Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adam had been in Forks for a month. He’d always wanted to leave his home in Henrietta, and his parents, but recently though he’d gotten his wish it wasn’t all he’d envisioned. He was glad to no longer have to fear his father’s temper, although the truth of this didn’t keep him from having nightmares or flinching at raised voices. He was glad to leave behind the town that he hated and the scorching heat of Virginia, but he didn’t particularly like the constant rain of Forks either. Tomorrow would be his first day at school. He wasn’t dreading being the outsider because he’d been an outsider his whole life. But tomorrow it will be even more apparent. 

Now he’s standing in the driveway with Persephone. She’s tending to her miniature garden of basil and herbs and roses as white as her hair. As she puts down the watering can she looks at him both vaguely and intensely, as if attempting to read his mind.

 “How are you doing, Adam?”

Adam liked that she cared enough to phrase it like that. Not “are you okay” where the correct answer was always really “I’m fine.” But just, wanting to know how he was genuinely. Or at least she seemed genuine. He still wasn’t sure that he could trust it. 

“I’ve been worse.” He replied. 

That was when the car they had been waiting for pulled up. “Adam, this is Declan Lynch.” said Persephone. “And his brother, Ronan.” 

The two boys who got out of the vehicle were similar in appearance. One was a little taller, and a lot more clean cut. He wasn’t wearing a suit, but he held himself in a way that made his rather expensive looking sweater resemble a suit. Meanwhile the other boy radiated casual wealth and handsomeness, but with a savage edge to him. Those blue eyes could cut glass or melt ice, and they currently glared at Adam with an intensity that would have buried Adam had he not been used to much worse acts of hostility. Adam schooled his own expression to reflect coolness, unperturbed disinterest. 

The polished boy he assumed was Declan said, “Hello, Adam. Welcome to Forks.”

Adam smiled politely, without showing any teeth. Declan’s were so pearly white they were like a shark’s. Both boys had a shark-like quality to them, just one was slicker while the other appeared more brutal. Adam tried not to feel self conscious of his messy hair and the old flannel he wore, but it was difficult next to these boys. 

“It’s nice to be here.” He said, making an effort to clip his accent. He knew he would be doing a lot of that. “Do you two go to Aglionby?” 

The two exchanged a look. Declan says, “technically we do. But we’re also involved in a lot of programs at the Church, including some supplementary learning and work programs. So we’re at school less of the time than one would expect. Of course, Ronan often doesn’t go to either school when he’s supposed to.” He glared at his younger brother, who was staring off into space. 

Adam frowned. He hadn’t gone to church growing up, but he felt like it was quite an unorthodox learning program the brothers were in. “Noted.”

Declan gestured to the car. “This is yours.” 

Adam waited a couple beats, replaying the words in his mind. “This is My car?”
Persephone had told him that someone she knew could get him his own vehicle and he’d been grateful. But this truck was perfect… he also felt, looking at it compared to the siblings, he should have known this wasn’t their car. That made him wonder what their car – or cars if they each had one – looked like, and then he immediately put that out of his mind. Definitely ones he could never afford, and he liked this truck so much. He needed to just take that win instead of fantasizing about something unattainable. But also, could he even take the truck?

“Thank you so much.” He said to Declan, trying to wipe the look of excitement off his face. Though he felt they’d already noticed how taken with it he was. “How can I pay you back? I’ve worked a lot of jobs so I could help –” 

Persephone cut him off. “None of that. I did a favor for the brothers a while ago, and this is them paying me back by helping me get a present for you.” 

Declan nodded. “She’s right. Also, it is Ronan you should be thanking.” He said it begrudgingly, a bit wondrously. “He insisted on rebuilding the engine for you.” He paused. “Do you remember us at all?”

        Adam was startled both by Ronan’s

helpfulness, and by Declan’s question. “I was here once when I was little I think? I don’t remember it very well.” He feels like he would know if he’d met Declan and Ronan then. He only had a vague memory of Persephone then. It had been a short trip — which wasn’t something he and his mom had ever done again. Which might mean there was something true in Robert Parrish’s shouts about how much Adam cost them over his years alive in the world. If they’d had the money then, but never after. Or maybe his mother had just never wanted to be alone with him after that, had stopped having any protective instinct she may have once harbored. Adam didn’t know, and he didn’t dwell on those memories vague as they were. 

       “Sorry, I don’t really remember.” he said lamely. Declan nodded, taking it in stride. Ronan however, grimaced at this. Adam had no idea what that was about. As Adam went over to the car and got into the driver's seat though, Ronan got into the passenger's seat. In a gruff voice, he told Adam exactly how to start up the engine, and instructed him on the functions of the truck. He avoided direct eye contact with Adam, and wasn’t exactly being polite now but wasn’t being rude either. Adam would admit that his voice was quite nice as he instructed him. 

“So I won’t see you at school often,” he said. 

“You probably won’t.” replied Ronan. He kept darting glances at Adam from under his eyelashes. 

“Well. it would have been nice to know one person.” As he said it, Adam realized this was true. Ronan wasn’t being particularly nice to him, but he knew Persephone and that made him reliable to a degree no one else here was. Also, the Lynch Brothers didn’t seem to be boring. That was a point in their favor. 

“Well, I’ll occasionally be in a class or two.” said Ronan. Then very quickly he added, “Are you taking Latin?” 

Adam nodded. “I am actually. Why?” 

“The teacher is a prick, but harmless. And I go to that one more often.”

“Ronan,” said Declan. “We have to go for that thing…” 

Ronan rolled his eyes, but walked over to his brother. 

Once they were gone, Adam sat on the front porch swing with Persephone. “I’m glad you like the truck.” she said. “You can paint it whatever color you want.” 

“Thank you for it.” Adam said politely. 

“Are you nervous for school tomorrow?”

Adam shrugged. “A little.” he admitted. “But I’ll be fine.” 

Persephone nodded. “I can make you some soothing tea before you sleep.”

“That’s alright,” Adam said hastily. When Persephone said she was making tea, it was usually very good and accompanied by a homemade pie that was better. Adam kept telling himself not to get used to that. When she said she was making soothing tea, the results could be… more troubling. 

“Alright then. I’ll leave you to review your schedule and what not, we’re out of eggs and apples.” 

Adam watched her get into her own car. He wanted to ask her about what the brothers had meant, but shoved the thought aside. He had other things to worry about.

Chapter Text

This is just because ao3 wasn’t counting this as multi chapter lol

Chapter Text

It’s his first day at Aglionby High School, and Adam can tell he won’t fit in. Not that he fit in back in Virginia, but here he stuck out like a sore thumb. From the moment he’d gotten out of the truck in the parking lot heads had turned to stare at him. His face grew hot as he tried to do what he did best, fade into the background. But apparently, Forks wasn’t all that different from Henrietta in that regard. It was small, and so everyone knew everyone and outsiders were noticed instantly. He’d always considered himself an outsider back home but he still was born and raised there, you could hear it in his sloppy accent and see it in the plains of his rural features. Here, he wasn’t afforded the same camouflage. 

His first period class passed in this same vein of other students surreptitiously viewing him, like he was the new exotic animal in the zoo. In the second, someone at least directly asked him what they wanted to know. 

“Hey,” said a boy with floppy yellowish hair and slightly frightened looking eyes. Adam wasn’t sure if he was scared in general, or scared of Adam. 

“Hi,” he replied tentatively. 

“I was just wondering what it’s like in Virginia? I’ve heard it’s really hot, and like never rains. I can’t imagine that, I’ve lived here my whole life.” Noah stuttered a little. Something about the stutter softened Adam’s resolve.

“It is really warm, but it rains sometimes,” said Adam. “I also haven’t been anywhere outside of Virginia before now, so I’m not sure how it compares.”

Noah seemed to brighten. “I’m in the newspaper club, they wanted to do a feature on you which I told them you might not want to be in, but what is your favorite food?”

Adam was taken aback. “Feature?” 

Noah nodded. “Henry thought it’d be a fun idea, something to change things up.”
Adam sighed. He had been planning to avoid conflict today, but he’d have to speak to Henry to ensure there was nothing even remotely linked to him in that paper.  

“Thanks for warning me.” He meant that. 

They were playing volleyball in gym class. Adam wasn’t terrible at athletics, he had strong arm muscles from working at Boyd’s shop back home and was a decent runner, but team sports were never particularly fun for him. A boy sidled up to him as he was taking a water break. 

“You have a great spike!” He said brightly. 

Adam took him in. He had tousled black hair, a bit longer than boys at his old school would have unless they were very comfortable with the chance they’d be called slurs. He managed to look glossy and handsome even in the uniform, which made a part of Adam bristle. “You're Adam right? I’m Henry Cheng. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Henry. Adam inclined his head. “I’ve heard about you too. Listen, about that feature –” 

Henry pouted. “Please don’t tell me you don’t want to do it.”

Adam frowned. “I don’t… “

“Parrish – can I call you Parrish?” asked Henry, without waiting for an answer. “I need something fresh for the paper, it’s nothing personal but nothing else interesting happens here. I have to capitalize on a new student when they come.”

Adam thought about this for a moment. He’d have to change tactics. “What if I could find you a new topic? Like eating disorders, or the environment or —” 

Henry brightened. “A piece on eating disorders would be fun to write, your right! Have you considered the newspaper club?”

