< Chapter 22

Chapter 23

The next day Nick’s heart nearly stopped as he was attacked from behind at his locker. He screamed loudly enough to catch the attention of everyone in Fresh Meat Lane, and the only thing that he could hear over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears was laughter. Laughter from Lance, Britney and Christina.

"You scream like a girl!" Britney snorted.

"And you laugh like a pig," Nick scowled, which only made Britney laugh harder. When he turned around, his heart nearly stopped for a second time. Standing there, looking embarrassed and tired was someone he hadn’t seen at his locker in well over a month, someone he wasn’t sure he’d ever see at his locker again. Justin was standing in front of him, a shy smile on his face and wide, apology filled eyes.

"J!" Nick exclaimed loudly. A sense of relief overwhelmed him to the point where he knew he had tears in his eyes. Before he could say anything else, Justin flung himself in Nick’s arms and hugged him so tightly, had Nick not been so happy to have him there, he wouldn’t have been able to breathe. The force of Justin’s embrace caused for them to fall back against the lockers, the halls around them had quieted at the sight of their emotional reunion.

"I’m so sorry," Justin said against Nick’s neck. They were both trembling. Faintly, they could hear a sniffling coming from beside them and they pulled away to see Christina with tears in her eyes.

"What?" She said as she turned bright red. "It’s so sweet, and I didn’t think we’d ever see this again."

"You’re just crying because you have to sit with Britney in science again," Justin teased, yet he looked at Nick for reassurance. He would like to hope that this meant that they could get things back to normal and sit together again, like things had been before he’d almost made the biggest mistake of his life. Thankfully Nick nodded and he hugged his best friend again.

Justin hadn’t expected to find Brian Littrell on his doorstep after dinner the night before, wanting to talk to him. He’d told his mother he was sick and looking at the pain and emotion in her son’s eyes, Lynn didn’t question it. She knew how unhappy he’d been as of late, and despite his confidence that she didn’t know what was going on in his life, she knew that he and Nick hadn’t been talking. Whatever had happened between the two boys was affecting both of them, as Jane had indicated to her that week when they’d had coffee that Nick was looking as ragged and lost as Justin. Justin had spent the whole day curled up under his comforter, alternating between sleeping and crying. He found that neither were therapeutic, only leaving him more tired and depressed than before. So when Brian had shown up asking to speak with him, Justin had been in shock. Rather than talk at Justin’s house, Brian suggested they go for hot chocolate at Starbucks, his treat. It was there, in a private corner,
 curled up in big, comfy chairs, Brian explained to Justin what he’d missed at school that day.

What Brian hadn’t realized was the importance of Nick’s act. What that had meant to Justin and how monumental that was for their friendship. Justin was certain he’d lost Nick forever, but hearing that he’d not only stood up for him, but done it in front of the whole Senior Lounge, it meant that Nick didn’t hate him as much as Justin feared that he did. When he thought about it though, even at his maddest at Nick, he knew he would still defend him until the end. Their friendship went deeper than most, to the point where it was more like a brotherhood than friendship. They had a bond that was unbreakable, no matter how much time passed or harsh words said.

Brian then told Justin how Liam and Mike were cut from the team, unable to play Varsity basketball again at Lincoln High. He’d been surprised, and quite honestly embarrassed, he refused to look Brian in the eye. "It’s not your fault," Brian had assured him kindly. "I don’t know if you’d noticed, but they’re kind of jerks."

Justin had noticed, but it was either hang out with jerks or by himself. At the time he thought he’d made the right decision.

"We’re not exactly sad to see them go." Brian then told him the bigger news. Now that Liam was gone, they had to bring someone up to fill his spot. Craig had suggested to the Coach that they give Justin the chance. The Coach agreed. Justin was starting in the next game. He nearly spit out his hot chocolate.

By the time he’d gone home, he had more than enough to think about. Between how he was going to deal with Nick and their salvageable friendship, to the knowledge that he had until the end of Christmas break to get ready to play in his first Varsity game, Justin’s mind was whirling. For the first night in over a month, Justin had gone to sleep with a smile on his face.

