The sound of the alarm pierced the morning air.

Iwaizumi lazily swung his arm over his head, searching blindly for his phone. He grabbed it from the nightstand and squinted at the bright screen, his vision still drowsy from sleeping. It was 6:40 and he still had ten minutes until he had to get up and prepare for school. He sighed, ready to turn around and crawl back under the bedsheets, when a notification caught his eye. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes. 32 new text messages from Hanamaki. What the hell?

He propped himself on his elbow and unlocked his phone. Still frowning, he opened the chat.

Makki: Oh my god

Makki: You HAVE to see this

Makki: What the hell what the ehell what the hell what sskdlsakdsj

Makki: Did you know about this?

Makki: [picture file]

Makki: Wake up right now or i swear to godddd

Iwaizumi opened the picture and his heart skipped a beat. He ignored the rest of Hanamaki's spamming and stared at the blurry photo of two boys making out, one of which was undoubtedly Oikawa Tooru. The other boy (Iwaizumi couldn't make out much of him except for the fact that he had blonde hair) was holding Oikawa's face and pulling their waists closer.

Iwaizumi didn't know how he felt. Something inside his stomach dropped and he closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. Oikawa liked attention and Iwaizumi knew he had a fair deal of hook-ups before - and he never considered it any of his business. But seeing him like this, in another man's arms, with his eyes shut and hair sticking to his forehead, it made him feel utterly helpless. A small spark of jelaousy jabbed his chest. That could have been him.

No, he thought. If this makes him happy, I'd be a dick to try and take it away from him. Despite that, he couldn't bear to look at the blond guy pinning Oikawa to the wall anymore. He turned off his phone and his gaze fell to the window. The first spots of sunlight skimmed the rooftops as the last traces of morning haze disappeared. Birds were chirping on the closest power line and somewhere near a car drove by. It was a beautiful day, Iwaizumi thought sadly. A conversation he recently had with Hanamaki crossed his mind.

"Excuse me, how long again?"

"Two years ago, now shut the hell up, Makki," Iwaizumi growled and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was beginning to think this wasn't the best idea.

Hanamaki's mouth was still open in disbelief. "And you never tried asking him out?!"

"It's not that simple!" Iwaizumi shouted. "It's complicated. He's complicated."

"It is not complicated! Just ask him out. Everyone and their mother knows that Oikawa's been pining for you since, like, forever."

"You're just saying that so you can have something to talk about with Mattsun once he rejects me."

"Iwaizumi, I am serious," Hanamaki crossed his arms.

"Yeah, well so am I."

They turned around the corner and continued to walk through the dimly lit street. They just finished an evening practice and since Oikawa was sick, Iwaizumi decided to accompany Hanamaki on his way home.

"Does anybody else know?"

"No, you're the only one."

Hanamaki stopped in his tracks. "Iwa, you have to promise me you'll ask him out."

Iwaizumi kicked a nearby rock. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about this."

"Please, it is obvious he's in love with you. His eyes go all round and lovey-dovey when he's around you, it's disgusting."

"Your eyes go all round and lovey-dovey when you see a meat-bun but that doesn't mean you wanna fuck it. At least I hope so. Besides, he hooks up with people constantly."

"Yes, but those are just hook ups," Hanamaki groaned. "They don't mean anything."

"Well, I don't want to be just a hook up."

Hanamaki fell silent. They walked for another minute or so, when they came to a zebra crossing. The traffic lights were casting a green light, but Hanamaki didn't move.

"Please, I'm not even joking about this. Just try and ask him out. You'll save yourself a lot of pain."

Iwaizumi sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I can't risk it. He's so much more to me than just a stupid crush. We knew each other since we were kids and he is my best friend, and as much as I'd like to date him, I could never forgive myself if I ruined what we have right now. It's better not to love him at all than to lose him over my selfishness."

Iwaizumi forced himself into a sitting position, leaning his elbows on his knees, and ruffled his hair in frustration. He changed his mind. It was a horrible day and Iwaizumi didn't feel like doing anything.

