"Dude, I've been honking for five straight minutes!" Austin complained, "What the hell were you doing?"

"There's this thing people do in the mornings, it's called eating breakfast!" Sam responded as he opened the shotgun door and entered.

"What were you eating, gravel?" Austin asked as he started the car.

"Whoa!" Sam raised his hands up in mock surrender, "I think it's way too early to be so pissy..what's going on with you? Bad weekend?"

"It's nothing much but why don't you tell me how your trip away from civilization went." Austin said as he started driving away from the street in front of Sam's house.

"Don't even get me started!" Sam let out a puff as he slumped further into his seat.

"Compared to my weekend, I'm sure yours was paradise."

"What do you mean, what happened to you?!" Sam asked, now interested.

"I'll tell you about it some other time. Right now, I wanna hear about how much fun you had fishing.. do you even know how to fish?" Austin asked in a lighter mood than he had been using before.

"No..wanna know how I came to that conclusion?"

"Why not.." Austin responded as he concentrated on the road ahead.

"Two fish bit me..how is that even possible!" Sam explained while throwing his hands in the air animatedly.

"What!" Austin exclaimed between fits of laughter, "How do you fish?!"

"It's complicated."

"Are you for real?" Austin enquired, "A fish bit you?"

"Yea..I also fell into the lake, fell into a sinkhole while we were walking around in the woods and I also got stung by a wasp!"

Austin couldn't stop laughing,"What did your dad say?"

"Oh, he thought it was hilarious!"

"To be honest...it really is!" Austin said as he failed miserably to hold in a laugh.

"That's not the worst part!" Sam said.

"There's a worse part?"

"There was no electricity in that hellhole, and the candles we brought ran out on the first night. The matches had also run out so we had to learn how to kindle a fire caveman style!"

"And how long did it take you or did you give up after ten hours?"Austin joked.

"It took...I honestly don't know how long it took but at least we finally got it!"

"Why didn't you just get out of that place, why did your dad insist on keeping you there?!"

"Something about being men...I don't know. Some stuff my dad kept on rumbling about that I couldn't hear well, probably because I might have been suffering from hypothermia. It was so cold we had to cuddle, Austin.... I had to cuddle with my dad!" Sam was getting pretty worked up.

"Man, that's crazy." Austin said, "But I have to ask; do you, by any chance, have pictures?"

Sam sent him a look that made Austin know that that was not the least bit funny so Austin averted his eyes back to the road.

"I'm gonna need therapy...years and years of it." Sam said.

"I don't think it's that big of a deal, don't stress too much about it." Austin told him as he shut the car engine when they arrived in Austin's usual parking spot.

Now that they were in school, Austin was starting to feel nervous again. He had been feeling that way since he woke up this morning and Sam's rambling had helped to distract him a bit. There was no avoiding it anymore. One way or another, he was gonna run into Noah and all the confidence he had had yesterday had evaporated somehow during the night.

He didn't know how they both would react once they saw each other. He had tried asking Nicky for advice but she had mumbled something inaudible and ran off once her friends came to pick her up for school.

"Are you leaving this car any time soon?" Sam asked when he noticed Austin was seated stiffly and his hold on the steering wheel was turning his knuckles white.

"Sure." Was all Austin said as a reply.

"You look like they are about to send you to the chair any minute now." Sam made an observation.

"I did something bad yesterday." Austin suddenly blurted out.

"Did you kill anyone?" Sam joked.

"I kissed Noah."

There was a long, awkward pause before Sam said, "Oh." He now understood why his best friend was being so weird.

"Yea....oh."

"Was it like a kiss on the cheek,or ..."

"What am I...his mother, dropping him off on his first day of school?!" Austin retorted.

"Calm down." Sam said, "But seriously, I thought you hated that guy..what changed? Got lonely while I was away?"

"We also made out a bunch of times on Friday and ended up sleeping together." Austin said fast.

"Whoa...whoa..whoa! Slow down there, Speedy Gonzales, back up..what did you just say?!"

"I didn't mean sleep, as in have sex... We just slept in the same bed, dressed.."

