HE STARED AT THE GROUND.
"So why won't you?"
"Nina, do we have to do this here?"
"No, we have to do this here. Right now. I'm sick and tired of avoiding this issue and it's driving me insane. Either you deal with this right here or Matthias Helvar, I'm never going to kiss you again for the rest of your life. We'll still be married obviously, but I'll never kiss you."
Wylan stared at the ground and wondered how exactly he had gotten into this situation.
***
THREE HOURS EARLIER
***
The coffee addiction is really starting to become a pain in the ass, Wylan thought irritably as he walked (read: strategically limbo-ed) his way through the lab. I need to become addicted to a new drink. Preferably one that doesn't keep me up four hours longer than I need (or should).
Ducking hastily as a metal wire was thrown over some students shoulder and almost into his face, Wylan dived back up and hurried his pace, trying simultaneously to keep track of the metal cars some other students were racing for a project around his feet, and avoiding the sheer number of nonsensical things that were being thrown around above his head. The lab was also nicknamed The TrainWreck, mostly because it was almost always active and very few managed to get through it without getting hit at least five times. Wylan was not proud to say he was one of the most (accidentally) hit students that came to the lab.
Finally after some more strategic limbo-ing he reached the elevator and punched in the button letting it open. Climbing in hastily he shut it as soon as he could, only releasing a breath as the elevator began on its way down. The lab had become something of a comforting place to him during his first few months in college, Wylan thought fondly. Not that it made it less of a hazard zone where injuries were very common, but it was a safe haven nonetheless. The only issue he ever had was leaving the lab, because it seemed that whenever he tried he almost always got hit by something. Entering the elevator unscathed was a rare and momentous occasion.
And all for that coffee addiction, Wylan grumbled to himself. I love it, but I hate it so much.
"I need to be addicted to a new drink," Wylan said aloud to himself. "One that is not going to stunt my growth and/or sleep." It was baby steps, he finally conceded. Perhaps one day the addiction would wear off.
The elevator opened up with a pleasant bing and he hurriedly left, heading straight for the cafe in the middle of the food center. Larry's Lattes had the exact kind of terrible (really, when did replacing coffee beans for dirt become acceptable?) coffee beans he craved.
As he entered the store smoothly, he slowed down and began to wait in the line. Examining the number of people before the register, his eyes focused on a familiar figure with a crown of red curls running down her back. Beside her was a massive blonde man, a strange mix of a fond and furious expression pasted onto his face.
He froze.
It was Nina from the morning, and in tow was a giant grumpy blonde.
Coffee and possibly meeting Nina and a grumpy blonde?
No coffee, no possibility of Nina seeing me?
He decided to stay in line. Nina wouldn't point him out. They had nothing in common. She was only being nice that morning. The line moved excruciatingly slowly, at a bone wrenching pace. Nina and the blonde went up and got their drinks. After a while, they were walking back and headed for the door. Which incidentally, was only a few feet away from Wylan.
Seeing them getting even more closer, Wylan tried to relax as the line moved once again, shuffling only a few inches forward. Keeping his eyes on the register and the familiar man at it, desperately trying to think of something to do. He didn't want Nina and the grumpy blonde to see him.
He kept his eyes on the cheerful man at the register. They were getting closer. Muzzen had apparently taken the six o'clock shift. Didn't Retvenko generally take it?
"Oh hey, Wylan!"
Fuck. His. Life.
He turned around slowly to see the two of them, standing right next to him. Nina had stopped directly next to him while the grumpy blonde was closer to the door. Nina smiled at him warmly and weakly he returned the greeting. "Hey Nina."
"Wylan?" the blonde at the door inquired with the faintest accent to his voice. "As in, Jesper's Wylan?"
Wylan blushed a brick red. "Yeah, that's me," he said nodding. "Wylan... Eck. The one that crashed into that stop sign. Twice. What's your name?"
"Matthias," the other boy replied. "Matthias Helvar. I'm Jesper's roommate." Wylan nodded in response, remembering the remark Jesper had made earlier about Nina and Matthias. He supposed this was the two of them going through it.
There was a brief beat of silence for a moment before Nina filled it.
"So how is your head?"
"It's fine."
"No pain or anything?"
"It hurts but it'll be fine," he repeated, brushing it off.
"I see. I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about the blood clotting - I was glad the bump was so large or else it meant it would have gone all to your head and that would have been bad."
Wylan nodded gratefully. "Thank you so much for that," he said. "It was late and you didn't have to patch me up and you did so thank you so much."
The line began to start up again and Wylan awkwardly shifted a few feet, keeping his eyes on the pair, Nina followed him, speaking as they moved. She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter to me," she replied. "Honestly. Plus, it was good training for my real doctor stuff."
