Chapter Text
Normally, Buddy Clemson would have been absolutely stoked for today’s gym class. He was practically a pro at dodgeball, despite his size. He was always the first pick of whoever was choosing teams (he’d been Mars Sterling’s first pick today, much to Ace’s irritation) but he had a bad feeling about his performance. There was something on his mind, something that had been bothering him all day, ever since the night before.
Okay, well, it wasn’t just something, he knew the cause. He just didn’t fully understand it. He wasn’t the kind of guy who overthought things. But he hadn’t been able to stop thinking. He’d barely slept last night, which was rare for him. Along with being a pro dodgeball player, he was also a pro at sleeping.
So, naturally, he was a little tired today, and just as they lined up on the court to start the game, he yawned at the worst possible time - getting a dodgeball right in the stomach.
“Really, Ace?!” Mars yelled across the gym, annoyed that his best player was out already.
Ace, who was captaining the other team, never let anything get in the way of competition. Not even a best friend. He smirked back at Mars, dodging a throw from Teddy, who was also on Mars’ team.
“Fucking cheater!” Teddy yelled out at his friend, grinning when Ace caught a throw from Spinner, whipping it with force at Teddy, who dodged out of the way with a laugh.
“Watch that language, Teddy, or you’re out!” Gale Windsor, who coached the boys’ soccer and basketball teams (and also worked as the senior gym teacher) warningly brandished his whistle. Everyone knew he didn’t really care about swearing - he liked to rile the guys up with warnings, though.
“Oh come on!” Teddy replied, grabbing a ball and whipping it at the opposing side, taking out Chase Dillon, who’d been the unfortunate target of three successive shots. But it was Teddy’s that tagged him in the end.
Buddy watched from the back of the opposing square, leaning over with his hands on his knees, watching the action, waiting for a spare ball to come his way. So he’d been knocked out early, no big deal. He could get back in the action just as quickly. Well, normally he could. He’d missed his first attempt, though, which wasn’t a huge cause for concern. Except that it was, because he’d targeted Ace’s worst player - a lanky weirdo named Corvo Attano, who never lasted long in any athletic activity (except long-distance running). What was wrong with him, that he couldn’t even get Corvo out?!
It was probably a bad idea, and it wouldn’t help his dodgeball performance, but he let his mind wander back to the night before. It was so weird - 24 hours ago, and he’d been more excited than he’d ever remembered being, because he was finally going on a date with the only girl he’d ever really liked, Patch. They’d been friends for years, since they were kids, but Buddy had never thought she liked him back. Not as anything more than a friend.
Turns out Patch had thought the same about him, so they’d both ended up taking three years longer than they would have needed in order to try dating each other. The date itself had been great, they’d gone to see I Know What You Did Last Summer, which they’d both enjoyed, and they’d spent two hours after the movie talking about their strategies for overcoming a serial killer stalker.
Then disaster struck. Well, not disaster, really. Disappointment, maybe?
They’d kissed, finally, after flirting around the idea all night, getting in close, only to pull back at the last second. But finally, as they’d left the park where they’d been talking to head home, Patch had pushed him up against a tree and gone up on tiptoe to press her lips to his, her hands tight around the back of his neck. It had been the sort of moment he’d been thinking about for ages, and it had been exactly what he’d hoped would happen.
Except that it just… Didn’t do anything for him. He didn’t feel anything. There was no spark of excitement, no intense jolt of desire and longing he’d always assumed would be there when he finally got to kiss her.
It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t exciting.
He’d gone home and sat on his bed, replaying the scene in his mind, trying to figure out why it hadn’t gone the way he’d thought it would. He’d picked up his phone to call Ace and talk about it (because Ace had been the one to talk him into it in the first place) but right before he finished dialing the number, he’d looked at the clock, and noticed that it was nearly two in the morning. Ace would be pissed to be woken up in the middle of the night over this, so Buddy had put the phone back in its cradle and turned off his light and tried to sleep.
And now he’d been trying to corner Ace all day to talk, but getting a minute alone with the most popular guy in school was easier said than done. He’d resolved himself to waiting until they were in the locker room after gym class. He’d talk to him then. The same way they’d talked the other day, before… Well.