Oikawa practically slammed open the door to his class. He earned himself a couple of shocked looks from his classmates but he disregarded them completely. He flung himself onto his chair and started taking out his notebooks, clearly aggravated. He hadn't slept much that night. The dark circles under his eyes and the constant yawning were a clear reminder of that. As soon as he saw Ushijima's name on the screen he lost it. He threw all three of his companions out of his house and stared at his living room wall for a solid 15 minutes. Out of all the people Bokuto could've accidentaly clicked it had to be Ushijima Wakatoshi. He wasn't even mad, just incredibly irritated. He's been ignoring Kuroo's and Bokuto's texts since the incident (Bokuto was apologizing like crazy, but all Kuroo was doing was retelling the whole thing again and pointing out just how devastatingly hilarious his face was upon seeing the screen), not because he was angry at them, but because he wanted to avoid thinking about yesterday night for as long as possible.

"Hey man, you alright? You look tired," Matsukawa leaned on his desk. His voice sounded concerned, but his eyes seemed smug, and Oikawa could tell that he thought he knew the reason behind his fatigue. Behind him Hanamaki grinned. Oikawa wasn't having any of it.

"To hell with both of you."

Matsukawa enthusiastically slapped his back. "Cheer up, captain. We don't want you slacking at practice today."

Oikawa was about to add a sarcastic remark but someone else caught his attention. The door opened as a certain black-haired boy entered, and he seemed just as agitated as Oikawa was. For a split second his heart fluttered.

"Hey Iwa-chan," he waved hoping to sound as natural as possible. He was looking closely at Iwaizumi's expression, trying to notice what lied behind his sour facade. Could it really be that Kuroo was right and that Iwaizumi was jealous?

"Hey." Iwaizumi didn't look at him.

Oikawa stared at him dumbfounded. What the hell does this mean?

"What, Trashykawa, I have something on my face?" his head turned and his eyes met Oikawa's. He was just as snappy as usual, Oikawa thought, and something in his voice told Oikawa his anger wasn't directed at him.

"Nothing, you just look irritated."

"Yeah, cause the first thing I see when I walk in here is your face."

Oikawa couldn't help but smile. "That's mean." Iwaizumi was acting normal towards him and Oikawa didn't know whether he should feel relieved or stressed.

However, it was obvious that something was bothering him. Oikawa could see it in his distant stare and the way his eyebrows were slightly lowered.

"Seriously, what is it with you staring today?" Iwaizumi turned back to him again.

"Oh nothing, I'm just captivated by your ethereal beauty, as usual."

Iwaizumi suddenly shot up, pushing the desk and causing it to screech loudly. He violently pushed it back into place and left, mumbling something about going to the bathroom. Oikawa was taken aback by his reaction. He was expecting to get a usual annoyed look or a couple of insults, but this was different. Even Hanamaki and Matsukawa looked surprised. Oikawa turned back to the front. Kuroo and Bokuto told him Iwaizumi would act strange, but instead of feeling better about it, he felt more miserable than ever. He glanced at the clock. Class was about to start soon. He lied down onto the desk, completely unaware of Hanamakki's disapproving stare.

Iwaizumi was the first to leave class after school ended. Oikawa was the last. Him and Iwaizumi didn't talk at all despite Oikawa apologizing and attempting to make small talk. He desperately hoped practice would help him clear his head and pick up his spirit again.

With a frustrated sigh he left the classroom and was headed for the gymnasium.

"Hey, Oikawa!"

Oikawa winced, turning around. Hanamaki was approaching him from the bathrooms. "Hey."

"Is everything okay? I don't want to be nosy, but both you and Iwaizumi seemed tense today."

"No, nothing happened," the two boys continued walking together. "I don't know why was he so pissed today."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't flirt with everything that walks," Hanamaki said carefully.

Oikawa looked at him genuinely confused. "What do you mean? I don't flirt with anyone except Iwa-chan. Also, I haven't hooked up with anyone for almost a year and a half. I stopped doing that after I…" he held back. After I realized I was in love with him, he thought. "After I realized I wanted a serious relationship."

