only on pizza, please

xi.

after dinner, ellie went with john and kate to the tuck shop to buy something. the food offered at earth camp wasn't particularly tasty, especially if you didn't like that kind of food. or if you were a vegetarian, like lily. they had no vegetarian options, and this angered lily and her fellow non-meat eaters. they demanded to have their own meals cooked, and it worked. emma also decided to join them, after leaving tk and max alone due to tension between the two. eleanor was oblivious and joined them anyway.

"you guys are boring," eleanor complained.

"you literally chose to be with us. so, shut up," max retorts. "you know what, i'm bored too. where's yash?" he asks, before walking away to find him.

"tk, for once, is silent and doesn't say a word.

"are you okay?"

he looks up, startled and shakes it off. "yeah, just tired."

eleanor nods her head, before pointing over to the far corner of the field they were standing in. tk then waves nick over, who leaves his other friends to join them.

"hey."

everyone nods in acknowledgement. they start walking over to the abandoned orphanage-like location. they'd decided they thought it was cool, and since no one went there, tk and nick had established it as their 'gossiping corner'.

"tk? you still haven't talked to us about, you know. the incident..." nick starts hesitantly.

eleanor waits for an answer.

"i'm just confused. obviously, i'm thankful, because i probably would've died if hadn't of saved me, but, did you guys hear what he said after? i'm confused, okay? i don't know if...i'm not sure," tk sighs in frustration.

"look, it's fine. if you like him, if you don't. but remember you can tell us. like, obviously this is kind of a big deal, so talk to us." nick offers advice to his friend.

"yeah, you shouldn't be confused. i don't even think you actually are, i think you're scared. i mean, you should definitely listen to me because i'm a certified therapist," eleanor jokes. "but, i'm still kind of serious."

"i think i like max."

-

at the group meetings post-dinner, emma noticed tk, nick and eleanor walking from the empty dorm. it seemed that tk had been crying. emma squinted to try and see clearer, but she'd forgotten her glasses by her bed in the dorm. nick and eleanor were reluctant to let tk go on his own to his group, but he insisted. the other two shrugged and joined their own groups. emma looked away when nick started walking towards her.

"hello," nick said.

emma began to respond without looking up at him, when—

"hi, nick."

at this, emma quickly turned her head to see ellie smiling at nick, who was also smiling. emma looked between them frantically, realising what had just happened.

"oh my god," she whispered to ellie, who had sat down next to her. "i ship it so much."

ellie rolls her eyes, but then doesn't take them off nick as he sits down on the opposite side of the circle they're all ordered in. their group instructor walks over and scolds them.

"you need to sit boy-girl! go on, they won't bite!" he laughs to himself.

emma catches nick glancing nervously around the circle, until his eyes land on the space between emma and ellie. recluctantly, he stands up and sits down in between them. he doesn't stop fixing his hair for the next solid twenty seconds.

"um, do you mind?" emma asks him when his elbow hits her arm.

"sorry," he mumbles in her direction.

"wait," emma stops him from turning away, "what's wrong with tk?"

instantly, nick looks towards tk's group. "uh, he's fine."

emma raises her eyebrows, but nick shakes his head to tell her to stop pressing. ellie then starts conversing with nick. although emma's sitting right next to it, she can't really hear what they're talking about. all she can hear is ellie's loud laugh, and occasionally nick's quieter one.

they barely noticed the instructor calling out names.

"number twelve? where's number twelve?"

-

"okay, that's all, you can leave. but remember, lights out at ten o'clock. goodnight!"

upon hearing this, tk is almost sprinting out of the open hall. eleanor and nick follow quickly behind, with emma trailing as well.

"tk, slow down."

"talk to us, it's ok."

"what's going on?"

nick looks at emma, but realises he's slowing down and runs ahead in an attempt to catch tk.

"um," eleanor glances in tk's direction. "you can't tell anyone. well, not yet."

"okay fine, but what is it?" emma asks, eager to hear.

"tk came out to nick and i."

"when? where?"

"by that dorm before the meeting."

"oh. cool cool. wait, so...tkmaxx could be a thing?" emma queries, hopeful.

eleanor looks like she's trying not to say something, and doesn't utter another word before running after the others again, with emma closely behind. they find the other two beside a tree, in the pitch black. tk's crying, and nick's doing his best to comfort him.

"tk, it's fine. what are you sad about?"

tk sniffles and looks up at eleanor and emma. "i don't know. i'm still confused, and i'm scared that people won't like me any more."

emma steps up, slightly angry. "thomas. if people don't like you any more, then they can stay the hell away from you, and that's good. you have us, the posse, the co, and i bet there'll be a ton more ready to stand by you. you definitely should not be scared, okay?"

tk wipes his eyes. "okay."

and with that, the four of them walk back in the darkness to the old dorm rooms.