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Most of the others didn’t mess with the new foreign student anymore.
It wasn’t that she was scary in any way, no.
It was that her sister was.
To mess with Juliette was to mess with her older sister, Genevieve, who was a college student hyped up on caffeine and unafraid to go to bat against some high schoolers, regardless of what their parents thought.
She was also Juliette’s legal guardian, making her relatively untouchable by the school.
This, of course, would only be knowledge known to those who went to school.
Quest and his friends, mostly did not.
“There she is,” his friend whispered. “The Frenchie. I hear her sister’s a hot piece.”
Rounds of snickering went through the group, and Quest’s eyes roved over the new girl.
She wasn’t too bad herself. Dreamy chocolate curls were pulled back into a long braid, struggling to escape their hold. She was lithe and tall, her features almost sylph-like in an oval-shaped face.
He could tell that she’d noticed them already, not that they were being quiet. Every once in a while her eyes flicked over, watching the group studiously.
She was a fighter, he knew. She held herself in a way that seemed relaxed at first glance, until one noticed how still she was, her whole body tensed and waiting for a fight.
Briefly, he wondered what color her eyes were.
“Should we try it? See if her sister shows up. I wouldn’t mind a hot college girl all up in my grill.”
Quest tuned back into his friends’ discussion, smirking. “I think she’s more than you can handle, dumbass. That ain’t no tender-footed princess. She looks like she can throw a punch.”
The girl looked startled for a second.
Quest felt a smug little coil of satisfaction in his gut.
So she had been paying attention.
His friend shoved him. “Well if she’s such a danger, pansy-ass, why don’t you go fucking talk to her?” The guy looked like he’d had a bright idea for once in his life. “Let’s see if you can hook her. If you get into her pants, maybe her sister will have to be around more often. Unless…” His friend raised a brow. “Unless you’re a fucking faggot.”
The snickering rose into laughter and jeering, the group shoving at Quest.
He was in it now.
Should have kept his fucking mouth shut.
He sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on. I’m going, I’m going.”
He split from the group, walking over to the girl.
“Hey.”
Leaning on the locker next to hers, he looked her over.
Fuck, she was tall. Leggy, too. Almost as tall as him.
Dreamy hazel eyes flickered up to his own, and the girl seemed to take him in for a second, before looking away.
“Hello. Did you need something?” Her voice was husky and low, heavily accented. Apprehensive.
He smirked at her. “Your number would be a good starter.”
She didn’t look at him. She just shoved textbooks into her back.
Taped to her locker door was a picture of two young girls, one slightly older than the other, with their parents.
A happily smiling family.
He hated it.
“You would start with my number, and not my name? I don’t even know who you are.” She kept her tone steady.
Quest chuckled. “Sorry, Frenchie-”
“Juliette.”
He raised a brow. “What?”
“Juliette. My name. Not Frenchie. Juliette.” She flicked her braid over her shoulder.
She still wouldn’t look at him. It was irritating, like an itch on the ass.
“What, like the fucking play?”
He could hear his friends burst into laughter behind him. Right. He was supposed to be getting into her pants, not making conversation.
After a moment, she laughed too.
It was as husky as her voice, more of a sexy rasping chuckle than any of those high-pitched giggles some of the guys seemed to think were cute.
He swallowed hard as she finally looked up at him.
Looked him over again.
“Not like the ‘fucking’ play, no. My parents thought it was sweet. Like they expected me to be, I suppose.”
He raised a brow. “What do you mean by-”
She gripped the lapels of his jacket and slammed him into a locker, her face up close and personal with his.
His heart skipped a beat. He raised a hand to the group of guys, no longer laughing, who had surged forward at the movement.
Juliette’s eyes were intense on his.
The girl had a steel spine, it seemed. Her expression was cold, her tone like icy wind on a frozen tundra.
“Let us get one thing straight. You will not be getting into my pants. You will not be getting my number. That goes for the rest of your little friends, too. So kindly piss off.”
She let go, wiping her hands on her jeans as if she had sullied them by touching him.
Slowly, he stood up and adjusted his jacket.
He wondered if she knew who she had been messing with.
Maybe she didn’t even care.
“Alright, princess-”
“Juliette.”
