Chapter 2
Evan’s father was a strict man. He had his ideals and he stuck to them. It seemed that no matter what Evan did it never seemed to appease his father, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. If Mr Rosier wanted Evan to be on the football team, like he was when he was younger, then Evan would practice until the sun went down every night to get onto the team. If Mr Rosier wanted Evan to get perfect grades, and be the top in all of his classes, then Evan would get home after practice and study for hours. He would do it for his father, even if he never got anything in response.
Pandora didn't get the same treatment, Evan's father never seemed to mind that she did not flourish in school, his view was old fashioned, and regardless of her grades, or hobbies, as long as she would get married to a rich man, Mr Rosier was happy. Pandora didn't fight him on this, she didn't want to get married and become some housewife, but she saw what he did to her twin brother when Evan disagreed with his father, and would opt to stay quiet, and simply wait to turn 18 before she had to express disagreement with her fathers beliefs.
Besides, Evan would protect her. So there they stood, they were coming back from a lunch, one of their fathers many attempts at connection. Although they always fell short, as a lunch cannot equal a good relationship when there is no conversation. Mr Rosier had been complaining about Evan's 'bad' grade for the entire lunch, he hadn't asked Pandora one question, and as they walked back, Evan's father lost his temper over a business call, hung up in a fit of rage, and began berating Evan for his lack of involvement in their company.
Evan was expected to take over his fathers role in their family business, however Evan had no real interest in this, and had insisted upon doing school full-time until he had graduated. This only worked to anger his father more, he placed his hand on the junction between Evan's neck and shoulder, firmly squeezing, and shouted at him in the middle of the street. Pandora was begging him to stop yelling, but to no avail.
Evan didn't reply, simply looked down onto the street floor, allowing his blonde locks to cover his face in shame. He felt embarrassed to be yelled at so loudly in public, especially in front of his sister.
‘God Evan, you are such a disappointment, I cannot even begin to explain to you how ashamed I am to call you my son. Did you know that my coworker's son has started working with us? He is only 19! Why can't you be more like him?’ He shouted angrily, drawing attraction from people walking past on the street. Evan remained silent.
‘DORA! OI, DORA!’
The loud noise stopped their father in his ramble, as the three of them looked over to the source. The street they stood on left them beside the skatepark, and to no surprise, Barty and Regulus stood with boards in their hands on the side of the track. Barty had been calling over Pandora, and hadn't noticed Evan until he turned to face him, and when he saw his face, Barty instantly started smiling more.
Evan saw Barty go to yell something but got cut off when Regulus elbowed him and whispered something to Barty that Evan couldn't see. Barty went silent, and their father muttered something under his breath.
‘Evan Rosier, you will come home with me this instant. Pandora, I am proud that you have found an eligible bachelor in Regulus, Walburga tells me he is a smart young man, and I am sure he will make enough to support you both in the future.” Their father said, voice stern, and posture straight. His hand remained on Evan, and he strengthened his grip to make himself clear to his son.
Pandora chose to ignore her fathers words about Regulus, trying desperately to prevent her laughter at the idea of dating him. She would let their father believe what he needed to, if it would keep her out of danger. Pandora grabbed Evan’s wrist, and gently pulled him out of her fathers grip, beginning to speak before he could start yelling again, ‘ Thank you, father, but I will go to Regulus with Evan, as I don't want to be out late alone. You understand right?’ She spoke, pleading eyes.
Their father was silent. He looked Evan in the eyes, ‘This is not over, son.’ He stated, before turning away and walking off.
‘Ev? Are you okay? I am so sorry Ev, he is so rude to you. I didn't want you to go home with him, it will be okay.’ Pandora began the second their father was out of hearing distance. She was visibly worried, her hand on his wrist shaking slightly. She had always hated when they fought.
‘Thanks Pan,’ Evan said weakly, finally looking up from where he had been gazing off. ‘I'm always fine as long as you are okay.’ He finished, sounding tired. Pandora pulled him in for a quick hug, a silent thank you, before he tugged him alongside her over to where Barty and Regulus stood silently watching the twins.
Barty went to say something but Regulus cut him off, ‘Pan, you okay? Your dad didn't do anything, did he?’ Regulus spoke, voice laced with concern. He glanced over to Evan on the last question. Evan quickly broke the eye contact, his cheeks turning pink.
