Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fourteen year old Matt Willis gazed up at his new home, a rundown white townhouse, virtually indistinguishable from the neighboring houses encroaching on the property. A small potted plant on the front porch was the only bit of green in sight. The fading evening light only served to add to the gloomy atmosphere. For a boy used to wide open spaces, it seemed more like a prison than a home. He supposed he should be grateful to his aunt for agreeing to take him in, but right now it was hard to be grateful for anything.

Nervously, he approached the door and rang the bell.

As he waited for a reply, he stole a few more glances around the neighborhood, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. The kids down the street were focused enough on their games, but Matt was certain that they were sneaking glances at him. And the neighbor’s curtains seemed to be shifting, as if someone had hurriedly moved away from them.

He was jolted out of this train of thought as the door in front of him swung open.

Aunt Jeannine looked down at him appraisingly. She was a tall, imposing woman. Matt had never seen her smile.

“Is that all you brought?” she asked, gesturing to the suitcase by his side.

“The Fords are sending the rest of my stuff,” Matt told her. “I couldn’t take it all on the bus.”

She nodded.

“Right then. I have everything set up for you in the guest bedroom.” She paused. “Well, I suppose it’s your bedroom now.”

She stepped out of the doorway.

“Why don’t you bring your stuff upstairs? First door on the right.”

Matt nodded, relieved for he excuse to escape her presence.

“Thanks, Aunt Jeannine.”

Matt crossed the room to the staircase, dragging the rolling suitcase behind him. For a moment, he contemplated attempting to roll it up the steps. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he collapsed the handle and lifted the suitcase by the handle on the side.

“Do you want something to drink?” Aunt Jeannine called. “I’m making casserole for dinner. It should be done in half an hour.”

“I’m not really hungry,” Matt replied.

He finally got the unwieldy suitcase up the stairs and let himself into the room Aunt Jeannine had specified.

It was sparse, and smaller than his old room. But there was a dresser, and a desk, and the bed had clean sheets on it. Matt dropped his suitcase in the middle of the room, kicked off his shoes, and flung himself dramatically onto the bed, wincing slightly. He’d almost forgotten about the cracked rib. The sheets smelled vaguely of lavender. It wasn’t unpleasant, he supposed, but it was just another reminder of how much things had changed.

A week ago, his life had been something close to perfect. He’d lived in a quiet life in a small town. Dad owned a small restaurant, and Mom was an elementary school teacher. He should have known it was too good to last.

He fingered the bandage above his right eye. He’d been lucky to escape the car crash with little more than a few cuts and bruises. His parents hadn’t been so lucky. Dad had died instantly, and Mom had had only lasted a few hours in the hospital. He supposed it was theoretically some sort of consolation that the guy who hit them also died in the crash. It had been his fault, driving drunk. But honestly? Matt just thought about how the kid’s family must feel. He’d been only nineteen. He’d had a girlfriend. Wouldn’t it have been better for everyone if no one had died?

But Matt knew the world didn’t operate on rules of fairness. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He heard Aunt Jeannine announcing that the casserole was done, but he couldn’t find it in him to move. When she looked in on him, he pretended to be asleep. Before long, feigned sleep gave way to genuine sleep and fitful dreams.

It was a very long night.

 -

Matt woke to the tantalizing smell of frying bacon. For a second, he smiled, before the unfamiliar scents and sounds reminded him that things had changed. He opened his eyes, staring blankly at the white ceiling. He didn’t have a clock in the room yet, but the light slanting in through the window told him it was at least midmorning. He rolled out of bed, lamenting the fact that he’d fallen asleep in yesterday’s jeans. As he made his way towards the door, his progress was halted by a sudden observation.

There was a note taped to the window from the outside, written in red marker. That definitely hadn’t been there last night. Slowly, he approached, almost afraid it might disappear if he moved too quickly.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, beautiful,” he read. “I’ll be your Romeo, if you’ll be my Juliet.”

How had it even gotten there? Matt glanced out the window, and noticed that there was a small section of roof under his window almost touched the porch roof of the house behind it. It wouldn’t be too hard to climb out the window onto that roof, step over to his roof, and tape a note to his window.

Matt opened the window and ripped the paper down. He almost crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash, but a better idea struck him. He rifled through the desk drawers and was pleased to see that there was still an assortment of odds and ends in the drawers. He found a pen and wrote, on the opposite side of the paper, “I’m a guy.” After a moment of thought, he added, “P.S. Your pick-up lines suck.”

With something approaching a smile, he taped it back to the window, on the inside this time.

Then, he hurried downstairs.

 -

Aunt Jeannine had a plate prepared for him when he got to the kitchen. Bacon, two waffles, and scrambled eggs.

“Good morning,” she said. “I remember you liked waffles. I hope you still do.”

Matt nodded and started shoveling food into his mouth.

Her cooking tasted like Dad’s. Not surprising, really. They had both learned from his grandmother, who had been a legendary cook, or so Matt had always heard. The almost familiar taste was as painful as it was comforting.

“So, what do people do around here?” Matt asked, trying to start a conversation. “I guess that exploring the woods isn’t really an option.”

