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Chapter Text

“Your school called me at work again,” Vince’s mum said as she walked through the door, greeting her son by scolding him. “You need to respect your teachers. If they tell you you’re breaking the dress code, you need to fix it. Whatever this… phase is that you’re going through…” She sighed as she abandoned her train of thought. “I just wish you could dress nice and behave like the rest of the boys your age, at least a little bit, Vincent…”

In the height of the glam era, Vince, alongside his fellow outcasts at the Catford Boys school, had grown his hair out and was wearing eyeliner to school nearly every day. His friends, brothers Dave and Steve alongside another classmate Antony, had all been separately ridiculed on multiple occasions for their mode of dress. Even though Vince was a well-behaved, quiet, and intelligent student, the administration of his school had notified his mum several times requesting that he fix his delinquent behaviour. “Those friends of yours are a terrible influence, Vincent,” his mum muttered after a while. “Sure, their parents might be okay with this musician thing that they want to do, but that’s not an option for you. I know you don’t want to go to college or university or anything like that, but you need to get your life together at some point. I can’t and won’t support you forever and I sure as hell am not going to if you get expelled from school.

“Change things around, be like other boys your age,” she continued. “Go out and meet people at those local teenage events. Join a club at your school. See a football game…”

“See a football game?” Vince sneered.

“Don’t give me that attitude,” Vince’s mum snapped. “You know what? I’m taking you to my stylist next weekend. We’re going to get your hair cut and you’re going to start acting like a proper gentleman.”

-

The next day at school during their lunch break, Vince had recalled the conversation to Dave, Antony, and Steve, the former of the two laughing along with him. “I could cut your hair for you, you know,” Dave said. “It’d look a lot better than whatever your mum’s stylist would do on her.”

“Yeah, and then we can attend a football game,” Antony jested.

“First home game of the year’s tonight, innit?” Dave replied, a slight smirk on his face. “Why don’t we go, just to dick around?”

“Ugh, really?” Antony grimaced.

“Yeah, you really want to watch those athlete bastards from our school run circles for hours?” Vince sighed, “If we were drinking age, maybe, but even then you can’t bring alcohol to a school game, can you?”

“It’ll give us something to do!” Dave exclaimed. “Plus, it’ll get your mum off of your back. If you do this one thing, I bet she’ll leave you alone for the rest of the year, Vince. Come on, it could be fun! If it isn’t, we can just go out on the town or something.”

Vince rolled his eyes and Antony shrugged. “I guess,” the latter of the two mumbled. “I would like to see Dave cut your hair at least.”

“Well, what do you think, Steve?” Vince spoke up, eyeing Dave’s little brother, who just shrugged.

“Eh, he’ll go wherever we go,” Dave said.

“Like a little pet,” Antony added.

“More like a little pest,” Dave teased, before ruffling Steve’s hair up. He looked less than happy. “Right, so come round my flat about an hour before the game starts. I’ll cut your hair and then we can go to this game. Sound good?” Antony agreed and Vince sighed, before reluctantly nodding, starting to feel like this was a terrible decision already.

Chapter Text

When Vince went to hug his mum and say “hello” after she got home from work, she stopped him, instead letting out a, “Why do you smell like cigarette smoke? You’re too young for smoking, Vincent.”

“It was from someone on the bus,” Vince murmured, knowing it was likely from Dave or Antony. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I’m going with Antony, Dave, and Steve to the school’s football game today. We decided it might be fun.”

“Really?” Vince sighed as he heard his mum’s voice, dripping with disbelief. He let out a sigh.

“Yes, I was thinking about it and you’re probably right,” Vince replied. “I should get more involved with school. My friends have their own thing with the band, so I should do something with my free time, too… This is a good start, I suppose.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re showing some school spirit, honey,” Vincent’s mum said. “Who knows, maybe you’ll make some new friends. You never know who you’d get along with. All you have to do is put yourself out there and try…”

Vince agreed, reluctantly, indulging in what his mum said before he took the bus to Dave’s house. He was greeted by Dave’s mum, who offered him a cup of tea and something to eat, before Dave pulled Vince away to his bedroom. Antony and Steve were already there, the faint sound of the debut Velvet Underground record playing as Antony smoked a cigarette.

“Sit,” Dave said, gesturing to a chair he propped up across from his mirror. Vince did as instructed and watched as Dave picked up a pair of kitchen scissors before standing behind him, snipping away at his hair to get it off of his neck.

Antony and Steve were talking about something music-related; Vince deciphered that it was related to the band they wanted to form together. He listened in but said nothing. Dave came around to stand in front of Vince, humming softly as he snipped away at his hair. After a while, Dave let out a “Do you like it?” Vince admired himself in the mirror. It was pretty well-done. He nodded, a soft smile on his face. “Good!”

“What do you guys think?” Dave said. Antony and Steve stopped talking and glanced over at Vince. Dave gestured for him to stand up, before he spun him around.

“That’s actually pretty good,” Antony said.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Um. What about the hair on the carpet?”

“I’ll clean up, Steve,” Dave huffed, before handing Vince a towel. “Here. So you can wash your hair.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back,” Vince replied.

