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thicctransboi · 5 years

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Father’s Day (Sam+Grizz)

Prompt from my AO3

Fluff, fluff, fluff!!

It was the day before Father's Day, and Becca, Sam, and Eden all were gathered in the living room of the home they now shared. Eden was crawling around on the floor, unable to stay focused one just one toy. Becca and Sam, however, were sat on the sofa, watching the small child with adoration.

"Will you watch her for a minute? I need to grab something." Becca signed, giving Sam a michjvious smile.

He nodded, having been used to her strange ploys, he went along with it, watching as she rose from her spot on the couch and made her way upstairs.

Sam glanced down at the young Eden, a smile spreading across his tired features. Now that she could crawl, they had to keep an even closer eye on her. But her smile was so much like her mothers, and he adored the child. He especially enjoyed watching Grizz interact with her. While Grizz had his own home, he was often at Sam and Becca's; his five roommates had grown to annoy Grizz, always being loud and disrupting his sleep. When Grizz had first met Eden, he was still conflicted about Sam's relationship to her and what it meant for him and Sam's future. Eventually, of course, the truth had come out. Grizz had been so scared to hold her at first, A look of panic would spread across his face the moment she was rested in his grasp. But that quickly faded, he had become wrapped around her little finger in no time; every spare moment he had that wasn't spent in the fields farming, was with the small family. Most nights he would stay there, even taking shifts with the three to calm the screaming child when she would wake up in the middle of the night. Always eager to jump in and help. He would sleep in Sam's room with him, their relationship had grown and blossomed, developing into a partnership, a true couple. Sam loved the way Grizz would read to the child, making silly faces and, Sam assumed, making up silly voices for the characters he was reading for. Eden would always giggle, and her cries were often calmed by Grizz's presence. It made Sam's heart swell.

Becca soon returned with a small package in her hands, her lips held together in a smile as she handed Sam the box.

"What's this?" Sam asked, taking the package from her grasp.

Becca rested beside him on the couch again, "It's your Father's Day gift. Well, part of it."

"Father's Day isn't until tomorrow." Sam pointed out.

"Part two comes tomorrow, now open it!"

Sam rolled his eyes, but opened the small white box. Inside was a new watch, he assumed form the Jewelry store. It had a leather band, but a gold face. It was simple, but just his style.

"Thank you! I love it, you know me too well." Sam signed one handed as he put on his new watch.

"Well of course I do, I'm me. But, part two of your gift is something I wanted to talk to you about."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Becca, and she continued, "I wanted to find someway to thank you for stepping up and being a father to Eden, I also wanted to find a way to thank Grizz for his help, I had an Idea but I wanted to run it by you first: I was thinking, since Grizz is always complaining about his roommates, that maybe he could move in here? With you? It would be a win win for both of you, and for me to have the two of you living here. Plus, I know how hard it is for you to constantly say goodbye to him, and how much he means to you. I want to invite him to officially join our family. What do you think?"

Sam grinned ear to ear, "I love you." Sam signed, pulling Becca into a tight hug.

***

Becca and Kelly had been busy all afternoon, taking shifts between watching Eden and cooking dinner for Sam and Grizz. Kelly now sat with Eden, reading to the young child as Becca finished pulling the chicken out of the oven. Sam, on the other hand, was working on his end of the surprise.

He had showered, shaved, and cleaned his face. He had put on the outfit that Grizz said he looked best in: black skinny jeans, a white short sleeved button-down with small blue dots scattered across the fabric, and a pair of black vans. He had spent the afternoon cleaning his room, making the bed, and spraying areole air freshener to make it seem less like a tired teenage father was living in it. He had been working on another surprise in his bathroom as well.

***

Grizz had been working in the fields all day, gardening. But now he was home and freshly showered, glancing over his appearance in the mirror. He was excited to see Sam, but curious as to why he had asked him over on fathers day. He had assumed he and Becca would spend it together, not that he minded spending the evening with Sam, Becca, and Eden of course. He checked the time on his phone; 6:45pm. He had told Sam he'd be there at 7, so he decided to head over to his house now.

***

Sam looked over the plates and bowls of food spread out on the table. Baked chicken, salad with mixed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. A bottle of wine and two candles were lit. The food smelled amazing, Becca had gone all out. He let his attention advert to Becca giving Kelly a hug as Kelly gathered together Eden's overnight bag. Becca and Eden would be spending the night at Kelly's house, so as to give Grizz and Sam the night to themselves. They had grown extremely close ever since Kelly helped Becca during her pregnancy. Sam had his suspicions, but he knew better by now than to prod Becca for information. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, it was a text from Grizz.

To Sam: I'm Here

Sam felt his heart leap, as it always did when he heard from Grizz. Making his way to the front door, he straightened his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair before opening it. There stood Grizz in all of his glory; He was wearing his hair down today, tightly fitted jeans, and a plaid flannel. He looked stunning, nonetheless.

"Hey." Grizz signed, giving Sam a smile.

"Hey, come in."

Grizz was immediately met with the smell of chicken and spices tugging at his nostrils, forcing him to breathe in heavily to cherish the smell. His eyes landed on the steaming meal displayed on the kitchen table, and the sight of Kelly, Becca, and Eden in the living room; Kelly had Eden's diaper bag over her shoulder and Becca wore a backpack.

"Grizz, you're here!" Becca announced, happily skipping over to the taller man, engulfing him in a hug. "We have a surprise for you." She signed as she spoke so as Sam could see what she was saying.

Becca lead Grizz to the dining room, pointing to a chair for him to sit, Sam following suit across from him.

"What's all this?" Grizz asked, gesturing to the meal in front of him, "Are you three going somewhere?" He signed, pointing at the bags that Kelly and Becca were carrying.

A smile spread across Becca's face, "Well, I wanted to treat Eden's dad's to a good Father's Day meal, give them the house to themselves for the night. We're staying at Kelly's."

Grizz raised an eyebrow, confused, "Her Dad's?"

Becca and Sam exchanged a smile. "Well, Sam and I were talking, and you're always so good with Eden, especially when she's upset. You're always around and helping out with her. Plus, you're with Sam, and Eden will need someone to teach her how to read... I guess my point is is that Sam and I want to invite you to officially join our little family."

Grizz felt his heart take a leap. A wave of emotion washed over him as tears sprung into his eyes, a smile spreading across his cheeks. "You mean, like, live here? Like, I'd be Eden's dad as well? A real family?"

Becca smiled and nodded.

Grizz turned to Sam, "And, You're okay with this?" He signed, fear suddenly creeping in.

Sam reached across the table and placed a kiss onto Grizz's hand, "Of course I am, I love you."

"I love you too, both of you, all of you! Wow this is... this was unexpected."

Becca smirked, "So, is that a yes?"

Grizz gave her a firm nod, "Definitely."

She let out a squeal of excitement, exchanging looks with Kelly. "Well, we should leave then, leave you two for the night. Be safe, don't mess up any furniture please." Becca said with a wink.

The four said their goodbyes, each of the men giving Eden a kiss on the cheek as the other pair departed, leaving Grizz and Sam alone to eat.

The pair ate in a comfortable silence after the three girls departed the home. Savoring the well cooked meal and the positive atmosphere. Grizz kept smiling to himself, happiness flooded throughout his system. He was euphoric.

Sam was as well, the idea of Grizz living with them, in his bedroom, and being part of their family officially. It boggled his mind in the best way. He felt as if things were finally falling into place after so long of struggling to keep is feet on the ground. He felt elated.

As they cleaned up the remains of their meal, Sam lead Grizz upstairs towards his second surprise for Father’s Day.

“Now I know it isn’t much, and it seems corny, but it’s part of my half of the surprise.” Sam signed before opening up the bathroom door.

Grizz felt his heart leap into his chest at the sight before him; cherry blossom petals, from what he assumed were the ones outside of Sam’s home, were scattered across the bathroom tiles, and leading to the tub. Candles were lit around the rim. He watched as Sam turned the water tap on, pouring bubbles into the water and cherry blossoms could be seen floating to the top. Grizz felt like he could cry, or laugh at how adorable the gesture was.

Sam turned to Grizz, “What do you think?”

A smile greeted Sam, “I love it. You’re remarkable.” He signed in return.

Sam smiled and began shedding his clothing. He was never insecure about his body around Grizz. Grizz watched as Sam removed his shirt, the freckles that were splashed against his milky white skin seemed to go on for miles; forming patterns like constellations in the night sky. Sam’s eyes were on him as he removed his own top, drinking him in. But Grizz didn’t mind Sam’s eyes on him.

