Carlo.

Today was another bright day and was also the Fencing and Football competitions day. They were both starting at the same time but no one really cared about the football match because no one from our close ring of friends were participating in it.

     Everyone from Valentine to Alexander were gathered around Jacob to wish him good luck. The match was only 9 minutes with three minutes interval and a short one minute break in between. The first person to get 15 touches by the end of the game wins. It was a simple game and since this was my first time watching such a game, I was excited.

As Dave cracked dumb jokes to ease the tension, I noticed another crowd at a far corner of the hall. Just as Jacob was dressed in his whites, a girl in the middle was wearing the same exact thing and my eyes widened when I realized who she was.

     I looked away from her before she could catch my stare and said to Jacob, interrupting something Alex was saying, "Uh, Jacob, who's your opponent?"

"Birdie Bock." He turned to me with an amused look, "Why are you asking?"

Swallowing, I looked away from him to nothing in particular. "Just curious. Any other group playing or are the both of you the only ones participating?" I tried to stare straight ahead because I was suddenly feeling awkward. Especially with Birdie in the same room as me and Escalante staring holes at my back.

"No." he answered slowly, noticing my awkwardness. He glanced beside me at Es before shrugging nonchalantly and throwing a hand around Dave's shoulder. "My game is first then two others. We were split into six groups and the best had to battle in the finals."

"Oh. Well, good luck."

"He doesn't need it." Dave smirked at Jacob, nuzzling his cheeks then added, "He's amazing."

A smile grew on my face at Dave's display of emotion and for a while, I forgot my own dilemma and just watched Jacob nibble his ear playfully. They were adorable and I was glad to see Jacob and Dave had come to terms with their feelings.

Someone announced the game was going to start in five minutes and we said our final good luck to Jacob before looking for somewhere to seat. Sadly, the only free seats were at the corner Birdie was in and I really didn't want to talk to her.

Trying to hide myself as we neared her, I pressed myself against Es who welcomed me without a word and slid his arm around my waist.

That distracted me for a minute and I stared up at him. He was looking elsewhere and I immediately felt desperate for his attention. I wanted those forest green eyes on me and strangely, only me. And that was an oddity for someone like me. Normally, I hated when people stared at me. Even when I had girlfriends. When they stared, I felt like they were all judging me and it made me feel uncomfortable.

But when Escalante stared at me or even glanced my way, it made my entire existence feel alive. This wasn't just wanting him to look at me, I needed him to look at me because just those gazes made me feel loved.

Surfacing out of my thoughts, I noticed we had stopped moving and my heart beat quickened when I saw Birdie standing right in front of me, staring from Es to me. Her gaze was exactly what I hated. She looked like she was judging me and from the frown working on her face, I could only guess they weren't good thoughts.

Birdie slowly stopped frowning and sighed, leaning her weight on one leg as crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey."

I was speechless.

"Move it woman, I've got to find myself and my boyfriend a seat." Es spoke up quickly and stressed the word 'boyfriend' that it actually irritated me a bit.

Her brows shot up for some reason and she smirked, looking back at me, "Quite a handful you've got there."

I was just about to say 'bye Birdie' quite nicely, but I guess I was too slow for Es because he quickly replied, "Yes. So he has to pay attention to me and me only. Got it?" He didn't even wait for her to answer before quickly tacking on, "Now move it Birdie." He brushed passed her, pulling me along and I probably would have gone with him if I wasn't a sentimental person.

Taking in a deep breath, I pulled away from Es and he quickly turned to glare at me. "Let's go."

"Save a seat for me." I told him nicely because there was really no need responding to that command. He was about to say something else but I frowned at him and that shut him up.

Escalante frowned at me before his features slowly relaxed and he sighed. "Be quick and don't let me come down here and get you." He gave me one last look that almost had me melting into a poodle of goo and I managed a nod for him.

Turning back to Birdie before Es could say anything else, I saw her smirking at me from where we had left her. We walked up to each other and I quickly apologized for everything and by everything, I meant from sleeping with her, to having her brother arrested and to Escalante being an asshole.

That wiped the smirk off her face and she blushed, fondling with her gloves. "Well, now that you've said all that I can finally stop murdering you in my head."

Wow, more reasons to be scared of what people think.

