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viktorredemptionarc · 7 years

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Fic: I’ll go jock-casual, you can do formal-goth [JayceViktor]

A/N: Available @ AO3 too. This is the +11k words high school au that nobody (one person) asked for and I couldn’t get out of my head.

Word Count: 11.021.

Characters/Relationships: Jayce/Viktor.

Rating: T for language.

Summary: Senior year is going great for Jayce until Viktor happens.

The Science Fair of his senior year is supposed to be the highlight of Jayce's high school career. The event that'd put every other experience to shame, the greatest moment of his youth.

No matter how sad Vi thought that this idea of his was. Or the fact that she was the only person alive allowed to know.

It was important to him; and if she couldn't get that, the problem was hers. Jayce got her point, vaguely. He'd been dragged to enough high school parties to get why she thought they were cool, but what was cooler than having your scientific talent recognized in front of the full student body?

Nothing, if you asked him.

Virtually anything, if you asked her.

He's pretty confident in his win. He's won every single year without fail. And he's proud of what he's done, too. It's nothing special, is what he's going to say when asked, just a simple super-capacitator to optimize electronic devices' charging time. No biggie.

Child's play, really.

But when his time to be judged comes, no questions are asked. No surprised gasps come. No thinly veiled admiration is delivered. The judges leave his table in silence, and Jayce fights a battle with himself to keep a forced smile plastered on his face until they're done judging everybody else.

What. The. Hell.

He looks around, and sees nothing but mediocrity staring back at him.

That is until he makes eye contact with The New Kid, smirking by a fully functional mechanic prosthetic arm displayed on his table as if it's no big deal.

As if prosthetic arms don't cost around eight thousand dollars, on the cheap side.

Jayce breaks eye contact and frowns at the device on his table as he feels something that he rarely experiences.

Fear. Insecurity.

Envy.

The horrifying, dreadful, and paralyzing idea that he didn't work hard enough and now that new kid with the ugly black skinny jeans and the combat boots is going to snatch his prize away because he got too comfortable. Too accustomed to winning, too careless to try harder.

Which is absurd, because he knows that he worked his ass off on it. And he's gotta have faith in it. Who is going to if he doesn't?

Jayce collects himself, takes a deep breath and avoids looking at the new kid until the judges are done. And they stand in the middle of the gym.

And the Physics teacher holds the mic to his mouth.

And declares Viktor Evans the winner of the Science Fair.

-x-

On his first day of high school, Viktor thought that he had stepped inside an obscure cult's headquarters by mistake.

Everywhere he went, everyone he talked to, they all shared one thing: Jayce Sawyer.

Whether it were the student council presidency posters, the football team propaganda or the whispers around the halls, Viktor couldn't take a single step without having to deal with this guy, whoever he was. Which, to be fair, did raise his curiosity to an extent for the first few hours.

Even though it had died by oversaturation by the time he finally laid eyes on the one and only Jayce Sawyer himself.

Jayce entered Contemporary Literature running and out of breath, and Viktor raised an eyebrow from his sit. He was...just as one would expect the star of the football team to be. Exactly as every teen movie told you that the most popular dude in school was. He was handsome, and athletic, and tall, and broad shouldered, and Viktor hated him since the very second he opened his mouth.

"Sorry Miss B," he said. "I had a meeting with the boys, you know how they get."

Then he winked, and Viktor not only hated him, but took the executive decision to never in his life speak to him.

-x-

"How did you manage to build a fully functional mechanical prosthetic arm without having to sell a kidney?" Viktor considers ignoring him. It has worked, so far. Jayce didn't know who he was, Viktor had to deal with the entirety of the student body mythologizing him to the point of absurd devotion, fear, and hatred, neither of which Jayce seemed to be aware of. It worked for everyone.

He closes his locker and turns away from Jayce, only mildly surprised when he grabs at the sleeve of his jacket.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," Jayce frowns at him when he turns around with a sigh, holding his books to his chest. This is...not a very good situation to be in. Not one he's wanted to be in, ever. His only motivation to even try to do good at the Science Fair were scholarships, pissing Jayce off was a surprising and welcomed bonus.

Until now.

"Yes, I gathered as much," he says, slowly, and Jayce lets go of his sleeve and crosses his arms scowling. "I was trying to ignore you and see if you'd go away, but no such luck."

Jayce bristles. "Do you know who I am?"

"Is it possible not to?" Viktor gestures at the walls, covered as they've been since he got there in Jayce's face and the words PAVE THE WAY in neon green.

Jayce makes a very odd thing with his face, that looks like he's in pain but also angry. Viktor drums his fingers on the cover of a book. If Jayce doesn't say anything in ten seconds, he's leaving.

He's gotten to eight when Jayce snaps.

"But seriously. Why? How? Where did you even get the materials to build that?"

Maybe Jayce was like a band-aid. The fastest you dealt with him, the fastest you could go on with your business and the least it'd hurt.

"Scholarships. Effort and wires. I rented a 3D printer, cuts the costs by more than a half," he says, barely even pausing, and Jayce blinks at him and gapes. "There isn't any more to it than that, and I would appreciate it if you'd stop harping on it. Sorry your ego got stung?"

"It's not..." Jayce pauses and frowns, and Viktor is losing his patience. "It is a bit about my ego. I just needed to know, okay? The Science Fair was important to me."

Viktor does not believe for a second that Jayce Sawyer, jock extraordinaire, thinks that the Science Fair is more important than any other football match. Not that he blames him, but it would be nice not to be lied to.

But whatever.

He does know that Jayce has been winning first place in the Science Fair since he was in freshman year, though.

Intriguing.

Yet not enough to make him ask.

"Fascinating. Can I go, now?"

"I'm not holding you at gun point, am I?" he makes to leave, he does, but Jayce holds his sleeve again and Viktor would like to say that yeah, maybe he isn't holding him at gun point but he sure as hell is fond of clinging to him like an asshole. "Wait. I didn't mean why in that way. I. Just. Why a mechanical prosthetic arm?"

He sounds pained, and Viktor gets it. A little. Not like a super-capacitator is any less of a flamboyant choice, but. Yeah. True.

"I like cybernetics and reading on their implementation in everyday life," Jayce snorts, which rude, but Viktor loathes to comment and having to talk to him for another minute. "I'm going to be late for Physics C, can I go now?"

Jayce shrugs and waves him off.

Viktor is late for Physics C. Jayce is already there when he arrives.

-x-

Vi's room is obnoxiously pink, and Jayce is aware that it's a declaration of war to all and any who ever dared think or say that she wasn't girly enough. As is her hair, which is also hot pink. She defies the world with every step she takes, a walking paradox, and Jayce wouldn't have her any other way.

