Chapter Text
Grace sat alone in his classroom, the rain poured down outside and where big droplets landed on the decorated windows. The tiny planets hung on a string of lights seemed to bounce lightly when the rain picked up. He sat cross-legged in his chair, his glasses slowly falling down his face as he stared down at his computer, inputting the students grades from the latest test into his logs. Grace had been sitting there for what felt like forever, the glaring light from the computer screen seemed to burn holes into his eyes. A small email notification appeared at the bottom of his screen, making him look away from the long list of grades. He clicked on the pop-up, eyes scanning what Eva–the school’s principal–had sent him.
‘Good afternoon, Ryland,
As you may have heard, Mrs. Elliot, a former English teacher at this school has recently retired. The school has found a replacement, his first day is tomorrow and he will be working just down the hall from you.
I am putting it as your responsibility to direct him to his classroom. Please meet me in my office as soon as you can today.
Thank you.’
Grace sighed, placing his head down onto his desk–well, more like his keyboard. He tried to ignore the fact that he knew the weight of us head must’ve pressed some of his keys. He put his feet back on the floor, pushing himself to stand up and walk to the door of his classroom. He slowly walked down the hall towards Eva’s office at the front of the school, keeping his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. When he got to the outside door of the office, he knocked once on the office door, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waited for an answer.
Eva opened up the door, gesturing for him to step in, which he did. When he looked down, he was met with the sight of a man around his age sitting in an office chair by Eva’s desk. He slowly stood up when he noticed Grace, extending out his left hand for him to shake. Grace shook his hand, giving a polite smile and trying to hide the fact that he was staring at the man. “Ryland, this is Simon.” Simon gave a nod. “Simon, this is Ryland.” Simon was a few inches shorter than Grace, he had long dark hair that went down to his shoulders and a small scar near the right side of his mouth. Grace darted his eyes to look down at the floor, removing his gaze from looking into Simon’s dark brown eyes.
When he went to look back up at the man, his eyes caught on the man’s right arm–or well, the lack of it. He took into account of Simon’s right sleeve that was rolled up, pinned close to his shoulder. Eva stepped closer to the two, clearing her throat. “Simon, I have instructed Grace to show you around the main parts of the school. Mainly your classroom and any other places you will need to know.”
“That sounds good.” Simon said. Grace noticed how he sounded like he was smiling, though there was a lack of emotion on his face. Simon turned back to look at the blond haired man. “Thank you for doing this.” He gave Grace a small nod, looking towards the door. Grace led the way, waiting for Simon while he shut the door to Eva’s office. He tried to ignore the way that Simon had a slight limp as he walked. Grace started to walk slower than usual, keeping his pace the same as Simon’s. “You don’t have to do this, you know that, right?” Simon spoke up, almost startling Grace by breaking the silence.
“I don’t have to do what? I don’t mind showing you around.” Grace smiled back at Simon, though the other man’s expression never changed. “You don’t have to slow yourself down for me. I’m perfectly fine.” The smile on Grace’s face slightly faltered, he was really taken aback by what Simon had just said. “Don’t be like that. Let’s keep going.” Grace watched how Simon opened his mouth, closing it without saying anything. He turned back around, continuing to walk down the hall when he heard Simon start to follow him.
“So…” Grace trailed off, “how old are you?” He asked, attempting to change the subject from the awkward moment they just had. “Just turned twenty seven.” Simon replied. “How about you?” Grace smiled at the man as they turned the corner towards Grace’s classroom. “Same.” He answered, walking up to the door of his room and unlocking it, holding it open for Simon. “How long have you been teaching here?” Simon asked curiously, looking at the mountains of decorations scattered and hung up around the classroom. It was clear that Grace had left his mark on the room.
“I’ve been at this school about four years now I think. Man, it’s hard to keep track of time when you’re here for so long.” Grace walked over to his desk, shoving his laptop and grade book back in his bag before pulling it over his shoulder. “I see.” Simon nodded once again. “I’m all packed up in here. I’ll show you where your classroom is before I head out.”
“That sounds good to me. Thanks again for doing this.” Grace locked his classroom door, guiding Simon down the hallway where his classroom was located. It was only a couple doors down from where Grace taught. “Oh it’s no problem! I would’ve just been sitting around in my classroom anyways.”
“Here’s your classroom, I’m pretty sure the school still left all the old classrooms decor up from the last teacher who worked here. Im not all too sure though.” Simon just hummed in response, eying the door to his class. “I should probably be on my way out now. I can walk you to the lot if you don’t mind.” The dark haired man had seemed almost shocked at Grace’s offer, his eyebrows seeming to rise in confusion. “Oh that sounds nice.” He said quietly. The two men walked down the hallway in silence until they made it out the glass doors at the front of the school. “So…” Grace started, looking back down at the concrete beneath his feet.
“Would you mind if I got your number?” Grace asked cautiously. “Wow, seriously?” Simon cracked a smile–more like a smirk–for the first time that day. Grace could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. God, he hoped they weren’t turning red. “No, no, no!” He threw his hands up in defence, laughing awkwardly as he tried to explain himself. “Just to, uh, keep in touch?” He sounded almost unsure of himself. Still, he passed his phone over to Simon, watching patiently as the man typed his number into his contacts.
“Here you go.” Simon handed the phone back to Grace, shoving his hand into the pocket of his jeans and fishing out his keys. “I better be on my way, got a busy day tomorrow.” He said with a nod, watching Grace shifted nervously across from him. “Oh, yeah. I probably should get going as well.” When Simon turned around to walk to his car, Grace finally felt it was an appropriate time to leave. “Hey, Grace!” Simon called back at the blond haired man, making him stop and quickly turn back to look at Simon.