"Phew!" Sam said in relief.

"....in only our underwear." Austin replied, feigning a choke at the word 'underwear'.

"Exactly how long was I in the woods?!" Sam asked.

Austin was about to say something when someone started knocking impatiently on the window. He turned to look and Nicky was standing there, seemingly out of breath as she waved while pointing at her phone and simultaneously asking him to roll down the window.

"Why do you look like a crazy person?" Austin asked her.

"Have you received it?" She asked him back.

"The memo that you went crazy fifteen years ago?..yes, I did..about fifteen years ago." He responded sarcastically.

"Hey, Nicky!" Sam greeted her.

"Hey Sam! Did you lose some weight?" She teased and turned to her brother, "And no, you jackass, I'm talking about the email that's going around!"

"What email?"

"Learn to check your phone!" She said.

"I don't have the kind of glue that you use to stick yours to your face but maybe I can borrow some." Austin responded and offered her an amused smirk.

"You will not be laughing in a minute," she said. "Check your phone."

Austin reached inside his pocket and retrieved his phone. There was one notification of a new email from an address he didn't know. He had no idea how this was a big deal until he opened it.

It was a video. It started with a scene where he and Noah were on the booth, clearly at the club, kissing and dry humping the hell out each other. Remembering doing it was one thing but seeing the tangible evidence right in front of him on a Monday morning.. It was extremely nerve racking. The video kept on playing as it switched to the part where it was Austin with Jesse, still on the same booth but now Austin seemed desperate, hot and bothered as he tried to take Jesse right there, right then.

The ending was some flashy text that simply read, "WHORE!" In all caps.

Sam was also watching the same thing on Austin's phone. He could not believe this or why it was happening in the first place, "Oh my god!"

All the color had drained off Austin's face. He held the phone so tight it was on the verge of breaking. Thoughts kept running through his head at an alarming speed but none of it made sense. He was starting to shake a little.

"Nicky." he called, his voice only a little over a whisper.

"Yes?" She immediately responded.

"Please tell me that this is not going around school." He begged and swallowed thickly, having a hard time breathing.

"Ummmmnn..." She didn't know what to say to soften the blow.

"My life is over, isn't it?" Austin asked, knowing very well that no matter how much he wished, this ship was already sailed.

"You can't say that," Nicky said. "You need to go in there and hold your head high. Let them know that it doesn't get to you."

"But it does...and I am certainly not walking through those doors!" Austin declared.

"Come on, buddy, I'm not letting you walk away and let whoever is doing this get under your skin. You gotta have thick skin, man!" Sam tried to comfort him.

"This is not like some rumor that no one can really verify!" Austin raised his voice, "The evidence is right there. Everyone has seen it. Who the fuck would even do this to me!?"

"I bet it was that lunatic who drugged you guys!"

"Hold up, you were drugged?!" Sam was shocked at the new piece of information, "When?!"

"Friday night, after my shrink died."Austin answered him.

"What shrink?!" The more Austin said, the more confused Sam got, "Last I checked, you didn't have a shrink."

"My dad hired one to cure me of my -"

"You can talk about that later!" Nicky interrupted, "Right now you need to get your stupid butt out of your car and go to school like a normal person. Then, later, we can track that skinny wimp down and skin him alive, got it?" She said it with so much authority it was like the final word and the two boys found themselves obliging.

As they walked towards the entrance, Austin could feel everyone's eyes trained on him. He kept his head down, afraid to face the people who were giggling or shamelessly laughing out loud. They were all huddled in small groups and the concentration they had on their phones told him that they we watching the video; possibly re-watching for the hundredth time.

Once he went through the large doors, the laughing got even louder. Others were even openly pointing fingers at him.

Sam grew bothered by the way people were treating his best friend. Austin didn't seem to have the strength to fight back so he decided to do it for him. He grabbed one scrawny, nerdy-looking kid who was among the tormentors and threw him against a random locker, pinning him to it with just one hand. His height alone was intimidating enough. "What's so funny?" He asked in a dangerously threatening voice.

"N-n..nothing!"

"Didn't look like nothing from where I was standing!" He questioned further.

