Vague 'we should meet up some time' statements were generally accepted as never being followed through on. Nick had half-expected to never hear from Lara about getting coffee once classes began, but she contacted him immediately on Monday morning. She asked if they could have lunch together today, and Nick said yes, obviously. 

He was quite aware Lara still believed he was gay and in denial. It was a little annoying if she only wanted to meet with him because of aforementioned reasons, but this would also be a good opportunity to set the record straight. Literally. Lara was the last person Nick wanted to think he was gay.

Even if he wasn't here for friends. And even less so for anything more than friends. 

Nick's morning lecture went by in relative peace, safe for the part where their professor immediately assigned a butt ton of reading to do and a group project. Thankfully, he assigned the groups and Nick made some empty small talk with the fellow students he was supposed to work with during the break. It all stayed light, joking, and strictly superficial—exactly the way Nick preferred it, and it put him at ease. 

Lunch with Lara, however, was a completely different story.

It was obviously not a date. At least, Nick had gone wrong assuming enough times in high school to realise it probably wasn't. Still, Nick was already sweating buckets when he saw Lara walking towards him, smiling widely and waving. They'd agreed to meet outside since the weather was great. Nick had taken a seat at one of the picnic tables while he waited, and Lara joined him. She plopped down next to him rather than sitting on the other side of the bench.

"Hey, Nick!" she said, and Nick was completely thrown off when she hugged him like they'd already known each other for ages rather than a few hours tops. Nick patted Lara's back awkwardly while the floral scent of Lara's hair filled his nose and his heart pounded. 

"Uh, hey," Nick stiffly replied. 

Lara didn't seem to notice his discomfort. She squinted up at the sky. "Weather's lovely, isn't it? Why are you sitting on a bench in the shade? We already do that enough in class! Let's sit somewhere in the grass, in the sun."

Nick didn't particularly care where he sat and quickly agreed, "Of course."

Whatever she wanted. Nick let Lara lead the way to a grass field up ahead, where a few guys were playing football quite energetically, especially considering the high temperature.

Lara sighed dramatically. "Damn, I can't imagine wanting to play football right now. It's so hot."

"At least it's real grass, not artificial." Nick glanced at the group of amateur football players who were clearly only doing it for fun. He averted his gaze, and his stomach sank. "If it's artificial it burns your feet off in this sun," he murmured.

Lara shot him a curious look. "Blake said you played football... but you said you don't anymore now. Why?"

Nick shrugged. "I just didn't feel like it anymore," he lied. 

His evasive answer only seemed to capture Lara's attention more. "Did you quit because there wasn't a nice atmosphere in the group for, you know, you?" she pressed. 

"No?" Nick replied. He was confused about the cryptic way Lara phrased things and the weird emphasis on you. Then he remembered what she thought about him and his sexuality.

She had a point. Not Nick, but his best friend Sem, who was actually gay, had left their old football team because he didn't like how people treated him after coming out. It was one snide remark after another and constant tension. 

Nick sighed. "Can we talk about something else? Bad memories." 

"Ah, yes, of course. Sorry," Lara apologised quickly, her eyebrows knitting together in a worried frown. The expression only lasted for a second. Then her phone buzzed, she checked her phone, and grinned. 

"Hey, smile!" she suddenly said, moving her phone up and pointing the camera at herself and Nick. 

Nick managed to put a fake smile on his face just barely in time before Lara shot about twenty of pictures in rapid succession. After she finished, she quickly started swiping through all of them to find the best one. 

"It's for Blake. He's asking where we are," Lara explained with her eyes still glued to her screen. 

"Blake?" Nick inwardly cringed. "Is he on his way here?" 

"Yeah, he wanted to have lunch with us too," Lara replied. 

Of course he did. Nick swallowed the words. Lara liked Blake, so it was no use to complain about the latter's presence. It wasn't like this had ever been a 'date' in the first place. He could always leave if Blake decided to be fucking annoying again. 

Lara turned to Nick with a smile. "Hey, but the picture's kind of cute. Do you mind if I put this on my Instagram?" 

"No, sure, go ahead," Nick said. If it was indeed a good picture, maybe Nick would like and comment on it and Emma could see. 

For the next few minutes, Lara was completely focused on her phone and applying different filters, or whatever people who cared about their brand did before they posted photos on Instagram. Nick just let her work in silence, looking up at the blue skies above as he chewed on his sandwich. It was almost peaceful. For a moment. 

A shadow was cast literally and figuratively when Blake stopped next to them in the grass. 

"Come on, put that away. You're on your lunch break," Blake scolded Lara with a smile on his face. He tried to push her phone down while Lara giggled. 

"No, no, I'm already done," she laughed, leaning to the side to keep her phone out of Blake's reach. "Look at this: it's cute." 

Lara showed Blake the picture. Blake raised a brow and looked at Nick. "Absolutely. Very cute," he said. 

Nick was pretty sure he was the only one who heard the 'and not at all misleading' Blake silently added with his expression. Lara posted the picture. Nick's phone buzzed once as he received the notification. He ignored it because Lara had put her own phone away and started talking about more parties taking place, one of them tonight at some club called the Ace of Spades. 

Nick listened to Lara talk about the great music and vibe inside the club, but his phone kept buzzing aggressively in his pocket. Who the hell was spamming him? With a frown, Nick took out his phone and found that his group chat with the football team back home was being bombarded. 

And he was the topic. 

Well, Lara was, to be more exact. 

So you're gonna fuck her in the nearby future? Ethan had ever so eloquently commented.

That's a good new hobby - fucking as many girls as possible on exchange, Charlie had added.

Nick guessed all the other replies were also about Lara because let's face it, she was hot. Nick briefly contemplated telling them to cut it out, but eventually put his phone away without replying. He'd planned not to contact them, and he was sticking to it. They had nothing in common anymore anyway now that Nick was no longer playing football. 

"Nick, how about you?" 

Nick blinked at Lara, who looked at him expectantly. 

"Sorry, what?" he asked. 

A small smile appeared on Lara's lips. Her eyes twinkled. "Are you coming to the Ace of Spades with me tonight?" 

Nick grimaced. He'd given in once, and that made it more difficult to refuse now. Before, he could've simply said 'I don't ever go to the club.' Now it was obviously a lie. Plus, Lara was looking at him with those wide, blue eyes that made him not want to disappoint her. 

Nick took a deep breath. "No, I don't—" he started saying. 

"No, don't say no. Please?" Lara whined, cutting him off. She was still smiling, however, as she gently pushed his shoulder. "Come on, Blake already said he's not coming. Don't leave me all by myself." 

Blake rolled his eyes. "Oh please, like you can't open a fresh can of admirers tripping over themselves for the chance to go with you at any moment," he teased.

"But that's not the same." Lara pouted. "I just want to dance. I want to go with someone who won't hit on me all night." 

"...Right," Blake said.

Nick felt Blake's gaze on him, but he refused to look because he could already imagine the smirk and the raised brow. For fuck's sake, Blake didn't know him at all. Sure, Nick liked Lara as much as the next guy, but he wasn't an animal. He could hang out with her and only talk without trying to make it sexual. 

Nick looked at Lara. "You know what? Fine, I'll go with you."