After Vince cleaned himself up and the four boys drank tea together provided by Mrs. Batt, they took the bus to Catford Boys School. Dave paid for himself and Steve and Antony for himself and Vince. They got some snacks from the concession stand before sitting in the bleachers to talk.

“Nobody’s here but people’s parents,” Antony said, laughing.

“They’re going to look in the audience and see only us,” Dave sneered. The two of them laughed together, Vince smiling slightly as he sipped on his drink, while Steve ate his crisps in silence.

A few more people showed up, but it was mostly parents and not actually Catford Boys. Soon enough, the teams came out. Vince observed the members, seeing how many he knew. Most of them he recognised as total dickheads who openly picked on him and his mates for various reasons. But, no adults really care about that, especially when you’re considered a "delinquent".

When Vince spied the team captain, he let out a scoff. Of course it was Richard Barbieri, one of the “star athletes” of the school due to the fact that he was in three-different sports. There he was, running onto the field in his football uniform, looking pathetic as per usual as the light breeze blew his dark, wavy hair around. Richard himself had never picked on Vince or his friends, but anybody that popular was guilty by association. Plus, there was nothing actually special or notable about him, he was only popular because of his athleticism and Vince knew that after school he would likely become some nobody working a dead-end job…

Vince sipped on his drink, talking and laughing with Dave and Antony as the game went on. Dave and Antony jeered at the players, pointing out how ridiculous they looked in their football outfits. Vince smirked; his eyes had been on Richard the entire time and he had noticed just how unusually pale he was, with his stick thin arms yet strangely muscular thighs. He watched as he grew sweatier and sweatier, his thick black hair starting to stick to his forehead, that same sad puppy look on his face. Richard was so, so pathetic, so uninteresting...

“You seem strangely invested in this,” Antony teased. Vince snapped his eyes away, before looking at Antony.

“Huh?”

“You’ve gone silent on us! Football can’t seriously be that interesting to you,” Antony replied. “I thought you loathed sports, mate. You always talk about how much you hate your gym class…”

“Yeah, yeah, I do, but I don’t know, keeps me entertained,” Vince grumbled. “The game, I mean, not the class I have to take. I don’t know, I don’t have anything to say. I’m paying attention to what you say, though.” He turned his attention back to the game, seeing Richard was running with the ball, weaving in and out of the other players.

“Right, right, well, we’re trying to plan another outing,” Antony said. “One that’s actually fun. Dave and I were planning to see a film…”

“Yeah, sure, film sounds good,” Vince responded as he watched Richard running with far too much grace for a lousy football player. He watched as he approached the goal, before he set up the shot and kicked it in. “Huh, that was pretty cool.”

“What?” Dave said as the crowd cheered. Vince watched as Richard directed his attention to the bleachers, a strangely sweet smile spreading across his face. For a split second, Vince swore that Richard’s eyes met his and he felt like he was going to throw up.

“Nothing,” Vince uttered. “Okay, what film are we seeing again? And when exactly are we seeing it?”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a shock that Vince’s mum was exasperated when he came home with four inches of his hair cut off. The two argued for a bit before Vince’s mum started accusing him of not even attending the football game.

“I did! We won 3-0,” Vince yelled. “It was pretty entertaining, actually. Our star player is pretty good at football. He got two out of three of the goals in. One of the shots he did was actually pretty complicated, he had to keep manoeuvring between players for several metres and then get the ball past about four or five people to get it in. It was impressive.” Vince felt his cheeks heat up as he talked about Richard, that sick feeling forming in his stomach again.

“Oh,” Vince’s mum replied, surprised. “Huh. Well, that’s nice.” She paused, her gaze flicking Vince up and down. “Now that I think about it… your hair doesn’t look half-bad. Anyway, there are hotpot leftovers in the refrigerator if you want them. Afterwards, go take a bath. You still smell of cigarette smoke. Are you sunburnt? Your face is extremely red, darling.”

“Uh, no, just hot,” Vince muttered. “Thanks, mum. I’ll go take my bath now.”

-

Somehow, the taunts at school had shifted from people making snide remarks about Vince looking like a freak to him now trying to pretend he was normal. He wasn’t sure what was so interesting about his supposed attempt to blend in, but at least it was something new.

During gym class, Vince had felt more eyes on him than normal, but he ignored them as he listened to the teacher drone on about tennis and how to properly hold the racket. Despite listening to every single word, Vince processed none of it. He wished his mum would have let him take music classes instead, but supposedly it was “too expensive” for him to play an instrument, even though he knew the school could provide one for him. Deep down inside, he had a theory that it was because she loathed his musician friends and didn’t want her only son to attempt a career path as a rockstar.

Vince had spaced out at some point. He snapped out of it when his classmates began moving to get their rackets and balls. Vince was the last to get his and of course it was the most beat-up one, but he didn’t care. He knew he wasn’t going to get much out of this anyway. “Park, don’t hold the tennis racket in your left hand. Hold it in your right.” Vince switched hands and the coach let out a long sigh. “No. Hold it like how I showed you.” Vince just stood there and stared blankly. “Barbieri! Show Park how to hold a tennis racket.”

