I was impressed. It hadn't even been a complete day since Kaz and I became friends again, but he already went back to avoiding me. Somehow, he even got Skylar and Gus in on it. They wouldn't meet my eyes, at least not directly, and any time I would approach the little circle they formed after each class, their conversation that was once so vivid and lively would completely evaporate into the hallway air. Did Kaz tell them about last night? About what I said? Was that the reason behind their laughter and hushed voices?

Once the lunch break began, I split up from the group, feeling outcast anyway. They didn't seem to notice, or maybe they just didn't care. By the time I returned with an apple I got at the cafeteria, Skylar, for some reason, had used the weight of her arm to pin Kaz against his locker. This wasn't an all-around bizarre scenario. It's just, usually, it was Jordan inflicting bodily pain. I caught the tail-end of what Kaz was saying, something about how someone will "never expect it."

"Never expect what?" I asked, folding my hands into my pocket in hopes of hiding the fact I was terrified of his answer.

"Never expect..." there was a pause as his eyes began scanning the hall, an obvious sign he couldn't think of a quick enough lie. "This!" He shouted like a battle cry before reaching to flick my forehead. I blocked him easily.

"I knew you were gonna do that." I smirked, "you can't surprise me." I lied.

"Listen buddy, I'm glad you're here." Kaz offered as he placed a hand on my shoulder. Ok, good. He said a whole sentence to me. He made physical contact with me which means he isn't completely grossed out... "Because I need you to leave." Well... That was blunt.

"What, why?" I managed, unable to hide my sadness as I walked past him. If my head hadn't lowered in shame, I would've noticed as Skylar rammed into me, pushing me up against a locker as well. I wouldn't have had to scream in terror, and I wouldn't have attracted the condescending stares of all the passerby. Today was just going great.

So fucking great.

"Your presence compromises the mission!" Skylar yells at me, Kaz cutting in before she could continue.

"Which is to go to the cafeteria to get Gus some..."

"Toast!" Gus piped in. "See, I told you I liked it."

"Why can't he get it himself?" I asked, once Skylar let me down. I started smoothing down my shirt as Kaz spat out some bullshit about how he's too weak to walk to the cafeteria due to his lack of toast.

"We're not gonna leave him alone," He said, fake passion displayed in his tone. "Not in this toastless state! Now, go!" He ordered, shoving me in the direction of the doors. Since I wasn't expecting it, I tripped on myself, almost falling to the floor to make even more of a spectacle out of myself.

"Ok. Ok, I'll go." I agreed, slowly narrowing my eyes at him. "Just stop pushing me". At this rate, I'd be happier to be away from them. But of course, I should've figured that with the way the day was going, there would be another setback. I returned to tell them I didn't have any money, but Kaz wouldn't have it. He demanded to know why I was still here before telling me to forget about the toast and to just go away. I finished lunch alone, and didn't say anything to them until school was out. I would've gone longer, but once we got to Mighty Med, like a flick of a switch, Kaz was acting normal again. We had a busier day than usual, and so Kaz and I ended up splitting up to diagnose our own patients. I had just cured Surge, returning him to what I liked to call his "state of shock", when Kaz arrived. He announced his phone was dead before Surge reached over and gave it a charge. Happily, Kaz fist bumped him, only to have the electricity travel through his hand. Making a pained expression I couldn't help but mimic, he then proceeded to wrap his arm around me, leading me towards the exit. It was almost a relief how I could blame Surge for the electricity I felt pass from his hand to my arm as he hugged me closer to him.

"It's almost 6:45. We need to get to the domain." That was strange. He never leaves Mighty Med early. I stopped walking as he unhooked his arm from my shoulder.

"Why?" I asked him. "We're working here." I didn't think I had to mention that we were short on staff today. It was obvious they needed us to help.

"No, we have to go. Because, the domain is having a promotion tonight. For the New Tecton Movie." If I hadn't known him so long, maybe I wouldn't have caught the way he stuttered in what could only be seen as a lie.

"Tecton's Tactical Takedown Two?" I asked, making up the stupidest name I could think of for a Tecton film. I mean, there wasn't even a Tecton's Tactical Takedown One.

"Yeah, the Domain's giving away two tickets to Tecton's Tactical Takedown Two for the two tardiest teenagers tonight." His lie went from bad to worse, although I couldn't find it humorous as my thoughts wandered to the idea of being alone with Kaz in a movie theater. "It's a Two-For-Tardy Tuesday!" He reached for me but I ducked under his grasp.

