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Jonah glanced off into the distance. Edward stared at the back of his head and sighed, “Something on your mind?” Jonah stayed silent and Edward gave up trying to make conversation. “What’s up with him?” He asked Troy who sat beside him.
Troy just grinned, “I think someone’s got a crush!” Edward followed Jonah’s eye line, only to see a girl in their class sitting across the yard from them. The girl was Sadie.
Edward’s heart dropped instantly. “That’s…nice.” He said, attempting to sound optimistic. Troy studied his friend, gazing up into his eyes and noticing a silent pain hidden inside. “Are you alright, Edward?” He said quietly. Edward quickly nodded and put on his best fake smile. Their friend group had just finished a tough PE rugby match on the last day of school and had decided to follow their year group to the local park. As it was winter, the sun was rapidly setting, casting dark shadows over everyone. Edward stared off into space whilst Troy rested on him. “What’s up with you and Jonah anyway?” He asked. Silence.Over to the side, Harold and Lucas were sitting together talking to Sienna and Ellie. As Harold was trying to explain how sudoku works, Sienna noticed that the boys hands were interlocked. Lucas saw Sienna looking at their hands and quickly pulled away. Harold briefly glanced at Lucas, stuttering, before continuing and covering their slip up. Sienna said nothing but smiled cheerily, pointing between the two. Lucas turned red and muttered something incoherent. Suddenly, Joseph joined the group. “Hi guys!” He grinned. Ellie blushed and patted the ground next to her.
“Did you get a haircut?” She asked, starting a conversation. Joseph slid his arm over her shoulders.
“Does it look to your standards?”
“It’s cute!”
Whilst the two conversed, Sienna continued talking to Harold and Lucas. “So…when did you guys become a thing?”
Harry rolled his eyed dramatically, “We’re not ‘a thing’.”
As he said that, Lucas leant forwards and slid back a stray hair on Harold’s slick back. “Yeah, right.” Sienna paused looking them up and down, “But I was talking to Ellie and Joseph.”
“Ah.” Harold muttered.Over at Jonah’s group, Edward was still staring off into space. “Hello? Are you there?” Nothing Troy said was reaching Edward. He guessed that the boy was somewhat heart broken. Troy sighed sadly. He had discovered that Edward had a crush on Jonah only weeks ago. He was the first person to realise and the first person Edward went to for help. Even with Edwards crush on another, Troy found himself drawn to Edward. He had realised he had little chance early on and had kept up hope. Maybe he had a shot? Love was in the air anyway. Jonah was also staring into space, but at Sadie. The girl sat a few metres away with her friends, yet for Jonah, the distance felt endless. Maybe he should break the ice? He had no idea how to talk to her. Shaking away his nerves, Jonah decided to just go for it. As he stood up, he didn’t notice Edward reach out to him and begin to talk. Jonah walked away, leaving Edward with his mouth open and arm stuck out.
Toby gently folded Edwards arm into his lap and rubbed his friends shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Edward was overcome with emotions and anger was a main one. Lashing out, he shoved Troy away. “I’m going on a walk.” He said before storming off in the opposite direction of Jonah. Troy sat dumbfounded for a moment before snapping to his senses. He knew how reckless Edward could be at times and didn’t want his best friend to get hurt. “Edward wait!” He cried and followed the angry boy.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Soon, Ellie and Joseph left to talk to Darcey and Sadie, leaving Sienna with Harold and Lucas. “So guys…” Sienna clapped her hands together. After a long awkward silence, Harold speaks, “You can’t tell anyone!”
“Ok…?” Sienna shifted backwards. The boys looked between themselves, then down at their hands again. “If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t make it so obvious.”
Lucas smirked slightly and Harold sighed. “I just don’t know how people are going to react!” Harold said quietly. Sienna smiled,
“You‘ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Jonah made his way over to Sadie’s group, oblivious to everything that had happened with Edward, and stood there awkwardly.
