"Blake, you realised that Small World is not a team game, right?" Lara asked. "Because you cannot tell me you didn't already read every single rule before coming here tonight."

Blake grinned at Lara. "I mean, obviously I knew it's not a team game. But Nick and I are still a team. We have a reputation to hold high after Tichu—at least one of us should win."

Nick's cheeks flamed as Blake briefly touched his shoulder, and Lara raised an amused brow. He felt Mia and Carson's eyes on him too, and it was just wonderful. They'd all been seated at the Ace of Spades together at the table for a whole of five minutes before everyone seemed to have caught on that something was going on between him and Blake.

Well, maybe they hadn't caught on and Nick was imagining it because he was on edge. And maybe it was a completely one-sided thing because he was the only one getting beet-red every time Blake so much as looked his way.But still, they were off to a great start. Lara in particular wasn't going to stay out of it if she noticed any tension.

Nick quickly occupied himself with taking the Small World board out of the box and setting it up so he didn't have to make eye-contact with anyone. Carson and Mia helped him while Lara got up from her seat.

"I'll get us all some beers," she announced.

"And one glass of Sambuca for Nick," Blake added as he also rose from his seat.

When Nick looked up at Blake in surprise, he grinned before turning to walk with Lara to the bar.Nick saw Lara lean closer to Blake and whisper something in his ear. She glanced at Nick over her shoulder and giggled. Great.

Nick did his best not to dwell on Blake and Lara and the gossiping they were undoubtedly doing at the bar. To distract himself, Nick grabbed the rule booklet and tried to explain how the game worked to Mia and Carson. About halfway into his explanation, Blake and Lara returned to the table. Nick's eyes went wide as he realised Blake didn't bring a glass, but an entire bottle of Sambuca with him.

Blake placed the bottle in front of Nick almost triumphantly, and laughed when he saw Nick's perplexed expression. "Look, I need to get you drunk to take out the largest competition."

"Hey! You just said if one of us wins it's okay because we'll still be the winning team," Nick protested.

"Sure," Blake replied. He sat down opposite Nick with his glass of beer in his hand. He swirled it like it was wine, took a small sip, and smiled at Nick from behind his glass. "But I still would rather have it be me."

A smile tugged at Nick's lips, but then he remembered they were surrounded by people and he bit back his joking 'I'm going to buy you a bottle too then" and averted his gaze rather than replying. Thankfully, the game was all set up and Mia got impatient. She glanced at Nick and Blake.

"Since you guys know the game best, I think one of you should go first," she suggested.

"I'll go first," Blake promptly replied. He looked at Nick. "I'm invading you," he said with a completely straight face.

"Yeah, I bet you would," Mia said.

Lara and Carson both snorted while Blake jokingly rolled his eyes at the remark. "And I bet you'd like to watch," he shot back, making Mia's eyes go round as she let out an embarrassed giggle.

Nick felt Lara looking at him to check his reaction, and that was his cue to pour more alcohol into his glass. A lot more.It was nice of Blake that had gone out of his way to get Nick one of his favourite drinks, but Nick honestly didn't care what was in his glass at this point. He just wanted it down the hatch as fast as possible to get that buzz and to stop feeling like his head would explode from all the blood flowing to it.

In the end, the 'team honour' wasn't defended. Several things went wrong immediately after the first round. First, Nick drank like a fish throughout the entire game and couldn't help but pay way too much attention to Lara and Mia, and whether they were exchanging knowing looks whenever he and Blake interacted (they didn't). Whenever he accidentally made eye-contact with Blake, he felt heat rush to his cheeks all over again and drank even more. Then,Mia snatched the Sprit Trolls, which he and Blake had established earlier today were great in Small World, from under Blake's nose, and she won.

"You just got lucky, Mia," Blake huffed at the end. He made a big show of being annoyed with crossed arms and a deep frown, but it seemed to Nick like it was only half an act and the exaggeration was to hide that.