“I wouldn’t really know too much about what teenage boys do,” Aunt Jeannine said. “Most of the kids around here are pretty young. Danny’s probably the closest to your age, if I recall. School starts next month. I’m sure you can meet people there. I’m fine with you bringing friends over, as long as no one’s too rowdy, and no one stays past eleven.”

That… didn’t really answer his question, but at least she seemed to be trying. Matt had worried it would be like last time she’d had to babysit him, when they hadn’t said more than three words to each other the entire weekend. He could live with this.

- 

After breakfast, Matt headed back upstairs. He unpacked his suitcase, putting his clothes in the closet and the dresser and stacking the books by his bed. He was arranging pictures on the desk when there was a knock at the window. He jumped, almost knocking over one of the picture frames.

The boy outside the window had dark hair and a sheepish smile and looked a little bit younger than Matt. So this was the bold Romeo.

After a moment’s hesitation, Matt went over and opened the window.

“But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” he teased.

Romeo ducked his head with a nervous laugh.

“Yeah, um, sorry about that. Last time I’m ever trusting my little brother. He swore to me that there was a beautiful girl moving in.”

“I suppose I could be mistaken for a girl from a distance,” Matt said.

“Nah, my brother’s just an ass.”

Matt laughed.

“Can I come in?” Romeo asked.

Well, Aunt Jeannine had said he could have people over. Although she probably hadn’t been thinking of letting near-strangers in through his window.

“Why not?” he agreed, stepping to the side so Romeo could clamber in.

Speaking of which…

“What’s your name?” Matt asked. “I can’t keep calling you Romeo in my head.”

The boy nearly collapsed laughing.

“Just for that, I’m not going to tell you. You’ll just have to figure it out on your own.”

Matt rolled his eyes.

“How old are you? Five?”

“Thirteen, if you must know,” Romeo said. “Do you usually invite strange boys into your bedroom?”

Matt rolled his eyes.

“Please stop hitting on me. It’s really weird.”

“If you insist,” Romeo agreed.

He looked around the room.

“These your folks?” he asked, gesturing to the photos on the desk.

The look on Matt’s face must have spoken volumes.

“Sorry,” Romeo said. “Didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories.”

“It’s okay,” Matt told him. “You didn’t know. So, um, I have cards, if you want to play something?”

Romeo smiled.

“That would be great.”

Chapter Text

 

“Yo, Specs! Get out here!”

Matt looked towards the window, determining that Romeo did seem to be referring to him.

“Specs?” he asked.

Romeo shrugged.

“I never caught your name. So, Specs.”

Thinking back to yesterday, Matt couldn’t recall ever actually introducing himself.

“It’s Matt,” he said.

There was a pause.

“I like Specs better. Now get your butt out here.”

For a few moments, Matt was tempted to return to his book. But Romeo was looking at him in a way that was almost pleading. And, to be honest, the book wasn’t all that good. Matt set it down and climbed out the window. The roof sloped only slightly, but it was still rather disorienting, especially considering the potential fall. Romeo seemed right at home though, so Matt tried to act casual.

“You get used to it,” Romeo said, obviously not fooled.

“I figured. Do you come out here often?”

“Anytime I want to get away from the noise,” Romeo told him. “I have three brothers. The house is never quiet.”

“Then why did you invite me out here?” Matt asked.

Romeo shrugged.

“You’re not loud.”

It was, Matt conceded, a fair point.

“You read a lot of books, don’t you?” Romeo asked.

“I guess,” Matt said.

“What’s your favorite?”

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” Matt said. “Or maybe 1984.”

“I’ve read that. For school. It was kinda lame.”

“1984? Well, I guess if you’re reading it in school. Teachers suck all the fun out of everything.”

Romeo laughed.

“Ain’t that the truth. So what’s that other book?”

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a sci-fi parody thing. You might like it. I can lend it to you, if you’d like.”

Matt wasn’t sure why he made the offer, but it seemed right. Romeo smiled.

“That would be nice.”

“I mean, you don’t have to read it,” Matt said, babbling now. “But I’d like it if you did. I mean, it would be cool to have someone to talk to about it.”

“You don’t have to twist my arm,” Romeo said with a laugh. “It sounds interesting. Sci-fi is cool.”

Matt grinned. Most people were quick to call him a nerd after finding out he liked sci-fi. Romeo thought it was cool.

“So I guess you don’t read too many books?” Matt ventured.

Romeo shrugged.

“Not really. Video games are more my thing.”

“Like Pokemon?” Matt asked.

“Pokemon is a kids game!” Romeo insisted. “I play Assassin’s Creed and Portal and stuff like that.”

“I think I’ve heard of Assassin’s Creed,” Matt said.

“Matt?!”

Matt started at the sound of his aunt calling him from inside the room. He stood up and leaned inside.

“I’m out here, Aunt Jeannine.”

“What on Earth are you doing out there?” she asked, approaching the window. “Oh, hello, Danny.”

Romeo waved. So his name was Danny? It fit him, but it would be a while before he was anything but “Romeo” in Matt’s head.

“Hey, Jeannine. What’s up?”

“I just came out here to tell Matt that I’m going grocery shopping. Do you need anything, Matt?”

