Despite what Blake had said, there was actually a lot of focusing going on in the university library. Unfortunately, it was focusing on all the wrong things.

Nick started his school day with replaying his kiss with Blake and everything leading up to that kiss in his head over and over.He cringed at the way he'd stammered and hesitated while, in hindsight, it was pretty damn obvious Blake had wanted to make out. Shivers went down his spine when thinking of Blake's lips, hands, and that sparkle always in his eye. And... he worried when thought about what he'd done to the relative 'peace' he and Blake had established. Now, and when they went home again.

Despite knowing it would ruin his good mood, Nick found his thoughts drifting to the football team and what they would say if they knew about him and Blake.Sem got the boot from the friend group after kissing Connor. They definitely wouldn't be friends anymore with Nick after finding out he kissed their bullying target.

They already weren't friends anymore, even if the guys at home didn't seem to realise that yet—they were still talking to Nick in their group chat.Nick hadn't checked the chat in days, which meant he'd missed hundreds of messages. He'd been tagged a few time. Mostly Ethan asking if he was banging Lara already, then later concluding he had to be banging Lara or another hot chick if he was ignoring his phone this much.

They really had no idea. Within the span of a few weeks abroad, Nick had changed so irreversibly much he and the football team could probably never hang out again. Nick doubted he could keep a straight face, no pun intended, when the guys asked about how things were abroad. And what would Blake think if he kept talking to the guys who bullied and humiliated him in high school?Nick wanted nothing to do with that anymore.

He really should leave the chat. Nick's thumb hovered over the leave button, yet, it was hard to do. Phasing out was the cowardly way, but easier, would lead to fewer questions, and was less painful. Those guys had been a huge part of Nick's life for a long time. Sure, there were a lot of things Nick didn't appreciate about them, among which the way they used to bully Blake. And more personally: the way they didn't put any effort into stopping him from pursuing a hopeless football dream for far too long.

But... still. There had been good times too.Partying in the inner city until deep in the night, and when the clubs closed, staying up until sunrise at some underground party Ethan arranged,barbecues in summer at Matthew's place, sharing the victories and losses on the football field. Even if things were different now, the memories of the good times were still sweet.

A hand suddenly landing on Nick's shoulder made him jump and drop his phone on the table.He turned and looked up at Blake's grinning face.

"Bad conscience?" Blake teased Nick, plopping down in the seat next to him.

"No, uh, I was just focused on what I was reading," Nick lied, snatching his phone off the table and tucking it into his pocket. It would be extremely bad if Blake saw his screen. Blake didn't seem to have noticed what Nick was doing, however, because he was still smiling brightly.

"What, uh, are you doing here?" Nick asked quickly, before Blake could ask what he was reading on his phone that was so interesting. There was no way Nick could quickly come up with a lie. Blake's presence fucked with his head too much; even a simple smile made him feel flustered.

Blake raised an amused brow. "Oh, did I forget to mention? I study here as well. Nah, I came to find you because we should go grocery shopping for tonight."

"You mean going to the supermarket together?" Nick blurted, unable to hide his surprise. So far, they'd always done the shopping separately as a sort of unspoken rule.

Blake let out a laugh. "Yes, going to the store together. Wild concept, right? I figured I shouldn't like let you pay for everything too if you're going to give me cooking classes."

"I mean, uh, sure."

It wasn't like Nick wasagainst going shopping together, it just conflicted with the information he had. Blake literally said they didn't have to make anything different if they didn't want to. But here Blake was making things different, contradicting himself and doing things he wouldn't have done before they made out. The 'nothing will change' ship had sailed.

"Great. Are you ready to go?" Blake asked. He nodded at Nick's textbook, which Nick had forgotten all about a while ago. "Didn't look like you were still studying anyway."

"Oh, no I wasn't," Nick admitted, since lying about that part would be a very obvious lie. "I'm good to go now."

He and Blake left the campus together, talking about Italian food and trying to settle on a dish they'd make tonight. In the end, Blake wanted to try making a pizza from scratch rather than make cacciatore (he'd just leave that to Nick he joked). Nick explained how they could make dough that was ready in two hours because usually dough needed way more time to proof and they should've started yesterday.

After a ten minute walk they arrived at the supermarket, and it was clear Blake was strategic in both games as well as in real life.He frowned at the ingredient list that Nick had provided, then turned to him. "Okay, like, what if you get everything that goes on top of the pizza, and I get the ingredients for the dough? If we split up and meet at the cashier, we'll be done real quick."

"Sure," Nick easily agreed. His phone as it buzzed in his pocket as Blake sent him the ingredient list.

"Good, see you there!"

Blake wasted no time. He grabbed a basket and disappeared between the aisles almost immediately. Nick looked for the toppings and tomato sauce. He was done pretty fast considering all the vegetable products, mushrooms, and meat were conveniently on the same side of the supermarket and clustered together.

Remembering they were also almost out of bread, Nick decided he'd take a small detour and get some breakfast for tomorrow too before heading to the front of the store. As he walked past the baking products, he spotted Blake checking out the different kinds of flour.

Blake wasn't alone. There was a greying man staring intently at him from a few feet away. Nick wasn't sure if Blake had noticed it already, but alarm bells rang in Nick's head right away. He recognised that kind look. Men leering at Emma, making her uncomfortable, had always looked like that. Matthew staring at Blake because he hated his guts had looked like that. Whichever kind of look this one was, leering or hatred, it wasn't good. Nick hesitated a moment, but then stepped beside Blake.

"There's a guy staring at you," he muttered.

"I know," Blake muttered back through gritted teeth. "It's him."

"Him?"

"That guy from the other day I told you about who didn't know how to take a hell no."

Nick glanced at the guy, who now suddenly looked about ten times sleazier to him. He was still standing there and staring; it seemed Nick being there wasn't a deterrent enough. This was hardly the first time Nick had seen something like this, and he knew exactly what to do. Hopefully, it would work and they could avoid causing a scene in the supermarket. Nick breathed in deeply. He squared his shoulders and straightened his back, puffing himself up as much as possible. Then he snaked an arm around Blake's waist.

"Just roll with it," Nick said, but Blake didn't need any instructions. He already 'rolled' with it, resting his head on Nick's shoulder and snuggling against him.

"Is it working?" Blake whispered, his breath hot against Nick's ear.

It was harder to look threatening when a blush rapidly spread across his cheeks, but Nick glanced over his shoulder. The man glared at him, but after darting a quick glance at Nick's arms, seemed to decide this wasn't worth getting in trouble over. After a few more tense seconds of eye-contact, the man turned and left. Nick breathed a sigh in relief.

"He's gone now," Nick said. He let go of Blake's waist.

Blake lifted his head off of Nick's shoulder and looked at him. "Hey, there's no need to let go of me just because he's gone."

Nick turned a deeper shade of red. Blake winked.

"Look at you just putting your arm around me and acting like you're my boyfriend, hm?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nick stammered. "I didn't think to ask first, I just wanted to help I—"

"I'm just joking, Nick," Blake cut him off with a chuckle. "Don't be sorry at all. Anyway, I'm about done collecting everything too. Let's go make some pizzas." Blake gave Nick a slow once-over. "After I properly thank you at home, of course. The dough needs an hour to rise anyway."

Nick could always leave it up to Blake to take things one step further. Nick's face burned at the prospect of an hour-long thank you as he followed Blake to the cash register. He really had to stop teasing like that in public and leaving Nick a flustered mess. If he didn't, it was going to become very difficult very fast for Nick to be okay with casually seeing where things went between them.