I do not own Grimm.
Monroe had never been one to make much trouble. Well, at first, yes, he was, but after a while it became tiresome to have so many people scared of him. In turn, as soon as he went to high school, he was probably the definition of a pacifist. He thought he would lose his friends, who still kind of didn't care to use force to get their way, but even when he didn't spend that much time with them anymore, they still liked to catch up with him from time to time, and made sure that no one bothered him.
In turn, he made new friends. Rosalee was one of them. She didn't have much of a past, but she was sweet enough as long as you didn't piss her off. Monroe was actually a bit scared of her sometimes. There was also Valentina, who was slightly less peaceful and a bit scarier, but she was never a bully, and never got into trouble, even when she did fight the ones bullying others. Then Bud came to their group. Hesitantly at first, but he felt comfortable with them after a few weeks. He was really mild mannered, and sometimes easily scared and a bit gullible, but he was fiercely loyal. Then they had their amazing couple, Vincent and Jocelyn. They were sure that they would get married fresh out of high school, to be honest. Vincent only ever gave an intense reaction when something involved Jocelyn. Finally, they had Frank and Freddy, best friends. Freddy was Rosalee's brother, older only by two hours. They were quite fun to be around with, if Monroe was being honest, and they were known to joke and prone to pranks.
Until he met Nicholas Burkhardt, he hadn't felt the urge to start intimidating people again.
He was considered the bad boy, to some extent. His best friend, Hank, and him, wore black leather jackets, even in winter. He was quiet. However, he never messed with anyone. Usually, no one messed with him either. But there were the 'royals', as they called themselves. The typical people that considered themselves better because they had money and, apparently, being with them represented some kind of status in their hierarchy. And when this 'royals' messed with Nick… hell broke loose.
Monroe wasn't even sure how he had become involved. Maybe it was his desire to help others after being mean for great part of his life. Maybe it was that Nick's locker was neighbor to his own.
"Hey, guys, Burkhart is kicking Eric's ass!" someone yelled in the cafeteria, and, soon enough, everyone was outside, and Monroe had been dragged by Rosalee and Freddy to watch. Monroe had to admit, Nick Burkhardt was impressively strong. He was able to land several punches to Eric, the main asshole, who was the quarterback, and worked out quite a bit if his conquests were to be trusted on his physique. The people that others considered as Eric's henchmen seemed to be waiting to jump in and beat Burkhardt to a pulp.
Looking around, Monroe noticed Hank wasn't there. Nick was getting all bloodied by now, and he was sure there would be bruises around his eyes, and on his cheeks. Eric didn't have too much of trouble fighting against him, and seemed less hurt than the younger man.
"Stop it!" Monroe was slightly surprised to see Sean Renard, Eric's younger brother, suddenly came into view, and tried to get between them. Monroe looked around. No one else seemed to want to do anything. So, him being tall and strong enough, decided to help to split them up.
He held onto Eric, taking into account that Sean was pulling Nick away, and he was fit enough to deal with the pissed quarterback.
"What the hell is going on here?!" one of the teachers barked, "Burkhardt, Renard, Monroe, Renard, come with me!"
Monroe hadn't been in the principal's office in quite a while. The talk had been a bit awkward. Nick Burkhardt refused to speak, even with the situation favoring him, considering his physical state, and Eric Renard having had more visits than him. And Sean Renard blaming his brother for the encounter, rather than Nick. Eric earned himself two weeks' worth of suspension, with no chance to make up for the assignments when he came back, and the football coach benched him for three games.
Monroe was thanked about helping to diffuse the situation, as well as Sean. However, all of them, save Nick, were dismissed. Nick was still silent and kind of brooding when they left.
"Sean" Eric's brother offered his hand to Monroe.
"Monroe" he accepted, "What was all that about? I mean… your brother… kind of lost control"
"Eric's a jealous guy. Adalind cheated on him. She decided to tell him that it had been Nick, and that he forced himself on her. Eric doesn't care about his words when trying to rile someone up. And, knowing how Nick is, my brother probably used a lot of touchy subjects to get Nick to… well, fight back" Sean explained.
