Where We Love, The Faculty, Casey/Zeke, PG
Title: Where We Love
Fandom: The Faculty
Pairing: Zeke/Casey
Rating: PG
Notes: Day 5. I'm so behind, guys. Work is kicking my butt, my nads, my uterus, and just for good measure, my spirit. I don't know if we'll make it through 31 fics this month, but let's say, there will be 15 one way or the other. How about that?
The thing is, it isn’t serious until the acceptance letters start coming in, and Zeke is faced with even more of a choice than Casey. Because Casey knows he’s going now, one way or another; it’s only a matter of where. But Zeke, without any decisions made for him, is left with a world that’s wide open and his parents’ credit card, his only token of their affection, footing the bill.
He toys with the idea of travel: see Europe and beyond, get out of Herrington indefinitely and see if he can find a place that actually feels like home. But even as he tells Casey about the possibility of spending a year abroad, his stomach starts tying itself up, and the forced smile that Casey gives him is enough to keep his feet firmly on U.S. soil.
Casey narrows it down to NYU and some small, private liberal arts school that Zeke’s never heard of in a small town that only exists because of the patronage the students at said school provide.
“They’re both great,” Casey says one night as they sit on Zeke’s back porch, sharing a joint.
“NYU is more prestigious,” Zeke points out.
“And in New York City.”
“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”
Casey bends double to pull at a loose piece of rubber on his sneaker. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I’d disappear there. Little fish in a huge fuckoff pond.” He glances over at Zeke. “I haven’t exactly made a habit of trying to stand out these past few years.”
“Fair enough,” Zeke says, blowing smoke into the cool air. “So what about the other place?”
“It’s a small pond in the middle of nowhere, and I might actually pass for a medium-sized fish there.”
“The benefit of that being?”
Casey takes the joint from Zeke’s fingers. “That after four years, I may actually be ready to conquer New York, armed only with a degree in journalism.”
Zeke leans back, resting his elbows on the top step. The dark around them is quiet, and he’ll admit that there are some benefits to a small town, smoking on your back porch undisturbed being one of them.
“So has Europe officially been nixed?” Casey asks after he exhales.
“For the time being.”
“New plan?”
“Not yet.”
Casey nods and rests his chin on his knees, his back against the railing. And Zeke knows that he wants to ask or at least put the idea out there even if he thinks Zeke will knock it down. Zeke waits, hoping that with enough time, Casey will be able to talk himself into it, into mentioning-even as a joke-the possibility of Zeke coming along with him wherever he ends up going.
And that’s how Zeke knows it’s serious because he’s sitting here just waiting for him to say, Come with me just so he can say yes.
He reaches across the step and takes hold of Casey’s ankle, giving it a gentle squeeze until Casey looks up at him and smiles. The moment hangs in the air then passes, words unsaid. The wind blows through the trees, and the bushes against the side of the house scratch against the siding. The smoke that lingers in the air around them is the only thing keeping Zeke from thinking about this too much.
“You nervous about going away?”
Casey smirks. “I’m not going anywhere for another six months, Zeke.”
“And you’ve never been away from home for more than a week except for summer camp when you were eight.”
“I’ll be all right,” Casey says, but it’s slightly lacking in conviction.
Zeke lets go of Casey’s leg and lets his hand drop onto his stomach. Just as he’s thinking that it’s inevitable that they go their separate ways, move on and find other people, Casey crawls across the stairs and settles his head in Zeke’s lap, pulling Zeke’s arm around him.
And that’s how Zeke knows they’re in deep, that this unlikely friendship that hurtled out of control into something else that they never bothered to define, isn’t just a temporary fix before they move onto bigger and better things. They sit there, each with the perfect opportunity to walk away without an regrets or hurt feelings, and Casey’s curling his fingers into Zeke’s, and Zeke is pushing Casey’s too-long hair away from his eyes, and he knows that no matter what happens, no matter where Casey goes, Zeke won’t be left behind with everything from which he’s trying to escape.