Matt shrugged.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Okay. See you later.”

When she had left, Matt turned to Romeo. Danny.

“You know my aunt?” he asked.

“She is my neighbor,” Romeo/Danny pointed out.

“Your real name is Danny?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s gonna take me some time to get used to that,” Matt warned.

“You can keep calling me Romeo. I don’t mind.”  

“Okay then, Romeo,” Matt agreed.

“But I get to keep calling you Specs,” Romeo added.

Matt shrugged. Fair was fair. Besides, it’s not like Romeo would ever stop calling him Specs.

 

Matt came home from his first day of high school feeling overwhelmed and intimidated. His middle school had been small, and he’d known everyone there for most of his life. His new high school had two thousand students, and Matt didn’t know anyone.

“How was your day?” Aunt Jeannine asked.

“It was fine,” Matt answered quickly. “Um, I have some papers for you to sign?”

“Leave them on the table,” she said. “Unless you want them covered in flour.”

Matt did so. Then, seeing that she was busy with the latest cake order and therefore unlikely to ask any more questions, he retreated to his room. He dumped his backpack on the floor, grabbed a book off the pile by his bed, and settled down to read.

He was just getting to the part where the hero was learning how to use his newfound powers, when a knocking at the window startled him.

“Hey! Specs!”

Matt grinned and set aside his book.

“Hey, Romeo.”

“You coming out here or not?”

Matt crossed the room and opened the window.

“Maybe if you get out of the way.”

Romeo stuck out his tongue, but retreated to his own section of roof. Matt climbed out the window and settled down across from him.

“So, tell me all about high school!” Romeo insisted.

“Crowded,” Matt told him.

Romeo groaned.

“Come on. That’s not what I want to know. Tell me about the people. I bet some of them went to my middle school.”

“Well, let’s see. My math teacher spent the first fifteen minutes of class yelling at the guy sitting in front of me for wearing a cowboy hat. Who even wears a cowboy hat to school?”

“I bet it was Jack Kelly,” Romeo said with a laugh. “He’s got this crazy thing with Santa Fe. You get used to it. He’s a pretty great guy though. He looks out for people.”

“Yeah, I think his name was Jack,” Matt confirmed.  

“So what else?” Romeo asked. “Come on, Specs. You’re my only source of high school gossip. That can’t be the only thing that happened all day.”

“Some kid calling himself Racetrack got busted for running a betting pool,” Matt recalled.

“What were people betting on?”

“Apparently, how long before somebody or other got detention. He had half the school in on it. Sounds like he has something of a reputation for this kind of thing.”

“He sounds like fun,” Romeo remarked.

Matt shrugged.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. He seems to be pretty popular, based on the reaction when he was called to the office. They were passing around a ‘Free Racetrack’ petition within minutes.”

“Did you sign it?” Romeo asked.

“Didn’t get a chance to,” Matt replied. “Teacher confiscated it before it got to me.”

“That sucks.”

“Hardly,” Matt told him. “Everyone who signed it got extra homework.”

“I guess that’s for the best then. What’s Pulitzer like? I’ve heard he’s awful.”

Romeo leaned forward, his eyes shining as if a terrible school principal was the coolest thing he could imagine.

“The principal? His speeches are horribly longwinded and boring, and he’s way too focused on test scores and budget, but he’s not some Disney villain.”

Romeo shrugged.

“It’s only day one. Plenty of time for him to show his villainy later.”

Matt rolled his eyes, despite finding it impossible to actually be annoyed at Romeo.

“If you say so. Your turn. Tell me about middle school.”

Romeo groaned.

“Same as ever. Nothing happened.” Matt raised an eyebrow in response. “Well, except that Mrs. Jameson finally let Spot do the announcements.”

Matt furrowed his brow.

“Who’s Spot?” he asked.

Romeo’s eyes widened.

“You don’t know Spot Conlon? He’s this crazy seventh grader. He always knows anything that’s happening. He was trying to get into the announcements crew for the entirety of last year, but Jameson wouldn’t let him. The announcements crew is supposed to be exclusively eighth graders. I’d wonder how he got in, but I’m really more curious about how Jameson managed to resist him for a whole year. What Spot Conlon wants generally goes.”

Matt laughed.

“He sounds like quite a guy."

Chapter Text

“Specs! Specs! Specs!”

Specs tried to ignore the banging at his window. When it persisted, he finally turned his attention to the middle schooler outside.

“Romeo, I have an essay due tomorrow!” he shouted.

Romeo seemed in no way deterred.

“You can write your essay later,” he insisted. “It’s important!”

With a sigh, Specs approached the window.

“Okay. Five minutes.”

He climbed out the window and settled on the roof.

“What’s up?”

“I never see you after school anymore,” Romeo whined. “You’re never on the afternoon bus, and you’re always falling asleep on the morning bus. I thought I’d see you more now that I’m in high school, but I’ve been seeing you less and it’s not fair.”

“I joined the newspaper club,” Specs told him. “I thought you told me this was important.”

Romeo made an annoyed face that Specs was beginning to find terribly familiar.

“Newspaper? Really?”

