A/N: Just a short, mostly canonverse oneshot. Fluffy, lots of swearing, and at times rather violent. Was written for a contest, the theme for which was bus rides during the summer, and I hardly included that at all.
Hayner clutched a silver chain in his hand as he boarded the bus to take him across town, Twilight being just a little too big for him to feel like walking or boarding the entire distance in the ninety-something degree heat. As it was his dark clothing was beginning to make him sweat. If he had a choice he would either be at the beach or somewhere air conditioned, but current circumstances had temporarily removed both options from him.
He and Seifer had fought the day before, as was an almost-daily occurrence now that they were out of school for the summer and had nothing better to do. The only thing different about yesterday was that after regaining consciousness and picking himself up off the ground he noticed a necklace half-buried in the coarse terrain of the Sandlot. Immediately recognizing the chain with a solid metal band in the center as belonging to his rival, yet finding the other long gone, he was left with few options but to go home with it and track the bully down the next day.
Maybe it was stupid to show up at the scarred teen's apartment considering all the older boy seemed to want to do was beat him bloody, but he wore the necklace literally every single day, probably even slept with it on, so it must have been important to him. Despite every fight and every insult hurled at him, for some reason the younger of the two still liked the other and had the completely misguided hope maybe one day they'd successfully interact in a way that didn't involve broken noses or bruises.
Scoffing out loud at his completely unrealistic aspirations of pseudo-friendship, he absently rubbed the smooth metal of the jewelry as the bus continued to travel through the sun-bathed town. He knew his stop would be coming up in just a few minutes, the other lived in an apartment complex about ten miles from where Hayner's house was; at least that's what Fuu and Rai had said when he asked them about it earlier when he found them leaderless in their normal haunt. Seifer was, apparently, not in the mood to hang out with them that day. The brown-eyed teen couldn't help but think it might have been due to his missing possession.
Sighing and wiping the sweat off his forehead as he finally exited the hotbox on wheels, he walked toward his target building, entering the thankfully cool first floor and taking a moment to breathe air that wasn't saturated with water. The person he was looking for lived on the fourth floor and since Hayner absolutely loathed elevators, he proceeded to run up the necessary amount of stair flights. Slightly out of breath by the time he made it to the right apartment number, he steeled himself before knocking on the door.
There was a shuffling sound behind the wooden obstacle and less than a minute later the door swung inward, revealing a rather pissy-looking Seifer, hair sticking up in odd directions and in nothing but baggy black shorts and a white tank top. It was a bit startling to see him without his signature coat, beanie, and combat boots; he just looked like a seventeen year-old with a fantastic workout regimen.
"What the fuck do you want, chickenwuss? I am not in the mood to knock you out today, so unless you have a good reason for being here, I suggest you go back the way you came," He said with a hot glare, friendly as always.
"I didn't come here for my health, you insufferable ass. I found your necklace in the Sandlot yesterday after you left me on the ground, as usual, and thought maybe you'd want it back," he bit back, holding out the hand that held the whole reason he came here.
The bully stared at the offered item for several seconds before taking it from him and latching it back around his neck, "Thanks, Hayner."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll see you tomorrow I guess, if you can be arsed to show up," he responded shortly, already walking away and completely ignoring that the larger teen had actually used his name for once.
"Hey, wait up, how did you get across town without your board?" The blue-eyed boy called after him, leaning against the door jamb.
"I took the bus, moron. You know, like normal civilians?" He spat, in a bad mood about having to go back out in this heat.
"'S what I thought. You know the bus back to your side of town won't arrive for an hour, right? It's ninety-six out there, are you really going to wait that long? You'll get heat stroke within half an hour."
"And why do you care so much about my health?"
"If you die of dehydration, who will I have to kick around? You're the only one who's stupid enough to keep coming back for more."
"I didn't come here to get insulted. Do you have a point, or are you just trying to make up for lost time?" He asked, wondering where the other was intending to take the conversation.
"Why don't you hang around here, if you're going to have to wait anyway?"
He looked blankly at the other blond for several beats, not really comprehending that the bully was offering to let him crash in his apartment for an hour. There had to be some ulterior motive behind it, because Seifer never went out of his way to be remotely courteous or nice to him, but for the moment he couldn't figure out what it was. He supposed spending time with his rival couldn't be any worse than roasting to death, so he crossed the distance between them.
"Are you seriously inviting the guy you hate into your apartment?"
"Don't hate you, never hated you," he returned quietly, letting the other past and shutting the door behind them, locking it.
"That's news to me, I always assumed you must have a strong dislike for someone to want to kick the shit out of them all the time."
"Considering you're the one that feels like starting at least half of our fights, does that mean you hate me?" Seifer asked, ice-colored eyes watching him evenly.
"No, I don't," he said, glancing away at being trapped by his own logic.
"That's good, would kinda suck if you did, would take all the fun out of fighting you."
