The next morning, as light streamed into the room through a crack between the curtains, Nick was first to wake up. His phone was buzzing next to him on the mattress, and he was surprised to see Blake was still asleep, completely unbothered by the noise.

Since both Nick and Blake only had a twin bed in their room, they'd decided to just drag Nick's mattress to Blake's room and push them together on the floor. A good call considering Blake was sprawled out like a starfish, taking up the maximum amount of space possible. His hair was a bird nest mess and Nick smiled, amused by the vast difference between chaotic asleep Blake and put-together awake Blake. After this brief observation, Nick grabbed his phone to check who the hell was calling him on a Saturday morning.

The name that appeared on screen was one of the last ones he ever expected: Emma.

Nick was instantly fully awake. He cursed under his breath as he sat up straight, staring at phone which continued vibrating in his hand. Unsure what to do with this, Nick waited until the call ended without picking up.

She didn't try to call again. Nick wanted to put his phone down and ignore the fact Emma ever tried to contact him. He just wanted to scoop Blake up into his arms, utterly enjoy how naked they both still were, and bask in the wonderful aftermath of amazing sex. Then, once Blake woke up, stuff him with so much food he couldn't walk for the rest of the day and had no choice but to stay in bed.

That plan was completely ruined now.

Now, Nick's head was filled with worries about what Emma had wanted from him. The possibilities varied from there was something wrong with Sem or his parents, to Emma had simply heard of Nick leaving the football chat. The obvious choice was the latter, but Nick's brain refused to fully buy it until he couldn't take it anymore and had to check. Nick grabbed his phone with an exasperated sigh and opened the top notification from Emma.

Emma: Hey, just wanted to check how you're doing!

Nick sighed. He was just being stupid. Of course it was only Emma knowing he had left the football chat and asking how he was doing. It had to be the ex's guilt because Emma had dumped him while he was already at a low place, and him leaving the football chat after radio silence must've made it look he'd sunk even lower. The opposite was true: right now the answer to how he was doing was 'pretty great.' Nick had a feeling it wouldn't stay that way however if he responded to Emma and read all his other messages, so he didn't. He didn't really feel the need to tell her anything anyway.

The sheets rustled and Nick almost jumped in surprise as a warm hand suddenly pressed to his lower back. Beside him, Blake yawned.

"Hey," he greeted Nick hoarsely. "Are your ex-friends yelling at you? Do I need to throw your phone off the balcony?"

Nick chuckled. "No. They're not yelling at all me since I'm not exactly giving them a chance to. But I guess they're curious why I left the chat."

Blake hummed. He scooted closer to Nick and sat upright, resting his chin on Nick's shoulder as he peeked at the phone screen. "Do you want to explain it to them?" he asked. "You said you didn't want to, but it's, like, it's okay if you changed your mind."

"No, I didn't change my mind. I just..." Nick sighed. "I feel a bit guilty for dropping friends without ever explaining to them why."

"Right. Damn you for being a good person."

"Apparently, they were already desperate enough to send Emma after me to check what's going on."

Blake made a disgruntled sound when Nick unlocked his phone and showed him the message Emma had sent. "Wish I could just tell you to ignore her forever because, sorry, I don't like her by default because she's your ex."

"Yeah..." Nick looked at Emma's profile picture. It was her in some sunny country with a drink in her hand and a huge smile on her face. Just like Blake said he couldn't help not liking Emma for being the ex, Nick was sure he would've felt more inclined to answer her than the guys before... well, before Blake. The fact that her call even went through was because he'd forgot to change the settings after they broke up, making her an exception to his phone's do not disturb mode.

Things were different now though. Nick put his phone back down without answering her. From the corner of his eye he caught Blake smiling smugly.

"Good," Blake said. "Now let's lay back down and not think of them any further." Blake shifted to the side and pressed a hand to Nick's chest, gently pushing him down to the mattress. Nick didn't resist and laid back down. Blake then made himself comfortable, resting his cheek on Nick's chest.

"Much better." Blake let out a content sigh. "Speaking of better: you were amazing last night, babe." He looked up at Nick, reached out and gently touched Nick's bottom lip. "I'd almost not believe last night was the first time you did... all those things."

Nick blushed at the reminder. Blake hadn't been shy in the slightest and insisted on having the lights on and leaving the sheets off of the bed. The view had been amazing, but the thing Nick appreciated most about Blake was that he was vocal and clearly let Nick know he enjoyed what they were doing . With fingers buried in Nick's hair, throaty and loud moans, and wide spread legs. Feeling Blake twitch and hear him call out his name, all from the very first attempt he'd ever made at giving head to a guy, had been an ego boost of monumental proportions.

"It really was the first time," Nick confirmed shyly.

A grin spread on Blake's face, right before he buried his face into Nick's chest. "Oh my god. I struck absolute gold." He laughed and he raised his head again to look at Nick. "And you? Did you like it too?"

Nick blushed even harder. Blake's enthusiasm had definitely worked both ways; Nick had never met anyone who dove in-between his legs more eagerly. He had a feeling Blake just wanted to hear Nick say out loud that he enjoyed it for the additional ego boost, because Nick hadn't exactly been able to keep quiet either with Blake's lips on him.

"I did enjoy it," Nick murmured. "A lot."

"Good."

The mischievous sparkle in Blake's eye confirmed what Nick had already thought: Blake totally knew what Nick thought about last night but he'd just wanted to hear it again. Seemingly satisfied with the answer and their current cuddling position, Blake went quiet and enjoyed the peacefulness of waking up together in the morning.

Honestly, having Blake with him here in the bed should be all Nick could think about too.

His biggest concern should be what delicious breakfast he'd whip up for Blake, and whether they'd have time to spend the entire day together or had to study. Instead, Nick's treacherous mind wandered to the last place he wanted to be: to his ex, his ex-friends, and his phone exploding with messages and questions despite him shutting it off. He didn't owe anyone an explanation, but it still felt like he did. Also, for Blake's sake. Nick didn't want Blake to feel like he wouldn't go out in public with him once they made it home. He didn't even want Blake to doubt that for a second.

By leaving the football chat, however, Nick had played himself. Now he would be stuck messaging back everyone separately rather than having one central place to talk to everyone. Or just tell one person and have them relay the info. Emma, for example. Did it really matter? They weren't going to be friends again anyway. Not saying anything felt wrong, but talking to them personally only to say 'hi I'm dating Blake now and btw we're no longer friends' seemed awkward at best.

How did other people do this? For some people it seemed to be so much easier to show others they were with a new person in an impersonal way. Like Emma, for example. She'd dumped him, politely waited a month, then posted a picture of her and Brad all over her Instagram to announce to the world she had a new boyfriend and was done in one go. No need to even spam group chats to talk to all her friends.

...Wait a moment.

Nick's eyes spread wide. "Hey, Blake?"

"Hm? What?" Blake propped himself up to look Nick in the eye properly, seemingly alarmed by his sudden urgent tone.

"Get dressed. We need to post a picture online."