Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Damien- please see me after class.”

A shiver ran down the teen’s spine.

Me? What did I do??

“Oooooh, someone’s in trouble hehe!”

“I’d switch out trouble for special recognition, cause there’s NO WAY Damien did anything wrong!!”

The girl beside him chuckled- she always loved teasing him.

“Alright then- you know where to find me at lunch!”

“For sure, later Priya!”

As Priya and the rest of his classmates began to leave, Damien awkwardly loitered in the classroom. He wasn’t quite sure why he was nervous- Chemistry was his favorite class, and he was on good terms with his teacher… surely nothing bad, right?

As soon as everyone else left, it was just you and Ms. Shell.

Ms. Shell… her reputation within Alberta High is an infamous one, teaching one of the hardest classes with an iron fist. No extra credit, homework every day (and weekends… ugh), and an eagle’s eye for cheaters- giving an immediate 0 to those she catches.

Not to mention her reputation before becoming a teacher… while it’s been 15 years, Ms. Shell just so happened to appear on a little show called Total Drama Island- where she placed 3rd after dominating the competition in a way that would make any TV villain proud.

Yeah… Heather Shell of reality TV royalty is Damien’s teacher.

Buuuuut Damien didn’t seem to really mind, as he never watched the show anyways and only found out about Ms. Shell’s participation through people constantly bombarding him about it. Got annoying pretty quick, honestly. And apparently she’s not the only one… quite a few of the alumni from the show work here for some reason.

Maybe it’s just him, but Damien always liked Ms. Shell- sure she’s really tough in class and can be pretty intimidating, but she’s also a really good teacher and gives everyone the tools they need to succeed in her class. Even though it didn’t always show on her face, Damien knew that she cared about her students.

“Damien- this should come as no surprise, but you are my best student.”

Ok- that’s good! Starting off with some praises.

“And it should also come as no surprise that a good portion of my class is struggling.”

Yeah- he kind of knew that already with all the whining he gets about Ms. Shell.

“But generally, the class as a whole is on track to pass…

…except for one student.”

Damien’s eyebrow raised, unsure where his teacher was going with this.

“Wayne Hawkins. He’s currently failing my class.”

Ah- him. While a bit sad to hear anybody on track to fail a class, Damien wasn’t especially pressed either way. He barely knew of him, only hearing that he was some kind of athlete for Alberta High’s hockey team.

So another run-of-the-mill jock, basically.

“Now, normally I’d just let the cards fall where it may when it comes to things like this: I’m very sure of my teaching and give my students many chances to redeem themselves in class. If they still fail, then that’s just one more familiar face I’ll be seeing in my class next year… no biggie.”

The way she said that… kinda savage honestly. Even though he was far and away from being in that position, he couldn’t help but break a sweat.

“Wayne however is a special case- not sure how in the loop you are, but he’s Alberta High’s Hockey Captain, and apparently their star player… not that I really care for most sports in general, but something his coach repeated to me multiple times like the insufferable bitch he is.”

Something about Ms. Shell’s disdain for another faculty member couldn’t help but make the teen crack a smile. Maybe some lingering hard feelings from that old tv show…?

“What’s even more insufferable, however, is the administration's need to take his side and ask me to go easy on the boy. Like- are you serious? You want me to give him special treatment just cause he’s an athlete? How is it my problem if he’s no longer eligible to play hockey?? How is that fair to the rest of my students?!”

Ms. Shell rubbed the bridge of her nose, clearly annoyed.

“Totally agreed Ms. Shell- that does sound unfair. Only so much a person can do, right?”

“Yep, only so much I can do, and believe me- I’ve done a lot for your peers, more than they deserve really…

…which is why I’m deferring this matter over to you.”

…Uhh- what?

“I-uh… I’m not sure what you mean, Ms. Shell.”

“Damien, I humbly request that you start tutoring Wayne.”

…Eh?

WAIT WHAT?!!

Woah woah woah woah, hold on now- why am I suddenly involved in this??

Damien widened his eyes, clearly shocked at Ms. Shell’s request. He tried his best to reel it back in however when responding.

“Uuh, Ms. Shell- what makes you think that I can do a better job at tutoring Wayne?”

“Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, the content I present in class just doesn’t seem to click with certain students. While not any fault of my own, I recognize that some learn differently. And Wayne appears to be an example of this.”

Ok sure… but that still doesn’t answer his question.

“As such, a last resort would be a different perspective, a different mentor. Like I said Damien: you’re my best student and if anyone can understand and teach the material- it’s you.”

“Heheh… while I do appreciate the praise Ms. Shell… do I really have to?”

“I’m basically voluntelling you.”

Fuck.

“Believe me, I wouldn’t typically be this invested here if it weren’t for all those loser-ass clowns in admin breathing down my neck about it, so you’re my last chance to knock some Chemistry into that kid’s dough-filled brain, enough for him to at reach the minimum passing score.”

“I mean… what’s in it for me though?”

Ms. Shell rested her hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave a rare smile.

“Besides my eternal gratitude… nothing.”

“Oh…”

"I mean- unless you want him to pay you... but I'll let you work out the terms with him."

"Gotcha Ms. Shell..."

"So glad we had this talk! Now get out of my class."

And so began Damien’s new quest to tutor Alberta High star hockey player… and he’s not exactly happy about it.

Chapter Text

“SHE WANTS YOU TO TUTOR WAYNE?!!” 

“Geez- not so loud!” 

The cafeteria today was pretty packed- which made sense since it was January and absolutely freezing outside. So when he thought about it that way, Priya’s loud response probably did little in the grand scheme of things- the place was already loud with chatter amongst students. 

“Wow I feel really bad for you- Wayne is also in my art history class and the other day he confused the Mona Lisa for another girl in our class- even asking her who she commissioned the portrait from so he can look them up on twitter.” 

“...”

He was too stunned to speak. 

Another girl beside Priya chimed in.

“And for no incentive? Like- this wouldn’t count for volunteer hours or anything?”

“Uuh, guess not? She didn’t really say anything about that.”

She furrowed her brows in concern. 

“Well that doesn’t seem fair- I think you should go back and clarify what you want out of this.”

“Millie’s right! If Heather’s forcing you to do this, at least make it into an extracurricular activity to put on your resume!” 

“What’s with everyone in this school calling teachers by their first name when they’re not around? Am I the only one that finds that weird??”

Truth be told, Damien didn’t really care all too much about the extracurricular part- he already was drowning in other activities and didn’t find it worth the effort to go back and confirm with Ms. Shell for what could be a few hours… right? 

“One time in my Earth Science class, Wayne thought the 3 forms of matter were used to describe whether you peed, pooped, or passed gas…”

Ok, maybe it might take more than a few hours. 

“Wow Millie- that’s so wild!”

“I know right!!”

And then two girls laughed, all while Damien looked at them dejectedly. 

“Ughhh…”

Damien slumped his head underneath his arms, muffling his woes in the darkness. 

“I already have so many things going on: my studies, my clubs- all that mess to maintain! I literally don’t have time to tutor some jock!!” 

Priya, seeing Damien down like this, shoots the boy a sympathetic look.  

“Damien if this is seriously stressing you out, then you could always just go back and say no- it’s not like you’ll actually get in trouble for it.”

“I know… but Ms. Shell really likes me and I was thinking of having her write my recommendation letter for that STEM program I really wanna do this summer… I can’t risk making her mad.” 

Priya shrugged her shoulders.

“Well then it’s settled I guess!”

Damien sighs, finally sitting upright again. 

“Where do you even find that guy anyways? I have no other classes with him today and I never really see him anywhere else.” 

Millie gave Damien a curious glance. 

“Umm… the hockey rink after school?”

“Ah- right. Yeah… I knew that!”

He never visited his school’s hockey rink, but I guess there’s a first for everything, right? 

Chapter Text

Damien was always aware that Alberta High had a pretty robust hockey program, but it never really dawned on him how wild it was to own their own ice hockey rink until now. Like… it’s literally just there, all big and out in the open. It honestly kind of amazed him staring at it. With most core buildings being on the west-end, it never really made sense to venture out here… until now.

Alright- enough staring. I’m freezing my butt out here! 

After entering the building, the teen is greeted to an empty reception area. A thought crossed his mind that maybe this was all for naught. After all, it’s a cold Friday afternoon- who would even be here at this time? But- he at least wanted to check. 

It didn’t take too long before he came across a bigger set of doors. Unlocked, Damien let himself in. An empty stadium greeted him, followed by the ice rink itself. At first glance, not a soul appeared in sight and Damien was about to turn back. 

But… out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure skating in the ice.

Details began to register in Damien’s mind: his backwards red cap obscuring some of his flowing caramel hair, the number 17 snow owl jersey, his khaki shorts… and then his face. A chill, serene expression, almost as if he was sleeping as he glided through the rink alone. 

Wayne… by himself in this empty hockey stadium on a chilly Friday afternoon, continuously creating new infinity loops on the rink. 

…

Damien didn’t know why but, at that moment, his heart skipped a beat. 

While he did come here for a purpose… it almost felt wrong to interrupt something like this- sacrilege, even. He even thought of taking a seat on the bleachers instead to wait till Wayne was finished, watching him all while he waited.

…Then Damien decided to self-diagnose himself on why he would even think of wasting MORE time than he already has.

Is my brain not working today? Has the walk here made it even worse?? Oh no- cold weather like this is certainly enough to impact one’s cognitive processes, resulting in sluggish thinking and disorientation- is my earlier trance a symptom of an even bigger prob-

“Oi!!”

“EEEEP!!!”

Damien jumped at the sudden noise, soon realizing that it came from Wayne- now still and staring directly at the teen. 

Suppressing a flushed expression from the newfound embarrassment he found himself in, Damien mustered his best greeting.

“H-h-hi there…”

Smooth. 

“I know you… you in my chemistry class!! With Heather!!” 

Ah- guess he also watched the show… or maybe he just picked up on everyone else going by a first-name basis. 

“Heheh- yeah, that’s me…” 

“Cool hat brah.” 

Before Damien could notice, a slight blush tinted his face. 

“Why thank you! I-uh… I really like this hat.”

“Yeah man, hats are cool!! I feel like I’m naked without mines on.” 

“Pfft… is that so?”

“For sure dude!” 

The hockey captain then proceeded to glide Damien’s way, stopping at the rink’s border. Damien also made his way closer to him, now about 2 feet apart from each other. A closer look at his features revealed a fairly prominent square jaw with a slight stubble and green eyes. 

Above all else however was a friendly, welcoming expression that seemed to warm the whole stadium up- Damien included. 