“Princess. I’ll let you off easy since you’re new to this part of the world. But don’t fucking touch the goods again, unless I say you can. I’m the nice one here. My friends, on the other hand, are…well. They’re a little quick to the draw. If you catch my meaning.” He opened his jacket slightly as he adjusted it, her perceptive little eyes catching on to the gleam of gunmetal inside.
Her jaw tightened.
He watched as she struggled with something that was probably both impulsive and rude to say, most likely trying to think of how not to pour gas on this dumpster fire of a situation.
“Je suis désolé,” she murmured. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have been so…mm. What is it she says…oh. ‘Handsy.’ I won’t do it again.”
She stood there patiently, waiting.
He shrugged. “First time’s free, princess. Do it again, we might have a different story. Now get.”
She gave a little nod, half-bowing her head in relative respect.
Then, the Frenchie slipped away, heading down the hallway.
He watched her hips swing as she walked away.
-
A shadow fell over Quest as he sat on the school steps, smoking.
He was with his friends yet again, a few new faces amongst them, a few gone.
He tried not to think about that last bit too much.
Glancing up, he could barely make out the person’s face against the bright sun, the gleam illuminating their ringlet curls like a halo.
He knew those curls.
“Princess,” he said in a way of greeting her.
She scoffed. He appreciated that she made the effort not to rebuke him, however.
“Hello again,” she said.
Paused.
Considered.
Looked him in the eye.
“What is your name?”
He tilted his head at her. “Why do you wanna know?”
She moved so he could see her better, and he immediately noticed her wry smile.
“If I am going to ask you to the winter formal, I must know your name, no?”
One of his friends let out a low whistle behind him.
He rose to his feet, sliding an arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the group.
Out of earshot.
“Why me?”
She laughed, but it was hollow. He noted the way she didn’t pull out of his hold, although she didn’t seem to be welcoming of it either. Just letting it rest.
“This is slightly embarrassing,” she murmured. “My sister is a nightmare. Your friends wouldn’t have liked her, I think. She has scared away anyone who would befriend me, let alone like me. So…you are the only one I know.” She glanced over at him, through lowered lashes. “And probably the only one not afraid of my sister.”
“So…” he trailed off for a second. “You want me to come with you because you can’t find anyone else?”
She shoved him gently, not enough to dislodge his arm. “I do not mean it insultingly. If I hated you I wouldn’t have asked. But…I would like to go,” she whispered. “I want to feel…normal.”
That admission resonated through him, loud like a church bell directly in his heart.
Fuck.
“Okay. I’ll pick you up. Just tell me where.”
She smiled at him, truly warm and bright. It lit up her entire face, making her go from pretty to breathtaking.
Double fuck.
Reaching into a side pouch on her backpack, she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, writing it down for him. “This is my house. And my phone number, in case you need it. I’ll see you at six?”
He nodded dumbly, taking the paper. “Uh. Of…of course.”
She gifted him with another smile and gently slipped out from under his arm. “Then I will see you then.”
Giving him a tiny wave, she walked off.
It was then that he realized at some point his cigarette had fallen out of his mouth, long forgotten on the concrete.
-
He was almost late.
The guys had teased him nonstop about it, laughing whenever his cheeks had gone a little red.
Most thought he was gonna get laid from it, he supposed.
Then he’d been told to take on a job, one he couldn’t refuse.
He’d done the job in record time, breaking the speed limit, and gotten pulled over by a cop.
It had been the one time he’d actually spoken the truth to one of the pigs, telling them he was late to pick up his girl for the school dance.
Was she his girl? It didn’t matter. The pig had relented, letting him off with a warning.
Fucking bewildering, that. He had an inkling he wouldn’t catch a break like that again.
It fucking figured she lived in the fancier side of town. A classy townhouse with a neatly manicured front patio, all brick and far too expensive for him to ever dream of living in.
As soon as he pulled up, the front door opened, and a figure bolted out.
“Juliette!” A voice shouted, and the figure threw open his passenger door, slipping in.
There she was, gorgeous and wild. Grinning madly.
“Hi princess,” Quest breathed. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hello handsome,” she said, sweeping the end of her dress in and closing the door. “You should…probably put your foot on the gas.”
“Juliette Chaumont, don’t you dare!” A voice called out again.
Quest saw only their outline in the doorway, an hourglass figure in combat boots and an oversized jacket.
Juliette burst into laughter. “Fuck, she is going to kill us both!”
