Stavros and Rafael are sitting on Nicholas' bed, all of them in their matching pyjamas (that Nicholas bought as a joke, but the design is really comfortable so they unironically wear them a lot) and sharing snacks while the snoring coming through the thin walls is blocked off by silenced curtains. Nicholas and Rafael sit up by the headboard while Stavros splays out over their legs.

"So how long are you keeping this up for?" Stavros asks, up on one elbow.

Nicholas tilts his head. "Oh, you mean the acting? I was just going to slowly ease back into myself – shouldn't be too hard, it was basically all cosmetic stuff anyway." He laughs. "Shit, I still can't believe her friends talked to me more when I sat like you, how rubbish is that?"

Stavros flicks the chocolate peanuts around. "So this is legit then? You'll date her?"

Rafael gives Stavros a frown from behind Nicholas' shoulder.

"Uh, duh! She's my wife," Nicholas smirks, trying to sound confident. He’s still thinking about what casual means to Mariana and doesn’t want to let Luca down just yet. "Luca doesn't know when I proposed but since we started early anyway, I'm thinking graduation. We could do a whole thing for it."

Nicholas is absolutely certain Stavros or Rafael will call him out on that bullshit but neither seems to notice.

"Are you dating Mariana because you think you should?" Stavros demands.

There's a heartbeat and then Rafael takes a breath. "Did you two finish that technomancy essay-"

"What do you mean?" Nicholas asks in confusion. "Like because everyone else is dating?"

"Because you want to have Luca again," Stavros states.

"Stavros," Rafael says firmly.

"What?" Stavros snaps back, sitting up and making the snacks roll around. "Tell him, tell him what you told me before – about how he's never going to be able to have Luca."

Nicholas looks to Rafael, eyes wide.

Rafael sighs. "It's…the chances of having the exact same baby, at the right time with the same looks and everything is so miniscule. There are -what- three trillion sperm every time, and different eggs each month, and…so even if you marry Mariana and have a baby it's never going to be Luca. It's essentially impossible now that all this time travel has happened."

Stavros gestures to Rafael. "There, Nicky. No need to keep trying so hard. Luca is strong -he’s unbelievably strong- and an adult, and older than you. I'm sure he'd love to meet his biological mother but that's not Mariana – not this Mariana."

"I can never have Luca?" Nicholas says quietly.

"You already have him," Stavros argues. "And you'll have lots of other kids like you've always wanted, I'm just saying you don't need to try so hard and pretend to like Mariana for Luca's sake."

"I like her for my sake!" Nicholas retorts which is true but it’s also not the whole truth. It doesn’t matter anyway, Nicholas just wants to make Luca happy, and why is that such a bad thing? "I've always liked her, I’ve confessed before-"

"You kissed her once as a little kid," Rafael cuts in. "I understand that she was your first crush so she has a special place but that was years ago. Before Luca, you weren’t interested in her romantically, and now you’re caught up in this game. It’s right in front of you and – and you have no idea what you want.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"That's pretty fucking rude, Rafael," Nicholas snaps, sitting up straight because something about that just digs into him after a week of pretending to be a better version of himself and witnessing exactly how much people like it better. "You think you know what I want better? I’m sorry I don’t match up to your imaginary expectations but here’s another one - I'd like to go to sleep now instead of arguing with your bullshit, get off my bed."

"You want to talk about expectations?” Stavros cries in outrage. “We built Mariana a perfect boyfriend and she doesn’t know the fucking difference after five years in the same school! She doesn’t deserve you.”

“What do I deserve then?” Nicholas snaps. “Not Luca apparently. Not a lover according to you. Not your fucking respect for my own choices – you think you know me, Stavros? You think I don’t fake it for you too?”

There’s a beat of silence and then Stavros’ expression distorts into something feral. Nicholas throws himself away but Rafael is already yanking his ankle and Nicholas is dragged away from the edge, still scrambling at the quilt when Stavros comes down on him.

