This had been one really long day for Austin. He couldn't wait to get home and take a very long relaxing shower.

He was walking to his car when he spotted Nicole sitting on the hood waiting for him. What really made him stop was the person she was busy chatting with.

"Oh, come on!" He muttered to himself, trying to think of a way to get that guy to disappear and stop showing up everywhere Austin looked or went. I mean, he was handsome and all but could he take it somewhere else!

Austin couldn't deny it to himself that the guy had popped up a few times in his head but today was certainly not the day for Austin to think of how Noah's smile captivated him every single time. Or how his well defined biceps made Austin want to run his hands all over them and maybe be engulfed in them.

And he most certainly wasn't thinking of how good it would feel if Noah ran his hands though his hair. Nope, he wasn't !

Yea..right!

As Austin approached his car, Noah saw him as he looked up and flashed him a quick, suggestive smile. Nicky hadn't seen Austin yet, though, because she had her back towards him and was too consumed in her chatter to notice Noah's shift of attention.

"Hey there sexy !" Noah greeted.

That flirting was not helping Austin's attraction to the guy lessen and it seemed like Noah knew it too. Luckily, Austin was a master at disguising his true feelings. A lot of things always went through his head but only a minimalist amount was ever filtered to the surface.

"What are you doing by my car!"

"Oh, hey Austin," Nicky finally noticed his presence. "We're giving him a ride home."

"I'm sorry," Austin began, "Can you repeat that? It sounded like you said this creep is getting in my car!"

"It's because that's what I said." She said, patting him on the shoulder gently.

"Why, I clearly remember you getting out of a car this morning." he said to Noah.

"Yea, well, that was my buddy's ride. He had shit to do so I told him I would ride with you."

"In that case, you better start calling your parents to come pick you up. Or you can start walking, 'cause no way I'm driving you anywhere. I've had a really long day and you in my car is the last straw that might break my back." Austin said, opening the door to the driver's seat .

"Austin, don't be an ass," Nicky reprimanded. "Get in Noah." she held the back door for him. He shamelessly hopped in, leaving Austin speechless.

"I owe you one Austin," Noah said once they were all in the car.

"Don't thank me before we actually get there. I could just as easily throw you out."

"You talk a big game, big guy!" Noah mocked and his wide grin made Austin's blood boil.

"Can you please shut your yap!"

"No way, I like making you angry. Wanna know why ?" Noah asked, wiggling his brows.

"Keep it to yourself."

"You're much sexier when you're agitated."

"Oh god!"

"Nope, just me!"

"Nicky, where's Sam?" Austin asked, trying to ignore Noah.

"I thought he left with Colby." Nicky answered distractedly.

Austin turned abruptly to look at his sister, "And don't you think that's information you should have provided I don't know.. LIKE TEN MINUTES AGO!"

"Sorry, but it's really hard to interrupt when you two are flirting." Oh no. Nicky had been bitten by the same bug that had bit Noah! She was spewing nonsense, too!

"Are you out of your mind?"

"What? That's what it looked like. And FYI, it looked hot," Nicky replied, giving Austin a suggestive smile. Austin just looked at her because he didn't know what to say anymore. He had just met Noah less than twelve hours ago and the guy was adding on to his problems tenfold in record speed.

"As much as I would love to hear Nicky explain to you how cute we look together, I need to get home. Got some unpacking to do."

"I'm not your fucking chauffeur." Austin whined.

"What do you mean unpacking?" Nicky asked, completely ignoring Austin.

"I just moved here the day before yesterday and most of my stuff is still in boxes. My cousin refused to help me out. He's using the jet lag card to get out of helping. Selfish bastard!"

"Maybe he just doesn't wanna be around you, did you ever consider that?" Austin said, starting the car.

"You're the only one who doesn't like me Aussy and we both know why."

Did he?

"Actually, no. We don't know anything. You are off your rocker." he said as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

At least Noah had stopped talking to him and was now busy chatting with Nicky, only stopping to tell him to turn left or right. Austin didn't understand why he wouldn't just tell him the address but then again, Austin didn't want to voice his troubles for fear of starting an endless conversation with Noah.

Austin turned into a posh neighborhood and after about five minutes of turning corners left and right, they pulled up to a very familiar mansion. The mansion with the fancy white painted exterior and black, high, multi-slide glass panel patio doors that could only belong to one person.

"Why are we at Michael's?" Nicky asked, confused by the sudden turn of events.

She eyes Noah suspiciously as he stretched and announced with forced enthusiasm, "Home sweet home!"

"Wait, Michael's your cousin?" Nicky asked, creasing her eyebrows.

"You guys friends of Mikey?" Noah asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say friends." Austin said from the front seat.

"He's my boyfriend."

