Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Will you marry me?” her boyfriend of seven months asks as they settle back into his sheets. 

Lexi barks a surprised laugh. “Noooo! Be serious, Fezco!” 

Bright blue eyes laugh back as a pair of strong arms tangle around her waist and shift them so she’s cradled into the softness of the mattress. Warm lips pepper hot kisses all over her face and Lexi lets out a breathless giggle.

Fezco gets this way after sex sometimes, so full of sentiment and sweetness that it leaves her feeling giddy and excited for their potential future. It’s more than a full time hopeless romantic with a bad habit of maladaptive daydreaming could possibly ask for— and try as she might, Lexi doesn’t have it in her to be realistic about their chances of being a one in a million high school sweethearts success story. 

“I am serious, baby. Can’t wait to be with you forever,” Fezco whispers into the dark of the night, his fingers wrapped around a loose curl of hers as they cuddle up in a haze of post sex bliss. “Imma make you my wife someday Lex, on god.” 

Lexi lifts a hand and places it against his cheek, rubbing her thumb under his eye. “I believe you. Keep asking, eventually I’ll say yes.”

Chapter Text

Never, not in a million years did Fezco think he’d be asked to do something as ridiculous as to pretend to be Lexi Howard’s boyfriend.

Even if it was just to get some creepy-ass dude to leave her alone at a party, here he fuckin’ is, being asked to do that very thing and it ain’t even Lexi asking the question. 

“Are you saying no?” Rue asks as she drums her fingers against her thighs impatiently. “Like I said, I’d jump in and save her, but everyone knows I’m with Jules, so it can’t be me.” 

The brunette in question is leaning as far back into the wall across the room from him as she possibly can while some rich asshole from the prep school a town over leers at her, clearly not being able to take a hint that he’s really not wanted in the immediate vicinity. 

Fez cuts a look up towards Rue from his spot on the couch, blowing a lungful of smoke over his shoulder as the girl he considers family taps her Converse-clad toe against the dingy beige carpet. With a sigh he heaves himself up off the couch and stubs the end of his cigarette out in the ceramic ashtray sitting on the coffee table before clapping his hand on Rue’s shoulder. 

“Aight, what I gotta do?” 

It’s easy to take Rue’s suggestions, Fez sliding up to Lexi with a casual demeanor as he slips his arm over her shoulder and doesn’t pay any fuckin’ attention to the kid who’s been desperately trying to make conversation with her for the last several minutes. 

“Sorry I’m late baby,” he says, tucking his thumb under Lexi’s chin to force her eyes to meet his. “Got a lil caught up with work, hope I didn’t miss anything important.” 

Lexi, thankfully, manages to catch on real quick, smiling brightly at him as she settles a hand on his chest and pops up on the toes of her platform shoes to press a kiss against his bearded cheek. 

“Nope, nothing important at all.” 

So fuckin’ what if they get so caught up in their act that they don’t even notice the prep school motherfucker sulk off in defeat?

Chapter Text

Deep down Lexi knows Fezco hadn’t meant to lie to her.  She fully believes that when he said he’d be there for her no matter what, that he really thought he was going to be able to keep that promise. Neither of them had expected the next time they were face-to-face, it’d be them talking on a direct phone with a piece of fucking bulletproof glass between them and armed guards just about everywhere. 

Her heart has broken for this man about a hundred times over in the past few months, and she’s certain it will continue to break until the moment he gets released in a few weeks and is allowed back home. Or to whatever semblance of home he has left - her and Rue have been doing their best to clear things out, but they’re only high school students and neither of them have ever had to scrub blood out of bathroom tiles or hallway carpets before. 

“You didn’t have to come,” Fezco says into his end of the line, sorrowful blue eyes downcast as he leans into the glass, like he’s fiending to touch her as much as she is him. “Girl like you shouldn’t be spending her eighteenth birthday in a fuckin’ place like this.”

Lexi feels herself smile, soft and sad. God, she can’t wait for Fezco to come home so she can wrap him up in the hug he most definitely needs.  Maybe she’ll even finally get the gall to kiss him like she’s been dreaming about since before all this shit went down. 

“It’s my birthday,” she says lightly. “I get to decide what to do with it. Besides, I’m hoping it’s the first of many I get to spend with you, if you’d like?”

Lexi can’t help the way her heart feels like it’s finally beating again over the smile Fezco gives her when he tells her it’s something he’d like very much.

Chapter Text

Fezco’s thumb grazes gently over Lexi’s clit as she swallows him down her throat. The strangled whimper she lets out in response almost turns into a gag as he involuntarily thrusts, a soft moan of his own dying in the back of his throat.

Instantly she releases his cock from her mouth with a wet pop as Fezco lunges for one of the two remaining condoms on her his nightstand, shoving the latex in her hands as she peppers kisses all over his groin and lower stomach. 

“Who knew I’d sex you up once and you’d turn fuckin’ feral?” Fezco teases as he watches her rip open the package and slide the condom in place. 

Lexi grins wickedly as she straddles his hips, gripping tight at the base of Fez’s dick as she positions the head at her entrance. If he’s been dreaming about her riding him for so long, she’s bound and determined to get as good as she possibly can as quickly as possible. 

“Practice makes perfect,” Lexi responds before steadily sliding down Fezco’s cock until their hips and flush and they are releasing twin moans.

It only takes a few moments of adjustment before she feels ready to move, rolling her hips against Fez’s briefly before starting to move up and down, eyes squeezing shut at the pure amount of pleasure she gets over feeling him moving within her.

She feels like she’s hardly moved when two strong hands grab her hips and slow her movements. 

“There’s no need to rush, baby,” Fezco says as he drives a little harder into her.

He’s right , she thinks as a moan rips out of her throat, we have all the time in the world.

Chapter Text

Lexi is not an idiot, she knows Fezco had a past before her - he was a good looking guy who happened to have access to all sorts of illegal things, it’s not a far fetched idea to think that there’d been girls interested in him before her. But she also knows, logically, that none of the prior girls that had found their way into his bed have ever meant more than an occasional hookup. 

So the fact that she’s feeling a little green-eyedmonster about the leggy blonde who’s laughing too hard at everything her secret boyfriend has to say at this party is completely unexpected and a little overwhelming. And Rue, who is not remotely in the know about the exact nature of the relationship between her best friend and former drug dealer, isn’t helping that fact at all by her commentary on the scene playing out in front of them.

“I guess Sierra is back in town,” Rue says with a tone of disgust. “I hope Fezco’s not dumb enough to hook up with her skank ass again.” 

Lexi takes a long sip of her mixed drink in order to force herself not to respond, lest she blow the cover off this whole private relationship she and Fezco have going on right now. 

