Chapter 20—Broken Epicenter

It's truly amazing how fast the human body can react to fear. It's even more amazing how quickly things can fall apart.

"I was thinking we could get some pizza!" the cheery voice continued as footsteps echoed.

"Hurry up!" Nick whispered harshly, barely pulling his shirt over his head.

Xander was buttoning his pants when the intruder entered.

"Hey Chip," Xander greeted awkwardly.

"Hey! How's physics coming for you? Even more brutal than Alchemy, huh?!" Chip enthused.

Nick's eyes darted uncomfortably.

"Nah…Nick's been a pretty good tutor."

Was that a double entendre?

"I wouldn't have pinned you as a physics wiz, Nick."

"Funny how that works, huh?" Nick replied, smiling falsely.

"Anyway, pizza?" Chip quirked.

"Uhm…no thanks, why don't you go ask Vida? I'm sure she'd love to. Nick and I still have a lot to go over," Xander replied calmly.

"Alright! Well, don't kill yourself with this physics stuff. Good thing you're not the Quantum ranger!" Chip laughed.

"What?" Xander asked, genuinely confused.

"Get it? Quantum Physics?" Chip asked as he headed for the door.

"Oh…ha ha," Nick and Xander laughed wryly.

But Chip was gone.

"Okay…so that was close…" Nick breathed out slowly.

"Yeah…it was…sorry."

"You don't have to be," Nick replied with a smile.

"Where'd we leave off?" Xander asked with a smirk.

"We were about to go to dinner," came a stern voice.

Nick spun around to see Jeremy standing in the entryway of the living room. He looked more than suspicious.

"Hey!" Nick smiled, trying his best to act normal upon seeing Jeremy.

"What's going on…?" Jeremy asked, his voice somewhat suspicious.

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Pretty much," answered Nick.

Xander shrugged, "I guess I should be going."

"You might want to zip your zipper," Jeremy mentioned.

Xander stopped in his tracks.

"Come again?"

"Your zipper. It's undone. Wonder how that happened."

Jeremy's voice was faltering between calm and angry, and it didn't sound like something that was getting better with time.

"My mistake," Xander tried to cover.

"No, it was mine."

Nick didn't speak, his silence spoke volumes.

"Xander…can we have a minute?" he finally whispered.

Xander understood perfectly. He knew how this would unfold. Nick would explain how it was a stupid, senseless romp that meant nothing. Jeremy would then forgive him and they would go and have maddening make up sex. But not in his house. Hell no.

"Yeah…sure," he replied slowly, a hint of anger showing in his voice.

Without another word, Xander ascended the stairs to his bedroom above where he could hopefully hear the conversation below.

Jeremy sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm not even sure where to begin…"

"What are you talking about? You don't even know what was going on," Nick replied quickly. A little too quickly.

"Then why are you getting so defensive?"

"Because I already know what you're assuming."

"Don't lie to me, Nick. I'm not 13. I know what was going on. I've been there and done him."

Nick flinched. He hated the way Jeremy talked about Xander like he was nothing more than an object used for pleasure.

"So I've heard," Nick added bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look…I don't think I can do this. This is just…it's not the same anymore, Jeremy. It's not. You're always down my throat about where I go and who I'm with, and I'm tired of it. I'm 17, not 7."

"Nick, I just care about you and—"

"No, Jeremy, you care about owning me. You're too…possessive."

"Possessive?" Jeremy asked incredulously.

"Yes, possessive. I mean, the way you talk about Xander like he was just some item that you passed along. Is that the way you're gonna talk about me when we're over?"

"No, Nick, I—"

"Jeremy…I really think it's best if we just leave this alone. For good."

And then the silence sunk in. And in sunk in hard. In fact, it seeped and crawled until it had rotted into the very recesses of Jeremy's mind before he realized what had happened. And then he smiled.

"You're right."

"I am?"

"Yeah. This is just too restricted, and what we had was great, but I think it's time to move on too."

Nick was speechless. It went better than he…hadn't planned?

"Nice doin business with ya Nick," Jeremy said, stretching out a hand.

Nick observed the hand he'd held so many times before. And now it didn't seem right to touch it. Sure, it wasn't vile, it wasn't going to electrocute him…but…it felt strange to touch Jeremy's hand after they had separated.

"Likewise," he replied after a few pensive moments.

And their hands connected in a firm shake, sharing one last electric touch before Jeremy stood and left. Just like that, the drama was over. All the angst that had built up with Xander, all the trials with Casey, and all the history with Jeremy; it was all resolved. Well, almost. There was still Xander. And what Xander wanted was always something complicated to Nick.

Why can't he just be simple?

But the answer itself was simple. Because Xander was a complex person, and when he wanted something bad enough, he would do any and every thing to get it.

Maybe we can try this one more time…?