"We need to talk," Justin said softly.

"We definitely do," Nick agreed with a nod. "How about after school?"

‘Not last period?" Justin asked hopefully. He was surprised to see Nick frown and shake his head. Lance and AJ were snickering beside him and Nick scowled at them.

"I can’t, last period. I’m on truancy probation. I’ve skipped too many classes and they’re watching me. If I’m absent, I need written permission from my parents."

Justin’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. Unable to help himself, he started to giggle. "Are you serious?" The pout on Nick’s lips assured him he was.

"Totally serious."

"That sucks. Okay, so maybe after school?"

Nick was about to open his mouth to say something when AJ cut in. "Yes, after school. That’s perfect."

"What about..." Nick asked with a sigh. He was supposed to work on the set design after school.

"So tell Stuart in art that you can’t come after school. I think we’ve got enough people that we can miss you for a night. This is way more important. Plus I told him I can’t go, so it shouldn’t be that big a deal. I’ve got to do some extra work in math so I don’t fail this exam."

"Who’s Stuart? And what are you doing after school?" Justin asked. He was curious as to exactly what he’d missed in the past month. Judging by how close AJ and Lance were standing, the younger boy not quite leaning on him, but closer than normal, and the picture of Josh that Christina had in her locker, he was sure he’d missed a lot. It made him sad, but at the same time, nothing could dampen his spirits. Nick was staring at him with a giant grin on his face and everything was finally going to be the way it was supposed to be.

"I’ll tell you about it when we have time," Nick said as he closed his locker door. As a force of habit, he checked his watch and looked down the hall. Kevin was on his way through Fresh Meat Lane. Alone. Nick held his breath and was surprised when Kevin turned his head to look right at him. The senior’s lips curled into a slight, sexy smirk but he kept on walking. Nick felt his heart race and his stomach flip excitedly.

"He looked right at you," Justin said in surprise.

"I think he’s afraid of you, personally." Christina winked at Nick and grinned. "You keep yelling at people around him. He even said he was going to stay on your good side."

He did a little shimmy as he turned to walk down the hall towards his home room. "I don’t care what the reason is..." Nick’s voice was dreamy and he sighed. "Today has been the best day ever!"

"See you at lunch?" Justin asked timidly. The gang nodded and he tried not to appear surprised that Britney and Christina were included in that gang. Nick noticed though, and motioned for Justin to walk with him.

"Come on, take the long way around and we can chat on the way to home room. Later guys." Nick waved at everyone as he tugged on Justin’s sleeve. When they had turned the corner, Nick was sure that everyone was already talking about the two of them at his locker. "Everything’s okay with us right?" Nick had to ask, he needed to know for his own piece of mind.

"Yes, god yes. I’ve been so upset and scared that you hated me. I’ve been so horrible to you."

Nick shook his head. "No, I’ve been just as bad J. And then I wrote you that message in the paper."

Justin frowned as he looked down at his shoes. "I know. I saw it and it made me so happy. I almost cried because I missed you so much too. And that let me know that you didn’t hate me.. But I was on my way down to talk to you, and this guy who didn’t make the team confronted me and was just saying all this mean stuff to me..." Justin took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "So many people hate me Nicky."

Nick pulled Justin near and hugged him tightly. "They’re just jealous of you. Jealous because you’re so much better than them."

"But, I’m not."

"If you weren’t, they wouldn’t be so threatened by you. They know you are and that’s why they say what they say and do what they do. It’s the same with Chrissy and the rumours that are still being spread about her."

"Speaking of.." Justin asked with a smile. "What’s going on.."

Nick’s eyes opened wide and he grinned. "Oh my god, you have so much to catch up on." The warning bell rang and both teens jumped in surprise.

"Give me the quick version, to get me through lunch at least."

"Aje and Lance are together."

"WHAT?" Justin shrieked in surprise. Nick nodded.

"The day that the paper went out, AJ left Lance a message and they talked about how they like each other." Nick made sure to keep his voice quiet so that no one could eavesdrop. "Oh, and Christina and Josh are going out."

