Chapter Text
The first week of school after Christmas will always be a pain in the ass for Lewis.
From the start times that have him questioning if he's working the graveyard shift, the air that threatens to give him frostbite if he isn't wearing at least three layers outside, to a third of his classes begging for extensions on their coursework - this week would forever be the worst in Lewis' calendar…
But somehow, he still manages to pull through, because there's more to life than this drama teacher gig that sucks out most of his energy for a measly £32k per year (before taxes). There was always the promise of a party of sorts from Jamie, some surplus takeout that Jenson always seems to acquire for free from his boyfriend…
and, as per usual, a not-so-subtle flirty text from Seb that 'hinted' that he would be getting laid tonight.
Lewis used this as momentum to keep him going, especially during times like these, where he had just opened the doors to his classroom to be greeted by the familiar blue and white headache that was his group of students: 13LH.
They had basically been his children for the last year and a half, and he had been witness to their academic ups and downs, friendship breakups, almost-fights and one expulsion that he could sense from a mile away (to be fair to Lewis, no one in his form liked Nikita anyway);however, after they sat their A-levels this summer, they would be someone else's problem for once: for some it would be a university, for others, an employer - or in the tragic case of the few people who have to resit a subject or two - the problem of the Year 14 tutor, Mr. Horner, a man that even Lewis found off-putting.
Still, despite his bias toward his form, Lewis found the fact that they could be this rowdy at 8:30am astonishing. The room was enveloped with a multitude of different conversations happening simultaneously; a group of boys tossing around a paper aeroplane as if they didn't have mock exams next week, some girls tucked into the corner of the room that seemed to be typing and swiping their textbooks (a rather stupid way to hide the fact that they were breaking the school's no phones rule, but he didn't bother them nonetheless), and a lone girl, sat in the front row without her usual entourage, waving at him.
"Good morning, Carmen" Lewis raises an eyebrow as he regards her wave, moving across the classroom to sit at his desk. "The usual suspects seem to be late again."
"Max and Charles are at the sixth form café, Mr. Hamilton, helping out with cleaning duty after breakfast." Carmen forced a polite smile, her eyes darting between him and the door. "They should be here any minute now."
"What an interesting excuse." Lewis tutted, as he produced his laptop from his bag, opening it and going through the regular motions to open up the register, "Mr. Button already told me that he found them in his form room the other day; I assume that you wouldn't mind me going there after the register to check for myself-"
"Fine." Carmen reluctantly confessed. "I lied. Max went to Mr. Button's form to see George, and Charles said that he's going there to be his 'wingman', but we all know that he's really there to talk to Alexandra and Carlos."
This was followed by the door dramatically swinging open.
"Quit snitching on us, Carmen!" Lewis heard Charles before he saw him; his shrill voice shouted at Carmen from the door, and upon closer inspection, he spotted Max lurking behind him with an expression on his face that screamed 'betrayal'. The two had looked as if they had ran a cross-country distance in the halls, and he was somewhat relieved that they hadn't been caught, because he hated having to process disciplinary paperwork.
"She didn't snitch." Lewis sternly scolded him,"Next time you're thinking of orchestrating a reenactment of 'Romeo and Juliet', please keep it within the confines of Drama Club. Mr. Button and I are less than enthused about your form time dalliances, given the fact that you have mock exams next week."
This elicited a groan from almost the entire class.
"Not you too, Sir." Max moved past Charles to sit at Carmen's right, his bag slung around his left shoulder like it was hanging on for dear life. "Ever since the year began, none of the teachers will shut the fuck up about it."
"Mind your language, Max." Lewis warned him. "And fix your tie before Mr. Rosberg calls you out in assembly for it."
Whilst Max begun fiddling with his tie, Charles began to pipe up. "Why does Mr. Rosberg even care about how we wear our ties to begin with? It's not like it's affecting our learning."
"That's a question you can ask him after assembly… which we are now late for, thanks to you and our aspiring Romeo over there."
After a brief moment of further protest from Charles, Lewis fired up the SIMS system and called out the register, before swiftly leaving the room; his students following him like a gaggle of geese. By the time they managed to walk through the back exit of the Performing Arts block and through the English corridor to reach the Great Hall, they were about five minutes late - partially due to his own tardiness in addition to that of Max and Charles - and he could feel that they would definitely be called out for it.
"13LH, this is the third time in a row that you've been late for assembly. Not a great look for the start of the term, hm?"
Not even a quarter of the class had made it through the doors before they were spotted by him.
