Chapter 4
When Evan came to, the sun shone on his eyes, forcing them open. His stomach turned as he awoke. Evan was warm, as he took in his surroundings he remembered where he was in a sudden horrific flashback.
That only worked to make his hangover worse, as he looked up to see dark hair splayed out on his pillow, a warm arm around his bare skin where his hoodie had ridden up as he slept. Not his hoodie, he realised, Barty’s hoodie. He let himself fall back asleep, the thought of having to deal with his reality too much, and the fantasy world of his dreams an all too appealing option.
Evan wasn't sure how much time had passed when he was awoken for the second time. This time it wasn't the sunlight but rather the hand on his stomach. rubbing small circles into his skin. The sensation made his stomach flip.
No, wait. His stomach was just flipping. He shot up and climbed across Barty, purposefully avoiding his name being called by the boy, and shooting into his bathroom, letting his head fall into the toilet as he began to let his stomach out.
Cross fading did not sit well with his stomach clearly, as he let his head fall back against the wall, whilst pressing the flush. Barty followed him into the room worriedly, sinking to his knees to stoke Evan’s back as the boy panted out pained breaths.
‘Rosie? Are you feeling better? Want some water?’ Barty’s voice was too sweet for this early. Evan grunted.
Barty clearly took that as a yes and stalked away to his kitchen returning with two cold glasses of water. Evan gratefully took it, mumbling a thanks as he choked down the entire glass. He panted again.
‘Ughhhh. My head feels like shit.’ Evan grated.
Barty just grabbed his hand and shoved a couple of paracetamol into his grip, with a faint smile. ‘Bottoms up!’ He smiled at Evan.
Evan threw his head back and grabbed Barty’s full glass to swallow down the pills, a bitter taste in his mouth as he handed the glass back, Barty's fingers gently caressing his as they met.
Evan pulled back quickly. Last night was weird, he thought. Evan had been too touchy, too comfortable around someone who he really didn't know that well. Barty was probably weirded out by Evan, and the latter couldn't blame him. The thought of Barty telling his friends about the details of last night, Evan undressing in front of him, put an even more sour taste in Evan’s mouth. Truthfully, Evan was painfully embarrassed by the thought. So he chose to shut it out, and play naturally.
'What's the time?’ Evan croaked out.
Barty didn't say anything, just handed Evan his phone, and let him see for himself. When Evan opened his phone, his eyes brushed over the time, instead widening at the 30 notifications he had on his home screen, of missed calls from both James, his father, and Pandora. He had a fluctuation of concerned messages, asking his whereabouts, if he was okay, and some less kindly worded ones from his father.
‘Shit.’ He spoke aloud. His fingers quickly typed some responses to James and Pandora, pointedly skipping over his father's messages. Those were a problem for another day.
‘Rosie? What's up?’ Barty, confused at his exclamation.
Finally Evan allowed his gaze to wander up to the time. 9:38.
‘SHIT!’ He screamed, louder this time, and only garnering more fear from Barty, who stood across from where he sat in front of the toilet.
‘Oi! Rosie? What the fuck is wrong?!’ He yelled back, matching the blonde's noise level.
'Crouch,’ His voice a warning, ‘..it is nearly 10:00! Lessons start at 8! I am so fucking late, I am so fucking screwed. No wonder James was asking where I was... Fuck!’ He exasperated, letting out a final curse before brushing past Barty.
Barty tried to grab his wrist as Evan rushed past, but Evan shook himself free and began to remove his hoodie. His hoodie.
‘Rosie, it's okay! I called the school, told them there was a family emergency and we would be there as soon as possible. I am close with Sally, we will be fine, just breathe.’ Barty's voice was calm, as he spoke with conviction from beside Evan, rubbing his hand up Evan's arm in a soothing motion.
Evan sighed, subconsciously leaning into the touch. Frankly, Evan found himself feeling at peace around Barty. Barty was an unsuspecting warmth in Evan’s life, providing the feeling of safety Evan didn't get elsewhere.
