Work Text:
This is it.
It had finally happened.
Connor's parents were trying to force him to play a sport.
Junior year was starting in a week, and Connor's parents had gotten it into their heads that they could convince Connor to play a sport.
"Connor, honey, it'll be good for you! Just try it," Cynthia pleaded, trying to get her son to buy into the idea.
"NO. You know how much I hate sports. I doubt I'll ever get on the team for anything, I'm terrible at any and all sports. Besides, everyone at school hates me. No way am I going to be on a team with those assholes," Connor snapped back. He just wanted to be left alone.
"Language, son," Larry butted in. "Also, you're playing a sport."
"Thanks for finally showing up, Larry," Cynthia muttered. "Connor, your therapist said it would help. It's this or another medication. I know how much you hate those." Cynthia put her hand on Connor's shoulder. "Please? Just try it?"
Connor sighed. "Okay, Mom. I'll try it. I can't promise anything, though. The other kids hate me, and I doubt any of the coaches will let me on the team. But I'll try." Connor tried a half-hearted smile up at his mom.
Cynthia smiled and hugged Connor. "Thank you! I just want you to try it, okay? Maybe it'll help a little with everything."
Connor pushed his mom off of him, smiling for real now. "Sheesh, Mom, personal space, much?"
Cynthia laughed. "I'm just excited. So, what sport do you want to play? You've got to choose one."
Fuck...
Connor thought back to being a child. When he was little, he never really played any sports. He would much rather stay inside and draw. But...
Connor remembered. Chasing Zoe around outside, learning how to do cartwheels. He had always loved trying to master something new in gymnastics, and he had always been excellent at it.
"Cheerleading," Connor said.
Larry looked over at him. "You sure, son?"
Connor smiled. "Absolutely."
Meanwhile, at the Hansen household...
"Evan, honey, come on! You've got to at least try!"
"N-No. I-I won't," Evan shook his head. Heidi was trying to get him to play a sport. Absolutely no way was he going to do that. So many people, and so much attention...
No. No way.
"Evan, please," Heidi was trying her hardest. She knew that things must be difficult for Evan. "You need to put yourself out there, honey! Being on a team will help you make friends, and you need to get out of the house. You spend all your time holed up in your room, on Tumblr, or whatever the heck it is you're on!"
"Yeah, T-Tumblr..." Evan whispered. Now that he thought of it, that was a pretty sad existence. He had literally no friends except for Jared, who sometimes could be a bit of a jerk, to be honest. And he never went outside. Like, ever. "I-I guess I could try."
Heidi smiled and wrapped her arms around Evan. "That's great, honey! Oh, it's going to be so good for you!"
Evan smiled and hugged his mom back. "Hopefully it will."
"Now, what do you want to play?"
Evan thought back to when he was little. Tiny, 6-year-old him, playing catch with his dad. The same dad who taught him how to play football...
They were so happy back then.
"Football."
Later that night, at the Murphy household
"Hey Zo," Connor knocked on his sister's door. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah, of course."
Connor opened up the door and walked into his sister's room. The walls were a light gray color, and Zoe had put up a thing of string lights with pictures of her and Alana, progressing slowly from their friendship to their 6-month anniversary. Zoe was bi, and Connor was gay, so they were pretty much a queer power duo.
Connor walked over and sat on Zoe's bed, next to his sister. "Hey."
"Hi. Can I braid your hair?" Zoe asked, somewhat randomly. Their conversations always seemed to go something like this; Connor would walk in, and Zoe would ask if she could braid his hair, or paint his nails, or something like that. Connor never really minded, so he told Zoe she could. Zoe started weaving Connor's hair in a French Braid as he got into the story of how Cynthia convinced him to try out for a sport. "So, Mom convinced me to do cheerleading."
Zoe stopped braiding. "Wait, what?"
Connor sighed. "We got into a huge argument at first. I obviously didn't want to try out for a sport, I mean, I'm terrible at most, and there are people, and I seriously didn't want to do it. But... well, I guess I should try it. Mom really wants me to. And she told me to pick one, and l thought back to when we were kids. Remember?"
Zoe laughed. "You used to try to chase after me doing cartwheels! Remember that time at the orchard?"
Connor smiled. "When we were having a picnic, and I tried to cartwheel across the picnic blanket to get to you?" Connor laughed. He had had so much fun with Zoe as a kid, and he was glad they were back to being that close again. He had missed his little sister.
Zoe snorted. "You ruined the whole picnic!"
