Chaste (5b/?)
Title: Chaste
Author:
ashamedbliss
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: 15
Fic summary: Based on the following prompt from
mkmeme, which was: AU Belldom. Dom's in his early 20s, outrageously attractive (obviously) and a sex ed teacher. He's also a nervous virgin. Matt's a bold 17 year old student who discovers "Mr H's" secret shame. And he decides to take matters into his own hands.
Feedback: appreciated like mattalikes on the tube whoops
Disclaimer: much as I and many other ladies would love to own Muse, I don't. This is totally fictional, I'm not making profit, and pretty please don't steal it *bats eyelashes*
Author's Note: Massive thanks to Angela for watching me write this, and for everyone on twitter helping to kick my arse into gear. You guys have no idea how much you all helped. I've got the next chapter plotted too, yay. Also lol sorry not sorry about the ending.
Matthew leant against the back of the bikeshed, exhaling deeply after the first drag of his third cigarette of the day. It had been a few days since he’d left Dominic’s house, and whilst he wasn’t in the actual proximity of the teacher, his mind begged to differ. He’d barely been able to think about anything else, and had noticed he was getting through his cigarettes quicker than usual. Even working on his music coursework and trying to write songs hadn’t helped.
One song, however, that he’d been working on for months but abandoned a few weeks ago had been pulled from the depths of his desk drawers and worked on again. Matthew had laughed as suddenly the words had fit into place and the melody had seemed to work. Dominic appeared to be his muse.
Matthew snorted at the memory as he took another drag of his cigarette. “Got a spare?”
His head whipped around to the female voice. “Kelly,” Matthew grinned, as she squeezed her way down between the fence and the brick wall. When she was close enough, he pulled her into a hug, cigarette outstretched away from them. “Where were you yesterday?” he asked as she pulled back, leaning against the wall next to him as he patted himself down for his cigarette carton, before offering her one.
“Ta,” she said, digging out her own lighter to light it. It dangled from her mouth, dark red lipstick sticking to the white paper. “Couldn’t deal with Mrs Larne’s shit again so I skipped. Soz for not sending you a text,” she said with a shrug.
Up until the second half of Year 12, Kelly had been a sweet girl who dressed in pastels and hung around with the pretty girls in their little clique. She and her friends had started hanging out with some of the footballers, who were in the same kind of social circle as Matthew and all the troublemakers. Matthew laughed; it had been only a matter of time until Kelly found out how to have fun. “No worries,” Matthew replied, zipping his dark red hoodie up a little bit higher before flicking his cigarette down onto the concrete.
Kelly pulled her leather jacket tighter around her, before glancing up at Matthew. “What lessons you got today?” she asked, taking a drag on her cigarette. “Fuck, I needed this.”
“Had music first thing, now got a free, and meant to have English but...”
“Ew,” Kelly sneered, and Matthew laughed. “Well I got in late because I was out over Chris’ last night...” Matthew turned to her and she winked. “Fuck yeah like that!”
“Fucking hell Kels, tell me everything,” Matthew said excitedly. “Didn’t you only start dating a few weeks ago?!” Kelly exhaled her cigarette smoke to the side, tousling up her long brown hair with her free hand.
“Yeah, but... Only if you tell me who the fuck you’ve been caught up on over the last week. Don’t even deny it Bells, I’m not buying your shit.”
Matthew laughed and Kelly dropped her hard girl persona for a moment. “Nah but seriously, want to go get lunch in town? We can gossip and shit about dicks without anyone pissing us off, and get booze for tonight.”
“Perfect,” Matthew said, Kelly beaming up at him. “Are you skipping?”
“No, I’m a good little girl,” she giggled. “I’ve actually got a free, unlike some people. Perfect way to end the week. Jealous?”
Matthew punched Kelly lightly on the arm before they both squeezed out from behind the bike sheds, not bothering to sign out as they began to wander towards town. They talked mainly about the weather (shit), their coursework (shit), and the party that night (hopefully amazing) as they worked their way towards their favourite sandwich shop, the very one Matthew had visited before he’d met Mister Howard on Tuesday afternoon. He shook that thought from his head as they both ordered BLTs before taking a seat at one of the tiny tables by the window.
“Tell me everything about last night,” Matthew said first, Kelly rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless. “If it’s good enough, I might tell you something about what’s happened this week. Maybe.”
