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Starting the day with Mr. Fowler’s calculus class was not the way Gavin Reed wanted his senior year of high school to start. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that Gavin’s best friend Tina Chen sat in the seat across from him. Currently she was staring at the board completely absorbing the math lesson that she would surely have to reteach Gavin later that night.
It’s not to say that Gavin was a bad student, no, he was just a selective learner. Why should he waste his time learning something that he’ll never use in the future?
Gavin sighed, leaning back in his chair to discreetly check his phone. No notifications, like always. He could text his only other friend Hank Anderson, a burly wrestler with a hankering for junk food, but honestly? Gavin was too lazy. He slid his phone back into his jeans and counted down the minutes remaining of class.
Not soon enough, the bell rang and Gavin sauntered his way out into the bustling halls. “Hey Gav, want me to send you the answers to the math homework?” Tina, ever the goddess, asked as she hooked her arm with his.
Gavin nodded his gratitude. He wasn’t always the best with words.
“Where’s your next class again? I know it’s upstairs somewhere,” Tina glanced his way curiously, tightening her hold on him as someone rudely shouldered past her.
“Room 3105, though my teacher isn’t here today so I'm going to go sit on the bleachers outside, it’s peaceful out there.”
Tina laughed. “Is that what you want to call it? Gavin, sweetie, we both know you only go out there cause that’s when Mr. Kamski’s gym class is out on the field.”
“Shut up, Tina. That’s not the reason at all,” Gavin pouted, trying to pull his arm away from his best friend’s grip.
“Oh of course, the reason isn’t the guy you’ve been fawning over for years now. It’s not Connor’s devilishly handsome younger brother, who just so happens to be on the track-and-field team.”
“He’s on the cross-country team and you know it,” Gavin corrected, digging himself into an even bigger hole.
Tina just laughed, kissed him on the cheek, and walked to her next class, leaving Gavin to scowl at her retreating back.
He grumbled all the way outside and up the bleachers. The sun was beating down on him within minutes, but Gavin never took off his sweatshirt … at least not until he could make a show of it in front of his dumb crush. He went to the gym four times a week for the past three years and prided himself on his looks.
Gavin was just about to pull out his headphones and blast his favorite Gwen Stefani songs while he waited for Kamski’s class to jog their way out onto the track, when he picked up movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted Connor’s smiling face exiting the building. Gavin knew who he’d see next and for a moment he forgot to breathe.
The doors opened and out came Niles Stern, Connor’s hotter younger brother. Niles - more commonly known as ‘Nines’ in relation to his cross-country jersey number - laughed at something Connor said and loosely hung an arm around his brother’s shoulders.
Like some cheesy romantic-comedy movie that Gavin swore he never watched, wind picked up and ruffled through Nines’ hair, mussing it in a way that looked too perfect for Gavin’s small gay heart to handle.
He tore his eyes away and a second later, if he was still looking, he would’ve caught how Nines’ gaze drifted over to him.
Suddenly overcome by the heat of the sun and the heat in his cheeks, Gavin stood, quickly stripping himself of his sweatshirt, which left him in a black v-neck shirt that he knew he looked good in. Because Gavin couldn’t muster up the courage to look back at Nines, he once again missed when the taller boy stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes trained on Gavin’s newly exposed collarbones. The joyous, bubbling laugh that then came from Connor at his brother’s internal struggle drew Gavin back to them.
For the briefest second, Gavin and Nines’ eyes met before they both quickly turned their heads in opposite directions.
By then, Kamski was already rounding up the stragglers in his class so they could finally start their exercises. A shrill whistle sounded and the class was off, tasked with running around the track three times.
With the ease of a god, Nines breezed by the slower kids in his class and drifted up to the front, quickly surpassing his brother and everyone else. Gavin found that he couldn’t look away.
As Nines reached the section of the track near the bleachers in record time, he lifted his hand to give Gavin the shyest wave he’s ever been on the receiving end of. Gavin, ever the idiot, just stared dumbly as Nines passed by.
Connor, who was closely watching their awkward exchange, yelled out to Gavin as he ran by. “You’re supposed to wave back, Reed!”
