I was suffering from extreme writers block, literally sat in front of my computer like 'Damn it!', but then I started listening to 'Same Love' and the words just kept flowing. It's such a beautiful song with such an important message, I defiantly recommend it. Also 'Kiss Me is now on my writing playlist for this fic, damn you Ed Sheeran, get less talented and adorable!
The first thing that greeted Arthur when he woke up the next morning, was the chirping new message sound from his phone. He sighed and rolled over, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and grabbed it off the bedside table, flipping in open. A smile broke out on his face when he saw the sender.
Good morning darling, hope you slept well ;)
-E xx
His insides felt something dangerously close to warm and squishy, a rush of affection at the little text, he could practically feel his dimples already showing. The smile remained plastered on his face all through breakfast, no matter how hard he tried it just wouldn't go away. If his aunt noticed anything she didn't mention it, one hand busy flicking through one of her trashy magazines, eyes scanning each glossy page with great interest whilst the other stirred her tea. Lily munched on her cereal humming, oblivious to the world around her. This morning was unusually quiet for them, each doing their own thing.
He still felt guilty about lying to Ariadne, but even that didn't put a damper on the pure happiness he was feeling now, he relished in it for as long as he could knowing that school would probably transform the feeling into dread. So for once, he let himself be happy and excited, shutting up the practical side when it tried to barge in.
"Mama?" Lily's voice interrupted his thoughts, his aunt looked up from her magazine, a content little smile on her face.
"Yes darling" she replied warmly, running a hand through Lily's golden hair "What is it?"
"Is Arthur in love?" he choked on his cereal, coughing and spluttering at her question, instead of helping Maisy just raised an eyebrow and looked at him a little inquisitively.
He banged his chest, taking a deep breath "I'm not...I mean no! I don't even have anyone to be in love with!" Lily cocked her head to the side.
"You smile a lot now, and your all glowie. Mama said that being in love made you glowie" Lily explained frowning. Maisy's eyebrow was still raised and Arthur felt like he was being assessed under her heavy gaze.
"She has a point Arthur" she chewed her lip "You do seem happier"
He rolled his eyes at the statement "What I can't just be happy? Maybe I got good grades?" he got up to put his bowl into the sink.
"You always get good grades" Lily piped up
"It was just an example! Anyway just because I seem...glowie it defiantly does not mean what you said, and if you haven't noticed I'm not with anyone so this whole thing is null and void!" he grabbed his bag off the floor, and rushed towards the front door as quickly as his legs would carry him "I have to go now bye!" he called in a rush and closed the door with just a little extra force behind him.
Jeez, just 'cause he was a little happy he was suddenly in love, what the hell was that about. He was not in love with Eames, not even slightly, he was, past tense, now they were just...? What were they actually? Friends? Boyfriends? They couldn't exactly call themselves lovers really. He didn't know how to classify them.
Ari and Rob were actually already waiting in Mr. Fischer's car when he made it downstairs, Rob was tapping his hands on the steering wheel and Ari gave him a cheery wave when he got in. He was relieved to get out of the flat before he had to answer any more questions like that, and actually grinned when he got into the safety of the car.
Ari frowned when he settled in, giving him a curious once over "Why are you so...'glowie'?" she asked warily
"Oh piss off" she relaxed instantly
"Oh thank god, for a moment I was worried" she grinned, then punched him in the arm "Drive on Robert!"
"Please don't start fighting in the car again" Robert gave a resigned sigh when Arthur retaliated, poking Ari in the ribs sending her into a fit of giggles.
Arthur caught glimpses of Eames throughout the first two lessons, in the halls and in one of the classrooms, and he was god awful at not being obvious! Every time Arthur casually glanced his way he always met Eames eyes, constantly on him, and filled with this warm sought of affection. He glared on occasion to try and give Eames the hint that he was being so obviously, but that just made the other boy smile even wider and blatantly ignored Arthur's warning.
When the bell rang for the end of the lesson the moment Arthur stood up he could feel the heat of Eames' gaze on his lower back and rolled his eyes, they'd be lucky if they made it past third period.