"Yeah! We ended up going to McDonald's! Larry hated it. He was so mad!"
"Yeah! Totally worth it, though." Zoe giggled.
Connor smiled over at his sister. "I really missed you, you know. I'm sorry for the way I treated you."
Zoe hugged her brother. "We're over that now, Con. I missed you too. So, cheerleading?"
Connor nodded. "Yup. Think I'll look cute in the uniform?"
"Yeah. Besides, cute football players," Zoe smirked.
"Exactly." Connor smiled. Zoe seemed to get him on a spiritual level.
Zoe laughed. "You're SO gay."
Connor laughed. "Well, duh!"
Meanwhile, at the Hansen household
Evan went upstairs to his room, messaging Jared.
Evan_Hansen232: Hey
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: hey, acorn. what's up?
Evan_Hansen232: I'm trying out for the football team
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: no shit. really?
Evan_Hansen232: Yeah. Mom's kinda forcing me, but I guess I should do something other than sitting at home and scroll through Tumblr all-day
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: amen to that. maybe you'll end up dating a cheerleader(;
Evan_Hansen232: Maybe
Evan didn't tell Jared, but he already had a crush. Connor Murphy. He had already lost all hope of ever dating him, as Connor obviously didn't like him. But he still had a bit of hope that maybe, Connor could love him, even if he didn't right now.
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: so, football. you're not scared of bullying?
Despite Jared's lack of knowing Evan's crush, he did know that Evan was bi, as Evan really had no reason to keep it from him. Jared was about as gay as you could get, and he was actually the first person Evan told when he started thinking he was bi. Then again, maybe that was because he didn't have anyone else to tell. But Jared was supportive, and that was what mattered, Evan guessed.
Evan_Hansen232: Me, not scared? Of course I am. But I guess I should try this. I mean, no one really knows if the football players are homophobic. It's just a stereotype
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: that's so... you. I guess no one's had any trouble with them, but they are just a massive group of dumb, straight guys
Evan_Hansen232: You don't know that
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: they're football players, acorn. have some sense
Evan_Hansen232: Are you trying to make me more scared of trying out for the team? If so, you're doing really well
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: just trying to warn you. these guys might not be the kindest people, Evan
Evan_Hansen232: Evan? You never call me Evan
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: whatever, acorn
(Quick AN: While typing this, Jared is in his bedroom blushing because he is the big gay and also has a crush on Evan, thinking, "Well, I never call you cute either, but that doesn't mean I don't want to." (Kleinsen is cute, okay? I'm a multi-shipper))
Evan_Hansen232: I'm going to try this. I can always quit the team if I really need to
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: i guess. i just... don't want you to end up getting hurt because of this
Bathbomb_Lover_Jared124: not like i care about you or anything
Evan grinned.
Evan_Hansen232: Of course
(Okay, so, the scenes with Connor/Zoe and Evan/Jared were, like, my favorite thing I've ever written. I love me an epic sibling duo and chaotic good friendship)
The first day of Junior Year, early morning (about 5:30) at the Murphy household
Connor woke up to his annoying alarm clock beeping loudly. He got up, groaning. "Okay, okay, I'm up!" He went over and turned it off, sighing. He went to his closet and looked halfheartedly through it. Black, black, black, oh look! More black.
"ZOE!" Connor yelled, trying to get his sister's attention.
"YEAH?" Zoe yelled from down the hall, curious.
"CAN YOU COME IN HERE? I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING."
"BE THERE IN A SEC," Zoe yelled back, even more curious now.
Zoe walked to Connor's room in her PJs, her hair still looking visibly... distressed from sleep. She yawned. "What do you need?"
"Can you help me get ready?" Connor asked.
Zoe smirked. "Trying to look presentable this year, huh?"
Connor sighed. "Yeah. I mean, I'm trying to make this year better in general, so... Can you help me?"
Zoe smiled. "Of course, Connie."
"Okay, first, never again will you call me Connie, and second, thanks."
The Hansen household, about the same time
Heidi came in to wake up Evan at 5:30, smiling. She could already tell this was going to be an excellent year for Evan. (Okay, so when I wrote that, I instantly thought of Anybody Have A Map? I guess my mind really is hardwired to Dear Evan Hansen fan mode)
"Ev, honey, time to get up."
Evan groaned and rolled over. "Hey Mom," he grumbled, still half-asleep.
"It's 5:30. You should probably get up." Heidi kissed Evan on his forehead. "I have to head to work soon. I might be working late, so there's money on the fridge for pizza. Please actually eat."
