brooks & hale - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

"OKAY, WHAT'S THE SHAPE of this molecule?"
Brooks pushed the textbook closer to Hale and tapped the question he was talking about. Hale stared at the diagram as if it would suddenly strike up some kind of familiarity, and he'd manage to see more than a bunch of lines and circles. Nope, he wasn't getting anything from this. Brooks was still looking at him expectantly so he pretended to inspect it a little longer.
"It looks like a cult symbol," Hale said finally.
Brooks sighed. "Funnily enough, that's not what the mark scheme says."
"Really?" Hale drummed his pencil against the coffee table with a thoughtful hum. "Well, they should consider changing it."
"Let's try another question," Brooks suggested, undeterred by Hale's absolute lack of understanding about what was going on. His optimistic hopefulness that he could get something into Hale's head hadn't wavered since the start of the tutoring, which was no mean feat.
Hale groaned and sprawled onto his back. "Let's not."
It was Wednesday, meaning Hale had already been tired from lacrosse practise before Brooks had begun scrambling his brain over chemistry. They were camped out in Hale's living room, seeing as his mum was cooking in the kitchen, and the twins were playing MarioKart loudly in the dining room. Every so often, Hale caught snippets of their conversation when they got particularly excited, along with accusations of "buttface" and "poophead" thrown in.
Ah, the days of PG-rated insults.
"Hale," Brooks said insistently, as if he'd been trying to get his attention a couple of times now. He waved a sheet of paper in his face as if that would revive him. "Focus. We have to - "
Hale turned his head to look up at Brooks when he abruptly broke off, and recognised that stricken expression on his face. Sure enough, Maxy had just padded into the living room, his tail wagging curiously as he regarded the two of them. He sniffed Hale's hand and gave it a couple of enthusiastic licks, an urge for more petting. Brooks was still watching Maxy with wide eyes as if waiting for him to pounce on him.
"You have a problem," Hale informed Brooks, rubbing Maxy's ears affectionately. He tried to lick Hale's face and settled for his arm when Hale pushed him back, not a fan of dog slobber on his face. "Scared of this ball of fluff?"
"A huge ball of fluff with huge teeth," Brooks said defensively.
"You know what? If you're going to be round at my place, we need to fix this irrational fear." Hale pushed himself up into a sitting position and raised an eyebrow at Brooks' wary expression. "I promise this won't involve any loss of limbs. Probably. Kidding," he grinned, when Brooks less than subtly scooted back towards the sofa.
Hale tugged Maxy closer by the collar and had him sit at his feet, knowing if he tried to get him any closer to Brooks he'd end up jumping out of the window. Brooks, that is, not Maxy. "You know," Brooks said nervously, "I don't think we need to do this. I don't think there's anything irrational about this. Maybe he looks innocent, but you have no idea what he's thinking. What if he's just imagining how great my arm would be as a chew toy?"
Hale snorted a laugh. "You're ridiculous."
"I'm realistic."
Hale grabbed his hand before he could protest any further, trying to ignore the warm tingles that shot down his fingers. Brooks hands were soft and smooth in comparison to Hale's, which were calloused from years of gripping a lacrosse stick. Brooks cheeks had gone pink, and Hale realised in his distraction he'd forgotten to actually do anything beyond hold his hand.
"Alright," Hale said, pulling Brooks' hand towards Maxy. He'd only covered half the distance before Brooks snapped out of his daze, and tried to yank his hand back. "Brooks, that's not how it works. You move your hand in the opposite direction."
"Nu-uh," Brooks muttered, shaking his head frantically. "What if he tries to eat me?"
It sounded crazy to Hale, but he could see from the panic in his eyes that he genuinely believed it was a possibility. "Jeez, you really need therapy," Hale sighed, and tightened his grip on his hand before he could pull away. "Do you trust me?"
Brooks looked caught off-guard. "I do, but - "
"Then you believe me when I say I won't let Maxy eat you, right?" Hale gave his hand a small squeeze. "I won't let that happen. And if I do, I promise to make it up to you by walking through school dressed like any animal of your choice."
Brooks laughed. "You'd probably do that anyway, Hale. Just for fun."
"Fair point," Hale shrugged. "Okay, let's start simple. It's all about baby steps."
Hale slowly tugged his hand back towards Maxy and Brooks didn't resist this time, instead watching the progress of his own hand with wide eyes. He tensed up as his fingers brushed the golden fur, and then he was stroking Maxy, albeit with Hale's hand acting as the guide. Maxy didn't even bat an eyelid, his tongue lolling happily as he curled up at Hale's feet.
