This first chapter is from Tristan's POV and pretty Triles-heavy, but like I said in the description this fic will be a love triangle but mainly about Mola. Fair warning I'm not a Triles shipper... but I do think a love triangle between them in s4 would have been interesting! xx

One

Tristan took a deep breath as he walked into Degrassi on a crisp January morning, the first time he'd set foot in the building since the bus crash. He paused for a second, just taking in the familiar scent of the hallway- he never thought he'd appreciate the smell of lockers and gym shoes. He wasn't sure if it was because of his sensory problems or simply due to how long it had been, but everything about the school felt overwhelming. The buzzing of students gossiping on their way to class, the sounds of creaky lockers, the crowded hallways... it was all so overpowering.

"You got it okay?" Miles asked, shutting the door behind Tristan and guiding him towards the direction of his locker.

"Yes, Miles," Tristan muttered, growing a little annoyed. He sighed- two years ago it would have been his dream to have the handsome, rich boy hovering over him like this. When he and Miles first started dating, Tristan had felt so proud walking down the hallway hand-in-hand with the hottest guy in school. Only a few months ago, it was that princess Maya Matlin who had Miles- but now it was Tris getting to hold his hand. Tristan had felt like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to call Miles Hollingsworth his boyfriend.

But things had changed.

Nowadays, Tristan felt less like Miles' boyfriend and more like his charity project. Miles had spent nearly every day of winter break by his side, even ditching his family's Christmas dinner to eat dry turkey and cranberry sauce with him in the hospital. At first Tristan had sort of liked the attention, but after awhile, he really just missed having his own space. His doctors and mother were already hovering over him 24/7; he didn't need his boyfriend to do the same.

"Let me get that for you, at least," Miles said, opening Tristan's locker for him. He couldn't decide if it was sweet or borderline creepy that Miles had his combination memorized. Kind of both, he supposed.

As the locker door swung open, Tristan heard the sound of a familiar giggle. He turned around and groaned at the sight of bright blue hair across from him.

Lola, who had been talking to Yael, turned and froze at the sight of Tristan and Miles. Tris watched uneasily as Miles and Lola made eye contact, neither of them saying anything. The look between the two of them said it all: we both know what happened last semester, but Tristan is here so let's pretend it was nothing.

It made Tristan sick to look at Lola, to know that she had been in Miles' bed, that she'd kissed him and fucked him, that she was carrying his baby at one point.

Lola finally spoke, her voice quiet as she looked at Miles. "Um, have you seen Frankie?"

"Uh, nope," Miles said, his face pale. "Not since the ride to school this morning."

Lola looked down at the floor. "Right, well, I should get going," she muttered quickly. She rushed towards the opposite direction, her cheeks turning bright red as she passed Miles.

"Lola!" Yael shouted, running after her. "You forgot your bag." Of course, Tristan thought. She was such an airhead. He wondered what Miles had seen in her. Sure, she was a pretty face, but what else?

Miles' eyes were still glued in Lola's direction even after she'd disappeared into the crowd. "Miles," Tris coughed.

Miles snapped out of it. "Hmm?" He wiped his forehead, which was dripping lightly with sweat. He reached for Tristan's hand "Um, I'll walk you to class."

Tristan shut his locker door, slamming it a little harder than he meant to. "I can walk myself," he said. "I'm not helpless, you know."

"What, I can't just want to spend time with my boyfriend?" Miles scoffed, looking a little hurt.

Tristan just shook his head, sighing deeply. They'd ignored the elephant in the room long enough. "I know you think hovering over me and doing everything for me will make everything fine," Tristan said, barely looking at Miles. "But it still happened, okay? You still..." He couldn't even bear to say it out loud. "You still... did what you did."

"Tristan, I- I told you," Miles said. "The play, Lola... everything was about you."

"I thought I could understand," Tristan sighed. "I thought I did understand. But now seeing her and the way you two look at each other-"

"There's- there's nothing between me and Lola," Miles said quickly, stumbling on his words. He was doing that weird tongue-clicking thing he always did when he was nervous. Usually when he was lying about something. He watched as Tristan grabbed his books out of his locker and scrambled to get them for him. "Here, let me at least carry your books."

"I don't need a babysitter, Miles!" Tristan snapped, grabbing the books out of Miles' hands. He took a deep breath. "I- I think we need some space."

They were both silent for a second. Miles just stared at him, his eyes half-filled with anger, half-filled with hurt.

"Fine," Miles said, his voice like ice. "I'll give you all the space you want." He turned away from Tristan and walked into the hall, following the speck of blue hair ahead of him.