“Yes really, Romeo. We’ve been over this. I know it’s a bit nerdy for you, but I happen to like it.”

“It just seems so boring. And why is it every night of the week?”

“We do put out a weekly paper,” Specs pointed out. “And it’s only Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”

Romeo sulked.

“But I have Anime club Tuesday. I only see you on the bus on Fridays. And whenever I want to meet out here you’re busy with homework.”

Specs hesitated. It was true. He’d only really had one conversation longer than a few sentences with Romeo in the past week. Considering that they’d ended up talking for hours nearly every day last year, it was a pretty big change.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to ignore you.”

Romeo sighed.

“I know. But I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” Specs admitted.

He glanced back towards his room, and the essay he’d only finished a third of so far. He turned back to Romeo, taking in the boy’s pleading eyes.

He could finish the essay later tonight.

“Well, let’s talk,” he said.

Romeo’s face lit up.

 

For the first time in a long time, it was Specs climbing out onto the rooftop and banging on Romeo’s window.

Romeo jumped a little and headed for the window, pushing it open.

“I thought we weren’t meeting ‘til 5?”

Specs ignored the question.

“You joined the newspaper club?”

Romeo nodded.

“Why?” Specs asked

“I dunno. It sounds fun when you talk about it. Speaking of which, where were you today?”

“I had to make up a test,” Specs told him. “By the time I was done I figured I’d missed enough of the club that I would just get home instead. Why didn’t you tell me? I had to find out from Mush.”

“I was going to tell you,” Romeo insisted. “I just wanted to surprise you, and then you weren’t there.”

“Well, you can consider me surprised. How did you even get in? Denton doesn’t like adding people after the first week. Especially if they’re not in one of his classes.”

Romeo shrugged.

“I just asked nicely. And Jack backed me up. Denton wasn’t gonna say no to Jack.”

Specs made a mental note to thank Jack.

“I still don’t understand the sudden interest in the school newspaper.”

Romeo frowned.

“You’re really dense sometimes.”

Specs turned the statement over in his mind, trying to make sense of it. There was no logic to be found. Romeo laughed at his confusion. Specs detected a slightly bitter edge to the laughter. 

“Never mind,” Romeo said. “I mostly just wanted to try something new.”

Specs shrugged.

“Fair enough. Maybe I should try anime club sometime.”

 

“Specs! Specs!”

Specs determinedly kept his eyes on his paper, hoping Romeo would go away, just this once. Instead, he heard the slam of the window opening.

“Thank god you never lock this thing,” Romeo remarked, climbing into Spec’s room. “Now what’s up?”

“Nothing’s up,” Specs insisted.

“Specs, you won’t even look at me. You completely ignored me all day. Something’s up.”

“It’s just this paper. AP English is tough.”

Specs tensed slightly as Romeo leaned over his shoulder.

“That’s a math worksheet.”

Specs opened his mouth to make up some other excuse, but Romeo clapped a hand over it.

“Unless you’re telling me what’s up, I don’t want to hear it.”

Specs nodded slowly, and Romeo removed his hand.

“Well?”

“I think I like guys.”

Romeo tilted his head in confusion.

“Erm, congratulations? I kinda guessed you didn’t hate them since you hang around with so many.”

“No, I mean I think I’m gay.”

Romeo’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Then, he doubled over laughing.

“It’s not funny!” Specs insisted.

“That’s it?! Specs, I was worried!”

“What do you mean, that’s it? You’re okay with it?”

“Of course I’m okay with it. You’re my best friend, Specs. Besides, I’d be a hypocrite not to be. You can’t have missed the pictures of me making out with Race at the cast party. They were everywhere for weeks.”

“But I thought those were just, like, truth or dare or something. That’s what Race said.”

“And you believed him?”

“Well, why not? You seem to like girls well enough. Wait, are you dating Racetrack and I missed it?”

Romeo made a face.

“Of course I like girls. I just like guys too. As for dating Race, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Who’d want to actually date him? Nah, we were over-caffeinated and sleep deprived and both trying to get over people we can’t have. It was just for fun.”

Specs struggled to wrap his head around the conversation.

“So, I’m gay, you’re bi, no one is dating Racetrack, and everything’s okay between us, right?”

Romeo grinned.

“You got it! Now come on. Enough homework and difficult conversations for now. I’m gonna teach you how to play pokemon.”

 

“Romeo! You can’t just barge into my room!”

Romeo ignored him and climbed in through the window he’d just thrown open.

“You’re have AP English with Jack, right?”

Specs nodded slowly, wondering where this was going. Romeo’s grin looked like it might split his face.

“You have to tell me everything about what happened today!”

“Huh?”

“Come on, Specs. The transfer kid? No one’s talked about anything else since it happened, and I have no idea what’s true and what’s not. At least two people swear that they made out in the middle of class.”

Specs struggled to follow.

“Who made out in the middle of class?”

“Jack and the new guy. Daniel?”

Oh. That’s what this was about.

“His name’s David,” Specs corrected. “And they didn’t make out.”

“Well, what did happen?” Romeo asked.

