car off the main highway and into the campgrounds that bordered their small town.
Maybe it was the vast wilderness that now surrounded them. Or the fact that he was there with Evan--and knew he could tell Evan anything. But Dae found himself at ease with opening up. "Honestly? Only all the time."
The matter-of-fact way in which he answered caused Evan to suck in a breath. He glanced at Dae for the first time before pulling the car into a spot next to a rushing stream. The silence remained, but Dae saw a softness on Evan's face when the redhead looked at him that made him okay with it.
After getting out of the car, and beckoning Dae to join him on the hood, Evan finally spoke. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Dae." His voice was soft and calm; if he held any anger towards Dae it wasn't showing in his tone. "No one should ever feel like that."
"I'm used to it-" Dae started but is interrupted by Evan grabbing his hand.
"No." The redhead spoke firmly, squeezing Dae's hand softly, "Don't get used to that. You don't make everything worse. I mean sure, you're complex and infuriating sometimes, but I'd like to think I know enough about you to reassure you that you have never made my life harder."
Dae inhales sharply, unsure if he could trust his words, so he didn't bother trying. He just sat quietly, staring into Evan's warm eyes, overjoyed that this boy wanted to hold his hand...
"I walked away today...because...I don't always need saving, Dae." Evan brings his other hand over Dae's and squeezes gently. "I appreciate it every once in a while. But I can't keep having you charge headfirst into danger to protect my honor. I'm not a damsel in distress, Dae. It's not that type of story."
"I just..." Dae leveled his gaze and tried something new. He'd never really talked through what he was feeling when he raged out. "I couldn't stand them talking about you like that...I might not know the whole story yet, but when he brought up the...school shooting..."
Evan stiffened a little, but he didn't let go of him. Dae was afraid showing his hand would hurt Evan, but the redhead offered a reassuring smile. "Did your research, huh?"
"Seems these days you're my favorite subject." Dae smiled back.
"I promise we'll talk about it someday--" Evan started but was interrupted.
"We don't need to; the last thing I want is for you to have to go through any more pain." Dae shook his head with a smile, "You're really fucking up my whole bad-boy image, you know that?"
"Perish the thought." Evan laughed and the sound sent ripples through Dae's body, " You do that yourself. You're kinda a big softie--under all that leather and resting bitch face."
Dae laughed in response, but silence soon filled the space between them. A soft, comfortable silence filled by the sounds of the stream and long looks into each other's eyes. With his free hand, and unable to take the wait anymore, Dae reaches up to Evan's face and gently caresses his cheek.
"Evan," His voice comes out in a whisper.
"Hmm?" Evan's response is just as hushed--as if neither boy wanted to ruin the moment by speaking too loudly.
"May I kiss you?"
Surprise filled Evan's eyes, but for only a moment. He nodded gently in reply and Dae took the plunge. Dae's lips met Evan's soft mouth. A sweetness danced between them as their kiss started off chaste.
But soon Evan's tongue eagerly sought refuge in the comfort of Dae's mouth, and he obliged. The two continued to do this dance between soft and sweet kisses and passionate interludes of making out.
And they stayed like that, as time crept away from them.