Love together be with you never (by tesxdols)

S e v e n t e e n

Ethan is a little late to the art room, but he'd planned it that way. Everyone else is inside, and they're already setting up. Mrs. Kensington comes over to him as soon as he steps through the door."You should really think about taking my class next year, Ethan," she says to him. "You're very talented, if a little rough around the edges.""Thanks," Ethan mumbles, eyes on Grayson already. He's on the other side of the room, trying to put his painting on one of the display tables."I especially love the contrast," she continues, unaware of his discomfort. "How personal you made it. The miniscule details of the lives of both you and your roommate.""Thanks," he says again."It's very similar to Grayson's work, actually," she adds.Ethan frowns. "It is?" he asks, because the two look nothing alike. Not at all.But she nods, serious. "The contrasting sides that meet in the middle. Of course, his is abstract and yours is a little more literal, but still. It's very interesting to see the way the two of you work together.""Um." Ethan runs a hand through his hair. He doesn't want to talk about this. "Should I go, like, set up my painting now?""Yes, of course!" she says quickly. "Beside Grayson's, I think they'd look nice beside each other. But really consider what I said about taking my class, Ethan. I'd love to have you.""I will," he promises, if only to get out of there.Ethan gets his painting from the back of the room, where he'd left it to dry days ago. It looks just as he remembers, like an exact replica of their room from a few weeks ago, with his signature scribbled in the bottom right corner in white paint. He carefully carries it over to the display table where Grayson's still standing, peering down at his own work.They fucked up Grayson's painting last night with their antics, but... it looks better, in Ethan's opinion. Even if it brings heat to his cheeks, remembering exactly how that handprint-shaped smudge got there. Ethan places his down beside it, and he really doesn't see how they look similar, but whatever. He's not the art teacher, so."Yours looks brilliant," Grayson says, peering down at Ethan's painting. "Really great. Mine looks like-""Thanks," Ethan says for the third time in, like, five minutes, just before he walks away, heading for Lance and Henry.Henry's final piece is a drawing of Lance. It's more cartoonish than anything, but Ethan likes it a lot. "Nice," he says. "It's really good, Henry.""Look who it's of," Lance scoffs. "Of course it's good. Me and my perfectly chiselled jaw take full credit for this masterpiece.""Where's your piece?" Ethan asks him.Lance grins. "I thought you'd never ask." He grabs Ethan's arm and drags him off to a table littered with sculptures. "Guess which is mine. I call it - A Midnight Escape.""It's a sculpture of an ass," Ethan deadpans. "In a thong.""God, I'm so talented," Lance mutters.Ethan snorts and rolls his eyes. "You're insane," he corrects. "But, uh, before you drag everyone over here to appreciate... that, I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving tonight."Lance gapes at him. "I thought you weren't leaving until Friday!""Change of plans." Ethan shrugs. "My sister's busy that day, so she asked if it was okay if she came to get me tonight." He doesn't mean to lie, it's just easier than admitting that he's really running away because he can't handle being in his own head right now, and he hopes that'll be easier when he gets home.Lance hugs him tightly. "I'll miss you," he says. "I can't believe you're bailing early. But you call me on my birthday, promise?""Promise.""Now go tell Henry. The kid's ridiculously attached to you, he's not going to take it well. I'm not doing it for you."Lance wasn't kidding. Henry looks like a wounded animal, all sad eyes and "Why can't you stay until Friday like we planned? We were going to watch Christmas movies in the common room, and I was going to make us a special microwave dinner.""We can do that when we get back," Ethan offers. "Even if Christmas has passed."Henry frowns for a moment, and then a wide grin spreads over his face. "Yeah, alright. Sounds like a plan. Gonna miss you, though.""I'm gonna miss you guys, too," Ethan says honestly."Have you told Grayson?" Henry asks, and Ethan takes that back immediately. Maybe he won't miss Henry, not if he asks questions like that."No," he says flatly. "Why would I?"Henry shrugs. "I don't know. Seemed like a reasonable question until you got that mass murderer look on your face.""Grayson's not my friend," Ethan reminds him. "He won't care when I leave, and it's none of his business either way.""Okay," Henry says, lifting his hands defensively. "I'll have to remember not to ask you about Grayson anymore. Apparently it's a touchy subject now.""It's always been a touchy subject," Lance reminds him. "Only now instead of bitching about the guy, he gets all panicked, like a caged animal."Ethan glares at them both, but he doesn't protest when Henry's arm goes around his waist. He doesn't protest when Lance's goes around his shoulders. He doesn't protest when the two of them guide him from the room, laughing and making promises to buy Ethan lunch to make up for it. He does look over his shoulder though, just once, to find Grayson staring after them, a lost look on his face.