< Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Once they finally got inside and away from the two girls, Justin high fived Nick for his quick thinking. "Dude, that was classic. I bow down to you."

Nick beamed, proud of himself. "I was pretty good out there, wasn't I?" Lance nodded as he slid into the seat next to AJ after giving both Nick and Justin high fives.

"At first I had no idea what you were doing, but then it was obvious and I thought it was brilliant. We'd have been out there all night if you hadn't have come to the rescue."

Nick glared at AJ and Josh accusingly. "No thanks to you jerks. You saw us out there..."

"Yeah, wish we had have had popcorn for the show though. Funny shit man." AJ tossed a menu at Nick who simply passed it to Justin. He already knew what he was getting and didn't need to look at a menu for it. Justin passed the menu to Lance who looked at them both with confusion in his eyes.

"We already know what we're getting," Justin explained with a shrug. He grabbed a packet of sugar from the holder and opened it up, pouring it all on his tongue. As he swallowed the sugar which was rapidly melting on his tongue his eye caught something across the room. There was Kevin Richardson with one of the cheer leaders sitting snugly on his lap. He was talking to Chris about something, barely even acknowledging the girl who was holding onto him for dear life. With a discreet nudge of his foot, he alerted Nick that the object of his obsession was only 100 feet away.

"Where?" Nick whispered softly. Thankfully Lance, AJ and Josh were discussing Nick's antics outside and weren't paying them any attention.

"Two o'clock. Back booth table this time."

Nick pretended he was surveying the room and gasped at the sight of Kevin with a girl on his lap. His smile faltered for only a few seconds before he shrugged it off. "He was so good tonight."

Justin squeezed Nick's thigh gently and gave the blonde a nod. "He was. Saved the game." Justin loved the way Nick's eyes danced and the way his skin glowed in excitement and silently hoped that nothing would ever happen to take that look away. He loved Nick more than anything and would protect him like a brother would. They always joked that they were twins separated at birth and felt a bond between them that not a lot of people could understand.

Nick looked at his best friend and gave him a shy smile. "Thanks J."

"Any time Nicky."

"So, are you going to say anything?" Lance asked, nodding in Kevin's direction. He'd noticed Kevin siting there as they walked towards their table and figured that Nick was already aware of his presence in the restaurant.

Nick shrugged and scrunched up his nose. "Dunno."


"What can I get you kids?" The waitress asked with a friendly smile. She was used to how busy things got after the football game and had been prepared for the onslaught of teenagers.

"Coke, bacon cheeseburger, onion rings," AJ decided as he passed her his menu.

"Chocolate milkshake, bacon cheeseburger and French fries," Nick ordered.

"Root beer float, bacon cheeseburger and onion rings." Justin grinned as he rubbed his stomach.

Josh continued to study the menu, finally tossing it on the table with a sigh. The waitress simply chuckled. "Coke, bacon cheeseburger and cheese fries." She didn't look surprised in the least.

Everyone looked at Lance expectantly and he blushed. "I guess.. a bacon cheeseburger?"

Justin nodded his approval. "They're the best."

"And... French fries please." Lance handed the waitress his menu shyly.

"What would you like to drink, sugar?"

Lance looked at Justin who mouthed 'root beer float', then to everyone else who was shaking their head in horror. "Just an iced tea please."

Justin growled and pretended to pout. "Have you ever had one?"

Lance shook his head and nodded at the waitress who winked and left to fill their orders. "I can honestly say I haven't."

"Well, you can have some of mine and see what you're missing."

The fivesome talked about pretty much everything they could think of as they waited for their drinks to arrive. Finally, the topic of conversation turned to Lance and what it was like where he'd come from.

"Well, it is a town like this one except that it's in Mississippi. It's pretty small, everyone's known each other since birth. You can't do much there without the whole town knowing your business."

"Do you miss home?" AJ asked, genuinely curious as to the answer. He wanted to get to know everything he could about Lance and was grateful that everyone was asking questions so it didn't seem as obvious.

"So much. I miss my friends and my school. I loved living there. Not a day goes by that I don't wonder what I'd be doing if we hadn't moved."

"Do you wish you could move back?" Nick asked. He took a sip of his shake the second that the waitress placed it in front of him, which caused everyone to laugh. He flashed the woman an apologetic smile to which he received a wink in response.

