Fiori frowned slightly at the wink, wildly confused. Was this good, or was it more of that sarcasm Jude liked throwing around? Could it even be sarcasm if it wasn't spoken? He sighed and tried to clear his head, looking up curiously at Jude's exclamation. "I thought we established that already. Did something new happen?"
Jude rubbed his templed and showed him all ten calls he had missed. "I'm a little scared to listen to the voicemails. A lot scared actually." He slipped his phone into his back pocket. "I got to go. Or else you will on thr news how a mother tried to bury her son in her yard." He pushed away from the sink.
Fiori winced in sympathy, hoovering close to Jude just in case he fell. He held the door open for him as they walked out into the hall. "Are you sure you don't want a ride? You'd get home faster. Might make your mom a little less mad."
"I would rather take another beating from you then get a ride from you. So if you'll excuse me, I have a very long walk ahead of me." Jude started walking with a limp. Maybe he just wouldn't go school the next day. His mom would let him if he said he wasn't feeling good.
"Okay." Fiori wasn't about to force Jude to do anything, not when he was the reason this was all happening anyway. He still kept close to Jude, just in case he fell over, but he pulled away quickly once they were outside the school. "See you tomorrow?"
"That's unlikely." Jude gripped his backpack as he walked away as quickly as he could. At some point durimg his walked he had plugged in his earphones and started listening to music. The walk home was almost an hour long. Walking into his proceedured being yelled at by his mother and then her asling what happened. In which he proceeded to say he tripped down a flight of stairs and his tires were slashed again. His mom didn't bother him after that. Jude went to his bedroom and passed out on his bed, exhausted.
Fiori took the long way home, stopping at a beat-up looking liquor store to buy his dad some booze. When he got home the old man was passed out on the couch while Nascar blared on their shitty old tv. He put a blanket over his dad, muted the sound, and headed up to his bedroom to struggle through his science homework. Mrs. Braxton was sweet and she really tried to help him, but none of the material made sense. Half the time he was just guessing at what he was supposed to write down.
(I have a plot idea)
(Ooh what's your idea?)
Jude woke up around midnight. He peeled out of bed, which proved to be difficult, and took a very cold shower. It didn't help with the injuries but it didn't make it worse. The cold felt nice anyways. He collasped in bed about half an hour later and pulled up YouTube on his phone. He couldn't sleep the rest of the night so he just watched random videos and tried to forget what had happened.
(Fiori's dumb ass is failing science so Mrs. Baxter's like 'I'll get this kid a tutor' and decides her favorite student, Jude, is perfect for the job)
Fiori slept the same way he always did, deeply and dreamlessly. He woke up earlier than normal, grateful that his father wasn't wandering through the house breaking shit the way he normally did after a hangover, and set to work making breakfast. They were almost out of eggs, he'd have to buy some more after his shift tonight ended. Was that 24-hour grocer on Picadilly street still open?
(I always love a cliche)
"Jude, get up for school!" His mom yelled from the kitchen. All Jude did was grumble. He really didn't want to go to school. He hurt and he was just so tired. His mother came in after a couple of minutes and sighed.
"I'll call the school and tell them you're sick. There's breakfast on the counter. Make sure you take your meds. I'll see you tonight okay?" His mother kissed his head then left.
Jude buried hinself back under the covers. It was the only time he actually acknowledged his feeling. When ge was alone and in the conforts of his bed
(yeah, me too! Should we skip to the class where it happens?)
(Yeah)
Fiori got to class late, slamming open the door and plopping down in his chair with a scowl deep enough to have the kids around him leaning away in fear. There was a large bandage on his face, which he picked at as Mrs. Baxer chided him lightly about the importance of punctuality. He didn't care, it wasn't like he understood this class anyways. Why should he be on time when he was only going to spend the class getting more and more confused?
(Thats me in math)
Jude had spent of the morning in his bed watch videos or attemlting to sleep. Since his mother wasn't home to force them down his throat, he just…didn't take his medication. He hated the way they made him feel. He could never sleep when he took them. He couldn't eat. And sometimes they did the opposite affect. He'd gotten several texts from his very small friend circle. They worried about him too much. At ariund lunch, he called his mom and said he was ready to go to school. He was excited about his science class. It was the only reason he ever looked forward to school. It was favorite class. His mom and him got something to eat before she dropped him off at school. He got an excused tardy pass from the secretary then walked slowly to his class. He was feeling a little better from all of the ice packs he had put in his body throughout the morning. Tomorrow would be better, as long as no one jumped him. He walkes into Mrs. Braxton's class and handed her the pass. He sat down in his usual spot and pulled his hoodie over his head.
Fiori relaxed slightly when Jude walked in, not really sure why he felt so relieved. Or even if he had the right to be relieved at all, considering that he was the reason Jude missed two periods of school and lunch. All this soulmate shit was really starting to mess with his head, almost as bad as Mrs. Braxton did when she started talking about the applied principles of evolutionary biology. He almost cried.
The lecture was long and confusing and way over Fiori's head so he had sneakily started to doze off. It wasn't until the bell rang that he snapped out of it, realizing that Mrs. Braxton was calling his name and telling him to stay after class. Not a surprise. His grades had been slipping since the start of the semester, they were probably overdue for a talk. She held Jude back too, which was much weirder.
"Now boys, I know you're very different, but it's come to my attention that Fiori's grades have been far below satisfactory and I think he needs some help. Jude, as my student aide, I'd like for you to tutor him after school."
