It was Keith’s first day of primary school during lunch break. He had been outside, playing with his action figures on the lawns when he found himself rubbing his tired, tear filled eyes as he was pushed over into the muddy grass by three larger boys. He gasped painfully as he hit the wet ground with a thud, biting his wobbling lip as his brand-new pants immediately stained a dark brown colour. The young boy looked up through his long black hair, which had fallen in front of his face as he sobbed silently to himself. 

“You’re weird!”

“Yeah, look at you hair, you look like a girl! Only girls have long hair!”

“Girly girl, girly girl!”

Keith looked down at the ground as the three boys circled around him, fists clenched on his thighs as they began calling him names and stomping in the puddles of water that soaked Keith through. He wrapped his arms around his small fragile body and prayed that they’d stop, that he didn’t have to be there anymore, that he could go home.

 He didn’t speak up, too shy and scared when he heard another pair of footsteps approach. He whimpered and tightened his arms around himself, preparing for more hateful words and splashes of water when a loud smack echoed through the air. Keith heard a loud cry and gasped, looking up to find the three boys running away. He stared up, and saw a fourth boy that he didn’t recognise, fists clenched and standing protectively over Keith’s crouched body.

“Yeah you better run away!”

 Keith’s eyes widened as he stared up at the unknown boy. This boy was tan, only a pair of shorts and a striped worn-out shirt covering his slim frame, despite the cold weather. He had brown hair that had ruffled slightly in the wind and a band aid covering his left cheek. But his eyes, Keith couldn’t help but gasp audibly as those bright blue eyes met his own.

 “Here!” the boy smiled, reaching a hand down for Keith to take.

 Keith hesitated slightly before he slowly reached up and gripped the boys warm hand, letting the smiling boy help him climb from the muddy patch that he’d been so rudely pushed into. He stood up straight and looked over the boy with curious eyes. “You stopped those boys?” he asked unsurely.

 The boy chuckled and nodded his head proudly, holding his chin up. “They were being mean to you! And I don’t like that. Bullies are mean and deserve to be hit.” He chuckled once again before smiling at Keith. “And I don’t think your hair is girly.” He said honestly, eyes shining as he spoke. “I like it.”

 Keith’s eyes widened at the comment and he quickly dropped the boy’s hand, moving to scratch his arm with a small pout. He had never been given a compliment like that, it made his heart warm, and cheeks grow red. “T-Thank you, for helping me and stuff, you didn’t have to. You’ll get in trouble now.” Keith said, looking up at the boy as he rubbed the bit of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes back behind his ear.

 “That’s okay! I need a friend, I haven’t made one yet and when I saw those boys annoying you, I thought you could be my friend.” The boy still had that proud smile on his face as he held out his hand once more for Keith to take. “You’re Keith, I know because we’re in the same class. My name is Lance, it’s nice to meet you!”

 A small smile formed on Keith’s face as he reached back out, more confidentially this time to shake Lance’s hand. A friend? He had never had one of those before. “Nice to meet you too.” He chuckled, shaking Lance’s hand firmly as his smile grew impossibly wider. Maybe his first day wasn’t turning out to be so bad after all.

--

“Keith? Keith!”

 The black-haired boy was abruptly pulled out his memory at the harsh sound of his teacher’s voice. He gasped quietly as he sat up from his table, flushed and shaken as he realised he had been laying down on his desk, completely zoned out and not paying attention to the lesson.

 “Care to explain why you’re sleeping in my class young man?”

Keith fiddled with his fingers as he noticed the stern look on Mr Roberts face and stuttered over his words. “I-I, uh, sorry.” he spoke softly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head nervously. He hadn’t meant to zone out and had certainly not meant to think of him.

“After all the lessons you’ve missed recently, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do Keith. I suggest you pay attention and do some work.” Keith blushed and looked down at the table in embarrassment, not missing the numerous pairs of eyes that landed on him and the snide chuckles deriving from the other students. “Sorry, won’t happen again, I promise.” Keith said.

 Mr Roberts huffed before turning to face the whole class. “Alright everyone quiet down and carry on with your work, I’ll be back shortly.” He spoke before swiftly walking out the classroom, leaving them all to their own devices. Keith sighed in relief as he left and looked back down at the books and papers covering his messy table.

 Throughout his entire education, English had always been Keith’s favourite subject, especially when it came to writing. He loved how so many meaningful emotions could be explained so profoundly through mere words. He loved the happiness, the sadness and anger that he could feel from writing. He loved reading stories, relating his personal experiences to the fictional world and using that passion to write what’s on his own mind. Mostly, he loved having the space to spend time to write and not be criticised, but encouraged. It was a place where Keith felt most comfortable and safe, surrounded by literature of all kinds.

 It had always been his favourite class, which is exactly why he had chosen advanced English studies in his last year of high school, but, it wasn’t turning out like he had planned. The reason for that, was sat just a few desks over, smiling as he leaned back against an unstable chair, surrounded by giggling girls and tall football jocks. Keith glanced over at the crowd of people and felt his breath trap against his throat as a pair of familiar blue eyes met his own.

 Keith quickly looked down at the table where his books laid untouched, along with his personal notepad and reached up, twisting a long strand of black hair in his finger like he always did when he got nervous. Why was he even in this class? Keith thought. He had always gone on about how much he despised English, so why would he choose the damn subject? Especially for his last year! It made no sense to him and it was honestly making it hard for him to concentrate and enjoy his favourite class.

