After his heat finished, Bo was officially tired out. He had spent quite a bit of time getting over it, but Sol being there definitely helped. 

Walking into the school, Bo felt much more relieved than before. He had fully recovered from his heat, still a little nervous, but feeling good. At least, until he saw Carter. 

Carter was just walking around, but Bo knew that if Carter saw him, it would be a disaster. He could count on Carter to always go headfirst into arguments when they were necessary, and Bo definitely knew he would think of their situation as such. 

Jumping behind the nearest corner, Bo stood there with his back against the wall, starting to freak out. He really hoped that Carter hadn’t seen him. 

He couldn’t remember exactly what happened during his heat, but he clearly knew something was up with Sol. He was acting weirdly reserved. Bo was concerned that he had done something during his heat that made Sol act like that. 

Cutting off his thoughts, a body came around the corner and bumped into him. Looking up, Bo found Carter staring straight back at him. 

Stabilizing himself, Bo took a step back and waited for Carter to speak. 

“Hey. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. You misunderstood what I was saying before.” Well alright then. Carter was getting straight into it. 

“I’m not stupid. I’ve known you for years. I know when you’re joking or not.” Bo was certain he was right. 

“Maybe you’ve just forgotten what I’m like. Now that you’re with your new boyfriend, you’ve completely forgotten about me.” Carter was sulking. What a shock. Bo had never seen Carter so pouty before. 

“Oh, so that’s what this is about? You’re feeling lonely?” It was honestly kind of funny. How could Carter, the confident person that he is, ever feel insecure?

“No. I said that wrong.” Carter paused for a moment before going on to say: “What I really wanted to talk about was why you exposed me to Sol.”

“I’m confused. I did what?” Bo had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. 

“You told Sol that I said I didn’t want you guys to be together. You know it was only a joke.” Carter loomed over Bo.

“I don’t even remember doing that. Besides, what does it matter? He was going to find out anyway.” Beginning to become upset, Bo crossed his arms defensively. He had done nothing wrong. Yes, he had accidentally exposed their situation to Sol, but he had gone through this before with Carter. He was sick of having to deal with it alone.

All it took last time was some convincing from Bo for Carter to change his views before, but he found out that that hadn’t changed anything. Carter was still against their relationship and Bo had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to lose Carter, but he also didn’t want to lose Sol. 

“You know you misunderstood the situation. That’s why. I can’t believe you would turn someone on me like that.” Carter was downright furious. He shoved the locker beside Bo and stared straight into his soul.

“The only reason you’ve given me is that you’re lonely and that’s honestly not good enough.” Bo was trying to ground himself and find a support to stand on but he was failing miserably. 

“That is not the reason” Carter replied. 

“Then why don’t you tell me what is?” It was becoming harder and harder to stand up to Carter while he kept berating him. 

“I can’t” That’s it. That’s where the crack in Carter’s confidence shows. 

“What’s the point of even talking then if you’re not going to say anything important?” Bo felt powerful. He left and didn’t even look back. Carter, on the other hand, made to grab Bo and pull him back but decided last minute to retreat. 

Bo thought Sol’s behaviour was strange. Now he knew why. Carter and Sol had fought over what Carter said, and, knowing Sol, it was probably a bigger fight than it should have been.

Bo looked down to see his hands shaking. The entire conversation with Carter was overwhelming. His faux confidence was starting to deteriorate. Not only was he more confused than before, he was beginning to think that maybe he didn’t know Carter well anymore. He certainly saw him less during the summer than he probably should have. 

Turning the corner, Bo wasn’t expecting to see another student there. The person was in their uniform, and yet they were smoking. Bo thought it was a disgusting thing to do. Not only was the smell atrocious, but it could also seriously harm the person who did it. Smoking could blend in with a person’s pheromones and dull them. 

Recognizing the boy, he stopped to look closer but couldn’t place where exactly he had seen him. 

Trying to ignore the smell of smoke, he brushed it off and went to go past the stranger to find a place to cool off. 

“Hey. You’re the omega from earlier, right?” The boy said to him.

Bo was surprised. Now he was really suspicious about where he had seen this kid.

“Maybe. What’s it to you?” Unsure of what the guy wanted, he wasn’t going to expose that he couldn’t really remember him.

“I just wanted to say that I’m cool with your situation and all. Your boyfriend was pissed off earlier so I’m not sure that he heard what I said.”

“My what now?” Who exactly did he think Bo’s boyfriend was? Bo hoped he didn’t mean Sol. 

Just as the stranger was about to answer, Sol showed up.

“Ugh, it’s you,” Sol said, clearly annoyed at the stranger for whatever reason.

The stranger rolled his eyes as Sol pulled Bo away from the area. Unsure of what had just happened, Bo tried to stop Sol and question him, but was only answered with “He’s just a guy I know.”