Prologue

3rd Person

Adrian Sanders and Derek Peterson were close friends. They were part of the same friend group, which included some of the best people either of them knew. Cameron Patterson, Aaron Williams, Devin White, and so many more. They were revered by the school, their teammates, and everyone basically.

They won the state championship. The California state championship belonged to Bryant High School, and two of those players were Adrian and Derek. They had been a massive part of taking their school to the promise land.

Adrian, in particular, saved his best performances of the season for the playoffs. He celebrated hard after that game, dancing around with his friends and shit. It was a good day for him, to say the least.

For Derek, it should've been a good day. He should've left the Rose Bowl satisfied, but he wasn't. This is because of what happened immediately after the final play, where Aaron caught a touchdown from Cameron. Derek got up and started celebrating with his teammates, until he saw something that he wished he never had to see.

Cam and Aaron were kissing in the endzone in front of thousands of people. Derek looked at them in disbelief, disappointment, sadness, everything that could hurt you. Derek was hurt. Not because he thought that Cam liked him back, but because he thought, somehow, that Cameron would be someone that he could get.

And he pretty much was. Cam was one of if not the most attractive person in the entire school, and Derek was definitely up there in terms of attractiveness. He was tall, ripped, had perfect hair, all of those things. These things made him a bit too similar to Cameron though, because Aaron was not that similar in looks to Cameron.

First, Aaron had black hair, which was also perfect, but a different style. Aaron was tall, but not as tall as Cam. Aaron was ripped, but not as ripped as Cam.

After the state championship, Derek didn't celebrate very hard. He went home and cried. He wasn't jealous of Aaron, or so he told himself, because Aaron was his best friend. Aaron was the coolest, most supportive guy Derek had met. He can't be mad at Aaron for being attractive.

Even at the state championship assembly, he got his medal, thanked the students, but didn't smile once. He took a seat right near the stage with the rest of the team and had to watch Aaron and Cam kiss each other again on the stage. This was not a one time thing, the two of them were dating and very much in love. Multiple assemblies he had to be at where Cam and Aaron were there as a couple, making the whole situation excruciating for him.

"Dude, are you okay?" Adrian asks him next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Derek lies. He was not doing well. The only thing he was kind of looking forward to was going back to San Diego for the summer, not really having to do anything in Kai and Jax's now owned house.

"Okay," Adrian replies, still concerned about Derek.

Adrian has been extremely attracted to Derek for three years, ever since basically the moment Derek stepped into the school. It makes sense too, Derek was undoubtedly an attractive individual.

Adrian had some options this summer. He was debating going to a football camp for most of the summer or going to San Diego with the rest of his close teammates. The football camp could be important because Adrian had to put on some muscle before his first season of college football, which would be starting in the fall.

It's something he's just gonna end up thinking about for a little bit, probably a game time decision. He would rather go to San Diego with everyone else, but he knows that he has to put in the work. No matter how talented he is at the game, he needs to have the body to survive in the much tougher game of college football.

A couple weeks later, at graduation, everyone was excited. This was it. This was the final thing that these guys would be doing in high school. They would be moving that string thing from one side of the hat to the other.

"Cameron Patterson!!" the principal calls out, and the crowd erupts into cheers for the school's hero. The one that got them to the glory land or whatever.

Derek looked up at Cameron in complete awe. He was beautiful, legitimately. Nothing would deny that fact, no matter how much Cam loves his boyfriend.

"Derek Peterson!!!" the principal calls out, and the crowd erupts again for another one of the school's heroes.

This time, Adrian looked up at Derek in the same awe and want that Derek looked up at Cameron with. He did try to just put his feelings aside, but that was short lived, and that whole attempt to get over him ended the minute Derek came out to him while he was drunk. Derek denied ever doing that.

"Adrian Sanders!!!" the principal calls out, and Adrian grins. Adrian was pretty as fuck too, his hair was perfect, his jawline was flawless, and so was his skin. His hair had gone through many phases, but he finally found one that fit him.