Quest knew better than to stick around. He put his foot on the gas and drove.
It wasn’t until they were a while down the road that he finally got a glance at her.
She looked sinfully good.
Her curls were done up in an artful updo, some gold-washed hairpin holding it securely in place, and she wore a form-fitting black dress, silver sequins wrapping around her figure and into the flare of fabric at her calves.
“Well, you look…beautiful.”
She blushed and glanced at him, her smile shy. “You are not so bad yourself. You fill out that jacket nicely.”
He chuckled, hands gripping the wheel a little tight. “Well. Thanks. It’s a loaner.” He jerked his head back, indicating the way they’d come. “I take it that was your sister?”
She grimaced. “Yes. That was Genevieve. She is…protective. She…fuck, what is the word.” Snapping her fingers, she took a moment to mutter some words in french. “Oh. She ‘grounded’ me. I do not care.”
He snorted a laugh. “Bit rebellious of you.”
Shrugging, she gazed out at the road, her expression distant. “I…I know why she does it. We are the only family we have. But I think she forgets that her protective nature can be isolating. I have not had any friends in some time.” Juliette glanced over to him, eyes lingering over his piercings. “I appreciate you coming to the dance with me. I get the impression it is not your…scene.”
It was his turn to shrug. “You asked. And I get needing to feel normal. I…” he hesitated. She’d bared a bit of her heart to him, so it was only fair he returned the favor. “I’m the only family I got. Shit gets fucking difficult.”
Juliette looked at him for a moment, and he tensed, expecting some sort of pity.
Instead, she hummed in thought. “Then I suppose, if you like, you could pretend to be normal with me. I would not mind. You do not have to though, it is only a suggestion.”
His heart squeezed, dangerously aflutter with soft feelings he dared not name.
“I…yeah. I’d like that.”
They almost made it through the whole formal without breaking that pretended normalcy.
Quest could still feel her hand in his, delicate yet strong, as they’d slow-danced together.
Two outcasts from completely different worlds, meeting on equal ground.
Both had chosen to ignore the way people had kept away from them, like oil and water.
Juliette with her terrifying sister, and Quest with his terrifying friends.
Yet, all good things would have to come to an end.
She hung out with him outside while he smoked a cigarette, politely refusing when he offered her one.
So relaxed and happy.
Then, a car rolled up, and he tensed. He knew that fucking car.
The passenger window rolled down.
“Hey, Romeo!” One of his friends shouted. “Sorry to break up your little love fest, but you gotta get in the car!”
Another friend leaned out the window. “You better not have left your shit behind!” The first friend shoved the guy back in.
He grimaced and looked at her apologetically.
Juliette shrugged. Her expression was painfully understanding. “I knew you had interesting friends. It is okay. You were kind enough to be my date.”
He hesitated. “Juliet-”
Plucking the lit cigarette from his fingers, she reached up and kissed him.
The taste of a sweet punch lingering in her mouth mixed with ash and smoke, and she sighed softly against his lips.
He slid a hand into those lovely curls of hers and kissed her back, the world dropping away. Every sensation was focused on her lips, warm against his own.
Vaguely, he could hear his friends hooting and cheering in the background, and he didn’t care.
He slid his tongue into her mouth and felt her shiver and whimper as she pressed closer.
For once, Quest didn’t want to go with his friends.
He wanted to stay here, with her in his arms, forever.
It was the sound of someone laying on the horn that finally drew him away.
“Come on, asshole! You can tongue-fuck your girl later! This is one fucking thing we can’t be late for!”
He glanced at her and groaned.
Her eyes were wide and dark, lips bruised a dark pink and wet from his kisses, parted slightly as she caught her breath.
And he had to leave her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Juliette sighed. “It is okay. I know.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I will see you soon enough.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”
Quest darted in and kissed her cheek softly, before heading to join his friends.
Through the back window, he could see her gently touching her face, right where his lips had been.
At the time, he didn’t know that was the day he’d drop out of high school and never get to see her again.
At least, not like that.
-Eleven Years Later-
Elias should have fucking known.
He knew Quest had looked familiar but hadn’t been able to place it before.
That mugshot though, with all those piercings?
When he’d been in high school, he’d dreamed of kissing every one of them.
He’d never learned his fucking name.
When Nightowl and Toasty pulled him into the video chat, he’d listened to them quietly, processing all this information.
