Lionheart

Chapter 10

Nick heaves what must be his eighteenth sigh in the four hours he's been awake. The second he entered school, he was bombarded by Seth's sunny disposition. And because it was still nine in the goddamn morning and he was hungry as hell, Nick didn't have the stomach to do anything about it. Additionally, Nick realized something yesterday:

Seth is taller than Nick.

If there is one thing Nick could find himself to be insecure about, it's his height. No one has ever mocked him for it; by most standards, he's average: almost six feet tall... probably. But Seth was a whopping two and a half inches taller. Who the hell gives this smug bastard the right?

Really, he should have noticed long ago. Maybe he didn't notice because of the type of shoes Nick wore all the time, Seth's perpetual slouch, or Nick's indifference. Either way, there were many factors, but Nick still feels like beating himself up over it. The fact that Mallory hasn't shown her stupid face leaves him some breathing space, at least. The past few days have been considerably more tolerable than the days that followed Nick and Seth's so-called "spat"; his life is not as peaceful as he normally likes it, but in these circumstances, he has to make do with what he has left.

Seth thoughtfully chews on the second of three chicken sandwiches he bought for lunch. "How many books do you consume annually?"

And there's this. If someone were to ask Nick why he's hanging out with Seth, he would say that it's not a matter of "hanging out"; it's a matter of "hanging off". Seth has been hanging off Nick more than he usually did before their... thing, and Nick's attempts to throw him off has done little in the way of progress. It has been one week, and Nick, regrettably, has seen these recurring events as a growing norm.

Nick sighs once again. It used to only be a matter of "Seth shows up occasionally and Nick defends himself."

"I don't really count..." The total probably isn't all that impressive, anyway.

Seth hums. "Per month?"

"Five at most, I think."

There really is nothing impressive about reading a maximum of five books; Nick's minimum is zero. But judging by the sparkle Seth has adopted in his wide-eyed, unblinking gaze, it's enough to leave the average human being in awe.

As Seth continues to think of more excruciatingly mundane questions to ask, Nick takes a bored look at their surroundings. Seth follows Nick wherever he goes during lunch as well, so it's either the soccer field, parking lot or the library. Today, it's the parking lot-which is as always devoid of human life, thanks to Nick. There'd always be a few students goofing off or fooling around with each other in this side of the school campus, but Nick has established this as his domain just last year.

...Well, the parking lot isn't all his, of course. He backs off whenever a senior's in the area and does this solidarity thing with them to ward off unsuspecting underclassmen.

"What do you do when you're not reading?"

Nick looks at the puddles on the concrete. The weather is oddly nice; he can see the blue sky reflected off the water.

"Nothing, I guess. I watch the news, work out, study or walk around." He also helps out at the day care for money from time to time-but like hell he's going to tell anyone that, let alone Seth. He was already caught once by a teacher.

He chances a glance at Seth. He's sitting cross-legged on his side of the bench, listening to Nick with rapt attention as always. He hums again, and tucks a stray lock of short black hair behind his ear, but it falls back to its original place anyway.

Nick's breath catches a little when Seth looks back, but he scoffs and raises an eyebrow in amendment of his own stupidity. "What?" He kind of wants to punch that shitty grin off his face.

Seth chuckles. He pulls his left leg up to rest his head on it, hugging his thigh to his torso. Snickering, he teases, "Well? Aren't you going to ask what I do in my free time?"

"What." Nick scowls. "If you want to tell me, go ahead. I don't really care." Although, he is a bit curious. How much free time does Seth really have that he's willing to use up a sizable amount of it to get Nick's attention? Nick has absolutely nothing to offer.

Seth straightens his posture to clutch his chest, looking comically wounded. "Wow, that's really cold."

Nick scoffs again, but moves to stand up. "It's nothing new," he tells Seth.

The oddest thing is that Nick can no longer say he's fed up; he's way past the point of being sick of Seth's pestering. If Seth is going to keep this up no matter what, Nick will just have to keep being himself. That way, Seth will get bored and give up on Nick like he was supposed to in the very beginning. But surely, if Nick wanted this makeshift plan to work, then he would have to include the "act of desperation" variable into it. There are some things he'd like addressed at the earliest convenience. For Nick to turn Seth off, he has to know what qualities of his entice Seth.

Goddamn it. Did he really have to do this? For all intents and purposes, the best way to handle Seth was probably being direct with him, and Nick is good at that kind of thing. The opposing element here is Mallory. The last time Nick got direct with Seth ended up being a disaster that awakened the blonde's slumbering sense of guilt and pushed him further within Seth's direct line of sight. With that in mind, directness has to be a last resort.

"Woah... what are you thinking about?"

Nick snaps from his intensive plotting. He hasn't even started walking away from the bench. "What."

Seth, who is now standing right in Nick's personal bubble, gestures to his own face. "You're thinking about a lot of things real fast. At first you had this weird smile on your face and the next thing I know, you're looking like you're a blink away from murdering someone."

Well, that wasn't far from the truth at all, but crap.

"Don't think about it."

Seth laughs. "You're pretty easy to read!"

Nick's eyebrow twitches. "I can imagine."

A/N: *forgoes schoolwork* I'm back, I hope. Did a lot of introspecting and investigating for some self-development and angsted unnecessarily on the way, but I think I'll make an update sche