Thank you Sinfulfics for Beta'ing this for me! You are truly a godsend. AND- Happy Birthday Yuleira! She was the first to read this in its final form and now it's being shared with the world. Enjoy!
Too Late
By JacklynnFrost
︵‿︵‿୨Middle School୧‿︵‿︵
He tightens his backpack straps, trying to fix his cowlick in the mirror of the entranceway. The polished wood and fresh flowers on the thin table just inside their front door are always perfectly arranged by their maid. Her voice trails down the twisting staircase from the balcony landing on the second level, "I found your glasses, Zel!" But a second later Meliodas watches his younger brother breeze past her, refusing to grab them.
"Let's go," he demands, pushing past Meliodas to open the front door, his black satchel bag slung over his shoulder. With a shrug to Zaneri and a little wave, he turns to follow when her voice chimes out, "Have a good day, your father wishes he could be here." Meliodas' grin falls but he's glad she didn't see it as he calls out, "Thanks," before following Zeldris.
Their dad misses everything, him not seeing them off for their first day of school isn't a surprise to either of them and Meliodas tries to guide his younger brother by rushing to catch up to him down their long walkway. The woodlands on the three sides surrounding them are quiet and once the two are side by side they walk together a moment before the older speaks up.
"You'll need your glasses," Meliodas mutters, knowing this isn't his talk but no one else is around to try. Of course, he thinks of his mother and tries to channel her, his thoughts tuning to what she might say. "I know that jerk Hendrickson gave you shit last year, but-"
"Shut up." Zeldris scowls. "It's not just him. I'm the smallest in the class!" Meliodas looks over, his brother's shoulders tensing, his steps hitting the ground more than a touch harsher.
"Right, because I wouldn't know anything about being the smallest." That got his attention, his brother's dark spiking hair tussling from the move. "Come train with me. You're old enough now." The silence that follows is all the agreement he knows he will get, but smiles as they hit the main road and take the sidewalk toward their school.
A few paces over they reach the first house, their new neighbors coming into view, a full yard and a half separating their homes. The elderly couple that lived there moved but the boys nearing the front lawn hadn't known them, but the lack of a for sale sign told them it sold.
"Smile Ellie!" A man's voice carries to the sidewalk, and Meliodas looks over to the porch of the two-story shuttered house to see a pretty light-haired girl their age holding up a chalkboard sign in a pastel dress with a shiny backpack on that glitters in the sun almost as much as she does. The man snapping pictures is beaming, doing exactly what Meliodas thinks a father should be doing on her first day at school.
"That's enough," she says through her picture-perfect smile. "I have to get going." Her dad takes a few more before stowing his phone away and strolling over to her. Meliodas grips at Zeldris' arm to slow their pace, his brother giving him a confused side eye but trusting him enough to follow his lead as they near their new neighbors.
"You sure you don't want a ride? I am home all morning too, in case you need me." The older gentleman hugs his daughter and Meliodas watches as the girl snuggles into the embrace as if soaking him up before denying his offer. It's then, as the two say their goodbyes, and she hops down the few steps of her porch that she spots the brothers on the sidewalk.
"Yo!" Meliodas waves his arm over his head. "We live next door," he indicates which way. The girl looks stunned, her blue eyes shining in the sun as they widen but her father answers. "Oh good!" The obvious grin clear in the tone of his voice, "I feel much better knowing Elizabeth won't be walking to and from school each day alone."
The girl, Elizabeth, does an about-face to her dad but her expression isn't caught by either of the brothers as they stop at the end of her cement pathway that leads to her front porch. Her father calls out once more, "Have a great day! I love you!" The girl reaches them with a heavy flush but she gives them both a forced, nervous smile before joining their walk to school.
The little group is quiet at first but a few houses later, they are pulling out their schedules to compare. Zeldris and Elizabeth are in the same grade and Meliodas watches her smile reach her eyes when she spots it, wishing she were in his year so he would be on the receiving end of such a look. Still, she latches on to them as her only lifeline as they give her a rundown of who to steer clear from and who the shitty teachers are.
Meliodas leaves them when they find their lockers inside, swarms of other kids rushing around, and he worries after both his brother and the new girl as his day goes on. The first day is always easiest so his mind has plenty of time to wander. He worries about Zeldris' bullies from last year and how Elizabeth is getting on with only his surly brother as a friend. The time dragged on, but he caught up with his friends while he waited for the hours to go by.
At the end of the day, Zeldris is waiting for Meliodas under the willow tree across the street from the school, their designated spot. His hood is up and his face down. "How was it?" Meliodas asks, but when no answer comes he looks around with furrowed brows as he hikes his bag up higher on his shoulder. "Where's Elizabeth?"