Once they were both fully unclothed, they got in the tub: Sam settling in between Grizz’s legs as Grizz rested against the back of the porcelain. The feeling of the hot water surrounding him, Sam’s back pressed against his torso, and the smell of the oils and soaps made Grizz’s head to fuzzy. He felt totally at ease. All of the working in the fields had begun taking a tole on his young body. But the heat of the water relaxed his burning muscles and aching back.

Grizz let his hands wonder up and down Sam’s arms, rubbing incoherent patterns into his skin. They were both completely at ease. Sam guided his hands up and down Grizz’s calves and shins, wishing he could speak to him but was unable to at this angle. He shifted forward and to the side slightly so He could see Grizz.

“So, are you okay with being roommates with me?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

Grizz chuckled, “of course I am. More than okay with it. I love you.”

“I love you.” Sam signed

#grizzam #fanfic #sam eliot #grizz #the society #sam x grizz #grizz the society #samgrizz

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ilovetowritei · 5 years

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Part 2 - The Flowers

Warning for a reference to both abortion and nonconsensual sex. This is kind of my theory of Eden’s biological father, but I also think it’s important to stress that no matter who it is, Sam is the dad now. Blood means very little next to who raises you, and I truly think Sam will love that girl second only to Becca.

********************

His phone buzzed for the fifth time under his pillow. With a sigh of resignation, Grizz pulled it out, watching an unknown number flash across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Grizz?” His heart jumped out of it’s chest at the sound of Becca’s voice.

“Oh. Um hi Becca. Look now isn’t really a great time-”

“Have you seen Sam?” Becca cut him off.

“Yeah? I saw him earlier this morning. Why are you calling me about this?” Fear had already started to bubble in Grizz’s stomach. He checked his watch. 11.43PM.

“He hasn’t come home all day. Last night, he… he got really upset. He told me about what happened on thanksgiving. About you and him, and how things had ended…” Becca’s voice trailed off and Grizz could feel the apprehension through the line. She knew. Becca knew they had been together.

“Look Becca I’m really sorry. I didn’t know about you and Sam. I didn’t know about the baby, I never would have tried to-”Grizz’s words started to tumble over themselves as he tried to explain, tried to apologise to the one person in this town who had the most to deal with.

“Grizz it’s fine. He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Silence.

“Becca?”

“We need to find him. Eden’s sleeping, I don’t want to leave her alone. He’s not well Grizz. He’s not coping.” Her voice broke. Grizz pulled himself out of bed, pulling on a pair of tracksuit pants with the phone wedged between his ear and shoulder.

“I’ll go. You stay there in case he comes home. I’ll call if there’s any news. And Becca?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.” He hung up before she could argue, pulling his hair up out of his face as he stomped into his boots. The temperature had continued to drop and as he turned and locked his door, Grizz could see his breath in front of his face. Curfew had been lifted in the weeks since Lexie and Harry had taken charge. And yet, Grizz found himself nervous as he stepped out into the dark. The streets might no longer be policed for late night wanderers, but he knew they were policed for a darker purpose. He had seen them out at night. Luke a few times. Jason and Clarke more. Even Campbell once. Prowling to make sure no one was plotting to take them down, no one was out trying to find the captives.

He stuck to the shadows, running quietly through the town and back to the library. He tore back the shade cloth for the second time that day, and sure enough, a pale face and shock of red hair greeted him.

“Sam?” The boy’s eyes were shut. Grizz reached out with a gloved hand, tapping his cheek. Slowly, Sam’s eyes opened. He was lying as he had been before, curled in amongst the weeds and dead flower bushes. Grizz noted offhandedly that the jacket he had left was gone, and Sam was once again lying in the cold, shivering.

“Sam what are you doing?!” Grizz yelled. But it was dark, and the deaf boy couldn’t see. He couldn’t see the fear on Grizz’s face, or the shape of his mouth as he yelled. He could just make out the silhouette he had been dreaming of, a tall man with hair in a bunch at the top of his head. He was cold. So cold. Briefly, he had thought about moving, about going home or to church or anywhere other than here. But really, he couldn’t see a point. The only place he wanted to be was here, amongst the dead flowers that reminded him of Grizz and home and the lives they had left behind.

Grizz fired off a message to Becca.

‘I have him. We’re coming.’ He slid his phone back into his pocket and then his arms beneath Sam, lifting him towards his chest. Finally Sam moved, struggling against him. Fresh pain cut through Grizz’s chest as Sam tried to escape his hold and he held him tighter. Eventually, Sam stopped, and they walked quietly through the town.

Becca heard her front door bang open and shot to her feet. In the entryway stood Grizz, face red from the cold. He looked tired, bags under his eyes and shoulders hunching agains the world. In his arms, Sam looked small. Her best friend lay there, eyes open, staring at nothing, the rise and fall of his chest the only indication that he was alive.

“We need to warm him up.” Grizz murmured, and Becca sprang into action. She ran about the house, finding blankets and hot water bottles. Grizz walked into the living room and set Sam on his feet. Slowly, gently, he pulled the dirt smeared jeans from Sam’s legs. Becca passed the door way, about to deliver her second haul of blankets when she stopped. Grizz’s hands were tender against Sam, carefully peeling the damp clothes from his body and then wrapping him in the throw from the couch. She averted her eyes, leaving the blankets in the doorway as she went to brew some coffee.

Soon, Sam was smothered in blankets and a hot water bottle, his shivers slowing down to barely noticeable tremors. Of course, the two people opposite him noticed. For longer than he realised, they had both noticed everything about him. They had seen his beauty and his pain, the way he closed his eyes against heartache. The way he fiddled with the cuffs of his jumper when he was nervous. The kindness beneath the sarcasm. They had seen him, in a way he had barely seen himself. As a person, vulnerable, real and worthy.

“Sam? What happened?” She spoke and signed, ready to convey the conversation between two increasingly awkward men.

It’s come back. I was alright for a while. I guess seeing Campbell win, it just got me. He’s spent so long ruining my life. Now he’s going to ruin everything else. How am I supposed to protect Eden?

Grizz watched the tears flow down Becca’s face as she relayed Sam’s signs. They were too fast for him to follow, too many words he didn’t recognise.

“I’m scared for Eden too. But we are her parents. We will do anything for her.” Becca’s eyes were focussed on Sam.

“You guys aren’t in this alone,” Grizz’s voice startled Becca and she interpreted for Sam. “I will protect her too. That’s a promise.” The conviction he felt surprised himself. He noticed Sam’s eyes flick to him, then Becca and away.

“You didn’t tell him, did you?” Becca was talking just to Sam, who shook his head almost imperceptibly.

“Grizz. There’s something I want to tell you.” Sam’s hands flew into action, his head furiously shaking Whatever it was, Sam did not want this said.

“For God’s sake Sam! Stop! Grizz. Sam is Eden’s dad. Nothing will ever change that,” She paused to try to catch Sam’s eye, “But you need to know that Sam and I have never slept together. We are just friends. We have always been just friends. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Sam jumped from his seat, anger on his features as he tried to run from the room.

“Sam. Sam stop.” Grizz’s arms flew around Sam, holding him while he struggled. So focussed on clinging to the crying boy, it took him a full minute to comprehend what Becca was saying. He froze.

“Wait. You guys haven’t had sex? How did Eden..” And it clicked. It hadn’t made sense to him on Thanksgiving, that Sam hadn’t mentioned the baby. Hadn’t mentioned Becca in any romantic way. Sam wasn’t that man. He wasn’t a kiss and run kind of guy.

“Sam. Sam,” Grizz held him out just far enough to catch his eye, and the struggle stopped. “Explain to me.”

Sam looked up at him. If you’d asked him a year ago about this boy in front of him, he would have laughed. Himself with a jock? But in the past six months he’d realised that no one was quite what they seemed. “I made a promise.”

Grizz pulled him down onto the sofa. The boys sat, Sam curled in Grizz’s lap and Becca saw the comfort Sam was taking just from Grizz’s touch.

“Sam doesn’t know who the biological father of the baby is. No one does. Only I do. I was scared of what people would think of me. And Sam promised me that he would be the father. And he is. For all intents and purposes, and for the rest of her life, Sam is Eden’s dad. But he wasn’t the man who conceived her with me.

