— s e v e n t e e n —

Oliver walked into the common room for his free period. "You'll wake up sleeping beauty."

He followed her gaze to where Reed was fast asleep at the other end of the sofa she was sitting on. He was leaning against the window the sofa was pressed up against, his head pillowed by the arms he had folded across the windowsill. Oliver couldn't help noticing how much more peaceful he looked in his sleep, the faint furrow between his eyebrows smoothed away. He also couldn't helping noticing the shadows around his eyes. It wasn't uncommon for students to take naps during their free periods — Oliver knew he was guilty of as much, often choosing sleep over work when given an hour off — but Reed seemed to be sleeping through more of them than usual lately. He didn't even stir when Oliver sank down beside him which was hardly surprising, since he had managed to sleep through the noisy clamour of voices in the common room.

"How long has he been asleep for?" Oliver asked with a frown.

"No idea. A long time, I guess. He was asleep when I left for Spanish and still here when I came back," she said, with a disinterested shrug. "Probably exhausted from being so rude to me all the time."

Oliver shot her an exasperated look before something dawned on him. "Reed isn't in this free with us," he said, with a glance at the clock. He shared free periods with both Adam and Clair, but his timetable never overlapped with Reed's to give them one together. Meaning he was definitely supposed to be in a lesson now.

"He isn't?" Clair tapped something out on her phone without even glancing up. "Oh, I guess not. Looks like he's late to whatever class he has now."

"You didn't think to wake him up?"

"How was I supposed to remember he didn't have a free period now? I'm not his mother, Oliver," she said, in a chiding tone that grated on nerves that were already worn thin when it came too Clair. This must have shown on his face because Clair touched his knee with an imploring look. "Oh, come on. I'm sorry, but Reed already hates me. I'm not risking having my head bitten off trying to wake him up."

Oliver ignored her in favour of lightly shaking Reed. It took numerous attempts to rouse him from sleep and even when he lifted his head, he looked half-asleep. "What?" he murmured, the annoyance in his voice at being woken up softened by the sleepiness still clinging to his words. His mussed up blonde hair fell across his forehead and Oliver had to fight the strong urge to push it out his eyes. Being near Reed under normal circumstances was trying on his heart. Being around a sleep-rumpled Reed, his voice still thick with sleep, was damn near devastating and Oliver had to remind himself to focus on the matter at hand.

"You're supposed to be in a lesson right now," Oliver told him.

That seemed to wake him up a little. "Shit," he said, with a startled look at the clock. He was half an hour late and it would take another ten minutes for him to get there, considering the sixth form common room was on a different site to the rest of the school. By the time he got there, he would have missed most of the lesson. Reed seemed to come to the same realisation as he sank low into the sofa with a groan, running both hands through his hair and messing it up even further. "Shit. Mr Davenport is going to kill me."

"Try not to sleep into your classes next time, then," Clair said primly.

Reed shot her a murderous look and Oliver quickly stepped in before he could say snap something rude back. "Maybe you could go find him and explain what happened. Tell him you didn't mean to skip," Oliver suggested.

"Doubt that would work."

"Why?"

"This isn't the first time I've done this for his class," he admitted. "The asshole hates me. He'd laugh in my face and give me detention if I came to him with that excuse, on top of the detentions Jeffries gave us."

Oliver couldn't help frowning as Reed rubbed his eyes with a weary scowl. The detentions both of them had after school (save for days they had swim practice; Coach Jeffries, it seemed, wasn't angry enough to exempt his two best swimmers from training), the three jobs Reed seemed determined to juggle, the extra swimming practice he assigned for himself most mornings before school, on top of all their schoolwork with mocks drawing closer, seemed to be catching up with him. Oliver had already suggested he quit one of his jobs and earned a defensive retort from Reed that he was fine, he had it all under control.

Oliver thought someone who hastily finished their homework at the lunch table because they hadn't had time to do it before was not the hallmark of someone who had everything under control, but he also knew he was asking to be snapped at he pushed that conversation any further. Reed would only take it as some kind of personal attack that Oliver didn't he was capable.

