Chapter Text
Class couldn't be any more boring. Summer school sounded horrible, and it was worse than horrible. Wemmbu really should've been more careful about his grades.
The sun shone brightly in the sky, bathing the classrooms in a suffocating warmth. Even in shorts and a tank top, Wemmbu was dying slowly, watching the life seep away while listening to his algebra teacher.
The fact that there were so many students here instead of at home with functional air conditioning and no possibility of fainting said a lot about the teachers, not them. They were just poor people who couldn't cramp all the material in one night.
Wemmbu had his notebook open in front of him, scribbling down what was written on the board. He wasn't payin attention, not really. It was difficult to do so, with music in one ear and his hand covering the other.
Behind him, Flame's head was on the table, eyes closed. At the beginning of class he told Wemmbu to 'please let your hair down and behave for once' so that he could sleep peacefully during class.
Which wasn't a problem, until Wemmbu wanted to pass out right then and there. He shouldn't have listened to Flame, but fighting at eight in the morning during his last week of summer school was a no go.
With how stupid their head teacher was, him and Flame were going to be burdened with another week of this torturous activity. Waking up at half past six during holiday was unpleasant im every way.
School was survivable, despite Flame being a constant pain in the ass and Egg teasing him through texts, telling him that he just woke up. It was really weird, to see Flame like this.
His aggressive demeanor shifted into something less intense, kind of like going from a german shepherd to a tired chihuahua. He was peacefully living, but he didn't hesitate to jump in a fight with Wemmbu.
The first day here, Wemmbu was angrily strolling down the hallway, expecting to be the first to arrive to class. But no, Flame already took the backrow seats for his friends.
Second to last wasn't that bad, if it weren't for the fact that he was in front of Flame. He kept hitting his chiar with his leg, making him glare every so often. Really, he just wanted to look out the window. Some kid Jaden told him to stop and he actually did.
It was fine. No fight broke out there, not yet. Later that same day, in a different class this time, Flame had the audacity to make conversation with him and then, when te teacher inevitably noticed, he blamed it on Wemmbu.
Completely unacceptable. It was one thing to annoy him, but to ruin his image? Sure, he was nowhere near a smart student, but he respected professors. He wasn't petty. It was that big of a deal.
It was the first day and they were already at each other's throats. He doesn't remember who threw the first punch, but his face hurt. It was awful, until Jaden pulled them apart.
He remembers trembling in Jaden's hold as he carefully held him upright. His head was spinning and when he looked up, Flame was glaring at the other. Wemmbu expected Jaden to receive a punch in the face.
Instead, Flame absolutely lost it. His fist landed in Jaden's gut, grazing Wemmbu's clothes. The other pulled Wemmbu away from Jaden and if he wasn't delirious he might've helped Jaden up.
All of them ended in the principal's office. Flame's and Wemmbu's parents already knew the drill, having long gave up on trying to school their children. Wemmbu even thinks that they sometimes laugh at them behind their backs.
Jaden's parents were another pain in the ass, even for Wemmbu. They kept throwing Flame's parents dirty looks and he had the feeling that there was some beef between them that Wemmbu wasn't aware of. The fact that Flame's eyes were locked on the ground too.
They got off with just a warning for now, being sent back to class. Jaden got Wemmbu to skip with him, which was really fun. They watched Flame do the walk of shame, entering the class while the teacher was talking.
Jaden was a nice guy. His hair was long too, reaching a couple inches past his shoulders. It bounced when he walked, shining in the sun.
They got coffee. Or, well, Jaden bought them coffee. He insisted on paying, too. Jaden was really sweet, asking about what games he liked playing or his favorite food. It was a needed break, but he missed Flame's challenging persoana.
The next morning when he took his seat in front of Flame, second to last row again, Jaden sat down next to him, a smile big on his face. He didn't feel Flame glaring at them until he looked back to check why he was so still during class.
Flame stormed off the second the bell rang.
He stood up to go after him, but Jaden just took his hand and pushed him back down. He frowned when he saw Wemmbu still looking after Flame and pulled on his hair to get his attention.
That's how the first week went, pretty much. Whenever he got relatively close to fighting with Flame or in his general proximity, Jaden would manage to pull him away.
He'd scold Wemmbu about having to be more responsible and stay away from Flame. Then they'd walk together to the pastry shop next ro their school and Jaden would always treat him with something.
Flame kept teasing him, which was fun. He'd rather that than Jaden's constant worrying and bothering. He was basically an adult, not five with the inability to walk in a straight line.