"I'm not her keeper!" Zeldris snaps, "We only have first and third together." His brother flashes him a scowl, but it's enough and Meliodas stills when he spots what's on his face. More specifically, around his right eye. It's bloodshot, purple and red, a solid black eye as even his eyelid has puffed forcing his one green eye to partially close.
"Fuck." Meliodas spins, cursing as he looks through the crowd of those dividing up for the buses. He spares no time deciding, dipping back across the street knowing which way Hendrickson walks home each day. He's a bully, targeted his brother all last year and he gritted his teeth through it as he hadn't got involved before, at Zeldris' insistence. No longer!
"Don't!" His brother calls after him and although Meliodas turns back to give him just as heavy a scowl as he received a moment ago, he doesn't slow.
"You didn't wear your glasses so you knew this would happen." The lack of denial is enough and as Meliodas picks up his pace to a light run, making it off the property when he hears a voice to the right down the first side road from the school. "Please, give it back," she pleads, upset. She has obviously been crying and without much thought he turns that way, running faster as he sees the group of people ahead.
The three boys are tossing a backpack between them, a glittery one that shines in the sunlight, playing a cruel game of keep away with the new girl Meliodas hasn't stopped thinking about. It is a swift turn for Meliodas, from having no interest in the opposite sex to suddenly and entirely having very few other thoughts.
"Not her too," Zeldris mutters from behind his brother, but Meliodas is too focused to process it. Hendrickson, Dreyfus, and Fraudrin are intolerable on their own but together it seems their combined IQ drops and the lot more resembling cavemen with their quick jolt into violence at the littlest of provocation.
"Why are you following us home?" The dark-haired Dreyfus sneers as he tosses her backpack to the stout Fraudrin, his cauliflower ears sticking out from his head from wrestling. "Please," her imploration is lost amongst their laughter but this time as she reaches for the pack the thick-necked Fraudrin pushes her down with one hand while throwing her bag with the other. She skids back on her knees, catching herself with her hands. Meliodas hears her squeak, but she sucks down the sound. He sees her shoulders tense as she tries to hold herself together and rage fills Meliodas, deep wrath burns in his core.
"Hey!" Meliodas hollers, getting their attention. He wants their focus on him as something snaps into place, or perhaps out of it, as he is suddenly very okay with taking this beating in her place. Of course, he'll fight with everything he has first. "Give her the bag and leave her alone," Meliodas demands but the laughs that follow are not reassuring.
"You gonna make us?" Hendrickson smirks as he dangles the bag out by its handle. "Three on one are good odds."
"Three on two," Zeldris corrects, catching up to his brother and squaring up. "I'm not surprised you can't count that high." The three bullies, step nearer together, facing the two brothers when Meliodas reaches Elizabeth between them. He helps her to stand, taking her hand and spots the little drops of blood trailing from her bare knees.
"Three." Elizabeth chokes out. "Three on three," and she rolls her shoulders, tears in her eyes as she meets Meliodas'. She doesn't smile at him as he wants but something is there in her blue depths that he is glad for- like she truly notices him. Then Zeldris steps up on her other side, bringing their attention back to the three tormentors.
When the fight starts, Meliodas tries his best to take most of the attention, focusing on protecting Elizabeth and getting the glittery backpack. The scuffle ends almost as soon as it starts as an older man who lives in the house they are in front of comes out yelling that he called the police, causing them all to scatter. Zeldris has another black eye to match the first, Meliodas has a swollen jaw and very bruised knuckles while Elizabeth is mostly just scratched up from her fall to the asphalt.
From that day on, they get into a routine of strolling to school together where Meliodas walks them both to their homeroom class each day before scurrying off to his own. They lunch together and stay friends even after Elizabeth finds her own group, as an unbreakable bond had formed that day. One Meliodas latches on to as his feelings grow deeper and deeper for the sweet girl he can't stop thinking about.
︵‿︵‿୨Senior Year୧‿︵‿︵
Meliodas stares at the flyer placed before him on his desk. 'Final Week for Senior Prom Tickets', it says across the top in some strange font that looks like seaweed dancing. The theme is under the ocean, of course, and just as unsurprisingly his mind drifts to Elizabeth. She is single, has been as she says focusing on her schooling is most important. He's not mentioned his feelings, respecting her wishes as she gets this look on her face, sheer determination, whenever dating is mentioned.
Still, his college applications are in and he is running out of time as she'll be here another year while he's off learning. Who knows what school she'll end up at or if she'll keep in contact when he's no longer next door and not her most convenient friend when she needs a listening ear.