"I did," Lance admitted softly. "I wished every night that we would move back home. Forget we ever came here."

"And now?"

Lance gave a half shrug. He didn't want to look anyone in the eye for fear of what he'd find lurking there. Finally, he looked up and met each of their gazes. "Now, not so much."

"Good. This town takes a little time to get used to, but once you're in, you're in for life." AJ flashed Lance a wide grin that made his stomach liquefy.

After taking one bite of his bacon cheeseburger, Lance could understand what the fuss was about. Once he'd tasted Justin's root beer float, he wondered if it had been wise trusting his judgment on the hamburger, but the knowledge that everyone else had ordered it made him feel a little less worried about it. The baskets of onion rings, fries and cheese fries were all put in the middle of the table and Lance quickly learned that they all ate from everyone's basket.

Their dishes had been cleared and just as they were starting to wonder what the plan was next, two guys approached the table, greeting Josh with a smile. "JC," the blonde one said as he clapped his hand on Josh's shoulder. "Good game tonight!"

"JC?" Nick mouthed to AJ who shrugged.

"He says it like I was playing!" Josh laughed and stood up. The two of them shared a brief hug before Josh turned to hug the other boy. "What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing," the brunette smiled and gave a shrug. "We watched you guys steal our victory and figured that we'd come and see where the winners all hung out. Plus we said we'd stop by and say hi to you tonight. We couldn't find you at the school so we figured we'd come here and chat."

Josh realized that he had four sets of very curious eyes on him and turned around to offer his friends an apology. "Sorry guys, these are friends of mine. They do co-op at the school I've been doing my co-op at."

The two strangers focused their attention on the group and smiled warmly at them.

"Kyle, Billy," Josh said to the two boys standing, first the blonde then the brunette, "this is AJ, Lance, Justin and Nick. Guys, this is Kyle and Billy. They go to St. Peter's."

"Sophomore?" AJ asked as he shook both Kyle and Billy's hands.

"I am," the blonde one that had been introduced as Kyle answered. "He’s a junior," he said as he pointed to Billy. "You guys?"

"Sophomore," AJ said before pointing at the three 'babies'. "Freshmen."

"Cool," Kyle turned to Josh so he could address his friend. "We should get going though. Friends of ours were going to throw a party despite whether we won or lost, so we should make our way there."

Billy nodded and gave a polite wave. "It was nice to meet you all, Josh, we'll see you Monday?"

"'Course. My turn to bring coffee and donuts."


While Josh was having his conversation with his friends, Justin once again turned to Nick. He knew that despite the conversation at hand, Nick's mind was still solely focused on the senior sitting only a hundred feet away. "You going to say something to him?"

Nick knew immediately who Justin was referring to and despite his resolve to finally say something to Kevin, he felt a wave of panic fill him. Suddenly, talking to Kevin didn't sound like such a good idea and he could barely breathe.

"I... I don't know."

"You could just walk over and tell him it was a good game. You don't have to like, ask him out or anything."


Nick's eyes widened and he blushed. "Justin!!!" He squeaked as he ducked his head. "I... I want to but then I think about going over there, and having everyone laugh at me and I would die."

"I've never seen you like this before Nicky," Justin said softly as he drained the rest of his float. "You're always so cool and calm around people."

"I've never felt like this before J. I mean... God.. Look at him!" Both Nick and Justin turned to face Kevin who was laughing at something someone at the table was saying. "He's beautiful."

"I'm beautiful but you have no problem talking to me!" Justin joked. He wanted to be able to get a smile out of Nick, knowing that if he could just get Nick to relax, he'd be okay.

"You're different though."

"Different good or bad."

"Different, I don't want to puke when I think about talking to you. I mean, all his friends are there and what if I say something stupid? What if I trip and..."

"Whatever you decide, I'm right here. I can come up with you if you want."

"Thanks J," Nick said with a sigh. Knowing that his best friend was behind him no matter what gave him a confidence he wasn't sure he had. He looked up and found Lance watching him, a supportive smile was gracing his lips.

First Justin focused on his best friend, looking at him critically. Then he turned his attention to Kevin and felt something tug at his heart. He wondered what it felt like to be that anxious and nervous around someone. To like them that much that it paralyzed you and caused for you to freeze up, unable to do anything. The most excited he'd ever been was when his parents had surprised him two years earlier by taking him to a basketball game to see Michael Jordan play and Justin had simply sat on the edge of his seat for the whole game, jaw open and eyes glued to his idol. It wasn't sexual in the least, but it was the closest that Justin could come to understanding what Nick was feeling at that moment.

