#madderton au fanfiction

[tarontherocketman]

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 4

TW: BRIEF MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

Taron stirred in bed, glancing to the clock for the umpteenth time that night; it was only 4:57am. He had just over 2 long hours until his alarm was supposed to sound, it was still dark, and the birds hadn’t even thought about chirping yet. The entire night had been a series of waking up and drifting off, usually multiple times within the hour. His mind was disturbed by the thought of arriving at school to find out that Ella hadn’t made it, he had visions of her parents coming in to blame the school, leading to Taron being ratted out for not doing enough to help her, her poor parents screaming and crying at him, telling him that they killed their daughter. He made himself dizzy filling his head with these thoughts that deep down he knew just weren’t true, and Richard has done everything he could to assure him of that. The light from his phone and a soft vibration pulled Taron out of his dark thoughts as he rolled over to pull it out of its charging port and squint at the bright screen. 

Rich: you up, T?x

Taron: yep, been up most the night, why are you up??x

Rich: set an alarm for 5 cos I knew you’d be up and I wanted to check up on you x

Taron: what? really? Rich you didn’t have to do that you have work too..x

Rich: course I did I couldn’t bear the thought of you alone in bed feeling shit so I thought instead of another 2 hours of that you’d want to go for breakfast before work? Obviously the only place open is mcdonalds but you can’t go wrong with a maccies breakfast x

Taron: you’re right you can’t go wrong with a maccies breakfast, thanks rich I need this I was preparing for a long couple of hours, was considering going for a walk but this sounds much nicer x

Rich: no worries bub, I’ll come pick you up in 20 mins then we can go straight to work after breakfast x

Rich got himself up and ready for work, a routine that didn’t take long. As long as his face was washed, teeth were cleaned and his hair was tidy he was quite happy to get dressed and go within 15 minutes. He grabbed his keys and jogged down the stairs of his apartment to the resident car park, making the short drive to Taron’s place and sending him a quick text to let him know he was outside. Taron appeared quickly, looking a little less put together than usual. His hair wasn’t quite as neat as he usually bothered to make it, and his eyes were puffy from the severe lack of sleep.

“Jeez you look shit T,” Rich commented.

“Cheers,” Taron sighed.

“No I mean you still look handsome, obviously,” Rich scoffed playfully, “but you literally look like you haven’t slept for a minute.”

“You’re not too far off the mark there,” Taron replied as he pulled the seatbelt over him. “Seriously though thanks for doing this Rich it means a lot, you really didn’t have to wake up so early for me.”

“Don’t worry about it I knew full well you’d be up most of the night worrying, I know what you’re like by now, I’d rather that you get out of the house and have some breakfast and coffee rather than tossing and turning for another 2 hours and coming to work without eating anything,” Rich said softly as he put the car into 5th gear along a long, empty main road. 

“Thank you,” Taron replied, at a loss for what else to say to his incredibly thoughtful friend who knew him even better than Taron thought he did. 

The pair rode out the rest of the journey in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say at a time like this. Rich pulled into the car park of the 24 hour McDonalds and made his way inside with Taron following miserably behind. Rich noticed him trailing behind and stopped at the door to wait, putting an arm round him when he caught up as they walked into the building. Once the two had ordered, received their food and sat down at a booth table in the window, Taron held his egg muffin limply, taking tiny bites. Rich, having already finished the tiny thing in what felt like less than 5 bites, sat with his hands wrapped around his coffee for warmth.

“Look T, I know this sounds obvious but please stop blaming yourself for this, no one is mad at you,” Rich soothed, taking one hand away from his coffee to place it on Taron’s arm.

“But what if she dies, Rich? How am I supposed to deal with a student dying at my hands?”

“T, if she did die it wouldn’t be at your hands! Not one bit! You did what you could. And anyway there’s no point worrying about death now, if you worry about something that hasn’t happened you’re potentially putting yourself through it twice, ok?”

“That’s actually not bad advice,” Taron said, perking up ever so slightly.

“Yeah I got it off one of those facebook posts with inspirational quotes,” Rich admitted, laughing quietly at himself.

“Oh christ,” Taron chuckled softly, “well thank you anyway, I don’t know why it’s got me this down, I know it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid at all you’re a worrier, you worry for the world Taron, and it’s a heart warming trait but you’re gonna worry yourself sick,” Rich spoke in almost a whisper, rubbing Taron’s arm comfortingly.

“I know, I know,” Taron took a long sigh and finally finished his breakfast. Rich’s words did actually make quite a big difference, he didn’t need to be so miserable about something that he shouldn’t even blame himself for in the first place. “Thank you again for this I do feel better.”

“Anytime,” Rich smiled. Taron and Rich sat for the rest of the wait before work, sipping their second coffee and chatting mindlessly to keep Taron’s mind off things. As the time passed quickly, the morning drew closer to them having to go to work. The sun rose at last, and they knew they’d have to go sooner or later.

“You ready?” Rich asked, offering his hand to Taron, who reluctantly took it, deciding that there wasn’t really anyone around at this time of the morning who would see them and so they walked hand in hand to the car.

“I might not even hear anything about it today, no point getting worked up,” Taron assured himself out loud, staring out of the window at the sunrise lined buildings of the city that zooming past the window as they travelled.

“Exactly,” Rich agreed, putting his left hand on Taron’s knee in between changing gear. They arrived at work, deciding that a third coffee probably wasn’t a smart idea, but a visit to the staff room before they started might be worthwhile, in case there did happen to be any news on Ella.

“Morning,” they both said politely to the other staff gathered around the room, all looking a little bit like they didn’t want to be there for another day in the mad house that they called a school. Taron bit his lip, not sure whether to ask the question. The Headteacher, who was leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for the coffee in the coffee pot to brew, seemed to have read his mind.

“Ella’s parents got in contact, she’s fine,” he smiled, almost as relieved as Taron.

“Really?” Taron beamed happily, relief washing over him like a tidal wave, his whole body relaxing as if he’d been tensing for a week straight.

“Yes she’s stable, already recovering, and will be back in school next Monday if she’s ready so she’s got a little while to get better,” he informed, now turning around to pour coffee.

“Thank god,” Taron breathed heavily, taking a seat on one of the old tatty sofas and slumping forward in relief, rubbing his temples. Rich looked at him, longing for a cuddle, but knowing he couldn’t so just settled on patting him on the shoulder casually, avoiding the curious gaze of Mrs Reynolds who was clearly trying desperately to sniff out some gossip again.

“Coffee?” the Head asked in Taron and Rich’s direction, who both declined rather quickly.

“Suit yourself,” he smiled. Mrs Reynolds was now looking quizzically in their direction.

“Already coffee-d out?” she questioned, an eyebrow raised suspiciously. 

“Yep, uh, we do both have coffee at home, so,” Rich trailed off uncomfortably.

“No of course, I just don’t tend to get up early to use up the coffee in my house when it’s free here.” Taron was now looking up at her, his eyes narrowed slightly as if to say ‘keep your nose out of our business’ “Anyway,” she quipped, putting her mug in the sink and turning on her heel “I must be off to class.” At that she scurried out of the staff room making brief eye contact with the rest of the staff before she left, leaving them to sit in tense silence as they all attempted to sip their coffee nonchalantly, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Taron and Rich took this as their cue to leave and head to Rich’s class, walking quickly down the hallway.

“Oh my god do you think they’re all onto us?” Taron whispered, leaning into Rich as they walked.

“I don’t know, but like you said the other day, there’s no proof, they have nothing on us!” Rich loud whispered back.

“You’re right, we just have to be extra careful,” Taron nodded as they arrived at Rich’s classroom and scuttled inside.

“Yeah we will,” Rich assured.

“Extra careful,” Taron smirked, leaning flirtatiously against the door to the supply closet.

“Taron..” Rich warned, knowing exactly what he was suggesting.

“Do people usually come snooping in your supply closet at 7:30am on a Tuesday?” Taron joked.

“Well no, but they do walk past the classroom and snoop through the big obvious window in the door, what if we get seen going in or out?”

“We won’t! We’ll make sure,” Taron reassured the Scotsman, who stood shifting on the spot nervously, his hands fiddling with each other. 

“Your mood has certainly improved in the past 10 minutes,” Rich observed.

“Of course,” Taron started, “I spent all night worried sick and now I know she’s ok I feel like a massive weight’s been lifted and I have some emotional catching up to do.”

“Right, that’s your logic?” Rich laughed, “in fact, you’ve changed your whole tune about doing things like this since I met you.”

“I know, like I said, everything changed when I met you! Now are you joining me or do I have to please myself?” Taron wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Argh, T!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” Taron assured quickly, laughing at Rich being a typical serious History teacher. “You coming in?” Rich shuffled on the spot some more, glancing back and forth at the door suspiciously.

“Hmm, ok, but we really shouldn’t be doing this though,” Rich muttered, following Taron into the cupboard.

“No we should not,” Taron agreed with cheeky smile, pulling Rich in and locking their lips firmly, hands running up and down each other’s backs lovingly.

“No really we can’t make a habit of this,” Rich said, pulling away for a moment in between breaths. Taron shushed him, pulling him straight back in, gently grabbing his thick, lovely hair from behind. The lovebirds carried on having their moment until they accepted that they’ll have to stop eventually and get ready for class. Taron cracked the door open slightly to look at the door to the classroom, making sure the coast was clear before grabbing Rich’s hand and pulling him out of the now fully open door.

“Hey look we literally came out of the closet,” Rich snorted, Taron nudged him playfully, laughing along. “Seriously though we can’t get too comfortable doing that.”

