Chapter Text
~*~
{He’s so Handsome like a Devil in Red}
~*~
If Joe had to rate how well he was settling in London he’d say a solid 6/10, only if you ignore the horrible accents and the fact that he couldn’t understand half of the things that people were saying with all the slang they used.
However, if you asked him how he was adjusting to Oxford Joe would rate it a firm 0/10. He stuck out like a sore thumb, it was almost as if they could smell the poverty on him and what did vultures do better than attacking.
For some reason, the fact that he had actually gotten into Oxford based on his own merits seemed to irritate the people that relied on their parents' money and connections.
So it for that reason Joe quickly became the butt of every joke, mostly the poor ones. It didn’t bother him though, these sorts of things never did, it’s not like he ever intended on making friends. Those he had grown up his whole life without and certainly didn’t need them now, he was a loner by nature anyways.
Joe shook his messed curly hair out of his face before tearing himself out of his thoughts. If he was late to this lecture the lecturer would tear him apart, because Joe was free reign. He had no rich parents (or parents at all) to come to his rescue when a lecturer spoke to him out of turn (or at all really).
So most if not all the lecturers got off on taking all of their anger out on him.
”Omg, this is so embarrassing but is anyone out there!” A voice echoed from down the opposite hallway which led to the boys' and girls' toilets.
For a split second, Joe thought he was hearing the voices again but he quickly dismissed that thought, those only came out to play at night.
Joe soo desperately didn’t want to investigate the voice, he wanted to just turn on his heels and head to his lecture but his feet took off in the direction of the voice.
That said voice leading to the girls bathroom was not a good thing, the last thing Joe wanted to be mistaken for was a pervert. After all, that would only fuel the rumours.
Nevertheless, Joe opened his mouth and called out to the voice.
”Umm are you okay?”
”Thank goodness, I thought I’d be stuck on this toilet until one of my friends responded !” The voice replied not seeming to notice the weird situation they were currently in.
”Do you need help?” Joe questioned back seeing as the girl never answered his first question, to begin with.
“Yes, I need tampons, underwear and a change of skirt asap!”
Joe paused at the mention of underwear and a skirt because tampons he could get, easily actually but how on earth was he meant to get the other things.
“I’m a guy you know” Joe stated dumbly not really knowing how to respond to her demands.
”Oh darling I know that your voice isn’t that feminine and what does that have to do with you getting the things I need” The voice responded softly as if Joe had been the one to ask the most outlandish question.
“Well yeah but I don’t think I can get all of the stuff you need, should I find one of your friends” Joe asked reasonably, he didn’t have the heart to just leave her stuck here after all.
”No, I tried calling them but they didn’t answer, they’re all out of their head pissed or high or in lectures but the latter is highly unlikely” she said quickly trailing off and Joe did not have time for this. He was already way late to his lecture, in which his lecturer would relish in the opportunity to degrade him for it so he just had to quickly get the stuff for her. Arguing back and forth wasn’t going to help anyone.
”Okay fine I’ll figure something out” Joe responded before turning on his heel and as he did she yelled out,
“I wear a size extra small by the way!”
Joe laughed under his breath before mumbling out a yes in affirmation and heading to the nearest shops. Which wasn’t far in the grand scheme of things but definitely made him question why he was going out of his way to help her.
Maybe it was the white knight complex, growing up all the adults told him would get him in trouble. But then again they were the same people that got off on hitting children so that statement was rather grey.
By the time he had gathered all of the things she needed (a special thanks to Primark for coming in clutch), it was already 35 minutes into his lecture.
”I have the things” Joe said softly knocking on the bathroom door.
“Hang on let me stick my hand out, omg thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me” she said unlocking the door and taking the bag from Joe. Her hand were small and slender topped off with a fresh manicure, Joe could tell she had never worked a day in her life along with all the other rich kids at this school.
After a couple of minutes, she opened the door beaming at Joe so brightly it almost blinded him. No one had ever smiled at him so innocently?
”In such short notice I have to applaud your fashion choice but I don’t exactly know what Primark is” she said pushing her long, thick blonde hair out of her face.
Joe looked down at the skirt he picked, it was a black and pink checkered pleated skirt. It suited her, very much blonde bimbo vibes and it was probably for the best that she didn’t know what Primark was. He didn’t think he could handle the reaction he would get if she knew she wasn’t wearing a designer brand.
”Umm no worries anyway I really need to head to class” Joe said smiling unsure as he turned to leave.