“Nothing like a good skate after a hard day at school, eh?” 

“I was about to ask actually… what made you come here? It’s a freezing Friday afternoon… wouldn’t you rather be somewhere warm and cozy instead?”

“Nah man- I come here almost every day after class.” 

“For real? Is it for training or…?” 

“Some days! But on days like today I just go to skate and chill. It’s really relaxing actually! Feels like I’m enjoying a nice bath.”  

“A nice bath…?”

“Yeah! Simile and literally! Since I go to the showers here afterwards.” 

“I think you meant to say figuratively- a simile is a figure of speech comparing one thing to another- typically using the comparison words ‘like’ or ‘as.’”

“Woah… cool story bro!”

It’s strange- Damien certainly knew of Wayne since they were in the same class… but it never really felt like he had a presence. He supposes there were times where Ms. Shell called on Wayne to answer questions (only to fumble on answering before Ms. Shell got impatient and moved on to someone else), but other than that, he was fairly quiet. 

Damien genuinely felt like he was meeting Wayne for the first time, in a place he feels the most ‘himself’ in. He didn’t really know what got into himself, but Damien felt the need to continue the conversation. 

“So is it just you out here on those non-training days?” 

The cheerful grin Wayne had on began to falter a bit.

“Yep… just me.” 

“Huh…”

It wasn’t too long though before his expression rebounded, an excited glimmer in his eyes as he spoke.

“But it wasn’t always like this- my best mate Rajie used to also tag along- skating and even doing some one-on-one games with me while talking about whatever’s on our minds!” 

Damien couldn’t really say he knew of a ‘Rajie’, or any of the other hockey players for that matter, but he seemed to be a really close friend of Wayne’s. 

“I see… what caused him to stop tagging along?” 

“He uh… he’s got some more important things going on with his life- bigger priorities, y’know?” 

His expression once again faltered, but this time to a greater degree. His eyebrows slumped while the rest of his face looked dejected- eyes pivoting away from Damien and into some random part of the floor. 

Damien couldn’t help but feel curious over his friend’s situation, but didn’t feel like it was appropriate to inquire further- especially on someone he doesn’t even know. 

As if catching himself however, Wayne regained some of that energy from earlier.

“But I’m super happy for him though!! And ‘sides, I see him during class and training days, so we’re still good!” 

“Well that’s nice to hear.”

“For sure! But hey- I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before. What was your name again?”

“It’s Damien.”

Wayne chucked his hand over to Damien’s, shaking it with an unexpected force that left Damien’s hand a bit cramped afterwards.

“Wayne! Nice to meet you brah!”  

“Ach! …Same to you.” 

“So uh… were you thinking of joining the hockey team orrrr…”

“Oh! No- nothing like that. I actually came by cause I was told you’d be here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… I was actually recommended to uh… help tutor you in chemistry.” 

Once again, Wayne shifted expressions- but this time to one almost resembling shock. Mouth agape and eyes widened, Damien began getting nervous.

Uhh… did I say something wrong?? Oh no- is he gonna call me a nerd? Or push me into a locker?!! Or-

“Dude…”

Damien gulps.

“...THAT’S AWESOME!!!”

Phew.

“Heather told me that someone was gonna help tutor me- I just didn’t know who it was yet!! But now I do!!! Awh man we’re gonna be best buds after this- you teach me some chemistry and I’ll show you some sick skating tricks!!”

Ok- that last part wasn’t really something Damien was asking for, but before he could clarify- Wayne had something else to say.

“So we starting now then?” 

Wh-

…What?! Is he for real?!

“Wait- like right now?!”

“Sure! We can sit on the bleachers and look at the homework for this weekend!”

“Well I-”

“Oh man- I’m so excited! I’m finally gonna get how chemistry works!!!”

Damien found himself trapped in a hard place. Sure, he agreed to help Wayne, but right now ? He was planning to coordinate dates with Wayne on when they could meet for tutoring, but jumping straight into it wasn’t something he factored into the rest of his day. While he doesn’t have any other commitments for today specifically, he was hoping to take this Friday to unwind after a stressful week. Was he really gonna spend it attempting to educate Wayne, especially with no prior preparation?!

No- that sounds unreasonable. Damien was gonna have to put his foot down- let Wayne know that tutoring won’t start until next week at the earliest. That- and also getting him to commit to certain dates where they’ll meet up to-

“Ok… take out your book and turn to Chapter 11.” 

…What. 

Wait- woah now: did that really just come out of my mouth?!!

…

…

……………………

…I was right… my cognitive functions have been impaired…

Chapter Text

40 minutes later…

Problem 14:

“Ok Wayne: tell me the first thing you’re supposed to do here.”

“Yeah!! Yeah, you told me this- I would… uhh… change the mini 2 on the left side to a 7?”

Damien tried his hardest to suppress a sigh.

“Not it? Don’t we want them to balance? Right side is 2 + 3 + 2… which is 7! So change the 2 to a 7 on the left and BOOM! Balanced.” 

“Wayne: the first thing you need to remember is that the subscripts, AKA the mini numbers, NEVER change. So don’t mess with them.” 

“Ahhh… got it.” 

This is my seventh time telling you this today…

“Now that you know what not to do… tell me how we should start this problem.”

Wayne furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

“Hmmm...”

“...”

C’mon man I promise it ain’t that hard…

“Uh… want a hint?”

“Bro… that would be a lifesaver.”

“The elements, Wayne… how should we deal with the elements?” 

“Aren’t there just four?”

“I-” 

“Yeah!! Lemme tell you-”

“Wayne I really don’t think-”

Wayne suddenly stood up, making dramatic poses with each word. 

“Water… Earth… Fire… Air…”

“Wayne this is not-”

“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything CHANGED when the fire nation attacked.”

“...” 

“Only the avatar, master of all four elements, could stop him.”

“...” 

“But when the world needed him most… he vanished. A hundred years passed and my broth-”

“OK I GET IT YOU WATCHED THE LAST AIRBENDER.”

Wayne sat back down, chuckling to himself.

“Awh man… such a good show, right brah?” 

Damien’s right eye twitched in utter disbelief. It’s been over 40 minutes, and the two boys were only on problem 14… out of 35. What made it even worse however was that Damien essentially did the first 10 problems for Wayne, spending a considerable amount of time teaching him, step by step, the methodology and approach needed to balance each equation. 

And it almost seemed like he understood! Until well… he had to do them on his own. At one point, Damien felt like he was being messed with… there’s no way someone could actually be this dense, right?

…Right?

“Ok… let’s take this from the top.” 

Deflating at the sight of Wayne once again not understanding, Damien took his own pencil and started solving the problem. 

“The first thing you need to do is write out the elements like this:”

“I can understand not knowing every element on the periodic table, so I’ll give you the rundown here: K means potassium, O is oxygen, H is hydrogen, and C is carbon.”

“Oooooh…”

“Truthfully for exercises like this, understanding the meaning behind each letter isn’t especially important, but I personally still like to know what elements are presented. If you don’t know which elements are which, always remember this: if it is capitalized, then the letter represents its own element.”

“Right!”

“And if there’s a lowercase letter NEXT to the uppercase letter, then that lowercase letter is part of the same element, NOT a separate one.”

To the side of Wayne’s homework, Damien started writing an example.

“Xenon, for example, would be written as Xe. Even if you didn’t know what Xe was, you’d know that it’s just one element- not two!!”

“So like- a mommy letter and their little kid! The kiddie letter can’t do anything on their own.”

“Precisely! If that analogy helps you remember, then stick to it!”

“Righto!” 

“Ok, so back to our problem.” 

“Why did I write the letters on both sides? To give me a better visual on how many of each element is present on both sides of the equation.”

Damien used his pencil to point at specific portions of the equation to hopefully make Wayne follow along easier.

“So, if we look at just the left side, we can count one K…

…as well as 3 Os cause there’s 1 in the middle of KOH and two in . And remember- the mini number next to the O, which never changes, tells you how many of that specific O there is. As such, you have 3 Os in total. 

And finally, we are given one H and one C.” 

“Following so far?”

“Yeah… I think so!”

Wayne, to his credit, did appear concentrated on Damien’s lesson. It was a bit hard to tell with a guy like him- he genuinely appears to be trying and even gives cues that he’s understanding only for it to come crashing down when it’s just him working the problem.

At the very least, he’s trying… so it doesn’t entirely feel like a lost cause… yet.

“Nice- now we’ll do the same exact thing for the right side: starting with K, we have 2. Remember, the subscr- I mean, mini number is showing 2, so that tells you that there’s two Ks.

As there are no other Ks, we can move on to O. Again, we see one O with a mini 3 and one O by itself. Add those together and you get 4 Os.

Same with H- a mini 2 next to it, so there’s two Hs.

And lastly we got our lone C out there.”

“Wow- only the Cs match!!”

“Exactly Wayne! Only the Cs match. Everything else is different, and that’s where we come in: we need to find a way to get both sides to balance. You can’t have a hockey match if there aren’t equal players, right?”

“YOOOOOO THAT’S SO TRUE!!!!” 

The animated response from Wayne scared Damien a bit, but it looks like he was very receptive to that analogy!

Note to self: the more hockey analogies I can cram in this, the better!

…

Wait- I only have a surface-level understanding of the sport... am I expecting myself to do research on it ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE I GOT GOING ON?!

“So let’s try to solve this, starting with the K. The right side has 2 Ks, but the left only has 1, right?” 

“Yeah, no good!”

“No good indeed, which is why I’m making the decision to add a 2 in front of the K.”

“And now the Ks balance!!!”

“Yep! But that’s not all… you wanna see some magic?” 

Wayne’s eyes grew wide, clearly at the edge of his seat.

“Magic…?”

Damien felt a bit silly calling it magic, but he couldn’t help it: this particular problem was kind of cool to him. Why? 

“Not only does the 2 in front of the K affect it… but also the O and the H.”

“No way!!!”

“Yes way! Since the letters are all together and not separated by a plus sign, the 2 also applies to those as well, raising the O and the H to 2 as well. And, if we add those 2 Os that were already there within the portion…”

Wayne gasps. 

“IT BALANCED!!”

Damien moved his hands in a flashy motion, wiggling his fingers.

“Magic… well, not magic, but science!!” 

“So you’re telling me all I had to do was put a 2 there and problem solved?!”

“In this case, yes. However, you or I wouldn’t have known to do that had we not gone through the process to determine which elements weren’t balanced. So, as easy as the solution may be, it’s important to apply this framework for each problem going forward.”

“Damien… you’re a genius.”

Despite the exhaustion of walking Wayne through his 14th problem in a row… Damien couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. Although a tad hyperbolic, it was always nice receiving praises like this.

