Chapter Text
Billy counts the seconds until lunch, when he can sneak off and be alone with his beloved. That was what made going to school tolerable, after all, having Cole there with him.
It feels like forever until Miss Stacy announces that it’s time, the rest of the students standing up the second she says so. Billy stays put, watching as Cole turns around and discreetly smiles at him, him being excited as well.
It’s always some excuse to the others as to why they don’t eat lunch outside, whether it be missing schoolwork or something else. Luckily, no one suspects a thing. It’s a wonder they haven’t got caught yet, but thank god for that. If they were caught, they’d be done for, and that’s the last thing either boy wants.
Once the room is cleared and everyone is outside or in their own little corners, Billy gets up and goes to the supply closet, giving Cole a mischievous look before shutting the door. He makes sure to close to blinds, so no one peaks in and sees them in the act.
It isn’t long before Cole follows him in, quietly shutting the door. They always wait a couple of minutes, as to not be suspicious or questionable.
Cole grins at Billy the second he’s in, walking over to him and hugging him, arms going around his neck and face burying into his shoulder. Billy hugs back, of course, closing his eyes as to farther enjoy the bliss of having Cole in his arms.
“Finally.” Billy remarks, since he’s been anticipating this for the entire day, ever since him and Cole first locked eyes. How can he help it, how can he manage to wait, when Cole is so pretty and every time Billy looks at him, he wants to kiss him. It’s impossible, that’s what it is, to not want him.
“Impatient, aren’t you?” Cole teases, although, he’s been the same way. Sneaking glances through class and imagining them together after just isn’t enough, he’s been craving this just as much as Billy has. Which, was an amount that couldn’t be put into words.
“No.” A lie, really, and Billy proves it by sliding closer to Cole, putting his hands on his shoulders and smirking. “It’s not like I spent the entire class time thinking about you, about kissing you.” He closes the mere inches between them as he speaks, heart picking up it’s pace with each movement. He’s kissed Cole so many times at this point and yet, it still feels the same each time. Was it love? Maybe. It couldn’t be anything but.
Billy can’t help it, he tilt his head to the side to place a kiss on Cole’s cheek, then another, then another. Cole chuckles as he does so, feeling like he’s cherished at the actions. Billy may be irritating at times, but Cole knows just how much he cares for him, as shown through actions and often, words, just as well.
“This would be better if we weren’t in the supply closet.” Cole looks around, frowning at the enclosed space. He’d much rather be in the woods or the clubhouse, or in his own home, where at least there was plenty of room and less of a chance that someone would walk in on them. “I hope we don’t get caught.” That, that would be awful. As much as Cole loves kissing Billy and being alone with him, there’s always the fear that someone could see them and what they are, what they built up, would fall down. (Of course, most of his worries were melted away the second Billy’s lips were against his own, but that had yet to happen).
“We never do, do we?” Billy’s words seem to ease Cole’s worries, as they always do. Billy pecks Cole’s other cheek before leaning forward to kiss Cole’s lips, and all Cole can focus on is the warm pair of lips against his own.
As the kiss deepens, Billy pulls them both to the ground, either his knees growing weak or just being tired of standing up. Either way, kissing on the floor is just as good, perhaps even more intimate than just standing up. That it what they have to do in the clubhouse.
Billy slightly lifts Cole up, putting his legs around his waist, so Cole is halfway in his lap. Cole smiles against his lips, throwing his arms around Billy’s neck and kissing him passionately as Billy’s hands slide down his back, resting against his waist.
It never gets old or tiring, really, this routine. Billy is usually someone who gets bored easily, but when it comes to Cole, he figures nothing is sweeter than him, than being with him. Because he thinks what he feels for him is love, and he loves that feeling, despite his scary it can be at times.
No, but he loves being with Cole more than anything, loves holding him close and kissing him, using actions to show how he feels, since words can’t describe how much he admires and values him. Cole has been his everything since the day they became friends, the day he began fixing things, and Billy just wants to let him know that, any way he can, whether it be telling him or kissing him like this, with so much emotion.
Both boys were so caught up in kissing, so lost in each other, that by the time they heard the door to the closet open, it was too late to jump apart as they normally would to avoid being caught.
But, they jump back anyways, away from each other, both turning to see Gilbert Blythe, staring down at them in pure...confusion? Yes, confusion, because Gilbert happened to not look surprised in the slightest, just raises his eyebrows if anything. He just stands there, blinking at them, since that had to be something he doesn’t see everyday, two boys (ones who used to despise each other, at that) kissing in the back room of their school.
No one says anything for a moment, and the tiny room feels with awkward silence. Billy considers saying something along the lines of ‘it’s not what it looks like!’, but guesses it’s no use, since it’s EXACTLY what it looks like.
After a moment, Gilbert turns right back around and shuts the door behind him, not uttering a single word about what they were doing.
Neither Billy or Cole moves for a minute or so, too surprised at being walked in on to register their thoughts or process what just happened. But, when they do, Billy shoots up, panicking, rushing to the door to crack it open and peer out.
He doesn’t see Gilbert, just the girls eating lunch in their usual corner. Billy feels his hand tremble against the doorknob, fearing the worst. What if Gilbert went out to tell someone? What if he tells their families what they were doing? Billy’s father would kill him, literally kill him if he found out his son was in love with another boy. Cole’s parents would never let him leave the house again, at least.
Bottom line is, if Gilbert tells someone, their relationship is over, no doubts about it. Everything they have will be gone.
“Shit.” Billy mumbles, the intensity of the situation kicking in. “Shit!” He repeats, more frantically this time, pacing back and forth, terrified. “What are we going to do now?!” He questions, gaze turning to Cole, who slowly stands up, just as nervous and scared as Billy is.