Gavin spluttered, unable to think of a witty comeback while Connor was still within earshot. Next time, Gavin thought with a sigh.
The next time Nines came jogging by, Gavin pretended to tie his shoes, knowing damn well there are no laces on Crocs. He looked up just in time to see Connor’s disappointed glare. The final time Nines ran by the bleachers, he didn’t spare Gavin a single glance. Gavin guessed he might have deserved that.
The rest of class was spent with Gavin shielding his phone from the sun as he tried to look at memes, expertly glancing up every once in awhile to watch Mr. Kamski’s class play flag football.
When there were five minutes left of class, the gym class started to file back into the school and Gavin slowly followed behind. He wasn’t expecting a slender hand to grasp his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
“Reed, what was that?” Connor frowned, disappointment clear on his face.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to history,” Gavin tried to worm his way out of Connor’s grasp, and after a couple seconds, Connor let him go.
“How long are you two going to keep doing this?” Connor called after him. It almost sounded like a whine.
Gavin ignored him, quickening his pace to avoid confrontation.
The rest of his day was uneventful, but every time Gavin saw Connor in the hall, Connor would send a pout his way, paired with the best puppy-dog-eyes Gavin’s ever seen.
It was almost two weeks before Gavin saw Nines again. Gavin was sitting next to Hank, picking at his salad, when Connor appeared in front of them and took a seat across from Hank. Gavin looked up in surprise as he saw another figure settle himself down in front of him. Gavin almost choked on a piece of lettuce.
“Oh hey Nines, what are you doing here?” Gavin feigned nonchalance, waving his fork in the air.
“Connor wished to talk with Hank and he forced me to come along.” Nines cast his eyes over to his mischievous older brother, who was casually pretending that he didn’t exist.
“Yeah, I get that, brothers are weird,” Gavin shrugged.
“Do you have a brother?” Nines asked, curiosity peppering his tone.
Gavin laughed nervously and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Well, no I don’t. I’m just assuming because Hank here is almost like a brother to me.”
Gavin heard Hank let out a quiet laugh.
Nines looked at a loss for words. “I see,” he finally said after an embarrassing long pause. Gavin saw Connor nudge Nines under the table, as if prompting him to say something. “I’ve missed seeing you out on the bleachers.”
A slow blush crept up Gavin’s neck and all he could do is let out an embarrassed laugh.
“I’d like to see you sometime outside of school, if you’d be interested in that.”
“I work a lot,” Gavin spluttered dumbly.
“Okay, I understand,” Nines sighed and stood up, taking his barely-touched lunch tray with him.
“Gavin, I love you man, but you're a fucking idiot,” Hank shook his head and patted Gavin on the back.
“Thanks, Hank, I realize that.” Gavin wanted to scream.
Connor quickly excused himself to trail after his brother.
Hank pulled out his phone, typing for a few moments before he flicked his gaze up to his dumb-ass friend. “You still work at the Detroit pet shelter, right?” Gavin nodded, face buried in the mounds of salad he was shoving into his mouth to hide his frustration.
“Why? Are you thinking of getting another friend for Sumo to play with?” Gavin may not be good at getting along with people, but he was damn good at caring for animals. Sometimes, he jokes that he’s only friends with Hank for his dog, but they both know that wasn’t true. The big Saint Bernard’s third birthday was in a week and Gavin already planned to pick up treats on the way home from work the next day.
Gavin panicked and lied when he said he worked a lot, he only worked at most three times a week, and never on Saturdays so he did have quite a lot of free time to hangout at Hank’s house with his dog.
“Hey, can I come over tonight to see Sumo?” Gavin asked, excited at the chance that he might be able to pet the large beast.
“Sure, I’ll be there too by the way,” Hank smiled, but soon it turned into a more sheepish grin. “Actually, Connor’s coming over to watch some movies, but you can still come over if you’d like.”
Gavin stuck his tongue out, setting his fork down into his empty bowl. “Am I gonna be the awkward third wheel while you two make-out on the couch?”
Hank’s face turned a deep shade of red. It seemed as though Gavin wasn’t the only one harboring a crush on one of the Stern brothers.
Turns out, not even a third into the first movie, Gavin was forced to get up off the floor and go on a walk with Sumo because Connor finally built up enough courage to kiss Hank and Gavin was afraid what he would see if he sat there any longer.
