#madderton drama

[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 

[writingformadderton]

Change of Heart💞

Ship: Madderton

Word Count: 4901

Summary: Taron and Richard spend a beautiful Christmas with their families. Watching Richard with his niece and his own sisters makes Taron's heart warm, making him long to have children with Richard. But the Scottish isn’t thrilled about the idea and Taron is more upset about it than he shows in the beginning. When the situation between the two gets harder, Richard decides to leave and spend a few days with his sister and niece. Will he have a change of heart coming back home?

Additional Tags: fluff, soft, angst, children, fight, Christmas, comfort, kisses

“Mum wants to know what our plans are for Christmas,” Rich asks one night in the middle of October over a bottle of wine and a plate of spaghetti. He pushes the food around on his plate and looks up at Taron, baby blue eyes meeting green. 

“We don’t have anything yet, do we?” Taron asks, his mouth full of garlic bread. Rich smiles. 

“No, not yet. Think we can get this place ready for the family to come for the holiday?” Rich asks, looking around at the mess. They’d finally taken the plunge recently to put down roots together. They’d been together for four years, gotten married the summer before last, but had continued to rent. Their projects had taken them from place to place, and it had seemed to make sense to just rent while they searched for the perfect place to really settle down. They’d found this beautiful home in London a few months ago, and both of them had decided that this was it. They’d made an offer and had just moved in three weeks prior. They hadn’t gotten around to unpacking, both of them too busy with work, and Richard had gotten to the point where he was afraid they’d be living out of boxes forever. 

“You want to host Christmas?” Taron asks, looking around at their cluttered home. 

“It could be fun, get everyone together, show off the new place.” Richard reaches out and takes Taron’s hand, squeezing gently. “I’m proud of us, I’m proud of what we’ve got here. I want to share it with them.” He seems sincere, and Taron’s heart fills with pride for the man he’s married. 

Taron squeezes Rich’s hand back. “You want to have Christmas, we’re having Christmas. Done.” Rich smiles and goes back to eating dinner.

--------

Two months later, it’s Christmas Eve and Rich is a nervous wreck. The house is spotless-when he’s nervous, he cleans, and he’s been anxious about this for two weeks-and ready for company. Taron’s mum and sisters had arrived the day prior, and the girls are playing upstairs in their guest room while Taron’s mum is bustling around the kitchen, helping Taron prepare the roast for the evening. Rich’s family is due to arrive any minute, and since Taron’s forbidden him from cleaning anything else- “For the love of God, Rich, if you clean the downstairs bathroom counter one more time, it’s going to bloody fall off!”-he’s set his sights on the Christmas tree. 

Part of the reason they’d bought this particular house was the grand high ceilings in the family room. When they’d toured the property with their realtor, they’d stared at the cathedral ceilings in wonder, and Taron had snaked his arm around Richard’s waist. “Imagine the Christmas tree we could cram in here,” he’d muttered, and Rich had agreed adamantly. Now they’d done it, secured a twelve-foot tree from a tree farm, and they’d spent ages decorating it. It was flawless, down to the last detail, but Rich still finds himself nervously rearranging bulbs, tweaking the lights, checking to make sure the base has enough water. Taron looks up from the kitchen counter and sees Richard, and he chuckles a little. 

Taron crosses the room and wraps his arms around his husband from behind, impulsively burying his face into Rich’s sweater. Rich jumps, startled, and turns around, Taron resuming his hold on him once he’s facing him. “Let me go,” Rich mutters, half-heartedly. 

“You, my love, need to calm down,” Taron says softly. “I know you’re nervous, but everything’s going to be just fine. Our families are going to get along wonderfully, and the house is beautiful, and you’re beautiful. It’s all going to be great.” Taron leans up and gives Richard a slow, soft kiss. Richard leans into him, allows Taron’s arm to tighten around him protectively, allows himself to enjoy it. Rich is taller, and bigger, and stronger than Taron, but he will always himself to be held by him. He feels safe, and when they pull away from each other, he feels calmer. Calm enough to go in the kitchen and help with the meal, and calm enough not to fidget with any more of the Christmas decorations. 

(He does sneak in one last cleaning of the bathroom counter, though.)  

