steal my breath: a riley/zane fanfic
chapter two: giving up everything for you
R: I am telling you, Zane, I've never had a crêpe before!
Z: really, stud? but they're so good! And I couldn't believe it last night when you told me you've never had sushi.
R: never have. and stud? what brought that on?
Z: ummm, you are one, duhh :)
R: aw shucks. you're studlier.
Z: am not. you've got those arms, those abs, those eyes...
R: you've got those legs, that aerodynamic hair, that smile...
Z: I like you, Riley. what are we even doing?
R: oh Zane. I just...I don't know.
Z: we've been dancing around this for a month. I really, really, really like you. anyone can see that.
R: really, really, really?
Z: Riley...
R: I like you too. I dream about you. I wrote "Riley Stavros + Zane Park" on the back inside cover of my math notebook. but...
Z: I hate all buts except yours. Your butt, that is. :)
R: Zane, I want you so much. you don't even know. but...this has only happened once before in recent degrassi history. a gay couple both at the school. we would get lots of shit.
Z: I thought you said people were cool!
R: I thought they were! but I talked to Sav and he said that he heard Drew talking to Owen today and he knows about us.
Z: what is there to know?
R: we're both crushing bad, aren't we? Sav said he heard something about "putting those fucking homos in their place"
Z: Riley...omg. what should we do? we've never even kissed and even though we're both out, ppl aren't exactly happy about it
R: there's nothing we can do. but meet me at the dot today right after practice lets out and we can talk about this...
Z: riley, I want to kiss you like right now.
R: Zane, I want to kiss you back like right now. two hours till school's out. come watch from the sidelines at practice?
Z: maybe from the fence. me watching your ass in public may not be the best thing for us at this point
R: no matter how cute I look in those football pants?
•••
Riley saw Zane at practice, smiling at him from the fence. He stared at the raven-haired god a little too long, missed a pass, and got shit from his teammates in the locker room afterwards. Fortunately for him, none of them picked up on the Zane thing.
R: Zane, just go to the dot and order whatever you like. I'll meet you there in 15 min, k?
Z: alrighty. I'll order you a crepe. :) everything ok?
R: yeah, I just need some time to think.
Z: k :) no worries. see you there.
Riley sighed. Zane could always make him feel good about who he really was. Zane knew.
Riley felt the tears coming as he thought about how he and Zane could never show how much they cared about each other without being teased or ridiculed.
He went to a secluded, dark alley far from school to cry in private, when he heard a voice.
"Who's there?" the voice said. It belonged to Adam Torres, the transgender boy who had recently been "found out" by Bianca DeSousa, the school's resident fake-badass bitch. She made his life hell.
"It's, uh, Riley Stavros," he choked out. "Who're you?"
"Adam. You might know me as Gracie, the transgender freak," the voice said, coming out of the shadows to sit against the wall next to Riley. "What brings you here?"
"You mean, what's my problem?" Riley chuckled through his semi-dry tears. "You know Zane, right?"
"The guy with the hair?" Adam asked.
"Yeah. That's him. I…I really like him, and he really likes me."
Adam gave a small pity-laugh. "So, what's the problem?"
"We're afraid to come out. I don't even know why. I wanna kiss him and snuggle him—in public—and…oh, shit."
"What?"
"Drew. You cannot tell your brother any of this."
Adam put a hand on Riley's shoulder. "I won't. I promise. Trust me, bro, I know how you feel."
"Thank you so much. He and Owen apparently want to put me and Zane 'in our place.'"
"Oh, Drew won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"He hates Owen. He's probably just posing."
Just then, Riley got a text from Zane.
Z:you coming, sugar? :(
"Oh, man, I gotta go, Adam. Meeting Zane at the Dot. Thanks for listening, though, I really needed it," Riley said quickly as he picked up his backpack and started walking.
"Anytime," Adam called after him.
Riley immediately pulled out his phone again and called Zane, who picked up on the first ring.
"Yeah, Ri?"
"Oh, my god, Zane, I have so much to tell you. I'm so sorry I'm late. I'll be there in five, tops."
"Good, 'cause I'm about to eat your crêpe," Zane chuckled into the phone.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Riley shouted, the smile on his face evident in his voice, and then he hung up.
He got there in five minutes, and found Zane sitting comfortably in a back booth. He rushed over.
"Hey, darlin'," Zane cooed, making Riley smile.
"I missed you."
"Ditto. Eat your crêpe, babe, we've got plans."
"Ooh, plans." Riley did as he was told, they paid, and he left with Zane, both of them getting a knowing wink from Peter behind the counter.
"Where to, sexy?" Riley murmured once they were outside. He thought about squeezing Zane's butt under that long jacket, but they were still within potential view of anyone from Degrassi who may have been lingering.
"Mmm, you'll see," Zane smirked. "Glad I bought you that crêpe?"
"Yeah. That was amazing. Thank you, Zane."
"Hey, anything for my crush," the smaller boy said, looking up into Riley's eyes. "My gorgeous, amazing, funny, smart, kind, adorable crush." He pressed his hand to his pecs. "Dear diary, Riley texted me today! OMG, I'm gonna die!"
Riley laughed a deep belly laugh that tickled Zane's heart. Zane leaned into the strong, good-looking guy he liked; maybe even loved. Or was close to maybe loving, anyway. They joined hands, and Riley's rough, callused ones were striking against Zane's soft, supple ones. It looked like a leap of faith, as silly as that sounds. There was no other way he could describe it.
They kept walking until they reached a random clearing ion the woods. Zane sat down, and Riley followed his lead.
"Where are we?" Riley asked, curious.
"I don't know. Riley, I gotta say, I had some hope this week. Hope that you wanted to date me, to go out for real."
"Zane, I do want to date you and go out for real. All I was trying to say was that we wouldn't be as free as straight couples at Degrassi. It's a homophobic place, for the most part. Intentional or unintentional." Riley put his arm around Zane and into the black haired beauty's back pocket, and Zane snuggled up to the muscled quarterback's chest. "But I know one thing for sure."
"And what's that?" Zane inquired, flirtiness in his voice.
"That I can't hold it in any longer." Riley turned to face Zane and, without any sort of hesitation, pulled the smaller man to him.
And then they were kissing.