Nico.
Mr. Rosberg to the students, Britney to Jenson, and an absolute bitch to Lewis, whom he was now staring down like a hawk.
He didn't get Nico's problem, and he probably never will. Sure, he was technically doing his job as Head of Sixth Form to point out that Lewis' form group was prone to being tardy to assemblies and that certain students in his class seem to be magnets for behaviour points and disciplinary sanctions, but he didn't need to be a dick about it.
To think about it, he had always been a douchebag from the moment they met in the break room three years ago - in which he proudly proclaimed his disinterest in the arts before realising that he was in fact talking to a drama teacher - and never apologised for it. Lewis felt like Nico would forever have it out for him, and this was a prime example of it.
He let out a short sigh, fixing his slightly annoyed expression and meeting Nico's gaze before replying to his earlier remark. "Two of my students were slightly late as they were helping the canteen staff in the Café. We'll aim to be on time next week."
"I'll take your word for it then, Mr. Hamilton." Nico narrowed his eyes for a second, before turning back toward the students who were already seated. Lewis added this to the mental tally of reasons he hated Nico, to be discussed over tea with his friends at break.
With that, he led his students to the last two rows at the back, before retreating to the teachers' seating behind them, slotting into the last seat available, conveniently to the left of Jenson, who gave him a nudge as he sat down.
"That was rough, Lew."
"No, that was classic Nico. Always on some sort of power trip." Lewis whispered back, "Besides, he's just going to repeat the same spiel about the UCAS deadline and how important it is to have 'safety net' uni options. It's nothing our classes haven't heard five times already, and it's something that the year 12s will grow tired of hearing by summer term."
Jenson let out a short chuckle, before the teacher to his right gave him a nudge. "I get you, but I'd rather have to listen to this than have a year 7 tutor group again. It's like babysitting a bunch of oversized primary school kids."
He always had a way of making Lewis see things rationally; it was one of the many reasons that they had stuck together through the trials of university, the headache that was teacher training and eventually, the hell that was their workplace: Silverstone Academy. If not for Jenson, he probably would've quit a long time ago; a testament to the fact that he got along with everyone, and was genuinely bearable to be around.
"Fair enough." Lewis murmured in response.
A few moments of 'silence' passes between them as they listen to the assembly, and the both of them realise that Lewis was right. Nico was at the front, essentially giving a speech that mirrored the one that he gave last term, highlighting the key deadlines and drumming the fact that mocks were next week into the students; Jamie, the Deputy Head of Sixth Form, chimed in with the exam schedule, but you could tell that she didn't really want to be there based on the drained expression on her face.
Jenson leaned in to whisper to Lewis again. "Speaking of schedules, when are you planning to move out?"
'Damn it.' Lewis mentally slapped himself.
He had spent so much time planning theory lessons, scripts for Drama Club, and worrying about the upcoming drama practicals for his Year 13 students that he had momentarily forgotten that he was moving to a new place that weekend.
Maybe it was the fact that he had already been comfortable living with Jenson since their uni days that made him subconsciously forget this, or maybe it was just the stress of it all. Regardless of the reason, he knew that after years of living together, that one of them had to leave. This was evidenced by the fact that they were getting into each other's personal space a lot as of recent, and with the introduction of Fernando, Jenson's boyfriend, a year ago, it was definitely Lewis that had to go, as Fernando was Max's dad. Especially because Fernando was Max's dad, as that led to their last Parents' Evening being nothing short of awkward, to say the least. Somehow, Max was the person least affected by this, as he feigns indifference to his friends and acts as if he isn't being driven to school by Jenson every other day.
"Thanks for the reminder, Jen." Lewis grimaced. "I'm picking up the keys from the Estate Agent tomorrow, if the boxes piled up in the corridor hadn't given you an idea already."
"I know, but I just thought that it was better to ask than to assume." Jenson replied, before continuing, "I do hope that you'll be OK over there, Lewis."
His tone softened at the end, a clear indicator that he too was getting sentimental. "If anything goes wrong, you know that there will always be a place for you back at mine."
"You say that as if Fernando won't move in during the Easter holidays." Lewis retorted.
"Nando's thinking about it." Jenson reiterated, "And besides, he's worried for you, too."
Lewis struggled to hold back a laugh. "Fernando? Worried for me? Consider me shocked. That man is practically counting the minutes until I move out."
"Okay, maybe I exaggerated by saying that he was worried, but he is concerned."
