thirty-one ;
h a l e

IF THERE WAS ONE thing Hale hated, it was being left out of the loop.

It had started way before chemistry. Kara had been acting restless and nervous around him in the morning, as if waiting for some kind of accusation, and ran off when he'd asked her about it. Hale hadn't thought much of it at the time. He figured she just felt uncomfortable after his disagreement with her boyfriend, even if Hale himself couldn't care less about anything to do with Elliot.

He did care, however, now that Brooks was involved.

"I can't talk," Brooks murmured, refusing to meet Hale's gaze as he attempted to tug his textbook free. "I have double biology now."

"Then be late for it." Hale didn't let the book budge out from under his hand. "You didn't have a problem being late to chemistry."

"That's different."

"Oh, is it?" Hale couldn't keep the scornful edge from his voice. "Enlighten me, Brooks. Seeing as you refuse to talk to me about anything else. How is that any different?"

"Hale..."

"No," Hale said, leaning across the desk towards Brooks. He saw the pink rise to his cheeks and heard the slight hitch of his breath at the proximity, but Hale refused to listen to his body's impulses to close that distance for once. "Answer the question. How come you'll be late for Elliot, but not for me?"

Brooks stared at him with a hint of incredulity. "Are you...jealous?"

Someone cleared their throat. Brooks jumped in surprise and Hale immediately leant back, as if that gesture could erase how close they'd been seconds ago. The lab had cleared out soon after the bell had gone off, but Hale had failed to notice the person who had stolen his seat next to Brooks was still standing there awkwardly. It was Mason, the name Hale had finally been able to assign to the random face.

And he'd seen the whole thing.

Hale glared at him. "What the hell are you still doing here?"

"I just...I can't get past," Mason admitted, motioning to the chairs. Sure enough, Brooks had his chair pushed back to the point that it blocked off Mason's path so he couldn't get to the door. "I was going to say something earlier, but you seemed like you were having a pretty important conversation..."

"So you decided to eavesdrop on it?" Hale narrowed his eyes at him. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"No! It seemed important so I didn't want to interrupt," Mason corrected, glancing uncertainly between Hale and Brooks, the latter of which took advantage of Hale's surprise to yank his textbook free. "But maybe I should just go, or..."

"It doesn't matter," Brooks said, standing up. He was avoiding looking at Hale again. "I have to go anyway."

Hale grabbed his hand before he could walk about, no longer giving a shit about Mason's presence. He'd seen too much anyway for it to matter now. "Wait, Brooks. Just tell me what happened with you and Elliot. Please," he added quietly, hating how pathetic he sounded.

Jealous? Was he seriously jealous? He knew there wasn't a chance anything like that could have possibly occurred with Elliot, who was openly homophobic, but even rational thinking couldn't shake the bitter knot in Hale's chest at the thought.

Brooks stared at their linked hands for a second before looking up at Hale. "Did you tell him?"

"What?"

But Brooks just shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he repeated, for an entirely different reason this time. He gently pulled his hand away and Hale let him. "Just forget about it, Hale. Really. You don't have anything to worry about. I'm probably the one with more problems right now."

Hale was too confused to do anything more than watch him walk out of the lab. More problems? What the hell did that even mean?

"You don't know?" Mason asked, and Hale glanced at him, having completely forgotten he was still standing there like an intrusive third wheel. Hale realised, a little belatedly, that he'd voiced his question out loud. Mason held his hands up appeasingly at Hale's scowl. "Sorry, sorry, not my business, it's just...you wanted to know what he meant by that. I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact the entire school found out he's gay."

"What the hell?" That had been the last thing Hale was expecting to hear. "How?"

Mason shrugged. "Probably because of what happened this morning, when Elliot - " He abruptly broke off and winced. "Uh, never mind. I don't think Brooks wanted you to know about that."

But he'd said enough for Hale to understand that Mason had the information he wanted. "You know what happened with Elliot and Brooks?" he demanded.

Mason nodded, slow and hesitant.

"Tell me," Hale ordered. "Everything you know."

"Actually, I don't think that's a good idea," Mason said. "Brooks clearly didn't want you to know about it. And no offence, but I kind of owe him more than you. You didn't even know my name."