“They got into an argument over Macbeth. David said Macbeth should have just bided his time and waited, instead of killing the king, and Jack said he shouldn’t have gone so overboard and gotten so freaked out about it. It was at least fifteen minutes before they realized they were both arguing that Macbeth makes terrible decisions.”

“That can’t be it,” Romeo said with a frown. “That is not enough material for all the gossip I heard.”

“They spent twenty minutes arguing about Shakespeare, and the entire time they were standing about three inches apart. That’s plenty of fuel for any amount of gossip. Plus, Jack’s decided that David’s his new best friend, and they’re already practically attached at the hip.”

“So they might as well have kissed,” Romeo surmised.

Specs considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Bet you ten bucks they get together by the end of the year,” Romeo offered.

“Talk to Race,” Specs shot back. “He’s handling all that.”

Romeo laughed.

“Of course he is.”

“So, can I get back to my essay?” Specs asked.

Romeo looked terribly affronted.

“No way! I found this video on youtube…”

Specs leaned back and let Romeo take over his laptop, accepting that he wasn’t going to get much done for a while. He wasn’t quite sure how to explain the fond smile tugging at his lips.

Chapter Text

 The slam of windows opening was almost simultaneous. Romeo and Specs scrambled out onto their respective rooftops, sporting nearly identical expressions of rage.

“Did you see-”

“They can’t-”

Both of them paused.

“They can’t kick Jack off the newspaper like that!” Romeo burst out. “Just cause he won’t apologize for that article! He shouldn’t have to! Every word was true.”

“I know!” Specs agreed. “There have to be rules against it.”

“Davey checked,” Romeo said, clenching his fists. “There’s nothing. Least not anything we can use. Pulitzer has the right to censor the newspaper if he believes it will be ‘damaging to the student body.’ Can you believe that bullshit?!”

“What can we do?” Specs wondered. “There has to be something. I mean, the superintendent is visiting the school next week. Maybe we could talk to him?”

Romeo shook his head.

“Pulitzer won’t let us. Maybe if we could put something in the newspaper, cause we know he’ll get a copy, but Pulitzer’ll be keeping a careful eye on what we print next week.”

Specs sighed.

“I mean, there’s nothing to stop any one of us from publishing Jack’s writing under our own name, but Jack’s articles are so distinct. Pulitzer will have it pulled.”

“This sucks,” Romeo said. “I hate the system.”

Specs jumped as his cell phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen.

“Text from Davey,” he said.

“Well? Read it!” Romeo demanded. “I’ll bet it’s about the paper.”

“If we all refuse to write for the paper until Jack’s reinstated, we might have some leverage,” Specs read. “Are you and Romeo in?”

He looked up, meeting Romeo’s eyes.

“What do you think?”

“I say hell yeah!” Romeo shouted.

“They can get other people to write for the paper,” Specs pointed out.

“Denton won’t let that happen.”

Specs could already see Romeo’s mood lightening.

“Denton may not have any choice.”

His words seemed to have no effect on Romeo’s widening grin.

“Then we’ll make sure the whole school knows. I bet Spot would help.”

“He might not help,” Specs said.

“He will if Race asks him.”

“Huh?”

“Specs, have you really not noticed the massive crush our announcements crew head has on Racetrack Higgins?”

“We are not taking advantage of an unrequited crush,” Specs insisted.

“Who says it’s unrequited?”

Romeo grinned.

“How are you so sure this crush even exists? I haven’t noticed anything.”

“I’m the romance expert around here. We established long ago that you wouldn’t recognize a crush if it kissed you on the lips.”

“That’s not fair!”

Specs was so busy being indignant, he didn’t consider what Romeo meant by “established long ago” until much later that night. It couldn’t be…

 

“Relinquish. The word you’re looking for is relinquish.”

Specs gasped. The soft voice by his ear sent shivers down his spine. He hadn’t even realized Romeo was standing behind him. Last he’d checked, Romeo had been sitting on his bed, working on formatting.

“Geez, Romeo!” Specs hissed. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” Romeo whispered. “You were just doing the thing where you tap your feet again. I’ve noticed you do it whenever you’re struggling with a word.”

“Oh, right. So, relinquish?”

“Yup.”

Specs typed it out. It did work pretty well.

There was a soft knock on the door.

Romeo froze for a second, before diving under the bed. Specs quickly opened the internet to a homework tab.

“Come in!” he called.

Aunt Jeannine opened the door.

“I brought some cookies up for you and Danny,” she said, offering a plate of her oatmeal raisin cookies.

“Aunt Jeannine, I-”

“Don’t lie to me, Matt. I know he’s here. For one thing, his laptop’s sitting on the bed.”

Romeo poked his head out from under the bed.

“Sorry, Aunt Jeannine. I know you don’t like me hanging around after midnight.”

“I think we can make an exception just this once. I get the impression you boys are working on something big.”

“That’s right,” Romeo confirmed. “But it’s a secret.”

“All right. Keep your secrets, boys. Enjoy the cookies, and try to sleep at some point.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they chorused.

She smiled, set the plate of cookies on Specs’ desk, and left the room. Romeo wriggled out from under the desk and crossed the room to throw his arms around Spec’s neck.

“We didn’t get in trouble! And we scored some of your aunt’s cookies!”

