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Chapter Text

“Five”, Nicky surged forwards, “four”, he was nearly there, “three”, he stretched out his hand desperately, “two”, he felt cool metallic under his palm, “one”, he sighed a breath of relief, he had made it. He grinned obnoxiously at Andy who was across from him and had no doubt been wishing him to trip at the last second.

It was the first Saturday of the new term at Birchwood University and Copley’s Cars was holding a competition on campus.

“Alright it’s going to be a long day folks! The rules are simple, you must at all times be touching the truck with your hand, you must stay awake and don’t worry you will have 10 minute breaks every two hours. And one last rule which will be enforced, any attempts to physically dislodge another contestant will result in disqualification, mind games however are encouraged! Good luck to all 24 of you!”

“Hey Nicky.” An annoying voice spoke from his left. Now it was Andy’s turn to smile sarcastically as Nicky sighed and turned to his left, to Joe Al-Kaysani.

Nicky always liked to think of himself as a good and reasonable person, he stopped for people with clipboards, shared food with his hallmates, he even spent a summer cleaning a beach. The one aspect of his life that was arguably not reasonable was that he had a nemesis.

He knew that most people had someone in their life that they would not choose to spend their time with, someone they had to tolerate, this was not the dynamic he shared with Joe.

The two continuously went out of their way to bicker and compete with each other and had done so for the last two years. They did however at least make sure not to cross any lines. Unfortunately, sabotage was completely acceptable and Joe knew just how to get under Nicky’s skin.

“Hello, Joe.” Nicky said eyeing him suspiciously. He was leaning casually against the truck, left hand clearly placed on the bonnet, whole body turned towards Nicky as he grinned mockingly. Nicky was used to it. “I’m surprised to see you managed to stumble out of your bed before midday.”

“I was here earlier than you, you only did your weird little penguin run about five seconds ago. You do know you’re allowed to move your arms, right?”

“You aren’t supposed to move them that much actually, makes you more streamlined.”

“You definitely failed Physics, didn’t you?” Joe asked him in a deadpan tone.

“As we are both humanities students do you really want to pull at that particular thread, or have you been hiding some great scientific achievements?” Nicky asked him in a sarcastic tone.

Joe was silent for a second.

“You still can’t run to save your life.” He finally muttered.

“I just did! I didn’t teleport here, if you have a better running technique please enlighten me with a demonstration.” Joe simply blinked at him, his entire demeanour embodying the phrase ‘bitch, please’.

“How dumb do you actually think I am?” he instantly regretted his words the second he saw the look of excitement on Nicky’s face, as he opened his mouth Joe cut him off.

“Never mind, I can guess.”

“Oh, come on you set me up perfectly!”

“No, that’s why you shouldn’t say it, it’s low hanging fruit.”

“So is every argument with you.” Nicky replied with a smile.

*

“As if I would take advice from you about anything.” Nicky fired back quickly.

“You should, I get better grades than you.” Joe replied just as fast.

“You got one, one lecturer felt sorry for you and gave you a better grade.”

Joe opened his mouth to reply before a squawk to his left distracted them both.

“Dear God in Heaven! It’s been nearly eight hours, do either of you ever shut up for even a second?” A harried looking third year seethed from behind Nicky’s shoulder.

“No.” They both replied instantly.

“I have had to listen to you argue about: running techniques, if penguins or polar bears are better, which one of you would be better at snowboarding, whether its Skater boy or boi, KFC or McDonalds, what the Minotaur represents, if Dumbledore was a hero or not, how to pronounce the word ‘garage’, who burned down the library of Alexandria and you each somehow believe that while it is impossible for any other human being, you are the only one who can lick your own elbow.” She threw her free hand up in exasperation.

“Married couples say less to each other! Neither of you can possibly have more to argue about.” She glared at them eyes moving between them both in a challenge as she finished speaking.

“I told you it was ‘garage’!” Nicky said triumphantly to Joe without turning to look back at him.

“Uuuurrrgh.” She screeched inhumanly at them before deciding that life was too short and stomping away from the truck.

                                             *

Ten and a half hours. Apart from the woman he and Joe had caused to flee the truck, two other people had given up, both suspiciously, had been on each side of Andy. Nicky was getting restless. He wouldn’t mind if he just knew how long he would have to stay but the not knowing was maddening. Would it be four more hours or fifty?

 He decided Andy had a point and the easiest person for him to knock out of the competition was the person who had been failing, for the last twenty minutes to convince him that E.T would beat Jaws in a fight to the death.

Nicky opens his mouth to automatically respond to him before frowning and closing it, a look of comprehension flashed across his face followed by a look of determination before responding.

“No.” He replies in a smug voice.

“Come again?”

“Just no.” Nicky replies with the sweet smile he used to get more gelato from his grandmother.

“No, you’re very sorry but you simply can’t follow the intricate complexities of my eloquent argument?” Joe paused to wait for a reply. He didn’t get one.

“If you prefer, we could discuss the lack of creativity or talent in Italian cinema.” That resulted in a tiny twitch of Nicky’s left eye.

“Or cooking, you know I had the best pizza yesterday? It was pineapple. I am convinced it was the best ever made, no, that word doesn’t give it justice, it wasn’t made it was created. Guess where I found it, best pizza in the world?”

Nicky’s jaw was clenched, Joe was pretty sure he was biting the inside of his lip.

“You can’t guess? Alright I’ll tell you.” He leans forward slightly using his right hand to cover the left side of his face, apparently Andy standing across from them was not allowed to hear this wondrous secret. Although being the dumbass that he was his left hand had flinched slightly as though he was going to move it for a second before he chose his right instead.

“Dominos!” he whispered dramatically.

That earned him another eye twitch. Time to try something a little more drastic.

“Or perhaps why Frodo was the greatest hero middle earth ever had.”

Nicky’s head whipped around faster than the girl from the exorcist.

“Samwise Gamgee was the reason Frodo made it to Mount Doom. He was brave, loyal, kind and-“ Nicky stopped mid-sentence as he met Joe’s eyes and registered his expression.

He was smirking at him victoriously. Nicky schooled his features into as calm an expression as he could.

“You, Joe Al-Kaysani, are like Tinkerbell, if you go a second without unobstructed attention you die. I will not give it to you. You and your short attention span are going to give up the minute you think you see something shiny or catch a glimpse of your own reflection. While I am going to stand here for as long as it takes to win my truck, then I’m going to use it to drive all over your hopes and dreams crushing them to dust, before backing up a thousand times over your overinflated ego.”

                                                                     *

The unfortunate truth was Nicky actually had a point. Joe wouldn’t ordinarily see his short attention plan as a flaw though, it meant that instead of only experiencing one good thing a day he got to experience many. He was happy to be such a social creature, it meant having a very vibrant life.

He could easily spend hours drawing, moving his charcoal reverently across the page, smudging the lines carefully, feeling the accomplishment of creating something. When he had an actual task, something that engaged his mind he could be extraordinarily dedicated.

Standing in the middle of the cold car park left hand stuck to the bonnet of the truck and the palm of his left hand itchier than it had ever been in his entire life, he was struggling.

After promising to trample Joe’s dreams Nicky had pulled out black earphones placed them firmly over his ears and turned away from Joe. Other than screaming at him Joe had no choice but to give up, for now.

Like any other millennial student his first reaction was to use his phone, unfortunately like most of the people holding onto the car, he had only found out about the competition fifteen minutes before it started and had prioritised snacks over a portable charger and Booker was probably still sleeping off his hangover so he wasn’t going to read his messages for a while.

He had 40% and the truck seemed to be placed in exactly the spot where the University wifi stopped working. It didn’t matter though, there were twenty-one people around the truck, he was sure they would love to benefit from his excellent conversation, plus mind games were encouraged.

He turned to the women on his left. She was wearing black eyeliner and dark clothes with heavy Doc Martins.

“Hey, I’m Joe.”

“Celeste, nice to meet you.” She said politely with the trace of a French accent.

She turned out to be a great distraction, she was studying psychology and was thinking about joining the fencing team. Her one flaw was her misguided opinion of Nicky.

“The guy directly behind you?” she asked quietly, careful to make sure Nicky wouldn’t overhear.

“Yeah, the asshole in the black hoodie.”

“The one who is feeding that cute little squirrel?”

“What?” Joe turned his head to see that Nicky was in fact crouched down on the gravel, right hand still firmly placed on the car while his left was held out in front of him, palm open offering a walnut to a grateful squirrel. He watched as the squirrel scurried forward taking the walnut and eating without moving more than centimetres from his fingers. It seemed to completely trust him.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like he does that normally, everyone’s nice to squirrels.” Joe blustered as Celeste laughed.

“As you say, but I find it interesting that within the first five minutes of talking to me you chose to bring him up.”

“Yeah because he was annoying me, he’s actually always annoying me, I just wanted to vent.” Joe was starting to question his earlier assessment of Celeste, she seemed to completely lack an understanding of social dynamics.

“People do not have a spark in their eye when they are speaking of someone who is not special to them.”

Joe gaped at her. It was ridiculous he did not like Nicky Genova. They had been out to get each other within their first week at University. Celeste continued to look at him knowingly.

Joe was relieved at the distraction caused by the loud screech of pain behind them.

