All the Light I Cannot See

Five

Being outside in the fresh air was a therapeutic experience for Arthur. It gave him a minute to slow down, to take a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like years. Maybe it was. Who knows.

He spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the grounds, in complete awe of everything around him, from the towering trees to the birds nestled in them. He was especially captured by the endless blue of the sky, seeming to stretch forever and ever, bleeding into eternity.

When Ellen came to find him at the end of Percival's work shift, Arthur was sad to go.

--

The weekend passed quickly, some of the boys from school inviting him out on the basketball courts and to the fields on Sunday. Before he knew it, Arthur was back at school on Monday, ready for week two.

Well, he thought he was ready. What a mistake.

All of a sudden, everything got kicked into high gear. With rugby tryouts and the drama production that Gwen roped him into helping out for, everything was hectic.

Not to mention the fact that he was currently failing maths, something that his father would surely beat his ass if he found out about it. Uther Pendragon was a maths and economics major, and he'd be damned if his son couldn't pass high school-level algebra. According to him, this stuff was child's play.

Which made sense, because teenagers aren't adults yet, but it hardly seemed intelligent to mention this fact to his father.

On Wednesday morning, after an especially awful tryout session, Arthur was in the locker room trying to pull himself together when his phone rang. "What the hell?" he answered it, not giving a shit who was on the other line.  The school bell would ring in a few moments, and he was not looking forward to being late for his first class. (Maths, unfortunately.)

"Yo, calm the fuck down, buck-o. It's me."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur collected his stuff, shoving the phone between his shoulder and cheek to leave his hands free to pick up his gym clothes. "What do you want, Gwaine."

"I'm hurt, Artie. Did it occur to you that I might just want to see how my homie was holding up? No. Because you only ever think of yourself."

"Yeah, whatever."

"I actually need you to fill in for me today with Emrys."

Arthur's jaw dropped. "You've got to be shitting me," he said, shocked. "No way in hell. Ask your boyfriend."

"Please?"

"Fuck no."

"I'm sick."

"I'm sick of you."

"He can help you with your maths homework."

Arthur froze, and another student ran into him in the hallway. Without even giving an apology, Arthur asked, "How do you know about that?"

"Leon told me. He sits behind you."

Thinking, Arthur weighed his options. There was no way in hell he could pull up his marks enough by himself, and most of his friends were in tutoring anyways. Their strengths lied elsewhere, like on the rugby pitch or on the student committee.

"Fine. What time do I have to be there?"

An excited squeal cut through the speaker, causing Arthur to wince. "I fucking love you, Arthur Pendragon! Way to take one for the team!"

Gwaine hung up before Arthur could properly cuss him out.