I arrived at the soccer field fifteen minutes early the next day, intending to speak to Rowan. Or yell. One of the two.

He'd pissed me off with his sudden attitude and the rest of my lunch break with Flora had been completely soiled. I was in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

When I didn't see him, I tugged my sweatshirt over my head and began training.

Within the hour, my legs were sore with cramping, overworked muscles, and sweat spotted my forehead, clinging onto stray strands of hair. The wind was cold against my bare arms. I lifted my shirt, dragging it over my face and sighing at the cool air that hit my bare chest.

The sky was starting to lighten, turning a paler blue. The sun bathed the field in golden light and I let it wash over my skin. It was the perfect weather for morning practice – not too hot and not too cold. I reached down to grab my water bottle, spraying it on my face first, and then into my mouth.

As I gulped down half my bottle, I turned, scanning the field until my eyes landed on Rowan.

He sat in his usual spot, his legs crossed as he leaned back against the stone corridor, a book pulled open in his lap. I stared at him for a minute.

He wore a stupidly smart outfit and I snorted at how formal it seemed for college, where half the population turned up in sweatpants or pyjamas. The sun slanted over his face, glistening against his dark skin.

When had he turned up?

Without thinking, I walked towards him, tucking my soccer ball under my arm.

"Hey!" I called out.

He didn't move. I frowned. Had he not heard me? I walked closer, calling out again. "Hey! Rowan!"

His brow twitched – so slightly – and I knew he'd heard me, but he didn't respond. I scowled.

Now he was pissing me off.

I walked right up to the edge of the field so that we were several feet apart.

"Rowan!" I shouted. When he didn't respond again, I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you ignoring me?"

Rowan Baines was famous for ignoring people. He ignored most of the college population, except for me. Until now. I glowered, deciding to give him one more chance.

"Hey!"

He didn't flinch. Instead, he lifted a hand and slowly turned the page of his book. His face remained expressionless but I could feel the smugness coming off of him. Oh, that was it.

I stepped forward and in one swift motion, threw the ball directly at him.

He started, his hands flying up to protect his face and catch the ball, his book falling shut on his lap. He looked down at the closed book. Anger seeping off of him, he slowly craned his head up to cut me a sharp glare.

"Sebastian!" he snarled, slamming a hand against the soccer ball.

I smirked. "Oh. Now he acknowledges my presence, huh?"

"I was reading."

"I saw," I said, shrugging. "I just didn't care."

"You little –"

"Besides, hitting you in the face would have been a great bonus. I guess I need to work on my aiming after all. Maybe Flora will have some tips."

A muscle in his jaw twitched and suddenly he was hurling the ball at my head.

My eyes widened as I staggered back, the ball hitting me square on the chest before falling to my knees. I caught it easily, beginning to juggle it on my knees.

"Oh, you wanna play?" I called out, laughing. The ball rolled down my leg and I swung, kicking it towards him.

Rowan frantically raised his hands, catching the ball with a loud swear and a slap against his palms.

"I don't." He threw the ball at me and I caught it with my chest, letting it fall to my feet and instantly shooting it back at him.

This time, he stood up once he caught it.

"Foul!" I called out. "No hands in soccer. Remember?"

"Listen, Sebby. I'm not in the fucking mood, got it?"

He threw it at me, except this time, there was less anger in it, less hostility, and I managed to catch it beneath my cleated boot. I lifted a brow at him, the corner of my lip tugging up in amusement.

"Like I said, Rowan. I just don't care."

I kicked the ball at him, this time, aiming for his feet. He caught it with the inside of his foot and the ball bounced back, rolling a few feet in front of him. He stared at the ball.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, "Come on, Baines! Kick it back!"

He blinked, his eyes shooting up to meet mine. A second passed, and I thought for sure he was going to turn and leave like he had yesterday, but instead, he jogged forward, his foot kicking the ball straight at me – well, almost.

He kicked it with the toe of his shoe, and it veered to the side. I laughed, jogging to catch it.

"Nice try!" I teased. "Not as easy as it looks, huh?"

Instead of rolling his eyes or insulting me like I expected, he simply furrowed his brow and asked, "How do you know my last name?"

Ah. Great.

"Well..."

His face brightened in realisation, a smile pulling at his lips.

"So you have been asking about me, huh?"

I scowled, kicking the ball back harder this time. Rowan had to sprint to catch it, and again, it bounced off his shoe, rolling away from him. He laughed, placing his hands on his hips as he bent, gasping for air.

"You're a fucking stalker then, hey?" he said between laughs. "Been asking around? Figuring me out?"

"It's not like that," I replied, rolling my eyes. "You were the one who insulted me in class. Of course, Flora's going to tell me who you are."

His smile soured and he cut me a glare. "Ah. Flora. Of course. She seems to know everything about everything, doesn't she?"

He kicked the ball to me.

I caught it and narrowed my eyes at him. "That's not an insult is it?"

He lifted his hands in defence, but the smirk that pulled at his lips still seemed a little mean. A little arrogant.

"No. No. Of course, not. Sweet little Flora. Who could ever insult her?"

What was that about? He glared down at his shoes, sinking into the fresh grass, spotted with dew that turned his shoes slick and shiny.

"Do you... have a problem with Flora?" I asked after a pause.

His eyes met mine. I frowned at him, waiting for an answer, and then he was looking back at the grass and kicking the ball to me. Or, adjacent to me. I ran to catch it.

"No," he said, his voice echoing over the field. "Why would I?"

"What was that about, then? And what was yesterday about? What happened?"

Too many questions at once. His brow wrinkled and I sensed him closing off again, turning back to his usual cold demeanour. Before he could completely ignore me, I dribbled the ball towards him, stopping a few feet away.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked.