“I know, it’ll be fine!” Taron assured, following Rich to his desk to take a seat next to him. The two of them sat in silence while Rich turned his computer on and watched it boot up, the logo appearing across the screen in big letters. Rich looked down at his lap, and then back up at Taron, the secret kiss they just had now playing on his mind.

“T, what are we?” Rich asked, now ignoring his computer entirely to look into Taron’s pretty eyes. Taron sat thoughtfully.

��I don’t know, Rich,” he admitted, avoiding Rich’s gaze.

“Are we a thing or is this all just for fun?” said Rich, biting his lip in thought.

“Why don’t we talk about this later, you need to get ready for class,” Taron smiled, glancing at his watch. 

“Yeah, you’re right, come round mine tonight?” Rich offered.

“Pizza and beer?” Taron said hopefully.

“Course,” Rich agreed, turning to his computer that had now turned on, asking for his password. 

“I better get ready for class too, I’ll talk to you later,” Taron said, getting up from his chair and planting a small kiss on the top of Rich’s head. There was a somewhat solemn feeling between the two all of a sudden, they hadn’t delved into the relationship conversation yet. In fact, neither of them knew if they were ready for a relationship, it had all been fun and games up until now, but they had to decide if settling down was something that they both wanted to do now.

The day passed, slowly. Taron and Rich’s thoughts consumed by the reality of the conversation that they would be having that evening. At least there were some distractions through the day, working in a city secondary school always came with its daily challenges. Taron broke up two fights in one lunch break, had to mediate an argument between four girls in his afternoon class that had suddenly turned 2 vs 2 during a script reading exercise when he stupidly split the class into groups of 4 and not only let them choose their groups, but let them choose between them who gets to be which character, as if that could have ever ended well.

Rich had a student storm out of his class angrily after having to tell him more than five times to get off his phone, the students argument being ‘it’s my personal property fuck off’, and he had a 10 minute job of calming down an over-hyper class of year 7s that had just had a P.E class and were now on the last lesson of the day, which was just a recipe for disaster. Rich knew that being a secondary school teacher would come with challenges, based off his own experience as a student many years ago, but he swore teenagers had become 100x times crazier since then, but maybe that was just him remembering it from the point of view of a student, never really knowing at the time what teachers actually had to go through every day.

Once the day finally drew to an end, Rich and Taron met up to go straight to Rich’s seeing as they had both come in his car that morning.

“You sure you don’t need to pop home first? I don’t mind,” Rich offered.

“No it’s all good, these clothes are comfortable enough and we’ve got the same phone if I need a charger,” Taron replied.

“True.”

After a short journey home, Rich and Taron climbed the stairs to Rich’s apartment, he unlocked the door and let Taron in first, following straight after him. Taron stopped to look around the place, observing the colour schemes and decor themes going on. 

“Nice place,” he commented, nodding in approval at the well decorated room.

“Thanks!” Rich said happily as he threw his bag on the dining table and slung his jacket over one of the chairs, Taron did the same and joined Rich on the couch, both sinking down into it after a long day. Taron even more exhausted from his extreme lack of sleep the previous night, knowing full well everyone he had talked to today had just politely ignored the bags under his eyes. 

“So do you want a beer now, or?” Rich offered.

“I can wait, we should talk,” Taron said slowly, Rich nodded nervously, breathing heavy enough for Taron to hear it clearly now. 

“So.”

“So..”

“Ok, look, T, I’m just gonna say it- I really love you, and I think I’ve fallen fast, and if you don’t feel the same and are just in it for the fun I understand but,” Rich babbled, Taron trying so hard not to giggle at not only his rambling but the fact that he swore the Scottish accent was getting thicker as the sentence progressed.

“Oh shut up,” Taron chuckled, shushing him fully with a kiss. “Mr Madden, will you be my boyfriend?”

“Um, obviously!” Rich breathed, laughing from relief and leaning back in for another sofa make out session, one that meant even more to the two of them than the last time it happened, now that this had developed into a real relationship. One that neither of them were expecting considering they both had intentions to lay low in their jobs, but they couldn’t help it. They wanted each other so badly and would freely admit at this stage that that had been the case for quite some time now. 

“So you wanna order food?” Rich asked as the pair pulled away from each other.

“Hm, not yet,” Taron replied.

“You not hungry?” Rich asked in genuine surprise, feeling his own stomach rumble from a long day at work with not enough food, knowing Taron had eaten even less. 

“I’m hungry, but not for pizza..where’s your bedroom?” Taron smirked. Rich scoffed in surprise at the extremely forward question. 

“I- wow, that is very bold of you, Mr Egerton!” Rich said, taken back but not actual displeased by the question.

“Well, you’re my boyfriend now,” Taron smiled flirtatiously.

“Good point, right this way,” Rich grabbed Taron’s hand and let him into the door that was only a few metres away from the sofa, pulling him into the room and gently shoving him onto his king size bed, pulling his shirt off in excitement and kicking the door shut behind him, knowing that he hadn’t felt this content in such a long time.

___________________________________________________________

So. You may have just figured out, but I don’t write smut! Sorry! Love reading it but terrible at writing it, so you’ll just have to leave it up to your imagination if you so wish! Anyway sorry this isn’t quite as long as the previous chapter, I just went off on that last one, this is more the length that I’m keeping them. Although I’m slightly worried this chapter is a bit boring, but I hope you all like it regardless tho!

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin @coffeetalkbaby @nataschalenasblog @stateofloveandvedder @winterismyfavoriteseason1945 

[khaleesi-ren]

Chapters: 5/? Fandom: Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, Teen Wolf (TV) RPF, Rocketman (2019) RPF, Fate: The Winx Saga (TV), Lady Chatterley's Lover (2015), Robin Hood (2018) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Froy Gutierrez/Richard Madden, Taron Egerton/Richard Madden Characters: Richard Madden, Froy Gutierrez, Taron Egerton Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy Summary:

It happened a long time ago in a small village in the middle of the forest. Two best friends, and many legends. Old hunters said that fairies, water nymphs and elves lived there, but of course Richard didn't believe in any of that... did he?

Chapter 5 is up!

[taste-thewaste]

for the ao3 thing: all the EVEN NUMBERS!!!

Anon, you are lovely

2. Do you have an AO3 account? 

Yes! tastethewaste. please check out my stuff :)

4. What time of day is your ‘fic reading time’?

I haven’t been reading a ton lately because my attention span is at -3 and I can’t focus on anything lately! but I like to read in the evening before bed mostly, when I do.

6. Do you listen to podfic (fanfic recorded like an audiobook)?

No, I don’t! i’ve only seen this once, though. When I was active in the HP fandom back in like 2012 one of my favorite writers had her fic turned into a podfic, I’d totally be into hearing some though.

8. Are there any genres that you tend to avoid?

I’m not a huge fan of AU fics in general, not sure why. I don’t judge anybody for anything they write though, do you.

10. How do you find new fic?

I browse through AO3 mostly, and whatever pops up on Tumblr.

12.  Do you subscribe to authors or stories?

I don’t actually think I’ve done either of those in a while! I used to back in the day. I don’t avoid doing it, just haven’t.

14. What kind of plotline are you always here for?

Depends on the fandom mostly but listen, I am always and i mean ALWAYS up for something hurt/comfort-y and over the top angsty. Throw me a fic where someone is just sad and needs to be cuddled and I’ll eat that shit up, I am soft.

16. What can an author do that makes you avoid them?

Hmmm this is a weird one kind of. If something squicks me and they write for that a lot then i suppose that would do it. Also on a petty note, if they don’t use paragraphs to break things up (aka if your fic is mostly big huge chunks of text) then I’ll avoid it

18. What kind of commenter are you? (no comment, short comments, emojies, keyboard smash, long comments, etc)

I try to be thoughtful when I leave comments because the ones that mean the most to me are the people who tell me what they really liked and how it made them feel. People deserve to know that their work is good and that their hard work is appreciated :) 

20. Have you ever read a fic more than once? What is it about that fic that made you read it again?

I’ve read some fics over and over again. There are a few in the HP fandom that have stuck with me 8 years later, honestly. In the Rocketman fandom there are a couple I’ve read multiple times-I’m biased because I love these ladies but @podrickpaynest wrote a fic centered around Elton’s mother and step-father after he comes out on the phone to Sheila, and I’ve read it a few times because the characterization is just so perfect and on point, and the story itself is a really lovely look into their relationship, I could gush about it and how well-written it is, lol. @ilikeyouxactually has an amazing Madderton story with Taron wearing lipstick that i’ve revisited a few times because it makes me go FERAL and it’s so well-written. 

22. Do you like drabbles?

I love drabbles!! It’s sometimes all I have time for and I really respect people who can write proper drabbles because i have such a hard time not being long-winded lol. (as you can tell)

24. What do you wish more fic authors would stop doing?

Gah, I don’t know! I’m not a big fan of policing people and their work. It’s none of my business what people like to read or write, because i’m sure some people would find the stuff I like to write weird. and if you’re not hurting anyone do what you like. If you don’t like something, don’t read it!  

26. How long do you like chapters to be?

As long as it’s well written and there’s a point to it, the longer the better! in general I find a chapter update good if it’s 1200+ words or so. That’s what I shoot for when I’m writing.