I said to Sam at the start that I never had a choice in being a mother. And I meant that. If we were back at home, I don’t think I would have had Eden. But I also meant, that even at the start, there was no choice. I didn’t get to say yes or no.” Becca’s hands stopped signing before the last sentence. She didn’t want to break Sam even further.

This time, Grizz wasn’t slow on understanding. “Oh god Becca. Oh shit. I’m so sorry.”

“Becca I know.” Sam’s voice was loud and again he struggled. “It was him.” His hand formed a C and Becca paled. “Eden looks like he did as a baby. I’m going to kill him.” Grizz could see Sam spiralling out of control, the depression of earlier in the day replaced by something Grizz had never seen on Sam before. He was losing control. Even when Grizz had screamed at him about Becca, he’d breathed through it. But now, Sam had lost control.

#grizzam #grizz the society #the society #fanfic #sam eliot #becca the society #part 2/?

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wroughtbetwixtfanfic · 5 years

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A Memory Of The Smell of Smoke, Ch 5.

Fandom: The Society.

Summary: Everyone liked to pretend that Campbell had been born bad. That their fear and hatred were logical, rational, justified, because Campbell was a monster incapable of making the choice between good and evil. Because he couldn’t feel the way they did. Well, fuck that. He was gonna prove them wrong. At least, that had been the plan.

Rating: Mature.

Tags: Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Emotional Baggage, Mental Health Issues, Child Abuse, Substance Abuse, Animal Death, Complicated Relationships, Pre-Slash, Denial of Feelings, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Implied Rape, Campbell has mild ASPD and is self aware enough to try and be better, the non-con is NOT Campbell, didn’t add an official warning because it is the aftermath only, yes it is the party becca mentioned and there will be a warning in the notes of that chapter, Campbell/Harry, Campbell/Elle.

Word Count: 4601 (chapter 5/5).

Ch 1 || Ch 2 || Ch 3 || Ch 4 || AO3

Then again, they do say that things get worse before they get better.

For whatever reason, Becca stopped talking to Campbell. He tried to text her to see if she was alright, but his number was blocked. He tried to talk to her, but she kept on walking. It would have been all too easy to get pissed off over it, but he shrugged and carried on with life. Perhaps she was embarrassed, or ashamed. Perhaps she wanted to pretend it never happened. Maybe it had been a really bad high. Who knew? But she wanted nothing to do with him, either way, and he didn't waste his time on people that obviously wanted him gone. Caring cost too much energy for that.

The end of the school year play was an adaptation of the film Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Cassandra, of course, decided to try out. It was more surprising that Harry tried out, too. Naturally, they both got the lead roles. And why wouldn't they? Cassandra had always been an amazing actress, and now that Harry had cleaned up his image to make himself the cute goody-two-shoes co-captain of the debate team in order to be more appealing to Kelly, it made sense that he'd charm his way in.

Campbell didn't need to worry about that. He got recruited to help with the set, and that was fine. It was something to pass the time, as always, and Elle was often there to help with choreography. It was a nice, long distraction. By the time rehearsals were over, they had two weeks left until prom and three until graduation; it was so close to being over that Campbell could taste it, and damn it was good. The play itself would shave one week off, and everyone would be too busy going bananas over prom that they wouldn't have time for much idle gossip.

Perfect.

Or, at least, it would have been perfect. Just before the opening night of the play, something began to smell. Literally. Campbell was hanging out with a few of the drama club kids he'd met through the play, the five of them sharing a few orders of fries after a long day of getting the stage ready for the big event. They were on their way out when Campbell caught a whiff of what smelled like rotting flesh. He gagged, covering his nose with his sleeve, and soon the other teen were coughing as well.

"What the fuck is that?" demanded Elaine, a chunky girl with bright pink hair, ripped jeans, and an MCR shirt. "Jesus christ, Henry, I told you not to go for the chili fries."

Henry, a scrawny blond, made a noise of complaint. "It's not me!"

"The wind is coming from the northeast," Campbell interrupted as everyone began to blame each other. "It's probably in the wood somewhere. A sewer leak or something."

Everyone quieted down and agreed, but the smell only got worse and worse as the evening went on. The next morning, Campbell and Sam came downstairs to find their living room filled up with people. Their parents, Harry's mother, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Jim, a few other influential members of town... and in front of them all, their other uncle, Rogers. Frequently heard blustering on about some damn thing, usually something racist, he wasn't anyone Campbell had any desire to be around. But there he was, shouting about the smell and what to do about it.

Campbell tuned it all out and made breakfast for himself, slipping out the door and heading to school before he was noticed. The smell was, in fact, terrible. Students were whispering theories to each other all day. Campbell heard that the smell was a dead whale washed up on the coast and the wind was carrying the smell, that it was a terrorist attack, that it was ghosts coming to haunt the town for some misdeed, it was meth gone wrong... But in the end, there were no answers. Just a constant, unyielding reek that seemed to be coming from everywhere.

At the very least, the first night of the play went off without a hitch. Even if it smelled like a dead skunk basted with cow farts outside, Cassandra and Harry were beautiful, witty, and gave a flawless performance. No one really payed attention to the fact that there was a town meeting among the adults the next day; Campbell overheard his mother talking to his father about it, and how Uncle Rogers had contacted some guy named Pfeiffer to get rid of the smell.

Campbell flopped on Harry's bed as Harry dug around his closet for a suit to wear to prom. "Who the hell has a job in smell removal? Is that a thing?"

"Don't know, and who cares? As long as I can go back to eating without everything tasting faintly like septic tank, that's all I care about."

Whatever the Pfeiffer guy was about, the day after the town meeting, the smell did vanish as quickly as it had come. For short time, things went back to normal. Campbell stayed home-- you've seen one night in a play, you've seen them all, in his opinion-- to cook mushroom carbonara while everyone else was out. If nothing else, he knew how to make a good pan of noodles, and it gave him time to think about asking Elle to prom. A sort of asinine affair, something he and Cassandra agreed on, but it was the last big thing of high school. Maybe it was worth a shot.

On the last night of the play, the smell returned. It was even worse than before, so strong that it stung their eyes and made some of the younger kids choke; the adults called yet another emergency meeting, and this time, it was decided that the EPA would be contacted. Until then, all students 16 and over would be sent away on a camping trip until the smell was removed. An exciting prospect in Campbell's mind, considering his family had never been camping his whole life. A whole weekend in the middle of nowhere? Roasting marshmallows, hiking, swimming, freaking Allie out with spooky stories? Cool.

"Mom and dad wanted to know if you got your toothbrush," Sam signed as they stood on the school lawn, everyone waiting for the buses to pick them up. "Did you?"

"Tell them to get fucked."

Sam stared. Campbell forced a cheerful smile and headed off to go wait elsewhere. He was standing at the curb when he heard someone approaching; he turned his head, ready to tell Sam to leave him alone, when Campbell realized it was Grizz heading his way. He was pale, his gait fast and jaw tight as he glanced around. Huh. Weird. The football player never really seemed nervous about much.

"Hey Campbell," Grizz greeted. "I have a question for you."

"I'm flattered, but I'm already asking someone to prom."

Narrowing his eyes, Grizz glared at him. "Hey. No, it's... Did you tag the wall of the church last night?"

"What?" Campbell blinked. "I'm no fan of Christianity, but no. I didn't tag the church with anything. Why?"

"Just wondering. There's some creepy Bible quote on one of the outside walls. Just thought maybe you'd know something about it."

"Someone's probably just dicking with us, man."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

There wasn't much time to debate it. Cassandra and her gaggle joined them at the curb, all of them eagerly chattering at Grizz, who seemed to be the group Boy Scout and everyone wanted camping advice. Five school buses pulled up soon after, and everyone began to pile on. One of the few places left on the bus was next to Elle; she had a look on her face that was positively icy, but he decided to take the chance anyways.

Campbell rested his hand on the seat and nodded to the empty space next to her. "Hey, I'm Campbell. Do you mind if I sit here?"

Elle glanced up at him. She didn't smile, didn't speak, but she shrugged a little and moved over enough to make room.

"Excited for the trip?"

"Not especially. I prefer indoor plumbing. You?"

"I don't know. It might be an adventure."

"An adventure, huh? From what I hear, you make plenty of your own excitement."

"Oh? Where'd you hear that?"

"I just pay attention."

