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It wasn’t like Jon was dumb. Really – he wasn’t.
He had a tendency to make silly mistakes, and sometimes he made up his own words when he couldn’t find the right one. People had told him he had a stutter and a small slur, his hair never sat quite right and he barely even noticed when he dropped f-bombs around younger kids.
But he wasn’t dumb! Even if his literature grade was currently a C-minus, he wasn’t stupid.
He just… struggled?
Aaaaand he may have been a small bit uncoordinated which really came out at the worst of times.
For example: standing in the lunch-line, thinking about the lasagne he was very excited to eat when a weird-looking bug decided the back of his hand was a perfect place to nest.
A small fun-fact about Jon: he really didn’t like bugs, so it was quite the achievement that he managed to contain the high-pitched squeal rising behind his lips. It wasn’t surprising through when his first instinct was to fling his hand as far away from his body (and face) as possible as to hopefully launch the small critter and its big red wings off of him. Which worked – but also meant he slapped Evan Fong right across the face from where the guy was standing innocently behind him also waiting for a plate of lasagne.
“Oh my God-!” His hands flew to cover his mouth in shock-horror, jumping away from the Asian boy who took a step back from the impact. Brown eyes looked to Jon in confused hurt and Jon mentally stabbed himself in the leg. “Fuck-! I mean, oh shit! I-I’m so sorry, Evan! I didn’t mean to- There was a bug! It was huge and ugly an- and I didn’t mean to hit you. I was trying to get rid of it but-…”
He watched in horrified awe as Evan blinked, looking cross-eyed and lifting hesitant fingers to his cheek and nose (which were red in their offense). The boy inspected his fingertips after a second, blood dripping over them and sighed very softly.
Jon’s heart fell to his feet, far less calm about the situation. “Oh my shit, is your nose bleeding!?” he gasped, pulling Evan closer by his shoulder and touching the bridge of the bleeding nose with his hand. The skin was boiling hot. “I’m so sorry! Fuck, fuck- I’ll take you to the n-nurse’s office and we can get you some ice, and some tissues, and-”
Evan hadn’t said a word. He only stared at his peer, the boy he’d had Geography with for the past three years but only spoken to once or twice. From what he knew, Jon was – to put it lightly – a mess sometimes. So he wasn’t all that surprised that the loud-mouthed boy had been the one to smack him across the face unexpectedly at lunch.
But it was the first time he’d gotten the chance to get a good look at the big pair of blue eyes and just marvel at how deep their colour was. It wasn’t like Jon even noticed either, rambling and waving his hands as he pulled him from the lunch-line and hurried him out of the cafeteria as though he needed an ambulance.
“It’s just a blood-nose, dude; calm down. Jon – chill!”
His fingers fell into place at the bridge of his nose, cupping his other hand beneath his chin. Jon stopped silent but didn’t seem to notice his hold on Evan’s upper arm. There was a moment of pause where the older boy just watched the blood drip down over sculptured lips and Evan let out a slightly muffled laugh.
“I get them all the time,” he assured and Jon shook his head, shaking himself back awake in a comical way that had bloody lips pulling up in amusement. “Let’s just go to the bathroom, I don’t need the nurse.” Evan turned, leading himself towards the boys’ toilets and leaving Jon to make his own decision on whether to follow or not.
A small spark of joy in Evan’s chest lit when the brunette skipped up to walk at his side.
“Are you sure you don’t need the nurse? It’s a lot of blood an’ maybe they- maybe they can fix it!” Blood dripped from his chin, not looking like it was going to stop any time soon as Jon watched. He sounded hopeful in his words, very obviously embarrassed and apologetic about his accidental violence.
Evan still shook his head though, shoving the door to the bathrooms open with his shoulder. Jon followed. “It’ll fix in a couple of minutes,” he said, watching in surprise as Jon scurried into a stall. The boy reappeared right after with a massive amount of toilet paper, holding it out.
Those eager eyes.
Evan couldn’t help but laugh, fondness behind his smile as he accepted some of the clumped paper. Jon hovered, holding the rest and patiently waiting until he was needed again.
“How much do you get them?” he asked.
Evan grinned, flashing bloody teeth. “Not so much now. I got them more when I was younger. I have to be really overheated, really drunk or, er, hit pretty hard on the nose now.”
Jon’s smile fell, face reddening in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, eyes downcast. With his unbloodied hand, Evan tapped Jon on the cheek with two fingers.
“Don’t be – you were scared of a bug.” Those pretty eyes raised to his, flashing with insult in a way that teased Evan’s humour.
“I was not scared!” An unsurprising defence that sounded rather childish. A lot of stuff did coming from Jon. “I was just… er… surprised!”
Evan nodded, scrunching up the tissues more. It didn’t take longer than a few seconds for them to soak through completely and he dumped them in the bin. He startled when Jon stepped into his space, watching close with his tongue peeking out between his lips as he very concentratedly fit another bunch of tissues beneath the boy’s nose. There was not a flicker of hesitation in his face of focus, not at all acknowledging his actions as anything besides normal.
The younger of the two stood still, hoping no other kid would walk in on them. It would likely look a little odd for the two fifteen-year-olds but to Evan, the hand steadying itself on his shoulder was more than comfortable.
He didn’t expect something so gentle from a boy so messy. Jon watched closely, dabbing the tissues at his lips and chin. He held them there while he wet another clump to clean away the blood that looked to be drying.
“Sit up.” He tapped the counter. Evan told himself it would have been smarter to take the tissues himself but a part of him found it nice to have Jon’s worry close in contact. It was fine.