“You’re such a cunt,” Kelly laughed, before she sighed. “Fine. So Chris had practice last night and I went along to watch because, you know, I want that dick.” Matthew burst out laughing, choking on the a mouthful of the can of Coke he’d bought. “I can’t fucking take you anywhere,” Kelly whined but she giggled as Matthew wiped his nose.
“For fuck’s sake, you only said that because I was drinking.”
“Maybe,” Kelly smirked, before she continued, tapping her red nails against the table. “Anyway. So I’m hanging out and he’s like, ‘wanna come back to mine? I’ll need to shower’ and you guys are so fucking easy to read, that’s basically a concealed ‘wanna fuck?’, right? So I go back with him and he’s in the shower, I’m sitting on his bed--”
“Touching yourself,” Matthew chipped in, hoping to add to the banter as any teenage boy would. When Kelly simply smiled and looks down at her nails, Matthew laughed loud enough to make the elderly couple at the back of the room turn their heads. “Oh my fucking God, I love you Kelly.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” she said with a bitter tone, but there was still a smile on her face. “So yeah, he comes in and sees me doing that and drops his towel and like, yeah, there’s his dick. Hard and everything, would’ve been a waste otherwise, y’know?”
“You are brilliant,” Matthew said slowly, as the waitress appeared with their sandwiches, the bacon sizzling hot between the lettuce and tomatoes. “And you stayed the night?”
“Yeah, kinda accidentally. I snuck out this morning before his parents woke up, and managed to get into my own room before mine did, so... win win?” she giggled. “Anyway, you heard my goss, tell me yours.”
Matthew blushed behind his sandwich, just as he had with Tom on the morning of going to Dominic’s house when asked the same question. “Well, first, it’s a guy,” Matthew said carefully, knowing Kelly wouldn’t mind and would much rather hear the juicy details as opposed to Tom.
Kelly grinned, waving her hand. “I thought it would’ve been a guy, otherwise you wouldn’t have been so secretive about it. You’re usually bragging at the top of your voice about how you’re knee deep in clunge.” Kelly tried an impression and Matthew simply put his head in his hands.
“God, I used to be embarrassing.”
“You still are.”
“Thanks Kels,” Matthew said, before smiling and eating more of his sandwich. “But... I mean... It’s only been a thing since the start of this week, but I already feel like...”
Kelly whistled lowly. “Wow. He’s got you wrapped round his little finger,” she laughed, and Matthew smiled because he had nothing to say about that. “Hey, you gonna bring him to the party tonight?”
Matthew tried not to choke on his sandwich at the very thought. “Um, no, it’s not really his scene,” Matthew said quickly, suddenly feeling a bit weird.
“Bells, what’s got you like this? He’s not dodgy, is he? You’re acting strange,” Kelly said, frowning and leaning forward. “Is he a dealer or something?”
Matthew laughed nervously. “Quite the opposite actually, he’s a goody-two-shoes,” Matthew said, a smile spreading across his face before he stopped himself. “Kels, can you keep a secret?”
Kelly’s face softened. This was the first time Matthew had asked this of her. “‘Course, Bells,” she said with a sweet smile.
“I mean like, this is a fucking huge secret. If you told someone you’d actually ruin his life.”
Kelly blinked, eyebrows raising. “Sure, babe,” she said, “I’m not that cruel. Y’know, under all this leather and stunning beauty there’s still quite a nice little girl.”
Matthew snorted, before shaking his head. His face grew serious as he took a deep breath in. “This guy... it’s Mister Howard.”
To Kelly’s credit, she took the news very well. She stayed silent, her eyes flicked up to the ceiling. “I can imagine that, actually,” she said, and a smile grew on her face. “That’s kind of cute. He’s not that old, is he?”
“He’s twenty-three,” Matthew replied, still feeling anxious. Kelly hummed, still smiling.
“And you like him?”
Matthew smiled, just thinking about the way Dominic had held him tight a few nights ago as they had drifted off to sleep together. “It’s kind of frightening how fast I’ve fallen for him. Especially because we kind of, ha, jumped in at the deep end,” Matthew said as a blush crept up his cheeks, Kelly smacking his arm.
“No way!” she said. “And you didn’t tell me?!” Her face was one of absolute surprise. Matthew shrugged.
“It’s not something I can go around telling people, really. You’re my best mate Kels, you’re the only person I’m going to tell. Well, and Tom, but he’s basically--”
“--the brother you never had, I know. Jesus you two are annoying,” she laughed. “But... wow, that was fast. Wait, isn’t he teaching sex-ed now?”