Carding a hand through his short, light blond hair, the bully moved across the room and sat back down on the couch. Not entirely sure what he was supposed to do next, Hayner followed suit, sitting on the opposite side. There was always an awkwardness in the air between them during the rare occasions where they were in the same vicinity and not punching each other senseless.
"Why would me hating you take the fun out of our fights?"
"I fight assholes who hate me on a constant basis. Not terribly enjoyable when the other person wants you dead, you know?" He replied simply, with the air of someone being intentionally flippant to downplay the reality of the situation.
"Why would people hate you so much they'd be okay with killing you?"
The other just gave him a look, as if he couldn't honestly believe he was being asked that question. He may not have been the most likeable person on the planet, but it was difficult to believe he would inspire enough hatred for people to want to off him. Maybe it was the whole "Disciplinary Committee" thing that attracted their attention; he supposed being self-described vigilantes would piss off local thugs.
"If that's the case, why do you keep intentionally pissing everyone off so they target you? Don't you get tired of fighting for your life?"
"When the other option is letting them hurt people who can't defend themselves, no, I don't get tired of it."
He fell silent again, nothing he could say seeming appropriate for the conversation. Idly he wondered why Seifer would bother fighting him if he wasn't a threat to the populace or a particularly good sparring partner. Of course then he had to question why the other liked to pin him to vertical surfaces, waited until he regained consciousness to leave him alone after fights, and always seemed to know when he wasn't in the mood to fight or even talk.
"Why do you always wear that necklace anyway? Why is it so important that you don't want to leave your home without it?" He broke the pregnant silence once several minutes had passed.
"My mother gave it to me."
Once again he was back to not knowing what the fuck to say in response, because there really wasn't much to follow up with after unintentionally forcing someone to bring up their deceased mother. Fantastic, he didn't even have to try to make an ass of himself to succeed spectacularly, now he could stop putting forth so much effort. Maybe roasting to death outside had been the less painful option.
"I think a better question would be why you went crosstown in this weather to bring it back to me after I beat the fuck out of you again."
"Because it was obviously important to you if you wore it all the time. Even if not, isn't that what people are supposed to do, return lost items to their rightful owners? What the hell else was I going to do today?"
"I don't know, anything else? Go to the beach, hang out with your stupid friends, stay home all day and avoid the heat? You had absolutely no obligation to find where I lived just to give me something when you could have waited until I showed up again, so why go to the trouble? Any other person would have went back home or whatever when Fuu and Rai said I wasn't there rather than asking them for my address."
"Well maybe I wanted to be fucking nice to you, is that a problem? Just because you're a thoughtless, unfriendly asshole doesn't mean everyone is," he snapped, dehydration and his temper making it that much easier for the bully to push him to anger.
Rather than being put off by his insults, the other just smirked at him with amusement and got up to go to the kitchen. He could hear the other boy open the fridge and walk back to him, tossing him a cold bottle of water. Shooting him a glare, he uncapped it and took a drink.
"You're even easier to piss off when you're dehydrated, I didn't think that was actually possible."
"And you grow to be more of an asshole each day I see you, which I also didn't think was possible."
"Yet for some reason you keep searching me out. Masochism, or do you have some sort of goal in mind? Don't tell me you want to be friends like the rest of your inane little posse."
"Friends? No, not something as simple as that. You know as well as I do that you will never be to me as my other friends are, and I will never be to you as your friends are. It would be nice to do stuff like this more often though," he said, gesturing between them before elaborating, "Spend time in the same general area without punching each other in the face."
"So in the end, the whole trip to bring me back my possession was in fact an attempt at extending an olive branch so we can hang out? I guess that makes more sense than all the other bullshit excuses you've been tossing around. Why didn't you just ask like every other human being on the planet?"
"Because you can't be bothered to give me the time of day when we're not fighting? How the fuck was I supposed to get you to listen to me otherwise? I wasn't really planning to bring it up either, you're just enough of an asshole to hold it against me."
"And you're just enough of a bitch to think I'd turn you down, is that it?"
"Well you- Wait, what?"
"We've known each other for how many years, and you think if you asked me to hang out with you once in a while I'd actually turn you down? Really? If I disliked you that much, why would I spend my time fighting you on a daily basis when I could be doing just about anything else?"
"I don't know, Seifer. You're not exactly the easiest person to figure out. Assuming shit about you has never gotten me anywhere good."
"Right back at you, though generally assuming you'll do the stupidest thing possible, whatever it may be, is a pretty safe bet."
Huffing indignantly, Hayner crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from the other. It just wasn't right that the other teen was taunting him like this, constantly toying with his emotions while not giving him a straight answer. Of course that was most of what Seifer did, mess with his head until he got angry and frustrated enough to react.
"You have anything planned tomorrow?"
For a moment he was too lost in his head to actually realize the other had spoken, "No, I don't. Why do you want to know?"
