Archive of Our Own

Despite what many people might think of him, Noah does actually enjoy a good party. Emphasis on good.

He likes to dance- unless Chris tells him to for the stupid show then fuck no- and he can hold his alcohol pretty well. So much so that he finds it fun out drinking assholes who underestimate him because of his frame. Watching them try to compete and get more and more wasted is fucking hilarious.

And then the final, most prominent reason he enjoys parties, the people watching. People are dumb. Drunk people are even dumber. And dumb people lead to entertaining shenanigans and prime blackmail material.

So yes, Noah enjoys parties and it’s probably the only social gathering he does.

It’s why he got along with Owen pretty well.

But that doesn’t mean that he thinks Geoff’s ’48 hour party’ isn’t too much.

It wasn’t until they were on hour 18 when finally- finally the proper drinks had arrived.

It was a tradition now, or a pattern maybe? For Geoff to throw a rager for everyone involved in the production on the last two days, just in time for everyone to leave either a little drunk still, super hungover, or in Noah’s case completely fine laughing at the former two. And yes, that meant everyone.

So while it was certainly a lot of people, it stopped any awkwardness from taking over the atmosphere. Having 24 teens in a room alone while half of them have beef with each other and completely drunk was a recipe for disaster. Having 40 odd randomers to fill the space to stop those people with beef from having to interact with each other was a surprisingly genius move.

Although Noah was pretty sure that wasn’t what Geoff had in mind. He probably just thought that the more the merrier.

Noah felt a tap on his shoulder, breaking him from his musing and messing up his rhythm.

He was dancing with three interns that he could not for the life of him remember the names of. Well, he remembered Joseph but that’s more because they had fooled around a couple of times when Noah still worked for Chris. It was a good stress relief at the time, nothing serious.

He also had the vantage point of being able to see where everyone else was being in the middle of the room, so he could watch if any drama did go down.

“No-No.” Izzy exclaimed, grabbing his wrists and dragging him into her jumpy little dance she was doing. Eva stood slightly awkwardly behind her, tapping her feet to the bass, mouthing the lyrics and moving her arms now and again at the prompting of Katie and Sadie who flanked her. Now adorable.

“Nutso.” He greeted in return, laughing slightly when she spun him, knocking one of the interns off their feet. Whoops. “Where’s the big guy?”

“He’s trying to work up the courage to ask Justin to dance with him! He told me I wasn’t helping” she pouted.

“So what, he sicced you on me?” Noah asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep!” she grinned, full teeth.

“How nice of him.”

“I know right!” she giggled, spinning him again.

Noah took the opportunity to glance around the room again. Leshawna was also on the dance floor, entertaining Harold and one of the sound people as she danced. Near her was Courtney, Lindsay, and Tyler.

No surprise there, Tyler had staunchly defended Courtney and Lindsay was anti cheating. And they were both good friends with Leshawna- since action at least. The four of them would make a surprisingly not annoying group. Compared to Duncan, Gwen, Bridgette, Goeff and poor DJ in the other side of the room.

Cody was sitting off to the side with Beth who had somehow managed to trap Sierra in a conversation that had her full attention. Like, for once it was not on Cody. Good for him.

Trent was soon dragged into their little dance from where he stood nearby by Izzy and Noah elbowed him with a grin when he noticed how his gaze drifted towards a certain aforementioned group.

Trent rolled his eyes at him, elbowing him back and leaning down to his ear. Noah laughed as he overestimated the distance and stumbled forward. Someone clearly had enough to drink.

“Like you’re one to talk, you at an aquarium or something?” Noah shoved him and he grinned, grabbing him back and mock dancing to whatever shitty pop song was on now. Wait, not shitty. ABBA got the pass. Only ABBA.

…okay, so maybe Noah had been watching a certain eel this entire time. And it was definitely because he was wary of him, not that he was concerned or just like watching him. The former. It was definitely the former. In fact, he was still pissed at him for getting him eliminated. There were chunks of his skin missing because of those fucking eels. And a couple of seizures in the weeks following…maybe he shouldn’t be drinking. Eh, fuck it. He’s celebrating never seeing Chris or most of these assholes ever again, that warrants a potential seizure in Noah’s books. If he doesn’t have only alcohol running through his system the next day, then he’d be incredibly disappointed in himself. Like he’s disappointed in the fact that it’s like his eyes cant go five minutes without looking at that stupid hot stupid eel.

So, it was because of all of this definitely only wary staring that alarm bells blared in his mind as Alejandro swayed slightly in his seat, blinking far more than he usually did.

And why was this concerning any rational person may ask? Because the entire night not only had Alejandro refused any drinks Heather had offered him (and she liked to drink) but he had stuck to literally only pop. Which was probably a treat for him anyway. Multiple people had even passed his table (mainly staff) with hopes to have a drink with him. But again and again he had watched him make excuse after excuse, turned them all away. Alejandro had not taken a single sip of alcohol this entire party.