Justin felt like he’d stepped into a looking glass. It seemed that nothing was how it had been and everything had changed. "You are so going to give me details tonight right?"

"Totally!"

"Mr. Carter? Will you be joining us INSIDE the classroom?" Mr. Whyte asked with a smile. He turned to Justin and shook his head. "And Mr. Timbelake, shouldn’t you be at your own homeroom?"

"Yes sir," Justin yelped.

"That’s all you need to know for lunch. If there’s something you don’t know, just smile and nod." Both boys started to giggle as Nick was ushered into the class and Justin was ushered out.

~*~*~

Josh was pleasantly surprised when he arrived in the quad to find Justin sitting next to Nick, the two boys eating nearly identical brown paper bag lunches. His stomach did a quick lurch at the sight of Christina laughing at something AJ had said and for the millionth time since they’d all gone for ice cream that night, he was grateful that he’d opened his eyes and let himself see her for what she was. A generous, beautiful, amazing individual.

Never once had she made him feel like his last girlfriend had. She didn’t expect too much out of him, and surprisingly, she didn’t expect him to take her places or pay for things. He did, because he loved to see the way her eyes would dance and her face would light up with a smile when she was happy, but it wasn’t expected of him, which only made him want to do it more. He hadn’t expected to see her and Britney in the Soph. Quad for lunch, as they normally ate in the cafeteria with their girlfriends, but he supposed that with Justin’s return to their clique, and life’s return to normal, it was a special occasion. Perhaps he would suggest that they continue it always, having everyone eat together so he didn’t have to split his time up between the quad and the cafeteria. He watched for a few minutes, just to see the way Nick and Justin were constantly looking at each other when the other wasn’t looking, most likely just to see if it was real, that they were really there and everything
 was okay. Josh had been thankful that Justin had phoned on Saturday night. Not that he was glad that he’d had to endure the reasons he’d called, but ultimately, the end result was more than worth the trouble he’d had to get there.

"Well, now isn’t this a quaint little party," Josh finally announced himself, leaning down to press his lips to Christina’s in a quick kiss. Justin softly choked on the apple he was eating. Nick covered it up by capturing everyone’s attention.

"Hey Josh! Great, now the gang’s all here. We were thinking that since exams start Monday, we should do something this weekend. All of us." When everyone turned to look at Josh, Nick gave Justin a quick pat on the back. "I told you..." He whispered softly.

"Still... It’s a little surprising to see right in front of me," Justin replied. He tried to clear his throat that was now irritated. It was obvious by the glow on Christina’s face, as well as the way Josh’s face lit up at the sight of his girlfriend that they were happy with each other, and that made Justin happy for them.

Everyone looked at one another, nodding at Nick’s suggestion. "Yeah, like a movie or a party or something." AJ agreed. He removed the hand that had been discreetly resting on Lance’s leg and winked at his boyfriend. "What do you say?"

"Totally. Just us or can we invite people?" Josh knew he didn’t really need to ask, but felt like he should anyways. Kyle and Billy, although they didn’t go to their school, had pretty much become a permanent fixture in their clique. Nick had vaguely heard rumours that next year, they were looking into transferring to Lincoln High.

"They can definitely come," Nick spoke for the group who was all nodding their heads.

"Awesome."

There was only a few minutes left of lunch. When the warning bell rang, the freshmen all went in the direction of their lockers, Justin heading with the others to Nick’s. Christina kissed Josh briefly, while Lance wished he could have done the same to AJ. Instead, he leaned in close and told AJ he’d give him his good-bye and hello kisses later when they went to his house to study. The look of excitement that crossed AJ’s face was enough to make Lance’s knees wobble.

That day in science marked the first day in over a month that Nick and Justin sat together. As excited as Nick was to have his original seat back, he was also sad to be leaving Christina behind, as he’d more than enjoyed his time sitting with her.

"I’m going to miss you," Nick said fondly as Britney sat down in the chair he’d been occupying. Christina only laughed and rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to tell him how much she’d miss sitting with him as well, because she knew that it would start a fight with Britney who would get upset that no one wanted to sit with her. Justin had traded her in for Nick, and Christina wanted Nick to sit with her too, which would leave her out. And Christina knew that Britney was already feeling left out enough now that she was dating Josh.

