Worried teacher or how not to get arachnophobia
«I had sex with Tony Stark.»
The silence that followed on the other end of the phone call was loud enough to hear Coltâs gears starting to work in his head.
«What?!» he choked out a sound between shock and the loudest squeak the humanity ever heard, all while Jodyâs sleepy voice sounded in the background. She probably could hear everything and in normal situation Grace probably wouldâve been mortified. But right now heâs panicking and doesnât care. He can always worry about it later. «Dude, itâs three in the morning, what happened?»
«Remember that party? At MIT?» Ryland started mutter, but Colt immediately interrupted him.
«Stop. Where are you right now?» the manâs voice became a little more sober from sleep as he was clearly getting serious. Jodyâs voice sounded worried again but Grace couldnât hear her well.
«IâmâŠ. ummâŠÂ» and now Ryland realized how that sounded to Colt, that wasnât familiar with the context. And he didnât know how to explain everything. «Iâm in New York⊠With a school trip. Some of my kids won a contest and now Iâm here. And tomorrow we have an excursion at the Stark TowerâŠÂ» Grace started walking in his room from one side to another, forcing his brain to work, to explain what was going on.
Colt once again fell silent, probably trying to digest what was said. There were times when Ryland could shock him but usually it wasnât something so absurd. It almost sounded like some kind of prank, but Colt knew when his twin was joking and when he wasnât. Panic in his brotherâs voice was real. Still it didnât make everything less surreal. «So⊠Let me get this straightâŠÂ» Colt took a deep breath, collecting himself and gesturing to Jody that it wasnât a life-or-death situation. «You hooked up with Stark in college, we joked that it was just some weird wannabe, now you found out that it wasnât a fake and⊠You will have an excursion at Avengersâ place? Am I getting it right?»
«Yes» Ryland nodded, even if he knew that the other man couldnât see it. «And⊠Si is with meâŠÂ»
Now Grace could hear how Coltâs mind blew up and Jodyâs half-chocking giggle. The embarrassment grew, which, in a way, helped Grace to shake off some of the anxiety. On one hand, he was grateful for that, on the other⊠Now Jody knows about all of this⊠Next meeting promised to be an awkward one.
«You have-⊠Why is Simon with you?» Coltâs brain finally reloaded, allowing him to ask the right questions to which Ryland didnât want to answer.
«We⊠Ummm⊠Weâre kinda⊠Itâs not important right now, Colt!» he tried to brush it off. Anything to avoid explaining why he dragged his boyfriend with a bunch of kids. Rocky already laughed his ass off, calling Simon an emotional support. And despite how ridicules it sounded⊠he was rightâŠ
Ryland loved his students. He was happy for them whenever they achieved something or when they were trying to do something new. But he was terrified when he was positioned with them during fieldtrips. Not because he didnât want, but because he was terrified. Being a cool teacher and taking care about bunch of 12-14 years-old without their parents are not the same things. He was shocked how many people were actually ready to place their kids under his care outside of the classroom. He himself, however, didnât feel that much of certainty. He was stressed every single time, desperately trying to understand what to do. So when it was announced that he would accompany a few kids to another city⊠On the other side of the country????? Grace was so scared that Simon had to physically stop all nervous ticks his partner was doing. Plus points, now his kitchen back home was spotlessâŠ
Ryland shook his head, realizing that he missed some of Coltâs angry ranting.
«âŠ.-ing that! How do you even manage to end up in such situations every single time?! Ry, I swear to god, Iâll bite your head off one of these days!»
«Sorry, I just⊠I just donât know what to doâŠÂ» Grace shook his head, trying to swallow some of the panic. He glanced at the clock. Six in the morning. He didnât sleep all night and in a few hours he would have to lead his students for breakfast and then⊠O boy, he wasnât ready.
«First of all, talk to Simon, dammit. Then try to calm down and just relax. Itâs been years. I doubt he even remembered that crap back in the day. So chill. Youâre overthinking again,» Colt lowered his voice. Even if he was fuming with anger and shock he did want to help his brother. «Plus, what are you even afraid of? As far as heard heâs engaged so donât try to panic about something that happened in your wild youth,» he even joked, poking at Rylandâs past with a chuckle.
«As if you were tameâŠÂ» Grace rolled his eyes, felling like some of his self-control was returning to him. He walked towards the window, staring at the road below. «How come weâre so old now?» he asked in quiet voice. Colt scoffed, offended and yet still playful.
«Old? How dare you? Youâre the only one whoâs old!»
«Weâre twins, Co. We were born-..»
«Ai! Shut it!»
Grace laughed at Coltâs logic, feeling better. And slightly guilty that he woke him up in the middle of the night.
But right as he was about to joke, something banged into the window, scaring the guts out of Ryland. He jumped off from the glass with a yelp, seeing a red spot as his glasses slipped off his nose. Only after a second he registered that it was a human figure with red and blue spots. A very famous figure in this city. Grace was almost relived, realizing that it was just a local hero, Spider-Man. He looked smaller up close andâŠ
«Ry? Ry, what happened?! Ry!»
Grace froze. That was a kid. And he was bleedingâŠ
