Hell Comes With Its Own Locker

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Wow, so it's been...Almost two months since I posted the first chapter of the story? Sorry about the long wait! That's the problem with writing a story with a friend: you have two schedules to work around! Not to mention I just started university, and with all of my science courses and labs, the work is kind of crushing me! I promise we'll try to speed things up a LOT more from now on though, and really get into the story. We have tons of ideas! Just be patient! Heh.

Oh, by the way, yes the title of the story was taken from Charlier Bartlett! That was a great movie and I thought that was such an appropriate title for the story, do you think? Anyway, so that's my extra disclaimer for that. Onto the story!!

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Sirius Gryffin’s eyes had followed the boy since he entered, rushing and stumbling, through the classroom doorway. He grinned. The sight of Chaz had always made him grin (kind of pathetic really, he figured), but the thought of this particular school year being his last was really doing something to him. It struck a nerve; he didn’t like it. He paused to wonder just exactly why he’d failed his senior year last year. Had it been the course load? Certainly not; Sirius was a very bright young man, especially when it came to history and languages which he found to come naturally, and his teachers were always impressed with his high test scores. Of course, he’d always made sure to “forget” to bring in his homework assignments and slack off during group projects. After all, that’s what everyone expected from him, and he didn’t want to disappoint.

In truth, there were a lot of things that his so-called friends didn’t know about him and he kept his deepest, darkest secrets even from Ollie. He’d hate to ruin his hard earned reputation, after all! How would his friends feel if they knew his headphones weren’t blasting screaming Slayer lyrics, but the utterly flamboyant Freddy Mercury of Queen? How would they feel if they knew Sirius had no desire to be the Captain of the Varsity Rugby team, but would much rather be in the music room practicing classical pieces on the piano? How about the fact that, instead of becoming a star Quarterback for the New York Giants or a ruthless government official, he’d much rather try out for Broadway musicals. They’d kick his ass.

It was the sound of Mr. Wagner’s voice that eventually pulled him from his thoughts. “Uh, 42?” Sirius answered the nonexistent question. Many of his friends in the class laughed appreciatively. One of them even reached over to clap him on the shoulder briefly. As Sirius clued in, he realized their always-disgruntled teacher was attempting to persuade Chaz to sit with him. Sirius could have kissed the old man. “What, are you scared of me? C’mon Spaz, don’t be a pussy” he jeered, patting the empty seat beside him and stretching far back in the chair. The other teen practically flung his school bag next to the desk and flopped down with a huff into the seat. Sirius couldn’t have grinned wider.

That’s when he wondered: did he fail last year on purpose? No, he couldn’t have. That was bullshit. He couldn’t wait to get out of school, the same as every teenager on the planet! He glanced at Chaz, trying his best to be inconspicuous, just as the other boy finally cracked a grin at something. Maybe he didn’t want to leave Chaz (did that thought really just happen, he groaned inwardly).

Another voice, to his left this time. It was Arthur. Sirius could never tell whether the other boy was flirting with him, or mocking him. “Back it up, queer”. It had taken him a rather long time to respond. He’d highly considered the possibilities of fooling around with Arthur Bateman on a number of occasions, but that was before he’d begun to notice the strange way Ollie spoke around the boy. Or rather, the way he couldn’t seem to speak (a nice change from the norm, he figured). Either way, he was pretty sure Arthur would fuck him, if he was given the opportunity (HE’D look better on me, did he say?). Sirius smirked despite himself. He brought his feet down from the desk and turned.

“Anyway, I always make sure to try on the merchandise before I bring anything home” he’d said this in a softer voice and leaned in closer to Arthur “So if you’re giving free samples, make sure you save me one”. Now he wasn’t sure if he was flirting or mocking either, and Sirius couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Well, ok, he could. The guy was incredibly fine, at least by his standards. Sure he longed for Chaz more than anything, but that was a line that just couldn’t be crossed. Though, the moment he saw Ollie’s big brown eyes peering down at him in disappointment, Sirius pulled back.