-----

A few hours later, Richard’s family arrives: his mum and dad, one of his sisters, and his little niece. The next few days are spent in a flurry of activity, presents, good food and even better company. Taron’s right, of course, and everything goes smoothly. Their families get along, they always have. Their mums have become great friends, and Rich’s dad fits right in, as well. Taron’s delighted to see that his sisters and Rich’s niece are getting along, as well. They’re close in age, and they spend the next couple of days playing with each other’s toys, chasing each other in stockinged feet as they race around the house. The most surprising part of the holiday is just how smoothly everything goes. None of the food gets burned, no one gets into a fight, there is no drama whatsoever. It’s like a Christmas out of a book or a movie. 

Well, there is one other thing that catches Taron by surprise. He realizes it on December 26, the day before everyone is due to head back home. He’s sipping gently from a drink, something Rich’s dad has made. He has no idea what’s in it but it’s strong, and his head is just a little bit fuzzy. It warms him from the inside out, and as he watches Richard play with his niece on the floor in front of him, he realizes he’s spent precious little of the holiday with his husband, even though they’ve been in the same house. 

All weekend it’s been a blur of tiny voices yelling “Uncle Richie!” or “Rich, look at this!” or “Richard, come play with us!”. His sisters and Rich’s niece absolutely adore him, and he’s spent most of his time playing with their toys, reading them stories, making crafts with them. Taron’s always been an involved older brother, but Rich is next-level with the kids, devoting his time and attention to them. As a joke, Rich’s sister had bought he and his niece matching pajamas for Christmas, and they’re both decked out in them now: green dinosaur pajama onesies, complete with a hood and a tail. Taron watches as Rich places the last Lego on top of a giant tower, and chuckles at the steely glint in his niece’s eye. One well-aimed kick and the tower tumbles down, and Richard pretends to growl angrily at her before scooping her up into his arms and tickling her belly. Taron’s heart flutters, melts, as he watches. 

He feels the space on the couch next to him shift as Rich’s sister sits next to him, holding her own drink. He looks over and smiles at her, and she smiles back before they both turn and watch Rich. 

“They’re precious together, eh?” Rich’s sister asks, and Taron nods. 

“They really are.” 

“I love watching them together. She absolutely adores Richard. They don’t get to spend enough time together, it breaks my heart. But when they are together…” she gestures at the pair, who are now focused again on building up their tower of Legos. The intense concentration on Richard’s face is almost comical to Taron, if it wasn’t so adorable. 

“I’ve never seen this side of him,” Taron says softly and Rich’s sister smiles. 

“He’s a completely different person with her. Not that he’s not always lovely, but it’s just...different. Special.” They both take a sip of their drinks and then she says, quietly, “Have you guys ever thought of, you know. Having kids?”

Taron pauses for another moment. “We haven’t discussed it.”

“Sorry, am I being too nosey? Richard would kill me,” she says with a small smile and Taron smiles back. 

“Not nosey at all. It’s just...something we haven’t talked about yet. But seeing him with her...it’s something else, you know?” he says, and she nods in agreement.

---------

Taron’s family leaves earlier in the day, his mum crying as she kisses her son goodbye, his sisters clinging tightly to Taron and Richard both in turn. Richard’s mum, dad and sister set out later in the day, and before Taron knows it, it’s time for them to leave for the airport. 

They drive to the airport and say their goodbyes. Richard’s niece clings to him with ferocity, and what really tugs at Taron’s heart is that Rich is clinging just as tightly. 

“Come on, love,” Rich’s sister says softly, gently prying the little girl away from her uncle. She wails, and burrows into her mother reflexively. Richard rubs her back. 

“I’m gonna come see you so soon, okay? It’ll only be for a little while, us being apart,” Rich says soothingly. He hugs his sister and parents goodbye; they hug Taron and then they’re off. They watch them walk away and then head back to the car, Richard holding onto Taron’s hand tightly. Their ride home is quiet, punctuated only by Richard sniffling, every so often. 

When they get home, the house is quiet. It feels empty and lonely, and Taron can tell that Richard is feeling the same that he is. He looks at Richard’s face, and watches as it crumples. Taron pulls him in, tight to his chest, and wraps his arms around Rich. He rubs slow, small circles on Rich’s back, whispers soothing words into his ear. “S’okay, Richie. It’s gonna be okay. I know you’re sad, but we’ll go see them soon.” 

Rich sniffles and nods, his face buried into Taron’s shoulder. “I can’t help it, that little peanut just means so much to me. We always have the best time together. I’m always so sad when we have to leave each other.” 