He recognised the person it was coming from, Tamsin Woodhouse, she was a tutor in the drama department. She was also the wife of Tara Woodhouse, the philosophy lecturer who was currently clinging to the back of the truck.

“My heaaaart.” She shrieked dramatically in an odd attempt of a southern American accent, as she clutched her chest. There was good reason that the woman’s only professional acting credit was one short film about a killer Christmas tree fighting a Yeti, Joe thought. Someone would have to be pretty naïve to believe her act.

The second the thought popped into his head two things happened simultaneously: Tamsin dropped to the floor and Celeste relinquished her grip on the truck.

She ran over to check on her as Joe sighed. He was surprised to see that one other people had done the same. Tamsin sat up before they even reached her.

“Oh, how kind of you dears, last time I tried this only one person came to my aid.”

Celeste sighed before taking Tasmin’s outstretched hand and helping her up. The other person had stormed over to Copley to argue.

“I don’t regret anything. When people need help, I will help them.” Celeste announced as Joe looked at her smugly. “You are all terrible people, but I will have a drink for each of you.”

“Quite right my dear, I’ll buy the first round, good luck Tara.” Tamsin said with a wave to her wife as her and Celeste walked away together towards the student union.

Copley lifted his megaphone once again and spoke in an amused voice.

“There are now only eighteen contestants still in the game, you have half an hour until your twelve-hour break. As I said at the start mind games. Are. Encouraged.”

                                                                       *

 “I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter T.”

“Is it by any chance the truck we have been holding on to for nearly thirteen hours?” The lucky girl next to Joe said through gritted teeth. When Celeste had left, the girl behind her, Siobhan, had seemed excited as her eyes subtly flicked down Joe’s body before settling back on his face and smiling flirtatiously.

That had lasted for about ten minutes, she was now currently resting her chin on her hand which was propped up on the bonnet of the car as she starred off glumly into the distance.

“It is! How did you guess? You’re so good at this we could play for hours! It’s so much better than being in the SU, especially on Paint and foam nights, have you been to one before?” She shook her head. “It’s so messy, everyone gets completely wasted, the paint gets everywhere, most people just end up taking their tops off after like an hour.” Siobhan glanced down nervously at her watch. “Of course, it’s always best to join everyone for pre-drinks before, they would be starting right about now actually. I’m so glad you decided to do this instead, did you know one of these competitions took 90 hours last year?”

Andy gave Joe an approving nod as Siobhan ran towards the student union and Copley announced that they were now down to sixteen contestants.

                                                                        *

“I don’t know, I would never trust a random heavy-drinking student to remember to feed my fish. You could always replace Bubbles; it just comes down to which you love more her or the money?”

Nicky was torn between being impressed and horrified as he watched another student with the ill-fated luck of being in close proximity of Andy Scythia scramble down the hill to save Bubbles.

It was quite entertaining. He had been bored out of his mind for the last five hours with the exception of the six minutes he spent with his squirrel friend Cyril, who had heartlessly abandoned him once he ran out of food.

When he decided to ignore Joe the idea that his plan could possibly backfire in this way was completely nonsensical. He hadn’t considered the effect that a lack of attention from Joe Al-Kaysani could possibly do to him. He assumed that it would be a joy. He would just peacefully daydream as Joe struggled before going mad with boredom and giving up, losing to Nicky.

 He was wrong on both accounts. While Joe had chatted away to people Nicky had struggled to think why he was suddenly so bored and realised with a shock this was the first time that they had ever ignored each other.

In classes, the street, the gym, short-lived attempts to join societies, the Student union, they had always talked to each other even if it was a just a few quick-fire insults as they passed. Nicky was completely unfamiliar with the sensation of being able to hear Joe’s voice, see him only a few feet away and be unable to talk to him, he didn’t like it at all.

That was why he was thankful for the numerous distractions being caused by Andy who seemed to take the suggestions of playing mind games to heart. The cutest fluffiest little dog Nicky had ever seen had trotted over towards the truck led by Andy’s girlfriend Quyhn.

A chorus of “Awwws” sounded from around the truck and one idiot took his hand off the car to take Quyhn up on her kind offer to pet the adorable puppy.

After plotting together in Greek for ten minutes, Quyhn had blown Andy a kiss goodbye, given her a large backpack and proceeded to wander around the truck offering everyone the pizza box she held in her hands, as long as they took it with the hand which was currently holding the car.

When she got to Nicky she shrugged a familiar red backpack off her shoulders as he shook his head at her offer of pizza.

“I ran into Lykon on the way here. He’s a good friend, he packed you five energy drinks, two bags of Malteasers, four Mars bars, a book on Spartans and one about a time travelling pirate, two Spider-Man comics, a charger, tissues, chicken sandwiches, a blanket and aww he even made you hot cocoa.” She had been showing him each item as she mentioned it. He sighed.

“You’re not actually going to give me the bag are you?”

“Of course,” she said feigning offence. “Here you go.” She said with a cheerful smile as she took a careful step back and extended the arm holding the bag towards him.

Nicky swatted his arm towards the bag but his fingers grasped thin air.

“I’m going to kill Lykon, why couldn’t he just take the ten minute walk over here.” Nicky muttered irritably.

“Hey, it’s not his fault, I promised him as one of his best friends that I wouldn’t do this. He really should know me better by now though.” Quynh with a shrug.

“I’m one of your friends too.” Nicky said in his littlest voice. Quynh sighed with a indulgent smile.

“Aww you are.” she replied as she reached into the bag, pulled out the hot chocolate along with a pack of Maltesers and handed them to him.

She then took two carefully measured paces backwards before placing the bag on the floor for him to get in two hours. She was about to leave before she seemed to consider something, and she reached in and took out his charger and books.

“What are you doing?” he asked her askance.

“I think you would gain more from this experience if you spend your time focusing on your surroundings.”

“What?”

“Embracing the moment.” she continued cryptically.

“Quynh, what are you on about?”

“You have a lovely view.” She said stressing the last word as her eyes flickered over to something to his left and back to meet his eyes again, seemingly willing him to understand her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Nicky frowned at her.

“You’re hopeless Nicky.” She sighed as she dug into his rucksack and stole a Mars bar. She began to walk away while taking a bite before calling over her shoulder to Andy “be back in a few hours babe.”

                                                                       *

He decided to take Quynh’s advice. She was obviously encouraging him to be more social so since his squirrel Cyril had abandoned him hours ago, he made a new friend with the woman to his right, Nile.

She had given him an opportunity to vent, one she would surely regret later as Lykon did many, many times, but hey maybe she would get so bored she would leave and it would be one more down fourteen to go until he got his truck.

“That guy? The good looking one in the leather jacket? He seemed nice, he helped me move in.” Nile asked with a frown as Nicky scoffed.

“I wouldn’t say he is particularly nice.”

“He carried four boxes and my double bass up three flights of stairs, he’s very strong.” Nicky just shrugged at her. “If we can’t agree on nice can we at least agree on good looking?”

“I wouldn’t use the term good looking”

“Really?” Nile asked as she raised her well shaped eyebrows in challenge.

“I mean he doesn’t have an objectionable face, I guess it is kind of symmetrical and his upper half is erm well-built but he has really weird elbows.” Nicky stammered.

“Uh-huh, hmmmm that guy doesn’t seem to care about his freaky elbows.” Nile said while looking over Nicky’s shoulder.

He half turned his head before he registered the smug expression on Nile’s face.

“You seem very concerned about competition for the affections of a guy you don’t even consider good looking.”

“Nile, I spent ten minutes watching an ant crawl two feet and was incredibly invested in if he would make it home before I started talking to you, I am not concerned I am simply bored.”

“Sure, ok, there’s no need for you to turn around then, it’s just regular old flirting, nothing to see over there.”

“That poor man, you’re right I don’t want to see that.” With an uncomfortable jolt in his chest he realised that he was actually telling the truth.

    *

Just a few inches. Four probably. He sighed exasperatedly as his shoe once again scuffed the gravel, toes barely hooked into the back of it. He tried again this time the shoe flipped over out of his foot and landed mockingly next to the rucksack.

“Awww nearly, I thought you had it that time.” Copley shouted to him. Nicky just glared into the camera closest to him before sighing heavily, shoulders slumped down.

Shortly after his discussion with Nile he had felt the sudden urge to do something productive. He had somehow convinced himself that Quynh had planned carefully and left the bag close enough for him to reach it if he really tried, like a game.

His ten minutes of really trying and failing miserably was starting to disprove that theory but he really didn’t want to give up now, all the people on his side of the truck had seen him struggle and even Copley was starting to take an interest.

“That’s it, I can’t stand back and watch this any longer.” Nicky felt a smile curve his lips upwards without his permission. “It’s too pitiful, sadder than Bambi’s mother getting shot, or Jack drowning because Rose wouldn’t share the door, or Dobby-“

“I get it ok.” Nicky said turning to look at Joe. “Please dazzle me with your skills. I could do with a laugh.”

“Since you asked so nicely and I am naturally chivalrous and gallant.” Joe answered charmingly as he slid down to a sitting position, tentatively stretching the arm attached to the car.