Adam hadn’t. “You should join,” said Henry. “Sit with me, Cheng II and Noah at lunch and I can tell you more about it.”

Part of Adam wanted to decline, he’d rather keep to himself… but he felt sitting alone wouldn’t help him keep a low profile. And he was pretty sure that extracurricular activity was mandatory here, he would have preferred something to do with science but newspapers might not be terrible if he had to pick one. Also, Noah had been nice to him. 

“Um… okay, I make no promises about the newspaper but I’ll sit with you guys at lunch and you can tell me more about it.”

Henry beamed. “Brilliant.”

- 

Their table at lunch wasn’t so bad. Noah smiled and nodded enthusiastically when he saw Adam. He was a bit like a puppy in that way, Adam mused. He took a seat beside Noah, opposite from Henry. Adam wasn’t in the mood to talk a lot, back home he’d mostly done homework at lunch, or read something. Luckily, Henry was quite chatty. He started telling Adam about the paper, but somehow him telling Adam about the paper meant that he told Adam about recent gossip about the students' dating lives and which teachers were easy to navigate and which ones hated each other. Then after about ten minutes, the double doors of the Cafeteria opened. 

Adam had seen some attractive people before. Boys who were glossy and pretty like Declan and Henry, or edged with something more ferocious like Ronan. The pretty waitress named Ciliana at Ninos who’d been his first kiss, his 9th grade English teacher with her braided dark hair and warm lilting accent and variety of pencil skirts… However, the group who entered just now seemed almost alien in their beauty. There was a girl who was petite, with spiky dark hair done up with multicolored clips, with enormous, almost velvety brown eyes. She wore an incredibly strange outfit. It looked like she was wearing a black corset, but over it was a huge belt that looked like it was made of leaves. Around the belt were green and purple feathers, and she wore a red cape around her shoulders. She also wore ripped lavender tights, and green sneakers. She should have looked ridiculous, yet she was lovely. Honestly, something about her wearing something ridiculous yet walking with confidence, completely self assured, made the ensemble more impressive than if they were some designer brand. 

Next to her was a girl with similar facial features, only she was much taller, and had a broader nose. In contrast to the petite girl’s eccentric garb, she was dressed more the way Adam would expect the popular girls in his old school to dress, in purple harem pants, tall heeled boots, a yellow top, and a lot of jewelry. Behind her came the third figure, a statuesque woman who Adam felt he might have mixed up with the teachers if not for those with her. Not because her clothes were particularly teacher-ish, she just… had this air of elegance to her. It was in the black dress she wore which wasn’t actually that short but made her legs look miles long, the calculating look in her eyes. And behind her… 

The boy had chestnut brown hair that waved at the nape of his neck, an impressively straight nose that would have made Ancient Anglo-Saxons proud their features had not been lost to time. His lips were what Adam thinks people mean when they talk about “cupid bow lips”. He was dressed almost conservatively, in a brown button down open over a light green polo shirt and khaki pants. In its simplicity, the ensemble looked like it was worth more than Adam’s entire wardrobe. He muttered something to the girl next to him, who rolled her eyes. 

            “Who are they?” asked Adam. The others at his table were also staring at them. In fact, he realized, everyone was. That made him feel a bit better. 

             Henry eagerly launched into a speal. “The Gansey-Sargents. Or that’s what we call them anyway. Maura and Dean are their “parents” but only Blue — the one in the crazy outfit — has is actually Maura’s daughter. Orla is her cousin who lives with them for some reason, I heard a rumor Maura cursed her sister to death, because she tried to get with Blue’s father! No one knows who he is, it isn’t Dean he moved here half a decade ago, before that it was just Maura and the kids.”

            “You think they’re witches?” Adam tried to dial down the skepticism in his voice, but Henry picked up on it. “Yes we do. I mean, look at them. Don’t they just seem … Off to you.” 

             They did, in that no one should be that beautiful. But Henry’s theory seemed far-fetched to Adam. Maybe they just had gotten those procedures to look really attractive you could afford when you were rich. The four took seats at a table in the far right corner of the cafeteria. Many murmured and no-so-subtly stared at them. For a moment Adam was grateful to the Gansey-Sargent’s for shifting a bit of the attention off him. The bronze-haired boy looked up from where he’d been speaking to the petite girl, Blue. He had noticed Adam noticing him, which immediately put a damper on his gratitude. He was looking straight at him with tawny colored eyes that were as intrinsically beautiful as the rest of him. 

            “What about the other two? The Gansey’s?” asked Adam. But Henry had already registered who Adam was looking at, specifically.

              “That’s Gansey. He and his sister Helen live with the Sargent’s, but Gansey goes by his last name.”

              “What’s —“ 

               “Nobody knows. It’s like a secret or something. There’s a betting pool if you want in, my money’s on Cornelius.” 

               Adam shook his head. “No thanks. So when did they move in with the Sargent’s? Are they also cousins?” 

              Henry had apparently been waiting for this one too. “Oh, no. They’re both adopted, not sure since when they’ve been going to school with us as long as Blue and Orla have. They’re not related to them by blood though. What’s really freaky is that they date. Like, Orla and Helen are together. And Blue and Gansey.. I’m not sure if they’re together or not right now but they were definitely playing tonsil hockey pretty regularly last year. Then I think they broke up last April — they didn’t sit together at lunch for a couple of weeks so that’s what we think happened. A friend also overheard some of their fights… but they seem pretty close again, so maybe they’re on again off again or sorted things out over the summer. But anyway. That’s pretty gross right? Adopting two kids to date your kids, like a creepy matchmaker situation.” 

             Gansey was still looking at Adam, a frown furrowing his handsome brow. Adam willed himself not to blush. He wished his hair was longer, so he could hide behind it. As if sensing his thoughts, Henry said, “Don’t waste your time with him. Even before he and Blue got together, he would make it clear none of the mere mortals at this school were good enough for him.” Henry tucked a strand of hair behind his own ear. “Like I care, right? Anyway, I would look elsewhere if you want a boyfriend.” 

                   Adam frowned. “I won’t, don’t worry. What makes you think I’d be looking for a boyfriend?”

                   Henry gave him this look that gave him an unpleasant, prickly sensation. “Hmm. Never mind. Anyway Noah, have you heard about the new Choir teacher…”

~

        Adam’s next class was one he actually looked forward to: Honors Biology. He’d always been good at science, liked forming hypotheses and research and learning and coming back with a more developed understanding. It also turned out he was in the same class as Noah.

       “Yay!” said Noah. Adam smiled. It would be nice to have one friend here. 

         There were assigned seats, and Adam was next to… Gansey. Adam took a seat, trying not to make eye contact with the dark haired boy. As the teacher began to lecture about the zombie worms they would be experimenting with, Gansey stiffened. A look passed across his face, like he was in pain, or he had smelled something foul. He fixed his gaze on the teacher, but didn’t take a single note. And he seemed to be holding his body so that there wasn’t a chance of him accidentally brushing against Adam. Adam wondered in dismay what was wrong, did his hair smell? His clothes? Since moving in with Persephone, he thought he’d probably been the cleanest he’d ever been in his life. 

           There were no grease stains on his clothes from changing car oil, no nights where he abstained from bathing for fear of his father’s anger at what the water bill cost for the month would be. He was dismayed at the idea that the smell of the trailer would cling to his skin however much he tried to scrub it away. That he was repulsive no matter where he went. Towards the end of the class Gansey even held his nose, which made Adam feel so small and so angry. Then, there was an exercise with a Petri dish they were supposed to perform in pairs. Gansey simply dropped his formula in and handed the tray to Adam, quickly pulling his hand away like he’d be burned otherwise. Once class had finished, Gansey went to their teacher. Adam also needed to speak with her, so he hung back a little bit away from Gansey. “Unfortunately Mr. Gansey, you may not transfer to another period.” And “I guess I’ll just have to bear it.” Were the two sentences Adam heard. He felt his ears burn scarlet. He ducked out of the room before he could face Gansey again.

     Once he was out of the classroom, Noah sidled up next to him.

          “Wow. I’ve never seen Gansey react that way before. Did you poison him or something?” 

            Adam shook his head. “What?”

             “With the Petri dish or something, like a contact high but in reverse? He looked kind of constipated…. Maybe it was just something he ate, not you.”

             Adam was glad Noah thought that, but he felt that wasn’t true. Then Gansey wouldn’t be trying to transfer classes. 

             The last couple classes passed in a blur, Adam busied himself taking as many notes as possible to distract himself. But at the end of the day when he got into his car, he let himself break down, his head on the steering wheel. It wasn’t that boys like Gansey, effortlessly handsome and wealthy and sophisticated, looking down on Adam or treating him like he had a disease they feared catching, was foreign to him. And he should be beyond letting it bother him. He had thought leaving the state of Virginia would mean escaping this part of himself, but it hadn’t. 

Chapter Text

“How was your first day?” asked Persephone, as she bustled around in the kitchen gathering ingredients for a black cherry pie.

“Long.” said Adam warily. “Apparently Henrietta isn’t the only place where they gawk at anything new or different.” 

Persephone gave a small smile in sympathy. “Give it time, I’m sure they’ll get used to you. New isn’t ever new for very long, and different isn’t a bad thing.”