But then Jaden started throwing jabs at Flame, half finished sentences that always seemed to shut him up. Wemmbu found it incredibly funny, how Flame got humbled by an idiot like Jaden.
His second week of summer school was way more interesting. Kind of. It started really well with his algebra teacher praising him for finally getting an equation right, which felt like a big win.
Sure, it was an easy one that his classmates could solve in less than five minutes. To him, being able to figure out how to get to the end of it was the most satisfying thing ever. It felt like he'd climbed to the top of a mountain.
Jaden praised him too, complimenting his improved performance in maths. When Wemmbu got back to his place he even hugged him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into his side.
Wemmbu stayed in class during the break while Jaden went to greet some of his friends. Flame sat down in Jaden's place, some sort of weird conflict mixing in the look he gave him.
His eyebrows were furrowed and his shoulders were hunched in. Wemmbu didn't push, watching as he opened his mouth and closed it twice before actually getting to the talking part.
"Why are you hanging out with Jaden?" He asked instead of his usual insults.
Wemmbu was taken aback to say the least, frowning at Flame. "Since when do you care about who I'm friends with?" He snarked.
"Friends? You and Jaden? Bro, you can't be friends with him. It's, like, not good. Really not good." Unfortunately, Flame sounded too unsure of himself to hold up his case.
"Dude. What kind of one-sided beef do you even have? You genuinely sound insane." His arms were crossed and he enjoyed watching how Flame looked hurt at his words.
"I'm not— Look, the thing is, you shouldn't hang out with him. Just listen to me this one time." His eyes were fixed on a random spot behind Wemmbu.
"Oh my God, bro. This is crazy. What, are you jealous?" A low chuckle left him. The bell rang, momentarily pausing their conversation.
"I... Wemmbu. You're not listening to me!" His voice gradually rose, something strangely unidentifiable settling in it. "Bro, you'll regret this so badly, why can't you just—"
"Flame. Stop. You're making no sense." This dude was genuinely crazy. Maybe he needed some help. "I'll regret what?"
"Yeah, Flame, he'll regret what?" Jaden's voice rung out from behind Flame, making him flinch. Wemmbu swore fear flashed in his eyes, before he glared at Wemmbu and stood up, walking back to his seat.
"Whatever." He muttered, but Wemmbu felt how his eyes bore into the back of his head. What was he even talking about?
Without having his view obscured, Wemmbu saw how Jaden stared at Flame. Malice was buried deep beneath his eyes, hidden by nothing but smugness, like he already knew how Flame was going to react.
It was weird, how Flame goes all quiet when talking to Jaden. Sure, Jaden threw some punches at him (for good measure) but so did Flame. Both of them were just stubborn, most likely.
Jaden couldn't hang out after school that day. Wemmbu went home and all that was left to do was rot for the remaining hours until it was an acceptable time to sleep.
He tried to do his algebra homework, getting some of the answers right while some exercises he didn't even know how to start. Jaden usually helped him on those, but he wouldn't pick up his phone.
Wemmbu went to sleep feeling uneasy, Flame's words still spinning in his head. He turned around in bed, wrinkling his sheets. He took of his hoodie, put it back on and then took it off again.
Why shouldn't he hang out with Jaden? He was a grea friend, offering to pay for stuff and hugging him goodbye. More importantly, how did he get Flame to shut up so fast?
Wemmbu fell asleep with his window open, blanket half covering him and hoodie lifted uo, revealing the fine line of his stomach.
Flame didn't talk to him the next day. No greeting, no pushing his chair, no harsh insults. His hood was up, covering half of his face. He didn't even glance at Wemmbu.
In fact, when he saw Wemmbu take his usual seat, he stood up and changed places, moving to the other end of the row. He ignored everything Wemmbu asked. Fucking petty sucker.
Under his hood, barely visible, was a darkened spot. Actually, if Wemmbu thought about it, there were more than one. The one he saw was the most prominent, a bruise under his eye and next to his nose.
Jaden entered the classroom like a ray of sunshine, pulling Wemmbu out of his chair and into a tight hug. It wasn't comfortable, his touch feeling like needles on his skin. Jaden didn't bat an eye at Flame's absence.
In fact, Jaden had the audacity to simply dismiss him when he asked if he knew why Flame stopped talking to him. He deflected each question about Flame, changing the subject.
It was starting to piss him off. Jaden always managed to get between him and Flame, if they somehow got left alone. He'd grab Wemmbu's arm tightly, pushing him the other way.