"Oh, I thought Mikey already had a girlfriend!" Noah said but then stopped himself before the others could register much.

"Yea..me."

"How slow are you ?" Austin asked condescendingly.

"Don't worry Aussy, with you, I'll go faster." Noah replied, biting his lower lip lightly.

Austin almost choked on his spit at the shamelessness of Noah's words. "Oh god! Get out of my car !" He demanded before his heart could explode out of his chest.

Why was he actually imagining and analyzing the underlying meaning of Noah's carelessly spoken words?

"At that time, trust me, you won't be telling me to get out." Austin simply glared at him through the the rear view mirror, but judging from the the smirk on Noah's lips, he wasn't fazed buy Austin's silent threats delivered by his eyes.

Noah darted his tongue out to wet his lips then flashed Austin the sexiest smile he could muster, making Austin's breath catch in his throat. Austin could feel his cheeks start to heat up as they turned a darker shade in a blush but he wasn't about to show Noah how much he really got to him.

"Why are you still in here." Austin asked impatiently.

"See you tomorrow Aussy!" Noah said, "Nicky, wanna come in and see your boyfriend?"

"Oh my god, yes!" she skipped in her sit, looking extremely excited as she jumped out.

"Then how are you getting home?" Austin asked.

"I'm sure I can find a car." Noah said, looking into Austin's eyes before he got out too. "Bye babe!" He sent Austin a flying kiss as he shut the door.

Austin didn't wait for him to step away before he hit the accelerator and sped away at top speed. He simply couldn't allow this guy to get to him. He needed to keep his head clear and definitely get his girlfriend back.

On second thought, he remembered that he needed to try and fix things with Lucy. He needed to drive straight to her house and nip this thing in the bud before it got much worse - like him ending up single. And that's what he did.

He got to Lucy's house shortly after and rung the bell. He heard footsteps approaching the door and he took a step back. The door swung open and there stood Lucy, in very short denim shorts and a tank top that left very little to the imagination.

When Austin saw her like that, he thought that maybe if he played his cards right, they would be going upstairs and definitely doing some stuff.

"Babe -"Austin started.

"Let me guess, it's not what it looked like?" she asked, arms akimbo.

"Yes babe. So, you get it, right? It was a total misunderstanding. I couldn't possibly be gay. I don't even look ga !" In his head, the words had sounded right but they came out as rotten crap and he realized he did not have a convincing enough excuse.

"Really, that's your argument? You don't have to look gay, asshole. And I don't believe you. Don't even think that I didn't see you!"

"What the hell are you talking about."

"You, with that new guy in school. That what's-his-face...ummmnnn.. Noah! I know he's gay! And I saw you two come out of the bathroom together today..and your face was all red."

Wow, word sure does spread fast, Austin thought. How does everyone already know Noah's sexual orientation on only his first day of school?

"That's because you slapped me!"

"What were you two doing in there! From what I could tell, you were the only ones in there."

"What the fuck Lucy !? He's a guy, I'm a guy. Guess what, we use the same bathroom! It was a stupid coincidence!" Austin argued.

"Oh really ...and you wanna tell me that the two of you leaving school together was a coincidence too?"

"Jesus! Nicky asked me to drop him home!" Austin was begin to wonder how his girlfriend could come up with these kinds of conclusions from the smallest things. And where had she been observing him from? He had only spotted her twice today!

"Oh, so Nicky was in on this too!" Huh?

"In on what! What's wrong with you !"

"What's wrong with me?" Her eyes were starting to glisten from tears that were floating, threatening to fall, "I'm not the one who's been keeping secrets! And you can't even apologize! You used me for months and you don't even seem sorry about it! You told me you loved me."

"I-I did... I mean, I do love you!" Austin was beginning to panic when he saw the tears.

"No, you don't ! I was just your beard. I even felt bad for making out with Colby because I thought you would be heartbroken if you ever found out!"

"Wait, you did what ?!" Austin stared at her like he couldn't believe what she had just said. Had he really just heard that?

"I guess the cat's out of the bag. Yea, we made out at the Junior Year Party."

"That's the night I gave you that five month anniversary necklace because you insisted we should celebrate! And you let him shove his tongue down your throat while you were wearing it ! Oh, god! I think I'm gonna be sick!" he said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, welcome to the club. Goodbye, Austin! Don't ever come near me again we're done!" She said with spite as she slammed the door on his face.

He just stood there staring at the door in shock before he composed himself and went back to his car.

"What the fuck just happened?" he asked nobody in particular as he sat there and gripped the steer wheel until his knuckles were drained of color.

After sitting there and staring into space for a long amount of time, he drove off, praying that this was the last surprise he was gonna have for today ..at least.He couldn't handle another bombshell.