"Hey how's it going?" Vincent sat down next to Hailey during their first class of the day. The professor had not arrived yet, so they had a few moments to talk.

     "Good!" She smiled. "I'm just... what the he'll happened to your neck?"

     "Nothing." Vincent replied, pulling the collar of his turtleneck a little higher.

     "Are those hickeys?" She exclaimed.

     "Quiet, somebody might hear you." Vincent scolded.

     "This is a college campus, I'm sure they all know what hickeys are." Hailey scoffed. "How did you get them? Did you...?"

    "No!" Vincent replied fervently. "I did not have sex."

     "Ah.. so just the before stuff. Who was it? Spill."

     "It was nobody."

     "It clearly wasn't nobody."

    "Well it was nobody you know."

     "Just tell me!" Hailey called exasperatedly. "I would tell you, and you know it."

      "I want to tell you.. really. But I've been sworn to secrecy. I can't tell you, it would be a breach of trust."

     "Just tell me, I'll be quiet. I wouldn't tell anybody." Hailey whispered.

     "I know that!" Vincent replied. "If it were up to me I would tell you."

      "It is up to you."

     "No, it's a two person activity, so both people need to be okay with sharing that it happened."

"Whatever." Hailey scoffed. "Just answer me this; boy or girl?"

"...boy."

"Oh wow. Damn." Hailey giggled. "Good on you. So it's a boy... but it's nobody I know?"

"Yep." Vincent lied.

"Wow. That really narrows the list down to Lucas, Lucas, and LUCAS." Hailey smirked.

"You know him!" Vincent argued.

"Fine, if you say it's not Lucas, I believe you." She held up her hands in surrender. "But if you're interested in boys I don't see why you wouldn't be interested in Lucas."

"We're just friends." Vincent mumbled quietly. He hated lying to her, but he would have hated more to not respect Lucas' privacy and right to tell people of his sexuality as he saw fit. Vincent was different, most people assumed he was gay anyway, and nobody cared, but Lucas was as athlete, so there was more pressure.

"Yeah yeah." Hailey rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying is that if you can't close the deal with what's-his-name you can probably bag Lucas too."

"Oh be quiet." Vincent tutted.

....

Dustin and Vincent met Hailey out front of the modern glass building in which Lucas' apartment was located. The sky was tinged with wisps of pink and purple as the sun dipped close on the horizon. It was a chilly November night and Vincent had elected to wear a maroon sweater, a color he knew Lucas to be fond of.

The soccer boys had yet to arrive as only Vincent and his friends had been asked for help with set up, but he knew the boys were eager. The official season had concluded with a victory in the Thanksgiving Day game, but a tournament for the winning teams would start up the next weekend and last into December. Needless to say, the boys were going to be rowdy, having lost their main release of energy for the time being.

"Woah." Hailey stated as she hopped out of her car. "This is swanky? I wasn't expecting this for a college sophomore."

"Yeah." Dustin nodded. "Wait until you see inside."

Vincent looked up at the building in something along the lines of awe. Despite being there several times, he'd never taken the time to actually look up at the building and take it in. Lucas' family had money, and there was no question of that. Vincent was struck with the image of Marty's house and how differently the two boys resided.

Lucas' family house and Vincent's house were next door to each other. Those house two were very different. Vincent's house was a moderately sized cheery yellow house with white trim and a large front porch. Lucas on the other hand had a clinical white mansion with black iron accents and tall gates. It was the house of a Congressman, a Congressman who never spent any time at home. Marty had a tiny model home on the other side of town with hardly and flowers at all, and boarded up windows.

Marty lived a very different life from his friends; they had no idea how hard he really had it.

"It's big." Vincent nodded with finality. "Have you two met?"

"Yeah?" Hailey looked at Vincent strangely. "We met at one of the games... you had the..." She gestured to her face. "All the paint."

"I remember." He replied.

"Oh... well, I guess I forgot that." Vincent frowned. "I think you two got along well?."

"I think so." Dustin smiled.

Inside the building Lucas met the small group at the door. He had a navy half zip on contrasting nicely with his wavy blonde hair and green eyes. It was strange, though the entirety of Lucas' apartment was decorated in Black and white, Vincent realized he'd never really seen the boy wear either of the colors.

"Hey guys." Lucas greeted with a friendly smile. "Looks like you brought in the reinforcements?"

"Yep." Vincent chuckled.

"Well thanks for all your help guys. If you want you can put your coats in the bedroom, and oh you're welcome to anything in the fridge. If you want, you guys can start getting the snacks into bowls, and Vincent and I will get drinks from the kitchen? Alright?"

"Sounds good." Dustin smiled.

"Yep, I'll uh.. I'll grab your coat." Hailey nodded suggestively, clearly picking up on the fact that Lucas had intentionally organized it so he and Vincent ended up alone.

The boys made their way into the kitchen, and once they passed out of sight, Lucas pulled Vincent into a kiss, backing him up against the wall.

