#holland march's desk at the nice guys office

[petersshirts]

Hitting On You | tom holland

summary: out of your anger you punch a stranger straight in the face - but hey, what if that stranger is really really cute?

words: 1594

a/n: tadaa! finally, another one-shot! I hope you like it, I’m so happy how it turned out! :) love you x

Poof! Po - poof!

You punched the bag repeatedly, sweat running down your forehead. Your arms were getting tired but you were not about to give up. You were too angry for that.

The clock above the entrance to the small gym showed 1 am. You had been here for two hours, and you were not about to stop.

It had been a hard and long day. You had to get early to your job because your boss had a few meetings he wanted to talk about with you.

You had been your boss’ assistant for two years now and you were desperately hoping for a promotion to be a writer. But for two years, you were constantly bringing him coffee and listen to him talking about his issues at home. And today was just the same: You ran through London to get him everything he wanted and when you walked back to his office, you picked up the following conversation between your boss and the president of the company:

„Are there any promotions coming up?“

You held your breath, needing to hear your boss’ answer. „Yes, there is one coming up - a young guy named Adam who just started his job half a year ago has been very successful.“

When he said that sentence, you completely lost it. You knew better not to run into the office and make a scene in front of the office, holding back your anger until you could confront your boss, alone.

The president left half an hour ago later and when he was out of sight, you got up and marched into your boss’ office, closing the door behind you. He raised his eyebrows at your sudden arrival.

„Can I help you, Ms Y/L/N?“

You walked towards his desk, trying to find the right words.

„Yes, actually you can. I want a promotion.“

„Since when are you the one to decide that?“

You smiled, used to his stubbornness. But you continued, „I’ve been working for you for two years now, don’t you think it would be time?“

Your boss shook his head, a little smile appeared on his face that you hated. „I’m not gonna do that.“

Your words rushed out and you didn’t regret them. This job was leading to nowhere and if you continued, you would never achieve your dream.

„Alright, then I quit.“

And with these words, you walked out, packed all your stuff and left the building.

_____________________________________

And now here you were, in the small gym that was in your apartment complex. After you had left work, you ran home and immediately went down here, trying to get your anger out of your body. You had always kept it inside of you, but today was the day to finally let it go and take a step towards your dreams. Even though you were unemployed.

You hit the punching bag again and again and your muscles were burning, but the loud music in your eyes was tempting to go even further. Some rock singer was screaming into your ear, telling you that his heart was broken but you ignored the lyrics, only focusing on the music.

Suddenly there was a tap on your shoulder. You were in such a rush that you didn’t see something like this coming so you turned around and lunged at the person that was behind you. In the first moment, you didn’t even realise what you had done. But when you saw the young guy on the ground, holding his nose, you noticed that you just hit a stranger, straight in the face without any reason.

„Oh my god, I’m so sorry!“

You crouched down in front of the boy, feeling helpless. The boy looked up at you but he was still holding his nose in pain. You couldn’t see any blood so that was good, but when the nose is broken, does it bleed??

The boy sat up and slowly put his hand from his nose. It didn’t look like it was broken but you had punched him pretty hard. „I - it’s fine. It was pretty stupid from me to just sneak up behind you while you couldn’t even hear me. You’ve got a good punch though.“

He smiled at you but you still felt bad. Even though it was somehow his own fault. When you looked at his face, he seemed familiar to you. And then it clicked: He also lived in this complex and you had seen him a few minutes when you left or came back, but you had never talked to each other. A neighbour had told you that his first name was Tom, but that’s the only thing you really knew about him. He looked really good and always send you a cute smile but you just knocked him to the ground, your chances were very slim.

