John 8:32

16 - Hebrews 10:26

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

Things had been so different. Since the dance. Fundamentally, they hadn't been. Damien still only really hung out with Spencer behind closed doors, and kept his flirting to a level that could be interpreted as a joke. Just because they were finally together didn't mean that it suddenly got more safe to be public with it.

But just knowing that there was that much more behind it made Damien's heart do a little more fluttering than he would have liked to admit.

Officially — they had been together for a day over two weeks. In less than three weeks, the school year would be over. Damien would be going back home, and Spencer would be staying. He wasn't that far away, but he wouldn't be able to see Spencer. They could only hang out because Spencer was within walking distance of the dorm buildings. He wasn't within walking distance of Damien's house. He tried not to think about it.

He would much rather be thinking about Spencer jumping up to sit on the bathroom counter during mass, pulling Damien in close.

"Wait, wait," Damien mumbled, not even bothering to separate his lips from Spencer's as he did so, "Did you lock the door?"

"Forgot my keys," Spencer shrugged, not really seeming to care, "It's fine, nobody comes back here."

Spencer was right. Nobody had even tried the door in the year they had been doing this. It would be fine.

Damien was preoccupied anyways, fumbling with Spencer's tie, trying to wrestle the knot loose. As soon as he managed to untie it, Damien wasted no time in reaching for the buttons of Spencer's shirt. He had gotten pretty good at undoing them blind.

Damien felt when Spencer heard the doorknob jiggle before he heard it himself.

He hardly had the chance to step back before the door was opening and he was face-to-face with one of the church employees.

Fuck.

Damien could hardly form a rational thought as his brain shifted into overdrive, freezing his body in place. Spencer wasn't exactly moving much either.

The only consistent thing running through Damien's brain was a resounding fuck. Along with other miscellaneous curse words.

"Come with me," the employee spoke sharply, his voice weirdly... calm.

Damien followed blindly next to Spencer — whose hands shook as he buttoned his shirt back up.

They ended up in chairs in Father Abraham's office, seated across from the desk, where the employee sat sat. Nobody spoke. Damien didn't even dare look over at Spencer. He didn't know what was happening. Their warden just... sat there. Staring. Damien stared back.

Next to him, Spencer was trying to tie his tie once more. Damien wanted to reach over to help — but he couldn't move. Damien knew what was coming. The church employee would go get Father Abraham and they would be royally screwed. More than.

Damien would be fine. At worst, his parents would give him a short lecture over FaceTime. Or they'd save it for next time they were home, and forget by the time they got on the plane. He couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to Spencer. There was a reason he was so deeply closeted — and it wasn't their peers. Damien knew Spencer could deal with them.

Mass had to have been close to done by now. The worst part was not knowing. Damien didn't dare take out his phone to check — partially out of fear that he'd be yelled at, partially that he didn't want to see just how close everything was to falling apart.

The man sat at the desk in front of Damien was on his phone, and then he wasn't. And then he was stepping out of the room.

The second that door closed, Damien reached over to Spencer, "Let me get it."

Spencer didn't fight it as Damien tied his tie for him — finishing moments before Father Abraham stepped into the room.

Damien wouldn't have even had to see him to know. He radiated such a negative energy that his very presence in the room made Damien's chest tighten.

"Damien Yates," he breathed, voice frozen with raw, unfiltered anger, "Of course it's you."

If this were any other situation Damien would have said something. He wanted to, but he couldn't even open his mouth.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing," he continued, "Violating my son like that."

"I wasn't violating him, I—" finally the words forced themselves from his throat, followed by a sharp blow to his ankle by Spencer's foot. Message quickly received, "I wasn't violating him."

"Corrupting him with your damn... Everything," Father Abraham practically growled, "And on school grounds too, that's reason enough for suspension."

Shit. Damien didn't think that Father Abraham would actually suspend him. What the fuck did he do? He couldn't miss class for a week.

"You'd have to suspend me too," Spencer blurted out beside him. Damien looked over — he had never heard Spencer outright defy his father to his face like that.

"Then you're both suspended. One week," Father Abraham stated matter-of-factly, standing up at his desk, "Damien, I will be getting in contact with your parents. Go back to your room for now, and stay there. Spencer, you stay with me."

As Damien stood, he looked towards Spencer one last time. They locked eyes for just a moment — and Damien could hardly bear to leave. He had only seen that look in Spencer's eyes, that look of pure, concentrated dread, once before. He had been hoping he'd never see it again.