Hale wasn't in the mood to hop around the truth. This guy seemed to know what Hale had somehow missed, and if it meant he could find out what was bothering Brooks, he was getting answers one way or another. Even if extreme measures had to be taken. He reached out and grabbed Mason by the jumper, yanking him closer.

"Look here, Mason," Hale said, ignoring his shocked expression. "I'm very sorry I didn't know your name. Quite frankly, I'll learn your entire bloody family history if it means you'll tell me what happened. And to make things clear, I'm not asking you here. You will tell me why Brooks is upset."

"Jeez, alright!" Mason exclaimed. "I'll tell you, okay?"

"Great." Hale nodded in satisfaction. "Go ahead."

Mason glanced pointedly down at Hale's hand. "Could you maybe release your death grip on me first? It's hard to think straight when I'm wondering whether you're about to beat the shit out of me."

Hale rolled his eyes. "Whatever. And for the record, I wasn't going to beat the shit out of you," he scoffed, releasing Mason and taking a step back. "I have more class that. I would have just shaken you up a bit, maybe stuck your head in a vat of hydrochloric acid if you didn't give me what I want."

"It worries me that I can't tell if you're joking or not," Mason muttered, putting at least another three feet between them as he straightened out his jumper. "You're joking, right?"

"Think whatever you want. I'm still waiting for an explanation. And don't forget," he added with a smirk, pointing to the fume cupboard where the acids were kept. "I know where they keep the strong stuff."

"I'm getting to the explanation!" Mason eyed Hale balefully and took another cautious step back. "All I know is that Elliot was giving Brooks a hard time this morning, calling him some...well, some not nice words, basically letting everyone in the vicinity know he was gay. And I don't think Brooks denied any of it. A teacher broke things up and sent them to the headteacher before things could get really bad."

Hale's hands curled into fists and he felt such a strong wave of fury it took everything in him not to punch the table. The only thing stopping him was the memory of the last time he punched an inanimate object, an encounter in which Hale had come off worse than the wall. No, Hale didn't want to punch a table or a wall. He wanted to punch Elliot. Hard. It would be guaranteed to bring him far more satisfaction than punching anything else in this world.

"That fucking asshole," Hale growled, his fingers clenching and unclenching as he imagined them around Elliot's neck. "I should have knocked his teeth out right then and there, in chemistry."

"Uh, you're not going to start hitting things, are you?" Mason asked uneasily. "Because I have a bad feeling my face might end up as one of those things. That really is everything I know, I swear. Please don't punch me."

"I'm not going to punch you," Hale said exasperatedly, the scepticism in Mason's expression taking the edge off his anger. "And I'm not going to shove your head in acid, so you can stop freaking out. What not nice words did Elliot say? Which ones?"

Depending on what he'd said, Hale would be considering shoving Elliot's head in the acid instead. Then again, maybe he'd do it regardless of how cruel the words were. Just thinking about Elliot taking advantage of Brooks' soft and quiet nature to pick on him made Hale's blood boil.

"I don't know. I wasn't even there, I just heard about it after. Does this mean he's gay?" Mason added, looking curiously. "Brooks, I mean?"

Was there any point denying it? If what Mason said was true, Brooks hadn't even denied it himself. Everyone must have known about it at this point.

"Yeah, he is," Hale replied, narrowing his eyes. "Why do you care?"

Mason raised his hands in defence again. "Woah, just asking. No bad intentions here."

"Good to know."

"So, just out of curiosity..." Mason looked at him thoughtfully. "Am I allowed to ask how you already knew Brooks was gay before the rest of us?"

Hale understood what he really meant by that question. Mason had seen Hale's brief show of vulnerability, had seen him take Brooks' hand and grow protective over him in a way he never had over anyone else. "No," Hale replied shortly. "You're not allowed to ask."

Mason nodded. "I figured as much."

He didn't have to ask and Hale didn't have to answer. The truth was obvious, lingering unspoken in the air between them.

"Well, as delightfully touching as this bonding session was, I'm going to leave now," Hale said, tapping two fingers to his temple in farewell salute as he turned for the door. "Thanks for finally telling me what I wanted, even if it took a little encouragement to get there."

