Spoilers: they did not get them on talking terms before the trip.

Both the first-years and the second-years were quite busy the following days with classes, projects and all the planning of the trip so even without trying to avoid each other, their schedules did not match at all. Mark and John had three different types of situations planned to obligate them to speak, but in the end none of them saw each other before the travel day.

Nick finally noticed that they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers yet and cursed both himself and Leon for that. They had known each for almost half a year now, how was that possible? How could the two of them be so obtuse?

The second-year was chewing on every one of those thoughts. He was inside the bus already, sitting on a double seat near the back of the vehicle. Henry was there, inside the bus, but not sitting with him. He wasn’t part of the club, but as a representative of the sophomores he was invited to participate so he decided to go. 

Henry had asked Nick if he wanted to sit together, but the black haired boy bit his lower lip and shook his head sheepishly, not looking his friend directly in the eye. Understanding, Henry smiled smugly and went to chat with someone else.

Nick was growing impatient, his leg shaking as he looked out the window and listened to people’s chat around him. A little while after, there he was, climbing up the bus stairs, together with his friends, wearing a black cap with two rings on the cap brim.

“Mark, how come you’re traveling with us?” Leon asked, his voice laced with sleep.

It was quite early in the morning. The beach was far away and they had to get there by lunch, so everyone was still talking and moving slowly.

“Whaaaht?” The shorter boy asked in a yawn “Didn’t they tell you? Star-senpai is Moon-senpai’s twin sister, she’s the president of the Photography club.”

“Eeh? So they decided to come together?” John, the only one who seemed actually awake, asked.

Mark nodded and blinked as they were slowly rolling to the back of the bus “They made a deal: we could go together if we took photos of the trip for the university annuary” He tapped the camera on his neck.

The three of them stopped when they saw Nick seated, looking at them with an unreadable expression hanging on his face.

Mark and John exchanged a curious look. They greeted the senpai and kept walking, passing by him with dubious expressions. Leon didn’t feel like pretending a greeting so he was determined to just ignore the other, walking right by him as if he was a ghost.

A hand stopped him in his tracks and the whole world seemed to stop with him. Nick held his wrist tightly, making it impossible to keep walking. Leon was speechless, looking down at his senpai, not knowing how to react, but Nick was looking at his shoes, a pinkish blush coming up his cheeks.

“... Sit with me” It was almost a whisper, but Leon heard him loud and clear.

The long haired boy blinked twice, looking from their hands to the elder’s face “Are you asking me or ordering me?” He asked, just out of spite.

Nick gritted his teeth, swallowing an out-of-habit insult. He gulped dryly, then looked up, with an earnest expression that made the kouhai feel soft inside. Ugh, why was he so handsome?

“Sit with me” He repeated, not giving in to the other’s the bait to start another fight.

“... Fine” Leon answered, almost sounding sweet.

Nick was on the corridor seat, so Leon passed his legs and sat down at the window seat, not even remembering to say anything to his friends, who by the way were watching the interaction with wary eyes. The shorter ones then shrugged and went up to Henry, who was at the very back of the bus, chatting with Moon and Star.

Leon thought Nick would say something right away after going to the trouble of pulling him there, but the two of them actually spent some minutes in complete silence. 

Leon kept stealing glances at the elder, feeling nervous. It felt like forever since they spoke to each other and now sitting side by side, with their legs touching because of their height, Nick’s presence felt like too much. The redhead was so sure everyone else could hear his heartbeat that it was not even a joke. Why wasn’t Nick saying anything?

The second-year kept quiet the whole time, deep in thought. It was not long after that the bus started moving with everyone inside. And after fifteen minutes of the drive Leon was sure the senpai had grabbed him just to make his trip uncomfortable.

He almost sighed a relief when the other spoke up to him.

“Did you… eat?” It was really out of nowhere.

“Hm?”

“Breakfast, did you eat before coming?” Nick seemed to want to punch himself.