”Omg you had a class, I should have asked, silly me, I feel bad now let me walk you” she said seeming to go from guilty to happy in seconds.
Joe didn’t have the energy to fight the girl so in the end she walked him all the way to his class.
Once they arrived she smiled brightly at him again before saying,
”Again I can’t thank you enough…” Silence permeated for a couple of seconds before Joe realised she was asking for his name.
”Ah Joe Goldberg” he said looking at her expectantly.
”Well Joe, I’m Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth”
Rich.
Was all that Joe gathered from her name, not ordinary rich but filthy rich.
”Anyway I’ll see you around?” Joe said wearily, not sure if that was the right thing to say.
”Most definitely” Phoebe responded instantly as if he hadn’t said the weirdest thing ever.
They most definitely won’t see each other around, first and foremost all of Phoebe’s circle of friends were the super-elite. They didn’t hang around campus often and when they did they were impossible to talk to.
Joe often heard people talk about how their friendship group wasn’t one people could just join you had to be born into money and lots of it. So he knew by saying that she was just being kind.
~*~
Entering that lecture room, Joe could feel his stomach doing summersaults.
”Goldberg, I didn’t think someone in your situation could afford to be late” Mr Dickson said with ridicule filling his voice.
This quickly prompted everyone to laugh,
”Sorry I’m late” was all Joe could respond saying anything else would be fighting a losing battle.
“Of course you are, poor people always are” Malcolm added causing everyone including the lecturer to laugh and Joe didn’t even know what he meant by that.
Only once Joe had made his way to his seat did the laughing stop and the lecture continue.
~*~
From that day onwards Joe somehow made it into the notoriously hard-to-enter circle of rich kids. He’s not actually quite sure how but if he had to pinpoint it, Phoebe was most definitely the reason.
After “saving her life” as she’d put it, the blonde girl had been absolutely attached to him. Always inviting and dragging him to every function ever, as well as them even hanging out alone. Sometimes she would drag him back to her dorm after his lectures and talk his head off about her boyfriend, Adam or her other big problems which she was convinced were first-world.
And don't get him started on the movie nights in her dorm with Blessing, Kate, Gemma and Sophie. To this day he’s not sure how he ended up there, he made sure to remind Phoebe both when she asked and when he got there that he was a guy. To which she had responded, “so what? You’re my new bestest friend”.
All in all, if Joe had to summarise what it was like being “friends” with Oxford's biggest socialite, it wasn’t actually too bad. The bullying for the most part had stopped, Phoebe made it clear that day any insult against Joe she’d take personally and Malcolm wouldn’t chance pissing her off. As from what Joe gathered it affected his chance of getting into Kate’s pants if Phoebe had anything bad to say about him.
Speaking of Phoebe’s friendship group they had all taken to Joe’s joining quite differently. Blessing couldn’t care less about Joe and the feeling was mutual. Sophie and her brother Simon were more neutral, Sophie would talk to him or better yet talk down to him but still at least acknowledged his presence, not that he cared but he liked being treated like a human. Simon on the other hand was a bit of a weird one, he was aloof and brooding, a budding artist vibe is what Joe would call it but he constantly showed Joe his artwork . He’s not entirely sure why because he knew nothing about art but getting Simon to speak more than a sentence was a tough ask so he never bothered to ask but always pretend to be interested.
Gemma, was an asshole to put it lightly. She was a genuinely horrible person not that the rest were any better but Gemma made sure to try her hardest. She’d go on and on about how she could never grow up poor and how she respected Joe so much for his unfortunate struggles. But the worst of all was when he mentioned both of his parents were dead she had responded with “OMG, I can relate my parents are divorced, that was pretty tough on me”. Her tone deafness knew no bounds and overall she wasn’t a nice or interesting person to talk to.
Malcolm needs no explanation, he was the devil incarnate but made it his mission to pretend to be nice and inclusive in front of Kate and Phoebe. However, when it came to anyone else it was free reign.
Kate and Ronald were bearable, if he pushes aside the fact Kate said she'd skin him alive and make him regret ever speaking to Phoebe if he hurts her. And Ronald giving him the death stare if he even looked at Kate.
Adam, god don’t get him started on him. Phoebe was the only “nice one” to put it lightly, in that friendship group. And over the month or two they’ve been hanging out, one thing Joe knew for sure was that he was taking advantage of her naivety and inexperience of the world. That and the idiot would ramble on about how the Americans had to stick together whilst simultaneously warning him not to make a move on Phoebe because picking up strays was what she’s always done.