It was just his luck that it started to rain the second he put on his shoes. Sumo, tail wagging furiously, started pawing at Gavin’s feet when he hesitated to step out into the rain. Gavin picked up a once-bright green umbrella, one of the last things that remained from Hank’s parents, and was led out by the slobbering Saint Bernard.
Sumo, the only dog that would tolerate his presence, pulled him in every which direction, stopping every few seconds to sniff at the grass. Within minutes, the pair were soaked, apparently umbrellas don't help much in scenarios with rain over a light drizzle.
A couple blocks down the road, Gavin knew laid a warm coffee shop that he hoped allowed dogs indoors. If they didn’t, he might try to smuggle Sumo in, if that was possible.
As the pair made their way down the street, they were able to spot the bright red sign that signaled their arrival. The bell above the door jingled as Gavin wrangled in Sumo who let out a happy bark.
“I’m sorry, there are no pets allowed … wait Gavin, is that you?” the barista looked up from where he was cleaning one of the various machines.
Gavin gave him a smile. Chris Miller, someone who was more Tina’s friend than his, stood shocked behind the counter, dripping towel dangling in one hand. “Hey bud! Sorry about the dog, he’ll behave, I promise.”
“No, it’s fine, he could chew up all the chairs and I still wouldn’t kick this good boy out. This is Sumo I presume? I remember Tina telling me you only owned cats, so this must be Hank’s dog.”
“Yep,” Gavin smiled down to Sumo who was looking at everything in wonder.
“How are your cats by the way? I haven’t seen any pictures recently,” Chris asked, leaning against the counter, cleaning long forgotten.
“They’re good, Garbage Disposal is always up to no good while Spork still likes to scream out the window, but what can you do. He’ll grow out of that phase eventually, I’m sure of it.”
Chris shook his head fondly. After a brief pause, he disappeared behind one of the coffee machines and it whirled to life within moments. “You still like black coffee, right?”
“It’s the only good kind of coffee,” Gavin stated matter-of-factly, reaching down to scratch behind Sumo’s ears.
It was a few minutes later when Chris walked out from behind the counter, coming to settle at one of the numerous tables and gestured Gavin to join him. Chris slid his coffee to him and almost gagged when Gavin took a sip, not even bothering to add even a single sugar packet.
“So, what’s new in your life, man?” Chris asked, propping his feet up on an unoccupied chair.
Gavin looked around the empty coffee shop, quietly eyeing every corner to make sure that no one was listening in. “Not much, I think Hank and that Connor kid are finally getting together, Tina is as perfect as ever, and I think I blew my one shot of asking out this cute guy.” Gavin hid his frown behind his cup. “How about you?”
“What was that last part about the cute guy? Tina didn’t tell me that you were crushing on anyone. What happened? And you must tell me everything because I gave you that coffee for free,” Chris’s mouth hung open slightly, waiting with bated breath for gossip.
“Fuck off dude, I'm not ‘crushing’ on anyone, I just think this guy is cute. Those are two completely different things.” Chris gave him a withering look that broke down Gavin’s walls in no time. “Alright it’s Connor’s stupidly handsome younger brother. And that’s all I'm saying.”
Chris burst out laughing. “Niles? The guy that’s had a crush on you since freshman year? This is hilarious. I truly cannot believe this. Gavin, he’s been lusting after you since day one! There’s no way he hasn’t asked you out yet.” Chris slapped the table for effect.
“He did actually. At least I think so? But I accidentally turned him down,” Gavin frowned. “I panicked and now I've messed it all up.”
“I’m gonna say this because you're my friend and I mean it in the kindest way. Gavin Reed, you are the most emotionally constipated man I've ever met. You’re lucky I have his number saved.”
Chris whipped out his phone, pressing on the screen a few times before handing his phone to Gavin. Gavin glanced down in horror as he realized that Chris dialed Nines’ number and already hit the call button. Chris motioned for Gavin to take his phone and hold it up to his ear before Nines answered the phone and he’d risk sounding more like an idiot than he already is.
Gavin barely had time to set the phone against his ear before Nines picked up. Gavin looked to Chris in fright.
