Perhaps it was the way that he smiled, all teeth and dimples and sparkly eyes, or perhaps it was the way that the boy was such a closed book that it would seem like a privilege to get to know him, or, perhaps it even was the sheer look of anger and detest on Alex's face as he stormed over to them, but either way, Archer was coming to like Carter.

After a few minutes of the three of them sitting at the lunch table, pretending that the situation was not awkward at all, Archer felt like he should go to Carter. He felt bad, it was in fact his fault that Alex had gotten so angry, and as good as that was, he didn't like the idea of throwing Carter under the bus.

Sure, Archer was a son of a bitch, and couldn't care less what people thought of him, but he was not a monster. He wanted Alex to know that there was no running from this situation, but the plan wasn't to really hurt anyone in the process.

"I think I will go find him," Archer said to Cole and Roxy, standing up.

"No, I'll go." Roxy drew herself away from Cole, standing up and giving them both a sad smile.

Archer moved and sat down where Roxy had been before, turning to face his friend.

Archer began speaking in Italian, aware that the conversation that was likely to take place should not be heard by unsuspecting ears. "That was quick." He almost laughed. "He is either extremely jealous of me and his ex, or he really thought I was going to attack the poor kid in the middle of the cafeteria."

"You aren't going to hurt him though, are you?" Cole asked, replying in Italian also, his voice sounding much more relaxed and natural in his native language.

"Of course not. Alpha said we were to make a little of a scene as possible, and killing a high school kid is a sure fire way to set off alarm bells. Anyhow, I'm not a monster, I don't kill kids for fun." Archer may not follow many orders, but those from the Alpha were ones he lived by. Sure he broke a rule of the Alphas here and there, but he understood the importance of having a strong pack, and Alex was going to increase that strength. The Alpha had given Cole and Archer two weeks to bring him back, and he wasn't going to stop until he followed through on that order.

"That's true, but it also means not changing anyone either, or getting in too deep with these people."

"I know."

"Really? Cause you were looking at that kid like you wanted to jump him right then and there."

Archer rolled his eyes. "I have some self-control, Cole."

 The other boy almost laughed at that. "I'll believe it when I see it. So," Cole changed the subject, "what exactly is your plan with Carter?"

"Who knows, have a little fun I guess. I want to get home as much as you do, and if pretending to be into his ex will encourage Alex to get me, and therefore himself, back to Italy and far away from Carter, then I guess we may not have to wait those two weeks."

"Pretend?" Cole smirked.

"Oh don't patronise me. I saw the way you were with that Roxy girl."

"I.." Cole started, but Archer cut him off.

"Don't you sit there and pretend that you aren't interested in her. You forget that I knew you way before you became a wolf, and I know how you get. You get interested in a pretty girl and then you become a clingy, possessive bastard, and it's not pretty to watch."

"I'm not like that," Cole defended.

"You are, and now that you are a wolf, your inherent qualities like that will only magnify. Watch yourself," Archer counselled, and even though it looked as if Cole wanted to hit him across the table, the boy only nodded.

Archer had been through numerous bad break-ups with the guy, and he didn't have time to prevent his friend from turning into a clingy, destined to be heartbroken guy while at the same time making sure that Alex was going to come back to Italy with them.

"Alex is on his way over here," Cole said in English, causing Archer to turn around in his spot to face the cafeteria doors, where Alex was indeed marching over to them.

"Be nice to him Archer. We want him to come with us, not murder us with a rusty fork," Carter heard Cole say.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered.  

He kept his gaze on the approaching figure. The guy looked less uncontrollably angry, but Alex wasn't exactly happy as he reached their table, coming to stand over them, narrowing his eyes at Archer.

"I am going to tell you this once. Stay the hell away from Carter," Alex growled out, his expression turning something fierce.

"Oh Little One," Archer smirked, "it's funny how you think that I value your opinion."

Cole rolled his eyes. "We aren't going to hurt your friend, Alex. We are just giving you time to say goodbye. You don't have to worry about what we are doing."

Alex gritted his teeth and anger seemed to seep from his skin. "I don't trust you, and I don't like you."

"Well, that's too bad! I was hoping we could watch some rom-coms tonight and braid each other's hair!" Archer rolled his eyes as he spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm serious, I won't go with you unless you leave him alone. I see the way you're looking at him. Don't get any ideas."

Archer didn't like that one bit. Being told what to do by Alex was like being given instructions by your little sister, and it only made Archer want to flirt with Carter right in his face. The look Cole was shooting him seemed to be a warning, so he didn't say anything.

"Your friend is not in danger," Cole repeated.

"He better not be."

"Sit down." Cole gestured to the spare space next to him, and Alex looked at the seat hesitantly for a moment before taking a seat.

"We aren't here to hurt anyone Alex, we just want you to come with us."

"I understand that, but I still don't want him," he gestured towards Archer, "around Carter."

"You're the one who ended it with him," Archer cut in, but Cole silenced him with a look.

"Understood," Cole told Alex. "but you have to understand that you only have a few weeks. You should get yourself ready to leave."

The anger left Alex's face and was replaced with something close to grief. Archer realised that this was the first time since they had first seen him that Alex actually looked like he understood he was really leaving.

"Fine. I'll come, just leave Carter out of it." Alex looked up then and got a strange look on his face. He then stood. "Two weeks, right?"

"Yes," Cole replied.

"Okay."

Alex walked away from the table, leaving Cole and Archer alone.

"Don't even think about doing anything with Carter," Cole said, his tone half demanding, half pleading. "We are getting somewhere with Alex, and if it keeps going like this then we will be out of here in no time, alright?" 

