THREE DAYS LATER, THINGS WERE BACK TO NORMAL. At least, that was when Sam felt it was safe to swing by again, tentatively knocking on the door instead of using his key, being greeted by an embarrassed looking Nicky who greeted him with a soft apology.

"We're good," he replied softly, stepping into the loft and shoving his hands into his pockets, watching as Nicky leaned agains the dining table, neither of them sure whether to acknowledge what had happened or just pretend nothing happened.

Because they were both cowards, they decided on the latter.

"You didn't have work today?" Nicky asked, his question falling flat, but he was trying.

"No, something happened with Jen, I don't know what, but she said she had to take care of some things, whatever that means," he explained, shrugging and crossing his arms; Nicky caught the movement, and there were times when Sam wished the man wasn't as hyperaware of everything around him; it wasn't the best trait for someone who tended to overthink.

"What about you?" he coughed, motioning towards the younger man who seemed to have just returned back home, his purple polo shirt bearing the same gray fuzz from the jacket hanging on one of the chairs.

Nicky raised his hands before dropping them against his sides. "Had some cancellations, and the people who come see me don't always see me weekly. Though I do worry about some of them..." he trailed off, glancing towards his patient files sitting on the table.

"If you're busy, I can go," Sam said, jerking his thumb towards the door, unsure as to why he had even bothered to swing by in the first place.

"No, you're fine, I wasn't really working," Nicky said, and he was clearly lying, casting a glance back towards his room, "Do you wanna get out of here, do something? I need to get out more."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, sure. Anywhere you wanna go?"

Nicky shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't know...honestly, I don't really go much anywhere, I order takeout, I drop by the park every now and again, there are these little kids I talk to, not the ones that Rhett plays baseball with, these are even younger than that...I don't really do much outside of work."

"Being a psychologist is a pretty full time job," Sam reasoned, and Nicky smiled brightly, glad that someone understood that his job wasn't as simple as most people thought, though it faltered when he thought back to his other job which took up most of his time in actuality.

"What'd you use to do when you did have time?" Sam asked, genuinely curious about the man; despite his jokes about high school, he honestly didn't remember him much, memories coming back in bits and pieces, though there wasn't much for him to remember.

Nicky bit his lip, shaking his head. "Just stayed home or..." he trailed off, thinking back towards the times when Terran would take him out to have some fun or just get away from his family.

"Or what?" Sam asked, trying to sound even more curious than he actually was, though that was truly saying something, as he was honestly interesting.

Nicky tried to play it off, shrugging. "Ah...I just knew this one guy who I actually stayed with after I graduated, before I met Rhett, and we used to go around, get me out of Harlem for a bit, that's why I wound up in Brooklyn. But, I mean, we usually went into the city, stuff like that."

"Where did you go?" Sam asked, and it felt like he was trying to coax a deer out of hiding with how slow the process was going, getting a little out of the man each time.

Nicky shrugged again, and he rubbed the back of his head. Truth be told, he hadn't gone to visit those places much—or at all, really—since Terran had left. Gone. But he could tell that Sam was really trying, and he wasn't in the mood to make things harder for the man; he had no right after what he had put him through the last time.

"He used to take me to this arcade and to Midtown Comics...that diner we met up with Diana and Peter at, I mentioned it to them, that was one of our favorite stops, but we'd go to the downstairs part of it. Black Tap, he'd always order their speciality milkshake...we'd share 'cause I never let him pay more than a burger and fries for me. One time, he took me to see a Broadway show for my birthday...God, he paid so much money for that..." he raised a hand to his mouth, rubbing his chin as the memories flooded in, some of which he had almost forgotten, and he took a deep breath, checking himself.

Sam licked his lips. Whoever this guy was, it didn't take a genius to tell that Nicky was in love with him. He didn't understand why that hurt him as much as it did.

"Where's he now?" he asked, instead of the real question he had been planning on asking, and he wished he didn't sound so defensive about it.

Nicky looked up at him, as if just realizing who he was talking to, flushing and ducking his head. "He's...gone."

Sam shifted; he wasn't going to open that can of worms. Instead, he tried to seem oblivious, asking, "Wanna make a day of it?"

Nicky raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Sam tried, already starting to flounder, "You and me. The afternoon's just started, we can pass by Midtown, drop by SoHo. I mean, if you want. You know, it's been a while since you've gone there, huh?"