”Chris? What’s up? Did you get off work already?” Nines' deep, silky voice echoed out of the receiver.
“Hey, Nines. It’s Gavin actually.” He looked up to Chris who was giving him a thumbs-up.
Nines’ robotic tone answered him, ”What do you want?”
“I-“ Gavin paused, trying to muster up the courage to say anything. “Today you mentioned that you’d be interested in hanging out sometime. With me, I mean.”
”Yeah? Then you shut me down, remember?”
“Shit, I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that. I don’t think I was thinking at all actually. But I was just wondering if that offer still stood? I actually do work the rest of this week but I’m off Saturday, if you are free.” In front of him, Chris was silently cheering.
”This Saturday is my mother’s dinner banquet, but the Saturday after that I could pencil you in.” Nines let out a deep chuckle that sent Gavin’s face aflame.
Just because the world hates him, Gavin’s voice cracked on his next few words. “S-sure! I’d love that,” Gavin squeaked. He cleared his throat before he embarrassed himself any further. “I’ll see you around.”
”Okay, bye Gavin.”
Gavin didn’t lower the phone until long after Nines had already ended the call.
“You did it! See? It wasn’t so hard now was it?”
A smile crept onto Gavin’s face and he was too slow to hide it.
By now, it had mostly stopped raining, though the sun had long since set and he still had his math homework to copy down so he said his goodbyes to Chris and set off back to Hank’s house.
Sumo lapped up puddles on the way, never breaking stride, and Gavin tried to remind himself to make sure Sumo’s water bowl was full when they returned.
Connor’s car was nowhere to be found in the driveway so Gavin hoped that he wouldn’t walk into Hank in a compromising position.
As he opened the front door with the key that Hank had given him years ago, Gavin found that Hank didn’t bother to turn on any lights, so he figured his friend must be in his room already. There was a small part of Gavin that wanted to curl up on the couch with Sumo, even if he was still sopping wet, and spend the night at Hank’s, but he assumed that would be overstaying his welcome. He let Sumo off his leash and made sure the water bowl was full. He then dropped off the umbrella by the front door and locked the door on the way out.
He had a long journey home ahead of him, since he had never been able to afford a car.
When he finally arrived home almost forty-five minutes later, his dad was nowhere in sight, though that didn’t surprise Gavin in the slightest. His dad worked nights and when he wasn’t working, he was always out with his buddies or his fling of the week to even care about his son’s well-being. Gavin assumed he could die and his dad would never find out, let alone care. It was because of him that Gavin had a scar running along the bridge of his nose in the first place, clearly his father’s love for him didn’t run deep.
To avoid his thoughts drifting into a downward spiral, Gavin decided to heat up a three-day-old hamburger that looked as though it should’ve been thrown out yesterday. He ate his burger in silence, while his eyes slowly tracked Garbage Disposal prancing throughout the house.
Mr. Fowler’s calculus class the following day was cut short when Mr. Fowler had to leave to go pick up his sick kid from school. Gavin rejoiced and made his escape to the bleachers. Tina went to hangout with her girlfriend.
Tossing his backpack to the side, Gavin stretched out on the warm metal bleachers, taking comfort in the baking sun. The heat slowly drained into his body, alleviating his aches and pains.
A deep chuckle sounded from somewhere below and suddenly someone was blocking the sun. “Something told me I’d find you out here.” Nines, Gavin’s dumb brain supplied.
“Did Tina tell you we got out of class?” Gavin sighed, opening up his eyes to find Nines clad in a pale blue t-shirt and jeans.
Nines laughed, bringing up his hand to cover his mouth in a way that Gavin found to be stupidly attractive. “She may have.”
Gavin, squinting at the sun that was pouring out from behind Nines' frame, patted the spot next to him. “Sit. You're intimidating when you tower over me like that.”
In one fluid motion, Nines sat, his back perfectly straight.
“Relax, it’s just us out here. What are you, a robot?” Gavin laughed, nudging Nines in the side. Nines finally, finally, bent his back forward into a position that looked more awkward than comfortable, but it was a small win in Gavin’s book.
“What’re you doing out here, Gavin Reed?” Nines looked at him in a way that made Gavin want to stare straight into the sun just so that face would be the last thing he’d ever see.