“You won’t be able to reach it if I couldn’t.” He knew before he even fully finished his sentence that Joe was going to bring up the fact that he was two tiny, insignificant inches taller. Lykon had measured them.

“Ah but you’re forgetting one important detail Cinders. I am much taller than you, I have longer legs.” He wiggled them as if to reinforce the point before stretching as far as he could to try to hook his foot around the strap. Like Nicky’s his foot just kicked at mid-air.

He brought his leg back in before trying again. The third time he tried for the shoe, he was once again unsurprisingly unsuccessful, then he decided to follow Nicky’s idiotic lead and take his own shoe off.

 Ordinarily Nicky would have been teasing his every attempt but as Joe had fully stretched his leg out the bottom of his long-sleeved top had scrunched up and where Nicky was supposed to see fabric, he could now see skin.

To make matters worse Joe wore his jeans in the fashion of most annoying young men, way too low. Nicky could also see a black strip of his boxers. But the very worst thing was that Nicky could not stop thinking about how soft and perfect his skin had looked.

“Shit.”

The word finally broke the spell as Nicky guiltily moved his eyes up to Joe’s before following his gaze to where Joe’s shoe had landed just behind Nicky’s.

Nicky laughed, sliding down the truck to a sitting position as he turned to face Joe again. Joe looked indignant for a second before joining in. He had a warm deep laugh, that surprised Nicky. He had heard it before but it had always had as much impact on Nicky as background noise, now it was infectious.

“What happened to two inches making all the differences?” Nicky asked through his giggles.

“Well, you are the expert on knowing what two inches can do.”

Nicky groaned as he rubbed his free hand across his face. “You went there, I knew you were going to go there.” He said as he shook his head.

The students union down the hill from them suddenly started to emit loud cheesy pop songs.

“Paint and foam.” Joe said in a slightly pained voice as he rested the back of his head against the truck.

“You remember our first paint and foam?” Nicky asked quietly as he stared ahead of him. He saw Joe shift to the side of him, he was now facing Nicky. He found himself mirroring him and looking into Joe’s big brown eyes, they seemed to have softened, the effect was mesmerising.

“Yeah, I remember.” Joe breathed softly as his eyes flickered down to Nicky’s lips. He could swear that Joe’s face was moving closer, almost gliding towards him, he leaned his own forward as if in a trance, as if he was being compelled by an epic force like destiny, this could change everything-

“ATTENTION ALL SOBER STUDENTS, FEAR NOT, BOOKER IS HERE AND HE BROUGHT BEER!”

Nicky had never wanted to push Booker down a hill more in his entire life as he watched the man stagger towards them swinging a bottle and a six pack.

Chapter Text

“YOU GOTTA GET’CHA, GET’CHA, GET’CHA, GET’CHA HEAD IN THE GAME.”

Joe sighed; this was exactly why he should stop going to Booker for life advice. When he had told the person he unfortunately considered his best friend that he was confused about Nicky and he thought that they might have been about to kiss before he interrupted them, Booker had started to sing, very off key.

He was making up for his lack of vocal talent though with very enthusiastic dancing. It seemed to be the same choreography as the Wild Cats from the movie although it was a little odd without a basketball.

He also didn’t seem to know much of the lyrics as he kept repeating the chorus and shoving an invisible microphone near Joe’s face who was by now laughing but refused to join in until the fourth time when Booker had briefly changed the lyrics to ‘I won’t stop until you join in’.

Joe had been tempted to let him continue, it might have chased away some of his competition. Booker finally collapsed onto the ground lazily handing Joe a shot glass and filling it with liquid from a bottle with a red hat on top as Joe gave him a confused look.

“It’s a stimulant, just one though.” Booker said with a grin moving the bottle behind him.

“I only get to go to the toilet every two hours.”

“Ah but the little grey cells have been working, I have planned this perfectly mon ami, your next break is in fifteen minutes, so drink up now.”

“Have you been watching more Poirot without me?”

“Maybe, yeah ok, don’t give me that look, you should be out here for about four days and we were up to the Orient Express, it’s the most famous one you’ll love it!”

Joe jumped as his shoe landed next to him.

“Thanks, Lykon.” He called as he put it back on and shook his head at Booker’s questioning look.

He easily managed not to flinch as he knocked the shot back at the same time as Booker. It was nice to have a distraction from Nicky he thought as he greedily opened the bag Booker had brought him.

Fourteen hours after Joe had first put his hand on this evil truck and Booker had decided to bring art supplies to him, during the night, to use by starlight, oh and a book of poetry, to read during the night, presumably by moonlight, what he did not bring was a torch. Joe looked up at him agitatedly, the one thing he truly, desperately needed wasn’t in the bag.

“Where is my charger?”

“I have no idea.” Booker mused in a tranquil voice.

“Give me yours for a few hours.”

“You know it won’t work, no matter how much you try and force it, they aren’t compatible.”

Joe groaned. “What am I supposed to do without it?”

“Talk to people.”

Joe flashed him a look of annoyance “I thought you wanted me to ‘keep my head in the game’.”

“I actually wanted you to get’cha head in the game but my point is you take two naps a day normally and you’ve been out here for nearly fourteen hours, you have wanted a car for years, I have wanted you to have a car for years. If something awkward happens with you two and it makes one of you lose it will kill any chance you have of a relationship. I think you two would be good together but it would change things and I don’t think now is the moment, it’s up to you man.” He finished his statement with a shrug as Copley announced their fourteen-hour break.

                                                                                                                     *

Nicky cringed as the sound of Skater boi echoed across the campus. Never in his entire had he heard that song and not danced to it. He was tapping his foot but it wasn’t the same he thought bitterly. Maybe he should just give up, there were ten people left now, two had decided to follow Booker, Lykon and Quynh down the hill as long as they shared their alcohol.

He heard several other people tapping their feet to the same rhythm, including Joe. He chanced a look to his left and smiled to see him bobbing up and down with his whole body in time to the music. It looked fun. It probably wasn’t a good idea. It would make him more tired. It would definitely risk his chance of winning the truck.

He knew they were all very good points but at that precise moment they ceased to exist because Joe had just made eye contact with him. He bobbed over to him with a happy smile. It wasn’t the one Nicky was used to. He knew Joe’s haha smile well and his sarcastic grin was almost constantly on his face when he was in Nicky’s presence. This one seemed almost vulnerable. It was having quite the effect on Nicky’s chest and caused a similar smile to appear on his own face.

Joe had stopped in front of him now and was miming in time with the lyrics. It wasn’t very effective; he was trying to mime feeding a baby with one hand but when he committed to a dramatic air guitar it was almost in exact synchronisation with Nicky.

The lyrics that they had both been muttering to themselves became louder and most of the truck sang along too. It was a lot like background noise though for Nicky. Joe’s voice was much louder and more important. Although Nicky from fifteen hours ago wouldn’t have agreed and would have claimed that it sounded like a dying goat. Current Nicky was glad to hear the sound.

They seemed to be unconsciously moving closer despite both having the tendency to make big motions with their hands while dancing. With two more glorious air guitars the song ended and a new one began. Nicky surprised them both by taking the biggest step, reaching out for Joe’s hand. Not even a second of hesitation passed as Joe raised his own hand to meet Nicky’s in the middle. It felt amazing.

He lifted their joined hands up and down vaguely in time to the music as they both moved their hips to the side, they were centimetres apart now. He was surprised that they could ever be so in sync. They had butted heads within their first week, disagreed about such a variety of topics. It seemed impossible that at this moment he was distracted by the shine of Joe’s curls and the gentle warmth of his hand.

He laughed as Joe attempted and failed horribly to do the worm with his arm and Nicky failed even more horribly but neither cared. He only cared about the laugh that it elicited from Joe. He used to think it was reminiscent of a Hyena having its foot chewed off. It still was. Standing by the truck, holding Joe’s hand and dancing to cheesy music with him though it was a sound he that warmed his stomach and stole his breath. He never wanted it to stop.

Joe had taken charge of their arms while Nicky was distracted and was pulling them closer and further apart. It was slow, slow and gentle enough that neither of them was in danger of displacing the hands still on the truck. Each time they got tantalizingly close before they pulled away again. Nicky could feel Joe’s warm breath on his face, almost taste it but then it was gone again.

It was a simple dance but perfect for Nicky it meant not having to remember any complicated steps, leaving him to use the little concentration he had to focus on Joe’s eyes. They were dazzling, they held such conviviality and magnetism that Nicky was practically dizzy and the laugh lines in the corner of his eyes were adorable.

Nicky jumped as he heard Copley’s replacement, a young Scottish man, announce the beginning of their break.

He was surprised when Joe had simply looked down at his hand, slid it off the truck and placed it over Nicky’s before guiding them both off the truck, to dangle between them, raising his head to meet Nicky’s eyes again. Nicky’s heart sped up as he entwined their fingers and led them a little away spinning them both in circles. He felt on top of the world, he was literally on top of a hill.

 This was the moment that Nicky was rudely shown by the universe that Romantic Comedies had lied to him. Apparently dancing with a beautiful person who took your breath away, did not, contrary to every damn movie Nicky had seen from Cinderella to Titanic, make you a competent dancer and while he had been going for a nice dramatic twirl for the end of the song, he did in fact spin Joe off a hill.