„You’re Tom right? Why did you even tap me on the shoulder when you saw that I was really into it?“ Toms face got red and he finally got himself up to standing. „Uhm.. yes I’m Tom, how do you even know that? I just saw you in there two hours ago when I left the building and when I just came back you were still punching the bag like a maniac, and I just wanted to know if you’re okay and if you wanna talk about it, because no one is going that hard for only a fitter body.“

You smiled at him, happy that he noticed that and wanted to check on you, even if it ended pretty badly. „A neighbour told me once. I’ve just quitted my job actually and I was so angry at my shitty boss I just needed a distraction. So I’ve just been punching this bag for four hours, thinking that this bag is my boss.“

Tom laughed and nodded, completely understanding your decision.

„Do you wanna talk about it?“

______________________________

When you had packed all your stuff together, the two of you moved to your apartment that was just one floor higher than Toms. You changed into some comfy clothes and brought Tom a cool pack to cool off his swelling nose.

„It’s not that bad, I promise you.“ You just handed him the pack and sat down next to him.

„Just take it.“

„So why did you quit today?“ He asked you with a raised eyebrow, curious about your day. You sighed and leaned back, closing your eyes.

„I’ve been working for my boss for two years now as an assistant and I always wanted to be a writer in his company. I took the job two years ago because the company told me that there was a big chance that I would be promoted in a short amount of time. But all I’m doing is bringing my boss coffee and filling his calendar but that’s not my potential, you know? I studied so hard and I love writing but this ass just used me.“

Tom nodded at you, completely understanding. He may not have had the same way as you, but he knew the feeling. It was never nice when somebody told you that you would get something but then there’s was nothing. It was a horrible feeling.

„Hey, it’s gonna be fine. You’re gonna find a much better job where you are not hitting people in the nose!“ You giggled and hit his shoulder, happy that there was someone to talk to. All your anger had vanished just by talking and not punching til you were completely exhausted.

The two of you chatted all night, you were in your own bubble full of light and laughter and you felt so happy like you hadn’t in a very long time. When the sun started to rise, Tom stood up.

„I actually have to go to work a bit later, so I better catch some sleep before I head off.“ You nodded and smiled, knowing that you could just lay in bed all day and not worry about a damn thing. Just the curly haired boy.

„But I still owe you something for that blue nose though. Do you maybe wanna grab dinner this weekend?“ Tom literally beamed at you. He was so excited that you had asked him, he was way too shy around girls to make the first move. „Yes, of course! I will just drop by this afternoon and tell you a time?“

You nodded and then you stood at the door, two people who started the night off as strangers and ended it of as friends. Maybe even friends who wanted to be more?

You stared at your shoes, not knowing if you should just wave him off or hug him but Tom surprised you when he pressed a cheeky kiss on the corner of your mouth. Your eyes widened but he was too quick to catch the kiss. Tom stepped back, waving at you.

„See you, Tom.“

„See you, Darling. And by the way, you looked really sexy when you punched that bag.“

__________________________________________________

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[j0ebay]

Kiss Me Goodbye... Chapter 1

Warning(s): swearing, violence, this is probably trash tbh

Word Count: 2129

A/N: IT’S HERE IT’S HERE IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!! I literally wrote half of this over the course of two very busy days and pulled the rest out of my ass in an all nighter oops I have a parade today I’m really stoked this chapter is finally out so enjoy and feedback is deeply appreciated!! 💙💙

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synopsis     chapter 2

an extra thank you to @starksmile for the amazing moodboard!!!

“Now he’s gone. I don't know why and to this day sometimes I cry. He didn’t even say goodbye. He didn’t take the time to lie” -Nancy Sinatra

“You need a refill, George?” Asks the green eyed, burgundy haired woman as she quickly rounded the corner of the counter. Morning rush for her was always such an exciting time, due to her love of people, both newcomers and regulars.

“If it’s not too much trouble for you, Lindsey. You’re always so busy.” The older man replies back, sitting on a bar stool and pushing his empty mug towards her.

Lindsey laughs while picking up a coffee pot and pouring it, causing the dark liquid to pour out.