"I think you mean a little threatening to get there."

"Same difference," Hale said dismissively. "You're still in one piece, aren't you?"

"Right." Mason looked doubtful. "Thanks for leaving me in one piece, I guess?"

"No problem."

Hale had a free period now, but he had absolutely no intentions of doing any work. School was the last thing on his mind right now. Elliot didn't share this free with him, but Hale had half a mind to track him down in whichever lesson he was in and use him as the punching bag he needed right now. He was more inclined to track Brooks down and make up an elaborate excuse to pull him from class, but Hale didn't think he'd appreciate it. Brooks actually cared about his education, for reasons Hale couldn't understand.

"Hale!"

Hale paused halfway across the courtyard separating the school buildings, and turned to see none other than Kara hurrying towards him. They were the only ones on the courtyard, seeing as lower school had lessons and it was still too cold for any of the sixth formers to consider lounging outside in their frees.

"This is unexpected," Hale said, raising an eyebrow when Kara reached him. "Aren't you avoiding me?"

She frowned. "I am?"

"Well, you were certainly acting like it this morning," Hale pointed out.

"Right! So, about that..." Kara trailed off with a nervous laugh that only made Hale more certain he wasn't about to like what she was going to tell him. "First of all, promise you won't hate me, Hale. I swear it was an accident and I didn't think it would end up like this."

"Jesus, Kara. What have you done?"

"Promise first," she insisted, suddenly grabbing his hand. Hale knew it meant nothing, as Kara was a generally touchy-feely person, but paired with her wretched expression at the confession she was about to give it was downright unnerving. Her wide distraught blue eyes weren't helping her case. "I know you're probably going to be mad at me, but as long you don't hate me, it's fine."

Hale resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing in her distressed state she wouldn't appreciate him taking this as anything less than completely serious. Kara had a tendency to be overdramatic about everything, from how happy she got when her puppy learnt how to do tricks to how upset she got when her favourite act didn't make it through in X-Factor. It was hardly the first time she'd come close to tears for something minor or unimportant.

"Whatever disastrous mistake you made, I'm not going to hate you for it," Hale assured her with a smile, tugging lightly at the end of her red locks. "It's kind of impossible to hate you, K. As much as I might try, you're like a rash; impossible to get rid of until it finally grows on you."

Kara attempted and failed to suppress a smile. "That was poetic."

"I try." Hale gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing it. "So, you want to tell me what's bugging you now? Or do I have to charm you with more of my poetry?"

Kara shook her head with a sigh. "Yesterday, after you left Juniper's, Elliot was pretty pissed off." Hale opened his mouth to make it clear the last thing he gave a shit about was Elliot's feelings on anything, but Kara quickly held a hand up before he could voice his protests. "That's not what this is about, I promise. He was pissed off and when I left my phone on the table to go to the bathroom...well, I guess he must have looked at my messages, and more specifically, my texts with Elsie..."

Hale felt himself tense up. "What did they say?"

"We were just talking about her brother! It just so happened that we, ah, mentioned that Brooks had kissed him, and from there..." Kara winced. "Elliot jumped to conclusions from there. And when I heard about what happened this morning, I...I knew it was my fault. I'm really sorry, Hale."

Hale released the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. So that was how Elliot had known. Hale recalled the parting question Brooks had left him with, which made sense now: did you tell him? Hale tried not to feel hurt that Brooks had seriously thought he was the one who would have told Elliot something so private, that he would ever hand over such easy ammunition to such a big jackass. Maybe Brooks didn't trust him as much as Hale did.

"Okay," Hale finally said, because Kara was chewing her lip anxiously and staring at him as if waiting for him to start yelling at her. He pushed his unwanted thoughts out of his head. "And why are you telling me this?"

Kara blinked. "Huh?"

"Brooks is the one you indirectly exposed, not me," Hale reminded her. "Why would I care?"

Clearly, he did care. He wouldn't want to hit Elliot quite so much if he didn't care, but that was besides the point. That Kara was so nervous to tell him meant she also thought he would care.

