Nick didn't particularly want to go back inside the gay bar. The only reason to be here was the free beer, and Nick wasn't quite sure if that was worth it. 

"Hey!" Nick's arm twitched when someone suddenly tugged on it. 

He turned and saw Lara smiling at him. 

"Hi?" Nick replied, the word coming out sounding like a question.

Lara moved her hand to his shoulder. Pleasant tingles shot down his arm as she leaned a little closer. "Are you alright?" she asked. 

Huh? "...Sure." Nick frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?" 

"Okay, Nick." Lara rubbed his arm in a sympathetic gesture, and Nick's confusion only grew. Sure, he'd all but dragged Blake outside and told him off, but that was no reason to assume he wasn't alright. 

"Well, just know I'm here for you if you want to talk," Lara said. "About anything. I don't judge." 

Lara looked at Nick like she expected a certain reaction, but Nick was completely stumped. 

"Thanks," he simply replied. 

"Of course." Lara smiled and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Do you maybe want to meet up to have coffee later this week at uni? Just to talk?"

"Sure," Nick said, barely able to keep more confusion from seeping into his voice. "That sounds good." 

"Great. Let's go back inside?" 

"Uhm, okay." 

Shit. Hadn't he just told himself he'd go home? Why was he so easily convinced by a smile and a hand resting on his arm? Nick followed Lara back inside the gay bar cursing his lack of ability to stand up for himself when faced with a pretty girl. 

Nick didn't understand how he'd all of a sudden landed himself a coffee date with Lara, until she turned to him and subtly nodded at the blond guy, who most definitely wasn't one of the exchange students, standing near the bar. The same guy who'd hit on Nick before. 

"I'm so sorry we were staring at you like that," Lara apologised. "And that I teased you before. I swear we won't look and joke and make things uncomfortable for you this time. Promise. Just go talk to him, okay! Don't miss your shot because of us."

"... What?" Nick stared blankly at Lara until the dots connected. 

Lara thought he was uncomfortable because of her and her friends giggling and waving at him while he talked to this guy. She still thought he was gay and just shy about it, didn't she?

"No, I'm not—" Nick started to explain, but Lara already gave him a soft push in the bar's direction and an encouraging nod. Then she walked back to her friends and Blake, and made a show of looking the other way while dancing with them.

Nick pressed a hand to his forehead and groaned. Of course. Like he'd ever get this lucky. He definitely needed more alcohol now. 

Nick didn't even bother asking Anthony for a round and just walked up to the barman alone to order a beer. As he waited for his drink Nick glanced around the bar. 

Now that Nick was paying attention to it, he noticed there were more guys who curiously glanced at him or gave him the up and down look. Did the people around him think that he was interested? Did he give out gay vibes? Nick had never heard Sem or Blake say anything like that, but Nick supposed it was rather easy to assume someone was gay or bi if they were standing alone in a gay bar and looked around.

Just as Nick grabbed his beer and wanted to go seek the safety of the exchange student herd, the blond guy from before walked up to him.

"Hey, you're back," he greeted Nick.

Nick felt a headache coming up as the guy got into his personal space, but mistaking Nick for someone who was interested wasn't the guy's fault at this point. Nick sighed. 

"Thanks, I'm flattered," he replied. "But I'm here with a group of students for our introduction week and I'm not gay. So, I'm not interested, okay?" 

Nick had expected the blond guy to fuck off at this point, but he didn't. He didn't even seem surprised at Nick's words and only shrugged. 

"Alright, no problem," he replied breezily, a bright smile lighting up his face. "We can just talk, right? I'm Alex by the way, since you didn't ask yet."

I didn't ask for a reason. Nick swallowed the words. He wasn't looking for a fight, and at least Alex wanted to talk to him. It was flattering, and he didn't want to take out his bad mood on an innocent guy who wanted to give him the time of day, unlike the entire female population. He could talk for a moment and then brush him off if he got annoying. 

"So, what brings you here, Nick? In the country. Not the bar," Alex asked. 

"Studies," Nick replied honestly, but Alex laughed as if he were making a joke. 

"Of course, what else?" Alex replied. "This city isn't exactly interesting for tourists, is it? 

"I don't mind that." 

Alex snorted. "No? You really only care about school?" 

"Yep. I just want my credits and go home." 

"But then... what are you doing out here, Nick? Why tag along with your classmates if you don't care about anything but the credits?" 

Nick looked at Alex. 'I only tagged along because apparently I can't say no' wasn't something to admit to a stranger. Apparently, though, Alex interpreted his silence not as a 'none of your business' but as something wholly different. 

"It's alright. It's scary to a lot of people the first time," Alex said.

That was the moment Nick realised this guy didn't get it. Like Lara, Alex seemed convinced he wanted to be here but just couldn't admit it. Every last shard of patience Nick had to muster was instantly shattered by Alex' remark. Nick set his half-empty beer glass on the bar. 

"I'm leaving," he abruptly announced before doing exactly that. 

"So soon? Okay, but come back some time, Nick!" Alex called after him. He briefly brushed his fingers against Nick's arm before Nick could get away. On his way out, Nick saw Blake watching him. He must've seen the entire exchange. Nick felt his face go beet-red. 

Great, even more ammo for Blake to tease him with. What the hell had he been thinking, letting Alex talk to him for this long? If one of his extremely straight football friends would've been in this situation, Nick was sure they would've chased Alex off immediately. They would've refused to even step inside the gay bar. Apparently, Nick was so desperate for attention that he even humoured a guy to get his fix. 

Nick walked home, feeling like utter shit. His rational side knew that talking to someone at a bar meant literally nothing, but the irrational side couldn't stop worrying about what people thought and said. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn't want rumours flying about. He didn't want people looking at him or noticing him, and certainly not this way. Lara already seemed utterly convinced he was gay and in denial. Blake was going to tease him too, and Nick didn't want to deal with any of that. 

Speak of the devil. About fifteen minutes after Nick arrived home and planted himself on the living room couch with a glass of water, the key turned in the lock again and someone, presumably Blake, came in. There weren't any voices in the hallway, so it seemed Blake had gone home alone this time. 

With a sigh, Nick got up to move to his bedroom. In order to get to the safety of his bed, however, he had to pass Blake in the hallway. If anyone thought not making eye-contact was enough to deter Blake from making his 'witty' remarks, they were very wrong. 

"Well well, weren't you the life of the party tonight," Blake teased Nick the moment he walked into the hall. 

Nick pressed his lips together and squeezed himself past Blake in the narrow hall without a word. 

"Hey, wanna trade?" Blake went on anyway. "I'll take the guys hitting on you, and you can have the entire horde of women following me, including Lara." 

Nick already had his hand on the door handle of his bedroom, but paused at that remark and glanced at Blake over his shoulder. Blake smiled. It seemed like Nick wasn't the only one who had noticed the irony in the situation at the bar. 

"If only that were possible," Nick said. He chuckled and returned Blake's smile for a moment, before realising who he was laughing with. 

His smile dropped. "Yeah, well, anyway. Goodnight," Nick curtly wished Blake. 

"Night," Blake replied lightly, right before Nick closed his bedroom door behind him.