‘Thank you. Crouch .’ Evan muttered sadly under his breath, but Barty was having none of it.
‘No, c’mon Rosie, we agreed!’ His voice whiny as he stepped closer, ‘No more “Crouch” bullshit!’ He air-quoted.
Evan just rolled his eyes, not dignifying Barty's begging with a response, as he brought a hand to his hair and tried to tame his unruly mess that must've appeared at some point the previous night.
Barty walked to his wardrobe, sighing disappointedly at the lack of response, and grabbing two sets of uniform, before passing one to Evan. When Evan went to say something, frown on his face, Barty cut in, 'Rosie, there is nothin’ else, c’mon, just put it on!’ He smirked.
Evan wanted to disagree, but he didn't really have much fight left in him. He just nodded his head in agreement and pulled the shirt over his bare skin, Barty did the same, no longer shy. He rucked his top over his head and turned slightly to grab his shirt from on the bed, as he did, he gave Evan a full view of his back.
From behind him, Barty heard a swift intake of breath, and felt a fingertip on his back, tracing delicately along his spine. Barty hissed automatically at the feeling, regretting it instantly when the hand stopped in its tracks.
'Like what you see, Evan?’ His cheeky grin was audible.
Evan scoffed, but said nothing to deny it, allowing his hand to resume its trace, adding a few more fingers as he mapped the expanse of Barty's back.
‘I always wondered what it was…’ Evan muttered under his breath, but they were so close that Barty heard. Evan felt the laugh as much as he heard it, skin lifting, muscles moving. It was a lot.
‘Well?’ Barty prompted, ‘Did it live up to your expectations, Rosie?’ he twisted under Evan's touch to face him, Evan’s fingers moving along his body as he did so, and resting momentarily on Barty's chest, before he remembered where he was and dropped his hand, and his gaze.
‘Yeah, it's nice.’ Evan supplied, pulling his joggers off to switch them with Barty’s trousers and hastily sauntering out the bedroom, leaving Barty behind him, laughing at Evan’s words in disbelief.
Truth is, the tattoo was more than nice. It was beautiful. A sword, spanning the whole of Barty's spine, leaves wrapped around it, encapsulated in detail and intricacies. The sword had ancient lettering scribed along the blade, leading towards Barty's -...
Evan wanted to ask about the letters, but he didn't.
As Evan stepped into Barty's apartment in daylight, he finally had a chance to take it in. He noted Barty's skateboard by the door, a guitar that he assumed was also Barty's thrown on the couch. The apartment was small, but homely. Evan sighed, raking his hands over his face. This was going to be a long day.
Not allowing Evan any moments of peace, Barty strolled out of his room, fully clothed, finally, Evan thought. Barty walked over to the little kitchen, leaning down to open the fridge, and grab out some eggs. He pulled out a pan from the cupboard, the clattering noise it made going straight to Evan’s head.
‘Hmph ..’ Evan grunted lifting his hands to his ears, head throbbing as he waited for the drugs to kick in.
‘Shit, sorry!’ Barty rushed out, apologetically. He quickly turned the fire on, adding some oil and cooking up a couple of fried eggs. The smell hit Evan in all the right places. He let a pleased hum out, which seemed to make Barty satisfied as he smiled to himself.
Barty proceeded to toast some bread, and plate it all up, the faint ambiance of the fire flicking filling the room, as Barty hummed some tune to himself.
Evan sat at the table, a small thanks as he scarfed the food down. He was hungry, he hadn't realised until he had food, but he had been starving.
‘Good?’ Deep voice bringing Evan out of his thoughts. Evan flitted his stare upwards, Barty was looking at him attentively, evidently trying not to laugh at Evan’s unyielding pace.
Evan felt his cheeks flush under the heavy stare, and looked back down to his empty plate, trying desperately to avoid Barty's face.
