Isak has been trying to get rid of Emma for weeks, luckily for him Even has a plan.

Many thanks to @eroticgropefest for being an amazing beta as always <3

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When Monday comes and Isak arrives at school he finds Even waiting for him. He puts his arm around Isak the whole walk as they pass all of his friends and Emma’s group near the door. Once they’re inside near the lockers, Vilde stops them and says, “Hi!”

“Hi Vilde,” they both reply.

She looks between them before speaking again. “So, I’ve heard some rumours...” she pauses, looking at Even’s arm around Isak, “and I wanted to know if it’s really true that you two are together?”

Isak looks to his side for one second, silently asking Even for help. The thought of denying everything crosses his mind, but he really doesn’t want to do it. And they’re still pretty close to Emma's group so there's a good chance she might be watching them.

Even leans into him and kisses him lightly on the cheek. Isak can’t help but blush because of it. He puts his arm around Even’s side to bring him closer. This is all new to Isak--the wanting to be close to someone--but with Even he doesn’t really have to think about it, his body just reacts on autopilot, pulling them closer like there’s an invisible thread connecting them.

When Even moves slightly away from Isak he turns to Vilde and smiles, letting his actions confirm the rumours about them.

***

Through the whole morning Isak keeps thinking about the kiss, and the fact that if Vilde heard about them then the whole school must know it too.

At lunch Isak walks with Jonas to the cafeteria when a group of girls stops them to let him know that they support his relationship. Isak, not knowing what to say, just nods at them and grabs Jonas to keep walking away.

When they finally sit down at their table in the corner, Jonas clears his throat and glances at Isak. He then turns his attention back to the rush of people coming in and out before he speaks. “So what’s up between you and Even?”

“You heard the rumours too?”

“Yeah...” He looks calmly at Isak, like they are just talking about the weather and not whether or not he’s dating a guy, “are they real?”

Isak thinks that he should tell his best friend the truth, but he has been wanting to tell Jonas that he likes boys for a while now, so he ends up confirming the rumors.“Yeah...Even and I sort of have a thing going on.”

“Okay, that’s cool,” Jonas says with an easy smile, so Isak smiles too. He might have lied about the relationship between him and Even, but he just came out to his best friend and now he feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

***

As his last class comes to an end Isak starts to feel nervous, Even had asked him to hang out at his place after school and the only thing Isak can think about is how this lie has gone too far. It’s one thing to pretend for Emma, but now they’re lying to the whole school.

Through the whole afternoon Isak couldn't stop thinking about the two kisses Even gave him--innocent kisses that probably meant nothing. So after they make some awful sandwiches and sit on the sofa under Even’s bed, Isak goes quiet.

“Is everything alright?” Even asks gently.

“Yeah...” Isak says, looking down at his knees.

Even bumps his shoulder with Isak’s and looks at him expectantly.

Isak takes a deep breath before finally saying what’s on his mind. “Everyone really thinks that we’re dating...”

“Well…” Even starts, eyes crinkling as a playful smile starts to appear on his lips, “at least you’re good looking; it could be worse.”

Isak begins to blush, not really believing what he had just heard. Their eyes meet and they both start to grin.

“Is this because of the kiss I gave you? I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Even eventually says when Isak doesn’t respond.

“No, it's not like that… I'm totally fine with kissing,”  Isak begins to say, but when he realizes what exactly he just told Even he starts to blush even more. Even moves his eyebrows in a suggestive way which makes Isak hide behind his hands. “What I meant to say was... that’s not the problem.”

“What’s the problem then?”

“The problem is that Jonas asked me what was going on with us, and I didn't tell him the truth.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? I should have told him the truth, not lie to my best friend.”

“Why didn't you?” Even asks him softly.

“He looked so chill when he asked me about you… that I just wanted to finally tell him that I like boys so I told him we have a thing going on,” Isak says, looking guiltily at Even.

“It's fine Isak. I don't mind.” Even puts a hand on Isak’s arm before he continues “I’m actually really glad I could help you come out to him.”

Isak feels a small smile forming on his lips, Even has done so much already that Isak isn’t sure how he could repay him. He looks at Even and becomes very aware of the way their legs are touching, his eyes staring right at Isak like he’s searching for something, and his mouth slightly open begging to be kissed. Isak has never wanted to kiss someone as badly as he wants to kiss Even. It’s all about Even in his head ever since the first time he saw him.