"By what?" Lewis shot Jenson a look, "If you're that concerned, then you can pay a year's worth of my rent to get me out."
Jenson momentarily slumped in his chair, before straightening up. "Teaching Geography barely pays the full rent for our place, so I'll pass."
"Thought so." Lewis smirks, before turning back to face the front, where Nico and Jamie had stepped back to let the head student team read out a few general announcements.
Deep down, Lewis was worried, as he hadn't met his new roommate at the viewing or when signing the lease, but it was either he stepped into the unknown and accepted his fate, or forced himself to endure another year of hearing Jenson and Fernando have the loudest sex known to man through the thin walls of his current bedroom every weekend.
The thought disturbed Lewis for the rest of the day, save for the end of the morning assembly where Nico shouted "Fix your tie, Max!" (he saved that moment for the next time he had to warn the kid to wear his uniform properly).
What if he did have a massive problem with his new housemate and they didn't see eye to eye?
What if it's really shitty living on the other side of town?
Lewis buried his queries and attempted to shake them off, as nothing would save him now that the ink on that lease had dried. He was going to start fresh, and hopefully make a new friend, or at least someone who was chill and had respect for his boundaries.
One thing that they don't tell you about sleeping with the head of the PTA is how sneaky it is.
Lewis felt it most now, as he waited at the far side of the car park for a certain BMW to appear. He'd done this almost every Friday over the past six months, and it had followed the same routine: pickup at 5, a ride back to Seb's, dinner, sex, some aftercare, a short ride back home and a text that read "same time next week?". It was like clockwork, a weird yet wonderful constant in his life that acted as a pick-me-up after a stressful week at work ; it was so addictive to the point that he'd reached the point of coming up with a flurry of excuses to tell Jenson , of which he almost never questioned, save for the one time in September where he almost caught Seb dropping him off, that is.
What had started off as a chain of friendly emails ended up twisting into more scandalous ones (now deleted to save the both of them some face) that turned their somewhat innocent bond into some high-stakes operation, where if they were found out, it could do something disastardly to their social circles. This was different than what Jenson had with Max's dad, as they had met on a dating app; this relationship had started on school grounds, and was most likely the reason why the PTA were paying more attention to the Performing Arts department as of recent, so Lewis had always felt unsure of how those he cherished would react if they found out about his arrangement with Seb.
After a further minute or so of standing in the biting cold, Lewis saw his chariot of respite - Seb's black BMW 3-series - enter the car park and stop just to his right; the tinted window rolling down to reveal a familiar smirk.
"Evening, handsome" Seb did a once-over, winking at Lewis after he did so.
"Sebastian."
"Ouch, the formality." he pouted, "What's next, are you going to call me Mr. Vettel now?"
Lewis scanned the area around them before speaking in a loud whisper. "You know what you did."
"Do I?"
Lewis shot him a look of equal disappointment and lust before walking to the other side of the car and getting in. "You sent a rather… salacious text this morning."
"Salacious?" Seb continued to smile, seemingly ignoring the 'disappointment' that Lewis had tried to convey. "I thought that I was… quite obvious with my intentions." His sultry gaze gave away the fact that he was probably - no - definitelyundressing his lover with his eyes.
This received a pointed look from Lewis, who was now buckling his seatbelt.
"You sent me a photo of your dick."
"And?" Seb laughed, clearly not getting the hint. "Did you not like what you saw?"
"No, I liked it, it's just that…" Lewis tried to explain as he blushed furiously, "Don't send it to me when you know I have work."
He sighed, before continuing "I saw it right before I was supposed to leave my place, and the time it took me to go and take care of things caused me to be late."
"And how did you 'take care of things', hm?" Seb licked his lips as he began to tease, but he stopped when he saw Lewis' expression. "Fine, Fine. I won't send any pictures to you on weekdays, there?" Seb replied flippantly.
"Thank you." Lewis leant back into the chair.
"Anytime, darling."
The subsequent thirty or so minute drive to Seb's house consisted of a quick debrief of how their weeks had been, Seb explaining what he did this week to get his kids out of the house (he convinced Ollie to drag his brothers, Charles and Arthur, over to his friend's sleepover), a quick but lighthearted debate on whether pineapples belong on pizza and the hypothetical question of where they would go on holiday if they went public.
Occasionally, Seb's hand would wander to caress the sides of Lewis' right thigh, with the former pretending not to notice how the latter's breath would hitch as he did so. Lewis bit his lip in response, but it didn't stop his mind from wishing that Seb could just pull to the side of the road and just fuck him there and then; he waited patiently, knowing that the time would come.
