12 (Chapter 11)

December 15, 2018

Luke was doing much better by now.

He was still a bit gloomy, but then again, he had always been that way. He had more or less moved on with his life. Of course, he would never fully gotten over the deaths of his family, but that was to be expected. Did anyone ever truly get used to the fact that their family was dead?

Despite the remaining vestiges of sadness he was feeling, Luke was actually living life well. He was very smart, and had already been given his pick from several universities on scholarship.

His relationship with Nick had been growing as well. They now freely expressed their feelings for each other and weren't afraid to tell people that they were boyfriends.

Jace had grown apart from Luke by quite a bit, but Nick still frequently contacted him.

Right, I haven't mentioned it yet. Jace had transferred schools. He refused to tell them the reason why, but Luke suspected that it had something to do with bullying. It wasn't exactly a far fetched idea. Jace, a gay with a small build getting bullied by a bunch of low life homophobes, it wasn't impossible.

In any case, today the four friends had decided to meet up at a cafe and catch up with each other.

"Jace! What's up!" Nick ran up to his friend and gave him a suffocating hug.

Jace flinched. "Can't. Breath."

Nick hugged him even tighter for a second, causing Jace to wheeze in pain. Laughing, he finally let go. "That's your punishment for being so busy lately. I haven't seen you in like, six months!" Nick pouted, obviously upset at Jace.

The person in question coughed awkwardly in response. "I've been... busy recently." After saying this, a small smirk made its way across Jace's face. "And anyways, I doubt you would've been able to make time for me. I hear you've been busy too. Busy acting like a girl experiencing her first love."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "I have not!"

"Oh, but he's right. You totally have been." It was Luke. He couldn't resist adding to the conversation. It was true, Nick was acting like a puppy recently. He wanted all of Luke's attention and stuck by his side almost 24/7.

Nick glared at his boyfriend with betrayal. "It was you! You're the one who told Jace!"

His voice was accusatory. It sounded like a little kid whose sibling had ratted him out to their parents.

"Nope," Luke said, raising his hands as a sign of innocence, "Wasn't me."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Then who was it? You guys are basically the only people I'm close to."

"Ouch," Jace flinched, "That must've hurt."

"What?"

"He's talking about me," A voice said.

"What the!?!?!" Nick jumped up in his seat, turning to his side where a peeved guy sat glaring at him. Previously assumed to be a stranger, Nick paled as he recognized the person's face. "Oh, hey Alex. How long have you been there?"

"I was sitting here before you guys came in."

"Oh, aha. Is that so."

Jace burst into laughter. "I was waiting for you to notice him!"