#You will find three main kinds of locker locks: mixture locks

[michaeleastwood1]

: The Beginner's Guide in order to Locker Locks: What you ought to Know

[erroetcresco]

D.A.R.E. To Make Out

Aleks might stare at James just a bit too much. It isn't really a crush. Well, it might be a crush. When Aleks finally approaches James at a house party, sans his boyfriend, he isn't expecting much.

[AO3 Link]

The first time Aleks saw James, they’re both in the food court at the mall.

Wait. That is decidedly untrue.

Technically Aleks had seen James every school day for the past two years and some change. He was one of those people that were hard not to see, He was loud and obnoxious, well liked, and well known.

Still the first time Aleks saw James and paid attention was in the mall, a solid month into his junior year of high school. James was there with Steve, his football playing boyfriend, and when he laughed, Aleks thought he might be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. Aleks quickly blamed that on the bumps of coke he just did in the men’s room, and brushed those feelings to the side.

The feelings stuck though, somewhere on the edges of his mind, and he started noticing James more. Not just seeing him, either, but really noticing him. Like - James smiled more at Steve than everyone else, but when Steve wasn’t looking, James looked almost like something sour was in his mouth. Like how James was tan, an even tone all over his body - he had found that out one day from the corner of his eye as he slipped through the locker rooms to set a delivery into someone else’s locker. Like how James wore his hair long, and the curls were tighter when his hair was wet, in the morning when he must have showered and not had time to dry his hair before school. Aleks filed these little facts away in the back of his mind, not sure why he was really taking note at all.

See, Aleks and James didn’t run in the same circles. Sure, Aleks sold to the football players, but they weren’t stuffing their noses on a daily basis. No, Aleks stuck with the burnouts, and he didn’t mind that. He always had someone willing to kick back and get high with, and he didn’t need to worry about what they thought of him, because they were the kind of people that didn’t think much at all. James, on the other hand, hung out with his boyfriend and his football buddies. They were the kind of people to knock into his shoulder in the halls, but not give him much trouble than that.

Despite all that, when Aleks saw James at a party celebrating the football team’s recent win, he went up to him. Half of that was because he was coasting on a cross fading mixture of alcohol from the party and pot he’d smoked before he even came here. The other half was just this need to figure out why he watched James so much. Unfortunately, when he slid up to James, his normally silver tongue failed him. Instead, he stood there awkwardly, beer clasped in his hand, and felt like he was choking on his tongue. The look James gave him could only be described as bitchy.

“What?” He asked, obviously annoyed by Aleks’ presence. Aleks wanted to be smooth, make a joke, anything. Instead, when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He tried to cover by raising his beer to his lips to take a sip. James gave him an incredulous look and rolled his eyes. Right. Time to try again.

“Where’s Steve?” Aleks asked, almost surprising himself. While he had little to no interest in the football player, it was hard to not see him around. James always gravitated towards him.

“I dunno, he’s coming later,” James snapped, crossing his arms and looking away. Aleks nodded.

“Cool, cool,” A long pause stretched between them. Finally, James gave an exaggerated sigh.

“What - you need him for something?” He asked.

“No, do you?” Aleks blurted. James gave him a look that would have made more sense if he had grown a second head. Then - he laughed. Aleks turned bright pink, but the laugh didn’t feel mocking.

“Whatever,” James finally huffed out, still half giggling. Aleks felt a grin start to form on his own face, and took a bashful drink of beer. It was just pressed to his lips when James swiped it and look a swig. He made a face, eyes scrunching.

“It’s warm. Gross,” he complained. Aleks shrugged. Beer was gross either way.

“Heard you might have something better,” James said after a pause, and fixed an intent gaze on Aleks. “Have anything right now?”

Aleks’ hand dropped to rest on his ironically emblazoned D.A.R.E. fanny pack, and gave it a couple reassuring pats. This was something he was familiar with - he didn’t need to worry about tying his own tongue in a knot.

“Sure thing, sugar,” Aleks said, wiggling his eyebrows. “What’re you looking for?” The question earned him another eye roll.

“What have you got, then?”

“Coke, pot, I got a couple pain pills…” He put his hand out, doling out fingers as he listed his wares. He stuttered to a stop when James’ hand closed around his wrist and yanked him in another direction.

“Uh, what the fuck?” Aleks blinked, confused, as he followed the other boy towards the stairs.