That feeling slightly subsidised as they finally arrived at the Vettel household; a place that Lewis would never get used to seeing.
Firstly, the place had a remote controlled gate and a long driveway (which meant that Seb, and by extension, everyone that lived on his road, had serious money); it was fully detached, meaning that there were no nosy or noisy neighbours to look out for, and it looked much more presentable than the medium-sized flat that Lewis called home - the place had a brick exterior and a large garage, for goodness' sake!
What alienated Lewis even more was the interior, particularly the kitchen that Seb led him toward. It had the latest appliances and polished herringbone floors, yet it also had a warm and homey feel to it; maybe it was Seb's choice of dark wood cabinets, the ambient lighting - or maybe it was just that the whole place smelt like him - that fragrant honeycomb smell that felt like a warm hug of sorts. The kitchen window cast some streaks of moonlight into the room that mingled with the warm lighting in a beautiful way, a little touch that made the night extra special.
"I know you said that you didn't want a full dinner last time because your time here is limited and certain people are growing suspicious of you" Seb recalled, his signature smirk returning to his lips as he moved toward the fridge, "So I took the liberty to order some pizza for us beforehand. Meat-free, of course."
Lewis, who was now perched on a stool next to the kitchen island, smiled. "You didn't have to."
"But I did." Seb snapped back, placing the refrigerated box of pizza onto the island, before sourcing two plates from the cabinets. "Only the best for my darling Lew Lew"
"I know you like pet names, but don't you think that was a bit much?" Lewis playfully rolled his eyes at him, "Also, I hope that you heat up that pizza."
"I like mine cold, but I'll warm it for you." Seb bluntly replied, before taking two slices, placing them on a plate and sliding it into the microwave.
Lewis could tell that he was getting impatient by the fact that he was tapping his left foot in time with the hum of the microwave. He too had been growing increasingly hot under the collar since their moment in the car.
"What if we skip the pizza and go straight to the main course?" Lewis caved in, shifting off the stool and walking to stand beside Seb. "You seem a little impatient."
"Stop being a tease, you know that's my thing."
"Oh, so that was why you were stroking my leg in the car"
Seb turned to face him, his face almost as red as a tomato. "It was an accident at first, but the sounds that you made…"
"They made you want to do it again?" Lewis whispered as he raised an eyebrow playfully, his right hand reaching to rest on Seb's chin, his thumb grazing over his bottom lip as their eyes locked in intense contact.
His heart did that thing where it skipped a beat; the moment was intense, sure, but it was the intimacy of it all that got his heart racing. Seb's hands moved to rest on Lewis' belt, slowly clawing their way into his pants like they always do, his thumbs circling the inside of the belt until he finally spoke again.
He leant in to place a kiss on Lewis' neck. "Maybe you are right."
That elicited a low hum from the latter. Seb took this as a sign to move lower and kiss his collarbone.
Their lips met soon after in a rush of heat and passion, and for a moment, Lewis felt as if they had fused together…
Until the beep of the microwave killed the moment.
Seb hastily broke off the kiss, seemingly also annoyed at the mood-killer. He opened the door to the microwave slightly so that it wouldn't make any further noise, before fixing his gaze onto Lewis once more.
"Fuck eating pizza, I need you right now."
They didn't make it to the bed. They had just about made it to the stairs by the time they had fully stripped off, with Seb going down on him soon after; a trail of discarded clothes in their wake.
What followed could only be described as pure bliss for the both of them, particularly for Seb, who seemed to be enjoying himself nestled in the space between Lewis' legs, his hand working diligently as it moved up and down the latter's shaft. Their lips joined together once more, producing a melody of moans as they made out intensely.
It was akin to a scene out of a movie; light from the frosted windows of Seb's front door shone on Lewis, illuminating him as if he were some sort of beguiling deity, one that had a devout worshipper at his feet. He arched his back upon the stairs as Seb's pace quickened, the hot, heavy mess of it all heating things up around them to the point that it felt as if he were in a sauna.
Eventually, Lewis broke it off to come up for air.
"Seb…" He meant to say something more than just his name, but could only manage a moan.
There was a mischievous glint in Seb's eyes, one that Lewis would only really see when they had sex; it was desire mixed with something he couldn't quite name - something that seemed to have possessed his being in that moment as his hand slowed its movement.