‘We should go.’ Evan uttered feebly.
Barty hummed in consensus, unhinged his jaw to finish his sandwich in three large, ready bites, and grabbed his keys from the counter, in one swift motion. Evan followed suit, as Barty drifted out the door, Evan trudging meekly after.
The tension was suddenly unbearable as they stood without speaking in the lift. Evan let his gaze fall onto Barty, forcing himself not to flinch when Barty was already staring back.
Evan stood his ground, straightening his posture and holding the eye-contact, resolved. He took in Barty's early morning appearance, hair mussed from sleep, though Evan doubted his looked much better, a thick smirk planted on his face. Barty had small, unnoticeable freckles dotted across his cheeks, to the untrained eye. But at this point, Evan had a degree in Barty's face. Barty had dark, deep eyelashes that accentuated his even deeper, green, trapping eyes. Evan felt pinned against the wall, as he looked into those eyes.
A wave of insecurity brushed over Evan. Evan was handsome, with his stark blonde hair, plump pink lips and blue eyes, but he wasn't like Barty. Evan felt like the ugliest man on earth when he put himself against Barty. Barty was… Barty was gorgeous, Evan mused to himself. And Evan felt like he couldn't hold a candle to him.
He turned away, not wanting Barty to see him. He wanted to leave.
The bell rang above them, the door opened and the boys wandered in tandem towards the bike, parked senselessly where they had pulled in last night.
‘Right,’ Barty broke the silence, slapping his bike, as he opened the under seat storage to pull out the two helmets. Barty turned to hand his second one to the boy behind him, holding it out. ‘Ready, Rosie?’ He beamed.
Evan took the helmet from between his fingers and pulled in over his head, wordlessly. He watched as Barty swung a leg over the seat, and faced back to him, to help Evan on. He was too nice, Evan thought.
Evan pointedly ignored the outstretched hand and sat behind Barty, weakly pulling his arms around the older’s waist, wanting to get to school as quickly as possible. Barty said nothing about the blonde's disregard, and once again kicked off, pulling the bike towards the road.
Evan looked out over the view, as the bike flew across the town. It was magical, the feeling of riding the motorbike, it felt freeing, uncaring, and Evan loved it.
As they drove up to the school's car park, Evan took in what was awaiting him today. The match, which he had been decidedly avoiding thinking about. He would doubtlessly see Mia at some point, and James would be on his back about last night. His father was a looming figure in the back of his mind. But thinking about what he would do only served to stress Evan out, so he just hopped off the bike and walked towards class.
Evan could hear footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around, instead entering his class. Several heads lifted to see him, and at Evan's entrance they just gave a weak smile and moved on, but as Evan set off to the back row, Barty entered moments later, and people's confusion was obvious, some turning to look at Evan as though the pieces would fit together.
‘Ev, you have got some proper explaining to do.’ James whispered breathlessly into Evan’s ear as the blonde sunk into his desk beside him. Evan didn't reply.
The lesson went slowly, but eventually the lunch bell shocked Evan away from where he had been gazing out the window. In an instant, James was by him, a questioning look on his face, and an interrogation on the tip of his tongue.
‘The fuck happened? Evan, seriously this is not like you. I am genuinely worried.’ James listed off, looking at Evan like the boy was about to break.
Evan signed, slowly gathering his stuff and walking out of the classroom, James’ concern only growing as he said nothing.
‘Evan! What the fuck?!’ James was yelling from behind him, trying to catch up.
When they stood side by side Evan spoke.
‘I am fine, don't worry James.’ He simply said.
James looked unconvinced, his worry visible. ‘Ev. Talk to me, I am your best mate. ’ He was riled.
‘Look, I wasn't feeling the party! I had a shit day, and I didn't wanna get drunk, or kiss Mia, so I left! It wasn't that deep, mate.’ Evan was growing annoyed. James picked up on this and placed a warm hand on his shoulder, pulling Evan into a limp half-hug. Evan felt safe with James, he leant into the hug, smiling lightly.
