Read Tale of Three: Alec and Nick :: Guilty

Alec ran down the stairs and rushed out of the door, saying a quick goodbye to his family. He headed towards Nick's house and saw him coming out the door just as he stepped onto the lawn. Alec smiled as Nick walked over to him.

"You didn't have to run." Nick smiled. "I would've waited for you."

"I know. I didn't want to make you wait."

Alec's cheeks flushed as he brushed his hand against Nick's. He felt like a love-struck teenager. It made him feel ridiculous, but it was a nice feeling at the same time.

He noticed Nick was blushing too. He wasn't the only one experiencing these feelings. Alec smiled as he wrapped his pinky around Nick's and pulled him closer. He made sure not to bring him in too close. He didn't want Nick to pull away cause they were so close to home.

"We should go," Nick whispered.

Alec wanted to skip. Spend the day with Nick. But he already knew the answer. He was just going to have to wait.

The walk to school was about an hour. The whole time, Alec was holding back his desire to hold Nick's hand. They still weren't officially a couple yet. Nick still wasn't ready to take their relationship a step further. Alec didn't mind, though. He was willing to wait.

They walked into the school and stopped in the middle of the corridor. There weren't many people yet, which was the perfect time for them to be alone.

Alec looked at the time. They had less time than he thought. Soon the halls would be filled with students.

"You have advanced math now?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded. "I should go."

Nick reluctantly started to head to his class. Alec watched him leave. He didn't want to separate so soon.

"Hey." Alec ran to him. He didn't know why he stopped him, but he wanted to with him a little longer, even if it was only for a few seconds. "Can we eat lunch together?"

Nick smiled as he laughed. He quickly looked around and grabbed Alec's hands, squeezing them.

"Always. You don't have to keep asking."

"Okay." Alec felt that feeling again. The giddy one he couldn't get rid of. "I'll see you in class later."

Nick nodded as he let go of Alec's hands and walked off.

~*~

"Hey. Um... Charlie invited us to eat with him and Lukas."

"Really?"

Alec was surprised. He didn't think Charlie wanted to spend time with him. He had been a huge help in the progression of his relationship with Nick, but he could still tell he didn't like him very much. At least he would get to see Lukas. Maybe he could finally ask him what was going on. He had been acting weird recently and was even missing school.

"I can tell him that we'll go another time if you want."

"No." Alec shook his head. "We can go."

Nick smiled. It was clear he was thrilled. He looked cute. Alec wanted to hug him, but they were still in class. He added the hug to the list of things he wanted to do once they were completely alone. Nick told him they were meeting in the Science room, and they headed over.

They opened the door, and just as they stepped in, Alec and Nick stopped in their tracks the moment they heard Charlie scream. Alec stared at Lukas and Charlie, who were at one of the tables in the back. Lukas was staring in shock at his friend. But what caught Alec's attention was the murderous aura coming from Charlie. He had never seen this level of aggressiveness before.

"Um… should we leave?" Alec asked as he looked from Lukas to Charlie.

"No." Lukas shook his head, motioning for them to join. It showed he didn't want to be alone with Charlie anymore. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, Lukas."

"Charlie, please.” Lukas lowered his gaze as if to avoid looking at him. “Can we talk about this later?"

"No!"

Lukas didn’t respond. Alec could tell they were interrupting something. But the feeling he was getting from Lukas told him that if he left, it would get worse.

Nick took Alec's hand, drawing his attention, temporarily to him. It was clear he wanted to leave. But Alec couldn't do that. Not until he knew things were okay. He intertwined his fingers with Nick's and pulled him along.

"What's going on?" Alec sat down in front of them with Nick at his side.

"Nothing." Lukas forced a smile.

"Lukas!"

Lukas ignored Charlie, drawing his attention to Alec.

“So, Alec. You’re dating again?” Lukas changed the subject, looking at Nick, who was sitting across from him. “Hi, I’m Lukas.”

“Hi, I’m Nick. It’s nice to meet you.”

Alec hadn't really had the time to introduce them properly, but he hoped to do it better than that. Nick was important to him. He wanted to be able to present him to his friends.

“How long have you guys been going out?”

“Not long." Alec didn't correct him. There was no point in mentioning that they weren't officially dating yet. That was between him and Nick. "Like a few days.”

“I didn’t know you were gay, Alec.”

“I don’t know if I am. But I really like Nick so.”

Nick’s face flushed as he tried hard not to look over at Alec. It just made Alec want to tease him even more. To make him turn ever redder.

Alec reached under the table to touch Nick's hand, but Nick pulled away to dig into his pocket before he could.

"Hey, guys, do you mind if someone else joins us?" Nick asked as he looked at his phone.

