(TW: homophobic slurs)

Following Jayce's POV

Jayce had felt himself getting more confident around Viktor lately. He had no idea why, but Viktor just seemed to have that effect on him. A few days had passed and Viktor had recovered from his cold, being able to go back to class. Jayce had to monitor him, making sure he went to bed at night. He learned Viktor had a habit of ignoring his own health for his work, which was not ideal.

He walked along by himself to the cafe. Viktor opted to head back to the dorm to finish work he'd gotten behind on. Jayce would see him at football practice, seeing as Viktor had been assigned to it for his sports medicine class. It made Jayce nervous, seeing as Viktor had just recovered from being sick, but Jayce promised to himself he'd make sure Viktor was okay.

Jayce sat by himself, taking his time to eat and drink. He noticed the cafe door open an close. He glanced up, recognizing Mel. They hadn't spoken much since the night Viktor came home with his destroyed sketchbook. Jayce had tried reaching out occasionally to ask her if she was alright or if she wanted to meet up, but she'd always reply with "I'm fine," or make up a reason as to why she couldn't meet with Jayce. Jayce accepted it, however. He sipped at his drink again, allowing his mind to wonder off.

For some reason, it went to Viktor. His mind often ended up thinking about Viktor lately. Perhaps it was just because he'd been spending most of his time around him lately. Though, his mind often went on about Viktor. The two moles on his face; one right above the corner of his lip and the other under his eye. His golden, amber eyes complimenting his pale skin. The way his-

He glanced up as someone flopped down on the other side of the table, gazing at him expectantly.

"Uh.. Mel? Can I help you?"

"Why are you here by yourself today? Nowadays, you're usually dragging Viktor here."

Jayce shrugged. "Viktor wanted to catch up on his schoolwork since he'd been out."

"Hm, I see. Putting his work before anything else, yet again. Quite sad, if you ask me," Mel muttered, sipping at her own drink.

"What do you mean by that?" Jayce asked, raising a brow.

"He really only cares for his work. Wouldn't you like a friend who puts you before their work, Jayce?"

"He does put me before his work," Jayce said, growing annoyed.

"Are you sure?" Mel asked.

"Why are so many people going after Viktor?" He asked angrily, the grip on his coffee cup tightening.

"Think about it, Jayce. A crippled nobody from Zaun who randomly showed up to Piltover Academy because he worked hard for it? You can't honestly expect us to not be sceptical of him, right? Even you used to make fun of him," Mel said, her gaze burning into Jayce.

"I know I used to. The keyword being 'used.' I don't anymore. I had never given him a fair chance," Jayce said, irritation climbing in his tone. "Everyone should give him a chance. And what does him being injured or being from Zaun have anything to do with this? Those mean nothing."

Mel shook her head. "You don't get it, Jayce."

"No, Mel, I really don't."

With that, Jayce stood, grabbing his coffee. He stormed out of the cafe, anger burning in his veins. People never gave Viktor a chance. He's so friendly and intelligent, and it infuriated Jayce that no one bothered to try.

"Idiots. All of them. I gave him a chance, so why can't they?" Jayce scowled to himself silently.

_______

Jayce huffed, sweat streaking down his face. He stumbled off to the side of the field, catching his breath. He glanced over at Viktor, catching his gaze. Viktor gave him a small smile, nodding his head at him. Jayce grinned and waved back. Viktor held up water bottle, wordlessly asking Jayce if he wanted some water. He glanced at his coach, who was just getting through with allowing the athletes to take a ten minute break. He walked over towards Viktor, slumping down on the bench beside him.

"I'm dying," he gasped.

Viktor chuckled, "I can see that."

He handed Jayce a water bottle, which he gladly accepted, nearly drinking half of it.

"I'll have to get more waters when you get back to practice," Viktor said, gazing up as three athletes walked past the, stopping at the bench next to theirs.

A whistle blew and Jayce groaned, pushing himself to his feet. He held out his hand, helping Viktor up too as he grabbed the bucket, hobbling off. Jayce jogged back onto the field, joining the other athletes. Five minutes passed by and Jayce's coach blew his whistle again.

"Smith, Williams, Jenkins! Are you going to join us for practice again or just have a party over there?!" His coach shouted.

The three athletes that had been standing by Jayce and Viktor were huddled in a tight circle, laughing. They gazed up.

"O-oh, right! Sorry, Coach!" Smith called.

Jayce turned back to his coach, shaking his head at the other athletes.

_______

It felt like practice would never end. As soon as his coach let him, Jayce had gone to the locker room to change. Now, he waited on the bench for Viktor, who had gone off to use the bathroom that was down the hall from the locker room. He gazed down at his watch. Viktor had been gone for five minutes, and Jayce was starting to worry. He decided that at ten minutes, he'd go look for Viktor.

He glanced down at his watch. Ten minutes. He stood, heading for the locker room. The athletes who still remained to hang out were laughing amongst themselves, nodding their heads to Jayce as he passed. He headed for the bathrooms, pausing as he heard laughter and then the familiar clanking of Viktor's cane against the floor. He listened, opting to wait for entering the bathroom.

"Aaah, c'mon, dude, lighten up," a voice rang out. Smith.

"Can you just leave me be? I'm trying to get by," a Russian accent spat. Obviously Viktor.

"Aw, the fag's angry," another voice, Jenkins, laughed.

"I'm not ga-"

Viktor was cut off by Smith.

"Oh, don't lie to us," he scoffed. "We actually know you're gay."

"I'm not-"

"We read your stupid book that was in your bag," Williams cut in.

