bemorelovely | highschool au!

highschool au!

Frankly Jon found highschool tropes exhausting, which was unfortunate because he occasionally lived them. The particular one that was the most annoying was 'bully the weird nerd who thinks he's smarter than everyone,' mostly because it ended damaged notebooks, occasional bruises and, worst of all, wasted time. So much wasted time.

Jon was smart though, and even if he didn't have the best common sense he learned how to keep under the radar most of the time. If keeping his mouth shut on occasion meant he could have a peaceful day he could manage, most of the time. Sometimes he couldn't.

Today was one of those times.

Earlier in the day he heard some comments from one of the brutes about Martin, of all people, something not necessarily strange given Martin was a bit of a chatterbox but unpleasant all the same. That may not have been enough to have him say anything- Martin was fine, he guessed, in a way that reminded Jon of eager dogs- if they hadn't brought up Martin's mother.

Maybe it was just nonsense, maybe there was some sort of rumor going around, whatever the reason the talk existed it rubbed Jon the wrong way, and he made the incredibly stupid decision of getting the group's attention and sassing them.

Yeah, that didn't go great.

In the end he managed to get away, losing his notebook to them and sporting a split lip for his trouble. He was pretty sure he lost them when he slammed right into someone down the empty, after school English hall.

"Oof- for god's sake, watch where you're going!" He shot out testily, because he apparently never learned.

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Martin fidgets again in his seat, wondering briefly what he's doing. He should have postponed, he should have done- little anything else, anything that wasn't dragging Jon with his mopey, upset self into the theater. The fact that Jon was having a good time made it worse, in a way.

He makes an unhappy little noise without meaning to, before he gives up and grabs at Jon's hand with his own, because fuck it. He's still looking straight ahead. His voice is a little tight when he says: "It's alright if you hate it. I'm - it's not gonna hurt my feeling." He's not just talking about the movie.

The noise throws Jon off, what did he say? Maybe Martin really did like the movie and insulting it upset him? That was a rather intense response, so he thought, and before he could consider it anymore Martin was grabbing at his hand.

He doesn't bother trying to hide his stare this time, shocked but not moving away. His mouth recovers before the rest of him, unfortunately. "I don't hate it, I mean it's a little try hard to be sure but-" His stare moves to their hands, and he doesn't find it all that difficult to carefully intwine their fingers. He's struck with the ridiculous feeling he's crossing a line by doing so, as though Martin hadn't initiated it for crying out loud.

"I meant what I said. I'm having a good time." He says after a beat, glancing to Martin before hurriedly looking back to the movie. Someone was clearly not just talking about the movie too and completely lost with what was happening.

Jon twines their fingers together and to his humiliation, Martin can feel his eyes prick with tears of pure relief when he does. He doesn't know what this means - if it means anything at all - but he's suddenly glad to be here.

"Yeah, sorry, thanks," he mumbles out, pretending that his voice isn't a little embarrassingly thick. "It's a pretty alright movie. I'll stop talking, though, we're probably getting on those people's nerves."

Spoilers: yes, they were.

Most of Jon's confusing thoughts about the whole thing get pushed back by concern at the tone of Martin's voice. He isn't completely daft, the fact Martin was quite possibly on the brink of tears was pretty apparent to him. He has no idea what to say to help, especially given the surroundings, so he gives in to instinct and squeezes Martin's hand slightly.

"We're teenagers, they should expect this." He answers, though he lowers his tone all the more and mostly seems to settle back to watch.

More spoilers: his attention was not really on the movie anymore.

"Yeah," Martin says a little tonelessly, but he squeezes Jon's hand in return. As long as Jon doesn't take it back, he'll hold onto it for the rest of the film, only sheepishly sliding his hand away when the credits begin rolling and the lights start to come up.

He's mostly composed himself by this point, at least. "The popcorn was good. And the chocolate. Thanks."

Holding hands was new, and as strange as it was Jon ultimately decides it was a pleasant experience. The thought amuses him in a way, he never thought himself the type to enjoy that soppy nonsense. Hell, even as a kid he refused to hold his grandmother's hand, thinking it was juvenile somehow. What a delight he was.

