Chapter 28 - Good News

The next day, Evan woke up covered in sweat. His blanket was kicked at the foot of the bed, one of his own legs still tangled in it. His pyjamas consisting of a white t-shirt and boxers were completely drenched, as was his hair sticking to his forehead. Evan didn't remember having a bad dream, but everything pointed to it. He didn't know whether to be glad that he didn't remember or to be angry that he had no idea what had ruined his mood this morning. Not that he didn't have a reason to be in a bad mood otherwise.

His still semi-stiff body ached as if he had run a marathon, but Evan chose not to pay attention to it, knowing that his muscles would regenerate in no time and the pain would be gone. At least the physical one.

He knew he couldn't control how he felt, but he could do something to at least look presentable. He had to convince his parents that he was trying to look good for his mate, and his friends, that everything was fine or even better and he still had an amazing boyfriend that he wanted to look attractive to. Not that Kieran cared that much, but Evan wanted to somehow make it up to him for not being able to be together in public.

His life was a mess, but so was he.

Before he finally decided to get out of bed, he decided to check his phone. Kieran's face grinned at him from the background he had set earlier, and a soft smile appeared on Evan's face as well. But even his brief moment of happiness did not last another minute. All it took was a notification on a social network that he had a new friend request. Evan clicked on a small icon on the screen, and the first thing that caught his eye was his name. Of course, there was a small photo next to it that Evan didn't even have to open to know that his chosen one looked good and definitely had a mischievous smile on his face.

He hesitated for a small moment. He knew it wasn't a good idea, but on the other hand, he didn't want to be the reason for any negative emotions on Ryan's part. Therefore, for peace of mind, he decided not to accept it, but he did not reject it either.

To cheer himself up, he moved from the main page to the chat. Of course, the very first conversation was with his boyfriend. Evan opened it straight away and shot Kieran a quick good morning message. The answer came instantly, and he had reason to smile again.

"Good morning, handsome," the message read. Evan giggled and bit down on his thumb. Just one sentence caused a warm heat to fill his inside.

"It definitely is now," he quickly texted back, eagerly waiting for a reply. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked the time in the corner of the display to make sure he had enough time to get to the bus. Fortunately, time was on his side today.

"Someone's cuddly today. I feel like I'm missing out." Evan would be lying if he said he never imagined what it would be like to wake up next to Kieran. He knew that his boyfriend liked to hug and cuddle, and Evan suspected that it must have been even better in the morning.

"You definitely do," he replied, imagining all the different scenarios, and quickly added, "Maybe we could hang out after school?" Without even hearing his answer, he began coming up with a plan. He couldn't rely on Angie as he wasn't planning on talking to her until she apologized. Evan hoped that wouldn't be a problem since his parents had believed his lie the night before, but he still needed a bulletproof plan.

His phone vibrated in his hands, announcing that he had a new message. Kieran, of course, agreed. If he was surprised by his proposal, he did not show it. Evan had no doubt that he wanted to discuss this face-to-face, and he was genuinely looking forward to it. He could finally tell him that he had figured out a way for them to meet other than at school or at a remote gas station. They could finally be a real couple.

The corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily. Although Evan was an emotional mess, there was one emotion he couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. The one he felt for a certain boy.

However, another one that Evan also knew intimately appeared right after it – guilt. He knew he wasn't cheating anyone, but he couldn't help but feel that he was actually hurting both of them. He and Ryan were just talking, but with the bond, they shared, even a few words were dangerous. Words could hurt, they could grow into something bigger, and as a result, they could break the heart of someone who was too good for that.

Evan knew Kieran deserved someone better than him. Maybe even Ryan deserved someone better.

With a deep sigh and a heavy heart, Evan finally got out of bed and decided to get ready for school.

---

The bus ride was relatively quiet. Evan spent the whole time looking out the window, lost in his own thoughts and trying not to spare a single glance at the girl a few seats in front of him. From her silence, she also suspected that the way she behaved was not entirely correct. But she didn't come to apologize, so Evan knew he had to be more stubborn than her. Even when the bus finally stopped in front of the school, she automatically shot out of it like she was hot on her heels while Evan shuffled through the last students.

He decided not to deal with it. Angie wasn't his only friend, there was no reason why he couldn't focus on his other friends. Speaking of friends, their disagreement did not go unnoticed.

"What happened between you and Hermione?" Millie's voice came from behind him, as did a forearm that landed on his shoulder. Evan rolled his eyes at the nickname she used. Every week it was something different. Once they were Bonnie and Clyde, another time Han Solo and Chewbacca, and last week she called them Thelma and Louise. She even caused an argument between them one week when she called them Batman and Robin, and they argued over which one was actually Batman.

"She's just a stupid Mudblood," he told her, dropping her hand from him. Millie obviously found his answer funny, judging by her laughter, and decided to stay in Evan's presence.

"Where's your partner, Eleven?" he asked her, deliberately using a nickname that he knew Millie hated. Not that she didn't like the series, but since it came out, she kept hearing the same cues. According to her, it was shallow and terribly unoriginal.

"Clara is sick. I think she got it from Jacob, but she denies it." She rolled her eyes and returned her hand to his shoulder.

"Didn't she break up with him?" Evan asked, genuinely surprised. No one understood why Clara and Jacob got together in the first place. When they broke up, all her friends had reason to celebrate and weren't afraid to tell her. Jacob was a sleazy idiot who went after every girl even though he was in a relationship and liked to say that looking doesn't mean cheating. Evan never understood what Clara saw in him.