Just as he started thinking about that day, he got hit by a ball again. He looked up suddenly, to find Ace and Chase (who’d made it back onto the court) staring at him, wearing twin expressions of amusement. Buddy frowned and leaned down to pick up the ball, whipping it at Ace, who dodged it and stuck his tongue out at Buddy, before turning around to catch a throw from the other side.
Fuck! He was already obsessing enough over the weird kiss with Patch. The last thing he needed to start thinking about was the kiss he’d shared with Ace the other day, half-naked in the locker room. Now that had done something to him! That kiss had left him wanting more, and he’d spent that evening thinking about the kiss, telling himself that he was going to feel like that after he kissed Patch.
But he hadn’t, and he needed to figure out why.
Forty minutes later, Coach Windsor blew his whistle to end class, and Buddy stood with his hands on his hips, annoyed at himself. He’d managed to get back on the court only twice, and had registered only 5 hits total. His worst game ever.
“Buddy, gather the balls up before you hit the shower.” Coach Windsor called out, and Buddy frowned. He needed to talk to Ace before his attention went elsewhere.
Buddy started to gather the balls up, dropping them into the net bag.
“You okay? I haven’t seen you that off your game ever,” Coach Windsor asked him.
Buddy looked up at the teacher, annoyed with himself for being that bad that he’d noticed. “Uh, yeah, just, you know, just an off day, I guess.” He finished picking up the last of the balls, handing the full bag to the teacher.
“We all have them sometimes,” Coach replied, hoisting the bag over his shoulder. “Go hit the showers, and try to wake up that brain of yours.”
Buddy didn’t need to be told twice, making his way into the locker room.
“You up for hoops later, blondie?” Was the question he heard as soon as he got in the room, his eyes darting around.
“Of course, if you feel like losing,” came the reply from Ace, who was once again standing there in nothing but a towel, his eyes on Mars, who was Ace’s best friend, and captain of Buddy’s hockey team.
Mars laughed at the response. “Yeah, we’ll see about that. All I have to do is take off my shirt, and it’ll be an easy win.”
“You would do that, wouldn’t you?” Ace replied with a grin, watching as Mars finished stripping out of his gym clothes, grabbing his own towel. It was a well known secret among the higher echelon of the popular crowd that Ace was gay, and had a huge crush on Mars, who was straight. But one of Mars’ favourite pastimes was flirting with Ace anyway.
Buddy went to his own spot, quickly stripping out of his gear as well, hoping to catch Ace in the shower. Ace and Mars usually took more time showering off than the other guys in their class, and Buddy needed that time to talk to him.
He watched as the best friends headed for the shower room, and quickly followed behind them, taking a spot next to Ace, who had his head tilted up into the spray of water, his eyes closed. Buddy stared at him for a few seconds longer than usual, letting his eyes travel over his body. As long as he’d known Ace, the other boy had always been the best looking guy in the group, never a single awkward day during everyone else’s battle with puberty.
Not that Buddy made a habit of staring at him. He was just hard to not notice.
“You forget how to shower, Buddy?” Came the teasing comment from Mars, who’d caught him staring.
Buddy wasn’t sure why the comment made him feel embarrassed, and he ducked his head under the shower spray to hide the blush that sprang to his cheeks. Damn! “Get bent, Mars!”
Both Ace and Mars laughed at the reply, and Buddy breathed a sigh of relief. Why was he even nervous, though?! What was wrong with him? He quickly washed, using the soap from the dispenser in the shower that was provided by the school. Ace brought his own soap from home, which sometimes made him the target of teasing from other guys. Teasing Ace never really got anyone anywhere, though, because it was impossible to rattle the blonde. Buddy had always admired that confidence in himself that Ace possessed.
He finished washing up and glanced at Ace, who was still standing under the spray. He heard Mars shut off his shower tap, surprised when the other boy reached out to squeeze the back of his neck.
“Get your head together, Buddy, you’ve been a mess all day, and we’ve got that game against Leaside in two days.” Then Mars left the shower room, and Buddy realized that Ace had also shut his tap off too.
“Hey, hold up, Ace,” Buddy called out to him, turning off his water and grabbing his towel, wrapping it around his waist. Ace stood in front of him, waiting for him to speak, and Buddy looked at him and couldn’t figure out how to start the conversation.
