Johnny calls him Happy.

Johnny says he’s got fire in his heart.

Connor’s never thought to call it that, when he feels that cautiously familiar swell of have to protect my people in his heart.

It just was. It wasn’t fire. Not like the kind he sees haunting Johnny’s shoulders when he stalks the halls or hunts him during gym.

But it makes sense in a strange, ironic way.

Because when Johnny pushes him, Connor wants to push back.

–

It all started on the night of December 27th, 1981.

Johnny Burns has never been the nicest guy since he came to town, but after he and Connor get into a nasty fight everything they thought they knew about each other changes. Feelings emerge and a friendship is forged through highs and lows over the following months.

Connor witnesses Johnny at his worst, his most vulnerable, and his happiest—which always seems to coincide with Connor being around. A school assignment forces them to work together, pushing their feelings to the forefront.