Mia laughed. "Lucky or not, I won. I beat the Tichu-team."

She made another remark after that which was undoubtedly funny since Carson, Lara, and even Blake gave her a laugh. But Nick missed it completely because his stomach suddenly turned and he pressed a hand to his mouth to stop the gas and potential puke from coming out.

"—Nick?" Mia asked.

Nick looked up at the mention of his name. He missed the start of the sentence, but judging by the way he was now looking at four concerned faces, the question had to be 'are you okay, Nick?'

Blake picked up the Sambuca bottle and gave it a shake.His brows raised into his hairline as he realised just how much was gone from the bottle. "Jesus, Nick," he said. "Buying you the bottle wasn't, like meant as a challenge to drink the entire bottle alone tonight."

"Uh, yeah, I think I had a bit too much," Nick muttered to the table. "I'm gonna head home."

"Okay, sure. But I'm not going to let you walk alone like this."

Before Nick could even open his mouth to protest, Blake was already standing and putting on his coat. Lara made Blake promise he'd text when they got to the apartment, and Nick's world was spinning as he stumbled to the entrance of the Ace of Spades with Blake right behind him. It took a moment to find his balance, but Nick didn't feel more drunk than he'd been the night with Alex. His stomach just decided to act up more this time, but he would be able to walk home alone.

It wouldn't help Nick's spinning world any if Blake was walking beside him. What if Blake brought up his awkward staring? He hadn't yet today, but he could at any moment. There was no way Blake didn't notice something was different now—not if Lara and the others immediately did the moment they got together for games. Nick wouldn't have an answer to any of Blake's trademark sharp and sudden questions, except awkward stammering.

Nick swallowed thickly. "I'm alright, Blake," he said, keeping his eyes trained on the concrete. "You can go back for more games."

"Nah," Blake replied, stretching the world. "I'm salty now, I don't want Mia rubbing Small World in my face the rest of the night, and I didn't want to go to bed too late anyway."

Nick sighed. "Okay."

Nick and Blake walked alongside each other in silence. Blake had his hands in the pockets of his jacket, and he looked up at the night sky, quietly humming a carefree tune. He was relaxed and at ease, while Nick almost burst out of his own skin with nerves. He couldn't tell whether this was a comfortable silence to Blake, or whether he was expecting Nick to start a conversation. He probably didn't mind either way—Nick was the only one overthinking this.

Nick decided against trying to talk in the end. Not only because he'd almost puked inside the Ace of Spades, but also because he didn't trust his drunk-ass mouth to not blurt out something he'd later regret.

They made it to the apartment without incidents, and Nick almost thought he got away unscathed. Almost. As they walked inside the building and Nick made for the stairs, Blake blocked his path.

"Look, I know you think you can walk," Blake said. "But I'm not able to catch your heavy ass if you fall down the stairs, okay? We're taking the elevator."

"Uhm, okay," Nick blurted before he remembered he'd seen the elevator on his first day here. It was tiny. His suitcases had hardly even fit in there, and now Blake wanted to get in there together?

Blake pressed the elevator button. With a cheerful 'ding' sound the doors slid open, and Nick was reminded again of just how small the space was. As always, though, Blake was completely unbothered and stepped inside first. He looked expectantly at Nick when he didn't follow right away.

Nick cast a last glance in the direction of the stairs, and stepped into the elevator. His heart pounded as he realised Blake had not turned around. They were face to face with less than five inches between them, and damn it, even in the unflattering fluorescent light, Blake looked great. His skin was smooth, and even the shadows underneath his eyes only made them look more... more sensual.

Blake looked at Nick, and a jolt went down Nick's spine. Shit, he was staring again. Behind Nick, the elevator doors closed agonisingly slowly. The old elevator hummed and started moving, taking its sweet time while Nick internally apologised to the elevator for calling it tiny if it could please hurry the fuck up.