"You look beautiful tonight, darling." He reached up to plant a kiss on Lewis' neck, before whispering, "You always do."
Lewis smiled contently in response, his body heaving from the sheer pleasure that it was experiencing. Seb's hand moved where it rested on Lewis' shaft, moving it slightly upward to trace small circles on the tip of his cock with his thumb; he maintained eye contact throughout as he brought said thumb to his own lips and licked it.
"What a delightful appetiser." He teased, before moving to stand up and walk back down the stairs.
"What?" Lewis, still regaining his breath, sat up to try and follow him, but Seb swiftly turned around and held up his hand, signalling for him to stay.
"I had condoms in my back pocket. I'm just getting them."
"Oh."
He returned moments later with two wrappers in his hand and one massive erection down below. Lewis licked his lips instinctively, causing Seb to look down and laugh. "No wonder why you were late to work."
Lewis blushed furiously. "Shut up."
Seb let out a chuckle before ripping one of the wrappers open and sliding the condom over his member effortlessly, before walking back up the stairs and tossing the other toward Lewis, who was mentally battling the fact that he was about to be dicked down on a staircase.
And so, they resumed with more intensity than before (if that was even possible). Seb's 'magic' three fingers were used to prep Lewis' hole; the sensation felt like muscle memory to the latter, but the unpredictability of the staircase added a new sort of edge to it.
If it weren't for the fact that he knew that Seb lived in a detached house, Lewis would wonder if he would get a noise complaint from the moan that came out of his own mouth when he began to fuck him.
The warmth of Seb, the string of sweet nothings that he was whispering into Lewis' ear, the slight creaking of the stairs as he continued to relentlessly plough into him - it was all that he could ever ask for and more.
It ended in a mutual climax, five minutes of brief respite, a few extra kisses, and a successful cleanup attempt that resulted in no cum being spilt onto the stairs. Lewis retreated upstairs to the guest bathroom as he always did, washing off the dirt of the day and relishing in that post-sex bliss; the way that his arrangement with Seb worked may seem a bit too clinical to others, but to Lewis, it was just the way that they were.
To think about it, Seb was the first person that he had truly felt comfortable with intimately; albeit that he tended to downplay the severity of their relationship at times. Lewis could really see himself falling for him, but the anxiety of not knowing if Seb was even open to considering things romantically rather than maintaining this friends-with-benefits situation, and the fact that he teaches two of Seb's sons at school, kept him from doing so. That thought lingered for a few minutes until he was done with his shower.
By the time he made it to the primary bedroom, Lewis found that his clothes had been gathered from the wreckage downstairs and were currently being laid out on the bed by Seb, who was already dressed in a fresh pair of clothes.
"You good, Lewis?" Seb gave him a once over before moving to sit on the ottoman at the foot of his bed. "You seem a bit… lost in thought."
"I'm alright." He replied as he sat down on the bed, adjusting the towel that clung to his waist. "I was just thinking about how funny it was that we never even made it to the bed…"
"I do like to be spontaneous sometimes" Seb flashed a half smile before continuing, "But I know that wasn't what you were really thinking about."
A beat.
"Remember, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."
Lewis winced at the word.
Friend.
'Friends don't exactly fuck each other on staircases now, do they?' He thought, but he kept it to himself.
Instead, he said: "I don't think you'll like it."
"And how do you know that?" Seb still pushed for information, seemingly ignoring Lewis' hint to drop the line of questioning. "Trust me, Lewis, I'm stronger than you think."
Lewis sighed. "I don't doubt that, but…"
"-But what?"
"When will we label this?!" Lewis exclaimed, his voice raised momentarily, "We've been sleeping together for six months now, don't you think that this is past friendship?"
Then, his voice softened. "I know that it's less than ideal to be thinking about a relationship now, but I'm growing tired of hiding from everyone. How many more times will I have to lie to Jenson about my whereabouts? How many more times will I have to speak to Charles and Ollie whilst hiding the fact that I'm in love with their father?"
Seb froze. "Love?"
"Well, I don't exactly clear my Friday evenings for people I moderately like." Lewis retorted, "I thought you would know that."
"I appreciate the sentiment, Lewis…" Seb's expression now resembled that of a person whom had just seen a ghost, his face paling as if commitment was his biggest fear. "But you know how things were with Mark and I, and I think that I've made it clear since the beginning that I'm not in a rush to label things."
"You mean Mark, the guy who dumped you a year ago?" Lewis rolled his eyes, before leaning back to lay on the bed, his hands moving to drag across his face.
