Fixing Nico [boyxboy / yaoi]

Ch 20 - Second Chance

… Three Weeks Later… 

~ANDY~

'Mmph,' Chase grunted, yanking on my sleeves as I attempted to haul myself up from his bed. 'What are you doing that for?'

I glanced down fondly at the fort of fluffy comforter covers and squished-up pillows, Chase sprawled out across his king-sized palace of fluffy material, his golden-brown hair sticking up at all sorts of gravity-defying angles, and pondered again how exactly Nico and Chase could possibly be related. They were polar opposites: a fragile, pale skinny boy next to a tall, strong, jerk of a man. The only thing they had in common was that they were both undeniably gay - but even then they were on opposite extremes of the spectrum: Chase, the unrivalled seme, and Nico, the ultimate uke. 

'I'm thirsty!' I whined, 'and Nico's not even here yet. What's the point of playing pretend-boyfriend with you if we don't even have an audience?'

'Well, for one,' Chase refuted, his eyebrows crinkling under his dark, almost-black eyes, 'you're really comfortable and warm, and with you gone I won't have enough pillows. And for two, Nico'll be home any minute now. Seriously - if he shows up and we're not together on the bed, it would completely defeat the purpose of the last forty minutes we've spent spooning.'

I sighed wearily, tearing my gaze from Chase and to the open doorframe. If all went according to plan, Nico would be marching through the hallway and past Chase's room any time soon - he'd see the pair of us hauled up together on his bed looking like a couple of lovebirds, gnaw up his lips, blush and drop his eyes so his shaggy fringe masked his face, and then he'd realise his ultimate jealousy and he'd burst into the room and tell me he loved me and wanted me with a reedy voice that wasn't quite a whisper but wasn't loud enough to be a shout, either, and then I'd run to him and tell him how much I loved him and I'd kiss his soft, trembling lips and knot my fingers through his messy black mop of hair and we'd be together… forever.

Yup… great plan. 

'I dunno about this,' I admitted, gnawing my lip as Chase glared up at me. 'I-I mean… It hasn't really seemed to be working so far and… and Nico doesn't exactly look happy either…' I muttered.

'Hey,' Chase snapped, bolting suddenly upright in his bed as he stared at me with an expression menacing enough to scare any gangster. 'Are you chickening out on me, Andy?' 

'N-no… Well… I mean… I just don't know about this Chase - he's not taking the bait and -'

'Listen,' Chase commanded icily, and I stopped mid-sentence. 'Nico's and Christian are still together… right?'

'W-Well, as far as I know -'

'He would have said something if they'd broken up!' Chase huffed impatiently, and I fell silent. Chase's gruff, deep, confident tone was enough to make anyone sit up and listen with unrelenting intent. His dark eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his burly chest, his voice oozing with unwavering certainty. 'Honestly - I mean, we've made some progress, right? Nico admitted that he loved you - but he doesn't want to live without Christian, or some kind of cliched Hollywood shit like that. Get it? We have to make him see that who he really can't live with if you.'

I groaned to myself, pouting like a toddler as I shoved my hands deep in my pockets. 'This sounds like the plot of some Romantic Comedy. And you know this kind of shit doesn't end well…'

'Well, life isn't a Romantic Comedy - sometimes, things don't just turn out the way we think they will. Life doesn't just fall into place exactly how you've always wanted it to, it isn't just going to turn into some kind of Happily Ever After because you wished upon a star. Wake up, Princess. It just doesn't work that way - if you want something, you've gotta work for it. And sometimes, you need to play dirty - you know, bend the rules a little. We're just making Nico see how much he needs you - he's not gonna die or anything.'