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Students of Raccoon City High School constantly work to get the best grades possible to build themselves a good future, but there’s a topic that’s much more interesting than any other subject: figuring out if Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Y/L/N are secretly dating or not.
The truth’s that Leon and you dating is an open secret. Even though you haven’t confirmed it, conspiracy theories travel from class to class, going all the way from the youngest students to those who are only months away from graduating.
Saying that everyone ships you two is an understatement, especially when there’s plenty of evidence that, maybe, you’re not just coworkers… or even just friends.
Leon’s the Physics and Chemistry teacher every student wants to have, even the ones who hate Science. While he lives for calculations and tends to keep a very closed, logical mind, you’re the complete opposite. You live to tell stories from the past and, sometimes, even those from the future. And, just like Leon, your only goal is to make your students become more interested in your subject, even if it’s a little (quite, actually) boring.
You’re quite different, yet you’re always together, looking for any moment, any excuse, just to say even a simple “hello” to each other.
Even your classrooms are right next to each other despite belonging to completely different departments… because you asked for it.
And all that closeness, all that understanding between the two of you, exists because you have been dating for two years, almost three… And not to mention you’re even engaged.
The problem? No one, not even the other teachers at school, knows… at least, not until you start being less careful with your secret because you think no one suspects anything anymore, without you both realizing that the quite opposite would happen.
The first problem of all is the sweater incident.
It’s a day like any other. Leon and you arrive at school together and, as always, you head to your respective classrooms, not before sharing a quick and hidden kiss on your lips in the teachers’ lounge, making sure no one’s around to catch you.
Your first class is with your senior students, and you know it will be a tough one because, today, you have to explain World War II to them, something they struggle quite a bit to understand. You start drawing diagrams on the board while your students slowly arrive. You greet them and return to your task, trying to focus and ignore their comments until they grow louder and louder and you have no choice but to turn around.
When you do, they’re all staring at you with wide eyes and open mouths, as if they’ve just seen a ghost.
“Is something wrong, guys?” you ask curiously, wanting to know what is going on.
No one answers.
Emma, one of the most participative students in the class, is the one who somewhat breaks the silence.
She raises her hand a little shyly, and when you give her permission to speak, she starts talking:
“Ms. Y/L/N…” she says hesitantly. “It’s just… Well… your sweater…”
You frown and glance down at the piece of clothing. Yes, it is a navy-blue sweater you wear quite a lot during the Christmas holidays, and it’s become your favorite piece of clothing ever since…
When it finally clicks, you quickly look at the sleeves.
The initials “LK” are perfectly embroidered in red.
You panic almost instantly when you realize you’re wearing the same sweater you embroidered and gave to Leon on Christmas Day. The same one he lent you when you went out for a walk a few days later, and which you decided to adopt as your own.
“Oh, well…” you laugh nervously. You cross your arms and begin moving around the classroom, pretending you have to check some notes before starting the lesson. “It must be a mistake. It’s probably my dad’s, or my—”
“But, Ms. Y/L/N,” another student interrupts. Oliver, who’s much more mischievous than his classmate and knows perfectly well how to get information out of you. “ “LK” are Mr. Kennedy’s initials, right? You know… Leon… Kennedy… Seemed to forgot about the Scott…”
“What?” you let out a quick squeak, but loud enough that the students who are still distracted start paying attention. “No, no… of course not. It doesn’t mean that.”
“Then why is it the same one Mr. Kennedy was wearing yesterday?” another girl adds with an amused look and a playful smile. “Are you two buying clothes together now, or do you share them?”
“Are you wearing his sweater because you live together?!”
“Are you wearing it because you’re pregnant?! Are you pregnant with Mr. Kennedy’s baby?!”
The murmurs in the classroom grow louder.
You try to speak, but you definitely can’t. You make noise with the board erasers, the markers, the classroom bell. Fuck, you even shout, but nothing is enough to make your students finally be quiet.
Finally, you walk over to the still-open classroom door and slam it shut, startling all the teenagers who will spend the next hour with you. They fall silent immediately.
Even Leon, who’s in the classroom across from yours, peeks out to see what’s happening.
You simply poke your face through the small window in the door and murmur a “nothing, I’ll tell you later,” which he doesn’t understand, but he answers by blowing you a kiss and winking at you, making you turn even redder than you probably already are.
“None of that, guys!” you say once you manage, or at least try, to regain your composure. “Now take your things out. Let’s start the class already. We’ve wasted enough time…”
You turn around and continue drawing the diagram on the board, but you know the quiet murmuring that continues in the classroom is only the beginning of not just a day, but a very hectic week… at least, until your students figure out what’s really going on between their two favorite teachers.