“Yeah. That’s when it all kind of began, ironically,” Matthew said, giggling a little. He felt a bit less nervous now that his ‘big secret’ was out to the last person who he would be telling it to, for the meantime. “You shouldn’t have skipped. God knows what Monday’s lesson is going to be like.”
“Aw, will he be sending you lovey eyes from across the room?” Kelly teased. Matthew glared at her.
“We’re not seeing each other for a few weeks, because... it’s difficult. It’s going to be one of those all or nothing ones, and that’s kind of scary. Like we’re going to have to jump in or jump ship, if that make sense.”
Kelly smiled at the sight of Matthew, fiddling with some of the crumbs on his now empty plate. “Look at you,” she said, and he looked up at her with a quizzical expression. “You’ve fallen hard and fast for him, whether you like it or not. And I mean, think about it, you kind of know him, don’t you? Like, you can kind of assess what type of person he is, because you’ve been in his classes and all that. Like...” she drawled as she paused, waving one of her dainty hands around in the air, a mannerism she’d picked up off Matthew. “Like, he’s going to be a good guy, because he’s a teacher. Educated. Speaks French, that’s pretty hot if you think about--”
“Kels.”
“Alright, but you get my gist? I think you’re kind of allowed to fall fast and hard, because it’s like... it’s like something you’ve seen everyday for years, and until you went and actually got it you didn’t realise how much you loved it. I don’t know, I can’t explain. But I don’t blame you. It’s nice to see you like this, actually.”
Matthew smiled. “Is that meant to be a compliment?”
Kelly laughed. “If you complimented me more I would compliment you more often. I fucking dyed my hair last weekend and you didn’t say a word, dick’ead.” They both giggled, before deciding to go. They slid off their seats and paid at the till, before walking back outside.
“So, you game for tonight then? Without Mister Howard, of course,” Kelly laughed, linking arms with Matthew.
“‘Course. Can we get some Archers from the offy? I think I need to get drunk,” Matthew laughed.
“Fair. I’ve got work tomorrow morning,” Kelly said, pulling a dramatic face of despair, “so I’m only drinking light. I’ll make sure you don’t go and, like, tell everyone you’re fucking the French teacher.”
“Thanks Kels.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” she giggled, and Matthew pulled her closer by the arm in agreement. Kelly was, by far, one of the best friends he could’ve asked for.
~
Kelly had knocked at Matthew’s house later that night, and so they were now making their way to the party at Tom’s, as his parents were away for the weekend. Kelly babbled on about all the people that were going to be there, and how she hoped Chris would be there too, but Matthew was trying desperately to simply not think of how lonely he would feel all night.
“I’m in so fucking deep,” Matthew said, more to himself than anything, during a lull in conversation. Kelly patted his arm soothingly.
“You’ll be fine, Bells. Just drink and forget everything, you know?” she said, as they turned the corner onto the street, music already pouring from the illuminated house. “I guess that’s the one,” she laughed, tugging Matthew down the road.
Inside, it was absolutely rammed. There were people everywhere and alcohol in every other available space. Matthew quickly poured himself an Archers and lemonade, with worrying little lemonade and a lot of Archers. He was going to drink, and dance, and forget all about Dominic Howard.
~
Matthew groaned awake, cracking open his eyelids to blinding sunlight. With a whine, he shut them again, before trying to burrow under the covers. Except, there were no covers. He sat up a little, looking around. He was in a bathtub, in a bathroom he didn’t recognise, with no shirt on and the taste of sick in his mouth.
“Fuck,” he whispered hoarsely, trying to sit up further before his head started spinning. “Gross.”
Kelly appeared in the doorway with a knowing smile on her face. “Morning, princess,” she said, skipping lightly to the mirror to unpin and redo her hair. Matthew simply groaned in response, before slumping back down in the bathroom again. “You were an absolute fucking mess last night,” she said, enunciating every word, “but you still manage to surprise me every time you get drunk.”
Matthew blinked slowly. “What?” he asked in a gravelly tone. His head hurt. A lot.
“Every time a girl came up to you, you pushed her away saying that you were taken,” Kelly said, an adoring little smile on her face. “It was so cute. You even tried to push me away, even though I’m not interested in going anywhere near your mangy dick.”
“Thanks,” he murmured, putting a hand over his face and dragging it slowly down over his features. “Did I say his name?”
