High Energy Collision [Completed]

Chapter 35 - Give Me the Night

A/N: Warning: I had to turn on the mature rating because of this chapter. So... things... happen.

"Where are we going?"

Mean sat in the back of his own car, next to Plan, who hadn't let go of his hand since Mean had gotten home. He had already given up trying to figure out what was going on, and why Plan was acting so tight-lipped.

Plan had obviously also enlisted the help of Tio, who was driving the car, and wasn't any more talkative than Mean's seething boyfriend.

"To see the stars," Plan answered, squeezing his hand.

Finally, there was the hint of a smile on his face indicating that he wasn't angry with him, like Mean had thought, even though he couldn't come up with a reason for it.

He still tried to make sense of this behaviour.

Yesterday, they had both been so happy and relieved upon hearing that his family didn't just support them, they had actually known about them already.

Then, today, suddenly, Plan had started acting cold.

Mean hadn't thought too much about it at first, about the fact that he hadn't received any messages from his boyfriend after their good morning texts for instance. He had figured that Plan was immersed in his research. He tended to forget about the world around him when he got into the zone.

But Plan hadn't shown up for lunch with White Hand, either, which was unusual these days.

And when Mean had returned home from dance practice at his agency, Plan had already waited for him in the courtyard, with Tio in car on standby next to him – and he had basically kidnapped Mean into the car without explanation.

"The Planetarium?"

Despite his confusion, Mean couldn't help but smile at the idea.

He cherished their first non-date at the planetarium. Going there with Plan again on a proper date was tempting, not to mention romantic.

Though... why was Plan being so cold and snappy towards him if he was taking him on a much-needed romantic break?

"No," Plan said, "real stars. I missed seeing them. But it's too far to drive all the way up North to my home. Tio said he knows a spot in the countryside close by that is perfect for stargazing. We just need to leave the light-pollution of the city behind us."

There was another squeeze of his hand.

Mean sighed.

He hated how his heart jumped upon hearing these words, despite how unemotional Plan's delivery had been. He wanted to know what was going on. At the same time, the idea of spending time somewhere away from everything was really enticing.

There had been a lot of bullshit happening recently. Stargazing with Plan sounded like something that would make it better.

But only if Plan cleared the air first.

The annoyance he was keeping inside was palpable from miles away.

It couldn't only be because Plan was suddenly missing his home. There had to be more to it.

Unfortunately, Mean also knew Plan well enough by now to understand that if he wanted an explanation for his behaviour, he was better off waiting for Plan to tell him, rather than trying to force it out of him.

Plan usually didn't keep things to himself, unless he felt pressured to reveal them, then he would shut everyone out.

In the fight-flight-freeze triangle of reactions to high-stress situations, Plan tended to opt for flight first.