"This isn't so bad," Brooks admitted, still tentatively patting Maxy. A small smile tugged at his mouth as he tipped his head at Maxy, a thoughtfully warm smile Hale didn't think he even realised he was making.
"Didn't I tell you?" Hale was pleased that his plan had worked so well. Screw therapy, he could be a therapist himself. "Maxy wouldn't hurt a fly."
"I guess," Brooks said grudgingly.
There was a knock at the door, and Hale quickly retracted his hand just as his mum appeared in the doorway with Izzy in her arms. "How's the studying going?" she said. "Managed to make a miracle happen by getting him to concentrate, Brooks?"
Sure, Hale thought, concentrating on all the wrong things.
Brooks shot Hale an amused look. "We're getting there. It's all about baby steps."
Hale shook his head, his own words thrown back at him managing to surprise a laugh out of him. Just when he'd thought he'd managed to figure him out, he surprised him in an entirely new way.
"That's great," Hale's mum said, oblivious to the underlying joke. "I'm sorry to interrupt when things are going so well, but Izzy's getting restless. She didn't go outside during playgroup today because it was raining, and she keeps asking to go to the park."
"Park," Izzy chirped. "Play on roundabout!"
"I'd take her myself, but I have to keep an eye on dinner and the twins," she continued, with a hopeful look. "How does a break at the park sound?"
"Sure," Hale agreed, gladly seizing the opportunity to avoid doing any more chemistry. Brooks seemed to realise Hale's easy acquiescence was more to do with his phobia of doing work than a sudden desire to visit the park, judging from the slow disapproving shake of his head. "Ready to spend quality time with your favourite brother, Iz?"
Izzy gurgled his name and reached her arms out imploringly in Hale's direction. He scooped her up into his arms and winced a little when she tugged on his hair, peering over his shoulder at Brooks. He smiled at her and gave a small wave, looking surprised when she reached out to clutch his fingers. "Oh," Brooks said, startled. "Hello."
Izzy beamed at him. "Hola."
Hale's mother chuckled. "I think that means she likes you."
Convincing Brooks to let Maxy come along wasn't as hard as it might have been before the no-touch barrier had been broken. Okay, maybe Brooks would never love Hale's dog as much as Hale did, but as least he'd lost the ridiculous mindset that Maxy was going to suddenly bite his head off. Brooks even held the lead for a while Hale helped Izzy into her tiny little boots, although he looked ready to bolt the entire time.
Ashfield Park was just down the road and easily within walking distance. Hale realised they must have made a strange sight, two teenage guys with a toddler waddling between them and a hyper dog yanking on his lead as he padded ahead of them. Hale held Izzy's hand as they walked, partly so she didn't stumble over her own feet, and partly so he didn't give in to the temptation to take Brooks' hand. There were far too many people around for that to be a good idea.
They weren't the only ones at the park. Seeing as the weather had warmed up slightly with March just around the corner, joggers and dog walkers were willing to take a more scenic route through the park. The play area was filled with other kids chasing each other around the obstacle course and challenging one another to who could swing upside from the monkeys bars, and who could do it without using their hands.
Hale knew from experience that was a bad idea; it was exactly how Will had broken his arm. Three times. Yes, he'd made the same mistake on the monkey bars three times, because he'd been dared three times. He'd ended up in the hospital for so many reckless stunts that all the doctors knew him by name.
"She sure likes the roundabout," Brooks chuckled, watching as Izzy spun on the metal contraption. "She's been on it at least five times. Doesn't she want to go on something else?"
"It's literally the only thing she'll go on." Hale grinned when Izzy dropped down on the middle of the roundabout and motioned for a blonde boy who looked about three or four to spin her. Maybe he shouldn't have been proud that she got others to do her dirty work for her, but hey, she was thinking ahead even at two. "She hates heights so the swings, slide and monkey bars are off-limits."
"She's the opposite of me," Brooks said, leaning back against the fence. They'd been relegated to the sidelines of the play area along with all the other parents watching over their kids, but Hale didn't really mind. None of the adults here would care or wonder why they were here together. Maxie was curled up at their feet and happily chewing a stick he found on the side of the road. "I only ever played on the swings as a kid."
"How come?"
"Er, well..." Brooks smiled sheepishly. "The roundabout always went too fast for me. I got motion sickness on it once."
Hale laughed. "That is so lame."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Brooks grumbled, shoving Hale lightly when he continued to snigger under his breath at the thought of a smaller Brooks unable to handle the intensity of a children's roundabout. "What about you, smartass? Cool enough to handle all the playground equipment?"