"Nina," Matthias broke in abruptly, gazing at the door and then at the two of them. "We have to go. Remember?"
"We have a few more minutes," Nina dismissed. "It's fine."
"But we have to go."
They bickered as the line moved up once more, allowing Wylan to order his drink. Muzzen and him exchanged polite words as he ordered and got his drink immediately, cradling it between both hands and returning back to Nina and Matthias. Inwardly he wondered why the hell the line took so long if getting a drink took thirty seconds. The two hadn't stopped arguing.
"We need to go right now or else we're going to be in trouble," Matthias was saying as he joined them quietly once more. "We can't keep talking to Jesper's crush." Nina smacked him for that once more, harder than the previous. Wylan's breath caught at the statement. Jesper liked him? More than in the typical player way Jesper generally exuded?
It was impossible. People like Jesper didn't go for the short, awkward and ridiculously messy red-haired type. The dyslexia was an added bonus. He dismissed the idea sadly.
Though Nina kept battling on, neither of them aware of Wylan's reappearance to the side of them. "Oh come on, he's going to be brought into the family soon enough. Just give it some time and I'm sure."
Wylan coughed reluctantly and they both turned their heads to see him.
He waved offhandedly. "Still here."
Nina nodded, turning around. "Yeah. So where'd you come from, anyway?"
"Amsterdam?"
"What class," Matthias clarified. Wylan nodded, flashing back to the painful moments before the elevator.
"The lab actually," he told them. "You know, the one where you can't not get hit in?"
Nina laughed. "I generally stay away from there," she told him. "I can never move more than three feet without getting at least five glares sent my way. Matthias just avoids it as a whole."
Matthias shrugged. "When you're as tall as me, you learn to stop getting into tiny cars and small spaces. No offense, Wylan."
Wylan shrugged, well aware of his ridiculously short height. "It's fine," he said smiling a little. "Plus, it has it's bonus'. Like, basketball."
Nina arched an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be harder?"
He shook his head earnestly. "Not when you duck under their legs and pray!"
Nina laughed, Matthias shifting his lip disapprovingly. "That's against the rules though," the tall blonde said slowly. "You can't actually play like that. Can you?"
Nina rolled her eyes once more. "Ignore him," she spoke over Wylan's response. "Matthias is, as you can see, almost as tall as Jesper. Maybe a little shorter. He's just really big with basketball, and follows like, all the rules to it. He never understands that sometimes, you just have to take the ball and run."
"That's literally not how basketball works," Matthias argued. "You can't just run with the ball."
Nina raised an eyebrow again, leaving Wylan feeling like the third wheel. He suddenly knew exactly what Jesper had been referring to as he had spoken about them, and internally agreed. They're almost as bad as Kaz when Jesper accuses him of being in love with Inej.
"Wanna bet?"
Suddenly she stole Matthias' drink right out of his hands, ducking beneath his legs and making a mad dash for the elevator. Matthias let out a loud cry of surprise, instinctively running after her and for some strange reason, grabbing Wylan as he ran.
"Why are you dragging me with you?" Wylan asked breathlessly as the two sprinted for the elevator. "Careful! I still have my drink!"
"Come with me," Matthias growled cryptically, speeding up his pace. "Just come. Nina knows what she's doing, that druskelle. This is all her fault if it backfires."
They took a sharp turn, almost walking directly into the metal elevator but the doors opened right before they could, creating a massive gap with a sheepish Nina on the other side of it.
"Hello?" Her smile was pure amusement.
"Give me that," Matthias hissed, dragging Wylan inside the elevator with him as he tried taking his iced coffee back. Nina laughed, swiping a few times to avoid him.
"Guys?"
His voice wasn't heard over the two's fond eyes and smiling faces. Well, Nina's face resembled that at the very least. Matthias had returned to the odd mix of fond and furious.
"You're going to crash into the - nope, never mind."
For Matthias had already been driven into the wall and with a probable two hundred pounds of pure muscle, smashed straight into the buttons and left them blanking out, the familiar electric colour around them blinking away.
"Shit."
The elevator skewed to an abrupt stop, making Nina and Wylan crash into each other. Matthias, still balanced unsteadily on the keys tried to stand up only to ram back into the buttons again. The lights overhead flickered shut, leaving them in a pitch blackness.
"We're screwed," Wylan finally said, and as no reply came he thought they all agreed.
***
a/n: and the next chapter has been released! i hope you like this one - it's the start of a spiral downward that wylan is not going to enjoy and that's always fun for the writer. *grins.
comment if you have anything to say (constructive criticism included) because feedback is always helpful for a writer, and as said before, extra voices are always helpful when building a story.
thanks for reading,
mercy