Campbell leaned a little closer. She didn't flinch away, but she was watching him with a cautious intensity he hadn't seen from many others before. "It's too bad we've been going to school together all this time, and never really talked, don't you think?"

"What is there for us to talk about?"

"Dance, maybe. How many years did you do ballet before you moved here?"

"You know about that?"

"I pay attention, too."

That earned him the tiniest of smirks. "Okay, smartass. What else do you know about me?"

"Your family moved here from New York when you were about twelve. You tried to make friends with Lexie and her goon squad, but they ignored you and ever since then you've kinda just been alone. You spend most of your time reading, or playing the piano."

"Piano."

"Junior year, we had math together and Gelstein let us listen to music during tests." Campbell placed his fingers on the back of the seat in front of him, moving them along like he was tapping on invisible keys. "You'd move your fingers along to the music, but you thought no one noticed because you sat in the back."

"Ohh, you've got a good eye. Yeah, I can play the piano. But I feel like that's cheating a little. You sat right next to me."

"That's true. I also know that you eat all the green M&Ms first, and that is not something I found out sitting next to you."

Elle leaned back and arched her eyebrows. "You know, some people might considered that level of observation a little creepy."

"Do you think it is?"

"I don't know yet."

"Think you'll know in time for prom?"

"Well, how about this." She was smiling now, and the corners of her eyes crinkled a little. "Ask me when this trip is over."

A fair enough deal. They spent the rest of the morning discussing music, art, and entertainment; Campbell had to stop and let Elle ramble from time to time, though he noticed she did the same and wondered if it was for the same reason. He wasn't used to talking, to the point where he was getting winded. They had similar enough tastes, as far as modern music was concerned, and a similar view on politics. He liked modern dance, while she liked the more traditional forms, but it was still a shared interest.

They continued talking until the sun set and the bus fell silent, with students falling asleep as the bus ride continued well into the night. Elle slumped over near midnight, resting her head on his shoulder. She yawned, content. "This is fun. How come we've never talked before?"

"I don't know." Campbell allowed her to nestle close. He wanted to stroke her hair, but he kept his hands to himself. He didn't want to scare her by being too much, too fast. "I guess I was scared to approach you."

"Why?"

"Because you're pretty, and I'm trouble."

Ella closed her eyes, voice muffled as she drifted off to sleep. "Maybe I'm trouble, too."

Cute, but it was hard to imagine. Not because she was a girl or because she was small-- he'd seen a 4'11" girl take down a two hundred and fifty pound football player with one well aimed kick to the dick-- but because he'd never heard a single bad word about her from anyone who mattered. Well, who knew. Maybe she had a rap sheet from back home in New York. Campbell smiled a little, falling asleep himself soon after.

He had no clue how much time had passed when the school bus jerked to a halt. He stirred, blinking as the lights on the bus flickered back on. Everyone was murmuring, trying to figure out what was going on. Were they there? It was supposed to be a twelve hour ride, including breaks along the way, but they had left at three in the evening and the time on his phone said it was only a little past one in the morning.

"Change of plans," the bus driver said. His tone was flat. Bored. "Rock slides. The road is closed. You're back home."

The murmurs turned into sounds of disbelief. Campbell stood as the bus doors opened, making his way out along with everyone else. He stopped on the school lawn, and stared out into the darkness; there was no one there, no one besides the other students, and the weird smell was gone. It couldn't have been fixed that fast. The useless government never did anything fast, and it hadn't even been a full day yet.

"The fuck," he muttered as the buses all pulled away and left. "What is this?"

Ella stood next to him, frowning. "Strange. That's what."

Everyone began texting, calling. Campbell tried his father's number, knowing Sam was probably going to call their mother. It rang, and didn't stop ringing. No answer. No voicemail, even. He glanced around. He could see the worry and panic on everyone else as they seemed to be reaching similar results. No one was answering. Something was obviously wrong. With the smell gone, he wondered if it really had been a gas leak, and now everyone was fucking dead. Only one way to know for sure.

Plastering a smile on his face, Campbell looked to Sam and shrugged like it was no big deal. Make it seem like everything was fine. No need to freak out and start some kind of mass riot. "Well, I'm going home."

Sam grabbed his arm. His eyes were wide, and he was obviously at that freak out point already. "You're not going to wait for me?" he whispered, not bothering to even sign.

Campbell made a quick sign. "Hurry up, then."

He kept walking, and soon enough he heard footsteps trailing behind him. They walked in silence for a bit, before Sam signed to him. "Where do you think our parents are?"

"Home. Asleep."

"Do you think that's all?"

"Yeah." Campbell didn't believe it for a second, but Sam didn't need to know that right then. "Probably."

When they made it home, the cars were still there. All the lights were out inside. Campbell went in first, calling out to their parents, but there was no answer. Campbell and Sam exchanged a look; Sam's lips pursed, knowing without any words passing between them what the look meant. They were alone. Campbell searched downstairs, then headed upstairs. He didn't even care that Sam was right on his heels. It meant that they could both confirm at the same time that they were, in fact, alone in the house.

"No note," Sam said. "No message on the phone. Where could they be?"

Campbell frowned. He didn't have a damn clue what to tell his brother, but then their phones both began to blow up. Campbell looked at his, hoping for the first time in forever that it was their parents, but it was Harry. His mother was gone. Kelly's parents, too. No one could reach anyone, and their data was all knocked out.

Probably from the storm, Campbell texted back.

Yeah, Harry answered, and did the storm take all our parents too?

A good question. Suddenly he had texts from Elle and Cassandra, even Allie, asking where he and Sam were and could they find anyone. Cassandra finally texted for the two of them to meet her and everyone else back at the school. ASAP.

"Are you gonna go?" Sam asked.

It wasn't even really worth thinking about. Of course he was going to go, if only so he could get some idea of where things were heading. People were gonna start wigging out, and Campbell knew history well enough to know that a bunch of teenagers alone and afraid never meant anything good. And maybe someone, somewhere, had actually found something. Campbell nodded to Sam, and they both headed out to meet with Cassandra.

By the time they got to the school, a crowd had formed. Not everyone, and mostly seniors, but enough for Campbell to know it'd get ugly if the impromptu meeting didn't go well. Elle was there; she came over and stood at his side, one arm crossed in front of her chest and the other tangled up in her hair, her bottom lip pouting out a little. She opened her mouth to speak, but then someone else-- one of the football players, loud and brash-- yelled out.

"Who decided we needed a flash mob?"

Cassandra stepped out of the shadows. She stood on the other side of Campbell, pulling herself tall. "I did."

"What the fuck, Cassandra?"

"Better than 200 people sending texts. Has anyone been able to reach anyone?" she asked. The crowd was either silent, or mumbled a negative. "No one? Okay. Well, there's... there's definitely a simple explanation."

A voice Campbell didn't recognize yelled out. "Like what?"

"Um. They, uh." Cassandra glanced at Campbell. He said nothing, hell, he didn't even move; if anyone thought he was influencing her, they'd never listen. "They were evacuated, after we left. And there was a miscommunication, and we were brought back here by mistake."

"Someone would still answer a phone," Kelly pointed out.

"Maybe they're asleep. I don't know, maybe they some place with no reception. They're in a shelter with... with no reception, or something. In the morning, someone will answer a phone."

Goddamn it. Cassandra, cool and collected Cassandra, was losing it. Standing this close to her, Campbell could tell that she was shaking. Not much, but enough that Campbell felt a spark of worry. They were supposed to be the reasonable ones. Cassandra was valedictorian, disliked and unpopular but vocal and well-known in their senior class. If Cassandra lost it, the rest wouldn't be far behind.

"Maybe it's not safe for us to be here, if they all left."

"A couple hours isn't gonna make a difference. We'll figure this all out in the morning. Right now, we should just... uh, go home. Yeah, we should go home. And anyone who doesn't want to, uh, be alone can come back to our house. Right?"

Allie smiled when Cassandra looked to her. "Sure."

"Is that your advice, Cassandra?"

It had to be Harry that challenged her. Campbell cursed under his breath, and resisted the urge to strangle him. Cassandra and Harry always had been rivals, butting heads over everything and fighting for power at every turn, with Cassandra usually emerging victorious. But what about now, when people were scared and tensions were climbing?

"Yeah. Yeah, Harry, yeah, just go to sleep."

Harry rolled his eyes, but people began to disperse. Well, some people. The majority stayed put, hovering around closer to Harry and the jock brigade; they were whispering about the local liquor store, and Campbell took the moment to sidle over to Cassandra while everyone else seemed distracted.