They had just passed the first floor when Blake spoke up. "You're different today," he said.

Nick's heart dropped. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. This was it. This was where Blake would point out his crush and laugh. This was where he was going to die. Well, either die or puke all over Blake out of sheer nerves which really came down to the same thing. Rest in peace Nick.

Nick wet his dry lips. "Different how?" he asked, still clinging onto his hope that he could play dumb or that this was about something completely unrelated to staring.

Blake immediately tore every shred of hope Nick still had to shreds. "Different as in you're staring at me," he stated mercilessly. "Have you finally realised I'm good-looking since your bi awakening?"

Nick no longer pleaded for the elevator to speed up. Instead, he pleaded for it to get loose, plunge into the depths of the earth and have it swallow him whole. He could laugh and say no. Honestly, he should laugh and say no, but it was too late already. The silence that fell while Nick tried to force his erratic, drunk brain to come up with a plausible explanation took too long.

Blake's eyes sparkled as he grinned. "I'm not hearing any denial, so thanks for calling me good-looking, babe."

The elevator stopped moving. They'd arrived at their floor and Nick hastily turned around and exited the tiny space, stepping into the hallway. The stairs had never made Nick feel out of breath, but sharing an elevator with Blake definitely did.

"I didn't call you good-looking," Nick protested.

Blake caught up to Nick and walked beside him. "Sure, but I know you were thinking it," he replied sing-song.

"So what? Sem told me you thought I was cute first!"

Nick made the mistake of looking at Blake as he spat out his indignant, embarrassed answer. Blake's gaze quickly traveled down and up Nick's body before settling on his face again. "You are cute."

Nick nearly crashed into their apartment's door. Blake let out a startled laugh as Nick steadied himself just in time. Nick glared at him. "You're not supposed to say that!"

"Why not?" Blake stepped beside Nick again. He unlocked the door, and gave it a push to let it swing open. "It's alright if you think I'm cute too, you know. It strokes my planet-sized ego."

"No, it's just that Alex put some ideas in my head and now—" Nick cut himself off.

Blake had been offering him an out. All he'd had to do was say 'okay, yes, I think you're kind of cute too.' They could've established they both thought the other was cute, bid each other a good night, and go to bed with a stroked ego.

That would've been the right option. Of course, Nick had to make it awkward instead because he felt the incessant need to defend himself, or basically do anything but simply reply 'yes.' And now it was too late.

Blake tilted his head to the side."Really? Ideas you say?" he asked, a devious smile spreading on his lips. "Pray tell, Nick, what kind of ideas?"

"Nothing!" Nick hastily called out. His face burned as he closed the front door and turned his back on Blake to take his coat off, hoping that was enough to make Blake give up and let it go. It wasn't. Nick tensed as he heard Blake step right behind him.

When he turned around, Blake was even closer than he'd been in the elevator. Blake's chest almost touched his. The look in Blake's dark eyes made Nick's breath catch in his throat and feel lightheaded in a way that was not at all Sambuca-induced.

"Ideas about me being cute too?" Blake asked one more time, and Nick knew wasn't going to get out of this. Whether he admitted it here or not, Blake knew. Nick knew, and everyone they'd been with tonight at the Ace of Spades knew.

Nick's throat was dry like parchment. He couldn't look Blake in the eyes so his gaze settled somewhere on his nose. "Yeah," Nick finally breathed. "You're... cute."

Blake's lips curled up in a smile. There was a brief moment of silence during which neither of them moved, and Nick only heard the drumming of his heart in his ears. Then, Blake started leaning in. Nick's eyes automatically fluttered shut, but instead of feeling lips brush against his own lips, he felt Blake's breath near his ear. "Repeat that in the morning when your bloodstream doesn't consist of 99% Sambuca, Nick," he said. "And we can see where this goes."

Nick's eyes shot open just as Blake stepped back. Blake offered him a smile, and then he walked away and disappeared into the living room.