“Nah,” Kelly said, before turning to Matthew. “You just kept going on about having someone and wanting to be loyal to them. You wouldn’t even kiss anyone in truth or dare so we kicked you out, you didn’t even mind. Such a cutie!” she teased, and Matthew groaned at her. “Fine, fine, I’m off to work. Oh, and I was the one figuratively holding your hair last night when you were puking, so if you feel like buying me a coffee some time tomorrow while I’m at work that’d be fab,” she said over her shoulder as she left.
Matthew turned on his side in the tub, trying to fall asleep again, or at least willing the pain in his head to go away. He felt awful, but a tiny part of him was happy he’d acted like that when he was drunk, even if he couldn’t remember any of it. Drunken words were sober thoughts, after all, and seeing as Matthew’s thoughts had been all over the place, it seemed that the party had helped him decide.
~
Matthew sat at the back of the classroom, early for once, with Tom to his right and Kelly to his left. He would never admit it to either of them, but he had butterflies in his stomach at the thought of seeing Mister Howard for the first time in nearly a week.
Well, he’d caught glimpses of him in corridors, or perhaps through his office door if he’d been headed that way (or had wandered that way out of sheer curiosity and absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see the teacher, at all, whatsoever). But as Mister Howard entered the room, Matthew’s stomach did a flip. Kelly and Tom did nothing, Matthew having already threatened to cut off their balls (“but I’m a girl!” “still applies, Kels”) if they so much as thought about insinuating that something was going on between the pair.
“Afternoon everyone,” Mister Howard said, and Matthew bathed in the sound of his voice. He grimaced as he reminded himself, once again, that he was completely and utterly in the shit when it came to how hard he’d fallen for the teacher. “Today, we’re going to talk about pregnancy. How people get pregnant, contraception methods other than condoms and more generally preventing pregnancy.”
“He seems a lot more confident this week,” one of the girls on the other side of the classroom stage-whispered to her friend. Matthew tensed up, even though he had no need to. “Maybe he finally got laid.”
Mister Howard reacted immediately. “That’ll be more than you’ve had this week then, Rachel,” he quipped. The class went “ooh” in unison as Mister Howard made a circuit of the room, handing out worksheets. Matthew was treated exactly the same as the rest of the class, Dominic made sure of that.
“Right,” Dominic said, standing at the front of the class. He could see Matthew at the back, but was trying not to pay him any attention. It’d been a long week and he’d missed him terribly, but he wasn’t about to reveal that to the rest of his students, or risk anything by even trying to reveal that to Matthew. “I’m going to lay down some ground rules, now that we’re settling into this sex education programme well. Number one is that no one is to make remarks about anyone’s sexual activity, orientation, preferences et cetera from now on. Do I make myself clear?”
The class grumbled “yes sir”. Dominic smiled.
“This stuff you’re learning is so important. It could change your lives, so don’t muck around or I will be giving out punishments.” Dominic tried to ignore the way a certain one of his students flinched at that word, and was continuously avoiding eye contact. “Anyway. Onto the main part of the lesson--”
“You never said rule number two, sir,” Tom piped up. Matthew sniggered at his side. Dominic supposed the pair had a reputation to uphold, even if Matthew wasn’t being the antagonist this week.
“Thomas, if you keep interrupting me I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough,” Dominic said, before pointing to the diagram that he had projected onto the board. “So! Pregnancy. Someone tell me how it works.”
“Why doesn’t Matthew?” Tiffany said loudly, and Dominic’s insides froze solid. “I’m sure he’s got some bullshit idea to add.”
“Tiffany, out,” Dominic said. Matthew lifted his head from the desk, eyes wide.
“What?!” she screeched.
“I won’t tolerate language like that in my classroom, and I won’t tolerate you talking about another student like that,” Dominic said, holding his ground.
“But you said to Rachel that--”
“I don’t care!” Dominic roared, and the class fell silent. “Get. Out.”
Frightened, Tiffany grabbed her still packed bag and nearly ran for the door. The class continued in perfect silence, and Dominic smiled when it was over and as the students filtered out. He was happy, because he had finally began to grip his class and find his voice. He thanked Matthew for that, he supposed.
Just that moment, the boy himself walked past. Matthew met his eyes for a couple of seconds as he went, but they revealed no secrets. Dominic’s heart sank in his chest, heavy with rejection. Maybe he’d been silly to agree to the break. Maybe it was a ridiculous plan of Matthew’s, to ditch Dominic after he’d gotten what he wanted.
Maybe Matthew didn’t like Dominic, as much as Dominic liked Matthew.
