Chapter 6
THEO - SIXTEEN YEARS OLD
Walking through the corridor towards the science block, a familiar blonde head bobs through the crowd ahead of me. I push through them so I can get close enough to see whether it’s Shane or Bailey.
I haven’t seen Bailey properly since that night in the woods, not for lack of trying.
I’ve spent weeks looking out for him in school.
Whenever I spot him, he takes off in the opposite direction.
Normally I wouldn’t bother. I’m not the best at making friends or picking up on social cues, but in those brief moments when I do see him, he’s always already looking at me.
“Hey!” I catch up to him at his locker.
He jumps, stepping away from me, gripping his workbook to his chest.
“Your nose looks good,” I say, trying and failing to start a conversation.
Frowning, he runs a finger down the slope of it.
“Uh … I mean, it wasn’t broken after all. That’s good.” I stumble over my words, losing my train of thought. Bailey shifts his backpack then points his thumb over his shoulder as though he means to leave, but I pull on his sleeve to stop him. “Would you like—”
“Bailey,” a voice says behind me.
I turn, coming face to face with Shane. His eyes narrow as he looks me up and down.
“Dean’s waiting for us; don’t want to keep him waiting,” he says, never taking his eyes off of me.
I turn to face Bailey, watching as he blanches. He shakes my hand off his sleeve and walks away without a word.
“Theo,” Shane says, nodding. “Any reason you’re stalking my brother?”
“I’m not stalking him; I just wanted to make sure he was alright.”
“Why wouldn’t he be alright?” he asks, cocking a brow.
A hollow laugh escapes me. “Oh, I’m not sure. Maybe the fact his brother fucked his face up, and I’m the one who had to clean him up.”
Shane hums. “Should have known he’d have found someone to feel sorry for him. He doesn’t need you to protect him.”
“I’m not—”
“Bailey likes to play games. Just be careful, yeah?”
I search his face, not believing a word coming out of his mouth. His ice-blue eyes hold my gaze, cold and unblinking, lips curling up into a grin.
“See you around,” he says, turning to follow Bailey out of the building.
As soon as he’s out of sight, I pull out my notebook. Ignoring everything Shane said, I write my number down with a simple message to meet me in the woods tomorrow and slip it into Bailey’s locker.
It’s four in the afternoon, and Bailey hasn’t texted me, even though school finished half an hour ago. I shift my numb arse on the moss-covered rock, looking at the trees surrounding me. There’s no sign of him either.
I’ll give it another hour but I can’t wait all night for him; Ma will flip out if I miss tea. I pull my phone out to check my messages. Maybe I can wait a couple more hours.
I’m picking at little bits of moss and throwing them into the water when a rustle comes from behind me. I turn around, jumping when I see Bailey closer than I expected. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
He nods and shuffles his feet, taking a step back as though he realised he was standing too close.
He avoids looking at me, just like before, so I stand up and take a step towards him.
“I’ve been in Surrey a while now and haven’t really made any friends …
” I say awkwardly. He finally makes eye contact but remains silent.
“I thought, if you wanted to, we could meet up after school and just, um, hang out?” Christ, this is worse than asking someone on a date.
After an excruciatingly long pause, Bailey nods, and relief washes over me.
“Do you game?” I ask, sitting back down on the rock.
He edges towards me, reaching out to stroke the soft green moss, shaking his head.
“Oh. Don’t you have a console?”
He shakes his head again.
“That’s okay, if you want to check it out, I got a game for my birthday that has a huge open world with dragons in it. You could come over on the weekend?”
He looks like he’s going to shake his head again, but nods instead, shoulders drawing up.
This isn’t really getting us anywhere. “Can we swap numbers?” I hold my hand out, and he passes his phone over for me. “You have unlimited texts?” I ask, putting my number in his contacts, texting myself so that I have his too. He makes a small sound of confirmation, and I hand the phone back.
Me
Hey
He looks down when his phone dings, then up at me, brows creased with confusion.
“I don’t have an issue with you not talking to me, but can you text?”
Looking down at his phone again, his thumbs start to move.
Unknown
Yes, I can text
I can’t control the grin that spreads across my face. “Cool. I’ll talk, and you can text—or I can text you back, if you prefer the silence?” I hadn’t thought about that.
Unknown
No, keep talking
A ruby blush spreads along his freckled cheeks and down his neck. Shaking my head, I try to not get distracted by how cute it makes him look.
“Okay, I can do that.”
My phone dings, and I quickly change his contact details to ‘Bailey’.
Bailey
You have an accent
Chuckling, I say, “I’m Scottish.” His eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t text me anything else. “So, gaming night Saturday?”
He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth briefly as he types another message
Bailey
Okay
There’s a knock on the front door, and I jump off the sofa, running to open it. “I got it!”
Bailey’s standing on the doorstep, grinning at me, and my stomach flutters. It’s been months since he started coming over, yet I’m still shocked whenever he smiles. He’s so different from the timid boy I found in the woods.
My phone dings.