Instead he let out a soft “pfft” sound, hands doing nothing at his sides. “I’m not sitting on the bench, it’s filthy.”
Jon rolled his eyes. “You’ll survive, princess. Sit up.”
There was a moment that felt rather silly; Jon glaring Evan down while holding blood-soaked tissues beneath his nose like a worried mom. A long moment of silent debate jumped between them before Evan just gave in.
He hopped up on the bench, hands in his lap, and allowed Jon to play doctor for him, collecting more toilet paper and wetting some of it. He stood partially between the Asian boy’s legs and focused all his attention on taking care of the still-bleeding nose.
Evan didn’t think Jon even noticed when he rested a hand above his knee.
“Does it hurt?” was his next question, Evan having to find himself after a moment and look away from the deep ocean eyes.
A very intelligent, “Uhh,” dropped from his lips before Jon’s fingers lightly pressed on the bridge of his nose. “No, it- nah. They don’t hurt, it’s just hot,” he explained. “They’re more irritating than anything. I’m sorry you’re missing lunch.”
The little shy smile on his face revealed itself when the next clump of bloodied toilet paper found home in the bin, a hint of guilt within the apology that had Jon shaking his head. “You didn’t hit me; you don’t gotta be sorry!” The grin he showed was one of reassurance. Evan’s guilt melted.
If he was honest, he was happy Jon had come with him. Getting the chance to talk to the wild boy was nice (even under the circumstance of getting slapped in the face by him) and it was definitely nothing to complain about when he got to be so close to the other’s face. His rounded, youthful features were pretty even to Evan.
“Do you have any siblings?” He didn’t really think about the question until it had jumped off his tongue, Jon glancing up at his brown eyes in acknowledgement before returning them to the tissues, careful to not touch the blood with his fingertips.
“Nope!” He popped his ‘p’, dimple marking his cheek.
Evan swung his legs back and forth.
“Do you?”
He smiled at the thought. “Older sister, she graduated last year.” Jon nodded. “Do you have any pets?”
That one sparked Jon’s interest, the boy unintentionally jumping and jerking the tissues up into Evan’s nose. He didn’t seem to notice and Evan ignored the slight sting, not wanting to worry the other. His excitement was a good enough distraction as Evan focused on the broad grin the boy now wore.
“I got a puppy!” he claimed, proud as ever. “Well… not so much of a puppy. He’s nine, y’see? But his name’s Squirrel ‘cause he’s always barkin’ at squirrels, and he’s a goofy li’l staff- Stafford- er… staffy bull terrier!” His brows furrowed as he stumbled over the name of the dog breed, either forgetting it or just not quite able to get it off his tongue. He didn’t seem to mind at all though, his face of concentration not lasting with the excitement bouncing in his eyes. “He’s the cutest! You should come over an’ you can meet ‘im!”
There was a moment after his statement before Jon realised his offer was rather odd and Evan was likely going to think he was a freak for even considering the fact that he’d would want to come over. Maybe saying he should come over was a little weird too – Evan probably didn’t want to at all!
“I-I mean, you don’t have to! I was just thinkin-”
“I wouldn’t mind meeting Squirrel.”
He blinked in surprise, following the honest shine of Evan’s chocolate brown eyes. “You wanna?” he asked, hovering in his uncertainty as he pulled the tissues away and watched his nose, waiting to see if it would continue to bleed.
It looked to be slowing but the trickle of blood was still there. He fetched more paper and splashed it, wiping any redness away gently.
Evan nodded, earning a light slap on the leg for moving his face. “I’d love to,” he said, grin making it even more difficult for Jon to work.
“Quit movin’.” Evan listened, staying still and stifling his grin. “You can come over after school today if you want?” The hesitation was fading, the idea of showing off his cutie of a pup to Evan brewing in his thoughts.
The boy sitting on the bench went to nod, only to remember and smile just slightly in apology. “Sure!” he chirped, loving the excited beam on his friend’s face. The boy he’d barely spoken too offering to hang out after school – he was excited to spend more time with him, to get to know him.
He hoped they’d become good friends.
“All good! I don’t think you’re bleeding anymore-” With perfect timing, the bell rung through the bathroom to finish his sentence for him and the two shared a smile, dumping the last of their tissues in the bin. Jon looked at it for a long second, eyes squinted. “It does look a bit like we murdered someone, but I’m sure it’s fine,” he commented and Evan snickered, jumping down from the counter and pulling Jon from the bathroom by his sleeve.
“I’ll blame you. You’re way more likely to commit a murder than I am, it’ll be easy.”
The two fell into step beside each other, Jon frowning. “Excuse you, I would never murderer any person!”
Evan couldn’t help his grin as they walked. “Oh, no. Murderering people doesn’t seem like your thing.”
Jon’s frown lingered on the confused side, glancing at the boy who grinned knowingly. He thought over his and Evan’s words. His frown formed a suspicious pout. “Are you makin’ fun of me?”
The laugh that fell from grinning lips showed Evan’s guilt, though he tried his best to stifle it. “No- er, no! I would never.”
“I’m not gonna introduce you to Squirrel if you’re mean! Squirrel doesn’t like meanies, alright?” His pout was far too young for the teen’s face and Evan bit his tongue with his giggling, nudging the boy with his shoulder.
“Okay, okay. I won’t be mean,” he sung, giggling still. “I won’t wanna give Squirrel a bad first impression, will I.”
“Don’t worry”—it was impossible for Jon not to mirror the smile on Evan’s face—“Squirrel’s a softie. He’d forgive you anyway.”