Sprace college AU;
Race accidently tutors Spot in math
can’t wait to see what you do with this!
@bitchiaintanonymous
Sorry it took so long!
Spot noticed the little things Race did. He had ever since they’d first met. The way Race would stare off into space when trying to solve a problem, the way he would move his lips around the numbers but never actually say them, the way he had absolutely no idea that he did any of that at all. It was why Spot started to watch him when he studied, why he always recorded those precious moments when his boyfriend was lost in that genius head of his.
They were two kids who were never supposed to meet. It was an accident really. Race had been a mess on his first day, starting a week late, dropped off by his big brother by one building too far west. He’d run into the wrong room, nearly in tears because he didn’t even want to be there and his brother couldn’t stay to hold his hand.
At least, that’s what Spot assumed. After he’d chased the kid down, trying to ask him if he was okay, the boy had just shoved his schedule in his face and asked him how to get where he needed to go. It was on the walk that Spot found out that Race was only sixteen, a wicked genius and was basically forced out of high school by his teachers. Race had told him he didn’t want to be a prodigy. He just wanted to be a kid. So Spot had offered to help him with that. He told Race he’d take him to an arcade, as a friend.
It was when Race had asked, “who said it needed to be as a friend?” that Spot knew he was falling already.
It wasn’t long before Race was sneaking out at night to climb into Spot’s dorm room. It wasn’t what everyone thought. Well, sometimes it was, but most of the time, Race just wanted someone to talk to. While Spot loved looking back on those nights, the night when Jack Kelly caught them still sent chills down his spine.
“He is a minor! You have no business coming near him, do you understand me?!”
“Jackie,” Race tried, pulling at Jack’s arm. “We weren’t doing anything, I was just laying down—“
“And if I see you around him again, I swear to god, you won’t be able to so much as look at him!”
Jack had ripped into Spot that night and Spot had been scared he would be murdered that night, so much so that he didn’t get an ounce of sleep. Still, all he could think of was Race. And if Race couldn’t sneak into his room at night, Spot would sure as hell see him some other way.
Like when the boy would study in between his classes. Spot would bring him a coffee and watch the kid, asking him questions to make sure the blond didn’t get too wrapped up in his head. Race would end up telling him about how numbers just made so much sense to him, how he could always find the solution to the numbers. He couldn’t find the fix for his parents death. He couldn’t find a way to make Jack forget about the attack he’d suffered soon after that. He could find a fix for Charlie’s leg after the wreck. What he could find was the value of x. That was what made sense to him.
It was odd how something Spot had no skill or interest in could be so captivating when it came out of Race’s mouth. He hung on every word. He always watched the boy calculate the tips he could leave when they went out, he watched him pay his brother’s bills for him because Jack had so much going on. He watched Race write equations on his arms that he just had to get out of his head.
And now he was here somehow, sitting next to Race as the boy laughed with his big brother. Jack had barely acknowledged Spot this entire evening, despite this dinner being an attempt to get Jack and Spot to find something they had in common.
They’d seen a movie. Spot couldn’t really remember what it was but Race had hated it while Jack had enjoyed it. “You’re a sap, Jackie,” Race teased, tossing another fry into his mouth and holding Spot’s hand under the table, looking at him. “What did you think?” he asked.
Spot shrugged. “Uh… I dunno,” he said honestly. “I felt kinda lost. But I really think it’s cool of you to invite me, I enjoyed hanging out with you—“
Jack scoffed. “Alright, whatever,” he muttered, accepting the check from their waitress passing by. “Listen, Sean, I’m supposed ta give you a chance just because my kid likes ya so much. It don’t mean we’re buddies.”
“Jack,” Race sighed.
Spot shook his head. “It’s okay,” he assured. “I know your brother doesn’t like me, and who can blame him? He raised you,” he insisted. “But I love your little brother, Jack, and I will do anything to make sure he’s safe and healthy—“
“Racer, what’s twenty percent of $57.44,” Jack asked, ignoring Spot.
And just as his boyfriend did, the number just shot from his brain out of his mouth and Spot and Race answered at the very same time, “$11.50.”
Jack’s head shot up to look at both of them as Race blushed like mad and Spot took a very long moment to process what he’d just said. Jack tilted his head. Race let out a giggle. “Spotty! That was awesome!”
The other boy glanced at him. “Yeah, I guess I’m spending a little too much time around a math prodigy.”
Jack did not like that at all. “Tyler, we gotta get you home. Come on,” he insisted, tossing some cash onto the table and holding his hand out for his brother.
Spot smiled and stood. “Hey… I’ll see you soon,” he assured, kissing Race on the cheek.
“In sixteen hours and seventeen minutes,” Race smiled. “Bye nerd,” he chuckled.
Spot smiled and waved at Jack. “I’ll win you over one of these days,” he insisted.
Jack sighed. “Yeah, don’t get your hopes up!” he called as he led Race out of that restaurant and towards the subway.
And all Spot could think of was the beautiful brain inside of his boyfriend’s head and how he longed to hear about every bit of it.













