"You have to come," Scott whined.

"I have to finish this," Isaac said not for the first time. He put a protective arm around his work in case Scott tried to mess with his stuff.

"You've been sitting over this the whole day, you need a break," Scott reminded him. "Besides, it's your birthday, you can't spend your birthday over some stupid assignment."

"I would love to go out with you, believe me, I know better ways to spend my birthday than with this." He gestured over the books and papers all over his workplace. "But this is due before Monday."

"It's your birthday." Scott didn't let go. "You can probably get an extension."

It was early in the semester and this was the first real assignment Professor Hale had given them so Isaac wasn't sure how the professor dealt with things like extensions for special occasions. However, he doubted that going to a club with his friends on his birthday counted.

Lydia was in the advanced class so she knew the professor longer than he and according to her he might look like a pushover with his glasses and his knitted sweaters but he was known for giving students a stern look over said glasses that made them weep. Isaac didn't know if she was just pulling his leg with that, she also claimed that she'd seen Professor Hale in a black sports car with a leather jacket and sunglasses and she was definitely pulling his leg with that. Either way, he didn't want to leave a bad impression with not finishing his first assignment on time.

"I don't need an extension, I need to finish this."

"Erica will kill me if I don't bring you along." Scott tried again.

"She has the same assignment, don't tell me that she's already finished it." With rising panic, Isaac reached for his notes. He wanted to do this and he wanted to do this right but astrophysics was hard. Even the entry class he and Erica were taking.

The way he was struggling with this one stupid assignment alone made Isaac doubt himself. He'd taken the class because of the way Lydia had talked about a field trip they had taken to the observatory last year. As a kid, Isaac had loved to watch the stars and he even had a cheap telescope for a while. Until his father had broken it. But when Lydia had talked about that trip Isaac had felt that longing again.

Turned out that astrophysics was more about well, math and physics than watching stars. Isaac still liked it even if he was struggling to grasp some of the concepts.

Why Erica had joined him in this class he didn't know but she was either way better at it than him or she didn't care about the assignment. Isaac sighed.

With his internal panic, Isaac had tuned out Scott who was still talking. Something about Danny loving this club and that it was just the right place to celebrate Isaac's birthday. That bit of information did catch his interest.

"Who's coming anyway?" Isaac tried to sound disinterested but judging by the grin on Scott's face, he was not fooling his friend. Scott knew that he'd won.

"Boyd and Erica, Danny of course, Lydia, and I'm bringing Allison. And you. You're the main person tonight, birthday boy."

Isaac knew that he should stay home and work on his assignment but in the end, he put on his nicer clothes and left the dorm with Scott. Maybe he was an asshole but he wanted to see Scott's face when he realized what kind of club Danny had picked for him. Because this was Danny and this was Isaac's birthday, Isaac would be very disappointed if they were going to just an ordinary club.

It still took Scott over two hours, three people commenting on how cute Allison and Lydia looked together, and another two dudes hitting on Scott until it dawned on him that most people around him were not straight.

"I think we're in a gay club," Scott said a tad too loud. Partly because of the loud music but partly because of the drinks he already had.

"Nothing gets past you." Isaac couldn't hide a smile while Allison switched her almost empty glass with Scott's full one. At least somebody was watching out for him. Scott was a good guy but sometimes he had way too much fun with college life. Not as if Isaac had a leg to stand on here. However, Allison most likely didn't want to deal with a hungover Scott in the morning. Because contrary to what everybody around them seemed to think, she was with Scott and not with Lydia.

Boyd and Erica had a bet running on when Allison would ditch Scott for Lydia, though. Isaac's money was on Scott ending up in bed with both women, sporting the same Pikachu face he did right now with the realization that he was in a gay club. If he ever ended up in a threesome with the two women he would have no clue how he'd ended up there. He most likely would try to politely leave.

"Somebody is checking you out." Danny nodded at somebody in the crowd. It took Isaac a moment to spot the guy but when their eyes met, the man raised his glass in a salute. Isaac hurried to look away but Danny gave him an encouraging push and a minute later he was in the other man's space.

They danced and Isaac did have fun but when the guy got a little too handsy Isaac returned to his group of friends. He was here for a few hours of fun but he still had that assignment waiting for him tomorrow, he was not up for hooking up tonight. Besides, this was his birthday party, it would be rude to ditch his friends for some quick fun.

Others were here for some quick fun, though. When Isaac went to use the bathroom a little while, and two drinks, later he passed more than one couple making out in the hallway. At least the restroom was empty.

Isaac took care of business but when he was washing his hands, a couple stumbled through the door. They were too busy pawing at each other and eating each other's faces off to notice him. One of the men did look at him while they were backing up into a stall and getting what was about to happen Isaac hurried to look away but not before he caught a glimpse of the second man's face. Isaac felt his eyes bulge and then he fled the restroom without even drying his hands.

