It Wasn't Meant For You (Melix and Elemental Son)

[Melix]

Lyall's hands were sticky, sweaty, and that was why the little piece of paper was stuck to him instead of neatly inside a locker of the school's most wonderful girl, where it belonged. He needed to do this fast; he had ten minutes before class let out and the soccer player's caught him at Sarah's locker. Life-long teasing, anyone? No thanks. Fumbling, he finally managed to push the note into the locker before hurrying to his own. He slammed the locker open, grabbed his cleats, and took off to the soccer field, leaving it wide open. He was so scared, and he had every reason to be. What if Coach yelled at him for being early to soccer practice? What if Dom found out he liked Sarah? What if Sarah hated him? What if someone figured out he was skipping class, or worse, that he forged a note to get out of class? What if he went to jail?

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic yawned, thoughts wandering. He stared out the window, taking in the slow afternoon, musing, ten damn minutes left. Last period maths class had the bad habit of dragging on forever. Their teacher had given them the second half of the period to work on problems in their own time, and Dom had given up inside the first ten minutes. He’d done enough that he could hedge his way through interrogation if anyone came to check his work, but the rest could wait.


Throwing a look a look at the clock, he fought back a groan. How were there still nine minutes? Dom leant back and closed his eyes, hoping to steal a few minutes sleep before he got caught. He was in luck – the next thing he heard was the bell.


Snapping back to the present, Dominic picked up his books, stuffed them haphazardly into his backpack, and headed for the door. He was almost free when the teacher caught his attention.


“Mr Lawson.” Ah hell. She must’ve noticed. Dominic waited for a blasting that never came. Instead, the teacher handed him a few printouts. “See that Lyall gets this, would you?”


Dominic nodded, “Sure”, happy enough not to have been caught out. Heading out and down the hallway, he tried to spot his friend through the crowds. Instead, Dominic saw Lyall’s open locker. Weird. Must’ve been worried he’d be late for soccer. Wonder where he was, anyway? Whatever. Dom pushed the pages into Lyall’s locker, and closed it for him. He’d be back after practice anyway, and there was no point inviting the rest of the school to steal his stuff.


Walking to his own locker a few rows down, Dom opened it, and paused when a note fell out. The hell is this? Picking it up and reading over it, his awareness of anything else around him stopped. There had to have been some kind of mistake. He’d had notes from girls in the past, but he knew that handwriting. What the fuck, Lyall? The hell do you think you’re- Jesus, this is what you were doing? After a second of confused panic, Dominic stuffed the note in his backpack, and slammed his locker, ignoring the rest of the homework he’d intended to collect. Then he began to walk – first towards the soccer field, then, after a second, back the other way, towards the school gates. Screw dealing with this now. I need to- goddamnit Lyall. I’ll go to the ring. Get a few rounds out of my system. It’s got to have been a mistake. He could only hope that things might start to make sense after a few hours of boxing.

 

[Melix]

Today, I'm done ignoring my feelings, the note began. I can't stop thinking about you, night and day. I worry about you when you seem sad and feel elated when you get happy. My heart flutters when I am around you. You are more than a close friend to me, Lawson. I like you.





Lyall was pretty confident about his words. He was not at all confident about the four cafeteria super burritos he'd eaten a few hours prior to the sudden running he'd done across Jules' extensive campus. "Who's ready for soccer?" shouted the assistant coach happily. "We are!" shouted the other boys, who had arrived and began to run drills. Lyall, meanwhile, had flopped face down on the wooden bench. The coach stopped over him. "SHE SAID, WHO'S READY TO PLAY SOME SOCCER?????" He screamed.


"I'm dying..." Lyall moaned.


"SERIOUSLY???" screamed the coach.


Lyall lifted his head up and groaned in response.


The assistant coach, noticing his distress, hurried over and felt his forehead. "You do have a fever," she said. "And you're nauseous."


"God, yes."


"Alright, you can rest this one out today. We'll replace you with Lawson. Say, where is Lawson?"


"WHERE IS LAWSON?!" screamed the coach.

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic had almost made it to the gates when one of the other guys of the soccer team caught up with him. Dom was one of the team's reserves, and usually turned up to practice, but today it had been the last thing on his mind. Apparently his luck had run out during maths - the coach wanted Dom there to fill in because someone was sick. There was no refusing, not if he wanted to keep his spot, so Dom turned in the direction of the soccer fields.


