twenty eight ;
b r o o k s

BROOKS HATED BEING ILL, but the worst part of it was the entire week of school he missed. More specifically, the unbelievable load of work he had to catch up on.

He was back in school on Monday, more or less good as new, and he was drowned in all the content he had to copy up by first period. Thankfully, he had a free, so he had a fighting chance of getting some of it done before he got too swamped. Even better, he shared this free with Calla and Hassan, so there was someone else here to entertain Calla's relentless chatter so Brooks wouldn't get distracted.

Well, that was the plan, anyway. All thoughts of no distractions flew out of the window when Hale walked into the library. Brooks instinctively glanced up when the door opened and couldn't have looked away even if he wanted to. Hale was laughing at whatever Will was telling him, but as if sensing Brooks' gaze, he glanced in his direction and caught his eye. His face lit up and the grin he sent Brooks sent his pulse into overdrive.

"Hello, Brooks?" Calla waved her hand so close to his face Brooks flinched back in surprise. "Are you sure you should be in school? You totally zoned out again."

"I feel fine," Brooks assured her.

In fact, he felt a million times better than fine. He'd even go as far as to say he felt great, even though he was at school. He hadn't seen Hale since he'd come round to his house last week, and although he'd had his phone returned to him at the weekend, he was still grounded. The texts and late night phone calls with Hale were enough to keep him going, but it wasn't the same as actually seeing him in real life.

As long as Brooks was grounded, the only place he could see Hale was school. He wanted to go over to him now, but he was surrounded by his friends and that was something he'd rather avoid.

"Did Hale get the work to you, Brooks?" Hassan asked, shaking him from his reverie.

Brooks snapped his head towards him. "The work?"

"The idiot grilled me for at least ten minutes to find out where you live," Hassan said, tapping his pen against the table in an offbeat rhythm. His tone was bored, as usual, but there was something scrutinising in his gaze that made Brooks nervous. "Just to give you some chemistry notes. Tell me he actually delivered in the end."

"Oh. Yeah," Brooks said hastily. "Yeah, he got them to me."

"Good to know. Are you still tutoring him in chemistry?"

"I think so," Brooks replied, glancing at Hale. He was staring in their direction, not even trying to be subtle about it, and Brooks wanted to yell at him to stop being so obvious. "Uh, why do you ask?"

Hassan shrugged. "Simple curiosity."

That was a definite warning sign, because Hassan would never ask anything out of sheer curiosity, certainly not something as seemingly unimportant as who Brooks was tutoring. Hassan raised an eyebrow at his questioning stare, a silent invitation to ask what was bothering him. Brooks would have done just that if Calla hadn't chosen that moment to push aside her French essay, and join in the conversation.

"So, Brooks," she said, leaning forward with a conspiratorial smile that immediately made him wary. He knew that smile all too well; whatever was about to come out of his mouth was most likely going to be embarrassing or outrageous in a scandalous way. "Now that you're out and proud - "

He clapped a hand over her mouth. "Calla," he hissed, with surreptitiously nervous glances around them. They were the only ones at their table and no one seemed to be paying them any attention. "Would you keep your voice down? I am not out."

Calla looked confused. "But you came out to us?"

"Yeah, to you," Brooks sighed, lowering his hand before she even thought about licking it again. "But only to the two of you. That doesn't mean I want everyone else knowing about it."

"Right, okay. Got it. Anyway, now that you've admitted you're...you know," she said vaguely, widening her eyes at him to make her point, "you can tell us if you like someone, right? Like like, I mean. Now that you don't have anything to hide."

It took all of his willpower not to look at Hale. "No," he said, after a pause that lasted a second too long. Calla hadn't mentioned Hale in a while, but then again, he hadn't seen her all of last week. He had no idea if she still had a crush on him. "I don't like anyone."

To both Brooks and Calla's surprise, it was Hassan who replied. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Brooks said, a little defensively. Was he really that transparent? "What about you, Hassan? Don't you like anyone?"

Calla snorted with a loud laugh, earning an indignant shush from the librarian. Calla looked sheepish but she was still grinning when she said, "Hassan, have a crush on someone?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't think that'll ever be a possibility. It's questionable whether he even has a human heart to begin with, forget if it works."

"It's true," Hassan smirked, looking down at his work. "I'm still waiting for the alien mothership to save me from you pathetic humans."