Adam knew that Persephone with her assortment of willowy white gowns and tendency to talk to plants, was also not exactly conventional. He wondered absently if there were rumors about her being a witch as well, like those about Maura Sargent. Speaking of, 

“Do you know anything about the Gansey-Sargent’s?”

Persephone looked up, a flash of – something in her eye. “I know Maura a little. Nice woman. I didn’t think the children hyphenated their names.” 

“They probably don’t, just the other students refer to them like that.”

Ahh.” said Persephone knowingly. “I wouldn’t listen to idle gossip if I were you.”

“I don’t.” saif Adam. “Or I don’t take what the rumors are seriously, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t kind of mysterious.” 

“Blue and Gansey are around your age, if I’m not mistaken.” mused Persephone. “You could probably ask one of them your questions, if you are curious.” 

Adam felt shame bloom in his chest again as he remembered Gansey’s scorn. 

“By the way I’ve been meaning to ask, do I smell bad? Don’t lie.”

Persephone frowned. “You smell perfectly alright. Better than the average teenage boy I’d guess, since you’ve been using my homemade soaps and shampoo. Why? Did someone comment on how you smell?”

Adam shook his head. “No, but my lab partner in biology acted like I smelled bad. He wouldn’t look at me or talk to me, and he put his hand over his nose towards the end of class.” 

Persephone pursed her lips. “That’s not very nice of him, but maybe something else was going on that had nothing to do with you. It could have been something else in the biology lab. He was sensitive too, or he could have not been feeling well before.”

Adam knew in his gut this wasn’t true, but he nodded. There was no point in upsetting Persephone over him not fitting in, especially when, aside from one arrogant rich boy, his day hadn’t been as bad as it could have been. “Maybe you're right. Also, I think I made a friend. His name is Noah.” 

~

         Adam was in bed reading after the most thorough shower he feels he’s taken in his life. He feels guilty about the amount of water used, it was more than necessary and if he’d been back home he would have faced severe consequences for the misbehavior. Adam reflected on all he’d been through over the years, the three jobs he worked hoping to save up enough to be independent of his parents, the application he’d been about to send to a local private school, the beatings and taunts from his father and silence from his mother. 

         Suddenly his shame gave way to righteous anger. Who was Gansey to look down his nose at him? Someone who might have to deal with the indignity of being gossiped about, but had grown up in a loving home, with money and good looks and everything to aid him so that he might be an outcast, but he’d never be an underdog, had never been without dignity. Tomorrow, he was going to give Gansey a piece of his mind and he would not take the silent treatment lying down.

~

          But the next afternoon, as he strode to the Biology classroom after lunch with Noah in toe and looked through the door, he saw that both seats at the desk were empty. He frowned, but took a seat. Perhaps Gansey was running late? Minutes ticked by, but he didn't show up. Adam told himself he didn’t care.After all, it was easier to take notes and then perform the lab activity he was supposed to on his own.

The next week passed with Gansey entirely absent from class and from lunch. His three compatriots weren’t acting out of the ordinary, keeping to themselves at one table. 

“Do they always sit together?” he asked Henry. “Never with anyone else?” 

“Never.” Henry said it like it was two words. Ne-ever. “Blue is the only one of them who leaves the herd occasionally, she helps with costumes in the theater department. She’s quite talented. But she doesn’t really work with everyone else there, she mostly works on stuff at home and brings it to the productions. But she does come to the shows, and is nice enough there. Otherwise she’s as aloof as the rest of them.”

Adam’s gaze was fixed on the table still. Henry nudged his arm. “You okay? Earth to Adam.” 

Adam recoiled from the touch before he realized what he’d done. Once he did his ears burned with shame, he hoped they were hidden by his hair. 

“Sorry,” he said apologetically. To his credit, Henry didn’t push the issue.

The next week passed much the same. Adam ate lunch with Noah and Henry, went to his classes, and spent evenings with Persephone. Gansey never showed up. Adam finally stopped worrying about the Gansey issue. Mostly. 

Then one day at lunch, Henry nudged his arm. “Hey. Gansey is staring at you.” 

Adam’s head jerked up to see that he was right. The fourth member of the movie star good looking clan was there in the flesh. And he was looking in their direction… of course Henry wasn’t being subtle about pointing to him, but why would he have been looking at them before? Those eyes, which were a hazel as warm as the sun, were indeed directly zeroing in on their table. Adam hastily looked away. 

~

After lunch, a part of Adam dreaded the prospect of sitting next to Gansey so much that he contemplated not going to class. More than that even, he contemplated giving up on the whole Aglionby thing, the Forks thing, all of it. Just for a moment, and then he remembered what he’d told himself before when he’d expected to see Gansey again. Don’t give him the satisfaction. 

Adam took his seat next to Gansey. This really wouldn’t be so bad, he told himself. Gansey didn’t want to talk to him, and that was fine by Adam. Really this would make everything easier. He despised group and partner projects, and Gansey would let him do all the work himself rather than design to talk to him. Gansey getting half of the credit would be annoying, but things could be worse. Really, this class session would be just like the last one. 

“Hello.” said a lilting, honey-smooth voice. 

Adam’s stomach was a ruin. He decided to fix his gaze on Gansey’s nose, as noses were less intimidating than eyelines. Unfortunately, Gansey’s nose was an incredibly dignified one. As if it had been passed down by some Anglo-Saxon King.

Gansey smiled an easy, charming smile. “Pardon me for not introducing myself last week. I’m Gansey.” 

Adam jerked his head in a nod, not trusting himself to speak. 

“You’re Adam Parrish, right?” 

“I…Yeah, I am.” Adam managed to get out, before The teacher started talking again.

Adam tried his best to look at his hands, and to listen to the teacher as he instructed them about the golden onion in mitosis they would be dissecting. 

“Come on, people.” he said. “Tick-tock.”

Gansey slid the microscope towards Adam. He did it without touching Adam or being any closer to him than need be. The movement struck Adam as Southern Gentlemanly, and with that thought he realized what Gansey’s voice made him think og.

“You have a Virginian accent,” he said. The observation felt stupidly obvious.

            “Yes, I lived there before Maura and Dean took me in.” 

Adam took a minute to process this. It didn’t track with what Henry had said about Gansey always going to school with them. He might not like Henry much, but he believed he was too competent when it came to gossip to be untruthful about something so obvious. 

“Is that where you were?” Adam asks, schooling his voice to sound neutral, unbothered. “Were you on a trip or something last week?”

Gansey shook his head, still smiling. Part of Adam wanted to put his fingers to those lips and peel the untrue expression from his chiseled face. 

“Nothing so exciting. I had the flu.” 

They worked together in silence for a few minutes, passing the microscope and slides back and forth. Their hands didn’t touch, not once. 

“Enjoying the rain and cold?” asked Gansey. Adam frowned. He wasn’t sure why Gansey was attempting politeness. He despised small talk. 

“Are you asking me about the weather?”

Gansey shrugged helplessly. “I had to start somewhere.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Well, as someone who supposedly grew up in Virginia –”

“Supposedly?” 

“Never mind. But you know this is very different.”

“I don’t think of being different as bad.” 

It reminds Adam of Persephone, although he does his best to shake the comparison off. 

“I don’t really like the weather back home, but I can’t say I’m a fan of rain either. At least I won’t sunburn as often here.” 

Gansey hmmed thoughtfully. Adam tries to read his perfectly sculpted face for derision. He doesn’t find it, in fact the expression on his face is almost … intrigued? Curious, maybe. Adam told himself. The way other people are curious, because your novel. But Gansey didn’t seem like everyone else, nor did his family. Was Adam just seeing what we wanted to see? 

“Anaphase.” said Gansey, snapping Adam out of it.

Adam peered into the lense. “Anaphase.” He concurs. 

“Not a lot of people move here, as you can probably tell.” Commented Gansey. “What made you?” 

Adam frowned. “What made you move?”

“My parents died.” Gansey answered unflinchingly.

Adam didn’t quite know how to react to this. “How did it happen? Did it rain?”

He instantly regretted it, but then Gansey did a surprising thing. He laughed.

“Not the first response I usually get. Usually it’s apologies or asking if I’m okay.”

Adam felt terrible. Of course that was rude, why had he said it out loud? Once again, he was ashamed. “I’m so–” 

Gansey held up a hand. “Please, you're not hiding that you're curious behind platitudes. It’s refreshing. And really I was very young when it happened, I barely remember them.” 

Adam wasn’t sure what it was about this boy that caught him off guard so much. He knew better than to say something like that to a stranger! It was a lucky thing that Gansey seemed to be bored by conventional manners, despite displaying them himself. Which led Adam back to confusion. 

               “You never answered my question.” Gansey reiterated. 

                 “Why do you care?” he asked, bewildered at him asking not once but twice. 

                      Gansey tilted his head. “I find you hard to read, is all. When I don’t understand something I like to ask questions.”

               “I’m not something to study under a microscope.”

                  Gansey looked taken aback again. “..Jesus, not what I meant. I’m sorry if that sounded strange.” he gave Adam an apologetic little smile.

                    Just then, the bell rang. When Adam met Noah outside, he listened to him bemoan the partner he’d gotten stuck with. “You're lucky you were with Gansey.”