Which doesn't make her pink walls hurt his eyes any less, with how saturated the color is.

"I painted it last week," she smiles, pointing at it proudly, and Jayce sniffles. "Don't be a baby. It's intense, yeah, but you just gotta get used to it."

"If you say so..."

She smacks his shoulder and sits on her bed by his side, smirking. Jayce knows that look, and it's one he doesn't like.

"Prom is coming," oh no. No please, no thanks. Prom is awful. Prom is hell. Prom is the very thing he's been dreading since he was ten and his mom let him watch Carrie with her. Prom is something awful that always ends in tragedy. A dark mark in his teenage years that will embarrass him to remember forever. "You asking any hunk out?"

As if. Vi is the only person in the world, including his family, who he's out to. It's a matter of reputation and fear. He's every teenage movie fantasy rolled into a single person, the Troy Bolton of Piltover with just enough Danny Zuko thrown in the mix to keep it interesting. It's how he naturally is. Gifted. Not his fault.

It comes with its perks.

Like the risk of ruining the status quo, with which he's pretty comfortable with thanks, by being out. And being more or less obligated to attend prom.

Jayce avoids her inquisitive look and coughs. "No, I don't think so. Any chicks in your radar?"

He dodges, as he sometimes does, but is alarmed to see her deflate by his side.

"No. I tried to be out, but they don't...they think it's a phase or some shit. I don't know."

She shrugs, and Jayce is confused and out of his element. It's usually the other way around. He comes to Vi moping and she puts his pieces back together. Dealing with emotions is not his strongest suit, but he can try. That's the least he can do.

"Hey, it'll work out. And if we can't find anyone, we can go together."

She snorts, and Jayce is relieved to see her smile again. "Yeah, sure. As if we need any more rumors about us dating. They hurt my chances with the babes, you know?"

"Tragic," she nods, and Jayce is glad to have her. For some reason, even though he's popular, people seem to...not want to talk to him much. Viktor's reaction when he tried to speak to him comes to mind. It's worrisome. "Hey, Vi. What do you know about that Viktor guy?"

"The one who won the Science Fair?" Jayce grumbles and she laughs but doesn't insist. "Not much. He doesn't like you. Doesn't talk much. Kind of a goth vibe with all the black clothes, but who knows. Why? You like him?"

She wiggles her eyebrows and Jayce slaps his hand over her mouth to hush her. No. Absurd. Never. Viktor is not the kind of guy he'll ever be into, and he sucks anyway.

"No. Shut up. I just tried to talk to him the other day, about his project, and he was super rude and I don't know why."

"It's because you're an arrogant dick," she deadpans, muffled by his hand, and Jayce isn't even offended.

"Maybe. It's not as if I can't be one, have you seen me?" he lets her go and gestures at himself, and Vi shoves him off the bed.

"Out of my house. Get out of here. I want your ass out of my space," she kicks him softly, and Jayce laughs as he stands and leaves the room flipping her off.

-x-

"I wish I could be like Jayce."

"Jayce is an asshole."

"What bullshit is Jayce going to pull today."

"Christine told me that Jayce once snogged her and Laura Davis the same day."

"Isn't Jayce just dreamy?"

"Jayce's been going out with Vi since junior year."

"I don't want to anger Jayce. Who knows what he'd do."

"Jayce helps at the local shelter every single day. Rob saw him."

This is Viktor's high school experience every single day.

Jayce this, Jayce that, Jayce Jayce Jayce Jayce Jayce.

Jayce in class, Jayce around the halls, Jayce's plastered all over the walls.

Jayce fans, Jayce haters, Jayce mythomaniacs.

Jayce friends?

One to his knowledge, not that he cares.

Viktor enters the cafeteria and the first thing he hears is Jayce's voice, loud and clear.

And sure enough, there he is. Letterman jacket and all, sitting with the head cheerleader and talking as if there is nobody else in the room. Viktor hates him, but he hates himself even more for staring.

The girl sitting with Jayce, Vi he thinks, catches him looking and waves with a smile and Viktor feels like pointing at himself and asking if she's one hundred percent sure, absolutely certain, that she wants to be seen establishing contact with the guy who everyone still calls New Kid. If they have to call him anything at all.

She keeps waving.

What is he supposed to do.

He raises a hand and wiggles his fingers, fully aware of how awkward he looks but what other options does he have? Approach their table and talk? To them?

Not in a million years, thank you.

Viktor stares in wonder as Vi smiles at him and elbows Jayce in the ribs. Hard. Then points his way, and Jayce kind of waves? At him? Too? Kinda. A little.

Thinking about it later he'd say that it was a tactical withdrawal. That he did not run away, no siree. He left the cafeteria because he wasn't that hungry to begin with, he was sick to bastard death of everyone waxing poetic about Jayce, and he wanted nothing to do with him. That'd be his reasoning, and he'd be pretty content with it too.

Right there and then, he feels like he's about to puke. Insecure and small, angry at himself and angry at Jayce for existing and making him feel in the spotlight. So he leaves, before it gets worse and he has to deal with the situation any longer and decide whether or not to wave back.

It turns out to be a mistake, as he discovers the next day when he finds Jayce hanging by his locker staring down at his phone.

He's wearing his letterman jacket again and he looks up when he hears Viktor approaching, regretting it almost instantly when Jayce beams at him as if they've been friends since freshman year.

"Viktor, my man!" if he says my main man next, Viktor is going to punch him. "My main man!"

Right.

Viktor punches his arm. Jayce doesn't even flinch and yes, it could've been more effective but he feels slightly less frustrated with the world at large. A little.

"What do you want."

"I..." Jayce hesitates, and it's surprising enough for Viktor to stop trying to open his locker and look at him. He's staring down at the floor, and Viktor is. Well. Viktor is intrigued, for lack of a better word. "Believe it or not, not many people here are willing to talk about robotics."

Jayce looks back up at him, sheepish, and Viktor is horrified to realize that he feels sympathy for him. Oh, the horror. The absolute dread.

"Cool. I guess. Or...uncool? Why do I care about this, exactly?"

He opens his locker more forcefully than necessary and Jayce flinches. "I figured you'd...be? Interested? In talking about robotics?"

Viktor hangs his head and takes a very deep breath. Slowly.

He would like everyone around him to get the message he tries to project with how he presents himself quickly. The message being leave me the fuck alone, thank you very much. Honestly. He dresses in all black, he's a walking loner teen trope. Awkward and socially inept, that's what he is.

Why must the most popular kid in school (trademark) be obsessed with talking to him. He'd love to crack that, but also to forget about it and go on with his life without ever thinking about it again.