To his credit he still didn’t let go off his hand. That might have, possibly, made it worse though as they ended up rolling down together. It was a lot less romantic than he had intended and a lot more fuck his elbow just jabbed me in the groin. Thankfully the paramedic for the competition shouted down to them that she was coming to help.

His physical pain was the least of his worries as he lied on the floor, dazed. He had landed on the grass, Joe half on top of him. He was beyond mortified and what if Joe was injured? He could have twisted his leg or got a concussion, or broke his perfectly shaped nose?

A snort from above him interrupted his thoughts.

“I always knew you were a shit dancer but that-“ he broke off into giggles as he rolled completely off Nicky. They were infectious. They also seemed to make the pain Joe’s elbow had accidentally caused earlier lessen. Only slightly though. He hadn’t been lying before, the man really did have weirdly pointy elbows, as sharp as a scimitar.

                                                                                                                           *

“It was like when Elizabeth danced with Darcy.” Joe exclaimed dreamily.

Andy scoffed. “You both did crap air guitars for two minutes in a car park before he twirled you down a hill.”

“He’s a passionate dancer.” Joe said indignantly as he stole a hand full of crisps in retaliation.

Andy had manipulated everyone that separated them so Joe had easily slid over to her for a chat as Nicky went towards the women on his right, Nile, he had a feeling both groups were discussing the same thing.

“Then if you’re so enamoured by the idiot, why are you over here bothering me?”

“To share my joy, you bitter hag! And he is not an idiot, he tied first place with me in last week’s quiz.”

“I believe he is as intelligent as you are.” Andy replied in a neutral tone.

“Hey! I think someone is just being rude because they feel sleepy,” Joe started to use the tone of voice normally reserved for animals and small children. “Do you want to go home and lie down in your nice soft warm bed? Rest your head on a nice fluffy pillow, with a big blanky next to-“

“I have made stronger people than you flee from this truck Al-Kaysani.” Andy said menacingly.

“You couldn’t and even if you could, you wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I could.” Andy proclaimed matter of factly as she gestured to where Nicky was frowning at something Nile was saying to him. “But you’re right I wouldn’t.” She added quickly as a look of genuine hurt at the very idea crossed his face.

She tilted the bag towards him. “Thanks.” He said accepting another hand full.

“I meant one, you animal!” she said as she snatched the bag back as he laughed, mouth full of food.

“Nicky would never date someone who does that.”

He flicked a crisp at her in response.

“BABE!” Quynh hollered from the bottom of the hill.

“YEAH?” Andy screamed back as Joe cringed at her.

“I CAN’T GET UP THE HILL, TOO MANY SHOTS.”

“IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS HILL, EVEN FOR SOBER PEOPLE.” Andy shouted back while looking Joe right in the eye.

“WAY TOO MANY AND A FEW PINTS AND A PIDGEON JUST PEED ON MY KEYS.”

“ARE YOU ON YOUR OWN?” Andy shouted worriedly, Joe knew that if she was Andy would abandon the truck without hesitation.

“NAH, LYLY’s ERE, AND BOOKER’S THROWING UP IN A BUSH, JUST WANTED TO SAY NIGHT, LOVE YOOOOOUUUU!”

“LYLY?”

“WOULD PEOPLE PLEASE STOP CALLING ME THAT?” Lykon exasperatedly shouted.

“NEVER, NIGHT QUYNH, LOVE YOU TOO!”

“KICK HER ARSE, NICKY!” Lykon shouted in response.

“WILL DO!”

“You’ll have treasured moments of relationship bliss like that soon.” Andy teased Joe, she was surprised by how wide his smile was in response.

                                                                                                                            *

“It was cute!” Nile said for the fifth time in a comforting voice, although her tone was getting less and less comforting the more she repeated herself.

“Throwing him down a hill?”

“You didn’t throw him, you twirled him.”

“Would you appreciate someone twirling you off a hill, Nile?” A few seconds past before she could think up an adequate response.

“We aren’t talking about me we’re-“

“Why aren’t we? I’m being incredibly self-absorbed. Do you like someone?”

“No.” She answered much too quickly.

“Ok but if you did, I wouldn’t tell anyone. This competition has bonded us. Think of the truck as a confessional and I’m your priest.”

“I don’t talk to my priest about guys.”

“A guy you say?” Nicky asks with a tiny smile.

“How about I tell you all about him, if you go make a move on the handsome man you’re mooning over, the one who can’t take his eyes off you?”

“That doesn’t sound very realistic.”

Nile gave him a sympathetic look. “You described him as the most annoying person to ever plague the earth this morning, now you think you’re not good enough for him?”

Nicky frowned at her, that did seem a bit contrary. “No, I wouldn’t say not good enough just not what he wants, more not.. compatible.” He nods as he finds the word, he would have probably struggled under normal circumstances but he was starting to get tired as cars drove past on the street, on their way to do the school run or start work.

“Nicky you’re young, you’re away from home and you have crazy chemistry with a hot guy, just see what happens. I’m not saying jump into bed with him, I’m not not saying that though.” Nicky’s frown deepened at that.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Take a risk, the sky won’t fall.”

                                                                                                                       *

Joe flexed his hands, they were finally free again, he had needed the toilet, to brush his teeth, change his clothes and attempt to awkwardly wash himself in the reception bathroom which had only left him with two minutes before his hand would be trapped against the truck again. His entire body felt like it had aged thirty years in twenty hours. He rolled his head around as he flexed his back

“You ok?” Nicky asked from behind him. He turned around with a wince which quickly turned into a smile as he met Nicky’s concerned eyes.

“Yeah, just my head and my neck and my back, you?”

“I’m fine, you want me to… if I’m doing it wrong or it’s uncomfortable just tell me?”

“Yeah.” Joe answered immediately, not completely sure what he was agreeing too because it couldn’t possibly be what he hoped it was. “Yes, please, my neck’s a mess”.

Except it was. Nicky motioned for him to turn around. A few seconds passed in silence as Joe couldn’t feel any change. He couldn’t help what he said next.

“You can’t reach, can you? My extra two inches make me too tall for ity, bity, Nicky.” That comment earned him a flick to the top of his head.

“Ity bity Nicky was rethinking actually touching stinky, sweaty, Joe.” Nicky said as his hands cupped either side of Joe’s neck confidently, squeezing gently before moving further along out towards his shoulders.

He closed his eyes, it felt good, better than he could have expected. He thought Nicky wouldn’t be particularly good at this, it wouldn’t have mattered he knew after last night how spectacular an effect Nicky’s bare hands had on his skin, but this, Nicky using his hands for exactly what Joe’s body needed, it was starting to make his breathing shallow.

“That doesn’t even rhyme and the alliteration is very weak.” Joe said in what despite his best efforts was a slightly breathy voice.

“This ok?” Nicky checked.

“Yeah, it’s….ok.” Joe managed to murmur back.

“Well Joe is a lot harder to rhyme with,” his hands were travelling lower down as he spoke they were now on Joe’s upper back. He could feel that Nicky was digging in a little more each time he rubbed. “There’s go, sew,” it was still much too gentle to hurt but more than enough to make it necessary for Joe to bite don’t on his lip. ‘Don’t make a creepy noise, don’t make a creepy noise.’ The voice in his head repeated. “Or glow,” Oh, Nicky was using the perfect pressure now. He was being so thorough. ‘He’s just a dude helping another dude.’ Joe said to himself. Joe could feel his large knuckles stroking and kneading over the bottom of his shoulder blades. Leaving a trail of warmth and sensation in their wake. “Snow?” His lip was starting to hurt. He had never tried harder to supress a sound in his life. ‘This is completely innocent Joe, don’t be a perv.’ “Blow?” Joe’s eyes flew open as he heard the noise his mouth just made. Nicky’s hands had immediately stopped moving.

                                                                                                                        *

“What kind of moan?”

Joe rolled his eyes at her. She didn’t even have the decency to keep a straight face.

“A sexual one Andy.” He was careful to say the second word quietly, practically mouthing it.

“Like a long one? More of an uuugh or like an ooouurrhg.”

“Nothing like those, shit poor Quynh.” That got him a jab in the leg from her right boot.

“Well, I haven’t had to fake it in a long time; besides they were men noises. I was trying to help with a recreation.” Indignation was clear in her voice.

“Well, we can’t, I can’t fake make that particular noise.”

“Want me to call Nicky over here to help?” That got her a jab to the knee.

“Fuck, ok, but you can’t hide from him forever.” She smiled down at him “It’s a small truck Joe.” He glared up at her resentfully.

“Hiding would imply that I did not want anyone to know my location. I however simply do not want a certain person to see me. Want to play I-spy?” He added the last part quickly hoping to distract her.

                                                                                                                             *

“Nicky.”

He once again refused to react. His body was turned to face the campus below. No one was walking around it was much too early in the morning for most students on a Sunday.

“Nicky.”

He pushed his earphones in further. They were only cheap ones.

“Nicky, I know you’re not actually listening to music, I saw you give your phone to your friend hours ago. Your earphones aren’t even connected to anything. I promise I won’t pester you about Joe anymore, I’m just so bored.”

He turned around at that.  

“Promise?” He asked removing his earphones, one by one.