Alec stared at Nick. This was the first time he was hearing anything about another person joining them.

"No.” Lukas shook his head. “The more, the merrier."

"Great. He’s here.” The door to the science room opened. “Hey, Tate."

For some reason, Alec felt himself glare at Tate. He knew nothing was going on between him and Nick, but he couldn't help it. Tate sat down between Lukas and Nick without acknowledging anyone around him.

They all ate in silence for a while. It was really awkward. The tension between Charlie and Lukas was so obvious they could almost see it. Like a dark cloud hovering above them. And Alec was trying really hard not to be bothered by the fact that Tate was sitting next to Nick. But it was really hard. He almost wanted to ask Lukas to switch places with Tate. It was completely childish, but he couldn't help it. He needed to distract himself. To stop thinking about it.

"So… Lukas, what's going on? I haven’t seen you in a while." Alec asked. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

"Yeah. It's nothing, Alec."

Lukas forced another smile. It bothered Alec that he was doing that.

"It's not nothing, Lukas.” Charlie spat. “Why would you let him do that?"

"Charlie. Can we please not talk about this right now?"

"No. You're going to keep avoiding the subject like you always do. So, we are talking about this right now."

"What's going on, Lukas?” Alec had forgotten about his jealousy towards Tate. Now all of his attention was on Lukas, and he was worried. “Are you in trouble or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Lukas shook his head.

Alec could tell that Lukas didn't want to talk about this anymore. He was staring down at the table and avoiding all eye contact, especially with Charlie. He didn't even touch his food. But the more Lukas tried to avoid the problem, the more concerned Alec got.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Lukas tried to change the subject again to the best of his abilities.

"I can't believe you." Charlie turned to Alec and Nick. "Lukas has this condition." Lukas's eyes widened. He looked terrified by what Charlie was about to say. "When we were…"

"Charlie, stop!"

Lukas had never yelled at anyone before. At least not to Alec's knowledge. Whatever Charlie was going to say must've been really bad.

"Lukas, are you sick?"

Alec's level of concern was growing. Something was going on. Lukas was in trouble. He could tell.

"No. I'm fine."

There was that smile again. The one that was just a facade.

"I can't believe you're acting like this isn't a problem." Charlie shook his head. "Alec, Nick, let me ask you. Have you guys had sex yet?"

Alec and Nick both choked on their food.

"What?" Alec hit his chest. "No. We just started dating."

"You see!" Charlie looked back at Lukas. "They are dating, and they’re not even having sex. I haven't even had sex with Hiro yet, and we've been dating for two years." Charlie slammed his hand against the table. "You're not even dating this dude, and he's already fingering you!"

"Whoa. What?" Alec turned to Lukas. "Are you seeing someone?"

"No!”

Alec wasn't expecting that. He didn't even know that Lukas was interested in someone.

"Is that why you've been weird and distant?"

"No.” Lukas shook his head. “I've been under a lot of stress."

"Because of him?" Nick asked. He had kept quiet until then.

"No. It has nothing to do with him."

"He is taking advantage of you, Lukas!"

"No, he isn't. He's not like that." Lukas's voice quivered. "It's my own fault that he had to do that."

"Why are you making excuses for him?"

"Stop talking like you understand what it's like to be me!" Lukas's emotions explode. "You have no idea what I had to go through all these years." Tears started streaming down his face. "I had to deal with this alone! He's the first one who has ever helped me."

Alec stared silently. He felt guilty. Like he had cause Lukas more pain. He wanted to help him. To let him know he was there to help. But the words wouldn't come out. They were trapped in his throat.

"Lukas.” Charlie completely turned in his chair to face him. “You think he's helping you but is he really?"

Alec didn't know the whole story, but he knew that Lukas wouldn't involve himself with someone like that. With someone who would take advantage of him like that. There had to be something else.

"Aren't you supposed to be his best friend?" Tate asked. It was the first time he spoke since he walked into the room. "All I'm hearing is you making him feel bad. He's been trying to make you stop from the beginning. Why are you still pushing this?"

"I'm just trying to protect him. I don't want some asshole to take advantage of him."

"And talking about it in front of a bunch of strangers is your way of protecting him?" Tate looked up at Charlie with his cold dark stare. "Did you even think about how this is making him feel?"

Charlie opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it when Lukas wiped the tears from his face. Everyone went extremely silent after that. No one was even looking at each other. It was nothing but pure deafening silence.

"I… I'm gonna go."

"Lukas!"

"Enjoy your lunch."

Lukas rushed out of the room as fast as possible, even with Charlie crying out for him. Alec felt this weight in his stomach. He wanted to help Lukas, but instead, he couldn't help but feel like he had made it worse.