“How do you feel about all this?” Nightowl had asked.
Elias scoffed, rubbing his eyes. He felt incredibly young and too old all at once, his teenage self practically screaming at him to take action, do something.
But he was older now.
“It’s a lot, I’ll admit. And…there are some things I need to discuss with Quest. But I still care for him, more than you know.”
Far more than you know.
Nightowl nodded sympathetically, while Toasty frowned. “Discuss with him? You’re not going to rake him over the coals for this, are you?”
“No!” The word burst out of Elias, violently fierce. “Never. I just…fuck. I’ll explain it later, I want to talk to him about it first. He deserves to know before anyone else. Sorry if that’s cryptic as shit, but…sorry.”
Toasty nodded, still unsure.
The call ended moments later.
-
“Hey.”
Elias stared at Quest, his Quest, through the screen. Taking him in.
“Hey yourself,” he responded softly. “I missed you.”
Quest laughed, a little shakily. “Well, in case it wasn’t obvious, I missed you too.”
Hesitating, Quest asked, “I saw you were on a call with Nightowl and Toasty yesterday. They…told you everything?”
Elias nodded. “Yeah. They did.”
Quest blew out a big sigh, searching Elias’s features, seemingly for something specific. When he didn’t find it, he asked, “what did you think?”
“I think…I think I want to hear your side of things.”
Quest smiled, unaware of Elias’s own inner turmoil. “I appreciate that, to be honest.”
“Quest…” Elias trailed off. Quest raised his brow in response.
“Yes?”
“What’s your name?”
Quest laughed. “You know I can’t tell you that. Not with the censors in place and everything.”
Elias smiled oddly.
His heart fluttered. Nervous. Excited.
“If I’m going to ask you to the Winter Formal, I’m going to need your name, no?”
Quest’s expression went blank, and Elias’s heart leapt into his mouth.
“Oh god,” Elias stammered. “Oh, that’s probably- you don’t remember- fuck I’m so stupid, je suis désolé-”
“Princess.”
Elias stopped mid-sentence, glancing up at their screen.
Quest was smiling, soft, and warm. His eyes were suspiciously shiny. “Hey there, princess.”
Elias laughed shakily. “Hello, mon amour. I…I missed you.”
Tears spilled down Quest’s face, and he made no effort to wipe them away. “I missed you too. Fuck I missed you. I’m so sorry I left that night.”
Elias shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I understood then, and I understand now. I always wondered what happened to you. I’m glad you’re safe. I’m glad…I’m glad you’re alive.” He smiled wryly. “You know I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Go figure my fucking ex is why I get to be thankful, of all the people. I saw those photos, and I recognized you immediately.”
“I wish I had recognized you,” Quest said quietly, his expression tender. “You changed.”
Elias laughed. “Yeah, I did. Hormones and transitioning will do that to you.”
“You’re just as beautiful as I remember.”
Quest’s words caused Elias to blush, looking away from his screen as his chin trembled slightly. “You’re not so bad yourself,” he replied, his voice hoarse. “You know…you know I had a crush on you, then. After you came up to me at my locker, all cocky.
Oh, I hated you when you did that. Knowing your friends wanted you to hook up with me so they could get with my sister…I was so pissed.
But then I threatened you like a fucking idiot, and you fucking…told me how it was and then let me go…all confidence and in a strange way, kind, and I…” Elias sighed. “I instantly had a crush.”
Quest laughed, incredulous. “Really? I was a dick to you!”
“No, you weren’t! You weren’t nice, sure, but you explained to me why what I did was stupid and let me off lightly. You may show it differently now, but you’ve always seemed to have sweetness at your core.” Elias smiled softly.
“And to be honest, that feeling never went away. That crush. You were my first kiss, and I never forgot you.”
“Wait. Hold on a second. I was your first kiss?”
Elias blushed heavily. “Well- yes! You were the only person I had any interest in kissing at the time!”
“I- what. What?!” Quest leaned back in his office chair, running his fingers through his hair. “Why- I was a shitty kid back then!”
“Bullshit! You were a kid in a shit situation, there’s a difference! And I was also in a shit situation, and you didn’t care about my sister or the consequences of taking me on a date, and you kissed me back!” Elias gestured wildly as he spoke.
“Because you kissed me, and I thought you were the most beautiful person I’d ever met!”
