"Your pupils are looking good..." 

The first aid lady clicked her light off, and Sem rubbed his eyes to get rid of the dots in his vision with one hand. The other was occupied pressing an ice pack against his head.

"Great, so can I go now? I know what happened, I know where I am. I know my name and all that shit. Come on, I was only out for like a second."

The nurse gave him a deadpan, utterly unimpressed stare. Her frizzy mane of hair danced on her shoulders as she shook her head. "Maybe it was just a second, but you did black out. You took a few hard hits."

Sem snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it."

He was well aware of having taken a beating. The lingering dull pain in his stomach was a constant reminder, and so was the throbbing in his jaw especially when he spoke, and the headache.

He'd been able to walk to the first aid post though, somehow, supported by the coach. Trainer Ralph had also appeared out of nowhere, bellowing at the other guys to back off and let Sem through. That was the last he heard and saw from them.

"So," the nurse lady held out a pamphlet. Sem automatically took it. With a quick glance, he established it was a set of instructions on aftercare of head injuries.

"You may seem fine now," the lady said, "But we can't spot internal bleedings right away. So you're going to promise me you'll rest, have someone with you for the next 24 hours, and immediately go to the hospital if you experience nausea or other alarming changes. Are we clear?"

She was all business, with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. Firm and authoritative, but in a gentle kind of way. She clearly had to cope with stubborn, injured athletes all the time. Sem didn't envy her.

"Yeah I'll take care," he finally agreed. "And my parents will be around to check on me at home after six, honest."

At least he had a valid reason to tell his mom she couldn't scream at him, with his head and all. Gotta take the small victories in life.

The nurse narrowed her eyes, scrutinising him. Apparently she decided to believe him, because her expression softened. "Alright then. Let's make a deal Sem. We wait for your coach to come back, or someone else, to take you home. Then you can go."

"No need to wait. We're already here!"

Blake made his entry, grinning somewhat inappropriately for a first aid post. "Hi!"

"Hey." Sem nodded in greeting. He'd expected Blake to step by sooner or later given what happened. He said we, though, not I.

"...Hey Sem."

Sem's eyes opened wide. "Con?"

He jerked upright, stifling a wince at the jolt of pain that shot through his abdomen at the sudden movement, as Connor came walking through the door after Blake.

Connor's wrinkled brow was in sharp contrast with Blake's ever cheerful expression, but it still made heat radiate through Sem's chest, spreading to his limbs. Connor came to see him. He was worried enough to do so. He had to still care on some level.

Sem shifted on the bed, locking his hands together to force stillness, although he couldn't force his heart to do the same.

"Hey," he finally replied, and the corners of Connor's mouth curled up into a careful, slight smile. Sem felt a flush creep up his cheeks as they stared at each other.

"So, you're like still in one piece right? No more brain damage?" Blake asked, making Sem tear his eyes off of Connor to turn to him.

Nonchalantly leaning against the wall, Blake looked just as comfortable standing between two recent and awkward ex-boyfriends as he did sitting at home on the couch. Honestly, Sem was starting to wonder if there was anything that made the guy uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I'm fine I guess," Sem replied, sneaking in a quick glance in Connor's direction. He'd hoped Connor would be the one asking, but he hadn't said a word besides 'hey.'

"Your friend's too stubborn not to be fine," the nurse lady chimed in from her desk chair.

"Well," Connor cleared his throat, breaking his silence. "If you're alright, I should go. I, uh," Connor vaguely gestured at the door, "Have some urgent things to do."

"Oh... Oh, yeah, sure."

Sem knew it was probably an excuse. Connor was supposed to be having athletics training right now with Lisa. He wanted to ask Connor to please stay longer, to talk, to kiss him. But he refrained, instead mustering up a small, fake smile.

"Thanks for stepping by Con."

Connor gave him a curt nod. His eyes were trained on the floor as he turned, and Sem watched him walk away. He released a deep, longing sigh once Connor was out of sight.

"Hey you sure your brain's fine?" Blake leaned closer to Sem, smirking. "You're like, drooling a little bit."

Sem pushed Blake away with a playful scowl. "Shut up."

