Going Down [Six Feet Even?]

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Nick Nelson couldn't help but sigh as he heard Tao Xu exclaim that phase once again, his face inches away from where the elevator had tapped out suddenly and left them stranded in the dark and mystery of the Parisian hotel they were staying in on their school trip.

Look, it wasn't that he and Tao were friends by any means. It's not like he wanted to try, for Charlie's sake as Tao was his best friend along with Elle, but it seems the more he tried, the more antagonistic Tao became towards him in private. In public, they were able to act civil around everyone in their friend group, it was easy to get along with someone knowing you wouldn't see them again for a while at least, but still, it sucked knowing Tao still thought of him as some usurper coming to take Charlie away.

Now, the tension between them could be cut with a knife and the elevator carpet wasn't absorbing it like anything else that came into contact with it. A truce obviously could only last so long and it seemed that suddenly, their truce from that night at the bowling alley was up.

The day started off fine. They woke up, came downstairs and after having breakfast that morning in a rather tense stare-off thanks to what happened in the bathroom earlier (that they wouldn't speak about), then, they had been heading back up to their room to get their belongings for the day ahead when they suddenly stopped dead in the middle of floors and now, the cab stayed still as a post even as Tao yelled and banged on the walls, desperately attempting to somehow phase himself out of the cab like one of the many superheroes he admired, despite already having been doing that for almost an hour.

An hour of Nick's life that he wished he could somehow get back as his head throbbed. He seriously didn't know if it could take another round at the moment, so when it seemed like the Asian was going in for another attempt at making noise, he grabbed his wrist quickly. "Jesus Christ, Tao, please stop. You are going to hurt yourself, mate."

"Nelson, right now, I'm not exactly on the best terms with you." Tao seethed, but made no attempt to move back towards the wall at least. "So you'd better let go of me or otherwise, these fists are going straight into you."

Nick's brain, instead of reacting to that threat like he normally would (which would mostly have been to let go and move away), but given the circumstances and inability to escape, he really had to ask "Why do you hate me?" startling them both it seemed by the look on Tao's face. It was still a valid question though and Nick decided instead of leaving it to jump right out, speaking again. "Lemme rephrase that, why do you seemingly think that I'm just suddenly going to take Charlie away from you lately? Because that's how you've been acting since the moment we've come to Paris and it's starting to become bullshit."

Tao scoffs, glaring at him for a moment before his eyes left him, shaking his head. "You just don't get it, Nelson. Your head's too full of rugby facts."

Nick hated that. The dismissal. It was just so typically Tao, just to brush him off whenever something came up. At least with the others and even Imogen, he was included in the conversation. Grimacing, he almost took the bait and walked away to leave the boy alone (as it was clear he wanted to be left alone), but then, that bubble of frustration finally burst.

"Then try and help me get it, Tao!" Nick exclaimed, exasperated as Tao stared at him once again, the other watching him as he clenched his fists. "Look, if this is about what happened and you're going to hold it over me for the rest of time, I'm sorry I gave Charlie a hickey this morning, but-"

"No, Nicholas." Tao leveled at him, hissing, getting in his face like he was getting ready to fight him. Nick really almost thought he might be for a second. "You did not just "give Charlie a hickey", no, no, you gave one of my best friends since I was a child a hickey on a school trip, in full view of everyone who took the piss out of him last year and left him almost suicidal and barely able to get up every day. You also managed to give it to him on the one night everyone's going to be within breathing space of us thanks to the party Tara's planning for Darcy. That is a different kind of action for me than it is for you and if you can't grasp the concept of all of that, then there is no point in me explaining anything to you."