Archer couldn't help but feel some loss at the fact that he wouldn't be able to keep going with his plan to annoy Alex through dating Carter. It had seemed so perfect, he got to irritate Alex which was always fun, and he was able to get to know this somewhat mysterious boy.

Archer nodded in acceptance.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Carter had never asked out anybody before, other than that one time he asked Roxy to have lunch with him on the first day they met.

As he and Roxy made their way down the hallway, Carter couldn't help but feel a tinge of worry in his gut that this plan rested so heavily on getting a date with a sexy guy who could probably date any straight or otherwise person in the entire school. Heck, probably in the whole town.

Roxy stopped them both just outside of the cafeteria entrance, turning to face her best friend with a determined expression.

"Carter, you need to march in there and be the strong, confident guy I know you can be."

Carter's eyes widened, "You are aware that you are speaking to the same guy who faked appendicitis three times to get out of a presentation."

Roxy gave him a stern, yet affectionate look. "Come on Carter, you have to at least pretend that you are confident, how have you gotten your previous dates?"

"What previous dates?! I haven't asked anyone out on a real date in my entire life!"

"Oh gosh." Roxy practically face palmed. "Ok, well, we know he is interested," her eyes suddenly lit up, and her lips turned upwards into a smile. "Maybe find some way of letting him know that you are interested and then he will ask you out!"

"I'm not good at this Roxy, how would I even do that?" Carter asked, doubting his ability to do anything when it came to relationships.

"Um.." Roxy contemplated her answer, biting gently at her bottom lip. 

"Really? Roxy in her infinite wisdom has no idea how to handle a situation! This is not the ideal time, Roxy."

The dark haired girl huffed, "I don't know Carter, I usually just flip my hair around and compliment him until the guy asks me out."

"Somehow," Carter laughed, "I don't think that will work in this situation."

Roxy slapped Carter's arm affectionately. "I know that doofus."

"So, what do I do?"

"You could just make out with him?" Roxy shrugged.

"What?" Carter exclaimed. "That is the worst idea yet, I would rather attempt a hair flip, and we both know that would be a bigger disaster than that one time you died your hair purple."

"I looked adorable and you know it, and back to the point, just be yourself. This guy is already into you and Alex is probably back sitting where he was before. Flirt, get him to ask you out and ta-da, the plan is set in motion."

"Okay, okay."

The two turned back towards the cafeteria, Roxy a step in front of Carter. She stepped one foot inside the cafeteria before whipping around and running straight into Carter.

"What the hell?"

"Shh!" Roxy hushed her friend as their gazes met.

"What?"

"Alex is at our table, with them!"

"Are they killing each other?"

"No, it looks like they are....talking."

"Talking?"

"Yeah," Roxy shrugged, leaning back so that Carter could look around the corner and see what was going on.

He poked his head around the corner and saw that Cole and Archer were sitting together, Alex sitting on the other side of Cole. They were speaking in hushed tones, it's not like he could have heard anyway, but they didn't seem like they were moments from a punch up. Alex's face did look strange though, contorted in mixed emotions. 

"Do you think they are talking about me?"

Roxy shrugged, leaning around Carter to look around the corner again. She pulled back almost as fast as she leant around the corner, a shocked look on her face. "Well, Alex saw me."

"Oh gosh," Carter face palmed. "Now we look like we are stalking him. He's supposed to think I've moved on, not the opposite." 

"Calm down, he probably didn't even see you. I'll see if he's still there." She looked at the table, then faced Carter. "Alex's is back at the table with Jake, we can go now."

Carter nodded, taking a deep breath and striding into the cafeteria.

"Hey," he greeted Cole and Archer, who looked up at him.

"Hey," Archer smiled.

"Cole, do you want to come for a walk with me?" Roxy asked, appearing next to Carter.

Cole smiled as he nodded his head. Roxy looked pleased with herself as she walked away from the table with Cole.

That left the two of them at the table. As they talked, Carter tried to remember what people in movies did when they flirted, he complimented Archer, laughed at his jokes, which he didn't have to fake one bit seeing as Archer was quite hilarious apparently at times. He leant forwards and hung off of his every word.

Yet, Archer didn't ask him out, Archer kept their entire conversation friendly.

When Carter casually mentioned that he was free that night, Archer told him that he was probably going to go home and unpack. He was beginning to think that maybe Archer wasn't interested in him at all, but that only took one moment to change.

They had been talking about something completely random when Carter had looked down for a moment before bringing his gaze back up to Archers. When their gazes met, Archer looked at him with something that looked like fondness before reaching out and tucking a stray piece of hair away from his eyes and behind his ear. The affectionate action was so unexpected that Carter couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Sorry," Archer muttered, looking down for a few seconds.

It was in that moment that Carter realised that maybe Archer was just as nervous as him. In the same second, Carter realised that they were the only people left in the cafeteria, and they must have missed the bell.

Carter never did anything rash or unexpected. Carter liked to live by order and social protocols, and yet, as he leant forwards he could almost feel his cares flying into the wind, leaving just him and Archer.

He wrapped a hand around Archer's neck, pulling his face towards his own, but leaving enough time for the other boy to pull away if he wanted too, but he didn't want to, that was clear. Archer was the one who made contact, pressing his closed lips into Carters.

For those few short seconds, Carter forgot about the plan, he forgot about Alex, and his entire world boiled down to the soft lips pressed against his own. It was like a spell had been cast over the pair, and their past and problems drifted away as they kissed in the middle of a deserted cafeteria. 

Archer was the one to pull back, an adorable smile on his face as he practically whispered, "Do you want to go on a date with me?" The question was said so beautifully and romantically that only a psychopath would turn it down.

"I thought you would never ask," with that, Carter hopped up from the table, making his way to his class and not looking back.