brooks & hale ✔️

hale

^^^^ just a pic of what they SHOULD have texted each other ;)

*

twelve ;
h a l e

HALE WASN'T READY TO speak to Brooks.

Fuck, he wasn't even ready to look at him. He was pussy enough to skip out on facing reality by ditching yesterday, and spent the day ignoring all the texts asking where he was by having a movie marathon day in which he watched every single Disney film his siblings has insisted on buying. Why Disney? Well, he had a secret soft spot for the animation which he would never admit out loud and he wanted to watch something light and fluffy.

Hale was looking at Will, and nodding along to whatever he was saying, but he could see Brooks from the corner of his eye heading towards him. He had no one but himself to blame for that. He was the one who'd gone out of his way to contact him, and they did need to talk, because he'd lose his mind if he just ignored it.

Brooks stopped in front of him, fiddling with the ends of the scarf wound around his neck. "Hey," he said quietly. His eyes were fixed on Hale, not meant for the others, but they immediately pounced on his unexpected arrival.

"Well, hello," Elliot said, draping an arm across his shoulders with a smirk. "It's Beer Pong kid!

"Shut up, idiot, he has a name." Coralie punched Elliot in the arm and smiled at Brooks, an expression which was still pretty intimidating even though she was trying to be friendly. Everything about Cora, from her narrow eyes and thin, sharp eyebrows, was scary. "Which is?"

Brooks looked like he was regretting coming over. "Brooks."

"Well, Brooks," Will said, clapping his hands together with an amused expression. "What can we do for you?"

Brooks, clearly unsure what to do, looked helplessly at Hale. "He's here for me," Hale said smoothly, snagging Brooks by his scarf to tug him away from Elliot. Even if he didn't mean to, Elliot could be unintentionally cruel at times and Brooks seemed a little too much like someone he'd target. "Chemistry project together. Unfortunately, a little too advanced for you, Elliot."

The others chuckled and Elliot flipped him the finger, not truly offended. Hale realised a little too late that the excuse he'd given Calla wouldn't work on Elliot, who was in their chemistry class and would know they had no such project. Brooks must have had the same thought, because his eyes widened and he took a few quick steps away. "Let's go," Brooks said hastily, shooting Hale his typical wide-eyed deer look. "Lot's of...chemistry to do."

"Yeah," Hale agreed, because Brooks was about the most unconvincing liar he'd ever met. Even his two year old sister had a better poker face when she was lying. "You know me, always eager for chemistry."

He pushed his way through the annoying swarm of children and pulling Brooks after him by his scarf, ignoring Will's parting comment that the only thing he was eager for was pussy. Because it wasn't true anymore, was it? Or more like it had never been true and he'd only figured that out now. "Woah, hold on," Brooks said, pulling his scarf free with an indignant yank. "What's with nearly strangling me?"

"We had to get out of there as quickly as possible," Hale said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Brooks was keeping pace with him. It wasn't difficult considering they were pretty much the same height. "Why? Because you cannot lie for shit, and it was kind of worrying. Your face is scarily easy to read."