"You seem to know Nick rather well. I mean, he usually is only with this Hank guy"
"I usually jump to defend whoever Eric decides to target, at least if I think they don't deserve all the shit my brother gives them. Nick has been one before, like, once. We became friends of sorts" Sean shrugged, "What about you? What moved you to help?"
"No one else was doing anything, and Nick looked terrible. Even if he was holding his own, it was too much" Monroe admitted.
Nick came out of the principal's office, and looked at them.
"Nick? Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just detention for the rest of the week, after school. And I have to go to the nurse" Nick answered Sean's question, and then looked at Monroe, giving him a small smile, "Thanks for helping"
"Anytime" Monroe said before he could think of another response. The smile he got in return for it, though, was totally worth it. Great, Monroe, now you have a crush on Nick. Even all hurt, he was cute, and his eyes were really intense.
"Okay, let me know if Eric even dares to look at you, okay?" Sean bid them goodbye. Nick snorted.
"He worries too much"
"Well, considering your current state, I'd say he has reason to. Do you need any help going to the infirmary?"
"Thank you. Maybe you could carry me like a princess, I'm feeling kind of weak" Nick smirked, and Monroe rolled his eyes.
"I'll just make sure you don't smash your face into a wall on your way there"
Nick laughed softly, and both started walking in companionable silence to the infirmary. Monroe, though, noticed his charge was limping. Without asking, he picked Nick up.
"Hey, what the…!"
"You're limping. Did he break anything?" Monroe looked down at Nick, who was now giving him a pouting glare.
"No! I'm fine"
"You really should look yourself in a mirror" Monroe muttered. He knocked on the infirmary door. The nurse opened the door, and let them in.
"Sorry if I'm not vain enough, but I'm fine!" Nick was frustrated to see his glares, pouts and affirmations of his perfect health seemed to amuse Monroe more than they seemed to convince him.
"Really, Mr. Burkhardt, no one with seeing eyes will believe you. You look like you just got out of a gang fight" the nurse tutted like a disappointed mother, and Nick let out a puff.
"Close enough" he mumbled grumpily as Monroe put him on the bed.
"He probably has a sprained ankle or something similar, he was limping while walking until I picked him up" Monroe informed the nurse.
"Thank you for bringing him. Who knows what else he could've gotten into if left on his own…" the nurse fussed over Nick. The shorter teen was still glaring at Monroe, who just shrugged, and stayed there.
Monroe had been amused by that exchange. He found out Hank had been sick that day and had been sent home, hence his absence at Nick's side. The older teen had fussed over Nick, and refused to let him do something stupidly reckless, like drive his bike. Meaning he got a ride on Hank's much-admired car for two weeks straight.
"You have a crush on him" Rosalee said suddenly.
"What are you talking about?" Monroe frowned at her.
"You have that look… like he's too good for this world. Don't worry, Monroe, I'm not one to judge your choice of partner, to be honest. I did have some questionable company sometimes" the younger girl laughed softly.
Monroe returned to his routine, with a difference. He was now aware of Nick, every single time. He noticed, for the first time, apparently, that they shared four classes. That despite the bad boy looks the other one had, he was top of the class on all his classes, or in a tie with Monroe himself. How had he missed that? Was he blind or something?
"Monroe?" he was surprised to see Nick walk up to him, "Uh… would you like to work together on the final project?" the shorter teen seemed awkward.
"Sure" Monroe usually didn't have a definite partner for projects. He worked well with everyone, even the ones he did end up hating due to the need of having to be pushing them constantly to do something. He knew that if the other didn't do a thing, he would erase their name from the project, and, just in case, attach the proof of them not collaborating. He could be considered a nerd, but he wasn't an idiot.
"Thank you" Nick sat down close to him, "I was thinking we could try and grow plants with different fertilizers, and see which one is better and why. What do you think?"
It was a breath of fresh air. Usually he had to spend several hours trying to figure out something his partner liked, or at least understood enough. Nick already had ideas. Monroe wondered why he had never talked to the guy before.