"Why would Wallace and Clyde do that?"

"To reward tardiness!" This was just getting ridiculous.

"Look, why don't you just go without me?"

"You have to come with me. It won't be the same without you. You know," his puppy dog face emerged full-force, "we only have so many years left to do these things together, Oliver. One day, you'll wake up old and alone, and say to your robotic nursemaid, Sheila X99, I would've loved to have gone to the domain with Kaz more often." And it would be a lie to say that comment didn't offend me. So that's where Kaz pictured me. Alone, without anyone who loves me, except for a robotic nursemaid that may or may not have been programmed to. I was about to snap at him. Yell at him about how I won't be alone for the rest of my life. About how I'll find a real friend that actually wants to be there for me, or a partner that I will grow old with together. But thankfully, I heard sirens from the hospital, acting like warning alarms in my head. I knew Kaz didn't mean to hurt me. Really, I should be flattered that he wanted my company instead of that of Jordan's. But things have been so weird between us. I feel like I just need some space to sort out my head.

"The hospital's gone into lockdown!" Horace announced as he rushed into the room. I guess the head sorting can wait until it's quieted down. "Either someone's tried to break into Mighty Med, or it's a false alarm. Or I forgot to pay the alarm company, or the false alarm company."

"How long are we gonna be stuck here?" Kaz asked, checking the time on his phone again.

"We just need to wait for the system to reset itself. Shouldn't take more than five minutes." I saw Kaz and I both relax, until Horace eyes lit up and he announced it could also take a week. After recovering from initial shock, Kaz approached the blockade in front of the door, banging on it and jumping up to try to find a way to open it. I walked out into the hall, but I could hear as Kaz told Horace that he didn't understand, and that we had to leave. I never really thought about how stubborn Kaz can be. I tried to ignore him when he came up behind me, but it was no use.

"Oliver, I just found a way for us to get out of the domain."

"No," I argued, "we should stay. I don't wanna get in trouble. Plus, Solar Flare's making kettle corn." I hoped he would take the bet, but his mind seemed glued to going to the Domain. I left him alone for a little while, taking a few handfuls of kettle corn before my curiousness got the best of me. I found him out in the hall, with a power drill, removing the screws from one of the vents on the floor.

"Kaz," I tried, knowing it wasn't gonna get me anywhere. "I don't think this is a good idea." Although I was talking to the wall at this point, at least I acquired an 'I told you so' that I could use after whatever goes wrong goes wrong.

"Are you kidding me? This is how my brother got out of jail. Also, into jail." He gave me a quick pat on the arm with a reassuring smile. "No one will even know we're leaving." He promised, before beginning to crawl through the vent. Not even a second later and Alan appeared, asking us where we were going. Being the wonderful liar Kaz is, (no sarcasm detected… this is why I don't want to end up with a Sheila X99), he simply stated we weren't leaving, and somehow, Alan managed to fill in the blanks.

"Oh, is my Uncle Horace making you clean out the ventilation systems?" He asked. We both stuttered for a moment, alternating between yes's and no's before agreeing with a "maybe", ushered quietly in unison.

"Your story checks out," Alan put his hands on his hips, his face turning smug as he continued, "But watch your step because nothing gets past me. Nothing!" He pulled down his sweater vest with a huff before storming away. The second he was out of sight, Kaz rushed back towards the vent, but I had no plan to try again.

"Kaz, forget this. I'm not doing this."

"Yes. Yes, you are. This is really important to me." That statement surprised me. It was probably the most honest he has been all day. He never liked to show emotion, and you could see that in the way he hid the gleam in his eye he had just moments before, shaking it off with a rapid "come on" and grabbing of my arm.

I pushed him off of me with a stern "no", before I felt my anger flare. "I don't want to go. Stop pressuring me." At school, at mighty med. "You know, all you ever do is think about yourself."

