BUGBOY | DORBYN [DISCONT.]

09

corbyn sat at the same bench, teeth gnawing at the loose skin on his lips. he tried to regulate his breathing, of course, it was just hard.

what if daniel wasn't coming?
what if he told his bullies?
what if daniel wouldn't actually help?

so many possibilities gave corbyn an oncoming headache, eyes closing to block out the light while his head lolled south. everything could go wrong, easily, and he had no say in it. why'd they have to mess with corbyn anyways? he never did anything to hurt anybody, it was stupid.

"you okay?"

corbyn's head snapped up, a hand waving before his face. daniel's palm landed on his shoulder, "sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

corbyn's head shook, blinking to clear himself. "no, you're cool. don't worry, uhm. are we ready?"

"if you are, yeah."

daniel's hand was dropped to his side as they walked off of the school grounds, where it was hard to keep his attention off of corbyn.

"if you don't mind me asking, what're we doing if we're not watching the butterflies?"

corbyn swallowed, shrugging as the words tumbled off his mouth as if he'd told it a million times. "my water bottle broke in my bag, my notes got ruined..." his lips pursed momentarily, figuring that daniel probably had something more important to do that evening, and he had to waste it on corbyn. "sorry if i'm interrupting any plans this evening, i just—i didn't know anybody else."

"it's fine, really. i'd rather you come to me than fail a test. you have my number, call me for anything you need and i can do my best to help out." daniel seemed a lot more welcoming to this than corbyn thought.

they were in the same grade, only some of their classes were split. relatively, they learned the same things, so it shouldn't be a problem for corbyn to come to him for anything, ever.

which gave daniel an advantage for more studying, more talking, and he could slip into corbyn's life if he played the right cards.

"thank you."

corbyn's backpack and textbook were on the heater with his binder on the table in the makeshift living area, daniel thumbed through it to the best of his ability, feeling sympathy for how warped his pretty notes had become.

thankfully, though, they were able to photocopy daniel's notes, only waiting for the process to be over.

a blanket circled daniel's hips and legs, whereas corbyn had one wrapped around himself. he didn't find it too cold, but he didn't want to decline corbyn's offering either.

"why do you like bugs so much?" daniel's thumb ran over the side of a page, evident doodles dragging down the sides of some notes that they didn't have to fill out much in. ladybugs, bees, the occasional butterfly. they were small, bleeding into each other from the ink used. "that sounds intrusive, i'm just—"

"corbyn! how was school?"

daniel's mouth closed, smiling at corbyn's mother with a nod. "oh my goodness! i haven't met you yet, my name's saskia, i'm corbyn's mother." she sent him a small wave while she was walking to the kitchen, and corbyn rose from the couch to join her.

"it was good," he muttered, although it went unheard. as she pulled him into a short hug, her eyes flicked over to the office, hearing a familiar hum.

"how come the photocopier's on?"

"oh, about that... i knocked my bag in the fountain at lunch, zach helped me, but my bio notes got a little ruined, and now i'm copying daniel's."

daniel's brows furrowed a little, pretending to look at his phone as he stared blankly at the home screen.

to divert the topic, corbyn mentioned daniel again, introducing him to saskia. she didn't even question the fountain thing, only muttering something about how clumsy corbyn was and telling daniel that it was nice to meet him.

when corbyn went to the photocopier, daniel stood up and followed after him.

corbyn's brows knit together, body tensing at how close daniel was in proximity to him. an arm slung over his shoulder, and corbyn's first instinct was to nudge him, hard.

his elbow jabbed against daniel's rib cage, hearing the deflate of a groan pass daniel's mouth as he smothered the sound. "what was that for?"

corbyn shrugged, paper stack warm in his palms, "personal space."

and he walked away, leaving daniel to hug himself awkwardly in defeat.

daniel didn't expect it to be this tough, he'd been nothing but nice to corbyn. you'd think corbyn would've been more warmed up to him.

he straightened himself out, taking a few deep breaths and rolling back his shoulders. his fingers carded through bleached locks, hoping he looked good without any reflection to see.

"you have messy handwriting." corbyn stated, not even sparing a glance to him as he started to sort through the notes. daniel didn't know how to respond. i don't waste all my time on schoolwork.

"not all of us are gifted like you, you still get all your notes done and manage to colour coordinate it. i'm jealous." that had to work, right?

wrong.

corbyn didn't even smile, just thanked him, and continued on with the hole puncher.

this is going to take forever.

EXTRA NOTES
-am i still relevant lmao
-this is so short omg sorry y'all 🥲

anyways stream 'DAYWALKER!'
for clear skin