“Too much trouble? It’s my job to make sure you’re good!” She pushes her glasses further up on her nose. The man sips his coffee while she races around grabbing things needed for other customers.

“Order up!” a voice from the kitchen yells. Lindsey speeds over to the window saying a quick

“Thanks Marty!” before taking the food, putting it on a tray and walking it over to a couple in their mid sixties

“I got a waffle platter with scrambled eggs and a fruit bowl for Miss Kathy and a pancake stack with poached eggs and hashbrowns for the one and only Franklin” She says placing the plates to the respective people and turns the tray into her abdomen, crossing her arms over it.

“Anything else I can get for you folks? More water?”

The two smile at her before Franklin says

“No, Lindsey we’re really great thanks.”

She smiles and nods.

“Alright, you two, well you let me know if you need anything alright? How are the kids doing?”

The two smile at the mention of their children

“Well, Matt is finishing up university and he just got accepted into medical school and Darcy just got engaged to her boyfriend last night”

The young girl grins at their excitement.

“Oh my gosh that’s amazing!”

“How’s your show going?” Kathy asks

“We hear a lot about those kids of yours”

She giggles and brushes the hair out of her face.

“Well it’s not really my show it’s all the kids but, they’re doing great! It’s really amazing to see how far they’ve come and how devoted they are. Plus the show’s actually pretty cool”

They both look at her with amazement.

“You really are devoted, you put in so many hours here and with those kids and then at the shelter too! How old are you again?”

“I just turned 22 a few weeks ago”

She hears the order bell ding again and waves at the couple while walking back to the counter

The blue eyed man rubs his face with his hands as he looks over the files. So much information racked his mind and he was hitting a wall. He directs his attention upward at the sound of a knocking door.

“Yeah what” The man said.

Another guy enters saying “Anderson hasn’t paid up and yesterday was the deadline”

The blue eyed man leans back in his desk chair, sighing and running his hand through his light brown curls.

“‘S Tom back yet?”

The other man shakes his head.

“Okay,” He sits up, resting his elbows in his lap and putting his face in his hands.

“Let me know when he does.”

“Alright, Haz”

The door closes as the other man leaves as the blue eyed man sighs, runs his hand through his hair once more and gets out of his chair and walks out of his office. Closing the door behind him, he looks at the name on the door

Harrison Osterfield

He smirks to himself, reflecting on the amount of power and authority he has. He walks over to the door that says Harry Holland and lightly knocks while already entering the office.

“Hey, mate Anderson didn’t pay up so I gotta go do some form of beatdown tonight. You in?”

Harry reflects the same smirk on Harrison’s face and nods.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been out and about. Let’s do it”

“Hey Lindsey can you help me out for a sec?”

Lindsey snaps out of her thoughts and turns her head to see another volunteer carrying three bags of dog food piled on top of each other. She smiles and walks over from the help desk to the front door grabbing two of the bags and slowly walking them over to the food room. Along with working at the diner and helping out in the marching band, she also helps out at the dog shelter.

“Jeez Lindsey you’ve got some muscle there!” The two girls laugh.

“Yeah well I grew up around guys that we’re pretty much my brothers so I’m kinda used to it”

They both laugh again and Lindsey sits herself back at her desk, taking out her phone to text her roommate.

Lindsey Fuller😋 Friendly reminder I’m not gonna be home til like 9:30-10:00ish cause there’s band so do whatever for dinner and you don’t need to wait up for me 😁

Immediately, her phone buzzes back with

Grace Moore🌷 Thanks for the heads up. Have fun with your kids

Lindsey smiles at the message. She never really considered the kids to be hers but everyone else did so she rolled with it. As she gazes at the clock, then at the door, she decides she has enough time to go over notes on things the kids need to work on tonight.

As the sun set, the boys were getting antsy, Tom wanted his damn money, Haz wanted to do his job and Harry? Harry just wanted something to do.