'All good now, thanks Reg.’ Pandora replied easily, hand still wrapped around Evan’s wrist.
Evan’s eyes were on Barty now. He had seen Barty out of school plenty, with him being good friends with his sister, but it always caught him off guard how different the boy looked in his own clothes. It was obvious from how he dressed at school that a button up shirt and trousers were not exactly his style, but in his own clothes it's easy to see how handsome the boy was when he leant into his style. Barty was dressed simply in baggy ripped jeans and a baggy black t-shirt, some band Evan didn't recognise across the front. Barty’s hair looked the same, mostly a dark brown, so dark it was almost black but noticeably brunette in the sun, with those stupid green front bits. The green brought out his eyes. Stupid, Evan thought again. His board was old and tattered, and without the school blazer on Evan could get a better look at his tattoos, no longer hidden. A snake wrapped around his wrist. It looked really good, Evan noted.
‘My eyes are up here, Rosie.’ A voice broke him out of his train of thought.
Evan met his eyes reluctantly, face unimpressed. ‘Crouch.’ He acknowledged his presence, that was all he was getting. He hadn't seen Barty since their run-in in the locker room, and Evan had hoped he would be able to avoid him until the end of the week.
'That's all I get? You are so boring, Rosie!’ Barty teased. When Evan didn't reply he opened his mouth to keep going, but Pandora stopped him, ‘Guys, I am in a shit mood. I don't want to deal with your stupid beef, and Evan is staying, so Barty,’ She said with her hands raised between the two boys,’ Shut the fuck up, 'Kay?’
Barty just nodded, and Regulus rolled his eyes at the others behaviour. ‘Pan,’ Regulus spoke, ‘Evan,’ He nodded at Evan in greeting, ‘Wanna get high?’
‘Fuck yes.’ They both replied, without missing a beat.
Pandora linked elbows with Regulus and they began walking off towards the forest beside the skatepark, leaving Evan stood awkwardly with Barty.
Clear that Evan wasn't gonna make any attempt to go, Barty mimicked his other friends and linked elbows with Evan, striding on after his friends, Evan in tow. Evan let himself be pulled for a few seconds in confusion, before tugging his arm away and stepping freely beside Barty. ‘I was gonna come! Relax!’ Evan panted out.
‘Yeah, whatever Rosie.’ Barty replied simply. Walking side by side with the blonde.
They were silent, as they followed behind Pandora and Regulus. Barty pulled out a small tin from his pocket and began grinding a small silver container. Evan wasn't sure, and he would hate to sound stupid infront of Barty, so he remained silent as they walked. The silence became comfortable, with the background noise of Pandora speaking sweetly with Regulus, the soft tap of their feet moving in sync, and the slowly fading sound of skateboards disappearing into the background as they approached a small opening in the woods, with some wooden stools and an old fire pit.
‘Where are we?’ Evan asked nobody in particular, more to himself than anyone else. Barty replied, ‘This is our smoke spot, and it is top secret. You are only allowed to see it because of Panda. You cannot under any circumstance tell any of your stupid friends about this.’ He rambled on, looking into Evan’s eyes intently. Under the soft lighting in the forest, Evan noted that Barty had a small scar in his eyebrow. His lips were parted slightly, pink and wet from spit. Evan found it hard to look away.
Evan sat atop one of the tree stumps, beside his sister, and tried not to eavesdrop on her conversation. He failed. She was talking about their lunch with Regulus, he realised. Barty was beside him on another stump, having finished rolling the spliff, he began to light it, taking a deep hit, before passing it to Evan. He breathed out slowly, some smoke hitting Evan, as he took the spliff from between Barty’s fingers.
He tried to ignore where their fingers brushed. He failed.
Evan had smoked before, mostly at parties with James and the rest of his team, but he couldn't make it a habit because of practices, and his father. So it was always fun when he got to indulge. He lifted it to his lips, closing them around the end. He felt his pale skin flush when he realised Barty was staring at him. Evan closed his eyes and tried to shut out his brain as he inhaled deeply, letting smoke fill his lungs before exhaling. He felt his face begin to smile, and thought that might be the first time he's smiled all day. He frowned at the thought.