He knew that some of Nick's crush on Kevin was idol worship, because even he could admit that Kevin was one of the coolest people he'd ever known. Kevin was not only the captain of the football team, but on the honour roll, did endless community service and was treated like an equal by the school administration and the teaching staff. Kevin was everything that Justin wanted to be at Lincoln High when he was a senior, so if he felt that way about Kevin, he couldn't even begin to imagine how intense Nick's feelings for the senior were. Justin couldn't help but feel a little sad for not having someone that he felt that strongly about, that made him forget everything and everyone around him. But he knew that it wasn't the time for him to feel sorry for himself, Nick needed him and he wanted to be there for his best friend.

"Let me out J." Nick decided that he had nothing to lose. He ignored the suspicious looks on Josh and AJ's faces as he slowly made his way across the crowded snack bar. He could feel his knees turning to jelly, his stomach churning nervously and his palms sweating. Everything around him was amplified and Nick had to take a few breaths to try and calm his nerves. He was about twenty feet away and was going through, in his mind, what he was going to say.

"Hey Kevin, good game tonight."

"Hey Kevin? I just wanted to tell you that you're awesome."

"Kevin? Hey."

He was nearing fifteen feet and could feel his friends' eyes on his back, silently wishing him luck. That gave him the courage to continue on instead of turning back and running out like he'd been wanting to do since he stood up. It was as he got to ten feet that he watched, in what felt like slow motion, the girl sitting on Kevin's lap turn her head and whisper something in his ear. Nick paused for a moment to watch the rest of it play out. Unfortunately, he got an up close view of Kevin's lips curling into a sexy grin, one that made Nick's already racing pulse race faster, and lean in, covering her mouth with his own. Nick watched in horror as their lips parted and a flash of tongue move from one mouth to the other, while Kevin's hand slid just beneath the hem of her uniform sweater to rest on her bare back.

Nick could feel his dinner churn in his stomach and in embarrassment, he continued past where the seniors and jocks were sitting and headed towards the bathroom. The tears were stinging his eyes hotly and he felt his face light up in embarrassment and shame. Nick was thankful that no one else was in the bathroom and he didn't have to further embarrass himself by having them see him cry. It was only minutes later when the door opened. Nick was crouched on a toilet at the end of the row, contemplating his existence and the luck of fate, a luck he surely did not possess. Silently, Nick cursed whoever it was that needed the washroom and tried to keep as silent as possible. Maybe if he was quiet, the person would just do what they had to do and then leave.

"Nick?" Lance's voice echoed through the washroom. He'd immediately seen the look of disappointment and anguish on Nick's face and had wanted to rush to his new friend's assistance. Justin had held him back saying that Nick was his best friend, and that he should deal with it. Lance convinced Justin that he could identify with what Nick was feeling and asked if he could please just have a few minutes alone with Nick before Justin came in to check up on his best friend. At first Justin had argued, but Josh suggested that maybe Lance would be able to give a fresh outlook and it couldn't hurt to try. Justin had finally relented although he hadn't seemed happy about it.

"I know you're in here." Lance called again.

"No, I'm not." Nick growled. All he wanted was to be alone.

Okay." Lance sat down on the floor, back against the wall and waited. He knew Nick would be out eventually. He only had to wait a few minutes before the stall door opened and Nick walked out. Their gazes met and Nick rolled his eyes at how stupid he felt at that moment.

"I'm so dumb!"

"Why?"

"Because I am. Because I thought that I could just walk up there and talk to Kevin Richardson, like it was normal."

"It is normal."

"You saw him, he had his tongue down her throat. I swear, they all knew what I was doing and they were all laughing at me." Nick frowned, his lips curled in a pout. Lance fought not to laugh at how melodramatic Nick was being. "He probably kissed her knowing it would make me leave."

"I hate to burst your ego, but they didn't even notice." He wasn't sure if that was any better or worse, being noticed and made fun of, or not being noticed at all. It was a toss up. "Or not that they didn't notice, but that they didn't notice anything different. You were walking, and then just kept going to the bathroom. It was just us that really knew what you were doing."