Bailey
Move
I quickly move out of the entryway then start jogging up the stairs to my bedroom. “Come on. Homework first?” I ask, looking over my shoulder. He screws his nose up. “Nope, okay, no homework.”
The hours pass by quickly. When I look out of the window, I realise it’s pitch black, and Bailey’s fallen asleep on the beanbag with a pizza box on his lap—empty, except for the crusts he left behind. I pick it up and head downstairs to throw it away.
“Bailey’s still here?” Da asks, making me jump as he comes into the kitchen.
“He fell asleep,” I say, fiddling with my sleeve. “Um, can he just stay the night?”
“Sure he can, if he tells his parents.”
Bailey’s never slept over before, so I’m surprised when Da agrees so quickly. “Thanks!” I yell, racing to the stairs, taking two at a time. Excitement ripples through me when I realise we can stay up all night watching shitty horror films.
By the time I get back to my room, I realise there’s no chance of that.
Bailey is still on the beanbag, but now he’s curled up on his side, like he’s trying to make himself as small as possible.
One arm covers his head, and his knees are tucked in tight to his stomach.
I hate to wake him, but he can’t stay like that.
Looking at the bed, then back at Bailey, I decide it’ll be fine to share.
It’s a double, so there’s plenty of room, and I can’t be bothered to find the air mattress Da keeps in the shit cupboard.
“Bay,” I whisper, poking him gently.
He stirs a little, and his phone falls from his pocket onto the floor. I pick it up and see it’s unlocked, showing our text thread. He’s listed me as ‘Teddy’ in his contacts. I look at him and frown. He’s never called me that before, and it’s not a nickname I go by. Everyone calls me Theo.
Bailey makes a soft noise and I quickly put his phone on the bedside table. He bolts upright, looking around the room a little frantically, until his eyes land on mine. His shoulders relax, and he puffs out a breath.
“Da said you can stay the night, seeing as it’s pretty late,” I say.
He blinks a few times, then stands up, stretching his arms to the ceiling.
“We can just share the bed, if you don’t mind?” I strip off my top and trousers until I’m down to my boxers. When I look up, Bailey quickly turns away from me.
“I can wear joggers and a T-shirt if you want? I’m just used to sleeping in my boxers.”
Bailey shakes his head, turning back around.
He starts to shimmy out of his trousers and grabs the hem of his top, pausing for a moment.
My eyes drop and get caught on the bulge in his briefs.
I feel my stomach tighten in a way it’s never done before.
My mind is going a mile a minute, trying to work out what the hell is happening.
All those years my friend Rob had gone on about what he’d want to do with a girl he liked—or a boy, depending on who he was into at the time—I thought something was wrong with me, because I’d never felt like that with anyone.
It’s not that I don’t find people attractive—I do.
Bailey’s beautiful. I’ve thought so since I first saw him, but it was more in appreciation than anything.
Over the past few months though, he’s rooted himself so deeply inside of me that he’s the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. But it’s never gone this far; I’ve never had a physical reaction.
I drag my gaze away from his boxers and back to his face.
His lip is trapped between his teeth again, and I wonder what it would feel like if it were my lip there instead; whether it would bring pleasure or pain.
There’s a pull, deep in my stomach, and my boxers stretch tight over my rock hard erection.
Fuck.
Clearly there’s nothing wrong with me, but now I have a bigger problem—the only person my dick’s shown an interest in is my best friend. I move my hands to cover myself and dive under the covers.
Bailey finally takes off the T-shirt and turns to throw it on the beanbag.
“What’s that on your hip?” I ask.
Just above the waistband of his briefs, there’s a small cluster of pink circles that looks like a rash. Bailey grabs his phone from the bedside table and climbs under the covers, typing away. I grab my phone just as it vibrates.
Bailey
It was chicken pox
“Oh? Are you contagious? I mean … I think I had it already when I was a kid—” My phone vibrates again.
Bailey
Old scars
He puts his phone back down, and we settle down lower in the bed. Bailey rolls onto his side so we’re face to face, just inches apart.
“I picked your phone up earlier, and it was unlocked …” I say, searching his face for any sign that he might be uncomfortable lying this close to me.
His eyes are closed, cheek smooshed against the pillow, with one arm underneath.
My chest squeezes tight seeing him like this—like he belongs here, next to me.
“You put me in your contacts as Teddy.” I grin as his eyes open wide and he quickly fumbles for his phone.
Bailey
I can change it back to Theo
“No, leave it,” I say as I close my hand over his. “Why’d you put it as Teddy?”
He rolls onto his back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before typing again.
Bailey
Everyone calls you Theo. I wanted something just for me
Little explosions go off in my chest, and I’m realising what I’ve been feeling for a while now isn’t just friendship. Something else has been growing right alongside it this whole time.
“I like Teddy,” I say, a smile playing on my lips. I close my eyes and roll over, punching my pillow into shape. “Night, Bay.”
“Night, Teddy,” he whispers.
My eyes fly open. His voice is faint in the darkness, but I hear it.