28. What do you think of OC’s?

As long as they’re utilized well I think it’s fine, but in general i’m not a huge fan. Do what you want though :)

30. Tell me something else about your fic reading! Anything you want!

Honestly the only thing I have left to say about fic reading is that I think fanfiction is such an incredible medium and there are so many talented people out there that I’m in awe. Even if I’m not personally into someone’s fandom or writing style or ship, I think whatever you’re doing is incredible and it’s really hard to put yourself out there in any way, shape or form and all of us should be really proud. Also please be kind to people if you are reading fic, even if you don’t like it or think it’s dumb, that’s someone’s heart and soul you’re likely reading :) 

[tarontherocketman]

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 1

Ok SO, here’s the first chapter, I know it’s boring and short but just bear with me I didn’t want to jump straight into the action and drama because I genuinely haven’t written fanfiction since I was a teenager (I’m 22!) so I needed to familiarise myself with writing again and re-establish my writing style it’s a little bit choppy right now but I’ll get there over the next few chapters! Anyway, here goes! lowkey nervous that it’s been too long since I wrote and everyone will hate it

Taron sat in an empty classroom chewing mindlessly on the end of a pen, a stack of unmarked homework in front of him that he was already 95% sure he would be taking home with him tonight if this day didn’t get any better. Why did Drama students even need to do homework like this? They have enough homework from all the other classes, Drama should be their slice of freedom and self expression for the week, that’s how Taron saw it anyway. Of course, he could never say this aloud, he had to follow the system regardless of whether he liked it or not. After a small argument in his head about staying focused, Taron finally put pen to paper and began to write, not even writing one single letter before-

“For fuck sake,” he groaned quietly, forcing himself out of the chair and kicking it back behind him as he got up and walked to the door and around the building to the window he had just spotted it out of, another fight.

“Ok break it up lads come on,” he said sternly, not even needing to fully intervene with the wannabe hard nut year 7s. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Sorry Sir!” they both said hurriedly as they scuttled off around the corner, afraid of receiving a detention. Taron rolled his eyes and sauntered back to his classroom, not even reaching the door before deciding he needs a coffee before he can even think of marking more homework. At this thought, he veers away from the door to the drama block to head toward the main building to the teachers lounge, muttering a polite “alright” accompanied with a small nod to the students greeting him as he walked down the hallway. Said students, of course, being girls. The girls all had a thing for him and he knew it, he saw the way they all gushed at him. Little did they know. 

“Have you seen the new History teacher?” a girl in the hallway squealed to her friend as she stood leaning against the wall, phone in one hand, bright pink bedazzled water bottle in the other. Taron’s ears pricked up, new History teacher? he thought, picking up the pace to the staff room to find out what was going on. Once he arrived, he pushed the door handle and poked his head round the door before fully entering. That’s when he saw him.

New History teacher, indeed..

In front of his eyes was the most gorgeous blue eyed man he had ever seen, thick lush brown hair with just the right amount of curl, perfect body, nice legs-

“Ah, Mr Egerton! Meet Mr Madden, he’s just joined today to replace Mr Little in the History department!” the excessively perky Head Teacher exclaimed, waving rather over enthusiastically towards the blue eyed beauty.

“Richard,” he introduced, extending his hand to Taron.

Scottish, as if he wasn’t dreamy enough.

“I- nice to meet you, I’m Taron, Drama,” Taron just about spluttered out, going in for the handshake offered, looking to the floor for lack of a better place to look without dying inside a little. Taron mentally pinched himself, he knew he needed to stop feeling like this. He vowed to himself as soon as he got this job that he’d keep out of anything of this sort, the last thing he needs is the entire school finding out he’s gay, so with this in mind he generally keeps his head down and lays low. Does his job, goes home. He can’t get soft for a teacher now after he’s come this far without screwing up and letting his guard down.

“Drama? I admire your confidence,” Richard commented with a smile. Taron chuckled softly.

“Not your thing?” he asked.

“Nah, just getting in to teaching was far enough out of my confidence zone! It’s done me a lot of good though- sorry I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this,” Richard stopped himself suddenly, a bit flustered.

“No no don’t worry,” Taron assured, “coffee?” he offered, gesturing as he walked over to the small staff coffee machine to make his own.

“Yeah would love one, thanks” Richard replied. Taron grabbed an extra mug for Richard, pouring two coffees from the pot that had already been prepared by the other staff who were coming and going from the cosy staff room. Taron handed Richard a coffee and the two naturally gravitated to a pair of chairs sat by the window.

“So, History?” Taron sparked up a conversation.

“Yeah!” Richard laughed softly, habitually rubbing the back of his neck. “I just got interested in it I guess, not sure I remember how..” he began to trail off, taking a long sip of coffee, “I actually used to be interested in acting.”

“Ahh my speciality,” Taron smirked, “what happened to that?” Richard sighed heavily, taking another sip of coffee.

“Ah I just don’t have the confidence,” he admitted.

“That’s fair enough mate, takes a lot of that I have to admit,” Taron nodded slowly, “never know, maybe one day!” Richard looked down and made a small ‘hmm’ sound with a smile. The pair sat in peace finishing their coffee before Richard placed his hands on his legs and sighed, signalling that it was time for him to get going.

“First class?” Taron asked gently.

“Yeah..I’m really nervous not gonna lie,” Richard confessed, feeling his cheeks go slightly pink.

“Aw don’t worry mate you’ll be absolutely fine, first one’s the worst. Do you have another teacher there observing you?”

“I do, and I’m not sure if that’s making me feel better or worse,” Richard replied, Taron laughed and nodded in agreement.

“I’ll walk you there if you like?” he offered.

“I would actually love that I’m still finding my way around,” Richard replied gratefully, standing up to put his coffee cup in the sink and walk to his new classroom with Taron, making small talk on the way there such as ‘what are the students like?’ or ‘are the other teachers nice?’ questions which Taron had elaborate answers for but not enough time to tell all his stories about, which resulted in him awkwardly asking Richard if he would maybe want to meet up for a drink at some point so he can “tell him his many stories”. Richard quickly agreed, which actually surprised Taron.

“Great, yeah, cool, I’ll talk to you soon then and we can..you know, arrange..something,” Taron stumbled very ungracefully and not near as smoothly as he thought that would sound in his head before he said it, inwardly facepalming.

“Yeah yeah good shout, see you later,” Richard smiled warmly, disappearing into his new classroom, pretending not to be trembling ever so slightly.

Later that night

Taron was curled up at the end of his sofa, iPad in his lap ready to open Facebook to try and find Richard and have a small social media stalk just to see his face again, those big blue eyes were calling him. He racked his brain for his surname, what was he introduced as? It definitely began with an M. He began typing ‘Richard M’ hoping facebook would magically know who he was searching for, but Richard was too common of a name. 

“Mm…M…Mmm, ma?” he thought aloud before pausing suddenly, “Madden!” he sighed, rolling his eyes at his own forgetfulness. He typed in the name and found him pretty easily. Excitedly clicking on his profile and doing the obligatory flick through the profile pictures, short scroll down the feed, clicking on some pictures he’d been tagged in, asking himself if this was creepy or if everyone did it. Or both. He also mentally noted to himself to remind Richard that now he’s a teacher, changing his privacy settings would be a very smart idea, some of those students are crazy, especially for young male teachers like Richard and Taron.

Cute Taron thought to himself, zooming in on a group photo when he spotted Richard chilling in the far left of it. He came out of the picture and hovered his finger over the  ‘add friend’ button, wondering if it was too soon. At that moment, as if in some sort of cartoon or movie, the bread he had put in the toaster a few minutes ago suddenly popped up, making him jump and press the button by accident. How does that even happen? He definitely looked too eager adding him already but it was done now, no point cancelling the request in case Richard already had his phone in his hand, that would be even more weird. Taron put his iPad to the side to grab his toast, buttering it and bringing it back to the sofa, noticing his iPad light up with a message. He hurriedly sat down and ignored the toast he had just made, picking the iPad up hastily and opening the message.

1 new message: Richard Madden Richard: hey, again x

“Heh,” Taron chuckled, loving a guy that puts a single kiss at the end of a message, deciding he should reflect his message the same way.

Taron: hey you x

Taron flinched after hitting send, realising suddenly how weird that sounded.

Richard: ha, ‘you’ love that x

Taron: yea sorry wasn’t thinking haha x

Richard: no you’re fine it’s sweet! when are we going for that drink then? x

Taron: well when are you free?x

Richard’s typing bubble appeared, disappeared and reappeared quite a few times suggesting he was on the fence about his answer, a quirk which Taron found quite cute. 

Richard: ...tomorrow night?x

Taron: yep definitely up for that! How did your first day go by the way? Didn’t end up seeing you for the rest of the day x

Richard: yeah was all good definitely didn’t need to be as nervous as I was x

Taron: nice one knew you’d smash it mate! Anyway I better eat the toast that I forgot about and get to bed, bright and early for school tomorrow!x

Richard: I know right feels weird saying school tomorrow again but as a teacher now not a student, sure I’ll get used to it, night T x

“T, I like that..” Taron thought, should he nickname Richard too? It only seemed fair..

Taron: night Rich x

Taron lay his iPad down on the table for the last time that day, shovelling toast in his mouth before taking his plate to the kitchen to wash up and get settled for bed, trying to ignore the slight feeling of butterflies in his stomach every time he thought about his drink with Rich the following night, this might be a doorway into the exact thing he promised himself not to do when he started this job, but he couldn’t resist. 

________________________________________________________

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin

[tarontherocketman]

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 2

The sun seeped through the curtains in Richard’s minimalistic decorated bedroom as he stirred awake, willing himself to get up and get ready for his second day as a teacher. The butterflies started to kick in as he fully woke up, partly from the job still being new and scary, and partly from the knowledge that he was going out with Taron that night. Rich forced himself up and out of bed, making his way to the kitchen to shovel cereal into his mouth, then to the bathroom to brush his teeth and freshen up for the day. After getting dressed and taking one last look in the mirror, deciding his appearance was acceptable, he slung his backpack over one shoulder and made the commute to work, heading straight to the staff room to make a coffee to take to his classroom and drink while he prepared for the day. Not one minute after sitting as his desk there was a soft knock at the door, followed by it opening slightly and Taron’s head poking through the opening.