“I don’t see why we can’t just go right now.”

Tom chuckles, looking at his brother with raised eyebrows.

“You’re always so jittery Harry just shut up and wait ‘til he’s alone”

Harry groans and the two older boys laugh. They see their target walk into the warehouse.

“Let’s go boys” Tom mumbles as the three step out of the shadows and into the warehouse the man known as “Anderson” walked into.

Harrison finds the guy first, alone in the room and blocks the doorway. Harry soon follows, blocking the doorway from the other side. Tom stayed back, wanting to make an intimidating entrance. He does need to make an impression after all. Anderson still doesn’t notice the guys presence until Harrison clears his throat. Anderson turns his head, eyes wide once he catches a glimpse of who made the noise and instantly starts walking towards the other doorway. Harry laughs, leaning on the door frame and saying

“You didn’t actually think we’d let you get away that easily, now did you?”

“I-I”

Tom emerges from the darkness.

“Where’s my fucking money, Anderson?”

The man lets out a labored breath.

“T-Tom. I can explain”

Harrison steps forward, gearing up for what’s about to happen

“You can explain?” Tom asks with raised eyebrows.

“Cause that seems like a waste of my time. What do you think guys?” Harry smirks.

“I’d rather be home right now if we’re being honest”

Tom chimes in again. “And Haz over here? Haz is looking for a girl. He could be out doing that kinda thing right now!”

Harrison raises his eyebrows and tilts his head in agreement. He isn’t wrong.

Anderson stutters as the three of them move closer and closer, closing in on him.

“I-If it’s girls you want, I have a niece about your age and I think you might like her-” “-That’s pretty sick, mate” Haz cutts him of.

“You would be willing to give us your niece, the flesh and blood of your sibling, so you can get out of some fucking money?”

Harrison swings and lands a punch to the man’s stomach.

Anderson doubles over in pain mumbling a raspy

“Th-that’s not what i meant. I-”

He gets cut off by a knee to the gut, knocking him to the floor, groaning.

Tom squats down to his level, taking Anderson’s face in his hands.

“Now, it’s still fairly early in the night and my guys and I, well, we got shit to do. So, you’re gonna make this nice and simple for me. I’m gonna ask you a question and you’re gonna show me yes,”

He stops to forcefully nod the man’s head, squishing his cheeks.

“Or no.”

Tom shakes Anderson’s Anderson’s head, signaling no.

“You understand me?”

Anderson nods his head, sweat dripping from his forehead indicating fear.

“Alright, Anderson. Do you have my money?”

There’s a pause, even more tension fills the air and the man  slowly shakes his head.

“No?” Tom asks.

He looks at Haz and Harry.

“Well, at least he’s being honest.”

The three of them smile but then Harry interjects

“But, I mean it’s already a bad idea to take out a loan from the biggest mob boss in London, let alone not pay it back. I feel like lying would make everything worse. Wouldn’t you think Tom?”

Tom shrugs and nods, soon asking.

“So, what should we do with him then?”

Immediately, Anderson starts begging

“Please, Mr. Holland I’ll do anything. Just give me one more week. I can give my brother a call and set you and your friend up if that’s what you really want.”

The three guys roll their eyes before Harrison takes out his gun, pointing it at the man.

“I have an idea” he says, smirking.

The begging intensifies as Harrison cocks his gun.

“You sick son of a bitch. You could’ve given us the money that you owe us but instead, you find out that I just so happened to be kinda not really looking for a girl and you offer up your own family? I’m not even related to those two and they treat me better.”

He says, gesturing towards Tom and Harry with his gun.

“Please, Mr.Osterfield. I’m sorry!”

Harrison sighs.

“If only your niece could see you now”

Bang

“Nice rim shot at the end snares!” Lindsey says as she jogs back from where she was watching them.

“I would just say watch your heights on the sextuplet rolls, a good lot of you are accenting your right hand which is not what we need right now alright?”