Taron nods, and they stay like that for a while, the two of them holding each other, caught in a moment of emptiness.

---------

The next few weeks go by and everything returns to normal. Richard and Taron are busy with their respective projects, and they return to the every day hustle and bustle of their normal lives. In his free moments, however, Taron finds himself thinking about his conversation with Richard’s sister.  

He hadn’t been lying when he said the subject of children was something they hadn’t talked about. With their busy schedules and the wedding and moving into the house, they just hadn’t found the time to talk about it. It seems silly, now that Taron thinks of it, to ignore a subject as big as this one. In truth, he hasn’t given much thought to children on his own. But he can’t get the images of Richard with his niece and T’s sisters out of his mind, and he has done nothing all week but picture the two of them with their own child.

He pictures bath time and Christmas card photos and school plays. He sees the two of them reading stories, dressing up for Halloween, and baking cookies with their son or daughter. He sometimes looks at their spare bedrooms and imagines the two of them transforming one of them into a nursery, painting the walls, setting up a crib, putting together a rocking chair. It has become his own secret fantasy, one he hasn’t indulged his husband in yet, and he isn’t sure how to bring it up. He can’t imagine a world in which Richard doesn’t want a child with him, not after how he’d seen him on Christmas with his niece. 

-------

Which is why it comes as a shock when, a week later over a glass of wine, Richard says no, he’s never wanted children, when Taron brings it up to him. 

They are sitting on the sofa, and Taron has started a fire in the fireplace. The lights are low and everything is soft, and they’ve just had a lovely meal and Taron decides that tonight’s the night. He’s never been one to ruminate on things alone for long, and so he starts the fire, pours two glasses of red wine, and burrows deep next to his husband. “What do you think about...having kids?” Taron asks, and he stills when Rich nearly chokes on his wine. 

“Oh, God no,” Rich says, taking a long drink of wine. “I’ve never wanted children.” A beat of silence fills the room, and he glances down at Taron, who has wriggled away from being tucked beneath Richard’s arm. “Why do you...T, do you want children?” 

Taron’s face flushes a bright pink, and he looks everywhere but at Richard’s eyes. “Well...yeah, Rich, I kind of do.” 

Richard’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. “You’ve never said anything before.” 

“Well, I never even considered it before, but...what do you mean you don’t want children? I saw you with your niece and my sisters over the holidays, you’re brilliant, they love you and you love them. I thought…” Taron trails off, unable to think of anything else to say. 

“Well, yes, of course I love the kids, but...they go home, you know? I get to have fun with them and then my niece goes back to my sister and she gets to deal with the tantrums and the homework, and whatnot,” Richard says, taking another long drink of wine. 

“You’re so good with them, though,” Taron says, feeling lame, feeling like he’s been backed into a corner.

“I’m good with them, yes, but full time? Being responsible for an entire human life? I can’t handle that, T.”

Taron reaches over, grabs Rich’s hands with his own. “Oh, love. Yes, you can. If anyone can, it’s you. Actually, if anyone can, it’s us,” Taron says, giving Richard a confident smile. 

Richard scowls, just a touch. “Taron, you’re not listening to me, okay? Being a parent is more than matching pajamas and building a Lego city. It’s...it’s doctor’s appointments and discipline and making sure they eat their vegetables. It’s dealing with all of their problems and school calling when they misbehave. It’s making sure he or she turns into a good person, and I don’t think I can handle that responsibility. I don’t think I want that responsibility. With our work schedules, and our careers in general, plus just...I don’t know. I can’t.” 

RIchard finishes his speech and then chances a look at Taron’s face; he immediately regrets it. Taron’s face has crumpled. He looks devastated, and Richard reaches over and tries to kiss Taron, but T pulls away. He drops Rich’s hands and backs away on the couch, pushes himself to his feet. 

“I just...need a minute,” Taron says, and goes upstairs.

---------- 

‘A minute’ turns out to be three days. Taron avoids Richard for three days. He turns away from him in bed, showers and leaves the house by the time Rich gets up, and sits next to him on the couch in the evening and says almost nothing. 

Richard’s strategy is to leave him be, let him feel whatever he’s feeling. He’ll talk to Taron when Taron’s ready. But by the third evening of near-complete silence, he decides that it’s been long enough. 