"I swear, it was nothing." The boy was beginning to sweat.

"That's what I thought!" Sam barked, "Now, get lost!" He released the boy and he disappeared like a lightning bolt, probably went to the bathrooms to cry. A few other kids followed suit and got out of there quickly.

"Thanks Sam but you really didn't have to do that."Austin said.

"I should be thanking you, that felt good!" Sam bragged while tagging his collar.

Austin kept running his hands through his hair nervously as he walked towards his locker. It was the ultimate walk of shame but he managed to put one leg in front of the other without tripping; there were just so many people watching. Others even went as far as to mockingly whistle at him. He used the length and thickness of his hair as a curtain to hide some of his face from them. Nicky was walking on the other side of him as she typed away distractedly on her phone.

"Don't mind them, Aussy." she finally spoke, "No one will dare mess with you or else I will cut a bitch!"

"Austin!" A voice called from behind them and they all turned around to find out who it was. It was Noah. He was standing at the top of a staircase that led to the first floor.

As soon as Austin saw him, it was like he lost his ability to speak for a moment. The look on Noah's face clearly suggested that he, too, had seen the video. His face was filled with concern as he stood on the landing, not sure whether to approach Austin or just remain where he was -which was a safe distance.

"Hey, Austin! I see you like to go hunting at night!" Colby said from behind. They turned quickly as he was high five-ing a few of the other guys he was with.

"What?!" Austin asked.

"Don't play innocent with me, we've all seen you beg for it!"

"Shut up dickwad!" Sam said.

"This has nothing to do with you Stanford, stay out of it!" Colby warned. It was hard to imagine they had been close friends a few days ago. It was just crazy.

"Or what, huh?" Sam challenged, "You screw another guy's girl and now you think you're king of the jungle?"

"Who told you she ever was his?" Colby continued, "This fucking fagwhore never stood a chance!"

Austin had remained silent, but not anymore. "Shut the fuck up Montgomery, what makes you think you can fucking talk to me like that!"

"Because I've seen how you like it; drunk, with a dick and preferably in public!" that earned Colby cheers of affirmation from his friends.

"You fuc -"

"No wonder he couldn't get it up for me most of the time!" Lucy appeared from the left, accompanied by her rag tag group of skanks. She was lying and Austin knew she was trying to embarrass him in front of the large crowd that was forming.

"Really, that's what you're going with!" Austin mocked her, "Have you seen your flat ass?..What, did it come off from all the friction from sitting on all those dicks while we were dating?" There was no way he was going to take the high road, not in front of two people he hated so much.

"Then why did you spend so much time on it?" She offered a comeback.

"He was probably trying to fix it, you bitch!" Nicky stepped in, in defense of her brother.

"What did you just call me?" Lucy took a step forward.

"Oh, you didn't understand me, slut?" Nicky advanced too, "Learn a language!"

"Are you fucking calling me dumb, bitch!"

"That's too hard a term for you," Nicky said,folding  her hands and shifting her weight to one hip. "Let me put it in words you can actually understand: you're basically three marbles rolling around in a tin can. And your boy toy here, Colby, has had sex with each one of these idiots you call friends at least twice...Oh, Holly and Sara, didn't he once try to have sex with both of you at the same time but couldn't get it up so instead he threw up on you and ran away like a little bitch?" She chuckled in disgust, "He didn't tell you, did he! And, Colby, want me to tell the everyone about what happened during 'blank' when we were 'blank' years old and I walked in on you doing 'blank'?.... Want me to fill in those blanks?" Colby remained silent, clearly taken aback, "That's what I thought."

Her heckling was clearly working because both Colby and Lucy seemed out of words. Lucy's mouth was agape as she gave Colby and her friends death glares. Everyone else seemed amused by the turn of tables.

"Are you the Colby I've been hearing so much about?" They hadn't noticed Noah walk down the stairs and head straight towards Colby.

"What's it to you?" Colby asked rudely but he looked intimidated because Noah was more built than he was.

"Listen, you can have that bimbo and her entire clan for all I care but let me never catch you talking to my boyfriend like that!" This time, not only Austin was caught by surprise by the use of that word. Everyone else was.

