Author's note:Thanks to Roseveare and Jadelennox for the beta.

Nathan had drunk three cups of coffee in the morning to be as alert as possible for the English test first period. The plan backfired, as his hands were shaking and he spent the last third of the test trying desperately to ignore his bladder. They weren't allowed to leave early, so he ended up checking and double-checking his answers, while his mind was occupied with the slowly-expanding fluid in his body. It was enough to make him miss his childhood condition, though if he was honest with himself, if he'd still not had a sense of touch he'd most likely have ended up peeing all over the floor.

The thought of that was so mortifying that the last uncertain answer remained uncertain, and when the bell rang, he flinched in surprise despite having waited for it for so long. He handed in the test and rushed to the bathroom, ignoring the school rule about running in the hallway.

There was no-one else in there, so Nathan stepped into the nearest stall, barely giving himself the time to lock behind him before he got right down to business.

He was almost done when there was a low moan from a nearby stall, followed by a hushing sound. At this point, he couldn't just stop cold, but he listened carefully as he finished up and slowly walked over to the sinks. More people were coming into the bathroom at this point, and if there were any more sounds from the stall he couldn't hear them, but he doubted it, because that...

That wasn't an "ow, I've got a stomach ache" sound, that was pleasure. And sure, the most likely scenario would be someone taking a little time to themselves to jerk off, but there had been that hushing, too. Two people. Someone had brought a girl in there, and he couldn't help feeling impressed with the nerve. Who was it, thought? A senior, or someone he knew, even? Nobody had study hall first period, so whoever it was had skipped class, yet come to school first thing anyway. There were a group of guys who did that with some regularity, and some of those were the type who might get a girl to skip class in order to have semi-public sex.

He took his time washing his hands as he watched the stall, and was stunned to see Kenny Edwards, from senior class, step out of it, all flustered, quickly closing the door behind him.

"Uh, the flush is broken," he stammered, his back to the door.

"Don't worry, Edwards, no-one wants to see your crap," one of the other guys said, and Kenny slunk away. The door behind him was now locked, though nobody but Nathan seemed to notice. Whoever the girl was, she took care not to be seen.

Nathan stood back, frowning. Kenny Edwards? That didn't fit at all. Sure, Kenny was good looking, in a way, and a step or two above Nathan on the social ladder, but he was straight-laced and preppy as anything. The thought of him skipping class for sex in the bathroom... the only explanation would have to be that the girl put him up to it. But it would have to be a hell of a girl to get Kenny to agree, and what would a girl like that want with Kenny?

While others came and went, Nathan remained by the sinks, doing his best to look like he wasn't just lounging about. Passing time was almost over and he hadn't even picked up his textbook, but he was too curious to leave. As time progressed, the bathroom cleared of people once again. The lock on the mysterious stall turned, and Nathan stared into the mirror, waiting for...

Duke Crocker. Nathan's head spun as Duke sauntered up to the sinks and started washing his hands like nothing strange had been going on at all. For a moment, Nathan wondered if he'd been staring at the wrong door, but no, that was the one. And Duke hadn't been to class. He only ever showed up when he felt like it and was just as likely to be found smoking in the schoolyard, or sleeping on the sofa outside the music room, if he wasn't down at the docks skipping school altogether.

Yes, Duke was exactly the kind of guy who'd rather have sex in the bathroom than take the English test, but...

Their eyes met in the mirror, and Duke raised his eyebrows at Nathan, who was still staring.

"Gonna be late for class, Nate," he drawled.

Nathan licked his lips but could do nothing about his dry throat. "You weren't in English," he said. It came out accusatory, though the accusation he really wanted to make was what the fuck were you doing with Kenny Edwards?

Duke looked amused. "So?"

"We had a test."

"Good thing I missed it, then." Duke watched him in the mirror, then turned around to watch him in person. "What's going on, Nathan?"

They were alone now, all the stalls empty, and Nathan croaked, "You and Kenny Edwards?"

A hard glint showed in Duke's eyes, as if he was wondering if it would be worth the trouble to dunk Nathan in the toilet. Nathan ignored his instinct to back off and raised his chin in defiance instead. He'd never been beaten up by Duke Crocker – not really, not a proper beating – and he wasn't about to start now.

"So what?" Duke growled.

"Well... you..." Nathan started, wondering how to answer so what? when his mind was still stuck on what?

Duke watched him quietly for a moment, and then lowered his shoulders. "Kenny's a nice guy. You want to fuck things up for him?"

That got Nathan thinking. This was definitely dynamite information, and it didn't take a whole lot of imagination to figure out what would happen if it became public knowledge. It could end up making high school living hell for them – well, Kenny at least, because Nathan suddenly realized that Duke, if push came to shove, would probably just stop going altogether. And even if he'd been the type to rat on his classmates, which he wasn't, whatever Duke might think, he didn't want that for either of them.

"No, of course not," he said honestly.

"Well, then," Duke said and, after a moment, flashed him a grin. "I figure I can trust you, Wuornos. That's something I always did like about you. Now, run along. You don't want to keep teacher waiting."

