Hello dear readers! In my attempt to be timelier in my updates, I present you with the next installment of We Found Us. Brace yourselves. I mean really, whose life is all sunshine and Smurf kisses? Time for a little conflict between the boys.
Nothing Glee related is mine. Blahbity blahbity blah, blah, blah.
~oOo~
AJ stepped from the shower and wiped the fogged mirror with the back of his hand. The face reflecting back at him was a representation of the day: a bruised cheek, a cut above his eyebrow, and a scrape that went from his chin to the middle of his left cheek. His eyes told even more of the story.
AJ sighed and toweled his curly hair. He could feel his shoulders stiffening and his head beginning to pound. His heart was heavy and tears pricked at the backs of his eyes. Gavin could not have meant it when he said he didn't want to see AJ ever again. AJ hadn't meant to offend Gavin. He loved Gavin, for heaven's sake. And that love was what propelled AJ to launch at the opposing soccer team's center forward when he attempted an illegal slide tackle that caused Gavin to topple over and hit his head on the metal poles in the goal box. And being 16 year old boys playing against their rival team, loyalty took over and the entire Dalton varsity soccer team engaged in a brawl with the Edgefield Preps that rivaled the fights of professional teams. As a result, Dalton had to forfeit the game; AJ was suspended from play for the rest of the season (which was only a week away, but still…) The Edgefield player who set his sites on eliminating one of Dalton's strongholds, goalkeeper Gavin O'Keefe, walked away without a reprimand. Edgefield also walked away with the league championship. As far as AJ knew, Gavin was still in the infirmary, where Coach and a few of the players took him right after the scuffle. Gavin attempted to help, but stepped aside when Coach said, "AJ, I think you've done enough, son." An hour later and still in his gear, AJ went to the clinic to check on Gavin. Gavin was resting with an ice bag on his ankle and a bandage on his head, where he'd made contact with the goal box.
"Hi," AJ whispered as he stepped inside the partitioned area. "How are you feeling?"
Gavin looked at AJ for several seconds before he spoke. "I really don't want to see you. Please leave…"
"Gavin, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It's just when that forward went after you and…"
"AJ I'm serious. You need to leave now," Gavin said, looking away from AJ.
AJ stood there, feeling helpless and wanting to do everything in his power to make everything alright. "Okay. I understand. I'll come back after dinner and check to see how you are doing."
"No. I think you should just stay away. I'm not sure I ever want to see you again at this point," Gavin said with an anger in his voice that AJ had never heard.
"Gavin! I…please let me explain. I…"
"Just leave me alone!" Gavin said, his voice raised. Moments later, the school nurse whipped open the partition curtain and glared at AJ.
"I think you need to leave now, young man. I can't have my patient agitated while he's recovering." AJ looked at the nurse and then back to Gavin. He looked down at the ground and turned to leave.
~oOo~
Dressed now and lying face down on his bed, the tears came. The entire situation played over in AJ's mind. It all started when Dalton was up, 4-2 in the last half of the league championship team. AJ had just scored the fourth point and the teams were lining up for the kickoff. The opposing center forward, someone AJ had disliked since freshman year, smirked at AJ and said, "Hey Dalton boy, word of warning: your goalie's going down."
AJ returned the threat with one of his own. "You might want to think twice about that," he said, leveling his look at the forward.
"What? Is the little fag in the goal box your boyfriend or something?" he asked, attempting to rile AJ.
"First of all, fag is a pretty offensive term. Most civilized people know that. And second, as a matter of fact, he is my boyfriend, and if you so much as breathe the wrong way around him, you'll wish you hadn't," AJ replied.
"What? He's really your…" Edgefield's center broke out into a laugh that sounded like he'd just stumbled upon the best secret in the world. "Oh my god! This is too good to pass up!" The center stepped up and tapped the ball to one of his wings, and took off towards the goal. With one eye on the ball and one on his opponent, AJ headed towards the Dalton goal.
Coach took notice and yelled, "Hummel-Anderson, what the hell are you doing? Get back in position! Where is your mind boy?" AJ ignored his coach (bad decision number 1) and stayed on the forward with great tenacity. The opposing forward trapped a pass from the left forward and made a clean kick to the right forward. He then went straight to the goal box, quickly turning and rolling past AJ. AJ took off behind him, but arrived too late. The next thing AJ knew, Gavin was flying through the air, heading towards the poles on the outer edge of the goal, the result from being slide tackled from behind. When AJ reached the Edgefield center, he was focused and sure. Everyone else on the field was eliminated from his vision; all he could see was the smirk on the face of the player who had purposely injured Gavin. AJ flew through the air and landed on the boy (bad decision number 2). Fists flew, whistles sounded, and moments later, the players from both teams were engaged in a sizeable brawl. Coaches, refs, and a few parents were able to eventually quell the fury. AJ was ejected, Dalton was forced for forfeit, and the rest was history.
Just as AJ rolled towards the wall in his dorm room, Michael and Jacob entered quietly. "Hey, AJ," Michael said softly, sitting on the edge of his roommate's bed. "We heard what happened. Are you okay?"
"Physically, yeah. I'm a little roughed up, but no big deal. I may have messed things up with Gavin, though. He's beyond mad at me."
"The other players were just in the commons and for what it's worth, they say you were totally justified in what you did. I mean, they all get that the whole 'We're-Dalton-and-we-don't-condone-physical-violence' thing, but Cameron and Steven overheard your conversation with the Edgefield center and they knew that he was out to get Gavin," Jacob said.
