10.
Owen replayed the moment he watched that guy kiss Conan. He knew him - he was on the football team. Jaxon Briar. Owen knew he looked familiar but only recognized him when he showed up at football practice Monday morning.

The night of the party was a bit of a blur after drinking so much to soothe his buzzing mind. He and Conan ended up going to McDonald's at one o'clock in the morning before driving him home so Conan wouldn't worry his mother. But Owen didn't get to enjoy their time spent together as much as he usually would've because he was busy imagining beating the shit out of Jaxon the entire time.

Owen wasn't a violent kind of guy, though Jaxon really made him question his morals.

"Line up!" he shouted, the football team following his orders without pause.

The final cuts had been made and the team was official by this time. Unfortunately, Jaxon had already been accepted since Owen hadn't paid him any attention until now. He selfishly wanted Jaxon off the team but knew he couldn't abuse his power.

All the boys had heaving chests, covered in dirt and sweat. The air smelled like freshly cut grass and filled their nostrils pleasantly. It was the kind of outdoorsy scent that brought Owen the uttermost peace.

"Go take a water break," he ordered after a moment. He wasn't tired himself but the team looked exhausted.

"Wilson, get over here!" the coach yelled.

The boys all ran over to greedily gulp down water as Owen jogged across the field to Coach Matthews. As he neared Coach, he began to make out the two other bodies next to him.

One was the principal, the other was Duncan.

"What's going on?" Owen asked confusedly, suspiciously eyeing Duncan who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Duncan's going to be on the team." Coach held in an exasperated sigh. He didn't like the boy either.

Before Owen could object the principal cleared her throat. "I won't let my students be discriminated against, Mr Wilson." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "And I'm very disappointed in you for treating one of your peers like this."

Owen blinked, dumbfounded.

"Discriminated against?" he repeated slowly. "For what?"

"Don't play your mind games with me, Wilson." The principal's lips were turned into a tight line as she spoke, "I will not tolerate discrimination against the LGBT community in this school!"

"Homophobia?" Owen said in bewilderment. "You're gay?" he asked Duncan.

"This is about his brother," Coach cut in.

Owen's blood ran cold as the three continued to speak. He wasn't listening to a word. All he could think about was how Conan's gay.

Did that mean he had a chance with the boy? If he liked boys, he could like Owen too, right? But then again his parents would be furious. They were disappointed in him enough already.

"I want no more of this discrimination nonsense going on in my school. If I hear about this again then I'm going to need to find a new team captain." The principal narrowed her eyes at Owen who was still in another realm.

"Yes ma'am." Coach nodded his head along to her every word despite being pissed. "I apologize again."

"Why don't you go show Duncan to his locker? And find him some gear," she suggested though it was more of a demand.

Owen gritted his teeth. He wasn't homophobic. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"But I-"

"Go, Wilson." Coach gave him a knowing look.

Owen bit his tongue, not wanting to piss Coach off. Though it was really hard not to with the way Duncan was smirking like a maniac.

"Let's go," Owen said sharply to Duncan.

The second they were out of earshot Owen was glaring at him. "Homophobic huh?"

Duncan raised a brow. "You got a problem? I'm sure the principal would love to hear about it again."

Owen swallowed down his pride. His position on the team couldn't be compromised, it was all he had. Without his title, he was nothing.

"Your locker's the last one on the left. I'll put in a request for your uniform," he spoke casually.

He wouldn't give Duncan the satisfaction of seeing his anger. And damn, there was a lot of it.

"Cool." He smiled smugly, walking over to his locker.

Duncan tossed his bag inside it and the room was quiet for a moment. It wasn't the time to ask such a question, nor the place, but it was burning in Owen's mouth. He had to know.

"So," he tried to seem nonchalant, "Conan's gay?"

Duncan's cocky demeanor faltered for a moment but he choked down his panic. "Why? You gonna beat him up or some shit?"

"I'm not homophobic!" Owen shouted back, pissed that he would even think Owen would dare lay a hand on Conan.

"Why else would you ask?" Duncan slammed his locker shut.

Now it was Owen's turn to choke down the panic quickly rising in his throat.

"'Cause we're friends." He shrugged. "Just curious."

Duncan brushed past him with a huff. "Then ask him your goddamn self."

Owen stood there in silence as Duncan stormed out unexpectedly.

"What if I don't know how?" he whispered glumly, looking like a kicked puppy.

A kicked puppy that quickly brightened up when he got a text from the boy who wouldn't get off his mind.

Conan: did Duncan show at practice today? A lot of stuff happened last night with my family and he came home. It's a really long story but I wanted to warn you.

Owen: He's here. Are you okay?

Conan: Yeah, it's not important.

Owen sighed as he looked down at his phone screen. He really did want to know about whatever happened with his family so that he could help—or at least try to.

Owen: Are you still at school?

Conan: Yeah. I have to wait until Duncan's done with practice since we share a car.

Owen: I could drive you home.

Conan: You're not too busy?

Owen: I'm never too busy for you :)

Fifteen minutes later practice was over and all the boys were packing their stuff up to head home. Owen had forgotten all about Duncan as he waited by the bleachers, impatiently searching for Conan.