"I can't believe I almost went up there and embarrassed myself in front of him. What was I thinking?"

Lance took a deep breath and sighed. He didn't want to have to tell Nick what he'd been keeping inside for the past few days, but he knew that if he wanted to make the blonde feel better, he would have to. "Can I tell you something?"

Nick gave a shrug that indicated that he didn't really care. "I guess."

"You know that advice I gave you?"

"When you said he won't know I'm alive if I don't say something?"

Lance nodded. He leaned back and rest his head on the wall behind him. After waiting a few minutes to gather his courage, he finally started talking. "I.. I know what you're going through."

"Huh?"

"I ... I've wanted to talk to you and Justin for weeks. I saw you both on the first day and you were both so nervous, but you had each other. You made plans to meet between every class so you wouldn't have to be alone, you were gossiping about people you'd gone to school with before and what had happened over the summer and... you were just so excited. But scared at the same time, which I could relate to, except on a bigger scale. You guys had each other, but I had no one. That whole first day I had hoped you'd turn around and see me standing there, alone and quiet, but you hadn't. Except for right at the end of the day, you were grabbing your bag from your locker and I dropped something. You turned to me, flashed me a smile and before I could say hi, Justin came down the hall and you guys were gone before I could do anything."

Nick listened quietly, amazed at Lance's account of their first day. Even now, thinking back, he could only recall vague memories, none at all include Lance and looking at him.

"So every day since then, I'd hoped you remember me there and turn around to start talking to me, except you didn't. You hadn't and it wasn't just you, but everyone. No one has spoken to me at Lincoln High, except for teachers. I've tried to make friends but they all laugh at me, ignore me or just make fun of me. But until I said something to you the other day, I hadn't had a friendly conversation with anyone outside of staff."

Nick's jaw dropped open and his eyebrows furrowed in regret. "I'm so sorry."

Lance silenced him with the shake of his head. "I'm not telling you this for an apology."

"But... it's still not right."

"It's the way things are. Except when I was thinking about how much you like Kevin and how badly you want him to notice you, I related it to myself. How badly I wanted to get to know you and Justin, how much I wanted to be your friend. So I took my own advice, I realized that you were never going to know I existed unless I said something, so I did."

"And now you're part of us," Justin's voice echoed in the bathroom, startling both Nick and Lance. They looked up and saw the third musketeer leaning against a stall.

"It's good advice," Nick agreed softly. He couldn't imagine how lonely school must have been for Lance and was silently thankful that he'd spoken up and revealed his presence. "But.."

"It's scary as hell," Lance confessed.

"You're telling me."

"But look, he finally said something and see where he is now. You just never know Nicky." Justin tried to encourage his friend, to build his confidence.


It was something Nick was going to think about, as if he hadn't been thinking about it constantly anyways.


By the time they exited the bathroom, the restaurant had cleared out considerably. Nick walked directly from the men's room to their table without looking around. He didn't want to see whether or not they were still there and if they were making fun of him. He was sitting down, ignoring the concerned looks that AJ and Josh were flashing him before Nick stole a glance in the direction of the table Kevin had been occupying only fifteen minutes earlier.

"They left about five minutes ago," Josh informed him in a gentle voice.

Nick inhaled deeply and closed his eyes as he exhaled. When he opened his eyes again, he had a wide grin on his face. "Good for them."

Lance watched Nick skeptically, wondering if he was putting on a brave face for their benefit. He looked at Justin who didn't seem fazed by Nick's change in attitude so he didn't worry either. He simply leaned back against the booth and felt his eyes widen in surprise as the waitress brought over a huge bowl of ice cream. It was large enough for all five of them to eat from, filled with what looked like at least six scoops of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream, bananas, strawberries, hot fudge, sprinkles, peanuts and topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Where Lance had been feeling uncomfortably full with all of the food he'd eaten that night, suddenly he wasn't full any longer.

Justin already had his spoon in hand, ready to dig into the sundae. "Lance, one word of warning."

Lance nodded, never taking his eye off of the ice cream. 'Uh-huh?"

"It's every man for himself!"

And with that, the waitress set the bowl on the table. She withdrew her arms quickly, thankful that they were respectful enough to wait until the bowl was clear before digging in. "Enjoy boys," she called with laughter ringing in her voice.

End Chapter 4


Chapter 5 >