[Emil's POV]

Good morning sleepy head~

Have you had breakfast?

My phone rang at around 7 am. I was sound asleep until I heard the ringtone and instantly shot up awake. The message made me so happy. It was from Leon. He normally texted me to see if he should wait for me, so we could catch the bus together.

My eyes still laced with sleep and ached a bit due to the abrupt awakening.

I rolled over and stretched a bit. Lukas must have been in the kitchen cooking breakfast, because it smelled delicious. Lazily picking up my uniform, I went into the bathroom outside my bedroom and showered.

I only just woke up.

But I could smell breakfast already.

=u=

Quickly stripping, I replied to the text before entering the shower. The water was warm and calming. I knew exactly how much I would miss this when I got to school. I didn't want to step outside the shower once I was done. I heard my phone beep again, and instantly remembered that I couldn't waste any more water than what I had already done.

Hoho

Someone is late.

Are we taking the bus?

A grin appeared on my face whilst I was rushing to get dressed quickly and blow dry my hair and the lot. All I could think about was how wonderful that morning had been. No yelling or fighting to wake me up. No problems at all. It just seemed ideal. How life was meant to be.

Yep~ So you better wait up, you butt

Maybe I can get Lukas to drive me to the bus stop

But I might just run to the stop.

Are you there already?

"Emil, are you catching the bus?" Lukas asked from the bottom of the stairs as I was rushing downstairs. I was dressed and ready. Breakfast was the only thing missing.

"Yea, I'm meeting Leon there. Thanks for the breakfast!" I ran past him, choosing not to ask for a lift. He would get to school late if he did, because traffic near our house was pretty bad.

"Alright. Be careful, okej? If anything happens text me." I smiled some more. Lukas was always very supporting and caring. I had way too much to thank my brother for. He reminded me a lot of our mother. My heart sunk at the thought of her. She was a very strong woman and kept the family happy and together. Dad loved her a lot. Lukas always had and still did. I missed her terribly.

Lukas looked a lot like her. Her eyes and hair. Even the same face structure and skin colour. I didn't resemble her that much. I looked more like my father. His eyes and hair colour. Dad was way taller than I'd ever be, though. He was taller than Lukas by half a head. He used to be well built, too, until mum's death.

Everything changed when she died. I was four when it happened. Lukas was about twelve. Slowly, dad began to get worse. Lukas stopped smiling, and I stopped being outgoing. It was like all the good was stripped from us and we were left with this sad loneliness that never left. I knew it isn't just me. Dad drank it down with alcohol and Lukas worked until didn't have time to feel down. I… I didn't know what to do with my pile of growing sadness. It seemed to grow everyday as time went on, and it became a dart board for Kevin, Terry, and Daniel to pick on.

Leon was at the bus stop by the time I got there. It was a little colder than usual today. Leon was wearing a thick black coat and a matching scarf that covered half his face. I snickered at the sight. He got cold very easily whilst I got warm almost too quickly. He looked my way and shook his head. I was wearing a thin cardigan with a long sleeve shirt that was very baggy and tight jeans. I smirked a bit at him.

"How aren't you cold?" Leon asked, pointing at my clothes.

"Well, I guess I'm too hot for it," I answered with a grin. He shook his head disapprovingly.

The bus arrived very shortly after I finished my sentence, so we got onto the bus. The driver must have been from Canada or something because the AC was on. Leon was shivering by the time we got seats. I leaned on him a bit and he leaned on me. This way there was no issue with being cold.

"I guess you're right about being too hot," Leon muttered because the bus was crowded with people. I silently chuckled at the remark. I was joking when I said it.

We got off the bus, and that when I knew my day wasn't going to be good. Kevin was standing at the school gate, watching as I got there with Leon. Leon must have seen it too since he moved away a bit. We both knew how homophobic this guy was.

As we got closer, Kevin began to walk towards us. People moved out of his way. I never got why people moved for him. I could feel my nerve at its edge. Leon stood closer to block away Kevin passing by, and keep him from trying anything. Kevin looked at us, disgusted. He was the type that made faces and comments when anything remotely 'gay' happened. At least we made it into the school grounds when Kevin decided to begin fulfilling his role as the dick of the school.

"Hey, Steilsson, where are you going?"

Leon turned around a little. I knew Kevin was following us. Why would he miss the chance to publicly humiliate Leon and I? I was walking towards the car park. I knew Lukas would be there. He sat there with Yao and Tino when he got there early enough. I could see him there.