“Oh, hi!” Sadie looked up to him. Jonah nodded and stood still. “…Want to sit down?”
“Oh right, yeah.” The group continued their conversation and Jonah sat quietly, his rush of confidence faded. “And that’s when I walked into the room!” Darcey was finishing a story and everyone laughed, but Jonah noticed that Sadie was shivering. “Are you alright? Story too scary huh?” Jonah teased. Sadie rolled her eyes.
“Oh shush.” She laughed. The pair looked at one another for a few moments. “Would you like my coat?” Sadie blushed and hid her face. “I’m fine.” Jonah ignored her and draped his coat over her shoulders anyway.Sadie smiled at Jonah, “Thanks.” Jonah grinned, “You should be wearing better winter clothes.”
“You sound like my mother.” Sadie said sarcastically. They laughed together for a while and joined in the group conversation. Across the field, Edward watched the entire interaction. Fury boiled in his chest but he daren’t say a word. Troy caught up to him, panting. “You’ve been walking in circles for the past ten minutes!” He grumbled. Edward blanked him, “Bitch.” He muttered.
“What?” Edward walked away, tears brimming in his eyes. As he walked around the park, memories of his experiences with Jonah flooded his mind. All of a sudden, Edward paused. He looked down at his jumper and realised he was still wearing the hoodie that Jonah had given to him. Edward pondered whether he should keep it or not but he bitterly decided to rip it off and leave it on the ground. He was now upset and cold. Troy shook his head and ran up to Edward, picking up the jumper. “Snap out of it!” He yelled. Edward jumped and stared blankly at his friend. There were tears forming in Troy’s eyes too. “I know that you’re sad but please talk to me!” Troy was holding in his tears. Edward stopped, unaware of what to do.He didn’t know how to comfort people so he just did what he saw a lot of people do, he hugged Troy. Troy froze but melted into the touch. The pair stood out of sight for a while before Troy backed away. “Thank you.” He sniffled quietly. Edward nodded and turned to leave. Troy watched his friend exit before turning to his peers back at the field. Not knowing what to do with himself, he walked over to see his friends David and John.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
David and John had been dating for a while, they were basically the parents of Troy’s friend group. When Troy approached them, John immediately recognising that he had been crying. “Are you alright?” He sprung up. Troy shrugged his shoulders and took a seat next to David. “Could be better.” David and John shared a look of worry. “Tell us what happened.” David said quietly. And so he did. John was unaware of what to say by the end and David sat with a hand on the back of his neck. “Are you alright?” John placed his hand on Troy’s back. Tears brimmed in his eyes once more but this time he let them out. He felt safe with David and John but he couldn’t cry in front of Edward, it wasn’t right as he was struggling more.
Still talking to Harold and Lucas, Sienna asked them about their relationship. “We’ve been dating for a week.” Lucas answered, holding Harold’s hand. Sienna rubbed her chin, “With the way you two have flirted at break and in French, you could’ve fooled me as a couple on their second year.” She laughed. The boys grumbled but still smiled. A realisation hit them, they could be accepted.The three decided to move over to where everyone was now gathering, a campfire made by Hugo and Liam. Sienna ran off to sit with Amy and Sally meanwhile Lucas and Harold chose to sit together, no longer afraid of being seen. Troy sat with John and David, Sadie sat with Jonah and everyone huddled with their friends. The sun had set and the evening sky was a beautiful shade of blue. Ellie sat with Joseph but she noticeably kept glancing over at Darcey, as if enthralled by her. After a while of chatter and bonding, Hugo encouraged everyone to sing a song around the fire. The night was peaceful and fun, everyone enjoying themselves, well, almost everyone. As the hours passed, David couldn’t help but notice John talking to some girls. Amy and Sally were in a deep conversation with John and David felt left out. Guiltily, he looked away, not wanting anyone to notice his jealousy.Meanwhile, Troy checked his phone at every notification. He hoped that he would get a message from Edward or at least an update on their