Fandom: The Faculty
Pairing: Zeke/Casey
Rating: PG
Notes: Day 5. I'm so behind, guys. Work is kicking my butt, my nads, my uterus, and just for good measure, my spirit. I don't know if we'll make it through 31 fics this month, but let's say, there will be 15 one way or the other. How about that?
The thing is, it isn’t serious until the acceptance letters start coming in, and Zeke is faced with even more of a choice than Casey. Because Casey knows he’s going now, one way or another; it’s only a matter of where. But Zeke, without any decisions made for him, is left with a world that’s wide open and his parents’ credit card, his only token of their affection, footing the bill.
He toys with the idea of travel: see Europe and beyond, get out of Herrington indefinitely and see if he can find a place that actually feels like home. But even as he tells Casey about the possibility of spending a year abroad, his stomach starts tying itself up, and the forced smile that Casey gives him is enough to keep his feet firmly on U.S. soil.
Casey narrows it down to NYU and some small, private liberal arts school that Zeke’s never heard of in a small town that only exists because of the patronage the students at said school provide.
“They’re both great,” Casey says one night as they sit on Zeke’s back porch, sharing a joint.
“NYU is more prestigious,” Zeke points out.
“And in New York City.”
“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”
Casey bends double to pull at a loose piece of rubber on his sneaker. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I’d disappear there. Little fish in a huge fuckoff pond.” He glances over at Zeke. “I haven’t exactly made a habit of trying to stand out these past few years.”
“Fair enough,” Zeke says, blowing smoke into the cool air. “So what about the other place?”
“It’s a small pond in the middle of nowhere, and I might actually pass for a medium-sized fish there.”
“The benefit of that being?”
Casey takes the joint from Zeke’s fingers. “That after four years, I may actually be ready to conquer New York, armed only with a degree in journalism.”
Zeke leans back, resting his elbows on the top step. The dark around them is quiet, and he’ll admit that there are some benefits to a small town, smoking on your back porch undisturbed being one of them.
“So has Europe officially been nixed?” Casey asks after he exhales.
“For the time being.”
“New plan?”
“Not yet.”
Casey nods and rests his chin on his knees, his back against the railing. And Zeke knows that he wants to ask or at least put the idea out there even if he thinks Zeke will knock it down. Zeke waits, hoping that with enough time, Casey will be able to talk himself into it, into mentioning-even as a joke-the possibility of Zeke coming along with him wherever he ends up going.
And that’s how Zeke knows it’s serious because he’s sitting here just waiting for him to say, Come with me just so he can say yes.
He reaches across the step and takes hold of Casey’s ankle, giving it a gentle squeeze until Casey looks up at him and smiles. The moment hangs in the air then passes, words unsaid. The wind blows through the trees, and the bushes against the side of the house scratch against the siding. The smoke that lingers in the air around them is the only thing keeping Zeke from thinking about this too much.
“You nervous about going away?”
Casey smirks. “I’m not going anywhere for another six months, Zeke.”
“And you’ve never been away from home for more than a week except for summer camp when you were eight.”
“I’ll be all right,” Casey says, but it’s slightly lacking in conviction.
Zeke lets go of Casey’s leg and lets his hand drop onto his stomach. Just as he’s thinking that it’s inevitable that they go their separate ways, move on and find other people, Casey crawls across the stairs and settles his head in Zeke’s lap, pulling Zeke’s arm around him.
And that’s how Zeke knows they’re in deep, that this unlikely friendship that hurtled out of control into something else that they never bothered to define, isn’t just a temporary fix before they move onto bigger and better things. They sit there, each with the perfect opportunity to walk away without an regrets or hurt feelings, and Casey’s curling his fingers into Zeke’s, and Zeke is pushing Casey’s too-long hair away from his eyes, and he knows that no matter what happens, no matter where Casey goes, Zeke won’t be left behind with everything from which he’s trying to escape.