Despite a rocky start to the evening, the game night turned out to be, dare Nick say it, fun. It certainly helped that Lara and Carson were right about him picking up the rules fast, and Blake being even more diehard than Nick when it came to winning a game. Blake got this glint in his eyes Nick hadn't seen before on him. And when he called and got the Grand Tichu, pushing their team past the 1000 points required to win, Blake was the one who jumped up from his seat with a triumphantly exclaimed "Yes!" 

Lara jokingly rolled her eyes as she placed her leftover cards on the table. "Okay, okay, Blake. You and Nick won. You don't have to be that pleased about it," she teased him. 

Blake grinned. "Told you I brought him for a reason," he said, pointing at Nick. "He, like, never even played but he understands by the second round. That's the kind of energy I need around me when playing card games." 

Nick just awkwardly ran a hand through his hair, and chuckled. At least it made sense now why Blake insisted on taking him along to the Ace of Spades. He was intensely competitive and, apparently, it didn't matter to Blake if his teammate was someone he didn't like, as long as he could play games. 

"Hey, maybe you should try to join one of the Ace of Spades' tournaments," Carson suggested. Leaning to the side, he grabbed a flyer from the empty table next to them and showed it to Nick and Blake. "Game night for teams of two. Various games, you can win prizes." Carson tapped the line of the flyer where it stated 'every second Saturday of the month.' 

Lara nodded in agreement. "You'd probably do well."

"Uh, yeah maybe," Nick replied noncommittally.

"Don't maybe me, we would do well. "Blake scoffed. "Anyway, let's give the lovebirds some space, shall we Nick?" 

Blake stood and tossed some money on the table. At first glance it seemed enough to cover both Nick and Blake's drinks, but Nick still took out his own wallet too and dropped some money for the beer he'd drank during the game. For a split second he hesitated, but he couldn't assume Blake was trying to pay for the both of them—they weren't friends like that. But as Nick dropped his share of money on the table, Blake didn't move to take the change or anything. 

Carson whistled. "Wow, the waiters are going home with a big tip tonight," he teased Nick. 

"Or we can buy some extra beer with that money," Lara added. "Thanks for the donation."

Nick's face heated up. It wasn't that strange he wasn't assuming someone who was little more than a stranger living in the same house would pay for him, was it? Did he do something weird? Great, now he was even overthinking how paying for a bar tab worked.

"You're welcome," he replied to Lara. It'd sounded a lot smoother in his head and his cheeks burned even harder when Carson and Lara both laughed at him. Nick felt Blake's eyes on him too, but Blake didn't laugh, nor comment on what he did. 

At least, he didn't comment until after they said their goodbyes to Lara and Carson and stepped outside. Once the door was shut, Blake turned to Nick. 

"You know, most people just take it when someone else pays their drinks," he said with a small smile. "Also, since I know I can wait forever for the thank you, I'll just skip past all of it and say you're welcome."

Nick stupidly opened and closed his mouth. "What?"

Blake tilted his head to the side and smiled. "For distracting Lara away from Alex, of course."

Nick had almost forgotten about that awkward moment a the beginning of the evening after that intense round of Tichu, but it all came rushing back now, as did the discomfort. Thankfully, Nick could always rely on Blake to remind him of his most embarrassing moments. 

"Oh yeah," Nick muttered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat as he turned his gaze to the road ahead. 

Blake sighed, but kept his mouth shut. He was probably just joking as usual, trying to lighten the mood and Nick wasn't going along with it. As usual. 

It wasn't like Nick hadn't believed Blake at the dinner table when he said he was only teasing. At the very least, he believed Blake wasn't going out of his way to annoy him—only when the occasion arose he'd take it. Blake didn't care half as much as Nick did, or so it seemed. Not about their clashes now, and not about anything that had happened in their past. 

But tonight, he did do something that Nick had never done for Blake: stand up for him. It was only a small gesture done in a few seconds, but by diverting the attention away from a sensitive topic knowingly rather than letting Nick flail and figure it out himself, he'd turned a shitty moment into a funny one. Blake had even gotten Lara and Carson together and made them confess their feelings for each other while he was at it. 

And then there was Nick, who could only stammer or turn red when confronted with an uncomfortable situation. He couldn't just do things like Blake did. If he'd stood up for Blake in high school, he wouldn't have been able to convince the football guys to stop picking on him. He would've only been ridiculed and mocked by Matthew and Ethan—all guys from the football team more witty than he was— and look like a stuttering idiot. What could he have done? 

Do what he believed in, stand up for Blake, and take all the mocking that would follow in stride. That's what he could have done. Even if he would've been kicked out of his high school football team, there were other clubs he could've played for in town. Ones with, hopefully, less toxic players. No excuses. 

Nick turned to Blake abruptly. Blake, of course, noticed Nick's jerky movements and turned to him as well. 

"Blake?" Nick licked his dry lips and swallowed thickly. 

Blake raised a brow in question as he clearly had already noticed Nick's sudden tenseness. "Yes?" 

While Nick new this wasn't a now or never situation, his heart drummed wildly in his chest like it was. He breathed in and out deeply. "I'm sorry," he blurted. 

Blake just stared at him. 

"For..." Nick forced himself to go, "For never saying anything in high school when Matthew and the other guys from the team picked on you." 

Blake still just stared at him. Seconds passed and Blake's expression slowly shifted from confusion to shock, then finally settled on a lopsided, amused smile. "Well, well, now there's something I didn't expect to hear tonight or ever. Babe, is that what has been bothering you so much? You're forgiven." Blake shrugged. "Not because you've been so pleasant to hang around with, mind you. But because I don't feel like you would stand by now if, say, Alex got attacked by someone." 

"I wouldn't stand by now if someone attacked you either," Nick replied. Whether it was because he was so relieved at Blake's response or would actually stand up for him now, Nick wasn't sure. In this moment he genuinely meant it, but Blake snorted like he was making a joke.

"Okay, Nick—no wait. You're not forgiven. I should hold this over your head a bit longer in case I need something from you. Like more Italian dinners cooked for me."

Blake's eyes sparkled as his grin widened. It was clear this time it was a joke, even to Nick. 

"Of course." Nick sighed deeply. "I cook for people once, and then they always want me to do it." 

"Glad we agree on that." Blake winked.

Without meaning to, Nick chuckled. He didn't try to fight it. He simply shook his head at Blake's antics, somehow feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders.