< Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Justin passed Kevin and stared him right in the eye. The look meant to show Kevin that he better play nice and take care of his best friend, and the older boy understood the message without question. "What are we doing?" Lance asked again as he trailed behind Justin.

"Just follow my lead. Don’t say anything," Justin whispered as they approached where Brian, Joey and Chris were all talking together. Upon their arrival, the group all turned to say hello. Justin smiled and Lance waved.

"So," Justin said, turning to face Brian and Joey. "I hear you think that Nick and I have something going on. Behind Chris’ back of course."

Lance gasped while Brian and Joey’s faces turned pale white. Chris covered his face with his hands and shook his head. "J..."

"No," Justin said calmly, he was still smiling. "I just wanted to clear it up. Since they felt the need to discuss it in open where other people could possibly hear and jump to their own conclusions." Justin looked at his boyfriend who had confusion in his eyes.

"What?"

Justin nodded. "At your show, before exams. They were saying how they think that Nick and my friendship is suspicious and that we’re cheating on you."

"I thought we’d talked about this," Chris growled. Brian and Joey both had the decency to be embarrassed by Justin’s accusation, guilt written all over their faces.

"We weren’t saying that..." Joey started. He stopped at the look on Chris’ face.

"Yeah, we kind of were." Brian said apologetically. "But ... We didn’t mean..."

"For us to find out? For Nick to now think that we’re weird and that Chris is going to dump me? Let me just tell you both," Justin warned coolly, "there is nothing wrong with my friendship with Nick."

"We weren’t saying there was. It is just ...you’re both so close and we were just wondering if anything was going on behind closed doors."

"Behind Chris’ back? Because I’m that much of a slut to be cheating on my boyfriend with my best friend? Like I’m not happy enough with one, I need two?"

Although Chris couldn’t believe this conversation was taking place, he was really proud at how well Justin was holding his temper. Judging from the expression on Lance’s face, he was thinking the same thing. "Justin, I’m sure that wasn’t..."

"I’m sure it was. They pretty much accused us of fooling around on you. Which is something I would never do. Cheating is the lowest of the low and I don’t know what type of person you THINK I am, but you don’t know me at all."

Brian stepped in and put his arm comfortingly on Justin’s arm. "I am very sorry, I didn’t realize that you would be so offended by it. I never meant to upset you."

Justin raised an eyebrow suspiciously. His gaze flickered over to where Nick and Kevin were talking, then back to Brian. "Well thank you, but if you have anything else you so desperately need to know about my life or my friendship with Nick, feel free to ask us instead of speculating. I don’t appreciate people running my name through the mud. And, well don’t even get me started on how protective of my friends I am. All of them, and if you think that means something more, then I’ll be pleased to tell you I’m not cheating on Chris with any of them either."

Lance watched in surprise as Justin turned on his heel and walked away without another word. He looked at Chris awkwardly and gave a shrug. "Uhhh, yeah. So I’m gonna go now."

Chris nodded weakly as he watched the two teens walk away. He turned back to his friends who were still staring at him in shock. "Well, you fuckers deserved that."

"What the hell just happened?" Joey asked, confused.

"You just got bitched out by my boyfriend for being an asshole. And I have to admit, I've seen him angry, you got lucky."

"I’m sorry Chris, I never thought that they would have found out..."

"What? You never thought that they’d find out that you don’t trust them?"

Brian blushed and shook his head. It wasn't that he didn’t trust the two, it was ...as he thought about it, Chris was right. He couldn’t deny what amazing basketball players the two were, not to mention how they were two of the nicest people he’d ever met, but at the same time he’d always thought something wasn’t right with them. Despite Nick’s infatuation with Kevin, and Justin’s relationship with Chris, he had always suspected that more was going on with them behind the scenes. And it was more out of a genuine concern for his best friends than anything that he brought it up to Joey and then Kevin and Chris. Although Kevin and Chris had continually assured him that he was wrong, Brian wasn’t so sure. "It isn’t as horrible as that," Brian argued.

Joey shook his head and frowned. "It kind of is." When Chris and Brian looked at him he shrugged. "I mean, who are we to say what’s normal and what’s not? If you called me in the middle of the night, no matter what I was doing I’d rush over and help you. If you ever needed anything, I’d drop everything. How many people had I beat up in elementary school for making fun of Chris? For making fun of you, Brian? I’d trust you over any girl who came along. Does that mean anything more than it is?"

Brian shrugged. "No, because we’re straight."

Chris coughed. "Speak for yourself." Brian frowned and sighed.