They are watching TV, some obscure baking competition (Taron’s favorite, Rich’s way of trying to draw him out), and on the commercial, Richard punches the ‘mute’ button on the remote. He turns towards Taron, and God, he’s beautiful, even like this, he thinks. Taron’s face is impassive, and he can’t tell at all what he’s thinking. It scares him, just a bit, because he’s always been able to tell what’s going through his husband’s mind. 

“Taron,” Richard says softly, but Taron’s face remains stony, staring forwards. “Love.” 

Finally, Taron turns and looks at him, and there are tears shining in his blue-green eyes. A lump forms in Richard’s throat. “Oh, bubs,” he says quietly, and Taron swipes at his eyes hurriedly. “Please don’t be angry with me.” 

“I’m not angry!” Taron bursts out, and Richard nods quickly. “I’m not angry, Richie, I’m upset. I’m sad. I know I shouldn’t have, but I let myself get hopeful about this.” 

Rich takes a deep breath and waits for a minute. Taron is crying, just lightly, and Rich takes him in his arms. They stay like that for a short while, holding each other, pretending that this is just an ordinary night, an ordinary conversation. Richard presses a soft kiss on the top of Taron’s head before speaking.. “I’m sorry, T. I wish I wanted this like you do.” 

Taron wrestles away from him abruptly, saying nothing but extracting himself from Richard’s arms and going back to his separate side of the couch. Richard sighs. “I knew you were mad.” 

“If you can give me three good reasons why you don’t want to have a child with me, then I won’t be upset. Three reasons that don’t have to do with our careers and the responsibility, because schedules can be rearranged and we’re both adults and can handle the responsibility,” Taron says, an edge to his voice, his eyes hardening in a way that Richard has never seen. 

He pauses for a moment and then says, gently, “I don’t need three reasons why, T. ‘I don’t want to’ is reason enough.” 

Taron nods, and gets up from the couch. “I’m having a shower.” 

Richard watches him go, wishing he could say something, anything. He wishes he could tell Taron that he’s afraid, more than anything else. He doesn’t feel like he’d be a good father, he feels like he’d fail a child, and he wishes he could tell Taron that it has absolutely nothing to do with him or their relationship. Instead, he watches his husband leave the room, hears the bedroom door slam from across the house. He closes his eyes.

--------

The warm water is soothing as it pours down his shoulders and back, but it doesn’t change the reality of what’s happening in his personal life. He doesn’t know if the reason Rich doesn’t want to have kids because of a personal preference, or if it’s because of some failing in himself or their marriage. He wishes he could convey to Rich that he’ll love him no matter what, but this hurts, it really hurts, and he hadn’t realized how badly he wanted to have kids until the option of it was taken from him. 

It’s true, he thinks as he towels off and changes into his pajamas. He will always love Richard and this won’t change that. But it might change something, just a bit. He goes into the living room to find him and tell him that, but the room is empty. Richard isn’t in the kitchen, the den, the office. He finally checks one of the guest rooms and sees Rich’s still form in the darkness, curled into himself in the bed. Taron feels like he’s going to cry again. Nothing will change the way he loves Rich, but can the same be said when it’s the other way around?

---------

The next morning, Richard is awake and eating a bowl of cereal when Taron comes downstairs. His eyes flick up and catch Taron’s, and he offers the tiniest of smiles. 

“Figured you were mad,” Taron says, his voice still husky from sleep as he reaches for the cornflakes and pours himself a bowl. 

“I wasn’t mad. I just thought you might need your space. And I...I needed some space as well,” he admits, continuing to eat. 

“I see,” Taron says curtly and Rich chuckles softly. 

“Taron. Hey, look at me,” he says after a moment, when it becomes clear that Taron’s ignoring him and focusing intently on his cornflakes like a child. “Bubs. I have something I need to discuss with you.” 

Finally, Taron sighs dramatically and looks up at him. “What?” 

“I’m going to see my family for a few days. Just for a few days, a week, tops. I need to clear my head and I miss them,” Rich says, and his voice is soft and low and he is trying to break this gently, but Taron’s face registers the shock he’s feeling. 

“You’re leaving?” he asks quietly, and Richard sighs. 

“I’m not leaving you, I’m just...yeah, I guess I’m technically leaving, but it’s only for a few days. A week at the most. This isn’t a separation or anything, darling, I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed and I need my family right now,” Rich says, reaching over and trying to take Taron’s hand, although he jerks it away. 