"Fine, Hassan is incapable of romantic attachment," Brooks shrugged. "Doesn't mean I have to have one."

He was saved from having to defend his lies any further when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, and instinctively tilted the screen out of Calla and Hassan's view when he saw the text was from Hale, leaning back in his chair to read it.

hale :
meet you at the usual spot?

Brooks glanced up at Hale to see he was already watching him, a small smile playing on his lips. Brooks raised an eyebrow at him and typed out a response.

brooks :
err is that supposed to a euphemism ?

Brooks saw Hale laugh, even from across the room, and shook his head in disbelief at him. Brooks felt his face heat up, and he shrugged with a sheepish look. It was a perfectly reasonable assumption as far as Brooks was concerned, especially when Hale was involved.

hale :
no you weirdo get your head out of the gutter

hale :
and i thought you were innocent brooks

brooks :
i am! you're a bad influence

hale :
mhmm sure sure

brooks :
alright smartass where is our usual spot?

hale :
the cleaners cupboard i've now officially claimed as ours

brooks :
officially? and do you have the legal documentation to prove this?

hale :
oh shut up now who's the smartass??

brooks :
:)

brooks :
okay you've won me over i'll meet you at our official spot

hale :
:)

Brooks watched as Hale began packing his things away, and did the same at a slower pace, not wanting it to look too obvious if they both left the library at the same time. Turns out he didn't need to take such things into consideration; Hale had barely any books out compared to the number Brooks had spread out, and he was already out of the door before Brooks was done. He paused in the doorway to flash Brooks the charming smile he'd originally fallen for, before disappearing into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Calla asked curiously, as he stuffed his folders and books into his already overflowing bag.

"Oh, er, I have to talk to Mrs Spencer," he lied, slinging his bag across his shoulder. "About, you know. School council stuff."

"Hm, really?" Hassan propped his chin on his palm. "Was it Mrs Spencer who was just texting you, then?"

"W-what? Of course not," Brooks said, a little too quickly, as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He was finding it increasingly difficult not to panic at the thought Hassan somehow knew the truth, even though he couldn't possibly have known. "Why...why would you say that?"

"So who were you texting?"

"My...mother," he said randomly. "She was asking about - oh, hey, Mason!"

Brooks breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction that came in the form of Mason Bradshaw, his old - ex...? - chemistry partner before Hale had become a part of his life. Brooks beamed at him, admittedly more happy that he had cut off Hassan's unexpected interrogation than actually seeing Mason. No offence, Brooks added mentally. Mason was a great guy.

"Hey, Brooks." Mason held up a bundle of notes. "Here's all the work you missed in chemistry last week. Mrs Mulligan asked me to pass them on."

Oh, shit.

Brooks turned to stare at Hassan and Calla with wide eyes, both of whom were staring back at him. What little hope he clung to that they hadn't heard what Mason said, or didn't make the connection, was blown to pieces when Hassan suddenly smiled. That's when Brooks knew he was fucked. Hassan was a generally indifferent person who rarely showed emotion other than to express disdain and condescension to all the other lesser beings of Lexus High.

"There must be some mistake, Mason," Hassan said. "That can't be the chemistry work Brooks missed. Hale has already given it to him."

Mason frowned. "Hale? I don't think - "

"Well!" Brooks practically snatched the sheets from Mason's hands and laughed nervously in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "This was fun! Thank you, Mason, for the notes. Really, much appreciated. But I really must be going now. Okay, bye!"

Brooks fled from the scene before anymore questions could be asked on the matter, and he got too deeply entrenched in his sticky web of lies that he'd managed to spin around himself. Brooks finally relaxed once he'd made it out of the library building, and leaned back against the wall with a sigh. What was he doing? He wanted to be with Hale, there was no doubt about that, but he was getting so lost in the lies they had to build just to be together that he didn't know how much longer it could last.

Brooks stepped into the cleaners cupboard and had barely closed the door behind him before Hale hooked his fingers through the pockets of his trousers, tugging him closer for a kiss. Brooks smiled against his mouth and caught Hale's lower lip between his teeth, biting down lightly. Hale made a surprised sound in the back of his throat and returned the gesture by slipping his hands in the space between them, moving further south than Brooks had been expecting.

"So, you look like you're feeling better," Hale smirked, at the surprised gasp that left Brooks' mouth. "You certainly feel it."

