Chapter Text
Daniel’s gaze swept around the cafeteria, glaring at anyone who bothered to make eye contact with him. The people he usually sat with(and never talked to) had a full table today. Most other tables around were similarly not options; they were either full or there was some person he hated so much they might as well have been. Eventually, he made his way to a table with an uninhabited half, located in almost the exact center of the cafeteria. He took a seat, then proceeded to pull a bag lunch out of his backpack. A part of him died when he saw what looked like some kind of preppy idiot headed right in his direction. He did not need this today.
“Get out of my seat.” The boy ordered with the demeanor of an entitled prick. He wore a blazer and a sour expression.
Daniel gasped, drawing a hand to his heart. “Your seat? Oh my stars, I’m so sorry! It’s not like there’s an empty bench or anything!” He looked around, eyes lingering on the empty bench. “Oh wait…” he said, as if he had made a discovery.
The boy leaned across the table, a tight smile growing on his face. “Lord, what fools these mortals be…” He shook his head, apparently astounded by Daniel’s unwillingness to to instantly bend to his will.
Daniel leaned forward, closing the gap between them a little more. “Mortals? Are you some kind of god? Do you think you’re special? Pretty little rich boy thinks he owns the earth,” Daniel scoffed.
“I think you’re pushing your luck,” The boy spoke evenly, either not intimidated or good at not showing it. “Kindly find somewhere else to sit.”
“Make me,” Daniel replied easily, perfectly willing to fight this Senator-in-training. He was bored enough. For additional smarm, he batted his eyelashes, almost flirtatiously. “But at least buy me dinner first.” Definitely flirtatiously.
The boy raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got some nerve.”
“Maybe I do.” Daniel replied. Maybe it was a stupid idea, but fighting this guy would at least give him something to do, make lunch pass faster.
The boy’s hand darted out, and Daniel braced himself for the first punch; he had always been good at taking a hit. But to his confusion, the boy simply rested two fingers under his chin and tilted his head upwards. “That nerve might get you in trouble if you don’t move,” he said gently, borderline sweetly.
“Make. Me,” Daniel finally remembered to jerk his chin away. “I’m not taking orders from anyone wearing a blazer bought in the ‘Elderly Lawyer’ section of the store.”
The boy slammed his hands on the table, yet his face remained calm, calculated, controlled- even a little interested? “Do yourself a favor...someone with spirit like yours shouldn’t waste it.”
Daniel half grinned. If this boy wasn’t looking for a fight, he’d have to try harder. He put his hand on top of the boy’s, interlinking their fingers. “There’s plenty of room for you to sit. And since you don’t seem to want to move me yourself and I’m in ‘your spot’, maybe you should sit on my lap.”
“You’ll have to earn that.” The boy pulled his hands away, the slightest smile resting on his lips as he headed in the opposite direction.
Daniel stared after him, dumbfounded. What the fuck?
***
Daniel tossed his pencil up in the air, caught it, then tossed it up again. He was waiting for his new student tutor for biology. He didn’t like the idea of some student teaching him for service hours, in fact, he hated it, but it was teacher-mandated. Apparently not turning in any homework more than half done could make you fail a class.
The door opened and another student walked in. To his surprise, it was none other than the preppy, blazer-wearing asshole from the lunchroom, sporting a triumphant grin that spoke volumes about his involvement in bringing this moment into being.
Daniel’s pencil hit the floor. “The preppy idiots club is down the hall, honey.”
The boy chuckled. “Oh no, I’m your tutor. Kepler. Warren Kepler.” Warren crossed to stand by Daniel’s desk. “Nice to meet you. Daniel, right?”
Daniel looked up at him critically. “Seriously? How can you be my tutor? We’re both freshmen.”
“I happen to be acing this class, Daniel.” Warren said, pulling up a chair. “Honestly, anyone could be tutoring you, with the level you’re at. You’re lucky to have someone like me.” He flashed a charming smile.
“Oh, I feel so fucking blessed to be some rich boy’s charity project,” Daniel snapped.
“Shall we get started, or would you like to keep insulting me?” Warren asked calmly.
“I’d like to keep insulting you,” Daniel deadpanned.
“Well, that’s not going to get you anywhere in life,” Warren scolded. “But have at it.”
“You dress like a pretentious snob,” Daniel started.
Warren’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
“You’re probably a huge teacher’s pet,” Daniel continued.
“The job has its perks,” Warren said, unfazed.
“You spend all your free time studying, ruining curves, and tutoring people who you think are stupid. I’m not stupid,” Daniel declared.