Adam jerked his head up. “What?”

Noah shrugged. “I mean it looked like he was pretty friendly today, and you got everything done.”

“I guess so,” said Adam.

Later, on the way to his car, he noticed a glaring orange number parked near the edge of the lot. Gansey was leaning against the car that must have been his, talking on the phone with someone. He told himself to look away before he was caught. But Gansey saw him. He waved. Adam pretended not to see, and got in his car. 

Chapter Text

As much as Persephone loved baking, she didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm for cooking food that made up a proper meal. Aside from deserts and teas, she seemed to subsist mainly on fruit, bread with strawberry jam and butter, the occasional egg. He wondered if she was vegetarian. He wondered if she was anemic, would he be seen as overbearing if he tried to look through her cabinet to see what vitamins she took? Not that he was one to talk, he probably had all kinds of deficiencies… but Persephone was so much older, and so it mattered far more that she took care of herself. Adam didn’t like these racing thoughts, this worry, at all. 

“Hey,” he said to Persephone one day, while he was helping her water and weed the garden. “What if I started cooking dinner for us?” 

Persephone frowned. “This isn’t another scheme to pay me back, is it?”

“Of course not,” Adam began to protest, but Persephone silenced him with a look.

“Okay,” he amended. “Maybe a small part is about that, but I also just want to make food for myself. I’m used to eating more potatoes and less fruit. Also, they’ll be groceries you paid for, so I won’t be paying you back, not really. I’ll just be doing something to make our lives easier.” And making sure you eat enough protein. 

Persephone considered for a long moment, and then nodded. “That will give me more time to work on my phd. And to work on my pie recipes, if you're taking care of the main course.” 

Adam grinned at her, pleased his plan had worked out. 

That night he decides to make burgers, crispy potatoes and a salad. It’s enough like something he’d enjoy eating that Persephone won’t question it while also having nutrients she probably needs. As he washes and spins and grills, he tries his best not to think about Gansey. About his eyes that were the color of a forest bathed in liquid sunlight. About the way his lip will quirk up at something Adam said that couldn’t possibly be that funny, about the way he rubbed a thumb over his lower lip when he seemed unsettled or unsure of himself. About his being all brilliant and mysterious and beautiful, about his lips… Adam needed to get a grip, clearly. He had hoped now that Gansey deigned to talk to Adam regularly, he would cease to be intriguing. However, the friendly interactions that Adam has to repeatedly remind himself don’t signal anything else, only served to make the air of mystery surrounding Gansey more compelling. He also seemed to get more attractive with each day, which was just unfair. Adam doesn’t believe in a higher power, but if one does exist he’s convinced they are playing a cruel joke on him through Gansey’s existence.

– 

Autumn had died quietly, leaving winter in its wake. Adam didn’t mind, snow was preferable to rain as far as he was concerned. What he wasn’t a fan of was the black ice on the roads. He made sure to drive painstakingly slowly to school that morning. Otherwise it was shaping up to be an uneventful morning, or so he thought as he parked in his usual spot. Not that he was paying attention, but the car he’d figured out was Gansey’s was parked on the opposite side. It wasn’t quite what you’d expect from Gansey’s polished, old money exterior. It was a glorious old thing, but not polished to perfection like the rest of him. It was a coppery orange Camaro, a model from the 70’s if he wasn’t mistaken. As he was pondering about Gansey’s choice in vehicles, Adam exited his own. Something on one of the tires caught his eye, and he leaned down to examine the glint of silver. Snow chains. He wasn’t sure how Persephone had found the time to sneak them onto his truck. A lump formed in Adam’s throat. Every day, Persephone showed him what it meant to be cared for. He’s never had that before, can only hope he can find a way to be worthy of it. 

Suddenly, there was a high pitched noise in his ear, all the air seeming to have rushed there. He sees the giant shadow of the car before the car itself, and then he’s diving out of the way not fast enough to stop gravity. Then a body comes between him and the car. Adam is on the ground gasping, and he sees Gansey… no. That can’t be what he’s seeing. Gansey has both his hands outstretched, and is holding the car at bay before it can crush Adam’s bones into sawdust. Then, a flash of blinding golden light that forced Adam to squeeze his eyes shut. When he opens them, the car has stopped just a hair's breadth from where he is on his knees. A crowd has gathered round, he spies Henry and Noah and .. Gansey? How did he get that far away? There’s a blare of sirens, and then he’s being reeled away on a stretcher. The image of Gansey, standing there like Perseus saving Andromeda, holding the car at bay, is burned into his eyelids. Adam doesn’t know what to think or feel. Primarily, he feels nauseated. 

Adam has always hated hospitals. He didn’t go to them often as a kid, as his parents didn’t have the money, and when they did his father would rather spend it on more beer or a tv or anything that wasn’t treatment for the injuries Adam sported often. Occasionally, something was so critical he had no choice but to dip into his work savings – which normally ensured he wouldn’t buy anything for himself for a couple months or longer – so that he could visit the emergency room. Every experience he’d had there was painful and uncomfortable and the muscle memories made his already tense body rigid as a concrete block. He insisted to the doctor that he was fine, that the car hadn’t come on top of him and so there was no need for him to stay in the hospital. “Really, Dr. Salinger. I’m perfectly alright to go home with my Aunt.”

Dr. Salinger sighed. “I’m sorry Adam, however protocol dictates –” He broke off as a knock sounded at the door. “Yes?”

In came Gansey, still looking offensively pristine in his white open-collared button down and khakis. He smiled politely at the doctor. “Hello Dr. Salinger. May I have a word with Mr. Parrish?” 

Adam expected the doctor to scoff at Gansey’s attempt to address him as an equal, yet it seemed the strange alchemy Gansey possessed affected experienced physicians as well, because the doctor acquiesced immediately.  “Of course, Mr. Gansey. I’ll give the two of you space.” Once he’d left the room Adam demanded, “What was that? Explain.”

“What specifically are you looking for clarification on?” asked Gansey. 

“Don’t condescend me.” Adam snapped. “What made you think you could speak to the Doctor in that way, and why did it work for you?” 

“Maura works at this hospital. The doctor knows me. If you want, I can get him to send you home early, not keep you overnight.” 

That was exactly what Adam wanted, it was true, however he didn’t need to owe Gansey any favors. “I won’t accept charity from you.”

Gansey frowned. “How would that be charity? I’m not giving you anything, I’m just asking the doctor to Not give you anything.” 

Adam crossed his arms.

Gansey sighed. “Okay, how about you do something for me in exchange. Don’t tell anyone about what you saw.”

Adam took a step forward. “And what did I see?” It was a challenge, and they both knew it. Gansey rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip. “Nothing?” his tone was a little less certain than it had been before, more boyish. It softened Adam’s resolve ever so slightly. 

“You know that’s not true.” He said it simply, quietly. 

“Just please Adam, don’t say anything. You do this for me, I’ll make sure you don’t have to stay in the hospital tonight if you don’t want to. An even exchange.” 

Adam pursed his lips. Gansey was making a certain kind of sense, but he didn’t want to make this easy for him. “Okay, I won’t say anything.”

Gansey’s face went slack with relief. “Thank you. I –”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Wariness returned to those burnished hazel eyes. “I’m not going to speak to anyone else about what you did, but I saw it. I won’t forget, and I won’t let you forget. I am not letting this go.”
Gansey made a frustrated sound in his throat. “Please Adam, it will be better for you if you don’t question things.”

Rage flared up in Adam. “Are you threatening me?” As he said it, he knew he was being stupid. If Gansey was strong enough to do what Adam thinks he saw him do, Adam should not be antagonizing him. It’s asking for trouble. But he can’t help it. He hates the feeling of being in someone's power, and that’s how Gansey makes him feel. So why don’t I hate him? 

Gansey looks genuinely shocked. “Oh no! That was not what I meant at all, it isn’t me you should be afraid of.” He winces, as if hearing back how ominous his words sound. Just then the door opened again. 

“Everything alright?” asked the doctor. 

Gansey flashed a smile, charming and unflappable once more. “Everything’s ship shape.” Who talks like that? Adam wondered, not for the first time. “Mr. Parrish would like to go home now.” 

Dr. Salinger didn’t even blink. “Absolutely. Come now.” Adam shot one last glare at Gansey, then followed him out the door. 

~ 

The next few days Persephone fussed over him, as much as Adam allowed to be possible anyway. It was an admirable effort on her part. “I’m fine.” he said for the thousandth time, as he caught Persephone trying to do all the dishes before he could get to them again. 

“Fine isn’t the same as alright.” 

It was one of those things Persephone said that sounded odd, yet felt true to Adam. 

When Adam was awake, he was fine. But when he slept, he dreamt of chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. 

Chapter Text

The dreams weren’t always the same. Sometimes Adam was running, Gansey was ahead of him and he was chasing, chasing, chasing. Then he woke, gasping for air, heart pounding. Other times, Gansey was touching his face. He was close up in Adam’s personal space in a manner Adam would never allow in real life. “ Adam,” he whispered. “ Pour la terre es ta beauté. ” Somehow, those were the dreams Adam found most.. he wasn’t sure that ‘disturbing’ was the right word, but something like it. He didn’t know what to think about these dreams, so he tried not to think about them at all. Not that it worked. 

