Strange Feelings...

Confused Paul

Paul waited for John outside the school, checking his phone to see if anyone had texted him.

Out of nowhere, strong fingers jabbed into his side. Paul yelped in confusion and mild pain.

"Heyyyyy Paullllieeeee," John drawled, throwing an arm across Paul's shoulders.

Paul laughed and looked at the taller boy. He stopped in his tracks.

"John, why is your face covered in blood?" Paul asked slowly.

"Oh, is it? Huh," John joked, "I tripped down the stairs when I was falling for you."

"John, our school doesn't have stairs." Paul pointed out.

John sighed, wiping blood off his long nose, "I had a small run in with some homophobes. But, don't worry. I took care of them."

Paul sighed and took a tissue out of his bag. He tentatively wiped the blood under John's eye, which was very much swollen and fading to a strange shade of purple. Then Paul took care of the blood dripping down his chin and thin lips. Paul felt a tad awkward, but he just ignored it.

He handed another tissue to John, he rolled it up and stuck it up his nose, tilting his head back.

"Don't do that," Paul told him sternly.

"Why?" John asked, slightly annoyed.

"Cause if you do that, the blood will drip down your throat."

"Oh." John looked at the floor, face going slightly pink. Paul smiled lightly at him and bumped his shoulder.

"Are we heading to your place or not?" He asked, laughing awkwardly.

John grinned at him, grabbed his hand, and began running down the sidewalk, laughing and pulling Paul with him.

"John," Paul began as soon as John stopped running, "I have to tell my dad why I'm not coming home."

John sighed exaggeratedly and dropped Paul's hand. Paul couldn't help but miss the warmth.

"Come on, Johnny! You can come with me," Paul said, intertwining their fingers. John looked at him and smiled smugly.

"Johnny, huh?" John asked, grinning mischievously, squeezing Paul's hand. It made Paul's stomach jump and his heart beat faster.

Paul blushed and fixed his gaze onto the sidewalk. "Uh sorry-"

John put his other hand across Paul's mouth, "Shut up, princess."

Paul turned to stare at John incredulously, but John just shrugged and grinned his stunning smile.

No. It's not gay to think a dude's smile is pretty. It's not. Right?
—-
A week later...

"Paul!" John exclaimed as Paul sat down at the desk next to him.

"Hello John," Paul grinned at the taller boy.

"It's been so long since I've seen your beautiful face!" John gasped dramatically, shooting a wink at Paul, whose face turned the color of a tomato.

Paul shook his head with a laugh, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in his stomach, "John, I literally saw you yesterday."

John shrugged, "Still too long, Mac."

"Ooh, Mac, that's a new one," Paul said, pulling his notebook and a pencil out of his bag.

John blushed and looked at the floor, "Heheh, yeah. Are you cool with it?"

Paul looked up to see John smiling nervously at him. "Course I am, Johnny Boy." Paul smiled widely as John beamed at him, the blush on his cheeks darkening.

"That's gay," a kid said. John whirled around and glared at the speaker, raising his middle finger up.

"Whoa, chill, dude. It's just a joke," the person said, holding his hands up in defence.

"Not to him it's not. He's gay as a shark!" A boy smirked.

"Oh fuck off, Rory," John said, rolling his amber eyes and turning back to Paul, "And besides, it's gay as a LARK. You would know that if you had any brain cells."

Rory stood up abruptly from his desk, his face contorting to a furious sneer, "Shut up you Fag. You and your boyfriend can go s-"

"That's enough, Rory," a short boy scolded the tall guy. "Leave em alone."

John was still fuming. His arms were folded across his chest and a glare spread on his face.

"Johnny, calm down," Paul told him softly, rubbing a hand up and down his arm, "It's okay."

"Yeah Johnny!" Rory taunted, a smirk on his angular face.

Then John punched him square in the nose. Rory fell against the short boy from earlier, blood dripping down his face.

"MR LENNON! PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE! NOW!" The teacher bellowed as he stood in the doorway.

John shot an apologetic look at Paul as he walked out the door, mouthing "Sorry".

Paul slumped against his desk, not knowing what to do now that John was gone.

"I guess you're bored without your boyfriend shoving his hand down your trousers, aren't you, McCartney," Rory sneered, wiping the blood off his nose and mouth.

"Fuck off," Paul rolled his eyes and started doodling on his notes, boredly waiting for John's return.

John. John. John. That was all that ran through Paul's head as he zoned out the annoying teacher. John. Johnny. Jooooohhhhnnnnnnn. Lenny. Johnny boy. Lennon. John Lennon. John -middle name- Lennon. John. John. John. John.

Why the hell was his brain doing that?

Paul just missed his new friend, that's all.

After about twenty minutes, John strolled casually back into the classroom, a mildly annoyed look on his face.

Paul looked at him questioningly, "So?"

John sat down, a frown playing at his lips, "I've got detention for the next week, but so does Rory, cause he was making homophobic comments and all that jazz."

Paul smiled at John, "It's good that you put him in his place. He's a dick, yknow."

"Mr McCartney, I strongly advise you to stop talking to Mr Lennon, and pay attention. Otherwise, there will be consequences," the teacher told Paul, his arms crossed across his thin chest.

"Uh, yes sir, Mr- sir," Paul mumbled, realising he didn't know the teacher's name and still doodling cartoons and song lyrics in his notebook.

"Why the hell does he hate me so much?" John whispered to Paul, looking at the teacher.

"Johnny, he doesn't hate you, he just... he..."

John rolled his eyes, shifting closer to Paul, "He hates me, Macca. It's just a fact."

Paul sighed and opened his mouth to speak.

"Mr. McCartney, one more word out of you, and you're getting detention!" The teacher said sternly.

Paul rolled his eyes and looked over at John, who was staring at him with the soft awestruck look he often had. John looked down at his paper and began drawing furiously. Paul looked over at John's paper, only to see his own face grinning back at him.

"Is that me?" Paul asked, already knowing the answer.

John nodded, his gaze staying on the paper and his cheeks getting red.

"It's good," Paul told him quietly, "but I'm not that pretty." In the drawing, Paul's eyes were huge and doe like and his eyelashes looked like a girl's.

John looked up at him and blinked, "Yes you are." He said blankly, slightly confused.

Paul didn't know why his stomach randomly started hurting.

"Hey John?" Paul asked, turning towards his friend.

"Yeah Macca?" John replied, not looking up from his drawing.

"What's your middle name?"