Stopping briefly to change, Dom dumped his pack at headed down past the bleachers. Seeing Lyall there, Dom's immediate reflex was to look the other way. Of course it'd be you who's out. Goddamnit. The coach was heading over looking mad, so Dom cut him off. At least Lyall had - unintentionally - given him a ready made excuse. "Sorry coach, I was looking for Lyall - I was meant to pass on some homework to him. I think he was too sick for class or something." Or something is damn right. Dominic's tone, despite his best efforts, betrayed some of the storm going on inside his head. Thankfully, he did not get much of a chance to think about it, the coach roaring a response.


"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE? GET OUT THERE AND RUN, LAWSON!" With the same absurd enthusiasm as he showed for everything else, the coach pushed Dominic towards the field. At least running would let him burn off some of the, what, rage? Fear? That was coursing through his system. As if making up for lost time, Dom ran like hell.

 

[Melix]

"I"M THINKING ABOUT GIVING YOUR SPOT TO LAWSON, SON!" shouted the coach. "LOOK AT HIM RUN WHILE YOU LIE ALL LISTLESSLY ABOUT, YOU LAZY FLOP!"


Lyall continued to lay flat. "Can I go to the hospital if I puke?"


"NO!" shouted the coach.


"Actually, James, school policy states anyone with a fever as high as I suspect his is has to go to the hospital if they show any other symptoms. Puking is a symptom." said the assistant coach, Miriam. "Also, please use your inside voice."


"THIS IS MY INSIDE VOICE! THIS IS MY OUTSIDE VOICE!" screamed Coach James, scaring everyone and their dog in the entire country.


Lyall closed his eyes. Lyall was absolutely exhausted: he'd spent the whole day scheming, writing and re-writing, dealing with every possible misstep along the way (girls surrounding the locker at first break, boys at second break) until finally he'd gotten it right. So what if he felt like his stomach was trying to escape through his forehead and he was nauseous and had forty fingers? It was time for rest, finally, no matter how loud anybody yelled.

 

[Elemental Son]

The coach seemed to mull it over for a moment, but he wasn't yet convinced. It was his team after all. “HOSPITAL IS FOR THE WEAK. NO ONE ON MY TEAM IS WEAK!”


The assistant coach rolled her eyes. “You won’t have a team if you don’t get this boy some medical aid, James. Just think – no more trophies.”


That at least seemed to have some effect, while demonstrating why Miriam was the only person who could successfully be the assistant coach. Coach James was really, really passionate about his trophies. “ALRIGHT TEAM, TAKE FIVE. LAWSON, GET OVER HERE AND HELP TAKE HIM TO THE SICK BAY. IF THEY WANT TO TAKE HIM TO HOSPITAL, THAT’S THEIR PROBLEM.”


Several of the boys dropped to the grass, grateful for the break. Dominic on the other hand was frustrated – it was just getting to the stage where adrenaline was making his brain shut up. At the same time, concern touched the edges of his mind. Lyall did seem pretty sick.


Jogging over to the bench, Dom paused a moment longer than he would have yesterday, but eventually offered his friend a hand up. He was holding on to the belief that it had to have been a mistake. Lyall wasn’t like that, surely. He’d know by now, right? Either way, if his mate needed medical attention, that would have to take priority, at least for now. “C’mon Lyall – you need some help, man.”

 

[Melix]

Lyall groaned. "I don't want to get you sick, Dom," he groaned. Even in a food and exhaustion induced coma-like thing, Lyall could recognize his best friend's voice. "I think it's just food poisoning, but just in case, please get away. I can sleep it off on my bed." He cuddled the bench and got a face full of splinters. "Ow. This isn't my bed. Now my face hurts. Where am I?" He wasn't quite sure that what he thought he was saying was what he was actually saying. He also wasn't sure why Dom looked different when he did manage to sit up. "Man, did you cut your hair? You look like a girl."


Asst. Coach Miri was visibly upset. "I am a girl!"


"Then where's Dom?" 
(He's so confused. Don't eat a bunch of junk food, get dehydrated, have a ton of anxiety, then run really hard for a long distance if you don't want that to occur.)

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic shot the assistant coach a look. This was bad. "Maybe you should call that ambulance after all, miss. He seems...bad." Finally, concern was taking over as the dominant thing. Dom went and grabbed the waterbottle from his backpack, and returned to stand next to his friend. After a second, he put a hand on Lyall's shoulder, trying to break through the haze he was clearly in.