"It’s different."

"No, it isn’t," Joey pointed out. "And, say they were cheating on Chris together. Hypothetically, what business is it of ours? It’s Chris’ business and we brought it to his attention. He told us not to worry, that he knows Justin better than we do and he trusts him. So why is it our business? Why do I care?"

"Because we’re his friends," Brian struggled. He knew his case was weak at best.

"Yeah. We are. And we’ve just alienated his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s best friend, both whom I find pretty cool people. I mean, Nick is wicked talented with the paintbrush and the last thing I want is to make him hate me, especially for something that has nothing to do with me." Joey turned to Chris and grabbed his hand in an apologetic shake. "Dude, I’m sorry. When Nick and Kev finally finish whatever drama that they plan to unfold tonight, I’ll apologize to him. And I'll talk to J alone sometime soon."

Chris nodded, smiling at his best friend. He turned his attention to Brian who was blushing. "Whatever," Brian mumbled. Chris knew it was the closest he was going to get to an apology until he’d recovered from the embarrassment.

~*~*~*

"Can I sit," Kevin asked softly, pointing to the seat that Justin had vacated only moments earlier. The look Justin had given him was still fresh in his mind and he had to fight to keep the butterflies at bay in his stomach.

"Of course." Nick smiled up at Kevin, feeling his own pulse race at his close proximity. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, it’s nice to relax after so much stress." Their conversation was strained as neither were sure of what to think or say.

They talked about their respective exams, the weather that night and their summer plans. Nick admitted that he hadn’t really thought past the end of exams for what he wanted to do in the summer. He was planning on spending at least a week or two at his grandparents’ house like he did every summer. Justin usually went up for a week of it as well, enjoying the time away.

Once they had exhausted all of the ‘safe’ topics, Kevin licked his lips and looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly in his lap. He looked up at Nick who was watching him curiously. It was amazing how long it had been since Kevin had *really* looked at him. Usually, Kevin looked and knew exactly what he was going to see, but now, after not seeing Nick as frequently in the recent past, it was as if he was seeing the blonde for the first time in ages. Perhaps it was. Nick looked absolutely beautiful, not the same fourteen year old boy he’d first seen in the hall in September. Or, he was the same, except different in ways that made Kevin wonder what he’d been thinking all those months and why it had taken him so long to see what was in front of him.

The silence fell over them and Nick gave a nervous laugh. Kevin joined in and within seconds they were laughing hysterically, neither entirely sure at what. "Is it really weird," Nick asked, "or is it just me?"

"It’s kind of weird, but not a bad weird," Kevin answered. "I’m glad that you stopped today."

Nick furrowed his brow in confusion. "What?"

"In the hall, I thought you would have just kept walking and ignored me. I’m glad that you stopped to talk."

"I nearly got locked out of my exam," Nick admitted with a blush. Kevin’s eyes widened and Nick nodded his head and snickered. "Yeah. It was funny, everyone was already sitting down and I ran into the gym just before they were about to close the door."

"That would have been awful," Kevin laughed. "I would have felt so bad."

Nick giggled. "I would have made you knock on the door and explain WHY I was late and hope they’d take pity on me and let me still write it."

Kevin shook this head. "No, they won’t let you in no matter what after they’ve locked the door." He remembered to a time in his sophomore year when he’d been late for an exam he had been freaking out, and as he explained to the principal why he was late, they had made an exception and let him write the test in another room, all by himself. "In grade ten, my mom was driving me to school for my math exam. She was turning and this guy ran a red light and crashed into us. We were fine, but I ended up being like a half an hour late for the test. They wouldn’t let me in. With that and the shock of the crash, I was crying and when they pulled me into the principal’s office, I told him what had happened."

Nick automatically put his hand on Kevin’s arm for support. He hated the thought of Kevin being in any sort of accident and a look of concern crossed his face. "Oh wow, were you okay?"

Kevin nodded, "Yeah. It wasn’t a bad crash, it just scared me more than anything. They clipped the back end of the car, but it was on my side so..." He took a deep breath, trying to remember where he was going with this story. The feel of Nick’s hand on his arm was distracting. "But then when they wouldn’t let me write the exam, I started to freak out."

"What did they do?"

Kevin laughed. "They let me write it in another room. The staff room. So I sat at the table, wrote it there while the Principal sat in the corner, drank his coffee and read the paper."

"Why didn’t you just write it at a different time? I mean, could you even concentrate?"

"You know how it is, whenever you rewrite the exam or test, it’s always ten times harder than the first one was, so I knew it was either fail it then, or fail it later. At least then, I could get it over with."

"Well, I’m glad that I made it. I wouldn’t have wanted to not write it with everyone else and not be done right now." Nick looked around the patio, seeing everyone having a good time. Christina and Britney were in the pool with a whole bunch of their friends, while Justin was laughing and eating pizza with AJ and Lance. In that moment, he realized that he was having one of the better times he could remember in the recent past with Kevin. There was only a slight sexual tension in the air, just enough to make his stomach flutter, but not enough to blind him completely to everything else that was going on.

Nick took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet almost summer air. There was a sense of relief and excitement lingering around everyone and Nick was eager to start their summer. Although he didn’t have any immediate plans after that night, the following Wednesday was going to be their Anti-Prom event, followed by Graduation on Friday, which Nick would be attending with Justin. He had agreed to go with Justin to watch Chris graduate and celebrate with him, but there was also the masochistic side of him that wanted to be there for Kevin’s graduation. He was proud to see the senior walk across the stage, although the knowledge that it meant he was gone from Lincoln High put a bit of a damper on the event. He hadn’t realized Kevin was talking and snapped to attention, blushing slightly.

"I’m sorry, I think I zoned out," Nick apologized with a smile. He watched as Kevin gave a shy smile himself as he looked away quickly.

The sight of Nick’s cute smile caused for Kevin’s pulse to race and he found he was going to have to focus on something else besides the plushness of his lips and the blue of his eyes. Kevin promised himself that he was going to behave, that he wasn’t going to make any type of inappropriate advance on Nick, no matter how badly he wanted to. Kevin shook his head and wrinkled his nose. "I was just asking you about try outs for Varsity. How they went."

Nick’s shy smile turned into a full on grin. His eyes lit up and Kevin could feel the excitement flowing from the younger boy. He knew from talking to Brian, that in the last week of May, they held the Varsity try outs for Boys Basketball. For some reason, the school had always held two try outs, one in the spring before the school year ended, and then another one in the fall to fill any places that hadn’t been filled in the spring. Sometimes players who got cut in May took the summer to practice and hone their skills, and sometimes there were new transfers in the fall that hadn’t been given the opportunity to try out in the spring. Kevin never understood why they just didn’t wait until the following October to hold the try outs and eliminate the unnecessary procedure, but he was told to stick to the sport he knew and not to worry about it.

"They were awesome. I mean, Coach Griffiths pretty much told me I was a shoo in for Varsity, but I wasn’t sure. I mean, pretty much the whole Freshman team tried out, plus the players they already had that were on the team.."

"I heard that some of the players that were on the team didn’t make it again," Kevin said with a laugh. That was a very rare occurrence, as it had to take a lot to be not picked when you were already on the team and he would have hated to be those guys.

Nick nodded as he rolled his eyes. "There were some players who had gone to practices and just did nothing. They worked their butts off to get on the team, and then just coasted all year. We’d been practicing with them since Christmas, so I could even tell, right. And yeah, so Coach Griffiths had it as a practice and try out all in one." Nick had wondered why, if Kevin had gone to every game, every open practice and had been at the try outs in the fall, he hadn’t come to the one in May. He had even looked for the older boy in the stands, surprised when he was nowhere to be seen. "Why ...didn’t you go?"

Kevin shrugged. "I had to write a paper for one of my acceptances, kind of like a last minute thing that we had to fax over to the school. They hadn’t sent me the right package and ...it was a mess. But it was a school I really wanted to get into, so I had to meet with Mr. Gregory and go over things. The only time he could meet me was during the try outs so.."

"Oh, well that’s kinda sucky that you didn’t get the right package," Nick said softly. He wanted so desperately to ask Kevin which schools he had gotten accepted in and where he was going, but he knew from talking to Justin that it was a very touchy subject. Nick hoped Kevin could come to him when he was ready. "But it worked out?"

With a short nod, Kevin answered Nick’s question and moved back to the topic of Nick’s try outs. "So, I know you made it, obviously," he laughed. "Congratulations."

Nick’s smile could light up the room. "Thanks. Yeah, I was really happy. It’s gonna be an awesome team. There were actually a few guys from my team that made it."

"I heard, Brian said that this year’s Freshman team was the best team in years."

Nick nodded, "yeah, it was awesome. It’s weird to admit it, but I am really glad that they cut me from Varsity."

"Well, from what I was told, and sworn to secrecy at the time," Kevin said as he leaned in closer to Nick. "It was one of the toughest decisions they’ve ever had to make. Had Griffiths not been so hell bent on you captaining the Freshman team, you probably would have made it too."

