Chapter Text
Pizza had been a bad idea for team bonding night.
Everyone noticed the waiter acting flirty towards Nick. Except for one person: Nick himself. Everyone thought it was funny, but Seiji had a weird pit in his stomach. Aiden finally pointed it out- Nick’s obliviousness; not Seiji’s deeper feelings.
“Nick, you realize that waiter isn’t just being nice, right? He’s trying to take you out on a date,” Aiden informed him with a smirk.
“No, he isn’t. He’s just being a good guy and getting us our food.” Nick looked rather confused, as if Aiden hadn’t ever been right when he pointed out people’s behavior. It was a wonder, Seiji thought, that Aiden hadn’t noticed whatever questionable feelings Seiji had been having yet.
“Whatever you say,” Aiden snickered, snapping Seiji back to attention.
The waiter was older than them, because Seiji had noticed he was serving alcohol. He was probably around 18 or 19? That meant he was too old for any of them. Seiji’s father was a lawyer, so he had taught Seiji a lot about cases such as this. This was a prosecutable crime, technically.
Everyone had thought the waiter was a creep, and had voiced their concerns. The waiter had skipped tables who had been waiting for a while just to come talk to Nick, and even Nick eventually started noticing more. The man had been grabbing Nick’s shoulder and touching his arm. Weird.
Nick started getting more uncomfortable, and it showed. It felt like he was shrinking into Seiji, who was seated next to him in the booth.
Seiji wanted to gloat, but he didn’t. It wasn’t the time. He had been right, though. They shouldn’t have gone out for pizza. It ruined diets, and apparently also Nick’s wellbeing. Both were big issues.
At least, they were to Seiji. It seemed as though the team didn’t care about their diets. They all cared about Nick, though. That was a fact.
Which is why the team was hiding their outrage when the waiter came over with the check…
…and a napkin with what was presumably his phone number on it.
“Call me sometime, cutie. We can have fun,” the waiter said with a smirk. “Alone.”
After living with Nick for almost two years, Seiji had picked up on a few things. One of those things being that Nick had a VERY hard time saying no to people.
This suddenly became prevalent in Seiji’s mind as Nick scratched the back of his neck.
Seiji made an impulsive decision.
He took Nick’s hand.
“That’s my boyfriend, sir. And we’re minors. You’re not, so please back up and stop trying to make my boyfriend do… non-consensual activities. To say the least,” he stated with a frown. The team (including Nick) looked very confused as to why Seiji was doing this, but he sent a death glare to them that shut them up quickly.
The waiter turned red, grabbed the napkin, and stalked off with a grimace.
After they paid, they got up and walked out silently. The second the door shut, everyone burst out with laughter.
“Dude, that was awesome!” This came from Eugene, who was nearly doubled down wheezing.
“His face was so red. Can’t believe YOU could do that, freshman,“ from Aiden, who had a smile on his face.
“Not how I would’ve done it, but definitely… a way,” Harvard remarked with a small grin.
The whole team agreed it was really nasty.
But what mattered to Seiji most was the hug that Nicholas gave him. It was weird, but it was okay. It was Nick, after all.
“Thank you, for what you did. I don’t know if I could’ve declined that weirdo,” Nick whispered in his ear.
“You’re welcome,” Seiji replied coolly.
As they walked back, they unlinked their fingers. Those had stayed that way for too long. Not that it didn’t feel good, though.
You wouldn’t have acknowledged it from a glance, but they both had a dusting of pink on their cheeks.
———
Later that night, as he laid in his bed, Seiji stared at the ceiling and wondered why he would’ve done that. What had came over him?
———
At roughly the same time that night, as he laid in his bed, Nicholas stared at the ceiling and wondered why his entire body had felt weird as Seiji had held his hand. He held his hand up to the sky and truly looked at it. It looked like there was something missing.
———
Roughly a minute after this, they each looked over at the curtain with a longing smile. Unbeknownst to them, the other was staring right back with almost the same thought.
———
The night had been bad in a good sort of way.