Of course there was the question of what this handholding meant, something he was beginning to mull over seriously when the movie ends. He doesn't get up just yet, watches people head out as he turns to regard Martin with a somewhat probing look. He wants to see if Martin was doing better before anything, given that tone.

So far so good. "You're welcome, even if the bribe failed." He tries lighthearted and glances to the credits awkwardly. "Thank you, for taking me. It was- I enjoyed it, more than I thought I would."

He stays quiet a moment before glancing over again. "Do you need to be back soon? I suppose it's late but-" But he didn't want it over and he very much wanted to make sure Martin was alright? A confusing mix of concern and something weird he didn't want to dwell on. "But if you had the time I'd like to discuss it. The movie." Not just the movie.

Great - he's managed to concern Jon, which is the last thing that he'd meant to do. Stupid, but there was no way to take it back now. "It really wasn't Tim's kind of movie, anyway," he says, and then finally eases himself to his feet.

He doesn't know how he feels about the fact that Jon holding his hand for part of a movie had done so much to make him feel better, but whatever. He'll take it.

"Um- I don't have anywhere to be, if you want to talk about the movie," he says then, as if he's a little surprised that Jon is willing to spend even more time with him. It also hasn't occurred to him that Jon doesn't just mean about the movie. "--but we can't go to my place."

"Tim has terrible tastes anyway." Jon dismisses, bitching about Tim lives throughout the ages. He's almost surprised at the stipulation about not going to Martin's place, though it does answer the question of what was probably stressing him out.

"I don't think I even know where you live. It's fine, we can go to mine if you'd like." He offers, getting up now that the rest of the crowd had left and the cleaners were waiting. "Or just walk. I got lost around here once when I was seven." He sounds weirdly fond about that memory.

"Tim's got alright taste in people. He said you and him used to be kind of close, right?" He jams his hands into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, leading them both out onto the sidewalk. With the weather as nice as it is, he's just sort of picking a direction and going. "It's hard to imagine, honestly."

Jon follows, making a face as he did. "I suppose. I wouldn't call us friends but he was probably the closest thing I had to one. He wasn't exactly Mr. Popular back then either, was a bit of a prat honestly." He sniffs. "Still is, but not as much. I'm surprised he mentioned me to you at all, really."

"Why wouldn't he?" Martin's expressions are still muted, but there's curiosity as he glances sideways at Jon. "Just because you don't notice people doesn't mean they don't notice you, you know."

Jon wasn't expecting that question, and it takes him a moment to formulate an answer. "Well, I was under the impression he was uninterested in anything to do with me. We didn't exactly part on good terms." Meaning the middleschool version of their season two fight, which is painfully hilarious to imagine.

He looks a little embarrassed. "It's ah... part of the reason I made assumptions about you to begin with when you began working for Gram. I suppose I should have given him a little more credit." A pause. "Don't tell him I said that."

Martin just shrugs at that, sort of scuffing his foot against the sidewalk as they step out into the cooler air of the night. There are a lot of people around, and Martin drifts a little closer to Jon's side, as if afraid he'll lose track of him if he doesn't.

"You said you wanted to go for a walk?" He glances sideways at him. "How'd you get lost here?"

"I was seven and I was more interested in finding something interesting than finding my way back." Jon explains, and is struck by the thought that holding hands in outside chill would be somewhat nice. Lord help him, he was getting fixated.

He glances to Martin, trying to clear his head. "I assume it's prying to ask but... are you alright?"

"Bet your gram was proper angry with you," Martin murmurs, and there's a twitch at the corner of his lip, sort of just thinking about baby Jon out wandering around, looking for something to grab his interest. The question catches him off guard then and the smile fades, eyes cutting down.

"It's okay. Just a big stupid fight with my mum. Just- a rager, I guess."

"She threatened to get one of those child leashes." This did not stop him from doing the same thing the next week.

He was far more interested in Martin's fight though, and quickly moves on to that. "What did she do now?" Well, that was rude. He has the good grace to try again at least. "I mean what was the 'rager' about? You don't exactly strike me as the type to disobey his parental figures for the fun of it."