"Listen, Jayce," he starts, and tries to be as clear as he can. Even if he has to be brutal about it. "I do like to talk about robotics, I just...don't want to do so...with you?"

He glances Jayce's way checking for a reaction and finds his face...oddly blank. Worrying. Better than anger, better than tears. But weird.

"Why?" Jayce's voice is low, strained. Viktor grimaces.

"Why should I?"

"Please," Jayce says, and it sounds more or less like pooleese and Viktor quirks an eyebrow and closes his locker to stare at him as a grin spreads across his face. "Aren't you supposed to be like super smart or something? What's up with the silly questions? Of course you'd want to talk to me, why wouldn't you?"

This conversation is going in circles and Viktor's head is starting to hurt. Though he dreads to admit that Jayce's arrogance is sort of funny, in an awful kind of way.

Viktor scoffs and tries to shove Jayce away. With little to no success. "I'm afraid of your ego getting big enough to suffocate us both, that's why."

Jayce, wonder of wonders, snorts. Viktor stares at him trying to mask his disbelief, cover it with disdain or aloofness. Whichever gets Jayce to leave. Judging by how Jayce's grin grows, he's failed. Quite spectacularly, too.

"I bet you love the Borg."

"Of course I do," he bites his tongue, hard, because he has answered before he has thought about it and he wants to kick Jayce's look of contempt out of his smug ass face. "Why am I still talking to you."

Jayce leans across his locker, arms crossed, and Viktor bristles and takes a step back. Too close. Much too close. No thanks.

"Why shouldn't you?"

Viktor turns on his heel and leaves Jayce right where he is.

-x-

It's been a week and Jayce might still not be over it.

At all.

"He likes the Borg."

"So you've said. Twenty times in the last five minutes."

"He does not like me."

Vi stops fiddling with her phone and looks at him over the rim of her sunglasses. "Tell me something I don't know."

Jayce sneers. "The new girl is coming this way and she looks ready to kill a man, or you, or both before fifth period starts. So am gonna bail and see if I can find Viktor somewhere."

He jumps off the bleachers and takes a second to enjoy Vi's panic as the girl marches her way before he takes off. He's a man on a mission. On one that he is not one hundred percent sure why he took, if he's to be completely honest with himself.

Luckily for him, Viktor is so easy to spot that he doesn't have enough time to reflect on that before he finds him.

He's sitting with a book on the stairs to the main building's entrance, alone. His hair is an absolute mess and Jayce should tell him that black is not the only color available at stores, but he doesn't think it would be welcomed advice.

It's not as if it's a bad color on him. The whole broody teen aesthetic fits the sharp features like a glove.

Jayce struts his way as casually as he knows how, which isn't very casually at all, and Viktor is digging a hole through his skull with his eyes by the time he reaches the steps he's sitting on.

"What is it now?" he asks, before he even has a chance to say hello, and Jayce shrugs and picks at the sleeves of his jacket. Curiosity, he guesses. A little bit of pettiness.

"Just wanted to talk."

Viktor smiles, but it's cold as steel. "Well I don't. So that's settled. Bye."

"About the ethical and aesthetic implications of performing body modifications when not needed," Jayce says, and Viktor frowns at him and heaves a sigh.

"Define body modifications," Viktor spits. Jayce sits by him. He'll enjoy this victory while he can.

"Not piercings or tats or that shit, I mean prosthetics. Legs, arms. That kind of stuff," Viktor closes his book and taps his finger on the cover as Jayce speaks. "We are over this debate when they are needed. In my opinion, at least. But how do we judge it when someone who doesn't need them decides to like...better themself or something and gets them done?"

He's been more eloquent other times, he'll admit that, but Viktor's eyes are intense on his and he's been paying attention. Jayce doesn't know why he wants that as much as he does. Maybe it's a matter of pride. Nobody is allowed to ignore him.

Maybe it's a matter of having someone, anyone, to talk to about these things.

"Aesthetically speaking, it'd be an statement. They do it because they can do it, and their reasons for it are inane. If we are to discuss the aesthetics, that's as far as we can go. Ethically, I don't think we are the right people to discuss these matters."

Jayce hums. "I guess you are right."

"I do think that media questioning whether or not cyborgs or, say, augmented human beings are still human is boring. The prosthetic I built is proof that those so called cyborgs are possible in the world we live in. We either go full posthumanist, which makes the question meaningless, or stop being fucking assholes. Then again, this is not my topic to discuss."

Viktor's voice, which has raised through his speech, dims and dies by the end of it and he avoids Jayce's eyes as if he's done something wrong. Jayce finds himself dumbstruck, unable to come up with an answer.

He's going to drop on his knees and cry at Viktor's feet because this is the kind of conversation he's been longing to have for years but nobody thinks a jock has substance. No matter how many Science Fair prizes he might have won. His dad could've been making those, for all anyone knows.

"I've been thinking about that, too. Not that exactly. But progress, you know? How we...advance. And go on. And there's no way to stop that, but sometimes it's dizzying. I love it, we are just gonna need help catching up with ourselves with how fast we are going."

Viktor snorts. "You mean like Moore's Law?"

"Yeah, something like that. Though that's pretty much dead with how tiny chips are now. I meant that applied to technology at large. Take the super-capacitator I built, for instance. With how phones are produced nowadays, wouldn't a device meant to make them charge faster be useful?"

"It would. Though I do find that to be a little too distanced from humanity, and paradoxically too emotional at the same time," Viktor answers, and Jayce is...Jayce is dying. Maybe even literally.

"It's emotional because I care. I'm involved in it and I sound like I am. Of course it's emotional. How couldn't it be?"

Viktor shrugs. Jayce is having a very hard time deciphering his expression. He looks tired.

"Emotions are messy. Why are you so set on talking to me, anyway? Useless to ask now that you have gotten what you wanted but might as well," Jayce recognizes a change of topic when he sees one, but he doesn't comment. He chooses to be honest instead, because what could go wrong.

"You seemed to be the only person at school who didn't like me."

By the way Viktor snorts, dry and humorless, and looks at him with what feels a lot like actual pity in his eyes, everything could go wrong.

"Are you telling me that you're so self absorbed that you haven't noticed? Me ignoring you is pretty mild compared to what others are doing, Jayce."

He's panicking, but Viktor doesn't need to know. The way Jayce's world is falling around him because of his words is none of his business. At all. So he tries, hard as he might, to hold on and smile, fake as it may be. He's handsome, athletic, smart. It's only natural that he's popular. He's avoided pulling awful stunts. People...can't hate him.

It doesn't make sense.