"Anyway," Reed said, in a tone that made Oliver glance over at him. His expression was carefully unreadable, as if he had made sure to give nothing away. "Heard you had a wild weekend."

Clair looked up from her phone with interest at this. "You did?"

"Not particularly." Oliver wondered whether he was imagining the bitter note to Reed's words. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Elsie told me you went to Cora's party."

Oliver was sure Elsie had told him more than that; from the way she had been giggling while he kissed Cora, he was sure Reed had heard all about that from her too. Oliver was certain he wasn't imagining the bitterness in his voice now and his traitorous body reacted the way it always did when Reed was involved. A whole week had passed since their kiss, Oliver had tried and failed at using a party as a distraction, and his heart still sped up at the possibility that Reed cared about anything he did. Oliver wondered at what point this unreciprocated pining became pathetic and realised he had passed that milestone weeks ago.

"Yeah," Oliver said, and because his ego was still a little bruised from the rejection in London, he added, "It was fun."

Oliver got far too much of a thrill from the way Reed's jaw tightened. "Really."

"Yeah. Cora's fun."

Reed was glaring now. "I didn't realise you guys were such good friends."

"We've gotten close since Halloween," Oliver said, not because it was true (he probably knew Cora as well as he knew Clair for all they had shared with each other) but because Reed's response felt too much like jealousy and he wanted to see how far he could push that. "And no one can deny that she's hot. Which is always an added bonus."

"I'm sure," Reed said through gritted teeth.

"Has our Oliver found himself a girlfriend?" Clair seemed more amused by how much this information irritated Reed than anything else. "How sweet. Oh, ignore Reed. He's just salty that he's single now and most likely going to die alone."

Reed flipped her off.

"She's not my girlfriend," Oliver said. As fun as it was to push Reed's buttons, there was no need to get ahead of themselves. "It's not like that."

Clair tipped her head. "Well, go on, then. Enlighten us. What is it like? You've listened to me ramble on about my love life more than enough. Your turn."

Reed stood up abruptly before Oliver could reply. He was scowling as he stuffed his books back into his bag and swung it over his shoulder. "I don't particularly feel like listening to this conversation," he said, "and I'm in desperate need of a coffee. Have fun being interrogated by Clair."

Oliver was torn between satisfaction and exasperation as he watched Reed leave. He had gotten exactly what he wanted from that interaction — Reed was jealous, which meant he had to care at least a little about Oliver no matter what he had said in London — but he didn't want to end it with Reed running off like that. Clair was looking at him expectantly but Oliver didn't particularly fancy an interrogation from her, and at this point, he was going to take the risk of having his head bitten off by Reed.

He stood up and grabbed his bag. "I think I need a coffee too. I'll catch you later."

He half-expected Reed to have headed to the main site but found him in the cafe. "Low blow, ditching me with Clair," Oliver said, falling in step beside him in the queue. Reed didn't look particularly surprised to see Oliver had joined him and slipped his phone into his pocket. "Don't you think I suffer enough sitting next to her in English?"

"No one asked you to sit next to her."

"It's cute that you think she gives me a choice," Oliver said, and Reed rolled his eyes.

"You're too nice. Tell her to fuck off," he suggested. "Usually does the trick for me."

"Yeah, unfortunately, not all of us can be rude with such shameless ease. That seems to be a special talent of yours."

"I am exceptionally talented in that sense," Reed said. "I'll tell her to fuck off on your behalf, if you're worried about messing up your Mr Nice Guy reputation."

"Awww, you'd do that for me?" Oliver touched his chest in mocking sentiment with a grin and Reed gave him a shove, but he was grinning too. "Nah, I know you don't really have a heart buried deep down. You just want more reasons to tell Clair to fuck off."

"Guilty."

They grinned at each other a moment longer and Oliver's heart picked up speed when his gaze lingered, which seemed to have become the instinctive response of his body anytime Reed was involved. Then the dinner lady behind the counter cleared her throat and Reed snapped his head away from Oliver to face her. If Oliver didn't know better, he could have sworn there was a red blush staining Reed's cheeks.

