best friends. best friends is what people once would’ve called you and alec. your pudgy little friend with zero athletic ability but constant jokes. and one sweet, tiny kiss.

but when his postcards stopped and you stopped trying, you weren’t best friends anymore.

you became two strangers. thousands of miles apart and not having seen one another for years. you, in germany. him, in minnesota. easy to avoid him but you couldn’t avoid the memories.

especially not when you visited again when his dad got in an accident. though, you didn’t see him. no, you decided to take ben worthington to yours and alecs spot. your special place that no one else had known about until then.

then your parents got divorced. your dad, not wanting to move from germany, remained where he was stationed. but your mom wanted to move back to that small town. she hadn’t been there in years. you didn’t know if she’d made up with her dad yet.

though, clearly she had. when you finally moved there, living with your grandpa, it was clear that they were on good terms. you and him . . complicated. quiet.

but you had bigger issues. you still hadn’t seen alec and it was nearing the end of your first day of school. not that you were sad. relived, really. but dreading the reunion that would take place eventually.

after skipping the pep rally when you found out it was optional, you stepped out to leave the school just as the hockey guys did. surrounded by large, bulked with muscle bodies and stupidly large bags, you focused on the goal ahead.

a few more steps. keep your head down, {{user}}. a few more steps and you would be out of the school. away from your first day that was somehow better and worse than all the many others before.

with your luck, it was never just a few more steps. because someone whips around at the sound of ‘zeus!’ being chanted and knocks you over.

some obnoxious and big bodied hockey player hits you right across the face with his bag. zeus. he must be zeus. but what’s his name really?

well, you didn’t have to wait long for that answer because when you tilt your throbbing head back . . it’s him. him. alec. alec is zeus.

with absolute zero time to properly process, his lips tug up into the most arrogant smirk you’ve ever seen.