"Well, I know Brooks is your friend, so I figured you'd be angry." Kara looked perplexed. "You're not annoyed?"

"Oh, I'm annoyed," Hale assured her. "Just not at you, Kara. This one's entirely on that shitty boyfriend of yours. It's not your fault he read your texts and thought outing someone against their will wasn't a dick move. But that's not what I meant, anyway. Shouldn't you be making this apology to Brooks?"

"I know I should!" Kara cried. "But how am I supposed to tell him that I'm the reason everyone in school now knows he's gay? How do I tell him that without having him hate me?"

Hale snorted a laugh. "Brooks, hate you? I can assure you that will never happen."

The idea of Brooks hating anyone was as ridiculous as it was impossible. They were talking about the guy who panicked at being left alone with Maxy, about as harmless as a dog could get, and turned bright red at even the slightest mention of sex. Hale doubted someone as guileless and unsuspecting as Brooks was even capable of hatred.

"Are you sure?" Kara asked doubtfully.

"I'm positive. He isn't the kind of person to hold a grudge over something like that. But you have to apologise to him, K. He deserves to know."

While he did deserve to know, Hale wasn't going to pretend he wasn't being at least a little selfish in his advice. If Kara cleared up that she was the reason Elliot found out the truth about Brooks, he would know Hale had nothing to do with it. He would know that Hale would never do anything to hurt him. And then they could go back to being Brooks and Hale, just how things had been before.

"You're right," Kara said, with a heavy sigh. "I'll apologise to Brooks. God, it's such a huge mess, isn't it? All of this?"

"Yeah," Hale agreed, thinking about how much more of a mess it was about to become this lunch when he got his hands on Elliot. "Pretty fucking messy."

*

Hale was let out of economics late and the cafeteria was bustling by the time he got there, filled with the noisy racket of hungry students. A quick scan of the room confirmed Elliot was already at their table, about to sit down with his tray of food. Hale skipped the long queue for food in favour of storming straight towards the table, ignoring the curious looks directed his way.

Elliot spotted him when he was a few feet away. "Oh look, if it isn't the homo-lover," he said tauntingly, the smirk on his face sparking the flame of fury in Hale's chest that had never really died down. "Still hung up over that blonde twink from yesterday? The freak had it coming for - "

Hale shoved him hard enough to send him crashing into the table, causing trays and food to go skidding in every direction, the clatter of cutlery and plastic falling to the floor along with Elliot. The loud sound managed to attract the attention of the entire cafeteria as all heads swivelled to stare at the scene. There was a beat of unanimously stunned silence as Hale stood over Elliot, his hands clenched into fists and his blood singing with satisfaction at just how good that felt.

Hale's gaze sought out Brooks among all the other faces staring at him, his blue-green eyes wide and shocked.

Elliot recovered from the unexpected hit and was on his feet in an instant, shoving Hale right back. Hale had been anticipating it and didn't budge at the impact. "What the fuck is your problem?" Elliot growled, all traces of mocking amusement drained from his face.

"My problem?" Hale laughed, empty and devoid of humour. Tension was coiling in the pit of his stomach and he was a second away from doing something he definitely wouldn't regret. "You're a fucking piece of shit, Elliot. As if making homophobic insults isn't bad enough, you outed Brooks out of petty spite. What kind of asshole does that?"

"So that's what this is about?" Elliot's lip curled in disgust. "Brooks? What a fucking joke. You're really going to waste your time defending that fucking faggot?"

Hale punched him in the face.

The cafeteria, previously silent enough to hear a pin drop, descended into chaos. Gasps went up from the nearby tables, a range from shocked to excited, and Kara cried out Elliot's name as he staggered back with a hand to his face. Students leapt up from their chairs and began chanting for a fight. Elliot slowly lowered his hand to stare at the crimson staining it from his bloody nose, and his face contorted into a mask of rage as he looked up at Hale.

"You are so fucking dead," he snarled, and threw himself at Hale.

Hale felt his head slam against the floor as Elliot knocked him down, pain exploding in the back of his skull. The impact left him stunned for a couple of seconds, too dazed to defend against the punches that caught him across the cheek. Hale finally managed to grab Elliot's arm when he went to throw the next one and shoved him aside, rolling away from him. He took a moment to shake his head to clear the ringing in his ears.