It wasn’t long before Chaz was reeling into him about Arthur’s last comment. Sirius thought it was ironic, just how true his accusations were. “Don’t flatter yourself Spaz, I don’t want any kind of rides from you man” he also thought that statement was ironic...He turned to look at Chaz, his eyes taking in every movement of his lips (way to be obvious, he realized). “Sure, in fact Jimmy MacMillan in the front row sounds like a pretty good target, he’s Head of Chess Club after all” Sirius grinned, the type of grin that he’d been told was charming. As he grinned like this he leaned in closer. At a few inches away, he tilted his head, locking eyes with Chaz over the brim of his Aviator sunglasses. “But I chose you”. He glanced down at the piece of paper that the other boy was still holding, skimming over the equation briefly. “Nah Spaz, the answer’s B. You just forgot to invert the value of the original exponent, see, just there”, Sirius pointed out the small mistake to Chaz with his pen, circling the correct answer instead. “Maybe my brains are more developed than you think Spaz, and as for my looks...Thanks for the compliment”. He leaned in, and he liked to think his eyes were smouldering. He held this pose for a moment until a paper was thrust under his nose.

“Mr. Gryffin, if you wouldn’t mind giving me your attention for a moment, I have the guidelines for your start of term project. And don’t even ask, YES you will all be working with your partners!” Mr. Wagner finished these directions in a raised voice, still staring at Sirius. “Your homework, boys” and he took Chaz’s paper from his hand. For a moment he looked at Sirius, but the teen had a reputation for never doing a piece of homework in his life. He was quick to return to his desk to mark.

“Very well done Mr. Van Der Beek, you’re the only one with the correct answer this time around! B it is! Five bonus points to your next test”. Mr. Wagner looked thrilled.

That Chemistry project was all Sirius could focus on for the rest of his morning classes. History had been a bore, or so he groaned to his gaggle of friends (the Spanish Inquisition had been horrifying, he thought, fascinated) and math was always a drag (maybe we’ll get into approximating definite integrals next, he hoped). Drama had been right before lunch and it had been the worst of all, like it always was. Sure, he’d made fun of all the right people and sat in the back as usual, but that was exactly his point. Just once he’d like to get up on that stage and amaze the audience with his performance. Instead he got to be the class comedian, basically. He knew the routine by now.

It wasn’t until he heard the roll of four little wheels coming his way that he perked up. It was Ollie. He was on his skateboard, as usual, and making a v-line straight for Sirius. He tried to pull a trick and, go figure, he knocked straight into the slightly shorter teenager. “Yo Gryff! What’s up man? Fuck, you missed it! Ernie Moore set off a fire-cracker in English, a fucking fire-cracker dude! Mr. Cameron gave him detention for a week, but the thing nearly took Jimmy MacMillan’s head off so it was totally worth it. Priceless Gryff! Jimbo nearly pissed himself”. Ollie talked even faster when he was excited, but Sirius laughed despite himself. He wasn’t listening though, not really.

Chaz had just passed by on his way to the lunch line. Sirius stared at him like a love-sick puppy (whatever, his hair looks good today, he thought). There wasn’t much time to goggle before another body blocked the teenager from view, and Sirius tried with all his will not to let out an audible groan. It was his self-instated “boyfriend”, Taylor Cohen.

You hadn’t seen rich and arrogant until you saw Taylor Cohen. On that front, he was similar to Sirius except a little less money and a lot more arrogant. His father was a District Attorney...Sirius couldn’t remember where, as he tried to block out most of the sound that came from the other boy’s mouth. Anyway, his Mom was also a Senator, so he took it upon himself to feel he was better than everyone- except for Sirius Gryffin, that is. An inflated ego was one thing; Sirius had dealt with that sort of thing his whole life, and he’d be the first to admit his own was the biggest; but a know-it-all was another story. Taylor was only in Grade 11 but, like Chaz, was taking a few advanced Grade 12 courses. In fact, the two of them seemed to have a private competition for getting top marks in the class. Private for Chaz anyway. Whenever Taylor beat out the other boy, he’d be sure to loudly boast about it.

The only thing that at all made up for this was his looks. The guy was gorgeous, in a very conventional type of way. He was exactly average height with a slim build and a kind face (misleading, Sirius would point out) and his uniform was always the utmost prim and proper. He had blue eyes and golden blonde hair that was oh-so stylishly feathered and swept off of his forehead. The perfect Ken doll image. The first thing that had attracted Sirius to him were his incredibly luscious lips. They were fuller than your average male’s and Sirius couldn’t wait to kiss them (everyone has their regrets, he thought). Taylor couldn’t either, apparently, as he’d basically flung himself at Sirius the very night they met. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly the one night stand Sirius had expected. That had been a year ago.

“What’s on your mind baby?” Taylor asked. Sirius realized he must have been staring at him for a minute or so.

“You” Sirius groaned inwardly at his own response. Was he whipped or what.