”Joie darling where have you gone, I swear you always disappear off into a world of your own” Phoebe said gently stroking the back of his curls which as of last week she had made her mission to tame.
Currently, Joe was sat at their lunch table in between Phoebe and Simon picking at a fruit salad because that was all he could stomach to eat whenever he sat with them. Judging by the way all eyes were on him Joe quickly came to the conclusion that he had missed something important.
"Huh?" Joe asked dumbly in which Gemma sighed irritatedly.
"Joe. Party. My place. Tonight. Phoebe wants you to come for once" Even though her voice was filled with annoyance Joe was for once thankful for her presence.
But now how did he get out of this one, up until now he managed to successfully avoid every single one of their parties by promising to make it up to Phoebe by letting her paint his nails or dress him up. Yes, he was willing to do all of that and brace Malcolm's teasing if it meant that he didn't have to spend any more time with these lunatics. Turning his head towards Phoebe Joe stilled himself ready to reject her but in the face of those pouty blue eyes, he hesitated.
Obviously, Adam couldn't bare to see Phoebe make that face so he butted in.
"Of course, he'll go it's not like he has anything better to do, right" Joe didn't know what to make of that statement because it wasn't entirely true, after all, he had an assignment due in a couple of days and although he had already finished it, it still didn't mean that Adam had the right to dismiss him like that.
And to make it worse Malcolm felt the need to join in, clearly picking his words carefully so as not to upset Kate or Phoebe.
"Yeah Joie, plus we aren't that bad" Joe sighed there was no way of getting out of this one, they had all successfully managed to gang up on him, so all he could do was look at Phoebe and agree.
"Yay, Joie you have no idea how much this means to me, I promise you'll have a great time" Phoebe yelled wrapping her hands around Joe’s arm and leaning in to hug him. Now Joe doubts he'll actually have a good time but regardless he just let Phoebe do whatever she wanted.
"Okay, babe enough," Adam said prying Phoebe off Joe's arm.
"Whatever, enough of that, Kate did you invite Rhys as I asked?" Gemma said interrupting and cutting off that conversation and Joe was thankful for that.
"I did but he didn't respond, you know how he is though, hell never miss a party, he's just probably caught up in another girl's bed" Kate responded nonchalantly laying her head on Malcolm's shoulder much to Roland's distaste. Joe found it quite interesting to watch his face contort in anger and then go back to normal. So, he quickly pulled his eyes away from Ronald before he started laughing, and instead honed in on the name of the person they were talking about,
Rhys...
Joe paused at the name. Rhys Montrose. Was Oxford's very own infamous 'badboy' if you could call him that, from all that Joe had gathered Rhys was another rich kid with a temper that got around campus. However, it was interesting that after about two months in this friendship group, Joe had never encountered Rhys, sure he saw him in pictures that Phoebe posted on her Instagram but he had never met him in person. One of the few things Joe remembered from seeing him in those pictures was that Rhys was handsome in all the toxic and red-flag ways that the girls wouldn't stop talking about.
"Aww, is our Gemma still trying to get in Montrose's pants?" Malcolm teased poking Gemma on her head which quickly set the girl off.
Now that was an unexpected development, Joe thought. After hanging out with particularly the girls in the group for so long, Joe had never picked up on that but now thinking about it, in all of the pictures Phoebe posted Gemma was always glued to his side.
"Gemma, darling you really need to let that one go, you know Rhys doesn't mess around with friends, it's way too messy" Sophie said finally speaking up and disregarding her phone on the table in favour of the gossip. It was at this point in the conversation that Joe started to drone out he couldn't care less about Gemma's crush or obsession with Rhys.
All of a sudden Joe felt a tap on his thigh, he quickly turned to Simon and stared at the other in confusion. Once Simon had gotten his attention he gestured toward the exit, Joe had no idea what he meant by that but he was more than willing to leave, so he nodded his head back at Simon.
"Leaving" Simon waited not even a second before he said that, not even bothering to speak over the noise as he pulled Joe out of the lunch hall.
"Simon, where are you taking my Joie" Joe could have sworn he heard Phoebe yell after them but by the time he had the guts to turn around they were already outside of the canteen.
"Where are we going?" Joe asked Simon as the other showed no sign of letting go of his arm and continued to pull him along. It was only when Joe recognised the hallway as being the one that led to the art studio Simon used to house his works. Had he realised Simon must have had new works that he wanted to show him. He had been there a couple of times before when Simon had shown him his drawings and painting.