“Yes, I promise, we will only talk about him if you want to.”

The point was he really did want to talk about him, just not to anyone who didn’t really know either of them well, he also didn’t want to talk to anyone who did know them well. It was a bit of an issue.

“I don’t, do you want to talk about-“

“No, we’re both intelligent, interesting individuals, no more fawning over men, we can talk about much more interesting subjects.”

                                                                                                                              *

“Joe, as your friend, I say this with love, this is getting a little bit creepy.”

He turned around to glare at her slightly putting the pencil down.

“I’m practising my art, it keeps me entertained and helps me improve my skill, Nicky just coincidentally happens to be standing across from me so he gets to be my model.”

“The light actually makes it much easier to draw me.”

“Fine.” Joe says turning his sheet of paper over, he quickly drew a big circle connected to a smaller one, with stick arms and legs. He scribbled a pixie cut messily on top, complete with horns and added angry looking eyes, a mouth with fangs and a bottle of vodka attached to each arm and a speech bubble saying ‘I wish I was more like Joe’. He finished by signing his name at the bottom.

“Happy?” He said passing her the sheet.

“I will treasure it forever, although I do prefer the one you drew me for my birthday, that Andy had one badass labrys.”

“If you stop insulting me maybe the next one can have a horse too.” Joe said as his eyes inevitably drifted back to Nicky. He was talking animatedly with Nile, his big blue/green eyes widened slightly in disbelief as his face glowed with excitement, his lips moving too quickly to read, nodding his head at her as she interjected. They were disappointingly speaking just a little too quietly for Joe to hear them but he was completely satisfied with the view.

“What do you think they are talking about?” Joe asked without moving his eyes.

“Ways to sabotage everyone and get the truck.” Andy answered quickly.

“No, look at his face, it’s something he’s really invested in, I bet it’s a great intellectual debate, something about military tactics or what the greatest ancient literature is.”

“You know how we could find out? If you just-“

“No.”

                                                                                                                             *

“Velma and Shaggy were a terrible couple! They were just meant to be friends, trying to pair them up was so awkward.”

“I know right! So dumb, they were god awful together and they were so cute just as friends! And the theme tune! Ugh.” Nile shook her head disgustedly as she finished speaking, Nicky sharing the same expression in solidarity.

“I hate to interrupt your intellectual discussion,” Lykon began as he walked towards them, pulling his red hoodie tighter around him. “I do agree with both of you and as a reward from the universe for your sophisticated Scooby-doo opinions, I finally found your charger.”

“Really? Thank you, where did you find it?” Nicky said beaming before quickly turning to Nile apologetically.

“It’s fine.” She said with a slight laugh, in a relaxed voice as he opened his mouth. “I get it, actually I want to call my family, mom wanted me to call her today, because I was next to you, I have barely used my phone, so it’s all ready now.” She fished her Iphone complete with golden case out of her bag and turned away slightly for privacy.

“It was under your wardrobe, there was a spider too, freaky looking one, I was a very loyal friend.”

“Thank you, you stole some of my chocolate as payment, didn’t you?”

“I borrowed a bag of buttons, I’ll replace them.”

“It’s fine, no worries.” Lykon gave him a shocked look before sitting in front of him while unzipping his bag.

“Remember when Dave had one of your fudge bars? You threatened to cut the left sleeve of every top he owned 4inches shorter than the right, would have if he hadn’t replaced it the next day. What happened to that Nicky?”

“Dave? The Dave who got high and coloured in all our light bulbs in a black marker, because it was ‘too bright’. Yeah, I didn’t like him, you get best friend privileges, plus I’m getting docile-sleepy.”

Lykon smiled at him before looking down as he spoke. “I need you to remember that you said that buddy, because I did bring you back your phone and your charger,” he held it up to show him, meeting his eyes again.

“Uhhummm.” Nicky muttered in a confused tone as he narrowed his eyes at his friend.

“But I don’t have the wire that connects to a phone.”

Nicky’s whole body slumped.

“And because you refuse to join the rest of us and just get a phone with a normal charging cable, this would normally be an issue, except by a happy coincidence, we both know someone else,” oh no. “Who’s nearby, who made the same idiotic choice as you and was just handed a charging cable but no charger.”

Lykon pushed the charger slowly towards Nicky.

“Nicky, please blink.”

                                                                                                                                  *

“You told me I should wait? I can’t go back over there.”

“Well, we’ve been discussing it-”

“Who, exactly is we, Book?” Joe asked slowly.

“Uh.” He said as he looked up calculating his options. “Me and Lykon, he couldn’t find Nicky’s wire and I could find your charger but not your wire-”

“It was plugged into the charger.” Joe muttered bitterly.

“Well point is you’re going to have to go over there or he’s going to have to come to you.”

“I don’t need my phone.”

“Ok, well you at least have to get away from Andy, you’re going to start to get really tired soon and there aren’t a lot of people left for her to sabotage.”

“You know I’m stood right next to him; I can hear you.” Andy commented nonchalantly.

“I do, and you know I’m right, I think you’re going to sabotage everyone and win and I respect that.” Andy gave him a nod.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side.” Joe said through a loud yawn.

“I am! I want you to win, but you’re the underdog at the moment, Andy has the best odds then Keane then Merrick.”

“Merrick! Really? How the hell is he doing better than me!”

“Yeah, I know I was surprised too but look at him.” All three of them turned to look, Merrick was at the back of the truck leaning casually against it sipping from a large Starbucks container, he looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Ok, well he looks calm but he’s way to spoilt to actually win, I still don’t get it.” Joe said with a frown.

“Well, er have you two looked in a mirror lately?” Booker moved back quickly to dodge the two kicks aimed in his direction, succeeding only due to years of experience and Andy and Joe’s current weakened state. He raised his hands up in supplication.

“Hey, nothing personal, everyone here looks… a bit tired, on edge, except Merrick. Andy is beating him anyway but I always root for the underdog. If Andy doesn’t stop you, your best bet is to be near Nicky, there is no way, you are going to fall asleep or quit without getting the last word in during an argument with him, you could go on for days.”

“Wait, does he have better odds than me?” Joe asked as Booker grinned at him.

Booker shrugged at Joe.

“If you go over there I’ll tell you.”

                                                                                                                      *

Nicky stretched, his left hand holding the elbow of his right arm as he pointed it slightly off to the side.

It was a stupid idea. They didn’t think it through. Nicky couldn’t charge his phone but Joe could ask someone around him if he could use their charger for his wire, he would ask charmingly and they might let him. He turned his head slightly and scanned the area. On second thought people didn’t seem as friendly anymore, it was twenty four hours in, it looked like the tiredness was starting to affect people.

It was starting to affect him too, at least that’s what he told himself as his eyes inevitably landed on the person his brain told them not to. Joe was stood near the car also stretching, Nicky could have sworn that Joe had quickly turned away from him the second he had looked around. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

This was ridiculous. They were grown men. They may have argued constantly, for good reason, but Nicky had never, in all the time that he had known Joe, which felt like an eternity, been so nervous about approaching him. It felt unnatural and he hated it.

He thought back to their first meeting. His very first opinion of Joe. It wasn’t a particularly eloquent thought. Nicky had been in the student’s union on his second night of university. The bar was crowded, one tired looking student tried to keep up with demand as the other bartender ignored everyone who wasn’t a female student in a low-cut dress.

He was finally walking back to his hallmates, after missing three of his favourite English songs. They were the only people he knew at this point. With his drink in hand he tried to squeeze past people when someone walked into him, spilling almost half their drink on him. He felt annoyed for a second, his black top would stink of beer now and he wasn’t planning on doing washing for another week. But this sort of thing happened. He looked up from the leather jacket and dark blue top in front of him and settled his eyes on the man’s face as he summarised both of their feelings.

“Fuck.”

It was a pretty good word to summarise his thoughts towards Joe at any stage, whether it signified the vast potential he felt the first time his eyes met dazzling brown ones, or the way that his heart raced as he sat on a wooden bench outside, rock music still drifting out of the door, background noise, much less interesting than the voice of the man sitting in front of him, one leg over each side of the flat bench, leaning forward casually as he offered Nicky his cigarette and asked him who his favourite poet was.

It also summarised the next week, which Nicky still didn’t like to think about. The time when the word stopped representing potential and wonder, instead it defined disappointment and annoyance, the sting of which was quickly cooled by competition and an easy familiarity. If anyone ever hinted at that first night and his initial reaction towards the other man, Nicky quickly reminded them, lied that the only reason he could even tolerate him and last more than a minute in his company without arguing was that alcohol had been involved.

He hated that, inevitably, his memory of that first night they met, a memory which crossed his mind more than he would like to admit, was always followed by the ones which proved exactly why they were a bad idea.

This time, though he decided, as he turned back towards the truck, he wouldn’t let them get in his way.

                                                                                                                      *

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

This had gone much better in his head. Joe was normally so eloquent but as Nicky walked over to his and Andy’s side of the truck, placing his hand firmly on the bonnet just before the end of break was announced, he seemed incapable of intelligent thought.

“How are you?” Joe blurted out after a few seconds in which the two smiled nervously at each other.

“Good, you?” Nicky said, obviously relieved that Joe had broken their silence.