Author:
ashamedbliss
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: 15
Fic summary: Based on the following prompt from
mkmeme, which was: AU Belldom. Dom's in his early 20s, outrageously attractive (obviously) and a sex ed teacher. He's also a nervous virgin. Matt's a bold 17 year old student who discovers "Mr H's" secret shame. And he decides to take matters into his own hands.
Feedback: appreciated like mattalikes on the tube whoops
Disclaimer: much as I and many other ladies would love to own Muse, I don't. This is totally fictional, I'm not making profit, and pretty please don't steal it *bats eyelashes*
Author's Note: Massive thanks to Angela for watching me write this, and for everyone on twitter helping to kick my arse into gear. You guys have no idea how much you all helped. I've got the next chapter plotted too, yay. Also lol sorry not sorry about the ending.
Matthew leant against the back of the bikeshed, exhaling deeply after the first drag of his third cigarette of the day. It had been a few days since he’d left Dominic’s house, and whilst he wasn’t in the actual proximity of the teacher, his mind begged to differ. He’d barely been able to think about anything else, and had noticed he was getting through his cigarettes quicker than usual. Even working on his music coursework and trying to write songs hadn’t helped.
One song, however, that he’d been working on for months but abandoned a few weeks ago had been pulled from the depths of his desk drawers and worked on again. Matthew had laughed as suddenly the words had fit into place and the melody had seemed to work. Dominic appeared to be his muse.
Matthew snorted at the memory as he took another drag of his cigarette. “Got a spare?”
His head whipped around to the female voice. “Kelly,” Matthew grinned, as she squeezed her way down between the fence and the brick wall. When she was close enough, he pulled her into a hug, cigarette outstretched away from them. “Where were you yesterday?” he asked as she pulled back, leaning against the wall next to him as he patted himself down for his cigarette carton, before offering her one.
“Ta,” she said, digging out her own lighter to light it. It dangled from her mouth, dark red lipstick sticking to the white paper. “Couldn’t deal with Mrs Larne’s shit again so I skipped. Soz for not sending you a text,” she said with a shrug.
Up until the second half of Year 12, Kelly had been a sweet girl who dressed in pastels and hung around with the pretty girls in their little clique. She and her friends had started hanging out with some of the footballers, who were in the same kind of social circle as Matthew and all the troublemakers. Matthew laughed; it had been only a matter of time until Kelly found out how to have fun. “No worries,” Matthew replied, zipping his dark red hoodie up a little bit higher before flicking his cigarette down onto the concrete.
Kelly pulled her leather jacket tighter around her, before glancing up at Matthew. “What lessons you got today?” she asked, taking a drag on her cigarette. “Fuck, I needed this.”
“Had music first thing, now got a free, and meant to have English but...”
“Ew,” Kelly sneered, and Matthew laughed. “Well I got in late because I was out over Chris’ last night...” Matthew turned to her and she winked. “Fuck yeah like that!”
“Fucking hell Kels, tell me everything,” Matthew said excitedly. “Didn’t you only start dating a few weeks ago?!” Kelly exhaled her cigarette smoke to the side, tousling up her long brown hair with her free hand.
“Yeah, but... Only if you tell me who the fuck you’ve been caught up on over the last week. Don’t even deny it Bells, I’m not buying your shit.”
Matthew laughed and Kelly dropped her hard girl persona for a moment. “Nah but seriously, want to go get lunch in town? We can gossip and shit about dicks without anyone pissing us off, and get booze for tonight.”
“Perfect,” Matthew said, Kelly beaming up at him. “Are you skipping?”
“No, I’m a good little girl,” she giggled. “I’ve actually got a free, unlike some people. Perfect way to end the week. Jealous?”
Matthew punched Kelly lightly on the arm before they both squeezed out from behind the bike sheds, not bothering to sign out as they began to wander towards town. They talked mainly about the weather (shit), their coursework (shit), and the party that night (hopefully amazing) as they worked their way towards their favourite sandwich shop, the very one Matthew had visited before he’d met Mister Howard on Tuesday afternoon. He shook that thought from his head as they both ordered BLTs before taking a seat at one of the tiny tables by the window.
“Tell me everything about last night,” Matthew said first, Kelly rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless. “If it’s good enough, I might tell you something about what’s happened this week. Maybe.”