"It's-" Martin cuts himself off, shaking his head as he reaches out to grab Jon's sleeve. It's an impulse, and probably a stupid one, but he'd let him hold his hand in the theater - maybe this would be fine, too. "I don't want to talk about it right now. Later, okay? Just- I'm still mad."

"Oh." Jon answers both the statement and Martin's impulse, unable to add more for the moment as his mind raced. He went for an impulse of his own, quelling the spike of nerves as shifted to try and take Martin's hand rather than just let him keep his sleeve. Of course this was crossing a line he wasn't sure he even wanted to cross, Martin would have every right to be annoyed and-

Etc, etc. "How did you meet Tim anyway?" He tries to change the topic, tone betraying an edge of nerves.

Martin freezes for a moment when Jon actually takes his hand, his steps and expression both, for just a split second, going completely rigid- before he relaxes, and grabs onto Jon's hand hard before he has the chance to pull it away.

"Um, we were partnered up for some project together, and we just started hanging out a lot then..." His heart is thrumming in his throat. "There wasn't any real - catalyst or anything." He's not acknowledging the hands.

Ah, the troubles of teenagers. Jon spends Martin's moment of freezing contemplating every possible meaning and outcome of said freezing, and only minutely relaxes when Martin does. Well good, he hadn't offended Martin as far as he could tell, and this was... good. Wonderful. No he was not going to dwell on if he was doing this purely to comfort Martin or for other, more selfish reasons.

It takes him a moment too long to answer. "You two always seemed close, I imagined you must have known each other before I even met Tim. I suppose it isn't always so dramatic." He shakes his head. "Enough about Tim, he gives me a headache. Do you usually like movies like that one? Thrillers and such. I wouldn't have expected it."

That pause worries him, and it occurs to him that maybe he's overthinking things. That maybe they should sit down and talk things out, except that would make way too much sense, and he doesn't really feel like putting forth that effort just yet.

So he squeezes Jon's hand again, sort of drifting closer to him. "Um. I do? I like scary stuff, mostly. You saying I sound like a wimp?" He's just teasing, trying so hard to make this casual and fun, to pretend like he isn't literally clinging onto Jon.

"Well that would be the rude way of putting it." Jon isn't saying no, what a butt. You could blame it on the distraction of Martin squeezing his hand or Martin in general, but that's generous for him. After a beat he squeezes back, unsure of what that even means beside some sort of solidarity or reassuring he was enjoying the contact as well.

"I just assumed you'd like comedy or... I don't know, something more lighthearted. You're-" He struggles a moment, because putting the air Martin gave off to words was difficult and somehow embarrassing. They already crossed the embarrassment line, of course. "You're goodnatured and a positive presence all in all, is it that surprising an assumption?"

"I mean, I like comedy and stuff, too..." Martin hesitates at the end of a block, not sure which direction they should turn. They could head toward Jon's house, or they could head somewhere else - but he seems to be letting Jon make that decision. "We could watch something different next time, if you want. I mean- yeah. If you want."

"No, I enjoy thrillers and horror more than the alternative." Jon admits, and realizes after a moment Martin was letting him take the lead of where they wandered. He considers it, he didn't really want to head back to his house just yet but it was getting late enough they shouldn't just wander aimlessly. He settles on a longer route home, one that skirted the local park and was generally a little too spooky woods for most people. Jon prefers the quiet, especially when he'd rather not deal with people interrupting whatever the hell this was.

Then, after another moment, he realizes 'next time' promised this would happen again. That shouldn't be surprising, they were friends according to Martin, but he still is glad to hear it despite himself. "Next time I'll get the tickets." He tries to sound casual and probably fails.

"You don't have to- humor me, you know," Martin blurts, but his fingers seize on Jon's as he does. "I mean, just because I'm- in a bad mood or what have you, it doesn't mean-- you don't have to humor me. Is all."

Even he isn't entirely sure what he means by this, but it felt like he needed to say it. Between the candy, and the hand-holding, and- everything.

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