~*~
Well Joe couldn’t have pictured his Friday going any better than standing in a crowd full of sweaty people and horrible music blasting in the background.
Actually on second thoughts, he definitely could but alas here he was wasting his precious evening away that he’ll never get back.
”Joe darling don’t be a Debby downer and have something to drink” Joe heard Sophie before he had even seen her. And before he could even respond a purple drink was thrusted into his hand.
”Yeah don’t be a buzzkill” Blessing appeared out of nowhere joining in with Sophie. Which in itself was a surprise because he expected her to continue to ignore his presence.
Joe looked at the drink in his hand suspiciously but he could tell the two weren’t going to leave him alone until he drank it. So Joe hesitantly downed the drink and smiled nervously at the two.
”Woo that’s more like it” Sophie said patting Joe on his back.
”Joie darling dance floor now” Phoebe came from behind him pulling him by his waist to the dance floor, Kate seemed to follow next to the blonde.
Now Joe was getting overwhelmed, this is the exact reason why he avoided these parties. But whatever was in that glass was definitely kicking in now and Joe could feel it start to relax him.
It was only maybe half an hour since they have been the dance floor, (Joe’s not entirely sure because he’s lost track of time and it may or may not be because of whatever was it that glass but he can’t say it’s a bad feeling) when Kate yelled over his shoulder at someone behind him.
“Rhys you made it, welcome to the land of the living” she said mocking and the voice that responded made Joe’s stomach churn and heat gather in the pit of his stomach.
”Haha, very funny Kate but you know I’m not the type to miss a party” it was at this point Joe decided to turn around and that probably wasn’t a good move.
Rhys Montrose looked handsome like a devil in red, dressed in tight fitted black jeans and a dark red button up that was hardly even buttoned.
Now as far as his sexuality went Joe didn’t put a label on it, but Rhys was definitely the first guy he’d ever had this reaction to. Sure he had a couple crushes on older women which thanks to the therapist he got the summer before he came to London, he realised that those were nothing but obsessions he developed as a result of his mummy issues. God, he could picture the reaction she’d have if Joe told her about Rhys in his online session tomorrow. She go off about about how a guy who was the literal embodiment of daddy issues wasn’t any better.
Snapping out of his thoughts Joe could feel Rhys’s eyes on him, staring curiously.
”OMG Rhys darling you haven’t met Joe have you, Joe, Rhys meet each other” Phoebe yelled pointing wildly between the two, she was definitely drunk but then again Joe was on that same path.
“I know him it’s hard not to, he’s the pretty boy you won’t stop posting on your Instagram” Rhys said calmly and Joe thinks he feels those cold blue eyes drag over his body.
Pretty…
Rhys had used pretty to describe him, Joe felt his face heat up.
”Rhys you made it!” Gemma yelled out approaching them leaving Joe no time to organise his thoughts and formulate a sentence. Rhys’s eyes seemed to drag over him one more time before he turned his attention to Gemma.
~*~
Okay, Joe is officially out of it, he can barely remember how many shots he’s downed but he kept on throwing them back as they were handed to him. The one thing he had successfully avoided was the drugs, them he wanted no part of, just watching as the others indulged.
”Phoebe I need the toilet” Joe whispered into her ear, it felt weird having to ask but he had no idea where it was and Phoebe in this state would wail if he left her sight without notice.
”Umm, come back quick” Phoebe responded pointing in the general direction of the toilet. Joe wasted no time heading in that direction as he couldn’t stand other second of watching Adam devour Phoebe’s face and Ronald pinning over Kate.
Joe quickly found the toilet thanks to the sign on the door, too drunk to bother knocking Joe pulled the door handle hoping it would be locked if people were in there having sex.
Thankfully it was unlocked and Joe stumbled in. Messing with his belt Joe came face to face with Rhys, who was leaning against the sink scrolling on his phone like this was the most normal thing in the world.
“Shit I’m sorry I didn’t know anyone was in here” Joe mumbled out turning to leave quickly. Rhys was dangerous in all the obvious ways, mainly being unlike the other psychopaths Joe didn’t know anything about him. He was just too unpredictable to be around.
Before Joe could even pull the door open out of the corner of his eyes he saw two hands pushing against the door landing on either side of his head. A back pressed up against his essentially caging him in.
”Out of all the things Phoebe has picked up you’re definitely the prettiest” Joe felt Rhys whisper against his ear and in response he let out the shakiest breath that to this day he’ll refuse to admit was him.
