#goodnam

The slur that rolled off Billy’s tongue like honey. The flash of pain against his cheek when the punch had landed. Harvey’s on his shoulders, desperately trying to pull him away. The anger that flickered in Billy’s eyes, the alcohol surging through his veins that gave him a bravado he wouldn’t have had in a million years. The circle of partygoers tightening around them, the music dimming as the two of them reached a crescendo of their own.

And then, finally, the contents of Theo’s stomach splattering across Billy’s mother’s expensive carpeting. Billy had hit the roof, screaming all kinds of obscenities at him as he wiped his mouth.

“Lick it up, baby!” Theo heard himself say, his newfound cockiness fizzing through him like a livewire. Billy’s eyes had widened, and Theo had laughed. “Lick. It. Up.”

Listen, it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

His phone buzzes with messages, no doubt Harvey and Roz and Sabrina wondering where the hell he is and what the hell he’s thinking. In the other pocket, his house keys jangle amongst gum wrappers and bus tickets. He comes to a stop in the middle of the street and half-sits on the low brick wall that runs outside one of the nicer houses.

As sobriety comes to him, so too does regret, and the reality of tonight settles over him with the rain. He takes out his phone, one hand shielding it against the incessant downpour, and his heart sinks a little at the messages.His friends’ messages light up his screen, all asking some variation of “are you okay”?. He sends a quick “I’m okay” into the groupchat, followed by him telling them he’s going home.

Both are lies, obviously. He’s not going home, not yet anyway, and with what he just did, he’s pretty freaking far from fine.

His breath dances in front of him as he exhales. To recap: he just threw up on Billy Nolan. And called him a dickhead. Star football player, expert asshole, and ruiner of Theo’s life since freshman year, Billy Nolan. He puked on him.

Oh god, he’s a dead man.

Theo’s jaw tightens as he thinks what Billy and his goons could do to him. From the second he sets foot in school on Monday, a clock’s going to start ticking. They could track him down in study hall and make him regret he was born. Corner him in the lockers and hang him there like a trophy.

He leans his head back, hoping the rain will clear his head enough to let him think of an escape plan. Faking sick is out, as it’s just delaying the inevitable. He could just skip town, leave a note on the kitchen table and start afresh. Seattle is meant to be nice this time of year. Or maybe California, given that he’s set his college sights there anyway. Yeah, California, the other side of the country and thousands of miles away from Baxter High and Greendale and all that stupid bullshit.

He’s so set in that plan that his hand reaches for his wallet when something catches his eye. The house opposite him sits under a hanging tree, red brick coming out of the dark. Only one light is one, drawing his attention up to the first-floor window. Dim orange light shines behind lace curtains. The thought crosses his mind, who the hell would be up so late, but then he looks in the drive and gets his answer.

An indigo-blue motorbike sits under a small shelter, belonging to one Robin Goodfellow. Greendale’s first-ever New Kid and sits two rows behind him in English and to the right of him in Spanish. He’s been at their school for three weeks, they’ve had two full conversations and Theo has noticedhis tongue getting tied every time Robin enters the room.

Warmth pools in his stomach and Theo realises there’s another way to spend his remaining hours: getting freaky.

He runs across the road, no cars around to stop him, and he’s climbing over Robin’s wall before his sanity can catch up with him. He makes it to the other side with grazes along both his palms and lands not-so-neatly on the grass. He pulls himself up, determined to prove that he’s not still drunk, and scurries across to the house.

A trellis runs up the side, ivy weaving around the wood, and he uses that as his makeshift ladder. His hands shake as they wrap around the thin wood, and it creaks and tilts under his weight at first. There is a brief flash of worry as he climbs higher, realising that breaking your bones in their yard is probably not the best way to make a move on your crush. A sensible person would turn back at this point but the electric currents through his body block out any possibility for sensible behaviour.

He pulls himself up on the window ledge, a grunt escaping him as he heaves himself up. He’s vaguely aware of his legs dangling beneath him and of how his shoulders shake as he holds himself. He reaches up to the window just as the shadow on the other side quickly raises its head. He tugs on the lock once, twice, until it snaps off and scrapes his hand. The world turns upside down as he pulls himself through the open window, a cry of “Jesus” punctuating his less-than-graceful landing on the floor.

Normally he’s more courteous than this, but he’s a dead boy walking, what can he expect?