“Chillaxing, my bro.” Gavin wanted to punt himself into the nearest trash can. He was still able to muster up a cocky grin to hide the fact that he wanted to die.
“What are you? Twelve?” Nines snickered.
“Only on the inside baby,” Gavin sent Nines a wink that had the other boy snorting. Like honest to god snorting.
“Shut up, you dork.” Nines slapped him in the stomach and if his hand lingered for a second too long, no one mentioned it.
Gavin stuck out his tongue in a childish manner before waiting for another round of Nines' laughter to die down. “What are you doing out here? Isn’t there someone better to spend your time with?”
“I love to sit out here drowning in my own sweat just for fun. No, Gavin, you dumb fuck, I'm out here for you. And why would I want to hangout in the nice air-conditioned school by myself when I could bless you with my presence instead?” Nines reached out in an aborted effort to touch Gavin’s arm.
With a roll of his eyes, Gavin guided Nines' hand to firmly rest against his own forearm. “Seems fake, but okay.”
“Gavin now is not the time to quote memes at me,” Nines pouted. “I think you’re a nice guy and I'm glad you accepted my invitation to hangout.”
“Is next Saturday like a date or what?” Gavin suddenly wished he had gum to loudly pop at this time, it just felt right,
To see the pale pink make its way up Nines' throat was like a gift from the gods.
“I-I was hoping it was going to be, but it’s completely okay if you don’t want that,” Nines stuttered.
Gavin tried to feign nonchalance. “Sure, but just so you know, I don’t put out on the first date.”
Instead of turning even a darker shade of red as Gavin thought he would, Nines smirked and faced him fully. “I don’t either, you have to earn that privilege.” The grip he had on Gavin’s arm tightened slightly.
“And how do I do that?” Gavin shot back. As Nines was about to answer, the bell rang, signaling the end of their first class. “Saved by the bell I see.”
Nines shot up, offering Gavin a hand as almost a second thought. “We must get going, we don’t wish to be late.”
Gavin took the offered hand, even though he really didn’t need it. It was a sweet gesture and Gavin may be a jerk, but he wasn’t about to leave the guy hanging.
Gathering up all of his courage, Gavin gave one last look at Nines. “See you around, pretty boy,” Gavin sent him a wink. He couldn’t bear to stay long enough to gauge Nines' reaction.
Next Saturday - October seventh - couldn't come any faster in Gavin's opinion. A few days ago, he had begged Chris for Nines' number so he didn't have to ask him himself. He only relented when Gavin promised he would let Chris come over to pet his cats and take as many pictures of them as would they let him.
The plan was to meet at Hank's house, a good middle ground Gavin decided, and they would go to a movie and then back to Gavin's house. Little did he know, it would not go as smoothly as he hoped.
Hank forced Gavin into one of his plaid shirts, claiming that he "Couldn't wear that gross sweatshirt on a date," and that "Presentation is just as important as everything else." Sounds like something Connor would say, Gavin sighed.
At the sound of the door bell ringing, Sumo ran over and barked loudly until Gavin climbed over him to open the door. With one last glance over his outfit - Hank giving him a thumbs-up before heading off into his room - he opened the creaky front door.
Nines stood in front of him, hair styled perfectly, and looking like a solid twelve out of ten. Hey baby, are you a twelve, because I'm the negative two, filthy sewer rat you need, Gavin thought with a laugh. Nines looked to him in confusion.
"Do I look bad?" Nines frowned, looking down at his form-fitting blue shirt and basic black jeans.
Gavin's laugh faded within milliseconds. "Never." Gavin gave himself a few precious moments to look over his date, before pushing Sumo out of the way and slipping out the door. "Ready to go?"
Nines nodded, a small soft smile on his face, and lead Gavin to his car. Nines, ever the gentleman, didn't mention the fact that Gavin's car was nonexistent. They slipped into Nines' BMW, Gavin instantly knew this car was worth more than himself, and he tried not to breathe wrong in case he ruined something.
What Nines wasn't going to mention was the fact that this car is his mother's that he borrowed especially for tonight. He was determined to make a good impression. Besides, when his mother's loan ran out Nines was going to buy the car for himself anyway. It's practically already his.