"I don't want to lose you the same way I lost him, okay!" Seb stood up and begun to pace around the room. "I cherish you a lot, darling, I do, but-"
"You still have me, Seb. I'd just like to not be hidden for once." Lewis interjected, his voice stern as their eyes met. "Just try introducing me as your boyfriend to someone, it won't kill you."
Seb stopped pacing and stood in front of Lewis, his words carefully chosen. "I know, it's just that given the fact that you're Charles and Ollie's teacher-"
"You didn't seem to have a problem with that when we started out, did you?" Lewis let out yet another exasperated sigh before beginning to dress up, "Besides, it's not me who marks their final exams anyway, so us being together won't raise any concerns about fairness, it's just more of a social hurdle we have to get over."
"I'll think about it then." Seb reluctantly agreed, "But I'm not announcing to the whole town that we're together, if that's what you had in mind."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't ask you to do that." Lewis laughed, "But I do expect you to acknowledge our relationship when we're around my friends, that's all. Even if they're shocked at first, they'll get over it."
Jenson Button was not a stupid man by any means.
As someone with the life experience of a sixty-year-old at the age of thirty, he knew when someone was telling the truth, and when they were lying - and as of 11pm tonight, he definitely knew that his closest friend, Lewis Hamilton, was definitely hiding something from him.
It started on a random Friday in July, with the excuse that he was going to the gym after work - which seemed to work for a few months, until he asked Jamie Chadwick - a mutual friend and regular at the Everyone Active that Lewis claimed that he went to - about his whereabouts, to which she answered that she had never seen him at the gym on Friday.
Once Lewis had been confronted about this, the second excuse revealed itself: that he had been attending a late-night book club, which sufficed for two weeks, until he asked Lewis what book he had been reading, to which he answered that he 'couldn't remember' and feigned brain fog from planning lessons as his reason.
The third strike was when Lewis had told him that he was going to the local Weatherspoons with 'other friends' of his; after a brief investigation, he found that to be false. For starters, he never came home drunk, he always smelt of some weirdly refreshing honeycomb soap - a clear sign that he hadn't gone anywhere near The Red Lion, as anyone who stepped foot there will come out smelling like cigarettes, beer and a mixture of Lost Mary vape flavours - and also due to the fact that he didn't have many friends that lived nearby and weren't teachers at Silverstone Academy.
Jenson's patience for these lies was wearing thin - even more so after last term, where he caught a glimpse of Lewis getting into someone's BMW in the school car park and not returning home until much later in the night. He didn't catch who the driver was, as the windows were tinted, but he suspected that it was a romantic partner of sorts whom Lewis hadn't told him or Jamie about. Still, the shitty excuses and otherwise lazy attempts to hide whatever was going on were getting on his nerves, and now that this behaviour had continued on into the spring term, Jenson was starting to grow increasingly worried for his friend.
"That's interesting." Fernando's hum from across the table snapped Jenson back to reality.
To combat his sudden loneliness on Friday evenings, he had invited Fernando, his boyfriend, along with his sons, to have dinner with him. Gabriel was away at some sleepover, so it was just himself, Max and Fernando tonight. Max was a sound kid, although quite the delinquent at school, and he didn't seem to mind the awkward situation created by the fact that his form tutor was Jenson's roommate (well, soon to be ex-roommate). He had held up some good conversations over the past hour and a half that he and Fernando had been here, and Jenson could feel that he was getting more comfortable with his presence in his life.
Jenson redirected his gaze from the clock on the wall toward Fernando. "What's interesting, Nando?"
"You've been staring at that clock for a good chunk of the evening." Max spoke in his stead as he finished his last spoonful of paella.
"Oh, its nothing. I'm just wondering when Lewis will get back." Jenson sighed, before fixing his expression upon receiving a raised eyebrow from his boyfriend, "He's moving out tomorrow."
"Well, that explains the boxes. Good for him." Fernando attempted to seem indifferent, but both Jenson and Max knewthat he was happy that Lewis was leaving earlier than expected.
"That explains why he was actually late to form time today." Max added, "He just got lucky that you kicked Charles and I out of your form room a bit later than usual."
"Lewis being late?" Jenson tried to hold back a laugh, "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Ask Carmen, she said that he got there at 8:30 instead of 8:25."
"And what difference does 5 minutes make, mijo?" Fernando joked sarcastically as he stood up to collect the finished plates of food.