“Theo?” He jumps to his feet at the sound of his name and runs a hand through his hair. Robin sits on his bed, his green hair falling into his face. There’s a comic book in his hands and Theo recognises it as the same one he’s been reading all week. One of their four conversations was about it, actually.

“What are you doing in my room?” starts conversation number five

“Shhhhhh! Sh, shut up!” he replies sharply. He doesn’t know much about Robin, but he knows the girl who tends to sulk around him is his sister, and the last thing he wants right now is an interruption.

He drops his jacket on the floor as he crosses to the bed. He doesn’t know where it comes from, but he even leans against the wall, shirt collar popped up like a regular douchebag.

God, he should not be enjoying this so much.

“Sorry for the intrusion, but I had to see you. Like, right now.”

“Oh,” comes his reply. Robin nods and eyes him in a way that’s curious, but not cautious. Like he knows that whatever Theo broke into his house for, it’s not malevolent. “Any… particular reason?”

“Well,” he begins. “Long story short, I got into a fight with Billy Nolan tonight at a dumb party and he’s going to kill me over it on Monday. And I am not dying a virgin.” He punctuates his point by pushing himself off the wall and pressing his hands together. “Ergo, I’ve decided I must ride you until I break you.”

“Oh,” Robin replies again. A second later, the words actually apparently register, and he responds with “oh” and slowly closes over the comic book. Theo laughs, the sound low and vaguely unfamiliar, and he moves to the end of the bed. He’s only ever seen him at school, mostly hiding in corners of the library with his sister. But now the shy loner new kid exterior he’s become familiar with melts away as he pulls Theo in between his legs and his skin prickles with the excitement.

This close, Theo sees properly the gap in his teeth and dimples in his cheeks. Of fucking course he has dimples.

“So to be clear… you got into a fight with the most popular guy in school-”

“Told him to lick up my puke.”

“Lovely.” He wrinkles his nose. “Anyway, you got into a fight with the most popular guy in school, and your response to your impending social death was to come to… me?”

“Essentially, yes,” he replies. His hands find the back of Robin’s neck and he toys with his hair.

He feels Robin’s pulse in the back of his neck, thrumming like electricity, and his breath hitches.

“Why?”

“I told you. I’m not dying a virgi-”

“Why me?” he asks. The question stops him then, almost freezing his frantic heart entirely. He could lean into the whole thing and mumble some stupid excuse against Robin’s lips. Or he could go the other way; confess his weeks-long crush and tell him how scared he is and how desperately he needs someone and wants him. He goes for the middle ground.

“Because you’re beautiful,” he says. “And because I like you and this might be my last chance before Billy utterly annihilates me on Monday.” He shakes his head. “And high school is stupid and this town drives me insane and the world is messed up and I want to pretend it isn’t. I want to try to make something beautiful. With you.”

There’s a second of silence when Theo debates launching himself out the same window he came in. Risky endeavours don’t always pay off. He waits until Robin breaks into the most enticingly wicked grin Theo’s ever seen.

“That works for me-”

He doesn’t let him finish.

Their tongues and teeth collide as they fall back on the bed together, their hands grabbing at everything they can. Robin tugs at Theo’s shirt while Theo makes quick work of Robin’s belt, hearing it hit the wall with a satisfying thud. As Theo’s boots hit the floor, Robin’s shirt slides off and Theo presses small, intense kisses against his chest.

“God you could’ve warned me about your freaking abs dude,” he teases breathlessly. Robin laughs and runs his finger along Theo’s waistband, his eyebrow raised coyly. Theo takes the hint and wriggles out of his jeans with less grace than he’d like. It doesn’t seem to ruin the mood though, as Robin wraps his arm around his waist and holds him even closer.

Theo goes back to Robin’s chest, his kisses trailing up to his neck. Robin’s breath is hot in his ear, his hands tight on his waist. A spark of bravery pushes Theo to bite down on his neck and he hopes he leaves a mark.

He’s always wanted to leave a mark on someone. And the fact it’s on him… well, that’s even better.

Robin’s back arches and he presses against Theo, his hand curled around his shoulders. Theo feels something pressed against his leg and he pulls away for a second because holy shit, this is happening. This is real, not some elaborate fantasy he’d take to the grave.