“I thought so” Taylor had his arms around his neck now. They were kissing, Sirius acknowledged briefly and peered over his boyfriend’s shoulder. As their lips opened up softly and tongue met tongue, Sirius found himself staring at Chaz once again. He was with Arthur Bateman, as usual (not jealous or anything, he lied to himself). It was only when he felt Taylor’s hand in his back pocket that he jerked backwards and faked a cough.
“Sorry, head cold. Wouldn’t want you to get it babe” Sirius lied, glancing briefly at Ollie who snickered silently and rolled his eyes knowingly. He’d basically been daring Sirius to break up with the guy for the last...Well, ever since Taylor had decided they were in a relationship really. Either way, Taylor was a perfect cover-up boyfriend. No one would get the idea Sirius had eyes for “Spaz” Van Der Beek if he was dating this blonde bombshell. So Sirius said nothing as Taylor latched onto his arm and accompanied him and Ollie to the lunch line.

Sirius made for the front of the line, before everyone else who had been waiting at least ten minutes, but no one made so much as a groan. He could have done this because he was particularly hungry today, or maybe because he was in a bad mood, but the most likely reason was that Chaz was just getting up to the front register before Sirius butted in front of him. He knocked into Chaz carelessly, stepping directly in his way. He noticed Ollie had “accidentally” hit Chaz with his skateboard, apologizing theatrically as Sirius smiled at the lunch lady. As usual, the older, worn-out woman melted to the handsome young man and smiled right back. Everyone at this school was a sucker for Sirius Gryffin, even the teachers, whom more than one of had accepted favours from the young man, and not the innocent kind either. Sirius wondered briefly as he ordered his nachos if that was why he liked Chaz so much, because he was definitely no sucker. In fact, the teen seemed to genuinely hate him (can’t blame him really, he realized) and he’d never gotten more than a scowl from him. Well...he supposed Chaz did admit he was attractive in Chem class this morning.

He didn’t know what made him do it. As the lunch-lady (Dolores, was that her name?) went to hand him his change he shook his head. “Nah, use it for the short kid’s lunch. It looks like he’s had a crap day” he told her, nodding his head back toward Chaz. Dolores was surprise: Sirius Gryffin, being courteous? Oh well, she’d got to touch his hand again. What a handsome boy!

With a tray of nachos with the works, a few chocolate chip cookies, and a bottle of Pepsi, Sirius moved to sit with the rest of the jocks at the nearest table, Ollie and Taylor to either side of him. Just as he looked up, he saw Chaz passing and, to his horror, one of the guys on his Rugby team tripping the other boy. Without a second though Sirius stood up and caught Chaz with a sturdy arm around his middle and his other hand gripping Chaz’s teetering lunch tray. The rest of his jock friends gaped at him. Taylor looked like he might explode. Sirius, on the other hand, was in heaven. He smiled at Chaz and even, maybe...Yup, oh no, he was blushing. Thank god for tans!

“You’ve got nachos”. You’ve got nachos? Seriously?! He couldn’t have felt stupider. Way to go Captain Obvious. “Me too. I love nacho day”. Another good one. He waited for a long, awkward moment. A couple times he opened his mouth, but closed it as soon as no words would come out. Before he could do any more damage, Sirius thrust the tray back into Chaz’s hands and let go of him as if the guy was diseased and contagious. “Anyway, jesus Chaz, watch where you’re going for fuck’s sake” he was so confused and awfully embarrassed that he hadn’t even bothered to call the kid by his juvenile nickname.

Sirius threw a glance over his shoulder, looking for a helpful hand from Ollie, but he could see he wasn’t going to get it anytime soon. His friend was practically drooling at Arthur Bateman, but none of the other jocks seemed to notice that. “So um...You and me huh?” it seemed Ollie had noticed his mistake immediately. “Uh, partners! The Chem project, you know. A-a-anyway I thought m-maybe, well you know...Nuclear fission’s pretty fuckin’ cool, we could do that or um...Whatever, I’m easy” once again Ollie paused, cringing at hearing his own voice. Sirius was cringing at it too. ‘Anyway, I was, I-I-I was thinking, umm” Ollie paused again. This time he turned away from Arthur and seemed to be fishing something out of his pocket (oh no, not again, Sirius thought). He quickly fished out the inhaler for his asthma from his pocket and after shaking it a few times, took a long gasp from it and shoved it back in his pocket in embarrassment. He did look more confident though. “I was thinking you might like to meet me here after classes, maybe 4:00? We could have supper, you know, talk about the project. What do you say Bateman?” Ollie was on a roll now. Hell, he was even grinning at Arthur. Sure, there was a bit of a blush on his cheeks, but whatever.