“Well, I can’t just start taking lines out in the open, can I?” James snapped back at him, over his shoulder. When Aleks caught his gaze, he could see the mirth in his eyes. They headed up the stairs, and James pushed them both into the bathroom. The music from the party downstairs dulled when the door shut, and James spun the lock on the doorknob. Despite himself, Aleks let out a nervous giggle. This was so far out of what he could have expected from interacting with James. When James gestured to the counter, he stared at it like he was a fucking space case. He could literally feel himself being stupid.

“Well, are you gonna make some lines, or…?” James prompted. God. Aleks was an idiot.

“Oh. Yeah, duh,” he chuckled, like he wasn’t embarrassed. He dug through his fanny pack and busied himself with making two lines, straight and neat. He was well practiced. When he glanced over at James, the man was rolling a dollar bill tightly in his fingers. Apparently, he was well practiced, too.

Aleks decided that every little image of James he had filed away in his memory bank could be forgotten, once he saw the way James tossed his long curls after taking a line from the counter. His brown eyes glittered in the lights from over the sink, pupils visibly shrinking. One hand massaged his nose. Aleks tried not to stare, and took the dollar when James shoved it in his direction.

One line each turned into two, then three, idle conversation permeating the moments between snuffs. When Aleks examined himself closely enough in the mirror, he thought he could actually see his pulse jumping in his neck, heart pounding. James was giggling - actually gigglin - over something Aleks had said, something so offhand he couldn’t even consider it as making a joke. The giggles were infectious, and he laughed as well.

“Jesus,” he wheezed out, hand to his chest. James had quieted as well, but kept watching him, looking amused. Aleks looked right back, sheepish grin spreading over his face when James raised questioning eyebrows. The silence between them - or as much silence as possible when Cyndi Lauper was blaring just downstairs - lapsed into awkward territory. Aleks cleared his throat.

“You want another one?” He asked, gesturing to the almost empty baggie resting on the counter.

“Nah, I’m good,” James replied lazily, leaning against the door.

“Oh. Then I guess we should probably get back downstairs. You know, Steve might be, uh, here, or something,” Aleks said. James tilted his head.

“Why” James asked “are you so concerned about Steve?” He pushed himself off the door, and stood straight. Aleks worried for a second that he’d ticked him off, judging from tone and expression. “Does he owe you money, or something?” James demanded when Aleks failed to answer.

“No, no, I just - you know. I don’t want Steve to - to fucking deck me for being shut up in a bathroom with his boyfriend,” Aleks stuttered out, holding his hands up to slow James down. Instead, James took another step towards him.

“Why would Steve need to be jealous?” he asked, and this time when he spoke, Aleks knew he was fucked. Beyond the fact that ‘jealous boyfriend’ was literally one of Steve’s main character traits, Aleks had heard that tone before - teasing, like James knew something Aleks didn’t.

“Um” Aleks managed. James crowded into his personal space, trapping him against the glass shower door. Aleks glanced down at James’ lips, very much aware of the position they were in.

“I mean.” James said, and placed a hand against the glass, leaning towards him. Aleks was only an inch or so shorter than James, but under his heavy gaze, he felt himself shrink. “Unless you want to give him a reason.” Aleks could feel himself turning some shade of color, but he wasn’t sure if it was a harsh blush or if all the blood had drained from his face. Either way, his cheeks were tingling.

“Um,” he almost squeaked out. James’ eyes visibly flicked down from making eye contact, to Aleks’ lips, to lower - making Aleks swallow, adam’s apple bobbing. “Yes - Yeah.”

“Yeah?” James asked, leaning so close that Aleks could feel the breath of the word against his face. The teasing was just a step too far, snapped Aleks out of this weird, blushing virginal state. He curled his fingers into the stupid, preppy button up James was wearing, and shoved their mouths together. Their teeth clicked, and James winced. Aleks almost had enough time to regret it, but then James laid the hand not trapping him on his face, thumb resting just under his eye, and guided him. They moved to just the right angle; Aleks wasn’t sure if he could or would ever feel higher. He pushed himself up against James, free hand finding his waist and holding them together. They were pressed together from chest to hips, moving in a rhythm that was both natural and completely new. It felt like time had stopped, until James pulled back. Even he had a tinge of pink on his face now too, Aleks noted, only somewhat smug.

“That enough reason?” Aleks asked, and even waggled his eyebrows for effect. Jesus, Steve was gonna beat the shit out of him, if he found out, but James was huffing out a quiet laugh again, and Aleks decided that the future beating was worth it.

“Maybe next time, we’ll give him enough reason,” he said, and that froze Aleks right up. Next time, He hadn’t even thought -

“Oh, uh, I mean,” he stuttered out. James rolled his eyes, giving a satisfied smirk that clashed with the exaggerated annoyance.

