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“Hey, where’s Jackson?” Kane says once he’s standing behind Stiles. Silly but that is the only thing he can think of.
Stiles turns around, and he’s got to admit it to himself. It’s a little spooky. Now that he’s got him right in front of him, yeah, he still thinks that he’s not hotter than he is, but there’s something about him that sets him apart from the guys he sees in this college every day. Maybe last night he was being too critical to see it. Maybe he didn’t want to admit it, but the guy’s hazel eyes are beautiful and he’s certainly good-looking when you see him up close.
“Oh, hi… He went to grab some drinks…” Stiles says, looking in the direction where Jackson disappeared before looking at Kane again. “Were you looking for him?”
“Yeah… not really… I just… I saw you and I thought…” Kane hesitates. “You know… maybe you got the wrong idea yesterday… I mean, you probably did.”
“The wrong idea?” Stiles frowns. “What idea is that?”
“About me—I mean, we barely talked and maybe… I don’t know, I don’t want you to think that I didn’t want to talk to you… or that I was avoiding you.” Kane licks his lips. The way Stiles is staring at him makes him terribly uncomfortable.
Kane runs a hand through his hair. “Anyway, if that’s what you thought… that wasn’t… you know, I didn’t mean to do that.”
Once that’s out of his mouth, Kane feels quite stupid. Maybe he should have thought about what he was gonna tell him before coming over. Improvising is obviously not his thing.
“Don’t worry, that wasn’t what I thought,” Stiles shakes his head.
“Oh, okay... good,” Kane says with relief.
“No, I just thought you didn’t wanna talk because you hate me and you’d rather I wasn’t here. Or should I say you’d rather I didn’t exist at all?”
Kane is taken aback for a second. He never saw that coming and he’s not sure what to say.
“Look. That’s not—I don’t hate you. I don’t know why you’d think that. Jackson is my friend and we… well, we just met. I don’t know you but since Jackson likes you, I think we can be friends.”
Stiles snorts. “Considering that you tried to kiss him, I’m not so sure that we can or that we actually should,” Stiles says, shaking his head.
Kane opens his mouth to say something but he’s too shocked for anything to come out.
“Yeah, he told me.” Stiles nods. “What?" Stiles raises his eyebrows. "You thought he’d keep it a secret?”
“Nothing happened,” Kane says and it also feels kind of lame, but he feels like he needs to make that clear.
“Oh, I know that,” Stiles says with sarcasm.
“It was a mistake—I’m sorry.”
Stiles doesn’t say anything and Kane imagines that the guy probably doesn’t believe him and doesn’t really care if he’s sorry or not.
Kane sighs. “Look, I’m not sure what he's told you exactly… but it was all a huge misunderstanding. I really fucked up. The truth is that he hadn’t mentioned you in a while and I thought it wasn’t that serious… otherwise, I wouldn’t have—”
“Do you think I’m that stupid?” Stiles crosses his arms.
“Sorry, I’m not sure I’m following you…” Kane admits.
“Serious or not, you would have tried anyway.” Stiles licks his lips. “And the worst thing is that I can’t really blame you... or anybody else for that matter.”
Kane frowns. He’s not sure he really understands the guy.
“I know the odds are against us… and I know what you and everyone else in this place must think about us and this long-distance thing we have because I have thought about it myself a million times. So, yeah, I’m convinced you would have tried it anyway because hell,” Stiles snorts a laugh, “I went to high school with him. I know what people -gay or straight- think when they see him... that’s never gonna change… so yeah, it’s fucking hard to stay apart and I wouldn't recommend it… but he wants to do it and so do I… so we’re doing it, and the thing is he’s never lied to me, so I trust him… but I don’t know you and I surely don’t trust you, so just let me make this very clear so that you get it perfectly: if you ever try something like that again… trust me, you’ll fucking regret it.”
Kane is taken aback once again. Who the hell talks like that? That was weird as shit. There’s a clear challenge in his eyes and the threat doesn’t sound void at all. The guy is fucking unreal. A stir of uneasiness rises inside him and, as he’s trying to figure out the best way to reply and hopefully get out of there, Jackson arrives and looks at him. He’s never been happier to see his friend and he makes an effort to offer a not too fake smile in his direction.
“Hey,” Jackson says. “What are you guys talking about?”
Kane looks from Stiles to Jackson, unsure about what to say.
“College stuff,” Stiles says. “Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything.”
Kane looks at Jackson and something in the silent exchange between him and Stiles tells him that Jackson doesn’t really believe him, but he simply smiles and hands Stiles a coke.
There’s something odd. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.
Jackson reaches out and runs his fingers lightly through Stiles’s hair.
“You had something,” Jackson says before taking a sip of his beer.
“Thanks,” Stiles smiles briefly.
Kane suddenly feels very weird. Like he’s out of place. Like he just witnessed a side of Jackson that he hadn’t seen before. Like he doesn’t know this Jackson in front of him, and he’s jealous once more.
Jealous and frustrated because it's clear that there are parts of Jackson that he'll never get to see.
He’s jealous of this guy who mysteriously Jackson is attracted to.
A guy who gets to see those parts.
A guy who Jackson is faithful to.
And the thing is that before meeting this guy, he didn’t get it. Of course, he thought that Jackson was being honest and, of course, he believed him, but a part of him still thought it was bullshit. He thought Jackson’s thing with that guy was doomed and it was just a matter of time.
Now, he remembers what Jackson said that day… something like ‘if you knew him, you’d understand it.’
As it is, you don’t really need to actually know him as well as Jackson does. After meeting him, he kind of already understands it too.
Stiles is obviously smart and certainly a no-bullshit kind of guy.
And yeah, he’s not a guy who is going to cheat on his boyfriend. Any hope Kane might have subconsciously had has been blown out the window.
It sucks to admit it, but these two actually have something, and it’s not something he’s seen before.
It’s definitely something he nor anybody else can get in the middle of.