For a flash of a second, Sirius had a mental image of him and Chaz on a double date with Ollie and Arthur. It made him smile, but he pushed it out of his head immediately and came back to reality. “I’m going to the bathroom” he muttered out to Ollie mostly, just wanting to get out of this situation with Chaz beside him and his whole Rugby team watching.

“Dude, I’ve gotta piss too, I’ll come with” Ollie had barely gotten the words out before Sirius shot him a deathly glare. “Or I could um...Here, yeah, I think I’ll just stay here” he offered. Obviously Ollie got the hint that Sirius wanted to be alone right now, for some reason or another. In fact, Sirius left his lunch to get cold on its tray as he turned and left, disappearing down the hall to the boy’s bathroom.

Taylor remained with the jocks as well only now he’d gotten to his feet and moved up to Chaz “So you and Sirius have that Chem project together huh?” he began in a pleasant enough voice, leaning in closer. “Keep your hands off him, you got me Van Der Beek? He’s mine. If you even think about touching him I’ll make sure your life turns into a REAL living hell” he threatened in a whisper. Taylor turned around immediately and took his tray, marching off in the direction of the Student Council’s usual lunch table. Sirius on the other hand had different sentiments...

Once he was in the safety of the bathroom and had found it to be empty, Sirius relaxed. He took off his aviator’s with a sigh and hung them from the collar of his shirt. He moved up to the sink and turned on the tap, splashing his face with the cool and refreshing water. As he turned off the tap he looked in the mirror, meeting the grey eyes of his own reflection instead of admiring himself. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. You’re a stupid fucker. Stupid, stupid, stupid” He began to whisper to himself under his breath. He had to chuckle at himself a bit at that. He moved over to the corner, resting back against the wall and tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling, rubbing his face with his hands.

If only those jocks could see him now. He closed his eyes and thought about how he’d almost kissed Chaz back there...

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Chaz was brooding.

This morning had officially been the morning from hell (putting it mildly) and the afternoon wasn’t looking very good either. In fact, he was very close to just saying “fuck it” and going to his dorm to hide. Yet as always, pride and pigheadedness could and would never allow him to do such a thing, especially where grades and perfect attendance were mandatory. However, no amount of determination and self-lecturing could make up for the fact that now he resented ever feeling relieved at being back in his own personal hell. Not to mention the devil himself was now roaming the halls (and classrooms) disguised as a slim, blond, arrogant adolescent with a pretty face. He was uprooting and over throwing everything Chaz had worked for (they’d only been back for a little over four hours!) and he went by the name of Taylor Cohen.

Taylor was Chaz’s self proclaimed academic rival, and ever since transferring in a year ago it seemed his only goal was to match or beat the other teen in every single subject. This was jeopardizing Chaz’s chances at first pick of interviews for the Ivy League schools and this year it seemed Taylor wanted a head start.

In history when they were signing up for their independent research projects, not only did Taylor steal the Spanish Inquisition (which Chaz had already started a paper on during the summer), but had taken it upon himself to forge Chaz’s signature and assign him Alexander the Great. Chaz couldn’t change it even if he tried; for alphabetically he was the last to get a choice rendering him stuck with the over used topic...and the unwanted mental image of Sirius as Hephestian. Taylor had so kindly pointed out that Jared Leto (whom played the character in the blockbuster movie release of the story) inadvertently held a slight resemblance to his boyfriend, although according to him, Sirius was taller, had nicer hair and was “better equipped” –gag- .

History was only the beginning; during Criminal Law, the teacher decided it would be both amusing and beneficial to assign both Taylor and himself the same thesis paper on the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper. It was now their job to analyze the case file and compose a theory as to whom he was and what he’d done different that allowed him to avoid capture. And English, English was the worst! Not only did they both score perfectly on their placement exams (Taylor beating him only by one point, which he most certainly heard about) and were placed in Advanced English, but apparently they’d both received identical scores on their pre-SAT’s Exam’s last year. Now they would both be under review with the College Board and would most likely be forced to write them again.

Yet Despite all of this, the thing that had upset Chaz the most was Chemistry. In fact, scratch the earlier comment about Taylor being the devil in disguise, as the real Satan and leader of the Underworld was tall, with charcoal hair and smouldering icy grey eyes. Taylor was only his demon minion puppet; the puppet master was far more sinister and evil and had all but ruined Chaz’s day the moment he stepped through the door.

