Ryan was nervously shuffling papers, his blue eyes darting around the overly-organized desk he sat at, making sure that he had everything he would need.
It was his first day as a teacher, something he'd been preparing for since he was seventeen, and he was more than a little afraid now that the time had come.
He was twenty-four, and he was fucking terrified, to be honest.
The chimes of a new class rang through the school and he jumped slightly at them, folding his broad hands together in front of him in hopes of seeming professional. He didn't look at the students as they came in, choosing instead to rake his eyes over a pointless memo he'd already read and calm his nerves.
The tardy bell rang and he looked up, unsurprised to see his class had completely filled. He stood, clearing his throat for their attention, smiling when he received nearly all of it.
"Good morning class. My name is Mr. Haywood." He wrote it on the whiteboard with a red marker as he said it, relieved for a reason to turn away from the class.
"Welcome to Chemistry. As you can tell by the beakers and such I have set up back there, this class will include lab work. Don't worry, we won't be working with anything too dangerous." He heard a few muffled aww's and smirked. "But there will be an occasion or two that involves close proximity with fire. We'll work in pairs for that so anyone uncomfortable with it can have a partner that is more than willing to help." He glanced around at the many faces. "I think this seating chart should be fine, as long as you don't get in too much trouble. I'm fairly laid back, but I'd appreciate if you were to keep the noise to a low hum while I'm talking." He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to the first person in the row closest to the door. "Can you pass this around? Everyone write your name down where you are sat. It'll save me time."
He strolled back to his desk, snatching up his attendance sheet with twenty-six names on it. "Let's call roll then, shall we?" He quirked an eyebrow at them and a few girls giggled. "When I call your name, I'd like you to stand, tell the class your age and grade, and a fun little fact about yourself." He knew they were basically all seniors and likely to know each other already, but it would help him to distinguish who would be a troublemaker.
He went through the names quickly, taking in little bits of information; Caleb Denecour liked Frisbee, Gavin Free was absent, Michael Jones was from Jersey, Geoff Ramsey was clearly already a drinker at eighteen, etc. etc.
He was about to continue when his door burst open and a boy with tanned skin and golden brown hair came ambling in. He was tall and thin, and he seemed to freeze after he regained his balance. His green eyes locked onto Ryan and he bit his lip.
'Oh no, he's hot.' Ryan thought for a second before shaking it out of his head, pulling the attendance sheet in front of him. "Um, do you belong in this class?"
"I sure hope so." The boy spoke with a heavy British accent, making a scene to eye the teacher up and down. There were muffled giggles around the room and Ryan could feel his face heat up.
"What's your name?" He continued and the boy looked a bit put-off by Ryan's lack of response to his comment.
"Gavin Free." He mumbled. "I got lost on my way here." He grinned to the curly-haired boy across the room, Michael, before strutting over to take the empty seat beside him.
"Well, Gavin, I want you to stand up and tell the class your age, grade, and one fact about yourself." Ryan placed the now-complete attendance onto the edge of his desk, making a mental note to have one of the more trustworthy students bring it down, perhaps Barbara.
"Top!" The boy hopped to his feet, smirking. "My name is Gavin Free and I'm eighteen years old. That means I'm legal." He paused to wink at Ryan and the teacher quickly looked away, cursing under his breath for the thoughts that ran through his mind. "I'm a senior and I work with slow-motion cinematography in my spare time." He bowed with a flourish of his hand before sitting back down to snickers from the small group of five boys that had gathered back there, and that Ryan was now sure would cause him trouble.
"Thank you for that… lovely performance, Mr. Free." Ryan rolled his eyes, his lips pursing. "Now, I'd like to move on. Who can tell me the meaning of Chemistry?"
"What you and I have together?" Gavin squawked and Ryan turned to glare at him.
"Mr. Free! I will not tolerate that sort of behavior here, and I will be MORE than happy to stick you in lunch detention before you can squeal out 'Long Live the Queen'. Do you understand that?" Ryan spat, blue eyes blazing into the younger man.
Gavin seemed to deflate, nodding weakly. "Y-yes."
"Very good. Kids, that is a prime example of how I can be a totally fine teacher until pushed too far. Who knows the meaning of chemistry?"
Lindsay, a red-haired girl sitting on the other side of Michael, raised her hand, and Ryan could have sighed in relief. "The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems." She smarted and Ryan smiled at her.