Adam was appalled to find himself the center of attention at school for a week. Tad Carruthers was following him around begging to be allowed to make amends. He tried to make it clear that what he wanted was to be left alone, but with every borderline rude brush off Tad seemed to grow more dogged. No one mentioned Gansey, which was a relief. Adam did wonder why no one else had noticed him there … until he formed the most obvious conclusion, and was duly embarrassed. It’s because no one pays as much attention to him as I do. Adam flushed with anger. Gansey gave him a wide berth for the next week, not giving him the silent treatment but only really speaking to him when it was necessary for class. Adam was angry, and he was grateful, and he was angry that he was grateful, and he was even angrier that he cared what Gansey thought of him. 

“Tad Carruthers is thinking of asking you to the dance.” Henry told Adam one day. Adam had forgotten there was a dance coming up. “I can’t go.” He searched for an explanation then landed on “I’m going to Seattle.” 

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Why this weekend?”

“I just have to go be with my family. My great uncle is on my Mom’s side.” Adam lied. 

Henry didn’t seem to buy it, which made Adam think he was smarter than he’d originally given him credit for. He didn’t push though. Probably he was a little pleased to have the reputation of hanging around the mysterious new boy who had almost died, without actually having to hang out with Adam at the dance. “Have it your way.”

~

There was someone else who did want Adam at the dance, someone he was sorrier to have to disappoint. 

“Hey, Adam.” said Noah. “Henry said you aren’t coming to the dance.”
“Yeah,” said Adam apologetically. “Sorry Noah, it’s a family thing.” 

“Oh,” he nodded dejectedly. “I get that. Have fun.” 

“You’ll have fun too,” Adam did his best to reassure him. With Henry, or with… who are you thinking of asking?” 

Noah shifted awkwardly. “I was actually thinking of asking you.”

“Oh,” Adam was surprised. “Well, if I was going to be here for the dance I’d say yes.” 

Noah smiled a little. “Just as friends though, you mean.” 

“I–”

“That’s totally okay.” said Noah with a little half smile. “I just wanted to ask.”

~

“Mr. Gansey?” called the teacher. 

“The Kreb’s Cycle.” Gansey answered in that irritatingly smooth, lush voice of his. 

For the better part of the week, Gansey had been ignoring Adam. He tried to tell himself this was a good thing, that he didn’t want anything to do with someone as dangerous as Gansey clearly must be. He’d never imagined “dangerous” to be a word to describe a man wearing the most ungodly shade of canary yellow imaginable, but there was a first for everything. But truthfully, Adam’s pride had been stung. He guessed Gansey must seriously regret saving him from certain death. That was the most reasonable explanation for the cold shoulder. Today however, those hazel eyes had been fixed on Adam from the moment he’d arrived in class. Adam was using all of his willpower to maintain that he was not affected. He almost managed it, telling himself the goosebumps on his skin were because it was always freezing in the lab, not for any other reason, until the bell rang. Adam gathered up his things in record time, hoping to leave immediately. 

“Adam?” 

He hated how his body turned in response to that voice, like a sunflower soaking up nutrients from the sun. 

“What? Are you speaking to me again?” 

He smiled, but it looked pained, not like his usual golden boy grin. A small, bitter part of Adam was pleased by that. “I’m supposed to be. I seem to be bad at it, though.”

“I’ll give you props for self awareness.” 

“I’m sorry,” said Gansey, and he sounded like he meant it. “I would like to be your friend Adam, however it’s best if I’m not.” 

Adam had heard variations of this before. It was what every almost-friend he'd had growing up had said whenever they found out something real about him. Most frequently it was when they met his parents, or heard about them, or added up what his bruises actually meant. Sometimes it was about other things, like his not being able to afford the things boys around him could. He’d gone to public school, but he’d been placed in the advanced classes full of mostly kids from the kind of picturesque middle class families that his father used to speak of with a mixture of distaste and envy. And then when he’d gotten older, there’d been the other rumors as well… basically, Adam was used to rejection disguised as kindness. 

“I’m sorry too,” said Adam, stiffly. “For being the cause of such regret.”

Gansey blinked in confusion. “Regret for what?”

“For not letting the stupid car crush my skull.”

Gansey appeared stunned. “You think I could regret saving your life?”

“You could. You clearly do.” Adam snapped.

His expression turned colder, more remote. “I thought you were smarter than this.” 

Adam didn’t dignify this with a response. He strode out, pleased that something he’d said struck a nerve. 

~

When he made his way towards his parking spot after school that day, Adam found a figure leaning against his car. It was the only person he wanted to see less than Gansey; Tad Carruthers. 

“Hey, Parrish.” 

“Hi.” 

“How are you feeling? Again I’m so sorry about –” 

“I’m alright, thank you.” Adam tried to convey as much chilliness as possible in his demeanor. 

“Great! That’s great, I was actually wondering if you’d like to go to the –” 

“I’m not going to be in town for the dance,” Adam said quickly. “I have a family thing in Seattle.” 

“Oh,” Tad looked genuinely disappointed, then he brightened. “Well, there’s always the spring formal.” 

By the time Adam had come up with his response, Tad was already halfway to the other side of the parking lot. In the Camaro, he saw Gansey, Blue Helen and Orla were all preparing to take off. Gansey caught his eye in the rearview mirror, and he looked like he was laughing, as though he’d heard every word of that conversation with Tad. But that wasn’t possible, likely he was laughing at something Blue or Helen had said. 

~

That night, Adam made pasta with grilled chicken and vegetables for dinner. Persephone frowned down at the cherry tomatoes in the pasta. “These are supposed to be green, aren’t they?”

Persephone did this sometimes; she had an idea of what color something should be or what texture, and when what she saw did not line up with it she could grow contemplative. If it were anyone else, Adam would have looked down on it, found it childish. When it was Persephone though, he did his best to be patient. He understood that she was wise and intuitive, that she understood things about the world that people who were traditionally smart did not. However, he also felt a need to ground her in normal boring reality, when possible.

 “Some are green, but these ones are red and they’re very good. I’ll try to get green ones next time, if they’re available, but right now you should eat these Persephone.” 

Persephone nodded, and returned to her meal with fixed attention. Before he went to do the dishes, Adam said, “Persephone, I wanted to tell you I’ll be out of town for a day over the weekend.” 

Persephone’s fair eyebrows raised at this. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m going to drive up to Seattle. I just think it’ll be good for me to get away for a little bit, and I can get some new books and maybe a new messenger bag.” 

Persephone looked mildly troubled. “Are you sure the truck can manage that long a trip?”

“I’ll make a few stops for gas. I’m actually looking forward to the long drive.” 

“Are you going all by yourself?”
“Yeah.”

Persephone pursed her lips, considering. “I wonder if I should offer to come with you… but I truly despise Seattle.” 

Adam felt a wave of relief at this. He enjoyed Persephone’s company more than anyone else, but he truly wanted to be alone for a while. 

“However,” she said. “I don’t feel comfortable with you having no protection. Let me give you the number of a good friend of mine, Calla Johnson, who lives in Seattle. Promise me that if you have any trouble, you’ll get in touch with her.” 

A part of Adam was annoyed at the implication he needed “protecting”. After all, he’d been without protection for years and survived. And at the same time, that made Persephone’s insistence that he not go without it all the more invaluable. “I will.” he promised. “If there’s a need, but really I’ll be fine. I’ll spend the day in a very boring way.”

Chapter Text

 They were watching a video in health class, and Adam’s bad ear began to ring. He was startled, this was not supposed to happen, he’d expected to never hear out of that ear ever again. But the ringing intensified to a point where Adam was clenching his teeth to avoid screaming. Eventually he started banging his forehead against his desk, in an attempt to quiet the noise. 

Through the buzzing, Adam could make out other students saying things like, “what’s wrong with him?” “Is he having a seizure?” “Hey Parrish, what’s wrong?” 

“That’s it.” said the teacher. “One of you, take Mr. Parrish to see the nurse”. 

Unfortunately, it was Tad who volunteered. 

By the time they were a few halls down from the Health classroom, Adam’s hearing was normal again, and he felt shaky but not panicked. “You can go back to class,” he told Tad.

“Mrs. Moss said you needed to be supervised on your way to the nurse,, I’m not letting you go off alone.”

“I can take him off your hands.” said a familiar, velvety voice. 

Adam turned to see Gansey, his expression annoyingly smooth.

“I can get there just fine on my own–”  

Tad rolled his eyes, but like many of the students he seemed a bit afraid of Gansey and his family. “Okay. Guess he’s all yours.” 

He left, and Adam scowled at Gansey. 

“What? I thought he was irritating you.” said Gansey. He placed his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants. 

“He was, and now I want to be left alone. Also, why aren’t you in class?”

“I have independent study during this period.” 

Adam frowned. “You're allowed to do that?” 

“Yeah, if you have enough credits and space in your schedule and get along with a teacher well enough and can convince them you're serious about your subject, you can get them to agree to be your advisor and sign a form.”

“What subject is your’s in?”

“History. Mr. Roe usually lets me do what I want during this period as long as I can prove to him I’m making good progress in our check in, and he sometimes has me run errands for him.” 