Especially from a good-looking guy like him… 

…

He really is pretty up close… I kinda wanna pinch his cheeks…

…

WAIT WHY DID I THINK THAT WHAT’S GOING O-

*BUZZ*

Before Damien’s inner conscience could reprimand the boy for having yet another “suspect thought”, a vibration came from Wayne’s pocket. 

“Ah! Just one sec mate.” 

“Heheh… no worries.”

Wayne took the phone from his pocket and checked what came through. 

“Oh snap- my dad’s car broke down while driving!” 

“Damn- that’s awful!” 

“Yeah- gotta pick him up.”

Wayne made a frown. 

“Bummer dude… just when I was really starting to vibe with these Chemistry problems!” 

“Hey, you have bigger priorities right now- go get your dad! Not like it’s the last time we’ll be seeing each other.” 

A smile formed on the hockey captain’s face. 

“For sure dude! And-”

Wayne once again reached in his pocket, pulling out a crumpled 20 bucks. He then took Damien’s hands, using his own to rest the bill onto them. 

“-just a lil something for your help today, man.” 

“Ah…”

Truth be told- the money didn’t really register in Damien’s mind… no, his thoughts went somewhere else. 

His hands… so warm… and soft too? That handshake almost crushed my left one earlier, but now… and how could they be so warm when everything else is freezing?!! …They feel like mittens, like I never want to take them ou-

“Pretty sure I need my hands back to drive, dude.”

“AAAAHH!!”

Damien flinched back, his face flushed more than ever before. God… that was embarrassing.

“I- I uh- so sorry about that!! Weather out has been so cold I haven’t been thinking straight…”

In more ways than one. 

“Awh, no worries dude! That’s Northern Alberta for ya!!”

Then Wayne lit up, as if a lightbulb went off in his head.

“How ‘bout you ride with me! I can drop you off at your place!!”

“Oh I couldn’t ask you to do tha-”

“Nah it’s cool with me!! I can turn up the heat, so we’ll be all warm and toasty together!! Yeah?!” 

…I have no real reason to reject his offer… 

“Y-yeah! Yeah, that would be great.” 

“AWESOME!! HOOT HOOT!” 

As much as Damien wanted to chuckle from the goofy little mascot cheer, his thoughts once again put him on edge. 

Listen to me Damien… please don’t make any more weird decisions today… I’m begging you!!

Chapter Text

♪ What’s with these homies dissin’ my girl?
  Why do they gotta front? ♪

And so, Damien found himself riding shotgun inside a four-door Sedan from 2011- a car Wayne mentioned inheriting from his mom when he finally got his driver’s license a few months back. Perhaps it was all the other things in life butting in, but Damien never really found the time to practice for that. Maybe once the school year ends, he supposes… 

♪ What did we ever do to these guys
  That made them so violent? ♪

And next to Damien, of course, was Wayne Hawkins, driving while singing along to some song he had on a scratched-up CD. A song Damien never heard before. 

♪ Woo-hoo, but you know I’m yours ♪

And as much as Damien tried to stare exclusively at the blanket-white snow covering everything as the sky darkened…

♪ Woo-hoo, and I know you’re mine ♪

…he couldn’t help but redirect his gaze…

♪ Woo-hoo, and that’s for all of time ♪

…to look at Wayne. 

♪ Ooh wee ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly
  Oh oh, and you’re Mary Tyler Moore ♪

It looked like he was having so much fun, bobbing his head to the track while tapping a finger on the wheel. 

♪ I don’t care what they say about us anyway
  I don’t care ‘bout that ♪

For as little as Damien knew about Wayne before today, it still kind of surprised the bookworm to learn that the hockey jock was actually a pretty good singer- landing each pitch as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Whatever relationship he had with music, it was clear Wayne knew the song really well. 

♪ Don’t you ever fear, I’m always near
  I know that you need help ♪

Too preoccupied by Wayne’s performance to let his thoughts tell him otherwise, Damien allowed himself to lean into the headrest, a smile forming in his face as he longingly watched Wayne continue his journey through the song. 

♪ Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit
  You need a guardian ♪

A certain warmth filled Damien. 

♪ Woo-hoo, and you know I’m yours ♪

Sure, the car’s heat was on, but it wasn’t just that… 

♪ Woo-hoo, and I know you’re mine ♪

…no, it was something else, something he couldn’t really describe… 

♪ Woo-hoo, and that’s for all of time ♪

…but knew it had everything to do with the boy he was staring at. 

♪ Ooh wee ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly
  Oh oh, and you’re Mary Tyler Moore ♪

The way his hair swayed with each bob, the way he squinted and widened his eyes, as if operating in tandem with the song’s peaks and valleys… the smile he kept on showing…

♪ I don’t care what they say about us anyway
  I don’t care ‘bout that
  I don’t care ‘bout that ♪

…it just felt so infectious- like Damien wanted to forget everything and join in. 

♪ Bang, bang, knocking on the door
  Another big bang, get down on the floor ♪

And so he did! Well, not actually sing along - that would be too embarrassing… even in his relaxed state. 

♪ Oh no, what do we do?
  Don’t look now, but I lost my shoe ♪

That, and he still doesn’t know the words. 

♪ I can’t run and I can’t kick
  What’s a matter, babe, are you feelin’ sick ♪

No, he joined along in the little things: the bob of his head, the tap of his foot, all that. 

♪ What’s a matter, what’s a matter, what’s a matter you?
  What’s a matter, babe, are you feelin’ blue? Oh-oh  ♪

And, for now at least, that felt like enough for Damien. Together with Wayne, enjoying this little moment as if nothing else mattered. 

♪ And that’s for all of time
  And that’s for all of time  ♪

And just as Damien got to the guitar riff before the song’s closing chorus- 

* CLICK *

Wayne shuts the car off. 

“We’re here!” 

“WHUUH?! Huh?!!” 

Damien, snapping out of his trance and back into reality, looked through the front window. Sure enough- there lies the dormitory. 

“Yeah I know, right?! I sometimes forget Alberta High is actually a boarding school- just last week I drove home and had to be reminded by mom that I live here!!” 

“Ah… is that right…?”

“For sure, dude!”

Damien couldn’t really fault Wayne here- he also forgot… not necessarily of the fact that he lived here, but of how short the drive would be because of its close proximity. After all, Damien did plan to walk back here had Wayne not offered his services…

Also remembering that Wayne still had his dad to pick up, Damien quickly exited the car. 

“Thanks for the ride, man! I uh- I really appreciate it.” 

“Hell yea- anything for my new tutor!!” 

“Haha, yeah…”

Wayne turned his car on again and started to reverse- all while that same song from earlier resumed playing.

“Well, duty calls! Catch ya later mate!” 

“See you!”

As chilly as it was outside, Damien couldn’t help but watch that very same four-door Sedan from 2011 leave the parking lot- waiting for it and the accompanying music to fade into the distance before entering the building.

Man…

…couldn’t even finish the song…

Chapter Text

“Well well well, if it isn’t Nerd #3.” 

Damien sighs.

“Hey Ripper…”

Closing the door behind him, Damien proceeded to unceremoniously plop down on his bed- clearly exhausted from the day he just had. Across from his side was Ripper’s, disheveled and out of control. He, at the very least, never pushed his mess onto Damien’s side, seeing the neat and orderly bed and desk as “contagious” and that he’ll “turn into a nerd” if he comes near. As absurd as the logic was, Damien would much rather go along with it than risk creating a worse alternative for himself. 

Ripper, per usual, was sitting on his bed and munching on some Flamin Hot Cheetos while watching some stunt YouTuber on his laptop.

♪ Three guys and a girl and a beach house! ♪

And based on the jingle, it appears to be the same one he’s been watching for a few weeks now. He seemed amused enough- a cheeky grin on his face as he observed some guy with a red hoodie trying to frantically outrun a grizzly bear. 

“So- another night at the library with Nerds #1 and 2?”

Damien shot Ripper an annoyed look. 

“Am I that much of a nerd to you to think I’d willingly be at a library on a Friday night of all days?! Even Damien’s gotta have his downtime, y’know?” 

“Pffft- I find that hard to believe.”

“HEY. I’ll have you know that I was actually at the hockey stadium.” 

Ripper raised a brow.

“The hell were you doing there? Snow Owls don't have any games today.” 

“Nope- but one of their players needed a tutor and uh… I was voluntold to help out.” 

Ripper smirked. 

“Amazing how even in one of the most alfalfaest places of all, you still manage to make it sound lame thanks to your nerdom.”

…Alfalfaest? The fuck?

Damien began sitting upright on his bed, trying to see if a more attentive posture will help him parse out whatever nonsense Ripper’s saying.

“Like, c’mon Damien- hockey stadiums weren’t made for nerds like you to ‘tutor’, they were made for strong, alfalfa men to rough it up on the rink, assert dominance against one another- all that stuff! If you’re gonna go there, at least go for its intended purpose and watch a game.” 

“For the record, I wasn’t planning on tutoring Wayne on the spot like that, but he insisted an-”

“No way.”

Ripper’s eyes widened. Damien was confused by this.

“...?”

“You’re tutoring Wayne Hawkins…?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Damien… he’s like at the very top of the food chain- a true apex!!”

“Whu… huh?!”

Now Damien was really confused.

“Uh- hello?! Captain of the hockey team, fit, competitive, good looking- he’s got it all! If anything, now I’m OFFENDED that you’re trying to corrupt a fellow alfalfa male through your tutoring madness. Yuck!!” 

Damien made a look- hard to say what look in particular, but it looked to be a combination of distress, frustration, and resigned exhaustion.

“I’m not gonna ‘corrupt’ Wayne, Ripper.” 

“Doubt it- he’ll be a lost cause thanks to your bad influence.” 

“Bad influence huh… but sure, I can level with you on that other stuff. It is indeed a fact that he’s captain. I can also agree that he’s fit… good looking too… kinda dreamy actual-”

AAA-

And then it hit Damien.

-AAAAAAAAAAA-

Like a sack of bricks. 

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK WHY DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD?!??!!?!!

While Damien stuttered over himself, trying to cover that slipup in the midst of a deeper existential crisis, Ripper casually said:

“Huh, you never told me you were gay.” 

Damien quickly lunged out of his bed in a fit of hysteria. 

“I AM NOT GAY!!!!” 

“Relax man- I don’t care that you’re gay.”

“BUT I’M NOT!!” 

“Then prove it: take the gay test.” 

“I’M DEFINITELY NOT G- huh? Gay test?”

After a few clicks, Ripper turned his laptop around, facing Damien. 