“I’m your family, Rich. At least I thought I was,” Taron says, and Rich can tell that he’s angry. 

“Bubs, you are my family, you know that, I just meant…” Rich says hurriedly. Taron holds up his hand and cuts him off. 

“So I’m your family but I’m not part of that family,” Taron says flatly. In the back of his mind, he knows he’s being obstinate for no reason. He knows that it’s perfectly okay for Richard to take some time to go see his parents and his sisters. But right now he feels himself being petulant because he’s hurt and sad and this isn’t how he is, this isn’t how they are together. 

Richard sighs. He can tell that nothing he says is going to be enough for Taron, and, simply put, he doesn’t feel like digging himself any further into the hole. “Taron, you know in your heart that’s not true. You know that. I don’t know what’s going on between us right now but I need a minute to get my head back on straight, and I think you need that time, too. I’ll see you soon.” Richard kisses Taron’s cheek, gently, and reaches down to grab his suitcase before heading out of their home and into the cold morning air.

-----------

Rich heads straight to his sister’s as soon as he arrives and spends the afternoon with his niece. He picks her up from school and takes her for ice cream, lets her get two scoops even though it’ll ruin her dinner and insists on whipped cream. Then he helps her with her homework, his patience never waning even when she gets frustrated.

After his sister comes home, he helps her cook dinner, and they eat together, the three of them while he listens to his niece chatter sweetly, grinning and in her element with her mom and her favorite uncle.

 After dinner, he helps with bathtime and spends the rest of the evening on the floor, making tiny plastic dolls talk with a high-pitched voice that he’d sooner die than let anyone else hear. He plays the part of the egregiously wronged college girl whose boyfriend has dumped her for the other doll. He chuckles as he watches his niece prance around her dollhouse, marvels at her attitude and spunk.

At half past eight, he lays his doll down and says, “Alright, love, I think it’s time for bed.”

She plants her tiny hands on her tiny hips and shakes her head angrily. “No! I want to keep playing!”

“Listen to Uncle Rich, darling,” his sister calls from across the room, absorbed in her novel, grateful for a break and more than willing to let Rich take over.

“We can play again tomorrow, but tonight, it’s time for sleep. Come on, I’ll read you a story,” he says softly, tweaking her gently on the nose. She sighs dramatically but nods, and Richard scoops her up into his arms.

When his sister comes to check on them twenty minutes later, they’re both asleep in her bed, Rich’s niece burrowed into his side, his arm around her tightly. She watches them both for just a moment before snapping a quick picture with her phone, and then she shakes Rich awake gently. He looks around, bleary-eyed, then lays down the book he’d been reading and gently lays his small niece down in her bed. He kisses her forehead, softly, and then tiptoes out with his sister into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

Once they’re back in the living room, Rich’s sister pours him a glass of wine and they sink down next to each other on the couch. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. I’m beat,” he says with a sheepish smile, and she nods, sipping slowly and looking contemplative. “What?” he asks, knowing his sister long enough to know when she’s got something on her mind.

“So, tell me again why you don’t want to have children with Taron?” she asks, almost nonchalantly. Rich nearly chokes on his wine, and thinks, vaguely, that he ought to avoid drinking with the people he’s closest to, because it inevitably leads to a discussion about children.

“What on earth are you talking about?” he asks, and she rolls her eyes.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I watched you pick up your niece from school, help her with her homework, cook dinner, give her a bath, play with her, and then read her a story. Very lovingly, I might add. And you didn’t look miserable.”

“That’s different.”

“Explain,” she says shortly.

“This isn’t permanent, this is just for a few days until I go home. Maybe I don’t want to do this permanently,” Rich says, trailing off lamely. He knows she will see through it.

His sister chuckles. “Richard Madden, I have known you all our lives, and that’s crap. You’re scared. And that’s valid, because having a kid is scary! It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But it’s so worth it. I promise. You can do this.” Richard’s sister reaches out and squeezes his hand, and he takes a deep breath.

He thinks of his niece upstairs, sleeping soundly. He imagines that he is home, with his husband, with the one great love of his life. He imagines that it is their child sleeping safely upstairs. They are exhausted from a long day at work and the dishes need to be done and bedtime has taken an entire bloody hour that night. But he imagines that they have a child upstairs, his or her arm curled protectively around a stuffed animal, his or her cheeks flushed with sleep and lost in dreams. He imagines raising this tiny human with the one great love of his life, and he feels something swell inside of him, some beacon of hope or light.

