Chapter Text
Three months pass by in what feels like a blink of an eye. Through exam season, mountains of essays and his final baseball season drawing through a close, Jedediah’s semester has been a whirlwind of activity. Not to mention the obvious elephant in the room.
Said elephant is currently sitting right next to him, leaning against the tables in an empty classroom. This is their last tutoring session together. In what seems like a lifetime ago, Jedediah stumbled through that door fifteen minutes late, greeted by an exasperated graduate who definitely didn’t want to be there. What had started off as as a barely lukewarm acquaintance has since blossomed into a bond that makes Jedediah’s heart leap every time he looks at Octavius.
But there is something dangerous, dark and bittersweet lingering right beneath the water’s surface. And although both of them can sense the presence of this unnamed creature, none of them have dared to acknowledge it. To ripple the water and see past the shadows of their wilful ignorance would be too much to bear.
Or so Jedediah thinks.
Jedediah looks nervous. Octavius can see it in the tension of his brow, the way his fingers fiddle with the ends of his shirt. Rolling it up, unrolling it again. Push and pull. Finally he smooths his palms on his jeans, leaning back with his hands on the table.
“I’ve read your last paper. It’s good.”
“Yeah?”
“You might actually get an A, you know,” Octavius adds, smiling. “And, that girl’s going to go out with you. Congrats.”
Octavius’ throat feels a little tight saying these words, but he doesn’t want to be a spoilsport. Jedediah is his friend, first and foremost, and he wants him to be happy.
“No need. She ain’t going out with me.”
Octavius raises an eyebrow. Jedediah looks at him, a nervous smile on his lips, before moving to stand in front of him. Octavius can smell his aftershave and he swallows thickly, their proximity flustering him. The blonde’s hands come up to tug at his collar, straightening it against his shirt.
“Says I’ve got someone else.”
Jedediah’s hands trail down to rest at his waist. Octavius’ eyes struggle to focus as his breath starts coming on short, trying and desperately failing to ignore the tight circles of warm pleasure Jedediah’s thumbs are massaging into his hips.
“And?”
The athlete leans in, so close Octavius can feel the warmth of his face.
“And she was right.”
Then Jedediah finally closes the gap they’ve been circling around for months, and Octavius’ knees would have given in if he wasn’t propped up against the table.
One kiss melts into two, and soon Octavius can’t keep track anymore. His head spins and the room spins with him as Jedediah’s thumbs trace his hipbone, fingers slotted against his lower back. There’s a sharp intake of breath as Jedediah lifts Octavius onto the table, using the extra leverage to press their bodies even closer together.
“Fuck. You’re so pretty,” Jedediah breathes between kisses, and Octavius’s hands feel their way to the nape of Jedediah’s neck, thumbs twirling through his hair.
They break apart for air and Octavius steadies himself on Jedediah’s solid shoulders, lips slightly parted and kissed pink. His glasses sit skewed on his nose, and Jedediah gingerly lifts them off his face, folding them neatly before tucking them away in his rear jean pocket.
Then Jedediah dives back in, pressing gentle pecks along the ridge of his jaw. Octavius lets out a soft whine as the blonde trails his lips down the expanse of his pale neck, sucking bruises into his skin. Jedediah pushes his palm up Octavius’ thigh and the brunette jolts, hips bucking as heat continues to pool into his groin.
“Jedediah,” he gasps, and the blonde hums against the column of his throat.
“We can’t continue here,” Octavius protests, and Jedediah pulls back just enough to look him in the eye.
“And why not?” The blonde says, his gaze infuriatingly nonchalant, and Octavius feels his face flame to the top of his skull.
“Because! It ain’t proper,” he hisses, and Jedediah lets out a hearty laugh, the sound bouncing off the classroom walls.
“So high and holy,” he muses, lifting Octavius’ chin with his thumb. “Let’s see how long you can keep that up for.”
A smirk spreads across his lips, his face brimming with playful tease. And before Octavius can open his mouth to say anything witty, Jedediah grabs his hands and pulls him off the table, grinning to himself as they run out the door.