There was a long silence after that. Jayce blinked, tensing up.

"What the fuck?" Jayce's thoughts flicked by so fast and he tried focusing on one at a time.

Suddenly, a loud yell dragged him from his thoughts.

"You had NO right to read that!" Jayce could heard fire spitting in Viktor's voice. "You just decided to go through my stuff when I was getting water for you?!"

"I've never heard him that angry.." Jayce thought.

"I work my ass off here at this school, and this is how I'm acknowledged?! I just get my privacy invaded?!" Viktor continued to shout, his accent thickening.

"So you don't deny it?" Smith pressed. "You are a fag!"

"I- Well-" Viktor stumbled over his words as the truth was being pressed from him. Jayce knew he should've stopped it, but he was cemented in place.

"Speak, bitch," Jenkins said. "You are gay, aren't you?"

"You read the book," Viktor muttered. Jayce could hardly hear his voice. He sounded defeated. Broken. "You understand the words just as well as I do."

Once again, there was a long silence. Then, once again, someone broke it. However, it wasn't Viktor. All three football players were laughing.

"That's actually pathetic!" Smith cackled. "Not only are you crippled and an outsider, you're also gay!"

"That's disgusting! You're disgusting," Jenkins snorted.

Jayce heard Viktor try to speak.

"I'm-"

And, once again, he was cut off.

"WAIT- Does your best friend, Jayce, know? Oh! If not, I call dibs on telling him! The look on his face when he finds out. His reaction will be priceless!" Williams snickered.

"I- Uh-" Viktor stammered. "No- He doesn't know.."

"Is that why you hang out with him so much?!" Smith gasped.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Viktor asked.

"Do you like him or something?"

"WHAT- No! It's not like that! We're friends, he's my friend!" Desperation filled his voice. Jayce felt oddly saddened by that.

"Mm, I don't buy it, you totally do," Smith pressed.

"No, honestly-"

"Pathetic little bitch-"

A loud slam cut Smith off. Jayce hardly knew what he had done. He stood in the doorway, the door having been slammed against the wall. He huffed, fury burning his gaze. He glanced over at Viktor who adverted his gaze to the floor, an old habit returning. He was pressed against the wall, the athletes all standing around him like he was a caged animal. Jayce glared over at the football players, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"Aaah, Jayce!" Smith laughed a bit, nervously. "What- what, uh, brings you here?"

"I came looking for my friend," Jayce spoke, his burning gaze never once leaving the athletes. "But instead of just finding him, I also found three idiotic shitheads."

"I beg your pardon?" Williams asked, trying to be dumb.

"You know damn well what I mean," Jayce snapped, stepping towards the athletes, his fists balled up.

"He's gay!" Jenkins blurted, pointing an accusing finger at Viktor who flinched slightly.

"Oh, is he?" Jayce gazed over at Viktor for a moment, the anger in his eyes softening. "Why does that matter?"

"It's gross!"

"The only thing gross here are your attitudes," the anger returned to Jayce's eyes as he glared over at the three. "And I'll be DAMNED if I let you keep talking shit."

As Jayce took another step forward, the three ducked past him, quickly opening the bathroom door and vanishing behind it. Now, just him and Viktor stood, a deafening silence falling on the two. Jayce turned to face Viktor as he heard his cane shift a bit.

"I'm- I'm just going to go back to the dorm," Viktor whispered, his gaze still on the floor. "I understand if you don't want to walk with me anymore."

When he tried to slip past Jayce, Jayce set a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Of course I'll keep walking back with you," Jayce said, desperate to have Viktor look at him. He never did.

"Alright, only if you want to, though," Viktor muttered, seemingly opting to not argue.

Jayce nodded and removed his hand from Viktor's shoulder, placing it on his back as the two made their way back towards the locker room to get through to the field. The locker room fell silent as Jayce glared at his teammates, his hand still placed firmly on Viktor's back as they passed the players.

_______

As they reached the dorm, Viktor sighed. Jayce felt a pang of remorse go through his veins. Viktor spoke at last.

"I assume you heard all of that."

His voice sounded so dull suddenly. Jayce placed his hand on Viktor's shoulder.

"I won't lie.. I did," Jayce nodded, confirming Viktor's thoughts.

"And now you're disgusted by me?" Viktor walked to his bedroom, Jayce following behind him. He watched as Viktor dropped his bag lazily at the foot of his bed, collapsing onto his mattress.

"Viktor, if I was disgusted by it, I wouldn't have walked with you back to the dorm," Jayce said, sitting down next to him.

"You probably just felt bad or something," Viktor muttered, sitting up. He bent forward, undoing his leg brace, tossing it to the side. "I don't need anyone's pity."

"No, Viktor, I'm not pitying you. I genuinely wanted to walk with you back to the dorm. I don't think that'll ever change. You being gay doesn't make a difference," Jayce said, desperate to get his point across.

"Mhm, right," Viktor nodded. Jayce knew he was still unconvinced. His eyes were locked on his leg brace that laid on the floor.

Jayce leaned forward slightly, taking Viktor's chin in his hand, turning his head to face Jayce. Jayce gazed down at Viktor.

"Viktor, look at me," Jayce said. Viktor's golden eyes finally met Jayce's eyes. "I mean what I said. I'm not disgusted by you in any way. Do you understand that?"

Viktor was silent for a few moments and Jayce searched his gaze, his eyebrows raising expectantly at Viktor. Viktor let out an exhale through his nose.

"Yeah, I understand," he muttered.

"Good."