Sides, a Chanlix Story

Chapter 37

TW: Violence. Kinda... It's not super violent, but like... Fist fight...?

"Like it or not," Chan spoke calmly. "Members of the LGBTQ+ community are a part of our society now. And you need to learn to accept that. I bet there are a bunch of people in your life that you don't even know are gay or bi or something else, maybe even in your family. And they probably haven't told you because of this."

"Don't talk about my family." Ryan growled, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Ah, that's where it is." Chan sighed. "Who was it? One of your siblings?" Ryan's hands tightened. "Your Dad?" His eyes flashed. "Your Mom?"

"Stop talking!" Ryan exploded, launching himself at Chan. The latter braced himself, but was still shocked as a fist hit his jaw. Ryan didn't stop, not even taking a break to collect himself, simply throwing fist after fist at the blonde.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Ryan screamed. Chan tried his best to block the hits, and managed to block the ones that would have caused the most damage, but a few still made contact.

"You'll never know what it's like!" Ryan yelled between the hits. "You'll never know what it's like to be in a happy family until one day your Mom comes home and says that she's in love with someone else. You'll never know what it's like to go visit your Mom and her new lover only to find out it's your old Kindergarten teacher. You'll never know what it's like to have to live with the fact that your Dad is depressed because the woman he loved left him for another woman." Ryan's hits were getting weaker and eventually Chan was able to flip him over and pin his hands down so he wasn't getting hit anymore.

"Breathe." Chan whispered. Ryan sobbed shakily, but he took a breath. "My Mom isn't with us anymore either." Chan spoke quietly, but Ryan heard him and turned his attention toward him. "She passed away when I was young. I may not know what it's like to have your Mom leave your Dad for another woman, but I do know what it's like for your Dad to be depressed and force something on you. This isn't actually me. What you see at school, isn't what I'm like outside of school. I've just put this other persona on to protect myself, which I imagine is something similar to what you're doing. I've never had the courage to show who I really am to anybody. Not even my Dad and sister know what I'm really like anymore. But then I met this boy. He showed me that it was okay to have flaws and not be perfect all the time. In some ways, he showed me sides of myself that I didn't know existed. And I know that not everybody is as lucky as I am to have that sort of person in their life, but I am grateful that he was there for me, is there for me." A tear slipped out of Ryan's eye. Chan let go of his hands and got off of him so he could sit up.

"Let me guess, it's Felix." He mumbled, wiping his eyes furiously. Chan nodded silently, looking toward the bleachers where Felix had magically produced a med kit and was fixing up the boys he had beaten. Ryan followed his gaze and cracked a small bitter smile.

"I could see that." He said. He stood up carefully and offered a hand to Chan, who took it gratefully and pulled himself up.

They walked over to the bleachers together. When Felix saw them coming he stood up and ran over to Chan wrapping him in a soft hug. Chan sighed and melted into it. When the younger boy pulled away he looked back and forth between the blonde and Ryan. After getting a nod of confirmation from Chan, he held his arms up toward Ryan, silently offering him a hug as well. Ryan sobbing quietly and wrapped his arms around the shorter boy, crying into his shoulder. Once they had let go, they heard someone clear their throat behind them.

"Ryan?" Blake said quietly. The he held up his arms offering a hug of his own. The tears started afresh, and Ryan launched himself into the boy's arms. Chan and Felix watched for a while as the rest of the boys on the bleachers slowly made their way down and inserted themselves into the hug until it was a tangle of high school boys surrounding one who was crying. Then Felix wrapped an arm around Chan and brought him over to the bleachers sitting him down before reaching into the med kit and producing some supplies to clean his injuries.

"That was nice of you." Felix smiled softly as he dabbed at a cut on Chan's cheek. Chan hummed.

"I just did what I would have wanted someone to do for me if I was in that situation." He responded, wincing as the cotton went over the open part of the cut. Felix muttered an apology before continuing his ministrations. They sat in silence for a while, until Felix broke it.

"So... You like me, huh?"

"Oh, look at the time, I've got to be going now." Chan said quickly, he began to stand up, but was pulled down quickly by the younger boy.

"Idiot, we're living in the same house right now." Felix mumbled.

"Oh... Right... Yeah, I do like you." Chan confirmed, his voice sounding a lot more confident than he felt. "I think it was a long time in coming. Even the first time we met at that cafe you were just... Different. You persisted in talking to me, even though I made so many efforts to shut you down. That sort of sparked the interest, but I repressed it, thinking it was just a friendly interest. I finally realized it was romantic interest when we had the photo shoot."

Felix laughed. "Why? Cause you saw me shirtless?"

"Uh, I actually saw you shirtless before that." Chan muttered.

"What? When?" Felix burst.

"Remember at the gym? Before your breakdown, I was kind of spying on you and you lifted your shirt up to wipe your sweat off and, uh... Yeah, I saw you shirtless." The older was flushed bright red. "That..." He gulped. "That was when I was first attracted, kind of sexually, to a man. Seeing it again, made me realize it was pretty much only you I was attracted to that way."

"Ah, so you were attracted to me sexually before you were attracted to me romantically." Felix asked teasingly.

"Kind of...?" Chan said. "I don't think I really realized I was attracted to you in that way until the photo shoot. The romantic attraction started when you were teasing me about not being able to pose well. I still remember, me and my chocolate bar abs can't handle this."

Felix chuckled. "That was all off the top of my head." He said. "It was all improv."

"I never would have guessed." Chan laughed. "It sounded very professional." They sat for a while more, this time Chan was cleaning Felix's face.

"Alright, I told you all about how I felt about you, what about you? Do you feel anything for me?" Chan asked. He was nervous. This was either where they had mutual feelings or he was rejected the first time he confessed to someone.

"Don't look so worried." Felix snickered. "I've liked you since the beginning of this school year. Granted, I liked your school persona, but as I've gotten you know you, like the real you, I've fallen in love with you." Chan breathed a sigh of relief. He finished cleaning the younger boy's injuries, then they sat in silence for a while. Ryan, Blake, and the rest of the group has left a while ago.

"So what happens now?" Chan finally broke the silence.

"I don't know." Felix admitted. "This is kind of new to me, the other relationships I've had were in middle school and probably couldn't be considered serious." He laughed and Chan joined in.

"How about we go on a couple of dates and then see where it goes from there." Chan suggested. Felix thought for a second, then nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Except for the fact that we're literally living together right now." The younger pointed out.

"True... You'll probably be tired of me by the end of the week." Chan chuckled.

"Hm, we'll see." Felix smirked. "Now, who wants to plan the first date?"

A/N: Progress! We're getting there! I can't tell you how much I just want these two idiots to kiss already and fall in love and get married, and I'm the author. But I swear these things write themselves. Like the whole think about Ryan's Mom falling in love with his Kindergarten teacher was not planned. I was just going to make him a jerk, but uh... We all see where that went, lol. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Comments are appreciated but not necessary! Feel free to read however you're comfortable!Signing out, Blueberrt Muffun :) <3