misfire ♕ jorbyn

ǝʌlǝʍʇ

corbyn's eyes narrowed before he even stood up, pushing himself out of the warm bed and wrapping his arms around his own midsection. he made his way to the closet, pulling on some clothes before heading to the kitchen, making himself some breakfast, yawning lazily as the bacon sizzled in the pan, inhaling deeply.
when he felt jonah's strong hands on his hips, he tensed up.
"i really don't want to sound rude or start anything, but could you honestly not for a moment?" he questioned annoyedly, reaching a hand up to comb through his tangled hair.
"dammit, corbyn. this really isn't a huge deal unless you make it one." he said, voice coming out exasperated. corbyn spinned around, staring at him pointedly, feeling the air grow thick between them.
"you're a bloody fucking idiot, jonah marais!" he snapped, "is this the kind of life you want? three packs a week and casual drug use while you strip naked for money and barely scratch by?" his tone was accusatory, the words pointed and harsh.
"because it isn't what i want."
and jonah felt a sharp pang in his chest, gnawing on his heart. he pushed away from the blonde boy, grabbing a helmet and throwing it at the smaller boy. "come on or you'll be late" he spoke, sounding too calm.
"jonah, that isn't what i meant, and you know it" he responded, voice much gentler. the helmet had clattered to the floor when corbyn had failed to catch it. "i only mean that i'd like for us to have a house, and enough money for me to take you on dates and buy you presents. i want to spoil you, i just- i want..."
"you want me, not the lifestyle that i come with. you want to spend your life with daniel or whoever, someone who can take you out and show you off. you want someone who can provide for you. you want someone who's safe" he sighed, "you want my face, my body, and their privilege."
and that time, corbyn feels a sharp tug in his chest, swallowing thickly and inhaling sharply at the sharp punch to his stomach. he hadn't meant to start anything. "no, jo" he started, sighing, "i want you to come back to school. you're so smart, smarter than i am, too brilliant to be uneducated." he said softly, leaning up to peck him.
jonah only pulled away, staring down at him with cold, uncaring eyes.
"drop it, corbyn. drop it now" he demanded, and corbyn's head bowed, eyes trained on the carpet below his feet. they were both quiet for what felt like an eternity, birds chirping and cars passing outside, eventually, jonah reached down, picking up the helmet and slamming it to corbyn's chest.
"we're leaving now." he snapped sternly, going to grab his leather jacket.
"i haven't eaten my breakfast" he argued, but jonah shook his head, muttering angrily under his breath. so corbyn stopped cooking, scooping the half-made breakfast into a container and chucking it in the fridge before pushing out the door, making his way down to lean against jonah's bike.
a moment later, jonah was walking over, giving the faux blonde a small, annoyed once over before pulling his own helmet on and mounting the bike. corbyn clenched his jaw, pulling on his own before getting behind him, wrapping his arms around the older boy's waist, leaning into his shoulder.
the wind chilled him while they sped down the highway out to the high school in the suburbs, and he found himself pressed tightly against jonah's back, looking for warmth. his head was swimming, thoughts pulling his attention this way and that. he couldn't force jonah's words to leave his brain, the cold tone taunting him.
he couldn't find a way to explain to jonah that he only wanted for everything to be alright, including their possible future.
he kept thinking about it until they were parked in front of the ugly brick building, sighing annoyedly when they were parked, fogging up the helmet. he got off, pulling the helmet from his head, "what should i do with this?" he questioned, voice coming out meeker than it had in a long while.
"put it in your locker," jonah snapped, voice still cold and disconnected. corbyn nodded slowly, leaning down to kiss jonah's shoulder.
"see you this afternoon?" he asked cautiously, and jonah shrugged.
"find a ride home" is all that he said before pulling out and driving off, speeding away from his small boyfriend.
corbyn stared after him for a long while, watching as jonah's figure disappeared behind the rows of monotonous houses. he let out a shaky breath, closing his blue eyes and taking in the cold, early december air. he pulled jonah's jumper tighter around himself before making his way inside, dragging his feet while he entered the building.
