Chapter Text
In terms of high school reputations, Dan Avidan had a somewhat bad one, and he was definitely one of the cool kids. Not a jock, and not exactly popular either, in that he didn’t have a ton of friends who fought for his attention. In fact, most people were scared to even look at or approach him, let alone strike up a conversation with the guy. But it was this reputation that made people look up to him, his bad boy loner look being what made him cool in the eyes of his peers. He was tall and skinny, his hair grown out and messy most of the time. Dark eye liner was always smeared across his lower lids, making him way more attractive to all those girls who swooned when they saw him in the hallways. Sometimes he painted his nails black if he felt like it, and on his particularly rebellious days he even wore black lipstick, daring each teacher he saw to make him take it off, and none of them ever did. Dressed in his skinny jeans and band tees, his leather jacket and his running shoes that anyone else would be fucking ridiculed for wearing. In fact, most of the things Danny liked and wore, if they had been traits of someone else, would be the cause of relentless bullying, but nobody dared to tease Dan about the fact he wore make up or unfashionable sneakers or because he listened to weird music. Most people, if they weren’t his friends, avoided talking to him altogether. Until Arin Hanson came along.
“Watch where you’re fucking going man,” Danny heard the kid say, clearly irritated at the fact Dan had just rounded a corner and walked straight into him. Dan heard the things the other person was holding clattering to the ground, the sound of pencils rolling over the linoleum floor of the hallway, one clinking against a locker and coming to a stop. There was a quiet thud as the small stack of books fell, a groan of frustration contrasted against the soft rustle of stray papers that drifted to their feet. Really, whoever this guy was, he had every right to be pissed at Dan.
“Sorry I can’t see through walls,” Dan quipped back sarcastically, but he knelt down to help pick up the things he’d cause the boy to drop. The younger kid scowled, batting his hands away as Danny reached for what seemed to be a sketch book. It was bad enough that he’d dropped all this stuff from walking into someone; the last thing he needed now was some senior flicking through his drawings and mocking him too.
“Don’t touch that!” He snapped, quickly picking it up and moving it out of Dan’s reach, back to the safety of Arin’s arms. It was then that they really looked at each other, Arin’s eyes narrowing as he gazed up at the face of the dude who had barged into him. He knew there was only one guy in their school who wore eye make up as heavy as that. The anger he’d felt at being knocked over only seemed to grow now he knew who it was that had run into him. “Just because you think you’re cool doesn’t mean you get to go around knocking people over when you feel like it.”
“Dude, c’mon, you think I’d do this on purpose?” Dan chuckled, unable to help but like this boy who didn’t give a shit about his reputation, wasn’t suddenly scared or intimidated by him. It made a nice change, especially now, when Dan knew if their positions were reversed he’d be mad about some idiot who ran around corners with no concern for anyone else. His laugh, however, made Arin’s anger bubble, his jaw clenching as gathered the papers that had fanned out around them, reluctantly taking the pages Dan held out and scowling at the look of amusement. There was nothing more irritating than being given that smile when you were angry, the feeling that you weren’t being taken seriously. Not that Arin expected any more from the school’s resident bad boy with an attitude problem.
“I don’t know, you seem kinda like a jackass,” the younger teen replied honestly, shrugging one shoulder and taking the final stray pieces of paper Dan held out for him. He was snappy, wanting to get away as quickly as possible, but the two had conflicting plans here. Dan was grinning further at how blunt this kid was, amused by the balls he had compared to most other people. It was refreshing, to have a stranger talk to him, and to insult him too, without worrying about getting their ass kicked for it. Not that Dan had ever actually kicked someone’s ass or given reason to think that he would, but that was besides the point
“Because I walked into you?”
“Because everyone’s too shit scared to look your way. You must be a pretty big dick if nobody wants to talk to you.”
“You’re talking to me,” Danny pointed out, still smiling, his look of amusement only growing as their conversation went on, much to Arin’s chagrin and even though Dan hated himself for it, for looking like he cared for this stranger. So much for looking like a tough guy, he mused. But he could afford to let the charade slip for a little while, if it was for the sake of this entertaining conversation with the boy who’d caught Danny’s interest.
“I’m used to dealing with jackasses, one more isn’t going to bother me,” the kid announced, getting to his feet. Dan followed suit, looking down and appreciating just how cute this guy was. His hair was grown out, long enough for it to be pulled back into a ponytail, and he had a streak of blond dyed into one side. His eyes were gorgeous, and Dan had to quickly look away from those lips before he could let his thought run away from him with the image. He was really beautiful, and it made Dan wonder who the hell was acting like an asshole to this guy so frequently that he expected the same off everyone else he met. It pissed Danny off that anyone would dare try to upset the stubborn, outspoken guy with his cute anime backpack and pink pencil case.
“What if I can prove to you that I’m not actually a jackass?”
“What are you talking about?” Came the reply, Arin’s eyes narrowed skeptically. He didn’t know what the guy was playing at, wary of the punchline he knew had to be coming from the situation. Dan didn’t know himself what he was doing, playing the whole thing by ear and hoping he could do something to guarantee he’d see Arin again, that he wouldn’t be hated by his younger peer before they even got a chance at being friends. Danny didn’t even know why he craved it so much, what it was about this one guy which caught his interest. Dan had met plenty of people, had a few close friends of his own, but he’d never longed to get to know someone like he did now, had never craved conversations and longed for information. His friendships weren’t sought after, were just things that naturally bloomed and grew to a closeness as Dan spent time with people he liked being around. But Danny couldn’t shake the feeling that he had to keep Arin, had to know him, so he was going to do his best to put them on good terms, to give himself the best possible chance to befriend this cute kid with the unexpected temper who had so caught Danny’s attention.
“Well it seems to me like you’re making assumptions based on what some other idiot has told you. How about you get to know me a little better, and then decide for yourself if I really am as much of a dick as you think I am?”
“You… Want me to make friends with you?” The artist asked, not believing what he was hearing. There had to be a catch, some ulterior motive that Dan had which ran under the request. But he was charming and his smile seemed genuine, and really, what had he ever done to Arin personally besides bumping into him on what he claimed to be an accent. Arin dealt with enough douchebags to know how to avoid being one, and he wanted to at least give Dan a chance to prove this to him.
“Yeah, sure! I’m Danny,” he said, offering a hand. “Nice to meet you-”
“Arin,” he cut in, taking the hand and giving it a quick shake.
“Cute name,” Dan nodded, pleased that they seemed to be moving in the right direction. He only wished they weren’t stood in a school hallway in the middle of the day, so Dan could actually have a decent conversation with Arin, here and now. Sadly, Dan had to get home and he was pretty sure Arin had classes he should be in right now. Some other time, he thought to himself. He’d have to let Arin slip away for now, but Dan would get him again, would make Arin see he wasn’t as bad as everyone perceived him to be. “Well, I got places to be. See you around, Arin,” he said, tucking a lock of hair behind the younger boy’s ear just because he could help himself, flashing a parting smile and daring a playful wink before carrying on down the hall. Arin’s mouth fell open as soon as Dan left, and he turned to watch his back retreating, wondering what the hell had just happened and if he was dreaming.