Glancing down at his watch, Nathan noticed how late he was and headed for the door, only to pause and ask Duke, "You're in my French class too, aren't you? Are you coming?"

"French?" Duke said. "Ugh. Screw that."

Nathan couldn't really blame him. French with Mlle Deveraux was a drag. Still, he asked, "Why do you even come to school, if you don't go to class?"

"For the extracurriculars, obviously," Duke said with a wink.

Nathan blushed, and Duke laughed.

"I'll see you in math. Now get, before Mlle Deveraux becomes très irritée."

Caught up in the laugh, Nathan was chuckling as well on his way through the hallway, though he made sure to put the proper expression of contrition on his face before he reached class.

In Duke's best moments – which were admittedly few and far between – he was ridiculously easy to like. It wasn't hard to imagine Kenny Edwards falling for that, even if the thought of Duke Crocker with guys still made Nathan's head spin.

In time, Nathan should have been able to get over the encounter, but instead it just grew in his mind. He found himself trying to picture exactly what had gone down in that bathroom. It would have to have been a blow job, wouldn't it? The stall was surely much too cramped for anything else, and that moan had been too intense for kissing. Or at least any kissing he'd ever known. Maybe kissing Duke was different, and why was he spending any time thinking about that?

That wide grin... the way that mouth curved. He thought of Duke's mouth around Kenny's cock, but couldn't quite see it in his head. The other way around was easier to imagine. But that hushing, you couldn't hush like that while blowing someone, or moan either. Maybe they'd just been using hands.

There were half a dozen different scenarios running through Nathan's head, and it made seeing Duke again really awkward. Any time they bumped into each other in class or the hallway, Nathan didn't know which way to look, and he thought with irritation that it was almost like Duke was keeping his big dark secret rather than vice versa. And was Duke going to more classes these days, or did it just seem like it?

The locker room was obviously the most awkward. Duke wasn't a jock by any stretch of the imagination, but he did well enough in PE when he deigned to show up, and his attitude in the shower was mostly one of detached disinterest. Maybe he'd crack a joke or two with Jeff McShaw or Jack Driscoll or some other of his friends, but mostly he'd just get into the showers and out without any kind of fuss, before disappearing to wherever he went. Sometimes he didn't show up until most of the others were done, and Nathan remembered rumors of what was sometimes going on behind the bleachers, but Duke seemed unperturbed.

How could he play it so cool? Nathan wondered. He stole sideways glances and thought, Duke Crocker likes guys, but you sure couldn't tell by the way he acted. There were no hard-ons or longing looks or anything like that, barely even the kind of tomfoolery the other guys got up to. It was like he wasn't even there – and maybe that was the way he coped.

Sometimes Nathan wondered if he'd imagined the whole thing, but no, Duke had practically admitted it, and Nathan knew he hadn't imagined that. Duke was definitely... well, not gay, unless those girls he hung with were some elaborate ruse. But he was definitely into guys, or into having his cock blown by guys. That thought made Nathan's gaze slip to where it shouldn't. Catching himself, he looked away, but not before seeing Duke throw him a long glance and a wink, which, no. They weren't having this secret together, not him and Duke Crocker of all people, his dad would kill him at the mere idea.

Still, even outside of PE, just having Duke in class was distracting. When Duke was absent, it was a little bit easier, though Nathan still kept wondering where he was, and what he was doing... and who with.

Then there was the time after the math test when Mr. Cavanaugh put the results up and Nathan stared at the three names on top, Duke third, and two names above his own, the difference between an A- and a B+. It wasn't even that surprising. Practically everyone in class thought Mr. Cavanaugh was a mean old bastard, but Duke for some reason seemed to enjoy his cold sarcasm and could be more or less relied upon to show up in his class.

If he'd happened to do better than Nathan on the test, so what? Nathan might be striving to do well in school, but he wasn't that competitive. Sometimes Duke turned up for a test after missing half the classes and still passed, and that irked Nathan to no end. Math wasn't like that. Most likely, Duke had actually studied, and him getting a good score was just fair play. The score wasn't what bothered Nathan this time. Duke's name, in black and white on the page, was.

"Crying for your B plus, Nate?" Duke asked from barely inches away, hand landing on Nathan's shoulder, causing him to jump back.

"Maybe I should get you to tutor me," Nathan said, keeping his voice as steady as he could.

Duke laughed, his breath tickling Nathan's cheek."Yeah, that's something I'd want to do. Sorry, I only ever tutor people as a sexual service. Isn't that right, Jeannine?" he called across the classroom.

Jeannine rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Duke." But she didn't sound displeased. Doing it with just anyone could give a girl a bad reputation, but everyone had pretty much accepted Jeannine casting Duke as the Judd Nelson to her Molly Ringwald.

That hadn't been an invitation, Nathan thought as he went back to his desk. It couldn't have been, just a jerkass joke to embarrass him. Except all he'd have to do was say, "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you, Duke? If you and Kenny Edwards are quite done with each other," and then ball would have been set rolling.

What the hell kind of game was Duke playing? It came dangerously close to flirting, and Nathan hadn't given him any reason to believe that would be welcome. Had he?