It’s like he knows she’s thinking about him then, because Fez’s eyes find hers from across the room and he’s excusing himself from the group around him and making a beeline to where she and Rue are milling about - much to the disappointment of the blonde girl and to Lexi’s utter delight.

“Wassup ladies,” her boyfriend says, posting up on the wall beside them while covertly brushing his fingers against the hem of her skirt. “You two havin’ a good night?” 

Rue notes Jules walking in the front door just as Lexi’s about to answer, throwing a hasty excuse to the two of them as she rushes off to see her girlfriend, leaving Lexi and Fezco to their own devices. 

He takes the opportunity to lean in a little closer, knowing well enough that no one at this party is going to give a fuck that their favorite drug dealer is chatting up the high-strung theater girl. “You look fine as hell tonight baby, we both know that, so why you giving that girl who was talking to me the death glare? Didn’t think you’d be the jealous type.” 

She wants to argue she’s not but Lexi knows when she’s been caught and the look Fez is giving her tells her he’s got her number on this. 

Thankfully he’s the one to reassure her. “Don’t trip ‘bout it baby, you and I both know no one’s gettin’ in between us n’this thing we got goin’ on. It’s set, not  even some girl I used to hook up with back in day gon’ mess that up.  S’only you for me, Lex; forreal.”

Chapter Text

Finding out the woman you’ve been seeing for the last three months is a fuckin’ operative working for the secret spy conglomerate The Agency when you’ve been working for their rival The Network is fuckin’ soap opera level bullshit. o Like shit you’d watch with yo’ Grandma when you’re home sick from school or sumn, half bad writing and half a fever dream. 

Watchin’ it play out in real time is a motherfuckin’ trip, if you ask Fezco. 

The silver handcuffs dig a little deeper into his wrists from where his girlfriend has tied him up in her tiny-ass apartment kitchen, the broken glass from the vase she’d cracked over his head scattered across the ground, along with the red roses he’d bought when he showed up for their date earlier this evening. Blood trickles down the side of Fezco’s head as Lexi paces back and forth in front of him, teeth worrying her nail beds as she tries to figure out her next move. 

“Baby, you gotta stop with ‘em nails of yours,” he sighs, Lexi cutting him a startled look at the pet name. “Gonna fuck yo’ manicure all up, n’ you an’ Maddy just got ‘em done last week.” 

“I just smashed a vase over your head to incapacitate you so I could tie you up, and you’re worried about my fucking manicure?” Lexi asks incredulously. “Did they send you here to kill me, is that what this is?” 

Fezco has two options here: lie or tell the truth. 

“Nah girl,” he admits with ease - just cause they are on opposite sides don’t mean he’s all that interested in changin’ their relationship status. “Didn’t know you was workin’ for ‘em until you pulled up’a fuckin’ glock on me when we walked back in. When did you know about me, baby?” 

“I’ve suspected for a while,” Lexi replies, pushing her tousled hair out of her face. “I got the confirmation in the car on the way back over here.” 

He purses his lips in acknowledgement, nodding lightly before asking the question that’s been on his mind since their fight broke out. “So, what we gon’ do ‘bout this situation, Lex?” 

His girl - he’s pretty certain she’s still his if her eyes have anything to do with how she’s feeling, anyway - waltzes over to his chair and runs a long, nude fingernail down his bearded cheek. 

“Well,” Lexi says demurely as she settles her perfect fuckin’ ass on his lap. “I happen to be a take no prisoners kinda gal. So I think you get to live another day, O’Neill.” 

“Is that so, Howard?” he grins, flexing against the steel of his binds. “You still gon’ lemme kiss you?” 

“Oh baby,” Lexi purrs, putting her plump red lips to his ear. “I plan on letting you do a lot more than that.” 

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you don’t want like, Ashtray to do this?” Lexi asks for the tenth time despite the fact that she’s already cleaning the broken skin around Fezco’s eyebrow in preparation. 

Blood is drying down the side of her not-quite-boyfriend’s face as he sits underneath the bright lights hanging over his dining room table. A first aid kit (more like a repurposed Amazon box,but whatever) is sitting open on his lap, the tools she’s gonna need for the task he’s entrusting her with right at the top. 

“Ash’s stitches look like ass, Lex,” Fez explains, for the eleventh time since he walked in the house looking like someone tried to rearrange his (in Lexi’s opinion) perfect face. “One thing to have him stitch up my arm, ‘nother when it’s my face, you feel me? There’s no one who can do this, ‘cept you shorty.” 

The thought of having to push a needle through Fezco’s skin is almost enough to make Lexi’s stomach roll, but at the same time she knows enough about ‘ the business’ to know that suggesting a trip to the ER is out of the question. Unless one of the O’Neill boys is actively dying, they aren’t overly keen on getting any medical professionals involved. 

“Alright,” she says softly, sucking in a deep breath in hopes to settle her nerves. Her years of helping repair costumes on shows she’s been in will finally be paying off. “I’ll do it.” 

The wide smile that spreads across Fezco’s face despite the blood caked down the side and the swelling around his injured eye makes Lexi smile right back. 

“That’s my girl,” Fezco responds, digging out a fresh pair of latex gloves and handing them over. “Just take yo’ time and be precise baby, you got this.” 

Chapter Text

“What if she tries something like that again?” Lexi asks as Fezco.  He wraps his arms tightly around her waist while they lounge in his bed. e The sound of fear coming out of his girl's voice stirs up dangerous emotions he knows to keep under control. 

“Just walking into that room was enough to warrant warning signals in my head, and that was before she let me know who exactly she was.” Lexi continues softly. Their alarm is going to go off a few short hours from now, a meeting planned with Adrienne and Dom inside the Vietnamese restaurant in the wee hours of the morning for their privacy on the horizon, but Fez and Lexi have found themselves deep in conversation instead of sleeping. 

“She ain’t stupid enough for that,” Fez reassures his girlfriend and himself for the thousandth time. “Laurie knows we’re expecting shit like that now, the element of surprise is what made the play worth it. She’s a fucking psychopath, but she’s hella good with her mind games.” 

He can feel Lexi’s mouth turn downwards into a frown from where her face is buried against his bare chest. 

“But what —,” Lexi manages to get out before he dips down to shut her up with a kiss. Fez needs her to chill the fuck out about this like now - it’s all outta their control anyways, and he’s not willing to give another second of thought to sumn he has no control over tonight. 

“No one’s doing nothin’ Lex,” he swears, even though he knows better than to make promises to Lexi that he can’t guarantee to keep. “She just tryna get between us, sow discord an’ shit. We ain’t gon’ let her, aight?” 

Momentarily Lexi looks ready to argue, but Fezco swallows the words down with another searing kiss - if they ain’t gon’ spend the next several hours sleeping they might as well make the most of their time together, right?