"Do you honestly believe any of that?" he wondered, lowering his voice.

Cassandra shook her head. She took a breath, but it was already all too clear that she was out of her depth. "I have to, right now. It won't do any good tonight to think about it too much. We need to all go home, get some rest, and see what tomorrow brings."

"You know as well as I do that if we don't start preparing for the worst now, tomorrow it's gonna hit and this whole place is gonna go all Lord of the Flies."

"What the hell do you think happened?"

"Cassie, haven't you noticed anything else, besides our missing families?"

"The smell."

"Yeah, the smell. How are you gonna explain that to them? Or did the smell go to a shelter with no reception, too?"

Biting her lip, Cassandra looked at the crowd gathering around Harry. Before she could say anything else, Allie came prancing up, a cheeky smile on her face. "Cassandra. Campbell." His name was said like it was something disgusting, and her smile hardened just a bit. "I guess the guys are planning to raid the liquor store and have a party. Coming?"

"Really?" Cassandra sighed. "No way. I'm going to head home and try to figure this out. Please don't burn anything down."

Allie grinned and made her way back to her friends. Cassandra, Gordie, and their friend Bean headed off towards home. Campbell knew it'd be for the best to just leave, but he could see that Sam was staying, and Elle was watching him expectantly. Harry was waving them both over, and Campbell sighed. Might as well. Despite how bizarre it all was, the idea of not having to race home by ten and play Good And Normal Son with his parents was appealing.

"What was that about?" Elle asked. Her tone was light, but her eyes were sharp. "With you and Cassandra?"

"Oh, just cousin bickering. How about this party, huh?"

It started as just a bunch of them hanging out on the front yard of the church, with beers getting passed around. Campbell and Elle camped out in a quieter corner, each with their own drink. But within fifteen minutes, Clark had discovered that the church doors were open. It seemed wrong. So, so very wrong. That's what made it fun. Campbell smirked as people texted their friends, brought more liquor, and rigged up some music. The air was just vibrating with bass and the cheers of about a hundred drunk, high teenagers. It was blasphemous, and oh, they were all loving it.

"Can you imagine the looks on their faces?" Campbell laughed with Elle as he downed another cup of alcohol. "Those stuck up fucks would piss themselves."

Elle answered, but her voice was muffled. Far away. His vision was dimmer around the edges and he felt good; he grabbed Elle by the hand and led her out to where people were dancing. Harry's shitty little pity parties had never appealed to him much, and certainly not the stiff swaying back and forth of school dances with their parent-approved music, but this? This was something new, different. They could do anything and they weren't going to get caught. Not yet. The cats were away, and they were all a bunch of fucking rats ready to play.

At least, that's what Campbell thought, but after people started pouring beers off the second story, Elle retreated into an empty stairway. Campbell followed. A bad idea, in hindsight, but they'd been having a good time. Hadn't they? She had tucked herself into a corner, wiping beer off her skin and wringing it from her hair; Campbell stepped closer, smiling.

"I don't know, I think you look kinda hot this way."

Elle didn't look at him. "Yeah, well, I don't really care what anyone else thinks right now."

"Hey. Why are you spoiling all the fun?" Campbell asked. She didn't say anything, just giving him an irritated look. "Is it like a ballerina thing? Act all cold? Is that..."

Without a word, she tried to push past him. Campbell grabbed her arm, but she spun around and fixed him with a glare. "Seriously?"

Campbell blinked. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but she was angry, and he let go of her arm. She kept walking, heading towards the exit. He sighed, mumbling under his breath so she wouldn't hear. "Your loss."

Everything after that was mostly a very long blur, ending in a wall of black. Not something he'd done in a while, getting completely wasted, and not something he was eager to repeat when he woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. Light hurt, sound hurt. The worst part was that he just barely remembered what happened with Elle.

"Shit," he groaned as his phone blasted him with full brightness. Still, he managed to tap out a text to her. I'm sorry about last night. I'm an asshole and I was drunk. Forgive me? "Send."

It was the best he could do at that second. Campbell dragged himself out of bed, stumbling downstairs where Sam was making breakfast. Sam glanced at him, flipping some bacon. Campbell wanted to gag at the smell, but there was a small stack of toasted Eggo waffles on the counter, and he snagged one of those.

"No parents," Sam signed. "No calls or anything."

Campbell just waved his hand and sunk his face into his arm. He figured. There hadn't been any furious screaming about the state of the church, after all. Sam sat down at the table, and Campbell raised his head enough to watch him for a moment. Now that he was sober, he was back to being able to read people. He could see on Sam's face that Sam was scared. He kept eyeing Campbell, then looking away, and shifting like his body just didn't want to sit still. His body was turned away. Closed off. Insecure. He didn't like being alone with Campbell.

Well, who did anymore, really?

His phone buzzed. He hoped it was Elle, but it was from Harry. Campbell tapped on the notification, and stared at the text. Get to the bridge. NOW.

Sam's phone went off next. "Becca wants me at the bridge outside of town."

Please, a second text read. I'm scared.

Harry had never said that, not in all the years they'd been friends. Campbell stuffed another waffle in his mouth, and threw on his flannel shirt. "Let's go."

It took almost twenty minutes to jog there. Sam kept up, thankfully. Campbell wasn't about to wait around when Harry was reduced to begging. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his stomach more than ever. The closer he got, the more he could see there was a small crowd formed. Cassandra, Allie, Becca, Will. Gordie, Bean, Kelly. Luke, Clark, Grizz, Harry. Helena. Sam went to his friends, who were sitting by the railing of the bridge; Campbell went to Harry, who was crowded around his far with the jocks and Helena.

"What's going on?" Campbell hissed, pulling Harry off to the side. "You look ready to pass the fuck out."

Harry just pointed. Campbell followed the line of sight. Trees. Trees had completely demolished the train tracks leading out of town. They just... ended. Campbell went to turn back to Harry, and noticed the same thing had happened to the road, too. He rubbed his eyes; maybe he was still drunk, or someone had slipped him something. But no. It was like a wall of forest.

Harry spoke, only just audible. "It's like that the whole way around." He was breathing faster, his voice trembling faintly. "We tried the internet, Bean tried to call 911. Nothing. There's no one out there. We're trapped."

Campbell reached out, resting his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry leaned into the touch ever so slightly. Adults and the younger kids, gone. The smell, gone. A natural barrier, cutting them off from every escape route, and they were-- for the moment-- alone. How? He couldn't fathom, but how didn't exactly matter at the moment. What mattered was that this was reality. Somehow, some way, they were going to have to survive it.

They were worse than trapped.

They were completely, truly, screwed.

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thicctransboi · 5 years

Text

The Protector (Sam+Grizz)

Prompt- If new ham had never happened, another AU

Friday

Grizz watched Sam from across the classroom, his eyes going between his interpreter and the teacher, who was explaining today's assignment in their Anatomy class. Grizz studied the slightly younger boy, only one grad below himself, yet was in a senior Anatomy class. 'He must be smart.' Grizz thought to himself as he observed Sam. He had been doing this for three years now; quietly observing Sam from a distance, yet never approaching him. He noticed him in middle school too, and elementary. He was hard to miss; stark ginger hair, bright blue eyes, and an interpreter always following him.

Grizz had come to the conclusion that he was gay his freshman year of high school. He had tried to deny it for years; dating girls, making out with them, even watching porn with his teammates after practices. But, early on, he knew. As did his mother, who knew even before he did. Signing him up for pee wee football when she noticed how much he loved tap-dancing. He missed dancing, in all honesty. But he knew his friends wouldn't approve, let alone anyone in this small town. Grizz had had one girlfriend, and three very unsuccessful hookups. All with girls. But he had been pinning after the deaf gay boy in school since he laid his freshly opened queer eyes on him sophomore year.

He hated the way people treated him, which is why he had yet to come out. Sam was the only out gay guy in all of West Ham high school, and he was ostrosized for it. While Grizz never took part in the hazing, he always felt guilty for never standing up to his friends, or to anyone. He knew he held some power in high school, being an athlete and in the honors program, he could easily put a stop to at least a third of Sam's bullies, but he was worried about what it would imply on his part if he were to do so. Sometimes, he hated his friends. He hated how small their brains could be, how closed minded they were. The only one who could sometimes redeem himself was Luke. Luke never took much part in the hazing of the 'bottom' of the food chain of West Ham, but he didn't stop it either. Luke was a good guy, but, wasn't one to speak his mind. Grizz, however, was. He was opinionated and could be outspoken quite often, he just didn't want to be outed. He wasn't ready. Grizz planned to come out in college, like most do. Finally experiment and find himself fully. Most of all, however, he planned to leave all of his friends behind, never speak to them again. He wanted to start fresh next year at University, a new Grizz. Maybe even drop the nickname and go by his birth name, Gareth. But there was one problem; Sam.

