A little later, Nick stepped away to take a phone call. The second he was gone, Adrean sat down beside Chase. To everyone's surprise, the two immediately got caught up in conversation. They were laughing. Telling stories. Arguing about movies. For once, Chase was completely focused on Adrean. Then Nick came back. And froze. The room immediately noticed. "Oh no." "What?" "Nick saw." Nick walked over. Slowly. Calmly. Way too calmly. Then he sat down directly beside Chase. Not near him. Beside him. Their shoulders touching. Chase barely noticed. He was still talking to Adrean. Nick's eye twitched. The room held its breath. A minute later, Nick casually rested an arm across the back of Chase's seat. Then another minute later, his hand ended up on Chase's shoulder. Then when Chase shifted away slightly, Nick simply tugged him back closer without even looking away from the conversation. Adrean stared. One of Chase's friends buried their face in a pillow. "Oh my God." Chase looked confused. "What?" Nobody answered. Five minutes later it got worse. Much worse. Chase was still talking to Adrean when Nick reached over and straightened Chase's hoodie. Then brushed a piece of lint off his sleeve. Then adjusted the blanket around him. Then rested his hand on the back of Chase's chair. Then on Chase's shoulder again. "Nick." "What?" "You keep doing that." "Doing what?" "Touching me." Nick looked completely innocent. The room exploded. Adrean looked like he was suffering. Nick looked completely unashamed. The final straw came when Chase laughed at something Adrean said. Immediately Nick hooked an arm around Chase's shoulders and pulled him closer to his side. Not enough to interrupt the conversation. Just enough to make a statement. The room went silent. Chase's face immediately turned red. "Nick!" "What?" "People are staring." "Then they should stop staring." The room completely lost it. One of Adrean's friends nearly fell off the couch laughing. Another pointed at Nick. "HE'S SO JEALOUS." "I am not." "You practically put your name on him." Nick didn't even deny it. Which somehow made it worse. Meanwhile Chase was sitting there bright red while Nick looked entirely too satisfied with himself. Adrean stared at the two of them. Then at Nick. Then back at Chase. "Are you seriously okay with this?" Chase thought for a moment. Then shrugged. "...He's always been like this." The room froze. "Always?" "Since I was sixteen." Nick smirked. Adrean immediately regretted asking. And judging by the laughter filling the room, everyone else did too.
The next afternoon, the mansion was unusually quiet. Too quiet. Which immediately made Adrean suspicious. When he, Chase's friends, and Adrean's friends walked into the living room, they found the reason. Nick was sitting on one of the massive couches, reading something on his phone. And Chase was asleep. Completely asleep. Curled up on Nick's lap like he'd been there for hours. The room froze. Then exploded. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" "AGAIN?" "HOW IS THIS NORMAL?" Nick didn't even look up from his phone. "Hi." "HI?" Adrean repeated. "That's your response?" Nick finally glanced up. "What do you want me to say?" The room immediately started complaining. Mostly about Nick. As usual. Meanwhile Chase remained completely asleep. Not even the yelling woke him up. One of Chase's friends pointed. "How is he sleeping through this?" "He's Chase," Nick replied. Nobody could argue with that. The yelling continued. Nick ignored most of it. At one point Chase shifted slightly in his sleep and mumbled something unintelligible. Instantly, Nick's attention moved to him. The room fell quiet for a second. Nick gently adjusted the blanket that had slipped off Chase's shoulder. Making sure he stayed comfortable. Then, without really thinking about it, he leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to Chase's cheek. The room froze. Completely. Silence. Absolute silence. Nick looked up. Everyone was staring at him. "What?" "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT?" "WE ALL SAW THAT." "SAW WHAT?" One of Chase's friends pointed dramatically. "THAT." Nick glanced at Chase. "Oh." The fact that he seemed completely unconcerned somehow made it worse. Adrean looked like he was seconds away from throwing a pillow. Meanwhile Chase, blissfully unaware of the chaos he'd caused simply by existing, continued sleeping. A few seconds later he shifted again. This time leaning closer to Nick. The room collectively groaned. "This is ridiculous." "It's unfair." "I can't believe we're watching this." Nick looked entirely too pleased with himself. And somehow, that only made everyone more annoyed. Especially Adrean.