"Naturally," Hale smirked. "You're looking at the first kid in reception to master the monkey bars."
"Wow, the achievements of all achievements. Can I have your autograph?"
Hale pretended to consider it. "Hmm, I don't know about that. I have so many fans, you'll have to prove yourself."
"Yeah?" Brooks raised an eyebrow, but he was smiling when he turned his head to look at Hale. "And how would you propose I do that?"
"I'd show you right now, but things have to stay PG," Hale said in a low voice, leaning towards him with a roguish smile. "There are children around."
Brooks' breath caught in his throat and his gaze flicked down to Hale's lips. Brooks couldn't hide what he was feeling for the life of him, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright with desire, and Hale loved that he could get Brooks so flustered. Hale wanted to kiss him so badly he felt it down to his toes, but he knew the moment their lips met, there would be no turning back until it was too late.
Hale wished it was as simple as that. He may have come to terms with being gay, but that didn't mean he was ready for anyone else to know, not even random strangers at the park who probably didn't care. Even something as small as holding Brooks' hand would be too obvious for Hale.
Brooks must have seen something in his expression to give an indication of his thoughts. He pulled back and averted his gaze, but not before Hale saw the flash of hurt in his eyes. Hale's chest tightened at the sight of it. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Brooks, but he didn't know how to he could change that. Hale sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching two girls arguing over who got to have a turn on the slide next.
If only he could go back to those simple days when his biggest problem was not being pushed high enough on the swings. Hale could conclude that being a teenager sucked, and wished Izzy never had to grow up.
"Brooks," Hale said, and paused, unsure how to phrase the questions in his head. "What's the deal with us?"
Brooks glanced at him. "Us?"
"Are we dating or what?"
"I, um...I don't know," he admitted, looking a little bewildered by the blunt question. "Unsurprisingly, I don't know much about dating, so I don't know how it's supposed to work."
Hale didn't know how it was supposed to work either. He'd never bothered with the whole dating thing before, but it seemed like they'd done everything in a muddled order. Usually, the relationship started with a date, maybe a few, followed by the first kiss and then a meeting with the parents. Brooks and Hale hadn't even been on a date. Brooks had met his parents, sure, but his mother thought he was Hale's chemistry tutor and his dad thought he was Bellamy's boyfriend.
Then there was the fact that Hale hadn't even met Brooks' parents, or ever been to his house, which didn't bode well for the sanctity of their future together.
"Say we're not dating," Hale said. "Then what does that make us?"
"Very friendly with each other?" Brooks suggested.
Hale snorted. "Friends don't make out with each other on a daily basis."
"Right." Brooks tugged his sleeves over his hands as he considered it. "Friends with benefits, then."
"Shouldn't we have slept together for that to be applicable?"
"Jeez, Hale, I don't know," Brooks muttered, his cheeks turning pink again. "What do you want us to be?"
Hale blinked at the unexpected question. What did he want them to be? It was undeniable that he had feelings for Brooks, strong feelings that left him jittery and warm like he'd had a double shot of espresso, but the thought of the word boyfriend made him restless. Dating would mean they were official, that they'd do more than secretly snog in locked rooms, and that they'd have to do all those things couples did.
In public.
No, he wasn't ready for that. But he also didn't want to hide what he felt as if it didn't matter. A secret relationship meant they'd have to hide everything and anything they felt, and Hale would have to pretend he didn't want to kiss Brooks whenever they were together.
"Hale?" Brooks looked anxious at his long stretch of silence. "You don't have to answer that. Forget it. We don't have to be anything."
"It's not like that," Hale protested, before Brooks could get the wrong idea and think it had anything to do with him. This one was all on Hale, and that tiny part of himself unwilling for anyone to know the truth. "I just don't know if I'm ready to - "
"Hale!"
Izzy was running towards him as fast as her little legs could carry her, and he barely had time to be surprised before she barrelled into him. "Izzy?" he frowned, as she wrapped her arms around his legs. "What's wrong, chiquita?"
"He pushed me off," she sniffled, and seemed to unconsciously shift to Spanish in her distraught state. "I want a go!"
"He pushed you off?" Hale narrowed his eyes as he scanned the roundabout area, but there were too many kids swarming around for him to pick out any particular offender. "Which one?"
Izzy pointed at the blonde boy who had been pushing the roundabout for her earlier. Hale wiped her tears away and took her hand, prepared to give this kid a piece of his mind. Hale didn't care if he was only three; nobody was going to push his sister around and get away with it.
"Wait, where are you going?" Brooks asked.