Somehow though Arthur, Rob and Ari entered the lunch room and sat down with no more stares and whispers than normal, perhaps even less since the whole school had heard about Eames and Marco's fight. After queuing for more than fifteen minutes to get some half decent food, Arthur finally sat down and the fork was halfway to his open mouth when there was a movement next to him.
Eames plonked himself down next to Arthur, much to his horror he widened his eyes to scream 'What the hell are you playing at?' Eames winked and gestured with his head to the opposite side of the table. Yusuf waved nervously at Arthur and sat down next to Ari, and Dom appeared on the other side of Arthur to take the free seat next to him.
He looked at Ari for some kind of explanation, but she and Rob looked just as confused as he felt.
"Hope you don't mind" Eames explained tucking into his food "But Yusuf was pinning away over there so we thought we'd come over and put him out of his misery" he winked again at Ariadne, who blushed considerably. She did however recover quickest and seemed delighted with Yusuf when he finally got the courage to look at her, and relaxed when he saw her expression.
"Um" Arthur interrupted "Just as a quick note, not sure if the three of you are aware, you guys know I'm a walking social suicide right?" he was entirely confused and couldn't work out the angle of why they'd come over.
Dom made an unimpressed noise "Who gives a crap" he stated bluntly
Eames beamed at his friend "Exactly, there's only so much testosterone filled machoness that Yusuf's delicate sensibilities can take!" the boy in question glared Eames and the rest of them when they laughed made to throw something at Eames' head, but Ari wrapped his free hand around her shoulder and he immediately lost interest.
"So fuck it, we like you guys and provided you don't totally hate us we would like to sit with you" he looked animated and happy as he talked, under the table his hand found Arthurs and squeezed it lightly.
Arthur glanced at his three friends; neither Rob nor Ari seemed to have an issue with it, in fact Ari looked positively overjoyed. Rob just looked like a lone startled deer who had found itself surrounded by other friendly deer's.
"By the way" Eames began, sounding more than a little guilty "Sorry about the whole thing at Ariadne's, I was completely pissed but that's no excuse" Rob seemed to regain his composure and waved his arm in a dismissive gesture.
"Its fine" Arthur felt Eames relax next to him "Actually, I think it got me some street cred, Stephanie Lewis from my Biology class said I was a badass" he said proudly. If Arthur had been drinking or eating something he would've choked on it again.
"Alright I was wrong, this is Armageddon, popular people are sitting at our table and Rob" he gestured a little wildly with his free hand "has street cred!" the table erupted in laughter and all the lingering awkwardness in the air from Eames and co's arrival disappeared.
Pretty soon they all became engaged in conversation. Ari took a shine to Eames, finding common ground in their interest in films and making jokes at Arthur's expense, when he looked across Rob and Dom seemed to be locked in an intense conversation about something sciencey. The entire time they talked and laughed that lunch time, Eames' hand never left Arthur's under the table. Whenever Eames made a flirty comment involving Arthur he always rolled his eyes and dismissed the statement, but he secretly squeezed their interlocked hands with everyone.
There were plenty of eyes watching and staring at them, the jocks sitting with the nerds was big news in their little school, especially when Arthur was there with them. But they all ignored the stares, and once again that warm feeling threatened to bubble over.
When the bell rang for the end of lunch it seemed like it was entirely too short, Arthur actually found himself wishing they had longer, and saw the same expression on the rest of his companions.
"Well we better get going" Ari sighed, reluctantly pushing herself up from the table with the rest of them "I'll see you later?" she directed at Yusuf shyly, clutching her books to her chest.
Yusuf rubbed his hand on his neck "Well I could um, walk you to your lesson...if you like?" she blushed again and nodded happily.
"Yeah" she breathed "That sounds great—I mean yes, I um would like that" realising that they were all staring at them, she took Yusuf's hand and walked, head down, away with him. Eames gave Yusuf a quick thumbs up as he passed.
"We better get moving to Arthur" Robert announced "Coming?" Arthur nodded and made to go walk with Rob, but Eames stopped him with a warm hand on his arm.
Arthur quirked an eyebrow at him "Actually Rob" Eames began, a sly look in his eyes "I was wondering if I could just chat to Arthur about some English work that I'm struggling with, could you tell the teacher that he's been waylaid for a few minutes" Arthur pulse quickened a little at that, he tried not to outwardly show it "If that's ok with you?" he directed at Arthur.