You sigh, try to stay calm, and pray things don’t get any worse.
However, you have no idea that this is only the beginning.
A few weeks later, after you tell Leon about the incident in class with his sweater, he calls you distracted and forgetful (which is true), and you both start being even more careful. The kisses you used to share in the teachers’ lounge now happen in your shared car, long before entering the school, and after making absolutely sure no one’s around.
Leon and you, but mostly him, deny every rumor. Not only the ones your “adopted children,” as your students call themselves, spread about you, but also the ones circulating among your colleagues. Eventually, though… your fellow teachers tell you to stop pretending you’re not together because it’s obvious from a mile away, but that they will help you keep the secret from the students.
But, well… the main problem in keeping that secret is you and your little slip-ups.
The next problem happens during recess.
Normally, each teacher has a routine depending on whether they have to supervise recess or not. That day you’re the one staying in the teachers’ lounge, while Leon’s on duty outside. So, when you walk in and see his mug full of coffee, you don’t hesitate to pick it up and take a sip, leaving a small kiss on the rim beforehand, your lipstick perfectly visible.
What surprises you is that, when you glance toward one corner of the room, two of Leon’s best senior Chemistry students are sitting there with their notebooks open and filled with exercises…
Along with Leon himself.
“Hi, guys…” you say shyly, playing with your hair.
The boys say nothing, and neither does Leon.
Instead, your fiancé simply looks at you, gives you a small smile, and tells his students to focus back on their exercises while he can’t stop shaking his head and quietly laughing to himself.
“Did you see that, Jason?” you hear Leon’s student ask her classmate while you are making some photocopies and Leon has gone to the bathroom.
“He didn’t even react!” the boy says. “And Mr. Kennedy… God, Anna, he just looked at her and smiled.”
“And he turned bright red! And let me tell you, someone drinking from your coffee is pretty weird, especially when you’re just coworkers. And Ms. Y/L/N even left a kiss on it, so it would be noticeable on his coffee mug, the usual one, the one he always uses and loves! I bet she gave it to him and—”
“Wait, wait…” Anna interrupts him. “What are you saying? Are you implying they’re…?”
“I’m very sure, at least, they live together. I’m convinced, Anna.”
You decide to stop listening and almost run out of the teachers’ lounge toward your classroom only to run straight into Leon.
You try to ignore him but, much to your dismay, he gently grabs your arm and makes you stop.
“Hey, you…”
His blue eyes are fixed on you. He hasn’t said anything else besides your name, but you know perfectly well what means with that.
“Yeah, okay, got it…” you reply, giving in to the displeased look on his face. “We’re just coworkers, Mr. Kennedy,” you emphasize the last part.
“You know you don’t have to say that here. For you I’m Leon, your coworker,” he replies jokingly. Then he leans close to your ear, making sure once again that no one is watching, and whispers: “Although you know I like it when you call me Mr. Kennedy in bed while I’m eating you out…”
“Alright, alright, that’s enough, move along!” you shout flustered as you pull away from him and continue down the hallway.
Leon, however, can’t stop watching you storm off from side to side, clutching the folder where you always keep a thousand different photocopies that somehow make you never find the one you actually want.
The weeks go by, and so do the rumors.
Now that the rest of the teachers at the school know that not only are you a couple, but you’re also engaged, they help quite a bit in silencing the gossip that surrounds you.
The only thing people hear in the hallways, classrooms, and even during parent meetings is how much your students ship you (alongside with stupid ship names).
Months pass since they catch you wearing Leon’s sweater in class, and although you have a few more slip-ups, like calling Leon honey in the middle of a lesson (something he hates but secretly loves hearing from you) or talking about your weekend plans when you think your students aren’t listening, the talk about you two and the secret you seem to share never really dies down.
The peak of it all, much to your disgrace, happens during one of the end-of-year trips.
It takes place in a museum in Raccoon City, specifically in the Medieval section.
You are very focused on explaining the artifacts your students are looking at and connecting them to the material you studied in class that you keep moving back and forth.
Your eyes occasionally glance at Leon, who has decided to accompany you “so you wouldn’t be alone,” and because of that you don’t notice that right behind you the floor suddenly becomes uneven.
Then, you take a step back and twist your ankle, falling to the ground suddenly as your explanation is interrupted by a cry that alarms both your students and your fiancé.
“Hey!” Leon shouts the moment he sees you, running toward you.
Your students hold their breath… but not so much because of the accident, but because of the scene happening in front of them.
Leon kneels in front of you and immediately checks your right ankle, which is clearly more swollen than normal.
“You okay, love?”
That love is a whisper… but not quiet enough for your students not to hear it clearly.