-----------

Richard takes a few more days with his sister and niece, and when he returns home he feels fresh and rested and when he opens the front door and sees Taron, he nearly bowls him over as he rushes at him.

Taron lets out a whoosh of air in surprise, but tightens his arms around his husband regardless. “Missed you,” he says softly, and Richard can tell he means it.

He intends to say ‘missed you, too’, intends to do nothing more than bury his face into Taron’s soft sweater. But his sweater smells like him and it smells like home and he is filled with an overwhelming rush of love, and he blurts out, “Have a kid with me.”

There’s a long moment of silence where Richard’s words hang between them, fat and heavy and full of potential. “Don’t mess with me,” Taron says quietly, and Richard smiles a little. He looks up from his vantage point and smiles bigger.

“I’m not messing with you. If you still want to, I...I want to have a kid with you,” Richard says, liking the way the words sound coming out of his mouth.

Taron laughs, really laughs, and kisses Richard full on the mouth. “What...happened? Are you sure? What changed your mind?” The words tumble over themselves and come out in a rush, Taron’s so happy.

“I’m sure. I...my sister helped me to see that I’m just scared. I still am, in a lot of ways. But the idea of having children just seemed so...hard and scary and impossible. I couldn’t picture myself as a father, my insecurities just screamed at me whenever I imagined it. But then I spent some more time with my niece and I thought about...well, I thought about you,” Rich says shyly. Taron is rubbing slow circles on his back and listening, and at this he stops for just a moment, unable to believe what Richard’s saying.

“What about me?” Taron asks quietly.

“Well, look at this life, T. Look at this life we’ve built. This home and this relationship we have. The truth of it is...you’re it, bubs. You’re it for me. The moment I met you, I fell, hard, and I’ve never been the same since. My fear over having kids pale in comparison when I’ve got you with me. We will be the most amazing Dads, T. The most amazing Dads,” he says quietly, and reaches out with his thumb to wipe away a tear that’s winding its way down Taron’s face.

“We absolutely will,” Taron whispers, and then he’s kissing Richard again and it is everything.

“I’m going to need you, T, because I’m still scared,” Richard says and Taron nods.

“I’m confident enough for us both,” he says, “and I’ll believe it until you can believe it all the time, too.”

“It won’t be long,” Rich says, and he knows it’s true, as he imagines their child, caught between them both like a promise.

@primaba11erina​ @onceuponadetectivedemigod​ @dreamingwolfthings​ @shereighties​ @honkycrowley​ @guns-n-marvel​ @sarahegerton96​ @multicoloredchicken​ @naptitimadderton​ @anxiety-at-the-classroom​ @taron-eggmcmuffin​

[taronfanfic]

Curious

A/N: I’m not adding the usual taglist to Madderton stuff so if you want to be notified for future posts on those two, let me know and I’ll start a new list! “Rich! Richard, are you in?” Taron called out as he walked up to Richard’s front door which had been left ajar. It was only yesterday that he’d had a text come through inviting him to go over to Richard’s for what he thought was going to be a civilised meal with a few of his other friends. The smarter black shirt he’d paired with his jeans seemed like a safe outfit choice and he’d grabbed a bottle of red wine from his growing collection to take along as a contribution. There was no response to Taron’s call, so he pushed the door open and stepped inside, half expecting to see that Richard’s hall way had been trashed by opportunistic thieves, but even more surprising was that it appeared tidier than ever.

“Rich?” Taron called out again as he closed the door behind himself and walked through into the kitchen, placing the wine bottle down on the side before hearing the thuds of heavy footsteps making their way quickly down the stairs.

“Shit, shit shit... Hi!” Richard beamed suspiciously widely as he lingered in front of Taron. His hair was styled to perfection, but he was dressed more casually with a simple white long-sleeved t-shirt contrasting against his black jeans.

“You good, mate?” Taron asked with half a laugh at Richard’s sudden appearance.

“Mmmhm.”

“Front door was left open,” Taron pointed back down the hall. “Anyone could have walked in here!”

“Shit. Yes, I erm… got distracted.”

“Should I be worried?” Taron’s suspicions grew with his frown.

“Worried?”

