Conner had never wished so badly to be anywhere else. He was trembling, already feeling the lump in his throat. He had to suppress the desire to punch Mike, square in the nose.

Erik didn’t miss a beat, his voice having a sudden edge, "Yeah, I know. So? What's your point?"

Conner looked up at Erik. He wasn't sure if it was the blur of tears or his imagination, but for a moment the light bouncing off Erik's hair looked like a halo.

Mike snarled, shaking his head. "Whatever. I'll give this to Tim." He closed the door before Erik could say anything else.

Erik's face crumpled as he looked at Conner. His hand twitched forward, finding its way to Conner's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Conner nodded, not wanting to talk about it. "Yeah, I'm fine." It was a lie. Then, after a pause, “Did you really know I was gay?” he asked, swallowing hard.

There was a small unbearable moment where Erik looked at him blankly. “No, I didn’t. Only now, when I saw the look you gave me,” he said quietly, “but I mean what I said to Mike. So what? I don’t care. It doesn’t change anything.”

Conner blinked up at him. “You really mean that?”

“Of course I do. C'mon, let's head back.” Erik put his arm around Conner’s shoulders, pulling him into his side as they began walking back to their dorm. Conner hadn’t realized how much taller Erik really was—half a foot at least.

Conner looked at their feet, walking slightly out of step. He didn’t want to reach the dorm. He wanted to walk like this with Erik’s arm around him, keeping him safe and grounded.

Erik unlocked their door, stepping into the room and hanging his coat in the small shared closet. Conner closed the door slowly, wondering if what had happened would remain an awkward, unsaid, tension between them. He couldn't risk that. “Thank you…for saying that to Mike,” he managed.

Erik sat at his desk, opening his laptop. “Pssh, that guy’s a dick. With everything going on at school, I’m surprised he has the balls to make a comment like that.” Erik leaned over the back of his chair, smiling at Conner as he said, “He already got reprimanded by the dean, from what I heard at the assembly. Next time though, if there is one, you gotta stand up to him, okay?”

Conner’s heart was acid. He felt like he might be sick, thinking back to the last time he had stood up to Michael Farley. Conner didn’t say anything; Erik was busy on his computer in any case. Conner grabbed his pajamas, heading towards the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. He didn’t care that it was barely seven-thirty, he couldn’t think about any of it: the vandalism, Charlotte’s fear, Jannet’s prying, Anthony’s ranting…Michael…Erik.

He especially couldn’t think anymore about Erik.

He just needed to fall asleep.

~~~

Conner's dreams were filled with Erik dressed in nothing but a towel, forcing him to eat insane amounts of food. 

The strangely vivid images were interrupted abruptly by an annoying, barring, alarm. For a moment Conner thought he'd try to ignore the noise-likely his alarm clock-but was suddenly shaken awake by a worried, "Conner! Conner, c'mon, we need to leave!"

Conner tried to pry his eyes open, groggily. “What? What time is it?”

Erik yanked him up hard, the panic in his voice sobering Conner. “There’s a fire. We have to get out of here.”

This was the third year Conner had attended Silverside and there had never been a fire. They’d had drills, most of which were used as an excuse to chat among friends. As Conner found himself becoming more alert, Erik practically dragging him out of bed, he could smell the smoke.

Erik pulled him up and out of the room, where there was a sudden shock at how many people were in the hallway. Conner had never expected to feel panic, but as he was swallowed up by the worried crowd, he felt suffocated.

A hand caught his, Erik pulling him into his side tightly. "Stay close," he hissed, looking over people to make out a clear path. His hair was wild and disheveled, his leather jacket flung over soft gray pajamas. He was carrying his neon orange bag, and his feet were stuffed inside his winter boots.

Conner hadn't brought his bag or jacket, and as he looked at the ground, saw that he was barefoot, wearing a thin long sleeve and plaid flannel pants.

He was grateful he hadn't been in just his boxers.

Erik looked at him, seeming to share the thought with Conner. "Shit. You're going to freeze."

For a moment Conner thought that Erik might take off his jacket and give it to him. Instead, he pulled Conner to the side of the hall, entering an open door to someone's empty bedroom. He quickly grabbed the duvet off the bed, wrapping it tightly around Conner's shoulders. "I’m an idiot for not grabbing your shoes."

Conner debated saying the ever so cool line, ‘well, you could carry me' but just replied with, "It’s fine. I’ll live."

Students and teachers filed outside, huddled together for warmth. As the two of them were ushered towards the school field, damp with dew, Conner’s feet immediately went painfully numb.

He looked over his shoulder at the school, shocked by what he was seeing.

Fire was blazing against the black sky, thick columns of smoke billowing with the wind; there were even red sparks coming off the building. Then, without warning, an explosion rocked the ground, roaring into the night as shingles and chunks of debris fell, still on fire.

Conner grabbed Erik instinctively, jumping. "Holy shit," Conner said, shaking his head as he felt Erik’s hand on his back, pressing him into his chest, "is that the science department?" His heart was hammering, either in fear of the explosion or because Erik still had his arms around him, he wasn't entirely sure.

Erik's eyes reflected the burning building. "I can't tell from here,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and distant, stunned.

Conner's gaze broke away from the flame's as something in the dark caught his eye. A figure, dressed in all black, exited the school from a window, rippling in the smoke and shadows. 

They stopped for a moment. Though they were a fair distance away, it was like they were looking at Conner, realizing he was watching them. They were wearing a black mask, obscuring their face, leaving them unrecognizable. After realizing Conner wasn't going to approach them, they disappeared around the side of the school.

Conner's mind echoed back to what he had said to Charlotte; how putting something in writing was different than acting on it. Conner looked back at the fire, a sense of unease washing over him.

Had this really just been a freak accident?

Erik was unaware of what Conner had just witnessed as he said, absentmindedly, "Thank god we're not in there."

"Let’s hope no one is," Conner breathed in reply, beyond relieved that Erik had woken him, and, most of all, that he was safe.

If Conner had been braver, he might have gone after the person he'd seen. He was about to look for a professor or dorm administrator to inform of the figure, when Erik shifted closer to him, still holding him tightly.

Conner stayed where he was.