Pandora was talking louder now, bringing the other two into her and Regulus’ conversation. Evan passed it to Pandora as she spoke. ‘He was being such a dick, I mean it is insane! Right, Evan?’ She motioned to him with the lit end. Evan nodded silently. Evan wasn't friends with these people. He didn't want them to know his life. Regulus was nice enough, but Evan didn't want Barty having anything over him. He was being harsh and he knew it, but Evan was a private person, especially with his family life.
‘That sucks.’ Regulus sympathised.
‘I mean my working theory is that he just hates everything since mum, you know..’ Pandora trailed off, a slight chuckle in her voice, the spliff clearly hitting already.
Evan said nothing.
‘Whatever, let’s not bring the mood down by talking about our cunt father, right Ev?’ Pandora brushed past, clearly not wanting to upset Evan with mention of their mother. ‘I am personally very excited about the concert tonight, though. Something to look forward too.’ She started.
Regulus and Barty both hummed in agreement. Evan decided to be a good brother and try with his sisters friends, even if he hated one of them. ‘What concert are you guys going to?’ He asked them.
Barty laughed, and took another hit as Regulus handed him the spliff again. ‘Actually, Rosie, It's my concert.’ Barty spoke, looking proud of himself.
Evan felt his jaw drop. Barty was in a band? How had Pandora never mentioned it?
‘Shocked, Rosie?’ Barty baited.
‘W-What? I am so confused. You are not in a fucking band, Crouch.’ Evan was speechless. Barty went to speak but Evan got there first, ‘ No it's not like that, I just mean you don't shut up about anything, if you were in a band, everyone would fucking know.’
‘Well, Rosie, sorry to break it to you, but you don't know everything.’ Barty breathed out a thick cloud of smoke and pulled it up his nose in an annoyingly cool trick, and handed the spliff to Evan, who shook his head and laughed at Barty showing off.
‘He is really good, Ev!’ Pandora jumped up, and started reciting how at the last show Barty had done this crazy guitar solo, and the crowd went wild, Barty had crowd surfed the small underground bar, and it was insane, until the manager kicked them out when they realised that Barty was 17. Barty just sat through the story leaning back on his elbows and watching her with a shimmer in his eye as he recalled the night. Evan sat there, jaw dropped, and was once again rendered speechless. He really didn't know Barty like he thought he did.
'It's at 9, you should come Rosie.’ Barty leaned across the gap to whisper in Evan’s ear, as Pandora continued to tell her story, jumping around the empty fire pit. The sun had begun setting, a soft pink hue settled over the four.
Evan felt his cheeks flush at the nickname, for some reason it felt a lot more intimate when Barty was this close to him. 'Can't. I have a party tonight. At James’. Team building or some bullshit were James’ words, but really it was an excuse for everyone to get drunk and relieve stress before the game.
‘Shame, she isn't lying, I am really good.’ Barty said in return, his smirk never leaving his face.
Evan was suddenly in his own head again, imagining Barty playing the guitar, looking at Evan, with the stage lights on his face, sweat sticking his green hair to his forehead, thick eyeliner around his eyes. Fuck. Maybe he would get into it and take his shirt off, start swinging it above his head, and throw it into the crowd. Evan would probably try to grab it. Definitely, try to grab it, actually. Barty would turn around, and Evan would finally see what the tattoo on his back was. Fuck, indeed.
Evan abruptly stood up. He can't be thinking that way, it wasn't right. He had to go.
‘Ev?’ Pandora was pulled out of her story at the dramatic movement. ‘You okay?’ She said, confusion clear. Regulus was staring up at him from across the empty fire pit, and Barty slowly rose to his feet beside him, following Evan’s motion.
‘I gotta go, James’ thing starts in a bit..’He trailed off, voice wavering and unconvincing. Regulus looked up at him, and squinted his eyes at him slightly.
‘What?’ Pandora replied, clearly as lost as the rest of them.
‘How are you getting there?’ Barty filled the silence. Of course he did.
Evan didn’t know how he was getting there, actually. He was originally going to ask his dad for a lift, but that obviously was not an option. Neither him nor his sister could drive, his father refused them lessons, as he insisted it was a waste of money.
‘I,..’ Evan trailed off, clear he was unsure. ‘I will call James, I think.’ He sounded weird, by his own standards, the high hitting him in the worst way. He was conscious of his every movement, and how close Barty was standing. He could smell Barty. He needed to call James. Quick.