"I like your sweater. You look cute." Lucas whispered between kisses. "I wish you hadn't brought everyone, so we wouldn't have to hide."

"I'm sorry.. I needed a ride."

"Next time I'll drive you and we can have the whole place to ourselves." Lucas smiled suggestively. "You taste good."

"What about the drinks?"

"I set them up this morning." Lucas mumbled, fiddling with the top button on Vincent's sweater. "I wish I wasn't having this stupid party." Lucas whispered in between kisses. "Ask me and I'll cancel, I'll send everyone home."

"No it's alright. I don't mind spending time with your friends."

"They're jerks." Lucas whispered, out of breath from kissing in every pause. It was a strange new way to have a conversation, Vincent thought. "I can't believe I have to pretend like we're not together tonight."

"Hey Lucas, do you know if there's a spot for ice?" Dustin's voice.

"Uh yeah. Hold on." Lucas broke away and wiped his mouth. He paused to look at Vincent, then fixed the boy's hair, straightened his sweater, and dusted off his shoulders.

Vincent followed slightly after Lucas into the main room, which had all the snacks emptied into their respective spots, and aside from ice all else was in its place.

     "I was planning on having all the drinks be in the kitchen, Dustin want to help me empty the ice bag?" Lucas asked, picking up the red cooler from the floor.

     "Sure."

     "So what we're you doing in there?" Hailey asked after the boys had left.

     "We were setting up the drinks?"

     "With no ice?" Hailey raised an eyebrow.

     "The ice is just to go in the solo cups. I was helping Lucas empty the cartons of pop and stuff into the fridge."

      "Mhhmm." Hailey sounded. "Awfully quiet for a noisy task like that?"

      "How difficult do you think it is to empty cardboard?"

     "Alright." Lucas called as he entered the room with Dustin at his side. "People should start arriving any minute, so if you guys want to get drinks and get started we can hang out."

     The small group grabbed their drinks from the fridge and made their way to the couch. Lucas got up a few times to open up the door for guests, but other than that they hung out uninterrupted. Lucas had elected to sit next to Vincent and had his arm casually sitting on the back of the couch behind him.

     "Ugh. Hide me." Hailey groaned as Ryan walked in. Dustin shot her a strange look, but didn't object to her sinking behind him on the couch.

     "Alright! Where's the alcohol?" Ryan asked as he entered the room.

     "Jacob's meant to be bringing it. I can't buy it." Lucas shrugged.

      "Aren't you twenty one yet?" Ryan asked.

     "Nah. Couple more months."

     "Dude, what's even the point of taking a gap year if you still can't buy beer your sophomore year of college?"

     Ryan didn't wait around to answer that, and Lucas was glad because he had no response to offer.

     "Can you believe I used to like him?" Hailey pulled at her hair.

     "You? Liked him?" Dustin asked with surprise. "I would have thought you'd have better taste than a douche like that."

     "I wouldn't." Vincent shrugged and Hailey shot him a glare.

     "It was a weak point."

     "Party's here!" Another voice called and the group turned to see presumably Jacob, a boy a few years older than the rest, with a keg and a case of beer.

      "Dammit dude that's all you brought?" Ryan whined.

     "Naw." Jacob tossed Ryan his car keys. "The whole back of my truck is jam packed, start making runs."

     Vincent supposed there was a boy like that at every party. Someone nobody particularly liked, but was old enough to buy beer and careless enough to give it to minors.

     "Lucas!" A female voice called and they all turned around to see Sarah arriving.

     "I've uh... got to talk to her. She gets weird if I don't." Lucas shrugged.

     "Alright." Hailey stood up. "I'm going to be the first one, since I know we're all waiting for it, and I'm going to get a drink. Vincent, you want to come?"

      "Uh... no. I don't think I want to drink tonight."

     "Suit yourself." Hailey shrugged. "Dustin?"

     "I thought you'd never ask!" Dustin stood up excitedly to meet her.

      Vincent found himself alone on the couch surrounded by increasingly intoxicated teenagers making very poor decisions. Lucas had been summoned off by the soccer boys, and after many apologetic looks had gone with them.

     Sarah too ended up alone at the party, and Vincent figured he might as well talk to her. Not to persuade her from liking Lucas specifically, but just to see where her head was at. He didn't want to seem jealous.

     "Hey." Vincent walked up to her casually. "How's it going?"

     "Vinny!" She squealed and pulled him into a very tight hug. Vincent hadn't realized they were that close but offered no objections. "How are you?"

     "I'm alright. And you?"

     "I'm doing as well as I can." She smiled brightly. "It was so sweet of you to come and talk to me after you saw I was alone. Megs.. Well Megs and Ryan as you can see are over there down each other's throats." She gestured towards a couple violently making out on the couch.

      "That's too bad." Vincent frowned. "You don't want to hang out with anyone else?"