Vince turned around, nausea filling him as he was approached by no other than Richard. His gym class was big enough that the two never had to interact until now. Vince watched as Richard, towering over him, held out his tennis racket, that blank stare on his face. “Um. Like this.”

Vince attempted to copy Richard, who was still showing absolutely no emotion. Was this guy a robot or something programmed only so that someone on the football team didn’t suck? Okay, well, Vince wouldn’t know if anyone else was any good due to the fact that he had only been watching Richard yesterday, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he’d ever go to any other football games. “Uh… You almost got it. Just move your hand a little down.”

“Like this?” Vince asked, boredly.

“Hm. More like… Can I see?” Vince held his hand up. He watched as Richard gently set his own tennis racket down on the floor, before he took Vince’s hand in one of his own, and moved his tennis racket with his other hand. Richard’s soft, warm hand moved on top of Vince’s, adjusting his thumb slightly. Vince felt a grimace spread across his face, his heart beating so quickly that it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He wanted to yell at Richard for him to stop touching him, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Vince didn’t even know if he was able to talk: his body was completely still as he struggled to breathe, the air clawing its way in his throat.

“There,” Richard spoke, his gentle voice snapping Vince out of it. The corners of his mouth seemed to flick slightly downward more than usual as he muttered, “sorry.”

“No, this is fine, this is great,” Vince huffed. “Uh. Is it supposed to be so uncomfortable?”

“No, but… you’re left-handed,” Richard pointed out. “I guess you’ll maybe get used to it. Um. Oh, there’s some open space over by the wall. We can practice there.”

“We?”

“Yeah…” Richard leaned down, picking his racket back up. “There’s not a lot of space elsewhere. Besides, I can help you if you need it.”

“I don’t need your help,” Vince grumbled as he walked with Richard to the only available spot in the gym. He watched as Richard began throwing his ball against the wall, hitting it with his racket, not missing once. Vince copied, missing every single time. He ended up walking around the gym more than he did hitting anything.

“I think this is easier with a partner,” Richard let out as Vince came back. “Coach Willis said we’re welcome to do partner exercises once we get the hang of this. I think I can help you.”

“I-” Vince stopped himself. Clearly he needed Richard’s help if he wanted to be good at tennis, but who gave a fuck? “I don’t want your help.”

“Oh. Well,” Richard mumbled. “Um. Can you just do this with me so I have someone to practice with?”

“You can’t ask one of your fellow athletes or whatever?”

“They’re all busy,” Richard said, clearly lying because next to nobody was practicing with a partner. “Please, can you just…?”

“Fine, whatever,” Vince huffed. He could’ve sworn he saw a baby smile appear on Richard’s face before he stepped back a couple of metres away from him, leaving Vince by the wall. Vince watched, anxiously, as Richard precisely served the ball to him, a focused look on his face. He didn’t even process as the ball bounced on the floor near him, before it went off.

“Oh, I’ll go get it,” Richard said, even though it was much closer to Vince. Vince watched as Richard jogged off to grab it, laughing lightly to himself as the sight of the man in his gym shorts made him think of Antony and Dave’s banter yesterday. As Richard returned, he knitted his brows, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh. Okay,” Richard responded. “Let’s try again. If you hold your racket like this, you’ll be in a more ready position.” Richard showed Vince the way to hold his racket and Vince mimicked him, knowing damn well he wasn’t going to be able to hit anything. And, Vince was right.

After a few moments, Richard set down his racket again, putting his ball on top of it. Vince watched, confused, as he went over to him again. “I’m just going to help you,” Richard explained. “First, you need to know how to throw so that you can hit the ball when it’s ready. You’ll want to stand like this…” Vince glanced at their instructor during Richard’s lesson, but he noticed that he was watching everybody but them. He felt annoyed. Was the perfect little star player exempt from everything?!

“Hey, you alright, Vince?”

“Vincent,” Vince hissed. “Only my friends get to call me Vince.”

“Oh,” Richard murmured for what was probably the 1000th time. “Sorry… You know, I saw you at the game last night. I didn’t know you liked football.”

“I don’t.”

“Oh, well you seemed pretty into it.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Oh, well-”

“Can you just teach me how to hit the ball?” Despite Vince’s exasperated comment, he saw a smile spread on Richard’s face. It was that same childlike, innocent-looking grin that he wore at the football game last night. Vince felt his heart skip a beat and like he was about to throw up even more so than he had wanted to the entire time Richard had been around him.

“Yeah,” Richard replied, his voice soft. “Do you remember how to hold the racket?” Vince picked up his racket and held it. “Good job.” For some reason, Vince felt a tiny fuzzy feeling at the bit of praise. “Now, let’s learn to hit the ball…”

Out of the dozens of times that Vince failed, he managed to hit the ball two times in a row. “You did it!” Richard exclaimed, showing his teeth as he beamed. “Good job, Vince. Sorry, Vincent. But, um… good job! That’s something worth celebrating. And, you’ll get better the more you practice. Next time, we can try doing this together.”

“I don’t think that’ll benefit you,” Vince murmured. “You’re better sticking with anybody else.”