Evan jogged away from the group ignoring the calls of his name from behind him and opened his phone. It was nearly dead, he had been there for hours without realising. He opened his phone with shaky hands and called James.
He picked up instantly.
‘Heyyy, Evan! What's up mate, when you getting here bro?’ James’ voice was light, he could hear some voices in the background, and music blasting loudly.
‘James.’ Evan's voice shook.
‘Evan? You okay what's up?’ The background noises faded as James seemingly left the room, his voice was concerned. ‘Ev, where are you? Is it your dad?’ James’ voice prompted.
'I'm in the forest, by the skatepark… I am high and I don't know how to get to yours, and I know its a massive hassle but my dad was weird earlier so I can't get a lift, I don't even really think I can go home later, and Barty is here and everything is weird, but I really need to get out of here and I don't know how to get to yours and-’ Evan rapidly spoke, voice still unstable.
‘The skatepark by school? I will be there in 10. Evan take a deep breath, I will bring water and you can stay at mine tonight mate.’ James cut him off, clearly worried at the sound of Evan’s voice. Evan followed James instruction and took a deep breath, turning to face where the others stood in the distance, all facing him, unsure on what to do.
‘I'm sorry James, thank you.’ Evan said.
'It's okay, I will be there soon okay. You are with Pandora, right? Stay with her. How the fuck did you end up high with Crouch?’ James let out a laugh, ‘Sorry, just, that's so funny, I will take the piss out of you later though, relax for now.’ James voice grounded Evan as he sat listening whilst taking deep breaths as instructed.
‘10 minutes?’ Evan said quietly into the mic.
‘10 minutes.’ James confirmed.
‘Thank you, James, seriously’ Evan replied, already feeling better at the thought of James picking him up. ‘I will be waiting by the carpark’
‘Okay mate, see you then.’
Evan gradually pulled the phone away from his face and hung up. He began pacing towards where the group stood, all watching him carefully. Evan hated feeling vulnerable, especially around someone like Barty.
He waited for someone else to speak. Pandora began gently walking over to him, and softly hugged his shoulder, ‘Ev what's happening?’ She asked softly in his ear.
‘Getting picked up by James, all good. Sorry if I worried you.’ He spoke to them all.
‘He is here in 10, so Imma go wait by the carpark, thanks for the weed, good luck at your concert.’ He brushed off any incoming goodbyes quickly and rushed to walk away.
‘Wait! We will come with you, we gotta head to the venue anyways, so we can wait at the carpark with you, Rosie.’ Barty offered, he had walked up to where Evan was walking away, and began walking in step with him.
Evan wanted to tell him to stay in the forest. To brush him off, but he was exhausted, and maybe if his brain would shut up for a second, it would actually be quite nice to have some company.
‘Okay, thanks.’ Evan started, ‘Barty.' He finished, looking up to see the older boys reaction.
Barty was clearly caught of guard at hearing the blonde use his first name.
‘What?!! I didn't even know if you knew my first name!’ Barty laughed unapologetically. ‘I hate my name, but it kinda sounds nice when you say it.’ He continued, voice soft.
Evan flushed lightly at that statement.
They continued to walk in silence again, the soft buzz of the high creating a peaceful atmosphere as the park was empty with nothing but a sunset.
‘Evan, I know your dad isn't a great guy’ Barty started out of the blue, Evan went to speak but Barty raised a hand and kept going ‘Pandora tells me stuff, look I know you look out for her, so thanks, but if you need someone to look out for you , you can call me. I don't mind throwing a few fists, he deserves it anyways and I am pretty strong. So just,’ he trailed off, looking away from Evan’s blue eyes into the sunset, ‘give me a call. If you need help.’ He finished, pulling out a pen from his back pocket, and grabbing Evan’s hand, writing a chain of numbers on it.
Evan was silent. He didn't really know what to say. He had always dealt with it alone. Sure, he had James, and James was great, but he would never ask that of him.
They reached the carpark, and surely enough James was parked up, his red convertible by the front, him leaning on the hood, looking at Evan with questioning eyes. Evan pulled his arm away from Barty at that, realising the brunette was still holding him, and just nodded a goodbye at Barty before stalking over to James.
‘You guys seemed cl-’ James’ voice was full of humour.
‘Not a word.’ Evan cut him off.