Brooks pulled back slightly in order to catch his breath and give his heart a chance to control it's wild pounding. "I could say the same to you," he murmured, his face flushed as he tipped his head to look at Hale. "You really never caught my flu?"

"Nope." Hale's dark eyes glittered with  amusement. "Guess my immune system's just too great."

Brooks gave a breathless laugh. "Of course. Everything is just so perfect about you."

"I'm glad you think so, too." 

"So..." Brooks chewed his lip as he stared at Hale, memorising every curve and line of his face. "I think we have a problem."

Hale's eyebrows furrowed. "We do?"

"Not between us," Brooks said hastily. "But I'm pretty sure Hassan is onto us. Maybe Calla. And quite possibly Mason, too."

"Mason?" Hale's frown deepened. "Who the hell is Mason?"

"Mason Bradshaw? In our chemistry class? You stole his seat a few weeks ago? Never mind," Brooks sighed, rolling his eyes at Hale's blank look. "What are we supposed to do if they find out about us?"

"Trust me, it could be worse. It could have been my friends who found out," Hale said lightly, although the joke fell flat at the shadow that passed across his face. His eyes darkened and Brooks brushed a hand lightly across his cheek, offering silent comfort. Hale forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and chuckled. "Anyway, I think I have a bigger problem."

"What's that?"

"Your dad absolutely loathes me," Hale admitted. "It's quite possible I'll never be allowed anywhere near your house again."

Brooks groaned, dropping his forehead against Hale's shoulder. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with him," he said, his face burning with shame. "The fact that he didn't scare you off and you're still willing to stick around is pretty impressive."

"Hey, your terrifying father isn't enough to get rid of me," Hale teased, snaking his arms around Brooks' waist to pull him closer. Brooks gladly let himself be tugged closer and relaxed against his body, relishing in his warmth. "Although, I have to ask. Is your mum anything like him? Because I don't think even I can handle that."

Brooks chuckled. "Don't worry, she's not quite as terrible. You should survive that meeting."

"Oh, so I will be meeting her?"

"Uhh, I don't know," Brooks mumbled. Hale was tracing absent patterns against his back with his fingers, through the fabric of his uniform, and it was making it difficult for him to concentrate on the conversation. "If you want, I guess. It might be safer for your sanity to just avoid it."

More like my sanity, Brooks thought. Just knowing that Hale had encountered his father was enough to make him feel a whole bunch of terrible emotions he didn't want to identify. If things had gone according to his plan, the only family Hale would be meeting was Adam, and that was only because he didn't care enough to scare Hale off. Even stranger was that John Montgomery hadn't actually mentioned meeting Hale, and Brooks had found out from Hale himself as a nasty surprise when he got his phone back on Saturday.

"Let's just stick with my house," Hale suggested, a chuckle vibrating through his chest. "For all of our sakes. Speaking of, do you think you'll ever come out?"

"To my parents?" Brooks scoffed. "Fuck no."

"Huh. It must be pretty bad if you swore."

"Hey, I swear too," Brooks said indignantly, turning his head to pull a face at an amused Hale. "What about you?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it," he admitted. "I probably will one day, to my mum and Daniel. Bellamy will end up spilling the secret to William, no doubt, so I won't have to worry about that. I guess I'm too busy coming to terms with the whole gay thing to think about coming out."

"And...your friends?" Brooks bit his lip. "What about coming out to them?"

They were standing so close together it was impossible for Brooks to miss when he tensed up, his hands stilling against his shoulder blades. Brooks pulled back slightly, still within the circle of Hale's arms but so he could see his face. Hale was good at masking what he really felt, something Brooks wasn't quite so good at, but his smile was bitter and didn't quite hide the flicker of anxiety in his dark eyes.

"Maybe not the best idea," Hale said. "The others aren't so bad, but Elliot can be a real piece of shit sometimes."

Brooks wasn't about to argue with that. Maybe Elliot had laid off his abuse for a while, enough to pair up with Brooks in a game of beer pong as if they were good friends, but Brooks wouldn't forget how easily he teased and picked on kids in lower years just because he got a kick out of it. Brooks had mostly escaped from his attention by hiding as the silent kid at the back of the class, but watching the cruelty was bad enough.

"Why are you even friends with him?" Brooks asked, genuinely puzzled.

Hale considered the question. "I don't know," he finally said. "When he isn't being a dick, he's actually pretty fun to be around. And I'm so used to being friends with him it would be strange not to be, you know?"

