《NICK'S POV》
Nick was busy making homework, when heard his phone ring. He looked at his phone and saw that it was Charlotte. It didn't take him long to realise who she was.
He picked up the phone. "Hey, what's up?"
"Hi, I'm wondering if you could come over. It's Emily's birthday today, and I wanted to surprise her by inviting some friends."
"Sure, when should I be there?"
"Ehm... the party starts at 8, but if you don't mind you could perhaps get here a bit earlier to help us prepare everything? I asked some other friends to help but they can't make it in time."
Nick got up, and looked at the clock. It was 6 PM. "I'll be there as soon as I can, just text me the address. Also... is it okay if I take a friend with me?"
"No problem!" Charlotte said. "I mean, you're talking about Riven, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. Wow, you even remembered his name. Ehm, I guess I'll see you later then."
He hang up the phone, hesitated for a second, and then picked up his phone again.
~~~~
"I can't believe you made me do this." Riven sighed, after Nick basically forced him to go with him once again.
"It's a party! And it's for my friend, so I couldn't not go."
"Then why should I have to go with you? She's your friend, not mine."
"Gosh Riven, I still can't believe you're actually 16 years old. Who would refuse to have fun at your age?"
"My age? What the heck Nick, you're barely 17. Don't act like you're an adult, because we both know I'm the grownup person here."
"Well, you indeed do have the mental age of an 80 year old."
Riven gave him a deadly stare, but wisely decided not to respond. Over the years he had learned that staying silent usually is a better idea when Nick was in a mood like this.
Suddenly Nick realised that even if they were dating like this, Riven and he were still the same friends, that liked to embarrass and tease each other, and it made him feel a bit relieved. He didn't want to lose his friendship with Riven, even if they were dating each other.
"Don't you have to buy a present?" Riven suddenly asked.
"Nah, Charlotte asked if I could run some errands instead. She sent me a list of stuff we need to buy."
"What? You're making me go to the grocery store with you too?"
Nick grinned at the frustration visible on Riven's precious face. "You can wait in the car instead."
Riven rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll come with you, but I hope it doesn't take too long. Also, when does the party end? We have school tomorrow."
Nick arrived at the shop and started looking for a spot to park his car. "Ehm I'm not sure, I didn't ask her."
Riven took a deep breath. "I'm wondering why I'm even surprised about that at this point."
They got out of the car, walking towards the store in silence. They got a shopping cart and started looking for the stuff they needed.
"Nick?"
"Hmm?" Nick replied to Riven's soft voice.
"So ehm... what do you think about Emily now?"
Nick turned around to put some cups into the cart. "What do you mean?"
"Well... you know, you are going to her birthday and she's your ex. So does that mean you still like her?"
Nick started laughing. "I broke up with her because I didn't like her anymore. If I still liked her, why would I have done that?"
Riven bit his lip, and then he turned his face towards Nick, so they locked eyes. "But could you start liking her again?"
Nick sighed, and walked around the cart towards Riven, after which he grabbed the boy's hand.
Riven stared at him with his big gray eyes, wondering what the hell had gotten into his best friend.
"How could I even think about liking her... when I have a boyfriend like you?"
It took Riven a few seconds before he freed his hand from Nick's, after which he told him to "F*ck off."
Nick decided to totally ignore him and instead wrap his arms around his shoulders, trying to kiss Riven on his cheek.
Riven turned his head away from Nick, with his hands on his chest, desperately trying to push him away.
"Ahh, look what we have here."
They both looked over at the dark-haired boy, who was standing a few meters away from them, his hands in his pockets and a strange smirk on his face.
"Who are you?" Nick asked, while he let Riven go. The guy didn't answer, he just kept on smiling weirdly.
It took only a few seconds for Riven to realize who it was. "Nick..." he tucked Nick's sleeve softly, so he moved closer towards him. "This is one of the guys who was with that boy in the cinema."
"I see..." Nick mumbled. He took Riven's hand again, but this time it wasn't meant to mess with Riven. He stood up straight, to make himself bigger. "What do you want?"
The guy walked closer towards them. "Aren't you ashamed?"
"Ashamed? Of what exactly?" Nick asked, the tone of his voice was lower than usual.
"Well, you both know this isn't normal. It's pretty disgusting, if you ask me."
"Good thing we didn't ask you anything then."
Nick had to hold himself from smiling at Riven's quick response.
"So what? You don't need to ask me for me to know that there's something wrong with you guys."
"Really? What exactly that is?"
The boy frowned a bit, confused with why they would seriously respond to his insult.
"It's just dirty... no one wants to look at that."
"Then how about looking the other way?" Riven asked.
The boy narrowed his eyes. "How about you don't be gay?"