She feels her phone buzz in her pocket and takes it out to see

Grace Moore🌷 Hey! Btw there’s a package here for you

Lindsey’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Lindsey Fuller😋 Go ahead and open it if it’s actually addressed to me… I don’t really remember ordering anything so it’s either some sort of surprise or a bomb.

She smiles at the message she sent and it immediately fades. She could’ve sworn she felt a pair of eyes on her. She cranes her head left and right, seeing nothing.

Her phone buzzes again.

Grace Moore🌷 It’s from the people living in your old house? They said they found an old scrapbook of yours and sent it along with a note… damn you were an adorable kid

“Ugh” Lindsey says to herself at the last part of the text. She looked around again, still getting the feeling that someone was watching her from a distance.

“Watch that roll snares! It sounds like blulululuah which is a bad thing!” She yells after the marching snare drummers.

Lindsey lets out a big yawn while looking at the time.

“Long night, Lindsey?” One of the drummers asks her.

She laughs.

“I can’t tell if you’re being sincere or if that’s part of the high school humor that i definitely do not miss since graduating.”

The younger boy smiles and says

“Honestly, it was a bit of both but all of us here know you stretch yourself pretty thin.”

She laughs again.

“Yeah, nothing caffeine and a kickass show can’t fix though”

Lindsey arrives at her apartment to see her old scrapbook and a note sitting on the kitchen table.

“Hi Lindsey! We found this scrapbook in a box in the attic, saw your name in the inside cover and decided it would be a good idea to mail it to you! I hope all is well wherever you are!

-Phyllis and Clifford Sullivan”

She flips through the book, reflecting on the memories she and her friends made of her childhood. Two families in particular come to mind right away. Constant sleepovers with the two boys her age, playing cowboy or football with them and exchanging smiles. Along with the memories of the two families, a song comes to mind. It was sung to her on so many occasions by one woman and only one woman. She would push the red hair out of her face and lightly comb Lindsey’s brown and sing

“I was five and he was six. We rode on horses made of sticks.”

Lindsey soon sang to herself softly.

“He wore black and I wore white. He would always win the fight.

Bang Bang.”

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[littlefrostwrites]

Prompt: a group of boys find a dead body

for my writing challenge

Kell puts his phone down on his desk, having just finished a phone call with a client. He had good news for her today, happy he was able to let her know that the opposition had decided to settle [description of case here]. It had been nice to hear her happy and grateful voice when he call, but he admitted it had been far more satisfying to see the opposing lawyer’s face when he had executed the winning move. He shrugged his suit jacket back onto his shoulders, having removed it early when he felt warm. But now he wanted to feel put together, as he headed to his managing partner’s office to report the good news. 

He swept through the doors, not bothering to knock as he could see through the glass that she wasn’t busy.

“I settled the London case!” he declared, dropping the file on Astrid Athos’ desk and plopping into the seat across from her. She didn’t look up from where her eyes were fixed on the screen of her laptop.”

“That’s great,” she said. Kell frowned. “But it’s just pro bono. None of that money is going to the firm.” At this, she finally looked up and took off her glasses. She was unimpressed. 

“Yes, but it does make our firm look good, doesn’t it, to be taking on all these pro bono cases, and not only that, but also winning them. So spectacularly as well!” Kell laughed. “You should have seem opposing counsel’s faces-”

“Yes it’s all very well a good that we won, but it needn’t have been you.” Kell sighed as Astrid launched into a well trodden argument. “As a firm, I agree we have to do pro bono, but that’s what we have associates for. You don’t only don’t pass off your mandatory two cases per year to associates as most partners do, you’ve already taken on triple that number this year. And it’s only March.” 

“What can I say, I’m a benevolent guy,” Kell quipped. It was lighthearted in delivery, but they both knew it wasn’t truly. Astrid got up from behind the desk and walked over to where Kell was sitting. He stood up, uncomfortable with her looming over him. This way, he was taller and felt more in control, and so when she put a hand on his cheek gently, it didn’t sting as much. 