And sure, the weird behaviour could be from pain, or perhaps the medication, or even tiredness, but Noah just knew it wasn’t that. He had accompanied Chris to enough rich people and celebrity parties to know the difference between someone being drunk, tired, and fucking drugged up. Hell, Noah had looked after Chris in the aftermath (heh) of plenty of those parties when the high comes down. At this point, he’d seen enough that he could probably identify what his former boss had taken within minutes.

So from his experience, Alejandro had taken something. But Alejandro didn’t seem comfortable taking anything.

Which meant that someone had slipped alcohol or another substance into his drinks. Which meant that Alejandro’s drink had been spiked considering he definitely was unaware of this fact and definitely not consenting to it.

Whatever buzz Noah had been building up came to a grinding halt when the stone-cold realisation that Alejandro acting like this meant something was seriously wrong doused him- sobered him up even.

The worst part was that anyone here could be the culprit of this. A prank went wrong, a revenge plot, someone trying to make an easier shot to shoot. The joys of being on a show where both the food is frequently tampered with and the staff drugged them for ‘surprises’ and challenges was that it was far too normalised among them all. Hell, the prank war in Action had gotten out of hand when someone (he was convinced it was Izzy- or maybe Zeke, he was naive enough) had managed to get their hands on …elicit substances from one of the staff members.

So it was entirely plausible that it was another contestant, or a member of staff. The problem was he just didn’t know who. The only person Noah could rule out was himself and that put him on edge. A lot. Even those here that were generally nice could have a mean streak, be thoughtless, or be easily convinced into doing stuff.

And that was another thing, he didn’t know what he’d been spiked with just yet. That was incredibly important. Something like alcohol and a relaxant could be fine and he could just leave him alone for a couple of hours and keep an eye out for when he eventually crashes. It wasn’t like he could call the police or an ambulance- that was a last case scenario. But Noah was confident he didn’t need to.

Something more hard hitting would require a much more immediate interference. Aaaand now Alejandro was making out with Heather, which definitely didn’t suck at all. And should be none of his business. But Noah was concerned goddammit.

Then they separated from each other and Alejandro looked dazed but not out of breath from kissing or kind of horny dazed. No, that would have been too easy. He was leaning into Heather, staring at her chest, and yet looking incredibly uncomfortable and really out of it and- fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfck.

That was not good.

At all.

Definitely spiked, and the chances were that it was some kind of date rape drung but Noah didn’t know the intentions of who did it. Once again, it could be someone making him an easy target. Or it could be another person he pissed off trying to embarrass him ironically by reducing the ‘suave Loverboy Spaniard’ into a horny mess. It would make an opportunity to either blackmail or humiliate him. It would be a solid plan actually, one Noah might steal the next time some elderly asshole refused to leave him alone. And then the final option, someone slipped him it thinking it was something else and that all it would do is make him relax. And in all three scenarios, Alejandro was left at the mercy of a party filled with people who currently despise him. Why was he even here. Noah bemoaned internally.

Then Heather was on his face again and Noah made up his mind.

Noah really didn’t want to get in between this but- he’d just feel so icky knowing he’d sat by and let some guy who’d been drugged be physically intimate with someone. Especially when he looked so uncomfortable with the entire situation. But no one else noticed. Or cared. He could see a gaggle of girls glancing over at him giggling every now and again. One even got up and-

So maybe Noah was being paranoid. He was a paranoid person. But still, the only decent thing to do in this situation is get Alejandro out of there before he digests more or someone took advantage of his clearly inebriated state.

“Hey.” He said, very much purposefully moving into their personal space so that they had to stop sucking face.

“What do you want.” Heather snapped. Alejandro didn’t even look like he registered he was there which was definitely concerning.

“Can’t I come over and talk to my favourite people?”

“Yeah right twerp. Try again.”

“So I take it you don’t want me to say congrats on almost winning the jackpot?”

“Since when do you care?”

“Since now.” He then grinned at her. “Hey now that I’m here, can I speak to Alejandro for a sec about something?”

“What- no!” she tugged his arm and he almost fell against her from the jolt. Fuck. Definitely definitely concerning. Time to bring out the big guns.

“Why not? I just wanted to ask him what it’s like kissing someone he obviously doesn’t want to.”

“He does want to- don’t you?” she pinched him and Alejandro broke his stare from his own lap.

“Ah, what? Are you- Noah?” he blinked. “When did you get here.”

“See! I told you he does. What gives you the right to come storming over here and digging your huge nose in our business!” ouch. Someone’s been around Courtney too much.

Noah scowled. “Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t making a move on a clearly reluctant, uncomfortable and not at all interested guy-”

“Not interested? He’s my boyfriend and look at him he-”

“Is he?”

“Huh?”

“Is he your boyfriend? Like have you talked about it or did you just kiss one time? Not that it matters if he was or not. He doesn’t look interested, even if someone is your boyfriend you can’t force him into doing something he isn’t interested in.”

“I don’t- I like him, so he’s my BOYFRIEND.” She raised her voice looking across the room. “And I’m allowed to kiss or make out or fuck him if I want to.”

