Special thanks to my beta readers KianCalling & Mookie! 3 KianCalling was especially helpful with punctuation and grammar. Mookie was helpful with characterization and pitching ideas.
Any mistakes are my own.
Characters belong to Mars
The school bell rings, and students and teachers alike are racing out of the building to get to their homes, or in Jonas' case, to get away from the stifling environment that is Sellwood High. Jonas weaves skillfully in and out of other students. He can see the exit, he's so close—
Suddenly, there's a hulking figure blocking his path. Jonas tries to scurry around it, but the figure snatches him by his shirt collar and shoves him into some lockers. Jonas can hear his heart beating in his ears. He can't believe that this kind of thing always happens to him. He thought the childish bullying had stopped back in middle school, but apparently not.
His tormentor pushes closer still, his head ducking down to breathe down Jonas' neck–probably to intimidate him–and boy, is it working–wait, what? Did this person just sniff him!?
"Mmmm," the gruff voice hums appraisingly. Jonas' eyes widen; he's stunned for all of two seconds before his assailant speaks again. "You smell good, Spots."
Jonas plants both his hands on the chest in front of him and pushes hard. "Mitch! You scared me, you creep!"
Mitch throws his head back and laughs like an unhinged maniac. "You're too easy!" His outburst catches the attention of a few lingering students who scatter for the nearest exit upon hearing the sound. To them, Mitch's laugh induces fear; it's a promise for pain. But for Jonas, it's a cause for annoyance, and, as a more recent development, fondness.
"Ugh. Not funny! Next time you want to get my attention why don't you say 'hi'?" Jonas grumbles.
"Aw… Where's the fun in that?" Mitch tucks close to the shorter boy's side, slinging an arm over his shoulder while grinning widely. Though still peeved, Jonas doesn't try to slip away from him; he secretly enjoys the contact.
Together they make their way out of the building with Jonas leaning subtly into Mitch' touch. They are descending a short flight of steps, minding their own business, when from out of nowhere, they are being assaulted by a barrage of water balloons.
"What the fuck?!" Mitch fumes, shaking the mop of dripping hair out of his face. There's a chorus of cackling overhead and he glares up at the roof to catch a glimpse of Cliff, Scratch, and Javier preparing to launch another batch of raining projectiles. Javier raises a hand to his accomplices, halting the attack.
"Sorry, man!" Javier shouts down to them. More students exit the building, creating a wide birth around Mitch and Jonas where they are now standing in a giant puddle. "We were aiming for some nerds."
"We hit a nerd, alright. A fat one." Cliff guffaws at his own joke. Scratch joins him soon after. Jonas takes offense, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he too glares up at trouble-making gang.
"That better not have been one of your piss grenades, Javier!" Mitch hollers back.
"Those ones were filled with water only," Javier replies, then adds more quietly, "I think."
Jonas is horrified and frankly, a little sick to his stomach.
"He's just fuckin' with us," Mitch reassures Jonas, though he doesn't look entirely convinced himself.
Jonas is somewhat consoled by the fact that no strong odor is coming from his person. Still, he's nonetheless uncomfortable with how his clothes are sticking to him like a clammy second skin.
"You're lucky I don't come up there! Work on your aim, assholes!" Mitch is cursing up a storm until he's distracted by Jonas tugging on his arm.
"Come on, I want to get changed. Let's hurry back inside." Jonas is already dragging Mitch back up the steps leading into the school. He ignores the teasing and kissing noises coming from Mitch's friends until he's far away enough that he can't hear them anymore.
Jonas' backpack is starting to feel like a ton of bricks with how waterlogged it's become. He opts to drop it off at his locker so he can pick it up when he and Mitch leave after they've changed into their gym uniforms. Jonas then makes a beeline for the gym with Mitch trailing after him. The double doors swing open loudly and then fall closed behind them. Soon they are in the boys' locker room, digging around their respective lockers in search of some dry solace.
The 'splat' of something wet landing on the tiled floor has Jonas turning around curiously. He immediately regrets it because Mitch is in the process of peeling off his moth-eaten tank, revealing his toned chest, and appealing happy trail. Mitch's wife-beater then joins his sweatshirt in a heap on the ground. Jonas tears his eyes away when he see's Mitch starting to unbutton his jeans.
"I'm gonna change in the showers," Jonas' voice squeaks. And he escapes into the adjoining room. Leaning against the cool, tiled wall, he takes a moment to collect himself and regulate his breathing before removing his own soaking clothing.
Mitch and he have been dating for weeks, and that's the most skin he's seen of his boyfriend. Jonas reflects on this as he's pulling the dry t-shirt over his head. So far, they haven't done anything overtly sexual together, and Jonas knows it's because of him. During a particularly heated make out session, Mitch's hands got a little grabby. Mitch started reaching underneath his shirt trying to take it off, but Jonas' own insecurities stopped him from allowing Mitch to make any progress. What if Mitch didn't like what he saw? Or–and Jonas loathed the idea–but, what if when Mitch finally got what he wanted from Jonas... what if he dumped him!? It would be the cruelest 'prank' any bully had ever pulled on him.
Of course, Jonas knew he was being ridiculous. Mitch was obviously into him; it was blatant in the way Mitch would always find an excuse to be around him. And the way Mitch would look like a kicked puppy whenever it came time for them to part ways. Still, Jonas couldn't shake the intrusive thoughts.