Naturally, they start letting out muffled squeals, jumping around and whispering to each other that they knew it, that it was obvious there was something between you more than just professionalism and a simple friendship.
“I think I twisted it,” you answer Leon, grimacing in pain while trying to stand up. “It’s… fine, I guess.”
“Hey, you really need to start being more careful. This happens to you all the time…” he sighs, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
“You say it like I trip every day.”
“You do, love,” he replies, giving you an unimpressed look while signaling the students to guide you. They say nothing and, instead, they simply stare, stunned. “Last month you fell in your classroom while trying to erase the board. Last week, at home, you almost broke your wrist grabbing a book I had hidden to give you as a gift. And now, look, a little more and—”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” you reply, surrendering. “I’m clumsy, but you still love me anyway, I guess.”
“Don’t say that. You know I love you no matter how clumsy you are.”
Leon shakes his head at what he just says, and then does the thing that nearly sends your students into a collective internal meltdown.
He takes your hand, and you have absolutely no shame in intertwining your fingers with his.
Your fiancé doesn’t hesitate either before placing a warm kiss on your hand.
Not to mention that, when you almost fall again, Leon has no problem holding you by the waist… or even picking you up in his arms to carry you to the small emergency room inside the museum while telling the chaotic teenagers, currently fangirling over the two of you, to wait outside and see what happens to you.
By the time you return to the school, the rumors have reached their peak, and there’s nothing you can do to avoid the confrontation with your students, especially when Anna, Jason, and a few others who are closest to you corner you after class, just as you are heading toward the parking lot to get into your car and go home together, hand in hand.
You barely have time to react when they step in front of you.
Their faces show shy smiles as they fiddle with the straps of their backpacks, unable to stop looking at the two of you.
Leon and you exchange a glance, and you both know there’s no turning back now, and that you don’t have any more excuses left.
“Guys, whatever you want to ask us, go on,” you say calmly, crossing your arms while leaning slightly against your fiancé.
“Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Y/L/N, we have something to ask you,” Jason begins.
Leon sighs and looks at you.
Yes, this is exactly what you expected.
“Let me guess… now we’re like your best friends or something, and you’ve decided we should play truth or dare with you?” your fiancé says jokingly.
“Exactly, Mr. Kennedy!” Camila, another girl, replies.
“The thing is… are you two dating, or not?”
“Sorry… What did you just say, Jenson?” you ask, trying not so much to avoid answering anymore, but to see where the conversation’s going.
“Oh my God, Ms. Y/L/N, don’t ignore us!” Anna says. “It’s obvious you wear Mr. Kennedy’s oversized hoodies…”
“And you drink from his coffee mug and leave super cute lipstick kisses on it,” Jason continues. “Oh, and you call him honey. Who calls their coworker honey?!”
“And you flirt in the hallways! Mr. Kennedy always leans in to whisper things in Ms. Y/L/N’s ear, and she turns super red!” another boy adds.
“And yesterday you were holding hands and calling each other love and those sweet things parents say!”
Leon and you look from one student to another, each comment making it harder and harder to contain your laughter.
“From the way you’re all saying that,” Leon comments, turning toward you with a huge grin, “it sounds like we’re married.”
“Well, we live together and we’re getting married in three months, so you’re not that far off,” you reply, bursting into laughter.
And that’s when silence falls.
The students stop laughing and instead exchange looks with each other for a moment until they start shaking one another, constantly shouting “I told you so!” while continuing to bombard you with even more personal questions about your relationship.
“So, it’s true?! You two are actually dating?!”
“Actually, we’ve been doing that for five years,” Leon answers proudly. “Dating, I mean. You know… getting to know each other… and all that.”
“And, as you’ve probably already heard, we’re getting married in three months,” you add. “We’ve been planning the wedding since… well, since Leon proposed to me almost a year and a half ago.”
“Do you know how long we’ve been shipping you when you were already canon? And in secret!” Jason shouts, clearly the most shocked by the revelation.
“We demand compensation after you’ve been lying to us all this time,” Anna says, crossing her arms and prompting her classmates to start saying the same thing.
You look at Leon, and he looks back at you.
He knows exactly what you mean with that look.
“Should we tell them?” you ask quietly.
Leon doesn’t say anything, but a wide smile, much wider than usual, and the sparkle in his eyes, light up his face.
“Sure. After all, it’s only a matter of time before they find out...”
“Find out what?!” they all shout in unison.
Instinctively, you place your hands over your stomach while Leon wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you closer, pressing a kiss to your forehead.
“That soon you’re going to have, as you’d call it, an adopted sibling,” Leon replies, hugging you against him, feeling like the happiest man in the world.
“I’m pregnant, guys, so... you’d better not say bad words in class because the baby can hear you, okay?”