'Thanks, James.’ Evan let out.
James just smiled, relieved at Evan's relaxed response. ‘Reg is coming to the match later, did you know that? Reg! He never comes to matches!’ James led the conversation, Evan was grateful for his natural ability to fill the silence.
Reg.
That caught Evan off guard. Since when did James call Regulus, Reg ? he didn't even know that they were that close. Regulus was always kind of just Sirius’ brother.
Evan was taken aback, and he said as much, ‘ Reg? ’, his confusion obvious in his tone.
James' skin grew a tint of red at this. ‘Ummm, yeah! Hahaha.’ he laughed awkwardly.
Evan just grew more lost by this reaction. He stared at James, a sceptical look on his face. ‘Why do you call him Reg ?’
James spluttered to respond, hands flailing above him. ‘W-What? That's literally normal! Everyone calls him Reg!’ He argued, defending himself vehemently.
Evan laughed at James’ strange outburst. ‘I never call him Reg. ’ Evan mused. ‘Good. Don't.’ James replied quickly. He spoke unwavering. Evan chose not to dig.
‘So, he is coming to the match? That's nice.’ Evan pushed forward. The boys had found their way to the canteen, stood in the queue.
‘At least try and sound interested, mate!’ James teased, when suddenly the boy they spoke of appeared in front of them.
‘Hey, James, I wanna bring a friend tonight. Is that cool?’ Regulus' cool tone was confident, unbothered. James was dumbfounded at the boy's unexpected appearance, and Evan was still trying to figure out what was going on.
James took in the boy before him and his grin spread across his face, nose wrinkling and pushing up his glasses in the process, after computing his question.
‘Yes!’ James exclaimed, loud and unthinking. Regulus widened his eyes slightly at the noise. ‘I mean, yes, of course, Reg. This means you are coming?!’ James quickly corrected. His smile remained planted proudly across his face.
'Yes, James. I am coming.’ Regulus just nodded.
The black haired boy gave Evan a smaller glance of recognition, having not seen him since their high yesterday. Evan blushed at that.
'What the fuck was that? You invited Regulus?’ Evan let his spirits slip out. James just smiled again.
‘Yep!’ James popped his ‘p’, ‘This is great, Ev!’
Well. It was okay . But Evan realised that if Regulus was coming, for reasons still unbeknownst to him, and was bringing a friend , then Barty was coming. Probably.
‘Why did you invite him?’ Evan pressed, still feeling incredibly out of the loop. ‘You aren't friends with Regulus.’ He pointed out.
'Well I just wanted to. He is cool! Like,’ James began, eyes digging over as he kept his stare on where Regulus had walked off, ‘Like, he doesn't care! I want to be his friend. I just really wanna be his friend.’ James continued, he sounded unconvinced by his own words at the end, but Evan wasn't one to read between the lines, instead nodding, as he grabbed his food and walked with James to their table.
As they crossed though the busy hall, a familiar voice called his name when he was sitting down. He looked upwards to where the source of the noise came from. Surely enough, Barty stood above him.
‘Rosie! Long time no see!’ Barty jested, comfortably.
Sirius snickered from beside Evan. ‘Rosie.’
Evan could feel his friends staring at him, he could hear whispers, he hated it. He didn't want the attention.
‘Hey, Rosie, since when were you friends with Crouch?’ Sirius tested the waters, always one to stir the pot. Barty stood firm above him.
‘We aren't friends.’ Evan said after a moment. He refused to look up at Barty as he said it, instead sticking his eyes to his plate.
He didn't look up when he heard a scoff from above him. The room seemed to fall silent, as Barty spoke.
'You're pathetic, Rosier.’
Evan didn't look up, he let his ears dance with the beat of Barty's footsteps walking away.
Regulus, who was standing near them, grabbed his stuff and chased after his friend, not turning around to them even when James began to call after the younger.