He vacillates about it the entire day. It's not until Zeldris finds him at his locker while he's shoving his backpack full following the last bell, that he's decided. "Find another ride home." Meliodas orders, barely looking over at his brother. Zeldris scoffs before he realizes Meliodas is serious and his jaw drops, giving him a double take.
"What? Why?" His brother has always been reliable, he isn't prone to impulsively changing his routine. When Meliodas dips closer and explains though, Zeldris gives him a sad smile before agreeing. "I'll walk to the library, pick me up after, yeah?" He doesn't wait for confirmation, simply hikes up his backpack and strolls off genuinely hoping Meliodas doesn't mess this up.
Meliodas walks the opposite way, his heart pounding as he makes his way to the parking lot. Elizabeth is waiting by Meliodas' car, a mid-range economy hatch that his father bought him after he won his last fighting competition. She's looking down at her phone but straightens and tucks it away when he calls out to her. Her eyes dart around him and he answers before she asks, "He went to the library. I'll get him later."
With a quick dip into his hoodie pocket, he pulls out his keys and unlocks the car. She wastes no time slipping into the front seat and he smiles as he climbs in, liking her at his side. Just as the key's turn in the ignition she's messing with his radio, but he doesn't mind as they have the same tastes mostly. "You busy?" He asks as he files into the growing line of cars trying to leave.
"Nope, you?" She settles back when she finds a song, buckling up and he sneaks a glance to soak in her beautifully gentle smile angled to him.
"How about coffee?" He tries to make the question easy going but at the end his voice squeaks and just as they hit the main road, stopping at the light, Elizabeth stills.
"What is it? Did something happen? You accepted that California college's offer didn't you?" She barely breathes as she continues, "I knew you were gonna leave me, us, I mean. But California? That's hundreds of miles away. Coffee! You don't even like it and you never ask me anywhere. Just rip the bandaid off, Meliodas. Give it to me straight."
"Jeeze." He breathes in for her. "I haven't. I'm waiting on Columbia, but I did have something I wanted to talk to you about." Meliodas focuses on the road as the light changes and with no destination in mind, he turns toward their homes. He doesn't need to see her to know she's narrow-eyed and suspicious. "It's my senior year. I'm not with anyone, you aren't with anyone..." He trails off, sneaking a glance to see her shiny lips part and her eyes go wide to stare unseeingly before her.
"And?" Elizabeth implores, snapping her face to catch him looking at her a touch morosely. She knows his faces and it registers what he is feeling, making her second guess her own assumptions and she keeps her hopes in check. Their eyes unlock as he makes a turn.
"It's my last chance for prom." He winces at his own wording, Elizabeth doing the same with neither of them picking up on the other. "I thought, if you want, maybe you could go with me?"
The way he is going about this conflicts with what he is asking and for clarity's sake, she bites her lip before hushing between them. "As friends?" Elizabeth can't bring herself to look at him, but she hears him clear his throat. Mirroring her tone and volume, he confirms with a husky, "Yeah, of course." But that answer isn't what either of them wanted, and the divide between them cracks open a little farther.
With no reason to continue hanging out, Meliodas pulls into her driveway and she departs, the both of them a mix of disappointed and hopefully pleased. Over the course of the next few days, he gets their tickets, she buys a dress and tells him her colors so they can match. Outside of the particulars and the plans, neither of them talk about the event. It isn't until the day before that Elizabeth comes up with her own strategy, knowing their time is running out before he goes off to college.
Meliodas regrets the 'friends' term tagged on to their date, even gruffly explaining the situation when Zeldris fixes his tie, but not as much as he does when he sees her for the first time in her tight, low cut dress. He physically freezes in her doorway, her face like a doll and her hair partially pinned up around her head to cascade down in perfect looping curls. Elizabeth has always been his type, all the I's dotted and every t crossed but seeing her like this, his heart races and his hormones stir to awaken his body.
"You're early!" She smiles, her words not even processing as he zeroes in on her pouty lips moving, her little pink tongue poking out as if to tease him. A stupid grin cracks across his face, dopey, as she calls back over her shoulder. "Dad, if you want pictures we have time."
"Of course I want pictures!" Bartra gruffs from the kitchen, turning towards them down the hall. "The weather is perfect and with you in such a lovely blue the tree's will really make you two pop." When he reaches them, his fatherly chuckle echoes up in the open space above their stairs, Bartra's hand smacks at Meliodas's shoulder. The jarring move forces his attention, the haze clearing as he looks to Elizabeth's father, still dazed. "Do I need to do the 'this is my daughter' talk with you? Threaten you or something?"
With a soft smile, Meliodas almost wishes he would but Elizabeth chimes up with a scoff. "We're just friends dad, you would think that would be clear by now." She slips by him to the porch, missing his shoulders drop and his longing face following her form as she holds up her dress to take the stairs down. "Ah," Bartra sighs, shooting the poor boy a look before wrangling them to pose in quite a few ways.