Evan smiled. "I will. Is it okay if Jared comes over?"
Heidi beamed. "Of course! Have a good first day of school, I gotta get going now." Heidi rushed toward the door.
Evan got up out of bed and stretched.
First day of school. Wow.
New friends, new relationships, whole new gender identities, and sexualities. It was always so stressful navigating it all. Every new year felt like an entirely new universe.
But Evan was going to conquer it this time.
Back with Connor and Zoe!
Zoe looked at Connor in the mirror.
"Damn."
Connor was wearing a gray hoodie and skinny jeans, his hair was actually tamed, he had consented to Zoe putting a bit of makeup on him, and he looked, well...
Hot.
"Wow, Zoe. You can really work magic." Connor tugged at his hoodie strings, not really believing what he was seeing. He hadn't really put any effort into looking cute in a long time, but when he did...
Let's just say he was planning on, hopefully, having a boyfriend by the end of the year. (Well, have no fear Connor, for your wish is my command.
Sorry, I tend to talk to the characters while I'm writing. I know, I'm weird, that's not normal, blah blah blah. I'm well aware.)
"Why, thank you, Connor. Ready to get going?"
"Yeah. Let me just go grab my bag." Connor ran to his room, putting on his black Vans and grabbing his bag. He met Zoe at the bottom of the stairs, smiling.
"Well, let's get going."
7:00 am, at school
Evan looked at him, wide-eyed.
Wow.
He was even hotter than last year if that was possible.
Connor Murphy was getting quite a few stares that morning and a few whispers too.
"Is that Connor Murphy?"
"It can't be!"
"He can clean up pretty well, that's for sure."
Connor fidgeted with his hands, not really liking all the attention. He went to his locker and opened it. At that moment, Zoe walked up, smiling. "You're the talk of the town, Con."
Connor sighed. "Yeah. At least it's the good kind of talk."
Zoe put her hand on his shoulder. "Today's going to be great, okay? Cheerleading tryouts this afternoon!"
Connor grinned. "Yeah." He hugged Zoe. "Thanks. I've gotta head to English."
Zoe smiled. "Okay. See you later."
Evan had watched the whole exchange from across the hall.
Cheerleading tryouts.
After school with Evan
Evan was nervous. Very nervous. It was time for football tryouts.
If this went well, he'd get friends, something to do, and possibly even time with Connor.
If this went bad...
He didn't even want to think about what would happen if this went bad.
He walked out to the football field, taking deep breaths as he went.
"Everything is going to be okay."
(AN: I'm skipping the actual tryouts because I don't know crap about football, or cheerleading for that matter, so yeah.)
After school with Connor
Connor was nervous. Very nervous. It was time for cheerleading tryouts.
Not only was everyone going to be shocked that he was trying out for a sport, but he was also doing cheerleading.
Usually-reserved-for-cis-straight-female-pretty-girls cheerleading.
But still, he walked towards the gymnasium.
"I know I can do this."
He walked into the gym, taking a deep breath.
"Too late to back out now."
Connor heard every whisper, which had spread like the plague as soon as Connor walked in.
"Is that Connor?"
"Why's he here?"
"Is he seriously trying out?"
"Wow."
He found a place to stand and ignored them.
"I'm doing this."
One week later with Connor
Connor rushed to the school bulletin board at the front entrance. He scanned for the list, and when his eyes found it, he nearly fainted.
Westerburg High School Juniors Cheerleading Team
Captain: Connor Murphy
Heather McNamara
Victoria West
Maria Reynolds
Abby Suso
Allison Rodriguez
Glinda Martinson
Please have your parent/legal guardian sign the permission slip given to you. The first practice is September 17th, from 3:15 to 5:15 pm.
He. Was. Captain.
What the heck even was this year.
"Hey, Connor!"
Connor turned around when he heard his name, seeing a pretty girl with curly blond hair tied in a yellow scrunchie smiling at him.
"Congrats on being made captain. I'm Heather, by the way. Captain last year."
Connor smiled back at her. "Thanks. I honestly don't even know how I became captain, I was afraid I hadn't even made the team." Connor laughed.
Heather started walking and motioned for Connor to come with her. "Same happened with me last year. I was so nervous. When I found out I was captain, I nearly fainted." They were at the vending machines, and Heather looked over to Connor. "Want anything?"
"Uh, sure. I'll pay for it, though." Connor reached for his wallet, but Heather stopped his hand.
