Give & Take (boyxboy)

"Hey, Jeremy!" It was Toby, running towards where he was waiting for ICT class. Jeremy felt like hiding, but that would look suspicious. He sighed, resigning himself to the questions he was about to get.

"Hey, Tobes."

"What's going on, Jer? I didn't see you at lunch yesterday."

"Yeah... Ella and Cassidy's excessive PDA kind of grosses me out," Jeremy said, thinking quickly. "I needed to get away."

Toby looked at him sceptically. "It is pretty gross..." he trailed off, though he seemed to doubt Jeremy's excuse. "Are you and Ashad okay?"

Jeremy felt his mouth twitch anxiously. "We're fine." His voice came out more bluntly than he meant it to.

Toby's eyebrows knitted together. "Hm. He's looked like shit all week though. I've never seen him this down before."

Jeremy's heart sank. He knew it was his fault and he couldn't help feeling guilty over it, even though he'd promised himself he wouldn't. "I'm sure he'll pull through," he said heartlessly.

"Great friend you are," Toby muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Toby looked disappointed. He turned abruptly and walked into the classroom as the teacher arrived.

I have to do this, or I'll lose my friends again, Jeremy reminded himself. I can't be bullied like that again, it'll kill me. But that didn't take away the ache in his chest. He had betrayed his closest friend.

. . .

There was a knock at the door. "Jer?" Darcy called.

"Hm?" Jeremy looked up, dazed, from his position on his bed. He'd been staring into space, forgetting about the book he was reading.

"I'm coming in." Darcy appeared. Their hair was now cut short, styled upwards in a colossal emerald fauxhawk. Jeremy found it dizzying how quickly Darcy changed their hairstyle.

"What're you doing in here?"

Darcy looked affronted. "What, am I not allowed to talk to you?"

Jeremy thought they was starting to sound like Ella. His lip curled slightly in distaste. "Sure you are. But why are you in my room?"

Now Darcy looked angry. "Come on, Jeremy. You've been holed up in here for over a week. You barely speak, you barely ever eat. What are we meant to think?"

"Um, maybe 'Jeremy is a grouchy teenager and needs to be left alone'," he suggested.

"You admit you're being grouchy?"

"Sure."

"Why are you being grouchy?"

Jeremy wasn't prepared to answer that.

"Come on, it's not like I'll tell anyone. Don't let whatever happened with Ashad turn you into an asshole."

Jeremy sat up too quickly, blinking back the stars in his vision. "How do you know about Ashad?" he said, squinting at them.

Darcy looked at him like he was an idiot. "How could I not?" they retorted. "You've been avoiding him like the plague for nearly two weeks."

Am I really that obvious? Or is Darcy just good at working it out? Jeremy sighed, eventually giving in. "Fine. Something did happen." Darcy looked at him attentively, taking a seat on his desk chair. "A couple of weeks ago, we were working on that art assignment together. You know, the one with the photo collage." He stopped. Could he really tell Darcy what had happened?

"I won't mention it," they urged him gently. "So tell me. You need to tell someone, Jer."

Jeremy swallowed hard, not meeting Darcy's eyes. The words wanted to explode from his mouth, but he didn't know how to order them into coherent sentences. Finally he just blurted out, "He kissed me."

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What did you do?"

Shame weighed on Jeremy's shoulders so that he couldn't look up. "I pushed him away. I told him to never come near me again."

The room was silent for a moment, and Jeremy glanced up cautiously. Darcy's face was stony. They closed their eyes and forced themself to relax again. "Is that really what you wanted, Jer? To throw your best friend aside because he had a crush on you?"

"Of course not." That was all Jeremy could be sure of. "But I—Well, I can't have rumours spread about me being gay."

"What's wrong with being gay? Your sister's gay."

"There's nothing wrong with being gay!"

Darcy cocked their head to one side. "So are you gay then?"

"I—I don't think so."

"Do you like Ashad?"

"Of course I do, he is, well was, my best friend."

Darcy rolled their eyes impatiently. "Don't be such a dumbass. I mean do you like him." They emphasised the word, waving their arms ardently.

"I'm not sure." Jeremy bit his lip. He'd been too shocked by Ashad's unexpected move that he hadn't had time to process it. He'd been so afraid that things would go back to how they were before he made new friends that he'd pushed them all aside anyway. How did he really feel?

"Well, there. That's the question you need to be asking yourself. Don't push away the best thing that's happened to you in your teenage years just because you're afraid of a few bullies." A wicked grin tilted Darcy's lips upwards. "Let your boyfriend fight them off."

Jeremy's eyes opened wide. "He's not my fucking boyfriend," he growled, throwing a pillow at Darcy, who let out an evil laugh, winking at him.

"But he will be," Darcy sang, dashing for the dooras Jeremy chased them with another pillow brandished high.