Ace grinned at him, his arms crossing over his chest. “Is this about Patch?” He asked, and of course Ace knew about their date already, didn’t he? Ace and Patch were also really close. Had she said something to him?
Buddy nodded, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “Yeah, we uh, we had that kiss last night.”
Ace nodded, his lips turned up in a little smirk, the kind of expression that tended to make the girls swoon (even the ones who knew he was gay). “And?”
Buddy blew his breath out loudly, reaching a hand up to comb through his hair. “I don’t know, Ace, it didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
“No? You screw it up, or did she?” Ace asked, because while Patch had indeed told him about the date (and the kiss) in her opinion, everything had been perfect.
Buddy shook his head. “No, no one screwed it up. It wasn’t bad, it just,” Buddy hesitated, like he wasn’t sure what to say, “I just thought it would feel different.”
“Different how?” Ace asked, thoroughly curious now.
Buddy shrugged. “Well, I thought it would be more exciting, like it was when you kissed me.”
Ace’s expression dropped immediately. Oh, fuck, there’s no way… “Well, maybe you were overthinking it? Maybe you were too nervous about not screwing it up, so you didn’t properly enjoy it?”
Buddy shook his head again. “No, I don’t think so. I actually wasn’t nervous at all.”
“What was the setting? Maybe you just liked that I was aggressive with you, maybe if Patch shoved you into a wall, you’d like it more?”
“No, she did that! Well, she shoved me against a tree, but, same thing. It just didn’t really spark anything.” Buddy looked desperately at Ace, like his friend would know all the answers.
Ace was silent for a moment, trying to think of everything Patch had told him. She hadn’t really been big on the details of the kiss, just that she’d enjoyed it. “Did she say anything?”
“No, I don’t think she noticed. But what does it mean? You know how bad I wanted to kiss her, Ace. I really thought I’d be more excited about it.”
It doesn’t mean anything good for Patch! “Uh, maybe you just need to kiss her more. Anyway, let me think about it, we’ll talk about it later.” Later, after he talked to Patch again.
Buddy nodded, and while he didn’t have any answers yet, he felt infinitely better after talking to Ace about it and divulging his concerns. Ace was good with this stuff. He’d figure it out for him.
Ace bolted out of French class the second the bell sounded, rushing to the first floor front hall, where Patch’s locker was. He knew she had plans with Melody right after school, since she didn’t have any team practices today. But he needed to talk to her about Buddy while it was still fresh, and Patch and Melody were getting out of their shared math class, which was steps from their lockers. His classroom was on the second floor, on the opposite side of the school.
Normally he wouldn’t try so hard to fix someone else’s problem, but Buddy was integral to the school’s hockey team, and they did have that important league game with their rivals on Friday. Not that Ace played hockey, but most of his best friends did, and he was a sucker for school pride.
Just as he touched down in the entry way, he spotted Patch shutting her locker and leaning against it, waiting for Melody to finish a conversation with Princess Alexandrov. Perfect.
“Ladies,” Ace greeted the three, before slipping his arm around Patch’s shoulders.
Patch turned her head to look at him, her expression already suspiciously scrunched up. “What did you do?”
Melody laughed, while Ace returned Patch’s look with a wounded expression. “I haven’t done anything, not on purpose, at least.”
“Oh, here we go,” Princess grinned, nudging Melody, “I feel like this is going to be good.”
Ace looked at the other two girls and shook his head. “Nothing overly exciting just yet, you hyenas.”
“What do you want?” Patch asked, crossing her arms over her chest, thinking about elbowing Ace in the ribs.
Instead of answering Patch’s question, Ace looked at Melody. “I know you and Patch have plans, but I really need to talk to her right now, and it might take a while.”
Melody frowned at him, crossing her own arms and leaning into Princess. “You wanna come to Sportchek with me?” She asked her other friend. “I told mom I’d go and look at hockey skates for the twins. Someone was supposed to help me.”
Princess frowned at Melody. “Sportchek? Ew, no.” Melody let out a huff of irritation, before Princess grinned at her. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t, I just said I didn’t want to.”
“That’s fair,” Melody replied, looking back at Ace. “Okay, you can have Patch.”