"Oh yeah?" Colby continued to challenge, "What the fuck do you think you can do?"

Noah moved towards him until Colby was trapped between him and a locker, then proceeded to punch the Metallic surface with so much force it creased like a wrinkled paper. "That will be your face next time you try." There were gasps as the crowd watched Colby almost piss his pants. Colby took his friends and got out of there, fuming but scared all the same.

Noah walked away and approached Austin, who was still dumbfounded that Noah had called him his boyfriend in public and that he had smashed a locker with his monstrous fist.

"Hey, babe!" Noah said as he slid his fingers around the back of Austin's neck and pulled him close before taking his lips with his own right there in front of everybody without warning or hesitation.

Everyone else disappeared from view for a while as Austin immediately got captured into the enchanting way in which Noah passionately kissed him. The kiss probably lasted like five seconds, but it felt like an hour to Austin. It was just so tender and loving and helped him forget his concerns for a bit.

Surprisingly, it didn't feel as strange as he had imagined kissing Noah in public would feel -it actually felt oddly normal. When he came back to reality, everyone around had their whole attention trained on them. All that attention was making Austin's a little queasy.

"What are you all looking at!" Noah bellowed and students started scattering in different directions away from them. Clearly, none of them wanted their faces smashed in.

Sam remained though and Nicky, too, along with  two of her friends -one of them a short brunette and the other, a cheery-looking Asian girl with extremely long, straight, black hair.

Nicky cleared her throat to get Austin and Noah's attention. When Austin looked at her, she sent him an overly obnoxious, toothy grin that had him rolling his eyes. "What?" He asked her.

"Nothing." she said, "That was really hot!"

"I know, right?" The short brunette agreed.

"It was like watching a high school drama or something. All the drama and the villains and bitches ...you're totally my hero!" The Asian girl talked animatedly while referring to Noah.

"Thanks..I guess," Noah said with an amused chuckle.

"Oh, you must be Noah. I'm Gina." The short brunette introduced herself.

"And I'm Max." The Asian girl said excitedly, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Really?" Noah asked, "Like what?"

"Like how you're the sexiest gay guy to ever walk the halls of this school!" She responded while blushing deeply. She looked at Noah as if she wanted to start worshipping him.

"Ok, I'm gonna go."  Sam, who had been awfully silent, said, "Catch you later, Austin."

"Sure." Austin responded.

"But seriously, do you give autographs?" She was like a crazed fan girl.

"You're adorable," Noah told her.

"Are you really Austin's boyfriend?" She asked, looking all innocent and wide eyed as she stared at Noah adoringly.

"I like to think so." Noah replied as the rest chuckled.

"So, are you two like..official?" Gina asked.

"Would you please stop asking so many questions!" Austin asked abruptly.

"It's only normal to be curious." Said Gina.

"Yea, are you dating now?" Nicky joined in.

"I wouldn't -" he was interrupted by the first period bell, "Thank god!" He said as he was relieved he didn't have to answer that question.

He began walking away hurriedly towards the classroom.

"Hey, wait up!" Noah called from behind him.

"Wh-where are you going?" Austin asked, afraid that Noah was about to ask him the same question Nicky had.

"We have first period together, remember?" Noah replied.

"Oh." he relaxed a bit .

They walked into class together and the whole class went quiet. Austin ignored their stares and went over to his seat. He couldn't believe what had been drawn on his desk though. There were numerous graphic, grotesque pictures of penises drawn all over.

Since Noah's seat was right next to his, he saw it all. Austin looked enraged as he tossed his backpack onto the floor.

"Who the fuck did this!" He yelled angrily.

"I don't know bro.," Sam responded as he offered Austin a sympathetic look. "I tried cleaning it off but it's permanent."

Noah noticed the kid who sat in front of him had his head practically buried in his books. He looked like the type of person to show up early to school and head straight to class; the geeky type.

"Hey!" He tapped the kid on the shoulder, "I know you were here when that happened..who did it!" He demanded.