“Feel free to text me. And hey, it doesn’t just have to be about teaching here.” He winked at Grace before continuing on towards where he parked his car, leaving Grace to stand there in the lot, his face hot and heart pounding faster than it should’ve been.
—
The Earth keychain hung alongside Grace’s keys jingled as he opened the door to his house. He toed off his tattered converse on the front mat at the front entrance, following the sound of Star Wars being played on a high volume as he walked towards the living room. Rocky was lying across the couch, his back resting on a pillow with his feet propped up on the armrest. He had a big bowl of popcorn in his lap and Grace immediately observed that it seemed to have way too much butter than it should’ve. “Hey, Rocky. Star Wars again?” He asked, leaning against the back of the couch with his arms rested on the cushions.
Rocky leaned forward and placed his bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, grabbing his tablet in exchange. “You can never watch Star Wars too many times, Grace.” The tablet played out. Rocky was looking up at Grace with a grin on his face, only once he had made sure the TV was paused. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Grace sighed, walking to the front of the couch and sitting in front of Rocky on the floor. “Grace.” Rocky tapped him on the shoulder, making the blond man lean his head back onto the couch. “What’s up?” Rocky gave him a puzzled expression before typing something into his tablet. “Grace seems fidgety. Did something happen?”
Grace could feel the heat coming back to his face just thinking about the new teacher he had met today. How Simon had looked into his eyes and winked when he said to text him. Grace kept replaying his words over and over in his head. “I met this new English teacher at my school today. His name is Simon and–“. Grace was cut off by Rocky before he could continue his sentence. “Grace has a crush on the new teacher!” Rocky laughed, watching in amusement at just how flustered the other man had become. “Stop it, Rocky! I don’t know, okay? I literally just met him today.” Rocky sighed, shaking his head. He sat upright on the couch and placed his tablet in his lap before typing out a response to Grace. “Did you get his number? Are you going to text him? Call him?”
“Woah, woah, woah. One question at a time, man. And yes, I did ask him for his number.”
“Grace does have a crush on the new teacher!” Rocky chuckled, pointing a finger at Grace and flicking him on the forehead. “Oh, be quiet. And would you please cut that out, it hurts you know.” He only stuck his tongue out in response to the blond man’s begging. Grace rolled his eyes at Rocky’s antics, grabbing his phone off of the coffee table and walking into their kitchen. “Im gonna order pizza tonight. Do you want some?” Grace asked. “I want Grace to text Simon.”
“Ok great. What toppings do you want?” He completely ignored Rocky. “Grace should call Simon.” Rocky pushed again, following Grace into the kitchen. “No toppings? Cheese sounds good to me anyway.” Grace dialled the number of the first pizza place he could remember, leaning back against the cold, marble countertop. “Grace should tell Simon that his best friend Rocky wants to meet him!” Grace stopped before pressing the call button, staring at his best friend from across the kitchen. “I haven’t even texted him yet, Rocky!” He huffed before typing in the rest of the phone number. “Now, be quiet and let me order pizza.” Rocky did as he was asked.
—
Simon sat at the bar, his foot lightly hitting the footrest on the barstool. He was tapping his finger against the edge of his half-empty glass of his now warm beer. The man didn’t even notice when someone slid into the seat next to him. “Should you be drinkin’ that, teach? Not exactly good to be hungover on your first day of class.” Adrian kicked their foot into Simon’s leg, placing their own glass next to Simon’s on the counter. “One won’t do anything to me. Don’t you worry.” Simon kicked them right back, a slight glare on his face. “Oh trust me, I wasn’t worried.” Adrian laughed, taking a sip of their drink.
“You’re pretty rude, you know?” Simon muttered, sliding his glass closer to Adrian. “Hm, I suppose.” They laughed, grabbing the filled glass that was placed on the counter in front of them. The bartender grabbed Adrian’s empty glass from beside them, going to grab Simon’s but jerking his hand back when the long haired man glared up at him. “How’d it go at the school today?” Simon looked over at Adrian, watching them down another glass. “Fine. Just got shown around. Not much.” He sighed, trying to stop the smile he could feel forming at the thought of the time he had spent with the blond haired man earlier that day. “Hey, you’re going to teach at Grover Cleveland Middle, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?” Simon questioned, raising his eyebrows. “Ever met a guy named Ryland Grace?” Adrian watched Simon–who now looked really taken aback–as there was a slight redness that crept up on his face. Simon swung his chair to the side leaning his left arm on the countertop to hide his face. He stared down at his feet, one foot tapping even faster against the footrest. “Doesn’t sound familiar.” He lied through his teeth, trying to ignore the burning feeling that he knew was making his face red. He didn’t even need Adrian to point it out. “Hm, that’s interesting isn’t it?” Adrian teased, leaning closer to where Simon had slouched away. “He’s a great guy. I hope you know that.” They clapped a hand down on Simon’s right shoulder, slightly loosening the grip when the man tensed under the touch.
“I know. He makes it hard to not know it.” His whole face was burning at this point. “So, how do you feel about him?” Adrian pushed, playfully shoving Simon’s shoulder. “Oh shut up, Adrian.” Simon groaned, standing up from the barstool and starting to walk away. “How hard did you fall for him!” They called after the dark haired man, a teasing smile on their face. “I’m never talking to you again!” He rolled his eyes, and continued to shuffle his way out of the bar. “We’ll see how long that lasts!” Adrian watched as the entrance door swung closed behind Simon as he disappeared out into the dimly lit street. “I’ll see you both together real soon.” Adrian spoke to no one but themselves.