"Meet me at the skate park around one o'clock then. You'd better get going, the bus is going to come by soon," he said with finality, expression unreadable.
Nodding, he got up and left, glancing back once before he shut the door behind him. He would have thanked the other teen for letting him stay, but he knew that Seifer was already aware of his gratitude. For not being friends in the traditional sense of the word, they sure did know a hell of a lot about each other. Boarding the bus back to his area of town, he carefully held down the hope that they could become something more than just rivals that was attempting to claw its way through his chest.
Hayner leaned up against the wall of the Sandlot expectantly, knowing sooner or later the person he was waiting for would arrive. For the past couple of weeks he and his scarred rival had been spending non-violent time together on a frequent basis, actually more than they fought. Seifer typically came to his normal haunt around two in the afternoon, and it was currently one forty-five, so he hoped he wouldn't have to hang around for much longer.
Movement at the corner of the clearing of buildings caught his attention enough to draw him out of his thoughts. Four older teens fitting the run-of-the-mill thug image were walking toward the center, and if he had to guess they were waiting for the same person he was. Any thoughts of escaping before they noticed him flitted from his mind as they angled off toward where he was standing. Fantastic.
"Hey, aren't you that kid Almasy is always sparring with?" The one in front asked, dark eyes studying him from under a fringe of dyed black hair.
"Yeah, aren't you…Oh wait, I have no idea who any of you are and don't give a shit either," he spat in return, knowing his temper was probably going to get him killed but he'd never been particularly good at censoring his opinions and he was automatically inclined to hate anyone who'd try to take down another fighter by outnumbering them.
"I can see why he spends time with you, you're both wimps who talk too much shit. You got a death wish like him too?"
He laughed, "If Seifer is so much of a wimp, why the fuck did you bring three other guys to fight him? Even counting Fuu and Rai, who probably aren't even going to be needed, you'd still be double-teaming him."
"Guess you do, s'pose we'll have to get rid of two people who like to run their mouth today," the dark-haired leader said shortly, anger showing in the tilt of his sneer.
He dodged the first punch thrown by ducking and moving out of the way, returning with a hard blow to the side of the older teen's temple, dropping him for the moment. As he turned to the others, he was sucker-punched in the nose, immediately aware that is was broken by the pain and the odd taste that always flooded his mouth when he got hit there. Blood ran down his face as he stumbled back against the wall, regaining sense quickly enough to avoid the second attack from the same person, but not the one from the black-haired guy he had felled a few moments prior. Ironically, he aimed for the same place Hayner had struck him, though he missed by enough that the blond boy only momentarily saw stars.
Backing away from them and feeling the sticky warmth of viscera traveling down the side of his face, he considered his options for staying alive long enough for his blue-eyed rival to arrive and save his ass. They didn't fight with any semblance of the grace and finesse that Seifer did, so in all likelihood he could at least manage to get one of them down for the count before being completely incapacitated.
He took a right hook to his jaw in order to get in close enough to one of them to land a kick to their groin and two punches to their stomach before slamming his elbow into the side of their head. He could taste blood from his split cheek and was beginning to get dizzy with adrenaline and pain. The leader grabbed him by the front of his shirt and threw him into the adjacent wall, punching him in the abdomen before yanking him upright again, pressing him against the solid surface behind him.
"Still feel like siding with that self-righteous shithead was the right choice?"
He laughed again before spitting blood into his enemy's face, responding with a smirk, "Definitely, if pansy-ass bastards like you are the other option."
Growling at him, the dark-eyed boy landed another punch on his jaw and flung him several feet to the right and away from the wall. Stumbling and rolling into the sand, he vaguely knew he should probably fear for his life right about now, but bloodlust and blunt head trauma had essentially removed all reason from his mind. A solid kick to his ribs completely knocked the wind out of him and ensured he'd probably stay on the ground where he was for the next minute or two. Rolling over, he coughed blood into the light-colored terra before glaring up at the three antagonists that were still conscious.
He caught sight of the leader of the Disciplinary Committee first, watching his face contort with anger before sprinting toward them. His fist connected with the back of the nearest thug's head before they had time to react to the sound, the boy crumpling to the ground limply. He punched another in the stomach and kneed him hard in the face as he involuntarily curled downward. His ice-colored irises had all but been enveloped by pupils blown wide with rage as he turned toward the leader.
The dark-haired opponent decked him in one last desperate attempt to save himself, Seifer not even reacting to the contact. Lips curled back into a snarl, he grabbed the other by his shirt and tossed him into the wall, proceeding to latch onto his neck and drag him up the wall until his feet didn't touch the ground.
"If you so much as come within a fifty-foot radius of him again, I will end you," the scarred bully threatened darkly over the sound of the other choking and gasping for breath around his hand. The terrified thug nodded and made sounds that could have been seen as agreement, and the blue-eyed boy let him down. Turning toward his sandy-blond rival, he looked at him for a second before whirling around and slamming his fist into the leader's jaw hard enough to break it with a sickening crack.