Flame didn't protest. He didn't even talk to Wemmbu all week, for God's sake! His bruises seemed to have healed or gotten well enough to cover them with make up.
Other than that, Flame was being a master at avoiding him. In the mornings he started arriving just before the bell rang. During breaks Jaden would take him away. After school he'd be forced to hang out with Jaden.
Jaden looked at him like he was crazy when asked about the beef between them. Wemmbu was a normal person, curious to find out all the drama and whatnot.
That friday, which was last friday, Jaden didn't show up to school. He waited for the room to fill in, instructing his classmates to leave only two seats free: one in the front row, one all the way in the back next to Wemmbu.
Flame walked through the door at the same time as their professor. His bag hung off one shoulder as he pocketed his phone, frowning at the changed seats.
His eyes jumped between the only two empty seats before settling on Wemmbu. It was the first time they've made eye contact in five days. Wemmbu felt his stomach do a funny flip, in time with his heart.
Then the fucker sat down in the front row. With his bag and everything, like it was already decided. Even the teacher looked taken aback, but didn't comment.
It took him a while, but with no Jaden to distract him he finally cornered Flame. After countless tries, Flame always slipping away before he got too close, he finally managed to.
Flame asked to go to the bathroom during the last period. The teacher said yes without even thinking about it, too busy to finish demonstrating some random formula.
Wemmbu's eyes lingered on the clock. Five minutes passed, Flame didn't come back. He was probably skipping the last half hour of class, which was fair.
So Wemmbu raised his hand, excusing himself to go use the restroom. The teacher, once again, didn't give a single thought to approving his leave. That's how Wemmbu ended up alone with Flame.
His footsteps were quiet as he approached the guy's bathroom, the door already open. He paused, taking in what he was seeing.
Flame was staring at himself in the mirror. His hoodie was off, folded neatly on the edge of the sinks. He didn't seem to notice Wemmbu standing frozen in the doorway.
Flame was frozen too, locked somewhere deep in his thoughts. A hand was laying on his chest, his thumb and pointer finger reaching the base of his throat.
His throat. His throat made Wemmbu pause. It was fading purple, the clear shape of a hand wrapping around it and squeezing the life out of him still there. His eyes landed on the discarded concealer in his other hand.
"Bro?" He asked after a minute too long os staring.
Flame flinched hard. His concealer dropped, spilling a little on the ground. His eyes snapped to Wemmbu, a mix of emotion sparkling in them all at once.
Fear, then confusion, then relief. And then, after actually realizing Wemmbu was here, they flashed with slight terror, hand pressing on the bruise before going neutral again.
Wemmbu closed the door behind him.
"What's that, bro?" He asked again, pointing at the obvious mark on his neck.
Flame wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't even reply, actually. Wemmbu picked his concealer up, twisting it shut after wiping the tube clean. "Hello? Why won't you talk to me? Did I do something wrong?"
"Give that back." He said, ignoring literally every single one of Wemmbu's questions. He tapped the tube lightly against his other palm.
"Answer me. Legitimately, if you don't answer I'm taking this and your hoodie too." Was it fair? Definitely not. Would he do it? Also definitely not. But Flame suddenly seemed more up for a conversation.
"It's nothing. I got in a fight. There, that's your answer. Now give it back to me." He extended a hand, still avoiding Wemmbu's eyes.
"No."
Flame stilled, glancing up. "...What? I hope you're not expecting me to beg for it." A disgusted look worked up on both of thei faces.
What did Wemmbu want? He will obviously return the concealer. He stepped closer, lifting Flame's dreads to look at the back of his neck. Flame couldn't reach that.
"I'll do it." He blurted, looking at Flame's cheap set up. It wasn't what he usually worked with, but it would do.
"No. I mean it, don't. I can do it just fine." Flame sounded a little panicked, face draining of color.
Wemmbu opened the concealer, getting closer to Flame. They were almost the same height, Flame having one or two inches on him. He easily reached his neck, forcing his head still.
A pained gasp left Flame, hands clutching at the sink's counter. "Wemmbu." He hissed, glaring at him. Wemmbu covered the entire thing, wetting his make up sponge.
Blending it was way easier. He couldn't understand Flame's need for him to stop, but by the time he was done Flame's neck and collarbone looked brand new. They both stared in the mirror, silence settling between them as the bell rang.
They both had their bags with them. "Was it Jaden?" Wemmbu pried, cautiousness bleeding in his words.
Flame didn't respond but his mouth twitched downwards, eyes getting that carried away look before grabbing his bag and leaving. It was enough of an answer for him.