Meant to be Broken [boyxboy] [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter Thirty

It took some convincing, but Ives finally managed to get Tomi to agree to come to the final archery tournament of the season. "I promise, you can support me and your friends," Ives assured him. He didn't, however, tell him about his plan to make that possible.

A few days before the tournament, Ives took a black tee-shirt from his closet, stole some fabric paint from his sister's room – left over from when she and her friends had made tee-shirts for Homecoming – and got to work.

When Tomi's parents dropped him off at Ives' house before the tournament, Ives handed Tomi the folded shirt. "Take that one off and put this one on," he instructed.

Tomi unfolded the shirt and laughed. "'I'm here for my friends, and I'm here for my boyfriend, too'," he read. "Thanks, Ives."

Ives kissed his cheek. "No problem. Hurry up and change before we're late, though."

When they got to the school where the tournament was being held, Ives was surprised to run into Seth in the parking lot. He obviously couldn't compete, since his arm was still immobilized in a sling, but it was good to see him out of the hospital.

"Hey, Ives," Seth said before Ives even got to say hello. "I just wanted to say thanks. Tomi said you gave some money to the fundraiser they did for me."

Ives nodded, and smiled. "I didn't give a whole lot. I heard they managed to hit five thousand dollars."

Seth nodded. "Still," he argued, "it helped. Thanks. A lot." He looked at Tomi next to Ives, and grinned. "Nice shirt."

Tomi was blushing when Ives looked over at him. "Ives' idea."

"I had to make sure he knew he could support two teams," Ives explained.

Seth smiled. "You want to sit with us, Tomi?" he asked as his girlfriend, sister, and parents joined him.

Tomi shrugged. "Works for me."

"Don't steal him when the tournament ends," Ives warned. "I'm his ride home."

"Don't worry," one of Seth's parents replied – the one who wasn't the really good bowler. "Car's full."

Ives gave Tomi a quick kiss good-bye, then gathered his bag to head to the field. "See you later."

"Good luck," Tomi replied, joining his friend's family.

"Yes, good luck," Seth added.

"To you, too," Ives answered, then caught himself. "Well, your team."

Seth smiled. "I hope they don't need it."

They didn't need any luck. Madison won the tournament, and got themselves into second place for the season. Raynor ended up third in the tournament, but fourth overall for the season. At least that was better than the year before. Because it was the final match of the season, the league had to give out awards to the top team and individuals with the best scores in the league. Also, any individual who beat or set a new school record was recognized by the league, including Nelson Kashmir and Kiona Carson from Madison, who set the first records for their new team. No one from Raynor got anything, but Coach Johnson still required them to stay and show sportsmanship, something Mark grumbled about to Ives the entire time.

Tomi's parents had asked them to come over for dinner, but by the time they got back to the Miliani house, it was almost 8:00. Ives expected just to be eating leftovers from a dinner Tomi's parents had eaten without them, but was surprised to find that they had waited.

"I forgot how much longer the last tournament takes," Ives said to them, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry about that."

Mrs. Miliani waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. No harm in waiting."