"Anyway," she continued, "it's all cool. I just wanted to say hi and make you feel uncomfortable since you've been advoiding me like the plague."

"I'm sorry. I was just pissed about what happened and-"

She shook her head, stopping me. "Like I said, It's fine. And since we are friends now, try not to go to for the football game. Don't even let your boyfriend go." Birdie smiled and my heart warmed at the sight of it.

It made me remember when I had first seen her. She had been talking about big bang theory and I remembered it was her smile that made me want to be with her. Then when I finally met her, everything about her was inviting. She was extremely nice, smiled so sweetly my heart ran miles when I saw it. She was in fact the only girl I had felt comfortable with, excluding the women in my family.

Quickly coming out of my thoughts, I had a feeling Escalante was going to murder me if he could read minds. I gave Birdie a confused look, but she waved at me then wore her mask, meaning the game had started. And like the shy kid I was, I turned away immediately and marched to where a crowd was forming because of the lack of seats. I felt relaxed when I had finally mixed with the crowd then took my time to look for Es by the bleachers.

Dave was the first I saw before MK then Alex. Escalante was nowhere to be found and that made me hunch my shoulders down in disappointment. Sighing, I joined the crowd as they got comfortable on the floor and we watched the match.

Just two minutes had gone by and I was still looking for Escalante in the crowd. Where had a gone? My mind raced with weird and scary questions that had me desperately looking for him. The minute the short break started, I sprang up from my seat and ran over to Dave and the others.

"Hey. Have you seen Es?"

"Wasn't he with you?" Dave asked.

"Yeah but I left to talk with Birdie."

Dave frowned at me in confusion before his face brightened and he said, "Yeah. You guys had a thing, didn't you?"

I didn't know how that question was supposed to help me find Escalante so instead of standing there and answering him, I took off to find Es on my own.

The Activity building was large and people were running about. Some of the halls were even occupied with people practicing for their competition maybe tomorrow or the next because the camp was taking a couple of people out on Thursday to see Toronto and they want all competitions to be done by then.

Turning a corner, I entered an empty hallway which I hadn't seen before and heard two people conversing. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered and would have walked past them like they weren't there but I recognized the voices and believe me when I say, I almost had an attack.

"I thought they deported you?" Es's voice was surprisingly deep and scary. He had never used that tone with me and I knew I had done my fair share of pissing him off.

"Well look who never left." Preston's voice was so sarcastic, it sent a shiver through me.

"How come? And don't try to shove your tongue down my throat again." Anger boiled up in me, but it wasn't enough to move me from the corner I was hiding behind.

"Alex never mentioned me. When they asked him who raped him, he called everyone's name except mine."

There was a short pause and I almost ran in there out of anticipation. Escalante finally asked, "But you molested me?"

"First of all, I didn't molest you, we were just having a different kind of sex. And you are what, 19?"

"No, that wasn't a different kind of sex. That was rape." Es shouted followed by a groan which was from the other party.

"Again, that's not rape." He scoffed, "What I did to Alex was rape. What I wanted to do to you wasn't it. It was my way of showing you how much I loved you. But what did your boy toy do instead; he came in and spoiled it all. You would've like it. I hated it at first but I got used to it. You would've gotten used to it."

"No. No, Preston will you stop!" He said in a gruff voice and I knew Escalante was growing mad. "What your ex-boyfriend did to you wasn't and isn't love. What I showed you was love. What I'm showing Carlo right now is love."

"Don't lie to me. You didn't love me. if you did, you would have let me show you how I make love. I would've even let you top me."

Escalante was quiet for a moment and I urged myself to stay put. Finally, he said, "I could never do that to you. Sure, I've touched guys against their will before but I'm not into that abuse thing. When I do it, it's just for fun."

What? My nose flared in annoyance by his words. Escalante had touched other people against their will? And he called it fun? Then why hadn't he done anything to me? Was it because I was his best friend he didn't even give a fuck about? Oh wait, wasn't he the one that said he loved me for what - six years? I didn't know what to believe anymore. Why was he fucking lying and making me confused?

"So you are no different than me." Preston scoffed in disbelief. "At least, I know what I did to Alex and I regret it. You still think it's fun."

"I didn't rape them!" Es shouted.

"Now, who does that sound like?"

