A/N : This is the chapter you've been waiting for. Stay till the end, please.
26 | JUST ENEMIES
I realise Ivan's boyfriend isn't fake, but fiction, and what happens after if stranger than fanfiction
Lex Hope
Ivan F. Petrov. The F actually stands for Fedorovich (Russian for Son of Fedor) which is probably why Ivan never writes his middle name anywhere. But before I knew that, I simply made up full forms for the initial.
Ivan F. Petrov.
Ivan Famished Petrov. (This was after he'd come home and literally gobbled up my mom's food. That was the happiest thing that had happened in her life, it looked like.)
Ivan Fast-and-furious Petrov. Because when I was younger, to me, he was made of legendary material while all of us were made of normal boring material. He was wild on court. Fierce and unstoppable. Plus, I had the biggest crush on Vin Diesel.
Ivan Fucking Petrov. My favourite. Like Phoebe Fucking Bridgers. It had a ring to it. And every time I thought of him, my head would go Ivan Fucking Petrov. And regardless of whether I was happy, angry or just generally disenchanted with life, it always sounded right.
But right now, it's Ivan Falling Petrov. And, I'll admit it : Ivan Fall-for-me-not-the-ground Petrov. But that will never happen. Not with that goddamned Dorian Gray of a boyfriend he's so caught up with.
Not right now, Lex, I tell myself. Ivan's falling. And if you want to do anything with him, you're gonna have to save him first.
Then the world blurs out and all I can see is Ivan. Ivan Full-focussed Petrov. My legs shoot up like lightning and I run like my life depends on it and not his.
At that height, he looks like a mighty fallen angel - descending to earth with grace. Some loose hair escapes from his ponytail and frames the sides of his face. His body looks like it's made of feathers, his arms extended to break his fall. The stadium lights seem to flicker off him and all I can see is his glorious body freefalling with a charm that only I could see. A beautiful disaster, but beautiful nonetheless.
I extend my arms and Ivan falls right onto them. My elbows bend to cushion his fall - his knees curve over my right arm while my left hand secures his neck. His eyes are closed and for a moment, I think the worst happened. I croon my neck to hear if he's still breathing. heart rate
But he opens his eyes like a baby awakening from deep slumber. His eyes are wide like he's in disbelief.
"Heaven, and you still won't leave me alone, Hope,"he says
I exhale with relief and my heart picks up a slower rhythm. "I told you, I've always got your back." I pause and take a look at him. "Literally."
He laughs, then looks around. Everyone is staring at us. His laughter changes into a look of fear and I realise : we're Lex and Ivan. Falcon and Wildcat. Rivals on court, rivals outside. And while we took a free pass on the last part, we can't let our friendship (if that's what we had) play a role during matches.
I can imagine the school newsletter headlines: Falcon captain carries Wildcat skipper bridal style, saves him from falling.
Then I think of all the girls who'll start writing ship-names for the two of us and post them online, like we'd be the next Larry Stylinson.
"Down?" I ask him. He nods and I place his feet on the ground.
"Woah," he says as his legs stumble, losing balance.
I catch him by his sleeve and pull him up.
"Dizzy," he explains and places his hand on my shoulder for support. He presses his head against my chest and breathes hard. I look around and see Tyler jogging towards us, carrying a bottle of water. He offers it to Ivan who downs half of it in a second.
Tyler and I make eye contact. He looks at me with suspicion, he still doesn't trust me. Ivan takes his hand off me and leans against Tyler. My side feels emptier than it should, craving for his touch like a line without a hook.
Tyler holds him by the waist and walks him to the bench.
"Give him electrolytes," I manage from afar but it goes unheard.
"Well, that was intense," Blake says from beside me.
I look at him, wondering what he saw. "It was nothing."
"Oh yeah? Like Jamie and Lavender were nothing."
"Her name's Violet," I mutter, thinking back to my fight with Jamie Smith. It still hasn't been resolved. Ghosh.
"You're not gonna forget that again, are you?" Blake laughs.
"It's not funny, dude." I'm mildly annoyed at how much Blake knows about my life. I trust him but sometimes I need my own space.
"Alright," he says . "I'll stop bringing Lavender up if you tell me all about this."
"All about what?" I try acting clueless.
He motions his chin towards the Wildcats sitting area, where Ivan's being treated. "Lex, I'm not blind. I saw Petrov when I came over to your place the other day, with Jessica and Seb. To apologise for his team's recklessness or whatever, I obviously didn't buy that shit. I'm French, dude. Not blind."