"Can't help it if they're jealous of my natural charm," if Viktor has noticed the tremor in his voice, he doesn't comment. He hums, and hits his arm lightly with the book, but doesn't say anything else, and leaves Jayce sitting on the steps feeling like the ground is shaking beneath his feet.

-x-

"I just can't stand him."

"God, he's so...overbearing."

"His ego is the size of the building."

"I've heard he got Brian expelled because he didn't let him copy his homework."

"His dad's loaded and that's about everything worthy about him."

"I hate him."

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.

Turns out every piece of media Jayce has ever watched about teen life is right and being popular is a double edged sword, and he wasn't just an exception to the rule.

He didn't get lucky because he's got the looks and the charm. He's just been so busy with being enamored with himself and the idea of being a teen idol since freshman year that he hasn't noticed that half the student body fucking hates him, and that most don't even do it for legit reasons.

Even though some of them do.

They are done with his face being everywhere, or his attitude, or his brashness. That, Jayce can understand. With that, he can live.

Others hate him because of rumors, or because he's somehow managed to interfere in their lives without wanting to.

Jimmy Burton's girlfriend left him when they were in junior year because she had a crush on Jayce, then refused to get back with him when Jayce turned her down and blamed Jimmy for it and somehow it's Jayce's fault. Arabella Williams waved at him once when they were in the hall during sophomore year and Jayce didn't wave back, mostly because he doesn't have eyes in his ass, and it's been eating at her since then.

And so on and so forth.

All in all, he was happier when he was a self absorbed prick who didn't pay attention to his whereabouts and didn't know that people hated him. His life was better that way.

He tells Vi at lunch and she laughs in his face.

"I thought that you were being mature about it, but you didn't even know."

Jayce looks around but no one seems to be paying attention to them. For now. "Yeah. Keep your voice down, alright? I just. I don't know, Vi. I've been busy?"

"Having your head inside your ass, yeah," she's crude as fuck, but it's okay. It's fine. It's not as if everything he's thought to be true for the last four years has been a lie. At all. It's totally chill.

He doesn't want to keep talking about this, all of a sudden.

"What did that girl want, yesterday?"

Vi quirks an eyebrow at him and Jayce prays for her to let him off the hook, just once. It won't hurt her and it'll make him have at least five minutes more to digest this situation he's in. Win/win, really.

"I'm gonna let you get away with it today, but don't count on it again," she says, flicking his forehead, and Jayce smiles. "Her name's Caitlyn and f y i, she thinks I'm hot. Wants to take me to prom."

"You are kidding. There's still like a month till prom. I should know, I'm in charge of it."

"Yeah, well. She's in a hurry. Didn't want you to snatch me up with your debonair claws or some shit," Vi sneers. "It's nice, you know? For someone to believe me when I say I'm gay. For a change. You fuck my reputation up real bad, Jaycerino."

He leans over the table, as close to her as he can get, and Vi pushes him back hard enough for him to fall back on his chair. But it's good. It's great. She's laughing, Jayce is laughing, life seems nicer when Vi is happy and glowing as she is now. No matter what people, apparently, think about him; he does care about his friends a lot. Even if he only has one, and that one spends twenty hours a day out of twenty four laughing at him.

"Hey, I did scram when she marched your way, didn't I?" she scoffs, which is never a good sign.

"Sure. Only 'cause you thought that she was out for blood and you wanted to chase that new kid around. Viktor, wasn't it? Still sore about his win?"

"Oh no, I have bigger things to be sore about right now, like the fact that half the student body hates me apparently."

Jayce knows that there's someone behind him halfway through that sentence but it's too late to stop and he doesn't want to anyway. No regrets when he's telling the truth.

"Are you always so over dramatic?" Viktor asks, and yes some regrets maybe.

"Viktor, my boy! He can be way more dramatic, this is nothing by his standards," Vi is the worst kind of traitor to ever exist, but Jayce will go easy on her. She's trying to do him a solid, he knows. She thinks that he wants to befriend Viktor, when it's kind of more complicated than that. He...wants to...talk to him about slightly philosophical robotics related stuff?

Or something like that.

"I see," Jayce can't see Viktor's face, but he can feel the smirk deep within his soul. "It's not that bad. Some of them do want to be your friends."

Pity, that's just what he needs. He reaches back, doing his very best to pretend that his ego isn't shattered, and grabs Viktor's hand when he finds it.

"Do you want to be my friend?" Jayce says, having the feeling that he's only half joking and not caring for a change, and looks back at Viktor's face upside down. He seems to be scowling, but it's hard to know from down there.

"Do you?" Viktor tearing his hand away as if burned doesn't hurt, not exactly, but it does sting. In this moment of odd weakness and vulnerability of his, Jayce finds himself...lacking. Many things. And Vi is great, but he can't only rely on her. It's been four years of them against all odds but what about college?

And he's been silent for way too long.

"Could do with a little bit of black in my life to counter all the pink, I guess," Vi snorts, and Jayce sticks his tongue out at her just to be a brat.

"He's like a bucket full of black," she says, nose scrunched, then looks apologetically at Viktor with a shrugs. "No offense."

Viktor laughs, dry and airy. "Non taken. As long as you take the hair gel away from this one."

Jayce stays silent as Vi and Viktor laugh at him and feels like he might just have made the biggest mistake of his life.

-x-

Prom is looming over the horizon, his acceptance later came in March but no scholarships have been offered so far, and he has the sickening feeling that during last week he is being Jayce and Vi's charity project for their last year of high school.

It's...a cliché, really. Take the new, socially isolated, student and make them popular. He can list more than ten movies with that as a major plot point. It's either that or the new kid ends up with their hands covered in blood. Or both. Which he does not want, thank you.

Some things are missing, sure. They haven't taken him shopping, and they haven't tried to change his ways. Yet. They have invited him to a party, though. That very same night, two hours from Viktor having the impulse to bail. Just...call it quits. They wouldn't mind, would they? It's not as if Viktor is their best friend or anything. He's just this odd kid who can talk science to Jayce and laugh at him with Vi. That's it, nothing else. They'll have fun without him.

His phone rings and he almost throws it against the wall when he sees Jayce's name displayed on the screen.

"Yo Viktor," calling is so outdated it almost fits Jayce, who has to stand out in everything he does, to do that instead of texting. "Long story short, Vi dumped me 'cause she's got a hot date or something. You still up for tonight?"

Well that's not cool. If he bails on Jayce now he's going to feel guilty and bad and that sucks.

Shit.

"I..." he hesitates. Is he, really, up for tonight? Viktor's not sure. It's either risking it or having to face feeling like shit for leaving Jayce alone. Absurd as that thought is, being that he's going to a party. Was his life this complicated before he got tangled in this mess of a friendship? "Yeah. Yes. I'm still in."