“Good morning, Mr Madden,” he chirped, pushing the door fully open and sauntering over to Rich, seemingly harbouring a confidence that he didn’t have yesterday, as if sharing messages with a kiss at the end the previous night had established a new, less professional comfort zone between the pair.

“Why good morning, Mr Egerton,” Rich mocked in return, an eyebrow raised. Taron laughed softly as he pulled up a chair next to the Scotsman.

“How’s the lesson planning going?” he asked kindly as he leaned in to see Rich’s computer, who turned the monitor around a bit for Taron to see.

“Well, it’s…going,” Rich sighed, not sounding at all confident.

“It’ll get easier trust me, you’ll start to learn what your students do and don’t like, what they respond well to, stuff like that,” Taron advised. Rich nodded along in understanding, reviewing his presentation, trying to visualise it as if he was a student rather than a teacher, now backspacing and retyping phrases where he suddenly wasn’t happy with the wording.

“Any more advice?” he asked Taron, who leaned towards the computer screen more, brushing shoulders with Rich as he did. Rich’s breathing halted briefly at the contact, knowing full well this was because it had been far too long since anyone had touched him further than a quick handshake.

“Colour,” Taron stated bluntly, “it’s simple. These kids love colour, it catches their eye far more than a piece of black and white text. Also putting important information in some sort of bubble or cloud seems to grab their attention and make them remember it. Although I’m saying all this as a Drama teacher, I know History might be a bit harder to get kids interested in, no offence.”

“None taken, it’s genuinely a boring subject if it’s not your thing or it’s been taught to you by the wrong person, hell I found it majorly boring at school! I only got interested in it after leaving school and learning it my own way.”

“What made you get interested in it? You could apply that to your lessons,” Taron suggested. Richard paused for a few seconds to mull over his answer before speaking.

“I think...because the way it was taught to me in school made me think it was just remembering dates and learning about wars, because for some reason I swear that’s all we used to do, and then when I left school I had a friend that went on to do it in university and I discovered through him that it’s more than dates and wars, it’s about culture and society, how much things have changed and why they changed, it’s actually a wealth of knowledge about the whole world and what it means to be human. People also think it’s only about what happened in the past, but it’s not, it’s an insight about what might happen in the future based on what’s happened in the past!” Rich dripped with enthusiasm about his subject, Taron simply sat smiling brightly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise Rich that was amazing you NEED to open with that in class today, it will get the kids inspired!” Taron encouraged, nudging Rich happily who agreed and sincerely thanked Taron for his help, the school bell bringing their moment to an end.

“First class on my own,” Rich declared nervously.

“Good luck! I’ve got 2 free periods now,” Taron boasted, Rich laughed and rolled his eyes. 

“Ah it’s alright for some! Bloody part timers,” he scoffed jokingly. 

“Seriously though, Rich, you’ll do great, they’ll love you!” Taron patted him on the knee and got up from the chair he’d pulled up, putting it back where he found it on his way out, having to wait by the door anyway for a stampede of kids to flood into the classroom and find their seats.

“Good morning everyone,” Rich greeted his class in the most welcoming voice he could as they started to settle. Taron gave Rich a last thumbs up before disappearing out of the door, letting it close slowly behind him as it had one of those mechanisms that slowed it so it wouldn’t slam, or rather, kids couldn’t slam it in anger when they would storm out of a classroom. 

“So guys, I know you all think history’s boring, and you know what? So did I when I was in school!” Richard began his motivational speech, Taron peeked through the door one more time, smiling proudly at his friend. Rich’s voice became quieter and quieter as Taron began to walk down the hall and the door was still closing. 

“It’s more than that, it’s culture and society, how much has changed and why it changed,” he heard Richard say in the distance, nearly out of earshot now, feeling a warm sense of pride inside of him again.

___________________________________________________________________

The bell for lunch rang at last, which of course always caused a commotion of hungry, restless kids all clambering up from their seats to get to the canteen as quickly as possible as if it was going to run out of food or something.

“Alright I’ll see you lot again this time next week, just please try your best with the homework yeah?” Taron called out over the noise.

“Yes, Sir,” a multitude of students mumbled back as they filed out of the classroom. Taron turned to the whiteboard, erasing what he had written through the lesson which was mainly thought clouds about dramatic expression and such. As he turned back around from the board he was taken back by a student still sat at the back of the classroom staring out of the window. A generally slim but ever so slightly plump girl with long blonde hair, pulled back in to a simple high ponytail.

“Uh, you ok Ella?” he asked, walking over to the lone student.

“Yep,” she snapped, forcing a polite smile.

“Why are you still here? You not hungry?” Taron asked softly.

“Nope.”

“Is everything ok?” he asked cautiously. Ella just looked away even more, hiding her eyes that were beginning to well up. Taron noticed and tried to not to make a big deal of it and make her uncomfortable, knowing students don’t like the teachers that freak out and jump down their throat when they’re having an emotional moment.

“Did something happen, Lovely?” he asked gently, keeping his voice low and soft. Ella sat in silence, and Taron let her decide on her own whether she was going to say anything.

“They hate me,” she finally burst out.

“Who?”

“Everyone! The students, the teachers, everyone in this fucking hell hole,” she seethed. Taron ignored the swearing in this particular context and nodded sympathetically.

“I’m sure they don’t, especially not the teachers, I don’t hate you!” he said with a small smile.

“Well maybe not you, but only because you’re the first teacher to acknowledge my existence for something other than picking on me in class while ignoring all the students actually misbehaving. The students definitely hate me though, why else would they trip me up in the halls, throw pens at me in class, call me horrible names,” she said with a shaky voice.

“Aw I’m sorry, Darlin’. Teenagers can be horrible honestly, I remember what they used to say when I was in school, they don’t know when to stop with the vile comments. Most bullies grow out of it when they leave school, the others end up in prison,” Taron laughed before quickly adding, “that was a joke you don’t tell anyone I said that ok?” Ella let out a small laugh, nodding quickly. “As for the teachers, they’re just busy, they have a lot of students to keep an eye out for and it’s a very overwhelming job at times. Always having to figure out who did what, who said this, who said that, we have far too many students to look out for and none of us EVER mean to ignore you or pick on you I promise. Admittedly some of us are more attentive and intuitive than others, I like to think of me as one of those teachers..?” he half suggested.

“Yeah, you’re one of the good ones,” Ella confirmed.

“See! And what about the new History teacher, Mr Madden? Have you had any classes with him?”

“I have History with him next, after lunch,” Ella said.

“Great! Well he’s lovely so I promise you’ll have a good lesson with him. What about final period?”

“Free study period,” Ella replied. Taron shrugged in triumph. 

“There you go! The rest of the day’s agenda sounds pretty good to me,” Taron said as uplifting sounding as he could. Ella laughed quietly.

“Thanks, Sir. What about the rest of lunch break though?” she asked with a heavy heart. Taron thought for a moment.

“Stay here if you want,” he offered. Ella smiled happily, sitting back in her seat.

“As long as you don’t mind me over there working, you’re welcome to escape here any time you need.”

“Thank you, Sir!”

Taron made his way to his computer, sitting down and pulling his phone out first to message Rich quickly.

T: hey there’s gonna be a girl in your class after lunch called Ella be extra nice she’s having a hard time right now, don’t tell her I said anything tho obviously x

Rich: yeah no worries, everything ok?x

T: yeah all good, just got her in my classroom for lunch break, other kids being horrible x

Rich: ah poor girl x

Taron slid his phone back into his pocket, turning back to his computer to get some work done.

“So Ella, who’s your favourite actor?” Taron conversed while typing away.

___________________________________________________________________

The day finally came to an end, meaning Taron and Rich could both get home to get ready for their meet-up that evening. Taron settled on a white t-shirt with a navy denim jacket, black jeans, and white lace up shoes. Richard going for a similar style with black jeans, a navy jumper, a grey long coat jacket and black slightly smarter shoes.

Taron sat at the bar the two had agreed to meet at, sipping at one of the two mojitos he had bought for him and Rich.

“Hey, Taron!” Rich greeted as he approached the table by the window that Taron had nabbed, sitting opposite him.

“Hey! I remember you saying you liked mojitos!” Taron gestured to the drink.

“I do! Thanks T,” Rich said warmly as he tucked his chair in and sipped at his drink.

“How did your motivational History speech go?” Taron asked.

“Oh my god it worked SO well, the kids seemed really engaged after I did it, thanks for the help.”

“Yeah no problem, happy to help,” Taron said, looking into Rich’s piercing blue eyes until the pair got uncomfortable and looked away with a small laugh.

“So, uh,” Rich began, not sure where he was going with it.

“Yeah..” Taron trailed. Rich took a long sip of his drink for an alcohol confidence boost, knowing one glass wouldn’t be enough.

“Fancy another one? On me,” he offered, already standing up ready to go to the bar.

“Love one, thanks!”

Rich wondered to the bar to order two more mojitos, having a mental conversation, kicking himself for being so awkward. It was such a different setting to chatting at school in between lessons or messaging over facebook before bed, this was so raw and real, just the two of them in a nice bar with cocktails and a window seat with a view. It was almost romantic, and neither of them knew exactly what to do in this context or even where each other stood on the matter. Was this just two colleagues meeting for a catch up or something more? Was Taron gay? 