Adam sternly told himself he was not burning with curiosity about Gansey’s academic passions. “Well good for you, you can go back to working on that stuff if you want. I’m fine.”

“Apparently you're not fine, why do they want you to see a nurse?”

Adam hesitated, unsure how to explain. “A few years ago my left ear was damaged in an accident, and it started ringing really loudly in class. I think everyone else thought I was having a seizure or something. But it’s okay now.”

Gansey looked genuinely concerned. “You really should get a check up then. Do you have an otolaryngologist you see regularly? If you're looking for one in Forks I could get you a reference–” 

“No I don’t have a fancy doctor seeing to my every need, Gansey.” Adam snapped. “Not everyone is like you. Not everyone who had a bad thing happen to them has fairytale godparents to sweep in and save them and coddle them and cater to their every whim, for the rest of us it doesn’t work that way.” 

There was silence between them for a few minutes. Adam’s chest was heaving rapidly, he was burning and he craved something to set himself ablaze with. 

When Gansey responded it was with an even tone, not a trace of unruliness in his expression or speech. “Alright. I guess you know everything there is to know about me and my family. So there’s no point in giving you more information, you have all of it.” 

~ 

They had walked in silence to the nurses room, Adam feeling awful about what he’d said the entire time but not wanting to make something worse. When they parted ways Gansey said, “At least ask Persephone if someone professional can look at your ear.” He turned away.

“Gansey, wait.” said Adam, and without meaning to, he placed a hand on Gansey’s arm, at the junction between his elbow and forearm. He immediately felt self conscious. “I didn’t mean it like – I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve me lashing out like that.” 

Gansey’s expression softened a bit. “That’s alright, Parrish.” 

“No it’s not all right.” 

“I’ll see you around, right now I should go see if Mr. Roe needs anything.” 

The nurse did recommend he start seeing an otolaryngologist.

Chapter Text

Because Adam had already begged off going to the dance proper, Noah and Henry would not let him get away with skipping the party the night before. Why anyone, much less everyone, wanted to socialize for a whole night before a whole other day full of more socializing, Adam had no idea. But he felt bad about disappointing Noah before, and so agreed. They were going somewhere called Lindenmere , which seemed a bizarre name for a beach. “It’s the name of the forest around it,” explained Henry, “so we call the whole area, including the Lake, that.” Henry had some sort of meeting for the school play and so would make his way there separate from Adam and Noah, who took Adam’s truck there. On the way, Noah rambled about various people who were taking each other on dates or had recently broken up or who wanted to go together but were going with other people. Adam had always thought that was more Henry’s forte, but apparently Noah could be just as much of a gossip. When they arrived, Adam was struck by the forest; it was a lush green, which was not unusual for Forks, but its unkempt wildness was what drew Adam in. The greenery he’d seen elsewhere in the state had been clean and neat; ironically, this stretch of land appeared more like something that might be found in Virginia.

When they got to the Lake itself, a throng of teens were already there, drinking beer from plastic red cups and dancing to something electric sounding. 

“I’m freezing,” said Noah. Adam would have said that Noah always seemed to be cold, but the winter night air was truly bitter. At least there was a bonfire. Alcohol was offered, but Adam told them he didn’t drink. Noah apparently did. “Your designated driver,” he said, patting Adam on the back before joining the fray. Adam had assumed he and Noah would be in a corner together, Noah too shy to speak to anyone else and Adam with no desire to do so. But it appeared that Noah at a party was a very different Noah from the quiet boy who ducked his head and willed himself to not be called on in class. A few people did try to engage Adam in conversation, but Adam mostly gave one word answers until they gave up. He danced with one girl, a brunette named Stacey, then thought he’d search for Noah and hopefully leave with him. That was when he spotted a familiar face. It was Ronan Lynch. 

He stood a bit apart from everyone else, behind the fire but facing the lake. Light played over the compressed angles of his cheekbones, his long sharp nose, his sinfully narrow mouth. Adam hesitated. Would approaching him be wise? He looked as though he didn’t want to be disturbed from whatever reverie he was in. He was clutching what appeared to be a crumpled up beer can in one hand, which indicated he’d been indulging, but he wasn’t acting like the other boys at this party who were drunk. Adam turned back to the throng to see if he could spot Noah or Henry. Noah was dancing with a redheaded girl, actually it looked more like grind– Adam had seen enough of Noah. He could not see Henry anywhere, and felt irritated. After all that pestering about Adam’s anti-socialness, and Mr. Gossip Column couldn’t even deign to make an appearance. Or he had come and was avoiding Adam. Both possibilities were annoying. He made his way over to where Ronan stood. 

Ronan turned to face him. His blue eyes were a few shades paler than the water before them. 

“You again.” he grunted. 

“Me again.” Adam intoned in his flattest effect.

“Shouldn’t you be with your friends?”

“Shouldn’t you have friends?” 

Ronan narrowed those icewater blue eyes. Adam thought that if their expression weren’t so fierce, the curling eyelashes framing them would be quite pretty. “I have friends, Parrish. They just don’t go to school.” The way he said it implied that not only did they not go to Aglionby, they did not go to school anywhere. 

“How is your brother?” asked Adam.

“An asshole. How’s Aglionby for you?”
“Fine. I like my classes –”

“Nerd.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “It seems they don’t get new kids often, people seem.. Excited.”

“They’re treating you like the special of the week.” Now Ronan’s voice was tinged with disdain, but not for Adam. 

“I guess that’s one way to put it. It’s irritating, but I did make friends with Noah, and he’s great.” 

“Noah Czerny?” Ronan’s tone had less harshness to it now. “I know him, he’s alright.” 

‘Alright’ did seem to be the highest possible regard Ronan Lynch could have for another human being. 

They stood in silence for a bit, watching the water lap against the shore and turn different colors as the firelight reflected on it. From the corner of his eye, Adam thought he saw Ronan glance at him a couple of times, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe he was checking to make sure the flames of the bonfire didn’t get too high, or on someone in the crowd behind them. But at any rate, it was a comfortable silence. 

It was Ronan who broke it. “You don’t remember me do you?” 

Adam was caught off guard. “Of course I remember, you and your brother were the first people I met here besides Persephone.” 

Ronan shook his head. “No, I meant from before.” 

“From before…” Did Ronan mean that he and Adam had met when they were younger and Adam had been in Forks? But that couldn’t be.. He would have remembered that..”

“I don’t remember much about coming here back then,” he said apologetically. “I know I did and I know I should remember, but everything’s a blur.” Now Ronan appeared alert, more assessing. 

“You remember nothing?”

“I remember Persephone, and the diner. Nothing else.” 

“Hmmph.” Ronan sounded skeptical. Adam started to get pissed.

“It’s the truth, Ronan. I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it is.” 

“What’s going on here?” Like a bad penny, Henry Cheng had showed up. “ Ronan Lynch ,” he said in astonishment, “you are here to party with the rest of us?” 

Ronan didn’t acknowledge Henry. He acted as though no one had spoken at all. 

“Wow, Parrish,” said Henry. “You seem to be luring all the Boo Radley’s out of hiding.” 

“Where were you, Henry?” asked Adam. “I didn’t see you before.”

“Oh, I did get later than expected thanks to a certain someone.” Henry was clearly baiting him to ask for details, but Adam refused to give him the satisfaction. Henry changed to another tactic. 

“Say, Lynch, do you know if anybody invited the Gansey’s and the Sargent’s?” 

Ronan visibly stiffened. “They aren’t welcome on this property.” 

Adam and Henry exchanged a look. This was interesting. “How come?” asked Henry.

“Our families don’t get along.”
“Wait,” said Adam, “why would that .. you live here ?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Henry absently. “I thought I had told you that, guess it slipped my mind… Niall Lynch, his and his brother Declan’s father, bought the forest and surrounding land from the nature preservationists responsible for it’s upkeep, even built a house in those woods – it was a huge scandal –”

Ronan regained his composure. “Fuck off, Cheng.” He began walking away when Adam grabbed his wrist. “Tell me, I want to know why you hate them.”

Henry chuckled. “Yeah, Adam is very partial to all things Gansey.” 

Adam turned a furious glare on Henry.
Ronan was studying Adam, something steely and unreadable in his gaze. “Is that true? Then maybe it would be good for you to hear the story.” 

“What story?” asked Adam. 

“The story of the cold ones,” said a voice from behind him. Adam turned to meet Declan Lynch’s eyes. Declan looked to where Adam’s hand was still on Ronan’s arm, and his lip curled in distaste. Adam immediately released his grip, and took a few steps away from Ronan. It was a habit. 

“It’s a rather far fetched tale,” said Declan, “I personally don’t believe in it. But there is an Irish legend about a people who are ethereally beautiful and young forever..”

“And they stay that way by sucking the blood of their enemies,” Ronan chimed in. “It’s the same group, who bathe the same town in blood every couple of decades, presenting themselves as a family and not leech-“ 

Declan held up a hand. “As you can see, my brother gets quite overenthused by the stories our Father told us when we were small. The point is, the area where Maura and Dean live, the architecture of their house and everything, even the inhabitants appearance, is almost exactly like how this fairy tale was described to us by our father.” He gave it a moment to sink in. “And so my poor grief stricken brother finds the whole thing quite upsetting, he doesn’t like to be around that family due to the, obviously coincidental, similarities.”