Specs laughed.

“If I was a bit more superstitious, I’d say that was a very good sign.”

They fell asleep side by side on Specs’ bed at 3 am, the final draft of the paper successfully sent to Davey for printing, and an alarm set for 5:30 am.

 

Specs clutched a copy of their newspaper in his hand as he tumbled through the window. He jumped across the gap and knocked on Romeo’s window.

Romeo looked up in surprise and hurried over to open the window.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to bother each other until five? You’re always yelling at me about that.”

“That only applies on days when we haven’t just beat the system,” Specs told him. “Now get out here. Aunt Jeannine is making a cake and she said she’d bring it up when she’s finished.”

Romeo scrambled outside.

“Thank god! I’m starving.”

“And Davey says he’s throwing a party at his house this weekend. Get him your number already, so he’ll stop texting me about stuff for you.”

“He’s had my number for months. He just doesn’t bother texting me when it’s something for both of us because he knows you’ll pass it on.”

Specs paused for a moment. Now that Romeo mentioned it, they did kind of spend most of their time together.

“Oh.”

Romeo laughed.

“Did you see Pulitzer’s face?! Katherine’s a genius!”

Specs nodded.

“And when Jack-”

“That was gold! I’ve never seen anyone look so pissed!”

“Revelling in your victory, boys?”

They turned to face Aunt Jeannine, standing at the window with two slices of cake.

“I heard about what you did,” she continued. “Good for you. I’m so proud of you both.”

She handed the cake to Specs, who passed one plate to Romeo and kept the other to himself.

“Thanks, Aunt Jeannine.”

“Of course, Matt. Now, should I leave you two alone, or do you want to tell me about it?”

Specs shared a glance with Romeo.

“We’ll tell you everything!” Romeo declared.

Chapter Text

The newspaper crew wasn’t particularly large, but somehow they seemed to take up the entire house. Of course, David’s house was rather small, and they’d invited the announcements crew as well, but there still seemed to be more people than should actually be there.

Specs was starting to feel his head pounding to the beat of “Greased Lightnin’” issuing from the basement. From what he understood, not having gone down there himself, Davey’s dad was a bit of a music nut and had a record player hooked up to some massive speakers. Romeo had assured Specs that the accompanying record collection was “wicked awesome” one of the times he ventured upstairs for snacks.

Somehow, Specs had ended up in the living room, playing Cards Against Humanity with Elmer, Henry, and Davey’s sister Sarah. Sarah was winning by a large margin, and currently judging.

“I’m going with ‘vigorous jazz hands’,” she declared.

Henry cheered and snatched up the card. Elmer glowered at him. Specs shook his fist in mock anger.

“Is Davey still downstairs?” Elmer asked.

“Appears so,” Sarah remarked. “I never would have expected. Must be that girl. He’s been making puppy eyes at her all evening.”

She turned a sharp eye on the boys.

“Of course, I always thought it would be Jack,” she continued, scrutinizing their faces for any kind of reaction.

Elmer, Henry, and Specs tried not to give anything away. If she didn’t know, none of them were going to tell her.

Davey himself emerged from the basement, grabbed a coke, and made for the empty seat on the couch between Elmer and Henry. The two made a show of begrudgingly moving their feet and shifting into more comfortable positions.

“Is it insane down there?” Specs asked.

Davey nodded, and gulped down half his coke before speaking.

“They decided it was time for a dance-off. Romeo and Race are the final two, if you’re interested.”

“Romeo?” Henry asked. “Not Jack or Katherine?”

“They’re judging,” Davey explained. “With Crutchie.”

Specs hesitated only a moment before climbing to his feet.

“Romeo will never forgive me if I miss him beating Race in a dance-off.”

He ignored the muffled laughter behind him as he headed downstairs. Clearly, none of them had ever actually seen Romeo dance, if they were so sure he would lose.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Most people seemed to be clustered around the speakers at the far end of the room, with the exception of a couple way too caught up in each other to bother with the competition and a slight figure watching the proceedings from the opposite wall. Spot Conlon seemed to be the only one who noticed Specs’ entrance, and he detached himself from the wall to greet him.

“Davey told you?” he asked.

Specs nodded.

“He said it was down to Romeo and Race. I’m guessing you’re rooting for Race?”

“And you’re rooting for Romeo,” Spot said.

The pounding music came to a halt, accompanied by the cheers of the gathered crowd.

Jack jumped up on a table.

“Okay, folks! Calm down so we can announce the winner!”

An expectant hush fell over the crowd.

“Thank you. Now, by a vote of two to one, the winner of the contest is…” he paused for emphasis.

“Get on with it already!” Mush shouted.

Jack glared at him, before finally getting on with it.

“Racetrack Higgins!”

The crowd cheered. Spot took off, clearing a path through the assembled group almost effortlessly. Specs dashed after him, pushing people aside with much more difficulty.

He made it to the front just in time to see Race pull Spot into a tight hug. Spot wrapped one arm begrudgingly around Race, which probably meant a lot coming from him.

Romeo’s face lit up when he saw Specs.

“Did you come down to support me?”

Specs nodded.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Romeo said. “Race is pretty good.”