Rich walked back to the table with the drink, mentally telling himself to man up and talk to Taron like a person, instantly taking a long sip of his drink and a deep breath.

“So are dating at the moment? Is that something that you’re-” he blurted out, but stopping himself. Taron- relieved that Rich had broken the ice first- made a low ‘uhh’ sound.

“It’s complicated, I promised myself when I started the job at the school that I wouldn’t get involved in anything like that while I was there, I’m sure you know what students are like by now.”

“Oh yeah definitely,” Rich agreed, nodding. 

“Then of course you had to show up and-” Taron caught himself, realising what he just said. “Oh, I mean, I-”

“Wait are you also..” Rich began tentatively.

“Am I- am I what? Wait, are you?” Taron stumbled.

“Ok ok wait, on three, yeah?” Rich suggested, “one, two-”

“Gay,” the pair said in perfect unison, quickly both sighing with relief and laughing a little to themselves.

“I’m so glad we were on the same page there,” Taron laughed.

“Fuck, me too,” Rich laughed back, still practically catching his breath from relief.

“I did wonder, but you can never assume you know?” Taron admitted, resting his chin on his hand, starting to be able to relax now.

“Yeah of course,” Rich agreed, “so as you were saying, I showed up and-?” he teased.

“Hah, yes, just ignore that yeah?”

“No no, go on,” Rich waved his hand, gesturing Taron to elaborate.

“Ok fine. I met you that day in the staff room and thought ‘oh shit this guy is gonna ruin my vow to not get attracted to another teacher’ and, he did,” Taron admitted, making Rich chuckle in reply to this.

“Oh did I now?” Rich asked suggestively, leaning in over the table closer to Taron, who mimicked this, now looking into Rich’s blue eyes again.

“You did,” he smirked, the two not breaking eye contact. Leaning in again towards each other, getting closer every few seconds, before Taron broke away, leaning back.

“Anyway,” he said as he cleared his throat awkwardly. “God I only met you two days ago,” he laughed nervously. Rich pursed his lips and thought for a moment about his next words. 

“And what an amazing two days it’s been,” he said confidently.

“Indeed it has,” Taron smiled, lifting his glass to cheers with Richard. The full moon now shining right behind them as the night grew later and later.

___________________________________________

Ta-daaaaa, I hope you guys liked it! I said it would be longer this time! So Ella is sort of a side plot I’m throwing in because I wanted to base a character on me and my time in school, I didn’t have any teachers supporting me at my side when I was badly bullied so I suppose I’m maybe sort of living out this fantasy through this fic seeing as I’m still ever so slightly salty about school in general bUT ANYWAY. Hope you enjoyed <3 

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin @coffeetalkbaby

[tarontherocketman]

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 3

TW: MENTION OF SUICIDE NEAR THE END OF THE CHAPTER

It was Friday at last, the week was almost over, and the day started off the same as every other day this week did: 

“Mr Madden.”

“Mr Egerton.” The pair smirked at each other as Taron slipped through the partly open door of Rich’s classroom with a mug of coffee in each hand, setting one down on Rich’s desk on the mug coaster that he had brought in from home; a black round coaster with a big golden ‘R’ for Richard. Taron liked that Rich had brought in his own coaster to use, it was one of the many personal touches in his classroom, something Taron had never thought to do in his own.

“I love all your little bits of personal stuff around your desk,” he observed, looking around as he pulled up a chair, leaning over to see the computer screen and resting his chin on Rich’s shoulder. This was something that had become a daily happening out of the blue the morning after their drink at the bar. Neither of them really knew what it meant at this point, their friendship just escalated into a new comfort zone all of a sudden. However, they silently agreed not to overthink it yet, they were both just enjoying having a new best friend. 

“You should get some bits for your classroom, you don’t have anything personal in there,” Rich suggested.

“I know, never really thought about it, it’s just a workplace to me.”

“That’s the thing though, we spend so much of our time at work I like making it homely you know?” Rich pondered, looking around at his things trying to think of ideas for Taron’s classroom.

“You’re right Rich, well hey it’s the weekend tomorrow let's go shopping you can help me choose some stuff for my classroom!” Taron declared, to which Rich immediately nodded enthusiastically.

“You are so on! I love doing things like that,” Rich gushed. Taron raised an eyebrow, pulling his chin away from Rich’s shoulder to look at him.

“What? Shopping for homeware and office supplies? Jeez this is why you,” he put his index finger on Rich’s chest, “are older than me,” he teased, scampering up from his chair to run to the other side of the classroom before Rich could attempt to playfully whack him in the arm.

“Three years! Only three years!” Rich pouted, trying not to break into a smile.

“I was only two months away from being a 90s kid you know,” Taron declared proudly, straightening his tie with fake arrogance.

“So close, yet so far, you’re still an 80s kid pal,” Rich laughed, patting Taron’s seat to indicate him to come back. Taron scurried back and barely managed to sit down before Rich got that playful whack on Taron’s arm.

“THAT was for calling me old!” he huffed.

“Ow, calm down Grandpa!” Taron snickered.

“You little shit!” Rich cried before the pair burst into laughter, Taron habitually gripping on to Rich’s forearm as they laughed.

At this moment a tall, sour-faced looking woman walked past the door to the classroom, her hair tied in a neat bun and a school logo lanyard and staff badge round her neck. She peered through the window in the door, narrowing her eyes at the over friendly pair of male teachers. Rich noticed her in his peripheral vision and jerked away from Taron, mumbling a quiet ‘shit’.

“Rich? What’s wrong?” Taron asked, whipping his head around to see what Rich was looking at. “What was it?”

“Uh, Mrs Reynolds just saw us through the window…” Rich mumbled.

“It’s alright she won’t make a fuss of it, we weren’t doing anything, just a bit of fun. Right?” Taron asked nervously, reading Rich’s worried facial expression.

“T, she’s one of the Religious Studies teacher, her classroom his two doors down from here. I know RS teachers and religious people in general don’t all share the same opinion, but I’ve sat in the staff room with her and I happen know exactly what her thoughts on homosexuals are.”

“Ah,” Taron whispered, nodding slowly.

“Yep,” Rich said bluntly.

“Well, she doesn’t know either of us are gay, AND we weren’t even doing anything wrong, so she’s got nothing on us!” Taron assured his best friend, putting his hand on Rich’s leg who pushed his hand off harshly.

“Maybe not yet but she’ll be watching us now! I thought this was exactly what you didn’t want to happen here?” Rich snapped, making Taron flinch slightly from seeing a new emotion in Rich that he hadn’t yet been introduced to.

“I didn’t!” Taron defended, “but- but I suppose it feels different since I met you!”

“Well I’ve only been here a week Taron, and I really don’t want to fuck up another job thank you very much,” Rich hissed, turning back to his computer screen abruptly. 

“Another?” Taron asked quickly, now distracted from the original argument.

“Just…pretend I never said that,” Rich murmured, “I need to finish this presentation.” Taron opened and closed his mouth a few times, deciding whether or not to say anything that could potentially make things worse considering he had obviously just hit a nerve. He decided on just leaving it and walking out the classroom quietly. Rich stubbornly kept his gaze fixated on the computer until Taron had left the classroom, making sure he had definitely gone before putting his head in his hands and groaning to himself.

__________________________________________________

The day eventually drew to an end, consisting of some awkward glancing and looking away happening between Taron and Rich when they would inevitably pass each other in the hallway. They had both spent break times in their own classrooms to avoid conversation, not even 100% why they were mad at each other but sticking to it anyway.

“Alright guys I’ll see you next week,” Taron concluded, indicating to his class that they were free to go, which definitely made everyone very happy knowing that they were free for 2 whole days.

“Sir?” a small voice appeared behind Taron.

“Yes, Ella?” he asked, not turning around from his computer.

“You didn’t say have a good weekend, you always say have a good weekend, what’s wrong?” Ella quizzed, surprising Taron with her intuitiveness.

“Someone’s observant,” Taron mused as he swivelled his chair around to face the blonde-haired teenager. Ella just shrugged casually.

“I pick up on these things,” she smiled, her energy rubbing off on Taron, softening him a bit after a rough day. “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just an argument with a friend,” Taron chuckled, almost laughing at his own stupidity in the whole situation, forgetting more and more as the day went on why he was even being so stubborn about talking to Rich.

“Mr Madden?” Ella asked nonchalantly. Taron blinked slowly.

“How’d you…?”

“I told you I pick up on things! I don’t have any friends so I have more time to watch what goes on around me,” Ella admitted, not sure whether to feel proud of her observation skills or embarrassed that she just flat out casually told her Drama teacher that she doesn’t have any friends.

“Hmm you’re even smarter than I thought you were,” Taron grinned, “but yes, Mr Madden.”

“Well, I dunno what you had an argument about but just talk to him about it, you’re gonna have to eventually, no point avoiding it for longer than needed,” Ella said, folding her arms, “trust me, I’ve been there,” she said sadly.

“Yeah, you’re right Ella, thanks.”

“I know,” she shrugged. “Anyway, I need to get the bus before it leaves, see you next week Sir.”

“Alright have a good weekend Ella,” Taron called as she began to speed walk out of the classroom.

“You too!” she called back as she disappeared down the tiny hall and out of the drama block door. Taron sat at his desk in bemusement that a 14 year old had given him better advice than he had given himself, deciding to hurriedly gather all of his stuff together and stride over to Rich’s classroom to talk to him, feeling a little nervous after an entire day of avoiding him. He approached the classroom gingerly, psyching himself up as he walked the hallway before taking a breath and swinging open the door.