“You know what the funny thing is?” Isak says bitterly, “the whole school knows that I like guys now and I've never even kissed a guy before.” he sighs before he continues, “I just hope it's better than when I had to kiss girls.”

Even looks at him intensely and moves closer. “We could do it,” he whispers.

“What?” Isak says, surprised. Is Even really proposing what Isak thinks he is?

Even turns his body around so that he's completely facing Isak. “Do you want to?”

As soon as Isak nods, Even starts to lean closer. He puts a hand on Isak’s neck and then when their noses brush, he watches as Even begins to close his eyes. Isak can feel him breathing on his face so he stays frozen in place, afraid to ruin the moment. But when he feels Even’s lips gently pressing against his, he closes his eyes too.

The kiss feels nothing like Isak has ever experienced and it’s doing things to him that he only heard about in movies. His heart is beating so fast that he’s sure Even must hear it.  He feels the need to bring Even closer, to run his hands all over him and never let go.

As if reading his mind, Even moves closer, pressing his body against Isak. He tilts his head to deepen the kiss and Isak swears that that it’s the most intense thing he has ever experienced.

When Isak is about to move his hand to grab his hair, Even moves away. At the sudden loss of contact, Isak opens his eyes. The sight of Even with his lips swollen, slightly panting and blushing just because of their kiss makes Isak itch to get closer to him again.

“So…” Even clears his throat, “did it feel any different from kissing a girl?”

“Uhm...” Isak slowly blinks and swallows hard before adding,“definitely.”

“In a good way I hope?” Even says with a knowing look at him.

“Oh yeah...” Isak replies, feeling his cheeks burning so he looks down at his feet.

“Okay, I’m going to make us some popcorn, turn on my laptop and put Romeo+Juliet on?” Even says as he gets up.

“Sure,” Isak responds quickly, not really caring that Even wants to watch that movie again. He gets up to grab the laptop from the desk, glad for the distance between them, and when Even leaves the room he takes a deep breath and lets himself smile. Even just kissed him, this time on the mouth.

When the movie ends Isak goes back to the kollektiv and stays in bed awake replaying the kiss over and over in his head. He can still remember the ghost of Even’s lips on his, and how good it felt to have Even so close to him.

***

Two days pass before the boys finally confront Isak about Even. He’d known it was coming, but he just hadn't found the courage to say something before. So whenever he saw Magnus and Mahdi glancing at each other near him, Isak started purposely avoiding their eyes.

When they’ve all gathered around Isak’s locker waiting for Even to join them for kebabs, Magnus asks abruptly, “so what's up between you and Even?”

The sudden question makes Isak drop one of his books to the floor. To calm himself he takes his time picking it up and then he turns to Magnus. “What about it?”

“Vilde told me you two are together? And I thought that if that was real you would have told us? Plus there's no way that you're gay,” he says with a confused expression, looking at Mahdi for confirmation.

“It’s true-” Isak starts, but he’s interrupted.

“But just a few weeks ago you were making out with Emma,” Magnus says, still sounding unsure.

“Maybe he’s bisexual?” Mahdi adds, shrugging.

Isak sighs, wondering how he’s going to explain that he’s just been kissing girls so that they didn’t know he was gay this whole time.

“Well Even is coming so you can just ask him if it’s true or not,” Jonas says to them.

Isak turns around and indeed he sees Even coming down the stairs towards them.

“Hey guys,’” he says when he reaches the group; then he looks around noticing everyone staring at him so he adds frowning slightly. “Do I have something on my face?”

Mahdi nudges Magnus, whispering, “ask him.” Then they look at each other unsure.

Isak takes a deep breath and finally says, “they don't believe we're dating.”

Even, to Isak’s surprise, looks around amused and his eyes stay on Jonas until he says defensively, “he's not talking about me. I believe it.”

Isak gives Jonas a quick, thankful look before his attention turns back to Even, who is suddenly standing right in front of him.

“This should make it clear...” Even says in a low whisper, right before he grabs Isak by the neck and closes the space between them. Isak freezes for a second but this time he manages to put his hand around Even’s back to bring him closer.

When Isak remembers where he is and that all his friends are right by his side watching, he slowly moves away not taking his eyes off Even. Because Even just kissed him, again. And he didn't have to do it. Does he really want to kiss Isak? Or is this all just pretend for him?