After all this time sitting around THAT’s what the subject would be? Still, Leon answered, just to keep the conversation going “Ah, no… John and Mark ate, they woke up earlier, but I… couldn’t get up”

Truth be told, Leon had spent almost the whole night awake, worried about the situation with Nick. He was nervous about them being together for three whole days, then felt silly thinking that because there would be a lot more people for Nick to talk to. Then he was thinking what he would do if the infamous princess was there to say goodbye to Nick, then he was thinking it was none of his freaking business. Then he was thinking that he would be oh so nervous to sleep in the same room, then he felt dread thinking that Nick would keep his distance on purpose. It was a very long night.

What Leon didn’t know was that Nick also hadn’t slept a wink, but for another reason entirely.

“If you…” Nick hesitated, licking his dry lips “If you, like, eat in the bus will you be sick?” 

Leon was growing suspicious, he narrowed his eyes and shot “Nick, what do you want?” He didn’t mean to sound harsh, but it ended up coming out that way. Leon blamed the lack of sleep.

The expected would be for Nick to get pissy at that and answer in the same tone. But that’s not what happened. The elder bit his lower lip looking quite on edge, then he opened his backpack real fast, fishing out a bento box from the inside. The older boy pushed the bento box against Leon’s chest, but he was not looking him in the eye as he did that.

“Here” He said, cheeks flushed pink.

“Wha–?”

“Eat it” He pointed, giving a quick look at Leon's direction and averting his gaze again.

Leon looked dumbstruck. It took him a second to react, a playful smile peeking on his lips “... So bossy today, aren’t we?”

“Shut up” Nick crossed his arms and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the other’s smug face.

“Did you make this?” Leon asked, opening up the lid. It looked just like the bento boxes he saw on youtube’s aesthetic tutorials sometimes. Oh my god, did he follow a tutorial? Leon snickered to himself.

“As if, you wish!” Nick bit back, not bothering to open his eyes.

That, of course, was a lie. The second-year had spent the whole night trying and failing at making a perfectly aesthetic bento. It was hard making it look all pretty and taste good, but at least the end result was satisfying in his opinion. He could hear Leon eating a piece of the food and felt his pride inflate.

“That’s good then” Leon said at his side “Then I don’t have to feel bad about saying this tastes bad”

And then his pride deflated altogether. Nick’s eyes shot open, looking as sad as an abandoned dog “It tastes bad?” He sounded as sad as he looked.

The first-year barked a laugh, his shoulders shaking. He couldn’t help it, Nick looked too cute “So you DID make it” He laughed a little more. Then he poked the elder’s cheek with a finger and grabbed a rolled egg with the chopsticks “Say ah” Leon motioned with his own month.

“YOU–” Nick started but Leon shoved the food inside his mouth.

“It’s delicious, you dimwit” The redhead said, still smirking, his eyes narrowed playfully. Then he grabbed a piece for himself and chewed happily “Is this your apology?”

Nick just hummed, feeling annoyed and shy at the same time. He also pondered smacking the kouhai’s head, but opted not to.

And then suddenly everything was fine. The silence that extended afterward was not an uncomfortable one. Leon finished the homemade meal, making satisfied sounds that almost killed Nick of embarrassment, looking around to see if anyone had heard it. They bickered a bit after that, finally exchanged contact numbers and kept shoving Leon’s cap on each other’s head, but sooner than later the sleepless night caught up to them.

Nick felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked over just to see Leon looking all soft and cute, fast asleep, leaning on him. He felt his heart squeeze with something he was sure had nothing to do with the boy being his kouhai.

The cap was now on his own head and he could smell the other’s shampoo, discovering that he quite liked it. His hair looked soft, the eyelashes looked soft, the cheeks looked soft, and the lips… looked very soft. The second-year held back the urge to reach out to the younger’s face, wondering to himself what was wrong with him.

Feeling helpless he let himself lean back, resting their heads together as sleep also came to him, lulled by the first-year’s presence.

They did not wake up immediately when the bus stopped. It was only after Moon realized that her Vice president was not with her to organize everything that she went to wake them up.

By that time, Mark had already captured a very cute picture of them before stepping out of the bus.