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Ronan forgot that not everyone who wanted to fight him got extensive training from Niall Lynch. So whenever it wasn’t Declan Lynch who Ronan was fighting, the fight usually went like this: three hits- Jackass hitting Ronan, Ronan hitting Jackass, Jackass hitting the floor.
Aglionby Boys didn’t fight like Niall Lynch did, like Ronan and Declan Lynch do.
(Well, all except for Kavinsky. But Kavinsky was, well, dead).
This particular fight went like any particular three-hit fight, except this particular Jackass actually got a good shot at Ronan. Good enough that Ronan already felt the side of his face pulsing and growing hot in the car ride back to the Barns; Good enough that, even in the shitty lighting of the bathroom, Ronan could see the right side of his jaw already swelling.
(And maybe Ronan delivered some very not-nice but rightfully deserved phrases. And threw in a kick or two. He likes to be creative).
“Fuck,” Ronan mumbled to himself, running his hand over his jaw and down his neck, then back up again. Gansey will give him shit when he sees this. Ronan will yet again receive Gansey’s trademarked “You’re so close to graduating and getting out of Aglionby, don’t fuck it up now” speech.
But when people were saying shit about the boy he… the boy he loved, whether he was there or not, Ronan had to defend him.
So the Barns were the best hide-away from dad Gansey. Opal wasn’t going to give him shit since she was off in the back running and… doing kid stuff.
A thought occurred to him. He peered out the bathroom window to make sure that Opal was actually in the back and not anywhere else because that would be something to explain to people and yes there she is and no why is she running to the driveway-
Ronan flung the window open, letting the chilly air in. “OPAL!" He stuck his head out the window. “Stop dicking around! Come back-”
“You just scream father material.” Adam, who wore that smile that made Ronan burn on the inside in a way that he wouldn’t mind experiencing forever, walked over the grass, Opal right behind him. Adam, who-
“Heard about what happened at Aglionby today. I tried to find you but everyone said you stormed off, that there were tire marks in the parking lot to prove it.”
-who no doubt heard about the fight. Adam who of course spent time looking for Ronan while Ronan of course bailed the second he could.
Ronan had a comment on the tip of his tongue that faltered once he saw the frown on Adam’s lips at the sight of Ronan’s jaw. Ronan let Adam’s fingers graze the mark softly.
“Opal, go away,” Ronan said softly, his eyes not leaving Adam. “Don’t eat any sticks.” Opal, for once, agreed silently.
Adam sighed, his shoulders lifting and falling. “Ronan Lynch,” Adam said, his accent slipping through. Ronan noticed that he let in slip in more and more often. “You worry me.”
“Then you should see the other guy.”
“I don’t care about the other guy, I care about you. Now, let me climb in.”
Ronan’s face burned, and it wasn’t because of the pulsing bruise on his cheek. If it was anyone else, he would have made them walk to the front. Not to be an ass (at least not a complete ass), but just so he could give them his prize-winning shit-eating grin with the words “Are you kidding me? What were you, raised in a barn?” tacked on. Except this wasAdam, so Ronan just took a slight step back and let Adam use his hand to balance as he climbed through the window.
Once Adam’s feet hit the floor, his free hand cupped Ronan’s cheek and he pulled him in for a gentle kiss. Ronan’s breath still hitched and his heart still fluttered.
“Did you ice your face?” Adam asked once he pulled away. Ronan watched his eyes scan the rest of his face for any more marks or cuts.
“No.” Ronan reached over and pulled the window shut.
“Then I’ll get some.”
“Adam-”
“Oh, let me help you,” Adam said with a soft smile.
Ronan huffed. He didn’t need to be fawned over like some child. He survived worse fights than this, way worse fights, and never needed someone to sit and take care of him. But Adam looked so hopeful and fuck that smile. “Fine,” Ronan mumbled, glancing away. He looked back up to watch Adam walk wordlessly out of the bathroom. Sighing, he pushed himself up to sit on the counter, listening to Adam’s movements just outside the doorway.
Adam returned with ice in a plastic bag, paper towels wrapped around it. “You could dream up a younger brother, but never ice packs?” he joked with a grin. He stood between Ronan’s legs, holding with make-shift ice pack against his jaw. With nearly no hesitation, Ronan covered Adam’s hand with his own.
Ronan watched Adam’s blush first appear on his cheeks and then spread to his ears.
“Does Gansey know?” Ronan asked.
“Probably. I’ll make him go easy on you.”
“Thanks Parrish.”
After a couple minutes of silence, comfortable silence, Adam removed to see if any swelling had gone down and, with that, added, “So what did you fight the guy about, anyway?”
So here was Adam; Adam who was helping Ronan recover from a fight, Adam who didn’t know the fight was to defend him.
Ronan didn’t want to tell him that. Knowing Adam, he would scold Ronan for getting into a fight for him, and then state that he can handle his own battles and that he doesn’t need Ronan defending him like that. Which is true, Adam is very capable. But also, Adam would feel bad because Ronan got hurt. And the last thing Ronan wanted to do, the very last thing ever, was make Adam feel bad.
“He was being a dick.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie. “I thought that was a good enough reason.”
Adam shook his head at Ronan, but Ronan saw the corners of his lips turn upwards. Ronan, now with the ice pack off his jaw, prodded at it with his fingers to see if it hurt yet.
“Prodding won’t make it heal faster.”
Ronan rolled his eyes. “Well I can’t think of anything else that would.”
Adam leaned forward and kissed the bruise on Ronan’s jaw. And Ronan’s mind… blanked. Every thought that was running in his head suddenly shut down. His heart someone stopped and skipped a beat and sped up all at the same time. Ronan was sure this was what cardiac arrest felt like. He could feel his face burn and blush spread from his cheeks up to his ears and down his neck.
The smallest gesture, and still Adam had the ability to falter Ronan.
“That was disgusting, Parrish,” Ronan said, so quiet he wouldn’t have been audible if there was any noise. His eyes were locked with Adam’s.
Adam laughed, his laugh ringing out like chimes or like if sunshine could become a noise, poetic shit like that. “So gross,” he beamed before kissing his jaw again and making his way back up to his lips.