“Where’s everyone else and what aren’t you telling me? You’re acting shifty, Madden.”

“Ahhh, well,” The cheekiness returned to Richard’s face as he reached his hand out for Taron’s shoulder. “I should come clean now. It’s just gonna be us tonight, but if I’d have told you that from the start you wouldn’t have come.”

“Course I would!” Taron stepped in a gave Richard a quick hug. “Always got time for you.”

“Awww. But have you though? Because literally everyone else I know has managed to put aside six, or more like six and a half, hours for me. But not yet you!”

“I mean, that’s incredibly specific but I guess I can stay that late tonight.”

“Good, not that I was planning on doing this all in one go…” Richard turned away and pulled two wine glasses down from a cupboard.

“Is this? Are you?... Should my mind be going in that direction again seeing as you’ve set this up to be specifically just us, or?” The string of questions Taron fired off were only met with Richard’s giggle which did nothing to aid his confusion.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered something like that happening somewhere down the line, especially now I’ve seen you put a shirt on for me, but it’s not the main plan if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Right…”

“Relax,” Richard pressed a quick kiss to Taron’s temple as he moved around him and then opened the door through to his living room. “Come on, bring your wine. I’ve got snacks and it’s all ready to go.”

“Netflix and chill.” Taron shook his head in relief as he let out the anxious tension he’d been holding from not knowing quite what to expect. “You should have told me that from the start, I’m always down for an evening on the sofa.”

The curtains were already drawn and Richard pulled the door closed behind Taron. A single lamp in back corner and the brighter glow from the TV screen on the wall lit the room as the Netflix menu flicked around, revealing to Taron what else Richard was half way through watching.

“Ahh you’ve not finished Queer Eye yet!” He leant forward and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the table before making himself at home on Richard’s sofa.

“Not yet, but I’m in charge of the remote tonight and that’s not on the cards.” As he moved through the menu to his favourite shows he stayed standing and took a quick side glance down to Taron when the cover image for Bodyguard appeared on screen.

“Oh now I see, now I get it. That’s why it had to be a set-up! You’re finally getting me to watch the bodyguard.” Taron smiled knowingly before throwing a piece of popcorn into the air and catching it in his mouth.

“No more excuses needed, and to make it even better you get to watch it whilst sitting next to me!”

“Get a kick out of watching yourself, do you?” Taron asked with very heavy suggestion.  

“No, shut up! I’ll be watching you more than it slash me anyway.” Richard replied as he sat down next to Taron. “And don’t worry, you’re looking handsome tonight so I’m more than happy with the view, I’m not going to get bored.”

“Go on, get on with it.” Taron shot Richard a flirtatious look back and they both laughed at how easy it was to flirt with each other.

As the opening few minutes of the first episode started to play out they watched the screen together, but it didn’t take long for Richard’s eyes to drift down to Taron’s thighs and the way his jeans clung tightly to his shape. The tension on screen built rapidly and before long Taron was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. He was totally absorbed into the show and barely blinking or breathing as he watched the scene on the train unfold. Richard remained sat back and relaxed, smiling to himself at Taron’s reaction and preparing for the outpour of tension later on.

 “Bloody hell this is good,” Taron sat back and sighed as the episode ended. “You’re totally going to end up shooting her.”

“Am I?” Richard questioned with a knowing grin.

“Well, David slash Dave is.”

“What makes you think the glock will be my, his, weapon of choice?” Taron paused with his wine glass in hand as he carefully considered his reasoning.

“He clearly knows how to handle it. Got a strong grip and plenty of experience from the looks of things.”

“We’re still talking about the glock, right?” Richard laughed before letting the second episode start to play.

Once again Taron was fixated by the drama unfolding on screen, sitting forward and covering his mouth with his hands as the tension built. As Richard knew what was coming next he found himself biting his lower lip and watching Taron’s facial expressions closely. He let out a tiny giggle as Taron jumped back with the sudden gunshots and swore under his breath. Before long Taron’s hand was gripping against Richard’s knee as the adrenaline rushed around his body. He loved how invested and focused he was. He loved the way Taron was just as expressive on and off screen, frowning, gasping and almost talking aloud to himself as he started to piece the plot together. He couldn’t help himself when the sexual tension started to build.

“Don’t you dare!” Taron kept his voice hushed as he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. “No, you’re not meant to fuck her… Rich, come on!” He turned to look at Richard with his mouth wide open in shock.