"well if it isn't corbyn fucking besson!" he heard from behind him, daniel's voice loud as he stomped over. "where the fuck have you've been?" he demanded, and corbyn shrugged his shoulders, turning around and staring past daniel at the blur of students making their ways about the hallway. he wasn't really in the mood for sharing his narrative.
"corbs, i'm serious. you've missed two entire weeks of school, i was beginning to think that you had been shoved in a shallow grave somewhere outside of the city" he snapped, "and i tried to call you, but it kept saying that your number had been disconnected".
corbyn hadn't really thought much about his best friend while he had been away, and he now felt guilty about that too, never having called to let daniel know what was happening.
"dad kicked me out of the house that day that i told you about me" he said, voice both serious and quiet. "i had to wait for the bruises to go away before i could come back", and he could see the horror written on daniel's face. he looked both left and right before pulling corbyn to his chest roughly, his strong arms anchoring him there.
"shit, corbs. tell me what happened? we can go and sit out in my truck? fuck first period? it's only english, and you've missed ten days anyhow. what's one more?" he offered, and corbyn let out a shaky breath, nodding. he was relieved to have his best friend there with him again. they walked out, corbyn still holding his helmet.
"why didn't you tell me?" he asked once they were safely situated inside of daniel's familiar truck, and corbyn shrugged, looking down. his cheeks an all too bright shade of pink.
"i-i went home from yours, and dad was really angry that i had disappeared in the middle of the night. we started fighting, and i kind of just blurted it out" he forced out, voice wavering.
"but why didn't you tell me?" he asked once again.
"i was going too. i walked back to your house with my bag, but you had already left. you were already on your date, and i didn't want to ruin it. so i just walked back to mine, and i called jonah" he explained, listening to daniel's dramatic sigh.
"so what? you're living with jonah now?" he asked, and corbyn nodded, delving into every detail about the last two weeks, the beginning of their relationship. and daniel listened intently, only speaking once corbyn had spilled every secret, confessed every moment from the very beginning.
"you're too fucking good for him, corbyn. i mean it" he said seriously, "and i'm going to kill him for being so cruel to you."
corbyn shook his head, "he's really lovely, daniel. he's just touchy, is all. i struck a nerve. i-"
"no! he was an ass. and he deserves to be fucking killed. break up with him, corbyn!"
corbyn quieted, not speaking for a minute, letting himself calm down before he opened his mouth again.
"can you take me home after school? he uh, told me to find a ride after our fight this morning. i think he just needs a bit of time to cool off. and i just need a ride home" he forced out, watching daniel clench his fists.
"give me his number. or better yet, let's just drive down there right now so that i can beat the shit out of him" he said, voice darker than normal.
"dani, he was just frustrated. that's all. there's no reason for you to be a dick to him."
"i'm a dick? don't stick up for that bastard! he's the dick, here!" he exclaimed angrily, and corbyn visibly tensed.
"he isn't. he isn't a dick. he just owes his boss some money, okay? and he can't afford that and the flat. so he dropped out of school to pick up a second job." he felt bad about the lie, but he really wanted daniel to like jonah, and it was only a small lie.
"he still has no right to speak to you like that. you'll stay with me tonight so he can cool off or whatever. you can do whatever the fuck you want tomorrow. but tonight, you're letting me be the protective best friend." he said, tone changing, softening a bit when he reached out to touch corbyn's cheek.
corbyn nodded uncertainly, thinking about the worried jonah chain smoking cigarettes while he waited for corbyn to show up, pacing the flat when he never did.
"it'll be fun. we can watch some footy and stay up really late chatting. and it'll be like all of our normal sleepovers, yeah?" he said, smiling hopefully down at the blonde.
"the bell for second period just rang" he said softly, looking out the windshield, "we should go, i'll see you after school".
and so the boys both made their way to their classes. corbyn trudged through the day, accepting the stacks of missed assignments. the teachers asked him about the large number of unexcused absences, and he shrugged. "i just got hurt" he would say, "had to wait until i was all healed, is all" he explains vaguely before scurrying out of the classroom.
at the end of the day, he walked to daniel's locker, waiting for daniel to come from gym, smiling at him kindly.
"are you ready?" daniel asked, and corbyn sighed softly, shrugging his shoulders.
"yeah, i suppose."