“I’m ok, thanks, you?”

“Good. Yeah.”

Another silence engulfed them as the two desperately tried to pluck up the courage to say what they wanted to. Nicky broke it in an unsure tone.

“Nice weather.” It was in fact cold and windy.

“Yeah, gorgeous. A nice breeze.” Joe added enthusiastically.

He noticed Nile turn away with a cringe. He couldn’t blame her. Andy kept watching as she shovelled more crisp into her mouth. Joe wasn’t particularly pleased that the number of people around the truck had decreased so drastically that everyone could clearly hear every awkward, quietly spoken word. At least Nicky was actually near him and talking to him, that made it all worth it.

“Lykon said you had a charger?”

 Joe froze for a second before his eyes dropped to the ground.

“Oh, er yeah, sure.” He felt his heart drop slightly. Of course, that was why he was here. He pulled the charger out of his pocket and silently handed it to Nicky without meeting his eyes.

“Great, now I can prove you wrong about Italian cinema.”

Chapter Text

For some inexplicable reason, Nicky’s Netflix downloads which were mostly old Star Trek episodes and Italian comedies were now solely romantic films. Strangely enough they all seemed to have a theme of protagonists realising that their true love was someone they hadn’t expected and had not gotten along with at first. It included one of Joe’s favourite films The Mummy 1999. Nicky knew that Booker was not a subtle person although he had expected better from Lykon.

“Evie was my hero! Everything I wanted to be as a kid.” Joe proclaimed ardently.

He began to count on his fingers as he listed the characters qualities, “she was brave, smartest person in any room, always tried to help people, won the camel race, she always stood up for herself-.”

Joe cut himself off as Nicky’s smile widened slightly. They were both sitting down, leaning their backs against the truck, Nicky’s phone balanced on his knees which were pulled up near to his chest. Despite the film having ended more than an hour ago Joe was still leaning close to him. Both with their heads leaned back and turned to face each other. Their hands rested next to each other on the truck.

“What?”

“I can’t imagine a time when Joe Al-Kaysani, even a mini version, didn’t stick up for himself.”

Joe rolled his eyes slightly, still smiling as he turned to look out at the dark field.

“Trust me, it happened. What do you think mini me was like?”

“Annoying-” Nicky answered without hesitation. He laughed as Joe flicked him in the head in response and pushed his hand away.

“Annoyingly,” Nicky said stressing the last two letters as Joe turned to him with a look of disbelief on his face, “determined. About everything. You knew the answer in class most of the time but you only put your hand up half of those times because you were too ‘kewl’. You were good at art and PE, always one of the first to get picked for sports but you were terrible at music. You were funny, had awful taste in music and bratty friends. And I bet you had a power rangers lunch box.”

Joe tilted his head slightly weighing up Nicky’s assessment.

“Actually, I knew the answer about a quarter of the time and never put my hand up. Plus, I was always picked about third.”

“Wow, that must have been very difficult for you.”

“It was, it’s the defining struggle of my life, that and Oliver Bracken stealing my blue ranger action figure, snapping his head off and throwing it down a grate.”

“What a little shit. Did you get it back?”

“Did I at six years old, somehow climb down into the sewer with Alligators and evil clowns, navigate my way through endless tunnels and stick my hand in all the crap that’s down there to get a dirty action figure’s head?” He looked so indignant at the very thought, his brows were furrowed and eyes alight with sarcasm. He was gorgeous.

“Guess I was just a more adventurous kid than you.” Nicky replied flippantly.

“Adventurous is not the word I would use. You would be the first person to get killed in a horror movie.”

“Now I can see why you related so much to the librarian character.”

“You must have been such a bully as a kid. And unsophisticated.”

Nicky laughed. The idea of any child being ‘sophisticated’ seemed completely alien to him.

“You tell me.”

Joe studied him for a few seconds, god forbid he get anything slightly wrong. He seemed to want to choose his words carefully, unwilling to ever be outdone by Nicky.

“Short.”

“What a wonderfully well-thought-out appraisal, you astound me with your deeply impressive intuition!”

“I am aware of that.” Joe replied smugly choosing to completely ignore Nicky’s sarcasm.

“Ok, so since you sounded very judgemental about me putting my hand up, I’m guessing you always raised yours, you were obnoxious about it too.”
Nicky kept his face neutral and just gestured for Joe to continue.

“You hated team sports, you tried to eat the paint in art class as a little kid, ok you didn’t. You were a perfect angel and your teachers loved you. You were always picking up litter or nursing baby birds with broken wings. But you couldn’t draw a straight line to save your life and you had a dinosaur lunchbox.”

He looked expectantly at Nicky as he finished. He seemed eager to hear how accurate he was as though it was an important competition. It always was with them. Even though they had both been practically glued to a truck for the last 30 hours, this competition, between them seemed more important. Joe’s attention meant more to him. It made Nicky feel like Joe hung on his every word, like he was really important to him, like the spark in Joe’s eye was there just for him. It felt wonderful.
It took Nicky a few seconds to even remember the words that Joe had used and then another few to put together a coherent sentence.

“Every sane kid hates teen sports. And actually, I was almost suspended. I did save a baby bird once though, he was called-”

“Wait, what? Go back to the other part!”

“Team sports just make most people feel insecure and everyone is looking at you judging you on how-”

“Nicky!”

Joe was giving him an impatient look.

“Yes?”

He knew exactly what Joe wanted him to say but could never resist the urge to annoy him just a little bit more.

“Please tell me why you were almost expelled.”

Nicky tilted his head slightly. Had he just heard Joe Al-Kaysani say please? Had it really been directed at him? It was not the sort of word they had ever used towards each other. He had been expecting mocking guesses, thinly veiled insults, unveiled insults but not a polite request.

“Suspended. You’re not going to guess?”

Joe shrugged. When that earned him no response he looked past Nicky, contemplating. Nicky noticed how warm his brown eyes were.

“Did you keep correcting your teacher’s grammar?”

Nicky remained still and silent.

“Free all the frogs from the science labs?”

Nicky snorted.

“We didn’t have a bunch of frogs imprisoned in our science labs. What sort of creepy-ass school for future serial killers did you go to?”

“Hey, we didn’t do that either but it’s in so many movies. Besides I don’t know what you lot get up to in Italy.”

“You lot? That sounds very similar to you people. You wouldn’t be insulting my heritage and culture, would you?”

“You lot as in anyone who went through an entirely different education system than me. I love Italian culture, the food, the cities,” he took a breath before continuing.

“The best people to argue with.”

Nicky smiled, Joe smiled right back. He was sure it was embarrassing, would have been if he was able to devote any of his brain power towards anything but how good he felt, that some simple words from Joe could have that much of an effect on him. It was hardly poetry, which Nicky knew for a fact Joe used to recite to his ex, it wasn’t even a romantic compliment but apparently Nicky’s stomach, heart and breath disagreed.

“Do I have to keep guessing?” Joe’s voice was quiet almost a whisper.

“Fighting.”

“Who did you fight?”

“Leo and Luca Rossi, Francesco Esposito and Jacopo Bianchi.”

Joe rolled his eyes in a very exaggerated manner. Nicky’s grin widened.

“Of course. Who else? That Jacopo is a complete dick and Leo Rossi is the worst.”

“Yeah, he was, wasn’t he?”

Nicky grinned as Joe nudged him with his leg.

“Who were they? The biggest meanest bullies? Did their great-great-grandfather kill yours in a duel? Did they insult the hobbit?”

This was the question that Nicky had been expecting but usually dreaded. He didn’t like to talk about it normally but sat talking to Joe, especially with him sitting so close that their legs were almost resting next to each other, he just felt so relaxed. Like nothing he said could possibly be wrong. He didn’t even need to look at the ground as he said it, his eyes remained gazing into Joe’s as he said it.

“I had some trouble speaking when I was little. I couldn’t pronounce a bunch of letters and so I didn’t really talk much. Even after speech therapy, I still didn’t really like to, especially in front of lots of people or people I wasn’t friends with.”

He had spoken unevenly, some parts were too slow and stilted while others were rushed in an effort to get all his words out as quickly as possible. It sounded a little unnatural even to his own ears. The relaxed feeling was draining away. He hoped Joe hadn’t noticed. He had. His lips curved upwards into a reassuring smile and his eyes changed. Nicky had never really understood when his mother had talked about ‘kind eyes’ or ‘soulless ones’. To Nicky happy ones, were eyes that were crinkled at the corners from a smile, sad ones were watery and narrowed ones were angry. He didn’t really notice anything else. Joe’s eyes, Nicky realised were apparently different, Nicky could see a night sky’s worth of support and assurance in them. Joe Al-Kaysani definitely had kind eyes, beautiful ones too.

“So, I had a habit of just sort of fading into the background. It was ok. I didn’t want lots of attention, I had my friends, I had Marco. He was great. He could quote the hobbit and he knew elvish, well a little. And he stated talking to this girl Izzy, she liked elvish too but Leo didn’t like that. He was a bit of a knuckle-dragger so he got jealous and jumped Marco with his friends. I was there too and….well, Luca and Leo’s dad was a teacher and called my behaviour,” Nicky made quotation marks with the fingers of his free hand for the next sentence.