“Oh, well… but, you’re fun,” Richard replied.

“You barely know me.”

“Yeah, but…” Richard paused. “There’s no reason why. You know, the next football game we have is in on the 27th, it would be cool if you were there-”

“Thanks but no thanks,” Vince replied. “Richard, I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Oh.” Richard frowned, before nodding, lightly. “That’s okay. I understand why. Um… well, class is about over. I’ll see you around, Vincent.”

Vince sighed to himself as Richard walked off. Shortly after, the coach called for everyone to put their equipment away and go to the locker room to change. An uneasy feeling lingered as Vince did so, avoiding his male peers as he refused to look at them. Even as the day continued onward and Vince met up with Antony, Dave, and Steve, that emotion plagued him. Antony and Dave didn’t press on Vince about his silence, but they did remind him to ask his mum if he could go to the cinema with them.

That was the first thing that he did when he got home. “No,” she replied. “I have other plans for you.”

“You… you what?!” Vince grimaced, “What do you mean?!”

“Well, I planned to spend next Saturday with you already with us getting our hair cut together,” she sighed, “but, since you already got your hair cut, I’m dropping you off at the library while I get mine cut. There’s a social event for teenagers to get to know each other. You said you wanted to make new friends, right? This is your chance.”

“I didn’t say that, you said that,” Vince huffed.

“Oh, did I?” Vince’s mum sighed. “That’s interesting. Well, whatever, even if you don’t want to talk to anybody, you can read a book, right? Maybe it’ll finally put some decent thoughts in your brain…”

Chapter Text

The days passed by painfully slowly as per usual, but Vince didn’t mind. When it was finally Saturday, he felt deeply anxious as his mum dropped him off at the library. A clerk greeted him enthusiastically, asking him if he was here for the event, to which he mumbled a “yes”. The clerk gave him verbal instructions on how to get to the part of the library it was being hosted in.

Vince found the area alright, but didn’t join the small group of people already there. The teenagers looked to be on the younger side and around Steve’s age, if they were even as old as he was. Vince sighed to himself and turned, opting to go wander around the fiction area instead.

It was bad timing. Vince instead collided with someone much taller than him, he and the other person both letting out panicked “sorry”s as they stepped back from each other. Vince looked up, seeing that the person he ran into was no other than Richard Barbieri, who he had not interacted with since his personal tennis lesson in gym class. A tiny smile crept across his face for about half a second, “Hey, Vincent. Are you here for the social event, too?”

“Yeah, my mum dropped me off,” Vince replied, “but all the other kids are really young, so I’m going off to read. You have fun, though.”

“Oh, well, I mean-” Richard cut himself off, before nodding. “Yeah, okay, I’ll go check it out. Have fun reading.”

“Cheers,” Vince murmured, slipping past Richard and to the adult fiction section. He examined the selection before picking a book he had already read before, not wanting to get attached to something he’d have to put away after a few hours. Vince sat in a chair in a nearby corner, opening up the novel as he began to read.

Vince wasn’t sure how long he had been by himself, but it wasn’t long enough. “Can I sit with you?” Vince looked up, seeing it was no other Richard, holding his own book in his hand. He let out a sigh, but nodded. Again, a smile cracked a bit on Richard’s face for a small period of time, before he sat in the chair opposite of him. “What are you reading?”

“‘Flowers for Algernon’,” Vince muttered. “I’ve already read it. What do you have?”

“‘Lilith’ by George MacDonald,” Richard said. “It’s my favourite book. It’s quite good.” Richard paused. “I’m assuming your book is good, too?”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“Oh, that’s good…” Richard paused, “Well, since we’ve already read our respective books, maybe we can swap? Unless you’re very into that; I see you’ve made a bit of a dent already.”

“No, it’s… fine. This is a library book, though.”

“Oh, you’ve checked it out?”

“No.”

“Then I think we’ll be okay.”

Vince let out a soft sigh. He didn’t know why, but he decided to take a chance on whatever it was Richard liked to read and offered the library copy of ‘Flowers for Algernon’ out to him. Richard grinned for just a tad longer than the previous few times before he handed ‘Lilith’ to him. Vince opened up the book and began reading.

The book was incredibly bizarre, but strangely captivating, and not at all what Vince would have expected Richard to like reading. He glanced over at the other man as he read, seeing he seemed to be quite invested in his book, too. Vince watched the way that Richard’s brown eyes softly crawled from one side of the page to another, down line after line, the novel held up so it was covering the lower half of his face. Vince’s eyes shifted to Richard’s hands, with long slender fingers, and he thought about how they felt on his. A small blush tinged his cheeks as he felt another pit grow in his stomach.

For some reason, Vince couldn’t stop looking. Next, his eyes travelled to Richard’s mode of dress, inspecting what he was wearing now that he wasn’t in the Catford Boys uniform. He dressed rather similarly to Vince: a bit on the formal side, but rather stylish. It was weird, like looking in a mirror. Maybe the two weren’t so different after all.