“Fuck you,” snarled Ronan, with a ferocity that transformed those words, which had sounded so blase directed at Henry, into a world of venom and rage. Then, he struck Declan across the face.

Or at least, he tried to. Declan caught his wrist just in time, then used the momentum to hit Ronan in his torso with his own arm. Ronan let out a scream and then they started pummeling each other, exchanging blows like two lions locked in a predatory dance. Adam was transfixed by the grace of their movements, the ripple of muscles, by the stark emotion on Ronan’s face and in his howls, contrasted by Declan’s cold mechanicalness. By now the kids had stopped dancing and making out, and were now staring.

“Move,” said Henry, and he all but peeled Adam away from the scene. 

“Get off me,” Adam snapped.

Henry put his hands up. “Just making sure you didn’t get caught in the Lynch crossfire.” 

Adam knew he was expected to be grateful. “Thanks. Sorry.” 

Noah came up to them. “What happened?”

“The wolves came sniffing for fresh meat,” said Henry dryly.

Chapter Text

Adam’s trip to Seattle started off without a hitch, which should have been a clear warning to him. It was a long drive, so Adam left early in the morning. Once there, he made his first stop at a Nordstrom, the place he’d been told to go for a new book bag. Persephone had insisted on giving him extra money for the trip, but he still felt like the bag he’d gotten was too expensive. The lady at the checkout counter seemed puzzled by him choosing their most utilitarian, least expensive option for a men's bag, which cheered him up a little. 

After that, Adam went to a couple of bookstores, and to the Seattle public library. He’d gotten the texts he’d needed for his math science and history classes from the school store already, so the only things he needed from here were for English. He would like to get some others, but he knew it would be more practical to get them from the library. Only, was the distance really worth driving back and forth so often? Petrol was expensive. He heard Persephone’s voice in his head, telling him it didn’t matter, that she wouldn’t be mad at him for getting things he wanted, but he still didn’t know how to trust it completely. 

While he was in the library, he found himself compelled to pick up some books he normally wouldn’t bother with. Books on fantastical myths and legends. He decided to pay particular attention to the volumes on Celtic or Irish folklore. Sure enough, in these pages he found more stories like the ones Ronan and Declan had alluded to. From there he started rereading sections of Dracula, and stumbled upon a book he’d never heard of before which was titled Carmilla. He found himself reading through the tiny novel in one sitting. It was such a strange story. He found himself at times liking the narrator, and at other times being frustrated with her. How could she not see that she was being lied to by someone who she had entrusted?  That her weakness for Carmilla was what had caused her sickness?

When he left the library it was dark outside, and there were a couple of blocks between where he’d parked his car and the exit. He would have to walk. Adam was no stranger to muggers. He’d been mugged on the way back from Boyd’s during his first week of working there, when he was fourteen (he’d wanted to work there a year earlier, but Boyd said he was too young and he didn’t want legal trouble). He’d come home to his parents and been unable to hide that he’d been crying, which only made his father’s words and fists harsher. After the humiliation of having his first ever paycheck taken from him, Adam was determined that it wouldn’t happen again, and he’d been careful. He knew how to be invisible, it was his specialty. But unfortunately, he didn’t succeed in being invisible today.

One minute, Adam was alone. The next, he was surrounded. There were four men, one of whom looked to be around Declan’s age, the others of whom looked to be older. Adam tried to make a run for it, but while he was quite fast, these men seemed almost preternaturally quick and graceful. A bit like how Gansey was graceful, but not like Gansey at all. The tall, agile man nearest to him was looking at Adam in a way that made him feel like leeches were crawling across his skin. He wanted to take a step back, but then he might walk right into one of the others. Instead, he grabbed a small bottle from his bag, threw the contents into the man's face, and gave his best attempt to make a run for it. I really wanted that coke, he thought dimly. It turned out to be a waste, as he’d been running for not even a minute when his pursuer caught up to him, his expression furious. He seized Adam’s wrist and shoulder, gripping him hard. Adam struggled but it was no use, this man was so much stronger than him. Unexpectedly, the man turned him at an angle, and smoothed his hair as if to ensure if couldn’t cover his face, or his neck. Then, someone else arrived. 

Adam was tossed unceremoniously to the side as Gansey came into view. He snarled at the man, saying something in a language Adam didn’t know. Whatever it was had his assailant looking grim, and like he questioned his life choices. While he was retreating, the youngest of them had other ideas. He leapt at Gansey, Adam was about to call out a warning when Gansey turned, agile as a lion, and slashed his head clean off with a knife. Adam couldn’t help but stare. He knew he ought to be disturbed by the blood, the death, but he wasn’t. He had a hard time reconciling it with Gansey, though. Which was ludicrous, considering everything. The other thing that disturbed him was the cleanness of the cut, the almost surgical precision with which Gansey had wielded it. As if he wanted to minimize the bloodshed. The others rapidly retreated, once they saw their friends prone form and blank gaze. 

“Adam,” said Gansey. He was touching his shoulder now, gently. Adam feels like he should be afraid, but he’s not. “Are you alright?” 

Adam nodded, stiffly. He didn’t say ‘I’m fine’. He didn’t say ‘I could have handled that myself’. There was no way to pretend either statement was true, but he also wasn’t going to make it easy for Gansey. So he didn’t spit venomous words or defend his own competence, but he didn’t thank Gansey either. He didn’t say anything at all. 

“Where are you parked?” asked Gansey, anxiously. “I came on.. The Pig isn’t with me, so I’ll take you to the car and drive you .. if you want to go home we can.”

“No,” said Adam, the first words he’d spoken to Gansey since he’d arrived. 

Now, Gansey looked furious. It was a complete shift from his concern a minute ago. “Well, I’m not going to leave you to get yourself into trouble again.”

Adam gaped at him. What? 

“Do you really hate me that much?”

“No,” said Adam, voice unsteady. 

“Well then–” 

“I didn’t mean leave,” said Adam. “I meant .. I don’t want to go home yet, I don’t want Persephone to worry.”

“I think she should worry.” 

“No!” Adam grabbed Gansey’s hand. “Please, Gansey, after the hospital I don’t want to give Persephone another reason to reconsider if I’m worth keeping around.”

Gansey’s eyes widened. “Persephone has always seemed very kind, but if she makes you feel like – “

“She’s really good to me,” said Adam, “I’m just. Not used to it.” This is the closest he’ll come to apologizing to Gansey for what he said in school. He hopes Gansey can understand that.

Eventually, Gansey nodded, although he still looked concerned. “Fine, we don’t have to tell her about this.” And I won’t tell anyone about you, though Adam. Again.

“At least let me take you to dinner,” said Gansey. When Adam gave him a look, he added, “I know a restaurant not far from here, it’s a little like the diner back home but with more ambiance. We can just grab a bite there, and then you can decide what you want to do and I’ll go along with it, scouts honor. You must be starving.” Are you? Adam wondered. But he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to observe Gansey eating. “Alright,” he said, and told Gansey where his car was parked. 

~

Once they were in Adam’s truck, Gansey insisted on driving. Adam was too numb to fight him on it. Then, Gansey took notice of the fact Adam was shivering, and offered him his jacket. 

“No,” Adam mumbled. It sounded like something a petulant child would say, and he hated that.

“Fine. Then I’m not getting you anything to eat until, unless you pot it on.”

Adam merely stared at him, unimpressed.

Gansey worried on his lower lip with his thumb. “Fine, I’ll feed you regardless, but please Adam just wear it.” The gesture was what convinced him. Gansey was truly out of sorts, which was normal, but Gansey was not normal. He usually seemed so unflappable, so king-like. 

Once Adam was clad in Gansey’s jacket – which was a rich cobalt blue, prettier and warmer than anything he’d owned before, and smelling of mint and cinnamon – Gansey started driving. He wasn’t one of those rich boys who only knew how to drive automatic and felt himself above learning manual, which was a good thing, Adam didn’t have patience for that. They reached a diner with sky blue wallpaper and cloud-white furniture. It was called the Dolphin Diner. Adam questioned the intelligence of whoever had thought that was a good name. Gansey seemed to like the place though. 

A waitress greeted them. She was petite and wore her dark hair in a bob, kind of like Blue, but she was dressed and styled very conventionally, unlike Blue, and smiled a lot, also unlike Blue. From what Adam had seen of Blue anyway, he’d still never properly met her. Why was he thinking of her so much right now? The waitress was polite to Adam, but it was Gansey she couldn’t take her eyes off of. For his part, Gansey seemed far more composed now, and was radiating Southern gentlemanly charm that the waitress seemed eager to lick off a spoon like honey. 

“What would you like to eat?” It took Adam a moment to realize Gansey was speaking to him, he’d been too busy staring at … well, staring. 

“Um,” Adam glanced at the menu. Everything looked overpriced, despite the casual setting. “I’ll have a coke.”

“And?” Gansey’s expression was sharp as needles.

“What are you getting?” asked Adam. Now Gansey seemed to not want to meet his eyes. 

“Oh.. an iced tea.”

“Great, so we’ll both just get drinks.”

“You need to consume something–”

Adam didn’t like that Gansey was treating him like an annoying little brother he was tasked with feeding. He especially didn’t like the waitress seeing it, although he told himself her opinion didn’t matter. 