“Extremely vicious and disturbingly unchildlike. It was just kicking and punching, well one headbutt. They really hadn’t expected that, but it was three against four and Marco and Izzy were only slapping and hair pulling.”

“Good for you guys. Did that make you more confident?”

“Not really. Next year we got a teacher that hated the Rossi’s and how spoilt they were. She was great really made everyone feel more comfortable and confident. Plus moving here hundreds of miles away from everyone I grew up with helped.”

Joe nodded his head attentively.

“Yeah, I get that. So, did you get the boy? Marco.” He added at Nicky’s questioning reaction.

“Er no Izzy did. They’re pretty cute together. They’re in New Zealand for a year, went to Hobbiton for his birthday.”

“That’s cute.” Joe said quickly. “Well, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, even around this truck.”

“Yeah, Merrick’s hair looks great today.”

“You bastard.”

Nicky laughed. He was pleased to see Joe smile. He knew that it had been a perfect opportunity to declare his feelings, he could had even done it in a coy or flirty way. But after revealing a secret, something that made him feel vulnerable, it was his natural reaction to return to something more familiar. Their usual banter fit like a comfortable slipper, on a winter’s night. He regretted it. He should have been braver.

“Merrick wouldn’t do anything if someone jumped you.”

He had another chance to steer the conversation back towards them. Towards flirting. He took it.

“What would you do?”

“Anything.”

He held his gaze for a second and smiled before looking down.

“I haven’t told anyone about the speech therapy thing. It used to make me feel really insecure.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Joe’s voice was soft. The softest that Nicky had ever heard it. It was enchanting. They gazed at each other. He really was the most handsome man Nicky had ever seen. It wasn’t just his symmetrical face or model like features, it was him. The Joeness of him that would still shine brighter than a star even if he put a bag over his head.

“Do you remember our first paint?”

Nicky nodded with a smile. He didn’t think he could manage words now. Joe looked like he was nervous too.

“You were shirtless covered in red paint, throwing blue paint at Quynh, you completely missed her twice, and on the third attempt you got a speck on her shoulder. You were way too proud, then you smiled, it was the best smile I’d ever seen and when you looked at me, I didn’t think I would ever want to kiss anyone more than in that moment.”

He remembered it well. It caused his stomach to flip to hear Joe describe it, in that way. He thought he had exaggerated it in his mind. They hadn’t actually got their kiss, Booker had stumbled into Keane, who had reacted in his usual reasonable manner and thrown a punch. Joe was already Booker’s ride or die friend so jumped into the fray, which had quickly turned into two against one as Keane’s friend tried to put Booker into a headlock.
Nicky didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say, he wanted to say something romantic or soulful but his mind was blank. It was just a white room containing his teenage self, jumping up and down and throwing confetti.

“I was wrong. I want to kiss you more in this moment.”

He had been planning to say something along the lines of ‘I would like that’ or ‘then go for it’. Instead, he said:

“Yes, please.”

Joe flashed him a smile and leaned in. Nicky’s heartbeat was so fast he was sure the whole truck could hear it. Nicky leaned in too. This was it. He was finally getting his fairy-tale-happily-ever-after-kiss. The one that happened after the dramatic-rushing-to-the-airport-to-declare-your-love-kiss. The kiss that he longed for with every nerve in his entire body. The type that people wrote songs and poetry about. A kiss from Joe.

“HE’S TRYING TO BITE HIS FACE!”

Fucking Merrick.

*
Copley in his idiotic, severely limited wisdom, had decided that kissing between competitors was not allowed. Apparently, Ken and Farah kissed at a competition two years ago and, while Ken, believed it to be true love or at the very least true lust, Farah had used the opportunity to accidentally on purpose, manoeuvre him away from the truck. Therefore, kissing was now considered a thinly veiled attempt at physically dislodging an opponent.
Farah was screwed the next time she wanted to borrow Joe’s notes, or his lighter or any of the other crap she couldn’t be bothered getting herself.

It. Would. Have. Been. Perfect. He hadn’t lied when he told Nicky he had never wanted to kiss anyone more. He had always if sometimes grudgingly, accepted that Nicky was physically attractive to him. He had the sort of face you would find carved into a masterpiece and the sort of eyes that could were impossible to forget. They looked more emerald than sky on the night of the paint party, and that smile. Joe didn’t believe that the phrase breath-taking was accurate until that night. Back then, he had known Nicky for only a few days. They had spent the entire night they met talking until the sun came up. Joe was interested. He had a crush. He knew that Nicky was funny, gallant, sarcastic and playful.

Joe had dated. He just didn’t feel that spark with the people that had liked him, and the ones he liked didn’t feel the spark with him. They also occasionally didn’t know he existed. When he met Nicky it all changed.

He knew he hadn’t been in love with him, he didn’t believe in love at first sight, but there had been a spark, potential. More than a year later and it was still there, it crackled away in Joe’s heart, like a campfire. That wasn’t the unexpected part. It was the trust, that blindsided him in the most spectacular way possible. Nicky Genova choosing to display his vulnerability to him. It was a declaration of hope, in them. A step towards a real, honest relationship between them, something Joe hadn’t been brave enough to do himself. Nicky had looked at him with faith in his eyes. Faith in him, that he knew not to tease him during such a conversation, that he understood that this was information that was off-limits and could not be thrown back in his face during their next inevitable argument. Information that Nicky had seemed to give to Joe simply to satisfy his curiosity.

Joe had felt honoured that he was so trusted. He’d also been shocked to realise that it was mutual. He was looking at a man he had known, argued with for more than a year. He wasn’t just a good-looking student Joe had spent a charming night talking to. He was the person Joe knew better than his own poetry, cared for more than he could have ever imagined and longed for more than his next breath.

Joe wasn’t the type of person to tease someone over a childhood insecurity under normal circumstances. He wasn’t a complete asshole. He wouldn’t have done that to anyone but betraying Nicky like that would have been akin to physical pain for him.
When they finally did kiss it was going to be epic. For now, Joe could settle for the feel of Nicky’s leg against his and his hand on top of Joe’s. His thumb brushing a simple pattern on Joe’s knuckle, it was having more of an affect on him than Joe thought possible.

*
There were six people left.

“There!” Nicky declared triumphantly.

He thrust the drawing pad towards Joe. Joe looked at the pad then back up at Nicky, who nodded smugly at him. He had been drawing for twenty minutes. Joe had watched him, the occasional frown had appeared on his face as he paused his scribbling, he had even turned the whole pad upside down, for reasons only known to him. Joe had absolutely no idea what Nicky had drawn.

“It’s a masterpiece.”

“Of?”

Damn. It looked like a mutant.

“Yours.”

Nicky reached for the pad and started making adjustments to his art. Joe didn’t have much confidence that adding more to it would make the picture easier to decipher.

“Shit, sorry.” Nicky said in a concerned voice.

He was now holding a blunt pencil and writing point trying to push them back together. Disappointment etched into his face, as he tried the same clumsy motion repeatedly. Maybe the 47 hours of holding onto the truck with out sleep was finally getting to him.

“Its ok. I have others.” Joe said as he held out his hand for the broken pieces. Nicky looked crestfallen.

“But its one of your special artist ones.”

Joe unzipped his bag and nudged it towards Nicky.

“Pick another one.”

Nicky began rummaging around the bag. It would have been much quicker for Joe to do it but he thought Nicky might appreciate seeing that there were at least seven pencils in there. Honestly, the exhaustion was starting to get to him even with Nicky next to him. Was the truck really worth it? Where would he even go in it?
He heard the rummaging stop from his right.

“Found one?”

“Yeah. A pen actually.”

The tone he used caused Joe to turn towards him.

“My pen.”

The pen. The one that they had argued about for at least a week. The one that was brought up every few months. The one that Joe had sworn for more than a year that he hadn’t stolen.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” He heard Andy say from somewhere behind him.

*
“I didn’t really steal it.”

Nicky hoped the expression on his face matched his inner fury as he held up the pen and glared at Joe.

“Stealing,” Joe began in an airy voice. “Is when you take something not honestly and keep it, oh what’s the word? Forever but it’s more legal sounding.” He clicked his finger and thumb as he actually had the nerve to look at Nicky for help. As if Nicky would help him defend himself to Nicky.

“Permanently.” Merrick stage whispered from behind him. He didn’t even have to speak at normal volume. The rest of the truck was quiet. Once again waiting for more entertainment from him and Joe.

“Yes! Thank you.” He said with a nod at Merrick who nodded back at him.

He turned back to Nicky confidently.

“Permanently, and I never did that. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you.”

“So, you stole from me and held my property hostage?”

“It’s not like I kidnapped a beloved family pet. It’s just a pen.”

That was not the right thing to say.

“Just a pen. It was my pen. I had some others, yeah, but I take care of my stuff. You don’t. You just stuffed it in the bottom of your bag, on its own for a year, you thought it wasn’t important.” He could hear his own voce speaking faster but he couldn’t control it. “You can’t treat a pen like that. You don’t deserve a pen. It’s not fair.

“I- what?” Joe said helplessly.

Nicky just looked up at him. He had thought that they could skip this part. He just wanted to get to the giving-Joe-his-jacket-when-he-got-cold-stage, the romance and the kissing. He really wanted the kissing part.