Vince’s eyes darted back up to Richard’s, seeing he was no longer focused on the book, but now Vince. Vince watched as Richard seemed to do the same thing, taking in Vince’s whole appearance, before they made eye contact again. As much as Vince wanted to, he was unable to peel his eyes from Richard’s, and the two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

“What do you think?” Richard asked.

“Hm?”

“Of ‘Lilith’.”

“It’s weird, but I like it. Not what I would expect you to read, honestly.”

Richard smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Meanwhile, this is exactly what I’d expect you to like. But, I like this, too. I think I’m going to check this out.”

“Really?” Vince couldn’t fight the smile that crept onto his face. “Well… I’m glad you like it. Although, I should probably give you your book back.”

“No, no, it’s okay, you can borrow it,” Richard replied. “I trust you to return it when you’re done.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Vince watched as Richard’s eyes drifted away, looking at the clock behind them. Vince’s gaze followed. “I guess the event’s about over.”

“I guess so.” Vince and Richard stood up, the two of them walking to the entrance of the library together. Vince waited for Richard to check out his book, although he wasn’t sure why. Richard met up with Vince and the two left the library together, waiting while they chatted.

Richard’s mum showed up first. She greeted Vince and Richard excitedly, asking Vince who he was and everything about him. Vince watched as she enthusiastically nodded along in response to mundane answers, before she began her own tangent, saying that she was so excited that Vince was friends with Richard. “He’s very, very shy, so I’m glad he’s finally made a friend,” Mrs. Barbieri told him. “You seem like such a nice boy, Vincent. You should come around and have dinner with us sometime. Maybe after Richard’s next football game if you’re available?”

“Ah…” Vince paused. He saw the hopeful look in both Barbieris’ eyes and felt guilt claw at him. “Sure.”

“Oh, great!” Mrs. Barbieri smiled. “Alright, well I’ll see you in a week, Vincent. You have a good day, okay?”

“You too, Mrs. Barbieri,” Vince murmured.

“Um, see you at school, Vincent,” Richard replied.

“You, too…” Vince said. He watched as Richard walked off, following his mum to her car. He felt himself cringe as that sick feeling formed in his stomach again, before calling out, “Hey, wait, Richard?”

“Yeah?” Richard paused, turning around. “What is it?”

“Uh, you can just call me Vince.”

There was a bit of silence before a grin spread across Richard’s face, some of his teeth showing. He laughed, lightly, “Okay, Vince. If you want, you can call me Rich.”

“Okay, Rich. See you at school.”

“Bye, Vince.”

“Bye.” A moment later, Richard vanished into the car with his mum. Vince watched as they drove off, a strange mix of feelings swirling around in his body. Were he and Richard friends now? Vince wanted to hate that they were, but instead, he felt strangely excited and was looking forward to the next home football game at the Catford Boys School.

Chapter Text

The excitement didn’t cease when Vince got home. His mum had asked him about the copy of “Lilith”, to which he replied, “My friend Richard is letting me borrow it.”

“Richard?” Her eyebrows raised, “Who is Richard?”

“He’s on the school football team. He’s the star captain, actually,” Vince began. “The one I told you about who made that play where…” He trailed off, going on a bit of a tangent as he recalled the last football game. Vince talked about him for a bit and how they gave each other book recommendations, as well as how Richard’s mum invited him over for dinner following the next football game.

“Well, okay, that’s… that’s lovely, honey,” Vince’s mum responded, seeming rather content. “Alright. Go ahead. Are David and Antony and David’s brother going to be there?”

“No, just us two.”

“Just you two.” Vince watched as a look crossed his mum’s face, perhaps one of… relief? “Okay. Well, I’m glad you’ve made a new friend. Go ahead. Have fun, Vincent.”

“Thanks, mum. You’re the best,” Vince told her, although he wasn’t sure why. He went off to his room to do homework, before he ended up reaching for the copy of “Lilith” instead. Vince finished reading it and then started reading it a second time, thinking of questions about the book to ask Richard.

School on Monday was the same as usual, minus the fact that Vince had approached Richard in the locker rooms during gym class, eager to talk to him. He had told Richard that his mum said it was okay for him to go over to his home on the 27th, before Vince started asking him questions about “Lilith”. The two talked about it while they changed before continuing their conversation in gym class as they played tennis together… or, as Richard hit the ball to Vince and he missed every single time.

The days seemed to pass more quickly and soon it was finally the day of the next football game. Richard and Vince had gotten closer to one another relatively fast without Dave, Antony, or Steve being aware of it. They didn’t even know that Vince had attended Richard’s football game or went over to his house for dinner afterwards. It soon became one of many games, and as the weeks passed, Vince began staying overnight with Richard, something that he had never done with Dave or Antony.

The Catford Boys School’s last home football game was on a cold, wet day nearing the end of autumn. Vince was going to celebrate with Richard and his family by having a fancy dinner, (although he wasn’t told what that was as it was also going to be a surprise to Richard) plus Richard had told Vince that he wanted to watch a film at home with him before they went to bed.

Vince sat by himself for a while on the cold metal bleachers, waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri to show up. He shivered as he clung onto his coat, immersing himself with his own thoughts before the sound of footsteps sounded. Vince looked up and nearly flinched at the man smirking down at him, “What’re you doing here, Vince? I thought you said you were going to be busy today.”