“I know you, you arrogant son of a bitch,” Stavros hisses darkly, looming over him with one hand gripping Nicholas' wrist, the other shoving the side of Nicholas' face down into the mattress hard enough that his glasses are digging into his face painfully. “There is not a single secret you’ve been able to keep from me. There is not a lie you’ve ever told that I couldn’t pick out. How fucking dare you-”

"Let go!" Nicholas yells, his free hand clawing at the hand shoving his head down, still trying to yank his legs out from under Rafael, the candy going everywhere as Nicholas thrashes as the two pin him down. "Maybe I've grown up!” he snaps and now he’s aiming to hurt, now he’s lashing out. “Maybe I’ve grown out of you. Maybe I'm the only fucking person here who's realised people change!"

"You promised we'd be for life, Nicholas!" Stavros screams, eyes shining wetly in the light. "What do you think that means? You can’t - you think you can leave me?"

Rafael surges forward and shoves Stavros off balance. "Shut up, you moron! You think now is really the time?"

Nicholas scrambles off the bed, falling out from under the curtain and staggering back to his feet. Stavros yanks open the curtains and goes for a low tackle around the legs but Nicholas leaps over him and slams the door open, running up the stairs.

Rafael grabs him by the back of the shirt and yanks him back, Nicholas choking on his collar and falling into Rafael’s chest where he's then grabbed in a bearhug and shoved down onto his knees, Rafael folding over his back and forcing Nicholas to bow forward, sitting on his calves and forehead scant centimetres from the ground.

Nicholas throws his head back but Rafael turns away to avoid a broken nose and tightens his arms around Nicholas.

"Nicholas," Rafael tries with badly hidden panic. "Nicky, I'm sorry, I should have stopped that before it got too far."

"Go fuck yourself," Nicholas wheezes, being crushed with Rafael on top of him. "Luca," he gasps but he can't get enough air to make it a proper scream. His hands claw at Rafael’s forearms, digging in his fingernails.

Stavros steps out of the dorm room, wand in hand, and casts a silencing charm. "Drag him back in."

"Fuck you," Nicholas coughs. "What are you going to do, huh? We're in a fucking school."

"Actually, let’s put him in the beacon tower," Stavros says.

Rafael darts a glare up at Stavros. "No. We just need to calm him down."

"I'm plenty calm," Nicholas snaps. "You're lucky I don't turn into Rito and use my horns to shatter your fucking ribcage! Let go of me. I want Adam!"

"Adam is dead," Stavros snaps. "And Luca isn't even your real son so I don't know why you're running off to him for."

Nicholas is facing the floor so Rafael and Stavros only realise he's crying when Nicholas' breath hitches and he doesn't quite manage to swallow down a high-pitched whine.

"Oh, Nicky," Rafael sighs, sitting back and pulling Nicholas with him. "I'm sorry, that was too much. It's okay, don't cry."

But Nicholas has started now and he doesn't know how to stop. Soon he's bawling, great heaving sobs, twisting around to hug Rafael around the shoulders for comfort.

"Okay," Rafael hums, rubbing Nicholas' back. "I'm sorry, it's okay."

Nicholas tries to tell Rafael that he's a cocksucker but Nicholas is crying too hard to talk. He does manage to flip off Stavros though.

Stavros sighs and takes a seat on the stairs next to them, petting Nicholas' fluffy hair. "Sorry. I could have done that better. Of course Luca is your son, and he loves you so much, you know that. I just…you shouldn’t have said that to me-"

“Shut up,” Rafael barks out.

Stavros bares his teeth but suppresses it into a clenched jaw.

"H-hate you," Nicholas sobs.

Stavros breathes in, breathes out. "We'll make it up to you," he croons, leaning in and hugging Nicholas from the side. "I’m sorry, that went too far.”

"N-no, fuck yo-ou," Nicholas hiccups, rubbing his tears off on Rafael’s sleeping shirt.