"Some things are just meant to be, I think," Nick admitted confidently. Just like he knew he and Kevin were meant to be. And the thing his mother had always taught him, was the things worth having, were the things you had to work for. If everything came easy, you wouldn’t appreciate them as much. So he decided to take his experience with Kevin as a positive. He’d known what life was like before Kevin, and then with Kevin, although partially, and now without him. Again. And Nick had to admit, life with Kevin in it, even as a friend, was much more worthwhile than life without him, and so, Nick had decided to take what he could get and not push the issue of defining what they had. He needed Kevin to know this, but wasn’t sure exactly how to put it. Finally, he just started to talk. "Kevin, can I tell you something?"

Kevin nodded nervously. He was unsure of what Nick was going to say and hoped it wasn’t something bad. "Of course, you can tell me anything."

"I’m really glad that we’re friends. I know I was really upset ...that night in the parking lot at the Shack. And ...I don’t want you to think we’re not friends."

Kevin felt his stomach flip a few times and he grinned. Friends was definitely a start, and friends could always lead to more. Enemies, on the other hand, was not a good sign. "You had every right to be upset that night Nick," Kevin admitted shamefully. "I’ve been very unfair to you..."

"No, you didn’t do anything I didn’t let you do. It’s just ...as much as I liked kissing you and being with you like that, I liked it when we talked just as much. When we’d hang out at school, or when we would hang out at parties and actually talk. I just," Nick blushed and looked away. "Really like being around you."

Kevin’s arm had reached out before he could stop himself and he lifted Nick’s chin so that they were staring into each other’s eyes. It would have taken no effort at all for him to lean in and press their mouths together, and judging from the look of hope in Nick’s eyes he knew it wouldn’t be ill received. But Kevin had a plan, and rushing was not a part of it. "I like being around you too, and you don't know how good it feels to know I didn’t fuck that up. It felt awful to think that we’d never have this again, that you hated me and ..."

Nick could see Kevin getting upset and he grabbed Kevin’s hand in his own, squeezing it tight. "No, I just needed time away from it all. To clear my head and just ..." The sentence trailed off and Nick looked to the pool where everyone was having fun. He longed to join them, but at the same time, wanted to stay where he was.

"I hear you guys are having an Anti-Prom," Kevin said. He wanted to change the topic to something lighter and erase the look of sadness that had crossed Nick’s face. His attempt was successful as Nick’s lips curled into a grin and he bounced in his seat.

"Yeah, it’s gonna be awesome. We’re all getting dressed up in our suits and dresses and gonna go bowling. We’ve all sorta got dates and we’re gonna get corsages and everything."

Kevin felt jealousy prick his skin and he fought not to show it. "Who’s your date?" He watched Nick’s cheeks reddened.

"It was supposed to be Christina. You see," Nick sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. He leaned in closer to Kevin, as if sharing a secret. "It was supposed to just be us, the freshmen, right. So I was taking Chrissy, J was taking Brit and Lance was gonna go with Brit’s friend Mandy. It was this whole thing, but then Aje was all ‘wait, I can’t go to prom so I want to go to the Anti-Prom’, and Lance was all ‘I can’t go with Mandy if AJ’s coming.’ And then Josh was all ‘if Aje is going I’m going, and Chrissy’s my date’, so Britney was telling Billy and he decided he was gonna come, so it’s become this whole thing."

Kevin laughed at Nick’s dramatic recount of the events of their Anti-Prom. It was amazing to watch how animated he would get. "And?"

"Well, now everyone has *real* dates and J and I decided that real men don’t need dates so we’re buying our own corsages. We’re not gonna be tied down to anyone the whole night."

They both broke into laughter.

"I bet you’ll probably have a better time there than at ours," Kevin said. Nick nodded immediately.


"That’s the plan. J was kinda upset that he wasn’t going with Chris, but then we realized that we’re going to have to sit through our own, with the boring speeches and the pretending we love everyone when really we can’t wait to get away from them."

It was the honest to god’s truth, Kevin nodded to Nick’s accurate summary of the event. "You know, you’re absolutely right."

"Who are you going with?" Nick asked. Their eyes locked and they shared a knowing look between them.

"Real men don’t need dates."

Nick wrinkled his nose and smirked. "No one would go with you, eh?" Kevin growled playfully and Nick stuck out his tongue. "It’s okay, you don’t have to be ashamed."