Yeah. Maybe Noah would believe that. If it wasn’t for the fact that she kept sending eyes at Leshawna like she was trying to summon her or like she was doing all of this solely to get her attention and react-

Oh. Of fucking course. She had only started showing interest after Leshawna did, and never really seemed to actually like any of the affection side of things. And considering how absolutely drunk she was right now, this was probably her idea of getting the other girl’s attention and getting her jealous. Noah groaned.

“Yeah, no. you, sit down, maybe even fucking talk to Lashawna you useless lesbian” she squawked in offence at him. “-and you. You’re coming with me to my room.”

Alejandro looked shellshocked, gaping at him, his face was red adding even more to the list of symptoms. “I am.”

“You are.” He grabbed his hand and dragged him out, Alejandro stumbled uncharacteristically and was so clearly out of it. Maybe it was worse than he thought. “I don’t want you two near each other and I don’t want you two making out or kissing like that and I definitely don’t want you two fucking in this condition.”

“Neither did I.” Alejandro nodded solemnly like it was the answer to the universe then stumbled. Again. “The idea makes me feel sick. Always has. I do not like feeling sick.” Noah looked at him from the corner of his eye, the eel was likely somewhere on the asexual spectrum then, or gay, probably the former. Who knew. There was a joke in there somewhere. “I think I will be sick if I ever do it, I do not want to. Or maybe it is just with her… I do not know but I was almost sick. You stopped me from being sick, thank you. I really do not like being sick.” Jesus fucking Christ.

“I know, I could tell.”

“You could.” He repeated, voice sounding more small and wonderous than accusatory and offended.

“Yep. That’s why you’re coming with me instead.” Heather was either too focused on Leshawna to notice that or was too drunk to care. Probably both.

But at least it got Alejandro to quiet down, so Noah took the opportunity to open his messages on his phone.

Shrimpy: I’m leaving for my room

Shrimpy: Angela type shit

Iron woman: Fuck.

Iron woman: You alright?

Shrimpy: Yeah not me

Shrimpy: Alejandro

Iron woman: Got it.

Iron woman: You know who?

Shrimpy: No clue

Iron woman: I’ll find out.

Shrimpy: Thanks

Iron woman: Text me if you need anything else.

Shrimpy: Will do

God he loved that woman, always to the point.

“Sit on the bed.” Noah ordered when they got to the room he was staying in. Alejandro looked at him with wide eyes, pupils completely blown out and sat down almost immediately. He was being almost as obedient as his dog when food was on the table. “Drink.” Untampered, filtered, bottled water Noah liked to stock up on because he didn’t like the taste of tap water. He made sure to break open the seal in front of him and ended up helping him drink when Alejandro’s failed attempt to grab at it almost caused him to spill it.

“You didn’t drink any alcohol, did you?” Noah questioned after the bottle was half empty (enough for now) but Alejandro was clearly not paying attention. So he clicked his fingers in front of his face. “Hey.”

“Hm?” there we go.

“I said you didn’t drink any alcohol, did you.”

Alejandro frowned like the concept of the question confused him. “No… I do not drink.”

“And you didn’t take any medication or drugs did you- like no one offered you any.”

Now he looked even more confused. “No- why would I.”

“I’m just making sure. You’ve clearly been roofied dude and it’s one thing if you took them on purpose, a whole other if you didn’t know you took anything.”

He blinked at him. a slow, long blink like he was struggling to comprehend what he was saying. “Is that why I feel so warm? And weird. And sparkly. And why I feel like I need to make love or I’ll die even though I really do not want to.”

Noah winced at the brazen admission. “Yeah, its nasty stuff. You’ll be horny for a while and nothing will help even if you think it will.”

“Nothing?”

“No. and anything that might it really isn’t worth it or available to do at this moment. Your best bet is to wait it out and ignore it.”

“But surely if I just…relieve it then it will-”

“Nope.”

“But-”

“Doing it by yourself will do shit, you’ll just feel more desperate.”

“Then can’t you-”

“Nope. Not happening.”

“But you- you brought me up here, can’t you just indulge-”

“Hey.” He snapped. “I know it seems unfair, but this is literally what’s best for you in this situation.”

“I- Noah please-” he had a hold of his hand, bringing it towards his oooookay, Noah took advantage of his other hand being available to pry their hands apart and away from that whole …thing.

“Hey, no, none of that dude. I want to be incredibly clear here. Im not going to have sex with you. I’m not going to have sex with you, I’m not going to kiss you, or make out with you, or grope you, molest you, or anything like that, okay?”

He was pouting at him now, like the guy had never been told no in his life and expected Noah to bend to his will. “Alejandro, I need to know you understand, okay?”

“Sí- I ah, okay.”

“good..good. ookay. That’s good.” He ran a hand through his own hair. “Plan…right, we need a plan…. I’m going to make sure you drink plenty of water- not too much because we don’t want you getting overhydration- and you’re going to stay on that bed unless you need to piss or puke then we’ll go to the bathroom, and I’m going to stay with you the entire night because you seem cognizant enough that what you were given isn’t too high of a dose. But I’d prefer being able to keep an eye on you in case something goes wrong like you end up sleeping and start puking- or you start suffocating, or you get a bad reaction, or you have a heart attack or seizure, or you start coming down and need company or some shit.” He really didn’t wasn’t the asshole to die. Said asshole wasn’t even paying attention to him anymore, instead at some point he had decided to lie on his back and stare at the ceiling.