“Whatever. I’ll see you later, Aleksandr,” He said. It occurred to Aleks that this was the first time James said his name - he hadn’t even been 100% sure James had even known it. James leaned back into his personal space to brush a kiss over Aleks’ cheek, then backed away. He unlocked the door, and opened it.

“Oh, and try not to stare at me so much. I mean, I know I’m handsome, but you’re so fuckin’ obvious.” With that, James marched out the bathroom, and Aleks was left once again, bright red. Yeah, he thought, he was pretty much fucked.

[thetwoplayergays]

ok um i'm trash but um can i have a fic where like michael is really protective of jeremy (for whatever reason) and just everyone is gay and it's great

Ay, back at it again with the late replies to asks I should have done ages ago (IM SORRY). Hope this will suffice, thank you for the prompt!

——

The plan was for Jeremy to get out of hospital, ask out Christine and live a normal high school life as a normal high school teenager - now with a few more friends. What Jeremy wasn’t anticipating was Michael’s change in attitude when he got back.

Michael, his best friend for twelve years, had suddenly become very… attached to Jeremy. He hadn’t noticed at first, focusing more on his plan to ask out Christine or catching up on any work that The Squip had previously deemed ‘uncool’ or 'useless’. But as the days went by Jeremy began to notice Michael’s presence more and more. Sure, it wasn’t uncommon for Michael to have his bad days and follow Jeremy around for the majority of the school day but by the end of the week Jeremy couldn’t think of one instance where Michael had left his side.

When Monday came, Jeremy found Michael waiting outside his house to walk to school. The two stood side by side as Michael hopped along the pavement with his headphones around his neck, looking around as if he was expecting someone to pop out behind the passing houses. As he began to calm down, Jeremy took a closer look at his best friend. He noticed that his eyes were slightly more droopy than normal, little bags had begun to form underneath them. His hair was ruffled and he was wearing the wrong shoes, as if he was in a hurry to leave the house. Despite this, Michael still wore his generic giddy smile on his face, the look which made Jeremy’s heart melt slightly on the inside.

At lunch time, Rich and Jake approached the two, asking if they wanted to join them at their table in the far corner of the cafeteria. There sat the rest of the group - Brooke, Chloe, Jenna and Christine - eagerly waving at the best friends. Before Jeremy could reply with some cheap excuse as to why he wasn’t feeling well all of a sudden, Michael jumped in between them, turning to Jeremy.

“Come on dude, lets go sit with them! It’ll- It’ll be fun,” he stammered out the last past, suddenly dragging his best friend across the hall before he had a chance to protest. Under his breath, Jeremy heard him mutter “no harm done yeah? Yeah…”

Jeremy, naive Jeremy, brushed off the encounter as Michael just acting up as he sometimes did. But a few days later Jeremy was walking down the hallway on the way to his next class when he heard Michael catch up to him, skidding to a stop once he reached his best friend.

“How was math?” He small talked, slurping the remains of his slushie.

“It was fine, I guess. I wish Mr David would ease up on the homework though, I’m starting to get-” before Jeremy could continue, he was stopped in his tracks by Michael. He turned to see a mixture of anger and fright on his face, a look that really didn’t suit him. Jeremy tried to follow his line of sight but was cut off by Christine shouting his name from down the hallway. He looked back and waved, but when he returned to his best friend’s gaze it was gone, replaced with what looked to be a sympathetic smile as he saw Christine.

“I’ll… uh- catch up with you later Jer,” he mumbled before setting off in the opposite direction without letting Jeremy say a word.

Jeremy tried to give Christine a decent conversation but it was clear he was distracted by something else. He kept turning to look down the hallway in which Michael had seen something, making him stop dead in his tracks. He couldn’t help but wonder what he had seen. Jeremy briefly heard Christine asking if he was alright, to which he replied some rehearsed nonsense about being tired from schoolwork while he continued to focus on the hallway.

It wasn’t until Friday afternoon that he discovered what Michael had been so frightened of.

Jeremy had just finished play rehearsal with the gang and was making his way through the school hallways to go home. Just as the doors came into sight, he spotted a group of - maybe two or three - boys hanging around the doorway, blocking the entrance. They seemed to be waiting for someone, so Jeremy naturally assumed they were one of the many friends of Jake or Chloe. However, as he began to approach, one of the boys spotted him coming and alerted the other two of his arrival. Confused, Jeremy stopped walking and spoke up;

“Um hi… could I get past please? You’re kind of blocking the door,” he stuttered, trying not to mess up his wording in front of the intimidating boys. But neither moved an inch. Instead, the main boy came forward, speaking slowly and articulating his words so precisely it sent a shiver down Jeremy’s spine.