He gets to touch her waist, to feel her body warmly press to his and he has naught a complaint as the pictures take more time than they should. Bartra goes teary eyes a few times, and at least thrice mentions how, "My last baby, my youngest sweet daughter, all grown."
The two joke as they leave, almost laughing the entire drive to the school together. They have a good time. Dance, talk of a thousand different things and she enjoys a few glasses of punch before he takes one himself, realizing it's spiked right away- and rather heavily. He is just about to take her cup from her to dump them both but as he turns to her, she downs the whole thing with a smile. "It's got vodka in it." He tells her, the music loud and she frowns.
"It tastes the same as it has all night." Elizabeth explains with a shoulder shrug, barely waiting for him to find a place to dispose of their cups before she's pulling him to the dance floor. Her enjoyment is peaking but his tapers and fades, realizing she is drunk and he had been careless not to notice. It's soon after he calls their night over, guiding her to his car as she wobbles on her heels. They aren't even in the parking lot yet when she simply takes off her sparkling shoes, abandoning them in her wake.
He gathers them up, her laugh following him. "I'm never wearing them again, I have at least six blisters." She explains, but he isn't sure if she will feel the same in the morning. He situates her in the passenger seat, throwing her shoes in the back and is stunned when her hand grips the front of his shirt and pulls him down for a kiss.
She misses, giggling as her soft lips caress the very edge of his mouth. He shakes, startled, before grinning at her silliness but backing away and shutting her in before rushing around to the driver's seat. Meliodas' head swims, in spite of her being drunk, he's always wanted to feel her lips on his. Even the littlest bit has made his year the best one he's ever had, but he isn't sure if she really meant to or not.
Their drive is silent, his mind dancing in its happiness when her sweet voice chimes, "Was that okay?"
"The dance?" Meliodas looks to her quickly, smiling. "Yeah, I had a great time."
She nods, her brows furrowing as she looks to the clock. "We still had another thirty minutes though." That doesn't matter so much to him though, his shoulders rising to a shrug as he vaguely explains about beating the crowd. Elizabeth ignores the excuses, building up her nerve and as he pulls into her driveway, she reaches over and turns off his car. The house is dark, she gives it one cursory glance before unbuckling and rising up to her knees on her seat.
Meliodas is stunned as she drops his keys to the floor, her hands finding his face to guide it to look at her and she all but climbs forward to kiss him once more. She's sweet, but this aggressive side of her is new and he is unsure how to proceed in these uncharted waters with her. He's tentative, his hands rising to her waist respectfully as he kisses her back.
A thousand doubts scatter from his mind as she presses closer, her knees rising over the gear shift and his back presses to the inside of his car door. He groans, a deep rumble of a sound he's never made before and she keens in response, falling deeper into the feelings Meliodas creates in her. "Touch me," she whispers her demand against his mouth as she dips her palm to the front of his pants and feels along the ridge of his hard cock straining between them.
He arches, his eyes pinching closed as he forces himself to say, "You drank so much of that punch." She stills, her fingers stopping their exploring of his tented self. Her breath is warm on his neck but with the pause in her attack, her body all but in his seat, Meliodas knows this isn't the right thing to do.
And, the last thing he wants is to hurt her, or have her regret being with him. This is his wildest, most secret of dreams, and if this is the start of them he wants it to begin on the most solid of footings. "Let me see you home." His voice is raspy, his hand leaving her waist to fumble over his shoulder until he finds the handle to release the door latch.
Elizabeth flops back, her feet bouncing on the armrest between them and for a flash, he catches her shining eyes but she turns from him so fast he isn't sure if it's tears or just the moonlight that shone there. "It's okay. I know the way," she mumbles, opening her door and dipping out. "Thank you for taking me," Elizabeth finishes, shutting the door before he can respond and with an embarrassed flush, Meliodas looks down at the situation clearly stretching in his pants. If her father is home, and awake waiting for them, he doesn't want Bartra to see his reactions to Elizabeth.
Instead, he watches her go in, waits for her bedroom light to come on and when it does he still sits there, unsure what happened and if everything is okay between them. When his heart calms, his head clearing, he bends searching for his keys under his feet while trying to get his cock to relax by thinking of anything else to focus on.
That night it's thoughts of her that get him off, and anxiety about where they stand now that keeps him up. By Monday, he isn't in any better of a place but when Zeldris and Meliodas pick her up for school she acts normal, not mentioning the events. He figures she doesn't remember, but she does and although he files away the memories as precious; when Elizabeth thinks of them, it only hurts as he rejected her advances.