"It's the difference between being scolded by Mr. Rosberg and not being scolded by Mr. Rosberg." Max leant back in his chair, "He seems to have a thing for Mr. Hamilton. Alex and George bet that he has some sort of weird one-sided crush on him, but Carmen, Lily and I chose the sane option of betting that he just hates his guts."
"Who is Mr. Rosberg again?" Fernando inquired, to which Jenson and Max called out simultaneously:
- "The shorter Nico"
- "The bitchy one"
They shared a laugh.
"Maybe I should've stayed out if I knew that you'd be talking about him again" A familiar voice echoed from the hallway, followed by the sound of the front door slamming shut.
Lewis.
Jenson almost immediately stood up from his chair and walked toward the hallway. "You'd take any excuse to stay wherever you just came from."
"I told you that I was going to the book club tonight, Jen." Lewis rolled his eyes as he removed his shoes.
"I thought you were off to The Red Lion, no?" Jenson snapped back.
"Change of plans." Lewis brushed past him as he walked toward his room,"Besides, when were my whereabouts of interest to you?"
Jenson bit his tongue to keep himself from listing all of the contradictions of Lewis' stories over the past six months, instead opting to not argue with his flatmate on his last night in the house. "I just thought that you would join us for dinner, since it is your last night here…"
"I'm not dying, Jenson." Lewis' laugh echoed from his room. "I'll only be a 15 minute drive from here, and it's not like we won't have dinner together again when Jamie insists on dragging us to Harvester once a month."
He continued, "Besides, you should be happy that I'm leaving, as you won't receive any more noise complaints from me about you and Fernando-"
"Max is here." Jenson gritted his teeth in an attempt to shush him.
"Tell him that he should be revising." Lewis snapped back, "Mock exams are next week."
Jenson groaned, leaning back onto the wall as he rolled his eyes. "Don't bring work into this."
"Don't talk about Nico then." Lewis shot him a smirk as he reappeared, crossing his arms as he leant against the frame of his bedroom door.
"For the record, you weren't supposed to hear that." Jenson sighed, before pivoting back to his earlier argument, "I just thought that we could wrap up all these years of living together with a nice meal, but you clearly prefer hanging out with other people, so i guess not."
"Now that you put it like that…" A look of guilt washed across Lewis' face as it dawned upon him, "I guess that I've been taking your friendship for granted recently."
"You guess? You have." Fernando's voice could be heard from the dining room, followed by a hushed warning to 'not get involved' from Max.
"Don't mind Nando." Jenson chuckled "He can get defensive at times."
"He's right, though. I haven't been as present outside of work than I used to be." Lewis sheepishly admitted, to which Jenson nodded, "I'm sorry, Jenson."
"And for the record, I'll miss you." He added, opening his arms for a hug.
Jenson moved forward and accepted his gesture. "Apology accepted. I'll miss you too, Lew."
The hug was soft in the way that their hugs had always been, a calming yet bone-crushing force that brought a sense of calm to both parties; a bittersweet air of finality plagued this particular hug as it was their last as flatmates, but not as friends. It signalled the end of the energy drink and ramen-fuelled late nights they spent studying for exams together, and the afternoons spent clearing up after themselves - the end of the early morning debriefs that Jenson pretended to hate, the countless days spent online looking for graduate teaching jobs…
It all ended with this one simple gesture.
Saturday afternoon came faster than Lewis thought it would. He was running on three hours of sleep, two cans of full throttle monster and sheer audacity when he picked up the keys from the estate agents. Jamie and Valterri, who are filling in for Jenson as he overslept, were squashed into his Ford Fiesta along with a plethora of boxes containing most of what he owned, with the heavier items in a van headed straight for his new address. Due to his condition making him unfit to drive, Jamie was the designated driver; she had insisted on having the radio on full blast, citing that it helped her get 'in the zone'.
Lewis kept his window down, the soft breeze of the residential roads that they were weaving through softly caressing his face and running through his braids. The area surrounding his new place wasn't too shabby. It was a bit further from the town centre - and Seb's place - than where he had lived with Jenson, but this street seemed to be quieter than the block of flats that seemed to have at least two neighbourhood incidents a week.
"This area is looking fancy" Jamie noted, her eyes lazer-focused between looking at the road and the Google Maps display on the car's Sat-Nav.
"Are you sure that you're not being scammed?" Valterri added, "This place seems a bit too expensive for the salary that we're getting."
This made Lewis chuckle slightly as he looked back at his friend, who was being sandwiched between two large boxes. "No, I'm not being scammed, Valterri."