“Oh,” Vince replied. “I, uh… just wanted to see the last home game of the season. Didn’t think you guys would be interested.”

“We’re not,” Dave huffed, before laughing. “But, there’s not a whole lot else to do, is there?” Dave sat to the right of Vince, with Antony and Steve sitting behind them. “Why not watch some dickheads make fools of themselves in this shitty weather, yeah…?”

Vince thought of how to reply, before more footsteps sounded. He glanced over to see Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri, who greeted Vince and asked about the other three boys. “Oh, they’re friends of mine,” Vince mumbled. Steve, Antony, and Dave all said ‘hello’ to Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri, seemingly confused.

“Are you all friends of Richard’s, too?” Mrs. Barbieri asked.

“Richard?” Dave questioned, before snapping his gaze to Vince, utterly perplexed as one of his eyebrows shot up. “Richard Barbieri?”

“Yes, he’s our son,” Mrs. Barbieri continued. “He and Vince are excellent friends. You can join us and Vince for dinner if you’d like.”

“Oh, thank you, but I’m afraid we can’t stay long after the game,” Dave replied. “Our parents want us to get early nights in…”

“Alright, but if you boys ever change your mind, you’re always welcome,” Mrs. Barbieri said. “It’s great to know Richard has friends…” She trailed off, before going to talk to Mr. Barbieri about something. Antony, Steve, and Dave stayed silent, but Vince could tell by the vicious gaze that Dave was giving him that he was unhappy about his new athlete friend.

Right as the game ended, Antony, Dave, and Steve got up to leave. The Catford Boys won again, 2-1. Vince’s three friends bid Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri a farewell, while only Antony and Steve said goodbye to Vince. Vince sighed, internally, hoping Dave wasn’t mad at him, but he didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on it before Richard came over to them. A wave of comfort washed over Vince as he exchanged grins with his friends, before hugging him tightly. “Great game, mate,” Vince said. “The team was undefeated this year, all thanks to you!”

“Well, it wasn’t just me,” Richard replied, sheepishly. “But thanks, Vince. I don’t think I could’ve done it without your support. Or yours, mum and dad.”

The four of them went to Richard’s home. As Richard showered, Vince talked with Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri in the kitchen about school and Richard and the like. By the time Richard was done with his shower, dinner was served, and the household ate together.

“Okay, let’s go watch the film I got, Vince,” Richard said, excitedly pulling Vince away from his parents and to the living room.

“Are you going to tell me what it is?” Vince asked.

“No, you’ll see,” Richard murmured. Vince saw the kitchen light flicker off as Mr. and Mrs. Barbieri went upstairs, leaving Vince and Richard alone together. Vince watched from the sofa as Richard put the tape in the player. A moment later, Richard went and sat by Vince, before the film flickered on.

Vince’s eyes lit up as he read the film, “No way, is this the film that was based on ‘Flowers for Algernon’?”

“Yeah, you said you’ve never seen it, so…” Vince turned to smile at Richard, who beamed at him, that same cute smile on his face.

“I love you so much,” Vince said, letting out a sigh. He felt Richard hug him.

“I love you, too, mate. Now, let’s watch the film.”

It was an enjoyable film. Afterwards, they went upstairs to Richard’s room to quietly listen to records as they talked on Richard’s bed. Richard fell asleep long before Vince did, leaving him to listen to the end of Tangerine Dream’s “Atem” album by himself. As the unconscious Richard wrapped his arms around Vince and pulled him close to him, Vince felt that nauseous feeling that he had time and time again around Richard bubble up. At the same time, however, Richard’s soft breath against his neck and gentle arms around his waist brought him a sense of peace that nothing in the world ever had.

A horrible thought crossed Vince’s mind about Richard, but he pushed it away, knowing that something couldn’t be possible between two boys. Well, of course it could, but Vince knew that it could never happen between himself and Richard. But, as the seconds passed with Richard spooning Vince, the thought grew stronger and louder. Vince wasn’t sure when he ended up finally falling asleep, but it didn’t come soon enough.

Chapter Text

“Oh, there he is,” Dave spoke, dryly, as Vince went to join him, Antony, and Steve for lunch. “How was your sleepover with Richard Barbieri? I can’t believe you had been going to every single one of his football games and staying at his flat and hadn’t told us anything, Vince.”

Vince watched as Dave smirked and Antony and Steve smiled at him. “Well, I know you’re not really into sports,” Vince muttered.

“Yeah, and neither are you,” Antony pointed out. “What’s with the sudden interest?”

“I’m not interested in them. I hate them,” Vince mumbled. “Wait. How do you know I’ve been staying at Richie’s house?”

“Richie?” Antony and Dave said in near-perfect unison, laughing together. Even Steve joined in.

“Word travels quickly, you know. Although, we would’ve rather heard it from you, first,” Antony replied.

“Yeah,” Dave agreed. “Even if your crushes aren’t on girls, we still want to hear about them.”