"Alright. Not liking that pause, but okay. You chill?"

No, never.

"Yes. I'm chill. Don't sweat it."

He hangs up before Jayce can keep on asking, and ends up being late to the party only because he spends too much in front of the mirror caring about things that never mattered before. Is his hair okay? Is wearing too much black possible? Does he look as unapproachable as he feels? Should he tone down the leave me alone vibes he tries to project?

It's an exercise in frustration and futility that makes him feel stupid and irritated, and by the time he gets to Elijah Brooks' house he's tired and not exactly ready to interact with people. Looking around and only seeing people he vaguely recalls from some classes or the halls, or people who have laughed at him, doesn't help.

Where the fuck is Jayce fucking Sawyer.

Viktor shuffles around the house, bumping into people as he goes, looking around. They wave at him. Some say hello. He doesn't think anybody there knows his name. He turns around a corner, looking over his shoulder, and bumps into a guy he has seen around the halls but's never met. He steadies him, a hand on his shoulder and the other around a plastic cup.

"Hey, you okay?" Viktor nods, and shrugs his shoulder. The guy drops his hand and frowns. "Viktor, right? You looking for someone?"

He has to shout over the music, and it isn't helping with the knot twisting in his stomach. Viktor is surprised, though, to see that he does know how he's called.

"Yes. Have you seen Jayce?"

"Jayce Sawyer? Yeah. Go back to the front door, he's in the backyard."

"Thanks."

The guy finger guns and dances away. Viktor looks down at himself and, sure enough, he hasn't melted. He's right there, in one piece, alive. After a very awkward but successful interaction with an stranger. Maybe he will survive the party, after all.

He makes his way to the backyard, and Jayce's voice booms from the deck chair he's laying on by the pool.

"Viktor! You finally made it," Viktor flinches, but hey. If Jayce gets annoying he can try to throw him in the pool. Not many people around, could get away with it with little to no witnesses. "Where were you?"

He walks Jayce's way, and sits on the edge of the deck chair. He can definitely try to throw him in the pool. If he uses the chair he could even succeed. "Inside. Why the hell are you out here?"

"Too many people inside. It's nicer out."

"Don't you like being with people? Why come to a party if you don't?"

Jayce shrugs and avoids his eyes, which is very odd and makes Viktor lean closer to see him better in the dark and try and make sense of his expression.

"Vi's the party animal, I'm a tag along," try as he might he can't see him, and his voice isn't giving him any clues as to what he's thinking. "She threatened me with murder if I, quote unquote, denied you the once-in-a-lifetime experience of a high school party."

The more he knows Jayce, the more his mental image of him changes. It isn't completely destroyed, because he was right about some things. But he is not...what he expected him to be. He's like a subversion of a trope, an intellectual jock with feelings who languishes by the pool during parties all by himself. It's confusing, but it'd be one hell of a movie protag.

Viktor can't help it, he laughs. It's too much for even him to keep on trying to look broody.

"Do you hear yourself when you speak?"

"Hey, I'm wounded. Here I am, being sincere and open with you, and you laugh at me."

He looks down at Jayce, at what he can make out in the dark, and what he sees -the person he knows, someone who can talk about the complexities of circuitry for hours- is so far removed from the guy who strut into a classroom and winked at the teacher that he's having trouble piecing the whole picture together.

"I don't even know how you ended up being so popular with how weird you are."

"Natural charm. I'm handsome, I'm smart, I have great hair. Not my fault, I didn't even try," Jayce flashes a smile up at him and Viktor puts his hand on his face.

"Don't ruin it, please," he deadpans, and makes a face when Jayce licks his hand because he's a gross asshole. "Too much to ask from you, I guess."

Viktor cleans his hand on Jayce shirt as Jayce cackles away, and is only a tiny bit angry at himself for smiling.

-x-

"How was your date?"

"Very nice. We had milkshake and played baseball, she smooched me under the moon. I texted her like ten sparkly heart emojis and she texted a winking emoji back. So far, so good. Why are you still using your phone to call instead of texting, like people younger than thirty do?"

"Because you hate it," Vi hangs up on him. Jayce deserved that. He calls again and she keeps him waiting but picks up eventually. "Anyway. Emergency."

She whistles, the noise piercing Jayce's ear, and he deserved that too. "Code?"

"Code deep dark fucking red. Get your ass to my house asap or face mopey Jayce for years."

She hangs up again, and Jayce stares at his room's door from the bed.

Saturday, the morning after the party. It went great and Jayce is a mess.

More of a mess than usual, lately, with all his life shifting and turning and making him think about himself.

Vi stumbles through the door, looking frantic, and Jayce waves weakly from the bed.

"What happened?"

Better get this off his chest as soon as he can.

"I like him."

"Who?"

"Viktor."

"What? Since when? How did this happen?" she sits by his side on the bed, boots on the comforter and all.

"Since last night, is my best guess. He just. I was down, you know? How I get sometimes at parties and stuff. And he was there and we talked, and he was teasing me and he smiled and he was framed by the stars and the fucking moon and shit and I just. I don't know. I looked at him and he was...right there."

"You sure this isn't you being lonely and him being the only dude who talks to you?"

Jayce scowls. "Fucking rude. I'm in the football team and in the student council, a lot of dudes talk to me. I'm crushing hard on him because he knows how to play that stupid Star Trek 3D chess and his smile made me want to cry."

"Oh boy, you've got it bad."

"Yeah, that's my point," she drops her head on her shoulder and pats his leg. It's comforting, if only a little. He'll take it. "This sucks. I gotta start working on prom night, and college is coming, and you're going so far away, and a crush is the last thing I need right now."

"Shut your trap. No matter how far I go, you'll always call me like a fucking grandpa."

Jayce doesn't remember having fallen asleep when he wakes up but Vi's still there, popping a gum bubble and looking down at her phone with a smile.

"Caitlyn?"

"Yeah," her fingers fly over the screen for a second, and then she locks the phone and turns to him. "You feeling better?"

"Kind of? A lot of stuff piled up," he stretches and Vi rolls over and jumps out of the bed. "Thanks for coming. Needed to talk."

"Whenever, dude. Just don't let it get bad, okay? You suck at emotions," she punches his arm, softly, and runs to the door. Jayce flops on the bed with his arms open staring at the ceiling, listening as Vi yells TALK TO HIM from the stairs.

-x-

Jayce is acting weird and Viktor will blame it on the Monday blues and stop thinking about it. He's going to ignore that Jayce isn't by his locker when Physics C is over. He's going to pretend that he isn't noticing the way Jayce is being much less tactile today. He will absolutely not comment on the bags under Jayce's eyes. Everything is normal. Going as expected. Perfectly fine.