"What, done already?" Elliot taunted, wiping a sleeve across his bloody face. "Just what I'd expect of a queer."

Hale caught him by the collar and punched him again, barely feeling the painful crack across his knuckles. They grappled across the floor to throw in as many punches and kicks as possible, the excited cheers and yells of the watching students barely audible over the rush of blood in Hale's ears. All Hale could think about was hurting Elliot as much as he had hurt Brooks, and Jules, and everyone else who'd fallen prey to Elliot's cruelty.

Then Elliot was suddenly being pulled off him and there were hands on Hale's arms, dragging him away from Elliot and up to his feet. Hale began to shrug away from his captor and turned to snap at them to get off, only to freeze when he caught a glimpse of the familiar face. Brooks tightened his grip on his arms and Hale made no attempt to pull away this time.

"Hale?" Brooks said anxiously. His eyes were huge and filled with concern as he skimmed Hale in a quick once over. "Oh, shit. Are you okay?"

"Brilliant," Hale replied, tasting blood on his tongue. His face felt like mashed pulp from receiving the brunt of Elliot's hits and now that the adrenaline of the fight was fizzling from his veins, it was impossible to ignore the incessant throbbing at the back of his head. Not that he was going to admit any of that to Brooks.

Behind Brooks, Hale could see it had taken both Alec and Dylan to restrain Elliot, who still looked like he was out for blood as he struggled against their hold. More specifically, Hale's blood. Kara was also at his side, shaking her head as she whispered under her breath to him, undoubtedly the only reason he hadn't charged straight back at Hale. 

"You're definitely not brilliant, Hale," Brooks murmured, reaching out as if to brush his fingers against his swollen cheek, only to stop short of actually touching him. He glanced around and quickly lowered his hand at the reminder the entire school was acting as an audience to the scene. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Hale began to shake his head in incredulity at the fact Brooks honestly thought this was anything but Hale's problem, but he never got a chance to reply. "Is that what it is, Hale?" Elliot demanded, the angry words clearly directed at Hale. "You're a faggot too? You do sick things with your boyfriend there?"

"Fuck you," Hale snapped.

"You didn't answer the fucking question," Elliot snapped back. "You're really queer? You did a bloody good job hiding it, I'll give you that. Tell me: which one of you takes it up the ass?"

Fury rose in Hale's chest, hot and uncontrollable, and would have lunged for Elliot if Brooks hadn't yanked him back at the last second. Hale could have easily broken free from his hold but something in his beseeching gaze made him pause, no matter how badly he wanted to snap Elliot's neck for the bullshit leaving his mouth.

"Please don't," Brooks pleaded, low and insistent so only Hale could hear him. "You don't have to do this, Hale, and definitely not for me. He's not worth it. Everyone knows I'm gay, but they don't know you are. You can avoid getting caught up in this mess if you just say you're straight. Just say you're straight and it'll be fine."

But it would never be fine, and Hale knew Brooks had to know that too. He looked at Brooks, at his miserable expression and the shine of unshed tears in his eyes, and felt his chest tightening. Hale tore his gaze away from Brooks and glanced around at everyone watching. There was Will, who didn't have a quick joke ready at hand for once, and Elsie, a hand over her mouth in disbelief, and all the girls who Hale had put under the impression that he was straight when he kissed them.

And there was Elliot, a cruel sneer in place as he waited for Hale to crumble. Just seeing it made Hale furious. As far as Elliot was concerned, confessing to being gay was the worst confession anyone could make, the biggest sin of all sins. Hale couldn't deny he'd felt similarly at one point, that he couldn't even admit it himself for a good while and the thought of telling anyone else was once out of the question. It had been a secret to be quietly ashamed of, and Brooks had been a guilty pleasure to indulge in.

But Brooks deserved far more than that, was far more than that, and Hale wouldn't ever want him to be anything less. Sneaking around behind locked doors and snatching whatever private moment they could have would never last, and Hale was willing to stop hiding if it meant he could make this last.

And so, Hale caught Brooks' face between his hands and kissed him, in front of the entire school.