A thud was heard followed by the sound of someone spitting. I could only guess someone punched someone and I knew it was time to step out but then Preston said, "Not a bad punch, Es. How about you put all that bitter energy in something else huh? Don't worry, no ropes this time."

"Shut the fuck up. I have a boyfriend and I will never do anything with you."

"I heard you are with Carlo now. I hope you wouldn't dump him when he wants a little more -don't know- flare in the relationship."

"Carlo isn't like that." His voice had finally calmed down a notch and I could finally breath, surprised I was even holding my breath.

"Oh, so you love him?" He asked, sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Yeah you do." I could basically feel the eye roll from where I was. Now, I was just plain mad at everyone. "When you dump him, call me. I never move on easy from someone."

"Shut the fuck up Preston. You're retarded and I feel sorry for you." Es wasn't sounding the least bit mad and that made me confused. What wasn't there to get mad at Preston for. Retarded? Sure but being sorry for him? What in crack's name was going on?

"Are you sure, Es? I mean, if I loved someone, I'd go all the way to get him or her. But you, you let Carlo whore himself out to everyone. Why? If you loved Carlo, shouldn't you be trying to be an awesome person instead of being a pervert?"

"Shut up." Es drawled. I could just feel the tension in the air and it was making me uncomfortable eavesdropping.

"Or wait," Preston continued, "Was being a pervert a way to get his attention? I guess so, seeing as you are now fucki-"

"I said Shut The Fuck Up."

I don't know how but I found myself coming out of my corner to gape at Escalante. I needed to see his expression, hoping it could shed a light on everything I had just heard. But he was just as confused as I was when he looked at me. Was he not sure he loved me? Tsk, how could he be when he was a fucking pervert.

And I was the straight one who fell for the bastard.

If I was ever angry before, it wasn't compared to what I was feeling then.

"Escalante-"

"Carlo, what are you doing here?" He stared at me like I was a ghost, forgetting the asshole that was leaned against the wall and covering a bleeding nose.

"Well, I came looking for you only to hear this." I glared hard at him, hoping he died on the spot.

"You heard huh?" Preston's ever so annoying face turned and he smirked at me. He normally looked cute on good day and pretty on the better ones but now, it was like all that was gone.

With his broken nose, he looked devilishly handsome with his blond hair thrown carelessly to the side of his face. He wiped the blood away and said, "I guess I made you realize something you probably didn't notice." He threw his arm around Es's shoulder and instead of pushing him it off, Es let it stay and I watched Preston smirk at me as he flicked Es's ear lobe with his tongue, "Give up now and save the pain or let him ruin you. He's as all the pervert comes, completely deceitful. Right baby?"

He looked back at Es who just froze there staring at me with a look I couldn't recognize as his hand faintly touched his chin.

"Sadly, I am not allowed to be two miles of him. I really miss him, Carlo. Why did you have to spoil it?"

"Shut up, Preston. Leave or I'm calling the camp manager."

He rose his hands in surrender and stepped away from Es. "All yours if you want to keep him, that is." He sent a one last cocky smirk my way before disappearing into a room.

Now it was just Es and I and I seriously wanted to walk out on him but something about the way he just stared at me felt odd. He hadn't moved since Preston kept his slimy hands on him and the way he just stared at me with empty eyes scared me. Instead of getting mad at Es as I was supposed to be, I became concerned and worried.

I walked quickly to him, took hold of his shoulders and shook him, "Es, what's wrong?"

He blinked for the first time and my racing heart slowed down, making me breathe easy. "Jeez Escalante. What was that?"

His mouth opened to say something but when he noticed nothing was coming out, he drew me in for a hug that made me gasp. Es held me so tight as if he was afraid to lose me but I wasn't going to fall for that.

Taking a deep breath, I started to pull away from him but he held me tighter and said, "Please don't leave me. Don't please. I cannot live another year just watching you be my best friend or just a friend. Oh my god, don't be mad at me. I love you. I really do. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have saved myself for you. Please."

With every sentence he uttered, his hands tightened around me so badly, it was impossible to breathe. And it made me come to the unbelievable conclusion that he was having a panic attack. Which was so unlike Es. And it shot my concern rate off the roof.

"Es, you've got to calm down. You are having a panic attack."

"No. No. You're mad at me. Please don't be." He was doing it again and I choked.

And to think Es was the one who had it under control.