“Son, you are a good person. You don’t have to keep making up for the past.” She let her hand and her words linger for a few seconds, before retracting her arm and turning back to her side of her desk. “Besides, you left your silly dreams of civil law behind a long time ago and are a corporate lawyer. And in this field, you do what is best for the firm. What is best for this firm is for you, our highly skilled junior partner, to continue winning cases for paying clients. So I ask that you focus on that for the remainder of the quarter. Do you understand me?” Kell sighed and then nodded sharply.

“Yes.”

_____

Delilah is in the kitchen when Kell finally gets home around 8 PM, the table set and the food cold on top it. She’s not mad though, just greets him with a kiss, asking him how work was and chiming, “You work so hard!” when he told her briefly about his day. They eat dinner in silence, a simple pasta salad. Delly had grown up in a house with not one, but multiple maids to clean the large rooms and cook for her family of six. When they moved in together, Kell had refused Delly’s inquiry of hiring a maid for themselves, citing that two young professionals should be able to also keep the house clean and cook for themselves. When she had accepted his marriage proposal though, she had made him promise that they would at least get a nanny when they eventually had a child. He had agreed reluctantly, supposing that hiring on one staff wasn’t all that uncommon and would necessarily write them off as rich and out of touch. He hoped. 

He asked after Delly’s day as well, which had ended at 4 pm as it always did. She informed him that she had lunch with a number of sponsors, pitching to them the mission of the non-profit that she worked at rather successfully too. Delly was good at her job, and people instantly took to her, charmed by the story of the daughter of the CEO of one of the largest tech companies in the world using her business degree to work for a non-profit that paid far less than reasonable to support the luxuries that she was accustomed to. What was often left out of the conversation was hefty trust fund that had be deposited into her account at the age of 25 and the company shares that her father had bought in her name since she was four years old. 

Image mattered though, and Delly was perfect for Kell, not only because she was genuinely kind and wanted to help people, but also because she was beautiful, well-connected and had a do-gooder reputation. And Kell was perfect for Delly, a lawyer at a firm that often took on high-profile pro-bono cases, showing they cared about the public, but also a corporate lawyer, with a salary that meant they and their children would never want for anything, even without any of Delly’s family money. 

“Dinner with your parents tomorrow,” Delly reminded him once they had finished dinner and gotten ready for bed. They were lying together in the center of the bed, with his arm around her and her head tucked against his chest. They felt perfect together like this, Kell thought to himself. The kind of couple you would see in a movie, the couple you would root for because they just seemed to fit. 

“Right, 6 pm yeah?” Delly hummed in agreement before extracting herself briefly from his arms to turn off the light on the nightstand. Then she was back again and Kell found himself drifting off to sleep. 

***

Delly and Kell have dinner with his parents once a month, and have dinner with her parents once a month as well, alternating every two weeks to be fair. Today is a Tuesday and they make the forty minute drive from their condo downtown to the very outskirts of the city, watching as the skyscrapers vanish and are replaced by highways, trees and hills, and grand mansions. They park on the driveway of the largest one on the block, a pure ivory two story with five garages and a lakefront view. The first time Kell had brought Delly over, she had spent most of the meeting gushing with his mother about interior design, complementing her exquisite and classy taste in decor, and gathering inspiration for their future house. Kell knew that Delly was already scoping out the market on top of her involvement in their wedding preparations, and had even gone to a couple of open houses with her mother. 

Astrid and Athos greeted Delly and Kell with hugs, before graciously accepting the cherry pie that Delly had baked, instructing the maids to take it to the kitchen to keep warm until it was time for dessert. 

They settled down for their meal and made idle small talk, before Athos spoke more purposefully.

“Kell, I heard that your highschool class is having their ten year reunion this weekend?” He looked pointedly at his son. “Are you planning to make an appearance?”