“Wh-what?” Vince squeaked out, “I- I don’t have a-”

“Shhh, you don’t want people to hear, do you?” Dave said, before exchanging a look with Steve and Antony, all three of them still grinning from ear to ear. “It’s okay, Vince, we’re not going to tell anybody. In fact, it’s kind of cute.” There was a brief pause before he continued, “Don’t look so shocked. It’s always been extremely obvious you’re gay, Vince. But, again; there’s nothing wrong with that. We’re your friends and nothing’s going to change that. Not even your love for Richard Barbieri.”

Dave snickered and Antony chuckled again. Steve gave Vince a kind smile. “What…” Vince grumbled. He thought for a moment. Was he gay? He supposed that would explain a lot. “Okay, well, how did you know I was… you know?”

“It’s not a bad word,” Antony responded.

“Yeah,” Dave agreed. “And, anyone who knows you knows it’s obvious. Richard probably knows, too.” Vince felt himself turn crimson and his friends laughing once again didn’t help. “Aww, Vince… look at you!”

“How’s it obvious?” Vince hissed. “You can’t just… say that!”

“Well, for starters, nobody looks at Bowie the way you do,” Antony said.

“Or talks about him the way that you do,” Steve joined in. Vince gaped at the three of them. He clenched his jaw at the sound of his friends chuckling around him.

“I always knew you’d be the first of us to fall in love with someone, you’re a real romantic, you know that?” Antony teased.

“Mhm,” Dave agreed. “Now, Vince… tell us more about Richie!”

“You’re not allowed to call him that! Only I am,” Vince spluttered, instantly feeling regret as he did. Once more, laughter filled the air, “Shut up! Fine, fine, I’ll tell you, but stop laughing, okay?”

His friends agreed. The rest of their break was instead filled with “awwing” at Vince and his musings about Richard and the time they spent together. Talking about it definitely helped Vince come to terms with things, but at the same time, he knew he could never tell Richard himself. This was a secret he was going to take to the grave.

Or so he thought. Dave was right: word did get around quickly. Unfortunately, it only took a week or so before the rumour spread. Before Vince had even heard of it, he was being surrounded by some other Catford Boys on the way to the bus stop. Within a matter of minutes, his vision was blurred and his nose was bleeding as he laid on the pavement as slurs, threats, and promises to do worse next time were yelled at him if he didn’t leave Richard alone.

Over the course of the month, Vince was nearly completely silent and stayed as far away as Richard as possible. He ignored all of his phone calls and refused to talk with his friends or his mum about him, always changing the subject if he came up. It was overwhelmingly painful, but it was for Vince’s safety, hell, it was for Richard’s, too. Everybody was guilty by association and he didn’t want to see Richard suffer because of something Vince couldn’t control as much as he wished he was able to.

Chapter Text

Autumn was dwindling away and it was only a few weeks until winter. Things had gone back to the way they were at the start of the year. Vince was once more only friends with Dave, Antony, and Steve, his fellow outcasts, the way it was supposed to be and would always be.

It was a cold and rainy Friday evening. Vince was sitting on the sofa in the living room, his maths homework that he was half-paying attention to in his lap as he watched rain drizzling from the deep, grey sky. The sound of the door opening broke the silence, signaling Vince’s mum was home. Her heels clicked through the house before she appeared in the living room. Vince shifted his attention to her, seeing her staring at him with no emotion, her hands on her hips. Before Vince could greet her, she said, “Let’s go do something fun.”

“I guess it depends on what,” Vince murmured. He set his homework aside.

“No, we’re going. Well, first we need to deliver something. I got a gift for an acquaintance’s birthday, so we have to drop that off,” she mumbled. “Then, we’re going to have a lot of fun. Come on.”

“Okay…” Vince got up and went to put his shoes on, before following his mum out of the door. He got in the car with her, seeing the wrapped gift in a bag with a car on her floorboard, next to another bag filled with clothes. It was around the time of the year that Vince’s mum went through her closet, so he assumed they were things she needed to donate.

Vince zoned out the entire drive, not paying attention to wherever his mum was taking him. Before he knew it, the car slowed, stopping in front of… Vince’s jaw dropped. “You were invited to Richard’s for his birthday, you’re going,” Vince’s mum said. “I got you the gift to give to him. Don’t forget your clothes, either. I talked to his parents already, they know you’re staying over. Now, go on, and have a good time.”

“Mum, I-”

“Nope. Take it and get out of my car,” Vince’s mum replied. “I know you think you’re good at hiding whatever the hell’s going on, but he keeps ringing our home and I’ve talked to his mum on numerous occasions. I don’t care what happened between you that’s made you so miserable; his parents say that he misses you to death.”

“But you don’t-”

“Darling, nothing that happens during your teenage years is as dramatic as you think it is, I promise,” Vince’s mum insisted. “Now, are you going to walk up there like a big boy or am I going to have to drag you up the pavement and embarrass you?”

Vince winced. “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll go.” He picked up the gift bag and the clothes, right before his mum leaned forward, kissing his forehead.

