August in the Fall (A "Lab Partners" Fanfiction) *COMPLETED*

Funko Pops are a Great Source of Blackmail

Nick grasped my wrist roughly and showed it to me, pointing at it with a sinister look on his face. "What the actual Hell, Noah!" He looked at the cuts that lined my wrists. "What makes you think that this is okay?" I looked away from him, fighting the urge to cry. How would I explain myself? "Why didn't you tell me about this?!" Nick all but screamed. My eyes widened and I inched closer to him, shushing him.

"Nick, please quiet down!" I whisper shouting, looking behind him at the closed door. "Do you want our Dads to hear?" Nick glared at me, and threw my arm down on the bed roughly. I didn't have enough emotion to be insulted.

"Noah, they should know about this!" He shot up from the bed, frantically running a hand through his already messy hair. "Damn..." Nick mumbled. He whipped around to face me, his face red with frustration. "I mean..." he breathed. "I can understand keeping the pills a secret from them, but this? And why keep it from me? We're brothers! We're supposed to tell each other everything! So why..." I could see in his face that he was physically fighting back the tears that threatened to show themselves. A stab of guilt hit me in the chest like a dagger dipped in boiling lava, and it killed me. I've never hurt him this bad before. 

I sighed, fighting my own flood of tears. "Nick, I'm sorry. I w-"

"How long has this been going on?"

Nick asked the question in barely a whisper. That was all it took. I held my breath. We sat in a murderous silence for what seemed like hours. I looked down at my feet, refusing to meet my brother's eyes. A few more seconds past, and all of a sudden, Nick reached into the back pocket of his jeans, and pulled out his phone. "That's it!" He exclaimed, tapping away on the small device. "I'm calling him and we are sorting this shit out." My head snapped up and I looked at Nick with wide eyes.

"Who exactly are you calling?" The question came out faster than I intended it to.

"Who the heck do you think?" Nick snapped. Without getting a chance to answer, Nick started talking with the mystery person on the other end of the line. "Hey man" He greeted with a half serious, half friendly tone. "Listen, we need to talk." A pause. "It's about Noah." Another long pause. Nick's eyebrows pushed together. "Oh come on, man! He's really broken. You knew he cuts and you didn't even tell me! I think you owe me." Could Nick be talking to who I think he's talking to? Nick sighed. "Thank you. God, you are frustrating sometimes. I'll hand the phone over to him." Pulling the phone away from his ear and holding it away from him, Nick looked with narrow eyes at me. "You're going to talk to him until this is all resolved."

I out my hands on the bed and gave a confused look at the mystery of the whole situation. "Who even-" Nick tossed the phone in my lap. Scrambling for the phone, I grasped onto it with sweaty hands, and finally managed to hold the phone against my ear tightly with both hands. From the side, Nick rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Um," I swallowed. "H-hello...?"

"Well if it isn't Mr. Cuts-a-lot."

Holy Shi-

I debated throwing the phone across the room. Heart pounding, I looked Nick with an angry glare. Nick winked in return, blowing  me a kiss. I rolled my eyes, and returned to the cursed call. "August..." I mumbled.

"So, um. You seem like you could be doing anything else besides talking to me, so I'll make this quick. Sorry for what I said, cutting bad, living good. Get it? Got it? Good." Beep. Beep. Beep. I swore under my breath. The Bastard hung up on me. Pulling the phone slowly away from my ear, I looked up at Nick. Nick looked at me, and shook his head. He stepped forward and took his phone out of my hand, then began dialing again. He put the phone to his ear and waited.

"Hang up again, and I will tell everyone at school about your Funko Pop collection." I couldn't help it. I stifled out a laugh. Nick looked at me smiling, and winked at me. A few seconds went by, and he handed me his phone. "Don't worry." He said, glancing at his phone. "He's not going to hang up this time. Not with his pride on the line." I gave him a small smile and took the phone from him, putting it to my ear. I smiled as soon as the heat of the phone touched my skin.

"Funko Pop collection, huh?" I snickered. Nick laughed from beside me. 

"Oh, fuck you Goldman!" August growled. Nick's eyes widened with a smug smile. August yelled so loud, I guessed that Nick had overheard. I held up a finger to Nick, glanced at him, and mouthed. "Watch this." He crossed his arms in interest. 

"Alright. Am I coming to your place or are you coming to mine?" Nick snorted, and laughed so hard, he fell back on the bed. I smirked at the phone. August was silent, and for some reason, I felt like I had won a war.

"I have to admit..." August mumbled after a while. "I deserved that. That was a good one, Goldman." I smiled, knowing full well we were over the phone and he couldn't see it. "But seriously." August continued. His voice was completely serious. All joking had been pushed aside. "Don't ever fucking cut yourself. Not again." My eyes widened. "I mean it Noah." August's voice sounded deadly. He had also used my first name for the first time. He meant business. "If Nick tells me you cut yourself again, I'll have to kill you with my bare fricking hands." For some remarkable reason, I actually gulped.

"Y-you t-talk like y-you s-speak from experience." 

I could almost hear August rolling his eyes. "Meet me behind the school after hours tomorrow."

I gave the wall in front of me a confused look. "Why?"

A pause.

A sigh.

"I think it's time you meet the one and only Luka Frost."