"You’re going to miss being able to check your homework against mine," Christina said with a nod. When Nick blushed and didn’t refute her claims, she shook her head. "You, Nickolas Carter, are horrible!"

"But you love me!"

Christina narrowed her eyes and glared at him menacingly. "I tolerate you. Love, I don’t think so."

Nick shrugged and stuck his tongue out at her. "Love. I know it, you can admit it. Nothing to be ashamed of." Before she could respond, Nick scrambled to the front of the class and took his seat with Justin. It had never felt as good as it did that day. He turned to look at his best friend, still amazed that after all the time that had passed, they were sitting there together. Nick’s heart swelled for the millionth time that day and he reached over and hugged Justin.

"What?" Justin said with a blush. Neither boy commented on how Justin didn’t push Nick away, instead he hugged him back.

"I’m just so happy that you’re here, and I’m here. And that we’re sitting together."

Justin blushed and nodded. He felt the same way.

When Mr. Phillips came into the room, he passed by the two girls and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He then turned to look at the front of the room, surprised to see Nick and Justin together, whispering softly.

"I see that we’ve decided to resume our original seating plans," Mr. Phillips said with a sigh of relief.

"Is that okay?" Nick asked softly. He wasn’t anticipating the enthusiastic nod.

"It is an unnegotiable fact that Ms. Spears will spend over half of the class giggling and chatting to whomever it is she’s sitting with. At least if she’s with Ms. Aguilera, she’s farther back and I can’t hear her as well."

The whole class started to giggle and Britney blushed. "That’s not fair Mr. Phillips!"

Mr. Phillips simply raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Isn’t it?"

"I don’t talk all the time."

"When you aren’t talking, you’re either giggling or not in this room. It is a known fact, we’ve learned to live with it. No need to be embarrassed." His tone was friendly and teasing, and for that, Britney wasn’t offended. She simply shrugged and grinned.

"In that case, I guess I won’t worry about not chatting. Since I'm already expected to, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you."

"Disappoint isn’t the right word Ms. Spears. Shock and baffle would more accurately describe it. Some day I would like you to astonish me, prove me wrong."

Britney snapped her gum and pretended to think about it. She turned to look at Christina before focusing her attention back on Mr. Phillips. She gave a flip of her hair and a bored shrug. "Sorry, probably won’t be today. I wouldn’t want you to get your hopes up."

"Well, one can dream Ms. Spears."

The class started to snicker as Mr. Phillps started teaching his lesson. Nick kept one eye on the clock, and the other on his work. He wanted to make sure he got everything done by the end of class so he wouldn’t have to worry about homework. He wanted to be able to go out with Justin so they could talk without having anything hanging over his head because he had an idea that whatever they were going to be talking about that night, it was going to probably be a marathon session. And with just a week to go before exams, Nick knew that he had to get his things in gear so that he could start next semester in January without worrying if he had to make up any credits.

They headed out of science class, walking side by side. "So, we’ll meet at your locker after final period?" Justin asked hopefully. He was relieved when Nick nodded.

"Yeah, I’ll meet you there and then we can head out."

Before they knew it, it was the end of the day and Nick was back at his locker talking to Lance. "So, will we be having a paper this month?" Nick asked curiously. Lance nodded his head.

"We weren’t going to, but Chris and I convinced Mrs. Renado that it would be nice to have something to get us through exams. It’s a shorter issue, only half of the stuff, and mostly everything will be regarding the holidays and events that people are having. There is going to be a section on writing exams with tips on how to study and do well."

"Will you have time to do it next week? I mean ....with exams and stuff."

Lance grinned as he saw AJ coming down the hall. He put his sweater on and closed his locker. "We’ve pretty much got the whole thing done. It’s going to be coming out this Friday. We’ve all put our submissions in so Chris is going to be doing it on Thursday. And we’re not putting it in peoples lockers this time. It’s going to be available at the Christmas Assembly on Friday. We’re going to have boxes of it throughout the gym, so people can just grab one."