“Sirius-Fucking-Gryffin of all people! I mean, come on! Not only did he make me late for class this morning, but also I got into a verbal argument with a teacher over him! Me! I don’t get into arguments with teachers! If anything I over contribute to their classes...kind of making myself an over achiever to some degree…but still!” Chaz fumed as he turned an exasperated face toward his best friend expectantly, only to find Arthur biting his bottom lip and trying not to laugh “What!?” he snapped.

“Nothin” Arthur offered quickly with a shrug, as he re-adjusted his bag on his shoulder, using theatrics to hide his amusement. “Ok, well nothing...except for the fact you totally just called yourself a kiss ass” he admitted with a grin and a shake of his head, for which he received the next best thing to a death glare. “What? I’m sorry, but seriously C you’ve got to lighten up. For once Sirius didn’t do anything wrong, and so what, you made a mistake, big deal” he offered.

“Big deal? It’s Sirius! Why would he help me to begin with? I mean, think about it, he was probably trying to screw me over so that I’d get it wrong and he just happened to pick the right answer” Chaz fumed as he ducked under Arthur’s arm and through the door that was being held open for him. “Besides, it’s Sirius, I don’t think advanced chemistry is exactly the top on his priority list, he is repeating twelfth grade… so what does that tell you” he challenged as he glanced over his shoulder at Arthur who quickly fell into step with him again after having to hold the door for some other people.

“True, but did you ever think maybe the guy actually knew what he was talking about? I mean, he was able to look at the paper and tell you what you did wrong, so give the guy some credit, he did get you 5 extra points…orrr…He was totally trying to sabotage your work and got lucky and actually picked the right answer…or…Hey, maybe we could just chalk it up to the fact that the guy had the same paper last year and remembered the question…I don’t know….You said it yourself, he is repeating” Arthur added quickly back peddling away from his original suggestion after receiving a pointed look from Chaz.

Chaz sighed heavily, his frustration with Sirius beginning to turn into frustration with Arthur...for not getting why he was frustrated with Sirius. How couldn’t he though? It was simple: Sirius had tried to ruin him by replacing his right answer with a wrong one, but somehow he ended up choosing the right one instead, the end. Although, he was able to tell that Chaz had made a mistake, and he had been able to tell Chaz what that mistake was…but how could he know what inverting the value of an exponent was, yet fail a whole year? That just doesn’t seem right…. unless….

Thankfully at that moment Arthur had taken the initiative and stepped forward in front of Chaz, halting both their paces toward meal hall.

“Look C” Arhur began placing a hand on each of Chaz’s arms just above the elbow forcing his friend out of whatever private thoughts he’d been running over as their eyes met. “I know shit like this bugs you and I know Sirius bugs you, so the combination is probably a black widow spider, or at least a praying mantis, but come on, seriously. Are you going to let this ruin the rest of your day? Our day? I mean think about it, if he didn’t change the answer you would have been wrong and that would have bugged you even more. Now this way you’ve got five extra points, you know what you did wrong, and you have something over that bastard Taylor Cohen. I mean you heard Mr. Wagner, no one besides you has ever gotten that question right, plus you got five points! So what if you didn’t earn them yourself, you have five whole extra points, which you got first day, first class, in the first twenty minutes. That’s pretty impressive C, and it’s also pretty hot actually” he mused, an infectious grin spreading on to his lips as he bit the bottom one waiting for Chaz to reply.

Chaz had to admit that when it came to cheering someone up, no matter what he’d said, Arthur always knew how to remedy it. Even if he didn’t, the moment he cracked that damn grin you couldn’t help but feel better.
“Ok, Ok, stop it. You win, I feel better now, you can turn off the charm” Chaz groaned as his own smile spread across his lips and he felt a small blush creep over his cheeks.

“Oh good, cause that’s all I had and I’m starving!!” Arthur mused just as his stomach gurgled. “See, what I tell you?” he laughed, moving back over beside Chaz and draping his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Now what do you say, Mr. Hot shot with the five points, that we go grab some food hmm?” he offered with his own grin only growing wider as he used a free hand to tousle Chaz’s hair.