He tried to get up as Seifer walked toward him, and he was doing fine until he actually managed to get to his feet and everything spun. He could hear the other call his name right before he blacked out.
The first thing he noticed as he came to was that he definitely wasn't on the ground or in his house, and the second was that his head hurt like a bitch. Groaning as he tried and failed to sit up, spikes of pain coming from his ribs, he looked around and recognized Seifer's apartment.
"You're finally awake," the owner of the space said from somewhere on the other side of the couch he was laying on, becoming visible as he leaned over to look at his companion, "Your nose is broken, you're concussed, and your ribs are bruised. In short, don't expect to move much in the next few days."
"How the hell did I get here?" He asked in return, noticing that all his injuries had been dressed while he was out.
The taller teen gave him a blank stare before rolling his eyes in irritation, "I carried you, moron. How many other ways are there to end up in my apartment after passing out?"
"Why did you take me here? You could have taken me to my mom's house, or hell, just left me there."
"Now why in the fuck would I just leave you bleeding on the ground?"
"Because you have countless times before?" He said, knowing he was being completely unfair, because he knew the bully never really left him unconscious by himself.
"No, actually I haven't. Also, I'd never hurt you that bad, and you fucking know it. Those guys back there wouldn't have stopped after you blacked out, and if I didn't show up when I did you could be dead. For the love of Odin, please don't take on groups of thugs that are looking for me, just because of…whatever your reasoning was. I don't need your blood on my hands as well as theirs."
There was something off about him, his voice slightly tinted by very real desperation, eyes shadowed. It had never crossed Hayner's mind that the other really, truly cared about him and his well-being, though thinking back it was painfully obvious. He wondered what else about the larger blond he'd managed to miss. He knew Seifer was actually a completely decent and honest person hiding behind a mask of arrogance and violent tendencies, that he was the only living representation of a hero that he knew of, and that he was constantly haunted by the death of his parents in a foreign war. A lot more than most people knew, but less than he should.
"I guess I should try to get home then."
"Because you can totally walk several miles in your condition," the other deadpanned in return, brows furrowed as he grew more agitated.
"I'll just take the bus or something, whatever," he snapped back, moving to get off the couch and make an attempt to walk out the door.
"Hayner, you've been out for eight hours. It's ten at night, the bus doesn't run beyond eight and you know that, not that you could even make it that far in your condition. I already called Roxas on your phone and told him to come up with some bullshit excuse to tell your mom to explain why you won't be home for several days."
"Am I your goddamn hostage now?" Not that he minded at all, if he were to be honest with himself.
"Yes, you are. What else would you do? Convincing you to let me keep you alive should not be this difficult, you know."
"Fine, whatever. Sorry I caused you so much trouble. You alright by the way? That guy punched you pretty hard the one chance you gave him."
"Oh, he hit me? Didn't notice. So yeah, I'm fine."
He dismissed it as if it was completely normal for him to become so angry he didn't even register pain anymore, and Hayner supposed it could be. He'd never managed to make the other furious enough for his pupils to dilate or for him to throw punches that shattered bones, how the hell would he know how Seifer acted when he was berserk? The fact that just seeing the sandy-blond skater injured by someone else was enough to drive him into such rage was a little frightening.
"What you said to that guy about never coming near me again, would you really…" He trailed off, not sure if he wanted the answer now that the words were out of his mouth.
"Kill him? If he hurt you again, yes, I would. I'll get rid of anyone who goes after you to get to me."
He walked away suddenly, and a few moments later the other could hear a door slam somewhere. It took several breaths to actually register that someone he previously thought didn't really like him very much was willing to murder someone to protect him, and even then he didn't understand it. Summarily crossing out basically everything he thought he knew about what he meant to the older blond, he decided to stop fighting other people altogether, because there was no way in hell he was going to keep doing something that might force his companion to commit a felony.
Aching all over and certain he wouldn't actually be able to walk even if he wanted to, he closed his eyes. If he couldn't do anything else he might as well try to sleep away some of the pain. Fifteen minutes later he was almost out when he could hear footsteps approaching, Seifer apparently returning to check on him. They faded and came back a few seconds later, a blanket being draped over him.
"Asleep already, and adorable as always," the scarred man said with tired fondness, and as much as he wanted to explore what the hell that meant, he was too close to unconsciousness he couldn't bother expending the effort to wake up enough to do so.
Once again waking in a place he hadn't been when he fell asleep, he glanced around quickly before recognizing that he must have been in Seifer's bedroom, laying on his bed. Which meant his counterpart had carried him in here last night after he fell asleep, which made even less sense than the bully taking him to his apartment in the first place. The pale-blond haired man was sleeping sitting up, leaning against the doors to his closet with one leg bent at the knee and the other out straight. Given the opportunity, he couldn't help but study the older boy's face while he was unconscious. The anger, frustration, and tension were gone from his face for once, and he looked…young, like he was actually his own age instead of a few years older. Dark eyelashes rested perfectly against his cheeks and his bow-shaped lips were curled up just a little at the edges.
His expression twisted into a frown and his eyes moved under their lids quickly as he fell into the grasp of a nightmare. Crawling out of bed with some difficulty, his side still hurting like a bitch, he knelt next to his rival. Shaking him awake gently, he watched as pale blue eyes opened, the other's expression furious. A look of recognition flit across his face and he softened a little.
"Sorry, you were having a nightmare, thought I should wake you up," Hayner explained belatedly.
"'S fine, thanks for that, I guess."
"Why did you sleep on the floor last night?"
"It's rude to make your guest sleep on the couch. Anyway, your ribs still hurt?"
"Nope, don't bother me at all," he lied, hating to admit weakness to the other male.
"Oh, really?" He queried skeptically, smirking a bit before lifting his hand to apply pressure to Hayner's injured bones.
He came to a few minutes later, blinking in confusion as he was now looking up into the blue-eyed boy's face from the floor. At least the bully had the decency to look apologetic when the injured teen glared at him.
"Goddamn that hurt, the hell did you do to me?"
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to make you pass out. I think one of your ribs may be cracked instead of just bruised, so try not to touch it or bump it for a while. It's going to take weeks to heal. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just don't do that to me again, asshole," he snapped, wrapping an arm around his chest protectively.
"Trust me, I won't," he agreed, standing and stretching a bit before asking, "Hey, you hungry? I'm going to make some breakfast."
He shook his head and would have laughed at the expression on the other's face if it wouldn't have hurt so damn much. Yeah, he normally liked to eat pretty much any chance he got, but right now he wasn't really interested in food. Probably just the pain making him a little sick to his stomach, but he wasn't about to force himself to eat because that never turned out well.
"Suit yourself then, let me know when you do feel like eating something. You won't heal properly if you don't eat, so even if you feel sick you'll have to try to keep something down later today."
He accepted the hand up offered to him, standing unsteadily as everything spun for a few moments. Seifer stood by his side and watched him warily, as if afraid he was suddenly going to pass out. Which wasn't completely unreasonable considering what had happened the last time.
"So, what are you going to do today?" Hayner asked as he followed the other into the kitchen and sat down at the table there.
Seifer made a noise of confusion and looked at him oddly, clearly not understanding the question. It was funny, really the only time he made pronounced expressions was when he was angry or taunting someone, otherwise his face was a mask, emotions only showing in the small movements of the corners of his lips. Over time the smaller skater had gotten so used to deciphering them that it sometimes came as a shock when he realized other people couldn't read the bully. At the moment he seemed vaguely happy, content would probably be the best word for it.
"I mean, do you have any plans? Like going to the beach, beating the fuck out of someone, leaning up against something trying to look aloof, that sort of thing?"
"No, I was planning on sticking around and making sure you didn't accidentally kill yourself. You're kind of helpless, especially now."
Glaring and blushing a bit, he declined comment on that last part because he knew starting a verbal sparring match at the moment would get him nowhere. On some level he knew the other was right, he was pretty much incapable of taking care of himself at the moment. Besides the endless insults and his tendency to enter Hayner's personal space for no apparent reason, Seifer wasn't really that bad as far as company went.
"I've been meaning to ask you, why did you fight those guys instead of doing what any sensible person would do and run?"
"For one, they saw me before I could consider leaving, and for another, anyone who tries to fight someone four on one deserves to be punched. Like you would have done any differently in the same position."
"Except if I fought those guys by myself, I wouldn't have gotten my ass handed to me. Why is it you manage to get yourself in trouble every time I'm not around? Seriously, the instant I leave you alone you get yourself mixed up with thugs."
"You could try not leaving me alone."
He blinked a bit, wondering why the fuck the filter between his brain and his mouth had suddenly, traitorously disappeared. The other teen cocked his head a bit as he regarded him from where he was grabbing some eggs out of the fridge. An expression Hayner couldn't place flit over the scarred boy's face before the mask settled back on like nothing had happened. For whatever reason he didn't say anything in response, just continued making his food.
They passed the day watching TV, playing videogames, and on occasion, talking. It was fairly uneventful, other than Hayner actually seeing the older teen smile in a way that wasn't taunting or condescending a couple of times. He knew when the highlight of his day was seeing the bully smile that he was somewhere beyond the crush territory and into the vaguely obsessed stalker area of unrequited love. Because obviously life wasn't difficult enough as it was.
"You tired yet?" Seifer asked, running a hand through his hair and glancing at the clock. It was gaining on midnight.
"Yeah, but I'm seriously not going to force you to sleep on the floor again."
"You didn't, I'm the one who decided to let you take the bed. And I will again, if you push it. You're a heavy sleeper, it's easy enough to just carry you once you're out."
"Are you really that stubborn? Fine, if it's that big a deal I can either go home, or we share your bed," he offered the other an ultimatum, feeling particularly daring today. Must have been the concussion. The owner of the apartment gave him a dumbfounded look, having been caught off balance by the choice.
"Fine, we can share, because there's no way I'm letting you go home like this," he agreed with more than a hint of irritation, glancing away and running his hand through his hair. At this point his rival recognized it as a nervous tic, possibly explaining why he always wore his beanie when he went out, it prevented him from doing it in front of others.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Hayner asked, curious at his reaction.
"No, you're not. Just…what are you getting out of all of this? Why did you want to try and become friends or whatever we are, and for that matter, why have you always kept coming back for more every time I knocked you on your ass? You're not the type to enjoy violence just for the sake of it, sure you have anger issues but that's not enough reason to actively seek out someone who pisses you off just so you can fight them."
"I…" think I'm hopelessly in love with you, he wanted to say, but thankfully stopped short before he could blurt that out, "Just like spending time with you in those small moments when you drop the asshole act. I figured if I kept seeking you out you'd realize it was pointless to always try to push me away. I'm here to stay, so you can quit pretending to be a jerk around me."
"What makes you think I'm pretending?"
Rolling his eyes and getting up to go to bed, he didn't answer. They both knew Seifer wasn't half the bastard he seemed to be. The bully followed him into the room after shutting off the rest of the lights in the apartment, plunging them into darkness until their eyes adjusted. He glanced at the younger teen as if he had something he wanted to say, instead pulling off his shirt and getting into bed, back to Hayner. There was definitely something off about him suddenly, but at the moment the brown-eyed skater was too tired to deal with it.
He slid into the bed, back to the other, and wrapped his arms around his chest. It was more than a bit odd to sleep next to his long-time crush, but it was surprisingly not awkward. It seemed like he'd thrown his friend for a loop, but he didn't act hostile or uncomfortable so for now he wasn't going to worry about it. Saying goodnight, he closed his eyes and relaxed, quickly falling asleep.
Forcing his eyes open as he gradually slipped into consciousness, he looked around him for a moment before becoming fully awake. Seifer was sitting upright in the bed next to him, pale eyes watching him. He seemed wary, which didn't really make much sense to Hayner's sleep-deadened brain. Rolling over to look at him better, he raised his eyebrow questioningly.
"You talk in your sleep," the older blond said.
"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"Yeah, but it's fine. I don't sleep for ten hours like you. How are you feeling?" The blue-eyed teen asked, dismissing the topic just as suddenly as he brought it up.
"Better than yesterday. My ribs still hurt, but I'll get used to it. Will never understand how you recover so quickly after fights," he said as he sat up against the headboard to be closer to eye-level with his friend.
"High tolerance for pain; I've just grown accustomed to being injured."
"I wish you didn't fight so much. Don't you worry you might get yourself killed? You can't just leave your friends behind."
"I'll be fine, trust me. I don't start fights I can't finish."
"And what about the ones you don't start? You'd never run away from an opponent, even if you knew you wouldn't survive the battle, you're too damn proud," Hayner returned, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring.
"I'd rather die for something than live for nothing. That's just who I am, and I'm not changing just because actually having a backbone is dangerous. Just like you didn't consider avoiding people who wanted to fight me until I said I'd have to get rid of them if they hurt you. Don't act like you're not the same damn way as I am, Hayner."
"Well at least I don't go around intentionally turning myself into a target for all the terrible people in the area, you fucking suicidal asshole."
"Except you have, moron. You don't even understand the consequences of your own actions."
"And I don't understand what the fuck you're talking about."
"By fighting me, and now spending so much time with me, as well as being a stubborn brat who won't back down. A lot of people know about you, and they're not exactly your biggest fans. If you had been smart you would have never become involved with me in the first place, much less tried to become friends, you've put yourself in danger by doing so."
The sandy-blond boy got up and walked to the door, not wanting to escalate their conversation any more than he already had, "Ever consider that it might be worth it to me?"
He shut the door behind him as he walked out of the bedroom and went to sit down on the couch, closing his eyes and trying to relax. It wasn't like he didn't know that Seifer was never a safe person to get involved with, he wasn't a complete idiot, as much as people wanted to think that. Regardless of the risks, he'd wanted to, and if that made him stupid, so be it. Ever since he'd met the scarred bully, the other had owned a part of his life that consisted of a lot more than just struggle matches and fights, that had only grown over time. At this point giving that up would be far more damaging than anything a thug could do.
A few minutes passed before Seifer came out of his room and sat down next to Hayner, their shoulders brushing briefly. It was unlike him to enter the smaller skater's personal space unless it was to intimidate him, and the touch was enough to make his skin tingle. Forcing himself to stay relaxed instead of tensing up, he waited for the other to say something.
