x and y {a Dear Evan Hansen one-shot collection}

because you're mine {Evan x Zoe}

Preview: ❛Everything is a black-and-white tangled and knotted blur around him.

Until suddenly Zoe is in vivid colours.❜

Fic request by Noonemournsthewicked on Archive of Our Own: "Could you maybe do one where Zoe is being overprotective of Evan for one reason or another?"

TW: description of bullying.

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Florescent lights radiate off of the lockers as Evan trails down the hallway, weaving his way through the crowd of students that press hotly against him. There is nothing quite like a crowd to make someone feel entirely nonexistent in the universe, Evan knows this truth all too well.

He reaches his locker at last; fumbling with the latch, he doesn't notice the shadow of Matt Holtzer come closer until Matt is inches away from him. Matt, the embodiment and physical manifestation of insecurity that inflates itself as jealous bullying, leans against Evan's locker and when Evan eventually brings himself to make eye contact, he sees the eyes of someone looking to spark trouble.

A sick feeling settles in Evan's stomach. With nowhere to go, he reaches for his backpack strap and he tugs at it as he waits for Matt to begin the verbal assault that is just waiting to ensue.

It comes. "Written any new letters to yourself lately, Hansen? Any more creepy sex letters? Oh yeah, we all know that you do that."

How, how do people know that? Schools are the worst place to bring a secret into; Evan isn't entirely surprised that people made some educated guesses, glimpsed him writing Dear Evan Hansen over his shoulder and immediately leapt on the train towards something more exciting than the actual truth.

A tug at the strap, a flush that saturates his skin. "It's not a sex thing."

"Sure, Hansen," he says with disbelief. "Everyone believes the rumors about it, though. I heard that Sabrina Patel also knows about the rumor and now says that you're a sex freak and is telling people that."

"Who's a freak?" Jared's voice, familiar to Evan, washes over him as he approaches. Jarmed affords a glance at Matt, just one.

"Do you know that Evan writes letters to himself? Who does that?" There is real malice in his laughter, fake incredulous care.

Jared shrugs, not physically capable of caring less. "Good for him." Deciding to make an exit as quickly as he came, seeing that the drama is not of particular interest, he turns to leave. But not before making one attempt to wipe Matt's smug look off of his face. "Oh, Matt, tell your mom hi for me." He claps his hands. "And don't forget your sister, her as well."

Evan makes the mistake of finding some dim amusement from this.

Matt has already acquired Evan as a target and this is all he needs for fuel. After cursing loudly and with immense feeling at Jared, he turns his head to Evan and the moment that his eyes meet Evan's bemused ones, any trace of teasing is gone. Replaced by something far more heated and riled up.

It's a sea of people and it's difficult to keep eye contact with Matt through the pushing and shoving crowd of students.

"You think that's funny?"

"No, I—"

It starts with one shove. One hard shove, meant to teach Evan a lesson for laughing. Evan stumbles back, stunned and caught off-guard.

All it takes is one push. One glimpse of a fight and everyone pauses their activity. It's an audience and it's an opportunity to the notorious harassers in the school who join Matt and seem to form an impenetrable chain in front of Evan. His stomach twists, hard. For a moment, he wonders if he's going to vomit.