“Sounds good to me” Chaz agreed as he shrugged out from under Arthur’s arm and away from the hand messing up his hair, using the excuse that they both couldn’t fit through the doorway to meal hall. He picked up his pace and entered the busy room quickly crossing to the line. “Oh and just for the record, praying mantises are actually docile creatures unless they’re mating, then the female turns into a dominating bitch and bites the male’s head off whilst still committing the act of intercourse. Although you were correct with your use of a black widow as a metaphor” he offered as he began routing through his messenger bag for his money.

“Huh, is that so. Well according to your metaphor, you’re still a kiss ass” Arthur mused, sticking his tongue out at Chaz while reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet.

“Would you shut up? I am not a kiss ass!” Chaz mused with a chuckle as he continued to search his bag for his money. “I believe the words I used were over-contribute and over-achieve” he contorted in the same moment he felt a pair of eyes on him. His automatic reaction was to look up, only to be met with what was most certainly the unwanted image of Taylor Cohen and Sirius Gryffin practically devouring each other’s faces, except for the fact that Sirius’s eyes were on him. Chaz was quick to advert his attention again the moment it registered in his brain, but unfortunately that moment was a moment to late, because apparently they’d already made eye contact “That is what I said right?” he added quickly playing it off as an afterthought.

“Haha, yeah that’s what you said C, which translated from nerd to English means you’re a kiss ass. A cute kiss ass, but a kiss ass just the same” Arthur teased with a grin, much to Chaz’s relief as they moved up in line to the register.

“Good, then I couldn’t have hesitated as long as I thought, or surely Arthur would have noticed, that’s good then maybe I imagined the eye contact between me and…” Chaz was thinking, but his thoughts were once again interrupted as a large figure came barrelling into him out of nowhere, knocking him effortlessly in to the low counter and stealing his spot in line. Before he even had a chance to regain his balance, another body was trying to wedge its way in between him and the person now at the register, clipping Chazin the jaw with his skateboard. It was his cousin, of course, and he attempted to push the person at the register forward and Chaz backward. The theatrical apology confirmed his suspicions that it wasn’t exactly an accident as he took a step back and glared up at Ollie.

“Yeah sure, don’t mention it” he spat as he rubbed the raw spot on his face with a hand, not paying his cousin any attention as he stood on his tiptoes and leaned around Ollie to glower at the initiator. Not to his surprise, it was none other than Sirius. “Figures” he huffed, his bad mood from earlier re-igniting. “Consider us even, Asshole” he spat toward Sirius as he settled back on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest as he felt his jaw protest the pout forming on his lips.

“I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I HATE HIM!!” he chanted incessantly under his breath as he buried his nails into the palms of his hand. “This confirms it, personal benefit like every other fucking thing he does!” he thought to himself as he watched Sirius’s money exchange hands with the lunch lady before picking up his tray and moving aside so Ollie could order. The rest of what happened was lost as Chaz began going over all the reasons he hated Sirius in his head.

“C? C! Chaz! It’s your turn!”

Chaz blinked as Arthur’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, at the same time he looked around and noticed that Ollie and Sirius were no longer anywhere to be seen. The lunch lady was leaning over the counter beckoning him forward. Slowly he inched the rest of the way up the counter, a deep blush forming on his cheeks when he noticed the disapproving look on the lunch ladies face. “I- I’m sorry” he stammered as he reached for a black tray and placed it on the counter in front of him.

“Don’t apologize to me luvie, just place your order and we’ll forget the whole thing” she offered, to which Chaz quickly nodded.

“I’ll have the nachos please, but can I just get extra cheese, hamburger and bacon on them please?” he ordered quickly as the lunch lady nodded and placed his order on the tray in front of him after a minute or two.

“Will that be all luvie?” she asked as Chaz simply nodded, reaching again for his bag, only to be stopped by the lunch lady’s hand on his wrist. “Don’t worry about it luvie, it’s already been taken care of” she assured him with a smile.

“Already taken care of? What do you mean? I haven’t given you my money yet” he stammered as his eyebrows creased in confusion, glancing over his shoulder at Arthur who just shrugged, then he looked back to the lunch lady. “Who?” he asked, to which she simply pointed across the hall. As he followed her finger with his eyes, they landed on Sirius.

Chaz groaned as he pulled his eyes off Sirius and back to the lunch lady who was grinning like a toothless Cheshire cat, clearly having had shared a moment or more with the spoiled teenager like every other adult in the school.