     "No. I'm so over boys tonight."

     "I'm a boy." Vincent's brows furrowed.

      "You don't count, you're gay!" Sarah stated, then realizing what she'd done covered her mouth immediately. "Oh.. I didn't mean to assume, I'm sorry, I just.. oh and now I've outed you." She looked around and the people by her, though Vincent wagered they were more concerned with their beer than anything else.

      "It's alright. I'm already out." Vincent shrugged. It was technically true in that all of his friends knew, but not true in that he only had two friends and they were the only people to officially know.

     "Thank God!" She squealed. "I feel so much better."

     "So if you're so over boys, why don't you hang out with any of the girls?" Vincent asked. "Like them?"

     A few feet from the pair was a group of four or five girls, drunkenly singing along to the music coming from the speaker.

     "Ew." Sarah gagged. "Besides they'd never let me hang out with them."

     "Why?"

     "Brittney thinks I slept with her boyfriend, Tom." She replied.

"Well did you?"

"Yes." She responded her face void of emotion. "Tom's always liked me better, but Brittney's calculating bitch, and she managed to break down his standards until she wormed her way in."

     Vincent stared at Sarah for a moment, but didn't say anything. Frankly, there was nothing to say.

     "Oh?"

     "Yeah I'm over it though. Tom's cute, but everyone knows there's a bigger prize to be won."

     "Who?"

     "Lucas, silly." Sarah pointed to Lucas playing pong with a few of the other soccer boys. It was true, he was the best looking of the bunch, and it was a good bunch. "Any one of those bitches would drop their boyfriend in a minute to date Lucas. But I've got an in, we're already friends."

     "Didn't he reject you last time?" Vincent frowned.

     "Yeah.. but tonight with alcohol flowing and no better options I've got a feeling I'll be a little bit more lucky." She turned her attention back to the boys. "Hey Lucas!" She called and made her way over to them, hanging off him like a sloth.

     It took everything Vincent had not to grab her by her stupid ponytail and yank her onto the ground.

     "Hey... you!" Vincent was shaken from his unpleasant thoughts by a voice. He looked over to see the aforementioned group of girls waving him over. "Yes you!" They giggled.

     Vincent wandered over to them, confusion etched on his face.

     "What's your name?" The girl asked, her blonde hair curling prettily around her face.

     "Vincent."

     "Hi. I'm Brittney." She said excitedly. "You're Lucas' little friend, aren't you?"

     "Yes." Vincent frowned, already weary as to where this was going.

     "I'm Tom's girlfriend. You know Tom, right?"

     Vincent shook his head.

     "Oh... he's only the star defense man. Whatever, we're friends of Lucas too, you should hang out with us."

     "Yeah!" Another girl called cheerfully. "I'm Anna, don't worry. We won't let Sarah talk to you again."

     "No really, I'm-"

     "Don't be so kind. She's an annoying bitch and you don't have to deal with her." Brittany crossed her arms.

     "Calm down." Anna tutted.

"I'm cool. I'm always cool." Brittany said taking a deep breath. "Do you think Vanessa is almost here?"

"I'm sure she's on her way." Anna turned back towards the door. "Ashley!" She called out to a girl at the door. The girl, Ashley, had dark brown eyes and short black hair. She rolled her eyes, but left her boyfriend to come over. "That's Ashley, she positively hates us all, so don't take anything she says too personally."

     "Because if your relationship with Lucas, you see, when we saw you over there with Sarah, we just had to rescue you."

"Why?" Vincent asked.

"Oh. Sarah is always poking where's she's not wanted. You being so close friends with Lucas have probably heard how she tortures the poor boy." Brittany explained. "Doesn't she, girls?"

     "He just keeps making it clear that he's not into her, and she just keeps forcing herself on him. I mean, just look at her!" Anna gestured to Sarah who sure enough was still falling all over Lucas. It made Vincent's skin crawl, almost as much as the rest of the girls.

     "It's just sad really. You know what? It's disgusting how she shamelessly flirts with Lucas. Like she hadn't a care in the world. Just disgusting. She never even liked him before he started playing well again." Brittany's face turned to a smile. "Speaking of Lucas, I was wondering if you knew if he was still single?"

     "Oh yes, is he Vincent?" Anna piped up and Ashley rolled her eyes at the group.

     "Um.." Vincent felt his face go on fire, embarrassment and anger swelling together. He needed to get away from these girls as quickly as possible.

     "You can tell him we are... the rest of the boys don't need to know." Brittany stated, earning a firm shoulder bump from Ashley.

     "How would Tom feel about you saying that?" Ashley scolded.

     "Well if Lucas is single then I don't need to care what Tom thinks." Brittany stamped her heeled shoe.

     "I really don't feel comfortable with this conversation." Vincent struggled to form his words. "I can't disclose Lucas' personal life. I should really just go."

     "Wait!" Brittany called out, but Vincent had already walked away from the group.