Hanamaki stopped in his tracks. He gave Oikawa the dirtiest, most unimpressed look, and Oikawa immediately realized he made a mistake. "Are you actually kidding me right now?"

"What?" Oikawa squeaked, trying to act oblivious to the fact that he knows that Hanamaki knows about yesterday.

"I don't know if you know, but there's a certain picture going around."

Oikawa let out the weakest 'oh'. He had never been a good liar.

"I got it from someone yesterday and they said not to show anyone. I don't wanna make you panic or anything, but I figured you should know." He pulled out his phone and showed Oikawa the picture he very willingly participated in making.

"Oh, that," he laughed nervously. "Yeah, but that was, uh, different. We didn't have sex or anything, we were at a party and I was drunk and we made out for a bit, but that's all, I swear."

Hanamaki shrugged. "I literally couldn't care less. But if you really want a serious relationship maybe you should tone down a bit your hoeing around." He lightly pushed his shoulder, showing that it was just a playful remark, but Oikawa took it to heart. Oh my god, I am such an idiot. He didn't think this through at all. Jealous or not, Iwaizumi, like any other normal person, wouldn't want to date someone who hoes around like that.

"Does… does anyone else know? About the picture."

Hanamaki hesitated. He wasn't exactly proud that he forwarded it to everyone on the team the exact moment he recieved it. "Uh, just Matsukawa."

Oikawa nodded.

"And Iwaizumi," he added. He didn't want to snitch on his friend - he knew very well why he was so distracted today - but at the same time he wanted Oikawa to pick up the hint and realize how Iwaizumi feels about him.

Oikawa's heart fluttered at the mention of his name. "Right." They entered the gymnasium.

Twenty minutes later, they were on the court, Oikawa positioned parallel to the net and tossing the ball to the attackers. It was just a simple drill - atfer each hitter hit the ball, he'd cross to the other side and recieve the next spike. They were just starting to play and Oikawa had already missed the first three tosses. He kept apologizing to his teammates, convincing both them and himself that he just needed to warm up a bit, but he knew he that was a lie. He knew he wouldn't be able to play well from the moment he picked up a volleyball - it was one of those days when it just didn't feel right in his hands, when his game sense was completely off. He had just apologized to Kindaichi for setting too high, when he saw who was next. His eyes collided with Iwaizumi's and he shuddered. This will be a great spike. Iwaizumi never missed his tosses, no matter how bad they were.

The ball bounced off of Oikawa's fingers and his eyes lit up - this was a good set. Iwaizumi swung his arms and jumped, his hand coming closer and closer to the ball.

He missed.

His fingers barely grazed the ball, making it cross the net by a whisker. Oikawa was stunned. He watched as the spiker lifted the net, cursing under his breath. If he really was the reason for Iwaizumi's weird behaviour, then he didn't know whether he should feel flattered or just plain stupid. Kuroo and Bokuto's damn jealousy nonsense wasn't worth anything if his best friend became completely unrecognizable. He turned around and prepared for the next set.

The training lasted forever, or so it seemed to Oikawa. Him and Iwaizumi were so uncoordinated today that it was terrifying. His tosses had never been worse and he lost count of how many times he had bowed down and said sorry. His teammates kept telling him to forget it but he couldn't bring himself to listen. Deep down he felt a familiar sting of fear. The spring tournament was coming soon and if he didn't snap out of this, if he failed, then he would never be able to forgive himself.

"Alright," coach Irihata said to the team, "today wasn't your best day. But it didn't have to be. We still have plenty more practices until the tournament so don't get discouraged. I will try to arrange a practice match soon so you can see how your new techniques work in a real match and what else we have to work on. Don't worry about today. I advise you to go home, have a good meal and rest a little. Tomorrow will be a new day."

It will, Oikawa thought. He didn't know what it would bring, but he hoped that he would somehow be closer to getting himself out of this mess. He changed in the locker room but when he was finished, Iwaizumi had already left. He said goodbye to Kunimi and Yahaba and made his way out of the gymnasium, alone with his thoughts.