He looked at me. Those brown eyes piercing through me. I suddenly had the thought that I didn't know a thing about him other than his name and major. He was a complete stranger to me.

Then, he was running forward, taking the ball from between my legs and dribbling it around me.

I rolled my eyes, laughing as I followed him. "Is that a challenge, Baines?"

"A challenge? No, this is the real deal. This is a practice match, Seb. Can you keep up?" He kicked the ball, hard, aiming for the goal, but I sprinted to defend. I caught the ball under my boot and shot him a cocky smirk.

"This is my field, remember?"

"Your field?" He stepped closer, matching my smug grin. "Play a match first, then we'll talk."

He reached down suddenly, grabbing the ball in his hands, and running towards the goal with it. I raced after him, easily catching up after weeks of nonstop training.

"Hey!" I shouted. "No hands, remember?" I swiped for the ball, but he twisted away from me.

"I don't see a ref," he shot back.

I grabbed for the ball again, but he only twisted a second time, chuckling lowly. I narrowed my eyes.

"You asked for it, Baines."

I jumped on his back, hands swiping blindly for the ball. He shouted, staggering as he practically piggy backed me.

"God, has anyone ever told you that you weigh a ton?" he yelled, swinging the ball out of my grip as I continued to blindly grab for it.

"It's all muscle, baby," I replied.

I wriggled on his back, attempting to crane my neck over his shoulder to find the ball, but my eyes landed on the profile of his face. He was laughing. Laughing and smiling, and I was too.

"Sebastian!" he shouted, trying to push me off by rolling his shoulders. It wasn't going to be that easy.

I pulled myself higher on his back, clawing at the air wildly. My fingertips scraped the edge of the ball and I reached for it, half my body over his shoulder at this point. "Aha!"

"Sebastian!"

That wasn't Rowan's voice.

We both staggered, spinning to the sound of the voice. I came tumbling off Rowan's back, the soccer ball falling after it and bouncing off my head. My curls fell in my eyes and I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it back.

Reed and the rest of the team stood in front of us, looking between me and Rowan.

"What's going on?" he asked, lifting a brow.

I laughed, quickly pulling myself to my feet and brushing my shirt off.

"Sorry. I was... training."

"Right," he said, glancing at Rowan with a dubious look. "Clearly."

Rowan scowled, turning, and leaving the field without another word. I blinked, hurrying forward.

"I'll see you later, Baines. Yeah? Maybe we should have a rematch," I said to his fleeting back.

He didn't reply and I frowned. Back to square one. What was his deal?

I spun back to the rest of the team who still stood in the middle of the field, watching me.

"What?" I asked.

The team seemed to snap out a daze, quickly moving to the edge of the field to dump their stuff. I scowled after them. I had finally been getting somewhere with Rowan, finally getting around his usual cold exterior, until they had to interrupt.

"Sebastian. Can I talk to you?" It was Reed.

I smiled, nodding eagerly. He'd remembered my name.

He glanced over his shoulder before leading us slightly further away from the team, until we were out of earshot.

We had a practice match this weekend against a neighbouring college team. Of course, I hadn't expected to actually play at it. At least, I hadn't expected before Reed knew my name.

And now he was here. He was here, remembering my name and asking to speak with me privately.

My heart raced in my chest, all thoughts of Rowan fading from my mind as I looked up at my team captain. He let out a long breath, placing a hand on his hip, a soccer ball tucked under his arm.

"So," he started. "I noticed you've been hanging around a lot with Rowan Baines and Flora Yu."

My heart dropped into my stomach. My smile slipped and I fought to keep my face neutral, my tone light. Of course, he didn't want to talk about my soccer skills. Why would he?

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I guess I have been."

"Right. Well. You know Rowan's gay, right?"

I blinked. "No... But, so, what?"

"So. He's gay. He's literally into dudes. Are you sure you want to be hanging around someone like that?"

My smile was non-existent now. I blinked, and blinked, and blinked – as if I'd wake up from a really weird dream. I did not. Instead, Reed kept staring at me, eyes narrowed like I was supposed to be catching some kind of correlation here between Rowan's sexuality and being friends with him. My throat felt hot. I wanted to scream.

"What the fuck, man?" I said finally, the words forced through clenched teeth.

Reed matched my frown. "What?"

"I just – What? I don't give a shit about who he likes," I said. I shoved his shoulder, hard enough that he staggered back. "And neither should you. Unless you want to be the one he likes, it's none of your business."

"What? Me? No way, dude. I would – I could never. I just meant –" he sighed, running a hand over his face. "Look, man. You should think carefully about who you hang with. It could reflect badly on the team. Rowan's one thing, but Flora..."

"What about Flora, huh?" I interrupted, silently daring him to say something about her.

His gaze flickered between my eyes, and then he barked a laugh, patting me on the shoulder in an overly friendly gesture.

"Dude. I dated her. I know what she's like," he said.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That I know her," he said nonchalantly. He sighed, his hand steadying on my shoulder as he levelled me with an unsettling look. "I mean, do you even know her name?"

"Are you drunk?" I shoved his hand off me. "It's Flora."

"Not that. I mean her real name." He stepped back, moving the ball to his hands with a wide grin. "Sebastian, there was a reason she had no friends at school."

He threw it at me, and I caught it at my chest. Behind him, Coach had arrived too and was huddling the group to go through today's training plan. He smiled, beginning to jog back to the rest of the team.

"Come on, let's go play ball." 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Oop so looks like Reed and the rest of the team don't like Rowan or Flora... Let me know what you think! And any predictions as usual! Thanks for reading!!!

Next time: Seb gets a pep talk