Unsurprisingly, Gavin was as silent as he could be the entire way there. As soon as they parked Nines could feel two eyes peering directly at his face.
"Do you or do you not," Gavin paused for dramatic effect, "Like romantic movies."
"Not particularly," Nines lied, trying not to lose cool points with Gavin. "Do you?"
"Of course I don't." Another lie.
Coincidentally, the only movie that had seats open at the time was Me Before You. Two back-row tickets later, Nines stood in line for popcorn and snacks while Gavin sat at one of the high tables in the lobby, nervously waiting for his gummy worms.
Barely an hour into the movie, Gavin teared up at a cute scene, being the big baby that he is, and Nines casually draped an arm around him.
As the credits rolled, Gavin was full on bawling, getting looks from concerned movie-goers. He felt stupid until he looked over to Nines whose face was as wet as his own. Gavin watched a tear drop down off his chin.
"Look at us, a couple of cards we are,"Gavin laughed through the sorrow.
"I will require physical affection when we get to your house," Nines informed, never taking his eyes off the screen even as the credits rolled.
Gavin stood, a tear-soaked napkin fell from his lap onto the floor, and extended his hand to Nines who took it gratefully. Their hands, covered in excess moisture, were clasped together all the way to the car.
This time, the drive back was full of Gavin gushing about the movie and the characters and how well they were portrayed by the actors. Nines listened with a smile on his face. With occasional breaks for directions, Gavin talked about the fact that it was based off of a book and then spent five minutes looking it up on Amazon. Nines watched Gavin then pout and put his phone away, for what reason he had no idea. He decided to try his luck.
"Why the long face?" Nines inquired, pulling up in Gavin's empty driveway.
"'S expensive that's all." Gavin looked out the window.
Nines made a mental note to ask Hank when Gavin's birthday was so he could get him the book under the guise of a gift. He assumed Gavin wasn't the type of person to take free things without giving something in return. It was the perfect plan.
Gavin strutted ahead so he could put up the garage door as Nines turned off the car and got unbuckled. "It's nothing much so don't expect anything too grand."
"That's fine with me," Nines smiled reassuringly and grabbed his hand again. Gavin flinched, cast a quick glance around, then let out a sigh and squeezed his date's hand back.
The tour consisted of the bathroom, the connected living room and kitchen, the locked door of his father's room, and finally Gavin's room at the end of the short hallway. He had tried to make it as clean as he could, but he knew it still looked horrible. He looked to Nines, expecting to see a look of disgust, but instead Nines was looking around with a hint of wonder in his eyes. Gavin watched as his eyes flicked to the different posters he had hung up on his wall. The only thing the bands had in common were what they were hiding underneath. If he was being honest, Gavin still had no idea who half of them were, most of them were Tina’s.
Gavin went to go sit on his bed, feeling an overwhelming surge of embarrassment. "Bet you wish we hung out at your house instead, right?"
Nines' brow furrowed. "No, why would you think that?" he asked, moving to sit beside Gavin.
"Oh come on, your mom is Amanda Stern, your house has to be so much better than this shit hole."
Nines laughed humorlessly. "Now there you would be surprised. That house is as uncomfortable as a hospital room, it's too sterile and all the furniture and walls are white."
"That does sound horrible," Gavin sighed, scooting so his back was pressed against the wall and his legs were stretched out, dangling off the bed.
Nines turned his body away from Gavin, only to plop his head down in Gavin's lap, his legs stretching up past the twin bed's headboard. He had no idea how Gavin was comfortable in this tiny bed.
Next thing he knew, Gavin’s hand had slipped into Nines' hair in a comforting manner, stroking the soft, silky strands. “Did you know,” Gavin started before he could stop himself. “Everyone knew that I’ve had a crush on you for years. I don’t know how, I don’t think I’m that transparent.”
At that, Nines laughed. “Did you know I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year? I can’t believe it took us this long to finally muster up the courage to even talk to each other for more than three sentences at a time.”