“Rich I’m really sorry,” he whimpered, cringing at his own failure to maintain his composure.

“I- Taron!” Rich hissed quietly, nodding to the wide open doorway that Taron was stood in.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Taron apologised quickly, hopping in the room and letting the door close behind him before starting again.

“I’m sorry I didn’t take things seriously earlier Rich, or, you know- just now,” he chuckled awkwardly.

“No I’m sorry, T, I really overreacted,” Rich said as he softened up.

“No you were right, we need to be more careful, which is why you’re going to come to my house later so we can spend quality time together without prying eyes!” Taron declared confidently.

“Am I now?” Rich asked with a smirk.

“Yep, 7pm, I’ll message you my address,” Taron stated.

“Sounds good to me,” Rich smiled as Taron turned on his heel and walked out of the classroom as confidently as he had walked in, not disappearing for even 10 seconds before poking his head back round through the still open door.

“Oh yeah and we’re going to order pizza, forgot that part of my speech,” Taron confessed, ruining the grand exit he had initially planned.

“Speech?” Rich laughed, “alright Obama. I’ll see you later,” he shook his head fondly at his best friend’s solid attempt at being charming.

_____________________________________________________

Taron jumped up from the sofa excitedly upon hearing the knock on his apartment door, smoothing out his t-shirt even though it wasn’t actually creased and attempting to check his own breath by breathing into his hand and smelling it, realising it didn’t work and settling on just opening the door without fussing around any further.

“Hey Ri- oh,” he laughed nervously as the open door revealed his neighbour from across the hall.

“Hey Taron, uh, the delivery guy gave me your package to look after when you weren’t in earlier.”

“Ah lovely, thanks Jerry,” he took the package, closing the door with one last polite smile to his neighbour.

Typical, he thought to himself, that would only happen to him. Another knock on the door caused him to discard the package on the dining table before he could start opening it. He pulled the door open carefully, not wanting to get too excited this time.

“Oh good it’s you this time,” he smiled, opening the door fully to let his best friend in.

“You what?” Rich queried, looking puzzled at Taron having no previous context for why Taron would say that. 

“Never mind, come in!” he gestured to the sofa that wasn’t too far from the door, heading to the kitchen that was a part of the open plan floor.

“Can I get you a drink?” he offered politely, opening the cupboard to grab two glasses in advance. 

“Sure, what have you got?” Rich asked.

“Well good sir it depends whether you’re in the mood for something sophisticated like a scotch,” he began pompously, “or just…a glass of lemonade,” he finished casually.

“Taron,” Rich paused, “I’m Scottish, what do you think the answer is?”

“One scotch coming up,” Taron said assuredly as he poured the drink, Richard replied with a single, proud nod.

“Here,” Taron said, placing the drinks on the coffee table in front of them.

“Thanks,” Rich replied as he leaned over to grab the drink and take a sip. Taron slumped down next to him on the sofa and sighed a long sigh of relief that the week was over.

“Yeah, I’m glad it’s the weekend too,” Rich agreed, feeling Taron’s sigh as if it was his own.

“Yeah, been quite a week,” Taron noted.

“It has indeed.”

“How was your first week as a teacher then?” Taron asked.

“Better than I expected, I was worried that the students would all find my classes boring and I wouldn’t make any friends. Turns out they like me, they like my teaching, and I did make friends. In fact I made a best friend,” Rich said as he looked into Taron’s kind eyes.

“Aww, Rich! Well that’s good to hear.”

“How was your week?” Rich asked in return.

“Eh,” Taron shrugged, “just another week, nothing special happened really,” Taron pondered, looking forward because he knew if he made eye contact with Rich he would start laughing.

“Oi!” Rich laughed, folding his arms and looking away in a fake huff.

“Joking!” Taron chirped, turning back around and wrapping both arms round Rich, reaching around his shoulders. Rich reciprocated by placing his hands on Taron’s arms. Taron rested his head on Rich’s shoulder, who rested his head against Taron’s head, deciding this was how they would stay now for a bit. Rich habitually rubbed his right thumb on the bit of Taron’s arm that his right hand was placed on.

“Did you want to talk about earlier?” Taron asked cautiously.

“What? The argument, or why I fucked up my last job?” Rich mused.

“I was going to let you decide that.”

“Honestly I don’t really want to talk about either right now, let’s just enjoy the moment. I’ll tell you about the job another time though because I can tell you’re curious.”

“Yeah I am a bit,” Taron admitted, “wait, did you just call this a moment? Are we having a moment?” he teased.

“Mm maybe,” Rich breathed, lifting his head to look at Taron, who looked straight back into Rich’s bright blue eyes, scooting closer to him. Both of their breathing quickened in anticipation as Taron pulled his arms away and placed his hands on either side of Rich’s face, rubbing his thumbs over his cheek bones before pulling him in. He could smell the scotch on Rich’s breath as their lips brushed against each other for a moment before Rich got impatient and reached around the back of Taron’s neck, pulling him in so their lips meet properly. Taron moved his hands to wrap around Rich’s torso, working them up and down his back. The sunset made the last bit of sun for the day shine perfectly through the crack in the curtains, hitting them both perfectly as they shared this moment for a while longer.

“Wow,” Taron breathed heavily as he pulled away gently.

“Yeah,” Rich breathe-laughed. “I only met you a week ago,” he teased, imitating what Taron had said at the bar at the start of the week.

“And what an amazing week it’s been,” Taron imitated back, copying Rich’s response.

“Indeed it has! You hungry?”

“Oh god yes, pizza?” Taron said excitedly.

“Fuck yes.”

________________________________________________________

The weekend had passed by in what felt like an hour, and there they were again. Monday morning, the worst day of the week because everyone in the school- teachers and students alike- know it’s only the beginning of a potentially long, hard week. The day started the same as any other, which always consisted of:

“Mr Madden.”

“Mr Egerton.”

Followed by a coffee and catch up, except today it was in Taron’s classroom to admire the new bits and bobs Rich had helped him choose out on the weekend. There was a black mug coaster with a golden T on the desk to match Rich’s, one of those light-boxes that you can organise the letters on to write a message, which Rich had spelled out “Mr Egerton” on, there was a new 2020 desk calendar that Rich had convinced Taron to get done at a personalised calendar shop in the mall with one of his favourite plays on each month, a notebook with the letter ’T’ on the front, and a matching ’T’ pen pot too.

Rich journeyed to his classroom a few minutes before the bell was due to ring, at which point students began to file into Taron’s classroom, he wrote the date and learning objective on the board as the class took their time to settle, before sitting at his desk to call out the register, going name by name with a ‘here sir’ mumbled in reply after each name by the relevant student.

“Ella,” he called, getting no response. The entire atmosphere in the room changed, bringing a grossly enhanced meaning to ‘elephant in the room’.

“What?” Taron quizzed, looking around and his class, getting nothing back. 

“Guys?” he asked, starting to get antsy, “anyone?” 

“Didn’t you hear?” one of the girls in his class spoke up.

“Hear what?” Taron began to panic, thinking about how he was the first in the staff room when he got him and Rich’s coffee so he hadn’t actually seen any other teachers yet. No one in the class dared to speak a word, all looking down uncomfortably at their desks.

“Taron!” Rich burst in the room and exclaimed, but then coughing awkwardly and correcting himself to “Mr Egerton.”

“Um, Rich what’s going on?” Taron whispered so the students wouldn’t hear him, failing miserably considering you could hear a pin drop in the room at that moment, he ushered Rich out of the classroom and pulled the door shut behind them.

“I’m sorry I only just found out when I put the mugs back in the staff room just now I came straight back,” Rich said, out of breath from jogging back to Taron’s classroom, trying to make it before class started.

“What is it?!” Taron persisted, urging Rich to hurry up and spit it out.

“Ella overdosed last night.”

Taron’s eyes went wide, tears beginning to form that he tried to desperately blink away.

“-what?” he squeaked, his voice barely making a sound.

“She’s alive,” Rich assured, placing his hands on Taron’s shoulders.

“Is she going to be okay?” Taron whispered.

“I- I don’t know, T, we can only hope for now, I’m sorry,” he admitted, pulling Taron into a tight hug, letting the now silently sobbing man bury his face into his chest.

“I should have done more,” he mumbled into Rich’s shirt.

“Don’t say that-”

“No,” Taron cut Rich off, “this is the part of being a teacher I never wanted to experience, she trusted me and I didn’t do enough to protect her I should have looked more into it and talked to the head teacher or her parents or, I don’t know,” he rambled, “I spoke to her on Friday at the end of class and she could tell I was upset about our argument and cheered me up but I didn’t bother asking how she had been doing and-”

“T, you’re her teacher not her Dad, she’s not your responsibility,” Rich persuaded.

“She is when she’s at school Rich! Part of being a teacher is keeping them safe and I failed.”

“I know, I know,” Richard soothed “but she did this outside of school, at home, not at school, you can’t blame yourself for this, please stop blaming yourself,” Rich rubbed Taron’s back, trying to calm him down knowing that he has to go back in that classroom and teach sooner or later. He pulled away from Taron, drying his damp cheeks with his sleeves. “Look, go clean yourself up, I’ll watch your class for a minute I’ve got a free period ok?”

“Thanks, Rich,” Taron smiled weakly, patting Rich on the shoulder and walking off to the bathroom to clean up. Staring at himself in the mirror thinking about how after such a lovely weekend, this is how Monday morning starts. He knew for certain that it was going to be a long week ahead.