Figuring he was fine then, Noah turned to look at his phone and check if there were any new messages.

And maybe he ended up staring at a blank phone for too long trying to work out what to do.

“…can you touch me?” Alejandro spoke up after what muct have been at least 45 minutes.

“I already told you I’m not-“

“no! no- not like that. I just, perhaps I need the company from a fine specimen like yourself.”

“Alejandro.” He warned with a glare and the guy actually wilted.

“Right, my apologies. It does not matter.” Well clearly it did, but Alejandro was on his side now facing away from him. So Noah went back on his phone to try and get information out of his idiots like if any of them also felt off or seen anything else weird because if it was a more than one person type deal then the entire party would have to be called off and they’d have to get responsible adults involved which was always a pain.

Speaking of, Alejandro kept shifting in the bed, pausing for a couple of moments before letting out a frustrated breath and shifting again. Noah put his phone down.

“Look dude, just spit out whatever you were gonna say. You’re clearly uncomfortable, there’s no point in hiding it. If it makes you feel any better than anything that happens tonight didn’t happen. I won’t mention it or use it against you or anything like that, you’re literally not in your usual mind so I can’t hold anything against you. That being said, if you use it to take advantage of anything I will kick your shit in.” Noah threatened. There was a pause.

“Mierda.” Alejandro muttered under his breath before he rolled over to face him. “Can you hold me.” He frowned and mouthed it a couple of times. “That is the word sí, hold?

“So you wanna cuddle?” Noah deadpanned and Alejandro flushed even more.

“I don’t- don’t word it like that again please.” Aww, he looks embarrassed. So much for mister Casanova.

“Fine. Yeah, ill ‘hold’ you but nothing more than that, okay?”

“Okay.”

Noah staunchly ignored the slight hitching of Alejandro’s hips when he crawled on the bed to him and their bodies made contact. He also ignored the very obvious tent there. Instead, he adjusted them slightly so that their private parts were nowhere near each other, having the taller man lower against him so that his head was on his chest. Any lower or higher could lead to an uncomfortable situation, or even access that for all he knew Alejandro could be desperate enough to take advantage of. That was a worst-case scenario. Noah always looked at the worst-case scenario.

As for best case, this was the most comfort he could provide, gifting him with the dignity of ignoring his …situation.

Alejandro’s head buried against his chest like he was trying to put it inside if possible and Noah stretched one arm over Alejandro’s shoulder in some kind of hold while using the other to card his fingers through his hair. Well, he did say hold him.

“…igh..er.” Noah paused, hoping very much that he did not just say higher.

“Hm?”

“Tighter. Please.” Alejandro clarified and Noah mulled it over in his head. He can’t really see it doing any harm if he agrees, and if Alejandro tried something he could always just let go…

“…if at any point you get uncomfortable, can’t breathe, or just want me to let go tap my arm three ties, okay?”

“Hm.” Was the only response.

“I’m being serious. If you want or need me to let go or loosen up, what do you do? Show me.” he tapped his arm three times firmly. “Good boy.” He slipped out too used to talking to dogs and nieces and nephews with that tone of voice. Alejandro’s own grip on him tightened.

Noah squeezed the arm around the shoulders and used the hand on his head to press his face in, tilting it slightly so that his nose wasn’t digging into his chest. A slow squeeze because while Noah definitely wasn’t as strong as nearly everyone he knew, he did still have some strength in him -the joys of working for Chris- And he didn’t want to hurt him at an awkward angle. He took the opportunity to curl into a more comfortable position around Alejandro not in a protective manor in an odd attempt to shield his head from their surroundings just so he could be more comfortable. Because its more comfortable.

He ignored the hitch in the other’s breath, as well as the long inhale and relaxation of his entire body because either he was smelling him or crying and trying to hide it and either way it was awkward.

So Noah just held him there. Listening to his breathing and waiting just in case there were any changes or differences. Thankfully not, just the deep breaths that Noah noted had synchronised with his own.

It was peaceful in a weird way, domestic if the situation surrounding it was ignored.

But then Alejandro was muttering something against his chest. It was low and quiet so Noah just assumed that it wasn’t for his ears. He was probably talking to himself.

Alejandro shifted his head slightly so Noah loosened his grip and uncurled to give him room to move. And he did, adjusting his head to that his chin was propped up on his chest and staring up at Noah with glassy, unfocused eyes. Who knew he was so clingy and sad when high.

“………..…why couldn’t you be a girl……..It would have been so much easier if you were a girl….” Oooookay. So this was going to be interesting. And not what Noah signed up for at all.

“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just not. I am who I am and I like it. I’m happy.”

He put his head down again on its side and muttered almost embarrassingly “…I don’t.” Noah frowned, was he seriously just going to admit he doesn’t like him at this moment. Harsh.

“You don’t what?”