Chapter Text

Lexi knew she had a choice to make. She knew it the moment that text came through from her handler, that her pretty serious in a I think I’m going to marry him type of way boyfriend Fezco was none other than the elusive spy Agent F. The very same one she’s spent the better part of the last two years tracking down on behalf of The Agency. 

It wasn’t going to be an easy decision either, considering the fact that she was entirely unsure if he’d infiltrated her life on the orders of The Network in order to fuck up everything she’d been working for since she got picked up by The Agency while finishing up university— or if he, like her, had fallen into this completely unaware.

But then he had to go show concern for her manicure and she knew - she knew - that despite their differences in allegiances, whatever they felt for each other was the real fucking deal, that the I love you’s they exchanged for the first time a month ago had really meant something for the both of them.

Lexi rolls off of him, naked and sated, and allows Fezco to go grab a washcloth from her en-suite in order to clean up the mess he left between her burning thighs. Lexi trusts him to not do anything reckless, and if he proves her wrong— well, she knows where the weapons are stashed around the room. 

“Aye, I been meanin’ to ask,” her boyfriend calls from her bathroom, his head poking out the door in order to look at her. “Does Rue know shit about yo’ double life or she just out here thinkin’ you really travel to consult on theater productions?” 

Lexi blinks once, then twice before she lets out a belly laugh. It’s never occurred to her that her cover - which is an actual job that she maintains outside of spying - sounded like a fake job once you knew her other career. 

“I do really travel to consult on theater productions,” Lexi explains once she gets a hold on her giggles. “Traveling makes for great opportunities to do spy work. And I wasn’t about to let my degree go to waste.” 

Fezco grins lazily as he wipes his cum off her thighs, tossing the washcloth to her nightstand before he half tackles her against the bed. “She don’t know shit about what I do either, just so you know. It’s hella funny when you think about it though, that she managed to set up her two best friends that both happen to be international spies right under her fuckin’ nose.” 

It’s easy to loop her arms around Fezco’s shoulders and drag him down for a filthy kiss, a smile spreading across her face as she feels his cock begin to stir again against her thigh. There’s a lot to figure out yet, like how they make this work when they’re on other sides, but she knows they’ll get that figured out in due time. 

Besides, there’s more important things to focus on right now: like the glorious feeling of being stretched as Fezco pushes his way back inside her body.

Chapter Text

It’s a normal Friday night at East Highland Certified Dairy, Lexi hanging out and flirting with Fezco between customers. All the chaos that had gone on earlier in the year has finally settled, and Lexi has been enjoying every minute of alone time she’s managed to soak up with Fez. That is, up until the lights flicker off in the whole neighborhood and they are left in the dark, crowded up against each other on the counter. 

“The fuck’s this shit ‘bout?” her boyfriend  questions mere moments before a bright light illuminates the night sky in the back parking lot. 

Lexi is fairly certain she’s never moved so fast in her life, jumping down from the counter with Fez close on her tail as they scramble for the back door. 

A single beam holds steady in the parking lot and Lexi watches in wonder as a girl appears out of nowhere in the center. Other than the fact this person has purple skin and silver hair, they look every bit an annoyed teenager, tapping away on some sort of device as they snap their gum. Startling green eyes look up from the device, finally realizing they aren’t alone, and Lexi feels Fezco reach for her hand and squeeze tight.

“Sorry to like, interrupt,” the alien girl says, stereotypical Valley Girl accent being used, as if she’s studied Earth's media for a time like this. “But my dad is way, way lost and our navigation isn’t working in your atmosphere. We wouldn’t happen to be in Roswell, would we?” 

Beside her, Fezco’s mouth gapes open for a moment before he snaps it shut and answers. “Nah, you in SoCal.” 

The alien girl sighs dramatically. “Alright, well do you like, know how to get to Roswell from ‘SoCal’?” 

“East,” Lexi supplies, entirely unhelpfully before she shakes herself out of her stupor. “You need to have him head eastward, you’re looking for New Mexico. Roswell is in the desert, so less city lights surrounding it.” 

The purple skinned girl cracks a smile. “Cool. Thanks for the information, I’ve been like, trying to tell my dad we’re in the wrong spot for the last couple of hours but he insists he knows where he’s going just because he’s been there before. The man hates asking for directions.” 

“Yeah,” Lexi replies, in a daze. “Sounds like a dad to me.” 

The girl taps on her device once more, the light surrounding her glowing brighter. 

“Thanks again!” she shouts before evaporating away. 

The object floating in the sky shimmers once before zooming off and Fez drags Lexi into the parking lot as the neighborhood’s lights flicker back on. She thinks they spend hours staring at the night sky, but she knows it can’t be more than minutes when her phone rings and it’s Rue asking if their power had gone out over there. 

“Yeah, Rue, we’re fine,” she reassures her best friend again. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” 

She’s ending the call when Fezco tucks her into his chest, his eyes still watching the stars. The sudden confirmation that there’s other life out there is a shock to both of them, and well, there’s no going back now, is there?

Chapter Text

It’s not often Lexi finds herself home alone, but on the one night she’s getting some peace and quiet, there’s a sudden pounding at her front door.

“I’ll be right there!” she shouts out from the kitchen where the microwave is beeping to let her know her popcorn is ready.

She’s so preoccupied with the steaming bag that she doesn’t even think to check the window to see who it is, instead she opens the front door and nearly screams at the sight in front of her. Mostly because the man standing there, almost bashful with hands stuffed in the pocket of his hoodie, is supposed to be dead. 

“Fezco?” she hears herself whispering, completely bewildered. Part of her brain is fully convinced that she’s seeing an apparition, but the more logical side is reminding her that ghosts aren’t actually real.

“Hey Lex,” the man who is very clearly not dead at all replies, stepping forward just a little. “Can I come in?” 

She’s not entirely sure what possesses her to say sure , but she finds herself closing the door behind him and turning the lock while her former… something stands waiting in the front hall. It takes a couple of deep breaths before she’s ready to face him, turning herself to lean against the exit as she looks upon a face that still haunts her dreams on particularly bad nights. 

“What the fuck?” It’s such a quiet whisper she’s not even sure he hears it, but bright blue eyes flash up to hers in an instant and she knows he’s just as in tune to her as he was eight months ago. “What the actual fuck?” she continues, voice taking on a brittle edge. 

“I can explain,” Fezco begs, watching her like a hawk as she sets her meal down on the entryway table. “I know you ain’t prolly wanna hear nothin’ from me, but all I want is a chance baby.” 

She snaps, months of anger boiling to the surface. “Do not fucking call me that.” 

Fezco sighs, running a hand along the back of his neck. “M’sorry. I just… I didn’t know where the fuck else to go, Lex. I know the way I dipped was shitty as fuck, but I didn’t have a fuckin’ choice. And Imma explain it all to you, if you willin’ to listen.”