"Two coffees, please," he said, refusing to look at Oliver. "One with milk and two sugars, one with just one sugar."

Satisfaction was a warm heat in Oliver's stomach that Reed rattled off his coffee preferences without even a hint of hesitation. Get a grip, he told himself, fully aware he was simping over his best friend after he'd come to the conclusion he needed to get over said best friend. He'd followed Reed out here to press more on the potential jealousy around Cora, not find more reasons to continue crushing on him. He wasn't entirely certain the jealousy reason could be classified as getting over Reed but it had to be a little bit less pathetic than being pleased Reed knew how he took his coffee.

"I didn't realise you didn't like Cora," Oliver said, as causally as he could.

The look Reed shot him told him he was nowhere as casual as he was trying for. "When did I ever say that?"

"I don't know, you seemed annoyed when she came up in conversation earlier. And you left pretty soon after."

"I told you, I wanted a coffee. Cora's just one of my sister's friends, nothing more," he said, with an indifference Oliver could tell was at least a little forced. "I just don't want to hear the details of whatever the hell the two of you got up to on Saturday." Reed looked away, but not before Oliver saw his jaw clench. "In fact, I don't want to hear about it at all, thanks."

"Why?" Oliver asked, before he could stop himself. "Does it bother you?"

Reed glared at him. "You really want to have this conversation on a Monday morning?"

"So there is a conversation to be had?"

Reed growled in frustration, maybe at the topic at hand or Oliver's persistence, but the dinner lady slammed down two styrofoam cups before he had a chance to reply. "That'll be five pounds, love," she said.

Reed dug around in his pockets but Oliver handed over a five pound note before he could. "On me," he said.

Reed's surprise faded to a frown. "You don't need to — "

"I know. I want to," Oliver said, and handed over Reed's coffee. He purposefully let their fingers brush longer than necessary and the warmth in his stomach was simmering on full heat at the way Reed was staring at him "My treat."

Reed blinked before snatching the drink and turning on his heel to stalk out of the cafe. Oliver knew better than to think Reed was angry at him; he was flustered, the rise of pink to his cheeks was a giveaway. He was flustered by Oliver. What was that he'd told himself about backing off and getting over Reed? Teasing him, seeing how far he could push him, was far more fun. He should play a new game of seeing how many times he could make Reed blush because that felt like a small victory in itself. Oliver hurried to catch up with Reed in time to see him sip his drink and pull a face.

"Too milky," he said.

Oliver sipped his own drink and sure enough, it wasn't milky enough for his own liking. "Too bitter," he said, and swapped their cups. This time, Reed was the one who let their fingers brush and let his blue gaze linger on Oliver. There was a challenge in them and it gave Oliver the courage to say his next words. "So, you never answered my question."

"Which one?" Reed dropped his hand and rolled his eyes as he continued towards the common room. "You seem to be full of questions today."

"About whether Cora and I bother you."

"Separately? No, but you're making a strong case for why I should change that."

"Not separately," Oliver said. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I know that you're annoying," Reed muttered.

"That's mature. Can we just have a proper conversation about this, Reed?"

Reed spun around so fast that Oliver almost spilled his coffee all over him by walking into him. As it was, they were standing awfully close and when Oliver instinctively stepped back, Reed followed him until Oliver was backed up against the wall. "I thought we already went over this," he said in a low voice, and Oliver was too busy trying to remind himself how to breathe to even comprehend what Reed was saying, forget respond. Because Reed was practically pinning him against the wall and Oliver could feel his warm coffee-scented breath against his lips. "The last thing I want to do is talk about anything to do with you and Cora."

"I..."

Reed's lips curled up into a smirk and he leant forward to whisper, "But it is nice to be able to shut you up for once."

For a wild, frenzied moment, Oliver really thought Reed was going to kiss him. Right there in the school hallway, where anyone could walk past them. Then Reed stepped away and walked into the common room.