Nicky licked his lips. "Can we...can we also pass by the arcade? I mean, I don't wanna play, but I kinda wanna see if this thing that I put is still there..."

Sam nodded, starting to smile. "Whatever you want, princess."

Nicky scoffed, fighting back a grin as he turned away. "Shut up. If I'm a princess, what does that make you?"

Sam held out his arm. "Your Prince Charming."

º º º

"Did you actually carve the link to 'Never Going to Give You Up' into the back of the Pac-Man game?" Sam exclaimed, shaking his head as his voice filled the room, catching the attention of a few people while Nicky crouched by the wall, trying to push the game forward.

"Shh!" Nicky hissed, but he was grinning madly, looking around the room, "I can't believe they kept it, it's the only thing that's still left that's still the same."

"Can't believe that this entire place is still standing," Sam commented, raising an eyebrow at the retro carpeting and the young children running around with quarters in their pockets.

"Eh, some people just can't let go of the past, you know?" Nicky hummed, running a hand over the jagged words, smiling softly, "Keeps them grounded."

Sam just looked down at him, smiling despite himself; there was a look on the man's face that was entirely bittersweet. He wanted to smile at how happy he looked, but cry at the longing, the longing that was permanently etched into his features, but was hidden so well that it couldn't be seen until he dropped the facade.

This was the real Nicky Green.

But he left as soon as he came, jolting out of it and clearing his throat, pushing the machine back before one of the employees could kick them out. "Thanks for coming with me, Sam, it means a lot."

Sam smirked, raising the back full of comics that he had spent thirty minutes watching Nicky pick out, the two completely silent as they walked around the room, though Nicky would often lean close and whisper about how he always felt out of place talking loudly in the room, especially the upstairs, and how he never always just flipped through the comics he wanted to pick up, never bought them, but one day found an entire stack waiting for him on one of his birthdays.

"No problem," he said, handing the bag back over, the two headed towards the exit.

"Hey," a voice called out, "You're the guy that hacked one of our machines."

Nicky froze, turning to find a man, the son of the owner and assistant manager by the looks of his name tag, nodding when he really took in his face. "Yeah! That is you. What the hell, man?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nicky lied, remembering how he had tried to show off to Terran all those years ago, "But I'm sorry man, that probably cost you a lot of money."

"Yeah," the man said, vaulting over the counter and stalking towards him, "It really fucking did. Nearly cost my old man, who's dead now, just by the way, the entire place, asshat."

"Hey!" Sam called out, coming to stand between the man and Nicky, "He said he didn't have anything to do with it. Now unless you want me to call the cops for harassment, I suggest you walk away."

"Or what?" the younger man spat.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Besides what I just said about the cops? I'll beat your ass. Now, I don't usually do that kinda thing, but for you? Messing with him? I'll make an exception."

The man grit his teeth and pulled back his arm, taking a swing at Sam's jaw, but the older man just grabbed his hand and twisted his arm around, whispering lowly in his ear. "Walk away before we make a scene. There are kids here. Your old man wouldn't want you losing the entire place 'cause you picked a fight with the wrong guy. Walk. Away."

With that, he shoved the man aside, grabbing Nicky by the arm and marching out of the arcade, his blood boiling, keeping Nicky close to his side, the younger man staying completely quiet.

After a few minutes of walking, Nicky spoke, his voice soft and raised a to a high octave. "My hero..."

"Shut up!" Sam laughed, making a grab for the man who bolted, racing off towards the steps down to the subway station, "Get back here, princess!"

"Keep up, chicken!" Nicky called back, jumping and sliding down the railing, arms pinwheeling as he jumped onto the flat ground, trying not to fall on his face.

Sam scoffed as he followed down the stairs, rolling his eyes. "Youth."

"You're not that older than me," Nicky mumbled, grinning as Sam threw an arm around his shoulder, making their way to the turnstiles.

"I'm in the mood for some milkshakes, how 'bout you?" he asked, the two coming to stand by their stop.

Nicky smiled, glancing down at his shoes. "Yeah. Wanna share?"

Sam smiled as well, adjusting his arm. "Whatever you want, princess."

º º º

"You really liked this guy, huh?" Sam asked over their burgers about forty minutes later, the two sitting in the farthest back booth in the dark underground room, music blaring over the speakers mingled with the sounds of the kitchen right behind Nicky.

Nicky looked up from where he was messing with a french fry, popping it into his mouth and humming. "Hm? Oh, yeah, uh, he was...he was really great to me. I met him towards the end of junior year, I think, I had just turned sixteen. Really, I met one of his friends who introduced me to him...he helped me with everything, took me in when I went to college, I just...yeah."