"Well, we'll see how they feel when the whole reality of losing the league championship by forfeit thing sets in," AJ said, turning to look at the boys.
"Your teammates were pretty clear about that too. In fact, Tristan said that if he had to do it all over again, he would. 'Championship be damned' I think were his exact words. AJ, those guys are your brothers, man. They know you and they know the kind of person you are," Michael said.
"Well, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll talk to Gavin, because I'm pretty much the last person on earth he wants to see. All I was trying to do was protect him. I don't get it."
They boys sat quietly for a few moments before Michael and Jacob exchanged looks. "About that," Michael said.
"About what?" AJ asked, looking at Michael and Jacob. "What do you two know?"
"Well, Cameron went to the infirmary to see Gavin and he said Gavin isn't so much mad at you for starting the fight. It's more like he's mad that you felt you needed to fight his battles for him," Jacob said.
"That's crazy!" AJ exploded. "What was I supposed to do, sit back while that cretin set out to harm my boyfriend? Oh my god! I was so totally not fighting his battles for him! He didn't even know the battle was coming!" AJ yelled.
"Dude, calm down! I'm sure once Gavin is released by the nurse he'll start thinking clearly and he'll come around. In the meantime, you might just want to lie low, you know, give him some space," Michael offered.
"I supposed you're right," AJ sighed. "I guess I'd better call my dads and tell them what happened before the official documents declaring me an unfit boyfriend and center forward arrive by carrier pigeon," he quipped.
"By owl, Dude. Documents delivered by owls are so much cooler, like in Harry Potter…"
"Shut up, Jacob," Michael hissed. "And speaking of your dads, they called already. Word on the street is your coach contacted them right after he left Gavin in the clinic. You were out of the room and I didn't answer your phone, once I saw who was calling," Michael said softly.
"Shit," was all AJ said.
~oOo~
AJ sat on a leather couch in the empty second floor lounge. He took a deep breath as he found Blaine's phone number in his contacts. He pushed the button, listened to two rings, and said, "Hi Dad," when Blaine answered.
"Before anything, are you okay AJ?" Blaine asked.
"I'm okay Dad. I've got some injuries, but nothing I haven't seen before. Worse yet, Gavin is furious with me, and I'm guessing you and Daddy K aren't thinking I'm so wonderful about now too," AJ said.
"We are having a tough time wrapping our heads around how you reacted. This fighting business seems so beyond the pale for you. Care to explain what happened?" Blaine asked. AJ recounted the story, and filling in the reasoning behind his actions. Blaine listened carefully, remaining calm and asking clarifying questions. When AJ finished talking, Blaine let out a big sigh and AJ could picture his dad running his hand through his hair and resting it on the back of his neck, a pretty standard stressed-out Blaine actions "Well, son, we did talk to your coach this afternoon and he's pretty unclear as to what will happen. Best case scenario: you get a warning and some school service hours because your record is clean…it is clean, right?"
"Yeah, Dad. Uncle David would call you if I so much as mouthed off in class! Yes, my record is clean, well, before today, at least."
"You're right. And I know you aren't expecting special treatment because of David…"
"Of course not Dad. If anything, I'll get it worse," AJ sighed.
"Well, AJ, thank you for being truthful with me. I know that you'll accept your consequences graciously, so let's set the situation aside. How are you feeling?" Blaine asked.
At that question, AJ couldn't control his tears. "Gavin is really mad and he doesn't want to see me, or so he said. I tried to apologize, but apparently, he thinks I was trying to fight his battles for him. My whole team understands why I did what I did, but Gavin is being awful about this…" AJ stopped talking, realizing that he hadn't told his dads that he and Gavin were "official." And since he hadn't talked to Gavin about it and because maybe there was nothing to be "official" about at this point, AJ decided he should just stop talking.
"I have to admit that I was pretty upset after getting off the phone with your coach, but your dad brought it all around. He reminded me that I almost got into a fight one night at his old school when the guy who used to make Dad's life miserable tried to start things up. I remember feeling blinded with fury; this guy, who was just awful to Daddy K, was right there trying to pick a fight. Auntie Santana broke that one up, believe it or not," Blaine said with a laugh.
"Well, I know she's tough, but…really? She broke it up?" AJ asked, smiling.
"Yeah, she told this guy she was going to compromise part of his manhood and that she had all kinds of razor blades hidden in her hair," Blaine said, laughing and remembering that night. AJ laughed too, instantly feeling better.
"Thanks, Dad, for talking with me. I really needed that. I guess I'd better go and see if I can find Gavin and talk to him. Tell Dad that I love him. I love you too."
"Keep us updated, AJ. Love you, boy. Well talk soon."
After he hung up the phone, AJ sat for a minute, still giggling at the idea of Santana stepping between a bully and his dads. He gathered his strength and left the lounge, heading down the hall towards Gavin's room. AJ check his phone and it was 8:37. A light shone out from beneath Gavin's door. AJ squared himself, took a deep breath, and knocked three times. He heard feet hit the floor and moments later, the door opened. Gavin stood there, his face unreadable.
"Hi," AJ said softly, resisting the urge to reach out and softly touch the cut on Gavin's cheek. "Can we…could we…talk?"
~oOo~
I do believe that ending is what we call a cliff hanger! So not typical for me, would you not agree? Not feeling mean, just pressed for time right now. The conclusion for this conflict will come to you soon.
In the meantime, enjoy life, love your friends and family, and whoop it up on Halloween if you are so inclined. Personally, it's one of my favorite holidays.
GirlFromTheWest xxoo