Leaving West Ham behind would mean leaving Sam behind, and he wasn't sure if he wanted that. Despite never having talked to the boy, he still wanted to. He didn't want to miss any opportunity. He also didn't want Sam to feel defenseless. He noticed how he only ever talked to one person, only one student had ever bothered to learn sign language and become his friend; Becca Gelb. Becca was a spunky girl, olive skin, with a radiant smile and an attitude to boot. She was extremely outspoken, and was always at Sam's side. They were the same age, but he knew Sam must feel lonely at the same time. The same way Grizz did; they were both single. Or, so Grizz assumed. Being the only out gay guy around must be difficult, as well as only having one friend. Sam had a brother, of course, Campbell. But, Campbell wasn't a good brother by any means, nor a good person. The kid always creeped Grizz out; the way he lurked around, his eyes ripping through everyone's soul. His vibe wasn't one Grizz enjoyed feeling. Rumor had it around school that the bruises Sam would wear occasionally were from Campbell, and Grizz wouldn't doubt that for a second. He had seen them interact, Sam always looked petrified. Campbell loved to use the word 'fag' and 'retard' when talking to Sam, which made Grizz's blood boil. Yet, he stayed quiet.

He wanted some excuse to talk to Sam, some excuse to be his friend without people becoming suspicious. That's when the bell rang, singling the end of class, causing Grizz to snap out of his trance. As he gathered his things, he heard the teacher, Mrs. Johnson, calling his name.

"Grizz, could you come up here for a moment? I have a favor to ask you."

Grizz gave her a smile and a nod. He had always been sorta a kiss-ass when it came to teachers. But, he was also raised to be polite. Or at least that was the excuse he gave to his friends.

He made his way to Mrs. Johnson's desk. "Hey, Mrs. J. What's up?"

Mrs. Johnson was a younger woman, she wore her long brown hair in a tightly pulled low pony tail, and her glasses always sat on the edge of her nose as if they didn't fit. "I had a favor to ask you, Grizz. I know you're busy, what with it being your senior year and all. But, I know football season just ended and you were the only person in this class I felt would be wiling and capable of doing this for me. You know Sam Eliot, right?" Grizz nodded, "Well, he's having some difficulties with the terminology and vocabulary for this class. He's been struggling quite a bit with the tests and quizzes. I was wondering if you'd be willing to help him out? After school? I know it's a lot to ask but his parents have offered to pay if need be. But, the school has no tutors who are willing nor available this last minute, and the midterm is in two months. You're my top student, I know you're more than capable. Would you be willing to help him out, Grizz?"

Yes! Grizz thought. The perfect excuse. "Sure, Mrs. J. Like you said, the season's over and I have spare time after school. But, I don't know sign language."

Mrs. Johnson gave a wave of dismissal, "Sam can read lips very well, and he speaks. Just make sure to speak clearly and use diction and it'll work out just fine. Let me get him up here.."

Grizz felt his heart rate accelarating as Mrs. J waved over Sam and his Interpreter. Grizz felt his breathing catch in his throat as Sam approached the desk, his eyes meeting Grizz's.

"Sam, I found you a tutor for my class! Have you met Grizz?"

Grizz watched as Sam's eyes watched Mrs. J's lips before shaking his head. "I know him, but we haven't talked." He stated bluntly. Grizz could honestly say that he had never heard Sam speak, but something about the way his lips moved as he formulated words he had never heard fascinated him.

"Well, Grizz here said he's more than willing to help you out, he's at the top of the class, and not just mine. He's got the second highest test scores in the entire senior class! He's available if you're comfortable."

Sam nodded hesitantly, glancing at Grizz nervously before speaking directly to him, "It won't be easy, I don't speak very well. But I do read lips, you just need to speak slowly."

Grizz felt his heart swell and found himself speaking before thinking, "You speak perfectly."

He felt himself go red, but felt relieved when he saw Sam's face soften.

Mrs. Johnson spoke up, "Perfect! Grizz, write down your number for Sam, and Sam will you do the same? You two can figure out times and places to meet. And, Grizz, I will email you all of the information you'll need."

Grizz watched as Sam's eyes went between his interpreter, who's name Grizz wasn't sure of, and Mrs. J before nodding, taking a sticky note from her hand and a pen, writing down his phone number. Grizz did the same, his hands shaking.

"I'll text you?" Sam said, handing him the sticky note, his finger's brushing against Grizz's palm, making goosebumps rise in their wake.

Griz gave a stiff nod and watched as Sam and his interpreter left, Becca Gelb waiting in the doorway for him.

"Thank you Grizz, you have no idea how hard it's been trying to find someone to help him out. He's really intelligent. But, there's so many terms that have to be interpreted to him that I think it's too fast. And no tutors in the area know sign language, and the ones at the school well... Between you and me, are very closed minded. They refuse to work with the 'deaf gay kid.' I knew I made a good choice picking you, you know. You're wise beyond your years. Have a good day, Grizz."

*** Friday Evening

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday were the day's they had agreed to meet for tutoring. Directly after school on the weekdays for two hours, and from noon to 3 on Sunday. During the week, Sam's house. On Sunday, at Grizz's house. Grizz had two days until he would be having Sam over, and he was busy reading away in the library at Sign Language books. He wasn't sure exactly why he was trying to learn Sam's language, Sam could read lips. But, for some reason, he wanted to. He wanted to impress him. The problem was, the library only had one sign language book, and it was BSL. He figured that sence British and American's both spoke English, that they were the same. He had been studying all afternoon after school trying to read as much as possible, choosing the library in knowing that The Guard wouldn't be caught dead here. He probably looked crazy, making random hand gestures in a desolate corner of the Library, but he didn't care. He was determined to learn Sam's language. He felt a tapping on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw one of the librarians towering over him.

"We close in five minutes. Would you like to check out that book? Take it home to practice?"

Grizz nodded, sighing at the thought of trying to practice without his parents noticing.

As he checked out his book and began his decent home, his phone buzzed. It was a text from Clark.

From Clark: Hey Bud! Friday night game night, remember? Where u at?"

Grizz mentally slapped himself. Of course, how could he forget. Every friday once football season ended, they Guard had a video game night.

To Clark: Shit sorry, was studying, be there in 15.

In truth, Grizz didn't want to go to game night tonight. He wanted to keep practicing his sign language, or even text Sam. They had each other's number's now, but he had no idea how to casually start a conversation with the boy. Nonetheless, he headed to Clark's house.

The Guard all sat in Clark's basement: The flatscreen displaying COD, beer bottles cracked open, and bags of chips scattered here and there. The group of teammates sat on the sectional. Grizz had opted out of this round, simply sipping his beer in silence and lost in thought. He was thinking of Sam, and how he would explain not being able to hang out to his friends. In that moment, part of Clark and Jason's conversation caught his attention.

"Yo, Clark, did you see what that deaf kid was wearing today? Those tight ass red pants? Talk about asking for it."

Clark laughed, "Yeah, he's screaming, 'im gay' more and more ever since his freshman year. It's like he's not even trying to hide it."

Jason laughed as well, rather obnoxiously adding, "Did you see what Campbell did? He knocked his lunch tray on him, getting food all over the little retard. The kid may be sick, but he sure can make lunch interesting."

Grizz felt his jaw clench. But he stayed quiet.

***

Saturday night

Sam sat in his living room, Becca sitting across from him on the sectional. They had been watching MTV and scrolling through instagram together for a few hours now. Their usual Saturday night routine.

"By the way, did they ever find someone to help you in anatomy?" Becca signed, "I tried but failed."

She was right, Becca had tried helping Sam, but it had been unsuccessful. He usually did her homework for her, after all.

"Yeah, you know that kid Grizz? He said he'd help. I'm going to his place tomorrow."

Becca's eyes lit up, "What? Grizz? As in the star football player, poetry reading, highly intelligent, totally dreamy eyed Grizz? That one?"

