all those broken promises | shyland

Chapter Ten

A/N: This Chapter is more Garrett-centered than anything else, but it really starts the very drama-filled spiral of the next 'two weeks' in the story, and Garrett needed to lose his mind in order for the ending I have planned :) 

"I don't understand why we have to hide."

Garrett brushed his fingers through Andrew's hair, his spare hand leaning up against the door of the storage closet they were standing in. The red-headed boy smiled softly, but he still felt overcome with the feeling of wanting to kiss his boyfriend somewhere a little more romantic, preferable in a place that wasn't surrounded by mop buckets and old towels and lights that flickered with every movement.

"Drew," Garrett responded, running his thumb over Andrew's bottom lip. "I'm sorry it has to be this way right now, I know it sucks, but you know why we have to hide."

"It feels like you're embarrassed to be dating me."

The shaggy-haired boy frowned. "Andrew, being with you has been the best six months of my life, you know that. But, telling people would change everything, and I don't know if I'm ready for that. You're not even out of the closet yet, and my Dad's already threatening to throw me out of school for my grades—"

"Oh," Andrew pulled back. "Right – it always has to be about you."

"Andrew—"

Buzz.

Garrett sighed, dropping Andrew's hand as he fished his phone from his pocket, frowning when he saw the notification on his screen. He was pretty certain he could count on one hand the number of times he'd talked to Ryland since the smaller-framed boy had entered the halls of Lakewood High, if even that many. It wasn't even that he hated Ryland. To him, Ryland Adams was nobody but a pawn in a game he and his best friend were playing with each other.

"Who's texting you?"

garrett_watts: uh, I'm kind of busy right now.

"Nobody," Garrett assured, but his eyes didn't leave the screen as Ryland began typing. "Listen, can we go back to making out in the middle of this shitty storage room? We can agree to disagree later."

Buzz.

rylandadams: I wouldn't be texting you if it wasn't important. I shouldn't be telling you this, but there's things you don't know about Shane, and I'm worried about him, so I feel like you should.

garrett_watts: Shane tells me everything, I'm his best friend.

rylandadams: I'm his boyfriend.

Garrett snorted. "That fucker really pulled through."

"Who are you texting?"

"Nobody."

garrett_watts: fine, courtyard in 10.

When he looked up, there was an unreadable expression on the red-haired boy's face. "You'll never believe this, Andrew. That was Ryland, the boy Shane's involved with – and apparently 'dating'." Andrew looked at him blankly, so he continued. "You know, the one he has to make fall in love with him—"

"I know who he is, Garrett."

"Well, Ryland texted me and said he knows things about Shane that we don't." Garrett snorted, like the idea of his best friend keeping anything from him was ridiculous when he had been lying to Shane's face for the past six months about his own life. "So, I have to go meet him in the courtyard."

"Right now?"

Garrett grabbed his bag. "Well, yeah."

"Garrett—"