“You’re such a cunt,” Kelly laughed, before she sighed. “Fine. So Chris had practice last night and I went along to watch because, you know, I want that dick.” Matthew burst out laughing, choking on the a mouthful of the can of Coke he’d bought. “I can’t fucking take you anywhere,” Kelly whined but she giggled as Matthew wiped his nose.
“For fuck’s sake, you only said that because I was drinking.”
“Maybe,” Kelly smirked, before she continued, tapping her red nails against the table. “Anyway. So I’m hanging out and he’s like, ‘wanna come back to mine? I’ll need to shower’ and you guys are so fucking easy to read, that’s basically a concealed ‘wanna fuck?’, right? So I go back with him and he’s in the shower, I’m sitting on his bed--”
“Touching yourself,” Matthew chipped in, hoping to add to the banter as any teenage boy would. When Kelly simply smiled and looks down at her nails, Matthew laughed loud enough to make the elderly couple at the back of the room turn their heads. “Oh my fucking God, I love you Kelly.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” she said with a bitter tone, but there was still a smile on her face. “So yeah, he comes in and sees me doing that and drops his towel and like, yeah, there’s his dick. Hard and everything, would’ve been a waste otherwise, y’know?”
“You are brilliant,” Matthew said slowly, as the waitress appeared with their sandwiches, the bacon sizzling hot between the lettuce and tomatoes. “And you stayed the night?”
“Yeah, kinda accidentally. I snuck out this morning before his parents woke up, and managed to get into my own room before mine did, so... win win?” she giggled. “Anyway, you heard my goss, tell me yours.”
Matthew blushed behind his sandwich, just as he had with Tom on the morning of going to Dominic’s house when asked the same question. “Well, first, it’s a guy,” Matthew said carefully, knowing Kelly wouldn’t mind and would much rather hear the juicy details as opposed to Tom.
Kelly grinned, waving her hand. “I thought it would’ve been a guy, otherwise you wouldn’t have been so secretive about it. You’re usually bragging at the top of your voice about how you’re knee deep in clunge.” Kelly tried an impression and Matthew simply put his head in his hands.
“God, I used to be embarrassing.”
“You still are.”
“Thanks Kels,” Matthew said, before smiling and eating more of his sandwich. “But... I mean... It’s only been a thing since the start of this week, but I already feel like...”
Kelly whistled lowly. “Wow. He’s got you wrapped round his little finger,” she laughed, and Matthew smiled because he had nothing to say about that. “Hey, you gonna bring him to the party tonight?”
Matthew tried not to choke on his sandwich at the very thought. “Um, no, it’s not really his scene,” Matthew said quickly, suddenly feeling a bit weird.
“Bells, what’s got you like this? He’s not dodgy, is he? You’re acting strange,” Kelly said, frowning and leaning forward. “Is he a dealer or something?”
Matthew laughed nervously. “Quite the opposite actually, he’s a goody-two-shoes,” Matthew said, a smile spreading across his face before he stopped himself. “Kels, can you keep a secret?”
Kelly’s face softened. This was the first time Matthew had asked this of her. “‘Course, Bells,” she said with a sweet smile.
“I mean like, this is a fucking huge secret. If you told someone you’d actually ruin his life.”
Kelly blinked, eyebrows raising. “Sure, babe,” she said, “I’m not that cruel. Y’know, under all this leather and stunning beauty there’s still quite a nice little girl.”
Matthew snorted, before shaking his head. His face grew serious as he took a deep breath in. “This guy... it’s Mister Howard.”
To Kelly’s credit, she took the news very well. She stayed silent, her eyes flicked up to the ceiling. “I can imagine that, actually,” she said, and a smile grew on her face. “That’s kind of cute. He’s not that old, is he?”
“He’s twenty-three,” Matthew replied, still feeling anxious. Kelly hummed, still smiling.
“And you like him?”
Matthew smiled, just thinking about the way Dominic had held him tight a few nights ago as they had drifted off to sleep together. “It’s kind of frightening how fast I’ve fallen for him. Especially because we kind of, ha, jumped in at the deep end,” Matthew said as a blush crept up his cheeks, Kelly smacking his arm.
“No way!” she said. “And you didn’t tell me?!” Her face was one of absolute surprise. Matthew shrugged.
“It’s not something I can go around telling people, really. You’re my best mate Kels, you’re the only person I’m going to tell. Well, and Tom, but he’s basically--”
“--the brother you never had, I know. Jesus you two are annoying,” she laughed. “But... wow, that was fast. Wait, isn’t he teaching sex-ed now?”