He grinned when Conan walked past the brick wall, oversized hoodie drowning his small build and fluffy hair dipping into his eyes.

Now that Owen was more aware of his feelings, all his senses were on overdrive around Conan. He noticed every time their arms brushed together, the pull of Conan's soft-looking lips whenever he smiled, the cute way he'd stutter whenever he was nervous. It was all too much for Owen who wasn't really known for his self-control skills.

"I'm sorry about Duncan" was Conan's lame greeting.

"It's not your fault your bro's a psychopath." Owen shrugged as they began walking to his car. "It's a miracle you turned out alright considering you were mixed with his genes."

"How scientific of you," Conan laughed, heart stuttering at the breathtaking smile Owen was proudly wearing.

"I'm actually quite smarter than I look." They both knew Owen was bluffing. "You should start calling me Bill Nye."

"I can't do my guy Bill like that," Conan denied.

Owen gasped dramatically. "Bill would be honored to be me! I'm way hotter." He huffed.

"I don't know," Conan drawled. "Bill is pretty cute," he joked.

Normally, Owen would laugh and make another joke back, but the topic reminded him of how he was still unsure of Conan's sexuality. His happy-go-lucky expression melted away as he stared intently at Conan, not realizing how creepy he was being. He was lost in thought about how to word the question or if he should even ask at all.

"Umm," Conan blushed at the intense gaze Owen was sending his way, "what is it?"

They approached Owen's car but stopped in front of it awkwardly. Conan had a knowing feeling in his chest that whatever Owen was about to say wouldn't be good.

"It's stupid, but can I ask you a question that might be kind of personal?" Owen requested in a timid voice that was unlike him.

Conan almost hacked up a lung. He knew what that meant. The 'can I ask you a question' statement was one trans people knew all too well. He was about to ask about his gender.

"No!" Conan squeaked in a panic.

Owen frowned with the tilt of his head. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

Conan swallowed thickly. He did know what he was going to ask. Or at least he thought he did.

"I- um." He had nothing coherent to say. His brain was screaming at him to run and hide out of survival instinct.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have asked," Owen reassured. "The track team is going out for food after school tomorrow. You should come." Owen changed the subject to try and soothe the shorter boy's nerves.

Conan's face was a bright shade of red as the embarrassment settled in. He wasn't ready to tell Owen. He wasn't ready to tell anyone and he doubted he ever would be.

But he already knew. And at least Conan could make sure Owen didn't tell anyone if they had 'the talk'.

If Duncan was the one who told Owen then Conan was going to smother him in his sleep.

"Go ahead and ask," he allowed in a soft voice, biting down on his bottom lip and playing with the hem of his sleeve.

"Are you sure?" Owen felt guilty at the way Conan's relaxed stature had turned scared by his stupid words. "Don't feel obligated."

"It's okay." He inhaled as he prepared himself for Owen to ask if he was trans.

Owen felt like a dick but couldn't contain himself and his mind overflowing with too much curiosity. "Are... are you..." he paused, "like, gay?"

Conan felt a mixture of several emotions. Relief because that meant Owen didn't know his secret, surprise because he hadn't been expecting that, and one he couldn't quite decipher. The feeling was warm and fuzzy, it made his heart pound as he stared at Owen with parted lips.

"Never mind." Owen blushed. Like actually blushed. The jock's cheeks tinted pink and the color looked adorable on his tan skin. "I told you it was stupid," he mumbled.

He rushed over to his car and slid into the seat to hide his burning face from Conan who hesitantly followed, sitting in the passenger's seat.

"I-It's not stupid." Conan's mouth felt dry as he looked at Owen.

"It's not?" Owen tilted his head.

"No, I get the uh, curiosity." His leg bounced up and down anxiously. "But to answer your question, I don't really know." He said meekly.

Owen's blood was pounding through his entire body as the boy spoke. He felt like he was about to explode.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Conan's cheeks flushed again as he shrugged. "I've always liked girls but I've been starting to... reconsider recently. I-I don't really understand it but I'm figuring it out."

Owen's eyes widened. That was exactly how he felt himself. He had been attracted to girls and only girls his entire life but now had second thoughts. His attraction to women hadn't gone away but it was much less. But he wasn't suddenly super attracted to all boys either.

Only Conan.

"D-Does that bother you?" Conan asked shyly.

"It doesn't bother me," he replied, trying to hide the smile that wanted to form on his face. He thought that he was crazy, that no one else could relate to his dilemma. That he was all alone. But Conan was going through the same thing as him, he understood.

If Conan was just now questioning his sexuality the same way he was, was it for the same reason? Did he make Conan feel the way Conan made him feel?

There were a million more questions on the tip of his tongue but he was already being overly invasive of Conan's privacy so he forced the thoughts down.

"Oh." He fumbled with the seatbelt. "Good."

"Yeah." Owen nodded. He awkwardly turned the car on to pull out of the lot as neither of them could come up with anything else to say.

The air was thick and tense within the silence. They watched the trees buzz by and street lights flicker on as the sky grew darker.

Both were full of endless questions and emotions that neither dared to ask.