"Please, I'll pay for it. Consider it a "congratulations"." What do you want?"
"Uh, Cherry Coke."
Heather smiled. "Okay." She put in her money and typed out the number for a Cherry Coke, muttering to herself. "Veronica wants Twizzlers, Vicky wants a Sunkist, Gelinda's having Starburst, Maria wants a Diet Dr. Pepper, Abby wants the weird Starbucks Frappuccino thingie, and Allie's having a Sprite."
Heather typed out number after number, filling her arms with soda and candy.
"Want some help with that?"
Heather sighed. "Yeah. Thanks." Connor grabbed some of the drinks, including his Cherry Coke.
"So, who's all this stuff for?" Connor asked as they walked back towards the bulletin board.
"Oh, the team always buys drinks or candy the morning the list comes out. Plus, my girlfriend wanted something."
Connor looked over at Heather, shock relatively apparent on his face. "Girlfriend?"
Heather nodded. "I'm pansexual. Her name's Veronica, by the way."
Connor smiled. "So, the team's totally okay with you having a girlfriend?"
"Yeah. Maria has a girlfriend, too. Eliza. And Gelinda's dating this girl named Elphaba. She goes to a different school. Everyone else on the team is straight," Heather explained.
"Except me," Connor smiled. "I'm gay."
"I kinda assumed, most straight guys wouldn't even think of trying out for the cheerleading team." Heather giggled. "They think it's, like, off-limits or something. Do you have a boyfriend?"
Connor shook his head. "Nope. Not yet, at least. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
They had arrived back at the bulletin board, and 7 girls were standing there, waiting. Heather went over to who Connor assumed was Veronica and kissed her on the cheek, handing her a bag of Twizzlers. "Hey."
While Heather and Veronica talked, Connor looked around at the other girls. One of them, who he guessed was Gelinda, was standing at the list and sighing. "She got my name wrong again. I keep telling her it's GElinda, not Glinda."
Another one of the girls, with curly, dark hair and red lipstick, smirked. "You could just change your name, you know."
"Nope. Elphaba says my name's pretty, and I like it, Maria!"
Maria rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Abby, look at this!" Another girl, with dark blonde hair in a pixie cut, said, looking at something on her phone.
Another one of the girls looked over at her. "What, Vicky?" This girl had dark skin and short, curly black hair. Connor was trying desperately to memorize their names and faces. These were his new teammates, after all.
"C' mere!" Abby sighed and walked over, looking at whatever Vicky had on her phone.
"Awww, Simon and Bram are so cute together. Allison, come look at this!"
Another girl with light brown hair and freckles across her face came over, and Abby handed her Victoria's phone. "Awwww! Okay, it's official, I need a boyfriend. I'm hella lonely over here."
Abby laughed. "I guess I'm lucky. I've got Nick."
Heather went about distributing snacks and drinks, smiling. When Heather handed Abby her drink, Abby smiled and said, "Thank you, I am figuratively dying. Who's the new guy?"
Heather walked over to Connor and smiled. "Our new captain."
Connor had a feeling he was going to like this year.
One week later with Evan (AN: As in like, the same day, just what happened with Evan)
Evan scanned the bulletin board, looking for the flyer. When he found it he let out a happy gasp, relieved he could stop worrying.
Westerburg High School Juniors Football Team
Kurt Kelly
Ram Sweeney
Nick Eisner
Evan Hansen
Tyler Lee
Bram Greenfield
Alex Simmons
Jason Grace
Clarisse LaRue
Luke Raymond
Charlie Simmons
Ryan Rodriguez
Please have your parent/legal guardian sign the permission slip given to you. The first practice is September 17th, from 3:15 to 5:15 pm.
Evan was ecstatic. He had made the team!
Right then, two boys walked up, one of them shoving the other playfully on the arm. "I don't get why I put up with you sometimes."
The other one smiled. "Shut up, you love me."
The boys had reached the bulletin board, one of them eying Evan with interest. "So you're the new guy. Evan, right? I'm Kurt, and this is Ram." Evan noticed they were holding hands.
"I'm his boyfriend," Ram explained, getting the satisfaction of a slight blush from Kurt.
"Shut up, Ram," Kurt muttered at him.
Evan smiled. "Y-Yeah, I'm Evan. N-Nice to meet you guys."
Ram smiled at him. "Nice to meet you too, pipsqueak. Come on, we'll introduce you to the rest of the team."
Evan grinned.
He had a feeling this was going to be a great year.
1 month later, with Connor!