“I don’t happy- don’t? wont? Amn’t? no…. doesn’t sound right… No estoy Feliz… Pensé que sería feliz, ¿por qué no soy feliz, Noah?”

Never mind Alejandro, he wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with any of this. “You’re not in your right mind, of course you aren’t happy.” is all he responded with, now fully invested with his far too silky hair. That also smelled nice. Far too perfect, what was with this guy.

“I gusta when you haz that. It…siente bien” bien… that meant good in French so he could assume that what he was doing Alejandro was happy with it.  “Why… you don’t like me…”

Noah frowned again “I did. I wouldn’t have talked to you on the show at all if I didn’t.” He admitted truthfully.

“Not anymore.” Alejandro sounded far too heartbroken from that statement. The drugs must have hit him harder than he thought.

“No. I still do.”

“No you don’t. you called me an eel. Slippery.”

Well…it wasn’t like Alejandro was going to remember any of this. Chris never did. So maybe Noah could be more honest than he had ever been with the eel.

“Yeah. And I felt bad for once in my life.” It was true, but he did regret how he said it.

“You did?”

“I did”

“Then why did you?”

“Because I realised that I actually started to like you and I freaked out. It’s just something I do. Shove things away. Unfortunately, now I’m surrounded by barnacles who can’t take the hint.”

“You do like me then.”

“Yes Alejandro.” He sighed. “Against my better judgment I do in fact like you.”

“Good. I really missed you, you know.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Hm.” He paused. “By the time we got to that alien challenge I thought I messed up forever. I regretted eliminating you. But I thought you didn’t like me and that hurt. You hurt me Noah.”

“Yeah. I do that a lot.”

“I hurt you too though, didn’t I?”

“In a way. Yeah.”

“I could tell. You were upset with me and I didn’t know why. I though it would not last but then you said I was an eel.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

He rubbed his head on his chest with a sigh. “I forgive you.”

There was another long pause, long enough that Noah thought he had fallen asleep, when Alejandro spoke up again.

“My father always said there’s a natural order in the world. That societies fall once people choose to love the same sex. A pattern. I never had to choose before y creo que tomé la decisión equivocada.”

“Your father’s wrong.” Noah said because what the fuck else was he supposed to say?! Was Alejandro seriously using him as a therapist?

“Yeah… I am starting to doubt him… for a while now. I guess that might have been the tipping point though...”

“That?”

“I can no longer say I am a Burromuerto. They don’t want me to come back after I disgraced them all for the last time. It was supposed to be my quest to finally prove myself to be worthy of the name and I failed. Again.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” He began to rub circles into his shoulder because how the fuck was he supposed to comfort him? Alejandro hummed again, bringing his own hand up to trace patterns on Noah’s back in response. It was weird. This was weird.

“No need. Carlos was banished at my age too. Though that was because he had a boyfriend. Last I heard they might be engaged now.”

“Fucking hell that sucks. I can’t imagine being kicked out over that.”

“Really? What are your parents like?” he looked up at his face again, eyes incredibly cat like.

Yeah. Its just my Amma, but she doesn’t really care about who we bring home. Got a lot of siblings you know.”

“Would she disapprove if you brought a guy home?”

“I mean, as long as he’s not abusive or a dick to me or my family then probably not.”

“…what if he was like me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Personality. Would she disapprove then?”

“I mean, I’d probably be teased for dating a dork but not really.”

“I am not a dork- I am a bad person- you saw the rest of the show.”

“I did. And I can say without a doubt you are a massive dork.”

“Oh…” he put his head down again. “Do you have a boyfriend then. Or a girlfriend.”

“No, I’m still single. Don’t really have much luck in the romance department. Not like you, you have men and women at your feet begging for a shot. Still. Even Heather did.” He joked.

“…The last time I kissed someone they pushed me down a volcano and I almost died. I would not call that luck.” Now Noah felt bad- again.

“…yeah. But hey, at least that means the next one can’t be any worse! I mean, you never know, the next time you kiss someone it could be with someone who cares more about your wellbeing than a million dollars and actually likes you. Ad I’m sure it won’t be that hard to find.”

“You think so?”

“Dude, I know so. you’re stupidly attractive, you’re smart, you’re kinda dorky, you have a good taste in books, you actually pay attention, you’re good with animals, and sure you can be a little evil at times but at least you’re competent at it. Even your flaws just make you seem more human, but like in an attractive way” Maybe that was too much?

He pushed himself up slightly and leaned over Noah who watched in confusion at what he said caused that kind of reaction until Alejandro leant in, eyes fixated solely on his lips and Noah came to a very sudden realisation on what he was trying to do. So as fast and gentle as he could, Noah brought his closest hand up to cover Alejandro’s face and push it away from his own, ignoring the confusion and hurt marring his face

“Hey-hey. No, we don’t do that.”

Fuck. Alejandro looked like he was about to cry, glossy eyes somehow even more. It was like staring at a wet cat. “so you do n-” right, yeah, he was inebriated, the situation probably hadn’t sunk in properly.