This time, Kevin pretended to punch Nick in the shoulder. "Smart ass." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Actually, Gretch called and asked if I wanted to go with her, for old time’s sake. We’d always talked about prom and what we wanted to do that night."

Nick’s heart leapt to his throat and he couldn’t hide the soft gasp that resulted. His face burned and he faked a smile. Suddenly he wanted to be anywhere but on that chair, talking to Kevin. "Oh?"

Kevin closed his eyes and mentally cursed himself. He had no idea why he felt the need to bring up Gretchen and her phone call from a few weeks back. The pain in Nick’s eyes cut to Kevin’s heart and he felt his stomach churn sickly. "Yeah. I mean ...she called ...and ..."

"I’m sure you’ll have a great time," Nick said softly. He froze when he felt Kevin’s hand on his face. When he raised his eyes, Nick could see the pain reflected in Kevin’s and it eased some of the hurt in his heart.

"I’m going alone," Kevin whispered. "I told her no."

"Why?" Nick whispered back. "If she asked..."

"I said she asked, I didn’t say I wanted to go with her." Kevin failed to tell Nick that the only person he wanted to go to prom with was sitting on the next patio lounge chair beside him. And he was. When Kevin thought about Prom, all he could see was he and Nick, dressed in their tuxes, matching corsages and a night of magic. If he was going to go without Nick, he was going to go dateless. He almost hadn’t gone but Chris had warned him if he didn’t go, he was going to kick his ass and knowing Chris, he would. So he had agreed to go, if not just for the memory and that in twenty years, he didn’t regret not going to his prom. "So ...yeah..."

The conversation had reached a stand still, neither certain where to go from there. They were both feeling awkward about the elephant in the room that neither were willing to discuss. Thankfully, they were interrupted.

"I know you’re probably going to kill me," Christina said sweetly. "But I’m stealing Nick away from you Kevin." She grabbed Nick’s hands in her own and pulled him to his feet. Surprisingly, he didn’t exactly resist. Their eyes met and Christina smiled at the thanks she could read in his gaze. "You’ve been hogging him all night and we want to spend some time with our favourite blondie."

"You’re our favourite blondie," Josh said as he grabbed Christina around the waist. They shared a private laugh and he kissed her lips softly. He then turned to Nick and pinched his ass playfully. "He’s our second favourite blondie."

Kevin stood as well, shaking his head. "No worries here Christina, he’s all yours for the rest of the night, I promise." The heat between himself and Nick was still present, something that Kevin couldn’t ignore. Not that he wanted to, but it still felt good to know it was there.

"Thanks for the talk Kev," Nick said as Christina pulled him away. It was a double edged sword. He wanted more time with Kevin, in fact, he wanted all the time in the world with Kevin, but at the same time, he knew it was best if he got away from him for a while. As if reading his mind, Christina had managed to come over and discreetly pull him away from the situation. When they crossed the patio and were safely out of Kevin’s earshot, he pulled her close to him and hugged her.

"Thank you," he whispered against her head.

Christina grinned and kissed his cheek. "I’ve been trying to figure out how to interrupt forever, but you both looked so happy talking to each other. And then all of a sudden you looked so upset, and exams are done, we’re in summer vacation and you’re not allowed to be upset. So I marched right over, and was about to give Kevin a piece of my mind when I saw that he looked just as upset as you did."

Nick sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. Before he could say anything, he felt Christina’s hand on his arm and was being pulled into the water. When he surfaced, she was on his back, legs around his waist and laughing loudly.

"You should have seen the look on your face Nicky," she giggled. She let out a scream as he flung himself backwards, dunking them both. By the time he came up for air, he not only had Christina on his back, but Justin on one side and Britney on the other. They all began to try and dunk one another, catching the attention of everyone outside. Within an instant, the pool was full of people having a massive water fight.

It took him a few minutes, but Nick managed to escape to the side of the pool, hidden from eyesight from any potential attackers. "Come on, lets get out," Justin whispered to him. "I heard Brian saying something about more food coming out."

The sound of Nick’s stomach growling was more than enough response for Nick and they slid out of the pool. Heading across the deck, Nick shook his head and body of the excess water, unaware of a pair of eyes glued to his every move. The dunk in the pool was just what he’d needed to cool off and release some residual negative feelings. It was summer vacation, he didn’t have home work or assignments for another two months and there was nothing stopping him from having a good time. They reached the table just as Brian loaded it up with pizza and wings, laughing as they and only a handful of other people realized the food had arrived.

With the best friends, and a summer full of fun ahead of him, Nick was more than ready to relax and enjoy himself.

End Chapter 46


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