Oh you have got to be kidding me.

“Looks legit- I’ll send you the link.”

“Ripper you can’t be serious right now- there’s no scientific basis behind thes-”

“No way- I’m not letting you get away with giving me another traumatic nerd lecture: sit your ass down, get your phone out, and TAKE. THE. TEST.”

Damien stared at Ripper in complete disbelief… but ultimately complied as he was too tired to argue.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll take the test too! Obviously got nothing to worry about, cuz I’m straight!”

“Gee thanks…”

And so began this “Gay Test”. The first question is as follows:

What is your favorite TV show?

        A) Degrassi: The Next Generation
        B) Barefoot Contessa 
        C) Flavor of Love 
        D) The Land Before Time

…

Well this is off to a great start!

The hell kind of question… wait. Why is The Land Before Time on here?! That’s a movie not a TV show!!

...Unless they're talking about the 2007 series??

It’s only the first question and Damien’s already feeling a migraine coming on. For his own sanity, he chose B just to move on. While Barefoot Contessa isn’t something he would consider a “favorite” show, he did have fond memories of him and his grandma watching that on a lazy Saturday morning, back when he was a kid. Good times…

The second question: 

What countries border Bosnia & Herzegovina?

        A) Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro
        B) Croatia, Macedonia, Albania 
        C) Georgia and Belarus 
        D) Georgia and Albania 

Ooh! I know this one- it’s A. Some of these choices are wild though… Belarus? Georgia?? Come on now.

The third question: 

Preferred choice of gaming:

        A) Xbox Series X
        B) PlayStation 5
        C) PC
        D) Nintendo Switch

Don’t know what this has to do with being gay but… PC Master Race, baby! 

The fourth question: 

You are on your way to the train when you witness a woman pass by, unknowingly dropping her wallet. Upon inspection, you see that the wallet has $700 cash, a debit and 2 credit cards, a $50 Macy’s gift card, and 3 rainchecks: one for a bag of carrots, one for Selsun Blue Anti-dandruff Shampoo, and one for Meatballs & Mozzarella flavored Hot Pockets. Your train to work is about to depart and you’re already on thin ice with your boss. What do you do? 

        A) Be a good samaritan and hand the woman her wallet- you’ll most likely miss the train but that act of kindness carries its own form of intrinsic value.
        B) Finders keepers bitch! Lulz
        C) Do nothing and catch your train. While it could be argued that you technically didn’t do anything wrong and that your job security is safe (for now), the thought of being a knowing bystander will continue to weigh down on your soul.
        D) Give the woman her wallet but take the rainchecks beforehand: you will still be doing her a massive favor while also gaining some sick discounts in the process.

Huh… a moral dilemma I see. I’m immediately crossing out B and D: B is just outright cruel and D just sounds… kind of dumb? Why go out of your way to steal some rainchecks?? And won’t you be painting a target on your back since the woman will know that her rainchecks are missing and she has a visual on what you look like?! No way. 

Which leaves me with A and C… if I’m already on thin ice with my employer and I need this job to live, then wasting time with the wallet would be a terrible move for my future prospects. However, think of how bad of a bind that woman would be in when she finds her wallet missing… and how I could’ve prevented that by returning it to her…

Yeah- I’m going with A: Kindness always prevails. 

The fifth and final question:

(IMPORTANT) Who is the queen of pop? 

        A) Britney Spears
        B) Madonna
        C) Beyoncé
        D) Marina and the Diamonds

…

Damien scratched at his neck and shifted his eyes around, as if checking to see if anyone was looking over his shoulder (despite fully knowing that it was just Ripper and him in their room). Afterwards, he selected D and quickly hit submit.  

And the final result…

…

As much as Damien wanted to quickly assure himself that this “Gay Test” was bogus and not a reliable indicator for determining someone’s sexuality… he still couldn’t help but feel restless at the result. And with how weird he’s been acting since meeting Wayne… 

Just when Damien was about to spiral back into his thoughts, he heard a fairly loud gulp. Damien darted his eyes to Ripper, who looked… pale? 

“Hey Ripper… you ok man? You don’t look so good.”

Ripper’s only response was to, once again, turn his laptop Damien’s way. 

“This… this is a lot to take in…”

Oh no... he’s actually serious. 

Just as Damien was about to quell Ripper’s newfound sexuality crisis by assuring him that the test was absolute bullshit, he had this to say:  

“I’ve been calling Chase ‘pretty boy’ this entire time… and now I know why…”

…

Damien doesn’t know what to do with this information. 

Chapter Text

The weekend, usually characterized as a brief reprieve from the daily trials and tribulations that is school life… was anything BUT that for Damien. Sure, he didn’t have any classes to attend or tests to take, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t busy.

Saturday morning? An early journey to the school library where he studied for an upcoming AP Calculus BC exam with Priya and Millie. 

Saturday afternoon? His friends left while Damien stayed behind to organize and alphabetize the books from the library’s entire west side as a means of racking up volunteer hours for National Honor Society.

Saturday evening? Catching up on a variety of different school assignments, including a 5 page report on the reign and downfall of Marie Antoinette for his AP World History class… also done in the library.

Suffice to say, Damien had to be reminded by the librarian that they were closing for the day… or he would’ve most likely stayed through the night. The librarian in question, a woman with teal streaks in her hair and a penchant for dark clothing, gave the teen a concerned look.

“You better not show up tomorrow.” 

“Awh c’mon Miss J- I show up willingly!” 

While usually keeping to herself beyond the typical duties of a school librarian, Miss J did open up more for those that appeared often… and to say that Damien frequented the library often was an understatement.

“At least try to take it easy for one day… all that work nonstop can mess a person up if not spaced out; you need time to relax, to recharge!” 

“It’s just a busy time in the school year- it’ll pass!”

Miss J squinted in confusion. 

“Damien… it’s only January.” 

Wha?!

Oh right… I knew that…

The teen didn’t really have a decent response, so he nervously laughed instead.

“Haha, so it is…” 

Miss J sighed. 

“Please promise me you’ll take it easy tomorrow? I’m getting worried, y’know?” 

A tired smile formed from Damien’s face.  

“I promise. Thanks for lookin out for me Miss J.” 

And with that, he collected the rest of his things and left the library.

…

So, did Damien stay true to Miss J’s promise and chilled on Sunday? 

…No. No, of course not: he spent the whole day studying and even got an early start on some assignments with later due dates. For what it’s worth, he did all that in his dorm rather than the library to give Miss J the impression that he did indeed keep his promise… even though he didn’t. 

Sorry Miss J…

Feelings of guilt aside, the teen had a surprisingly productive day today. With a roommate like Ripper, Damien was pretty anxious at the idea of transitioning his studies into his dorm. Ripper however was mostly quiet and buried himself in his headphones, not being a nuisance like he usually was. Seems like he still hasn’t recovered from that fake gay test… oh well. 

And so it was midnight- now officially Monday. While Ripper was fast asleep, Damien lay awake on his bed. His last task of the day? Pulling up the weekly schedule on his phone and reviewing it one final time. 

Hmm, looks like everything is accounted for.

…

Wait. 

…Damnit- I forgot to ask Wayne when he’s available for tutoring!!

While not the biggest deal in the world (after all, he’ll see Wayne in Chemistry tomorrow anyways and can confirm there), a deeper worry began to eat away at him: 

…

…Can I really do this? 

…Should I really do this?? Miss J is right: it’s only January and I’m already drowning in work… things are definitely gonna get worse as the semester goes on. So is tutoring Wayne on top of everything else even possible…? 

…

…

No- probably not. But I’ll try anyway- for Ms. Shell.

That and… something about that guy makes me… happy?

…

Damien buries his face in a pillow, manifesting one final thought before losing himself to the exhaustion and falling asleep:

God… why are my thoughts so cringe…

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, Damien slept well that night. Almost too well actually- as if he’s been in slumber for over a year... definitely not complaining though. When experiencing something as stressful as grade 11 of high school, he’ll take all the uninterrupted sleep he can get. 

Anywho, Damien did his usual morning rounds and got himself ready before departing for school- leaving behind a still sleeping Ripper. In the past, Damien used to encourage Ripper to leave with him so he wouldn’t be late, but Ripper’s concept of being on time equated to ‘nerd behavior’ and wanted nothing to do with it, so Damien ultimately gave up.

Suit yourself…

The first half of the day wasn’t particularly eventful. Damien started with an exam in AP Calculus BC, a standard lecture of impressionism in AP Art History, and continued discussion of the French Revolution in AP World History. He also took the opportunity to submit his paper on Marie Antoinette 3 days early- gives the teen some peace of mind rather than just sitting on it till the due date. 

And then came Chemistry, which also happened to be Damien’s only non-AP class. Not by choice though- he was too late to enroll in its AP equivalent before it filled up last year, much to his chagrin. Priya sometimes teases him about it, which never fails to rile Damien up. Speaking of Priya…

…Huh?

…a girl is sitting next to her, specifically in his seat. 

“Damien!! Oh my gosh- what did you think about that Calc test??! Courtney was so EVIL for adding that Rolle’s theorem problem on there- we barely just started covering it!!”

“Priya, hey! …Um, I thought the exam was ok. Ms. Diaz did say that everything talked about before was fair game… and hey Emma!”

“Hi Damien!”

“I see you’re uh… sitting in my seat.”

“I know! Crazy right- had the same reaction when I saw Zee in my seat.”

“Wha-”

“Oh yeah! Heather changed the seating order- something about ‘minimizing complacency by forming new connections’ or whatever, so Emma’s my new desk mate! Your new seat should have a card with your name on it.”

“Oh…” 

This kind of bummed Damien out- in spite of her teasing, Priya was good company to have. They’re friends after all and share a similar work ethic. Plus their desk was at the front, which he preferred. 

Alright, cool… not the end of the world or anything. So I guess I’ll be further back then?

As Damien slowly started to pace through the seats on the left side, a thought entered his mind.

Wait… why now? We’re already a few weeks into the semester- wouldn’t it made more sense to change the seating order at the beg-

And then a second thought came through… one that raised his heartbeat. 

…

…

…Hold on a sec-

“Oi Damien!!”

“EEEEP!!!” 

A high-pitched yelp reverberated across the room, attracting the attention of his fellow classmates. Before the inevitable spiral of embarrassment began to set in however, the one who called out to Damien continued:

“Brah guess what??”

Over by the furthest, rightmost lab table stood none other than Wayne Hawkins, waving his left hand around like that of a golden retriever wagging his tail- said hand holding Damien’s name card. 

“We’re DESK MATES!!! Ain’t that rad?!”