Lexi feels her breath catch in her throat, but she swallows it down because if she’s going to sit here and listen to him ‘explain himself’, he needs to know exactly what type of hell his sudden disappearance put her through.

“I thought you were dead,” she states plainly, watching as his eyebrows raise just slightly in recognition. 

Alright, seems that was exactly what he had wanted when he disappeared. 

“I thought you had gotten in bad with someone and were dead and lying in an unmarked grave somewhere for eight months, Fezco. Rue and I… Jesus. We saw the house - the blood? the broken furniture? - and your phone was just left there. What else were we supposed to fucking think?”

“We did,” Fez starts, meeting her dead in the eye. “We did get in bad with someone, tha’s why we took the fuck off. Only thought we was gonna have to lay low for a few weeks Lex, swear to fuckin’ God. This shit turned into so much more than we expected, if you just hear me out, I promise it’ll all make sense.”

He’s pleading with both his words and his eyes, and really, Lexi’s always been weak when he looks at her that way. 

She can still be mad at the pain he put her through while also listening to his account of the last near year, right?

“Fine,” she relents, doing her best to keep her frown in place when Fezco’s face lights up at her response. “But you have to tell me everything. Including why you’re showing up here after eight months telling me you have nowhere else to go.”

“Issa deal baby.”

Chapter Text

“Whatchu so smiley for?” Fezco asks one evening as Lexi lounges on top of his ice cream freezer, in the same exact spot she met Faye all those months ago and instantly assumed something was going on between the two.

Now Lexi would laugh over the thought of those two being anything more than friends - they bicker worse than siblings - but Then Lexi was utterly heartbroken at the prospect.

She takes a big bite of her ice cream sandwich in an attempt to conceal her smile as her boyfriend makes his way over to her, grabbing her frozen treat from her hands and biting a chunk off the same spot she just did. Fezco smiles at her, cheeks bulging like a chipmunks as she snorts roughly through her nose while attempting to swallow her own mouthful of ice cream down.

“Just happy,” she finally replies, looping her arms around her boyfriends shoulders as he leans in to give her a sweet, cold kiss. “Like, so fucking happy.”

Fezco hums. “Like, that school is over for the summer, or sumn else baby?”

Of course there’s that - Junior year was hell for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to a mess of her own making with the world premiere of Our Life and the fallout that followed with Cassie. Thankfully the sisters are currently in a ceasefire, slowly but surely working out their relationship with each other - Cassie learning that Lexi’s perspective on their shared life isn’t as rosy a picture as she paints for herself, Lexi learning that airing all her friends dirty laundry, well intentioned or not, isn’t the smartest decision she could possibly make. Summer vacation has been a breath of fresh air, a new found sense of freedom as her mom has handed over the old Honda’s keys after upgrading herself to a fancy new Volvo after a big promotion at work, despite Fezco’s insistence that he’ll take her anywhere she needs to go.

And then of course there’s the fact that she and the local drug dealer have settled into some type of domestic bliss after he showed up to her play with a dozen roses and a sweet card expressing his adoration of her.

(She’s pretty sure Ashtray helped him with it, but the teen is unwilling to admit to any involvement in their corny shit.)

“What’re you hoping my answer is?” she teases, punctuating it with a kiss to the tip of Fez’s nose. “That you’re the root of all my happiness?”

Pale skin flames red, making his freckles even more prominent. “I mean,” Fez starts, incredibly bashful. “Might be nice to hear I’m the reason my girls so fuckin’ happy, you feel me?”

Lexi can’t help the wide smile that takes over her face. “Of course I’m talking about you, Fezco. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been.”

The kiss she receives in response is equal parts hot and sweetly sentimental, Fez reaching up to cup her chin gently before slipping his tongue into her mouth and moving it gently against hers. Before either of them want to, they pull away, considering they’re right out in the open at the Dairy and it’s only like, noon on a Tuesday.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been too Lex,” Fez whispers softly, his forehead bumping against hers. “On fuckin’ God.”

Chapter Text

Fezco’s careful to cup the back of her head before he slams them against the back wall of the Dairy - his girl’s brilliant brain is precious cargo after all - his mouth attached to Lexi’s neck as she scrambles for the edge of his polo, trying desperately to pull it off him without actually separating their bodies. He might be a lil love drunk, but he’s not gone enough to consider hooking up in the fuckin’ backroom of the Dairy - Ash for sure has cameras back here and the kid don’t need to see that shit.

“Nah, baby,” he mumbles against her kiss warm skin. “Imma make out with yo’ ass, but less you wanna give Ash a show for free, we gotta keep it PG-13 back here.”

Lexi continues her single minded pursuit. “Just erase the footage.”

Fez chuckles. “What if he’s watchin’ the live feed?” That would be just like his lil bro, watching store cameras when it’s his fuckin’ day off and he’s supposed to be catching up on those missed assignments his teacher emailed Fez about the other day.

Lexi pulls back with a pout, her red lipstick just a touch smeared on the edge. “Then shut the camera off.”

“Ain’t you heard the word no before?” he teases before dipping down to catch her mouth with his again. By her dramatic sigh he knows she’s aware that he’s just givin’ her shit.

“Not from you at least,” Lexi comments, fingers trailing dangerously below the band of his jeans. It’s a difficult thing to stand on his convictions when she’s doin’ her damn best to get him hard like this.

Delicately Fez wraps his hands around Lexi’s tiny wrists and pulls them off of him, putting space between their bodies. He catches the time on the digital clock Ash keeps back here, and while it’s earlier than he normally closes up shop, there’s more pressing matters to attend to. With a kiss to Lexi’s forehead, he steps back completely, nodding his head over his shoulder.

“Lemme go shut this shit down, and we can get outta here.”

Lexi’s eyes light up at the promise. “I can help. Tell me what to do, sir.”

It doesn’t at all concern him over the way his dick twitches at the word sir . In fact, it makes him more eager to get outta this place and back to his.

“Just sit here and look pretty baby, I’ll be quick.”

Chapter Text

“You have nothing to worry about,” Lexi reminds her husband over Facetime as their separate glam teams get them ready for the Grammy’s in conjoined rooms. Not that anyone in the room knows she married the rapper in a private ceremony three months ago - all anyone really knows is that they met at a Grammy’s party two years ago and have pretty much been inseparable ever since.

Fezco snorts lightly as Gemma - his personal assistant - hands him his take out order while his regular groomer cleans up the lines on his buzz cut. “They got you presenting with a guy known for takin’ his fuckin’ shirt off at any fuckin’ chance he’s given. These the Grammy’s baby, an’ music types ain’t all prim and proper like your acting buddies at the Oscar’s , you feel me?”

Lexi rolls her eyes, much to the annoyance of her MUA Jesus. The man tuts at her and despite Fezco’s insistence that actors like Lexi are way more serious than musicians, she sticks her tongue out at the older man before he starts cursing at her in Spanish about messing up her makeup.