“What can I say, hot people are intimidating.” Gavin heard what he thought was the garage door open, but he knew it couldn’t have been because of how often his dad actually comes home. He usually just comes home for the holidays to mooch off his son. It occurred to him that today was his birthday by a quick glance at the calendar. Of course he would never tell anyone that, he hated his birthday, he doesn’t even think his closest friends knew when he was born.
The front door opened with a bam! Gavin had to act fast.
“Get in the closet,” Gavin pushed at Nines to get up.
“What? What’s wrong? What was that?” Nines, suddenly very much alert, sat up and was already making his way over mounds of dirty clothes to hide inside the nearly-bare closet.
Gavin didn’t have time to respond. As soon as the closet door was as shut as it was ever going to get, Gavin’s door swung open and in walked in Mr. Reed. From Nines' spot in the closet Gavin’s father looked about ready to fall over in his drunken state. The beer in his bottle sloshing as he extended his arm out to his son.
“What do you think you are doing having friends over?” Gavin’s father slurred.
“I-I don’t know what you mean, dad,” Gavin stuttered, starting to sweat under his collar.
“Are you telling me that’s your car out there? I know you can’t afford that luxury,” his father growled. “Don’t lie to me, boy.”
Shit. Think Gavin. “That’s probably just a neighbor’s car. People around here aren’t that considerate of other people’s property,” Gavin supplied, trying to look nonchalant.
“So, are you saying if I smashed in the windows, you wouldn’t be upset?” Gavin’s father smirked drunkenly and Nines silently cursed.
“No! You can’t do that,” Gavin panicked. “Someone could call the cops, and then you’d be back in jail. We both don’t want that.”
“You don’t know what I want,” Gavin’s father rose the fist not holding the beer bottle. “Don’t talk back to me,” he warned.
“I’m sorry, dad, it won’t happen again.” Gavin hung his head, making sure to not look in Nines' direction.
“You bet your ass it won’t! Or it’ll be your precious face that’ll pay the price.” To make his point, Gavin’s father quickly finished off the bottle and threw it against the farthest wall, hitting the closet door with a precision Gavin was familiar with. “Now clean up your mess.”
And just as quick as he appeared, Gavin’s father was gone. Nines, only thinking about going to comfort Gavin, stepped out of the closet, the glass crunching painfully against his feet. He paid the pain no notice as he came up behind Gavin’s hunched figure. He touched Gavin’s shoulder and he felt him shrink under his touch.
“Gavin, it’s me. You’re okay now, he’s gone,” Nines calmly tried to usher Gavin back onto his bed. From the stains dotting Gavin’s various walls, Nines could bet that the beer throwing wasn’t just a one time thing.
Gavin let Nines lie him down, let him cover him with his basically-useless, thin blanket, let him sit next to him and rub his shoulder. A voice, as weak as a mouse, drew Nines' attention down to Gavin’s face. “What if he comes back?”
“It’s okay, I can protect us,” Nines assumed that Gavin’s father wouldn’t be that big of a threat with his current inebriated state. He’d still have to pay attention to the sounds outside of Gavin’s door just in case.
“Can you lay with me?” Gavin asked, so softly Nines barely heard him.
“Of course I can.” Nines pulled back the sheets and crawled in. He laid on his back while Gavin slung an arm over his torso. The position was not too suffocating for Gavin but it still provided him with ample comfort.
Gavin was snoring silently within minutes. Nines wouldn’t let himself rest until he knew Gavin’s father wouldn’t be a threat to them. He thought he heard the front door open, glass shattering, then the door opening again, but he must have already drifted off to sleep because he could swear he heard loud, obnoxious snoring coming from the room next door all within the same minute.
When Gavin woke up at seven, a habit for school he couldn't seem to shake on the weekends, Nines was murmuring in his sleep, something Gavin would come to love when the threat of his father wasn’t an issue. He regretfully shook Nines awake with a single hand to a muscular chest.
Nines pushed the hand away and frowned deeply, still ninety percent asleep.
“C’mon Nines, we should get up. We shouldn’t have even fallen asleep in the first place. What if my dad came in and saw us? He would kill you.” There was true fright in his voice.
Nines mumbled incoherent, but still sat up, his hair pointing in all different directions. “Why don’t we go get breakfast? Like part two of our date.”