“H-hey Wayne… yeah! Rad indeed…”

While the aforementioned embarrassment started kicking in with the subsequent giggles heard in class (one of which being Priya’s), Damien was actually… taking it better than expected? As if the looks and giggles suddenly became secondary to his main march toward Wayne’s table. 

“Wow… to think that you became my tutor last Friday… and now you’re my desk mate!! Hah- what are the odds?”

As Wayne said this, Ms. Shell entered the room and locked eyes with Damien. This sudden, concentrated look startled him, but then he saw her lips form a smile, followed by a wink. And that was all the information Damien needed.

Man… Ms. Shell is not easy…

“Alright class! Take your seat and turn to chapter 11. We have a lot to get through today.”

Chapter Text

“For the homework given out last Friday, you were tasked with balancing 35 chemical equations. Simple enough, right? It’s just taking a look at the equations and figuring out what coefficients are needed to make it balanced.”

Chemistry came pretty naturally to Damien- it was his preferred subject after all. So as great of a teacher as he believed Ms. Shell to be, there was never really much urgency for him to actually pay attention in class. Even if there was a concept unfamiliar to him, he would’ve already read the chapter in advance and understood its application before Ms. Shell even covered it. 

Of course, he would pay attention anyways. It was still his favorite class and he didn’t want to come across as rude to Ms. Shell by appearing disengaged. And even if he knew the content already, there was no harm in receiving a refresher. Though when Damien looked to his right and saw him… he knew that today might be an exception.

…Come to think of it, I never observed how Wayne takes in the material in class. So maybe if I study him… I’ll have a better idea on what he should improve on!!

Damien smiled, satisfied in this approach. 

Let's go Damien!! Another great idea by the man himself. 

…

…

I just hope he doesn’t catch me staring at him like a creep.

After leaning back in his chair to appear more inconspicuous, Damien begins the independent observation of his newest subject: Wayne Hawkins. 

“What you might not know however is the fact that the equations presented stem from 5 types of major chemical reactions.” 

Ms. Shell turned to write on the board, each word being spoken in the process.

“Synthesis
Decomposition
Combustion
Single Replacement
and Double Replacement.” 

As Ms. Shell begins to go into synthesis, Damien winces.

Wayne- where is your paper and pencil?! You ESPECIALLY should be taking notes- c’mon man!

Damien resisted the urge to tap Wayne on the shoulder and notify him of this. As much as he wants to help Wayne, he must first be studied without interference in order to get an all-encompassing picture of his faults. So for now, Damien makes note of this on his own pen and paper. 

“Assuming you’ve already heard the word before, synthesis becomes self-explanatory. If not, then it’s basically the combining of separate things. In this context, a compound made from simpler materials.”

An equation is written on the board: 

“To the left we have carbon and oxygen gas- the combining of these two gives us , otherwise known as carbon dioxide. Naturally,  is more complex than the separate elements we started with. An easy way to remember this rule is as follows:” 

A + B   →   AB

Ok… so far he appears mostly engaged? His line of sight looks to have wandered around the classroom a few times, but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s impossible to know what he’s thinking, but at least he’s looking in the general direction of Ms. Shell and the board. 

“If we were to reverse this process however, then we’d end up with decomposition. While synthesis is about combining things, decomposition is about breaking them down.”

“The compound could be broken down to its basic elements, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. For example, we have calcium carbonate on the left being broken down into two simpler compounds: calcium oxide and carbon dioxide. Should be obvious at this point, but the trick to remember this is just AB → A + B. Everyone following?”

In an ideal world, Damien would nod on behalf of himself and Wayne- content with the latter’s engagement in the lesson at hand. And, to Wayne’s credit, it did start out promising!! But…

Where the hell did you get that mini skateboard??? 

…life finds a way to disappoint Damien. 

Your fingers should be used for note-taking, NOT grinding on the edge of the desk and simulating pro-skater stunts!!! 

And it looked like Wayne aimed too close for the sun with his last trick, considering that-

*CLACK*

…the skateboard slipped out of his hand and hit the floor, its overturned position creating a decent-enough sound for some heads to turn... one of which being Ms. Shell’s, who’s eyes latched onto Wayne like a bear with its salmon. Needless to say, Damien wanted to disappear. 

“Wayne.”

Oh god.

“Did you have something you wanted to share with the class?”

“Uhh… nope! Nothing to report here, teach!”

“Is that so?” 

“Y-”

“Cause surely it’s more important than my lesson if you’re THAT carefree in disrupting it.”

Oh GOD.

“Teach I-”

“Oh no! Please, don’t mind me: I’m clearly incidental in all this.”

Gesturing her hand in a wide motion toward the class, Ms. Shell addresses Wayne once more.

“Go on! The floor is yours. Enlighten the class with your activity- I’ll wait.” 

…

…

In that moment, the 7 seconds of silence that followed felt like 7 lifetimes. 

Well, to Damien at least, but judging by the genuine uneasiness in Wayne’s expression, he probably felt something similar. It wasn’t until Wayne got up and picked up the mini skateboard where he responded.

“I um… I’m sorry, Ms. Shell. For disrupting your lesson and all. It won’t happen again.”

He then returned to his seat. Ms. Shell looked like she was gonna respond, but seemed to hold back, instead shifting her glance to Damien. 

…!

It was only a second, but Damien saw it. A noticeable shift from the pointed fury of before to what could only be described as…

Pity?

…

And so the lesson resumed without any further incident. Keeping true to his objective, Damien continued to observe Wayne… though it wasn’t quite the same. The friendly, easy going disposition he had before dissipated, only leaving behind a quiet frown. Eyes were now to the floor, completely disengaged from the lesson at hand. No further change in behavior was observed, essentially lasting till the end of the period. And all Damien could note from this was the following 3 words:

I feel bad. 

…Which is why Damien asked Wayne if the two could have lunch together.

Chapter Text

When Damien asked Wayne if the two could have lunch, he didn’t expect to end up at a Tim Hortons. Not that he’s never been before or anything like that, but certainly a first during a school day. Given that the closest place to eat outside Alberta High was a 20 minute walk, Damien settled for the cafeteria instead. And hey- not like food there was bad or anything. Kind of bland, but it gets the job done. 

An exception to the routine was made however when Wayne mentioned an order ready for pick-up at the popular coffeehouse chain. The order in question?

“4 DOZEN DONUTS???”

“Hell yeah!! You know it!” 

With four red boxes in hand, the hockey jock found an empty table and set the stack down. 

“Hey- instead of driving back, we can eat here instead!” 

“4. DOZEN. DONUTS.”

“Hell yeah!! You kno-”

“What compelled you to order 4 dozen donuts?! That’s way too much!!! Not to mention all the calories- if we were to presume a generous estimate of 250 calories per donut, then that times 12 is 3,000. Times that by 4 and that’s a WHOPPING 12,000 calories. Oh and let’s not even get into the sugar intake, cause it’s easily enough to induc-”

…

It took a moment for Damien to understand why he suddenly stopped in his tracks… but then he felt it: a hand on his shoulder. 

…

Warm… 

So warm and… soft…

Said warmth was matched by Wayne’s smile, which also had an added layer of amusement in there. 

“Hehe- you’re funny Damien. I wasn’t gonna eat all that.”

“Oh… really?” 

“Nah- I actually got them for my hockey bros! We’ve been hard at work with practice and all, so thought I’d treat em to some donuts!!” 

“Ahh…”

The bookworm felt like kicking himself after hearing this. 

Way to go Damien- embarrassing yourself yet again. Would it kill you to not jump to conclusions so quickly?!

“Doesn’t mean we can’t open one of these bad boys up tho!”

After swiping the top box from its stack, Wayne carefully opened it, as if unveiling some sacred treasure. And, for what it’s worth, the comparison wasn’t entirely unfounded: the donuts themselves almost appeared radiant to Damien’s eyes, dazzling him with its varied selection and captivating aroma. 

“So what do ya say Damien? Ready to chow down on some sweet donuty goodness?”

Damn do they look good. Wanna put one in my mouth right now… but-

But?

-but JUST sweets for lunch feels wrong. Need something savory to balance it out.

With that in mind, Damien took advantage of the ‘Breakfast Anytime!’ policy and ended up ordering a breakfast bagel sandwich with two hash browns. Wayne also decided to add to his order by getting two sandwiches, a bowl of chili, a sausage wrap, and a hot caramel latte for good measure. While Damien again felt compelled to comment on the calorie intake present in the hockey captain’s meal, this time he held his tongue.

“All right- let’s dig in!!”

An enthusiastic call to action indeed, followed by a massive *CHOMP* to his sausage wrap, halving its size in just one bite. It was really a sight to behold for Damien: never has he ever witnessed someone mow down their food as quickly as Wayne did. Quickly and ferociously, for that matter- each bite almost rabid in action, as if his life depended on it.

Do all hockey players eat like this???

Putting all that aside however… Damien felt relieved to see Wayne in good spirits again, especially after that whole thing with Ms. Shell. Pretty impressive actually to see him rebound so quickly- had Damien been in his shoes, he likely wouldn’t look anyone in the eye for a week out of shame. 

Wayne seemed different though. He has his moments of sadness, sure… but they never really linger. In fact, all Damien had to do was ask Wayne out to lunch and, just like that, the cheery glimmer in his eyes came back in full swing. It took Damien by surprise actually, who thought he had some work to do in cheering the hockey jock up. 

At the same time though, it also made Damien feel good knowing that his continued company was enough to brighten Wayne’s mood. 

It made Damien… happy. 

*BUUUUUURP*

And then Wayne burped loudly. 

“Ahhhhh man… that was some good-ass food.” 

“Yep- definitely beats the cafeteria.”

“Oh for sure, but we ain’t done yet!!”

Wayne then shifts the opened box of donuts to the forefront, nudging it slightly in Damien’s direction. 

“I’ll let my buddy have the first pick.” 

“Oh! Uhh… ok, let’s see…”

Not wanting his indecisiveness to get the best of him, Damien went with the first one to catch his eye and picked up a filled donut with pink frosting and sprinkles. Wayne watched with eager anticipation as Damien took the first bite. 

…Mmmh!

His face lit up.

“Sooo- whatcha think??”

“The filling inside is this vanilla cream, which pairs nicely with the frosting.”

He took a second bite. Wayne’s gaze shifted a bit, as if noticing something.

“And the sprinkles add a nice little crunch to the otherwise soft texture.” 

Another bite followed.

“It’s really good! The flavors aren’t too intense either- very creamy but almost kind of light? It’s a bit hard to expl-”

“Lemme get that for ya.”