“Yeah. That’s when it all kind of began, ironically,” Matthew said, giggling a little. He felt a bit less nervous now that his ‘big secret’ was out to the last person who he would be telling it to, for the meantime. “You shouldn’t have skipped. God knows what Monday’s lesson is going to be like.”
“Aw, will he be sending you lovey eyes from across the room?” Kelly teased. Matthew glared at her.
“We’re not seeing each other for a few weeks, because... it’s difficult. It’s going to be one of those all or nothing ones, and that’s kind of scary. Like we’re going to have to jump in or jump ship, if that make sense.”
Kelly smiled at the sight of Matthew, fiddling with some of the crumbs on his now empty plate. “Look at you,” she said, and he looked up at her with a quizzical expression. “You’ve fallen hard and fast for him, whether you like it or not. And I mean, think about it, you kind of know him, don’t you? Like, you can kind of assess what type of person he is, because you’ve been in his classes and all that. Like...” she drawled as she paused, waving one of her dainty hands around in the air, a mannerism she’d picked up off Matthew. “Like, he’s going to be a good guy, because he’s a teacher. Educated. Speaks French, that’s pretty hot if you think about--”
“Kels.”
“Alright, but you get my gist? I think you’re kind of allowed to fall fast and hard, because it’s like... it’s like something you’ve seen everyday for years, and until you went and actually got it you didn’t realise how much you loved it. I don’t know, I can’t explain. But I don’t blame you. It’s nice to see you like this, actually.”
Matthew smiled. “Is that meant to be a compliment?”
Kelly laughed. “If you complimented me more I would compliment you more often. I fucking dyed my hair last weekend and you didn’t say a word, dick’ead.” They both giggled, before deciding to go. They slid off their seats and paid at the till, before walking back outside.
“So, you game for tonight then? Without Mister Howard, of course,” Kelly laughed, linking arms with Matthew.
“‘Course. Can we get some Archers from the offy? I think I need to get drunk,” Matthew laughed.
“Fair. I’ve got work tomorrow morning,” Kelly said, pulling a dramatic face of despair, “so I’m only drinking light. I’ll make sure you don’t go and, like, tell everyone you’re fucking the French teacher.”
“Thanks Kels.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” she giggled, and Matthew pulled her closer by the arm in agreement. Kelly was, by far, one of the best friends he could’ve asked for.
~
Kelly had knocked at Matthew’s house later that night, and so they were now making their way to the party at Tom’s, as his parents were away for the weekend. Kelly babbled on about all the people that were going to be there, and how she hoped Chris would be there too, but Matthew was trying desperately to simply not think of how lonely he would feel all night.
“I’m in so fucking deep,” Matthew said, more to himself than anything, during a lull in conversation. Kelly patted his arm soothingly.
“You’ll be fine, Bells. Just drink and forget everything, you know?” she said, as they turned the corner onto the street, music already pouring from the illuminated house. “I guess that’s the one,” she laughed, tugging Matthew down the road.
Inside, it was absolutely rammed. There were people everywhere and alcohol in every other available space. Matthew quickly poured himself an Archers and lemonade, with worrying little lemonade and a lot of Archers. He was going to drink, and dance, and forget all about Dominic Howard.
~
Matthew groaned awake, cracking open his eyelids to blinding sunlight. With a whine, he shut them again, before trying to burrow under the covers. Except, there were no covers. He sat up a little, looking around. He was in a bathtub, in a bathroom he didn’t recognise, with no shirt on and the taste of sick in his mouth.
“Fuck,” he whispered hoarsely, trying to sit up further before his head started spinning. “Gross.”
Kelly appeared in the doorway with a knowing smile on her face. “Morning, princess,” she said, skipping lightly to the mirror to unpin and redo her hair. Matthew simply groaned in response, before slumping back down in the bathroom again. “You were an absolute fucking mess last night,” she said, enunciating every word, “but you still manage to surprise me every time you get drunk.”
Matthew blinked slowly. “What?” he asked in a gravelly tone. His head hurt. A lot.
“Every time a girl came up to you, you pushed her away saying that you were taken,” Kelly said, an adoring little smile on her face. “It was so cute. You even tried to push me away, even though I’m not interested in going anywhere near your mangy dick.”
“Thanks,” he murmured, putting a hand over his face and dragging it slowly down over his features. “Did I say his name?”