“Oh we should! It would be so nice to meet some of your old classmates!” Delly exclaimed before Kell could respond. 

“Yes, I think it’d be a good opportunity to touch base with them, reminisce on old times and also, show them your achievements, how much you’ve changed and grown since you all saw each other last.” Athos gives Kell a meaningful look and Kell understands what he’s getting at. He considers for a moment and then says,

“I’d forgotten that was coming up. Yes I agree, it’d be good to make an appearance.” Delly made an excited noise at that and they continued on with their meal.

Later, as they were getting ready to leave, Astrid took her son aside.

“I’m proud that you’ve decided to see your highschool classmates again. I know it must have been hard for you to make that decision.”

“I think it’s time to confront them, don’t you? I’m a different person now, and it’s time to show them all that.” Kell’s voice was steady with conviction, but inside he felt a bit uneasy, a ball of anxiety starting to unfurl. He tapped it down and smiled at his mother. “I’m sure it’ll go fine. And Delly’s so excited to meet everyone, I’m sure she’ll smooth over any awkward moments.” 

“Yes I’m sure it’ll go great, you’ll both impress everyone. Delly was such a good choice for you, she brightens your whole demeanor.” Kell sniffed at that remark, but gave his mother a kiss of the cheek goodbye and his father a hug, finally leaving with one last remark that he would see Astrid bright and early tomorrow at work. 

Scene 3 (unfinished): The reunion happens and goes well. Catches up with boys. No classmates approach them at first, but then slowly some people integrate. Main character repeatedly points out good deeds he has done. Gets internally angry when another classmate takes attention off him recounting his probono work. But halfway through, some of the classmates take the stage to commemorate the death of one of their classmates.  Fiance, “you never told me someone in your class died?”. The word “suicide” is explicitly used at one point. When getting refreshments, Fiance asks him if he knew the other boy well bc he seems “sad”. He mutters not really, is overhead by another classmate. They confront him about it, fiancé finds out.

The reunion is on Saturday, so Wednesday morning, Kell reaches out to his old crew from highschool, asking if any of them are planning on attending as well. When he’s 

“The people here are so rude.” Delly interrupts him and Holland with a sniff and a light stomp of the foot. Kell asks her what she’s on about. “We were chatting so nicely and then they asked who I was with, so I told them I was your fiance and then they suddenly made up some sort of excuse and left! I was just in the middle of convincing them to become donors too.” Delly tried to use every opportunity to promote her causes. As shallow and airheaded as Kell thought she could be, it was moments like this that reminded him why everyone else bought into her passion for making the world a better place. She put so much effort into it that how could anyone doubt her intentions?

“You never told me someone in your class died? Is that why you’ve been so off today? Did you know him well?” Her beautiful face turned inquisitively towards his, her face scrunched in empathy. Kelly adjusted his tie uncomfortably, lowering his voice. 

“Uh, no we weren’t close. I barely knew him,” he lied, trying to keep his voice down. But clearly someone heard him.  

“Excuse me?” Kell and Delly turned to face a red headed lady with a wine glass in her hand. She looked irate and her face was red, a juxtaposition against the cream white of her business casual dress. 

“I’ve heard you! Boasting about all your achievements, all your phony do-gooding. You’re trying to erase what you did in the past, but we all remember. No matter how many cases you win, how many donations you make to anti-bullying campaigns, how many[...] we won’t be fooled again. You’ll always be a cruel, hateful boy and someday, you’re going to trip up again and show those you’ve fooled who you really are - a mean, hateful man, and now a liar and phony.” Kell thought she was done speaking but then she turned to Delly and said, “I’m so sorry honey,” before turning to him again to finish off with, “Go home Dane. Nobody wants you here.” 