Jude had laid his down on his desk and scribbled notes as Mrs. Braxton lectured. His head wasn't really there today. He kept think about other things, like why date had been cruel enough to pair hin with his tormentor. Why did it have to be Fiori? Why couldn't it have been some nice boy who would have cared about him? But forever reason, every time he imagined some other person, his head always went back to Fiori. He couldn't stop thinking about him and ut was drivubg Jude insane.
Jude was confused on why Mrs. Braxton had asked hin to stay after class. He hadn't done anything wrong. He would have suspected she was worried about him if she hadn't called Fiori to stay behind as well. He packed up his things and neared the desk, trying ti stay as far away fron the other without beinf suspiscious.
Jude snorted once she had began to talk. Of course the other's grades were awful, he didn't care about them. However, his eyes went as wide as saucers when she mentioned he would be tutoring the other. "Wait what?
Fiori's eyes widened in shock and he opened his mouth to protest right as Jude did. Mrs. Braxton stopped both of them with a serious look. "Boys, I know you're not the closest but Fiori needs the help." It was true. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to make sense of the material. All the stubbornness drained out of him and Mrs. Braxton turned to Jude. "Jude, you're my best student. I want all my students to unlock their true potential and I know that you can help Fiori improve."
Jude turned his head to Fiori and just glared at himnfor a very long minute. Then he turned vack to his teacher and sighed dramatically. "You're lucky you're my favorite teacher." He shooked his head and looked down before looking back at her. "Is that all? Because I need to go to class." He didn't want to be around Fiori any longer but his body was trying to pull him towards him. He was on very dangerous territory at the moment.
Mrs. Braxton laughed jovially, smiling at Jude. "That's all. I expect you to meet tonight." She turned to Fiori, who ducked his head sheepishly. "Don't think I didn't notice the way your eyes were glazing over when I started talking, young man. Now get out, both of you." She strolled over to her desk, ruffling through some papers like she hadn't just made their lives a hundred times more complicated.
Fiori gathered his things in a daze, not so subtly glancing over at Jude to try and gauge his reaction. "Um… my place or yours?"
Jude groaned and checked his phone as he started walking out of the class. If he hurried, he could make it to class on time. Though at this point in the day he didn't really care about that. He'd already missed half the day, he didn't really care much about his other classes.
Jude tensed as Fiori caught up to him. "Well, seeing as you already know where I live, since you wanted to egg my house, just come over to mine."
It wasn't so much wanting to egg Jude's house as wanting to keep his friends away from Jude's tires, but Firori doubted the distinction would be appreciated. Fiori watched Jude, carefully searching for any sign of a limp. Would it be rude to bring over painkillers as an apology present? "I will. What time?"
"I don't care. Show up whenever. Can I go to class now?" Jude asked just tiredly. He was just so tired, of everything. Maybe coming to school wasn't a good idea. He should have stayed home in the comforts of his bed.
Fiori nodded and, after pausing to make sure there was nobody around, leaned a little closer to Jude. "I'd find an excuse to leave class early. I think someone decided to beat you up after school." He pulled away as soon as the warning was given, giving Jude one last concerned once-over before he started walking to his next class. "Take care of yourself."
Jude couldn't stop the pounding in his heart, but it wasn't because he was afraid. No, it was something entirely different. Something that he wasn't ready to start feeling. His mouth opened but decided to close it. He stood in the middle of the hallway longer than he cared to admit. All in his next classes he couldn't stop thinking about Fiori. His body, his eyes, his smile. Why was he suddenly so caring towards Jude, and why did Jude like it so much? At the end of the day, he had managed to get one of his friends to drive him home. He walked quickly with his hoodie up so no one would stop him. When he got home, he fell face-first on to his bed and let out a loud groan.
Fiori had to work a shift at the quaint little cafe where he worked, but he managed to leave an hour early which meant he ended up on Jude's doorstep at 7:15 precisely. He'd decided to bring some cookies, the cheap 5 dollar kind because that was all he had the money for, along with the Advil. "Jude?" he called, knocking on the door. "I'm here."
While he had been waiting, Jude had changed into some plaid pajama pants and an oversized sweater that had belonged to his father. He was curled up on the couch watching netflix when he heard the knock on the door. He got up and unlocked it, letting him in. "Oh, look who showed up. I was really hoping you weren't going to come." That was a lie but Fiori didn't need to know that.
"Sorry to disappoint." Fiori followed him inside, pressing the painkillers into Jude's hands and setting the cookies down on the coffee table. He was trying his best to avoid thinking about the way Jude's sweater was starting to slip and expose his shoulder and how adorable he looked in oversized clothes and at this point, it was best not to think about Jude at all. "I brought my homework, how do I do it?"
Jude looked down at the Advil in his hand, then back at Fiori, then back at the medicine. He set it on the kitchen counter next to the cookies. He grabbed a cookie and bit into it. He sighed. "You can't just ask, 'How do I do it?' You have to be specific. What do you need help with?" Jude grabbed his backpack and set his book and notebook up at the kitchen table.
Fiori sat down next to him, staring resolutely down at his homework. He didn't know if Jude had always been this cute or if it was a new thing, but it was starting to be a problem. He was 18, for god's sake! He should be able to look at someone for more than three seconds without blushing! "Um… all of it."
Jude sighed in exasperation. He rubbed his forehead again and looked at Fiori. It should be a crime to look as adorable as he did when he was confused. And it should be a crime that he was even thinking these things. "That really doesn't help me at all. Let's start off at what you do know." Jude pulled out the same homework sheet, completed of course, and out of Fiori's view in case he decided to copy.