"Sorry, I shouldn't treat you like a child," he began, staring down at his hands, "It's not that I don't want to be friends, I'm glad that we are. It's just that you're the only one of my friends who is away from me frequently, and that means I can't protect you most of the time. I'll admit you're not helpless, but you haven't been fighting for as long as I have, you can't hold your own in a fight where you're outnumbered. I don't want you to get killed because you didn't automatically give up on me like everyone else does."
"I won't get hurt, okay? Sure I can be pretty brash, and I hate backing out of anything, but if it'll make you feel better I won't fight anyone without you around. I'm not going to get offed over your stupid ass, Seifer, trust me."
They settled back into a comfortable rhythm with each other, Hayner spending most of the day trying not to dwell on the idea that this was all they were ever really going to be, friends and rivals. He supposed he could count himself lucky he even had that.
Three weeks had passed since the fight and all of his injuries had healed with the exception of his cracked rib. It was more an annoyance than anything that actually stopped him from doing what he wanted to. For reasons unknown to him, Seifer had stolen his number from his phone during one of the times he was unconscious and had taken to calling him whenever he wanted to hang out. He'd be lying if he said he didn't look forward to those calls enough to carry his phone with him most everywhere, and really that was just sad.
The bully hadn't called him in three days, and he was concerned enough to drop by the Sandlot to see if he was there, but not enough to actually call him because that would seem needy and desperate. As he approached the wide clearing covered by white sand from the beach, he could hear the sounds of fighting. Turning the corner cautiously, he took in the carnage, several unconscious bodies lying in the sand, splotches of it turned dark with blood. Fuu and Rai were among them, the slight girl passed out next to her boyfriend as if she had been trying to help him when she got knocked out.
Seifer was exchanging blows with another fighter on the other side of the lot, white coat stained red in several places and blood smeared on his face and neck. There were two other fighters who seemed occupied watching the two fight, obviously waiting for one of them to lose. He guessed the only reason they hadn't joined in was because the scarred teen had basically backed himself up to the wall, leaving only one angle to attack from.
Controlling his rage, he grabbed a rock the size of his fist as the man fighting his friend landed a punch to his side and managed to get him pinned to the wall, he hoped the aim he'd gained from years of pitching for baseball wouldn't suddenly fail him. The boy with pale blue eyes noticed him, eyes widening before he mouthed the word 'don't'. Not feeling particularly obedient today, the smaller teen launched the rock at the opponent, hitting him squarely in the back of the head. The other two whipped around to locate the source of the projectile as he crumpled to the ground.
The two remaining enemies split up, one going after the elder blond, the other advancing on the younger. He avoided the first few attacks by the larger fighter before kicking the man in the knee hard enough to bend it backwards with a crack. Howling in pain and clutching the injured limb, he fell. The last thing he saw was Hayner's foot coming toward the side of his head before he lost consciousness. Looking over to his companion, he saw that the older skater had similarly dispatched the last man.
"Why the fuck are you here, Hayner?" The blue-eyed blond asked rather ungratefully as he sank to the ground to catch his breath.
"To save you, obviously. Don't come preaching to me about getting in over my head anymore, idiot, not after this," he returned with irritation as he went over to the other two members of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee.
He gave the silver-haired girl a small shake in an attempt to rouse her, eventually getting a response when her red eye opened to regard him with confusion. She sat up, hand going to her head where a spot of blood colored her hair and wincing, glancing over to Raijin and giving him a slap across the face. While her method of waking him up was incredibly uncouth, it proved effective, the larger man apologizing to her as soon as he came around.
She turned to Hayner and glared at him as if assessing him, before voicing the single word, "Thanks."
"You're welcome. At least you have the decency to show some appreciation," he added with a disparaging look at the teen he'd come here to see.
"Fine, thanks for recklessly endangering yourself, Hayner. Fuu, Rai, you two good to get out of here?"
The pair nodded as they got to their feet, walking over to their leader, who stood up as well. Hayner followed them as they walked away toward the side of town the scarred boy lived in, apparently fine just walking through town covered in blood. They split off about a mile away from Seifer's apartment building, the other two saying their goodbyes and heading to their own homes to get cleaned up.
"So are you just stalking me to my place to hang out, or did you want to stay the night?" The boy with ice-blue eyes asked, turning to look at him.
He couldn't help but blush at the invitation to stay over, "Doesn't matter to me, I could leave if you'd like. Just wanted to make sure you actually made it home without passing out on the concrete."
"Well, if it doesn't matter, stay the night," the bully said resolutely, smirking.
Unable and unwilling to decline, he just followed his crush to the building and further into his apartment. There the older blond made a beeline for the bathroom to wash up and clean his cuts, leaving his guest to sit on the couch and wait. He didn't really follow Seifer's train of thought about inviting him to stay, but he couldn't say that he really minded.
"Thanks for helping me, by the way," the larger boy said as he sat down next to his companion.