This was exactly what he was worried about, one of their peers walking in and seeing them, and telling everyone. Of course, they could always say the person was lying, and there would be no proof that they were telling the truth. And, it wasn’t certain that whoever caught them would tell anyone, maybe just be disgusted in private.
Then again, this was Gilbert they were talking about. Maybe if it were Josie, the whole town would know in just a few short hours, but Gilbert? No, he would be much less likely to cause such a scandal. Cole didn’t have to worry about that, did he? And if he didn’t, neither did Billy.
“Calm down.” He says, putting his hands on Billy’s shoulders to stop his pacing. “I don’t think he’ll tell anyone.” He tells him, rubbing up and down his arms to attempt to reassure him that they’re fine, they’ll be alright. At least, he thinks they will be.
Billy immediately feels himself calm down at Cole’s touch, since that’s the only thing that has ever eased his problems, made things less stressful than they were. But, then he thinks that if his parents found out, Cole would never be allowed to go near him, let alone touch him, again.
“What if he does?” Billy shudders at the thought, trembling in Cole’s embrace. “Cole, my parents will kill me.” Billy doesn’t know what they’d really do, but it can’t be anything good. His father has never been mad enough to hit him (although, he’s come dreadfully close), but if he found out about this, Billy doesn’t even want to picture what would happen to him.
Cole tenses at the very thought. If Billy’s father lays a hand on him, Cole will make sure he never sees the light of day again, which is the same Billy would do (and has done) if someone hurt him.
But, he has to remember, Gilbert doesn’t seem like someone who would purposely put them in danger. He’d voice however he feels about it to them, maybe be a bit puzzled on how two boys can have romantic feelings towards each other, but he would keep his mouth shut after that. They’d be okay.
“It’ll be alright.” Cole hugs Billy then, trying to convince him that everything was going to be fine. Billy doesn’t quite believe him, but hugs him back nevertheless, feeling that if Cole was so calm about this, maybe he should be as well.
That won’t stop him from trying to get Gilbert to voice his opinion to him about this, though, or kindly ask him not to tell anyone. Or beg, if he needs to. After school, he’ll try to do that, because he thinks he needs to.
For now, though, he’ll just enjoy the feeling of being in Cole’s arms, since to him, that has to be the best thing in the entire world.
~
Billy apologizes to Cole for not being able to walk him home from school, hence the fact that he needs to talk to Gilbert. Cole, as understanding as usual, tells him it’s completely okay, and requests that he meets him at the clubhouse later, so they can be alone for a while. Billy agrees, quickly pecking Cole’s lips before taking off the find Gilbert, running along the path he takes to his house and eventually finding him, walking along as usual.
“Gilbert, wait!” Billy shouts, running faster to catch up with Gilbert, who turns around at the sound of someone calling out to him. “Can I talk to you?” Billy asks once he catches up, standing in front of Gilbert. Gilbert nods in response, simply unfazed by well, everything in this entire ordeal. “You can’t tell anybody about what you saw, I-“ Billy tries to plead, as pathetic as it is. He’ll become desperate when it comes to saving his relationship with Cole, that’s how in love he is. And if keeping what they have means begging Gilbert Blythe to keep their secret, then so be it.
But, Billy barely gets a word out, because Gilbert cuts him off, like he already knows what he’s going to say.
“I won’t, I promise.” Gilbert is quick to say, much to Billy’s relief. Although, it does leave him slightly bewildered at how casual he was being. “If you ask me, you two were kind of obvious, at least to me.” Gilbert shrugs, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Billy’s mouth drops open at that, because what?
He didn’t think his feelings for Cole were apparent to everyone else, just to them. He thought he was good at keeping a secret, especially one that could get them in deep trouble if it were discovered. But, perhaps he was wrong, because Gilbert looks completely serious.
“Wait, really?” He gapes, wondering what made it so clear to Gilbert that him and Cole were involved in a romantic way. Gilbert did happen to be one of the smartest people in their class (next to Anne), but seriously, Billy thought they were good at keeping things under cover.
“Billy, you stare at him all the time in class.” Gilbert points out. And, okay, Billy cannot deny that. Even he could admit he spends a good amount of class time staring at Cole from behind, exchanging flirty glances with him every time he turned around. “And you’ve been different since the two of you became ‘friends’.” A noticeable difference to even those who didn’t know Billy personally, honestly.
Billy used to be aggressive, hostile, and just a plain awful person, a bully. Cole was what made him want to change, what made him want to do his best to become a good, or at least alright, person. Billy had to do all the work himself, as he should, but Cole was always there to inspire him when he was having a, well, moment. Cole made him a better man.
And if his feelings for the other boy really were obvious, well, Billy didn’t know whether to be offended or proud.
“Different?” Billy questions, pretending like he has no idea what Gilbert is talking about. Gilbert playfully rolls his eyes, knowing Billy is just trying to annoy him for not bothering to knock. In Gilbert’s defense, he didn’t know they were in there.
“Well, you’re nice now.” Gilbert shrugs, thinking that this Billy isn’t the same one he beat up almost two years ago. “I guess.” He adds, jokingly. Billy scoffs, brushing that one off.
“I chose to change, and I don’t regret it, because I have him.” Billy says, thinking out loud. When did he become such a sap?
“I’m happy for you two, then. Just be careful.” That last part, Gilbert makes sure to emphasize, because if the wrong person walked in on them, all hell would break loss. And he has no idea just how aware Billy is of that.
“We definitely will after this.” Billy murmurs, waving goodbye and turning to go towards the woods, where Cole is waiting for him. “Learn how to knock.” He calls over his shoulder, causing Gilbert to laugh and shake his head, deciding that next time, he most definitely will make sure to knock.
Well, that was something that doesn’t happen every day.