Sam chuckled, "That's the one. He offered to help apparently, Mrs. Johnson asked him and he said he would."

Becca had a mischievous look on her face, "You lucky asshole! You're going to be in his house? Possibly in his bed."

Sam held up a hand to silence his raunchy friend, "You're looking into this way too much." He signed bluntly. "Besides, he's not that dreamy. He's one of 'The Guard', remember? They're all assholes."

Becca sighed, "Yeah, but he's never picked on you, or even joined in their laughter. He actually has a brain, which is surprising considering how much pot that kid smokes."

Sam rolled his eyes, "But he always stays quiet, it's just as bad as if he were to join in. I don't know, I feel like he's got some sinister plan here."

"You never know," Becca began, "Give it a shot. But, it's late, I should probably be going. Are you sure you don't want to stay over?"

"I'm sure. Campbell is out tonight." Sam said, giving Becca a reassuring smile.

She rose from her spot, grabbing her book bag and phone, "Alright, text me. I love you." She signed, giving Sam a hug.

"Love you too."

After Becca left, Sam sat in silence for awhile. Lost in thought. He had always noticed Grizz, that was for sure. Grizz always spoke up in class, always chiming in on the discussions. In both English, which they had together, and anatomy. Eventualy, out of curiosity, Sam had his interpreter tell him what Grizz would say. The guy was smart, Sam had to give him that. He wasn't like most of the football guys, Becca was right on that part. He had a brain, nice fashion sence as well compared to the rest of them. He wasn't overly jacked either, he was built yet lean. Admittedly, he was Sam's type physically. He often noticed how Grizz would be watching him. His eyes always lingering. He probably feels bad for me, Sam thought. He hated that, people feeling sorry for him. He didn't see being deaf as a dissability, he saw it as a special ability. If only the world had seen it that way.

Sam was pulled away from his thoughts when he felt the floorboards vibrate, forcing him to glance over at the front door. There stood Campbell in the doorway, his eyes bloodshot and dilated, his skin ashen. He was high, again. Sam decided he didn't feel like dealing with his inebriated brother tonight, rising from the couch and attempting to slip past Campbell to get to the stairs. But, Campbell stopped him, his fingers digging into Sam's wrist as he yanked him forward to look him in the eyes.

"Not so fast, Fag. Where do you think you're going?" Campbell slurred, his lips hardly readable due to his intoxication.

"To bed, Campbell." Sam said, attempting to pull away from his older brother's grasp. His grip only tightened, "You're hurting me, let go!"

Campbell only laughed, dropping Sam's wrist only for a moment before taking a swing into the younger boy's ribs, making Sam double over slightly in pain.

"Remember your place. Don't even think about telling Mom or Dad about this, either, you know this will only get worse if you do so."

His gaze caught Sam's; his blood shot eyes burning with a sickening darkness. He smirked as Sam decended up the stairs, gripping his side.

***

Sunday

Grizz had woken up early this morning, cleaning his room spotless before church. Throughout the service, he found it difficult to concentrate on the pastor's words, his mind drifting to having Sam over today. It made his heart beat vastly in excitement. Once he arrived home, he only had 30 minutes until Sam would be here. He double checked his room, the entire house, and his appearance. He had decided to have them study in his room; he knew his nosy mother would ask too many questions. Plus, she knew about Sam. Their paster once had had the congregation pray over him, attempting to heal him of his deafness and his 'eternal sickness', which was code for him being gay. He didn't need her to ask any questions. Grizz took off his tie, attempting to look less formal like he had at church. It was early march, and surprisingly warm for this time of year in New England. So, he settled for a simple light hoodie, skinny jeans, and his vans. He wore his hair down for once, not in his usual top knot. Grizz heard his phone chime. Taking it out of his pocket, it was a text from Sam informing him that he had arrived. Shit, Grizz thought. He had totally lost track of time. After sending him a quick 'be right down' reply, he checked his hair once again before bolting down the stairs. He let out a shaky breath before opening the front door.

Sam stood there before him, wearing a simple brown jacket, red shirt, and jeans. And yet, he looked stunning to Grizz. "Hey, come on in." Grizz greased, forcing an awkward smile as he stood aside to let Sam walk in. He caught a whiff of Sam's cologne as he walked past him, it smelt earthy. Grizz felt his insides churn at the scent. He decided rather quickly that he liked it. Sam glanced around the entry way to Grizz's house.

"Nice place." Sam complimented, his eyes glancing around.

"Gareth? Who's there?" He heard his mother call. Oh god, here we go.

Grizz's mother appeared in the entry way to the kitchen, both boys turning to her. Grizz definitely got his looks from his mother, Sam thought. Long chocolate brown hair, dark brown eyes, an angular heart shaped face and full lips. Hers, however, were painted a deep red, her hair, which was now greying, pulled back in a loose bun. She was still dressed in her Sunday best, a yellow flower printed sun dress with a white cardigan.

"Oh! Hello! I'm Amanda, Gareth's mother." She greeted, extending a hand out to Sam along with an award winning smile.

Sam shook it before replying, he signed along with his words. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Sam Eliot. I have anatomy with Grizz, oh erm.. Gareth I mean. He's helping me study for the midterm.

Grizz's mother looked slightly shocked at the realization of who was standing in her home, but disguised it quickly. "Oh how nice! Well, you're welcome here anytime Sam." She said, speaking louder than before, making Grizz cringe at her ignorance.

"Okay!" Grizz announced, clapping his hands and grabbing both of their attentions, "We're going to study now! Catcha later mom." Grizz said, motioning for Sam to follow him down the hall to his bedroom.

*** Sunday, 1:20pm

Grizz had embarrassed himself, so, so badly. He had tried to impress Sam with what little sign language he had picked up from that damn book from the library, only to realize that he had learned a completely wrong form of sign language.

"What? What's so funny?" Grizz asked after signing to Sam and showing him the book he had used.

"That's BSL, I use ASL."

Grizz mentally slapped himself, "They're different? Oh come on man! It's the only book they had at the library."

Sam laughed again. "Why are you trying to learn sign language? Are you planning on going deaf anytime soon?"

Grizz scoffed, "No," He began in a sarcastic tone, "I wanted to be able to talk to you."

Sam cocked his head to the side, "I can read lips?"

"I know" Grizz began, "But I wanted to be able to talk to you, you know, in your language."

Grizz looked down sheepishly. Sam took notice, feeling his heart warm at Grizz's kind gesture. "Oh." He said in a moment of shock.

"Apparently, I failed though." Grizz said, laughing slightly.

"How about this? You help me with my anatomy terms, and I teach you some sign language? Fair trade?"

Grizz felt his heart skip a beat, "Deal."

***

An hour later

Grizz couldn't take his eyes off of it, he had noticed the markings when Sam had rolled up his sleeves as he was highlighting terms in his textbook. A million questions ran though Grizz's mind, but he felt he already knew the answer. The bruises on Sam's wrist were in the shape of a hand. Campbell. It made his heart break, and his blood boil all at the same time, but he decided not to prod, hardly knowing the kid after all. They had been studying for two hours, and Grizz suggested taking a break.

"Thank god." Sam had said, sitting up from his laying down on his stomach on Grizz's bed. Grizz liked the sight of this, Sam on his bed next to him.

"Want a drink or anything?" Grizz offered, "I have some soda and beers in my fridge over there." He made sure to speak slowly and clearly. He had gotten used to this new way of speaking after awhile of doing so.

"Soda is fine."

***

Thursday, two weeks later.

Grizz had grown to hate Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. But he had grown to love Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. One answer: Sam. He had discovered that they had a lot in common interest wise, and that they got along quite well. When they weren't studying anatomy, Sam was teaching Grizz to sign. Every spare moment Grizz had, he found himself watching ASL videos on youtube and practicing, even learning new ones to impress the younger boy. Sam liked plain cheeseburgers, hated mustard, he loved the color red, and hated the color orange. He was 17, a Leo, and loved sci fi movies and Harry Potter. He shared Grizz's love of poetry and plays, and enjoyed watching reality tv. He was hilarious, in a dry humor sort of way. He was also extremely patient and kind, despite how the world treated him. Grizz had grown to adore the kid even more now that he had gotten to know him. He had also managed to keep their newfound friendship a secret. Well, until recently. Today to be exact.