“Nah,” Kelly said, before turning to Matthew. “You just kept going on about having someone and wanting to be loyal to them. You wouldn’t even kiss anyone in truth or dare so we kicked you out, you didn’t even mind. Such a cutie!” she teased, and Matthew groaned at her. “Fine, fine, I’m off to work. Oh, and I was the one figuratively holding your hair last night when you were puking, so if you feel like buying me a coffee some time tomorrow while I’m at work that’d be fab,” she said over her shoulder as she left.
Matthew turned on his side in the tub, trying to fall asleep again, or at least willing the pain in his head to go away. He felt awful, but a tiny part of him was happy he’d acted like that when he was drunk, even if he couldn’t remember any of it. Drunken words were sober thoughts, after all, and seeing as Matthew’s thoughts had been all over the place, it seemed that the party had helped him decide.
~
Matthew sat at the back of the classroom, early for once, with Tom to his right and Kelly to his left. He would never admit it to either of them, but he had butterflies in his stomach at the thought of seeing Mister Howard for the first time in nearly a week.
Well, he’d caught glimpses of him in corridors, or perhaps through his office door if he’d been headed that way (or had wandered that way out of sheer curiosity and absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see the teacher, at all, whatsoever). But as Mister Howard entered the room, Matthew’s stomach did a flip. Kelly and Tom did nothing, Matthew having already threatened to cut off their balls (“but I’m a girl!” “still applies, Kels”) if they so much as thought about insinuating that something was going on between the pair.
“Afternoon everyone,” Mister Howard said, and Matthew bathed in the sound of his voice. He grimaced as he reminded himself, once again, that he was completely and utterly in the shit when it came to how hard he’d fallen for the teacher. “Today, we’re going to talk about pregnancy. How people get pregnant, contraception methods other than condoms and more generally preventing pregnancy.”
“He seems a lot more confident this week,” one of the girls on the other side of the classroom stage-whispered to her friend. Matthew tensed up, even though he had no need to. “Maybe he finally got laid.”
Mister Howard reacted immediately. “That’ll be more than you’ve had this week then, Rachel,” he quipped. The class went “ooh” in unison as Mister Howard made a circuit of the room, handing out worksheets. Matthew was treated exactly the same as the rest of the class, Dominic made sure of that.
“Right,” Dominic said, standing at the front of the class. He could see Matthew at the back, but was trying not to pay him any attention. It’d been a long week and he’d missed him terribly, but he wasn’t about to reveal that to the rest of his students, or risk anything by even trying to reveal that to Matthew. “I’m going to lay down some ground rules, now that we’re settling into this sex education programme well. Number one is that no one is to make remarks about anyone’s sexual activity, orientation, preferences et cetera from now on. Do I make myself clear?”
The class grumbled “yes sir”. Dominic smiled.
“This stuff you’re learning is so important. It could change your lives, so don’t muck around or I will be giving out punishments.” Dominic tried to ignore the way a certain one of his students flinched at that word, and was continuously avoiding eye contact. “Anyway. Onto the main part of the lesson--”
“You never said rule number two, sir,” Tom piped up. Matthew sniggered at his side. Dominic supposed the pair had a reputation to uphold, even if Matthew wasn’t being the antagonist this week.
“Thomas, if you keep interrupting me I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough,” Dominic said, before pointing to the diagram that he had projected onto the board. “So! Pregnancy. Someone tell me how it works.”
“Why doesn’t Matthew?” Tiffany said loudly, and Dominic’s insides froze solid. “I’m sure he’s got some bullshit idea to add.”
“Tiffany, out,” Dominic said. Matthew lifted his head from the desk, eyes wide.
“What?!” she screeched.
“I won’t tolerate language like that in my classroom, and I won’t tolerate you talking about another student like that,” Dominic said, holding his ground.
“But you said to Rachel that--”
“I don’t care!” Dominic roared, and the class fell silent. “Get. Out.”
Frightened, Tiffany grabbed her still packed bag and nearly ran for the door. The class continued in perfect silence, and Dominic smiled when it was over and as the students filtered out. He was happy, because he had finally began to grip his class and find his voice. He thanked Matthew for that, he supposed.
Just that moment, the boy himself walked past. Matthew met his eyes for a couple of seconds as he went, but they revealed no secrets. Dominic’s heart sank in his chest, heavy with rejection. Maybe he’d been silly to agree to the break. Maybe it was a ridiculous plan of Matthew’s, to ditch Dominic after he’d gotten what he wanted.
Maybe Matthew didn’t like Dominic, as much as Dominic liked Matthew.