The first thing Nick noticed upon walking into the living room after a good night sleep, was that Blake wasn't humming or singing. Nick had been convinced Blake was incapable of preparing breakfast, or cooking in general, without an accompanying tune. But today, Nick smelled eggs but didn't hear any sounds coming from the kitchen.

Either Blake's test had gone horribly bad, or he was focusing hard on something.

Nick proceeded to the kitchen with cation, and knocked on the open kitchen door to announce his presence before entering.

"Good morning," Nick said.

Blake glanced at Nick over his shoulder, then turned back to the scrambled eggs in the pan. Nick noticed the amount of eggs in the pan was very small and there was no bacon. The silence was strange, too. Blake didn't even say good morning back.

Nick cleared his throat. "How did your exam go yesterday?"

"Well," Blake curtly replied.

"Uh, okay..." Nick took a tentative step closer to the counter, wanting to see Blake's face. But Blake didn't look up. Not even when Nick stood right next to him.

"I had a feeling it didn't go well," Nick broke the silence again. "Because you're kind of quiet."

"Quiet. Funny you'd say that."

Blake turned the stove off. He snatched the pan and marched past Nick to the living room. Only when Nick's gaze fell on the kitchen table did he notice there was only one plate rather than two. What was going on here? A nervous feeling settled in the pit of Nick's stomach as he followed Blake to the living room. "What do you mean funny?"

Blake sat down at the table, and smiled up at Nick. "Why don't you go ask Alex that? It sounded like he says funny things constantly."

"What?" Nick stammered.

Blake just raised a brow at him as if to say 'you heard me' and then started shovelling scrambled eggs onto his plate.

Two things were now clear to Nick. One: Blake didn't screw up his test. And two: it was definitely something he'd done that put Blake in a bad mood. Come to think of it, maybe it was kind of strange. The way he'd behaved yesterday. He had made Blake a huge, elaborate breakfast and then proceeded to duck into his room and not talk to him the rest of the day.

But how did Blake know he was on the phone with Alex... Shit, obviously he knew. Nick had said Alex' name a few times, and considering Nick heard Mia and Lara giggle in the living room from his bedroom that one time they visited, the other way around had to be true too. If Nick was talking loudly in his room, you had be able to hear it clearly in the living room too.

It got worse. Blake knew Alex had stayed over a while back. He knew Nick made out with Alex and let him stay over in his room, and suddenly it hit Nick how bad this looked. This was so bad. So bad. Nick's stomach lurched.

"Oh no, it's really not like that. Alex is just a friend," he hastily explained."We agreed to only be friends when he left."

Blake didn't reply.

Nick breathed in and out deeply, steeling himself before he sat himself down opposite Blake. "I was going to ask you how your exam went yesterday, but I didn't want to go to you right away because I was in a terrible mood after school."

"Really?" Blake finally looked up at Nick, but it wasn't a good thing because his eyes were narrowed to slits. "Sure. You sounded like you were in a terrible mood with all the laughing all night."

Nick internally flinched at Blake's sharp words. He wasn't lying: he had been in a bad mood. Alex had cheered him up, but that didn't sound like the right thing to say right now. So, Nick just sat there and stayed quiet while Blake stared at him expectantly.

In the end, Blake lost his patience faster than Nick found a way to say he didn't want to screw up talking to Blake or be a Debby Downer in his presence. Blake jutted out his chin. "I would've known ways to cheer you up too," he said.

Blake caught Nick by surprise with his determination, and it seemed Blake had caught himself by surprise too. Doubt flickered in his eyes for a second, and then he went back to staring at Nick defiantly.

Nick had a new dilemma. How did he explain that not being allowed to mope around people he liked was ingrained in him? Emma told him not to be a bummer. Nobody liked looking at a sad face, especially when one wore it all the time. Nick clamped his knees under the table. "I just didn't want you to catch me in a bad mood again."

"But Alex can," Blake shot back. When Nick didn't have an immediate response and stayed quiet, he sighed.

"We can't date if we only make out but can't talk to each other, can we? With 'let's see where this goes' I didn't mean treat me like a king in the morning and completely ignore me by night to laugh with the guy you kissed and slept with right before me. My God."

When Blake explained it like that out loud, it sounded even worse. Nick's gaze dropped down to the wooden surface of the table. "I wanted to talk to you after gaming, but you had already gone to bed," he muttered.

Then, it suddenly hit him what words Blake used and his eyes shot up to meet Blake's gaze. "Wait a moment. We're dating?"

Blake glared at Nick. An angry blush spread across his cheeks. "Not if you hang out with casino guys you made out with right in front of me with while ignoring me."

"I didn't mean to do that," Nick replied. "I just..." Nick opened and closed his mouth. "I just, you make my head go haywire. And then I clamp up and ruin it. Like yesterday. I mean, you only asked an innocent question about school..." Nick trailed off.

He regretted saying anything the moment the words left his mouth, but his words seemed to have the desired effect on Blake nonetheless. His brow smoothed and suddenly, he didn't look so mad anymore. In fact, he didn't look mad at all. He just looked confused.

Nick decided to take it as a sign to go on. He smiled sheepishly. "And I don't know: I usually try to impress people I'm dating at first. I don't go to them when I'm not at my best."

"We've known each other for a while already, though," Blake argued. He leaned forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "Which means you know me well enough to know I'm never going to accept being second place after Alex. So, what's it going to be?"

Blake's eyes smouldered and challenged Nick. The air felt thick and heavy like before a storm. Blake was waiting, and this time it was very clear he was expecting Nick to take all the initiative. Nick knew he had to choose his words carefully. If he gave any indication he preferred Alex it'd probably be over. Hanging out with Alex was easier, that was true. They didn't have the history, and Alex didn't have a fiery personality that terrified Nick. He didn't care the same way about Alex's opinion either, however.

Nick swallowed thickly. "Well, every time I actually care about someone's opinion of me and want them to like me, it's you. So."

Blake stared at Nick. Nick's face burned with shame. Again, the regret of having spoken up was instant and he expected Blake to start laughing any moment now, and tell him he was being pathetic. But it didn't happen. Instead, Blake offered Nick his hand on the table, Nick quickly took Blake's hand and jolts traveled down his spine as their fingers brushed together.

"So, what put you in a bad mood yesterday?" Blake asked. "Who do I need to beat up? Aside from Alex, of course."

Nick chuckled, but he had a feeling Blake was only half-joking. Not that he saw Blake actually hitting anyone with his fists. He was more likely to make people lose every sliver of self-esteem for the rest of the year with sharp words.

"It was me," Nick replied. "I need to be beaten. I forgot I had a test, the first one of the year. I got a zero. Now it's going to be very hard to save my grade considering the majority of the class, me included, can't seem to score higher than a six."

Blake gave Nick's hand a little squeeze. "That would put anyone in a bad mood, babe. Sounds like it's time for us to plan a study date during which we actually work hard and don't, like, talk about card games."

"I'm always working hard with you," Nick blurted.

It wasn't really a joke, but Blake laughed. "Good," he said with a wink. Then he let go of Nick's hand, stood, and turned to the kitchen. "I'm going to fry a few more eggs," he told Nick over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

As was often the case, Nick was left with a pounding heart, a flushed face, and feeling like he was just hit by a storm. But Blake had called him babe again... and Blake had called their next meeting a date.