"I...I don't know." The kid stammered.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Alex......Alex Cullen. M-my name is Alex Cullen."

"Alex, you're lying to me, aren't you?" Noah asked condescendingly. Alex nodded while adjusting his thick glasses shyly. "How about you don't lie to me again, Alex..which bastard did that!"

"It was C-Colby Montgomery."Alex answered.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Austin shouted in rage just as the teacher entered. He slowly slid into his chair and tried avoiding the gory images on his desk as he took out his books but he couldn't. They were seriously disturbing.

Class started but Austin's mind was wandering off elsewhere thinking about Noah.

He was alarmed by how sexy he thought Noah was when he got all worked up and bossed people around. Even how his jaw tweaked whenever he got angry.

Every time it happened, Austin felt the urge to jump into Noah's arms and kiss him silly.

Throughout the lesson, Noah kept stealing glances at Austin as well. He hated how worn out he looked from all the things that were happening to him.

He felt partly responsible and that fact sent a pang up his chest. That's why he felt the responsibility to stand up for him and defend him from the annoying bullies.

He knew that Austin could handle himself but he also just couldn't stand those jerks throwing insults at the boy he liked; maybe even loved. He needed Austin to be ok, which was the only thing that could make him feel better.

He had not meant to kiss Austin in public without his consent but when he saw the look on Austin's face after he called him his boyfriend, he knew there was one way to assure Austin that he wasn't messing around -or at least, the only way as he saw it.

****

Austin was in the gym locker rooms, having taken a shower after gym class. He was among the last in the room so he was just walking around with a towel wrapped around his waist as he retrieved a fresh pair of clothes to wear. His hair was held in a high ponytail to avoid catching water. He was glad this was his final class for the day and that he was going home, away from everyone.

As he was putting on his pants, he heard footsteps of someone coming from the showers so he looked to see who it was. Noah came into the locker room,his towel around his waist as well and his chest was still wet. He held the front of the towel to keep it from falling.

Noah's upper torso was as sexy as Austin had imagined, even better.

However, there were a few bruises running across his chest. They seemed to be a bit old because they were fading, leaving behind a few scars or marks. Austin found himself staring at those ugly marks that had formed on that beautiful chest.

His head started filling with questions and assumptions about how Noah had acquired them. Noah noticed him staring and cleared his throat to get his attention.

Austin looked away while blushing.

"Sorry, I should go put some clothes on." Noah said. He did want to cover up his scars but he was also aware that Austin was standing there, chest exposed and pants unzipped.

"You don't have to, it's a locker room after all so you can walk around however you want." Austin protested, having trouble swallowing. His throat felt a little bit dry.

"Are you sure?" Noah asked.

"Positive," Austin said, but he didn't take his eyes off of Noah's. Neither did Noah. Austin started worrying his lower lip with his teeth. He had no clue that it drove Noah crazy whenever he did that. Noah wanted to reach over and nibble on it on Austin's behalf.

Noah began moving forward as if he was being pulled by a magnet. Austin didn't have the voice to protest. Noah lay his free hand on Austin's chest and pushed him gently against a locker.

He reached with his teeth and took Austin's plump, lower lip between them and pulled it into his mouth. Austin was trembling with anticipation as Noah took his time kissing him and nibbling softly on his lip. Noah reached up and pulled off the band which was holding Austin's hair up and it fell smoothly down to his neck as Noah slid his fingers between the strands.

Austin closed his eyes as he was filled with pure bliss. The amount of emotions going through his system was almost numbing. Noah opened his eyes as he let his lips linger near Austin's. "I couldn't resist," he whispered, his voice more hoarse than usual. Austin opened his eyes too and looked right into those magnificent depths of green.

"I keep trying, but I can't either." Austin responded.

"I don't wanna try resisting, I wanna be able to kiss you like this all the time if that's possible." Noah said but to some extent it sounded like he was asking for permission.

"Then, do it." Noah wasted no time as he grabbed Austin by the waist and pulled him in the deepest, most passionate kiss they had ever shared. Noah let go of his towel wrapped both strong arms around Austin as Austin locked his around Noah's neck.