“Didn’t go for my glock afterall!” Richard giggled and received a slap to the top of his thigh in reply.

“Don’t make me hate you, I don’t want to keep watching if I’ll end up hating you.”

The silence fell between them as the light was shed on the first plot twist and Taron started to grin.

“Okay, maybe it’s not all bad. You’ll do the right thing, just don’t fuck her again else this will get so messy.” Taron warned Richard and he could only pull his most guilty looking face back as the door opened on screen and his character walked slowly through for the second sex scene of the episode. “Richard!”

“It’s not me! It’s David slash Dave, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Taron sat back as the episode ended and thrust his empty wine glass in Richard’s direction.

“Don’t get jealous.”

“Jealous!?” Taron replied as he watched the red wine swirl around in his glass as it was refilled.

“Because I got more than one sex scene with Keeley.”

“What’s there to be jealous of? You’ve not even taken your shirt off yet! I’ll take one bollock naked sex scene with you over two fully clothed ones any day of the week.”

“There’s still 4 more episodes to go…” Richard teased to wind Taron up further.

“Oh fuck that! Where’s Keeley now anyway, not sat on your sofa drinking wine with you, is she?”

“No, but I did ask.” Richard couldn’t help but smirk as the second part of his sentence played out in his mind. “Had to text you as a last minute back up plan when she couldn’t make it.”

“Oh you are totally asking for it tonight!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! Come on then.” Taron placed his glass down on the table and was quickly kneeling up as he moved in to kiss Richard roughly. His fingers ran across the stubble on Richard’s jaw as he held him in place but there were no protests coming back, only signs of encouragement as Richard lifted his hand to Taron’s arm to stop him from backing off too. The pent-up tension from watching Bodyguard was flooding out of Taron’s body as he felt Richard’s chest moving in to meet his own. He softened the kiss and let Richard take control, relishing in the slowed pace as he teased his tongue back and forth. Neither of them wanted things to break off just yet but they knew they needed to establish how far they wanted it to go. It had been a few months since their last shared night together at The Globes and although they’d established a deal back then, this was now happening outside of those circumstances. It was hardly regular, but often enough that something more was bound to happen eventually.

“Rich, can I ask you something?” Taron shook his head a little as he backed off.

“Sure.”

“When you said earlier that you’d thought about something happening between us, how far had your mind let it go?” Waiting for Richard to work out how to word his answer felt like an eternity for Taron. His eyes were glued to Richard’s face as he tried to unravel the small tells that Richard probably wanted to keep hidden.

“I don’t know… further than we have already?” He let his fingers glide through the small curls at the back of his head.

“Like what though?”

“Fingers? Tongues? I’m just a bit curious I guess…”

“Okay.” Taron smiled shyly.

“Okay?”

“Mmmm,” He moved back in to place a soft kiss to Richard’s open lips. “Maybe I’m curious too.”

[applesfallingfromblondehair]

I'm really looking forward to your Richard x Taron masterpost (no rush or pressure of course, I just love a good masterpost). You're the only TE blog I follow and I lurk pretty casually but I saw that the Madderton girlies (gn) are having a blast today, so congrats to you all! I must confess, I am a bit weak for a good bit of queer celebrity conspiracy drama, so here I am just sort or riding the coattails of your exuberance. I'm watching Taron's Graham Norton interview with Courtney Cox, Uma Thurman, etc, and I never realized how quiet he is! I mean, when the camera's on him, he's charming as all get-out, but when it's not, he seems so content to just sit quietly and smile a bit lol. It's cute.

Also, today, I was scrolling through your Madderton tag and came across one of their pics, so I sent it to my best friend and I was like, "hey babe what vibe do you get when you see this" and they immediately said "roommates" and I was like "roommates in a gay way or actual roommates" and they said "in a gay way, obvs." Not sure why I felt the need to share that but queer does, in fact, recognize queer, so there's that!

I am so honoured to be the only Taron blog you follow, thank you for choosing us, we're glad to have you on board ❤️🚀

I'm excited to make that post. I hope I get to work on it asap ❤️

Also lmao @ "roommates in a gay way". Imagine if they'd actually lived together. We'd have imploded. Richard did have a couple "roommates" in his day, however. We sincerely hope the latest one is now gone 🙏🏻

[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 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]

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!