"That’s awesome!"

Lance nodded. AJ approached and he gave his boyfriend a discreet wink and a smile. " Hey."

"Hey Lance." AJ squeezed Lance’s arm before nodding towards Nick. "Nicky! Where’s J?"

"Not here yet," Nick said with a shrug. "You know how he is."

"How am I?" Justin asked, startling Nick. They all broke into laughter at the expression on the blonde’s face.

Nick rolled his eyes and play smacked Justin. "Always late. That’s how you are."

Justin thought about it for a moment and finally nodded. It was true. "I can’t argue with that."

"So where are you two going?" Lance asked. They all headed through the halls towards the main foyer and out the doors. Nick and Justin looked at one another and shrugged.

"Hadn’t really thought about it," Justin admitted.

"Shack?" Nick suggested hopefully. When he saw the grin appear on Justin’s face he cheered. It had been forever since they had gone there together, and it was fitting that they mark the end of their month long fight with a trip for fries, onion rings, milkshakes and root beer floats at the Shake Shack.

"Shack it is," Justin nodded. He hadn’t been since the last time he’d gone with Nick and could seriously use a root beer float. Plus it was comfortable and reassuring, which was exactly what he needed. "What about you two?"

AJ rolled his eyes while Lance smiled. "I’m helping him get ready for his math exam. So we’re going to go over a few practice tests and..."

"Make out," Nick suggested with a grin. When he saw the way both of his friends' faces blush he cackled. "Oooh, you are."

"No!" AJ answered emphatically. "Not make out."

Justin and Nick exchanged knowing glances and nodded their heads. " Make out."

"Why, jealous?" Lance teased, much to everyone’s surprise. Everyone broke out into laughter as he walked ahead. They were going in a different direction than Nick and Justin so the four teens said their good byes.

"See you tomorrow." AJ said as he jogged to catch up to Lance.

"Bye," Nick and Justin called as they waited for the bus.

"So," Justin asked as they sat down and got comfortable. "What have I missed." He felt a little uneasy at the frown on Nick’s face.

"I was kind of hoping to discuss why we’ve been fighting first."

Justin cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He’d been thinking about it since the night before, wanting to get his words exactly right so Nick would understand everything. It was complicated and to a degree, Justin didn’t even really understand it himself. He could tell by the expression on Nick’s face that he wasn’t angry, just confused and still a little hurt.

‘Because, you know, everything was great one minute. The night of my first game it seemed okay. I mean, there was a lot of tension and I knew you were kind of mad at me, you had been for days, but it wasn’t THAT bad. But then the next day it was like you hated me. You went to bed one night, and woke up mad at me the next day."

Justin frowned at how accurate Nick’s observation was. As simple as it sounded, that was kind of what had happened. Of course, it wasn’t that easy, but looking at it from Nick’s point of view, that was what had happened. "I guess I kinda did."

"But why?" The hurt was clearly displayed on Nick’s face and his stomach was churning. He didn’t understand what he had done and why Justin would have rather not talking to him than confronting him with it. "I’ve been trying to figure out for the past month what I did to make you hate me so much."

"I don’t know," Justin admitted. "It was just a whole bunch of things, mostly my problems. I was upset you didn’t make the Varsity team, but then glad you didn’t at the same time. That made me feel bad that I was happy I was the only freshman that has ever made it." Justin looked into Nick’s eyes, not surprised to see the confusion there.

"You were glad I didn’t make it?"

"Kind of," Justin shrugged apologetically. "Part of me liked it. And that made me feel bad. But then you made Freshman so I didn’t feel as bad. Of course they hand picked you to be the captain and that got you all the court time when I was still on the bench, so I kind of started to get upset and angry."

"But that wasn’t my fault," Nick argued. He was starting to get upset but tried to keep his emotions in check.

"I told you, it was stupid." Justin said.

Nick nodded. "I know, it just ...hurts to hear it."

"Please tell me you’re not going to hate me at the end of it," Justin begged. "I don’t want to tell you if you’re only going to get mad at me."