"What he means to say is that he got this place for cheap by agreeing to live with a stranger." Jamie stated, matter-of-factually. "I tried to talk him out of it by offering to convert my study into his room, but he refused." Her tone feigned disgust.
Whilst it was true that he rejected Jamie's offer, Lewis couldn't deny that it was a hard one to refuse. She came from a tax bracket similar to Seb's, where she wouldn't really care for the little rent money that he could provide her with, but he figured that like his time living with Jenson, he would most likely find out some facts about her that he would want to immediately unlearn.
"I don't want to live with a co-worker anymore." Lewis simply replied as he sunk down into the passenger seat, "You wouldn't want to know half the things I know about Jenson."
Jamie tutted. "Yeah, but at least it's not a total stranger. Imagine if your housemate turns out to be a weirdo..."
Lewis turned back to face Valterri, who was nodding in agreement. "Seriously, man?! You're agreeing with her, even after I FaceTimed you at the viewing?"
"Statistically speaking, Jamie could be right. No matter how nice the house is, the person living in it could always be peculiar."
"Whatever." Lewis pouted, "As long as I'm not living with one of you guys, I think I'll be fine."
A few minutes later, they heard the words that they had been waiting to hear for the entire trip:
'You have arrived at your destination: 6 Brackley Grove'.
Jamie parked on the side of the pavement and lowered her window to get a clearer look at the place; it was a neat two-story semi-detached house, complete with a small, fenced off front yard. It boasted a small pedestrian gate that separated the yard from the pavement,three planters of roses that were visibly perched on the windowsills and a gorgeous red brick exterior that gave the place its unmistakable charm.
The trio got out of the car, with Valterri taking extra care to not make any fragile boxes fall as he closed the door.
"Cool house, Hamilton." Jamie gave Lewis a nudge. "You ought to give us a tour."
Lewis groaned, the effects of almost pulling an all-nighter packing the night before catching up with him. "Can we just move some boxes in first?"
Valterri shook his head. "Tour first, boxes later."
"Need I remind you that you've literally seen the place on FaceTime, Valterri."
"Well, now he gets to see it in real life." Lewis' pleas seemed to fall upon deaf ears as Jamie eagerly snatched the keys from his hand and pushed open the gate, Valterri close behind her. Lewis dragged his feet and followed them in.
"Vamos!" Jamie cheered as she unlocked the front door.
Nothing major about the interior had changed since the viewing. The hallway still had its artsy chequered floor, the living room still resembled an old library due to the amount of books on the bookshelves - everything down to the small garden at the back of the house was exactly as he remembered, and it all seemed perfect…
Almost too perfect for his liking.
Lewis had intended to just check his room whilst Jamie and Valterri investigated the garden; their animated conversation still in earshot as he ascended the stairs. Even though they annoyed him, Lewis was grateful that they had taken the time out of their weekends to help him.
A small smile materialised on his lips as he thought this, but it quickly diminished when he heard it.
"Lewis?" Someone called his name from somewhere beyond the stairs. It sounded familiar - too familiar for his own comfort. He could turn back, pretend that he hadn't heard his name being called, because he was certain about who it was.
"You're my housemate?" The voice was clearly as shocked as he was, a breathless laugh following his question.
Lewis looked up and confirmed that the voice belonged to the last person that he wanted to see:
Nico.
Maybe he should've taken Jamie up on her offer after all.
"Well, there goes my plan to escape living with a co-worker." Lewis mumbled under his breath, before speaking directly to Nico. "Yes, I'm your housemate. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." Nico replied, a condescending look plastered across his face.
Their eyes met in what could only be described as mutual disgust. Lewis looked as if he was starting to regret every major decision that had led him here, whereas Nico was doing a terrible job at hiding his disappointment.
After a moment of silence, Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Quit lying, Nico. Your face gives it away."
"You don't get to tell me what to do in my house-"
Lewis cut through his rebuttal. "Don't forget that now the lease is signed, this is my house too."
Nico scoffed. "The audacity."
"I'm just stating a fact. There's no reason to get your knickers in a twist." Lewis crossed his arms, stepping over the last step to be level with Nico.
Nico took a step back at the sudden close proximity, as if being repelled by Lewis' presence. "You didn't have to be so rude about it, though."
Lewis paid no heed to Nico's wariness, as he continued to inch closer to him.
"I think that it would be beneficial to the both of us if we just pretend the other doesn't exist here."