Even if Brooks couldn't comprehend putting up with someone like Elliot, he was willing to try for Hale's sake. That wasn't to say he was about to suddenly become best friends with Elliot - that would never be possible - but as long as Brooks and Hale were a thing, he was willing to be as civil as possible to Elliot. Even if Brooks was still just a little intimidated by him.

"But Will's your best friend," Brooks said, waiting for the nod of confirmation before continuing. "So his opinion would mean the most, more than Elliot's. How would he react?"

"I don't think he'd react at all. Will cracks jokes and goes to such lengths to make people laugh because he hates conflict, even if won't admit it, and hating me for being gay would be too much effort to deal with. Although," Hale added, after a moment of consideration, "I'd be the subject of gay jokes and puns for the rest of my life."

"Guess you can't have everything," Brooks said, with a wry smile. "It could be worse."

"Yeah," Hale agreed, "it could be."

Brooks didn't know Will Chen well at all, but if he was as close with Hale as Brooks was to Calla and Hassan, he knew it wouldn't be a problem. At least, he really hoped it wouldn't be a problem. Even if Hale's coming out was far into the future, it would still be terrible if it wrecked the friendship.

"Well, this is getting too serious for me," Hale suddenly declared, a grin tugging at his mouth as he leant closer. Brooks felt his lips brush against his jaw and an involuntary shiver rolled down his spine at the touch. "Good thing I know how to lighten up the mood."

Brooks was quick to forget about his concerns of pretending and hiding and coming out, unable to think about anything beyond the slow rush of heat spreading from his chest and Hale's fingers working through his hair. He could feel himself coming undone beneath Hale's lips in the best way possible and he was so caught up in the moment he would have missed the rattle of the doorknob if hadn't been pressed against his back.

"Shit," he murmured, a little too dazed from the kissing to properly pull himself away from Hale. "Someone's trying to get in."

Hale's smirk was positively devilish. "Oh, trust me, I've noticed. If we weren't still at school - "

"No," Brooks hissed, his face burning at the implication. He felt the doorknob give another insistent rattle and shoved Hale away from him, jumping away from the door. "Someone is literally trying to get in."

"What the hell," a low voice grunted, on the other side of the door. The wooden door shuddered as if a sizeable human body had thrown itself against the door. "This fucking door. Damn thing keeps getting stuck - "

Brooks turned to Hale with wide eyes when the door gave another shudder. "Shit, now what do we do?" he said in a furious whisper. "That guy's going to break down the door and find us in here and then we're definitely screwed because let's be real, there aren't many things we could be doing locked up in a cupboard together."

"Impromptu mop inspection?" Hale suggested. "Or maybe bleach removal would be more realistic. In my opinion, leaving bleach near sleep-deprived students forced to attend school is just asking for a disaster."

"Hale!" Brooks resisted the urge to grab his shoulders to shake some sense into him. "Now is not the time!"

"Alright, chill out, Brooks," Hale chuckled, ignoring the incredulous look Brooks shot him. "It's not a big deal, okay? You forget who you're talking to here. The pro of getting out of unfavourable situations."

"For fucks sake!" The cleaner was certainly getting worked up now, yanking on the doorknob with so much force Brooks was surprised it hadn't come off in his hand yet. "I'm fucking sick of this piece of shit school, with it's useless fucking doors!"

Jeez, Brooks thought, taking a momentary reprieve from his panic at getting caught out to wonder how someone with such a dirty mouth could be allowed near children. This cleaner sounded like he was caught in the middle of a midlife crisis breakdown.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Brooks asked expectantly. "Hide in here until he leaves? Barricade the door so he can't break it down?"

"Who has time for that?" Hale scoffed, rolling his eyes. Brooks had to envy his unbothered lack of concern at the awkward situation they were stuck in, especially considering the cleaner was yelling colourful insults at the door that would probably land him in detention if any of the teachers overheard. "Okay, let's get this over with. You just keep your mouth shut and follow my lead."

Brooks barely had time to think oh, shit before Hale reached around him and unlocked the door. The door burst open and Brooks leapt back just in time as the cleaner tumbled forward, almost taking him out with the mop. He was a tall skinny twig of a man, flushed in the face from his futile attempts at opening a locked door, and the mop in his hand was probably thinner than his rake of a body. Brooks didn't understand how such a small man had managed to cram so many cuss words into one sentence.