"How about you stop obsessing over other people who are just trying to live their lives in peace?"
"No! You guys are the ones that are wrong!"
Nick leaned closer to Riven. "Let's just leave. You're not gonna be able to change his mind."
"What are you guys whispering about?" The boy started to walk towards them, but a voice stopped him.
"Charley?" A man came around the corner and walked into their isle. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing, dad." Charley said, suddenly looking a bit distressed.
"Hurry up then. We need to be home on time, so-"
"Yes, I'm coming!"
Charley's dad shook his head. He then finally noticed the boys and smiled at them. "Sorry about that." he said. "My son seems to be in a bad mood today. I hoped he wasn't being rude or anything."
Nick was ready to educate this man about his son's terrible behavior, but he felt Riven tucking his sleeve, and as Nick glanced at him he gave him a stare that told Nick to shut up.
"Nothing happened." Riven lied.
"I'm glad to hear that." Charley's dad smiled at them once again. "We are gonna leave now. Take care both of you." He turned around and saw Charley already left, so he hurriedly walked after him.
"I wonder what went wrong there for that Charley to turn out that way." Nick frowned. He was genuinely surprised to see that this type of guy had a nice parent.
"We don't know that, Nick. Neither do we have to. All we have to concentrate on right now, is getting our groceries together and not being late for the party."
~~~~
Luckily it was a short drive to the Emily's appartment from the store. They took the groceries upstairs and were let in by Charlotte, who greeted them with a big smile on her face. "Hello guys, thanks for being able to be here so fast!"
"No problem, where should we take these bags to?"
"Come with me." Charlotte brought them to the kitchen, where they put the bags on the countertop.
"I'm gonna change quick, so just get yourself something to drink."
Charlotte didn't even wait for their answer, and left them alone in the kitchen.
Nick opened the refrigerator. "What do you want?"
Riven opened one of the bags and took out some cups. "Ehm, just give me some Sprite. Also, you shouldn't drink alcohol yet, it's still too early."
Nick rolled his eyes at the nagging of his boyfriend, but put back his beer and filled two cups with Sprite, after which he gave one to Riven.
"Emily doesn't seem to be here yet."
Nick nodded. "Charlotte said that it's a surprise."
"Ohh, I see." Riven sipped from his drink, far away in his thoughts again. Nick observed him in silence, not feeling the need to destroy the moment of peace that was between them.
After a while Riven put back his cup on the counter, while letting out a big sigh.
"Are you nervous?" Nick asked, knowing Riven didn't really like being surrounded by a lot of people.
"Hmm."
Nick put his drink down as well. "Why did you agree to coming then?"
Riven looked up at him, making eyecontact for the first time since they arrived here. "You asked me to come."
Again there was a silence, this time even longer than before, while they just stared at each other.
"So, what do you guys think?"
"Woah... you look amazing!" Nick complimented Charlotte.
She turned and looked at Riven. "How about you, Riven. What do you think of my dress?"
Riven looked a bit flustered by the sudden unwanted attention. "It looks... cool."
Charlotte frowned. "Sh- Should I change?"
"No no no! You look great!" Riven reassured her.
She bit her lip for a moment, and then shrugged. "Fine then."
The bell rang, clearly to Riven's relief who seemed quite uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"That must be the first guests! I'll be right back."
It didn't take long for the room to be filled with people, but Emily was still not here. Riven was clearly getting more anxious with every person coming in so Nick stayed closely by his side.
"Oh my god, I think Emily is nearly here!" Suddenly Charlotte was standing on the table, telling everyone to go hide.
Everyone hid behind whatever they could find. Nick noticed there was some space behind the refrigerator and the wall, so he took Rivens hand and went to hide.
He pulled Riven close, and tried to make himself smaller so his head wouldn't stick out.
Charlotte turned off the light, and they all waited for Emily to come in.
Around them, people were softly whispering, but Riven didn't say anything.
Nick knew he didn't really feel comfortable talking when other people were around, so he didn't mind. Riven had always been introverted, ever since they met 5 years ago. Actually since his birth, Riven told him. He just didn't like being the centre of attention.
But Nick liked that about him. Of course it had it's perks, but it was what made Riven himself. If it wasn't for Riven Nick would probably be going out a lot, but he had discovered he liked sitting down with him, watching movies at home together, while having long conversations about stuff he wouldn't tell anyone else in this world.
"Riven..." he whispered.
"What?" Riven asked.
"I really love you a lot... you know that right?"
Around them everyone started cheering as Emily entered the room, but Riven didn't seem to notice.
Instead he just turned around and stared at Nick with a shocked expression on his face. "Wh- what did you just say?"
Nick gave him a cute smile. "I love you."
《END OF THIS CHAPTER》
Dont mind me just coming back from the dead.