Connor's life was amazing. He had cheerleading practice twice a week, and he and the other cheerleaders were pretty much best friends. He totally rocked being captain, and the first 2 football games had been great. Connor loved cheering more than pretty much anything else in life, and he definitely showed it. Plus, he was right about looking cute in the uniform. Connor had noticed a few stares on game days, making a mental note to wear skirts more often. (AN: We pretty much get I-hate-attention-but-I'm-also-an-attention-whore Connor in this. I LOVE it.)
Also...
There was a boy.
Connor had noticed him at the football games. He was on the team, and he was like, freaking ADORABLE. He had a bit of a stutter, and dark blond hair, and stunning blue eyes that Connor could get lost in, and...
Sheesh. Getting a little too romantic here.
Basically, he was the cutest boy Connor had ever seen.
His name was Evan. Evan Hansen.
After practice, Connor and the girls went to McDonald's for dinner. It was kind of a tradition at that point, as practices usually ran to 5:30/5:45-ish. By the time they had finished showering, it was often 6. Most of the time they spent at McDonald's was spent talking about boys or whatever musical or movie they were obsessed with that week. This time, the main topic was boys.
"I don't know, Ryan's pretty cute," Victoria stated, eating a french fry.
"Ewww, Vic, that's my brother!" Allison said, smiling.
"Doesn't mean he's not cute," Vicky replied.
Allison sighed, then her eyes lit up. "What about... Evan Hansen? He's adorable."
Vicky nodded. "Yeah, he is. Did you hear he's bi?"
Connor was instantly more interested in the conversation. Evan was bi?!
Abby smirked, seeing Connor instantly become more alert. She had been noticing many things like that when Evan was mentioned over the past few weeks. "I did. But he's also claimed." Abby threw a wink in Connor's direction.
The cheerleaders had a system they used with boys (and girls, if ever the time did arise that the bi girls on the team weren't in relationships), called "claiming". When one member of the group had a crush on someone, they were officially off-limits. It was kinda like calling dibs on someone, except the cheer team actually took claiming very seriously. Heather had had Veronica claimed for 5 months before they started dating. One girl got entirely shunned from the group for trying to flirt with her. It worked well enough for them, sorting out everything. It worked exceptionally well because, for all they talked about boys, not a single one of the members of the team had a crush on someone.
That is, except for Connor.
"Wait, who's he claimed by?" Vic asked, curious. Usually, if someone was claimed, it was stated at their weekly sleepover.
Abby kept smirking, looking over to Connor. "He's claimed by Connor."
Instantly all eyes turned to Connor, and he blushed.
Heather put her hand on Connor's shoulder. Of all of the cheer team, Connor was closest to Heather. She seemed to get him on a much deeper level than the other girls. "Is it true? You have a crush on him?"
Connor's blush deepened as he nodded. "Yeah." he smiled. "I mean, how could I not? He's like, the most gorgeous guy on the planet! And he's really good at football, and totally cute and funny, and kind, and now I find out he's bisexual?!"
Heather grinned. "He's also right there." Heather pointed to a booth about 2 away from theirs. Evan was sitting there, blushing. He had just heard everything that Connor had said about him. Basically, he was dying.
Connor liked him.
Connor really liked him.
Connor called him the most gorgeous guy on the planet.
CONNOR.
Connor, meanwhile, was also dying, but for a different reason.
EVAN HAD HEARD HIM.
FUCK.
What if Evan didn't like him? What if he told everyone? What if Connor started getting bullied again? What if...
No. Nope.
Only one way to find out.
Connor went over to Evan's booth and grabbed his hand, taking him outside of the McDonald's. "Okay. So if you didn't hear me inside, I really like you, Evan Hansen. I think you very well may be the most gorgeous person in the world. And you're funny, and you're sweet, and every time I see you I want to kiss you and have you fuck me so hard and..."
That last bit made Evan turn the brightest shade of red a person could possibly become. "U-Uh... Oh, fuck it." Evan grabbed Connor by the collar of his shirt, kissing him fiercely. "I-I like you, Connor Murphy. I like you a lot. You're amazing, and sometimes I almost get distracted during games by your cheering. I think you're really, really insanely hot, so hot it's unfair you're not mine, and the fact that you're a cheerleader somehow adds immensely to your appeal. Maybe it's a football player thing, or maybe it's just how you look in- in that skirt. But the thing that matters is that- that I really like you, Connor. A lot. Also, I really want to kiss you again."
Connor laughed. "I'm not stopping you."