“Excuse me?” Patch replied, “Don’t I get a say?”
“Not in your best interest to turn me down,” Ace replied. The two shared a look, before Ace elaborated. “It’s about last night.” Patch’s expression turned to confusion, while Melody and Princess stifled laughter.
“What about last night?” Patch asked him, “What did you hear?”
Ace tightened his arm around her shoulders and started to pull her towards the door. “That’s for private conversation.”
“Okay, hold on!” Patch grumbled, before turning back to Melody. “If you find something you want to buy, ask Blade to charge you at my employee discount, and if he won’t do it, tell him to put the skates aside and I’ll get you the discount another day.”
“Blade’s working?” Princess asked, face lighting up in a smile.
“Ugh, you would get excited over that, wouldn’t you?” Melody groaned, rolling her eyes and looking back at Patch. “I’ll pass the request on, thanks girl!”
“Beautiful, now let’s go chat.” Ace pulled Patch towards the entrance doors, grinning when he heard Melody call out for them to call her later. Both of them. He led Patch around the side of the school, towards the sports field, which was currently empty. They sat together on the bleachers.
“Okay, what about last night? Did Buddy talk to you?” Patch asked, trying to quell the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She thought last night had gone perfectly, hadn’t it? Buddy hadn’t said anything.
“He cornered me in the showers after gym,” Ace replied, “and I think we might have a problem on our hands.”
“What?” Patch asked, allowing a note of irritation to creep into her voice. “Just spit it out, already!”
“I think he might be gay.”
Patch didn’t say anything for a moment, silently taking it in. Then her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“Don’t blame me for this!” Ace replied, annoyed with her response. “Look, two days ago, Buddy came to me in a panic, because you guys were finally going on a date, and he thought his kissing wasn’t going to be up to standard. You know, because you’ve got so much experience with that.”
Patch was tempted to punch him, but that wouldn’t really help matters any. Besides, it’s not like Buddy was Ace’s type, anyway. If anything had happened, it certainly hadn’t been on purpose. Still. He sometimes had a really annoying way of imparting bad news. “Get on with your story.” She chose not to rise to the bait of his inexperience comment.
“So, he wanted my help.”
“With kissing?” Patch asked, unable to help herself. God, Ace was so annoying!
“Yes, with kissing. And honestly he needed it, way too liberal with the tongue.”
Patch couldn’t help but grin just then, because she’d heard Ace complain about bad kissing a few times. “That bad?” She teasingly asked, amused at the look on his face.
“You should be thanking me,” he replied, his turn to look annoyed. “I don’t know what kind of porn he’s watching, but it can’t be good.” Patch couldn’t help but laugh at the comment, which made Ace laugh too.
“Okay, so what? You kissed my boyfriend?” Patch asked, and she was at least grateful that Buddy hadn’t slobbered all over her face for their first kiss.
“Yeah, I shoved him up against the wall and showed him how it’s done.”
Patch was silent for a moment, picturing it in her head. Even though Buddy towered over both she and Ace, he wasn’t exactly an aggressive guy in one-on-one situations. More of a follower than a leader. “And?”
Ace frowned at her. “And apparently when you kissed him, it didn’t really do anything for him. Not the way it did when I kissed him.”
“Fuck.” Patch let out a long breath, fighting the urge to be annoyed with Ace. “So, is that all he said? That the kiss wasn’t good for him?”
“Pretty much,” Ace replied. “He said everything else was great, but he specifically said that your kiss didn’t feel the way it had when I kissed him.”
“Did he ask about being gay?”
“No, he just couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been more excited about his kiss with you.”
“And you think that means he’s gay?”
“Look at the supporting evidence,” Ace replied, “you’re the only girl he’s ever been interested in, and you’re practically a dude. He never talks about girls in the locker room when the guys get going, not once. The only posters he’s got up in his bedroom are of guys.”
Patch sighed. “Yeah, I guess you do have a point. So, what do you think I should do?”
Ace shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t suggest being gay to him yet, I wanted to talk to you first. Get your take on it.”
“How thoughtful of you,” Patch replied, and she actually meant it, but judging from the look on Ace’s face, he thought she was being sarcastic. “Hey, I mean that. You know I’ve liked him for a long time, it’s not your fault that you turned him gay.” Now she was joking.
