"I got your text, this is what you wanted me to see?" A female voice asked. She stood by the door. Her eyes did not know where to focus. On Stella, who was basically red as a tomato, On Archer, who was feigning a sour face while arguing with his student or the other guy who kept on eating as if everything was fine.

"Look who brought his boyfriend!" Stella smiled and pointed at Archer.

She walked towards them. She ignored Archer and Stella. " Wait, aren't you the guy who's friends with that rat-faced Nolan?"

"I'm guessing you're Shinta. What did Nolan do now to be called rat-faced? last month, I heard him say you called him a monkey."  He heard about her for so long from Nolan, but has never actually seen her. He said he liked her ever since High school. For the life of him, he can't recall Shinta even though he went to the same school as Nolan. She does look intimidating. Her sharp dark eyes and her perfectly sculpted eyebrows were not doing any wonders in making her look approachable. 

"Tell him to stop sending gift baskets to my apartment.  I appreciate the chocolates and the wine, but I have no impulse control and we are never getting back together."

"You got together?" Clyde asked confused. He always thought it was a one-sided thing for Nolan. 

Archer laughed, " You actually hooked up with that horse?"

"Okay, I don't know Nolan, but what does he actually look like? Is he handsome? You stooped down to his level, he couldn't be that bad. He seems like he's emotionally available and rich. Definitely rich. I can work things out and fall for him. Can I ?" Stella meekly asked while she combed her hands through her hair.

Clyde avoided making eye contact with her. He's been getting a nagging feeling that she will wear him down to get Nolan's contact information. His only hope was for Shinta to say no. He looked at Shinta who was caught off guard by Stella's ramblings.

 Shinta raised her eyebrow, a bit perplexed. "No, you can't be with him. He's with me." 

Archer laughed again. " You fell in love with that sea urchin?"

"Archer, I will crucify you if you do not stop. I do not love him. He is a mistake. A drunken mistake. A cautionary tale to scare off kids into ever trying alcohol." She smiled intimidatingly.

"Hey, John! Do you hear that? You're gonna have that donkey as a brother-in-law!" Archer shouted from across the room. John turned to her sister, "Is he, right?" He asked in fear.

"No, you've got to stop believing him. He's just joking." Shinta replied with a loving smile. She turned her attention back to Archer, "Watch your back."

"So, Clyde, if I do end up missing or murdered, question her first."  

"And If I end up missing, you'll see me in Nolan's arms." Stella winked.

Shinta grabbed Stella's wrist. " No, if she ends up missing, go question me too."

Clyde massaged the temple of his head. " I'm getting a headache from listening. All I know is if ever someone ends up missing, Nolan's linked to it." There were too many people, too many voices and it was all too much. It overstimulated him, turning him slightly on edge and bitter. All these people gathered around because of Archer. They're all here because they could not get enough of him, because they cared for him. 

Archer saw this as the perfect opportunity to excuse themselves and leave. 

"I'm taking him to the infirmary," Archer spoke. Clyde stood up and said his goodbyes to the two, hoping to never run into them in the near future. Archer followed him outside after paying for what they ate.

He couldn't see him. He wasn't by the door waiting for him. He couldn't have gotten that far. He looked around, poking his head on classrooms he thinks Clyde might have found an interest in like the one that was showing movies or the one that had an art exhibition. He wasn't in any of them. After pushing through the crowd and as the hallways became less dense, He finally stumbled upon him. He sat on the steps of a staircase.

"So this is where you ran off to." He sat at a step higher than him.

"I'm not great with crowds." 

"I can tell. Thanks for being here."

"Don't forget my coffee jelly." He reminded.

Archer nodded. "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled.

No one talked after that. The only thing they could hear was the faint noise coming from the other side of the hallway. Weirdly enough, they didn't feel the need to fill the air with sound. They were comfortable with each other's silence. Clyde's back caught Archer's attention. He noticed how broad and muscular it was. He always saw Clyde as a twig that can be easily snapped when stepped on right. He always thought he can win against him in a fight with a simple push, but that no longer seemed to be the case. His eyes then focused on his hair. It touched the collar of his shirt. He reached his arm out, wanting to feel it against his fingertips. Before he can, Clyde broke his silence.

"They do love their Teacher Archer." He spoke out of nowhere.

"What?" Archer asked, puzzled.

"That Lea, Stella, Shinta, even that kid, John, they love you."

" Where did this sappy shit come from?" He tilted his head and tried to make sense of what he was hearing.

 "Nowhere, It's just nice." He smiled, but his eyes were bleak and lonely. 

" Are you sick or something?" He held him on the shoulder, directing Clyde's body towards him. Without a second thought, He pressed his forehead against Clyde's forehead. He was burning. "How did you even get sick?" He asked surprised.

"How long are you going to do this?" He asked with his cheek a bit flushed. He pushed him and quickly turned his body away from him. "I'm fine." He has been feeling like shit since this morning. He got home late last night and this time it's not because of Nolan. He just did not want to go home, for the day to be over. He went into a pub grabbed a drink or two. He slowly walked home against the cold wind. It's just he really did not want to deal with the whole fair. He really dreaded it. Now that he's here, he wanted to vomit. 

"You're not. You should've just told me, and I wouldn't have bothered you."

"I am not. Let's go, what's the next thing we need to do?" He stood up.

Archer grabbed his wrist. "If you end up fainting, know that I will carry you in my arms like the weakling you are."

Clyde looked at Archer, he didn't know if it was the sun shining through the window or his mind playing tricks on him, but for a moment, Archer seemed different. His eyes were honey and his touch was warm. He did not want to look and break away. "To the infirmary it is."