“Are you okay?” Robin’s pupils are wide, his hair pushed away from his face. His pants slightly but does it best to hide it, instead softening his grip on Theo’s shoulders. “We can slow down if you want to-”

“No.” He shakes his head quickly. “No, I’m fine. I’m great, actually.” It’s true, which is even stranger considering where he was half an hour ago. He can barely remember that though, or anything before this. Robin laughs softly and his eyes crinkle. It’s beautiful, and gentle, and it melts his heart. But it’s also not what he needs right now, so he pulls him into another kiss while their free hands work at his belt.

“Hope you weren’t planning on sleeping tonight.”

“Never was,” he replies. He doesn’t think to ask what he means by that. Instead, he tells Robin to slap him and he does, eliciting a sharp squeak that Theo didn’t even think he could make. He responds by shoving Robin back and kissing his neck until he hears the click of his belt.

There’s a moment, as Theo drags his nails down Robin’s bare back, where the pants hit the floor and he realises this is it oh my god this is it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, muted by the sound of the blood pumping in his ears, he asks himself what next. He shuts that thought up by giving Robin another hickey. He’s not thinking about that now, or anything else.

He shoves Robin roughly back on the bed and grips the headboard. Robin’s smile is breathless and breathtaking, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. His hands trail along Theo’s legs and up around his waist, shivers racing through him as he gets closer. He moans as Robin’s tongue slides into his mouth and buries his hand in his hair.

God, he can’t believe he never thought to do this before. Here, now, he can’t believe he ever felt scared before, of Billy Nolan or anyone. His thoughts run away with his beating heart until he can’t understand them himself; all he understands is the way Robin feels beneath him and the way his lips taste against his. It could just be the two of them, in this bed, doing whatever for the rest of his life, and he’d be fine with it. He’d love it.

“Make this whole town disappear,” he thinks, and then realises he said it out loud. He looks down, but Robin isn’t put off. On the contrary, his grin grows wider.

“Okay,” is his whispered reply. “Okay.”

He finishes with his hand in Robin’s hair and his name on his lips, crying out like his life depends on it. He falls off Robin and hits the mattress beside him. The bed shifts slightly and the movement is trangely small after what they just did. Robin lets out a long, ragged breath and runs his hand through his hair. His lips move wordlessly and out of the corner of his eye, Theo sees him turn his head and look down at the space between them.

“I think you tore my mattress.” Theo frowns, but when he looks where Robin is he sees it; a sizeable tear in the sheet and white cotton poking out from it. His cheeks slush red for a new reason this time. He guesses he doesn’t know his own strength. Or that he, you know, had strength.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

“It’s cool.”

With nothing else to do, Theo looks up at the ceiling, away from the offending rip. There, he’s greeted by the sight of stars scattered across the inky blackness. Glow-in-the-dark stickers, he realises. Like the ones he used to have in his room.

Beside him, Robin lets out a self-depricating laugh and Theo realises he’s still watching him. “Completely dorky, I know,” he sighs.

“No. They’re awesome.” Robin chuckles softly. They fall silent for a few minutes as the last few minutes settle over them. Robin gets brave and his hand ventures across the mattress to meet Theo’s.

“So… Billy Nolan?”

“I don’t want to talk about Billy Nolan right now,” he replies quickly. He clears his throat. “Or ever.”

It’s stupid, since he knows that avoiding the subject forever is pretty much impossible. Robin doesn’t press though, simply nodding and muttering “okay”. His hand stays where it is, pressed on top of Theo’s. It wouldn’t take much for them to start holding hands now. All he’d have to do is turn his hand around.

God, what a thought.

“You want to stay over?” Robin asks when the silence becomes too much. He shouldn’t, because he barely knows Robin and his dad will be wondering where the hell he is and Robin is going to have some questions to answer tomorrow from whoever he lives with. He should leave, and think about how he’s going to stop Billy from killing him.

But instead, he lets Robin pull the covers over them. As he lays back down, Theo notices a mark on his collarbone, one that wasn’t there when he came in. If his father could see it, he’d have a heart attack. His friends would lose their shit if they knew and beg him for all the details. As for Theo, he feels a strange sense of pride over it. Especially when Robin meets his eye and traces the mark with his fingers.

He doesn’t want to be optimistic about the fact that something might happen here, especially when he’s still due to die on Monday.