“Real funny,” he replied, leaning back and looking up at the sky. “You know he’s very much not my type, right?”
“I know,” she replied, moving to sit next to him. “Maybe we should get him to try kissing both of us again, see if he still prefers you.”
Ace sat back up. “Not much else we can do, right? You don’t want to try turning him straight, do you?” He looked back at her, grateful that her irritation had gone as quickly as it had come.
Patch shook her head. “If you can’t turn Mars gay, I don’t think I’ve got the power to turn Buddy straight.”
“Wow, if that isn’t the most underhanded compliment you’ve ever given me…”
Patch grinned, tempted once again to elbow him (not because she was mad at him, just for fun) but at that moment she noticed Buddy coming around the side of the school, walking with two of the other guys on the hockey team. She nudged Ace in a non-aggressive way. “You wanna do it now?”
Ace followed her gaze and saw Buddy, who hadn’t noticed them yet. “Here?”
“Afraid of people seeing you kiss a guy?” She teasingly asked, because it was a sure fire way to get him to say yes.
“I am fully capable of kissing a guy and still maintaining my fake straight persona, thank you very much.”
Patch grinned at his response and drew in a breath before yelling across the field. “BUDDY!” She watched as the hockey players stopped, with the tallest of the three turning to look their way. He waved at them, before Patch yelled to him again. “GET YOUR BIG, DUMB BUTT OVER HERE!”
“Peak feminine charm,” Ace muttered, not bothering to move as he watched Buddy bound towards them, like a giant puppy dog, grin plastered to his face.
Patch looked down at him and grinned. “Works every time.” She watched as Buddy approached them, thankfully on his own. Patch noticed his gaze flicker between her and Ace, finally putting two and two together.
“Hey guys,” he said apprehensively, standing in front of the bleachers where they both sat, looking like he was about to be scolded.
“Sit down, big guy,” Patch said, amused when Buddy seemed to relax at the invitation to join them on the bleachers. It didn’t last long, though.
“I talked to Patch about what you told me earlier,” Ace said, and immediately Buddy’s expression dropped.
“Did you tell her everything?!” He asked, again glancing nervously between them.
“Everything.” Ace replied.
“Oh, shit,” Buddy quietly muttered, before looking at Patch. “I had a great time last night, really I did-”
“Got bored kissing me, did you?” Patch sat up and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him. It was just an act, of course, making him sweat was fun.
“I didn’t say it was boring!” Buddy panicked, looking at Ace. “I didn’t say it was boring, did I?”
“Not in those words,” Ace replied, “but you did say it wasn’t exciting, which technically makes it boring.”
“Can I kiss you again?” Buddy asked her, “maybe we need to try it again?”
“That’s actually what we were going to do with you right now,” Patch replied, breaking her glare, “you sit there, and Ace and I are going to kiss you again. Then you tell us which one you feel better about.”
Buddy looked between them in disbelief. “Why would I kiss Ace again?”
“Because we think you might be gay, Buddy. That’s usually what it means when kissing a guy is more exciting than kissing a girl,” Ace replied, amused when Buddy’s expression went blank, like his brain was short-circuiting. Ace glanced at Patch, who grinned back at him.
“Congrats, asshole, I think you broke him.”
Ace laughed and Patch stood up, moving down two rows to where Buddy was still sitting, stunned silent. Patch looked quickly around the field, which was empty, before straddling Buddy’s lap and diving right in, her hands cupping his cheeks as she kissed him.
Ace watched Buddy as Patch did the work, noticing that his hands stayed where they were at first, before he awkwardly moved them to rest on her waist. It didn’t exactly scream excitement. After a few more seconds Patch stood up, nodding at Buddy before moving back beside Ace.
“I don’t know what porn you’re watching, but it’s gotta be better than Buddy’s!” Ace teased her, and Patch reached out to punch him in the shoulder. Ace took the hit. “Hey, that was a compliment! You kiss better than I expected.”
“Oh shut up and get on the hot seat, cowboy!” Patch replied, watching as Ace stood up and moved down two rows, copying Patch’s actions of looking around the field before straddling Buddy’s lap. Ace wasn’t about to let Patch show him up, and she watched as he kissed Buddy, fully controlling the kiss.