“You’re pretty good yourself,” Race shouted over the crowd, an arm still slung casually around Spot’s shoulder.

Crutchie turned the music back on, skipping forward to “Blue Moon”.

“Where’s Davey?” Jack asked, pulling Katherine up onto the table to slow dance with him.

“He went upstairs while you were distracted,” Katherine told him. “Let him be for a bit. He looked exhausted.”

She rested her head on his shoulder and swayed slowly to the music.

Romeo turned to Specs

“Dance with me,” he requested, suddenly serious.

Barely even thinking about it, Specs found himself nodding and taking Romeo’s outstretched hand. Romeo pulled him close and Specs wasn’t sure if it was Romeo’s heart he felt racing, or his own.

“I-”

“Hush,” Romeo said. “Just… give me this dance. We’ll talk later.”

So Specs shut his mouth and let himself drink in the sensation of Romeo holding him close. He still wasn’t sure where they stood, but he thought things might be moving in the right direction.

 

It was close to midnight when he got home, but that didn’t stop Specs from climbing out onto the roof as soon as he got upstairs.

Romeo was already waiting, sitting on the edge of his roof and staring up at the stars.

“Hey,” Specs said softly, sitting down across from him. Their knees were just touching.

“Hey.”

“We should talk. About, you know, the dance.”

“I’m sorry.”

That wasn’t what Specs had expected.

“What are you sorry for?”

Romeo steeled himself and looked Specs right in the eye.

“I’ve kind of had a crush on you for, well, pretty much forever. From the beginning, actually. I may have, um, lied when I told you my brother said you were a girl, actually. But I didn’t want you to hate me. And then I got to know you and you were even better than I could have imagined and I just kept falling for you and I understand if you think it’s weird and we don’t ever have to discuss it again and nothing has to change but I just think you should know at least. And that’s my piece and I’m sorry for being weird and I’ll go inside now.”

Specs reached out to grab Romeo’s arm, holding him in place.

“Ask me again.”

Romeo’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“What?”

“You asked me something that first day. Taped it to my window. Ask me again.”

Eyes wide, Romeo nodded slowly.

“Will you be the Juliet to my Romeo?” he whispered.

Specs grinned and pressed a quick kiss to Romeo’s lips.

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

The summer heat was oppressive. Specs had already kicked all the blankets off his bed, but the very air seemed to be weighing down on him. With a sigh, he rolled out of bed and made his way to the window. Not that it would be any cooler outside, but there was the slightest chance of a breeze.

Romeo was already out there, hair plastered to his head with sweat. He mustered a smile when he saw Specs climbing out to join him.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Romeo said.

Specs rolled his eyes and tried to settle into a sitting position that didn’t make him feel like he was in the middle of a rain forest.

“Don’t lie. I’m a sweaty mess.”

“A sweaty mess who isn’t wearing a shirt,” Romeo corrected. “I’m not complaining. Although I think the temperature out here just rose about ten degrees.”

Groaning, Specs swatted his hand vaguely in Romeo’s direction.

“Wow, you’re really not taking this heat well.”

“What did you expect?” Specs groaned. “Our AC has been broken for three days. Naturally, those three days are the start of the worst heat wave all summer. And that fan in my room does nothing but move hot air around.”

The sky above him was a dark blue, deceptive in its coolness.

“How much would your aunt kill us if I let you sleep in my room tonight?” Romeo wondered.

Specs sat up and shrugged.

“Probably a lot. At this point though, I don’t think I care. What about your folks?”

“Besides Jake, they still don’t know about us or, well, me. They hopefully won’t see anything too weird about me inviting a friend over to spend the night when your AC’s broke.”

“I can sleep on the floor,” Specs offered.

“No way I’m letting my boyfriend sleep on the floor.”

Specs hesitated only a moment before he jumped across the rooftops. Romeo grinned as he opened the window.

The air conditioning washed over him, and Specs stood still for a moment to bask in the refreshing coolness of it. Romeo smacked his shoulder lightly.

“Get in there if you’re so fond of it.”

Specs wasted no time climbing in, and Romeo quickly followed him, shutting the window behind them.

“I can really sleep on the floor,” Specs offered again.

Romeo laughed and shoved him gently towards the bed.

“And deprive me of someone to cuddle with? Don’t you dare.”

 --

“Specs, I’m bored,” Romeo groaned.

Specs didn’t bother looking up from the computer screen.

“Romeo, if you keep bothering me I’m going to kick you out. I need to finish this application.”

“So you can go away and leave me alone?”

“If you want to see it that way.”

“I still don’t see why you have to go away to college. There are plenty of good schools here in New York. Why can’t you stay?”

“I want to get out of this city.”

“I’ll miss you,” Romeo said quietly.

“I’ll miss you, too.”

Specs finally looked up from the computer.

“I suppose I could take a short break.”

The grin that spread across Romeo’s face was pure sunshine.

 --

“Romeo! Romeo!”

Specs pounded up the stairs, already calling his boyfriend’s name.

He dashed to the window, throwing it open.

“Romeo! I got accepted! With a scholarship!”

Romeo’s face appeared at the other window.

“Accepted? To that college you want to go to?”