“Real mature, Lex,” Fez snickers as she throws a French fry at Jesus.

“You win one fucking Oscar and everyone thinks you have to be like, a full time adult or something,” she complains lightly as Louise hands her a stack of rings for her left hand - her engagement and wedding bands mixing in with the other jewels easily.

They may not be ready to tell the whole world they got married, but it doesn’t mean she’s about to walk a red carpet without her wedding rings. Fezco’s lucky, he’s been known to wear his fingers full of rings for years, even before he and Lexi became a Hollywood It Couple . She, on the other hand, has always been known for her more understated taste in jewelry, something that quickly became a problem when Fez proposed.

“Hate to break it to ya shorty, but you just turned twenty-five like, two months ago. Been a whole ass adult for a minute.”

“Oh my god, you know what I mean,” Lexi exclaims as a team of hair stylists start taking out the hot rollers that have been setting her hair. “You win for a dramatic role and people think that’s all you are capable of. Need I remind everyone I got my start on a CW comedy as a teenager? I have comedy skills.”

“Aight baby, I hear you.”

There’s a lull in the conversation as their respective teams start making them actually get ready, but Lexi’s unwilling to end the call, even though Fezco is literally in the room right next door. They’re expected on the red carpet in less than an hour, Fezco being a big time nominee for the night and every single outlet on the face of the planet is going to want a sound clip from him about his chances of winning big. She blows her husband a kiss before she get dragged into the bathroom to step into her gown for the night - perfectly coordinated with Fez’s suit for the evening.

“We gotta go now,” her PA Morgan says, eyes trained to her Apple Watch. “Fezco is waiting outside the door.”

With one last round of thank yous to her glam squad, Lexi accepts the clutch where Morgan has stored her essentials for the night with a grateful hug. Just like she was told, Fezco’s waiting right outside her hotel room door, whistling low when she steps over the threshold.

“Too fuckin’ gorgeous,” he whispers as he pulls her in for a kiss, both Morgan and Gemma begging them to remember the makeup. “Can’t believe I get to call you my fuckin’ wife. Just don’t let that lil bitch do sumn inappropriate up on that stage tonight shorty, I ain’t hadda knock anyone out in a long ass time, but I can fight.”

“No one’s ever getting in between us,” Lexi reassures him. “How about this though, if your name is the one I get to read off that card tonight, I’ll announce you as my husband and we can just put it all out there?”

Fezco’s eyes light up. “Forreal baby?”

“Yeah,” she says, leaning in to kiss him again. “I’m tired of hiding it.”

“Aight,” he replies with a wicked grin. “You on, Howard.”

Chapter Text

Fezco’s always kept people at an arm's length - it made things easier that way.

Even Rue, who he considered his family, didn’t really know him know him, if you get what he’s saying. Rue knew Fez the drug dealer: the guy who doesn’t quite revolve around the sun in the same direction as everyone else, the one who keeps a glock shoved in his waistband at all times and has to deal with all types of low lifes thanks to his career. But even Rue wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone that the guy she claims as a brother had hopes and dreams outside of his life of crime.

Fuck, not even Ashtray knew he had plans outside of dealin’.

No one knew ‘bout that side of him, not really.

No one but Lexi, that is.

The younger Howard sister came into his life like a motherfuckin’ hurricane, breechin’ his walls with her galeforce personality an’ knockin’ out his defense with that electric smile of hers.

Knocked him the fuck out, if he’s honest.

Lexi had stormed into his life nearly a year ago - a year in which Fez is pretty fuckin’ sure he’s talked more than he’s ever talked before - and maybe it’s some corny-ass shit to say, but it feels like he’s known Lexi a whole lifetime instead of just nine fuckin’ months.

“Where’d you go?” her hears her askin’, pullin’ him outta his spiraling train of thought. “You were telling me a story about you and your grandma and you just sorta… disappeared for a second there?”

Lexi’s sittin’ pretty on the Dairy counter, her ankles crossed daintily from where they hang against the white wooden frame. She’s got a soft, concerned sorta look on her face - still open and curious but her eyes are clouded with worry.

Fez shakes off his thoughts, literally. “Nah girl. Sorry ‘bout that. Just got lost in thought I guess.”

Lexi leans forward on her hands, a teasing smile playing across her red lips. “What about?”

Honesty slips from his mouth before he even has a chance to think about it. “You.”

That pretty fuckin’ pink blush he’s always seeking out paints across Lexi’s face. Yeah, they’ve made out with growing frequency over the last few months (and he finally got his mouth on her tits in the back of the Caddy last weekend) but they’ve never so much as started to define what was going on between them, even in uncertain terms. He’s down to move at whatever pace Lexi’s cool with, no pressure on her whatsoever. But him being openingly affectionate with her still throws her off her game sometimes.

“Oh um,” Lexi squeaks, clearly nervous. “What about me?”

He doesn’t know why he’s feeling so anxious about havin’ to answer this all the sudden.

“You know you my best friend right?” Fez starts, eyes darting to literally anywhere but Lexi’s face. “I uh, I just go to thinkin’ that you know me better than anyone.”

The sound of Lexi’s little gasp causes him to look up. His girl is absolutely beaming.

“Really?”

Fezco takes the opportunity to move himself in front of her, insanely pleased when Lexi opens her knees in order for him to get closer.

“Hell the fuck yeah, ma,” he responds, leaning in to press the lightest of kisses against Lexi’s full lips. “You always have.”

“That’s not true.”

He hushes her with a finger pressed firmly to her mouth. “Nah nah, listen to me. You seen the real me since you planted yo’ ass on that couch at Virgil’s. Started askin’ me the deep shit from the jump, ain’t no one done that before.”

“Well that’s just becau–” Lexi starts before he shuts her up by kissing her harder, doing his best to calm her ass down and pour in every emotion he can muster right now.

A brief, kinda insane thought flashes across his mind as Lexi presses their bodies closer, and Fez knows he’s gon’ have to come back to it sooner rather than later. But that stray thought can linger for the time being, cause Fez has more important things to worry about - like makin’ Lexi his actual girlfriend. It’s about time they got around to that shit anyway.

But first? He’s gonna enjoy kissing the absolute fuck outta her.

Chapter Text

“Baby, yo’ moms is gon’ murk my ass if she finds me here,” her boyfriend whispers as Lexi helps him climb in through her bedroom window.

It’s just after two o’clock in the morning, Suze is asleep in her room down the hall and Lexi is taking advantage of Cassie still being off at college. Deep down she knows Fezco has a point - her mom has really taken to him over the last year, but that doesn’t mean she’d be too keen on Lexi sneaking him in through her window.

