Work Text:
The typical Las Vegas’s sun burned through Theo’s skin, even though the school’s AC was on and working perfectly fine, he still felt a little dizzy.
In New York, summers were hot and humid, but in Las Vegas, the heat was dry and had the habit of making people desperate.
Walking through the school’s crowded halls, Theo felt sweat creep down his neck, pooling on his nape: wet and disgusting.
People normally didn’t mind him, almost as he was invisible, no one seemed to care about what he did or didn’t.
Which was a good thing most of the time, because hiding his hangover or being high wasn’t really easy.
Today though, it seemed as if something was different: people whispered when he walked by, they pointed at him while stealing glances.
Theo started quickening his pace to his locker, insecurity filling his mind.
‘What's wrong?’ He thought.
His question was answered right away when he stepped in front of his locker, there, in the dull blue metal door, a paper that could change it all was stuck.
In big, bold, black sharpie letters was written:
‘DECKER likes:
- Drugs
- His druggy foreigner boyfriend
- DICK’
His pounding heart sank to his stomach, his breath got stuck on his chest.
What? How could this be?
“Druggy foreigner boyfriend…” he muttered under his breath, like saying it out loud made it any better.
Time stopped for him, the bell rang and people kept pushing past him, pointing and looking, but it didn’t really matter.
How could people know?
Boris might’ve smoked a few times before school—Theo felt it in his breath—but they never went to school high, they just skipped classes.
And Boris wasn’t his boyfriend—never was and never would be.
There was no way for someone to know about those confusing and murky nights—which sometimes seemed like dreams, proven to be real because of that sharp gasp, eyes rolling back and forgetting about everything—, they didn’t even mention them in the morning, how could anybody possibly know?
They both knew very well that if people knew about them they’d get the wrong idea, neither of them wanted people to find out.
And the third thing on the list was unthinkable. Theo hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, not even Boris.
Why? Because it wasn’t true.
He couldn’t and he didn’t, that’s it.
But still, the questions lingered on his mind: how? Why? Who?
His finger touched the edge of the paper as if hoping it was just an illusion, but it wasn’t, of course it wasn’t.
Quickly, he ripped the paper off with his shaky hands and folded it in half.
“Is that from your girlfriend?” A familiar voice with a thick accent asked from his back, returning him to reality. “Must be nice, eh?”
“Fuck off.” Theo replied, turning around to find Boris smiling wide at him, oblivious to what’d happened.
“Let me see.” Boris asked, palm extended, ready to receive the poster that had ruined everything for Theo just a moment ago.
But the blond boy just refused to give it away, folding it again once more and shoving it into his pocket.
“People call you Decker?” Boris asked suddenly, his accent showing clearly on the last name: sharp and thick.
‘Shit, he read it?’ Theo thought. That would be no good, definitely not what he wanted.
“No one calls me that.” He answered quietly, filled with embarrassment and doubts.
He felt his cheeks growing redder by the second, his lungs burnt as if he’d taken a drag—which sadly wasn’t the case—, his dizziness only got worse.
“What do you like?” Boris questioned, “what did it say?”
“You read it already, why do you want me to tell you?” Theo replied, a little annoyed with Boris’s insistence.
Why embarrass him like that? Why make him repeat it?
“I couldn’t understand.” Boris explained, “I read and read and read and still not fast enough! Not American, remember?”
“Sucks for you, then.” Theo cut the topic off, opening his locker and reaching for his math books.
“I know what you like.” The black-haired boy spoke after a brief silence. “You like paintings and antiques, Popchyk, vicodin and filling your cup with vodka to the top.” He listed.
Theo didn’t speak, a tight knot in his throat keeping him silent.
“You don’t know how to drink, maybe I can teach.” Boris suggested, trying to distract his friend.
“You don’t know either, you drink beers like they’re Pepsi, you can’t even control yourself.” Theo chuckled.
Boris opened his eyes, pretending to be surprised. “Come on, show me.” He asked again, pouting at Theo like it would help. “I—I’ll give you a cigarette, the last drag!”
“Seriously? You want to smoke at school? We're gonna get expelled.” Theo shook his head.
Smoking at school, suspension, the meeting his mother had with the principal because of it, the museum.
“Can go to the bathroom, get in one of those—what do you call? Stalls, lit it up and that’s it! No more curiosity and Potter’s happy.” Boris explained, gesturing with his hands.
“I’m not budging because of a cigarette.” The blond said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest, turning to look at the black-haired boy.
“Acid then? I ask Kotku and—”
“No, I’m not budging by anything or any means.” Theo interrupted Boris’s ideas before he could finish.
He wasn’t going to listen to Boris talk about Kotku, not now.
Boris looked at him for a second, as if he was deciding what to do or debating if an idea was good enough.
Their eyes met, Theo’s breath stopped when Boris came closer, meeting his lips.
Theo didn’t react at first, obviously too stunned to even realize what was happening, but he quickly caught up, raising his hand up to Boris’s neck, tilting his head slightly so he could deepen the kiss.
Boris didn’t stop himself, he let his hands travel down Theo’s body, stopping for a moment on his waist before lowering to his hips and pressing both bodies to the lockers.
When sense finally knocked into the blond boy and he noticed what was happening, he distanced from the black-haired boy. “Boris…” he croaked, pressing his hands to his chest, adding some inches between their bodies.
His eyes shifted to the empty halls, what would he do if someone saw him? What would people think?
But the black-haired boy had a grin on his face. Slowly, he raised his hand—which was holding something between his index and middle fingers, something white and folded.
