Notes: I headcanon that Zig/Tristan are old elementary school friends. This is not contradicted in canon, so I treat it as fact. Otherwise, 95% canon compliant. Alteration will be clearly seen in the text.

Trigonometry

Trigonometry had always flustered Zig - why was it that three lines, three angles, and three people could reduce him to an obtuse mess?

He had been in his fair share of love triangles, and was always left the fool. Tori and Maya had been a disaster the first time around, and later he was fighting again for Maya's affections against the Hollingsjerk.

But there was another triangle he had been a part of for much longer, and only now was he starting to see the transparent figure dancing and tilting throughout his life.

There was a triangle that existed between him, the outside world, and the only one to ever call him Zigmund, and it all started with a first kiss.

First Kiss

Not for the first time, Zig Novak wondered why he was dating Tori. He enjoyed hanging out with her and all, but he never felt that magical feeling that his mother always told him that love was; her looks never hurt, but they also didn't spark anything other than his man-parts. It was why he broke up with her before coming to Degrassi, but she was never one to take 'no' for an answer. It was why he couldn't say 'no' when she told him he had to come to play practice.

It was what he was doing now, watching Tori sing in the role of some angel or something as Dave and Tristan practiced as Romeo and Jules. It was an amusing idea at least. Zig knew he would have never thought of the idea of making Romeo and Juliet two dudes by himself, but he couldn't say he didn't enjoy the raging of his Christian classmates outside. They always pretended to be so good, but always mocked him for the way he dressed or the trips he couldn't afford. That Eli guy sure showed them, and Zig was proud to have a friend like Tristan playing his role in sticking it to the man.

It was good to be friends with Tristan again. They had been close throughout elementary school, but things changed as he and Tori started their middle school relationship tango. Tristan took his "girlfriend's" side, and their childhood friendship fell to the wayside… odd, that even as his best friend was gay, they still managed to fall apart over a girl.

But Zig was on Tori's good side again, and Tristan treated the past like it never happened. Zig was okay with that. He was too lazy to hold a grudge.

He watched as Tristan and Dave's scene rolled around to an end, then had to fight doubling over in laughter as all the air left his lungs when Tristan pulled away from the kiss. Who would have thought flamboyant Tristan – and he meant that lovingly – would be stage shy.

He took the scene ending as his queue to cross backstage and join Tori. He peaked around the curtain, not wanting to eavesdrop before realizing he didn't really care.

"I don't want my first kiss to be with… Dave," Tristan scoffed. "I want it to be sweet, and romantic, and beautiful."

Zig felt a grin splitting on his face. He wasn't a mushy guy, but the kiss that Tristan described was everything his mother told him it should be. How was it that a great guy like his friend Tristan had never kiss anyone?

He was Zig so he blurted that thought out loud. "You've never kissed anyone?" He felt himself grinning, though his lips faltered as Tori slapped his arm. He frowned and looked at his arm in mock-pain – well, physical mockery, because the way Tori treated him always hurt. He sighed, accepting it. It was rarely worth asking what he did wrong.

"Maybe some cute guy will see you in the play, and fall madly in love with," Tori said hopefully. Zig frowned. Annoyance at the way she treated him still present, but just as annoyed by her words – though, admittedly, his initial annoyance turned her tone to that of a harpy.

Tristan found her words no more helpful that he did. "Great," he sassed. "After I lost my lip virginity to some random guy in front of 200 people"

Zig felt bad for him, and said the obvious thing. "Well, the play's not till tomorrow, right? You still got time to find someone!" He plastered a grin on his face to give Tristan hope.

Tristan gave him a shaky smile and turned away, and Zig frowned that his words hadn't been the boost that he had hoped they would be. His shoulders dropped as Tori turned to him with disappointment dripping from her tongue.

"Don't you have homework to finish?" she asked.

He sighed, and nodded. "I can take a hint," he murmured as he turned away.

She never had faith in him, and it was really starting to get him down.

He was over his annoyance with Tori by last block, and he met her by her locker to walk her home. His heart was warmed when she greeted him with a smile.

"I've have been waiting for you all day," she cried. "So, I have this great idea."

"Oh, and what's that?" he asked.

"You're going to kiss Tristan!"

He blinked. "What?" he asked. He felt his eyes trying to bulge out of his face, and he tried to ignore the squeak he heard in his voice.

"Give Tristan his first kiss. I mean, I thought about doing it as his best friend, but wouldn't it mean so much more if he got his first kiss from a guy?" she explained. "Plus, the two of you are good friends. And you have soft lips…"

Zig blushed. "Well, uh, yeah…"

"Please?" Tori pleaded, stroking her hands up and down his arm. "Do it for me?"

