Paint Me Blue [bxb; mpreg]

Chapter Five

S. 27th

His head is down, brow furrowed, and pink tongue poking out in concentration. His hand is cramping, his bright eyes occasionally glancing up at the white board before he starts scribbling notes in his scrawny handwriting as quickly as he can. However, just before the bell rings, the teacher stops and he can't help but feel relief. His hand aches with tension from writing for nearly 40 minutes.

"Alright class, about your upcoming project-"

The class groans in unison.

But Reese is holding onto every word until she decides that she wants the projects done in partners. Partners that she'll choose.

The class is in utter outrage, begging to be able to pick who to work with. But Ms. Brayn is stubborn and immovable. She gives her class a small grin as she begins calling the names of who will work with who.

Reese discreetly rolls his eyes when he hears students bemoaning their bad luck when they're not partnered with him. Everyone is suddenly interested in him, knowing he gets high marks despite his lack of studying. He almost feels smug, but he knows that if they had it their way, he would be doing all the work and that pisses him off even more.

He hopes and prays he gets stuck with someone willing to put some effort. He's tempted to take that F if it means he won't be forced in doing all the work.

But his heart stops and his breath hitches when he finally hears his name.

"Reese Rivera and Payton Parker."

He looks up and finds Payton staring at him from across the room, a few cheerleaders complaining that they've lost their chance at spending time with the captain of the football team.

But to him, they're background noise.

All Reese can hear is the pounding of his heart, blood rushing to his head and making his cheeks burn red.

Payton has been... kind (of sorts). He's been occasionally sitting next to him and invading his personal bubble of space. The jock jokes around in hopes of making him smile. Payton has become... his light, as cheesy as it may sound.

Reese no longer feels alone. He no longer dreads walking to school, not when he knows that he'll bump into Payton sooner or later. And slowly, bit by bit, Payton has wiggled into his routine. It scares Reese, of just how easy it was for the jock to worm his way into his life

Payton grins at him then, and Reese ducks his head, eyes returning to his notes as he begins thinking of their project. It'll be due in three weeks, they have time to choose a topic and plan. They have to...

Payton smiles to himself.

They'll have time to get to know each other.