“I- what?”
Quest leaned forward again, his expression intense. “You! You weren’t scared of me, or my friends, not once! You were all poised and unflinching and I couldn’t stop thinking about your curls or your smile or the way your laugh made my heart do silly things.”
“I-fuck!” Elias buried his head in his hands, leaning on his desk. “Fuck, I care for you so much, time has only made it worse, it seems.”
Silence met his statement, and he looked up from his hands.
Quest looked at him with an aching affection. “It…it really doesn’t bother you. What I did. What I was.”
Elias shook his head. “No. You’re not that person anymore. I knew you before, and I know you now.”
Sighing, Quest said, “What Toaster and Owl told you is true, you know. But it doesn’t matter. It’s an excuse. The truth is something like that was bound to happen. You did know me before, back when I ran with a rough crowd. It was inevitable.” He glanced away as he spoke. “It was better to be involved than have nothing and no one.”
Elias’s heart squeezed in sympathy as he watched Quest speak.
Then, Quest smiled. A soft little thing, wry yet proud. “But I got out. And I’m stronger for it in every way.”
“You did.” Elias hesitated. “Hey, Quest?”
“Yes, princess?”
Elias smiled at the old nickname. “You’re not defined by the mistakes you made a decade ago.”
Quest let out a shaky sigh. “Thanks.”
“And…I like you for who you are now. I liked you back then, for sure. But the me of eleven years ago and the me now like you for different reasons.”
“Oh yeah? In what way?” Quest’s expression was hopeful.
“R-romantically, silly.” Elias watched his face shyly.
Quest laughed, the sound as surprised as it was freeing.
“Hey, princess. What are you doing to me here? Are you sure? You’re not just messing with me, are you?”
Elias playfully glared at him through an intense blush. “Of course not!”
“I can’t believe you still like me after all these years. And that you’d be so irresponsible to confess it.”
“You confessed first!”
“I know. But I’m prepared to take responsibility for my actions. Are you?”
“I- you-!”
Quest’s laughter filled the air. “So shy. You’re basically giving me free rein to tease you.”
“I am not,” Elias muttered. “You bully me.” He couldn’t hide the goofy smile on his face.
“You definitely are, princess. Wait- you transitioned. You use he/him pronouns now, should I still-”
“Don’t you dare stop.” The ferocity of the statement had Quest raising his eyebrows, and Elias rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I mean…please don’t stop.”
“You’re so cute. I could call you so many other things. Baby, doll, or even kitten-”
Elias let out a strangled squeak, dropping his head back into his hands.
Quest laughed. “You should see your face right now. Are you mad or flustered?”
“Flustered! Merde.”
“Hey princess.”
Elias looked up, suspicious. Quest tried his best to school his expression.
“Are you available for a call tomorrow night?”
“Missing me already?”
“I’m saying I’m going to go for what I want. So what do you say?”
Elias nodded shyly. “...for you, always.”
Quest blushed, but smiled. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I never expected to meet you again, and here you are. And you still like me, despite everything. So…I wish you a lovely evening.”
“Goodnight, Quest.” Elias’s voice was soft.
Quest’s was softer. “Goodnight.”
-
Elias bounced in place nervously. He didn’t particularly like airports, considering how much of his life he’d spent in them.
But he would stay here forever for Quest.
One person after the next flew by him, the crowds flooding the airport and sweeping past like a wave breaking against a rock.
Time went by.
“Excuse me,” a voice called out behind him.
“Oh, yes?” He began to turn.
“I’m a bit lost. Mind giving me a map to your eyes?”
Behind him, holding a rolling suitcase, was Quest.
The boy he’d had a crush on.
The man he loved.
“Quest!” Elias shot forward, embracing him tightly.
Strong arms wrapped around him and Quest buried his face in Elias’s shoulder. “Hi, princess. Sorry I’m late.”
Elias laughed shakily, already feeling tears leak from his eyes. “Hello, handsome. You should…let me take you out of here.”
Quest pulled back to smile, his expression softening further when he realized what was happening. “Oh, princess.”
“Elias.”
Quest sighed softly, the sound achingly fond. “Fuck. Elias.”
Elias smiled, beaming through the tears. “Maybe a bit early for that, but we can test it out at the hotel.”
Quest’s laughter rang loud throughout the airport, and he followed Elias out, hand in hand.