shared location app to check where he was. After a while, a message came through that Edward was still in the park, only on the other side. He was stationary near some trees so Troy decided it was best he looked for him. Bidding his goodbyes to the group, Troy found himself tracking Edwards location, only to find the boy sitting alone on a bench. Nervously, he approached Edward and sat down next to him. The area was silent, a large contrast to the campfire setting. “You found me.” Edward said quietly. He turned and faced Troy, a playful smile over his face. “This is nice.” He said under his breath, gazing into Troy’s eyes. Troy’s breathing hitched and the world paused. After what felt like infinity, Edward turned and faced the sky. “The sky looks pretty tonight.” Troy was still staring at where Edwards face was moments ago so Edward gently tipped his friends face upwards. “Oh…right.” Troy looked up to the dark blue sky. It was beautiful, but he preferred looking into Edwards eyes.Feeling courage inside of him, Troy rested his head onto Edward’s shoulder and the pair sat quietly, letting the world continue without them.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Back at the campfire, things were running smoothly. Couples where sat together watching the fire and friends enjoyed each other’s company. Darcey and Ellie, two best friends, huddling together under the same coat and making jokes. Joseph was chatting with John and David sat behind them, longing to be included. Sadie rested slightly on Jonah’s chest as they sat quietly together, listening into other peoples conversations. “Where’s Edward and Troy gone?” Sienna stated suddenly.
John called out, “I think they went home.” Sienna looked over to Amy and Sally and smiled, “Oooh definitely!” Amy winked. John subtly shook his head at the statement, acknowledging Troy’s previous displeasures. Aside from the missing pair, the rest of the night went smoothly and soon, everyone apart from four people had left. Liam, Hugo, Amy and Sienna all walked around, removing all traces of the fire and any litter that had been dropped. The whole time, Liam eyed Hugo and Amy, who were chatting non stop. Jealousy bubbled up inside of him but he didn’t say a word. It’s not like his situationship, Hugo, would go for his ex Amy again right?But that look, the look Hugo have Amy whenever she spoke, whenever she laughed, it was too painful for Liam too bare. He looked away and stayed silent. “What’s put your mood down?” Sienna asked, handing Liam a bin bag. He shrugged. “Just tired I guess.” The group finished and made their way out of the park, when they passed Edward and Troy. The pair had fallen asleep together on a bench. “Awwww!” Sienna cooed.
“I’m so getting a picture of this.” Amy whipped out her phone and started snapping photos. “Edward.” Liam called. Edward stirred slightly before noticing the group. “Ahh- it’s nothing!” He attempted to shove Toby off of him but the boy was in a deep sleep. Not wanting to wake him, Edgar sighed and sat back, admitting defeat. “Well I never.” Hugo joked. Edward dramatically rolled his eyes,
“Say what you want, the real problem is how to I get him home?”Liam tapped his fingers together, “I mean, you could just carry him? He is quite short so…” Edward grumbled, not really inviting the idea of carrying someone all the way to their house- wait where did Troy live? Edward shook Troy a few times but the boy was fully gone. “Here-“ Hugo reached over to help pick Troy up but Edward pulled Troy towards him. “I can do it.” He said. Why was he getting defensive? He didn’t know. Hugo put his hands up, “Whatever you say!” Pondering for a few moments, Edward decided it was easier to just take Troy back to his house. His family were all on a trip without him and the guest room was free. Making up his mind, Edward lifter Troy onto his back and followed the others out of the park. Walking up a crossroads, the group split up, going different directions. Edward continued trekking home with Troy on his back. The boy wasn’t heavy, Edward just didn’t enjoy the walk. When he made it to his front door, he struggled getting his keys but made it inside. His back aching, Edward opted to carry Troy in his arms instead. Each step he took depleted his energy and by the time he made up upstairs, he was about to collapse. Making it to his room, Edward dropped Troy onto his bed before promptly passing out beside him.