He cracks at six in the evening, when he gets news of yet another scholarship denied and he can't deal with the mess any longer.

"Viktor? You never call. Is everything alright?"

No. Nothing is alright. His parents expect too much even if they won't stop fucking moving, he expects too much no matter how hard he knows he tries, Jayce is being distant, and he's starting to care about being alone. Everything is wrong. Everything fucking sucks.

"I don't know if I can pay for college, I don't know if I'm smart enough for college, you weren't like you at all today and I don't know if anything is alright, no idea at all," there's silence on the other end of the line, and Viktor takes a deep breath and sits on his desk. He shouldn't just...dump all his problems on Jayce. He wasn't okay today. It isn't right. "Sorry. Forget it. I'll just try to stop thinking about all of this and I'll see you around, I suppose, talk to you tom..."

"Viktor," Jayce cuts him off, and Viktor runs a hand through his hair and waits. "It's fine. I'm going through some stuff too and I let it get at me today. We are okay, don't worry about that. You can talk to me about things unrelated to technology or philosophy or nerd shit."

Viktor laughs despite himself. "We couldn't end the year without some teenage drama."

"This hardly counts as drama. Finding out that your popular boy status implies hatred, that is drama. A meltdown over the phone is regular friend stuff. Ask Vi, I think she prints my crytypes."

"They idolize you too, stop ignoring that. Is it really bothering you that much?"

"Yes and no. I also have to deal with prom, which sucks 'cause I don't even want to go. Vi has a date already, nobody asked me out, every teen movie warned me about it. I don't know, it's a silly thing to worry about but it's...being on my mind a lot."

"You are the student council president, it's one of the things you have to do. Vi isn't helping?"

Jayce sighs, and Viktor feels the very strange impulse of patting his back. "She can't. Yearbook committee, her hands are full already. I also have this game next week. Last of the season, and the year, and my high school career actually."

"Sounds big."

"You know what? I...should care more about it than I do. I like football, but I don't like it as much as the rest of the team. I feel guilty about that, even if I do give it my all when I play. I don't know, it's a mess. You'll come, though, right?"

Viktor wasn't planning to. He knew about the match, knew that Jayce was going to play and that Vi was going to cheer, but thought that it was okay for him to stay home and do his own thing or go out alone or whatever. Those things he used to do before he had friends. But if Jayce wants him to go, he'll do it.

The idea of a crowded bleacher makes him cringe, but he will go.

"Yes, sure. I'll be there."

"Cool. Cool. That's...that's great. I'll see you there, then. And tomorrow. Talk to you then, okay?"

"Okay," Jayce hangs up and Viktor lets his hand drop and looks down at his phone, unsure of what to do next.

Having to move so much during his childhood, it's always been easier to merge into the background and get ignored than making friends. He suffered less forgetting and getting forgotten as if he had never been there in the first place. But now, with Vi and Jayce, things feel different and they are scary. Viktor is starting to care about them, and his parents won't up and leave when the school year is so close to ending but fear is hard to control.

There's a certain level of safety in being alone that he misses and dreads at the same time now that he doesn't feel as lonely anymore. There's also the ever present anxiety that comes with the possibility of them realizing that he wasn't that great to begin with and leaving him. It's easy enough to manage on a good day, but bad days are hard to deal with. Friendship had grown alien to him as the years passed. He has to get used to it again.

He can do that.

Right?

-x-

Jayce looks ridiculous in football gear, but Viktor thinks that everyone looks ridiculous in football gear. He tells Jayce, right before he has to march to the locker room for the pre-game pep talk, and Jayce flips him the bird as he walks backwards and almost trips climbing down the bleachers.

"You could ask him out," Viktor jumps out of his skin and Vi sits by his side with a smirk. "If that's what you want."

He glares at her, but it only makes the smirk grow. "What makes you think that I want to do that? And shouldn't you be down there with the rest of the cheerleaders?"

"Chill, it's okay. Still got ten minutes till I gotta get down there," she hooks an arm over his shoulders, and Viktor wants to leave but this is the friend he's managed to make and this is one of the horrors that come with her. "I don't know. You were making goo goo eyes at him, figured you might have a teeny tiny crush on our good old friend the Jaycer."

Viktor hopes he doesn't look as mortified as he feels. "I'm...I don't. Football gear is ridiculous, that's all. He is the most popular guy in school, and not interested."

Vi quirks an eyebrow. Viktor fears for his life. "Sound like excuses to me. But sure, you do you. If you say that you don't have a crush on him, I have to believe that. If you want my help with him, though, am glad to lend you a hand. Gotta skedaddle, see you in a bit."

After that, Viktor tries to pay attention to the match. He really does. But not knowing the first thing about football isn't helping with the fact that he can't stop thinking about what Vi said. He can't have a crush on Jayce, and he can't have one without noticing. Right? It's just. Not possible.

The guy on his left bumps him with his shoulder and Viktor doesn't even notice.

Jayce is everything he says he is, but in ways that Viktor didn't expect. He's charming, sometimes even when he's being and arrogant brat. He's handsome, something that Viktor admitted to himself since day one, but there's something about him when nobody's looking that Viktor's seen once in a while and that he can't really put down into words. He's smart, unexpectedly so. He's also irritating, obtuse, bad at feelings and self-absorbed.

Someone drops popcorn on him and Viktor doesn't care.

There's so much to unpack about the matter of whether or not he has a crush on Jayce that he doesn't even know where to begin. They've only been friends for a few weeks, and Viktor is. Lost. Did Vi's words start this? Is he questioning his own feelings because Jayce is the only guy who's on good terms with him?

Their team scores. Viktor looks for Jayce on the field and Jayce waves at him and Vi.

It's impossible anyway. Vi might be dating Caitlyn, but Jayce is supposed to go to college and marry a beautiful girl and have 2.5 children, a golden retriever and a house with a pool.

He remembers how Jayce sounded laughing on the deck chair by the pool, so carefree and happy, and his stomach drops.

Viktor spends the rest of the game trying to focus but failing, having to deal with a journey of self discovery ended in tragedy and the prospect of a very smug Vi in his future. By the time it's over, he only knows that they've won and that he's fucked.

Vi's the first to run up to where he's sitting, fresh out of the shower and beaming. "Viktorino! We won!"

"I know."

"You don't look like it."

"You were right."

"I usually am, but what are we talking about?"

She lays on the bench with her head on his lap and Viktor stares off into the distance, dodging her eyes.

"Jayce."

"Oh."

"Yes."