But this time Buddy’s hands immediately settled comfortably on Ace, pulling him more tightly in against his body. That said it all, as far as Patch was concerned. Now that she knew to look for it, she’d felt the uncomfortable tension in Buddy when she’d been on his lap, tension that left him the second Ace took her spot.
Oh, well. If she was going to lose Buddy to someone else, at least it was one of her best friends, who had something to offer him that she was lacking.
Ace pulled out of the kiss and stood up, glancing at Patch as he stepped away from Buddy. “Was it, you know?” Ace asked her, eyes flicking towards Buddy’s crotch. Patch immediately laughed, because that really sealed the deal. Buddy was definitely gay.
“No, it was not.”
Buddy recovered his composure as he watched Ace sit down next to Patch again. “Was what? What are you guys talking about?”
“Your dick,” Patch replied.
“It got hard as soon as I started kissing you,” Ace replied, grinning at Buddy, who immediately slammed his legs shut.
“Oh fuck, am I gay?” Buddy suddenly asked, looking between the two of them.
“Well, you’re gay for Ace, at least,” Patch replied.
“Who isn’t?” Ace smugly replied, before looking warningly at Patch. “Don’t say it.”
Patch grinned back at him. “Hey, maybe this is what you need! Start doing gay stuff with Buddy, and it’ll make Mars jealous.”
“Wait, is Mars gay too?” Buddy asked.
“Sadly, no,” Ace replied, “though not for my lack of trying.”
Buddy nodded, going quiet again, still coming to terms with everything. “So, what now?” He finally asked, looking back up at Ace.
“What do you mean?” Ace asked, not wanting to voice the question he knew was coming out loud.
“Well, if you’re gay, and I’m gay, are we going to go out?”
Ace tried not to look too put off by Buddy’s wide hopeful eyes, scrambling to think of the best way to let him down. Like he’d told Patch, Buddy was not his type.
Patch wasn’t about to get on his side, though. “I think you should give it a try,” she told him, her eyes flicking between Ace and Buddy. Ace didn’t want to chance looking at Buddy, keeping his warning gaze on Patch. “It’s only fair,” she continued, “you woke the beast, you should feed it.”
Ace frowned and shoved her away. “God, you have the worst euphemisms.”
Buddy watched the pair of them trade comments, and he wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Of course Ace wouldn’t want to date him! Stupid question. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. This just surprised me, you know I don’t always think before I talk.”
Ace wished he could keep his eyes averted and agree with Buddy that he shouldn’t have gone jumping to conclusions, but it was so rare to hear Buddy’s voice tinged with regret, and he couldn’t help but look at him, feeling like an asshole when he saw the defeat in Buddy’s posture. Fuck! This wasn’t even his fault!
“I didn’t say no,” Ace replied, cursing his moment of weakness, and wondering if it was even okay for him to suggest dating a guy he knew he wasn’t really interested in. Then again, it wasn’t like he had any legitimate prospects at the moment. The only guy he really wanted was straight. Why not at least give Buddy a good experience? At the very least, he didn’t want to risk Buddy being down for Friday night’s hockey game. Mars would kill him.
Patch’s eyes widened at Ace’s slight back-pedal, wondering if he was actually starting to weigh the option of dating Buddy, or if he was just feeling guilty. Buddy was such a happy-go-lucky guy, she wouldn’t be surprised if his sudden lapse into melancholy ended up manipulating Ace into giving him a chance.
“So, it’s a maybe, then?” Buddy asked, feeling a little better. But then reality hit him again - no one on the hockey team or the football team were gay! What would the guys say? Would it bother them? “Actually maybe it should stay a no. I don’t know if I’m ready for the other guys to know I like guys.” He looked seriously at Ace. “You’re not fully out to everyone, so I probably shouldn’t be either, right?”
Ace hadn’t really considered that yet either. “Well, think of all the guys on the team who know I’m gay, and still hang out with me and don’t get weirded out after gym when we’re in the shower. As long as you act straight around them, they probably won’t even think about it. And if it does bother anyone, Mars will have your back, and you know whatever he says in hockey goes. Same with Rex, if any of the football guys give you hell, he’ll sort them out.”