“Great. Have a good night, honey,” Vince’s mum said, right as he got out of the car. He sighed, walking up the drive, his mum still there as if she was watching to make sure he didn’t run off. Vince made his way up to the Barbieris’ front door and rung the bell. A second later, the door whipped open, and there stood Richard.

“Vince!” He exclaimed, tightly hugging Vince. That familiar queasy feeling that Vince now knew was the feeling of love rose up in his stomach as his beaming friend held him for what seemed like an eternity, but not long enough. Richard pulled away, still smiling. “I’m so glad you could make it. Come on in.”

Vince walked in, setting down his bags before he took off his shoes. “What, Vince, did you get me something? You didn’t need to do that!”

“Well, my mum got it,” Vince muttered. “So, I don’t know how good it is.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I bet it’s wonderful,” Richard said. “Come on, dinner’s ready. Let’s go eat.”

Vince braced himself as Richard led him to the dining table, before he saw it was solely Richard’s parents there with two other spots made: one for himself and one for Richard. Vince’s facial expression softened as he blankly stared, before going over to where Richard didn’t sit. The Barbieris began talking to Vince as if everything was normal, making him feel both relaxed and ashamed.

Afterwards, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Richard before tiramisu was served. As Vince indulged in the sweet treat, Richard opened gifts. What he had gotten from “Vince” was a copy of Roxy Music’s “For Your Pleasure”, something that would had been more appropriate for Dave or Antony rather than Richard, but he couldn’t complain about his mum trying to repair his friendship with the only friend of his that she had ever liked.

Richard and Vince went up to Richard’s room immediately to listen to the record. Vince sat there, awkwardly, as Richard locked the door. “I’m happy you’re here,” Richard said. “Really, really happy, Vince. Thank you so much for coming.”

“Well… my mum made me,” Vince mumbled. “Where are your team mates?”

“Oh, we did something at school for me,” Richard replied. “I wanted my party to be close friends only.”

Vince frowned. “I haven’t talked to you in nearly a month, Richard.”

“I know.”

“Why would you invite me here?”

“You’re my best friend,” Richard replied, “and, even though I may not be yours, I want to let you know that nothing will ever change that. And…” He let out a deep sigh as he flicked his gaze to the ceiling, in thought. Vince admired his friend, that same rush of having a crush coursing through him. Richard looked back at him, before giving him a sweet smile. It faded as quickly as it formed, however, as Richard crawled to sit much closer to Vince.

“Vince… I know you’re only avoiding me because of what people say,” Richard mumbled. “And, I know you’re trying to keep me safe, keep us safe, but… you have to be who you are, even if you get hurt for it. Please? For me?”

“Richard, you don’t understand,” Vince huffed, scooting away from him. Richard frowned, deeply. “They’ve hurt me really badly. They’ve… threatened to kill me, Richard.”

“They won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” Richard retorted, a slight sharpness to his voice. He quickly softened, “Sorry. But, I won’t let them. Not as long as you’re with me, okay?”

Vince didn’t reply. He gazed downward. Richard moved to go sit beside him. Vince watched as he rolled his sleeve up, showing off a few bluish-purple marks, “They hurt me, too, Vince. Before you and I even became friends.” Vince looked up, meeting Richard’s gaze as he continued, “You’re not the only one who is the way that you are. You won’t be the last. But, as long as we’re together, we can stick it out, okay?”

“Are you saying you’re…?”

“Yeah, I am,” Richard said. “And… I really like you. More than a friend. I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but even if not, I want to be friends forever.”

“Do you… are you sure?” Vince let out a scoff, blushing as he moved some of his hair out of his face. “You… Richie, you could do a lot better than me, you know that?”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that, Vince,” Richard muttered. “I know you like to pretend to be all standoffish, but you’re one of the kindest, most thoughtful, intelligent, and interesting people I know. And, well… I’ve had my eye on you for a while, if I’m being honest. I’ve always had a really good feeling about you and I was right. You mean the world to me.”

“Sod off, you suck up,” Vince murmured, looking away.

“I see you blushing and smiling,” Richard exclaimed, giggling. Vince felt him take his chin and force him to look at him. “Yeah. There you are. There’s the Vince I know.”

“Richie...” Vince whined.

“What?” Vince sighed, softly, as Richard continued to gaze at him, his eyes full of endearment. “What is it, Vince?”

“I like you, too,” Vince mumbled. “And, I want you to kiss me.” Richard beamed again, before closing the gap between them.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long before Richard and Vince were an official couple. The two of them didn’t care anymore. As long as they were together, they would be fine. A lot of the Catford bullies were all talk and no action; it turned out nobody was going to do anything because if so, it meant the only good player on any of the sports teams would be in danger.

Richard had been adopted into the friend group with Antony, Dave, and Steve. They quickly grew to love Vince’s jock boyfriend, especially Steve, especially now that Antony and Dave had revealed that they, too, were dating.

Richard came out to his parents and it went well and Vince did the same with his mum, who just sighed and said, “I know. Nobody talks about Bowie the same way you do.”

Vince and Richard enjoyed being an item, experiencing their pure romance to the purest and fullest as they fell more and more in love with each other each and every day. Nothing in the world meant as much to either of them as they did to each other.