“That was kind of the point mate,” he chuckled and the other two joined in. “We were just waiting for someone…”

“Oh…” said Jeremy, slowly shifting his feet. “W-who?”

Deep down, he already knew the answer.

“You.”

Now, Jeremy had dealt with bullies before, being a loser and all. He was used to the unoriginal insults and the occasional shove. But these guys were clearly not messing around, going out of their way to wait for him after school and everything. Jeremy took a step backwards in fear.

“You’re the guy that possessed my brother yeah?” The main boy snarled. Jeremy’s face twitched for a second, taking another step back.

“P-possessed?!”

“He told me bout it. Said some dude in his drama rehearsal tried to take over the whole cast. Course, the guy doesn’t care now. He’s way too forgiving for his own good my brother,” the boy continued, slowly inching forwards. His friends had now joined his march a few feet behind him. “Fortunately for you, I’m nothing like the guy. I’m a solid believer that you deserve what’s coming to you buddy.”

Jeremy wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He couldn’t keep retreating forever, the gang would eventually catch up to him, and there was no way he was going to slip past these three boys. Caught up in his thinking, he stopped retreating. Jeremy realised his mistake too late as he felt his whole body smash up against a locker. His head smacked the metal plating behind him, causing an immediate headache to rush into his head. He blinked and locked eyes with the bully.

“Or maybe, I just want an excuse to beat up a nerd,” he smirked, lifting his fist to the air. His two friends stood back, watching the whole ordeal go down without interfering. Jeremy shut his eyes closed and tensed up, preparing himself for a blow to the face at any moment.

Instead, he felt his body suddenly drop the ground as a loud grunt came from the boy. Confused, he peeled his eyes open to see the previously menacing boy sprawled across the floor with a bloody nose. His two friends had stepped back in fear at the cause of the punch. The guy responsible stepped forward and glared at the two, signalling - or warning - for them to leave. They did as instructed, picking up the brother and rushing out the door without saying a word.

Jeremy’s head had began to ease up just enough for him to start to process what had just happened when his arm was flown over a shoulder and he was heaved up onto his feat. The familiar smell of weed and slushie suddenly hit him and he knew exactly who had come to him rescue.

“Michael?” He spat out, turning to face the boy. Now that he was fully standing on his own, he could focus on the boy. Michael’s face was covered in sweat. His eyes glimmered with a hint of fear and relief at the sight of his best friend and a large bruise had begun to form on his knuckle from where he had punched the bully.

“Michael,” he said again, this time more definite. It was at that point where Michael’s intimidating persona faded as his eyes began to well up with tears. He flung himself onto Jeremy and dug his head in his neck as he began to sob.

“I’m- I’m sorry I just…” he muttered through his tears, “I heard them… when you came back to school- they were talking about what they were going to do to you- and I just… I just wanted to make sure that you were ok-”

“Thank you Michael,” was all Jeremy could muster before his eyes too began to fill up with tears. The boys sat there, in the school hallway, for about ten minutes silently crying until Jeremy sat up and pulled Michael up with him as they slowly made their way out of the building.

——

“Morning!” Jeremy greeted his friends by the school entrance. By his side was Michael with his bandaged knuckle and huge smile on his face.

“Morning bro!” Replied Jake. The group shared a quick conversation before entering the school and as they walked down the hallway Michael stood proudly by Jeremy’s side.

“Oh my gosh Michael,” exclaimed Christine as she noticed the white bandages across his hand, “what happened? Are you hurt?”

“Don’t worry Chris,” replied Jeremy, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, “he’s got it under control.”

Just up ahead, a brief conversation between Rich and Jake could be heard.

“Now that I think about it, my bro was acting a little strange last night. He came home with a broken nose and started ranting on about this dude in a hoodie.”

“No way!” Rich cried, “your bro got beat up by some kid in a jacket?”

“Yeah yeash,” replied Jake who appeared to be pondering the thought. “He said someone about him being utterly terrifying, looming over him and protecting his lanky best-”

Slowly, the two boys locked eyes and turned to find Michael’s hand bruised after Christine insisted on changing the bandage. He looked up to see the boys staring and smirked. Turning to Jeremy, he flew an arm around his shoulder and paraded forward, passing the two as he went. Turning round, Michael brought his damaged hand up to his eyes and returned the glare, signalling NOT to touch his best friend in case they also wanted a piece of what he could do.

Deep down, Michael just wanted his hand to heal quicker. He couldn’t press the buttons on the controller properly with a bruised knuckle, but the image of being a type of bodyguard for Jeremy - it made it all worthwhile.