…?

It didn’t immediately register what Wayne was getting at here… but then he saw the hockey captain get up, lean over…

…and place his thumb on Damien’s lips.

……

Time stood still for Damien, transfixed in this very moment. He felt his senses heightened, his heartbeat racing. Despite being on the other side of the table, Wayne was able to close the gap pretty easily, his face no more than a foot away from Damien’s. He once again got a closer look, reminded of his chiseled square jaw and the small stubble forming on it. Reminded of his flowing caramel hair and how some of it threatened to break free from the closure of his backwards red cap. Reminded of those piercing green eyes as if staring directly into a lush forest, brimming with vegetation. 

And of course, the warmth of his smile and softness of his touch: his thumb moving in a gentle motion, traversing the left till ultimately breaking contact.

And just like that, Wayne returned to his seat and time made its march forward once more.

“Had some frosting on your lips- thought I’d wipe it off!” 

He then casually sucked his thumb, which almost gave Damien a heart attack.

!!!!!

After making a *POP* sound upon releasing his thumb, Wayne smiles once more. 

“Mmmmm… strawberry…”  

Damien had no words, only nodding slowly in response. He was more than aware of the blush coating his face, but was powerless to do anything about it. Thoughts swirled in his mind, crazed and frenetic in composition, but all leading to one truth… a truth that he secretly knew for a while, but didn’t want to admit to himself. The truth that- 

“Oh wow! Is that you Damien?”

…

That voice.

Damien’s eyes widened, his posture straightened. It almost looked like he was on alert, which puzzled Wayne. 

…

…

Goddammit- why is she here…

Chapter Text

“I gotta say Damien- seeing you eat anywhere besides that nasty cafeteria is a welcome sight. Finally saw the light?” 

Realizing that it was fruitless to ignore her, Damien sighs and tilts his head toward the girl standing over their table. 

“Hey Julia.”

“Heh- loooooove the enthusiasm, really makes me feel welcomed.” 

Who said I was welcoming you to interrupt our lunch?

After taking a better look at Julia, Wayne’s eyes go wide.

“Oh snap… I think I heard of you before. Aren’t you, like, really popular??” 

Julia smirks, eyeing the hockey captain with waning interest before shifting her gaze back to Damien.

“So not only are you having lunch at a Tim Hortons, but with some dumb hockey jock to boot.”

“Hey!! That’s kinda mean…”

Julia once again ignores Wayne’s comments, focusing exclusively on Damien. 

“Wanna tell me what this is all about?” 

An unamused coldness emanated from Damien as he spoke.

“Wayne asked you a question, Julia. If you’re gonna talk like he’s not here, then this conversation is over.” 

Julia rolls her eyes, mildly irritated by the retort.

“Ughh fiiiiiine…”

She then faces Wayne with a more palatable (though slightly condescending) smile.  

“Influencer. Mandy Bellleville brand ambassador. And, of course-”

Julia flips her hair. 

“-proud citizen of mother Earth, Julia Reiss. So yeah! Kind of a big deal.” 

Wayne stares in awe.

“Woahh…”

And, to Julia’s credit, she certainly looked the part. Comprising her outfit was a light pink, knee-length jacket with white faux fur trim, a sleek purple turtleneck with vertical patterns underneath, dark purple pants, and snow boots with an inner faux fur lining. Suffice to say, she looked pretty stylish and wasn’t gonna forgo any opportunity to flaunt her fashion sense, even in freezing January weather. 

As if satisfying her end of the bargain, Julia faces Damien once more.

“Now answer my question.”

Before Damien could entertain Julia’s query however, a voice from behind called out.

“Yo Julia.”

Approaching Julia was another girl with two bags.

“I got our food- let’s get out of here.”

“Gimme a few minutes, MK. Just catching up with an old friend.”

Old friend huh…

“Whatever. Keep me waiting and I’ll start sounding the horn.”

And with that, MK exits the building. Realizing that there probably won’t be any more distractions to save him from this unsolicited conversation, Damien gives in and responds. 

“Just having some lunch with a friend- nothing weird about it.” 

“Aren’t you usually with those two losers at the caf? Priya and Millie?”

“1. They’re not losers and 2. I can have other friends besides those two. Really not that complicated.”

Despite the fairly straightforward answer, Julia remains unconvinced and continues to press the matter.

“Just taken aback that you’d hang out with a hockey player is all… doesn’t seem like your scene.”

“This is real life Julia, not some cliche high school movie where everyone is cast into cliques and hate each other.”

Julia raises an eyebrow.

“Uh-huuuuuh…”

Then Wayne decides to chimes in.

“Yep! Damien’s my new good bud.”

…Wait.

“We met last Friday-”

Oh no.

“-and he’s tutoring me-” 

Wayne stop, you're only gonna give her more ammunition!!

“-in Chemistry so that I don’t fail!!! Ain’t that AWESOME??!”

…

Fuck.

Julia’s eyes widened in tandem with an emerging smile, as if finally reaching a breakthrough.

“Awh Wayne- YOU’RE the awesome one here. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome! Hehe.” 

Damien’s right eye twitched as Julia gave him a knowing look. 

“So THAT’S what this is all about.”

“It’s really not a big dea-”

“And, if I were to wager a guess, something tells me that you were dragged into tutoring the hockey captain so that he can stay in the sport next year.”

“...”

Even though Julia was 100% correct in her deduction, Damien wasn’t gonna give her the satisfaction of being right.

“Wrong- I may have been recommended, but the final decision to tutor him was mine to make. Nobody forced me to do anything.”

Julia almost looked like she was about to laugh, but kept it in.

“Well aren’t you charitable.”

“Yeah, Damien’s really nice!! I already feel smarter being near him.”

“Oh no doubt! It must’ve been through the goodness of his heart to pass up AP Chemistry so he could help out the less fortunate.”

Damien abruptly gets up, startling Wayne in the process. He's now at eye level with the influencer.

“Watch it Julia.”

Unfazed by Damien’s quiet anger, Julia playfully tilts her head to the side.

“Awhhh- touched a nerve, have I?”

“I’m being serious Julia: knock it off.” 

“Believe me Damien: I would’ve loved for us both to have AP Chemistry together, but what can I say? Capacity was limited.”

She then furrowed her brows- a pointed sharpness manifesting in her glare. 

“Don’t blame me just cause you were too slow to enro-”

“Don’t think I believe for a SECOND you had nothing to do with thi-”

*HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK*

The screeching sound of a car horn put everything to a halt, dissolving the escalating tension between the bookworm and influencer. 

And likely for the best, though Julia’s disappointed expression suggests otherwise. 

“Damnit MK- and just when things were getting good too.”

Following a second hair flip, Julia addresses Damien for the last time.

“Well I should be going now. Great catching up though! Would’ve loved to chat more but you know me: Alberta High’s future valedictorian is quite the busy girl. Toodles~” 

She then makes her way to the exit, again offering no further acknowledgement to Wayne’s existence.

*HONK HONK HOOOOOOOOOOONK*

“OK OK I HEARD YOU THE FIRST FUCKING TIME!!!” 

…

… 

If Julia was a tornado, then her departure was the quiet relief of surviving one. Though judging by Wayne’s concerned look toward Damien… it wasn’t entirely unscathed. 

Chapter Text

Damien rested his head on the window as Wayne drove, neither really in a talkative mood after… well… her. The reasoning behind their silence however differed: Damien’s was pretty obvious, but Wayne’s reason stemmed more so out of consideration for the bookworm. Sometimes a guy just needs some space to chill after going through a sucky situation, and Wayne was worried that he’d only worsen Damien’s mood with his blabbering. 

Luckily for Wayne however, it was Damien who eventually broke the silence. 

“This song… no- that’s not right. There’s no vocals.”

Wayne perks up at this. 

“Ahh yeah! This is one of Aphex Twin’s more ambient tracks- it’s called Rhubarb. Funny name, eh?”

“I guess…”

…

Damien didn’t really know what to make of Rhubarb. He knew that it was soothing, sure, but just calling it that felt a bit… incomplete? Like it was missing something. But what exactly? 

It feels… something. Meditative? …I mean- I guess I could meditate to something like this, but calling it that doesn’t feel right. 

He shifts his gaze to the window supporting him, lazily taking in the view: the cloudy gray skies, the cars passing him by, the traffic lights that almost seemed out of focus… and the ever present snow, enveloping all in its wake.

It’s like this weird combination of sadness and freedom. Sad freedom?

…

Augh- that sounds stupid. Gotta be a better way to describe it.

He then took a peek to the left, eyeing Wayne as he drove. 

Maybe I’m just overthinking things? Wayne did call it ambient- why don’t I just do the same? Not everything needs to have this meaningful descriptor that perfectly encapsulates whatever I’m feeling…

As hard as Damien tried however, he didn’t feel satisfied with that answer. Felt more like a cop-out than anything, which annoyed him. 

This damn music…

There was no turning back: he had to figure out how it made him feel… he just had to. It’s bizarre, really: he wasn’t quite sure why this track compelled him to do all this brainstorming, as if it was some kind of esoteric moral dilemma you’d only really hear about in philosophy class. He couldn’t understand why it was so hard for him to just enjoy the music and chill the fuck out. He couldn’t… which only made things worse.

…

Feeling dejected, his gaze shifted once more, this time landing on the side-view mirror- his reflection staring back at him. 

Maybe Damien can help me out here. Got something for me bro?

…

Heh- of course not. But hey- at least the hat’s cool.

…

…

…?

Damien faces Wayne.

“Hey uh… can I ask you something.”

“Sure! Lay it on me.” 

“Your hat… how’d you get it?” 

There was a hint of surprise in Wayne’s face, as if not expecting that particular question. Ultimately a welcome one though, given the smooth transition to a smile. 

“Oh man… I wanna say… senior kindergarten? It was actually one of my first real hockey matches: our team ended up crushing it, and coach was so happy with my play that he gave me his hat!! Crazy right??”

“Crazy indeed hahah- did the hat even fit you?”

“Nope- covered half my face. Heavy too- kept sliding to the front so I couldn’t see, which made me walk into things. Started wearing it backwards to see better.”

Damien let out a soft chuckle- the image of a small Wayne with an oversized hat in his mind. 

“But y’know, as I got older, my head got bigger. And as my head got bigger, my hat started feeling lighter. Years passed, did some more growing… and look at me now.”

“The hat finally fits.” 

“Yeah!! Just like a snug jockstrap.”

The whiplash of that statement caused Damien to cough violently. 

“Oh snap!!! You ok bro??” 

