I could barely look at him as he droned on and on about Queen Elizabeth the first. Images of last weeks events were still flashing through my mind. Every now and then, Mr Gabarro would accidentally make eye contact with me and we'd both turn a deep shade of crimson, breaking the link immediately. Once he came to the conclusion that he'd picked on everybody in the class but one, he reluctantly turned his attention onto me, his shoulders tense, his eyes darting around the classroom nervously.

"So, Mr Bakker, why was it so hard-difficult," He corrected with a forced cough, "for people to accept Elizabeth as queen?"

I almost choked on his wording. Did he really have to correct himself? Was that really necessary? "She was a woman." I replied shortly, "And she was illegitimate due to her mother." I grumbled.

He nodded stiffly, hastily turning back to the class as I let out a sigh of relief. Sam nudged me, grabbing my attention. "What the fuck is going on?" She hissed. "Gabarro can barely make eye contact with you."

I shrugged innocently, "I don't know, maybe he's jealous of my beauty. Or maybe he has a little crush on me, I've always thought of him as a bit of a pervert."

She rolled his eyes, "Mr Gabarro isn't a faggot, he has a wife-"

"What?" I snapped, my anger boiling at her words. Maybe I shouldn't have been so offended, but I couldn't help it. That word stung. "W-Why would you say that?" I asked thickly.

She frowned, flicking her eyes briefly back to the teacher to check he hadn't caught us talking. But I think I'd earned a free pass with this guy. I could do whatever I wanted in his lessons from this day forward and he'd probably still feel too awkward to give me detention. "What? That he has a wife...?" Sam queried, confused.

"You shouldn't call people faggots." I was surprised I'd even mustered the courage to confront her about it. Part of me just wanted to blindly agree, but a bigger part of me was fuming. I knew this was dangerous, especially when I was trying so hard to keep Theo hidden, but I wasn't sure I could let this slide.

"I wasn't?" She laughed faintly at my reaction, "I said he's not a faggot. It's a compliment, Luca."

"You shouldn't use that word at all." I snapped. "And how is that compliment? Being gay isn't a bad thing, Sam."

She shrugged, "I didn't say it was, it's just...you know..." She trailed off.

"It's what?" I demanded.

She hesitated, "Dudes fucking dudes, girls fucking girls. I don't know...it doesn't sit right with me."

"It doesn't have to." I hissed, making a conscious effort to keep my voice down in fear of arousing the suspicion of the whole class. "People can do whatever they want, they don't need your approval."

"Jesus, calm the fuck down, you sound like a cocksucker yourself-"

"And that would be bad?" I laughed humourlessly, "I'd somehow be a different person if I liked guys?"

She rose her brows, looking completely stunned and taken aback for a moment, "Do you?"

"No." I spat, a little too harshly. "But you know Theo's my friend, so why would you say something like that?" I questioned sharply. I had been mentioning Theo to my friends more and more. But as far as they were concerned, he was nothing more than that; a friend.

Sam's face fell in guilt, her eyes softening, "Sorry." She mumbled. "So...when can we meet him?" She nudged me playfully, as if trying to make up for her words by changing the subject as quickly as possible.

"I don't know - never?" I suggested.

She opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by the bell blaring above us, ringing in our ears and echoing around the room. After snatching up my stuff, I practically sprinted out of class, eager to put as much distance between Mr Gabarro and I as possible. Sam was faintly calling after me, but I ignored her, bolting down the corridor to head for my locker. Thankfully, it was the end of the day. That meant only a couple of hours of football practice stood between me and going home.

I spotted Theo up ahead, his scruffy white hair falling into his face, his head bowed as he walked. I jogged to catch him up, grabbing the back of his jumper to spin him around. "Hey." I grinned, enjoying the way his face melted into a warm smile. He still had a faded bruise around his eye; that bothered me.

Before either of us could say another word, however, Sam had stumbled between us, trying to catch her breath as she steadied herself by clinging onto our shoulders. "Jesus, this isn't a marathon, Luca." She panted as I rolled my eyes.