Cue the most awkward silence Brooks had had the displeasure of living through, a few seconds that felt more like an eternity. The cleaner stared at Brooks and Hale. They stared back at him. It was only in that moment of shameful mortification that Brooks stopped to consider their appearances; more-messy-than-usual hair, swollen lips, and ruffled clothing that had been subjected to wandering hands.

Oh dear lord, Brooks thought, with an internal groan as he glanced down. Hale's jumper was lying in a heap at their feet.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" the cleaner demanded in a gruff voice. "Did you lock the fucking door? Do you know how long I've been attempting to get this thing open?"

Hale smirked. "I think everyone on this floor knows."

That was clearly the wrong thing to say. The cleaner, whose name-tag identified him as Steve, puffed up like an angry bird and flushed a furious red. "I'll ask you again, you little punk," he growled. "What the hell are you doing in my office?"

As terrible as the situation was, Brooks had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling. Office? The space was barely big enough to hold the large collection of cleaning products and mops. Steve was evidently as delusional as he was short-tempered.

"Oh, this is your office?" Hale glanced around, as if surprised by his surroundings. "So this isn't where our chemistry lesson was moved to? Oh, my bad. Easy mistake to make."

Brooks stared at him incredulously. That was his smart idea? He should have known leaving this to Hale was a disaster waiting to happen, considering all the unbelievable excuses he gave Mrs Mulligan for being late to class. Brooks figured they might as well just come out to Steve now and save themselves some time.

Steve looked just as unconvinced. "Is this some kind of joke to you? I'm sick of you kids running around acting like you own this goddamn place. This is my space," he said, with an emphatic shake of his mop. "I don't let anyone invade it."

"Kids?" Hale looked equal parts indignant and affronted. "Look here, I'm a not a kid, you - "

"We're very sorry," Brooks interrupted hastily, before Hale could say something to really push Steve over the edge. "We'd better be heading off to our, um, actual chemistry lesson. Seeing as this isn't it," Brooks added, with a pointed look directed at Hale.

Steve held his mop out across the doorway, like some kind of flimsy wooden barricade, before Brooks could grab Hale and get out of there. "Not so fast," he sneered. "Don't think your getting away so easily. Give us your names."

Name? Brooks thought in panic. There was no way in hell he was letting this go down on his record, because there was no way any university would be willing to take him when they saw "caught canoodling in the cleaners cupboard - sorry, office - during school hours" written in his otherwise blank criminal record. God, no. He wasn't throwing his future away. He'd distract Steve by throwing a mop in his face and running before -

"My name's Pedro Ramirez," Hale said, interrupting Brooks internally monologuing his escape route. "And this," he jerked a thumb at Brooks, whose eyes widened, "is Jon Smith. That's Jon without a H, by the way. We really must be heading off now," Hale continued, easily batting aside the mop blocking off their access. "Note those names down and feel free to report us. Good talking to you."

Steve scowled. "Wait - "

Hale didn't give him a chance to reply. He grabbed Brooks' hand and dragged him behind him, flicking the door shut behind him on the way out. Steve yelled something florid and unflattering after them, clearly still intent on exacting revenge on them, but Brooks and Hale had already bolted down the first flight of stairs to escape him.

Hale came to a stop at the bottom and turned to face Brooks. "How was that?" he asked, releasing Brooks' hand. Brooks knew he had to, because the chances of someone seeing were too high, but it didn't stop him from feeling disappointed about it. "Exhilarating enough for your first taste of being bad?"

"Being bad?" Brooks laughed, feeling a little giddy despite himself. "All we did was give fake names to a cleaner."

"And hijacked his office."

"That's still hardly noteworthy."

"Alright, bad boy," Hale teased, his brown eyes gleaming with humour as he raised his hands in mocking surrender. "I didn't realise you were so hard. Not that you weren't totally shitting yourself back there."

Brooks flushed. "I was not!"

"So you weren't worrying about how that going on your record was going to ruin your future?"

"Well..." Brooks had to admit those exact thoughts may have gone through his head. It was stupid but panic had clouded all his rationality. Catching a glimpse of Hale's smugly amused expression, he shook his head fervently. "No!"

"You are such a liar, Jon Smith."

"And you are such a jackass, Pedro Ramirez."

Hale grinned. "But you love me anyway."

Yeah, Brooks thought, his heart skipping a beat, I kind of do.