"If you came with me, I think you'd be really surprised how not true that is." I had no idea what he meant by that, but at this point, I couldn't handle it anymore. I was so frustrated with this. With us. Yesterday he has a mental breakdown, about all the stuff that's been making him deteriorate for so long, and I know i'm the only one that has seen that from him. But now, the only sign of emotion or aspiration from him is in the form of whining over wanting to go to the domain to get fucking movie tickets. FOR A FAKE MOVIE. I wanted to talk to him. To really talk to him. About everything that was going on in his life. About how important of a part he plays in mine. But I didn't even feel like I knew him anymore, and that was terrifying. I always heard rumors about how best friends can grow apart so quickly, especially when you are as close as Kaz and I were. But the things that I wanted to say to him. They weren't even true anymore. Because the person in front of me, whining over trivial things with no deeper regard to anyone else's feelings. That wasn't Kaz. It didn't use to be, anyway. He used to pretend to be this person, conceited, self-centered. But he never meant it. It was just safer than being himself. But he's hiding himself from me now too. And I was done with this game of hide and seek. I turned from him, walking away faster than Alan did, and didn't look back until I knew he was no longer following me.

It was probably a good half hour before Kaz came up to me again. I was in the main reception area, leaning against one of the desks when I heard him shuffling behind me.

"Oliver, listen to me."

"I'm not leaving, so drop it." I snapped.

"I know, I know." His voice got softer as he took a breath. "I'm sorry." He said. And normally, that would've fixed things. Somehow, those two simple words would fixed all of the tension and frustration. But not today. Today, it wasn't enough for him. Today, he continues to insist to get his way, telling me he wrote me a very sincere apology note that he stuck in the duffel bag he was holding in his arms. In the most forward way he could, without actually saying his plan was to zip me in a duffel bag and forcibly drag me to the domain, he asked me to climb inside the bag and read his ever apologetic note.

"Wow." I bit my lip. "You would do anything to get your way. You are so selfish." I only got a few steps in before he apologized again. Ruining that moment as well as he told me he bought me a present to make up for him being selfish. He held out a small bottle, and for a split second I felt my face flush as I thought it was lube. "Smell it. It's cologne." He offered, handing it to me. I stared at the clear liquid for a second, trying to rid of any hormonal thoughts, before reading the label. I raised an eyebrow quizzically before catching him in another lie.

"A cologne called anesthesia?"

"It's pronounced, 'Anastasia'" he explained, pulling off a fake French accent. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I wanted to scream. And I did, slightly, when I turned, bumping directly in Horace who looked like a zombie. "Revengeance will rise again." He chanted, as more zombies entered the room.

"This must be what triggered the alarm system. Revengeance is trying to sneak into Mighty Med…" But how? #LightbulbMoment "And you let him in when you opened the vent. Now he's taken control of Horace."

"But that's impossible." Kaz's voice was nothing but a whimper. "Revengeance was disembodied." He reasoned. "He's just a black cloud now. I don't see any black clouds around here." As if waiting to make it's grand entrance, the black cloud known as Revengeance then swarmed into the room.

"Man, I cannot catch a break today." Kaz stomped a foot into the ground with a pout that I normally would've found cute. Since he couldn't see me eyeing one of the desks, I took his hand and pulled him in my direction. Once we got behind the bulk of the zombies, we crouched down as if to hide under the desk and better assess the situation. Alan, was already there though.

"Man, it was really smart to hide here." Kaz praised Alan like a good dog, and for the first time I missed being in Stephanie's band.

"I'm not hiding." Alan scrunched his brows at us in confusion, "this is where I nap." He stood up abruptly, taking a look at the state of the room before asking us what was going on.

"Revengeance has broken into mighty med to turn on the hospital's positronic reactor. He's going to use the power from it to turn himself human again."

"That's impossible" Alan assured, "there is no way to access it unless they've gathered all nine mighty administrators."

"Those nine mighty administrators?" Kaz pointed to the doctors making their way to the middle of the room.

"Yeah. Each of them has been implanted with one part of the access code. But they'd have to be in a specific formation that only my uncle Horace knows."

"That specific formation?" Kaz asked again as he pointed to the symbol they were creating with their bodies lied out on the floor.

"We got to stop Revengeance before he turns back into his physical form."

"You mean that physical form?" Kaz pointed yet again, to the cloud that looked as thought it was beginning to form legs.

"What do we do?" Alan asked me, "How do you stop a cloud?" He flailed his arms as I got an idea.

"By creating a vacuum!" I felt myself begin to babble, but I was in no mood to suppress my thoughts. This was the first time for like a week that I've been able to spit out every last detail of what I was thinking. "It's simple meteorology." I continued, knowing I would lose Kaz at 'meteorology'. "We can use the hospital's air conditioning system to create a cold front, then turn on the sterilizing equipment that will form pockets of warm air, resulting in a low pressure syste-"

"Or we could just use this vacuum, Oliver." Alan was standing next to a large metal vacuum, pulling the hose out as he turned it on.