“No, Alejandro, look at me.” He refused so Noah guided him by his chin to force it because it was incredibly important for this to sink in and he needed him to understand. “Hey, look at me. You’ve been seriously drugged up okay, roofied, spiked, whatever you wanna call it. The reason you’re here with me and not with your girlfriend-”

“-not my girlfriend-” he interjected like Noah was offending him.

“-was because you have the basic right not to be taken advantage of and fucking assaulted while being vulnerable. So you know, excuse me for wanting to be a decent person and not do any of that.”

“I do not see how it is taking advantage when I want you to, when I am making a move on you.” He paused, searching his face almost helplessly. “Do you not want me?”

“…ask again tomorrow when you’re sobered up and not off your mind on a drug that makes you crave sex from anything that can give it, okay? If you do, then we’ll talk.”

Noah knew that he wouldn’t- he wasn’t stupid after all. Alejandro was just seeking affection from the only thing there.

But still, Alejandro nodded, putting his head back down on his chest and sloppily manoeuvring Noah’s hand to rest in his hair again. “fine. Entonces te seduciré mañana, mi amor.”

“You do that.” Yeah, Noah had no idea what he was saying

“Lo haré. Lo juro.”

Noah took the hint from the way Alejandro snuggled closer, pressing his head into his hand, and went back to playing with his hair.

“Creo que podría empezar a amarte, Noah. ¿Por qué tienes que ponérmelo tan fácil?”

He trailed off, half murmuring and his grip tightened around Noah as he finally closes his eyes.

Noah settled himself in for a long night, wishing he had the foresight to grab a book before he sat down or let him drift off. Instead, he entertained himself by seeing how many braids he could weave into Alejandro’s hair, then how many types he could do.

Noah didn’t sleep for even a minute that night.

….

Noah wanted to neck the bottle in front of him back, considering some people were still going and others were starting up again it would be in his rights. He just needed a little something to carry him through the day. Coffee was out of the option. He couldn’t stand the taste of coffee. Probably why he was so tired all of the time, he couldn’t use the best sources of caffeine without risking being sick from the grossness.

But no. Instead he had to be responsible and get all the shit sorted first. So that meant he would just have to stare at it longingly instead.

“NOAAAH!!” he was suddenly jumped on by two of his overenthusiastic idiots.

“OW.”

“whoops! Sorry” Katie giggled, letting go of him.

Sadie did not yet and instead used his arm to drag him towards Eva. “We were so totally worried about you when you disappeared last night! You missed spin the bottle.”

“Aw shucks. What a shame.” Not. The chances of kissing someone gross was too high. Katie and Sadie giggled at his sarcasm like it was something particularly funny.

“You okay?” He directed to Eva once he spotted her bruised knuckles that were definitely not like that the last time he saw her.

“Busy night.” She shrugged off.

“She got into a fist fight.” Sadie immediately snitched and Noah didn’t hold back the laugh at Eva’s expression.

“And you didn’t stop her?” he grinned knowing full well they wouldn’t, and what was coming.

“It was super hot!” Sadie cheered and Katie nodded enthusiastically. Eva went bright red.

“Yeah, she was all like pow pow” she mimed and Sadie pretended to take the hits, “and the girl was like ‘nooooo, spare my life’! totally fan club worthy!”

“Plus the girl was a huuuuuuge douchedag” Sadie added.

“Yeah!” Katie agreed. “Probably didn’t help that she had a couple of capsules in a plastic bag hanging out of her pocket though.”

“Oh.” Noah frowned and looked at Eva. “She was the one who…?”

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “Threw a right hissy fit and confessed. I smacked the shit out of her and flushed what she had left then her face.” Violent much. Noah was sad he missed it.

“It was to do with Alejandro, yeah?” Sadie asked, she was surprisingly perceptive. “You left with him looking reaaaally concerned then kept asking us if we were alright.”

Katie put a hand on his arm “How is he by the way?”

“Yeah, is everything alright?”

“He didn’t die. Literally woke up, got ready, and left without saying a single word. That’s a lie actually, he sprouted some shit about being a good host and thanked me. Full charm and everything. Then he left.”

Sadie nodded seriously. “It must have been so scary for him. It’s one thing when you’re on the show because you don’t really get the chance to think about it before you do a challenge… at least he gets to go home tomorrow.” Yeah, Noah was not so sure about that last part.

“Still kind of sad.” Katie pouted before she perked up. “Oh em gee, you just gave me an idea!”

“Wait- is it what I’m thinking of!?”

“We make him something super cute to cheer him up so he has good memories about the place!” they cheered in unison before squealing and jumping up and down together.

“We won’t be long!”

“Yeah! We’ll be right back as soon as we’re done!” and then they were gone.

Noah and Eva shared a look before Noah shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ manner and Eva snorted. It was not long at all before they had company again.

Trent snuck up from behind and swung an arm around Eva’s shoulder. She grunted.

“You been taking it easy?” Trent directed at him.

“Didn’t drink much at all.” Noah admitted.

Eva nodded. “Good.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to with your injuries.” Noah disagreed heavily with that sentiment but Trent looked relieved at the idea so he held his tongue.

“Like your one to talk, yous were also in the splashing range.” Well, he kind of held his tongue.