‘Ev. What the fuck?’ James proclaimed, ‘Pads, stop purposely provoking him, but Evan. What. The. Fuck?’ James' voice was angry. Evan hated it. He finally lifted his head to see James grab his bag and chase after Regulus, calling out his name. Evan caught Sirius’ scared look, clearly afraid he went too far.
‘Ev, I didn't realise it was deep…’ Sirius spoke quietly.
‘For fucks sakes, it's not deep! ’ Evan yelled, causing people to look over to their table. At this Evan just grabbed his stuff and walked off, refusing to reply to any of the calls behind him.
He didn't know where to go. James was pissed with him, Barty was pissed with him, and he was angry with his friends. So Evan decided he might as well get in some practice before the match, and let off some steam.
He let his body lead him to the locker room, when he froze.
Parked up against the wall was Barty. But Barty wasn't alone.
He stood there, cigarette in mouth, and hand on someone else's waist. Barty was holding this guy the same way he held Evan. Evan hated it.
Evan looked closely at the guy, as he hid slightly behind the wall, not wanting to be spotted. He recognised him, some boy in their year. He was friends with Pandora a few years ago, he thought briefly. Fabian, or something.
They were talking, but Evan couldn't hear what they were saying, his ears were ringing at the sight. He didn't know why it made him so angry. Barty was touching him so… intimately. Evan supplied that he was angry because Barty touched him like that, made him feel special. But he wasn't.
Barty stopped talking, leaning down slightly to meet the shirted boy in the middle. Evan couldn't wait. He picked his bag and stormed out from behind the wall, making as much noise as he could. The two looked up at him from where they were, faces inches apart. Fabian jumped back a small amount, but Barty held him in place, looking at Evan with annoyance.
Evan said nothing just shoved past Barty to put his stuff in his locker and grab his sports kit. He was silent, but his face was held in a frown.
‘The fuck? Rosier! What's your fucking problem!’ Barty quipped at Evan, he sounded pissed off, but Evan didn't care anymore. Now Evan was pissed off.
‘Just getting my stuff. Not everything is about you. Crouch.’ Evan practically spat his name out.
Barty dropped his hold on Fabian, letting his hands fly up in anger, as he chased after where Evan stormed into the changing rooms.
‘God, Evan, you are so fucking selfish!’ Barty screamed at Evan, the empty room echoing the sound throughout the walls.
‘So it's Evan, now? No Rosier?’ Evan let out a humourless laugh.
‘Evan you do not get to fucking do this. You cannot be angry. You are the one that said we aren't friends. Deal with the consequences.’ Barty walked towards Evan, wide steps, getting across the room instantaneously. Barty's hands grabbed Evan by the collar and shoved his back against the wall aggressively.
‘You wanted this,’ Barty spoke right into Evan’s ear, they were so close Evan could feel Barty’s hot breath on his skin, ‘Don't complain when I act like we,’ Barty paused, before spitting out at Evan, scorning tone, ‘ Aren’t friends .’ He finished. His words echoing Evan’s from earlier. Barty dropped his hands, and Evan felt a pit grown in his stomach. He turned to watch Barty leave the locker room, and went silent as he began to change, regret sinking over him.
Evan left his stuff and walked onto the field, jogging a few laps, before he started to dribble the ball by himself. He looked over to the locker room, where he had been standing before, and he didn't see Barty and Fabian, luckily, however he did see James, and.. Regulus?
They stood against the wall, Regulus talking passionately and James nodding, listening intently. James saw Evan, and Evan felt his stomach sink again. James was pissed at him for being rude to Barty. It felt as though everyone was pissed at Evan, as though he could never do anything right. He tried his hardest to stay out of drama, to keep to himself despite his popularity. He never bullied anyone, he never picked fights. Yet still, it wasn't enough, and Evan was once again, alone.