__________________________________________________

Ahhhh hi! I was SO nervous to post this but here it is, I decided I’d try out a few things in this chapter to see how you guys react to it which is why it’s quite long, just to make sure my writing is going in the right direction you know? Anyway if it’s more cute Madderton moments you’re waiting for I can tell you now that’s coming in the next chapter; now that I’ve done my drama/romance/angst experiment heh, so yeah I really hope you lot like it <3

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin @coffeetalkbaby @nataschalenasblog 

[tarontherocketman]

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 5

The rest of the week passed by as slow as ever, students and teachers alike just waiting for the weekend, all anyone seemed to do was live for the weekend, it was the sad reality of society. Taron was quietly nervous about Monday arriving; the day that Ella is due to come back to school. He wasn’t sure what he will say to her, and was worried whatever he does say might upset her. Does he tell her it’s good to have her back? Or will that make her feel like she had been expected back sooner? Does he ask her how she is? What if she’s still not good and doesn’t know how to respond? Taron briefly confided in Rich about it, who put a supportive hand on his shoulder and assured him that whatever he says, he knows that he’ll say it in his usual kind voice and she won’t be offended.

Monday morning rolled around, the beginning of Rich’s third week as a teacher. He rolled out of bed and pulled the curtains open, thinking about how fast the past 3 weeks have gone, and how much has happened. Not even a month in and he’s already in a relationship with another teacher. Certainly not what he expected out of the job but he couldn’t complain, he loved Taron so dearly already. Rich and Taron had agreed over the weekend that as of Monday they would car share to get to work, Rich would drive them for a week, then Taron the next week, Rich again the week after, alternating each week to save fuel. A plan that essentially shouldn’t raise any suspicion from Mrs Reynolds, seeing as the school- much like most schools- were constantly trying to promote car sharing as an environmentally friendly scheme. Rich sorted himself out, trying to erase the typical morning elements of his appearance such as fixing his hair, washing his face, brushing his teeth. Once he felt put together enough, he threw his clothes on, straightened his tie one last time in the mirror, and headed out to pick Taron up.

“Morning Mr Egerton,” he smiled at the tired looking man slumping down into the passenger seat of his car.

“Mr Madden,” Taron nodded once, reaching down the side of his seat to pull the lever that made the seat recline back, closing his eyes and sinking further into the seat. Rich stared at him with a sad smile.

“You were awake last night worrying about Ella coming back weren’t you?” he sighed.

“Maybe,” Taron muttered, eyes still closed.

“Oh Taron..” Rich mumbled as he put the car in gear and set off to work, putting his free hand on Taron’s knee.

“It’s fine, it’ll be fine,” Taron assured himself.

“It will, you know it,” Rich agreed.

The pair arrived at work and found a parking spot quickly. Rich pulled into the space, put the handbrake on, and leaned over to give Taron one last hug before the day started. Taron reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Rich and resting his head on his shoulder, now finally opening his eyes after spending the journey half asleep.

“Shit!” Taron exclaimed, pulling away from Rich quickly and sitting forward in his seat.

“Wha-“ Rich started, whipping around to see what Taron was looking at, to be greeted by Mrs Reynolds sat in the car next to them, having obviously parked there and decided to sit for a bit before work.

“Of all the spaces I could have parked in,” Rich groaned in frustration, turning back round to Taron to pretend that she wasn’t there, staring suspiciously at the two men. Their fear had finally began to catch up on them, Rich had warned Taron about this from the start yet they both got careless and had possibly been caught.

“What do we do?” Taron bit his lip. 

“We wait until she goes in, then we go in straight to my classroom, no staff room,” Rich decided, Taron nodded in agreement, not daring to moan to Rich about how much he needed a coffee. The two sat in the car, tension coating the air as they wait for Mrs Reynolds to finally go inside. After what felt like hours, she gets out of her car and begins to saunter towards the school entrance. Rich and Taron got out of either side of the car and began walking quickly to the building and entering through the large main entrance, as they turned the corner to the hallway containing the door to Rich’s classroom they were greeted by a sour faced Mrs Reynolds casually standing outside of his door, clearly waiting for confrontation. Rich and Taron groaned quietly in sync.

“What was that all about in the car?” she asked straight to the point, not sparing an ounce of sensitivity.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taron said bluntly, walking straight past her and into the classroom, Rich trailing behind. Mrs Reynolds followed them nimbly in before the door could fully shut.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she griped, sounding genuinely annoyed.

“We weren’t doing anything wrong,” Rich stated calmly, trying to act busy by gathering his resources for the day and straightening all the desks.

“Something’s going on here, I can tell,” she jeered, trying to get them to confess to something, anything.

“We’re colleagues and friends,” Rich said bluntly, beginning to get annoyed, “now if you’ll excuse me I have to get ready for my class.”

“What’s he doing here then?” she pointed at Taron rudely.

“Again, friend and colleague,” Rich seethed, trying to keep his cool.

“I’m your colleague,” Mrs Reynolds pointed out.

“Yes but not a friend, goodbye,” Rich retorted, opening the door for her as a signal that she needs to leave.

“I’m onto you both, I will find out what’s going on,” she sneered, now walking out of the classroom.

“Yeah you do that,” Rich said as he watched her walk down the corridor and disappear round the corner. He stepped back into the room, attempting to slam the door but looking sheepish as the slow close mechanism foiled his plan. Taron, stood against the whiteboard with folded arms, smirking at his boyfriend’s error.

“It’s not funny, T,” Rich sighed.

“You’re a fiery one when you need to be my love.”

Rich looked unimpressed. 

“...sorry,” Taron apologised, his instinct telling him to give Rich a hug, but his brain telling him he can’t do that right now.

“She’s right,” Rich started, “she is onto us!”

“Shh, look it’s fine love, she doesn’t have shit on us yet okay?” Taron assured Rich, who was now pacing his classroom nervously, a habit that had become rather frequent.

“You’re pacing,” Taron observed.

“I know,” Rich snapped, suddenly stopping himself from pacing. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, I know this isn’t a great situation but we’ll figure it out, she doesn’t have anything on us yet and she never will because we’re not going to do anything like we did in the car again, intimacy will only be at one of our houses,” Taron explained, trying to reassure his worried boyfriend.

“I know, I know, we just shouldn’t have to hide who we are..”

“No, we shouldn’t, but we live in a corrupt society where if this gets out in a job like ours, we’re screwed,” Taron said.

“Why? Teacher’s can be in relationships, when I was in school there were two teacher’s that met at school and married! What can Mrs Reynolds do about it?” Rich argued. 

“Yes but they were a straight couple, am I right? It’s not just the fact that we’re teachers, and it’s not just Mrs Reynolds finding out, it’s the fact that if this was out the whole school would find out and we would be belittled and viewed differently. We can’t afford for that to happen, it would change everything,” Taron gave his boyfriend a small smile “I hate to say it but, it’s just a fact of society.”

“I know,” Rich groaned, “it’s just ridiculous.”

“It is,” Taron agreed, “anyway I have to get to class.”

“Yeah that’s alright, text me updates on Ella.”

“Will do, I love you,” Taron smiled. Rich briefly stopped breathing, that was the first time ‘I love you’ had been said.

“I-I love you too,” he stuttered in return, a warm feeling building inside of him. Rich watched as Taron disappeared out of the classroom door, not sure whether to feel happy and warm because he had a beautiful boyfriend who loved him, or angry because despite this he had to hide it from the world. Everything would change, the way their students saw them, how their colleagues would treat them, all because they both loved a man. Because they didn’t conform to the social norm, and it wasn’t fair.

__________________________________________________

Taron waited nervously for his class to filter in, shaking his leg under the table; a habit that bugged Rich as much as his pacing bugged Taron. They were learning to love and accept each other’s quirks as time went on though, it made them who they were, and it was kind of fun to to watch each other’s foibles come out the more time they spent together. Suddenly a quiet “morning Sir” shook Taron out of his thoughts.

“Ella!” he exclaimed, standing up abruptly from his desk, knocking his pencil pot over in the process. He cleared his throat awkwardly, coming out from behind the desk, ignoring the splayed out pens and pencils.

“I- uh, it’s really good to see you, how are you?” he asked cautiously.

“Getting there,” Ella replied with a small smile.

“You’re early,” Taron said, glancing at the small clock on the wall above the whiteboard.

“Yeah I thought I’d come in early to say hi, the Head said you’ve been worried about me,” she chuckled.

“He did?” Taron spluttered, “I mean, I was, just didn’t think he’d tell you that..”

“No it’s all good, I appreciate the concern,” Ella replied quickly. Taron stood awkwardly, habitually scratching the back of his neck.

“If you ever need to talk just let me know, I feel like maybe I didn’t do enough before..” he trailed off from his own sentence.

“You did more than anyone else bothers to do,” Ella admitted glumly.

“Really?” Taron asked, Ella nodded in reply.

“Well I’m glad I did something then,” he smiled. At this the other students began to filter into the large classroom, all chattering amongst themselves, no doubt discussing what they got up to over the weekend. Ella gave Taron a last smile before disappearing to find somewhere to sit, she felt her face heat up from the stares of all the other students who were looking at her with mixed looks. Some looked sympathetic, some looked guilty, some looked judgemental, she didn’t want any of it. She didn’t want the sympathy or the guilt and certainly didn’t want the judgement. She knew what she did was stupid, because there were people who would miss her, but it’s impossible to think of that at the time. She felt like there was no other way out, and even though it would mean she was essentially taking the easy way out, she didn’t know what else to do. So she decided it was game over. By some miracle, game over didn’t work, life gave her another chance, and now she had to figure out why. What was she good for here?