Zig nodded. "I'll think about it."

Tori giggled and cheered before interlocking her arms in his and leading them off. She was babbling something that he didn't really take the time to process. He was doing what he said he would do after all – think about kissing Tristan.

He knew one thing for certain. If he was going to kiss Tristan, it wouldn't be for Tori. He would do it to put a smile on Tristan face. It might not be the perfect kiss for either of them, but, in a way, it would be a kiss of love.

Zig was trembling with excited nerves as they burst into the props closet that Tristan was locked in. A small part of him was concerned about kissing Tristan, knowing that it was now or never, and already knowing the answer he would choose. Largely though, his nerves were still on edge as his mind did gymnastics thinking of what those jocky Christian types had done to Tristan. It angered him that Tristan was targeted because he was gay; it angered them that they had preyed on Tristan's desperation for love to harm him; it angered him that he couldn't think of any way to make Tristan feel better.

He prayed to the god that he didn't believe in that kissing Tristan would be a small step in that direction. His eyes passed over Owen, who seemed relieved Tristan was alright, and Zig only kept passive attention on Tori and Tristan's conversation.

Zig's heart broke on Tristan's words. "No, I did this to myself. Answering that love note as if someone actually loved me." Tristan seemed so sad, and it took all of Zig's willpower not to hate Tori then and there for how careless Tori was with their best friends feelings. Who responds with the most depressing story by ignoring the hurt in those words and telling them to get on with it?

Tristan was no more happy, and Zig was struck with how often they agreed over Tori's actions – lucky for her, they were both forbidden from speaking on their feelings due to some code or another that shackled them as boyfriend and GBF.

"So I can have my first kiss with Dave? And lie to the audience and pretend like I have any idea what love is?" Tristan sat down, and Zig had never seen him more defeated.

By some strange turn of events, Tori said something incredibly kind. Well, she was never as awful as he liked to think when he was annoyed at her, but she was often selfish. But those next words made him tingle all over.

"Tristan, you do too know what love is!" Tori said. Her voice was strong and full of confidence, and at that moment Zig would never have fought her opinion or face what was surely a grander wrath of god than those jocks thought they were doing. "There are four people in this room who love you."

Tori turned on them and Zig knew his time was coming. He saw Maya nod her agreement out of the corner of his eye, and he heard Owen confess his brotherly love.

He made eye contact with Tori, and stepped forward when she nodded.

"And your first kiss won't be with Dave," Zig said as he approached Tristan. Zig's heart was pounding, but he ignored it, knowing that Tristan was his priority. He registered shock for a split moment as he cupped Tristan's face in his right hand, shocked at the smooth softness of his friend's face. Their eyes locked and Zig saw all the dreams and hopes and fears dancing in Tristan's eyes.

He pulled Tristan's face towards his, and pressed his lips down on Tristan's. They were soft like Tori's, but bigger and fuller and he felt like he could get lost in them. He pressed a bit too hard and could vaguely feel Tristan's teeth under his lips, before he opened his mouth slightly and took Tristan's lips his. His upper lips brushed stubble, and that didn't bother him as much as he expected.

He pulled away slowly, eyes locked with Tristan's as he did. He saw realization, gratitude, hope, love and a slew of other things pass through Tristan's eyes as the redhead nodded.

"Better than Dave, right?" Zig asked, chuckling and happy that he made Tristan feels so good about himself.

Tristan nodded again, shock still written across his face.

"Aww, how cute!" he heard Maya cheer, and he saw Owen shaking his head out of the corner of his eyes.

"Yes, yes, cute," Tori stated in rush. "Now, please get to the stage," Tori ordered with a grin across her lips.

Tristan rushed off with his brother and Maya in tow, and Tori wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks, Zig, that was nice of you. I always know I can count on you," she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, anything for you," he agreed as he lead the way out of the storage closet. He would do anything to see his loved ones happy.

He preferred not to think too much about the fact that the electricity dancing on his skin was more Tristan's doing than Tori's.

First Time

It was Zig's favorite time of the day. Mrs. Matlin and Maya were out shopping, and he had the home and kitchen to himself. He was listening to his favorite music on Maya's MacBook, dancing as he prepared a tasty dinner for his surrogate family.

He heard a knocking scarcely over the music, but ignored it figuring it was his imagination. The knocking continued, and he heard the unmistakable sound of Tristan's voice calling his name. "Hello!?" Tristan called.

Zig blushed as he turned around to focus on Tristan. "Hey, sup," he muttered to hide his embarrassment.

"Where's Maya?" Tristan asked.