James stalked over to him, Regulus walking beside him, seemingly uninterested. Great, Evan thought. Another argument, just what he needed…
But James' gaze softened when he saw Evan up close, seemingly taking in his tired appearance and taking pity. It surprisingly wasn't James that spoke, but Regulus.
‘Look, Evan, I am gonna be nice to you, because you are Pandora’s brother, and I know what you go through, but you need to be nice to Barty.’ Regulus’ tone was calm, he sounded relaxed, like he wasn't angry, if anything he sounded disappointed. Evan thought that was worse.
‘You're not the only one who struggles. Barty is great, and he doesn't have to be as nice to you as he has been, especially when you give him nothing but rudeness in return. So this isn't a threat, but be kind to him, or I will step in.’ Regulus continued. Regulus was a small guy, but he was terrifying, his constant lack of emotion was unnerving. Evan had been shocked at how passionately he seemed to be talking to James earlier, it might've been the most emotion he has ever seen the boy exert. Regulus also didn't speak much, so this long speech was new to Evan. He took in what the boy said, letting the sun beat down on his face.
‘Okay.’ He ended up returning. This seemed to appease Regulus, as he leaned up to James to whisper something, and then walked off.
James gave him a once over, pitying him. Evan shrugged it off, and he and James began to practise together, in near silence except for a few commands.
Their lunch was nearly over, and Evan decided to stay in his p.e kit for his last lesson, to speed up the match process, a liberty only allowed to the top team. James followed suit, and the boys strolled to their lesson, both dripping with sweat and deeply panting.
The second they entered the classroom, Evan felt several sets of burning eyes on him, namely one Barty Crouch Jr, at which he ignored and sat down. Sirius tried to talk to him, but the teacher walked in and shut the class up, telling them to open their booklets on page 12, and begin working. The bell rang, signifying the end of the day, and Evan couldn't be more grateful, as he packed his stuff, and left the classroom, with haste, trying to avoid any unnecessary conversations.
Evan was warming up on the pitch, the first one out there after his speedy exit, James following quickly after. They played some practices, as the stands began to fill up, and Evan took in the sight of Regulus sitting in the stands, sat beside his sister, to whom he waved, and of course, Barty was there too. Evan couldn't say he was expecting him there, Barty had always expressed his opinions on the sport, claiming it a ‘stupid waste of time’. Which Evan thought was ridiculous. But Evan couldn't stare for long, as he felt a more pressing set of eyes, his father.
Fuck.
Evan hadn't even thought about his father coming, his father had never come to a game before. He insisted that Evan win, bring home a trophy, and they talk no more of it. Mr Rosier always refused to go to the matches, as he had work, or some other prior agreement. Evan never fought him on this, as having his father there would only stress him out, he thought. And he was correct. The sight of his fathers stern eyes, looking down at Evan beadily, made Evan pause in his tracks. Fear shot over him as he realised he hadn't seen his father since their lunch, having stayed at Barty’s. He hasn't replied to any of his fathers messages either, too busy with school. He was screwed, if the way his father was looking at him was anything to go by.
Fuck.
James' voice pulled him out of his thoughts, as the other team arrived, and James began his pep talk, but truthfully, Evan was miles away. With his father here, he didn't know how he was going to perform, he checked the stands once more, and the spot where his father had been sat, was empty, he looked further upwards and noted that Pandora was staring at him, a stressed look on her face, and to either side, Barty and Regulus both had similar looks, if Barty’s was layered with a hint of anger.
James' voice faded out and a slap on his back pushed him into action, he jogged to his position on the field, and willed his mind to clear. The game started, and luckily for Evan, the rest of his team were carrying. James was showing off, doing impressive tricks which earned cheers from the crowd, and Sirius was tackling the other team with reckless abandon. They were winning, no thanks to Evan who had been hit over by the other team twice at that point.
The half time noise sounded, and James pulled the team in for a second chat. He applauded everyone on doing well, and Evan felt ashamed to be listening in on the talk, like it wasn't meant for him. James gave him a pointed look as the group dissipated, and pulled him to the side.