Wayne took one hand off the wheel to pat Damien on the back, alternating between that and circular rubbing motions. It eventually does the trick, with Damien calming down as a result.

“...Thanks man… don’t really know what came over me just now.” 

He did in fact know, but tried to push away that mental image as far back as he could. Whether he was successful in blocking it off however is a different story. 

“No worries dude- probably choked on a burp or something. But what’s your story?”

“Mine?”

“About your hat.”

“Ahh right…” 

Damien took another look at himself in the mirror, gradually starting to smile as he spoke. 

“So this was back when we lived in Ontario: parents were always busy with work, so a lot of my time was spent with grandma and the little vintage shop she owned. Was called ‘Donna’s Little Treasures’. You could find all kinds of weird knick knacks there… and snow globes.”

“Snow globes??”

“Especially snow globes. Quarter of the inventory was basically snow globes- even had their own section, organized by decade.”

“Woah…”

“Around the time I started working there, grandma brought over a box of new stuff for me to organize. Was your usual figurines, prints, snow globes… but then I saw a gold hat in there. Looked out of place honestly.”

“So why was it with the other stuff?”

“Apparently a relic from the 90s, so it was enough to be classified as vintage.”

“Ahh.”

“Anyways, ended up working there for 2 years- everyday after middle school I would swing by and clock in a few hours. Was a pretty good gig! Grandma was always fun to be around and she paid well too. It was nice…”

The smile Damien maintained up to this point, while still there, turned melancholic.

“Too bad the shop had to go out of business.”

Wayne’s eyebrows slumped upon hearing that.

“Awh… sorry to hear man, that sucks.”

“Sales just weren’t there to justify the expenses any longer- is what it is. But hey! Our final clearance sale was pretty successful at least. Sold all our remaining inventory that week… except for one thing.”

The hockey jock’s eyes widened in realization.

“No way…”

“Yep- the gold hat stayed.”

“That’s insaneeeee.”

“It kind of is actually: been in the shop for 2 years and nobody ever asked about it. Even slapped an 80% discount tag on it during our clearance sale to get rid of it… nothing but crickets.”

Damien then took a breath, his smile now fully washed away. 

“As we closed up shop for the final time, grandma took me aside and gave me the hat. Told me to take good care of it… and to always think of her when wearing it…”

“...”

A red stop light was all Wayne needed to stare intently at Damien… and notice the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Parents found new work in Alberta and we left Ontario the next day- haven’t been back since.” 

“Damien…”

It wasn’t until he saw Wayne with a bag of tissues in hand (which he swiftly pulled from the glove compartment) where Damien realized that tears were streaming down his face. In most situations, he would’ve frantically worked to hide it. He viewed himself crying as embarrassing and cringe and didn’t want others to see it, even though he never applied that same standard to anyone else.

This time however… was different. Those feelings of shame and embarrassment felt distant to Damien, as if replaced by something else entirely. And it was through the attentive expression on Wayne’s face where Damien understood what that ‘something else’ was… 

Safety. 

Damien felt safe around Wayne, allowing him to embrace the tears as he reached out for a tissue.

“Thanks Wayne… didn’t expect to get all emotional like this.”

“You love your granny and miss her… anyone would get sad over that.”

“We talk regularly on the phone and all, but it ain’t the same as being face-to-face. Haven’t had the chance to visit her again, but definitely planning to after the school year ends.” 

“Yeah!!! And I’m sure she’d be happy to see the hat again too- looks like you’ve taken good care of it.” 

Damien smiles at this, a faint blush accompanying it.

“Your hat doesn’t look too bad either man.”

While a bit of an unexpected conversation about hats, Damien was happy in his choice to bring it up. Tears were shed, but it felt more like a healing experience than anything- getting the chance to reminisce about the good times and how their hats meant to both teens. Getting the chance to relive those experiences… those memories…

Memories…

…

…!

And then it finally hit him.

This music… 

…

…it feels like a memory. 

…

…

…Yeah. That feels right.

Finally at peace with this answer, Damien closes his eyes and allows the music to take him- memories circling his very being for the rest of the ride back.

Chapter Text

The two went their separate ways shortly after arriving back at Alberta High, both exchanging casual parting words before heading to their respective classes. For Damien, it was AP Macroeconomics and AP English Language- his last two classes. Though said classes felt more like a blur than anything, thanks mainly to someone else preoccupying his mind… a certain hockey jock…

Heh, he really ate that sausage wrap in two bites… that’s crazy…

It was a good lunch- a fun one even! Even with Julia’s interference, it still didn’t stop Damien from fondly combing over the recent memories made there: Wayne’s massive donut order, his less extreme but still sizable meal order, the way he devoured said meal like some kind of velociraptor…

…the way he softly wiped strawberry frosting off Damien’s lips…

…

It all lived rent-free in his head, details and sensations as vivid as ever. 

Having said all that, there was something in the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite pin down. It wasn’t immediately apparent at first: the warm, fluffy moments of his time with Wayne swirled in his head and was more than enough to wash anything else out. Even after classes wrapped up for the day, he didn’t quite feel anything amiss. Having some homework to do, Damien decided to stop by the library and knock some of it out. An hour passed, 2 hours- everything was going well… and then that weird feeling from before started to nag at him. 

…Am I forgetting anything? Almost feels like I was supposed to do something. Something about…

…chemistry?

…

…!! 

And there it is. 

Why do I keep forgetting about that damn tutoring schedule??! Was supposed to confirm that with Wayne today… if only I had his cell…

…

Well… not like today is over yet or anything. Maybe the Snow Owls are still practicing? Could probably head over th- WAIT. 

A competing thought entered the ring, adamant at putting this teen in check. 

Why am I being crazy?! The walk to the hockey rink this late sounds like a death march- not to mention the possibility he might already be gone by the time I get there… can’t it just wait till tomorrow?? 

Damien had a very sound, rational argument NOT to go. There was nothing he could do to refute any of it- the choice was clear…

… if Damien was in a rational mood.

…

Someone call the doctors, cause I have officially lost it. 

………

The march to the hockey rink was an unforgiving one, plagued mostly by ice-cold weather and distance. Didn’t help that the night came quicker due to shorter days in winter. 

Brrr… they couldn’t have built this rink closer to west-end?? About to become a slab of ice at this rate.

It was a long, chilly walk, but Damien eventually reached the ice hockey rink. Even more relieving however was the sounds echoing from the stadium.

Phew… they’re still here…

Not wanting to appear too conspicuous, Damien quietly entered the stadium and opted for a seat toward the back. A few hockey players were still in the ice rink while others peppered the sidelines, chatting amongst themselves. No trace of Wayne… though Damien did see some players with donuts in their hands, signaling that the confectionery treats have already been distributed. 

Looks like they’ve wrapped up not too long ago… oh man, did Wayne already lea-

“Looking for someone?”

Damien was about to yelp, but immediately covered his mouth in fear of alerting everyone else.

Shit someone’s next to me… ok Damien, play it cool- DON’T act like a weirdo. 

Quickly composing himself, Damien mustered up his best impression of a casual smile and turned to his right.

“Ah didn’t mean to startle you! My apologies.”

“Not a problem haha…” 

“Just can’t help when we get new spectators here- always curious, you know?” 

The man next to Damien wasn’t wearing any kind of hockey uniform but still looked like he was related to the team, donning the same white and blue colors throughout while the Snow Owl logo sat in the upper-right corner of his jacket.

“No I get that- not a usual visitor by any means.”

The mysterious man smiles, extending a hand. Damien ends up accepting it, forming a handshake.

“Alejandro Burromuerto: I coach our Snow Owls hockey team.”

…!

Before Damien could ruminate on that thought much longer, Coach Burromuerto continued:

“And you’re Damien McNair… right?” 

Oh fuck he knows who I am. 

“…Yes sir.”

The coach’s smile only widens in response.

“I must say: it truly is an honor to have Heather Shell’s top student in our presence! It’s no easy feat earning her stamp of approval I’m sure.”

“Oh! Uh… thank you?”

…Oh. So this is the guy Ms. Shell hates. 

“And I also must express my sincerest gratitude for your willingness to tutor our Wayne in chemistry.”

And he also knows what’s going on too… fantastic. 

“You know Damien, it really upset me how Heather displayed no sympathy whatsoever to our star player. I’m sure you already know, but Wayne is our team captain: an unprecedented role to have for a grade 11 student, but an exception worth taking given Wayne’s phenomenal ability and understanding in the rink.”

There was a certain gravitas to the way Coach Burromuerto spoke, landing each word with intention as if presenting in a conference of 100+ people. 

“So when I heard that Heather gave our boy a failing grade for his midterm, I immediately had to act. At first, I tried to keep it between us two, tried to see if we could work something out. Heather however… is not one to accept compromise.”

His voice lowered, a condescending undertone found within it.

“Her rigid worldview on education and the perceived worth of a student is outdated and fails to uplift those that are… shall we say, not the brightest in academics. She wants to be ‘fair to the rest’ of her students, yet refuses to see the bigger picture: failing Wayne would not only be a failure on her part to accommodate students with different learning styles, but would also severely impact Wayne’s own happiness and success in the field he’s actually good at by taking it away from him… and I wasn’t going to accept that.”

Coach Burromuerto then smirked.

“So, naturally, I made a fuss to administration and they thankfully had enough sense to take my side on the matter. And while she didn’t appear to budge on simply going easy on the boy, it looks like the pressure was enough that she actually enlisted her best student to tutor our star player.”

It was a bit surreal for Damien to hear this kind of drama between Ms. Shell and Coach Burromuerto communicated to him. Even more surreal however was his place in it: right in the middle.

“Can’t say that this was the ideal solution I was looking for, but I’ll accept it… for now.”

Damien felt a pit in his stomach. And it looks like Coach Burromuerto took notice, shifting his tone to a more optimistic one.

“Not ideal in the sense that you now have to deal with this responsibility!! Which is why I and the Snow Owls hockey team thank you for your service. I have no doubt that Wayne will make it to the finish line with your help.”

A firm hand hit Damien’s shoulder, startling him.

“We’re all counting on you!”

“I uh… I’ll do my best sir.”

“That’s what I want to hear.”

As Coach Burromuerto got up, he offered Damien one last piece of information before leaving.

“And if you’re looking for Wayne, you can find him in the locker rooms: just go down this path and take a right.”  

“Ah- thank you!”

“Of course. We’ll be in touch.”

With one last wave, Coach Burromuerto takes his leave.

…

…

What was that conversation just now…

He honestly didn’t feel like answering that, so instead he got up and made the walk to the locker rooms. 

I just hope it doesn’t smell in there…

…

It did indeed smell in there, but not the kind Damien was expecting. 