“Well in that case, I’ll have a large chocolate milk as well,” he said loudly after a moment of internal deliberation, deciding if Sirius was going to buy him lunch then he was going to get what was paid for.
Once he’d received his drink, Chaz quickly picked up his tray and headed across the lunch room, making a direct line for the jock’s typical table. He didn’t really care that more than half the student body was staring at him as he passed up the row. He made a line straight for Sirius, not noticing the long leg that had escaped from under the table and was suddenly in his path as he completely lost his balance and began to fall head first into the floor. Just then, a strong arm wrapped around his middle and caught him in mid flight.

Chaz’s heart pounded in his chest as his sudden plummet was cut short and he felt a warm hand pressing against his side. Though, the hand wasn’t one he recognized, which surprised him. The only one who ever “saved” him was Arthur, but he’d left him back at the lunch line. Steadying his breath and making sure his feet were firmly beneath him, Chaz stood back up to his full height. Slowly he opened his eyes and gasped as he was met by a pair of pale icy grey eyes, framed in thick dark smoky lashes, staring straight back at him. Then there was the most brilliant and breath taking smile he’d ever seen as his heart skipped a beat. A flutter was suddenly shooting through his empty stomach.

Then slowly the bigger picture began to form. Chaz realized that he was standing breathless in the middle of meal hall in none other than Sirius Gryffin’s strong, defined arms, while his tray sat perfectly balanced in the other man’s hand. His own hands were pressed awkwardly in different places on the other male’s body from the fall: one against his chiselled chest, which now that he was thinking about it he could feel under his palm even through Sirius’s uniform. His other was grasping Sirius’s upper arm, his nails having dug into the material of the jacket in a last attempt to catch himself. Chaz stared dumbly up at him while the entire school watched in awe.

Subsequently it seemed the revelation had hit Sirius at the same time and he began to babble something about nachos and how this was his favourite day of the week. Chaz simply continued to stare, his heart pounding harder in his chest as he simply couldn’t remember how to take a breath. All the blood in his body crept crimson into his face.

Then in the blink of an eye it was over. Sirius shook himself free of Chaz and thrust the tray back into his hands, a look of disgust and revulsion replacing the smile that had briefly graced Chaz’s sight. Sirius quickly took several steps back, leaving a cold empty space where his body had been, both embarrassing and infuriating Chaz at the same time.

Thankfully, just at that moment Arthur reached Chaz’s side and quickly stepped in between him and Sirius. He looked warningly at Sirius, who simply scoffed and mumbled something about Chaz having to watch where he was going. Sirius stared over his shoulder at Ollivander as if silently instructing him to intervene, but instead the other teen took it upon himself to clear the air and bring on another topic, for which Arthur was grateful.
“Umm, sure. No, no, yeah...Uh nuclear fission is fine, that would cool” he offered with a nod of his head, continuing to watch Sirius out of the corner of his eye. Ollie continued to ramble for a moment, his slip of tongue not going un noticed by Arthur. “Him, easy? Haha, if only. Unfortunately due to your money and constant need to kick Chaz’s ass, you are officially the hardest person possible to be with...except for Gryffin” he thought to himself as he watched the other man reach into his pocket for an inhaler, trying his best to hide it from Arthur’s view. He inhaled off it several times before putting it back in his pocket.

Chaz was still going over all that had happened in the last few minutes, from Sirius buying his lunch (which led to one of the most horrifying moments of his life) to the fact that just a second ago the man who he’d thought he hated so much had just saved his ass in front of everyone. Hell, he had even called him by his real name. To his surprise, he heard Sirius’s voice over the low murmur of the crowd, saying to no one in particular that he was going to the bathroom. Without another word, he slipped past Chaz and headed for the door, but Chaz was watching him go.

“What the hell was that?!?!?” he started wondering to himself. He still felt very awkward...And very confused…Maybe he should follow him, corner him somewhere and demand answers…But what answers?

Before he could dwell too far into his thoughts, a voice prickled in his ear. Turning his head, he came face to face with Taylor Cohen, who looked neither pleased nor happy to be this close to Chaz. Taylor spoke only loud enough for Chaz to hear, threatening everything except murder against the other teen should he ever touch Sirius again.