"Very good." He praised, holding back a smirk when he heard Michael mutter "Smartass" under his breath, followed by her sticking her tongue out at him playfully. He always found young love like that adorable and precious.
He'd never really dated in high school; there were very few people who accepted gay men in Georgia, and even fewer openly wanting to date one, so he'd enjoyed watching his friends in relationships instead. He would enjoy seeing them happy together, loving one another, and always felt the stab of pity when the relationship ended.
"Mr. Haywood? Can I go to the bathroom?" A young man in the small group raised his hand, startling Ryan from his thoughts.
"Um, sure. What did you say your name was?"
"Jack, sir." The ginger boy seemed respectful enough, and Ryan agreed with the condition that he brought down the attendance sheet.
The class afterwards went fairly well and easy, considering it was the first day, though Ryan couldn't help but notice Gavin kept throwing him furtive glances (possibly because he was doing the same) and Ryan wondered if the student was angry at him for embarrassment on the first day.
When the bell rang, the small group in the corner left together, a bundle of Gavin, Geoff, Jack, Ray, Michael, and Lindsay.
"So, what do you think of the new teacher?" Michael asked as they made their way down the hall, pushing through other students.
"I think he's beautiful." Gavin swooned, holding his books to his chest.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Trust me, we could tell. You were so far up his ass you were tasting his saliva."
"I'd like to taste his saliva."
"Ew. Dude, no."
"I personally think he's nice. And smart."
"Fucking marry the guy, Lindsay."
"Aww wittle Michael is jealous." Lindsay squealed, wrapping an arm around the curly-haired boy and planting a kiss on his freckled cheek.
"Of that guy? Hell no!" Michael puffed out his cheeks as they said their goodbyes to Ray and Jack for their next class.
Gavin sighed, plopping down into the hard, wooden desk. "I still think he's lovely."
-
"Dear Lord, that's ridiculous!" Ryan mumbled to himself as he graded Gavin's test. It was the fourth test the class had taken and the fourth test that Gavin had failed. He looked it over, filled with ridiculous answers and drawings of Minecraft creepers, and marked ruthlessly.
The worst part is he just KNEW Gavin was smart. Past his sarcastic quips and cheesy pick-up lines that he constantly threw at the teacher, Ryan knew that the kid had immense potential. He had looked up Gavin's channel, actually; a small YouTube channel he ran with his friend Dan, a British boy his age that he saw on his trips home, and the videos on it were spectacular. So much planning and scientific investigation went into them and it drove Ryan mad when he looked at the large F he would be giving yet another of Gavin's test. He decided it was time to take action.
The bell rang and minutes later the students followed, Gavin arriving first, as he always did since the first day.
"I've graded your tests, class, and I have to say that I'm overall pleased with the results. Of course, there were a couple of you that failed to meet my expectations." He eyed Gavin, unsurprised to see the Brit staring back at him. He passed out the tests quickly, pausing when he stood in front of Gavin's desk. "I'd like for you to see me after school." He murmured quietly, fighting a blush when the student positively beamed at him.
They had a weird setup, the two men. Though Gavin made his stupid quips, leading to him having lunch detention with Mr. Burns on several occasions, he was at the same time Ryan's favorite student. He would like to say it had nothing to do with the lingering glances at one another, but Ryan knew he'd be lying. Gavin was attractive, smart, and knew how to press Ryan's buttons, something he enjoyed using to his advantage nearly every day, but his gaze was a different story. His green eyes would look into Ryan's blue with admiration and what he sometimes thought was yearning and it captivated the teacher, no matter how much he tried to ignore it or pretend it wasn't there.
So when the final bell rang to signify the end of the school day, Ryan was a little more than apprehensive.
"Hi there, Mr. Haywood." Gavin said the name as if it tasted sweet on his lips, licking them afterwards. "Why'd you need to see me?"
Ryan blinked once, taking a deep breath as Gavin took a seat in the desk directly in front of him. "Your test scores are implorable to say the least, and I thought some private tutoring could suit you well." He waited for the stupid remark, but Gavin only smiled at him.
"That sounds top. I guess I'm a bad test-taker. I hope you don't think I dislike this class."
Ryan quirked an eyebrow, surprised. "You could've fooled me with your attitude." He remarked, grabbing his chemistry book.