“If you order something to eat, I will too.” 

A muscle worked in Gansey’s jaw. He knew he was being tested, although Adam didn’t know if he understood why. “Very well. I will have the chicken parmesan sandwich.”

“I’ll have the same.” said Adam.

The girl looked amused as she walked away from their table.

“You know,” said Adam, “it’s not fair that you did that to her.”

Gansey frowned. “Did what?”

“The thing.”

“What thing?"

“You know,” Adam said, exasperated. “It isn’t fair of you to dazzle people like that?”

“You think I’m dazzling?” The puzzled tone in his voice made Adam want to hit something. There was no way anyone could have such an effect and be unaware of it, right? 

“Forget it.’

“Alright, then. I don’t know why you wanted me to order food so badly–”

Adam scoffed. 

Gansey sighed. “Are you mad at me for saving your life?”
“No.” said Adam. 

“But you are mad at me?”
Adam sighed. “I’m just tired of secrets.” 

“Believe me,” Gansey said warily. “I am too.” 

When she came back with their food, Gansey studied his sandwich for a while, like it was a map written in a foreign language. Then he came to the realization that Adam wasn’t going to eat unless he did, so he took a bite. Then Adam took a bite and so on. Gansey didn’t look like the sandwich made him sick, but he did look like he found the whole process of taking bites of something tedious. 

After they were done eating, Adam decided it was time to start asking questions. “What are you?”

“A caucasian male, 5’6.” 

“Not funny. How did you save me from getting run over? How did you get those guys to leave me alone last night?” 

“Well, when they saw what happened to the one–”

“How did you kill him? What was the language you spoke to them in?”

“Oh,” said Gansey, “That one I can answer for you. I spoke to them in Slavic.” 

That created more questions, but they weren’t the most pressing ones. 

“How can you move so fast?” 

Gansey held up a hand. “I can’t tell you. You’ll have to ask me something else.”

Adam stewed in silence for a bit, finishing his soda. Then he said, “At least tell me what you're doing here. Tell me that, and I won’t ask any more questions.” For now. 

Whether or not Gansey heard the unsaid part of the sentence, Adam didn’t know, but if he did, he clearly thought getting Adam off his back in the present was worth dealing with him in the future. “I actually come here a lot, there’s great art and culture in the city, you don’t find in Forks. But that’s not the main reason I came here, I was visiting a friend who I wanted to consult on a time-sensitive topic. I guess you could say it’s partially research and partially personal, but I had to meet with Professor Roger Mallory who is teaching a course at Seattle Pacific University currently.” Okay. That felt like it was true, but not the whole truth. It did give Adam someone to look into, and he made note of the name Professor Roger Mallory. They sat at the diner a little longer, now in a silence that wasn’t quite peaceful, but was..contented, in a way. Before they left, Gansey gave Adam a long, searching look. 

“What is it?” Adam wondered if there was something on his face. 

“You should keep the jacket. The color blue looks lovely on your skin.”

Chapter Text

Persephone’s reaction to Gansey bringing Adam home was not what he’d expected. Adam had thought that either she’d be angry at them both or she’d thank Gansey several times too many, but she was almost.. Flippant. She was polite to Gansey, but there was something.. off. It wasn’t until Gansey left that he realized what it was. She didn’t seem stunned by Gansey in the way everyone else was. She spoke to him like he was the most ordinary of boys. And then he left, and it was just the two of them.

“I’m so sorry–” he began.
“It’s alright,” said Persephone, “I know it was due to factors out of your control. The important thing is that you're alright.”
Adam didn’t understand. He hoped he would one day, though.
“Would you mind if I borrowed your truck tomorrow morning?” Persephone asked. “I have an errand to run and it’s more appropriate for where I’ll be going than my car is.”
Adam guessed that sounded like a fair punishment. “Okay. I guess I’ll walk to school–”
“Oh, I foresee you won’t be needing to.”
Adam frowned, but Persephone was busy scribbling in a notebook and muttering things. He caught snatches of words like sage and blood and moon and others that were unintelligible.

~

The next morning, a familiar 1973 Chevrolet Camaro rolled into the driveway in front of Persephone’s china blue house. Adam walked up to the driver side window, exasperated. Gansey was wearing a pistachio colored henley, dark gray chinos and black ray band sunglasses.
“What are you doing here?” asked Adam.
“After last night, I thought you could use a ride to school.”
Remembering Persephone’s assertion, Adam felt simultaneously ruffled and strangely invigorated. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Gansey looked taken aback. “I wasn’t trying to.. I just thought you’d be shaken up and so it’d help if..”
“I’ve been through worse.”
“And I wish I could’ve been around to help then, but I’m here now.”

Adam almost continued to the sidewalk, but something about that made him stand still. He wondered what life in Henrietta would have been like if he’d known someone like Gansey.
“Where are the rest of your family?” he asked Gansey, distracting himself from that line of thought.
“Helen is driving them today.”
“She has a car? Then why do you always drive them.”
“I happen to enjoy driving people I care about around.”
Adam couldn’t help but blush. Then, he scolded himself. He didn’t mean you. Even if he did, he would be comparing how he saw Adam to how he saw his sister. And his sort of girlfriend chimed in an unhelpful voice.
Eventually, against his better judgement, Adam got into the seat next to Gansey, who smiled like he’d won the lottery.

~

The Pig, as Gansey called it, was beautiful. Adam had daydreamed about getting to drive expensive, sleek cars since he was twelve but he’d never imagined one so uniquely vibrant. Its charm was simultaneously classical and whimsical. Despite Adam’s turbulent emotions about getting in the car, he had fun during the actual ride between the conversation with Gansey (they discussed Gansey’s independent study and Adam told him about a history paper he’d written at his last school and Gansey proceeded to ask his opinion on several events and people which led them into a discussion of Elizabeth Gaskell’s life and work) and the experience of the car itself. And when they arrived, and people stared in shock and awe, Adam couldn’t say he hated it, for once. He felt like it would have been different back home – he could just imagine the comments his father would have made to seeing him in a “rich boy’s beamer” – but here no one knew Adam had been trailer trash. He told himself that made it okay.

During Adam’s pre-lunch classes, people whispered about him, but aside from Noah they kept their distance.
“They see you as one of them, now,” said Noah. He didn’t say it bitterly, but with a sardonic smirk on his face.
“I’m not,” said Adam. “Gansey just.. We ran into each other over the weekend and now he thinks I’m some damsel in distress.” He described the night before, as well as this morning, to Noah.
“Huh,” said Noah. “But I mean, you didn’t have to get in the car with him. He didn’t make you.”
Adam sighed, frustrated. “I know that.”
“So it doesn’t seem like you mind spending time with him.”
“I don’t, of course I don’t he’s –” Sweet and weird and funny and effortlessly lovable and gorgeous and smells like cinnamon –
“That’s not the point,” he said, “it’s the circumstances under which he spends time with me that matter.”
“What matters?” asked a third voice. To Adam’s amazement, he saw that Ronan Lynch was in Latin today.
“What are you doing here?”
“Attending class.”
“You’ve never been here before.”
“Yes I have.”
“Hey, Ronan,” said Noah.
“Czerny.” Ronan nodded at him. “How’s life?”
“It’s going well. Gansey drove Adam to school today.”
“Hey!” said Adam. Not that he hated the idea of Ronan knowing that, he just felt odd about it.
Ronan’s expression turned flinty. “So Parrish, what ‘circumstances’ led to this development, and why do they matter to you?”
“None of your business.”
“Quite right, Mr. Parrish,” said Mr. Lang. “It is none of our business what you, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Czerny are discussing, so please turn your attention away from them and towards me”.
Adam was quite embarrassed by this. He’d never gotten into trouble with a teacher in this way. He had gotten into fights – or rather, other students had gotten him into them – at his old school, or he would have to go to the counselors to blandly reassure them everything was fine at home and his latest bruises were from some sport or accident, until he was let go. But in class Adam gave 100% of his attention and effort. He needed to keep doing that here, after all Persephone was counting on him, believing in him and he couldn’t prove her wrong. Ronan looked angry and upset about something, although Adam couldn’t imagine what.

~

Adam had been dreading a conversation with Henry about Gansey’s Camaro, but blessedly he had the flu. While Ronan’s erratic moods were tiresome, Adam thought he could get used to more of him around and less of Henry in general. After class, Adam found Gansey waiting for him.
“My family is going out for lunch.”
Adam felt a swell of disappointment in his chest. Of course, Gansey was coming to let him down gently about how the ride to school had only been that, and he did not want to spend any more time with Adam outside of a science lab now that he was certain Adam wasn’t in danger every time he was alone.”
“Well, good for you all but I don’t see–”
“So I thought we could have lunch? If you don’t mind.”
Adam blinked. “We, as in the two of us?”
Gansey frowned. “Yeah, of course – if that’s okay with you, obviously if you’d rather eat with Czerny and Cheng– “
“Which table?”
“What?”
“Your usual one with your family?”
“If you're alright with that. Or I could –”
“That sounds okay,” said Adam, aiming for nonchalance. “Will you actually be eating during this meal?”
Gansey sighed. “No, but I’m prepared to explain myself to you.”
That was an even more enticing offer.