It was finally Friday. Murdoc was waiting patiently by the entrance of the school for Stuart, who had to grab some books to study for midterms coming up. The two had naturally fallen into this routine of waiting for the other whenever they had a break in school or it was time to leave. It was nice to have someone to look forward to.

Today, the two teens had plans to go study together since they had most of the same classes (although at different times). Murdoc didn't particularly care about studying, but if it meant a few extra minutes with Stuart, he'd do anything.

"I didn't keep ya waitin' long, did I?" The bluenette asked, coming up behind Murdoc with four books piled in his arms.

Murdoc frowned at the sight, the poor lad looked like he couldn't even balance right between the weight of his books and his backpack.

"Give me those." The shorter of the two demanded, ignoring the question and looking at the books.

"Wha'?"

"The books." Murdoc clarified.

"Ya don' 'ave ta do tha'."

"... I want to."

Without any further hesitation, Stuart handed the pile of books off to Murdoc who balanced them carefully in his arms. At the sight of it, the bluenette's face grew slightly red and he beamed a toothless smile.

"Fank you, Muds!"

'Muds' had become Stuart's nickname for Murdoc for a while now. Normally, the raven haired teen hated that kind of thing; but when it came out of Stuart's mouth, the bassist's heart would speed up and he'd fall weak to the smile that usually accompanied it.

"N-Not a problem Stu... Now, where should we go ta study?" He asked, silently cursing himself out for stuttering a simple line.

"I woul' say my house, but me mum's doin' somefink for work..." Stuart's voice trailed off as if trying to think of an alternative.

"We obviously can't go ta my house, so... I've got it! Follow me, Stupot."

Although he didn't know where Murdoc would take him, the bluenette happily obliged to following him.

. . .

The walk was nice. Stuart happily chatted to Murdoc about new zombie films, his job, and his midterm confidence while the other would nod and commentate on what he was saying. If he was being honest with himself, he could've listened to Stuart talk for hours. The boy never seemed to run out of things to say, and if he did, he could immediately resurrect the conversation by talking about the first thing he saw. Not to mention the cute Cockney accent and slight lisp due to missing teeth that accompanied all the talk.

After walking a few blocks from the school, Murdoc came across their new study spot. His alleyway.

He hadn't stepped foot back there since his letters hadn't been returned or even read for that matter. That whole situation still left him somewhat depressed if he would think about it, but since Stuart stepped into the picture, he didn't mind it as much.

"We're here." Murdoc announced, leading them down the alleyway.

Stuart's heart sped up, he'd been here so many times to drop off notes and what not, but now that he was actually invited by Murdoc himself, he felt uncertain.

As they approached the back of the alleyway, the bluenette was immediately shocked with what he saw. Everything he had ever given Murdoc laid neatly in a pile in the far corner, clean and undamaged. And the wall where they usually exchanged notes was covered in letters solely by the bassist.

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Please, we don't have to see each other ... Just respond to me.

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Are you okay? Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?

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If you think I'm mad at you or something, I'm not, I promise. Please write back.

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I just want a response to know if you're okay. You have to be okay. Please be okay.

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In those days Stuart had been sulking around in his room, Murdoc had become borderline desperate for any contact from the mystery person. It nearly broke the bluenette's heart to see how much the raven haired teen actually cared. How lonely he'd gotten.

Murdoc, seeing Stuart stare at the wall, immediately went to stand in front of them, covering them with his back. 

"'m sorry." The bluenettte apologized, knowing he'd been caught.

The older of the two sighed, sliding down the wall and sitting on the cold ground, patting the ground beside him and inviting Stuart to sit as well.

"Don't be. Tha' was a while back anyway."

"Were they ta someone special?"

Murdoc smiles fondly, remembering the first note he received and the many that followed.

"Yeah. They were. Buuuut it was hopeless anyway. Can't fall for someone you've never met, righ'?" He laughed sadly, handing Stuart a science book.

"Ya fell for 'em?" The bluenette asked, his face already beginning to turn crimson.

Murdoc paused. Then smiled. Then frowned.

"I did. So, back to science. There's a whole lot we gotta study for if we're gonna pass this next week. Quantum physics and all that crap." The raven haired teen droned, trying to switch topics.

"Why?" Stuart proceeded to ask, delving into deep waters.

"Why? Well if ya ever want to pass high school Stupot, you gotta get pass midterms." 

"No. Not tha'. Why'd ya fall in love, I mean."

Murdoc looked into Stuart's crystal blue eyes, then immediately looked away. He didn't want to answer, but he didn't want to lie to him either.

"There was a person who I used to trade notes with. They'd write me these long notes, and leave me those things ya see over there. Gradually as we passed notes back an' forth, I guess I just fell for 'em. It was a hopeless love anyway so no harm done." Murdoc explained briefly, not going into detail.

Stuart fought the urge to completely give himself up and fly into the other's arms. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to just simply be with Murdoc. The bluenette couldn't face the amount of guilt he felt for leaving the raven haired teen alone with his unrequited feelings for the 'mystery person'. 

Just as he was about to make the confession of his life, Murdoc spoke up again.

"Stuart. What's that?"