 Keith heard footsteps approach his desk and bit his lip, clenching his fists under the table to stop himself from lashing out straight away. This wouldn’t be the first time someone had approached him during class – always when the teacher had left of course – just to harass him. It wasn’t a rare occurrence, but it still managed to rile Keith up every time without fail.

 “The fuck you looking at us for hey? Faggot?” Keith clenched his teeth at the word and looked up to find Jason, the quarterback star of the football team, as well as the biggest dick in school. He was a good quarterback and he knew it, always parading around the school, acting like a king, like royalty, and degrading anyone who didn’t agree with him, like Keith. “You’re always staring at us. What are you, some kind of freak?” Jason smirked, reaching down and grabbing Keith’s notebook with a nasty chuckle.

 Keith felt his stomach drop and stood up so rapidly his chair fell with a loud thud to the floor, making everyone gasp in surprise. “Give that back. Right now, Jason, I’m not messing around.” Keith spoke through gritted teeth. He could handle the snide comments, the jokes and the shoving. He’d been dealing with that his whole life. But, if anyone ever got a glimpse of what he wrote in that book, he knew everything he had been working so hard to hide would be spread throughout the school within minutes. That just couldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it.

 Keith wrote everything in that book. He wrote about everything he had done and every emotion he felt and thought about, it was all written in that worn out book, down to the very last detail. He started writing a short while ago, after reading an article about how keeping a journal could help clear the mind and release unwanted emotions. And it did. Keith had been writing every day, not sparing a single emotion. He wrote about school and the jerks that harassed him. He wrote about home and his dad, his mum. But most importantly, he wrote about him.

 “Well, well, well, someone’s a bit protective of their little diary, aren’t they?” Jason smirked cockily, resting a hand on his hip as he held the book up for everyone to see. “Would be an awful shame if someone were to accidentally read it out loud for the class to hear.”

 Keith felt his chest tighten in anger and his clenched fists beginning to shake as Jason brought the book down to open. Keith was ready to explode, ready to jump over the table and tackle the dumb jock to the floor to pound his face in and take back what was rightfully his. But, before he even had the chance to move, the diary was roughly snatched from Jason’s sweaty hands. Keith looked up, ready to scream at however intervened, and gasped slightly, his eyes widening and his fists slowly unclenching when he saw who it is.

 Lance.

 Keith watched as a furious expression materialized on Lance’s usually tranquil face and noticed the boy clench the book tightly by his side as he stepped up close to Jason, towering over him slightly. “Jesus Jason, why do you have to be such a dick all the time? Just leave Keith alone, he’s done absolutely nothing. So, go back to your desk, sit the fuck down and just stay out of people’s personal shit.” Lance yelled, his eyes narrowed and face tense as Jason put his hands up in fake surrender and stalked away, undoubtedly embarrassed by Lance’s actions.

 Keith watched in amazement as Jason slumped back down on the other side of the room and kept his head lowered as the class immediately erupted in chatter over what just happened. He looked back up at Lance who had that damn smile on his face as he held the notebook out toward him. It had been twelve years, and Lance still had the same small smile that made Keith’s stomach churn.

 “I, uh, sorry, about Jason. He’s an ass sometimes, which I’m sure you’re fully aware of,” Lance chuckled, scratching his head as he held the notebook out further. “This is yours, you should probably have it back and maybe keep it close, you know what people in this school are like.” He said quietly, loud enough for only Keith to hear.

 Although Lance still held the same cute smile and laugh, he had changed considerably since that first time they had met. He was tall now, towering over Keith unlike before. His hair had grown longer and the shade had lightened slightly. The band aids and bruises from fighting were gone, replaced with his naturally tan and smooth skin. His features were more pronounce, like his muscular arms that pushed against his shirt and his eyes, still blue and utterly breathtaking.

 Keith roughly snatched the book from Lance’s hands and shoved it in his bag so fast it was almost a blur. He looked down at his table, trying to catch his breath as his cheeks flushed a slight red. “I didn’t ask for your help Lance. I can handle myself.” Keith looked up with a neutral expression and tried not to react as pain and hurt seemed to blossom across Lance’s face at his words. “Just-just stay out of my business okay?”

 “Right…” The blue-eyed boy whispered, chuckling sadly as he looked down at his feet. Keith paid no attention as he grabbed his things and shoved passed Lance to race towards the classroom door, not bothering to fix the fallen chair.

 He ignored the giggles and rude comments that were thrown his way as he exited the classroom and slumped against the wall outside after slamming the door shut. He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek as he willed himself to calm down.

 He and Lance had been best friends, for years, from the first moment they had met – when Lance had saved him from those bullies – up until a year or so ago. As Keith began walking down the corridor, his bag dragging behind him, he began to wonder where everything had gone wrong between the two of them. He wiped his eyes as tears began to form and laughed miserably to himself as the answer hit him, making his chest sear in pain. It was all his fault. He had been the one to distance himself from Lance, push him away, stop conversing with him and ruin their friendship after so many fulfilling years. He hadn’t wanted too, it was the last thing he had wanted to do, but he had too, before Lance found out and Keith got hurt. He hadn’t meant to, but…he fell in love. Utterly, and completely in love with his best friend, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop.