When Nick arrived home, Blake wasn't on the couch anymore. He'd moved to his bedroom and went to bed, probably. It was pretty late, so Nick followed Blake's example and went to his own room. He had a feeling there wouldn't be much sleeping in the cards for him tonight, however. Again.

During the brief walk home, Nick had already decided Sem had misunderstood what Blake said. And if he hadn't, any sort of cuteness Blake saw in Nick once upon a time had to be long gone now. He must've lost any attraction he had since they started living together, plus, Blake had said he wanted to be friends. From past experiences, Nick knew that was exactly what you said to people you wanted to be friends with. Nothing else.

Blake was the kind of person who wanted someone special. He'd go for a career jock Brad, just like Emma did. Someone who meant something in the world. Someone who could confidently walk into a room by his side so they could be the life of the party together. Someone who wasn't just a loser following courses that were considered easy by the masses. This was doomed from the start, and Sem had made everything worse by feeding the false sense of hope.

Nick chuckled humourlessly as he caught himself going into a downward spiral. How did his asshole brain twist Sem casually mentioning Blake thought he was cute into something this negative. He needed a distraction.

A few moments later, the distraction came in the one form Nick didn't want: a knock on the door.

"Hey, Nick, you in there?" Blake asked from the hallway.

"Uh yeah," Nick replied, and the door swung open.

Blake looked wide awake now, despite having fallen asleep on the couch just half an hour ago. He had those sparkly, enthusiastic eyes and a wide smile that made Nick's stomach flip. "Check your messages," Blake said. "Lara and the others want to reserve a table at Ace of Spades for tomorrow, and they need to know if you want to come too."

"Oh yeah, sure, that sounds like fun," Nick automatically replied, still distracted by Blake's smile.

"Awesome, I'll let Lara know you're coming too." Blake chuckled as he typed something on his phone. "They're already insisting on more luck-based games so we, like, won't steamroll everyone again."

"Oh yeah. I understand."

"Little do they know we're also going to steamroll them even in mostly luck-based games." Blake laughed. "Anyway, are you coming to the library tomorrow afternoon too?"

Nick's gaze darted to the wall behind Blake so he didn't have to watch Blake's smile fall as he refused. He had to refuse. "I don't know—"

"Come on," Blake interrupted, stretching the second word. "Carson, Lara and Mia won't be there and we have to talk tactics."

In his surprise, Nick's eyes shot back to Blake's face. "Really? You want to discuss game strategy before a casual gaming night?"

Blake nodded, dead serious. "And look up strategies."

Blake was next level competitive. Nick had never noticed it much at home since they didn't play games together (Sem wasn't really into it), but now Blake's energy reminded him of himself. The way he used to snoop on rivalling football clubs to learn stuff about their playing style.

"Is that how you always win?" Nick asked.

"Maybe." Blake shrugged, lips drawn back in a mischievous grin. "Besides: it's not entirely casual. I'm planning on winning one of those gaming nights the Ace of Spades hosts before I go home. Anyway, I hope to see you at the library tomorrow. I'll be there around one. Sleep well!"

"Uh, yeah, you sleep well too," Nick quickly replied before Blake left his room.

Only when Blake was already gone did it hit Nick: wait, did this mean Blake thought he agreed to going to the library? No, 'I hope to see you' didn't imply he thought Nick would show up. Still, it felt like enough of an expectation that Nick felt like he should shoot Blake a quick text saying he wasn't going to be there to make sure.

First, Nick told himself he'd text Blake first thing in the morning and didn't. Then he told himself he'd do it during his first class and, again, didn't. The hands of the clock were swiftly moving towards one in the afternoon, and the closer they got, the more rude it felt to cancel with a lame excuse.

At noon, Nick told himself he could also just not say anything, take off, and claim he forgot when he met Blake and the others at the Ace of Spades tonight.

At five minutes before one, Nick was standing in front of the library entrance, cursing himself for being a spineless idiot. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't cancel, and he couldn't 'forget', because the sad truth was that he didn't want to disappoint Blake. He was afraid of going and accidentally showing too much, but didn't want Blake to stop asking him to meet up either.

With a deep sigh, Nick walked into the library. He expected to be the first one there, but Blake was already seated at a table near the front, slouching in the chair with his phone in his hands. He looked up when Nick took a seat opposite him and smiled. "Hey! Glad you came."

"Hi. And yep," Nick replied, already feeling awkward. To distract himself he dipped below the table and opened the zipper of his bag to take his laptop out.

"No, wait, don't unpack yet," Blake stopped him. "I did what you did last week and reserved one of those cubicles where you can work in silence. Let's go."

"Oh, sure, okay."

Nick shut his bag, swung it over his shoulder, and followed Blake through the library. Nick knew the private study areas existed in another building, but apparently there were also a few inside the library. The small, glass-walled study rooms were right there on both sides, but Nick had never noticed them because they were hidden behind pillars. At least they would be alone and Nick wouldn't look like a blushing, bumbling idiot in front of the entire library.

"There. Now we can sit far away from the plebs," Blake joked as he took a seat in one of the two chairs.

Nick laughed, though, he felt like a pleb too as he sat opposite Blake, and caught both their reflections in the glass next to the door. Blake made bold clothing choices that were out there. Today, he'd opted for summer surfer thing with a pink and blue tie-dye shirt, which somehow still looked great him. Nick looked... like himself. Kind of boring, wearing grey and jeans.

"So, Small World," Blake said.

Nick looked at him. "What?"

"Small World: the game they say they want to play tonight," Blake clarified, waving his phone at Nick. "I've read Spirit Ghouls and Trolls in general are very strong."

"We're really going to look up gaming strategies for tonight instead of studying?"

"Yeah, you're right, we shouldn't," Blake replied, putting his phone done. "Because I got impatient and already did during class anyway."

Nick let out a startled laugh when Blake winked at him, and he felt himself going red. Like he used to get red whenever Emma smiled at him or even touched his arm. Like a stupid, heart-eyed idiot everyone was onto. He had to stop talking with Blake. Right now.

"I'm, uh, okay with talking some game strategy later," Nick said. He pointed at his bag. "But I'm going to get my school work done first."

"Like, work before play. Ugh, fine."

Blake rolled his eyes, making Nick chuckle awkwardly one last time. Then, the room went silent as Blake also took out his laptop to study.

Nick's intentions to work before play, as Blake called it, were definitely there. But it seemed the games started early instead. The first game of the day? Dodge-the-glance. As if there were tiny strings attached to his eyeballs, Nick's eyes kept being pulled to Blake's face.

At first, Blake didn't seem to notice. But about fifteen glances in, he suddenly looked at Nick too and established eye-contact. Nick immediately returned to staring at laptop screen. He couldn't resist sneaking one last glance, however, and that was where he messed up big time. Blake had never looked away and caught Nick.

As a dark-red flush spread across Nick's cheeks, a slow smile spread on Blake's face. He winked at Nick before turning back to his school work, pretending nothing happened.