“Alright everyone, eyes to the front,” Taron called, directing the attention away from Ella. He began his lesson, only having to deal with one issue when two boys looked like they were about to have a punch out with each other for no apparent reason, which is usually the case with fights that happen in this school; they start from nothing. Taron understood, he always felt like he had more empathy than most of the other staff members. Although he was as sick of breaking up fights as the rest of his colleagues, he understood that teenagers have so many more emotions circling around their head than him, a full grown adult. It was so hard being that age, you haven’t found yourself yet, other kids are mean, adults tell you that you need to decide what to do with your life, it’s too much pressure. He absolutely despised adults that say teenagers ‘overreact’ or ‘don’t know how easy they have it’ some of these adults even being other teachers in the staff room. He hated it. Being a teenager absolutely sucked, and no adult should forget what it was like and become the kind of person that talks about them that way. 

Once the class were settled into the task that Taron gave them and were getting on with it themselves, he subtly pulled his phone out to text Rich.

Taron: hey, Ella’s here, she’s alright, hows class? miss you x

Rich: hey, good! glad to hear that, class is alright they’re all busy, what about yours? miss u too x

Taron: yeah they’re good, finally settled down they just had to get monday morning weekend chat out of their system x

Rich: yep it’s gotta be done! hey wanna eat out later? was thinking we should do that on mondays, just to make us feel better about it being monday x

Taron: I like your thinking Mr Madden, where shall we eat out this week then?x

Rich: wetherspoons? not like we’ll run into mrs reynolds there she probably thinks she’s too good for a cheap restaurant like that x

Taron: lol you’re right, spoons sounds good, gotta go love you x

Rich: love you too, see you at break x

Taron slipped his phone back into his pocket to turn his attention back to his computer and began to type away, only turning back to the class when they were ready to present their mock performances to him. He had to give them credit, his Monday morning class were quite well behaved and able to get on with their work without too much trouble, meaning Taron could get a lot of admin done. Once the class finished, the students began to shuffle out of the classroom in a flock, performing a chorus of either “bye Mr E” or “bye Sir” as they left to their next class. Taron didn’t care what they called him, he was one of those laid back teachers. He lets the sixth form students call him Taron, seeing as they are college age and only choosing to be here for further education. A healthy amount of informality build a stronger bond of trust, as long as you can equally mix it with professionalism. 

“Sir?” Ella’s small voice appeared from behind him.

“What’s up Ella?” he asked.

“Can I hide in here on break today? I’m not ready for everyone to stare at me on break too.”

“I actually meet Mr Madden on break-“ Taron started, but stopped himself quickly “but yeah sure! We can all hang out in here if you don’t mind us both being here.”

“I’d love that, you two are much nicer than any of the students or even other teachers,” she admitted.

“Aw!” Taron beamed, “well I’m glad you have us then.”

“I’ll see you on break,” Ella smiled, almost genuinely as if she was actually happy, which was progress that Taron was pleased with.

Taron: Ellas gonna be in my classroom with us on break, hope that’s alright, you know, a student hanging out with us lol x

Rich: I don’t mind at all, she’s going through a lot, she’s a nice kid anyway. Also it keeps us from doing things we don’t wanna get caught for ;)x

Taron: shush, naughty boy x

Rich: you love it x

Taron: I do x

Rich finished his second class of the day and began to hurry over to Taron’s classroom to see his boy after two long hours without him. He stopped at the staff room on the way to do their break time coffee run, praying he didn’t see Mrs Reynolds in there. His prayers went thoroughly unanswered, as there she was, stood with her back to the door making a coffee. Rich audibly sighed and considered turning back, but decided to just be an adult and stride in, make the coffees, and leave. To his delight, Mrs Reynolds said nothing to him when she saw him come in, she just finished making her coffee and took a seat at one of the tables with a few other teachers from hers and Rich’s corridor of classrooms.

“Did you hear?” Rich heard her say to the other teachers around the table, his ears instantly tuning into the conversation. 

“Hear what?” they all chirped in, excited at the prospect of gossip.

“Two male teachers here have been seen hugging intimately in one of their cars,”  Mrs Reynolds quipped, sounding proud of herself.

What the fuck has she said that for?! Rich seethed inside of his head, trying to keep a poker face and not let on to anyone around.

“Really?! Who?” a Geography teacher asked with intense curiosity.

“I don’t know,” Mrs Reynolds lied, leaning back and sipping her coffee, glancing to Rich quickly who tried to slow down his dramatically increased breathing.

What have we ever done to her?

“Just heard it on the grapevine,” Mrs Reynolds shrugged. “Have you heard about it, Richard?” Rich’s shoulders stiffened and breath hitched as he was mid way through pouring the second coffee. He knew he’d have to put the acting skills he always attempted to harness into practise right now. If only it was Taron here not him, he’s literally a drama teacher, go figure he is amazing at acting.

“Haven’t heard anything,” Rich said casually, clearing his throat to deepen his voice as if that would somehow make him sound straight even though he didn’t particularly “sound gay” in the first place, he hated stereotypes like that.

“Really? That’s funny, the conversation that I overheard about it mentioned your name suggesting you were someone who knew about it,” Mrs Reynolds pondered slyly. Rich could feel his face become flushed and hot, and anger was boiling up inside of him, he felt like he was about to pass out any second.

“Must have been a mistake,” he tried to say cooly, but not doing so well anymore. “Anyway, I’d better go before these aren’t hot anymore,” he chuckled lightly, trying to change the subject and retreat naturally.

“Oh who’s the other coffee for?” Mrs Reynolds persisted, poking further and further. Rich could feel tears of anger trying to emerge, but he held them back, pursing his lips to stop them quivering. What did she have against him? Why was she poking at him as if he was a collapsed animal that she was trying to get a reaction out of with a stick to make sure it’s alive.

“A friend,” Rich blurted out in a panic, turning away abruptly and walking out of the door as fast as he could, realising now that he had probably raised more suspicion by doing that. He continued to stifle the angry tears, making it all the way to the drama block before they spilled out as he approached Taron’s classroom. Forgetting Ella was in there, he kicked the door open; as oppose to turning around and backing into it as he usually would with a coffee in each hand.

“For fuck sake!” he said, the words coming out as more of a sob than an exclamation.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath, now realising that he’d totally forgotten that Ella would be in the room, who was looking at him with a strange mixture of shock at seeing a teacher crying, but also relief that teachers do have emotions too. It made her feel less silly somehow, it brought out the human side of them.

“I forgot you’d be here Ella,” Rich chuckled softly, putting the coffee mugs down so he could sheepishly wipe his wet cheeks with his sleeve.

“What’s wrong bub?” Taron cooed, getting up from his desk to wrap his arms around Rich, not caring at all that Ella was here. He hadn’t seen Rich cry yet, he was always the rational one while Taron was the more weepy, emotional one. He just wanted to hold and protect him.

“Um, you-know-who was indirectly telling the other staff about you-know-what and asking me about it to try and make me crack,” Rich tried to explain, conscious of the other presence in the room.

“Did you crack?” Taron asked.

“Not completely, only a little bit when she asked who the other coffee was for,” Rich admitted.

“What has she got against us?!” Taron demanded, not sure whether he was asking Rich or asking some sort of higher power. Ella sat quietly, unintentionally drinking in the whole conversation. She couldn’t figure out whether Taron had forgotten that she was intuitive, or if he had genuinely thought that they were being cryptic. It was obvious what they were talking about, it didn’t take an absolute genius to put two and two together. The hug, ‘bub’, ‘you-know-who’ was obviously a teacher because they were talking to the other staff and Rich had just been in the staff room because he had coffee, of course the biggest give away was ‘she asked who the other coffee was for’, and now Rich is here, giving the other coffee to Taron, so by elimination the ‘you-know-what’ must be a secret relationship between her two teachers. Taron just suddenly realised all this as he looked over to Ella gingerly and saw her sat with a sympathetic smile on her face.

“You understood all of that didn’t you?” he laughed nervously. Ella just nodded slowly with pursed lips.

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault darlin’, just don’t tell anyone yeah? I trust you,” Taron admitted.

“Of course I won’t! I know how it feels to be bullied, I could never do that to anyone else, plus I know…how it feels to not be out,” she sniffled, terrifying herself with the thought of anyone at school finding out that she was bi-sexual. In fact she’d never told a single soul, who knew the first people she would tell would be two of her teachers? She thought it would be her parents, an obstacle she never wanted to cross but worried that she would eventually have to.

“Oh,” Taron said, understanding immediately. “Well, we understand. Looks like we all have a similar secret.”  

“Yeah, we do,” Ella said sadly. Wondering if maybe tonight should be the tonight that she finally tells her parents, praying that they don’t overreact. 

____________________________________________________

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin @coffeetalkbaby @nataschalenasblog @stateofloveandvedder @winterismyfavoriteseason1945

[tarontherocketman]

MADDERTON FANS STOP SCROLLING

So just a quick proposition, if I were to start writing a Madderton teacher AU that I've had ideas about for ages, would anyone want to read? I'm thinking like Taron is a secondary school drama teacher and he's managed to hide that he's gay until Richard joins the team (haven't decided his subject yet tell me if you have any ideas) and it becomes hard to fall in love in a school full of prying eyes and there's drama and angst and fluff and yeah..I've got some cute mini storylines to throw in too like Taron longterm helping and supporting a student he sees being bullied which may or may not be a reflection of how much I wished I had a teacher in my corner in school when I was being badly bullied oops

Anyway if this is something you'd read either like the post or if you want me to tag you when I post the first chapter let me know that would be great because knowing people are waiting for it would help me be held accountable for writing and motivate me to actually start it

Thanks in advance!