As nasally as possibly, I mimicked him. "Or we could use this vacuum, Oliver." I moaned before getting a nudge from Kaz.

"What are you mad at him for?" He asked.

"I'm just in a bad place right now." I admitted before following Kaz to help Alan control the vacuum. We had to hook up to Surge's power before the vacuum was strong enough, but within seconds, the black cloud disappeared and everyone returned back to normal.

"We did it!" Alan cheered before turning to us. "I've never been a part of a team before. I don't like it." He shrugged his shoulder before walking away. Kaz slung an arm around me, and I think I was simply too tired to refuse this comfort.

"That was exhausting." He yawned. "You know what I could go for right now?" I was about to guess a nice nap in an area other than under a desk, but instead my face fell and my anger was back instantaneously. "A nice 14-block walk through a bad neighborhood to the domain. "

"Stop it!" I yelled, flinging my arm at him without actually hitting him. "I don't want to go!" I turned away from him only to whip my head back, "why is everything always about what you want? You know, all the time, I'm always thinking, what can I do for Kaz? What can I do to cheer him up. When't the last time you did anything for me?" I let the question die in the air before Kaz ran his tongue over his teeth, extending his hand as he answered.

"Actually, pretty recently."

"Really?! Like when." I didn't even register how close my face got to his until I felt his breath on me. He crossed his arms, giving us a little more distance before he spoke.

"When I threw you a birthday party, at the domain tonight. Three months early, to surprise you. And now I wish I never had." Through he wiped at it quickly, I still saw the tear escape his eye.

"You threw me a surprise party?" He just nodded, speechless, and looking as tired as I felt. "And I just yelled at you all day. I feel terrible." Even worse than I felt before. "Will you ever forgive me?" I asked.

His goofy expression returned, but it was forced. "Nope."

"But Kaz", I whined, "we only have a few years left to spend together, and one day, you'll wake up, old and alone…"

"Fine, I forgive you." I noticed another tear accompany his laughter as he came in for a hug. This was the second time in the past two days that I saw him cry. Something was up, but I wanted to be there for him through whatever it was. Once he calmed down, we headed to the domain. It seemed everyone had gone home, and it was just Clyde and Wallace cleaning up after the party. Not wanting to bother them further, we kept going, walking to the coffee shop across the street. We just got hot chocolates, as if to justify sitting outside on a freezing cold park bench at almost 10pm. I was just glad my mother was away on a business meeting. The neighbor next door that was supposed to keep an eye on me. Ya, she goes to sleep around 6.

"I still have to give you your present." He spoke. Even though it was dark, there was enough light coming from the street and the few shops that were still open for me to tell his eyes were darting every which way.

"What's that?" I asked him. "The big reveal that Tecton's Tactical Takedown Two isn't real?" He didn't even seem to hear what I said as he told me in all seriousness to close my eyes and think about Skylar.

"What, why?" He didn't answer me. He just swallowed loudly, pushing his lips together so tight I knew he wasn't going to say anything. Not wanting to ruin another one of his surprises, I closed my eyes and began to picture Skylar. Her fighting stance. He pink uniform. Her long brown hair with the streak of pink. Her brown eyes and rosy cheeks. Round nose and full lips. Lips that she pressed on to mine. Lips that jolted me awake. I opened my eyes, just in time to see Kaz back away from me and run his tongue over his mouth.

"You weren't supposed to open your eyes." Was all he said. But words failed me. I saw another tear fall, and I felt the lowest I had ever been. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Kaz, especially not after something like this. Something I didn't mind, but just didn't understand. He turned around silently, beginning his trek home when I stood up, abandoning my drink as I followed him down the street.

"I'm sorry if this puts you in even more of a bad place." Kaz apologized sincerely, but his voice was so shaky. I would've blamed the cold if it wasn't for the fact he had just devoured a grande hot chocolate. After what felt like an hour, I still couldn't say anything, and his breathing had progressively gotten worse. Finally, I grabbed his arms, much like I did last night, and turned him to face me. His look of surprise stayed plastered to his face as I questioned him.

"Why did you tell me to imagine Skylar?"

"Because you like her." Was his simple answer. Looking straight into his darkened eyes, I grabbed his head, forcing it down to mine. Our noses crashed painfully before our lips met, but the spark wasn't caused by Surge this time.