Nick shook his head. "I won’t hate you, I promise." They held out their pinky fingers and tugged them together, making a solemn swear. The act helped Justin breathe better at the prospect of losing Nick again so soon after they’d made up.

"I was upset that you were the captain of the team and I wasn’t even playing. And I know I shouldn’t have been jealous, but I was. I needed some time, just to deal with everything. But then things snowballed and every time I wanted to apologize for how I'd been treating you, something happened and I couldn’t."

Justin told Nick in more detail how he’d been accosted by Jared Matthews as he was on his way to talk to Nick after the Report had come out and he’d seen Nick’s message to him. He’d also filled Nick in on everything that had been happening and with each word out of his mouth, Nick better understood the personal hell that Justin had been going through. They slowly ate their fries and onion rings and drank their milkshake and root beer floats, confessing everything that they’d been bottling up inside of them for the past month.

"I wanted Britney to sit with me that day in Science to get back at you, but then you had more fun sitting with Christina than me so I got mad and told you that I didn’t want you to sit with me at all. It seemed that every time I came by to see you, I'd see you and Christina or Britney, or you and Lance and AJ all laughing and having the best time ever, like you didn’t even need me."

"Is that why you started eating with the Varsity boys?" Nick asked. He hated how Justin had thought they didn’t want or need him around anymore. He hated how wrong Justin was when all Nick had been wanting for the last month was for his best friend to come around that corner and join them, to complete the circle and fill the void that had been empty for far too long. Justin nodded and Nick sighed. "I wish I had have known. I SHOULD have known!"

Justin shook his head. "If you had have said or done anything, I would have lied. I was so confused, so scared and ..."

"I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t come to us. That you were so alone for so long." Knowing that he had the support of their friends and Justin had no one made Nick’s heart throb painfully.

Justin shook his head and shrugged. "I..." He was cut off by Nick’s embrace.

"Never do that again, okay? Promise we will never fight for longer than a day. I hated not knowing if we were going to be friends again. I hated knowing you hated me and I hated you thinking I hated you. It was awful. The worst feeling in the world."

Justin nodded and hugged Nick back. "I promise."

Nick filled Justin in on everything that he had missed over the past month. He talked until he was nearly hoarse, both boys giggling and laughing, the mood light and easy between them.

"So you’re doing the set design for the play now? You and AJ?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, Joey came and asked Mrs. Edwards if we could get out of class to help."

"And you yelled at him in the hall?" Justin snorted at Nick’s recount of how Joey had approached him and called him fresh meat, all in front of Kevin who Nick hadn’t seen until it was too late.

"OH my god," Nick’s face still burned with embarrassment. "It was hilarious. I was like ‘ MY NAME IS NICK’, and Kevin was trying not to laugh. He must think I'm the biggest loser."

"Have you talked to him?" Justin still felt bad about how he’d told Nick to get over his crush on Kevin, that he should either do something about it or shut up. He’d apologized countless times since, relieved that Nick hadn’t held anything they’d said during their fight against him.

Nick nodded. "A few times. I mean, it’s always short conversations and he keeps giving me these really weird looks.."

"Like the one today? In the hall?" Justin wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he guessed that Kevin’s smile and the way he’d singled Nick out that morning with his eyes had meant something. There were still rumours that he and Gretchen was still going strong, but at the same time there were also rumours that they were fighting all the time. Justin had no idea what to believe, so he didn’t believe any of it.

"Yeah, he does that." Nick nodded as he drank the rest of his milkshake. "He’ll give me a look, or smile, or even say something to me. God, you should have seen him yesterday when I was yelling at Mike and Liam."

Justin snickered and moved closer to Nick. "Tell me what happened. Brian told me last night, but I want to hear your side of it." It still amazed Justin when he thought about what Brian had told him about Nick standing up to Liam and Mike, both juniors that were taller and bigger than him. He could apologize a million times to Nick, but he knew that it would never convey just how thankful he was for his best friend, and consequently, their other friends which were quickly becoming best friend status as well.


End Chapter 23


Chapter 24 >