Marty and Lucas hadn't been close in high school, but as two boys from the same place, they bonded in college. It was a strange pairing at first, but it worked. In high school Marty had been a bit of a troublemaker, in juxtaposition to Lucas' clean cut cheery golden boy energy. Lucas was a soccer star with fluffy blonde hair, and piercing green eyes, but Marty had dark hair to compliment his dark personality, and dark humor. The boys were in predominantly different classes, with Lucas a Chem major and Marty a Physiology major, but they made it a point to eat lunch together daily.

"That was weird." Marty shrugged, as he picked at his lunch. He was looking off in the direction that the boy had gone with the girl he liked. Marty had grown fairly good at reading Lucas, and he knew that there was something about the boy that had just left, something both joyful and stressful.

"What was?" Lucas looked over at his friend in confusion. "You were nasty to her, so you can't expect her to want to-"

"That's not what I meant. I meant you."

"What do you mean?" Lucas averted his eyes, already knowing what was to come.

"I've never seen you smile like that. Ive paraded lines of girls in front of you! You're a soccer star, you could've had your pick, but nothing... then one look at him and your all heart eyes and smiles. Who is that boy, anyway?"

"Vincent." Lucas corrected then paused to choose his words carefully, "Just an old friend."

"I'm an old friend. You don't look at me like that." Marty crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Who said you were a friend." Lucas chuckled.

"Dude. Come on. He's cute." Marty stated plainly. "And we know he's more your type than the girls I tried to set you up with."

       "Quiet!" Lucas scolded. "Don't talk like that, somebody might hear you." Lucas had told Marty a while back about his sexuality in hopes that Marty might stop trying to set him up with people, evidently it had just added fuel to the fire. Marty was blunt, and not prone to social constructs, but Lucas was conflicted, and not ready to discuss that sort of thing publicly yet.

"Come on! Who's going to hear, besides this is a college campus, not a high school, even if people heard I bet they wouldn't care."

        "Maybe, but if I ever wanted to go pro with soccer it might hurt my chances," Lucas explained.

       "There's no way you're going pro playing the way you're playing so I wouldn't worry much about it."

         "Shut up! It's just a rut. I'll get out of it." Lucas shrugged. "Besides I don't even know if I want to go pro, I'd just like to have the option. Anyway what are you on about 'he's cute' you were all over that Hailey he was with.

      "Do you know her?"

      "A little bit," Lucas conceded. "She was friends with Vincent back in Elementary school. I never liked her... cause she was pretty."

      "I'd wager you don't need to worry about that with him," Marty stated suggestively.

      "Yeah? And how would you know?"

       "I can tell when somebody's gay," Marty shrugged. "It's a gift."

       "You couldn't tell that I was gay." Lucas crossed his arms.

       "Who's to say. Maybe I knew all along and just let you think I didn't..." Marty raised an eyebrow playfully. His eyes drifted after the table in the restaurant where the boy and the girl were sitting. "You're right, she is pretty, though."

       "Are you interested?"

"Eh." Marty waved a hand dismissively. "You know me. I'm a stallion, I can't be tied down, I need to go where the wind takes me."

      "You're not a stallion, you're a douche and you sleep around," Lucas scolded.

        "Also very true." Marty crossed his arms over his chest. His red plaid shirt stretched across his torso, rolled up at the sleeves. Marty's black hair drifted lazily in front of his eyes, as he spoke. He almost always gave the appearance that he didn't care, and Lucas was envious of that. "I can be both. And you can be gay and not worry about it."

"I have to worry about it. My parents would care." Lucas sighed. "My father is in congress, and it'd look bad for the family. Besides I don't know if my mother would even listen." He explained. "And Vincent doesn't know."

"I forget your father is a Congressman." Marty chuckled. "Who's to say Vincent doesn't know. Besides, would he really care? And if he would, would he still be worth your time? I don't think so. You don't seem to care about what your parents think."

"My parents are.... different." Lucas rolled his eyes, "They aren't.. they didn't raise me. Vincent and his mother raised me. We just.... we did a lot together, and I think he might be upset if he knew."

"What do you mean by a lot?" Marty playfully raised an eyebrow.

"Not that. Just friend stuff. We were like brothers, we had sleepovers, we wrestled, and then.... him knowing I felt like that would change everything." Lucas ran his napkin through his fingers as he spoke, giving way to his nervous tendencies.

"It's not like you still do those things, so I don't see much to change for the worse anymore. How long..." Marty paused. "How long have you liked him?"

"Too long." Lucas shuttered. "I feel like a stalker. But his mother asked me to watch out for him."

"How long is too long?" Marty questioned.

"Since I was seven years old."

"Wow." Marty said after a moment of silence. "That's a long time. So you were never really like brothers."

"Well I obviously never saw our relationship like that, but... but he did." Lucas paused and put his head in his hands, his hair falling away from his face in soft curls. "You know, I wanted to marry him when we were little. I didn't.... I wasn't... I didn't understand that wasn't how things worked. I mean.. how could I have known, I.. but I got my heart set on something I shouldn't want."

"But you still do?"

"Do what?" Lucas looked up from the table.

"Want him? Because that can be how it works, you never know. We live in a different world, a better world, and things can be like that now."

"That's just it." Lucas rubbed his chin, "I don't know if I love him because I love him, or if I love him because I've always loved him, and I only still think I do because I don't know what it's like not to. Maybe... Maybe I'm just thankful for them taking me in, and I want to repay him however I can... Maybe I've always sought his approval and always will."

"That's deep." Marty smirked. "And here I was trying to get with his best friend."

"You can do what you like... you can 'get with' who you want." Lucas stated sincerely. "Me, I just need to move on."

"How are you supposed to do that if you're always hanging around him?"

"I dunno." Lucas shrugged. "I don't think I will. I haven't seen him in a few years and I didn't move on, so I don't know if seeing him will even make the difference."

"Then don't." Marty shifted in his chair, "Don't worry about what he might think, don't worry about what his mother asked. You could just tell him and then deal with consequences. At least then you'd know, then you'd get an answer and have closure. Set yourself free."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I owe them everything." Lucas looked at his hands folded in his lap, "I need him. Even if he's just a fringe presence or someone I see once a year, I need him."

"Why?"

"I just do." Lucas stood from the table, "I should be going."

"Okay." Marty slumped back down at his seat, moving on to the next problem, which at the moment was the fact that he had neglected do any homework for his next class, despite knowing the due date in advance, and having ample time to do so.

        After a while of procrastinating, Marty stood up and made his way out of the restaurant. Whether or not he was going to get in trouble he didn't care, it wasn't like he really thought any of it mattered.

"Sorry I forgot my..." A voice began then Marty was hit with a shoulder and he stopped. Next to him was Vincent, looking up at him with scared eyes as if he was a mouse face to face with a hungry lion. "I uh.."

"You're Vincent, right?"

"Um.. yes." Vincent gulped, and looked to the side for help, though none was provided.

"Lucas' old friend?"

"I- I... uh.. I guess you could say that. Are you? Lucas' friend, I mean?" Vincent stuttered over his words.

"I guess you could say that." Marty gave a lopsided half smile.

"I should-" Vincent grabbed the bag he'd left behind off the nearby table and clutched it tightly. "I should be going now." He awaited a response. Instead, Marty simply nodded, and let his head fall back into his arms. "Okay." Vincent walked off quickly, having been given all the indication he needed.

"Dammit." Marty huffed under his breath. "God Dammit."