“And if anyone else gives you hell, I’ll break a baseball bat over their head,” Patch replied, winking at Buddy.
“Thanks, guys,” Buddy replied, feeling a little better. Ace was right - none of the guys who knew he was gay were ever bothered about it. Maybe it really was all in the attitude.
“You know, you could also present it as a good thing for them,” Patch continued, “with you gay, then it’s one hot stud off the market, right? Less competition for girls!”
Buddy grinned. “Hey, you’re right! I mean, girls do like me, right? Like, girly-girls?”
“Yes, the girly-girls like you, big guy,” Patch confirmed, which she’d always found funny, because Buddy had never once shown any bit of interest in any of them. But when you were tall and a good athlete in high school, that got you all the girls you could want. Or not want.
“There, you’ve got all the ammo you need, then!” Ace replied, relieved that Buddy had quickly bounced back after feeling down. He’d gone through similar concern a few years ago when he’d first started contemplating his own sexuality. But, unlike Buddy, Ace had always been more of a leader, so he hadn’t let himself be worried about whether or not the other guys would care that he was gay. He’d just firmly establish himself as the best and they’d all have no choice but to accept him. And still follow him.
Which, honestly, would make Buddy a decent possibility for a boyfriend, as weird as it was to contemplate giving Buddy that title. At least there wouldn’t be any competition between them. He was sure Buddy would let him take the reins.
“Well, now that we’ve established Buddy’s preferences, I will leave you two alone to let the sparks fly,” Patch teasingly said, before hopping up from her spot. Before leaving she towered over Ace, who was still sitting and looking up at her in slight irritation. “If you break his heart, I will break you in two.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Ace countered, before grinning at her, amused at her protective instincts for a guy twice her size.
Patch then walked down two rows and stood over Buddy. “And you, don’t let him walk all over you, okay? Remember that you’re bigger and stronger than he is.”
Buddy was relieved at the way Patch was taking it all - after all, if he were straight, they’d be dating now, wouldn’t they? Now she was trying her best to get him and Ace together. That was pretty cool of her.
“Hey, don’t be putting any thoughts in his head!” Ace said, “I like him when I can intimidate him!”
Buddy looked around Patch and grinned at Ace. “Don’t worry, you’re safe!”
Patch laid a hand on Buddy’s head and ruffled his hair. “Alright, I’m out.” She met Buddy’s eyes. “Call me later, okay?”
Buddy nodded and watched her leave, before looking back up at Ace, who was also watching her walk away. Then their eyes met, and Ace patted the seat next to him. “Come here.”
Buddy climbed up the two rows, sitting down next to Ace, feeling butterflies in his stomach suddenly. How had he never noticed this before? “Hey, when did you realize you were gay?”
Ace didn’t reply right away, thinking about his answer. “I kind of always knew,” he replied, “I think that’s why I focused on Melody when we were kids, because I knew she didn’t like me as more than a friend, so it made it easier to ignore the girls who did want to date me.”
“I wonder if that’s why I only ever liked Patch?” Buddy asked. “She was always different than the other girls, she was like one of the guys.”
“That’s what I said to her, earlier. That. and you never talk about girls.”
“Yeah, I guess maybe it was kind of obvious, huh?” Buddy said, wondering if anyone else had realized it.
“I don’t know that it was that obvious, I never suspected it until now, after all.” Probably because he hadn’t been interested. No point in saying that, though.
“Why aren’t you fully out?” Buddy asked, curious about Ace’s reasons for not making it more public. As many people knew, he still flirted with girls too, and even went on dates with them. If they did end up dating, would Ace make them keep it secret?
“It’s just easier not to be,” Ace replied, which wasn’t really true. Sometimes all he wanted was to make it fully official, get himself a boyfriend and walk down the halls with him, hand in hand. It was easy for everyone to accept him when he didn’t flaunt it.
“Do you ever want to be open about it?” Buddy asked, still trying to work out what he wanted to do.