"Watch Maxy for me," Hale called over his shoulder, tugging Izzy after him as he headed towards the roundabout. Brooks glanced quickly down at the dog with an alarmed expression, but Hale didn't give him a chance to protest. "I'm going to teach this brat a lesson."
*
"You seriously shouted at a three year old?" Will grinned. "Mate, that's fucked up."
Hale skimmed through the pile of movies Will had dumped on him, in search of something worth watching. "I didn't shout at him, per se," Hale shrugged. "I just warned him that if he ever touched Izzy again, I'd cancel Christmas. And ban him from the park. It's not my fault the stupid kid started bawling as if I'd threatened to set my dog on him."
"Talk about harsh, Hale." Will let out a low whistle. "You can hardly blame the kid for crying at the prospect of no Christmas. I would, too."
Hale chucked a random movie at Will. "Who's side are you on, dumbass? The brat pushed Izzy. He doesn't deserve Christmas."
"Alright, alright. No need for the physical abuse, shithead," Will said airily, picking up the movie he'd just ducked out of taking to the head. His expression was mockingly appalled as he turned the cover so Hale could see the cover of The Interview. "Seriously? You were trying to assault me with this delightful comedy? At least choose a shit movie to hit me with next time, so we're not losing the good ones."
"If you insist," Hale smirked, picking out the full boxset of The Real Housewives of Cheshire, which had somehow ended in the potential selection. It was huge in his hand and felt like it weighed a fucking ton. "This shit enough for you?"
"No way." Will just laughed when Hale lifted it up. "You'll leave me in an unresponsive coma for the rest of my life with that thing."
"Permanent silence from your end?" Hale drawled. "Don't tempt me, William."
"At least save it for exams, yeah? A coma seems like my best bet of getting out of them."
Hale chuckled and dumped the boxset off to the far left, in the no-fucking-way rejection pile. The day either of them wasted an entire Thursday evening watching middle-aged women with nothing better to do than bitch about their glamorous lives was the day pigs would be seen flying. In fact, not even airborne farm animals would be able to get Hale to suffer through hours of that bullshit. He didn't have to ask Will to know it would be a unanimous agreement.
Wendy strolled into the living room at that point, clutching a steaming bowl of pasta. She rolled her eyes when she saw Hale, a reflex reaction she seemed to have built over the year, but said nothing as she headed for the armchair in the corner. Hale had noticed it was the same spot she went for every time, and figured she preferred it due to the limited human contact involved which wasn't granted on a sofa.
"Sup, Wends," Hale greeted, and Wendy automatically narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. Her blatant lack of patience for his existence only made it more fun. "That pasta looks hot, but you look even hotter."
"Oh my god, marry me," Wendy said sarcastically. "That was so romantic. How do you not have a girlfriend?"
Hale sighed tragically. "I'm clearly just too attractive for the ladies to handle." He pointed threateningly at The Real Housewives of Cheshire when Will scoffed, a reminder that the coma could be administered at anytime. "Laugh all you want, Will, we all know it's the truth."
There was also the fact that he had recently discovered he liked dick, but he thought maybe that one was better to keep to himself.
"It's good to know you're still as delusional as ever." Wendy speared a piece of pasta and popped it in her mouth, scrutinising Hale as she chewed it. He recognised that intent look and predicted what she was going to say next. "Speaking of girlfriends, what happened with that one girl you were pining over last week?"
"What's all this about?" Will looked between them and pulled a face that was dangerously close to a pout. "You told my sister about your mystery girl before me? Not cool, man! What happened to the bro code? Bros before hoes?"
Wendy could have riddled him with holes from her glare. "Did you just call me a hoe? Tread carefully, Will," she suggested, twirling her fork between her fingers. "Or you might find this piece of cutlery sticking out of your eye."
Hale resisted the urge to groan. He'd been spending a lot of time with Brooks recently, something he wouldn't change even if he could, and his friends had taken it upon themselves to piece together a reason for his absence. Apparently, that reason had come in the form of an unknown (and entirely fictional) girl. Oli had even gone as far as to ask if she was the new Canadian transfer student.
Hale didn't even know they had a new transfer student.
"I took your advice, Wendy," Hale said, figuring his best bet was playing along with this story to avoid suspicion. Let them think there was a girl. At least then they'd never think about a guy being involved. "I went for it and you know what? It worked. It was actually decent advice."
"Advice?" Will questioned.
"Thanks for sounding so surprised." Wendy rolled her eyes. "It just goes to show that miracles can happen when you just grow a pair and get on with it."
Hale grinned. "Can I quote that?"
"Hello-o-o?" Will snatched a cushion off the sofa and proceeded to hit Hale in the face with it. He moved as if to subject Wendy to the same attack, but she pointed her fork threateningly at him when he raised the cushion. "What am I, chopped liver? Stop ignoring me!"
"Yes, Will, I am a twin to chopped liver," Wendy said sagely. "And remember, chopped liver doesn't talk. So shut up."
Will sighed dramatically. "And I'm a twin to the wicked witch of the west."
"Aww, no need to feel left out," Hale teased, ruffling his hair in the same way the girls were so fond of doing. Will was the smallest guy in their group and got teased as "shorty" and "cutie", much to his disgruntlement. "There really isn't much to know. So I like a girl." Lie, but whatever. "It's not a big deal."
"Uh-huh," Will said. "It is when you normally never waste more than one day on a single girl. What's her name?"
Hale's mind went blank and he glanced around for inspiration, his eyes landing on the Spider-Man movie in his hands. "Mary Jane," he blurted out, quickly flipping the case over before either of them could see the cover. "Yeah, her name's Mary Jane, but she goes by MJ. Her parents are huge Spider-Man fans." That was realistic, right? Seemed believable enough to Hale.
"Really," Wendy said thoughtfully. Hale nodded along as her scrutinising look returned, casually tossing the Spider-Man case over his shoulder. No need for that to shred his lie to pieces. "And what school does this MJ go to?"
"Actually, she's in university. That's right," Hale smirked, at Will's impressed look. Wendy looked considerably less impressed, making a big thing of rolling her eyes, but Hale ignored her. "I don't waste my time with high school girls. Not my kind of thing, y'know?"
"Nice one, mate," Will grinned, offering him a fist bump. "A college chick. And she's hot, right?"
"Of course."
Will wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "And good in bed?"
"Definitely," Hale smirked.
Okay, maybe Hale was getting a little too carried away with his description of this older, mature and made up MJ he was presenting Will with. Giving her a spot at university meant it would be easy enough to dodge any questions regarding why she was never around, because uni students were busy, right? They wouldn't waste their time with high school kids. MJ certainly didn't. Other than Hale, that is.
"You two are such pigs," Wendy said in disgust. "Obviously the only thing either of you would care about is sex and what she looks like. Have you no shame?"
Will smiled cheekily. "Is that a rhetorical question? Because we all know the answer."
"Fine." Wendy rolled her eyes again. Hale figured she was one eye-roll away from an induced seizure at this point. "Which university does she go to, Hale?"
"Manchester," Hale said randomly.
"And what's she studying?"
Oh, shit. Hale wasn't prepared for this interrogation. She was really going all out with these grilling questions which were far harder to think up on the spot compared with Will's far more basic ones. "Oh, what's she studying?" Hale repeated, to buy himself some more time. "Only the best degree ever. What everyone wants to do. Yep, very competitive indeed."
"Oh yeah? What's the degree called, you twat?"
"Ah, uh..." As he thought back for inspiration, he recalled a conversation he'd had with Brooks a couple of days ago. They'd discussed what they were going to do after high school - Hale still didn't have a clue - and Brooks had mentioned his parents wanted him to do medicine. "...medicine. Yeah, that's right, medicine. She's going to be a doctor."
Will looked even more impressed. "You snagged a doctor? Man, you have got to teach me your ways."
"She's not a doctor yet, dumbass," Wendy reminded him. "Still a medical student."
"Aw, Wends," Hale smirked. "You're just jealous 'cause she's a doctor and you're not."
Wendy threw a cushion at him. "Medical student!"
Will's parents wouldn't be home until the next day, held up overnight at a conference in London, so Hale was free to spend the night at the Chen household. For some reason, Wendy actually stayed in the living room with them even after she'd finished her pasta, whereas she usually avoided Will's friends whenever they came round, including Hale. He didn't really mind. He'd always liked Wendy, even if it was just to tease her.
After a lot of squabbling from Wendy and Will which reminded Hale too much of his own siblings, and Wendy had stuffed Will's face into the sofa at least four times, they all settled on marathoning the entire Harry Potter boxset. It was one of the only things they could all agree on. Will wanted to watch comedy, Hale was more interested in action thrillers and Wendy was adamant on horror. Harry Potter was a great compromise.
Hale knew it wasn't the last he'd hear of MJ the sex-manic medical student, and certainly not the last time he'd have to deal with questions about her, but he was happy enough to forget about it for now in favour of watching the magical adventures of Hogwarts students.