"What'd you want, Sam?" I sighed heavily, my patience wearing thin.

"Hey, I'm Sam." She introduced herself to Theo, completely dismissing me. "Or Samantha. Or Sammy. Whatever you want."

He blushed at being unexpectedly addressed by her, "T-Teddy." He replied shyly.

"So, I was thinking we should all hang out one day. Luca talks about you all the time and I've been dying to find a substitute for Phoenix for years now-"

"That's not happening." I interrupted.

"What, why?" She snapped.

I glanced down at Theo, surprised to find him looking a little awkward and a little...sad? Offended? "Sam..." I groaned, turning back to look at her.

"Are you staying to watch Luca practice?" She pried, paying no mind to me as she fixed all her attention onto the other boy. "Daya and I are staying. You should join us. Nothing better than watching a bunch of fit boys sweat, huh?"

"You don't wanna do that." I told him firmly.

"Yeah, I-I do." He shot back suddenly, sounding almost bitter.

I huffed in frustration, "Come on." I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away from my crazy friend.

"See you out there, Teddy!" She shouted behind us.

I pulled him into the nearest janitors closet, shutting the door and pulling the little cord which sent the bulb flashing on, wobbling above us. I sighed deeply, looking at the way the dim light illuminated his detailed features. "Theo-"

"A-Are you ashamed of me?" He asked suddenly, his voice so soft, so delicate, it nearly broke my heart.

"What? No! It's not..." I rubbed my eyes, groaning loudly in frustration. I wasn't good with words. "It's just that..."

"You don't want me to m-meet your friends?"

"Because they're screwups." I finished for him. "They're not good people, alright? They're my friends and I love them, but they don't know right from wrong. They drink and smoke and fuck anything that moves. They'll talk you into doing crazy stuff and post photos of it online. I just...I don't want you around that, okay?"

Theo stared up at me for a while, his expression almost unreadable. And then his lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. "That's...uh...sweet." He finally settled on as he slowly came to realise that I was trying to protect him. "B-But I still wanna meet them." He insisted.

I let out a deep breath, running my thumb along the shadow of his fading black eye. "Your funeral." I shrugged. "So, you still wanna come to practice?"

"Hot, sweaty boys running around?" He teased, "S-Sure."

I chuckled, "I just had a lesson with Gabarro. Probably the worst experience of my life."

We hadn't properly seen each other since our detention. I'd been busy with practice since we had a few big games coming up, while Theo's been busy with school and work. We mostly just texted. "M-Maybe we could do it again sometime?"

I rose my brows, "What, have a teacher walk in on us while you give me a handjob?" I suggested. Even in the dim, shadowy closet, I could still make out the flush that brushed over his cheekbones. "Well, we could do that." I continued, slipping my fingers through his belt loops, tugging him closer to me. "Or I could take you on a real date?"

He was silent for a minute before chuckling like an embarrassed schoolgirl, leaning up and pecking me on the lips, "Text me."

After some more smooth flirting on my side and some more adorable reactions on Theo's side, we eventually parted. I was running extremely late for training, so I had to practically sprint to the locker rooms - which were empty since everyone had already changed. After jogging out onto the pitch and apologising halfheartedly to the coach, we began practice.

I tried to ignore the tingling sensation in my chest at the thought of Theo watching from the stands. Maybe I was getting a little too excited about us...us. A relationship. It was completely new and yet, I wasn't totally repulsed by it. I glanced up a few times, seeing him sitting between Sam and Daya, all chatting merrily - though Theo looked a tad awkward. I even made sure to score a few arrogant goals, hoping he was watching me as intently as I was thinking about him.

"What's with the smile, Luca?" Phoenix questioned, catching his breath and fiddling with the cap on his water bottle.

"Huh?"

"The smile." He waved at my expression lazily, wiping his red, sweaty face with the back of his hand. "You've been in a good mood all week."

"Have I?" I frowned curiously. "I guess I have."