The Guard were sat in the cafeteria, all eating lunch and acting barbaric, while Grizz sat quietly texting Sam on his phone, ignoring his friends. Helena had joined their table, sitting next to her boyfriend Luke, shaming the other boys for their behavior and vulgar words. So, the normal. Except, everyone had taken notice to Grizz's lack of conversationalism.

"Grizz, you coming to game night tomorrow? You missed last week." Clark asked, tossing a grape in Grizz's direction.

"Can't, got plans." Grizz stated simply, not bothering to look up from his text conversation with Sam.

"Like what?" Jason chimed in, "This is the second week in a row, man! You never used to miss game night. What's up with you?"

Grizz sighed, trying to be vague as possible, "I'm tutoring. So, I can't."

"Tutoring who?" Clark asked.

Then Jason chimed in, "And who are you texting?"

Grizz glanced up towards Luke for help, but he was caught up talking to Helena.

He sighed, deciding enough was enough with the lying. Maybe being honest would get them off his back. "Sam Eliot. He's in my anatomy class, I'm helping him with the terminology."

Clark let out a laugh, "Oh god! They better be paying you, dude. Tutoring the retarded deaf kid is a huge load."

"I bet Sam is paying him alright, just with a different kind of load." Jason remarked with a smirk, earning a loud laugh from Clark.

"Oh fuck off!" Grizz said, trying to laugh it off and make it seem like no big deal, but his fuze was burning short with every rude comment they were making. "It's not hard, he's a smart kid, it's just a complicated class. His parent's are paying me to help, I figured why not."

"Be careful though man, he might rub off on you." Clark commented.

Grizz's jaw clinched, he met Clark's eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just saying, he might spread some stupid on you, or even worse, you might start turning into a fag on us cause of him!"

"Hey! Shut the fuck up, Clark! Or I swear to god-"

Jason cut him off, placing a hand on Grizz's shoulder, "Easy man, we're just shooting the shit man."

Grizz shrugged off his hand, feeling his skin crawl. "Just drop it, I'm serious."

"Alright man, take it easy.. Oh look! The retard is looking over here! Think he has a crush on you Grizz?"

Grizz felt something in him snap as he found himself lunging at Clark, Luke holding him back.

"Shut the fuck up! Don't use that damn word, Clark, I swear to god. Look in the fucking mirror before you call someone else that." He spat. "Let go of me, Luke." He said, shrugging himself out of Luke's grasp, rising from his seat and heading towards the exit. He could feel a million eyes on him, but he ignored every glance except for one: Sam's. He felt his heart leap at the look on Sam's face, before he left the cafeteria.

Becca and Sam exchanged glances, "Did you catch any of that?" Sam asked.

Becca shook her head, "Only the last bit. Clark said something that pissed him off, and Grizz told him to look in the mirror? I wonder what that was supposed to mean?"

Sam shrugged.

***

Friday, After School, Sam's House

"Want to take a break? If I have to repeat the term 'sternum' one more time I might pass out from boredom." Sam said, placing down his flashcards. Grizz agreed, sitting up across from Sam on his bed.

"Sam, can I ask you something?" Grizz asked, signing a word here and there, speaking slowly.

Sam nodded.

"Were you born deaf?"

Sam shook his head, telling the story of how when he was two he caught meningitis and it caused him to loose his hearing. By the time he was 3, he had gone completely deaf.

"Wow, do you still remember hearing?" Grizz asked, genuinly interested. Impressed with himself that he remembered the sign for 'hearing'.

"I remember my dad's laugh, the way my mom would sing to me and Campbell." Sam said, "When I dream, I still dream in sound. But not new sounds."

"What would be a new sound?"

Sam thought for a moment, "My voice. I remember what it sounded like when I was little. But I imagine it's gotten a little deeper." He hesitated for a moment. "I wish I could hear yours."

Grizz felt his heart skip a beat, the temperature in the room seemed to rise.

An idea popped into his head, one that had presented itself several times, but had never been acted on. He decided to give it a shot.

"Can you teach me one more phrase in sign language?"

Sam nodded.

Grizz looked down, his heart racing. He was scared, scared to be rejected.

"How do you say, 'kiss me'?"

He thought for a moment that maybe Sam hadn't been able to understand him, he sorta hoped for it. He felt his anxiety rising as the seconds passed. But he didn't see the smile that had spread across Sam's face, nor the look in Sam's eyes. All he felt was Sam's soft hands cupping his cheeks as he leaned in, closing the gap between the two of them.

Neither of them noticed, however, that Campbell was standing in the cracked doorway, his phone out and recording.

***

Monday

Grizz had been on cloud nine all weekend, ever since Friday. Sunday had been spent, not studying, but lying in between Grizz's bedsheets with Sam behind a locked door, talking about his past as a tap dancer. Their naked bodies tangled together with the bedsheets. Grizz was infactuated with Sam, and Sam felt the same way about Grizz. Walking into school, Grizz didn't notice at first the stares shot in his direction as he walked to his locker. He chose to ignore the whispers as he made his way to first period. Phone's dinged with notifications, more whispers followed, and more stares were shot his way. After three periods of this, he had finally noticed it was something to do with him and began listening to the whispers.

'is he gay'

'him and Sam'

'The deaf kid and the football player, who would have guessed?'

He told himself he was imagining it, until 5th period rolled around and he finally grew a pair and checked his phone. His twitter notifications were through the roof, over 38 texts, and four missed calls. It was a tweet from @campbellE69 that had everyone talking:

An animated GIF of Sam and Grizz kissing in Sam's bedroom, the caption reading; "Grizz the Dick sucking Vissar"

Grizz felt his heart beat quicken, pounding so loudly he could hear it. His texts were from the group chat with The guard and from Sam. But he couldn't bring himself to read any. 5th period ended, and lunch began. He had debated on going, but he knew he had to face this at some point. The moment he had entered the cafeteria, all eyes landed on him, silence for a moment, then a series of hushed whispers. He grabbed his lunch, ignoring the looks from the lunch ladies and surrounding students, and made his way to his usual table. But, he didn't make it. Campbell was sitting at his table, the Guard no where to be seen. Grizz felt his stomach leap, his eyes catching Sam's from across the lunch room, giving him a simpathetc glance. Grizz swallowed his pride and approached Campbell.

He tossed his lunch tray aside, letting the contents splatter across the floor as he shoved Campbell out of his seat roughly, landing on the marble flooring with a loud 'thud.'

"What is your deal, Campbell?" Grizz spat through gritted teeth as he placed a foot on Campbell's chest, holding him to the ground. The cafiteria was silent.

"Aww, what's wrong Grizzly bear? Upset people know about the real you now? That you're banging my retarded brother?"

Grizz stepped further into Campbell's chest, making sure he'd leave marks, "You had no right, Campbell, no right! You sick son of a bitch!" He spat, literally spitting in his face. His voice was wavering, but he stood his ground. He gave a rough kick to Campbell's stomach, "Pull something like this again, and youll get more than a few bruises, got it? Oh, and don't you dare call Sam that ever again, let alone touch him. I'll know. Fucking psychopath." He spat, before kicking him in the side and sauntering away.

His head was spinning, and his stomach felt queasy. He could feel his world tumbling down around him as he found himself near the back of the school, sitting in the courtyard, rolling a joint with shaky hands. He gave up rather quickly, tossing his supplies back in his Altoids container before settling down at a bench. He found himself crying, his fingers fisting through his hair, probably pulling out tufts of it in the process. But he was too upset to care. That was until, Grizz felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, making him jump slightly.

Turning, he saw Sam, glancing down at him with sad eyes.

He didn't need to speak, he simply sat next to him, wrapping his arms around the larger boy and letting him sob into his shoulder.

Some time passed, Sam holding Grizz, crying quietly to himself. Sam noticed the guard approaching, tapping Grizz's shoulder and pointing behind him.

Grizz suddenly went stiff. "Look, guys, not now." Grizz began, wiping his puffy eyes.

Luke spoke up, "We're here to see if you're okay? We uh.. we heard what happened in the cafeteria."

Grizz sighed, "I'm fine, just please, leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for your shit right now." He said, finally turning to them.

He was met with no harsh looks, only sympathetic glances.

"We're not here to give you shit man, we're cool with it." Luke stated.

"Yeah," Clark chimed in, "Just, don't hit on me and we're cool."

Grizz let out a laugh through his subdued sobs. "I wouldn't dream of it."

#sam eliot #sam x grizz #samgrizz #grizz the society #grizzam #fanfic #oneshot #au #the society #grizz

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