Do You See Me Now? ✔

Chapter 25 - The Reckless

Friday, November 9th

     After a week of walking with crutches, Jesse's ankle had healed enough for him to walk short distances without them. He had successfully managed to fulfil the first hours of community service, cleaning walls that were covered with graffiti.

It stung when he noticed one of the two pieces of art had been tagged with Loek's tag, and Jesse couldn't stop himself from thinking that Loek had been in that spot, making the beautiful piece of art that he now had the remove from the wall.

He had successfully managed to hide from both his family, and Loek. And then Calix had persuaded him to come over to their soccer match to watch and cheer for them. Jesse hadn't instantly agreed.

Not without Calix telling him about a hundredth times that nobody in their soccer team had a problem with his sexuality, and Loek was benched after a couple of arguments with some of Jesse's closest friends.

Apparently, not just Axel and Calix were angry when they found out about Jesse's arrest, and what happened.

Still, even with all the support, Jesse regretted going to the soccer club to cheer for his team the moment he got out of the car and made his way over to the locker room. He was right in time for the coach's pep talk, but it also meant he'd come face to face with Loek. And for that, he wasn't ready.

He silently entered the locker room while some of his teammates were getting ready to play, and others were silently waiting for coach Leo to start talking. Calix and Axel waved him over, and Jesse felt relieved he was able to sit in between the two. Loek was in the far right corner, seated next to Roy, who was already wearing his jacket, telling Jesse he was also benched for some reason.

Both sported a fading black eye.

Which was probably why they both were benched.

"Did they fight?" Jesse asked in a whisper, turning to Axel for an answer.

"Yeah, it was epic," Axel whispered back with a smirk on his face. "Roy called him a traitor, which didn't sit well with Loek, they had a fight in words, and then Roy continued to tackle Loek throughout practice and eventually, they fought."

"Oh, wow..." Jesse cleared his throat, while he caught Roy staring at him. He offered a weak smile, and Roy smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "Well, at least people have my back..."

"Yeah, well, what Loek did, or actually, didn't do..." Axel shook his head, but didn't finish his sentence, and coach Leo spoke up, asking for silence.

Jesse absentmindedly waited for him to finish his pep talk, and then waited for Loek to leave the dressing room before he stood up, and joined who fell a bit behind, stills ending Loek angry looks.

"Thanks for standing up for me," he said while they slowly made their way to the dugout. Jesse noticed Calix' parents on the sideline, accompanied by a few other parents.

"No problem dude. Nobody messes with my friends."

"Just don't fight again. Our team needs you in the field, not on the bench."

"Yeah, especially since you won't be able to play for a while. How's your ankle?"

"Getting better, though long distances are still a no go without crutches." Jesse shortly looked down to his blue crutches. "But I can walk small distances." He stared at Loek, who just took a seat on the bench, doubting whether he wanted to sit so close to him.

Roy looked back and forth between them, and then pulled out two plastic chairs that were stalled behind the dugout. Usually, they only used them when the weather was better, but Jesse didn't mind. He was just glad Roy instantly understood his hesitation and decided to sit with him.