Chapter 13

The students were allowed forty-five minutes of free time before curfew at 10:30 pm, the dreaded lights out that Nick was not enthused about. Not only did he have to share a room with Alex, he had to sleep in the same BED. Sure, he's been nice to him recently but it still feels a little awkward for Nick because of the other stuff that had happened two weeks prior. He just had to man up and deal with it.

As his team stood up at the table to leave the dining hall and get ready for bed, he looked back and saw that Max being forced into the kitchen for clean up duty tonight, even though it wasn't his turn. Nick smiled smugly and walked out of the door. The other three boys skew off into another hallway of dorms, leaving Alex and Nick alone in silence walking towards their room. Nick was walking behind Alex and admired his muscle shirt defining his large, broad shoulders. He probably works out a lot.

Alex opened the door with his card and gestured inside like a butler.

"After you, Piano Boy," Alex said smirking at Nick. Nick shook his head slightly in a way of saying 'I can't believe you.' He reluctantly rolled his eyes and walked in, Alex shutting the door behind them.

"I'm gonna have a shower. Unless you want to go back out into the common room and hang out with the others?" Alex asked standing in the doorway that led to the bathroom.

"I think I'll just get changed and lay in bed for a while until lights out."

"Sure. Anything for you, Piano Boy." Alex winked as he locked the bathroom door.

Ugh. What a weirdo, Nick thought

He pulled out his phone to find a message left by L.

L: Good job on the quiz! Not gonna lie you carried your team.

N: Yea, I'm a freak with music theory and stuff.

L: We noticed haha. How was your day?

N: Pretty good actually. My team and I are apparently friends which is GREAT!!

L: Jeez your friends just quintupled.

N: Hey! :O

L: Hehe just kidding. Can't wait for tomorrow.

N: Why's that?

L: Btw that was sarcastic. The second day of camp is a community clean up where we go around the surrounding area and pick up rubbish. For the whole. Day.

N: I wish I hadn't come now ;-;

L: But then you wouldn't be able to meet me :3

N: True. That's the only plus.

L: Thanks <3

N: Np. I'm gonna chill for a bit before going to sleep. Maybe talk to Alex about the ground rules of our bed.

L: Good idea. Why do we have to share a bed? It's so stupid.

N: Oh well. Guess we'll just have to put up with it.

L: I suppose. Well, have a good sleep :)

N: U too. Ttyl

L: Byeeeee!

Nick sat on his phone, scrolling through Instagram, wasting the time he had before lights out. Alex came out of the bathroom as Nick was laughing at a funny meme. He was drying his soft hair with the towel around his shoulders. He wore loose, red basketball shorts that read 'Bulls' on the side. Nick's eyes continued up as he saw Alex's shirt. That wasn't actually there. He had no shirt on. He was shirtless. Nick found himself mesmerized by the defined abs and hard pecks. He stared for a moment before realizing what he was doing. He was being a little bit of a perv. He shook his head and held his eyes shut before opening them to see Alex look at him surprised.

"Like what you see, Piano Boy?" He laughed.

"Shut up. I was distracted by how... b-built you are," Nick said with a blush as he looked away. He flew his hands to his face in embarrassment as he realized what he just said. How was he so stupid? He was caught staring at Alex's bare chest and said 'I was distracted.'

"I-I mean... S-Sorry for staring at you," Nick said into his hands. There was a harsh force against Nick's chest as well as a grasp around his shirt. He fell onto his back and yelped as Alex pushed him onto the bed. Nick could feel his weight on the bed now and felt his presence hovering above him. Alex's knees were either side of Nick's waist and applied a small amount of pressure to them.

Alex leaned in and whispered in Nick's ear. "I don't remember telling you to stop." His breath tickled Nick's ear and temple as it flowed out like dragon's breath. Nick was too scared to look. Alex grabbed hold of Nick's wrists gently and pulled them off to find him flinching, face tense. Alex looked at him with a slight confusion as he watched Nick's face trembling, his eyes sewn shut.

"P-Please... D-Don't h-hurt me..." Nick squeezed softly out of his throat. His hands were splayed across Alex's chest with a slight push, but it evidently showed that Nick had no strength left in him. He gave out a small whimper in fear. Alex was frozen. He had no idea what to do. Did he do something wrong? He looked at his hands that were either side of his head and moved them slowly under Nick's arms as he slowly pulled him up to sit straight-ish. Alex wrapped his large arms around his small back and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Nick," Alex said bringing his head to his shoulder. He patted him on his back and Nick's breathing began to slow until it was normal. Alex just realized he was straddling Nick's lap and felt heat rush to his head.

Pure thoughts Alex. Stopitstopitstopitstopit. Alex screamed in his head. Nick looked up at Alex, not noticing his blush.

"I'm so sorry, Alex," Nick said shakily, "I-It's my fault. I..." He was interrupted by Alex's finger on his lips signalling him to shush. They stared in silence before Alex moved his hand to Nick's cheek. He caressed his face with his thumb ever so slightly as he spoke.

"Don't be. Come to me anytime," Alex smiled softly as he saw the sparkle return to Nick's eyes.

"T-Thanks, Alex."

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm feeling better now."

"Anything for you, Piano Boy." They said in unison. They laughed at each other at this before gazing into each others eyes.

"Uhm- Uh... You're squashing my legs." Alex looked down and began getting up.

"Sorry," he said with a chuckle, "I'm going to brush my teeth and hop into bed if you're gonna join?"

"Considering there's only one bed, you'd assume so," Nick said with sass. Alex arched an eyebrow and shrugged before walking into the bathroom.

Nick checked his phone and realised that their lights had to be out in 5. Nick took off his shirt and threw it onto his bag. He laid back under his covers looking up to the ceiling with his hands under his head. Alex returned and slid into the covers without hesitation. He laid on his side to be able to look at Nick. Alex was about to open his mouth before interrupted by Nick.

"Ground rules. No touching, nothing more than no shirt, no hogging the blankets, no disturbing the other's sleep before when they want to wake up." Alex stared.

"You took the words right out of my mind, Piano Boy." He laid back on the bed, the same way Nick was doing. Nick reached to his side table and turned off the lights. They lay there in silence before one of them spoke.

"What happened?" Alex asked. Nick stayed still waiting for the right words come to his mind to answer that question.

"At my old school, two of them actually, I was always bullied. I was the quiet kid that sat in the back of the classroom and didn't have any friends. So after school a group of guys would force me to the back of the school and beat me up. One time was so bad that I had to go to hospital. Yet, nothing happened to those boys. They kept doing it. I was basically in fear of my life most of my time there. It's been 2 years since I've been there and when you were over me like that, it reminded me exactly of that day. It was as if you were one of them and I got scared. I'm sorry. I probably freaked you out."

"Nick, you really need to stop apologising. I'll never become like one of them. I don't want to ever hurt you."

"Thanks. That made me feel much better." There was a short silence.

"G-goodnight, Piano Boy."

Nick smiled to himself as he repeated the words.