”You like it when I call you pretty right? I noticed earlier” Rhys continued to whisper like this wasn’t weird at all.
Rhys Montrose was straight so what was he doing. He must be fucking with him that’s the only reasonable explanation, he’s probably looking for leverage to kick him out of their group. Doesn’t believe Joe is worthy to be hanging out with them but he couldn’t care less he doesn’t even want to hang out with them anyway.
“I don’t” Joe replied as he pulled at the door handle but it wouldn’t budge.
”Really?” Rhys asked teasingly pressing a soft kiss against the back of his ear.
The action alone cause Joe to jump, turning around abruptly to face the blue eyed man and that proved to be a mistake. Rhys was staring at him heatedly with mischievous glinting in his eyes.
Silence echoed between the two, but whereas Joe kept his eyes on Rhys, the taller man’s eyes seemed to wonder down to his lips.
Rhys lent down teasingly as if testing the waters, as if seeing if Joe would take the bait. Joe bit his lip in response, Rhys could easily twist this on him, say that Joe forced himself on him. This could burn up in flames around him.
”You’re way overthinking this” Rhys said, breath lingering over Joe lips and he was soo tempted but he couldn’t afford to give in.
“Rhys” Joe mumbled out, it was meant to be threatening but it came out way too soft to be.
“You can take it if you want it” Rhys said back just as softly, pretending like he was giving Joe a choice and not caging him in.
That’s it Joe couldn’t take it not when Rhys was standing there looking like that. He could deal with whatever fall out this came with and maybe Phoebe would have his back but that’s highly unlikely.
Joe lost all inhibitions and pulled Rhys in laying a soft kiss on his lips. That was all it took for Rhys to take full control, moving his hands from either sides of his face to Joe’s hips squeezing tightly.
Rhys was clearly more experienced when it came to kissing than Joe, he was overwhelmed as the taller man thrusted his tongue into his mouth. Joe could only grip at the sides of Rhys’s shirt, holding on for dear life.
”Now, you look prettier like this” Rhys said as he pulled back to admire his work and Joe couldn’t tell if the other was being serious. So instead Joe took the time to gather gulps of air, kissing Rhys was just as he expected it to be, amazing but just as overwhelming as the man in front of him.
”I’m not pretty” Joe decided to combat, although he thought guys could be pretty and there was nothing demeaning about being called pretty as a guy, he didn’t think it matched him.
Rhys just smiled in response before tapping Joe’s thigh and saying,
”Up”
Joe tilted his head in confusion before Rhys slipped both of his hands under his thighs and pulled him up, causing Joe to let out a yelp as he wrapped his legs around Rhys’s waist and his arms around his neck.
Joe will admit Rhys showing off his strength was hot, it definitely made his already tight pants tighter. But Joe wasn’t all that heavy or tall so Joe let some of his awe simmer away.
Rhys carried him all the way over to the sink and dumped him on the counter before caging him in again.
”God, you know I thought I wouldn’t get you alone tonight, Phoebe keeps you on a tight leash” Rhys said mockingly as he slid his hands under Joe’s pink sweater which Phoebe forced him to wear, saying that pink was his colour. Joe doesn’t agree though, especially seeing how Malcolm instantly took the opportunity to ridicule him.
”On a tight leash” Joe repeated only just clocking what Rhys had said.
”Umm” Rhys dismissed him leaning back in for other kiss.
”I’m not her pet” Joe said shoving Rhys back and trying to get off the counter. How dare he say something like that, sure she kind of treated him like that but to say it out loud to his face was out of pocket.
“Joie, where are you? You’ve been in the toilet awfully long” Phoebe’s voice echoed from the behind the door causing both of the to stop and Rhys to give him a pointed look. As if to tell Joe he was right. But that was the last of Joe’s concerns, he was now hyper aware of the fact that the door wasn’t locked. He was thankful for the fact that Phoebe had at least some decency to not just open the door.
”Babe he could just be taking shit just leave it” Adam’s voice followed.
Rhys shook his head before leaning in to give Joe last kiss before gesturing to the door. Joe scoffed trying to hide the fact that he was disappointed, that he wanted Rhys to kiss him and touch him more.
”Yeah I'm coming, i was just checking my phone” Joe yelled out before jumping down from the counter and brushing pass Rhys who’s hand slid down and squeezed his ass. Joe whipped around glaring at Rhys as the other just smiled at him, that same smile that told Joe he was trouble.
~*~