Despite the fact she’s dating a drug dealer, Lexi’s never really done anything actually bad. Always a good girl, always following the rules and with the end of her Senior year of high school on the horizon, she feels justified in throwing some caution to the wind. It’s not like she’ll get grounded for this - her mom knows they’re having sex, she’s the one that made sure Lexi got on birth control pretty much as soon she walked back in the house after their first date last year, all heart eyes and giddy excitement over a boy for the first time ever.

“Only if we get caught,” she murmurs, sliding the window pane back down and flicking the lock.

Fezco sits on her little loveseat in order to take his Jordan’s off, untying the shoes before carefully placing them beside the end of her bed. His black beanie comes off next, tossed carelessly on to the seat beside him as he slips the heavy chain he wears outside his hoodie off, before removing that item as well. Lexi leans back against the metal baseboard of her twin sized bed, her sheep-printed sleep set exposing her long legs and midriff to her boyfriend's hungry gaze.

He can’t seriously be concerned about being caught when he’s looking at her like that, now can he?

“Guess I was wrong,” Fez gruffs a little laugh. “You gon’ kill me first Lex. How you out here lookin’ like a fuckin’ snack in sheep pajamas?”

Lexi looks down at her favorite night clothes and shrugs. Honestly, they’re probably due for retirement since she’s been wearing them since seventh grade.

“They’re old,” she mutters, tugging the shorts down a little to cover her ass better. “If I had known you were coming over, I would have picked something different.”

Fezco quirks an eyebrow. “You the one that invited me , shorty.”

She feels her face flush. “Well yeah, after you said you were done working and nearby.”

Fezco hefts himself off the loveseat and closes the short gap between them swiftly, something almost predatory in his eyes as he presses her into the cool metal of her bed frame. His eyes stare down at her with a look that's equal parts lust and love and Lexi feels her knees grow weak.

“Just wanted to see you for a minute, ma,” Fez rasps, voice hitting his lower register and instantly making her turn into goo. “Figured you’d sneak out the front door for a bit. Didn’t really think you’d have my ass climbin’ through yo’ window.”

Lexi gulps, Fezco’s mouth a hair's breadth away from hers. All she’d need to do is push up just slightly from where he has her caged against her bed in order to finally press her lips to his. Instead she remains frozen as her boyfriend lifts his hand to push her hair off her cheek, his large palm coming to rest firmly against the side of her neck.

“There a reason you invited me up, Lex?” he murmurs, lips barely brushing against hers.

Her reasoning hadn’t been all innocent, to be frank. Her uncomfortably wet panties were proof enough.

“I think you know,” she finally manages to whisper back, finding the strength to press herself up on her toes ever so slightly in order to capture his mouth with hers.

The hand resting against her neck instantly moves to grip to back of it, hauling her all the way up against him. Fezco parts her mouth with his tongue, Lexi allowing him to swallow down the moan she lets out.

He parts them with a harsh breath. “Gotta be a good girl and keep it quiet, baby, or Imma have to go. I don’t wanna get you in trouble with Suze.”

Frantically Lexi shakes her head. “I’ll be a good girl,” she nearly begs, almost delirious with want. Lexi can feel the way Fezco’s hard cock is pressing into her lower stomach, and more than anything she’d like to feel it pressing into something else. “Don’t go. Stay. I can be quiet.”

Her boyfriend smirks down at her. “Doubt that girl, you get loud as fuck. But I’m down to give it a try if yo’ ass is.”

Chapter Text

The fact that Lexi even let him cross the threshold of her mom’s house felt like more than Fezco could even hope for.

He was being completely honest when he told her that he hadn’t meant to disappear for so long. That night, when everything went to shit, they ain’t gotta whole lot of time to prep an exit plan with a dead body jus’ chillin’ on the couch, you know what he’s saying?

They had fully expected the Feds to come knockin’ down their front door, only to be surprised as fuck when it was Laurie and her goon squad. In return for coverin’ the tracks of the misdeeds done at the O’Neill brothers home, they had to work off a favor for their supplier - simple enough. Fez had naively thought he and Ash would leave for two or three weeks - just enough time for everything to settle down - and then slip right back into their lives in East Highland when the work was done.

But nothin’ with Laurie was ever that easy, was it?

“She kept you in New York City for eight months?” Lexi asks incredulously as Fez finishes explainin’ what had gone on since the night he skipped town.

He rubs an anxious hand across his scar. “We was travelin’ up and down the East coast for a while, but yeah, mostly based out of New York City, ma.”

Lexi’s fingers grip the edge of her moms sofa as she worries at her bottom lip with her teeth. “What exactly did she have you doing all that time?”

“Had us selling at universities mostly,” he replies, picking anxiously at a rip in his jeans. “All ‘em fancy-ass ones you told me about last year? Buncha old money East coast motherfuckers attend those joints Lex, they got money to fuckin’ spare.”

Beside him, Lexi curls in on herself a little, planting her chin on her knees as she hums her acknowledgment.

“So like,” she starts, foot tapping anxiously on the couch cushion. “Why didn’t you try and reach out?”

Fezco heaves a sigh, falling back into the cushion behind him, eyes closed as he thinks about his answer. He has a lot of fuckin’ guilt attached to that one - ‘cause he knows he had avenues to do that exact thing - but the risk here outweighed the reward in his mind. If Laurie had found out he was in touch with Lexi… he don’t even wanna fuckin’ think about it.

“It didn’t feel right baby.” He finally settles on something that’s mostly the truth.

“But letting me think you were dead was fine?” Lexi snaps, the anxiety that had previously been in her voice giving way to anger. “Do you even know… did you even think about what I was fucking going through back here?”

Fez turns his head to face Lexi, her brown eyes brimming with tears. Quietly he reaches out his hand, finding hers where it’s still gripping the edge of the cushion for dear life, and wraps his fingers around hers.

“Course I fuckin’ did,” he responds hoarsly, watchin’ as a couple of tears manage to spill down Lexi’s cheeks. “Thought about you every fuckin’ day Lex, but talkin’ to you would have made it worse.”

“Made what worse? ” Lexi cries, tears falling freely down her face now. “I would have been content knowing you were alive, goddammit. Fezco, I would have taken just missing you over thinking you were dead any day of the fucking week.”

Jesus fuckin’ Christ this conversation is somehow even harder than telling her everything that got them to this point. “Lexi. I had to put my head down and work my fuckin’ debt off to get back here, to get back to you. It woulda been harder to do if I was thinkin’ ‘bout how much I didn’t want you to miss me, but I promise that shit was tearin’ me up the whole damn time.”

Silence engulfs them then, Fezco soothing small circles over Lexi’s knuckles as she wipes furiously at her tears. It’s like a sadder, more heartbroken version of the night they watched Stand By Me. Fez doesn’t try to force a conversation, just allows Lexi to take all the time she needs to collect herself - he’s always been a patient man when it comes to the girl beside him.