"She's out with her mom?" Zig informed the other boy, questioning himself in the process. That was the most likely answer, but he wasn't too sure as he was more invested in his meal than the whereabouts of his family.

"Of course she is," Tristan scoffed.

Zig rolled his eyes and his dumped the food into the blender. Tristan was always scoffing or otherwise expressing his annoyance, but it didn't bother Zig as much as he expected. Instead, he chuckled. "They should be back soon? Wanna wait?" he added with a grin.

Tristan seemed unsure. "Yeah, I guess," he said slowly.

Zig found that curious. It wasn't normal for Tristan to seem so uncertain and worried. "You seem upset? You want to, you know, talk or something? We haven't really done that in years."

"Not with you," Tristan muttered, causing Zig to frown.

Rude, Zig thought as he rolled his eyes again. "Okay, just thought I'd ask," he dismissed as he returned his attention to the blender. He was in the middle of blending when Tristan changed his mind and made the poor decision to try to speak over an active blender.

"What do you do when a girl, you know, wants to go downstairs… on a first date?"

"What?" Zig asked, confused as to why Tristan would ask that question. He had to blame the blender for failing to catch the euphemism. "You mean to the basement?"

"Yeah…" Tristan sassed. "In a manner of speaking."

Something in Tristan's eyes expressed what he meant, and suddenly Zig was at full attention. Fuck, wasn't expecting that, he thought as he turned off the blender.

"Ohhhhh, ummm, I guess I'd make her dinner…?" he suggested. It was just about the only thing he was good at.

Tristan seemed uncertain. "Like… that's not too forward?"

"No!" Zig cheered. "If anything, it's too awesome." He chuckled and let a grin spread on his face – it was his special grin reserved for Tristan. Maya always called it the Mickey Mouse; she said whenever he smiled at Tristan he had on a toothy grin that was oh-so adorable and went along with his dumbo ears to make him the cutest mouse she'd ever seen. He could never decide if it was a compliment or an insult, but he took it as a sign of love.

Tristan looked like he was fighting a smile as he spoke. "Somehow, I think I need a second opinion."

Zig chuckled, counting the smile spreading across his friend's lips to be a sign of victory. He savored in that for a minute, then got an idea.

"Ohhh!" he exclaimed as he crossed the room to where Maya often left her magazines. He picked it up and brandished it for Tristan to see. "There must be a reason girls read these things, right?"

"Seriously?" Tristan muttered drolly.

"Yeah?" Zig replied with a shrug as he scanned through the magazine. "Oh, look at this! Quiz of the month: Are You Ready to Take Your Relationship to the Next Level?" he read, throwing a questioning nod to Tristan who sighed, and accepted his fate.

Zig smirked. "First question: Does your boyfriend make you feel A) Self-conscious B) Bored or C) confident?"

Zig was happy to see how quickly Tristan answered. "C."

"Question number 2: Would you describe the communication between you and your boyfriend as A) non-existent B) limited to conversations about pizza toppings or C) open and honest?" He asked the last one with exaggerated confusion.

"C," Tristan chuckled, amused at his antics.

Sounds good to me, Zig thought as a devious thought crossed his mind. "And finally, do you want to be the idiot who turns down a basement rendezvous? A) No B) definitely not and C) are you freaking kidding me?"

Tristan was not amused, but accepted the inevitable answer.

Zig prided himself in his victory as he read the results. "If you answered mostly Cs, congrats, sounds like you're ready to get steamy with your sweetie." He approached Tristan as he continued to read, adding a playful dirtiness to his voices as he read the next line. "Just remember to stay safe when you're getting sexy." He threw in a wink for good measure.

He saw Tristan blush at the implication.

"Hey, don't be like that," Zig exclaimed. "We're friends, no need to be embarrassed."

Tristan's blush deepened. "It's not that… it's gay stuff. I did come here for Maya after all. Otherwise I'd ask Miles. He is a bit more versed in this stuff than… well all of us."

"Oh, god, I don't want to know about Miles," Zig groaned. "And, more importantly," he said as he poked Tristan's check with the rolled up magazine, "don't be afraid to come to me about anything. You and I are friends after all, despite all the friendship drama."

Tristan chuckled at that. "My bad…"

Zig placed a hand on Tristan's shoulder. "And don't worry about the whole gay thing. You know I've always been cool with it. Plus, don't forget about our kiss last year," he added with a wink.

Tristan sighed. "It's hard sometimes with your non-gay friends. Just look how Miles turned out when I kissed Miles."

"Hmm?" Zig murmured. "You kissed Moneybags? This I have to hear."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "It was nothing. We were off in Paris, and I misread a moment. Big whoop. Cam all over again… my bad," Tristan apologized at the mention of Cam.