I laugh. Blake Gilmour has his way of bringing light to even the most stressful situations.
"You've been acting... strange lately," he points out.
"Strange?" I ask.
"Yeah. Like different. You don't show up to school sometimes, you've stopped hanging out with cheerleaders. And you've been smiling a lot more... Strange, y'know. Sus."
I raise my brow. I know I've changed. But sus? Really?
"You know I won't hate you, right?"
"Hate me? Blake, you're making no senseâ"
"If you're dating Ivan Petrov." He doesn't let me finish. "Sure, he's the Wildcat captain and like a dude. But it doesn't affect me. Like the rest of the Falcons? Better not to tell them before the season's over. But I don't give a shit, Lex. I just want you to be happy. And Petrov seems to be doing that."
"Doing what exactly?"
"Making you happy," he says sincerely.
Jesus, how do I break it to him?
"Blake, dude, I appreciate your concern and everything but I'm not dating Ivan."
"It's alright if you're not ready to tell me. I shouldn't have forced that out of you." He actually sounds apologetic.
"No, Blake, listen. You really think Ivan's going to like me? He hates me with every bone in his body." Even though I might have reason to believe otherwise. "Besides," I continue. "He has a boyfriend." I can hear the disappointment in my voice.
Now it's Blake's turn to raise a brow. He lowers his voice. "Well, that boyfriend better be worried, because this Ivan guy looks like he's fallen in love with you."
xxx
With Ivan benched, the Wildcats know there's not much going for them. Surprisingly enough, though, they put up a good fight. The match ended at a score of 89-75, to us.
There's an air of celebration going on in the team: our first win against the Wildcats with such a wide point margin. But I can only think of how Ivan's doing. He left the match early so he can rest himself and I'm dying to go check in on him.
"I'm hosting the party tonight!" Jamie Smith announces. The team responds in hoots and hollers but my gut sinks a mile. I search my way through the crowd and find Blake.
"Jamie's throwing the party," he says. It's your opportunity to reconcile!"
"No, um, about that," I say. "I won't be able to make it."
Blake says, "Oh, come on! Your beef with Jamie can only last so long."
"It's not about him," I tell him. "I'm going to meet Ivan. I'll tell you everything, I promise. But for now, cover for me, please."
He thinks about it. "You're gonna tell me everything?"
I nod urgently.
"Alright, I'll tell Jamie you got really runny diarrhoea."
I roll my eyes. "Okay, whatever. But I'm taking your car."
"What happened to yours?"
"Long story."
"Don't tell me it has something to do with Petrov."
"Then I can't tell you anything."
He laughs and hands me his keys. "Okay, but I'm telling the team you got runny diarrhoea and yellow vomit."
xxx
"Where's Ivan?" I ask, barging into Sebastian's room. I've searched the whole house and I can't find Ivan anywhere.
Bas takes his eyes off the graphic novel. "You should learn to knock, brother." He responds this way every time I enter his room. It's not my fault I only enter his room when I'm in the middle of something urgent.
"Also, congratulations," he says. "I heard you won."
It hasn't even been half an hour since the match ended. I can't believe people have posted about it already. "You didn't come for the game. How do you know?"
"It was pretty obvious by the way Ivan drove your car. I first saw a furious red convertible and thought it was you. And then I realised a Wildcat was driving."
"So Ivan did come home," I say. "How was he? Did he talk to you about it?"
"Not much. But he was mad at himself and I don't think it's all related to this match."
I nod. "Where did he go?"
He shakes his head. "Well, I'm not supposed to tell you..."
"Please, Bas."
"Well, let me see... I'm can't tell you where he went, but I sure can tell you where I last saw the convertible."
My brother's a freaking genius.
"Your convertible was heading towards the woods. A clearing in the middle of it, I believe."
"I love you, dude," I blurt and rush to leave.
"Before you go," Bas calls from behind. "I think you should have this."
Bas hands me a hardcover book. "What's this?" I ask.
"Open it," he says.
I flip the bind and see the title of the book.
It's an Oscar Wilde novel. The Picture of Dorian Gray.
xxx
Ivan turns when he hears my footsteps behind him. We're at the clearing and Ivan was taking shots at the hoop. He's holding the basketball between the side of waist and his right arm. It's his classic stance.
"Hope," he greets me as I walk towards him.
"Petrov," I respond and stop right in front of him. His black hair's open, silky and falling down his nape. His eyes are so deep, I could fall into them.
"I told Sebastian not to tell you my location. I've underestimated your negotiation skills."
"And I've underestimated your skills at hiding things," I say and show him the book Bas gave me earlier.
He laughs and takes the book from my hand. "So you finally know who Dorian Gray is."
"I can't believe you made me jealous of a fictional character."
He hands the book back to me. Our fingers brush and it feels like I've just touched fire. If he's fire, I'm going to become a fucking arsonist.
"I came here to check in on you," I say. "You know, if you wanna talk about the match..."
He sighs. "I appreciate it. But I've been thinking about it too much. I really just need a distraction."
"A distraction?" I ask. I almost sound desperate. Does he know what a distraction means in the general sense of things?
"Yeah, like, ask me questions. Or tell me something, I don't know," he says. "As long as they aren't related to the game, it should help."
"Oh."
He raises his brows in questions and passes the basketball to me. "Why, what did you think?"
I pass the ball back to him. "Nothing."
He dribbles the ball and makes another pass. It's a nice back-and-forth we have. "You're going to have to start talking, Hope. Or I'll overthink every word we've exchanged so far and make up the weirdest conclusions that'll only disappoint me in the future."
I laugh nervously and think of something to ask him. "How's your sister doing? I haven't heard about her in ages."
"Well," he says. He has the ball right now. "I guess she's all right. Stressed and overworked but she's having fun."
"Still with that cute boyfriend of hers?"
"I mean, the situation with Harry hasn't changed. They're still maintaining that they're just friends. God, they should make it official already."
I laugh. "Maybe they're actually dating but she won't tell you because you're her kid brother."
"She's my sister, dude. She tells me everything."
"Would you tell your sister if you were dating someone?"
"I've never been in that situation before. As you so quickly and cleverly figured out, Hope, the closest I've come to dating someone was talking to you about a certain possibly queer character from an age old book."
"The first time I heard of him, I searched him up on Instagram. Couldn't find much. I really should've just googled him up, huh?"
Ivan laughs. "Yeah. But back to your question, I'd probably tell my sister after some time. Maybe not the minute I get with someone, but later. I'd like her approval, y'know."
I think about what he just said. I've never told Sebastian about my past relationships because they were hardly relationships. They were weeklong flings and nightlong stands. I had one serious relationship but he was too young for me to say anything to. But if I do get into a serious one now... I guess I'd tell him. Yeah.
"My sister and Harry," Ivan says and throws the ball at me, waking me from my reverie. "They're not friends, they're just friends."
I shake my head. "I don't understand."
"If two people are friends and nothing's going on between them, they don't need to keep telling other people that all they are is friends. But for people like my sister and Harry, on the other hand... they tell us that they're just friends, because it's obvious there's something more going on. The word "just" gets added only when they are more than friends. Get it?"
"Basically you say you're just friends only when you want to be together but cannot due to some circumstances?"
"That's a whole fucking dictionary definition, dude. But yeah. You got it."
"What are we, then?" I take a step towards him and throw the basketball behind me, letting it roll away. "Just enemies?"
I'm two inches in front of him. His eyes are wide. A breeze blows past us and his hair flutters against his cheek. He looks like a pale Egyptian God, and right now he has more hold over my beating heart than any Egyptian God ever has.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he whispers. I can feel his breath on my skin. There's only two inches between us, maybe even less now.
I hold my breath. I'm nervous and scared and hopeful at the same time. I'm a bigger mess than my hair - and that's saying something. "What do you think I'm saying?" My voice is as low as his but rougher. More desperate.
"This." He closes the gap between us and presses his lips on mine. We're both hesitant at first but things quickly fall into a rhythm. I press my hand against his back and deepen the kiss. His hand caresses the side of my face. His lips are warm and soft. My blood rushes to my face and I'm in pure bliss. We're two boys kissing in the middle of the woods, the middle of nowhere. It feels like a dream.
I don't know when we break apart, but when we do my skin is still burning from everywhere he's touched me. My breath is heavy and the sun is setting. We stand there, none of us want to move out of this place. Our chests rise and fall erratically. He holds my hand as we trade softer, more fleeting butterfly kisses. Throughout the evening, my eyes are fixed on him. The sky changes color but I pay no mind. Sunsets are beautiful but I'd rather just look at him.
xxx
A/N
I hope you liked this one! We're more than halfway done with the book and I was wondering what your favourite part of the book has been so far...
See you soon!