Oliver released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and choked on a disbelieving laugh. For someone who was so adamant they never tell anyone about what happened between the two of them, he sure could be ballsy. He absently lifted his hand to the space Reed had occupied so close to his mouth and couldn't have calmed the wild pounding of his heart if he tried. He couldn't stop recalling the way Reed's body had felt against his own, moments ago and also in London, pressing him against the bathroom wall with the ferocity of his hard, hungry kisses. Oliver took a long sip of his coffee and released another breath. It was another couple of minutes or so before he had composed himself enough to follow Reed into the common room.

He was sitting with Clair and Adam must have joined her at some point while they were in the cafe. "Oh, good," Adam said, when he saw Oliver. Reed brought his drink up to his mouth and that smirk came back in full force when Oliver met his gaze. "You're both here. I wanted to ask you something."

Clair snaked an arm around his shoulder where she was perched on the armrest of his armchair and pouted. "Not me?"

"Er, no," Adam said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"What's up?" Oliver asked. "Should we be worried?"

"Not particularly. Every Christmas holidays, my family go skiing in the Alps," he said. "It's a horrendous ten days of my parents sniping at each other and Brooks thinking of every excuse under the sun for why he can't come out on the slopes. He spends most of the trip hiding out back at the chalet."

"Sucks for Brooks," Oliver said, and Reed snorted at that. "What's it got to do with me and Reed? You want us to give him skiing lessons or something?"

"Fat chance," Reed said. "Not that I even know how to ski. But if I did, I would not waste my time teaching Brooks."

Adam rolled his eyes. "How lucky for you that you won't have to. Brooks isn't coming with us this year — he's going away with Hale's family somewhere. Never mind that I think that's a terrible idea that's going to blow up in his face," he said, with a dismissive shake of his head, as if he'd already that conversation too many times. "As if our parents aren't going to be mad enough about him being gay, they'll flip their shit when they find out he went on holiday with his boyfriend that they didn't even know about at the time."

"I think his plan there is for your parents to never find out," Oliver said slowly.

"Well, that's stupid. They're going to find out one day. Anyway," he said, raising a hand when Reed opened his mouth to say something. "The whole point of this is that my parents said I can bring my friends, seeing as Brooks isn't coming."

"Seriously? I'm down," Oliver said, with a grim. "I've always wanted to go skiing." The grin faded at the tense conflict on Reed's face. He had expected the same excitement at being offered a holiday to a ski resort. "Reed?"

"I don't know how to ski," he said.

"Neither do I," Oliver said, with a shrug. "But no one knows how to until they go skiing. We can learn. How hard could it be?"

"Pretty hard, actually," Adam said, "but that's besides the point. Unlike Brooks, I'm sure both of you will be willing to learn. You'll figure it out quickly."

Reed said nothing, but Oliver could tell something was wrong and he didn't think it was as simple as worry over his inability to ski. He seemed to sense Oliver questioning gaze and scowled. "There's no way I could afford that," he said finally.

"Thats not an issue," Adam said. "My parents would be paying for it. You'd just be taking Brooks's space."

Reed's scowl faded to an uncomfortable frown even at this assurance and he dropped his gaze. Money wasn't a big deal for Adam, same as it wasn't a big deal for most Woodway students. Oliver was sure it wouldn't be a problem for his parents to cover the cost of Reed's holiday and he didn't think it would be much of an issue for his own parents to pay for him if need be, if the Montgomery's didn't want to pay for two extra people. That only made it all the more awkward for Reed that none of them had to consider how to cover expenses like this when he was struggling his way through private school on a scholarship with three jobs on the side.

Oliver felt guilty in his own privilege, for how little he truly appreciated how much Reed must struggle just keeping up with the other students at Woodway. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what he could say that wouldn't only embarrass Reed further.

Luckily for him, Clair jumped in before he could think about saying anything. "Excuse me, what?" she demanded. "What the fuck? You've got a free space on your holiday and you didn't even think to invite your girlfriend?"

Adam looked considerably more uncomfortable about that. "Well, about that..."

"What? You'd rather go with your friends than your girlfriend?"