"Is that your boyfriend? I knew you were a girl." I wish Leon was my boyfriend. Hah. I had to admit that I may have felt more than friendship for him, but I wasn't saying that right now. Leon was getting pissed off. We were so close to Lukas.

"Why you running, huh? Are you a weak little girl or something?" This time Leon turned around and shoved Kevin.

"Shut up, asshole." Leon started. I stopped too and grabbed onto Leon's arm and pulled him back.

"Don't start this. It's fine-!"

I was cut short by Leon. He turned around and looked at me straight in the eyes. His gaze was angry but concerned at the same time. My whole fucking body froze thanks to that gaze. It was intense, but I loved it.

"It's not fine. They're scumbags, Emil." He turned toward Kevin when he said that. His hands felt so warm holding mine. It wasn't the time to be staring at his eyes, but exactly all I could. "It's not fine in any way."

Our gazes didn't break for a good minute. It only broke when Kevin was making wrenching noises. Leon was pissed off. You didn't need to know him to tell. Kevin was clearly not going to let the issue go any time soon.

"WTF, You two ARE gay. That's so gross." His words made vile boil and run up my throat. It was so sickening to see that people were still so inhumane about something that should be perfectly fine.

"What's going on here?" Lukas interrupted. He must have heard what was said. Yao was with him too.

"Your brother sucks cock," Kevin spat out. Lukas instantly narrowed his eyes at him and I could tell that the morning I had woken up to was only sent from heaven by my mum so that I would be able to live down this day.

"Come again?" Lukas practically growled at Kevin. My voice seemed to fade and my muscles felt like they were frozen. Frozen by thick ice, but they burned like the centre of the sun. My mind was screaming and I felt dizzy. Leon covered my ears. I knew there was nonsense being spoken. Kevin shoved Lukas and the crowd started gathering. Punches and kicks were being thrown. Why couldn't I escape the violence?

I couldn't stop the tears from falling. Leon was my only curtain to shield me from everyone. It felt nice and warm, something I didn't feel anymore— only on cold winter nights and days, when the cold made my body ache so my internal pain stopped. Now, all I could do was watch and hide behind my last curtain, my last pillar that suspended me from the dirty floor and shady people.


[Tino's POV]

It had been a normal day. I had gotten up and made breakfast for myself and my parents. I had left the house with a smile from ear to ear. However, as soon as I got into the school grounds, I witnessed something that turned my smile into a scowl in a mere fraction of a second.

"Get OFF me!"

The mentioned scene that was currently unfolding in front of me was a brawl between Lukas and Kevin. There was a crowd, despite it been so early in the morning. There was yelling and swearing and cheering on. My feet darted towards the crowd and shoved past everyone.

"Kevin, you're gonna die, shut up." A few kids were screaming.

"I'm not gonna shut up!" Kevin was yelling in between a hit that had been thrown at his face by Lukas.

It was a bloodied mess. Kevin had two dark bruises near one eye and was bleeding from his nose, and Lukas had a bruised cheek and a cut on his lip. Never in my 10 years of being friends with Lukas had I ever seen him get this angry and violent.

Emil was also there, in tears, being comforted by Leon, and Yao was holding one of Lukas' arms to make him stop. I quickly dropped my stuff grabbed onto the other, and pulled him off Kevin. It was like trying to stop a wild animal. Alfred and Ivan held Kevin back too.

"Come at me; I dare you to. You know what he is going to get." Kevin spat out, gesturing at Emil when he said 'he'. That's when I stopped holding him back. Instead I went over to Emil and see if he was okay.

"Don't you fucking dare. I will-" Lukas was interrupted by Mathias rushing over and helping Yao hold him back. "NO. Let go!" Lukas was kicking and trying to get back to beat the daylights out of Kevin.

"Lukas, no. You're upsetting Emil." Mathias was trying to reason with him. I couldn't really hear what else he was saying but that comment seemed to cool Lukas a little.

"You're a fucking gay shit and so is your brother." Kevin continued to add fuel to the fire. "Bet your mum is real disappointed."

You could almost hear Lukas snap. Emil was in shock and a shaking mess. At this point, Alfred was the one shoving Kevin. We all had something that we didn't mention out of pure respect and 'parents' was one of them. As for being called gay, it wasn't rare but it hadn't been used in that way for sometime.

Everyone was sort of silent and hearing the reasoning behind such homophobic nature. Like anyone could expect there wasn't any. By this time around, Arthur came running in with a couple of teachers.