“I’m sorry I was mean to the pen?”

They weren’t going to get to that part because the idiot sat next to him still thought this was about a pen.

*

“Did you give him the pen back?” Booker asked from his cross-legged position in front of Joe. Nicky had moved away from him as soon as he could.

“Yeah, well not on purpose, no, but he has it.”

“I think you have to give it back to him.” Booker suggested proudly.

“But he has it.” Joe repeated. His eyes lit up.

“Do you think I should steal it then give it back?”

“No, well-”

“No!” Quynh and Andy both said at the same time.

They shook their heads at each other before Quynh turned to look at Joe, a knowing look on her pretty face. He was going to get couples advice, from the two people who had been together, since four minutes after setting foot on the same university grounds.

“Do not listen to Booker, he is single and will die alone.”

He turned to give her a look that screamed the phrase ‘bitch please’.

“I’m 21, so I think I have some time.”

“You eat smarties for breakfast and I had to show you how to use a stove.” Andy interjected.

“Because I come from a normal home, where you just have to-”

“Can we please stay on topic?” Joe asked. His head felt like it was made of led. “I’m tired. I’m confused and I’m thinking about quitting.”

“If that’s really what you want, it might be for the best.” Andy said comfortingly.

“Hey! He is getting this truck and he will drive us to a festival.” Booker said as he gave Andy a warning look.

“I think he’s upset. I think I upset him.” Joe said quietly. He needed to alleviate the awful dread that whirled in his stomach. He screwed up. He probably would have struggled to work Nicky out on a good day but after so long holding on to this damn truck, not sleeping, he had no idea how to fix this. They had been so close. Surely, stealing a pen all those months ago couldn’t break that. He had only done it because Nicky had been ignoring him. Joe was so nervous and confused. So, he made a plan, he was just going to walk up to him and give him his pen back, then of course a witty and interesting conversation would naturally follow. Joe would flirt. Nicky would flirt back. They would live happily ever after. What had gone so wrong?

“Joe, hon,” Quynh, ever the voice of reason when it concerned matters of the heart, began in a gentle tone, “you don’t need to give him back the pen in some specific way, it’s not a ritual to raise the dead. You just need to talk to him, like the mostly sane, somewhat reasonable person you are.”

“I don’t know how. I don’t know what to say.”

“Right, just tell us everything you two said to each other once he found the pen and we’ll figure it out.” Booker assured him as Quynh nodded.

*

“So, was it a special pen? Like your ancestor’s and they gave it to you just before they died tragically?”

“No Nile. It’s just a normal pen.”

“That he stole a year ago.”

“Yep.”

Nile shared a glance with Lykon who shrugged at her.

“Don’t you think that’s a long statute of limitation for pen theft?”

“How can you say such big words right now?”

“I’m definitely impressed.” Said Lykon as he opened another bag of buttons and offered them to Nile.

“It’s not about the pen.”

“Then what is it about?” Lykon inquired.

Nicky considered telling him. No one else at Birchwood University knew the entire story. At least Nicky hadn’t told anyone. He did vent about the situation to Marco and Izzy for a good hour. They were very supportive, they had nodded and gasped and swore at all the appropriate times. They had some rather imaginative insults for Joe too. Nicky hadn’t met Lykon yet or any of the others. He knew they would be nice about it but it wasn’t something he wanted to say aloud. Lykon seemed to understand from Nicky’s silence that he really didn’t want to answer.

“You don’t need to tell us anything you don’t want to.”
Nile huffed in disagreement.

“Does he at least know what it’s about?” She asked.

“Apparently not.”

*

“You don’t deserve a pen.” Quynh repeated in a contemplative tone.

“Yeah.” Joe confirmed.

They had been dissecting the conversation for what felt like centuries to him. Nothing seemed much clearer. His mind was too foggy. It felt like his entire head was throbbing. He would struggle to get through his six times tables at this point. He thought of his bed. It was warm and comfortable. He could just crawl under the covers. A student didn’t really need leave their room for at least a week. Even if he just had a couple hours, he would be able to figure things out. This could be the most important conversation he and Nicky had ever had.

“Maybe you should just sort this after you’ve both slept?” Andy suggested.

“You mean he should quit now. That would be very convenient for you.” Booker replied.

“I’m just saying that eloquent well rested Joe, might have a better chance than inco-, erm, sleepy Joe but it’s not up to me.” Andy said.

Her Amazonian façade was starting to crack slightly. Her posture was still perfect, straight as a ruler but her speech was starting to slur slightly.

“Hey, I’m not incohert, incoherant.” Joe said slowly. What a stupid word.

“Hmmm, but you aren’t up to your usual poetic standard.” Quynh agreed.

“Grand gesture.” Booker suggested as he snapped his fingers and pointed excitedly at Joe.

That could work. If it didn’t involve much speaking.

*

Nicky glanced at the mirror as he washed his hands. He looked like crap. Huge dark circles under his eyes, his usual posture now a hunch, eyes bloodshot.
It was not the sort of look you wanted when you were about to tell a gorgeous man why he didn’t deserve you.

He tensed as he felt the cold water he splashed on his face. There was no running away from this now. They had to be in the end stretch. Just six students were left. He wouldn’t let his silly feelings for Joe take this truck from him. He couldn’t let Joe win this too.
The door swung open. Nicky’s eyes darted towards it sure of who it would be. He was wrong.

“Drop out.”

Keane spoke with a tone of voice that suggested that there was no room for argument. He really didn’t know Nicky very well.

“Are you serious?”

There were rumours about Keane. It was university gossip, so of course they were exaggerated. He was a world-champion MMA fighter, he’d punched a rampaging bull in the face, he had won a fight with the Rock’s stunt double. Pure bullshit, but the thing was, Keane was big and he was used to people being intimidated by him.
He lurched forward. His hands forming fists.

“Deadly.”

Nicky looked him up and down, from his large head, to his steel toe capped trainers.

He laughed. Keane did a double-take.

“Did you do this to anyone else?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Good, I can’t wait to see what Andy does to you, when you try it with her.”

Nicky walked confidently, just before he was fully past him Keane stuck out an arm, blocking him.

“It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“What are you gonna do? On nearly fifty hours no sleep. You couldn’t swat a fly.”
He was going to try to hit him apparently. Nicky saw the large fist swinging towards him. He made to move his head back, he was Neo in the Matrix, except it was too much athleticism for his exhausted body and he ended up on the floor. He was satisfied though to realise, that when falling, his legs had tripped Keane, who was already unbalanced due to the swing, and had also ended up on the floor with an injured hand.

It was the floor of a men’s toilet. The cleaners must have been there recently because it smelled like lemons. But it still wasn’t the sort of place he would like to lie down on. He was already here though. It wasn’t that uncomfortable. He could so easily just close his eyes. It was all he wanted. Nile could win the truck. She was strong. Or Andy. Damn amazon. Joe couldn’t beat them. He was too lazy. He gave up on things. Like Nicky was now. His eyes shot open. Joe wouldn’t win and Nicky was going to see this through to the bitter end.
He stepped over a passed-out Keane and hurried to the truck.

*

“Nicky?”

Joe raised his voice slightly, keeping his tone soft.

“Nicky?”

Nile, who stood awkwardly between the two gave him a sympathetic smile. She hadn’t done it on purpose. Nicky had just managed to sort of use her as a human shield for awkwardness, at the last second, he practically threw her between the two. Now they were stuck.
Everyone around the truck could clearly hear him, including Nicky.

“Nicky, look I got you something. You have to look at me to see what it is.”

Nicky didn’t move.

“Ok, it’s a pen but you can’t see what colour, unless you look at me.”
Joe waited a few seconds before sighing. He threw the pen past Nile towards Nicky, who had turned at exactly the worst moment and got hit square in the face by it.

That earned him an affronted glare.

“Shit, sorry. Is your eye, ok?”

“Is that assault allowed?” Merrick asked Copley.

“I’ll allow it this once, shush I want to hear this.” He said as he waved away Merrick’s indignation.

Joe was peering at Nicky concernedly. Nothing was going to plan.

“Wait, you’re glaring at me. Ha! Good, now please listen to me.”

“Why, should I?”

“Because we shouldn’t be fighting.”

Nicky leaned over Nile to make a point of his surprise.

“That’s all we do!”

“No. We argue. We bicker. We don’t actually upset each other. Do we?”
He added the last part unsurely. His perfect brows furrowed as he looked like someone had told him he ran over their orphaned puppy.

“No, sometimes.” Nicky said as he felt himself soften slightly. He was almost giving in. Agreeing that he was in the wrong. It was hard not to when Joe genuinely looked so unsure of himself.

“When? How did I upset you?”

Nicky glanced around the car. Nile was riveted, like she was half-way through the season finale of her favourite drama. Andy looked confused, like she didn’t understand the arguing. Merrick was grinning, relishing the idea that one of them might give up to avoid the tension. Copley looked back at him expectantly, almost as though he were a direct part of the conversation. None of them were going to look away.

“When you stood me up.”

Nile gasped as she brought both her hands towards her face in shock.

“You’re out! Four left.” Copley said loudly.