ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ (Gareth x Reader)

VIV

Gareth walked towards his designated lunch table scowling, holding a tray of food in one hand and a half-melted ice pack in the other. His eyes blazed past your table, a pit of hatred and dread filling his stomach. English was going to be... something else today.

The entire table seemed busy with chatting. Eddie was scaring off some other mousy-freshmen with his antics, while Jeff and Dougie bickered over nothing in particular. Gareth's eyebrows furrowed even more at the fact they all seemed so perfectly at ease without him.

Jeff's eyes were the first to find Gareth's, and his face fell at the sight of the boy. Gareth looked a little better today, his face less swollen. The darkness of his bruises were somewhat faded, now trickled with hues of green and yellow. His bottom lip still remained a deep red, and puffed out slightly. The others turned to face him.

Eddie dramatically drew back at the look of Gareth as he sat down."Yeah yeah, take a picture it will last longer," Gareth remarked, earning a chuckle from Eddie.

"Damn, when I heard about the fight, I heard you got beat bad, but not that bad," Jeff commented, smirking teasingly at him. Gareth glared at him, huffing. Dougie looked at him with wide eyes, "what happened exactly?"

"That slut sent their boyfriend after me," Gareth remarked, leaning back in his chair and looking off outside the windows, "Chance, Jason's goon." Gareth held the ice pack to his jaw, the food remaining untouched in front of him.

Eddie looked at Gareth sympathetically, before his eyes landed on your table. All of you laughing- most likely over the damage caused to Gareth's face. Except... you for some odd reason. You looked uncomfortable, and made eye contact with Eddie out of the corner of your eye.

Strange.

Eddie sighed, before pushing himself out of his chair and crossing his arms behind his back. The rest of Hellfire's heads followed him, Jeff muttering, "here he goes again." Dougie shook his head. Gareth just looked mad.

"Carver!" Eddie shouted, stopping midway between the two tables. The shout was not simply a calling for the basketball team captain, but a war cry that caused the chatter of the lunchroom to turn into whispers. Your table stopped, Jason, Chance and Andy all turning to meet Eddie's gaze.

Eddie scoffed, "you really think you're the shit, Carver? Kicking up freshman just cuz they dress a little different and you're the captain of throwing balls into laundry baskets?"

Jason would've punched him down right then and there if it was not for Andy holding him back.

"The fuck you say Munson?!" Jason shouted back, and the rest of the cafeteria erupted in shushed "oohs." Jason's face reddened as Andy held him by his arms. Chrissy turned, embarrassed, and the rest of your lunch table shifted uncomfortably. Chance muttered something under his breath, glaring at the freaks, especially Gareth, as he picked at his food with a fork.

Eddie stared back, wrinkling his face before spitting on the ground and flipping Jason the big 'ol bird. A few of the drama club kids gasped, causing a giggle to spread across the cafeteria, and silence finally coming to an end. Jason snarled, sitting back down.

"If I hadn't just fucked his drummer up yesterday..." Jason said, and Chrissy moved a hand onto his shoulder, smiling at him. It was a lame attempt to calm him, and did next to nothing.

Eddie turned briskly and stomped back towards the table, Jeff and Dougie trying to hold back their laughter. Gareth held a disgusted look on his face, trying to stop thinking about the fact that Eddie didn't do anything about the main problem; the cheerleader's godforsaken boyfriend.

-

English. God fucking English.

Gareth's eyes followed the minute hand as it made its painstaking way towards the start of class. Gareth felt a pit in his stomach. He was still just so... confused, by you.

Nothing in his head made sense. You sent your boyfriend after him cuz you didn't like what he had to say. Okay. That part made sense. Your boyfriend got his other basketball wads to join in on the fun. Okay. They beat him up. Okay.

But this is where it started to get muddy. You weren't at the front of the crowd at that fight. And when Gareth caught sight of you, you looked... surprised. Upset even.

And then there was detention.

He drummed his fingers against the edge of the desk, remembering the beat of the new song the band was learning. It made no sense. No sense at all.

And as the bell rang a certain cheerleader walked through the door and made eye contact with him.