"Lyall - here, man. You need to drink something. If you throw up on me, you owe me a new shirt."


(Hilarious xD )

 

[Melix]

"I'm calling," said Miri, dialing. "Hello, 911? I have a child here at Jules' field with a high fever, nausea, confusion...he kind of passed out earlier...we need an ambulance."


"Okay," said Lyall to Dom, fumbling until he found the drink. Lyall struggled to open the bottle, twisting and turning it with force before Miri finished up her conversation, snatched the bottle out of his hand, and opened it. "Drink this slowly," she ordered. "Try not to die." Lyall drank tiny sips, but quickly. He was thirsty and his throat itched. It actually made him less nauseous. "Thank you, Dom...and that other guy...I feel better."


"That's nice. I'm not a guy!"


Lyall decided to try to stand and stumbled forward, catching himself by grabbing on to Dom's arm for dear life. "Sorry..." He mumbled. "I guess I don't feel that much better yet." The light was hurting his head and he couldn't see with his eyes opened or closed, so he opted for closed and buried his face in Dom's shoulder. That hurt much less. And Dom's shoulders were nice and firm, perfect for resting a head on.


(Let's make Dom even more uncomfortable, shall we?cx)

 

[Elemental Son]

Christ. Subtle, Lyall. Ignoring the urge to push him the hell off, Dominic supported his friend's weight. If he was on his feet at least, it was probably better to get him out of here. "I'll take him to the sick bay until the ambulance gets here. They might have something to help with the... whatever's wrong with him." Manouvering around him, Dominic slipped an arm under Lyall's shoulder, fighting to keep him on his feet. "C'mon Lyall - slow small steps, alright?"


In the background, Coach James roared at the other players to get their asses up and back to training.

 

[Melix]

"Okay," mumbled Lyall, walking slowly and carefully but not looking where he was going. He trusted Dom. Dom was a good friend who had never, that he currently recalled, betrayed him or steered him wrong. Suddenly his mouth felt funny. Lyall pulled away from Dom very quickly and stumbled ten feet away before heaving up all the water and the remains of the great green cafeteria super burritos. "Oh, that's gross," said Lyall, when he was done, and stood up again. He'd managed to miss puking in his hair or on himself, and he felt much less dizzy and nauseous. He was standing without stumbling and his vision had cleared. "Hey! I feel great now!" he cheered happily. "Dom, come look at this! It's like neon!"

 

[Elemental Son]

"Goddamn. How many times, man? Steer away from cafeteria food that looks radioactive." Amused despite himself, Dom was relieved his mate was okay. "You still want to get checked out? You were pretty out of it for a while there. I think you called Miriam a guy...twice." Whatever Lyall decided, Dominic was considering just ditching the rest of practice - it'd been too much of a rollercoaster day, and he had too much going through his head.


On the upside, though, if that stuff was in his system, it probably *was* a mistake. I hope. Goddamn. Considering his options, Dom shot a look at his friend. "Hey, weird question, but were you sick during maths as well?"

 

[Melix]

"Oh, well, if she wants to get called a girl she should stop wearing sweaters in ninety degree heat," said Lyall, who refused to commit to not eating cafeteria food. "I think I'm okay now, but I probably should get checked if you were so worried about me. I mean, you're talking about it and not punching me, so it sounds serious." He smirked at his friend, clearly amused that Dom cared at all. He stared at Dom for a moment, considering his last question. "Why? What happened in maths? Are you alright?"


(I have to go for an hour or so. If you're gone when I return, good night.)

 

[Elemental Son]

"True." He conceded the point about their assistant coach; she was pretty boyish, in Lyall's defence. Dom dodged the question for a moment, deferring to the ready made excused. "Serious? They called an ambulance, man. You were tripping hard. If you die on me, I think Coach James will make me take your spot on the team, and that's just too much commitment for me to handle." He grinned at that - it had been a surprise to everyone when Dom accepted a place as a reserve team member, and had the Coach not been very, very insistent, he would have quit already.


Having run out of small talk to fill the silence, Dominic shifted, mildly uncomfortable. He wished he'd brought his backpack - then he could just show Lyall the problem, instead of having to talk about it. The hell are the right words for this? 'Hey Lyall, I might start punching you after all, 'cause you wrote me a goddamn love letter?' Tch. "...I'm fine man, just wondered where you were at. Speaking of, extra maths homework in your locker - enjoy that." Despite the lightness of his tone, Dominic didn't meet his friend's eyes.