Back at their table, he knocked back his drink and when that was not enough to instantly bleach his brain, he reached for Boyd's.

"Hey, that's mine," Boyd protested but Isaac had already emptied the glass.

"You okay?" Erica narrowed her eyes at him. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"I think …" Isaac took a breath, this was ridiculous. But he knew what he'd seen. "I just saw Professor Stilinski going into a stall with some guy." There he'd said it.

"You … what?" Erica shook her head.

"Our Professor Stilinski?" Lydia asked, clearly not believing a word he was saying.

"Our Professor Stilinski." Isaac nodded. "He was all over that guy. They were basically in each other's pants." He reached for Scott's drink but Scott was quicker and saved his drink.

"And they were …" Danny made a vague gesture.

"Yeah," Isaac made.

"You mean … sex?" Scott lowered his voice for the last word. Isaac loved his friend but sometimes he was as clueless as a pile of bricks.

"Yes, he means sex," Allison said with a long-suffering sigh.

"Did he see you as well?" Lydia asked the important question. "Because if so, Monday is going to be awkward."

"He was too busy with pushing that other guy into the stall." Isaac thanked whatever kind of entity was listening for small mercies and had a look around the table in search of another drink. "I would have died on the spot if he'd seen me." He shuddered at that thought.

"It would have been way more embarrassing for him," Lydia pointed out. Always the mature one. "He's not here as our professor, what he does in his free time is none of our business."

"What's he teaching?" Scott asked in his adorable, innocent way.

"Math," Erica supplied. "He's been our professor for mathematics for two years now."

Aside from Scott and Allison they had all been sitting through his entry-level math class and were now in the advanced algebra class.

"Is he out?" Allison asked. "I mean, aside from the … you know, doing it in a club's restroom, this can cause him quite some trouble."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Isaac had only dared to come out as pan after his father's death. He didn't dare to imagine if his old man had found out that his son liked boys as well through some rumors. Not that that was the problem here, Allison had just opened a whole different can of worms.

"This can cause him way more trouble than that." Boyd shook his head. "But yeah, he's out."

Scott and Allison looked confused, not following, while the others shared a glance, not sure how to break it to them.

"He sometimes mentions his husband," Danny finally said. "I think we need more drinks for this."

He got up to get them another round.

"Husband?" Scott was still busy processing that information. "But that was not the guy you saw him with?"

"Never met his husband." Isaac shook his head. "But that was not him. No way."

"You mean … he's cheating on his husband?" Scott finally grasped what they were trying to tell him. Allison patted him on the shoulder for finally getting it.

By the time Danny came back with their drinks, Isaac was retelling his story for the third time. They wanted to know every detail. Isaac hadn't stopped to get the man's biography and once he'd recognized his professor, he'd hurried to get away as quickly as possible but the others, especially Erica, were milking him for every little bit he could tell them about the encounter.

It didn't get better with more drinks, those just fueled their speculations.

Isaac left the club drunk and hanging between Danny and Boyd for support. He doubted that either of them was able to walk on their own but somehow they made it back to the dorm. Scott was heading home with Allison so Isaac had their room for himself. Not that it made much of a difference, he just peeled himself out of his clothes, did a half-assed job at brushing his teeth, and then he dropped face-first onto his bed.

He woke up with the worst hangover ever. He stayed in bed with the blanket drawn over his head for as long as he could but eventually he had to face the day. A shower and coffee helped but his skull was still pulsing with his heartbeat and the sun was way too bright. Why was it noon already?

Scott hadn't come home in the morning and by now he should be at work. Isaac spared a second to feel sorry for him.

Isaac should get back to his assignment but instead, he just sat there, nursing his coffee, and feeling miserable in general. His memory of the last hours at the club was fuzzy but sadly he didn't have a complete blackout. He still remembered the encounter in the restroom clearly.

After gossiping over it for what had felt like hours, they had all agreed to keep it to themselves, Isaac remembered that clearly too. Cheating on one's husband was not okay but as Lydia had pointed out, it was none of their business. Besides, they all wanted to pass that class.

Isaac opened his laptop eventually.

"Oh shit!" Isaac almost spat his coffee all over the screen when he saw the active window. Instead of his assignment, he had his emails open. He didn't remember it but he must have sent out an email last night because he had a reply to a message with the title: eXTnsssssssssssio,,,,pls?

Isaac stared at the line for a long minute before he dared to open the message.

Reading his drunk rambling about it being his birthday and that his friends had forced him to go out and that he didn't have enough brain bleach for what he'd seen, Isaac shrank deeper and deeper into his chair. He could never look Professor Hale in the eye ever again. He should just drop out of his class. Maybe move to Cleveland.

The worst part was that the professor had replied: See me in my office on Wednesday.