They kissed until they were both out of breath. Noah's eyes were dilated with a dark desire as he breathed in heavily, staring at Austin as if he was the only thing he could see. Luckily, his towel had managed to stay in place the whole time.

"Wow." Austin said.

"Yea," Noah agreed. "What are you doing after school?" he added.

"I don't know, trying to forget that video ever happened?" Austin responded with a question.

"Wanna hang out?" Noah asked.

"Ummnnm.. Sure." Noah's face lit up immediately after Austin agreed.

"Great." Noah gave him a peck on the lips and went to find his locker.

They got changed quickly and left the locker room together. Austin had never felt anything like this for anyone before. He kept smiling to himself any time he thought of Noah.

It was not entirely physical, it was a feeling much deeper and harder to explain. It was still crazy how fast he was falling for Noah.

Noah made him feel safe and cared for. He was gentle with him and his eyes never lied -they held a look that could make Austin melt into a puddle. But there was a sadness deep within those eyes. They were gentle, yet troubled and unsettled. It was as if Noah was looking for something. It worried him.

"So, where are we going?" Austin asked.

"I was thinking we could take a walk around the park ...what do you think?" Noah responded as they entered Austin's car.

"Sounds great, I need to clear my head."

They drove for a few minutes, headed towards the park.

"By the way, why don't you ever drive?" Austin asked suddenly, trying to make conversation.

"It's a long story." Noah said simply.

"Is there a shorter version?" Austin asked again.

Noah made a thinking face for a little while before saying, "I'm on probation and... my license is kind of suspended."

"Kind of?" Austin enquired.

"Oh, it's definitely suspended."

"I have so many questions right now!" Austin stated.

"I'll tell you the whole story some other time. I was hoping we could just have a simple and peaceful time today." he clearly didn't want to get into it and Austin didn't want to insist.

They arrived at the park soon after and parked the car before heading towards the long row of numerous tall trees. Noah thought of reaching out and holding Austin's hand but then changed his mind immediately after.

They spent the next two hours messing around: they played on the swings, chased each other around the park, played hide and seek -basically every kid game they could think of. They even played on the jungle gym, even though they were way past the age for that.

They lay on the grass and gazed at the clouds above, told each other funny stories, rolled around in the grass, played silly tricks on each other and laughed till their stomachs hurt.

They just wanted to feel free and not think about anything else for a while. It was all worth it. By the end of it, they were both exhausted beyond belief. Noah had never seen Austin laugh that hard ever since they met. He was so happy that he was able to put that vibrant smile on the most gorgeous face he had ever seen.

"That was the best time I've had in a really long time. Thanks Noah." Austin said.

"You don't need to thank me." Noah said modestly, "To be honest, me too. I haven't had a genuinely good time in over a year. So...thanks." They were standing by the car as Austin leaned his back against the car.

"You are really mysterious!" Austin noted with a smile as the wind blew his hair off his face, "I wanna figure you out."

"Don't worry," Noah said as he took both of Austin's hands in his. "You will...soon."

"Can't wait." Austin said as he leaned forward and gave Noah a brief kiss before they both got into the car.

The car ride home was silent because they were really exhausted. Noah had his eyes closed but he wasn't really asleep. He was just thinking about how that had been one of his favorite moments ever. Goofing around with his absolute favorite person in the world was all he could ask for.

Having those beautiful, brown eyes look at him with happiness and satisfaction felt like freedom. He felt free from his demons. From those days he would wake up and wish he hadn't. From that time in his life when he had wished he would choke on his own vomit and die.

Now, he just saw a reason to live. A reason to be happy. The one reason that gave him hope for life.

"Hey, you're home." Austin called out to him.

"So soon?"

"Don't be so grumpy." Austin said.

"I just don't wanna miss you too much." Noah said as he looked towards Austin.

"Don't be sappy either."

"But I am really gonna miss you though."

"You'll see me in school tomorrow."

"But, until then, come here." He pulled Austin by the arm and brought their lips together briefly, "can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure," Austin responded while his face was inches from Noah's.

"I didn't really think you were gonna let me kiss you so soon considering you hated me like two days ago."