…Why do I smell citrus? Whatever- it doesn’t matter. Just gotta find Wayne.

Thankfully there weren’t that many guys in the locker rooms, but Damien still felt awkward navigating the space: he clearly felt like an outsider in the midst of these half-naked hockey players. Speaking of which…

Keep your eyes on the prize Damien, don’t need to be staring at anyone else, ESPECIALLY in this circumstance…

Of course, Damien’s need to lock sight with the floor inevitably results in him bumping into someone else.

“Ahh sorry man!! My bad.”

“No worries bud! Hey, cool hat.” 

Though difficult for Damien to play it cool while speaking to a hockey player with just a pair of boxers on, he nonetheless persisted. 

“Thanks! I uh… I like this hat.”

“Reminds me of Wayner’s hat- except red!! He also wears it backwards.”

“Ahh- you know Wayne??”

Oh fuck why did I just say that- of COURSE he knows Wayne- they all do, he’s their captain!!! Stupid Damien…

As Damien proceeds to mentally beat himself up over the question, the hockey player gives an earnest answer.

“Yeah!! That’s my best mate actually- known each other since we were in diapers.” 

Damien was a bit surprised by this, though he wasn’t entirely sure why.

“Really??”

“Yep!! You know him?”

“Yeah, a new friend of his actually haha…”

“Well any friend of Wayne is a friend of mine! The name’s-”

“RAJ CHECK THIS OUT!!!”

A loud voice echoed from the showers… a voice Damien was more than familiar with at this point. Any room for doubt however was quickly squashed when Wayne came running out- clad in nothing but towels covering his waist and hair…

…and Damien just wanted to melt. 

“What is it brah??”

“I have been LOOKING for my trusty puck for 3 months- thought I’d lost it!! Turns out- it was behind the shampoos!!! Isn’t that wild???”

“Dude that is SO WILD!!!”

The two laughed together like old pals. Damien meanwhile has made a total 180- trying to escape the locker rooms as discreetly as possible. 

There is no way in hell I can look at Wayne THIS naked- I gotta bail quic-

“Oh Wayners! The guy with the cool hat was asking about you.”

SHIT.

And so Wayne made eye contact with the petrified Damien. Though surprised at first, he naturally formed a big smile.

“DAMIEN!!! Bro how’s it going- whatchu doing here??”

Before Damien could form a coherent sentence however, Wayne’s expression turned to confusion as he started sniffing the place.

“Huh… and why does it smell orange-y in here?” 

To Damien’s surprise, another figure approached. 

“Oh that’s all me. Didn’t want to deal with the smell of sweat and dirty socks, so I sprayed the place down with some air freshener.”

Like Damien, the taller figure also seemed out of place- carrying a certain stylish flair that contrasted with his surroundings. 

Raj’s mouth went agape at this revelation.

“Bowie… you’re so SMART!!”

“Yeah Bowie- this is HUGE!!! The place smells so much better now!!”

Bowie gave them a confused look.

“Have y’all never used air freshener bef- you know what nevermind.” 

Bowie then shifted his attention to Damien. At first it was mild indifference… but then his expression changed as he gave the bookworm a better look.  

“...Hey. Damien right?”

“Uhh, yes! That’s me.”

“Didn’t you used to be besties with J-”

Bowie cut himself off mid-sentence, appearing to realize something.

“...Actually forget it- don’t mind me!” 

…?

Damien wasn’t sure how to take this, so he just nodded politely instead. Following that was an awkward silence, but thankfully Wayne cut it short.

“Oh yeah! We hanging out tomorrow, right Rajie?”

"Uh..."

Raj and Bowie glanced at each other, both looking like they were unsure what to say. Eventually though, Raj looked back at Wayne with a nervous smile as he started getting his clothes back on.

“...Sorry bud, meant to tell you earlier but Bowie and I have reservations for dinner tomorrow.”

“Oh…that’s cool! Sounds awesome- I guess we can do Wednesday then?”

Bowie addressed Wayne with a similar kind of hesitation.

“...So Raj and I have a project for Psych due Friday that still needs a lot of work, and we were thinking of dedicating the rest of the week to that…”

“...Ah!”

Maybe Damien was imagining things, but, for a brief moment…

…it looked like Wayne’s heart sank. 

Wayne…

Nonetheless, he managed to keep a smile together.

“That’s ok! Totally understand- you guys do what needs to be done. We can get together another time…”

Raj, now fully clothed, smiles at this and puts a hand on Wayne’s shoulder. 

“For sure!! Thanks man- you’re the best.”

Wayne only nods in response, his smile starting to weaken. 

“Well Raj and I are about to head out. You two have a good night!” 

“Yep, later Wayne! And nice meeting you Damien!!” 

“L-likewise!” 

…

Another silence followed after Bowie and Raj’s departure, though this one felt less awkward and more… despondent. By this point, Wayne’s smile has since fallen apart, once again leaving only a frown. Damien was already familiar with Wayne’s propensity to cheer up quickly… but it still didn’t make moments like these feel any better. Nonetheless, Damien started to ponder different ways in his head to raise Wayne’s spirits… to make him happy again. Before he could settle on a solution however, Wayne spoke.

“Hey… I’ll go ahead and get dressed and we can head back to the dorms, yeah?” 

Aww Wayne… 

“Yeah… that sounds good.”

Chapter Text

And so the hockey jock and bookworm found themselves standing in front of the dormitory, having just arrived. 

“Thanks again for the ride Wayne. Really appreciate it!”  

“Yea!! Anytime man.” 

And, sure enough, Wayne naturally rebounded from the gloomier disposition he had earlier. Damien assumed that the short drive back helped- it was quiet, sure, but sometimes the gentle car sounds through a snowy night are all one needs to take it easy… to decompress. Having said that, it wasn’t Damien’s intention to leave things quiet: he did aim to cheer Wayne up after all. As much as he tried, however, Damien couldn’t seem to get the right words off his chest… and he didn’t feel great about it either.

…

It almost felt like he missed his chance. 

…

Ah well… he looks better at least.

As the two enter the building, Damien sees some empty seats in the lounge area and beckons Wayne to sit with him.

“So I know you came to see me earlier- you wanted something?”

“Yes: 2 things actually, the first one being your number.”

“Ah!”

Wayne gave a quick nod and pulled out his phone, the two exchanging numbers in the process.

Having this SHOULD eliminate any further communication barriers going forward…

“And number 2: given that I’ll be tutoring you in chemistry going forward, we need to set up a schedule. What days are you free?”

Wayne ponders this for a bit, scratching his chin while mentally running through a typical week. 

“So that depends on which aren’t game days… ah! Lemme send you our game schedule this season. Think it’s normally Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but doesn’t always have to be- like we didn’t have one last Saturday and don’t have one tomorrow.” 

A few seconds later, Damien receives Wayne’s text. 

Hmm… looks like it’s not always fixed, but generally they seem to fall on those days.

After giving the schedule a good scan, Damien nods in confirmation. 

“Ok, how about this: maybe we can aim for Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 6 PM in the library? Thought 3 times a week might be a good amount. And we can adjust as needed for days where you have games instead.” 

“Yup, think I should be good with that!”

“Cool. I was also thinking each session could last an hour, but we can be flexible. And us being desk mates means I can help you out during team exercises, so I believe we have good coverage overall.”

The hockey captain smiles at this, kind and glowing in nature.

“Can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, man. Swear I’m gonna be a chem genius after your teaching!”

“I think you might be overhyping my abilities haha…”

“Hehe- lemme walk you to your dorm.”

Hey that’s nice of him, what a gentlem- WAIT. 

…

Is it normal for guys to do that?

He didn’t know the answer, but regardless, it still made him blush. 

…

A few sets of stairs later and the two reach the door to Damien dorm room. Damien personally would’ve taken the elevator had it not been out-of-order since last week, but what can a guy do.

“My floor is above this one, so I’ll get going. See ya Damien!” 

“Later Wayne…”

…

Well, mission accomplished I guess: got both Wayne’s number and the tutoring schedule…

…

…but why do I still feel weird? 

As he saw Wayne walk down the hallway, Damien started to experience a different kind of feeling. 

...No.

It felt incomplete. 

No- not yet. 

It felt urgent. 

Fuck- not yet!!!

It felt like-

“WAIT!!”

“...?”

-he had something else to say to Wayne… who turned to Damien in surprise. 

“...Yeah?”

“I… I uh…”

Get it together Damien… don’t fumble it like before: he NEEDS to hear this. 

Wayne drew closer, a mix of confusion and concern coating his expression.

“You good Damien? Something wrong?”

"..."

You got this man… just say it.

Sensing his nerves calm down, Damien takes a final deep breath… and starts to speak.

“I just wanted to say… that it was fun hanging out with you today! And…”

Keep going.

“And that I’d definitely be down to do it again. I know…”

Keep going!!

“...I know that you haven’t been able to hang out with your best bro as much as you used to… so…”

You’re almost there…

“...if you ever feel lonely… or feel like you have nobody else to turn to… let me know! I may be your chem tutor… but that… that…”

You’re at the finish line duDE TAKE IT HOME!!!!

“...that doesn’t mean I can’t be your bro too…”

…

Today Damien decided to take a chance, to say something from the heart. And Wayne…

“...”

…tears started welling up in Wayne’s eyes. 

“...Wayne? You alri-”

Damien couldn’t finish the sentence without Wayne embracing him- the distance between the two gone in an instant.

…

He could feel everything: the strong arms around him, the hair brushing ever so softly on his neck, the intense body heat traveling across their chests… and his heartbeat. Wayne’s heartbeat. A heart beating so fast that Damien worried it would explode… but then again, it’s not like his heart was any better. There was no use in prolonging the inevitable, in pushing away the truth: he has fallen for Wayne Hawkins. 

…

Damien had no expectation that Wayne would return the feelings, nor did the bookworm ever plan to communicate said feelings to him in the first place… but that was ok. For now at least, just accepting to himself that he had feelings for Wayne was all he needed… and being able to embrace him like this gave Damien all the warmth he could ever want in life. 

Eventually, the hug came to an end, with Wayne slowly pulling back. Tears still streamed down his face, but a soft smile shined through. 

“Thank you bro… means a lot.”

Wayne weakly raises a hand up, waving Damien goodbye. Damien does the same, not yet aware that he started crying as well. And, once again, he sees Wayne walk down the hallway. It was a much slower walk then the initial bounce in his step he had before, but this time he was able to reach the stairwell and head up to his floor. It was only through Wayne’s eventual departure from sight did Damien feel comfortable entering his room… truly in awe of the day he just had.