He shrugged noncommittally "Sure, as long as it's quick" Eames nodded seriously
"Alright, well I'll see you guys later" Rob waved as he headed to join the others milling out of the lunchroom.
"Hang on Rob, I'll walk with you" Dom disappeared after him, leaving Eames, Arthur and an almost empty lunchroom.
"Come with me" the other boy whispered in his ear, Arthur felt a flush of heat at the proximity, before Eames moved away as fast as he had come close, striding towards the open doors so quickly Arthur had to do a little jog to catch up with him.
He kept up the pace all the way down the now empty hallway, Arthur's track training made keeping up easy, but even so he was reminded now of the little height Eames had on him. At the end of the hall, Eames looked both ways and grabbed Arthur's hand to lead him down the left hand corridor. Arthur panicked for a moment until Eames let go outside the third floor bathroom which had an 'Out of Order' sign stuck on it. Arthur was wondering what they were doing outside a locked bathroom and was about to voice this to Eames when, after he had checked left and right again he pushed open the door and held it open for Arthur.
Arthur's eyes lit up with understanding and he moved quickly through the open door and leaned against the sinks. When Eames clicked the door shut and turned towards Arthur he had a predatory glint in his eye, in a moment he was in Arthur's space, crowding him against the edge of the sink.
Arthur arched his eyebrow questioningly, Eames ran his hand up and down Arthur's spine making him shiver and arch into the touch "Skipped out the end of last lesson and put that up"
"Eames, I am impressed" he put a hand on Eames' shoulder to steady himself at the same time as Eames untucked his shirt and got his hands on his skin, where his hands touched felt like sparks on his body.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Eames' lips "Your condescension, as always, is appreciated Arthur, thank you" he muttered removing his hand from Arthur skin, he chuckled at Arthur's noise of protest and loosened the other boys tie. Arthur was about to remind Eames that taking it too far wasn't smart, considering they were still only in a locked bathroom, when he undid the first button on Arthur's shirt and pushed Arthur's collar aside.
He grinned at the spot where he'd left a mark on Arthur's neck, with a hum of approval he nipped at the mark, causing a gasp to escape Arthur's throat. Eames spent several moments sucking the fading mark back, running his tongue along Arthur's skin. Arthur's hands gripped tighter into the meat of Eames' shoulder at the attention, panting heavily. Eames pulled back to admire his handy work and ran his fingers across the mark possessively.
"There are better things you could be doing with that mouth" he reminded, trying to make his voice sound commanding, instead it just sounded needy and breathless.
Eames smirked again and Arthur gasped in surprise as he was hoisted up to sit on the edge of the basin, Eames looked even more pleased with himself at the noise "As you wish darling" with that he finally put his mouth on Arthur's.
Until that moment Arthur hadn't realised how much he'd missed this the whole day, he sucked at Eames' bottom lip greedily running his hands through Eames slicked down hair. For a few moments Eames was slow, like he was holding back, Arthur grunted in frustration and opened his mouth so their tongues were clashing, whilst simultaneously scratching his nails up Eames' back.
The movement seemed to spur Eames into action, and he finally threw himself into the kiss, hands on every bare patch of skin he could get too. He nipped Arthur's lip before he ran his tongue over to soothe the bite, whilst Arthur felt like he was burning from the inside out.
It was every bit addictive before, when he thought about losing Eames now it felt like there was this huge hole in his chest, how quickly had Eames become so important in his life. Something he couldn't live without.
Eames seemed to sense the change in Arthur's mood and pulled back, ignoring Arthur's whine of protest. He chuckled and knelt his forehead against Arthur's so his warm breath tickled Arthur's face, and ran a thumb over his lips making Arthur's breath catch at the completely open affection in his eyes "God your beautiful darling" he breathed in something that sounded like awe. Arthur smiled chest fit to burst and cupped Eames' cheek, brushing his thumb lightly over the stubble there.
Something new came over Eames' expression and he touched his lips softly against Arthur's in the lightest caress, that one kiss felt more intimate than any other one they'd shared so far. Arthur twined his other hand with Eames', bringing it up to take in their fingers together, Eames smiled at their hands and closed his eyes.
