Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 58 - Dandelions and Cracked Concrete

"Well," said Damien, watching their friends disappear around the corner, off to do whatever made up theatre errand Alex could find them, "that was really subtle."

Lucas grimaced. "They're trying."

"And speaking of being subtle," Damien continued, turning his gaze to Lucas, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're not here for a theatre thing."

"That'd be a pretty accurate guess." Lucas said, a little abashed.

But much to his relief, Damien was still grinning down at him. "I knew it. I'm actually pretty smart, y'know. I'll be stealing your Harvard spot soon." He looked very smug about it, too.

Smug and happy and thankfully, thank whatever God there was, he looked okay. Alex had been right. Lucas did feel better.

"You'll have to fight me for it."

"That's a really bad choice, Lucas. I'd win." Damien was leaning against the wall beside the classroom door, books tucked under one arm, perfectly unscathed. "Unless you're into that, you little freak."

Lucas swallowed, hard, and frowned before the blush became too obvious. It was too close to last night for that kind of talk. "You're unbelievable."

"You're into it."

"Am I?"

"Oh, definitely. I can remind you, though." Damien leaned forward, just a fraction, but stopped himself.

He glanced up and down the school hall, where many students were still hanging around, talking and arguing and collecting the last of their things. One or two of them were looking at Lucas and Damien. Or at least they had been, because as soon as Lucas made eye contact they suddenly found the wall beside them incredibly interesting.

"Let's get out of here." Damien said, staring down one boy until he finally looked away. "Because you're here for a reason, right? There's something you want to say. I can see it." He gestured vaguely to Lucas' face, and Lucas huffed out something close to a laugh.

"I don't think that's how it works." He began to walk down the corridor, Damien at his side.

There was a foot of space between them. "Trust me, I can tell. You're like an open book." Damien said. Lucas tried to keep his face as neutral as possible, but apparently it wasn't working, because Damien was still watching him closely. "A nervous book. Or a worried one. Or one that's a little bit mad at me?"

"A worried book. As far as terms of endearment go, I think I prefer tesoro." He said, instead of acknowledging that irritatingly enough Damien was right.

Now that his panic had worn off, a shade of annoyance was starting to creep in. Would it really have killed Damien to look at his phone, even once? Knowing Damien, he'd probably been distracted with some nonsense or another (he couldn't help but think fondly of this, as annoyed as a part of his was). But he hadn't wanted to talk to Lucas about it, not at all?

Damien must've been reading him again, because as soon as they'd stepped out onto the cracked concrete of the schoolyard, he put his arm around Lucas' shoulders and pulled him to his side. It was casual enough that they could easily be mistaken for two friends, just bros being bros, but it gave Lucas the opportunity to lean into him. He was very warm, as always, the heat of his skin easily felt through his shirt. Once they were safely behind one of the buildings, a gap between the fence and the rough brick wall, where dandelions grew from the cracks in the pavement, Damien let go.

"So, tesoro," He began, leaning back against the brick, "what's up? And don't start talking about theatre."

"Alex did actually have a costuming job to do." Lucas protested, but when Damien raised an eyebrow, a small smirk twisting the corner of his mouth, he relented. "But yes, admittedly I was using that as an excuse to try and find you."