"No problem, I just wanted to know what happened to you when you stopped calling. I assume you knew those guys were after you and wanted to keep me away because you're an overprotective idiot?"
"I don't think avoiding dragging you into shit not related to you is being overprotective."
"But I'm your friend, and therefore the dangerous shit you get yourself involved with is immediately relevant to me. Stop using stupid excuses. Why do you even care if I fight alongside you? A month ago you had no problem with punching me unconscious on a nearly daily basis. What the fuck changed?"
The scarred blond scoffed and got up, walking over to the kitchen to grab himself a bottle of water. Hayner wasn't about to let the topic drop, it was something that would just keep coming up. He stood and moved to stand next to the other, glaring. The bully set down his drink on an end table and crossed his arms over his chest confrontationally. This was probably not going to end well.
"That wasn't a rhetorical question, Seifer. As soon as we became friends or whatever we are, you lost interest in fighting with me and now you want to keep me from helping you get rid of all the assholes who want to kill you just for the hell of it? What is wrong with you? Either we go back to being nothing more than rivals, or you let me help you. I'm done dealing with this bullshit unless you tell me why you don't understand that I don't give a shit if I take a few punches for you because I care about you and would prefer if you stayed alive. I don't care that my life might be in danger if I do so, why the fuck do you?"
"Because I love you, you oblivious moron. Gods, everyone but you has figured it out by now. I became a lifeguard at the beach literally the day after you were knocked out by that shark and almost drowned just so I could watch over you. You know those guys that were stalking and bullying you a year ago? I put them in the goddamn hospital for a week. I've made dozens of death threats to people if they touched you, and I am fully capable of carrying them out regardless of the consequences because you are far more important to me than staying out of prison. I was fine with us fighting because that's all you wanted to do around me and at least it was some way to spend time with you. Since we became friends I don't need to fight you anymore and I don't want to, I've never enjoyed hurting you, I fucking hate it. I don't want you to fight by my side because I'm not going to let you get hurt because of me after I've spent years trying to protect you."
The brown-eyed teen had gotten over his shock by the time his companion had finished speaking, and while he was normally at a loss as far as dealing with Seifer went, this time there was only one acceptable course of action. He crossed the distance between them, grabbed the scarred boy by his blood-stained coat collar, and kissed him. A hand wrapped around his waist and another tangled in his hair, the material of the fighter's glove warm against his scalp. As the kiss deepened he could vaguely taste blood from the cuts in the older boy's mouth, and it pulled him out of things enough for his brain to start working again, reminding him they still had some issues to work out. He broke the contact and pulled away a little to look at the blue-eyed bully.
"I love you too, Seifer, even if you are crazy as fuck. While I appreciate that you don't want me to get hurt, you should understand that's a two way street. I don't want to see you injured either and I want to be there to make sure it doesn't happen. You can't keep pushing me out of that part of your life because I fell in love with all of you, I'm not going to be content with having just part of you. I'm not a doll Seif, I won't break if someone decks me, and you know that. I won't have you killing anyone over me either, because I don't want a boyfriend that's in jail. You also know you're not going to win an argument with me, so don't bother."
"Only because you're cute when you refuse to give up, that's the only reason you've ever won an argument. You may be stubborn as hell, but I am way more patient than you. Fine, so long as you don't do stupid shit, you can fight with me. I reserve the right to kill someone if the situation calls for it and there's no other way."
"I think you're more patient than pretty much anyone if you've managed to wait for me this long. And, if you're going to be that way, then I can't really stop you, but you have to know I'd do the same for you if killing someone was the only way to rescue you. By the way, you're an asshole, you must have known I had a thing for you and you just kept your feelings to yourself this whole time. Though, I guess that would explain your fascination with pinning me to things and invading my personal space. I suppose I should thank that shark for giving me the ability to stare at you shirtless for the entire summer, totally worth being head-butted by a giant fish and having to be dragged ashore by Roxas."
The revelation really did make everything in their complex relationship make sense now, not just the way the scarred bully always liked to get as close to him as possible when they sparred. Why they hadn't just come out with it months ago was a complete mystery to him. Probably because he was always sending the older teen mixed signals and Hayner had misinterpreted everything he did as aggressive and taunting. Obviously they were both idiots. He supposed it was alright since they'd still ended up in the right place regardless, if a bit later than either of them wanted.
They spent the rest of the day together, the only things different now that they were together were the random kisses they kept stealing. It was kind of funny, but everything they'd been doing up to this point was what couples typically did. They'd spent entire days with each other, done basically everything they enjoyed doing together, and slept next to each other. The pair went to bed early, Seifer's injuries wearing him out more than he would ever admit out loud, and the lithe skater curled up next to him. Eventually they settled so that the older blond's arm was around the other's back and Hayner had his head pillowed on his new boyfriend's chest. As he was lulled to sleep by the rhythmic heartbeat under his ear, he had the fleeting thought that he'd probably be riding the bus a lot more in the future.