“Yeah, but we didn’t also become a fish’s chew toy.” Trent stated with a raised eyebrow once again calling him out on his shit. Asshole.

“Eh.” Noah shrugged.

Trent sighed. “Is everything okay though? You left pretty early last night. And with Alejandro, did something happen between you two”

“Not what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, was he… you did leave some concerning messages.”

“Yeah.”

Trent winced and Eva finally batted his arm from her shoulder. “Ouch. Definitely not good then.”

“Nope.”

“Is he planning on staying in his room for the rest of the time? I wouldn’t blame him.”

“Genuinely, I have no idea.”

“I don’t think he actually has any friends to hang out with so I guess he wouldn’t have that same safety net.”

“He can hang out with our freaks if he wants.” Noah shrugged. “If yous are okay with it of course.”

Eva and Trent shared a look that Noah decided he did not like.

“I mean, I’ve got nothing against the guy.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Katie and Sadie will be thrilled.”

“Oh they totally would be. So what did I miss then? Because I swear I always miss the fun stuff.”

“Not much actually, Heather left with Leshawna. They might of hooked up.”

“They definitely hooked up. I had to share a room with Katie.” Eva admitted, her room was right next to Leshawna’s.

“Finally.” Noah scoffed.

“Oh yeah- and Courtney had a proper freak out. She got Gwen in spin the bottle except that she’s still really annoyed at Gwen so then Duncan just had to get involved and offered himself up but that made her even more upset and since Leshawna had left at this point Tyler ended up backing Courtney up but then Duncan got in his face and threatened him and the next thing we all knew a stiletto flew through the air and hit him right on the side of the head with insane accuracy. So Duncan drops down unconscious and we all turn to look at who threw it and it was Lindsay and I don’t think I’ve seen her that annoyed since…” Trent trailed off and elbowed Eva’s side.

They were staring behind him, both smirking slightly so Noah turned around to look and- oh shit.

“Hello my friends, I do not believe that we have been formally introduced just yet.” Alejandro smiled all too charmingly.

“I don’t think we have man, I’m Trent. Congrats on making top two by the way, if we’re going to be honest, I was kind of rooting for you there at the end.”

“You were?” Alejandro raised one perfect eyebrow in disbelief.

“Yeah man, we all were. Unfortunately, I’m just really bad at rock paper scissors.”

“I see.” Noah snorted out a laugh because he very clearly did not see, Alejandro glanced at him briefly before turning his attention back to Trent when he spoke up again.

“Sucks that you lost like that but I’ve been there, I know what it’s like.”

“Ah, you have also come second before?”

Huh? Oh- no. I meant Heather getting one up on you via kissing. She kissed me back in island and then I got eliminated.”

“It’s probably a curse.” Eva said all too seriously.

“Probably” Trent agreed also all too seriously.

“Eva by the way.” Noah introduced for her since she clearly wasn’t going to do so herself.

“You are the one who saved me, am I correct?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well then, you have my thanks.”

“It was nothing. Noah would’ve been upset.” She shrugged kind of awkwardly, totally throwing him under the bus. Now Alejandro was staring at him, great.

“Oh yeah, we don’t like to see Noah upset do we, especially with his secretly super soft heart.” Trent teased. Asshole.

“Speaking of, is it alright if we have a word? Alone I mean.”

“Sure dude.” Alejandro took hold of his upper arm at the confirmation and Noah offered a salute to his idiots. “I’ll see you guys later, okay?” Eva nodded and Trent waved.

Then the next thing he knew, he was being dragged into a room- no, a cupboard. Pinned to the wall within seconds, crowded into the small space.

“Hey what’s the big deal ass-” Noah began to protest before being cut off.

“Last night, did you mean any of that?”

“What?” okay, now he was dumbfounded, especially when he took notice of how weirdly twitchy Alejandro was suddenly acting, like something had been riling him up all day.

“Last night. Did you- did you mean any of it. All of it. I-” he ran a hand down his face and breathed a very frustrated exhale.

So clearly he remembered then. Well, Noah never one to back down. Even to his own detriment. “I didn’t lie if that’s what you’re asking.”

He froze. “You- why are you so difficult.”

“Difficult.” Noah repeated in disbelief.

“Sí- you act one way, then another. You say something then do something… something not that.”

“Contradictory?”

“Sí- that one.”

“And did you not mean confusing, or complex, or confusing? Those fit better.”

“You know what I meant.” He scowled; it was unfairly hot.

“I figured it out.” Noah smirked feeling mean.

“i- you-“

“Me?”

“Forgive me for my brain deciding to not function at its full capacity after an incredibly stressful couple of weeks.” Noah winced at the reminder, yeah, he was kind of put through the ringer, wasn’t he?

“Got it, I’ll tone it down for a bit.”

Alejandro just stared at him.

Noah frowned. How dare he call him the confusing one when Alejandro was the one acting weird. “What?

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“I don’t- just.” He groaned in frustration. “Can I kiss you now. Please.” …what.

