ABO Anthology: Time Cross Academy

Friends But Actually Lovers (8)

Bruce questioned himself for the fourth time that afternoon as he hid among the aisles of books. He could hear Klick giggling from where he was and gritted his teeth. What was he doing here stalking them on their date?!

Klick knew exactly who was following them even if Carlos was oblivious. However, he ignored the shark merman. He cancelled the lunch meeting because of the date but he didn't think Bruce would stoop so low as to stalk them. Can Bruce just give the matter a rest already? At this point, Klick didn't know if he should be annoyed or feel exhausted at how Bruce continued to be a pain to his progress.

Carlos noticed that his date seemed slightly distracted and decided to stop. The library date wasn't going too well and the little bat demon seemed to be in a low spirit today.

"Are you alright?" he asked and Klick shook his head.

"I'm fine," he quickly reassured. "Just a little under the weather today."

Carlos understood. He didn't smell the pheromones of an omega on Klick today and assumed that the boy was taking suppressants. Keeping up with the act of the gentleman and not wanting to push so much in case he cared Klick away, Carlos proposed postponing their date so that Klik could return early to rest.

Klick thought about it. Perhaps it would be better this way. With Bruce following them around, it would be hard for him to act anyway. Besides, now that they put on such a good act with Bruce spying on them, the shark merman should get the message already.

Carlos grinned and escorted Klick out of the library, back to his dormitory. This time, Bruce didn't follow. Instead, he stared at an open page of a random book he grabbed from the shelf. Shaken by the thoughts and feelings running through his brain, Bruce sat at the library without moving from his spot or flipping a single page for hours until Zinnia the brownie librarian informed him that the library was closing.

"Would you like to check that book out?" she asked and Bruce glanced at the random book in his head. He didn't know what it was but he nodded dumbly.

"Say," he asked, feeling slightly stupid for being random. "What do you think about a beta and an alpha being in a relationship? Would it be a stronger relationship than one of fated mates?"

Zinnia didn't seem surprised or weirded out by Bruce's sudden question. As an academy staff, she heard a few things from her colleagues and Dr Iason told her about a certain complicated love problem between a blind bat and a dense shark.

"I don't think there's a definite answer for it. Fated mates are merely legends and a biological reaction between two compatible people for breeding. If there is no compatibility with their personality, all that happens between them would be physical and nothing more. On the other hand, finding a soulmate is different from the bonds between fated mates. Soulmates exist in many forms and can be a brother, a friend, a stranger or even a teacher. It's not fixed but you'll know when you meet them. Like fated mates, they cannot be replaced."

Bruce listened to her explanation and thanked her for the book he borrowed. Now that he thought about it, Zinnia's words made sense. Soulmates and friends were people they chose but they were not less important than a mate. He didn't think that the friendship he forged with Klick could be so quickly erased by the possibility of a mate. The flimsy attraction between Klick and Carlos wasn't even worth mentioning.

Feeling slightly better about it, Bruce decided to head back for today. Klick might be temporarily blinded by Carlos and couldn't be reasoned with. However, that wouldn't stop Bruce from what he wanted to do. Carlos wasn't going to become mates with Klick and Bruce decided that as a friend, he would wait. Sure, he was slightly angry that he didn't seize the chance earlier to make Klick aware of his feelings. He was a tad too slow to realising what they were and now that he understood them, someone else had swept him away.

Bruce feared that his small friend might be against dating an alpha because he was a beta. He was too preoccupied with various worries about why Klick wouldn't look his way and let Carlos make a move first. The shark merman wanted to slam his head for allowing it to happen. Didn't he vow to himself that he wasn't going to allow them any chance to meet? How did this end up happening?

As Bruce trudged back to his room, he couldn't help but hate himself. Many times, he'd told Syris that to man up and be more courageous. However, the coward was really him. His prince took his advice to jump into a risky relationship with Floopy, not knowing if they were going to be successful but here he was, weighing the options with Klick. He couldn't be more disappointed in himself. What a failure! In this area, Carlos might even be better than him and Bruce hated it.

Carlos wasn't in the room when Bruce reached and the shark merman frowned. They couldn't have gotten to it so quickly, right?

Panicked, Bruce grabbed his phone and dialled a familiar number over the past week. If Klick didn't pick up his call, Bruce was going to turn the academy inside-out just to know that his small friend and love interest was safe. Carlos moved quickly but Bruce didn't know if he would move this quickly. Klick can be angry at him later but Bruce needed to know if he was safe.

"What is it? Have you no shame? I know you were stalking me at the library on my date with Carlos. What more do you want?!"

The furious voice after Klick picked the call up made the knot in Bruce's heart ease up. As long as Klick was safe, he was content.

"Where are you?" he asked. "Did Carlos do anything to you?"

Klick couldn't stay mad at Bruce's concern. He knew that Bruce was somewhat protective of him and Klick appreciated that but this time, he really needed that space. He was an assassin and Bruce wasn't letting Klick do his job by getting in his way with Carlos.

"I'm fine, Carlos didn't do anything apart from escorting me back to the dormitory. Even if he tried, I could beat him easily. Unless you think Carlos is stronger than you."

Klick had a point. After they exchanged blows in the forest, Bruce already knew that Klick was a good fighter. Carlos might be an alpha but he was an alpha who preferred to hone his bedroom skills instead of combat skills.

"I'm sorry," Bruce apologised and Klick sighed.

"Don't follow us anymore, I'll be fine."

Dejected, Bruce agreed.

Klick felt slightly bad for the shark merman. It really wasn't Bruce's fault and the guilt in Klick made him want to make it up to his sparring partner.

"How about meeting up at the same place tomorrow night? I won't be seeing Carlos in the evenings."

Hearing that he had an appointment with Klick, Bruce lit up again and quickly agreed. The call ended quickly and Bruce looked at his phone's call log. Perhaps, he still had a chance.