Adrian grabbed his diploma and took a seat. This was big for him. This was the second biggest moment of his life, with the state championship obviously being the biggest moment in his life. He will never forget that. It was too perfect of a moment, but he didn't even notice Derek's face during the win.

"Aaron Williams!!!" the principal calls out. Cameron's stunning boyfriend steps onto the stage, cheers once again erupting. He looked amazing that day, some of his hair sticking out from under his graduation cap.

Derek looked over at Cam, who was sitting one or two seats down from him. Cameron got up and went over to his boyfriend, picking him up and spinning him around in the air before putting him down and kissing him and hugging him.

As much as he would like to deny it, Derek was jealous as hell. It's not about Aaron, he would be jealous of anyone dating Cameron. He still loves Aaron as a friend, so it's nothing personal against him. It's just the thought of someone dating the man that Derek had been drop dead attracted to for years was gut wrenching.

Derek couldn't take it anymore, getting up from his seat and walking to the school building, no one stopping him until he walked into the building. He walked in, his emotions completely taking control of his body as his fist slammed into a locker.

He didn't feel the pain from it. He only felt pain from being the guy deepest in the friend zone. Happiness is not something that will come easy for Derek, that's for sure. Someone is going to have to come into his life and pick him up.

"Are you okay bro?" someone asks Derek. Derek peels himself away from the locker to face the guy who just addressed him.

He was cute, depending on your opinion. He was relatively tall, not as tall as Derek, but still pretty tall. He had blonde hair, brown eyes, and small lips. He was wearing a graduation gown and cap as well, he probably was in there for the bathroom or something like that.

"I-I'm fine," Derek says, rubbing his fist which is actually beginning to feel pain. "Just some shit. You don't want to know about it. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"You sure? Because we can talk about it. You're Derek Peterson, right?"

"Yeah. Tha-that's me," Derek says, still focusing on the pain in his fist.

"Nice to actually meet you. My name is Justin, but whatever. Is this something about a relationship?" the guys asks.

"Kind of."

"You're a very cute guy, Derek. I have to assume a lot of people want you. You're a very desirable person. You can ask out any girl you want and 90% of them would say yes," the guys says.

"Really? You think I'm that attractive?"

"Yeah. I do."

Derek looks down and sees a rainbow bracelet on his wrist, putting two and two together, realizing this guy is gay. And this guy is gay for Derek.

"Are you gay?" Derek asks, somewhat awkwardly, but he couldn't care less. His fist was in serious pain, but not bleeding.

"Yeah. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable," he starts, meeting Derek's gaze, "but yeah. I'm into men."

"That's not uncomfortable for me. I mean, one of my teammates is gay, and two of my teammates are dating," Derek answers, casually.

"That's cool. It's not everywhere that you see a tolerant football team," he chuckled.

Derek was so frustrated at this moment. Not at this guy he just met, but just in general. He couldn't have the man that he wanted most, so his emotions were extremely irrational and were not going to lead him in the right direction.

"Hey, uh, this might sound weird, but you said I'm cute, right? I think you're kinda cute too, you wanna maybe do something?" Derek blurts out, not thinking about what he's saying.

"Uh, sure. I do think you're extremely attractive Derek, so yes," Justin answered, a smile creeping onto his face.

"I know a spot."

"This is a one time thing, right? Because I'm moving in a couple days, just to let you know," Justin tells Derek.

"Alright. That's fine with me. Please don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Yeah. Of course. I won't tell a single other person."

"Thank you so much," Derek said, gratefully.

Derek and Justin make their way to the locker rooms to do whatever they want. Derek had been carrying condoms in his wallet for months, since he started dating that girl as a beard, because he was sure she would force him to do something, so he just carried a couple around so that he wouldn't get her pregnant without wanting to even have sex with her. She had been pretty much ran through by the entire basketball team, and in a pretty public and well documented way.

Meanwhile, the graduation ceremony wraps up. It's smiles all around, Adrian hugging Cam, Aaron, DeShaun, Devin, Kai, and Jax before saying his final goodbyes to some of the other teammates that wouldn't be going to UCLA with the others. Torry, Antonio, and Patrick were the teammates he talked to first.