“Boris, what?” Theo muttered. The paper, Boris had the paper.
“Ha! You gave in with a kiss.” Boris bragged proud, unfolding the paper quickly and reading, Theo knew it made no sense trying to fight back for it now. “Is that me?” He asked suddenly, with a smile still on face.
“I don’t know, are you Boris Decker?” Theo answered, a little frustrated because of everything: the paper, the kiss, the intentions, the fact that Boris was very insistent.
“ідіот!” Boris said, rolling his eyes. “‘Druggy foreigner boyfriend’ Is that me? You tell everyone I’m your boyfriend?” His eyes met Theo’s face, Theo felt how it got warmer with embarrassment, he wished this was all a dream, an illusion, an effect of all the drugs he’d snorted just yesterday.
Although Boris didn’t really seem mad because of it, Theo still felt horrible. Now Boris knew, what did he know? Theo had no idea, there wasn’t anything to know, he hadn’t told anyone about it, about their nights or their relationship.
He barely even spoke with his classmates, he literally only had Boris as a friend.
“I haven’t said anything because we’re just friends” The blond replied, his voice as low as a whisper. “I don’t know who did this, but it isn’t true, I promise, I… it’s not real.”
He didn’t dare to look at Boris in the eyes, even when he felt his friend’s eyes drop on his face, he just… couldn’t.
Then, without Theo expecting it, Boris laughed loudly. His explosive laugh echoed through the hall, all classroom doors were closed, the bell had rung long ago, no inspectors were to be seen.
“You think it’s funny?” Theo questioned.
He definitely did not find this funny, why would he?
“Lying to others is fine, lying to me you already do, but lying to yourself? Ha! That’s фігня.” Boris said, shrugging. “You like getting high.”
Theo thought about it for a while, silence fell between the two. “I guess I do.” He admitted, “but the other things aren’t true at all.”
Boris laughed again, Theo gave him an annoyed and disbelieving glance.
“Lie, huh?” Boris chuckled softly, “those nights aren’t dreams, Potter.” He reminded him, a playful smile lingering on his lips. “And I know what you think about them.”
“I—stop this.” Theo pleaded. “I need to go to class, it started already.” He excused, turning around again to face his locker, still looking for his math books.
Boris got closer to him and rested his chin on Theo’s shoulder. “Why so desperate? We always skip.” He murmured into Theo’s ear.
“I think I’d a test, I need to go.” He lied, pressing the books up to his chest, tilting his head slightly to glance at his friend.
“Then have a great class, Decker.” Boris said, giving Theo a short and soft kiss before walking away.
Theo stood paralyzed, what was wrong with Boris? Was he drunk?
They normally didn’t kiss while sober—not before, not ever. In fact, they only did it when the other was too sad or sick and always drank a beer or snorted some crushed pills after. But now in less than a whole class they’d kiss two times, that was pretty weird for them.
And Boris’s lips didn’t taste like beer or smoke—at least not now—so there wasn’t a real explanation.
What if someone saw them? Would the posters get worse? What would he do if that happened?
He bit his lower lip, anxious. He checked the halls again: empty, of course, but he still felt insecure.
Even if Boris wasn’t by his side anymore, even if no one could misunderstand something about him anymore, he still felt strange, as if he was committing a big mistake and wasn’t realizing.
How could people know? How could someone discover the things he did with his best friend? Was someone spying on them?
If Boris was high, then that would be no good for either of them: if he got caught under the effect of whatever drug he found he could get expelled.
And it wasn’t that Theo cared about it—he actually really did, but preferred not to admit it—but if Boris got caught with that, then it could lead to his dad’s neglect, which could lead to losing Boris.
Theo couldn’t lose him, it just simply wasn’t something he could live with, not if he knew it was a possibility and still let it happen.
He pushed the books inside the locker without even caring if they bended or not and closed the metal door fast—which only made a whole lot of noise—before following Boris’s direction.
But the black-haired boy was nowhere to be found: not in the bathrooms, not in the halls, not in the cafeteria, not everywhere, and that only led to one place: class.
Theo didn’t really know Boris’s schedule, sure, they’d some shared classes, but not every single one, so he just walked through doors, peeking inside for that curly messy black hair.
Until he saw it—or him—his eyes were unfocused on his notebook, his hand scribbling something in the top corner of the page: he was bored, painfully bored of the tortuous class he’d got in.
Theo knocked on the door three sharp times, his heart was beating fast, his breath was irregular.
“Come in!” The teacher answered, The blond boy obeyed, opening the door slightly.
“Is Boris Pavlikovsky here?” Theo asked, students gazed at him, murmurs appeared instantly.
Too fixed in the students' reactions, he didn’t even notice the teacher had answered and that Boris was already outside in the hallway with him.
“What?” Boris questioned, “Failed?”
“Are you high?” Was all that the blond boy could say in response.
Boris looked at him for a moment, then laughed, but stopped when he noticed Theo wasn’t laughing at all.
“Kidding?” He doubted, clearly confused. Theo shook his head. “I’m completely sober.” He reassured.
Sober.
The word hit like a physical blow.
Boris knew what he was doing, Boris was completely conscious of what effects he was achieving in Theo and was fully okay with that.
Was all of this just a fever dream? Would Theo suddenly wake up?
“But you kissed me.” Theo muttered, all his strength leaving him in those simple four words, “and people know now, you didn’t want them to know.”
“Maybe…” Boris agreed. “But now, who cares? Fuck ‘em all.” He got closer, lips almost brushing against Theo’s.
“But us.” The blond accepted with a small smile, closing the distance.