“Sorry, was there… an insult in there? I must’ve missed it. And I wouldn’t exactly call someone who is failing all their classes- even P.E.- a genius.” Warren replied, showing no sign of the desired offense. “Now, are you ready to begin? Because I’m teaching you whether you like it or not.”
“I don’t need your fucking help.” Daniel pushed the worksheet in front of him away. “I understand all of this, biology is the most basic science in the world, I just don’t care. So I fail, whatever. Not like I have anything great ahead of me. We don’t all have perfect lives and trust funds.”
“What, so you want to be some pathetic angry kid all your life? You’re doing an excellent job of it. What a waste.”
“I’m not pathetic,” Daniel muttered. “Fuck off. Do your homework or something, you get service hours regardless of whether or not I fail.”
“If you think you already know these things, prove it. Don’t waste my time.” Warren said, frustration growing in his voice.
Daniel shrugged, secretly revelling in his success. “My pencil is on the floor.” He kicked his feet up on the desk, making it clear that he wasn’t planning to get it.
“So it is,” Warren replied, already having suppressed any signs of anger. “You might want to pick that up.”
Daniel shook his head. He pulled out his phone and started taking selfies; he figured the millennial nonsense would the best way to piss off someone as high and mighty as Warren. “So, why didn’t you punch me earlier? Too scared to ruin your goody two shoes image? Most guys in this school flip out when I flirt, even jokingly.”
“I’ll answer that question once you answer this one.” Warren pulled the worksheet free of Daniel’s foot and brandished it in his face.
Daniel scowled. “Fine. Don’t wanna know that badly.” Warren and him shared a look. Daniel listened to thirty ticks of the clock before he snatched the paper from the other boy’s hands, scrawled the word ‘photosynthesis’, then looked up at Warren expectantly.
“Correct. I didn’t punch you because fighting is against the rules and I would get in trouble. Honestly.”
“Not because you didn’t want to hurt my pretty face?” Daniel asked with mock offense.
“Nice try, but getting punched might actually improve your appearance.” Warren said thoughtfully, smirking. “It certainly couldn’t make it any worse.”
Daniel pouted. “Fuck you.”
***
“Daniel, are you listening?” The class went silent, everyone turning to watch Daniel. They all knew the feeling of being called out for not paying attention.
Daniel didn’t mind the spotlight at all. “Why, of course I am! I mean, your lecture about the Cold War is so interesting, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.” The class erupted in snickers.
The teacher frowned. “I have had enough of your sass, Daniel. I’ll be seeing you in detention after school today.”
The laughter of the class died. “But I-” Daniel started to argue, but was cut off.
“Ma’am, I don’t believe he was sassing you.” Warren’s voice cut cleanly through the room like a knife. “Your lecture was genuinely interesting, wasn’t it, Daniel?”
“Uh, yes, definitely, totally!” Daniel went with it. He loved indiscriminate sarcasm, but he wasn’t going to pay the price, especially after Warren stuck his neck out to help.
The teacher looked reluctant to go along with their story, but eventually nodded. Apparently Warren’s teacher’s pet status came with some prestige. “Consider this a warning, Daniel.”
Daniel spent the last few minutes of class pretending to take notes. When at last the bell rang, he hovered outside, waiting for Warren. Upon seeing Warren, Daniel quickly leaned against the lockers and gazed off in another direction, so he didn’t look like he had been waiting.
“You need to watch your tone if you don’t want detention,” Warren warned him (Daniel pretended to be pleasantly surprised by his arrival). “I won’t always be around to save you.”
“Oh, no, then who will be my knight in shining armor?” Daniel smirked.
“I guess you’ll have to learn to save yourself.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Really though, thanks. You saved me from a wasted hour of my life, not to mention some parental rage.” Despite himself, he shuddered at the thought.
“Not a problem.” Warren replied. “I do what I can.”
“You sure can do a lot,” Daniel muttered.
***
Daniel knocked on the door frantically. It was dark out, and he had walked here, which was stupid, but he had nowhere else to go. He had just needed to get out.
Warren opened the door and frowned at him.
“Daniel? What the hell are you doing here?”
Daniel instantly regretted his choice to come with the look Warren gave him. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. It was ten o’clock on a school night, he must’ve seemed crazy. “I…I’m sorry, I’ll go, I don’t want to interrupt you or your parents and I...yeah, bye.”
“Wait.” Warren stepped outside. “My parents aren’t here. What’s going on?”
“I, uh...I got in a real bad fight with my dad,” Daniel admitted.
Warren’s eyes widened and he stepped aside. “Come in. Do you want to talk about it?”