'Ev, you are way off today. What’s up?’ James said to him, a bottle lifted to his mouth to take a heavy sip between pauses.
‘My dad is here, I have to find him.’ Is all Evan replied before wandering into the front of the field. James' voice echoed behind him, but Evan had more pressing matters at hand, as he spotted his father, looking at him with a steely stare.
‘Evan.’ His father said once he was in hearing range, the first word he had spoken to him in over a day.
‘You have embarrassed me enough, with everything you do I feel ashamed, if you do not make me proud today, I don't even know how I can continue to call you my son.' His tone was emotionless. The words cut through Evan like a knife. He could deal with his fathers anger, that was painful, and constant, but he could deal with it. However these words, this shame. Evan wanted to crawl up into a ball, wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole. He took a shaky inhale of breath, looking around to see if anyone overheard his fathers cruel words, and replied hesitantly. ‘Yes, father, I will make you proud.’ This didn't seem to be the right thing to say as his father stalked away into the crowd of people.
Tears began to well in Evan’s eyes, he needed to go, but the match would start again in a few moments. He sucked in a breath, wiped his eyes unsteadily, and turned to face the crowd as he walked back towards the field. As he was about to enter the field again, a warm hand wrapped delicately around his wrist. He looked up to see who it was, and was sucked into those green eyes.
The look Barty was giving him, the soft touch on his wrist, it made Evan’s weak facade crumble, the tears coming back and his face screwing up as he struggled to hold back a sob. ‘Barty..’ He sobbed out, quietly under his tears, and was pulled into a hug as they walked to the corner near the building. It was quiet, as Barty wrapped his large frame over Evan, fully encapsulating the blonde's body.
‘Rosie..’ Barty's hand was up his back, on his waist, touching Evan everywhere, the older boy was fully surrounding Evan, caging him in from the outside world, and it worked wonders to soothe Evans heavy weeps. ‘Rosie, don't worry, I’m here.’ Barty said calmly, all the while rubbing Evan’s back to ease him out of his sadness.
‘I overheard your dad.’ Barty spoke after a few moments.
This made Evan freeze under Barty's hold, and Barty must've felt the boy beneath him go rigid, as he shushed him gently, coaxing him back into relaxation as he continued to speak.
‘Evan, it will be okay, you were playing well, honestly. Don't worry about him, just have fun.’ Barty’s words floated into Evan’s ears. Evan took a final shaky breath and pushed out from under Barty, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the thick tears across his cheeks.
‘Thank you, Barty.’ Evan said, with a sad smile on his face. Barty hated the sight, and let his hand rest on Evan’s waist. ‘Any time, Rosie. That's what friends are for.’ The words left Evan smiling wider, his sad expression gone. ‘Yeah. Friends.’ Evan agreed simply.
Evan walked away from where Barty was up against the wall onto the pitch, met eyes with James and shook off the look of concern at Evan’s red rimmed appearance. He gave a blank smile, and got into position. Evan played well. He scored, twice, and he had a couple of assists. Their team won, with flying colours, the whole crowd erupted in cheers, and from where Evan was standing on the pitch, he could see Pandora smiling down at him cheering unashamedly, Regulus beside her clapping. Barty wasn't up there with them, Evan couldn't help but note.
It was fine though. Evan won, he made his father proud. It would be all right.
As the team made their way to the locker room, cheering and retelling the moments of the match, no sparing on the dramatics, Evan felt okay, for once, he felt like maybe he wasn’t so alone.
As the team spoke about their celebratory party, Evan smirked in remembrance, Barty was going to be there, and Evan didn't care about what his friends thought anymore. If James could invite Regulus, then Evan could talk to Barty. They were breaking down the cliches of their school, they didn't need the stupid unspoken rules anymore.
Him and James headed to James’ car, and drove to James, to get his house ready for, hopefully, the best party of the year.
Evan couldn't wait.