Several weeks and project afternoons spent at Monroe's house, the taller teen was absolutely sure there was not a more perfect being than Nicholas Burkhardt. He had a similar dark humor, and even laughed at his punchlines when most people didn't find them funny. And he was brilliant in every sense of the word, yet he didn't have an ego the size of the sun, and was nice to everyone… well, save from Eric and his group, but Monroe could understand the animosity. The thing was, Monroe didn't want to tell Rosalee because he knew she would only be helpful to give him a very annoying 'I told you so' face. Or the words themselves. Monroe didn't want to go into that just yet.
He decided to turn to Vincent, considering his relationship with Jocelyn was really stable and had at least successfully wooed her. Vincent had been ecstatic.
"God, Monroe, was about time you got your interest piqued in someone! Or, at least, someone worth your time. Nick's a cool guy, you know? He saved Bud from having his head dunked into the toilet by some of Eric's friends, that guy, Reaper one? Anyway, he helped Jocelyn and me with Physics, too. Smart guy"
"Vin…"
"Oh, right, right. Uh, I don't know much about his personal life, dude, but I speak to Hank and Wu a little bit. Wu is their other best friend, though he usually hangs out with the drama club. Anyway, follow me, I'll get Hank for you"
Monroe wondered if coming to Vincent had been the right choice, but he thought that talking to Hank actually made sense.
The dark-skinned teen, however, had stared for a good while when Vincent had explained that Monroe was interested in Nick. He left Monroe alone after that, because apparently Jocelyn wanted to get a bit of ice cream.
"So, you're interested in Nick" Hank gave him a once over, "First of all, man… you dress like a librarian. That aside, why are you interested in Nick?"
"Well… I… I had never really talked to him. But after that fight when you were sick… we paired up in a project, and after weeks of spending time with him… I… I know I'm falling for him. And my friend Rosalee would only be annoying me with 'I told you so', so I went to Vincent for help, and he brought me here with you. And considering you're his best friend, well, it kind of makes sense"
Hank chuckled.
"I see. He likes pizza. Like, a lot. He doesn't like crowds too much, he's a bit more intimate, and even if he seems to be friendly to everyone he sees, you can see only Wu and I are his best friends. Sean Renard kind of counts, but he's a bit more of a loner, if I'm being honest. Also, he has a huge crush on you too, which I'm sure could be translated into he's falling for you too" Hank smiled, "One warning, though. You ever hurt him, and you will wish your parents hadn't met, am I clear?"
"Uh… crystal, dude" Monroe said awkwardly, "And thank you"
"He's got nothing to do this Friday, by the way. In case you were wondering. Oh, and his last class is with Mr. Lancaster, Calculus, I think" Hank left Monroe, and the tall teen couldn't help but smile. He actually had a chance!
The invitation to see a movie about werewolves and then having pizza, on Friday night, was well received by Nick. Monroe enjoyed how much he blushed, and how he had given a flustered 'yes'. He picked him up from his house in his car. It was a classic Beetle, a pastel yellow tone. Nick hadn't laughed at it. Instead, he had raved about how interesting the car was, and just how did Monroe drive with a stick that had no numbers? It made him look at Nick as if he was the most precious human being on the planet. Monroe was sure he was.
A lot of people had looked at his classic car, and some had liked it, but most of the times he was teased that it was such a girlish color. Monroe loved his car, truth be told, and his grandfather had given it to him as a gift when he got his driver's license. He had feared, to some extent, that Nick, having the bike and looks of a bad boy, would at least pull a face at it. But he only saw the open and childish interest, and it was really sweet.
However, the absolute best part, was their first kiss. It had been a bit sloppy at first, but it still felt magical.
"Want to be my boyfriend?" Nick had given him a boyish grin with that question. Monroe smiled.
"Yes… definitely yes" had been his answer.
Their second kiss had been smoother, and it had grown quite a bit in intensity. It was only Nick's phone ringing that made Monroe drop him off at his house, and then leave for his own. Both with huge smiles.