Gavin took it from him and began flipping through pages idly, his tanned cheeks heating up with a blush. "Gotta keep up appearances, y'know? I'm the cocky mong, it's what I do." He sighed and Ryan's brow furrowed as he took a seat in the desk beside him, turning his body to face him.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Hey! No, you look at me." Gavin's head snapped up to meet eyes with the teacher. "You aren't just a 'cocky mong', whatever that is. You're an intelligent young man with so much wit and potential it blows my mind. You're incredible, and don't you ever doubt yourself and think otherwise, okay?" He wasn't sure when he had grabbed Gavin's hand, but he found he was rubbing little circles into the palm with his thumb as he talked to the Brit, focusing his gaze solely on him. Gavin nodded weakly, biting his lower lip. "You're a great student, and an amazing person. You just need to focus on your work a little more, is all." He squeezed Gavin's thin hand comfortingly and the younger man blushed.
"T-thanks, Mr. Haywood." Gavin whispered, dropping his head slightly. There was an awkward silence before Ryan snapped his hand back, frowning at how cold it suddenly felt without the student's warmth.
"Right then! Let's get started shall we? We'll start with chapter five." He stood abruptly, moving to write on the white board.
They continued on like this for a week, steadily getting closer to one another until the tutoring sessions were extended by an hour of them just talking about their lives and video games. One day Ryan had mentioned how he had looked up Gavin's channel and that had spiked a huge conversation about it. Ryan had loved the way Gavin's eyes had lit up when he talked of his home and good friend, and how much he enjoyed making videos.
And when Gavin got his test back and saw the A written large on the top, his smile was breathtaking.
-
"Hey! I'm here for tutoring." Gavin popped into Ryan's classroom where the older man was packing up his things.
"You still wanna do that?" Ryan smirked; he'd been worried that with Gavin's good grades, their tutoring sessions would end.
"Of course I do, you mong. I'm still having trouble grasping what chemistry is." He mused, grinning lopsidedly as he lounged against Ryan's desk.
"Well let's look over the definition." Ryan teased, yanking the book from under Gavin and making the younger man topple over. He snickered as the Brit squawked, squirming back to his feet.
They sat in side-by-side desks, pushing them together as they normally did, as the Ryan flipped the book open to the first page. "Let's see…"
They both leaned in, heads nearly banging together. "Chemistry. The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems." He looked up, smiling, to see that Gavin was much closer than he thought. He could see the faint golden stubble on his tan jaw and the speckles of amber in his green eyes. "And... and that's…. chemistry." He mumbled, his eyes slowly closing as he leaned in.
Their lips connected, softly at first, but the kiss soon grew needier as Gavin fisted his fingers into Ryan's sandy hair, his tongue tracing the older man's red lips until they parted and he was being pulled closer, their bodies pressed together and exchanging warmth.
"Fuck, fuck," Ryan moaned as Gavin's hand slid up his thigh teasingly. "We... we shouldn't be doing this. I'm your teacher." He broke them apart before kissing him again more needily, groaning into it. "Fuck!"
"Shh." Gavin whispered, moving to mouth at Ryan's neck. "We're both adults, and you can't deny that there's been something between us from the first day." He nipped at the sensitive skin and Ryan held back a whimper, throwing his head back to expose his neck further.
Ryan grabbed Gavin's chin between his thumb and forefinger, bringing their lips together once again with a hungry growl. "Fuck I've wanted you since that day. You're just… so incredible." He sighed into Gavin's mouth, licking at his mouth.
A knock on the door had them both ambling to separate, tripping over desks as they scrambled to look as if they hadn't just been attached by the lips.
Ryan rushed to the door as Gavin began scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.
"Oh hey, Burnie." Ryan spoke casually, leaning against the doorframe. "What's up?"
"I came to remind you that we have a meeting in ten minutes. You tutoring?" He glanced over Ryan's shoulder as the teacher nodded. "Oh you've got the troublemaker." He teased and Gavin stuck his tongue out at him, the tongue that had been in Ryan's mouth only minutes ago. "Well, I'm happy to save you. Sorry Mr. Free, you're going to have to leave. Very important meeting."
Gavin grinned as he grabbed his hoodie from the back of his desk. "I think I understand now anyways. Thanks for the lessons on Chemistry, Mr. Haywood."