head over heels

53 ~ ah yes, the platonic bro make out sessions

[A/N - whoops, sorry for disappearing, cleared eight seasons of 9-1-1 in two and a half weeks and now i'm back to being distraction free. have fun haha]

After a long and painful trip out of the stadium, Evan and Kei ended up in the back of the bus, tactically positioned in a way that no one could see them. 

Kei lay across the back seats with his head leaning on Evans thigh. He seemed to be halfway between sleep and consciousness. Every jolt of the bus roused him, and he winced at each unwanted movement. Evan just carded his hands through the other boy's hair where no one could see.

Despite his best efforts, guilt wracked his chest at every visible wince and sharp hiss of pain that came from the other boy's lips.

"You good?" Evan whispered after a particularly severe turn where Kei's knuckles had whitened as he clutched at the hem of his shirt.

"Fine," Kei murmured determinedly, eyes firmly shut.

"Be honest," Evan chided.

Kei swallowed, "No, I mean it, I'm fine, just aches a bit." 

Evan didn't believe that in the slightest. Kei was a total baby about any form of injury. He'd stubbed his toe leaving practice the week before, and Evan had been bombarded with whiny voice memos all night. 

This should have warranted the mother of all meltdowns. 

Kei being normal about this, was not at all normal. Evan knew Kei just didn't want him to feel bad about it. 

It sucked, but slowly, Evan gave in, "Okay, want me to drive you to yours?"

Kei's eyes fluttered open, "Yeah, stay?"

Evan nodded, curling a finger around a strand of Kei's hair. "Course."

Kei sighed, "I shouldn't have fought back like that," he mumbled slowly, slightly sluggish, "I'm sorry. It just made everything worse."

After a second, Evan just shrugged, "It was nice seeing Theo take a few hits." He thought back. "That's a positive at least."

A slow smile broke onto Kei's face, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Evan uttered sheepishly. "I've dreamt of it actually."

Not a lie. He had. Back when Theo had been at his worst, he had imagined countless scenarios involving Theo getting absolutely pummeled, then promptly buried at the bottom of a dumpster. 

Kei snorted, then winced, "Agh," he groaned.

"Oi, don't laugh," Evan chided seriously.

Something about that had humour spreading across Kei's face. "Okay mother—"

On seeing the affronted look on his face, Kei bit down on his lip hard, then he burst out laughing, then he gasped in pain, then he clutched at his stomach and curled in on himself, wheezing.

"Oh ow fuck fuck—"

Ethan turned around with a comical eyebrow raised, and suddenly Evan felt laughter rise in his chest.

He and Oliver had commandeered the adjacent seats so they would be out of view of the rest of the team. The rest of the team were out of earshot and sight a few seats forward.

He was appreciative of the two of them, he really was, but the looks his brother kept sending him were enough to have him considering jumping out the window.

But in that moment, nothing felt very serious.

He would finally, finally be free of Theo. After telling everyone, Theo would have nothing to hold against him. Nothing. The thought felt impossibly strange. It made all his previous anxiety feel like a comical overreaction. He knew it wasn't really, it had been pretty shit.