Physical education was being held outside that day and Thorne couldn’t seem to convince Coach Emile, an arrogant and sturdy man with the strongest jaw ever, to let him stay indoors. Not that Thorne minded being outside, but there were some things that made being outside insufferable.

The Sun was the main one.

Thorne has terribly sensitive skin. He burns so easily that not even the best sunscreen will allow him to be in the sunlight for too long. His only real protection was his parasol and his long clothes, as Thorne always made sure that his skin was never completely exposed to the Sun. The warmth was nice, but the rays were deadly.

It was the Sun’s rays that killed his Aunt Carmilla.

She liked the beach, but it certainly didn’t like her...

He is slightly relieved when Coach Emile lets him sit on the sidelines because the man is aware of the fact that Thorne will indeed get a sunburn. The coach just refuses to let Thorne out of his sight, and quite frankly, Thorne can’t blame him. When your teacher catches wind that you might be a terror of the night, they’ll never let you out of their sight and despite vampires being an “urban legend”, Coach Emile was just crazy enough to believe it.

So, Thorne takes it upon himself to watch the rest of his classmate's play dodgeball on the blacktop, some getting more into it than others. He watches one girl take a ball to the gut, another get smacked in the leg, and Coach Emile gets hit in the head with the biggest ball they have. Thorne chuckles to himself at the sight.

Slowly but surely, others begin to join Thorne on the bleachers, some wincing at the area where the ball hit them and others trying to guess who will get out next. While listening to their muses, his gaze settles on Jordan, a boy that Thorne thinks of as his friend. Though, if you asked Jordan, he’d say they were best friends. Thorne doesn’t know why. He can think of people who are much closer to Jordan than he is. And yet, Jordan never faltered to call Thorne his best friend. It was..sweet. Jordan was always sweet.

He called Thorne the moon on a clear night, refined and elegant with an air of mystery around him. Thorne assumes that Jordan is the sun then.

If the sun had warm green eyes that Thorne swears can see right through him or messy ash brown hair that Thorne just needs to fix half the time...then, yes. Jordan is the sun.

Jordan must’ve caught Thorne looking at him, because Thorne is taken aback when Jordan waves at him from his place on the court, not paying attention to the game at all. Thorne knows this, otherwise, Jordan would have seen the ball heading straight towards his head.

Of course, being hit in the head would’ve definitely hurt, but right before the ball connects with the side of Jordan’s head, he turns back around.

Suddenly, the red sphere that would’ve hit him in the head hits Jordan right in the face and the impact sends Jordan falling back onto the pavement. Thorne can already see the stars around his head.

And the entire class erupts.

They all descend the bleachers, some running inside for help and others berating the other student, Ezekiel Evans, for throwing the ball at Jordan’s face, insisting that it was an accident.

It was, but the damage had been done.

Thorne rushed down too, forgoing his parasol just to make sure Jordan is alright. Immediately, it becomes apparent to him that Jordan is dazed, laughing like he didn’t take a dodgeball to the face. He also realizes Jordan’s nose is bleeding quite a bit. When he sees Thorne, he starts smiling like an idiot, probably because he thinks that Thorne is about to pick him up and carry him inside so Jordan can coo at Thorne about being his knight in shining armor. He thinks that Thorne will scold him for not paying attention to his surroundings but worrying about Jordan anyway. Then, he thinks Thorne will take Jordan home afterward and take care of him until he gets better.

And Jordan would be correct.

Thorne huffs, picking Jordan up easily while his classmates look at him in awe. Jordan isn’t that heavy, or maybe that’s just Thorne’s supernatural strength doing the talking.

Jordan really was as light as a feather.

No one says anything as Thorne takes him inside, although Thorne does hear one of the girls mention his parasol once he’s at the door.

“My hero,” Jordan teases, wrapping his arms around Thorne’s neck. “God, my face hurts…”

“That’s what you get for looking at me instead of paying attention. Do you even realize your nose is bleeding?”

“My what?”

Thorne rolls his eyes, watching as Jordan presses his finger under his nose, letting out a soft ‘oh’, at the sight of his own blood. Thorne can, unfortunately, smell it. Fresh blood had a terribly strong smell, and Thorne couldn’t exactly ignore it if he wanted to. This isn’t the first time Jordan’s gotten hurt but Thorne realizes he wouldn’t be starting to lose it over some little cut. He has better control than that. It was the slow accumulation that was starting to make Thorne twitch, despite it trickling from Jordan’s nose of all places.

God, he felt gross.

“Do you think the nurse is in today?” Jordan asks, pulling Thorne from his thoughts.

“S-She should be. What day is it?”

“Friday. She’s a little iffy on Fridays.”

“Well, we won’t know until we get down there,” Thorne says. “Does your face still hurt?”

“Like hell…I think I hit my shoulder too.”

“At least it was your shoulder instead of your head. You really could’ve gotten severely hurt. You have to pay attention.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not upset. I just want you to take care of yourself.”

“Why would I do that when I have you?” Jordan muses. “You’re so dependable and strong. You’re like...the perfect husband!”

“Whatever…” Thorne murmurs.

Jordan's head was probably still spinning.

Probably.