"I still hate you, so don't get ahead of yourself." Austin joked.

Noah gasped dramatically, "That doth break my heart!"

"Shakespearean isn't really your style, you should stop." Austin mocked him.

"I know, you are."

"Get out of my car." Austin said.

"But why?" Noah said with a pout.

"Because you're being weirdly corny and I don't wanna deal with it," Austin said as a blush started working its way onto his face.

"Awwww..you're blushing!" Noah cooed, "I love that...I really do."

"Will you shut up and kiss me now!" Austin demanded lightly, so Noah obliged.

"You know what would make your lips taste better?" Noah asked between kisses.

"What?" Austin enquired.

"Absolutely nothing, they're perfect." Austin reached over to the passenger door, while his lips were still locked with Noah's, and opened it.

"Goodbye, Noah." He said as he pulled back. Noah was reluctant to but he eventually got out.

"I'll call you!" He said once he was out and was closing the door behind him.

"It's ok, I'll just send it to voicemail and then never listen to it." Austin said as he started the engine.

"I'm ok with that!" Austin smiled at him then drove away.

He got home not long after. His mother wasn't home yet and Nicky was on the living room couch watching some reality show whose name he didn't care to learn.

He went and threw himself on the couch she was on, "Boy, am I exhausted!"

"Marathon afternoon sex with Noah ?" She asked without turning to look at him.

"What?!" He exclaimed, "Get your mind out if the gutter! We were just hanging out in the park."

"Wow, you guys are getting close really fast. Good for you. I totally ship Austin and Noah."

"We were just relaxing..long day."

"About that, did you know that kid ...Jesse, is going to our school!" She muted the volume and turned her attention to him."

"Since when!" Austin's jumped in his seat as his heart picked up pace.

"I don't know. I ran into him."

"What did you do?"

"I don't know...I saw him and all my rage from last Friday just came bubbling to the surface and then the video. So...I may have hit him over the head with a thick history text book, then kicked him in the balls and called him some really bad names -which he deserved. Long story short, I'm suspended for the rest of the week." She said as if it wasn't a big deal.

"You're suspended ?!"

"I prefer to call it a mini-vacation." She said, "I'm tired of seeing that bitch who stole my deadbeat boyfriend. She is literally in all my classes and it's messing with my head."

"I get that...but still!"

"Don't worry about me, Aussy." she assured him. She actually appeared happy, "By the way, Sam is upstairs waiting for you."

"How long has he been there?" Austin asked.

"He showed up thirty minutes ago looking for you."

"Ok, have fun on your vacation , you big crazy!" He picked up his backpack and kissed the top of her head before heading upstairs.

Sam was laying on his bed, busy tossing a small basketball against the wall as he waited. He stood up as soon as Austin closed the door.

"Took you long enough!" He said to Austin.

"Don't be such a big baby, got here as soon as I could."

"Let me guess, you were with Noah." Sam said, but his tone of voice was not really friendly.

"Uh ow," Austin caught on to the hostility, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"No, tell me. I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me anything." Austin went over and sat on the edge of his bed and Sam did the same.

"I just don't trust that guy, he seems shady." Sam explained.

"You've literally never had a conversation with him, how would you know that?!" Austin wasn't understanding why Sam was being weird about Noah.

"Like you said, we're best friends, which makes it my job to look out for you. I just don't get the right vibes from him, I don't understand why you're into him all of a sudden."

"I don't know, he's a great guy and I think I like him a lot."Austin said.

"No, I am a great guy!" Sam suddenly said, his voice an octave higher.

"What?" Austin looked at his best friend as if he was losing his mind.

Without warning, Sam pulled Austin by the neck towards him and smashed his lips against Austin's. Austin was so shocked, only his eyes could move as they grew wider from shock.

"Austin, there's something wrong with the -" Nicky's expression mirrored Austin's as her eyes grew equally as wide and her grip on the doorknob tightened.

Sam retracted his lips and stared back at Austin. He looked shocked too at what he had done so the entire room remained silent as everyone assessed their personal feelings regarding what had just happened.

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