The walk back to the building felt like the longest trip Alan had ever taken. Everything seemed to be moving at a much slower pace for him, the world pretty much a blur all around him as he walked through the double doors leading into the hallway. There were students walking around, hanging out near lockers and around the cafeteria doors. Lunch wasn't over just yet, with another 15 minutes to go before the bell rang for the second half of the school day. The smell of food actually made Alan feel nauseated, walking right past the doors as he continued down the hall.

"You are to tell me you love me."

The nausea in his stomach grew as he recalled the words that Thomas spoke, a slight noise of discomfort or disgust coming from him.

How... the hell did I get into this fucking mess?

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, Alan quietly made his way to the library, the one place he knew most people wouldn't go to during lunch. He had an agreement with the librarian that he could enter whenever he wanted, since he often recommended great books and other media for her to buy for the inventory. He ventured to the back of the large space, seeing that the study rooms were unoccupied and picked one to lock himself into. Taking a seat in one of the chairs near a wooden desk, he sat in total silence, leaning back into the chair in a slumped fashion, staring off towards a blank wall as he recalled the last encounter he had with Thomas before they departed.

-

"Oh, just to make sure you don't do anything reckless or try to get out of this mess, this conversation was also recorded." Thomas spoke casually, pulling his cell phone out of his back pants pocket.

Alan, now actually on his feet, stared in shock at the phone resting in Thomas's hand. "You... can't be fucking serious..."

"You should know by now that I take all precautions needed when I'm in a situation like this." Thomas spoke with a polite smile. "Besides, I need proof that this was binding, in case anyone gets suspicious or happens to find out."

"They won't, because I'm going to murder you." Alan sharply stated through a growl as he quickly tried to grab the phone from Thomas's hand, only to miss completely and have his wrist caught in his grasp instead.

"You said that last time and yet you haven't done it since. Quit bluffing or actually do it. It's just disappointing each time you say it." Thomas spoke with a sigh, his grip getting tighter on Alan's wrist as he could visibly see him wincing in pain.

"There was no indication of a recording, Thomas. I didn't agree to that." Alan shot out, glaring.

"I don't believe I have to inform you that I am recording. It's simply for protection and the binding of the agreement. Besides, you agreed to everything anyway, and that's been captured too. So, might as well deal with it." Thomas rebutted, letting Alan go with a slight shove.

Alan was seething in anger at this point, his fists tight as he stood there and watched Thomas end the recording and place it back into his pocket. "Fucking... demented bastard..." he forced out between breaths.

"Calm down, Allie... I'm not going to use it like before... I don't have much of a need to since I already got what I want." Thomas spoke with a simple smile, reaching over to dust dirt off of Alan's shirt calmly. "Now, we can just pick up where we left off 3 years ago, before you decided to just up and move without warning."

"Whose fault was that, Thomas?" Alan interjected through gritted teeth as his green eyes narrowed in resentment.

"Not sure... good question, though." Thomas stated with a pleased grin, before walking past him. "Glad we could get things arranged. I'll be in contact sometime soon. Have a good rest of the day, Allie."

Alan stood there listening to Thomas's footsteps depart behind him, before he was left there alone. The only thing he could do in this instance was kick one of the nearby doors out of frustration, his mind flying through everything in a whirlwind.

Fuck.... I have no way of getting out of this... I'm trapped.

-

Coming back to the current reality of the situation, Alan stared up at the ceiling in disbelief, pushing a few strands of hair away from his face as he did so.

"I'm so... damn dumb..." he muttered to himself with a sigh. "Just like back in middle school..."

Middle school was both a blessing and a curse, which could be stated for many people who experienced middle school in general. Besides hormones, acne, the different class structures and the freedom of not having to wear a uniform, there was also the case of figuring out his sexuality. While it was quite normal for him to say that he wasn't sure if he liked girls or boys, he never expressed that outside of his family and close friends, which consisted of Nicolette and, at the time, Thomas. It wasn't until 8th grade where things started to get confusing and, ultimately, change the course of his middle school life entirely.

His mind was soon distracted by the buzzing sound of his phone resting in his jacket. He pulled it out to see several text messages.

Yo... where are you? I'm not seeing you in the lunchroom...

He wasn't sure exactly how to tell Nicolette what was going on, nor was he sure if he should tell her in the first place. That would just make things overly complicated and may even break the arrangement he just made with Thomas. He closed the message before moving on to the next one.

: Moogle, you ok? I don't see you in the cafeteria.

There was no way in hell he was going to tell Daniel what was going on either, because if he did, it would blow everything up. Daniel would know that he wasn't straight, had lied to him about everything else, and would probably not trust him anymore. It would also make things even more complicated considering the agreements of the curse. He backed out of that message as well, before opening the final one.

Remember... you answer when I reach out. I'm sure we don't want a repeat of what happened in the locker room during 8th grade, right Allie?

"The fucking locker room..." Alan spoke to himself with a sigh, closing his phone completely and tossing it onto the nearby wooden table. "This all started back in the damn locker room... Because I was a naive idiot who said something fucking stupid..."

He stopped talking as he recalled the entire incident, not helping but to cover his face with his hands in shame and, surprisingly, pain.

That's when I told him I loved him.