“Honestly? Sometimes, I do.” He’d never admitted that to anyone before - it felt weird to do it now. Well, he’d kind of admitted it to Mars before, but he’d phrased it more as a complaint than an admission of his feelings surrounding keeping certain parts of his life private. He’d talked to Mars’ sister about it, but then it was easier for girls to be out than guys, in his opinion. Or maybe it was just easiest to be out when you were Venus Sterling, head so far up your own ass that no one else’s concerns even crossed your own mind (he meant that as a compliment). Venus kept telling him to get a boyfriend, so they could double-date and shove their combined homosexuality down everyone’s throats.
Maybe now he’d actually take her up on her offer.
“Hey, Buddy? If we are going to go out, I have one condition.” Ace looked at the other boy, studying Buddy’s face for a moment. He was a good looking guy, even if he didn’t have the chiselled cheekbones and intense eyes that made Ace’s heart race. At least this way, he’d definitely be the hotter one. Which was important, at the end of the day.
“Sure, what is it?” Buddy stared back at Ace, admiring the way Ace’s perfect hair framed his face, how the green of his eyes really popped. Then he thought about him in the shower earlier - and he had to look at his feet. Oh God, the locker room was not going to be the same anymore, was it?
“You really do need to let me call the shots,” Ace replied, because he knew himself. He liked being in charge, felt self-conscious when he wasn’t in a leadership position. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to think about a relationship, but if he didn’t set that boundary, then it would only invite trouble before he really gave this thing a chance.
“Obviously!” Buddy agreed, smiling at him, like he’d thought Ace was joking. “I don’t know what I’m doing, so you can make all the decisions. Whatever you say, goes.” He’d always followed Ace, ever since they were kids. They all followed Ace. It only made sense that if they were dating, he’d still follow him.
Ace felt a little better after establishing that. “Good. So, this isn’t going to distract you, right? If you’re off during the game on Friday because you’re thinking about me, or about being gay, Mars will kill me.”
Buddy grinned and shook his head. “Nah, I’m good, now that we’ve talked about it. I was distracted all day because I just didn’t get what was going on in my head. And I was worried about messing things up with Patch, but she seems pretty stoked about the idea of us being together, right?”
Ace sighed at the mention of Patch. Sure, she seemed like she was excited at the idea. But he knew that Patch was exceptionally good at hiding her feelings. He’d have to ask Melody to covertly check on her and make sure she was really okay about losing the guy she’d been wanting to date for years. Not that Patch would hide away from them. But he knew firsthand how it felt to want to be with someone who wasn’t able to like you back the way you wanted them to.
“Yeah, I think Patch is just happy it’s not another girl, honestly. Plus she can threaten me all day about you, and it won’t hurt our friendship.”
“She does like to threaten people, doesn’t she?” Buddy replied, amused that Patch had already threatened Ace about him. It was kind of nice, knowing that someone cared enough about you to want to protect you. Maybe some guys would find it weird, having a girl who wanted to protect them, but it didn’t bother Buddy. It just meant that she liked him enough to not want him to get hurt. He felt the same way about her.
“She likes to threaten me more than anyone, I think,” Ace joked back, but he enjoyed it. Patch was like a sister to him, always had been.
“Yeah, well, you probably deserve it, don’t you?” Buddy joked, grinning when Ace huffed and glared at him. It was cute.
“Why does everyone always say that?” Ace mock-complained. Buddy was right. He knew he liked to push everyone’s buttons, especially Patch’s. Because that’s what you did with your siblings, wasn’t it? Both he and Patch were only children, so it was natural they’d formed that bond with each other.
Buddy was tempted to put his arm around Ace’s shoulders, but he remembered Ace’s condition. Was that about everything, even touching? He’d have to ask. “Hey, Ace?”
“Yeah?” Ace looked up at him.
“Can you kiss me again?” Buddy asked, feeling a little nervous about the request. Ace just smiled at him, though, and Buddy felt a little less nervous.
“Sure, but not here.” Ace stood up, looking down at him with a soft smile. “Let’s go back to my place, my parents are never home. I’ll give you all the pointers you could ever need about kissing.”
Buddy watched as Ace started walking down from the bleachers, and he jumped up to follow him, feeling content after the hectic day he’d had.
He didn’t know what was going to come out of this relationship, but he was sure that Ace wouldn’t let him fuck it up too badly, and it was exciting to finally feel right about something, for once.