For the Fans

Avi Vega, a fifteen-year-old self-described weirdo and aspiring artist, has recently moved from Brooklyn to Malden, Massachusetts, with his mother, Hannah, following his father's death in a construction accident years earlier. When Hannah reveals she has been seriously dating a man named Tom Harbor for two months, Avi is unsettled but supportive. At dinner at the Harbor home in Somerville, Avi meets Tom's son, Kyran Harbor, a polished, popular quarterback his own age. Kyran, consumed by resentment over his parents' divorce and his mother Elena's swift departure, views Avi and Hannah as intruders and accuses them of leeching off his father.

Six months later, Tom proposes to Hannah on Thanksgiving, and over Christmas break, Avi and Hannah move into the Harbor home. When Avi tries to broker peace, Kyran tells him he is a waste of space who has no clue who he really is, words that haunt Avi for years. Avi transfers to Somerville High, where Kyran and his football friends bully him openly. A pink-haired girl named Frankie Dumonte befriends Avi, becoming his closest ally. About a year later, on Avi's eighteenth birthday, he announces his acceptance to Boston College (BC), the school Kyran considered his escape route. The two get into a physical fight before their parents force them apart.

Freshman year at BC, the stepbrothers largely avoid each other. Avi builds a close friend group and begins questioning his sexuality, while Kyran thrives as the Eagles' starting quarterback yet remains emotionally hollow, unable to feel genuine attraction to any girl he dates. Friends convince Avi to audition as Baldwin the Eagle, the football mascot, a role that repeatedly draws him into Kyran's orbit.

Their lives shift dramatically when Tom's business partner embezzles the company's funds, leaving the family unable to afford either boy's campus housing. Avi, inspired by Frankie's success as an OnlyFans creator, launches his own account under the username Backwardz_Cap. Frankie proposes a premium threesome video featuring herself, Avi, and a third participant. At her Halloween party, a demoralized Kyran agrees to participate when he learns how much money it could generate.

During the recording, hostility transforms into charged physical tension. Kyran appears to orgasm before fleeing in humiliation. The video earns each participant roughly three thousand dollars, and subscribers demand more content featuring the two men together. Avi proposes they collaborate directly. After fierce resistance, Kyran agrees on strict terms: fifty-fifty profits, absolute secrecy, and the insistence that everything is purely business.

Their collaborations escalate through encounters that cross successive boundaries. A mutual masturbation session ends with Avi biting Kyran's lip. A sixty-nine session ends with Kyran spontaneously kissing Avi before recoiling in horror. Kyran tries to reassert his heterosexuality by hooking up with women but cannot become aroused. He storms to Avi's dorm, and Avi suggests he stop fighting what feels good. After the Eagles' dramatic playoff victory over Virginia Tech, where Avi's mascot pep talk helps Kyran rally, Kyran comes to Avi's dorm at two in the morning. They have penetrative sex for the first time, and Kyran kisses Avi's jaw on his way out, a tender, unrecorded gesture signaling something beyond business.

The relationship deepens through phone sex during away games, frantic encounters at parties, and nights of apology that blur into intimacy. Kyran begins texting voluntarily, calling Avi "babe." Over Christmas break, the pretense collapses. Kyran holds Avi's hand in his childhood bedroom, and they have unrecorded sex while their parents sleep down the hall. They share personal histories through the night. Kyran is tormented by nightmare flashbacks tied to his childhood, and Avi comforts him, though Kyran deflects questions about their origin. Kyran takes Avi on a date to a drive-in theater, where he admits he envies Avi's freedom, and they begin acknowledging their feelings aloud. On New Year's Eve, Avi races across campus to meet Kyran at midnight, and they kiss as the countdown ends.

The next day, Frankie brings alarming news: Their friend Zeb has discovered Avi's OnlyFans. Kyran panics and demands Avi delete everything. Avi pleads that the account represents their relationship, but Kyran insists the content was just an act and walks out. They do not speak for over a week. Meanwhile, Avi's absent roommate, Ash Holloway, an openly bisexual musician, finally moves in and flirts with Avi. At a celebration party, Ash kisses Avi, and Kyran flies into a jealous rage, tackling Ash in front of everyone. That night, Kyran texts Avi admitting he never really hated him.

At the team banquet before the Rose Bowl, the BC dean confronts Avi about anonymous tips regarding pornographic content produced on campus, likely originating from Ash, who is the dean's nephew. Avi confesses to protect Kyran, accepts expulsion, and insists his collaborator was not a BC student. The room erupts in cheers, as many attendees turn out to be fans of Backwardz_Cap. Kyran finds Avi backstage and creates an improvised prom in a storage room, complete with napkin boutonnieres, because Avi never attended a school dance. They slow dance, and Kyran whispers that he is in love with Avi. Avi responds in kind.

In California for the Rose Bowl, Kyran's estranged older sister, Bridget Harbor, joins them for dinner. A reference to Kyran's past triggers a panic episode, alarming Avi. After the Eagles win the Rose Bowl in a dramatic comeback, Kyran publicly kisses Avi and comes out to his teammates and coach. That night, Bridget reveals the truth: When Kyran was twelve, he was sexually abused by Father McAdams, a Catholic priest, at church camp. Tom had responded by accusing Kyran of overreacting, and the resulting family collapse drove Bridget to California and Kyran into years of suppression. Avi is physically sick but resolves that nothing will change his love.

When Kyran discovers Avi knows, the exposure triggers his deepest fear of being seen as broken. Despite Avi's reassurances, Kyran disappears by morning. He embarks on a five-week solo road trip, contacts the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) hotline, and begins therapy for the first time. Avi moves into an apartment in Brighton with his mother, quits smoking weed, and channels his anguish into art, producing dozens of sketches and a large mural in Davis Square that encodes their shared history.

Kyran returns to Boston and confronts both parents, demanding his father say aloud that Father McAdams sexually abused him. Tom, breaking down, finally does. Kyran comes out as gay. Tom surprises Kyran by hugging him and expressing happiness for Kyran and Avi, then drives Kyran to find Avi.

Their reunion is tearful. Kyran explains he left to confront his trauma so he would not burden Avi. They record one final video as a farewell to their fans, and Avi shows Kyran the mural. They agree to move in together.

In the epilogues, set months later, Kyran is drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and moves to a townhouse with Avi. He donates his entire 1.4-million-dollar abuse settlement to RAINN, the Trevor Project, and the It Gets Better Project. They transition to social media content that amasses millions of followers. Avi throws Kyran a surprise twentieth birthday party and gives him a leather-bound book of their shared history. The novel closes with Kyran and Avi affirming their love: "For the fans? . . . For the fans. For us."