Gavin sighed. “I wish I could, but it’s too risky to leave the house when he’s here. I would rather not have him angry with me, trust me, it’s no fun.” Gavin swung his legs off his bed and went to go check outside his window. His movement, however, rustled one of the posters and Nines thought he could see gashes - similar to what a knife would leave behind - hidden beneath the paper. It didn’t make sense to Nines' tired mind, so he didn’t think anything of it until much later.
“Yesterday was one of the best days of my life,” Gavin admitted, throwing a sweatshirt at Nines to wear because it looked much too cold out to only wear a t-shirt. It was his DPD sweatshirt, he got it from Hank’s closet who got it from his late father’s, it was one of his favorites as evident by the holes at the end of the sleeves from biting them. A nervous tick he was just finally getting over. “Sorry, that’s the best one I got that resembles something of a clean variety.”
Nines slipped it over his head. It was the slightest bit too short. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Gavin. And yesterday was one of the best days I’ve ever had too. We should do it again sometime.”
Gavin smiled and walked back over to his bed. He helped Nines get up, who was ignoring the small shards of glass that still clung to his socks, he would have Connor look at them when he got home. He wasn’t as worried as he probably should’ve been.
“I’ll walk you to your car if you want.” Gavin shyly looked up at him.
“I would like that very much,” Nines grinned.
Besides the stretch when they walked by Gavin’s father’s open bedroom door, they held hands again. The second they stepped out into the cold fall air, Nines immediately realized what was wrong.
It wasn’t his imagination. Last night, after the conversation with Gavin, his father came outside and smashed - with a pipe wrench by the looks of it resting innocently on the driveway - the driver’s side window of his car. Shards of glass littered the ground and presumably his seat.
Gavin paled. “Nines, I’m so sorry,” he apologized like he was the one to swing the wrench, not his father.
“No, it’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Nines left Gavin standing stock-still by the door as he went to assess the damage. The driver’s window seemed to be the only thing that was messed with. Nines looked under the hood just to make sure, even though he had no idea what he was looking at. He assumed he would be able to tell if something was sabotaged. “Don’t worry about it, Gavin.”
“I’ll pay you back. I’ll get the money somehow I swear. I’ll put in more hours at the pet store. I’ll skip school if I have to just to work overtime.”
“Don’t do that, you don’t have to pay me back.” Nines assured him, but his words seemed to go on deaf ears.
“I can get a second job. I can cut back on eating, save up money that would go to food,” Gavin rattled off, seeming to be in his own world.
Nines had to physically put Gavin’s head into his hands for him to snap out of it. He rubbed his thumbs on Gavin’s cheeks. He blinked, finally out of his trance, and focused on Nines' face.
“Don’t worry about it Gavin, it’s not that expensive to replace a window. Your father’s a dick, I’m more worried about you not some stupid car window. It doesn’t seem like you are living in a safe environment.”
“I’m fine, I’ve dealt with it this long, what’s a couple more years?” Gavin shrugged self-deprecatingly.
After taking his sweet time cleaning out the glass from his car, he begrudgingly looked over to Gavin who was holding a makeshift dustpan made out of old newspapers. “It’s time to go.” Nines wished he didn’t have to leave Gavin alone, but sadly there was no reason for him to stick around anymore. “I’ll see you at school on Monday?” he asked, hope lacing his tone.
“Yep, see you then Nines. I had a really great time,” Gavn gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Nines couldn’t have that.
He gingerly shut the car door that was separating them and swept Gavin into a hug. “Come with me,” he whispered softly in his ear, wanting nothing more than to protect the boy - his boyfriend? they never formally talked about what their relationship was - in front of him.
“I can’t,” Gavin frowned.
“Please. At least come with me to breakfast? Your dad isn’t even going to know you’re gone.” Nines was practically begging. He knew it was unrealistic, but he never wanted Gavin to step foot in that house ever again.
Gavin gave it some thought, glancing back at his front door like his father would come storming out at any second. “Okay, just for breakfast,” Gavin smiled gleefully, already imagining the cavity-inducing pancakes he was going to get.
“Breakfast it is.” Nines went around the car and opened the passenger door for Gavin, closing it softly behind him. He got into the driver’s seat, pulled out of the driveway, and started down the road.