It was now lunch time and Lukas, Mathias, Emil and Alfred are nowhere to be seen. I had never been more concerned about them in my life. I wanted to know if they were okay. Was the situation fixed?


-In the nurse's office-

[Third-person POV]

"The nurse is busy with the wounds you gave Kevin." Mathias spoke as he was bringing stuff to heal Lukas' bleeding lip. Lukas was still breathing ruggedly and unevenly. His gaze was so distant and so mixed with different emotions that he wasn't willing to show. Mathias stared at him for a bit before continuing to get cotton balls out and disinfectant. "You got him good."

Lukas didn't reply. The silence was unsettling and uncomfortable. Mathias could see how tense Lukas was. He was probably thinking about the consequences that this would bring. Or maybe, and hopefully Mathias was wrong to think this, but he could be thinking about what Kevin said.

"Lukas?" Finally Lukas looked up a little. Mathias looked at him with a concerned smile. Lukas relaxed a bit. That smile seemed to calm his nerves even if it was only the slightest bit. "Don't worry, okay? The student council is on your side." Lukas raised an eyebrow and frowned a bit.

"Why would they be on my side?" Lukas' voice was hoarse when he spoke. Mathias was dabbing the cotton ball in alcohol. His hand gently lifted Lukas' chin and rested by his unharmed cheek. Mathias' hand was so warm against his cold face. They both spaced out for a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second was purely to admire how perfectly Mathias' hand seemed to fit and support Lukas' tired head. Or how warmth seemed to transfer faster when it came from each other. Or the way that Lukas seemed to close his eyes for a second longer before opening them when Mathias' hand made that soft and gentle contact. And maybe the way that Mathias was so delicate with Lukas. 'Maybe I'm just too used to harshness,' Lukas let his brain comment.

Mathias continued to clean the wound and the dried blood from Lukas' lip. Lukas would flinch a little now and then. He kept his gaze on anything but Mathias. They were too close for the action not to seem intimate or awkward. Mathias kept his eyes fixed on the lips that were injured, needing a constant reminder to himself that he could not kiss them better. The silence was long and the tension may have been too thick to be ignored.

Mathias broke the silence. "Lukas?"

Lukas finally looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Well, since the matter of discussion seemed to have brought conflict, I wish to discuss a sensitive topic, but only if you give me consent to discuss it with you." Mathias rambled on.

Lukas had to blink a couple of times, clearly not expecting Mathias to beat around the bush. "What? I mean what is it?" Lukas asked, a little confused.

"Uhh, due to some hypothesis and theories, I have been perplexed as to what you are attracted to?"

Lukas raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now without the bullshit and straight to the point." He looked straight at Mathias' eyes. He knew what Mathias meant. This was just to see if he would actually do it.

"Are you gay?" Mathias felt so nervous asking this question. He was almost breaking into sweat.

"It depends why you want to know."

"I told you.. I'm curious. That's all~"

"Well, one doesn't give out a name without introduction from the person asking."

Mathias felt himself go red. It was like walking on a tightrope, blindfolded. "I am."

Lukas studied his face for a trance of untruth. There wasn't any to be found. "You better be meaning sexuality-wise." Lukas almost threatened Mathias.

Mathias just went redder. Lukas decided he was going to tell him. It felt good to talk but he found himself trusting Mathias too quick as of recent. He had a lot of reasons to be suspicious of people, but Mathias seemed to break that rule. It was so odd for him. But he could trust that dorky idiot. Mathias respected him and saw him as a human— a human with feelings— and he went above and beyond to make sure he was okay. How was he not supposed to lay all his trust on him?

"I'm gay, too."


Ah~

And the bbys are out of the closet. I'm so sorry if Emil is OC. I might be giving him too much of my personal view of things. I mean I have gone thru some bad shit and the panic attacks and anxiety still riddle me till present day. I have also witness someone I really care about just freeze up with a pretty bad argument and I can tell you it's not easy to watch or be the person that frozen up.

As for the DenNor, I had to put it in. I hate leaving my stories on a sad note.

SuFin is being developed.

Rochu is also going to be developed. You can see hints of it but not nearly enough I think.

FrUKUS will also had its own chapter (maybe?)

I hop e you guys have enjoyed. My arms are bruised up from a very intense Volleyball round robin which is practically a whole day of playing volleyball. Intensely. I'm pretty sure I have written a lot by now. I should point out that I will fix up mistakes later. Right now I'm practically half dead on my keyboard. But it will be fixed!

Thank you to all the lovely reviewers and readers~

||Ame