Daniel slowly stepped inside. “I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “You wouldn’t get it. Your parents are like these amazing, successful people and you’re going to be this amazing, successful person and I’m...not.”
Warren closed the door behind them and guided Daniel into the living room. “That’s not true. Your parents can’t control the person you choose to become. That’s up to you.”
“Parent,” Daniel corrected weakly. “I’m just a fuck up, you said it yourself, I’m pathetic. I’m failing everything and I don’t even care.”
“But you do care. You’re getting better, you’re trying. That’s what’s important. And if I ever said you were a fuck up, I was wrong.”
Daniel shook his head. “Everyone knows I am. Mom knew. Dad knows.” His voice caught on the last word.
“You’re not.” Warren repeated, more firmly this time. “Trust me. Your dad is wrong if that’s what he thinks of you.”
Daniel stared down at his hands. His knuckles were bruised from when he had punched the wall. “He seems pretty convinced.”
“He’s wrong.” Warren placed his hands over Daniel’s. He resisted the urge to flinch. “Listen to me, you are not a failure, Daniel.”
“Thanks,” Daniel whispered, glancing up at Warren.
“No problem.” Warren reached out to rest a hand on Daniel’s arm, but this time, he did flinch away from the contact. It was all too much for him right now. He had no clue what he was even doing here. “Daniel… are you… alright?”
Daniel looked away. He sat there in silence. Warren waited patiently. “He punched me,” Daniel said in a voice so small, it was barely audible.
Warren’s face was unreadable for a moment, then turned sympathetic. “I’m… I’m sorry.” He put an arm gently around Daniel’s shoulders. Daniel allowed him to. He didn’t know what he wanted badly enough to fight it.
“I don’t know what to do,” Daniel said, no, he pleaded.
“You can stay the night if you’d like,” Warren offered, the way someone would offer a bag of chips or a change of song on the radio. Like this was normal. Like he wasn’t a human disaster. “You don’t have to go back.”
Daniel opened his mouth to make a sarcastic jibe about ‘staying the night’ and its many suggestive implications, but then he closed it. He wasn’t ready to go back to his jokes and defense mechanisms yet. He nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be right back. Feel free to make yourself comfortable.”
Daniel slowly laid down on the couch. He turned on his side, resting his head on his arm. He took a few deep breaths, and before Warren returned, he had already drifted off to sleep.
Warren stood in the doorway for a moment before crossing to the sofa. An affectionate smile tugged at his lips as he draped a blanket over Daniel’s sleeping form.
***
“...And it’s like, there are fairies, why the fuck are there fairies? They never even solve the fact that Demetrius is still in love with Helena, it’s stupid! I mean, I only read the Sparknotes, but still!”
“How could you only read the Sparknotes? Shakespeare’s works are poetry that can only truly be appreciated through the original text, Daniel. I can’t believe you.” Warren shook his head in disapproval.
Daniel resisted the urge to laugh. “There are so many more interesting things to do with your mouth than read poetry, Warren.”
Warren glanced sideways at Daniel. “I demand that you go back and read A Midsummer Night’s Dream without the Sparknotes. There are so many good quotes and themes from the show that you miss when you only read a summary.”
“No way, I read enough to pass the class. Also, what’s with the ‘it’s all a dream’ ending? What is this, inception?”
“If you’d read the play, you’d know that it wasn’t a dream, they were only made to think it may have all been a dream.” Warren corrected patiently.
“No, but that fairy, the one I relate to, has that thing at the end where he talks to the reader and is like, ‘this was all a dream, assholes!’”
“I hope that’s not how Sparknotes summarized Puck’s ending monologue,” Warren replied. “Honestly, you can’t get by with only Sparknotes.”
“I know more about Puck than I’d ever need to.” Daniel raised his eyebrows suggestively. “You can Puck me anytime.”
Warren leaned closer, resting a hand on his companion's hand, as well as tempting the fates(and Daniel). “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Daniel felt the beginnings of a blush creep onto his cheeks. Warren had never reciprocated any of his useless flirting, but now their hands were touching and it definitely felt more than friendly. “Maybe you should keep it somewhere other than your mind,” Daniel tried, testing the waters to see how far Warren was willing to go with this.
Warren closed most of the remaining distance between them, until their noses were nearly brushing. “I fully intend to.” He breathed, before tilting his head and pressing his lips gently against Daniel’s for a brief second before pulling away.
Daniel’s eyes widened. He tilted his head, going in for another, slightly longer kiss.
When they came apart, Warren smiled.
“I still expect you to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream without the Sparknotes.”