"Just ask him out."

"I can't."

"I'll help you, it's easy. You walk to him, you ask him to go catch a movie with you, and then you pick him up, and then you watch a movie, and then you smooch him."

He smacks her forehead and she swats at his hand. "It's not that easy, I'm not exactly a dreamboat and he's coming this way act casual."

"Good game, Jayceton," Jayce beams, and it's awful. Viktor wants to slap him and then himself.

"Our last hurrah," he sits by Viktor's side, much too close for comfort right then when Viktor is having the worst kind of revelation. "You were great out there too, Vi."

"When am I not," she stretches and straightens, sitting by Viktor's other side. "Gotta ditch you, though. You are my favorite boys, but Caitlyn's waiting."

Viktor watches her go and hates her a little for trying to help him. He doesn't doubt that she does have a date, late as it might be by his standards, but leaving him alone now with Jayce is not cool.

At all.

Jayce sighs, and Viktor turns to observe his profile under the harsh lights of the field. He's smiling, easy and relaxed.

"I can't believe that this is going to be over in like...two months?" Jayce says, something sad in his voice tugging at Viktor's heartstrings, and turns to look at Viktor himself. "Wish we had met sooner, too. With college and all...I know we'll keep in touch, but it won't be the same and it feels like we didn't have enough time."

Viktor can feel Jayce's breath on his face.

"I have a feeling we would have hated each other for four years," he says, dry, and Jayce laughs. "It feels easier this way. We didn't know enough about each other to...not become friends?"

Jayce leans on him and he's solid and warm.

"Yeah. Still funny to picture you as a freshman, though. Full on broody mysterious look back then too?"

"No. I did wear whatever my mom got for me back then. Things changed after we started moving. Where you always like this?"

Jayce snorts and pinches his arm. "Like what? Glorious?"

"An insufferable jock," Viktor retorts, nudging Jayce's side with his shoulder, and Jayce lets more of his weight fall on him. "You can try to suffocate me but it will still be true."

"Shut up. And yes, I think I was always...like this. I'm good at looking like I'm good at people, actually very bad at people and at myself, and pretty amazing at pretending that I know what I'm doing. Didn't plan on becoming a jock, though, that kind of just happened."

Viktor takes a deep breath, leaning his own weight against Jayce. People are leaving the field, climbing down the bleachers, chattering away and ignoring them. Jayce feels real and close, and Viktor is drowning in it.

"I hate how much I'm going to miss your pompous ass."

Jayce's laugh rumbles through Viktor's chest.

"God. Yes. Same."

-x-

"And you didn't fucking kiss him?" Vi throws a pillow at him and Jayce doesn't even try to dodge. He deserves it, he's an idiot. "He tells you that he's going to miss you looking into the horizon and you stay there and do nothing."

"No, of course I didn't. He was having an open and vulnerable moment with me, that would have been nasty."

Vi grabs another pillow and screams into it.

"I cannot believe this sense of honor you've grown in like a week."

Jayce starts pacing around his room for lack of a better thing to do, and dodges the other Pillow that Vi throws his way.

"Vi, please. It's hard enough as it is, it was not right," she heaves a sigh and jumps off the bed, hopefully leaving the pillows alone.

"Okay. Alright. Fine. Do it your way, Jayce, but it's going to take forever and a bit. Why don't you talk to him?"

"He is very hard to read," Vi quirks an eyebrow. "Okay, fine. He isn't, but he is hard to follow when emotions are in the mix and I don't know if he's straight and he complains a lot about me being overbearing and I'm pretty sure that he has his eyes on that girl from Chem?"

"Oh my God," she kicks his shin, not hard enough to hurt but he gets the message. "Who are you and what have you done with Jayce?"

"I don't know. I'm insecure on the inside, whatever."

"Don't you lie to me, that's a lie. You know that you are pretty, it's your mouth that's the problem," Jayce pouts, but she hushes him. "You care, I get that. You don't wanna fuck up, but is it really worth the misery?"

No idea.

He only has a couple of months left with them. It's either talking to Viktor and risking those months being awkward or Viktorless, or doing nothing and letting his crush die. There's no good option. Viktor being into him is almost impossible as far as he knows, no matter how pretty he is.

It's a mess.

He hates it.

His phone buzzes and of course it's Christine asking if he's gonna get to the student council meeting or not.

"Vi, listen. I've got a meeting about fucking prom now. We'll...talk about this. Later. I'll do something. I don't know what yet, but I will."

She glares at him, arms crossed. "I sure hope you do."

He does, too.

-x-

Viktor leaves his pen on his desk and looks down at his notebook with satisfaction. It's full of complex diagrams that Jayce gets but that he's amazed that Vitkor knows at all, and when Jayce glances at him he finds his eyes already on him.

"What do you think about that?" he asks, a smile softening his sharp features. "This scholarship is easy come easy go, looks high level enough for you?"

Jayce grabs the notebook and scans the diagrams. He can recognize the skeleton for a full on robotic construction, and notes about the possible development of an AI. Impressive.

"It is. And if it's high level enough for me, it should be for anyone."

"So humble," says Viktor, with a smirk, and Jayce leaves the notebook where it was and flips him the bird. "How's prom going?"

Jayce grimaces. "Almost done, thankfully. Only last minute things left."

"It'll be over by Sunday. You going?"

"Don't think so, didn't get asked to," he laughs, and Viktor makes a face but doesn't further comment. "It's fine. I don't really want to go. Nothing good can come out of prom."

Viktor's hair is a mess and Jayce wants to run his fingers through it.

Focus.

"You have very strong opinions against prom for a prom king," Viktor turns on his chair and smiles, and Jayce snorts.

"We've been warned against it, I'm just being cautious," he reasons, and Viktor's awful dry laugh makes him feel like screaming. "Are you going?"

Viktor shrugs. "I don't think so. Nobody asked me to go with them, and it will be too crowded."

"Do you want to go with me?" Jayce says, and immediately wants to kick himself in the teeth for lacking impulse control and self-preservation.

Viktor blinks at him, stunned. "You want to go with me."

"Yes," he answers, before he chickens out, and Viktor frowns.

"Why?"

Really? Is that honestly going to be his reaction to Jayce being a dumbass and asking him to prom? Jayce laughs, surprised, caught out of his element. He's not good at this. He sucks. Why did he do this.

"Why not," it's a good an answer as any. But it is...lacking. "We could have fun."

"Okay. Fine. Pick you up at seven?" Viktor says, voice steady and fierce eyes set on Jayce's, and Jayce can feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest.

"Sure."

-x-

Viktor calls him the day before prom, panicking, and Jayce almost starts begging him not to ditch him right there on the spot before Viktor tells him that he doesn't own a single suit.