"No, I mean," Sam said, shifting in his seat, "You really liked him."

Nicky sighed, bowing his head. "Was it that obvious?"

Sam chuckled, licking his lips. "You had the same look on your face that Steve has when he talks about Rhett. Same with my dad when he talked about my mom."

"I've moved on," Nicky tried, but it sounded flat, even to his ears. Sighing, he added, "For the most part. I mean...I'm not in love with him anymore. Not really. I just...I miss him. A lot."

"I get it," Sam said, then, because he didn't always have the best judgement, asked, "Is that why you're not seeing anyone?"

Nicky snorted, shaking his head. "No. God no, I'm not seeing anyone 'cause no one's into me, I think I told you this before. There was that one guy from the park, but you saw how that went."

Sam shrugged. "Like I said, most people aren't worth it."

Nicky snorted again, shrugging. "True. 's'at why you're not seeing anyone?"

The man shook his head, leaning back and smirking at him. "No. I've found someone who's worth it, but I'm not sure if now's the right time."

Nicky wished he didn't act as disappointed as he felt, though he was surprised he was so disappointed; who was he trying to fool, his little infatuation was Sam was never going to actually get anywhere; he was still grasping the concept that they were friends.

Sam scoffed, starting to smile. "No need to look so disappointed, princess, I told you I wasn't sure, no need to panic."

Nicky paused for a moment, thinking back to their entire day together, then to all the times they spent together, everything flooding back all at once, his next words being punched out of him with full force.

"Are you flirting with me?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "I have been since I met you, but thanks for noticing."

Nicky leaned back in his seat, just staring at Sam, the longest he had been able to since they had met; or, rather, reconnected. "Oh."

Sam snorted, taking a sip of the cookie shake they had been sharing. "Oh."

Nicky opened and closed his mouth. "Uh..."

The older man waved his hand flippantly. "Don't think too hard, princess, like I said, whenever you're ready. Or if you're not even interested, that's fine, though that'd mean I'm really bad at reading cues, because..." he let the silence fill itself and Nicky had the sudden urge to brain himself against the nearest post.

He wondered why he wasn't feeling anything. He wasn't jumping for joy or panicked or anything. He was just numb. It was almost as if he wasn't surprised, but, in actuality, he was in complete surprise. He had never been more shocked, but maybe he had already known? No, there was no way. But maybe his subconscious understood, but he just didn't want to accept it. Maybe he was numb from the shock. Maybe he just didn't care.

Whatever the reason, he just continued to stare at Sam, his entire body relaxed. Then he spoke. "I chased pigeons and drove all the way to the Bronx to make fun of you, fell asleep in your arms, and let you call me the stupidest nicknames, and this whole time, you knew I liked you?"

Sam's laugh echoed throughout the entire room, drawing the attention of nearly everyone with just how free it was, how purely joy-filled it was. It was the kind of laugh that made everyone smile because it was just so free. So happy.

When he finally calmed down, Nicky was hiding his face in his hands, shaking his head and groaning. Sighing, grinning widely, Sam reached out and pulled Nicky's hands away, catching his eye. "Hey."

"I hate you," Nicky groaned, turning away from him, legs stretched out along his booth, facing the wall, "You're the absolute worst."

"You know, princess, for someone who's career is studying people, you're pretty oblivious," Sam hummed conversationally, popping a fry into his mouth, "Now, c'mon and eat your food, I'm paying."

"No, you're not, I chose the place, I pay," Nicky argued, whirling around to look at him, utterly mortified at the idea of Sam paying for him.

"Alright, alright," the man sighed, holding up his hands, "We'll spit the bill, okay?"

Nicky sighed, placated but not entirely happy. "Alright, whatever."

After a few minutes of silence, the two continuing to eat, Nicky glanced over at Sam shyly, smiling. "Thanks, Sam."

Sam smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. "Sure, thing, princess."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I loved this chapter, but I wish that it was chapter 25 so it'd be even, but whatever, I guess. Whatever. I'm really happy that it happened like this, I didn't even know how this was going to end up or how I was gonna get Sam and Nicky to have the "are you flirting with me" dialogue, but I got it and I love it.

Black Tap is an actual place in SoHo, I went there recently, and they have the best shakes, The Cookie Shake is their speciality and it's delicious, like, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!