Finally she clears her throat and he looks up to her. “Does showing up at my house mean you’re back? You said you didn’t know where else to go, and I have no idea what that means.”

Fez heaves a giant sigh, cause it would be hella nice if things were that fuckin’ easy. When they were told they had their leave to come back to Cali, he thought that was that, you know? Leave it up to fuckin’ Rue to screw things up for him even when she thought he was dead.

“Yeah girl, I’m back. But um… things ain’t quite square with our supplier yet. New information got dumped on me while we were drivin’ back. Dropped Ash off at our new place and knew I needed to come talk to you.”

Lexi's eyes go wide and he knows he needs to continue.

“Issa ‘bout Rue.”

Chapter Text

“Did I do something wrong?” 

Lexi hates how small her voice sounds when asking that question, but it’s the only logical conclusion she can come up with. Her blooming friendship with Fezco over the last several months has been the highlight of her Junior year - who knew her friend’s favorite drug dealer was as soft hearted as he was soft spoken? - but in recent weeks she’s felt him pulling away. Not fully, not enough that it would be obvious to anyone else, but Lexi’s been ditched enough by friends in the past that she knows the warnings signals better than most.

She’s sitting on the counter of Fez’s store, feet swinging anxiously as she tries to look anywhere but directly at him, absolutely failing her attempt. A wild range of emotions flash across Fezco’s face in a blink of an eye before he settles on confusion. 

“The fuck you talkin’ ‘bout Lexi?” he asks, looking at her over the clipboard she gifted after watching him lose track of his stock list more than once. “You damn near perfect girl, c’mon now.” 

It’s moments like this, ones where he puts her on a pedestal, that she thinks she’s just getting in her head. But then something else will happen - awkward goodbyes when he’s dropping her off or a strained voice on the phone - and Lexi’s reminded of every failed friendship she’s ever had. 

She knows she is too much of a people pleaser, too happy to let other people walk all over her if it means an ounce of affection in return, and she’s trying her hardest to change that. It fucking hurts that the person who pointed this all out to her and gave her the confidence to stop being a doormat is doing the exact thing they’d warned against, but that’s life sometimes right?

Lexi didn’t bring this up to back down now. If he’s going to end their friendship, she’d rather he rips it off like a bandaid instead of letting her down gently. 

She pushes her hair behind her ears and straightens her spine. “If you don’t want to be friends anymore, just tell me outright. You’re not saving my feelings by slowly withdrawing from me Fezco. I’m a big girl, I can handle it.” 

“The fuck?” the man utters again, shaking his head slightly. Fez tosses the clipboard down beside her, Lexi managing to only flinch slightly at the sound. “Did Ash say sumn to you?” 

Lexi shakes her head no. “He didn’t need to. I’ve put it together myself.” 

Blue eye stare her down intently, like they’re attempting to call her bluff, but there’s nothing there for him to catch her on. Ashtray has been more or less indifferent to her role in his brothers life since the first time they met and barely speaks to her unless he absolutely needs to. 

Fezco lifts a single eyebrow in question as he places himself directly in front of her, arms crossed in front of his chest. “Put what together?” 

“Come on Fez,” Lexi sighs lightly. “I know I come on really strong when I value someone’s friendship, and I can tell that you’re over my bullshit. It’s not the first time this has happened, you know. If you don’t want to be friends anymore you should just tell me.” 

A long sighs winds it’s way out of the man in front of her, Fezco leaning his head back as he blinks up at the fluorescents on his ceiling. He’s rubbing the back of his neck as he finally looks back down at her.

Okay, this is it, this is when he tells her she’s right. Lexi braces herself for impact. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ Lex,” Fez replies, stepping forward to close the gap between them. “Ion know where you got all these ideas ‘bout what I’m feelin’, but Imma tell you that yo’ ass got mos’ of it wrong.” 

“Most of it?” The question slips out before she can process it, probably because Fezco’s pushing his way between her knees in order to grip his hands onto her hips. 

“I mean yo’ right about one thing,” Fezco smirks, thumbs rubbing smoothly under the edge of her cardigan against the skin of her waist, creating a blazing path as her hands come up to his shoulders of their own accord. “Ion wanna be yo’ friend anymore.”

Lexi blinks. “What?” 

“Fuck, baby,” Fez responds, closing the space between them in order to rub his nose against hers. “Truth is that I’m so damn in love witchu that Ion know what to do with myself. You got me beyond fucked up Lexi.” 

“I do?” 

She feels his smile more than she sees it, the way his mouth to brushing against hers. “Hell yeah. You got me nervous as all hell. You know what typa power you gotta hold in order to make a drug dealer nervous, Lex?” 

Lexi’s mind has gone pleasantly blank at Fezco’s words. It takes her several moments to allow herself to reboot before she realizes he hasn’t kissed her yet because he’s waiting on an answer, waiting for her to show him she’s good with how quickly he flipped the script on her.

 Lexi grips the collar of his sweater tightly before she finally whispers. “Show me.”

Chapter Text

“Quit squirming, you’re going to ruin it ,” Lexi laughs softly from her spot above him. 

She’s got him lying chest down on a beach towel under the giant-ass umbrella she managed to drag outta her moms garage, head pillowed in his own arms as she does sumn he ain’t quite sure about to his shoulder. At first she was just reapplying sunscreen, but that turned into tracing designs along his freckled back (which made him grateful for his position in the sand) and now Fezco can feel her delicate fingers lightly placing sumn down his spine. 

“Ruin what, baby?” Fezco asks the girl that he’s not quite dating. 

They definitely more than friends by his estimate - least he’s never fucked Rue and that’s his best frame of friendship reference - but he wouldn’t quite call Lexi his girlfriend, either. Not that he don’t wanna, but as it stands he’s still stuck dealin’ and draggin’ Lexi into that clusterfuck ain’t ideal. But he’s on his way out, a timeline in place with his notice properly in Laurie’s hands. So he’ll settle for these little moments, ones where they can sneak away from East Highland and just be two kids tryna figure out the depth of their feelings for each other. 

“My masterpiece,” Lexi replies, stickin’ the tip of her tongue out in concentration. “I’m about to blow the minds of people in the art world, Fezco, if only you would be still.” 

The seriousness in which she says it has Fez chuckling, knowin’ without lookin’ that his girl is annoyed. He does his best to hold in his laugh and to stop his body from shaking as Lexi continues to carefully run her fingers over his heated flesh. 

Jesus Christ, she may actually kill him. 

“Almost… done. Wait! Hold still, it’s perfect. I gotta take a picture!” Lexi demands, rising up from her spot in the sand beside him. The angle is perfect from here, givin’ Fezco a full view of Lexi’s ass in her cut off shorts as she scrambles for her beach bag. 