"She did, but you know how she is," she sighed. Evan nodded to her, knowing exactly what she was getting at. Together they walked to Millie's locker, where they split up, and Evan went his own way. He was surprised that he hadn't met any of their party yet, but he assumed that Lola was already somewhere with Angie, so he didn't even have a chance to see her.

Evan finally reached his locker and promptly opened it to throw his backpack inside. He never went to class with more than one notebook and pen, and he wasn't going to change that. Before he could take out his usual gear, hands appeared in front of his eyes, blinding him for a moment.

"Guess who?" He didn't have to guess, he already knew by the smell that this was his favourite person under the sun. A wide smile appeared on his face immediately, and he couldn't help it. He covered the hands over his face with his own ones and allowed himself to hold his beloved's hands for a small moment.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure. I guess I'll need another hint," he quipped. The hands from his face along with his slowly moved from his eyes and lingered on his sides for a moment. Evan knew that this movement had definitely not gone unnoticed and instead turned around. Sensing his hesitation, Kieran took a step back to widen the gap between them. Fortunately, the smile on his face remained intact, so Evan had no reason to feel bad.

"Hi," he greeted him in a husky tone, his eyes briefly darting from his eyes to his entire outfit.

"You're killing me," Kieran admitted, furrowing his brows. His eyes slid to Evan's lips, and he felt his blood rushing to his cheeks.

"We still have a few minutes," Evan remarked, and Kieran reached over him to close the locker behind him. Evan automatically took that as a yes and strode to the nearest restroom. From the quick footsteps he heard behind him, he knew his boyfriend was right behind him. A small sly smile appeared on his face.

---

Right during the first break, it was clear that something had happened between Angie and Evan. Evan with Josh, Kieran, Aiden, and Millie were sitting outside on a bench while Lola and Angie were nowhere in sight.

"Should I even ask?" Josh started the conversation, and all eyes automatically fell on Evan. He decided to look disinterested and focused imploringly on the packet of chips in his hands.

"What?" He raised his head for a moment and pretended not to hear Josh's question. The way they all looked at him changed, now their gaze was no longer curious but sarcastic. Evan rolled his eyes and decided to answer their unspoken question.

"We had a fight, I'm not talking to her until she apologizes," he explained simply.

"So the usual?" Aiden commented, no longer looking interested in the topic. His remark angered Evan more than he expected. He knew that him arguing with Angie was nothing new, but this time it was more serious. They weren't arguing about who Batman was anymore, but the reason they were arguing was the same reason Evan broke down crying halfway home.

"No, not the usual," he replied, his tone turning bitter. This immediately caught everyone's attention and once again all eyes were on him.

"Are you OK?" Kieran asked, reaching behind his back, and placing his palm on his arm. Although Evan was in a half-hug, he wasn't feeling any better. He enjoyed Kieran's closeness, but the bitter taste in his mouth wouldn't go away.

"Not really," he admitted. "She tricked me and put me in a situation I didn't want to be in. The worst part is she didn't see anything wrong with it and of course, she thought she was right." He gave them a brief explanation of the recent events between him and his alleged best friend.

"Sounds rough. I know you argue all the time, but it never seemed like she hurt your feelings," Aiden commented. He was right. He and Angie couldn't go a day without snapping at each other, but they never took it seriously. But this time he couldn't imagine that he should talk to her as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry." Kieran pulled him closer. They were currently in a place where not many students went and especially not when it was this cold, so they didn't have to worry about being seen.

"It's cool. Plus, we can hang out together. I kind of fooled my parents," Evan admitted, changing the subject. This time, their sympathetic looks turned to confused ones.

"What did you do?" Josh asked first and the others waited for an answer. Evan thought for a moment, thinking of a version of the story for them. He didn't want to lie to them, but he couldn't tell them the truth either. So he decided to use his favourite technique - to tell enough true details so that it doesn't even sound like a lie. It wasn't the best technique, but it soothed his conscience the most.

"I told them I like a girl from Marwell who fits their requirements exactly," he finally said.

"So they're not afraid that you'll come here to see her and she might end up pregnant, but they think we're bad influences?" Aiden questioned.

"I never said they made sense." Evan shrugged.

"So quasi-good news?" Josh pitched. The tone he used to ask made Evan laugh. And Evan's laughter in turn caused Kieran's laughter to ring in his ears as well.

"Good news," he confirmed with a nod, and this caused even the grimaces on Aiden, Josh, and Millie's faces to turn into smiles.

"Great. Now we just have to convince Clara to stay away from Jacob the slime and the world is in balance again," Millie suggested, and it was easy to tell from the looks of the others that they shared her opinion of Jacob. Evan was thrilled to have teenage issues resurface in his life, which he was more than happy to focus on. Especially when they weren't his own.

"I'm surprised she hasn't caught chlamydia from him yet," Aiden said, making a gagging sound. Kieran spoke at the same time, asking the same question Evan had asked in the morning, "Weren't they broken up?"

Millie sighed and put her head in her hands, rubbing her temples as if she had a sudden headache. "Believe me, we're all surprised she didn't catch anything from him. That boy is like a leech, every time I think she finally got rid of him, he's back. I don't understand what she sees in him."

"Maybe we should do an intervention on her," Evan suggested jokingly.

"Or Josh could finally grow a pair and invite her somewhere," Kieran counter-suggested and all attention turned to his best friend. Josh immediately turned red and there was no doubt that Kieran had hit the spot. After all, he knew him better than anyone.

"Josh and Clara are sitting in a tree," Evan sing-song.

"Shut up, dude!"