“You sure you’re feeling okay?” now Noah was very concerned, he thought they had worn off by now. Did someone slip him more? Without thinking he felt his forehead then used the same hand to bring his face closer to study it. His cheeks were flushed again. But his pupils weren’t out of whack and looked normal, and he wasn’t sweating weirdly or acting too out of the ordinary.

His hand was covered by a much larger hand, guided away from Alejandro’s face, and he was suddenly reminded of their gigantic size difference. As in Alejandro’s arms being the width of three or four Noah arms. Jesus Christ.

“You- you cannot just do that.”

“Dude, I was trying to make sure you weren’t high as shit again. You’re being weird.”

“I am fine. Wait- how am I being weird?”

Noah frowned. “You’re having trouble speaking, you’re saying weird shit, and now you’re asking to kiss me. How is that not weird.”

Alejandro broke their eye contact and sighed in frustration. “Have you ever considered the possibility that I might be embarrassed.”

“You. Embarrassed.”

“It does happen.” He deadpanned. Which also once again, had no right being that hot.

“Huh.”

“Now, you didn’t answer my question, can I kiss you.”

“Why are you asking me, I thought you were the type of person to just,” he waved his free hand, “do.”

“A certain someone was drilling in the importance of basic consent last night. I thought it would be prudent for me to not completely ignore all of that when you had been so kind as to-”

Noah pressed his lips against the other’s lips for a split second before pulling back, taking great entertainment in the way he buffered slightly. Huh. And now he was even redder. How odd. And funny. “Not like that.”

“What do you mean not like that? You asked for a kiss, I gave you a kiss.”

“That was not a kiss- it was barely a peck.” He was acting like he should be the exasperated one here and not Noah.

“Fine then Casanova. Since you’re being so insistent, show me how it’s done.”

Then there was a hand on his cheek, one on his lower back and a pair of lips firmly on his mouth. It was slow. Deep. Lingered slightly even when they drew back. It felt nice actually because what a shocker, the ladies man knew how to kiss.

“Was that better?” Noah asked trying to ignore just how loud his heart was. It was like it was trying to communicate all of the shit he would rather not say through morse code or something.

“Yes.” Alejandro cleared his throat. “Yes. That was better.”

“And you got what you wanted out of it?”

“I did. Yes. Did you- did you like it?”

“It was nice.” Noah confirmed, his face was starting to feel warm. “You’re a good kisser. I’d probably be up to doing that again if I’m being honest.” And he was.

“Of course it was good. I do have a rather impressive skillset.”

“I can tell.” Aaaaand he was staring at his lips. Again. His stupidly plush lips with a perfect curve and were way too smooth for him not to be looking after regularly. Fuck. He shouldn’t have let himself indulge in it because now that would be all he could think about for a very long time now and they weren’t even going to see each other after they part ways tomorrow to go home.

Noah tapped the side of his leg unconsciously because he was about to make a dumb decision, a really out of character dumb decision.

“What are your plans? Now that the competition is over, I mean.”

“Beg my family for forgiveness I suppose. Or find a place to stay at.”

Fuck it. “Do you want to come back with me?”

“Pardon?”

“You said you don’t have anywhere else to go, right? So why don’t you come stay with me for a bit. While you get back on your feet I mean. I have the space.”

“Will your mother not be upset?”

“Oh, I have my own apartment. I moved out for work and uni.” He was debating asking Owen to move in if he was being honest, but maybe it was for the best that he didn’t.

“And what do you get out of it then? Pardon if I sound rude but it seems quite imbalanced if I… I cannot stay for free, it is unfair.”

“Honestly? Owen’s been trying to get me to go on a bunch of shows with him for the next year and I’m a bit sick of reality tv shows at this point.” He laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. “and honestly, he’s been wearing me down and I’ve been running out of reasons to say no. I think helping out a mutual…friend might be a good enough excuse.”

“I am still actually injured, I would not want to be a burden.”

“Works fine with me. I’m in my third year of med school and can use you as practise.” He joked.

“Ah. Is that why you were so good with looking after me and knowing what to do?”

“Eh. Kinda. What do you say then, wanna have a trial run roommate until you get back on your feet and find somewhere more permanent to live?”

“You know what, sí. I will. It is not like I have anywhere else to go.”

“Cool. Now do you wanna head back? I really want to beat Duncan’s ass at beer pong before I lose the chance forever. He needs humbling and it’s my favourite thing to do.”

“Ah sure.” He looked uncertain, still probably a bit traumatised from the last night. Which, fair enough.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but if you have anything to drink Eva will keep an eye out. She beat the shit out of the girl who messed with your drink last night.”

“Really?” Noah grinned at the interested look in his eye.

“Yeah, really. I mean, I wasn’t there personally but Katie and Sadie were telling me and I’m sure they’d love to tell you if you asked them. Why don’t we go see them now- they were the two girls on your team by the way. They could not stop going on and on about how hot….”

Alejandro took the bait, back to his normal charming self again as he took the opportunity to boast. In fact while they chattered aimlessly, Noah didn’t even notice that he had taken the opportunity of his distraction to intertwine their hands together.

He was a slippery guy after all.