"At least you looked good in front of your man out on the field, babe. I mean, Jesus, you just totally went for it all of a sudden," Blake scrunched his nose,"I didn't think you'd be so literally taking punches instead of me."

Sem shrugged. "I didn't expect it to go smoothly anyway. That just doesn't work for me and my motor mouth."

It was strange, though. He'd always thought being outed, everyone knowing he was gay, would be the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Being kicked in the head and knocked out aside, he was... alright. Really alright. Maybe it was just shock and denial, and it hadn't fully gotten through to him yet what he'd done.

How alright he was would also depend on what Nick, and the rest of his team would do next. Woozy and blurry and with the putrid taste of vomit in his mouth, Sem wasn't exactly sure in what state he'd left his teammates and the field behind as he was being dragged off. They could have all picked Matthew's side, wanting to beat both him and Blake up now.

"Blake, what were you even doing at my football training?" Sem asked, the question suddenly occurring to him.

"I came because you needed a push, silly. Some mental support. And, to make you look good in front of your man when you defended me from those brutes of course," Blake replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "As if I'd be at a sport centre for any other reason. Ew. Exercise. Unless it involves a bed, it's just not worth it."

Sem tensed. "What? This was a set up? You're insane!"

"It was not a set up." Blake rolled his eyes, "Like, I didn't know you'd behave like actual cavemen and ram each other in the face. Nor that you'd go off blurting you're gay right there on the field."

"You're still insane."

"I won't argue with that babe. But it worked, no? Did you know Connor was the one who ran to get the coach, and your trainer Ralph? Should've seen the panicked look on his face. And he came to see you at first aid right after. He does care about you."

"Yeah..." Sem looked down at his hand.

"Look," Blake continued, "You wanted him to trust you. Now he's seen you can be, like, a decent human being once every blue moon, defending the cute twink. And you're out and proud, too. Problems solved! Go talk to him, do some kissing, and skip off into the sunset."

Sem snorted, automatically picturing it. Blake made it sound so simple. Connor had cared enough to visit him, and the odds of Connor possibly taking him back weren't completely zero. He had a shot, and he'd be an idiot not to at least try to talk to him after this whole mess.

"Okay." Sem inhaled deeply, and exhaled through his mouth, "Okay, I will."

Blake grinned. "That's the spirit! Let's go!"

Immediately following his words up by deeds, Sem hopped off the bed and strode over to the nurse, with Blake right behind him. "Ma'am, this guy over here is gonna stay with me, so I can leave right?"

The nurse lady looked up from her paperwork, glanced from Sem to Blake, and back. "Yes, you're free to go Sem." Her eyes narrowed in another one of her stern looks. "But remember to take it easy."

"Got it." Sem held up the pamphlet with information to emphasise his point, and placed the icepack on the desk. "See you. Thanks for everything."

Sem strode into the hallway next ignoring the way his body protested, and with Blake almost jogging to keep up. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"To the athletics fields," Sem replied, "I don't think Connor will be there, but maybe his friends know more."

When they turned the corner however, Sem suddenly saw Nick right ahead, hastily walking towards them. He was clearly on his way to the first aid, but stopped when he spotted Sem and Blake.

Nick's forehead creased into a frown. "Where are you going?"

Sem half wanted to just keep walking, right past Nick, avoid him all together. Shit, he wanted answers, and delaying said answers. It was all part of ripping the bandaid, Sem reminded himself. He'd done the ripping. Now he needed to deal with the exposed wound, and God, his palms were sweating.

"The nurse said I could leave."

Sem raised his shoulders in a shrug, trying to play it lightheartedly. But Nick stayed all serious and tense, his brow stayed creased.

"Well, I need to talk to you first." Nick glanced at Blake "Alone."

Blake grinned cheerfully at Nick, saluting him. "Sure, got it." He leaned closer to Sem, muttering a "good luck, I'll be outside" under his breath, before winking, and strolling out of the hallway, leaving him with Nick.

"So," Sem swallowed thickly. His mouth suddenly seemed to contain too much saliva, "Shoot. What do you have to say?"

"Uh, well, I just wanted- how are you doing?" Nick seemed to be caught off guard by Sem's directness, stumbled over his words a little, "I suppose alright then, since the nurse let you leave."