"Sorry, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet," Jonas had said, turning his head away in shame. The last he wanted to see was his boyfriend's disappointment. Mitch must have thought that he was a total tease. A hand caught his jaw, tilting his head up and around. Mitch's eyes met his own, and his heart stuttered at the utterly besotted look Mitch gave him.
"'S fine. As long as I still get to kiss you." Mitch's eyes were lidded and he had that crooked smile that made Jonas' stomach do those strange flips.
Jonas had nodded and their make out session picked up where it left off. But there was a notable difference in the way Mitch's kisses felt more restrained, and he kept his hands to himself.
Jonas is snapped out of his reverie by Mitch calling out rather obnoxiously. "Are you showering in there? What's takin' ya so long?"
"A-almost done!" Jonas shouts back as he hastily pulls on his shorts. He re-enters the attached room to find Mitch breaking into various lockers out of boredom. Mitch is now donning a ratty grey hoodie, likely one of his finds from said lockers. His face lights up when he notices Jonas standing there awkwardly in the entrance way.
Jonas is opening his mouth, preparing to scold Mitch for his thievery when Mitch does that slow up and down scan of his body that makes Jonas self-conscious.
"Ready to go?" Jonas blurts instead, and then starts toward the gym exit without waiting for a reply. Only Mitch can frazzle his nerves without saying so much as a word.
Mitch catches up with him, and brushes his arm against Jonas' 'accidentally'. He does this a few more times as he falls into step beside him. Mitch is blushing and looking pointedly away from him as he makes his intentions known by slipping his hand into Jonas'.
Jonas' heart may have imploded. The gesture, and the shy look on Mitch's face is too adorable, though he's not so sure his boyfriend would appreciate that choice of words. Jonas is almost positive that he himself is wearing a dopey smile.
Mitch's thumb caresses the skin on the back of his knuckles and Jonas gently squeezes his hand in response. It shouldn't feel so right–so perfect–to be holding hands with his ex-bully, and Mitch Mueller at that–but it does.
In the blink of an eye, the door is looming in front of them, and the boys sort of stand there for a moment. Jonas doesn't want to let Mitch's hand go, but it's pretty much a requirement at this point if he wants to open the door. Plus, he can't exactly go gallivanting around the school holding Mitch's hand. It would only bode bad news for Jonas if anyone were to see them together that way. As if he needed to add the fact that he was bi onto the list of things to pick on him about. And if Dean were to ever find out he was dating a criminal, or another boy for that matter, he would be in for a world of trouble. He had a feeling that a simple grounding wouldn't be a severe enough punishment. Conversion therapy, and military school were some of the scarier discipline measurements Jonas' mind supplied. And he wouldn't exactly put it past his adoptive father to go so far, he was a conservative type after all.
Regrettably, Jonas releases the hand in his grasp, completely missing the hurt look on Mitch's face. Jonas' hand instead curls around a handle and pushes forward trying to open the door, but to no avail.
"Uh, Mitch? The door isn't opening." Jonas jiggles the handle a few times to illustrate his point.
"What d'ya mean? You sure you aren't opening the door the wrong way? Like pulling instead of pushing?" Mitch says like he's talking to a complete moron. Jonas wants to punch him. He resists the urge.
"Last time I checked, these doors swing open both ways."
"Heh, that a meteor for something?"
"I think you mean 'metaphor'. And stop joking around, jerk!" This time Jonas actually does sock him one right on the arm. Mitch rocks back on his heels and proceeds to cradle his 'injury'.
"I think it's broken," He grins. He drops the act when he notices Jonas isn't the least bit amused.
Mitch tsks.
"Step aside." Mitch says and makes a show of cracking his knuckles before he mirrors Jonas's earlier actions of yanking on the door knobs. "Well, what do you know? Looks like we're locked in."
Joey makes a distressed sound in the back of his throat to which Mitch responds with barking laughter.
"Hehe, just yanking your chain. I'll have us out of here in no time." Mitch is walking backwards, putting some distance between him and the door. Before Joey can ask him what he's doing, Mitch is running and hurling himself shoulder first into the steel double doors. The doors rattle slightly under the force, but they are otherwise undisturbed. To say the least, Jonas isn't impressed.
Mitch grunts in pain, frowning slightly as he rubs at his sore bicep. "Hang on a minute– I have another idea." One of his hands raises above the door handles and simply hovers there. Mitch is the picture of concentration, brows furrowed and eyes staring intensely at the door. Jonas is confused until he hears the tell-tale sound of the door clicking unlocked.
"These powers make lock-picking a shit-ton easier." Mitch flaunts a cocky smirk.
"Why didn't you start with trying to unlock it first before you started ramming into the door like an insane person?" Jonas asks, his mouth quirking into a smile.
"Can it, Spots," Mitch mutters, his bravado wavering. His hand is pushing on the door and–nothing.
"Huh? It's still not opening."
"You gotta be kidding me," Jonas groans.
"Gimme your phone, mine's trashed after those assholes soaked us. I'll send Javier a text and have him bust us out."
"I was about to ask to borrow your phone. I left mine in my bag, which is in my locker," Jonas says in a defeated voice, and then promptly face palms.
"So basically–" Jonas begins to say before he's interrupted.
"We're fuckin' trapped here," Mitch finishes eloquently.