"Not one. Suit jackets, sure. Full suits? No," Viktor sighs, Jayce wills his own breathing to settle after almost going into full panic mode himself. "Are jeans fine? Why do I care so much about this?"

Jayce smiles and leaves his cup of coffee on the kitchen counter. "Relax. Jeans are fine, I'll wear jeans too. I'll wear my fucking letterman jacket if it makes you feel any better."

"It would, actually. I mean, if you don't care. You must have suits, you are the jock of the century."

"One. Wore it to my aunt's wedding," not having to wear it again is a relief. It was uncomfortable and made Jayce feel like he was playing dress up. "I'll go jock-casual, you can do formal-goth."

Viktor's amused snort makes him almost drop his phone. "Sure. It'll be interesting. See you tomorrow."

He hangs up on Jayce and he stares right there, in the kitchen, looking down at his coffee unable to wipe the grin off his face.

-x-

Formal-goth does sound like a bad joke, but he looks at himself in the mirror and has to admit that it's not half bad. Black, smart enough to pass as proper prom attire but casual enough to be comfortable. Viktor checks himself one last time, takes a deep fortifying breath, and leaves his house to pick Jayce up.

He's not sure what Jayce's deal is. If this is a pity date, he might just be sad enough to accept it. If it's a platonic deal, he'll go along with it and bury his feelings for Jayce deep down inside himself where they belong. Those are the only two options he's considered, the only ones that feel reasonable and possible.

Viktor scowls at his hands, trembling on the steering wheel, as he waits for Jayce to get in the car. It's fine. He's going to be okay. It's not as if Jayce is going to declare him prom king and drop a bucket full of pig blood of his head. No serial killers on the loose. No zombies. Vi and Jayce aren't prone to popular kids high school drama.

It will be okay.

Jayce climbs into the car and Viktor looks at him, smiling at Viktor with his letterman jacket on, and it won't be okay. Viktor can feel his eyes on him, and he shifts in his seat.

"Cool look," he says, smirking, and Viktor groans and starts driving to avoid spilling his guts in his car. "Vi doesn't know we're going. She's gonna yell at us, you've been warned."

Vi does yell at them when they get to the high school gym. She hits Jayce, too, and Viktor winces because that did sound like it hurt.

"You assholes could have at least told me that we were doing casual and I wouldn't have even tried to get my ass inside this suit," to be fair, it's very classy. Black and white, a perfect fit. "Stay here. I'll get Caitlyn."

She storms off and Jayce leans into him. Viktor shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I told you, didn't I," he can smell his expensive cologne and it's ridiculous, how emotional it makes him. "What do you think about the setup?"

Viktor looks around.

It's everything he was expecting. Loud music, dim lights, neon colors, people dancing to the beat. Smiles and drinks. A crowd that makes him feel like sinking down into the floor and never coming out again.

That aside, it's great. It's what prom is supposed to be.

"It's cool," he says, raising his voice over the music, and when he looks at Jayce he's beaming. "Good job, paved the way nicely."

Jayce laughs. Viktor can't hear it, but he can see it and it makes his stomach twist. "Shut up. I'm just happy everyone seems to be having a good time. It's not my scene, though."

Viktor looks at his profile as Jayce surveys the dance floor. He seems so focused, but so detached. This is his job, not something he's meant to enjoy.

Jayce hooks an arm over his shoulders and his thought process dies.

"Wanna go somewhere else? I know that we just got here but I can't stop thinking about what I should've done better organizing this stupid thing."

Viktor nods. "Sure. What about Vi, though?"

"She'll yell at me a bit tomorrow but she'll have fun without us. Come on."

He follows Jayce out, still with his arm around his shoulders, and wonders about the possibilities he considered. Jayce has taken him to prom. As what? He does not know. A friend? Jayce's fingers grace his nape and Viktor shivers and starts to have doubts, but hoping is a big no in his book. Hoping only brings trouble.

Viktor takes a steadying breath once they get in the car, closes his eyes, and opens them to look at Jayce as he checks his hair on the mirror.

"Where to?"

"Wherever."

Viktor snorts, dubious. "You serious?"

Jayce turns and holds his gaze as he says yes.

-x-

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Fucking stupid idiot.

Jayce had to go and make this platonic-prom-date very not platonic. He had to get close to Viktor and make him drive them somewhere. Wherever. Like in a bad cheesy movie.

He's so screwed. He bites his lip, his heart pounding against his ribcage and his feelings all over the place.

Viktor stops the car, and Jayce looks up and sees nothing but stars.

"You said wherever," Viktor says, voice low but firm. "This is the quieter place I know in town."

Out of the car, Jayce takes a deep breath. He looks at Viktor by his side, and is about to tell him everything, just be done with it, when Viktor turns and pins him in place with a glare.

"What is this all about?" he asks. "Because I can't stand tiptoeing around things like this and I'd rather be clear with you than keep on dodging the subject."

Jayce swallows.

"I..."

"I'm not done," Viktor sits on the pavement, and Jayce does the same. He isn't looking at him, but he looks furious and determined. Jayce swallows around a knot in his throat. "I have a crush on you. It's awful. I hate it. And I need to know if this is like a friendly outing to you, because we are sitting here under the fucking stars and it's-"

Jayce kisses him. It's only a peck but it seems to stun Viktor into silence and Jayce himself isn't sure about the next step to take.

He should say something.

"It's not a friendly outing," he says, bewildered, and Viktor grabs Jayce's face with his hands and frowns. "I mean, it can be if that's what you want bu-"

Viktor grabs him by the ears and tugs at him, and Jayce lets himself get dragged into a kiss. He pushes his fingers into Viktor's hair and smiles when Viktor pulls back and their lips brush together.

"Formal-goth looks good on you," Jayce whispers, and revels in the feeling of Viktor's laughter tickling his lips.

-x-

Vi yells at them for ditching her at prom, then hugs them both so hard that Viktor feels his back pop.

-x-

It's graduation day and Viktor's phone wakes him up at eight am with a text from Jayce.

Jayce: u ready for a tear fest? <3

He snorts, still half asleep, even though he isn't ready for a tear fest at all, and calls Jayce instead of texting back.

"Do you even know what time it is?"

"Time to face our bright future," Jayce says, upbeat, and Viktor groans.

"What about our shaky, tear ridden, present?"

Jayce laughs, with a warmth that makes Viktor smile despite himself.

"We'll deal with that as it comes, one step at a time."

#League of Legends #Viktor the Machine Herald #jayce #jayceviktor #fic #viktor league of legends #one million shrugging emojis

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