"Sure, aside from those kicks in the head I'm fine," Sem replied cautiously, not sure what to make out of Nick's nervousness, whether it was a good or bad sign. "How's the team doing?"

Nick took a deep breath. "They're still on the field training. For as far as they can focus on training now. Except for Matthew; he stomped off, pissed. The coach said he's going to get suspended. They called his parents and everything. As for the rest of em, you gave them a shocker, that's for sure. Ethan's making gay jokes," Nick shook his head, blowing some air out of his nose, "You know how Ethan does that. Tom and Charlie say you should get suspended too because you were provoking Matt. Callum doesn't understand why we're making such a huge deal out of someone being gay. Some of the other guys are weirded out, still wondering if you were even serious about what you said. Others say you're fucking Blake in the ass."

Sem's feet shuffled below him, kicking the ground. "I see."

He'd known it wasn't going to be all acceptance and one big happy rainbow family. From what Nick said, it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd expected either. But his stomach still clenched with disappointment. Somewhere, somehow, he'd still hoped that everyone would immediately be okay with it. Was Nick, though? He'd mentioned their other teammates, but he hadn't mentioned himself.

"...And what do you think?"

Nick promptly avoided all eye contact. He started gaze ping-ponging, scratching his chin. "I think I suddenly understand some of the shit you did lately a lot better."

"Yeah."

"Do you have a boyfriend or something? That why we didn't hang out much?"

"That too."

"Blake?" Nick immediately asked, making Sem's eyebrows shoot up.

"What? No!" he laughed, "Blake is just a friend. His name is Connor."

Nick blinked, tapping his index finger against his lip. "Connor? That dude you wanted to drunk dial after the clubs? That's ironic. Ethan said he bet that was your secret boyfriend."

"Betting Ethan was actually right on the money," Sem joked, "What do you know."

Nick chuckled. "So, when am I going to meet this Connor? I mean, the best friend has to approve of his bro's boyfriend..." Nick paused, scratching the back of his head. "Damn that's going to take some getting used to, changing all the jokes to guys for you."

Sem shifted in his seat, wetting his dry lips. "You're going to get used to it?"

"Are you kidding?" Nick hesitated for a second, and then playfully pushed his arm, "Gotta keep you around. You're the perfect wingman. Gets me all the girls, never out to keep them for himself."

"Hey, I'm only gay. I can't work miracles," Sem teased, pushing Nick right back.

"Great. That's just great," Nick made a show out of raising his arms and dropping them to his side again in mock-exasperation, "And I was making an effort to be nice here. Glad to know you're still your jackass self."

Sem gently elbowed Nick in the side, "Hey, I'm not suddenly a different person now, you know."

Nick's smile fell, again making place for a more serious, contemplating expression. "No, I suppose not."

He regarded Sem for a few long moments. Then he suddenly leaned in and pulled Sem into an unexpected hug. Sem tensed, but then quickly relaxed.

They rarely hugged, and it had to be the most awkward hug Sem had ever gotten from Nick, but still, the relief flooding him at Nick's acceptance made it one of the best hugs all the same. It'd definitely take a while to resolve all the awkwardness between them, but at least Nick would hug him.

After a powerful pat on the back that nearly knocked the air out of his lungs again, Nick pulled back and loudly cleared his throat.

"Now that that's out of the way. The coach actually sent me to tell you that you shouldn't leave the sport centre. Your parents are on their way here, and your mom's not happy. Coach wants to talk with you and your parents."

"You called my parents?!"

"Hey, I didn't call your parents," Nick held his hands up in defence, "But come on, you were in a fist fight, and it was bad enough to land you in a first aid bed. Of course the coach called your parents."

"Well, shit."

If his mom got her hands on him, she wasn't going to let him out of her clutches again, and he definitely wouldn't be able to go find Connor and try to fix things. He couldn't let that happen. He had to try.

"Nick, I'll come back here to sit down and talk with them, I swear," Sem said, "But I really, really want to talk to someone else first. Gotta find him. But the nurse said I shouldn't go places alone. You think we can sneak off, take a small detour before my parents get here?"

Nick looked behind him, gave the back of his neck a scratch, but finally nodded. "Fine. What did you have in mind?"