Arthur knew he was falling, falling hard, he didn't want to really admit it but he'd always been weak where Eames was concerned.
"We should go back to lessons, they'll start to miss us" he breathed reluctantly. Eames released a deep sigh and gave Arthur's hand a squeezed.
"Ok" he opened his eyes, still so full of affection, but not so obvious now "You're right love, always the practical one" he teased knocking Arthur's chin lightly; god Arthur hated being the practical one. Eames took a step back, and Arthur longed for the press of his body again. It was a consolation that Eames looked like he wanted to do the exact same thing, he chuckled a little sadly "Would you believe I didn't just ask you here because I've been wanting to kiss you all day?"
Arthur smiled at the question "Maybe. What else did you want?" Eames looked a little uncomfortable all of a sudden, gaze flicking to the floor.
"I was wondering if you were free after school?" he looked up, some sort of resolve seemed to have settled in his gaze "I wanted to take somewhere"
"Like a date?" Arthur ventured, he hoped to god Eames wasn't going to take him to the movies or a restaurant, that one had already backfired majorly.
"You'll have to wait and see where it is, whether or not you call it a date" he replied unsurely, absentmindedly playing with his hands, betraying nerves "So, are you? Free that is?"
"Yes. Wait, no" shit he had that thing at Ari's "I'm at Ariadne's for a little after school, helping her get ready for her date with Yusuf and all that" Eames nodded.
"Can I pick you up after?" Arthur nodded, frowning at the desperate edge to his voice.
"What do you want to show me?" the other boy shook his head
"It's something you have to see for yourself" he softened when he noticed Arthur's concern "Don't worry darling, hopefully it's a good thing"
Arthur raised his eyebrow quizzically "Hopefully?" Eames chuckled and kissed Arthur lightly on the lips again, stealing away any protests that he had.
"Yes, hopefully" he grinned, the mood lightening "Just text me when you're finished at Ari's. I'll head out now, just wait a couple of seconds to follow darling" Arthur nodded, still curious about Eames' mystery location. The other boy strode over to the door "Oh" he spun on his heels "Tell Ari that red is defiantly her colour" he winked dipped out of the door.
Arthur laughed happily and touched where the ghost of Eames lips still lingered against his, his mouth pulled into a smile which he felt could stretch to his ears if he let it. He repeated their pattern from yesterday and waited a couple of seconds before dashing out heading to his next lesson.
He was only half way down the hall when a voice cried out "Arthur!"
He span round coming face to face with Miss. Cobb, a little out of breath when she caught him up "I really need to go back to the gym" she panted, bent over slightly.
"Are you alright Miss?"
"Yes I'm fine" She straightened up, pushing a stray curl off her face "I just wanted to catch you before your lesson, lets walk shall we" she gestured down the hall and they took off in a steady pace "I was just in the office and I happened to run into Mr. Dunn, he finished marking the latest essays your class did and apparently Eames got an B" she smiled warmly "I thought you might like to know"
"That's great!" it was more than great, it was amazing! "He'll be so pleased"
Mrs. Cobb smiled brightly "I'm really proud of the two of you, and tell Eames that I couldn't be happier" He couldn't wait to tell Eames, god he'll be ecstatic!
"Thanks for letting me know Miss that was great of you" she grinned bashfully at Arthur's praise, stopping outside Arthur's classroom.
"Not a problem Arthur, I'll see you next lesson" she waved and walked away. Leaving Arthur with a stupid grin on his face and spring in his step when he walked into his classroom, luckily the teacher just gave a curt nod when Arthur arrived a few minutes late.
He sat impatiently fidgeting for most of the lesson. He was so happy for Eames! This grade was going to mean so much to him!
Ok just for once I wanted a happy ending to one of my chapters, also...holy jesus this is almost 50,000 words! What happened to the little maximum 10,000 word fic I planned at the start, thanks so much to those of you who've stuck with it, I love writing and I'm so pleased to be able to do this. Oh and you have no idea how happy I am the condescending bit made it in there, I wrote the line just randomly "Eames, I'm impressed" then went...'Wait a minute that sounds familiar!'