The comment hurt Zig, but he brushed it off. "It's not like we can't say his name… don't feel bad."

Tristan nodded. "Well, it was nice catching up, but I really have to head out… basement rendezvous," he muttered under his breath with a blush.

"Have fun!" Zig teased. "Oh, and do stay in touch. It was definitely nice catching up. Even about gay things," he added.

"If you insist," Tristan laughed nervously.

"I do!" Zig cheered before placing a mock-kiss on Tristan's cheek. He made sure it was loud and exaggerated, a noisy wet 'muaaahhh' much like his aunt did when he was a younger. "See, perfectly fine with kissing you… again! I'm not uncomfortable at all… well, maybe a little."

Tristan chuckled as he wiped his cheek. "Sure thing, Zig. I suppose if I need advice, I can come to my first kiss after all."

"Exactly!"

Zig still had a grin on his face when Tristan left, and he was okay with that. He was always happy that he was on good terms with his oldest friend.

First Realization

It took Zig a long time to realize that his feelings for Tristan were more than they seemed. He was working on his trigonometry homework – studying how the three sides and three angles work together to make the world – when it hit him. So many things in his life were the interactions of three things. Two things and himself: Tori and Maya, and Tori and Tristan, then Miles and Maya, and Tristan and Maya. Then Zoë got thrown in as competition against Maya, and that too disappeared. The two constant players in his life were Maya and Tristan…

He couldn't recall when Tristan became a player in his game. He was always there since elementary school. It was him and Tristan against the world. The original triangle. The first of many that would lock him in a war of affections.

These thoughts were racing through his minds as Maya came to talk to him. Lo and behold, she came to complain about Tristan. Trigonometry brought to life.

Tristan wasn't making dancing easy for her, so Zig figured he could fill in a little for his oldest friend. He offered his hand to Maya and they danced around the kitchen. Hand in hand, hip to hip. He felt a sweat breaking on his forehead as he spun Maya loose into the living room.

She landed on the ottoman as flustered as he; her breathing was heavy, and her lip tips trembled with desire. He wanted to go to her and kiss her, but Mrs. Matlin could come around the corner at any moment. He smiled at her as he turned back to his homework.

"Trigonometry calls," he quipped.

He returned to his homework as Maya sat in the living room for a while, before getting up and walking behind him to the fridge. It was a weird feeling that he had for her. Good feelings. Lovely feelings. Feelings he had never felt for Tori or Zoë or any other name he could put to a face. Other than Tristan.

He knew that the two of them were his best friends, and as time passed the lines began to blur. He missed Tristan with his whole heart, and hadn't talked to the other boy on a friendly basis in weeks. Why were girls always dividing their once unstoppable duo?

Zig knew he had to stop letting that happen. He couldn't bear to let their friendship dwindle again to how it was after Tori…

"Could you like, talk to him?" Zig asked as he looked up from his homework.

Maya sighed. "He's the one who hates me, remember?"

Zig sighed, memories and guilt about his last conversation with Tristan returning to him. He basically told his friend to get raped…

"I should have been there for him," he muttered.

Maya gave him a questioning look, but didn't bother to ask. Ever since they met, he and Tristan had not been on good terms, so she wouldn't have expected them to talk about that at all. And he didn't want to admit his part in it.

"I miss him sometimes, so let me know when you make up," Zig joked.

"Very well," Maya exaggerated a sigh. "I'll go throw myself on the ax tomorrow, and see if he lets me live."

"Ohhh," Zig teased. "Need a body guard?"

"I'll be fine," Maya said.

Zig chuckled as he returned his mind to trigonometry, though in a way his thoughts had never really considered much else.

An image of Tristan swam in his mind, face torn by hurt: hurt by Maya, hurt by Yates, hurt by Miles. When Zig brought his fingers up to feel his trembling lips, they were etched like frown. He brushed his finger through the stubble on his chin to feel the frown written in the wrinkles there that his brother often mocked when they were kids.

He was sad. Sad for Tristan, sad for the fact that there was no way to help him, sad that he couldn't make himself gay for his friend. But mostly, he was sad that there was so little to do to make his oldest friend happy. He couldn't love Tristan in the way he so desperately wanted to be loved. He couldn't save his friend from the hurt. He couldn't do anything.

He shut his textbook with a half-angry flop. He would never figure out trigonometry.

I hope you enjoyed! These two are so cute, and I never expected that until I was researching this as originally a crack fic, before it became a real one.

For reference, the scenes above match with episodes 12x19, 12x20, 13x35 and 14x17.