Fez sighs, put on and dramatically for the girl digging through her bag. “Ion if I can Lex, gettin’ kinda itchy here an’ I could use a stretch.” 

“Don’t you dare,” the girl says, whipping her head at him before turning back to her bag. One more thorough look has her yelling Got it! as she snatches her phone from its depth. “Just let me capture the moment and you can move all you want, you big baby.”

He don’t know why he’s so surprised when Lexi plants her feet on either side of his hips, her carefully painted toes digging into the sand. Fezco lays impossibly still, waiting for Lexi to take as many pictures that pleases her because her happiness pleases him. 

“Alright, got it,” she finally says and Fez is ready for it. 

In one fluid motion he’s turning his body to wrap his forearms around Lexi’s knees as whatever she placed on his back flies around them. He drags her down as she lets out a shrieking laugh, Lexi’s knees landing softly in the sand as she now straddles his hips, matching smiles on their faces. 

“You gonna show me what yo’ silly ass did to me, or nah?” he asks teasingly as brushes fallen hair behind her ear. 

Lexi settles back, dropping her full weight against his hips in a way that has him flexing up into her, hissing under his breath. He hopes she’ll do this with him again later, just a lil more naked and in the backseat of the Caddy. Grinning devilishly, Lexi opens the photo app up on her phone before turning it back to him. All down his spine she had placed little tiny seashells and swirls of sand. 

“Damn baby,” he says, bringing a hand up to grip against her thigh. “Put that shit in the MoMA forreal.” 

“Stop!” Lexi giggles. “It’s just a little sand and some shells. Nothing fancy.” 

Fezco pushes himself up on his elbows, pulling Lexi’s device from her hands in order to draw her closer to him. “Imma still frame that shit an’ put it in my bedroom, ‘cause I like havin’ bits of Lexi Howard around. Aight?” 

She grins, leaning down to press a kiss full of promise of more later against his mouth. “Alright.”

Chapter Text

“You need to learn how to hit back.” 

His grandma had told him that years ago when she rescued him from his pops.

“Ain’t just your good for nothing daddy that wouldn’t think twice about hitting a fucking little kid.” 

Fezco had shown up to his first lesson at Big Horn Boxing sporting the shiner his pops left him, and the rest was history. 

“I ain’t paying for Gabe to keep you in fighting shape just so you can beat the daylights outta some punk-ass kid, Snowflake,” Kitty says, cigarette in one hand and black coffee in the other the morning of January 2nd. 

It’s been less than 24 hours since Fezco put Nate Jacobs in the hospital, and Kitty is, well, still a bit upset.

“Thought you was the one that told me I needed to learn how to fight back?” Fez questions, pulling the box of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios out of the cabinet. “That’s what I did, G.” 

Kitty gives him a look over the rim of her mug. “You know as well as I that fighting back and hitting back are two different things. What Jacobs did was lousy and spineless, but you have other ways to get revenge that don’t require you lifting a fucking finger.” 

Or that will call extra attention to us, is the unspoken final thought. 

Kitty’s right of course, but then again she often is. Not that Fezco regrets taking Nate Jacobs down a peg (or three). The kids a fuckin’ asshole who won’t stop fuckin’ with his friends, or even with Fez himself. Nah, the only thing he regrets is the timing. If he had known he would be spending New Years Eve posted up on Virgil’s couch with Lexi Howard looking at him with stars in her fuckin’ eyes, he would have picked a different night to fuck Playboy’s shit up. But the only reason Fezco even went to that particular party was to send a clear message to Jacobs, sumn he needed to do before school went back into session. 

Fezco just hopes it won’t ruin his chances with Lexi. He wasn’t fuckin’ lying when he said talking to her had been the best part of his whole year. 

“Concentrate, O’Neill,” his trainer Gabe says during their session. “This fight is a big one. Winning it could open a lot of doors to you, kid.” 

Originally Kitty intended boxing to be a pastime for her business partner, a way to get him out of his shell and teach him to defend himself. Fezco was a natural talent, so much so that he progressed in his training faster than his grandma had expected and he started going to the gym multiple nights a week. So frequently that when his grandma had her stroke while picking Fez up from practice, his trainers called 911 immediately and prolly saved Kitty’s life. After that, the woman was a lot more fuckin’ chill about her grandson’s growing passion. 

Amateur fights in high school segued into semi-professional ones after graduation. At first Fezco insisted the prize money was gonna help pay for college, but he was a year and a half outta high school with no college plans in sight. 

“I’ve beaten McGuire before,” Fez says around his mouth guard, knowing it’s a garbled mess but that Gabe can decipher it easily. “Got this fight on lock, bruh.” 

Which in retrospect was a dumbass thing to say, because that’s the moment Lexi fuckin’ Howard opens the door to the gym, lookin’ radiant as ever. Of course Fez is frozen in place, jaw slightly dropped as he watches the girl he’s crushin’ on make her way towards where he’s training in a tight pair of plaid pants and lips painted such a deep cherry red he can’t help but wanna taste them for himself to find out if they taste as good as they look. So naturally that’s when Gabe cold clocks him in the practice ring, knocking him out cold. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ…” Fezco mumbles as he comes to minutes later. He struggles to open his eyes, but feels his head pillowed against sumn soft. Whatever it is, it smells like fuckin’ Heaven. “Why you gotta do me like that, Gabe?” 

A soft hand runs down the side of his face, causing goosebumps in its wake. “Gabe went to get you an ice pack, Fezco. He’ll be right back.” 

He knows that voice, had spent the whole night a few days ago listening to it spit facts like it was nothin’. Gently Fez peeks open one eye, then another, and sure as shit Lexi Howard is leaning over him, brunette curls creating a privacy curtain around them as she looks at him with concern. 

“Lexi Howard, how you doin’?” Fez asks dumbly - it’s the only thing he can think to say. 

Thankfully the girl giggles. “Better than you I’d wager.” 

Fezco frowns a little. “Promise he landed a lucky shot. Was just surprised to see you here, I’m usually a better fighter than that, shit.” 

“I know,” Lexi reassures him. “I witnessed your New Year’s Eve take down.” 

Fez sighs deeply. “Sorry you had to. Shit was fuckin’ messy, but I ain’t ‘bout to apologize for it, you feel me?” 

“Yeah, I do,” Lexi says, chewing on her red lip a lil. “It’s uh. It's actually why I’m here.” 

He squints, wondering what the hell that could possibly mean. The effect is probably spoiled by his rapidly swelling eye. “Wassup Lex? You can tell me, I won’t get mad. Promise.” 

The girl above him cringes. “Cal Jacobs found out you were the one to beat up Nate. He’s probably going to show up here like, any day now. I wanted to warn you.” 

Not exactly what Fezco was expecting her to say, if he was being honest. 

“Fuck.”