1 Year and 5 Months

"Have you seen the new kid?"

"Is he even a kid?"

"He looks kinda scary, Lins, I don't know..."

"Isn't he gorgeous?"

"Is he a new professor?"

"I thought that style went out of fashion last year?"

Eddward Marion Rockwell ignored the usual whispers going on about him. He was a on mission. Had been for a full year and change. His crystal blue eyes searched every face, every crowd, every class. According to Nathaniel, they should've been in the Square. But he didn't see them. "Damn you, Nathaniel. You said you would be here. Where are you?" He took out his phone to text him when he caught a glimpse of familiar red hair. The shade of red you wouldn't forget. His heart gave a hard thump and he clutched his chest for a second. "Mon Coeur..."

D. Delicious: NATHANIEL

Nathaniel: YES DEE?! Scare the shit out of me why don't you...

D. Delicious: I need you to look up.

Nat gave a startled noise and looked up...and right into the blue eyes of his raven haired friend across the Square. "Oh shit...Kevin, stay here. I forgot I needed to do something. I'll be back in a moment!" He said, scrambling over their things. Kevin grunted and continued eating while trying to finish the paper that was due for English Lit.

Dee couldn't stop looking at Kevin. Had gotten broader, taller since the last time they had seen each other. He still had his eyes on him when Nat walked, no, ran up to him.

"Dee! I can't believe you're here! Wait...why are you here?" Nat looked at his friend quizzically. Without taking his eyes off of Kevin, "I transferred. It took longer than it was supposed to. But I managed to convince the Dean that it was imperative that I come here. I cited familial circumstances."

Nat looked at Dee. Disbelief clear in his face. "Dee...you risked losing a potential tenured job after you graduate to come here? Why?"

"As if you have to ask Nathaniel..." Sadness creeped into the taller boys tone and his bright blue eyes appeared to dull in color. Nat sighed. He knew the answer without either of them needing to speak. "He's been doing okay, you know. We got drunk the other night and he mentioned you. I don't think he remembers. But he loves you. He loves you more than he could ever love Nazz. And that's saying a lot considering who she is as a person."

Dee snapped his attention to his friend. "What has she done?"

"That is a story I will need to tell you on a different day. Right now, Kevin and I have a class to go to. I had to switch all of my classes around to be able to be with him at all times. I think she scares him in some way and I haven't been able to figure it out." He turned around to walk back to Kevin, who was already gathering his things. Dee watched as Kevin's face lit up when he saw Nat. He assumed that he and Nat would grow close, he needed someone in his corner right now.

He turned around and walked into the building. He needed to speak with the Dean and get everything in order.

Several days later, he paid Nazz a visit. Dee almost didn't want to. Anytime he thought of her, his anger rose and turned into unleashed rage. But he would calm himself this one time. Or at least try not to lash out like he wanted to.

Ding Dong

He waited five minutes before she answered the door.

Nazz was not happy. That much was obvious. Dee sat patiently on the other side of the living room, like a cat waiting to pounce on his prey. His cool blue eyes boring into her angry green. "What are you doing here, Rockwell?" She said.

He smiled coyly. "I only came to see some old friends. I heard you were attending so I thought I would drop by. Is that so wrong dear Nazz?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know he isn't going to want to see you. Not that he can anyway. I told him he wasn't allowed to see or talk to you. Not after what you did."

He clenched his jaw. So she was the reason he got that message. It wasn't because Kevin didn't want to see him...it was because she had forbade him from doing so. He thought he was going to play nice. He smirked. Like a shark in water, he circled his prey. "I see. Are you really that threatened by me, Nazz? I have done nothing, to my knowledge, to make you feel this way." He already knew the answer, but he wanted to see how long he could keep this up. For posterity's sake, of course.

She shook her head. "You really don't know? You're either too smart to say anything or too stupid." She stood and walked to the kitchen. He could hear her rumbling around. She came back a few minutes later. "If we're going to hash this out, might as well have tea. Don't you think?" She offered him a cup, he took it politely but put it down on the table in front of him. If she noticed the slight, she didn't give any hint that she did.

"Nazz. You were sending him messages throughout our short lived relationship. Messages, might I add, that were sending him into panic attacks."

"Oh dear, that does sound serious. I had no idea that my messages were doing that to him. But then again, he was living a lie. A lie you told him and manipulated him into. No one deserves that. Not even my Kevin."

This bitch, he thought. He suspected she was crazy, but not to this level. If Nathaniel was right, Kevin was being gaslit into thinking that being gay was wrong. He closed his eyes for a moment. Just for a moment, so he could collect his thoughts. Then she chuckled.

"You know. He did cry for a while. When he thought I wasn't listening. He thought he could hide it from me. But once he realized that it was doing him no good and that he couldn't, he stopped. He hasn't cried over you in a long time. And he's happy. So much happier than when he was with you. I can provide for him better. Take care of him in ways that you could only imagine-"

"How's your sex life, Nazz? Does he touch you at all?"

She was taken aback. Clearly this was a subject that shouldn't be broached. But she had pushed him. And he was going to push back.