Pretty much everyone else was either a junior, so they would have another season at Bryant High School, or they were going to UCLA. Pretty much 50% of the entire roster decided to go to UCLA. Brian, Dominique, Darren, DeMarcus, and Christian all decided to go to UCLA, but only Brian and Darren got scholarships. The other three are walk on's, which means that they are not guaranteed roster spots until they prove that they deserve to be on the team.

"I can't believe we're done!!" Adrian says to Devin.

"I know. It seems like just yesterday we were just lil freshmen bitches, but now we're going to college. It's crazy."

"I'm excited, I don't know about you. We're gonna be great. The defense is gonna be great, and if those two can stay happy with each other, the offense will be great," Adrian points to Aaron and Cam, who are hugging each other and rocking back and forth.

"Trust me, they will never get sick of each other. They cling to each other every second of the day, they think they're the only people in the world," Devin states.

"No we don't," Aaron mutters in Devin and Adrian's direction.

"Yes we do, babe, let's be honest," Cam says and Aaron shrugs before kissing his boyfriend.

"See, they're literally soulmates," Devin remarks.

Once the celebrations died down, Adrian decided that he wants to see the locker room one more time before leaving. This is the end of high school, and that locker room has so many memories. Apparently Aaron and Cam have some pretty crazy ass memories from there as well, but Adrian did not care for those stories, despite his raging gayness.

Adrian walked over to the locker rooms, ready to just see the facilities for the final time. College could go many directions for him. He has confidence, but he's not only gonna focus on football. Romance has been completely absent from his life, and he's hoping to change that. A completely dry high school romance life made him feel bad, but college should be easier to scope than high school. There's less peer pressure around.

Adrian opened the door, his eyes getting extremely wide as he saw the scene before him. Derek balls deep in some random blonde kid.

Derek looks up from his situation and sees Adrian.

"Adrian?" Derek asks, voice trembling, freezing in place. He had just been caught in the most vulnerable position you can ever be caught in.

"Oh my God, I-I'm so fucking sorry I didn't know what was going on," Adrian says, quickly exiting the locker rooms and closing the door behind him without another word to his teammate.

The horrifying fact that he just saw that really fucked up Adrian's mind as he leaned on the wall in the hallway outside of the locker room. Decisions would have to be made.

Adrian decided that he would rather avoid having to talk to Derek, the awkwardness of the situation weighing heavily on him. If Derek was going to San Diego with the rest of the team, Adrian would (much to his disappointment) have to attend the football camp. The prospect of facing Derek in such close quarters filled him with dread, but he had no other choice.

Meanwhile, Derek's mind spiraled into a hell of a lot of anxiety. Now he knew without a doubt that Adrian was aware of his secret, a truth he had attempted to guard fiercely. The stress of this revelation gnawed at him relentlessly, knowing there was no way to deny or undo what Adrian had seen. Every interaction with Adrian from this point forward would be tainted by the knowledge of that moment, casting a long and ominous shadow over their futures. Derek's stress wasn't just about being exposed. It was about the uncertainty of how this revelation would change the dynamics of their relationship and the potential fallout within the team.

The pressure looming over Derek spiraled into an unbearable fear of what Adrian might do with this information. Would he tell anyone? Will Adrian blackmail him? What would happen if his mom somehow got word of this? College is supposed to be a fresh start, but here Derek was, his head filling up with thoughts of uncertainty.

After some thought, Derek finally decided something would need to be done. Adrian walking into the locker room had 100% exposed Derek's deepest, most guarded secret. Derek would have to make sure that no one else would learn his secret other than Adrian. Derek needed to ensure Adrian's silence regarding what he saw, and he would do anything to keep him quiet.

No one could know his secrets, and Derek would make sure of that.

A/N: Here is the prologue everyone!!! I hope you enjoyed it. I put every last braincell into those last few paragraphs because I kept rereading it and thinking that it was not dramatic enough and not showing off how important this moment was. I'm super excited for you to see the next few chapters, and there will be four new chapters being released on Friday.