“Touch him? I don’t even like him! I hate him with every fibre of my being! He’s a bastard hell bent on ruining my life! Why would I touch him?” he thought to himself, but on the outside he simply nodded in response. “Whatever you say Taylor” he sighed half heartedly as his thoughts began to take on a different tone. “Wait, I meant what I said right? I hate Sirius and he hates me. It’s the way our lives work, isn’t it? It HAS to work like that. It’s been that way for three years…but then why did he save me just now…and why did he buy me lunch and correct me on that sheet? Of course, the same reason he does anything, right? Personal benefit! But what does he get out of any of this? Hang on, I don’t even know who tripped me! Fuck, of course! It was probably Sirius-fucking-Gryffin! That idiot, he did this on purpose! He’s just trying to confuse me! Probably so I’ll feel bad for him and do our whole Chem project, yeah, that’s it. Well screw that, he can forget it” he was thinking as he quickly stepped forward and tapped Arthur on the shoulder, not waiting for the other boy to turn around fully before thrusting his still full tray into his hands.

“Hold this. I’ll be back, I need to...Pee” he mumbled and quickly stalked down the aisle, straight out the door leading back into the hallway. He was in search of the nearest bathroom, while Arthur was left standing next to Ollie with a rather confused look on his face.

“Chaz are you alright?” Arthur called to his friends retreating back. He looked at Ollie with a shrug, setting Chaz’s tray on the table and climbing to sit next to Ollie, looking up at the gangly teen.

“Yeah, I should probably go after him” he sighed after a moment of silent deliberating. He glanced mournfully at his untouched salad and bottled of V8 before surrendering and getting to his feet “I’m sorry about this, but you know how things work between those two. I have to go find him before your best friend beats his face in” he sighed, glancing to his shoes before moving forward and leaning over the back of Ollie’s chair. “But...I will take you up on that offer for dinner” he mused, whispering only loud enough for the other boy to hear. “Can we make it a late dinner? Let’s say seven o’clock, pizza, in the lounge?” he offered, his bottom lip gently grazing the contour of Ollie’s ear “If we could that’d be great, ‘cause unfortunately I have track tonight until six, but I’m definitely interested” he offered, leaving his last statement up for interpretation as he pulled away. “Oh yeah, and the inhaler…don’t be embarrassed. I had one until I was twelve…its rather cute that you still use it actually” after a long pause, he dipped his head and placed a swift kiss on Ollie’s cheek before pulling away all together and heading for the doors.

Meanwhile, Chaz was pressed against the bathroom door, his nerves getting the better of him as he listened for any sign of movement. The only sound he could hear was that of running water...then silence. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and entered the dimly lit room, his heart already pounding in his chest. Slowly he moved in closer and allowed the door to close behind him.

“Gr-Gryffin!” he called his voice breaking with the nervousness, regretting this decision already. “I-I know you’re in here” he stammered, moving up so he could peek around the stalls as he noticed the other man slumped against the wall. Sirius’s face was covered by his hands and as Chaz watched him, he noticed a rather human characteristic in the man for the first time...In fact, for a moment he couldn’t tear his eyes away: the way that Sirius’s black hair fell in smooth, silky wisps, framing his face so perfectly, he looked so peaceful...The black nail polish on his fingernails that Chaz hadn’t noticed before...Suddenly Chaz cleared his throat loudly, inwardly scolding himself for noticing anything appealing about Sirius Gryffin, who was nothing more than another asshole with a pretty face...Ok, gorgeous face. “Fuck, it’s Gryffin, he’s just a big, dumb jock!” he was thinking to himself. Sure, Sirius was a jock, not to mention basically the school bully...but he didn’t look like a jock. Note with that stylish long hair, those nails, that leather jacket. Chaz quickly shook off the feeling as he gathered his courage and stepped out into the open.

“So…are you going to tell me what’s up? I mean, there’s no one else around here but you and me now, and I think you owe me a bit of an explanation. Seriously, you saved me? When the hell did you start saving me from embarrassment? Not only once, but three times now. In chemistry, with that problem. I don’t even know how you could have known that! Arthur kind of thinks you’re acting, or that you saw the same page last year, is that true? And then buying me lunch? What kind of bullshit was that! If you think I’m going to pay you back, I’m not. And-a-and not to mention that bullshit in the cafeteria! The grabbing and the smiling and the heart pounding and the heavy breathing and the-the blushing...what were you playing at? I mean you obviously tripped me yourself! Right?” he asked, his voice not at all collected and confident like he had hoped. Instead he was rambling and unsure as he took a deep breath and moved closer to Sirius, reaching a hand out and gently touching his arm, making Chaz’s heart leap into his chest (out of fear, right?). “Look at me and tell me what the hell’s up…right now…. please” he added, groaning at his own insecurities and glancing to the floor, feeling the blush return. Realization struck him that he’d just willingly confronted his tormenter all by himself.

Well now this was awkward and not at all what he’d planned.