(All good.)

 

[Melix]

You're not fine, you bald-faced liar. You won't even look at me. What the heck is wrong? That's what Lyall wanted to say to his best friend. Instead, he gave him a clap on the shoulder. "Hey, whatever happened, I'm here for you." Lyall said. He did not add the word "man" to his speech, as he usually would. If something had happened, then this was too serious a situation for the word "man". Something else occurred to him. "Are you mad at me? Look, dude, I'm sorry. I'll drink more water and stop eating food that even mildly glows." Lyall looked back at him and tried to see if Dominic was looking back at him or not. Was there something else he could have done wrong? He thought about it and realized. Oh, yes, there was.





"You saw the letter," he accused.

 

[Elemental Son]

"Hard not to - you put the damn thing in my locker." Dominic grimaced. He hadn't intended to put it quite that bluntly. There's got to be a...a sensitive damn way of telling him I'm not freaked out or anything. Bloody hell, how do girls do this 'talking about feelings' thing? Rolling his shoulders as if shaking off something uncomfortable, and still not looking at Lyall, Dominic tried to force his confused mind to form coherent sentences.


"Look, Lyall. I don't know if - I mean, what did you even mean to happen? It's not that I don't - I mean, I don't care if that's what you're into, just, Jesus, hell of a way to let me know. I don't even know if I... just... ah fuck." Dominic ran a hand through his hair, stressed. This wasn't going as planned. Hell, he didn't even have a plan. He'd hoped to get into a ring and punch things for a few hours to figure one out, but he hadn't been that fortunate. A few moments passed, and Dominic's brain short circuited. As always when he ran out of words, he did the next best thing. Fuck this. Without another word, he started walking off, towards the sick bay. When in doubt, carry on with whatever you were trying to get done before the problem came up. He could at least still get Lyall checked by the first aid staff without having to talk about it.

 

[Melix]

"I didn't put the note in your locker," said Lyall, following Dominic. He was so confused about what was going on. "And it's not like I haven't been obvious. People have come up and asked me about it. Strangers, even. I drop clues left and right. You're the only one who didn't figure it out." He paused. "I wasn't intent on you finding out actually. I thought you'd punch me. I'm glad you're so cool about it. What did Sarah think?"

 

[Elemental Son]

Strangers asking about it? The hell? Still walking, subconsciously glad that Lyall knew him well to follow while he sorted his thoughts out, Dominic just kept trying to sort out what he was hearing from what he'd read. It was when Lyall said he thought Dominic would punch him that he stopped. "Some best friend I am if you're worried about me punching you for it." Sighing, Dom knew he owed Lyall at least a full answer. "Look, whether you meant for it to end up there or not, the note was in my locker. I was going to give you some time to... I don't know, hell, say something about it maybe? It messed me up a bit at first. I mean I knew you hadn't dated any girls recently or whatever, but I didn't know that...yeah. I'll be honest - I don't really know how I feel about it, and it's sure as hell news to me that even strangers picked it up before I did. I thought I knew you pretty well, you know? I guess I'm cool with it though, yeah. Just going to take some time to get used to."


Looking for any sort of reaction, Dominic made direct eye contact for the first time since Lyall had brought the letter up. "I'm serious though - if anyone ever punches you over this, let alone me, you tell me, and I'll kick their ass. I know you can look after yourself, but the world can be a pretty screwed up place. I don't have any sort of...response for you, yet, but I respect the hell out of you for the amount of guts that must have taken." Letting that sink in, Dominic frowned slightly, and added, "as for Sarah, I haven't spoken to her yet. Was she one of the people who picked up on, it, or? I can talk to her about it this weekend if you want."

 

[Melix]

Lyall's confusion had reached top level. Why would anyone else punch him over Sarah? Sarah was single, he thought. He wasn't the type to leave notes for taken girls. That would be rude. Then he re-registered the first thing Dominic had said: he left it in Dom's locker. Dominic had been the one to see it. Sarah's name wasn't on the package; their last name, Lawson, was. It would be a logical assumption that the letter was for Dominic.


Dominic thought Lyall was gay for him.


The realization made Lyall's mouth drop before realizing this made him look like a ninny. What was he supposed to say to that? "You're an a**," Lyall stated firmly.