A crowd had gathered around them, and Kell could see in the eyes of his former classmates and just as they hadn’t wanted him at their school graduation, they didn’t want him at their reunions either. It didn’t matter that some of them had been genuinely interested in talking with him about the various non-profit initiatives he was invested in and the one he was setting up at his firm, now they were reminded of their shared past and everything he had done since was tinged with insincerity. So he lifted his glass in acknowledgement, set it half empty down onto a nearby table, before taking his leave, sweeping a slightly starstruck Delly against him and towards the exit. 

******

Delly was quiet in the car and didn’t speak until they got home. She took her heels off in the front entrance and then dropped onto the couch in their living now. Kell hovered into the kitchen, but could still hear her when she said,

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kell flipped the kettle on and let the sound of the water heating up fill the space between them for a few moments. 

“I didn’t want you to think any different of me.” He sighed as he walked towards her and then sat down on the coffee table in front of Delly, taking her hands in his. She didn’t look at him. “We were silly teenage boys back then, too caught up in our own worlds to understand the effect that we were having on him. If we had known how sensitive he was--” 

“Sensitive?” Delly interrupted, and the tone of her voice would have keyed him into the danger of the situation he was stepping into. He hurried to correct himself.

“My point is that I understand what we did wrong back then, I wouldn’t do it again. I regret it every day. I’ve changed.”

“Have you? Do you regret what happened because a boy died or do you regret it because your classmates think you’re a terrible person? You know I always did wonder if you truly wanted to do good why didn’t you go into civil law? Why corporate? It never did make sense to me. And now I know! You don’t really care about the less fortunate, you only care about your image! It’s not about helping your client out, it’s about winning, and showing the world how many pro bono cases you’ve done so that they’ll all say, Wow look at Kell Dane, such a champion for the voiceless! You’re a fraud!” Her voiced gradually got louder as she spoke, to the point where she nearly screamed her last accusation at him. 

“You’re one to talk! You’re always going on about new initiatives, and helping those more fortunate than you and then turn around and buy clothing that has been created in sweatshops by the very people you say you care about. I may be a fraud, but you’re a hypocrite!” He lashed out. Delly stared at him with wide eyes. Kell had never yelled at her before, had always made sure to never raise his voice, present himself as a soft hearted, but capable, man. She slowly crumpled, like a butterfly with a broken wing would, and he saw one tear start to fall, and then she slapped him. The force of it whipped his head to the right. Kell didn’t go after her when she ran off to the bedroom.

Delly cries herself to sleep and Kell waits until her tears subside before crawling into bed next to her. He wonders if this is the beginning of the end again. Everyone had been so quick to turn against him in high school, the students, the teachers, the administrative staff, and especially the school board who were only negotiated into allowing him to graduate with the contingency that he was homeschooled for the rest of the year, didn’t attend the ceremony and didn’t speak to the press. The other boys were treated the same way, and they barely talked to each other either, too shocked about what had happened and each ruminating on their own role in Rhy’s fate. Kell spent the next year, next few years, angry with everyone. He was angry with himself for being so stupid as to not have seen it coming, for his friends for the same, at his parents using their money to get him out of any consequences, at everyone at school for deeming him a villain. He vowed to prove them wrong, show them that he wasn’t bad, that he had just been a normal teenage boy, maybe with a bit of a mean streak, but really he was quite decent, good even. He would show them, he had thought.

But now it was clear that he had failed.

Kell tried not to think about Rhy before, because thinking about him made him sad and angry and hopeless, and Kell was trying to remake himself so he could not afford to feel sad and angry about hopeless. Maybe that’s why he never told Delly, because he didn’t want to believe that it had happened, choosing to remove those moments in highschool from his character. But now, after being rejected once again by his classmates and lying in his bed with his fiance turned away from him, he does think about Rhy. Specifically, he thinks about how Rhy had felt when it had happened, if he had been scared. Or if he felt all those years ago the way Kell does now, empty and hopeless, as he set the scene and pulled the trigger on himself.