characters: lysander & fieo, mal, lana, matteo and esper.
word count: 1200
trigger warnings: brief (and subtle) mention of homophobia.
notes: fieo acquires the track team member lysander westfall's letterman jacket after he stayed at fieo's house. although it is not uncommon to see the two together (lysander works for francis), people are starting to suspect a closer bond between star athlete and the odd music kid. lysander has to decide how far he's willing to go while fieo struggles with the thought of his health issues pushing lysander away.
♥
i sat in the school library, my eyes scanning the room every few minutes or so. across from me was a neatly folded navy blue and black jacket. across the back in capital letters the name "WESTFALL" was stitched in.

lysander sauntered in, a grin spreading across his face as soon as he saw me.
"hey buddy." he said sincerely, he was treating me like a puppy again as if i'd break if he was too loud.
"morning 'sander," i muttered back.
he pulled up a chair across me and sat down. i pushed his jacket towards him.
"you left this at the shop after your shift." i explained. he raised his eyebrows. he did leave it at the shop (which was also my home) but not because he was working.
"thanks," lysander said, i pushed it towards him but he had no intention of picking it up.
"i left it there for a reason." he stated, "you always steal my clothes!" he laughed.
i tried to suppress my smile, "but this isn't a hoodie... it's your athletics jacket."
he picked at the stitching that tacked our schools emblem—a raven with its claws out.
"i want you to have it." he said almost sternly.
"okay, okay."
"i mean, i can pretend you don't love stealing my shit if it makes you feel better." he said with a sly grin on his face.
the school librarian cleared her throat making eye contact with the clock on the wall.
"i better get to homeroom." he said wryly.
i watched him leave as my homeroom class filtered into the school library.
♥
"fieo sullivan you sly dog!" matteo mocked me.
"hey! hey! don't mock me." i defended myself.
"i think it's very cute, actually..." lana interjected.
i rolled my eyes. it was summer so we sat on the picnic tables out in the courtyard, despite the sun i was freezing so i had lysanders jacket draped across my shoulders. matteo took it as an opportunity to mock me.
esper strutted over to the table, dumping his bags on the seat and saying "so, has he talked to his parents?"
"who? what?" matteo asked. esper rolled his eyes.
"who do you think, genius?" esper joked.
"you know that he'd risk a lot by being out to the school, news is almost guaranteed to spread to his parents." i reasoned.
"but do you want the school to know?" lana asked.
"yes... it would be nice but i can put up with it."
"it's not exactly like you've been completely truthful to him." esper rebutted causing lana and matteo to give him a dirty look.
"i don't want him to know... it might scare him."
playing devil's advocate esper said, "he's going to see you have a seizure eventually. wouldn't you rather he be prepared?"
"he already knows i'm practically blind and deaf, he doesn't need to know all my health problems."
esper shrugged, "soon enough he'll find out what quis is for man, it'll come up."
"i'll tell him then." i said, giving up on this conversation. matteo looked confused and lana seemed to be experiencing a mix of shock and amusement at the same time.
just as we got into the rhythm of things there was a tap on my shoulder. a girl with long dark hair stood behind me.
"is that lysander's?" she asked, referring to the jacket.
lana immediately got defensive, "leave him alone, man."
the girl just focused on me, "is it?"
"no, i got it custom made to match lysander's identically." i said dryly.
"haha," she mocked, "you're real funny."
esper looked up from his history textbook, "what about you get goin' now?"
the girl huffed and trotted away, the four of us exchanged a look of "what the fuck just happened?"
"thanks lana, thanks esper." i muttered.
matteo's expression for the rest of break was off, he seemed far away and upset.
♥
my bedroom was filled with the constant sound of a keyboard being used and pen on paper, occasionally there'd be the sound of quis getting up to lay somewhere else or lysander making his little noises. it was exactly what i needed, quiet. then, of course mal burst into my room.
"i knew it!!" she screeched. my head whipped up and lysander jumped.
"you new what?" i asked after recovering.
"oh... i thought..."
lysander looked at me and raised his eyebrows, "you thought we were having sex?"
i promptly slapped lysander's wrist.
"owwee." he giggled.
"maybe. i dunno, don't teenagers do that shit. i did whenever i had the house to myself and a girlfriend." mal reasoned.
"you literally graduated last year, calm down." i joked earning a snort from lysander as he continued sketching.
mal looked at me plainly, "okay, i'm going now!" she farted out of the room while waving and disappeared down the hall. i broke out into laughter.
"the fuck was that?" lysander giggled.
"i don't know what the hell she's on dude."
we got back into our rhythm until lysander started kicking my foot repeatedly.
"what do you want?" i asked sharply.
"can i stay over?" he suggested.
i rolled my eyes, "why do you even ask anymore?"
"i dunno, if just seems... polite?" he reasoned, eyebrows furrowed.
"you know you're always welcome here, right?"
he sort of shrugged, "you've always been very sweet to me, i don't deserve you." i continued on.
"don't get sappy on me, you'll make me feel bad!" lysander laughed, hooking an arm around my neck and pulling me close.
"you're just a really good," he cut me off.
"boyfriend?" he asked.
i couldn't hide my smile, "if that's what you want."
he rolled onto his back, "yeah, it is."
there was this warm feeling that spread from my chest to my legs, arms and hands and feat.
"you're blushing." lysander teased.
i rolled over to be next to him, "you're really sweet for a complete dickhead."
"you love it."
he kissed me and my heart beat so fast as he leaned over me. he stopped and i looked up at him, reaching out my hand i ran it through his hair. he had this goofy grin on his face as he leaned in again. i touched his dumb curls that were stupidly fluffy and tried to pretend i wasn't obsessed.
"admit it." he said stopping.
"admit what?" i said, taken aback.
"you love my hair, don't you?" he teased.
"i despise it."
"that's like me saying 'i hate your stupid freckles' it doesn't make sense because i was repressing how hot i thought you were."
i smiled and kissed him but as i did so he pulled me so that i was now on top of him positioned awkwardly between his legs. my hand found his and i interlocked our fingers.
"you're really pretty," i said as i flopped down so that i was next to him but looking slightly up at him.
he made a funny "hmph." noise and i kissed his jaw.
"sorry did that hurt your masculinity?" i mocked.
"you already are quite feminine," i said gesturing to his painted nails and earrings.
"gender stereotypes."
"totally." i said cuddling into him.
♥
the next morning i arrived at school in a letterman jacket with the letters 'WESTFALL" stitched into the back. a raven with its talons our sat over my heart and a slightly taller golden haired boy strode next to me. i stopped at the gates, my hands in my pockets.
"you okay?" the boy asked.
"are you sure?" i countered.
"yeah, i am."
and with that i trotted after the boy adorned with a new reason to smile.
♥
notes~ probably my favourite piece yet! might do a part two if i feel like it. i'm really writing this as a way to comfort myself and it's a real creative outlet. this book isn't getting many views but if you're reading this—thank you for following fieo & lysander, as sappy as they can be. <3