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic shrugged, slightly defensive. He was trying as hard as he could to not mess this up - as difficult a day as it had been, he thought it must have been tougher for Lyall. "Sorry. You know I'm not good with words. If it's any comfort, I guess it's... something I've thought about. I don't know. This town has a strange way of making you think about how things could be different, you know? I'm not saying I'm in the same situation or anything, just that, I don't know. Girls here, you know? Not really... well, not your thing either I guess, huh?" Dominic had not clicked onto the same realization that Lyall had, having no idea who the letter's intended recipient was. As a result, in trying to make his friend more at ease, he was saying things he would probably come to regret.


"I won't talk to Sarah about it if you don't want, man. Sorry - I didn't mean to put you on the spot with that."

 

[Melix]

Dominic just didn't seem to get it. So Lyall decided to help him out a little in a manner that might embarrass Dominic as much as Lyall was embarrassed by him at the current moment. He quickened his pace, came up right beside his best friend and gave him one of those uncomfortable, around-the-waist hugs and waited for him to stop moving.

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic stopped dead. Immediate brain short circuit. He really, really had not expected that response. Maybe Lyall had taken what he was saying a little too literally. In either case, Dominic was quite literally unable to move, muscles frozen from shock. It was a long few minutes before he managed to breathe out a "Lyallwhatthehellareyoudoing?" Despite his words moments before, every cell in Dominic's body was demanding he throw a punch, and then run like hell. It was quite possibly the shock, rather than any kind of morality, which had saved that from happening thus far.

 

[Melix]

Lyall leaned over and pressed his lips to Dom's ear. "I just want to let you know..." He made a laughing, grumbly noise in his throat. "If I were gay..." He kissed Dom's ear. "...which I'm not, by the way..." He squeezed Dom's knee. "It would not be you." And with that he let go and backed off, walking toward the nurse facility. "I'm capable of walking myself to the nurses, by the way," Lyall called, sounding annoyed, from in front of Dominic, giving him a casual goodbye-you're-dismissed wave. "Thanks for being so supportive, though." 
(Going to bed in 5.)

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic was still bolted to the spot as Lyall walked off. It was a long moment before he was able to do anything else. "...Right." Taking a shuddering breath, subdued by a pain he didn't understand, slowly he forced the muscles to relax. Dominic knew he'd messed up. Somehow, he'd misinterpreted the communication, pissed Lyall off, and, with his guard lowered to try and comfort his friend, probably said something stupid. I'm an idiot. Of course he's not - not Lyall. The hell was I thinking?


Feeling strangely vulnerable, Dominic reverted to basics. When in doubt, get the job done. Without even looking to see if Lyall had made it inside, Dominic turned around and headed back towards the soccer fields to get his pack. All he wanted right now was to get changed, pull his hood up to block the world out, and disappear to work on a bike for a few hours...or years.


He got back down to the track, and predictably, the coach yelled out an inquiry. "WELL? WHERE IS MY FORWARD, LAWSON?" Unpredictably - and for possibly the first time in the man's life - a student totally ignored him. Without a word, Dominic shouldered his pack and headed towards the changerooms. "LAWSON? LAWSON! I'LL THROW YOU OFF THE TEAM, LAWSON. WHERE IS HE?"


Thankfully, Miriam interceded before Coach James gave himself a heart attack. "I'll call the nurse, shall I?"


Before the coach could respond, Dominic was long gone - after all, finally having figured it out, he had a letter to deliver.


(All good.)

 

[Melix]

Lyall's fever had dropped a degree and was now at one-hundred degrees. The doctors and paramedics deduced that he'd suffered from an anxiety attack, and that in combination with the cafeteria food and all the water he hadn't drank, plus the exhaustion of running such a long distance in such a short time, had completely overtaxed him. He had high blood pressure currently; 140/99 milligrams of mercury, or however one wanted to go about transposing that. What perplexed the doctors was how stressed out Lyall could be when mid-terms weren't even mentioned yet; when his transcripts showed everything that was going for him.


In the back of Lyall's mind, he was worried about Dominic. Had he upset his friend by blatantly pretend-flirting? The kiss especially bothered Lyall. He'd only done it because that's what he saw on T.V. Dom hadn't followed Lyall into the nurses office, though that might be partially Lyall's fault.


The doctors wanted to keep Lyall for a few hours just in case.


Dominic, are you okay? he texted. Where are you? They're gonna keep me a while. It'll be boring at the hospital. Come entertain me?