Specs nodded eagerly. Romeo scrambled across the rooftops and pressed a kiss to Specs’ lips.

“I knew you could do it!”

Still a little breathless, Specs passed the acceptance letter to Romeo, who scanned the contents.

“This is fantastic!”

Specs laughed.

“Now all I have to do is not fail out of high school in the last quarter.”

“I don’t think you could fail out of high school if you tried.”

Specs kissed Romeo again.

“Specs?”

The two of them jumped apart guiltily as they registered Aunt Jeannine’s presence in the doorway.

“Sorry to interrupt, but do you want brownies or cupcakes tonight? We have a very special occasion to celebrate, or so I’d expect from you running upstairs yelling your boyfriend’s name.”

“Oh, sorry, Aunt Jeannine. I got accepted!”

Aunt Jeannine smiled.

“I knew you would be. Now, brownies or cupcakes?”

“Go with brownies,” Romeo suggested.

“Brownies sound good,” Specs agreed.

“One batch of brownies, coming right up!”

 --

“So, I guess this is it?” Romeo asked, climbing in through the window and joining Specs in the middle of the room.

Specs looked around. Everything he’d be taking to college was packed away in boxes and suitcases, piled by the door. The rest of the room felt hollow and empty.

“Yeah. This is it.”

There was no warning before Romeo threw his arms around Specs, clinging to him tightly.

“Don’t go,” he whispered into Specs’ shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”

Specs ran a hand through Romeo’s hair.

“I’ll miss you too. We can Skype whenever you want.”

“Every day,” Romeo insisted petulantly.

Specs couldn’t help cracking a smile at that.

“Every day.”

They stood in the half-empty room for a long time, just holding each other. Finally, Romeo looked up, meeting Specs’ eyes.

“I want to tell them.”

“Huh?”

“I want to tell my family. About, you know, everything. Will you come with me?”

Specs nodded.

“Of course.”

The trip across the rooftops was quieter than it had ever been before, the tense nervousness hanging over them. A loud argument over who-knows-what was already audible the second they made it to Romeo’s room.

Specs noticed the way Romeo tensed up.

“We don’t have to do this,” he offered.

“Yes we do,” Romeo insisted. “I don’t want to hide anymore, and I don’t think I can do this without you. It has to be now.”

Specs nodded and squeezed Romeo’s hand. Romeo straightened his back.

“Let’s do this.”

The staircase seemed longer than it had any right to be, and the arguing voices kept getting louder. Although, as they got closer, it became clear that the subject Romeo’s parents were shouting so passionately about was baseball, which made Specs feel slightly better.

No one seemed to notice their entrance. Romeo’s mother and father were standing on opposite sides of the kitchen table, angrily defending their favorite teams. Romeo’s sister, Alice, was playing a videogame, and his oldest brother, Jake, had his nose buried in the newspaper. The younger brothers were sitting on the floor playing some kind of game that involved legos and loud explosion sound effects.

Romeo surveyed the scene.

“LISTEN EVERYBODY!” he shouted, louder than Specs had ever heard him.

Everything stopped. Apparently, his family had never heard Romeo being that loud either.

Specs could feel Romeo’s hand was shaking a little, but Romeo was smiling as all the attention in the room focused on him.

“Okay, let’s keep this simple: I’m bisexual and I’m dating Matt and none of you can do a thing to stop me.”

Silence followed, then broke out into chaos.

Romeo’s mother was yelling something about standards, Romeo’s father seemed to be arguing with her purely out of spite, Jake had turned back to his newspaper, Alice was giving Romeo a thumbs up from across the room, and the younger children were whispering among themselves. Simon detached himself from the group and approached Romeo.

“What’s ‘bisexual’?” he asked.

Romeo smiled and, letting go of his grip on Specs’ hand, knelt down to the younger boy’s height.

“It means I like kissing boys and girls, instead of just girls.”

Simon’s eyes widened.

“You can do that?!”

“You can do anything you want, kiddo.”

He ran excitedly back to his siblings, telling them in loud whispers about what Romeo had said.

“Anyway, Matt is leaving for college and I promised I’d help pack the car, so I’ll catch you later.”

He grabbed Specs’ hand and ran back up the stairs. When they made it to his room, he collapsed on the bed laughing.

“Romeo?”

“I did it. I actually did it. God, that went so much better than I expected.”

“That… was good?”

“Considering that I was afraid I’d get kicked out, that went fantastic.”

“Your mom didn’t sound too happy.”

“Yeah, she’s always been pretty traditional. But she’s yelling at Dad, not me, and that’s a good sign if I ever saw one.”

“You’re sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“Jake and Alice are both on my side. I’ll be fine. Now come on. We have a car to pack.”

 --

Specs couldn’t help but watch Romeo in the rearview mirror as he drove away. Four years. It had been four years since he’d come here. Four years since he’d found a piece of paper taped to the outside of his window and met Romeo. Somehow, those four years seemed like forever.

“I wish Mom and Dad could have been here,” he murmured.

Aunt Jeannine, sitting in the passenger seat, looked up from fiddling with her smartphone.

“They’d have been so proud of you, dear.”

Specs smiled.

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it.”