"Do you want to be his friend?"

☆

He wouldn't have ordinarily left it so long to reply, but the text from Archie that afternoon of 'Hey, how was your morning?' Bay questioned what to say. How was his morning? He had left Mark's house feeling all things. Too many thoughts shot through his mind. Questions about Mark, questions about himself and also how he recently felt towards his friend. 

Bay had chosen to leave the message from Archie and those thereafter unread. An easy option he had thought until Monday came around again and there Bay was, sitting on the bus as it pulled outside the school and he could see the guy out of the window. He should have replied. Made up some kind of excuse or story, but now he would have some serious explaining to do. 

He waits and watches and is for the first time grateful to Lena, who gets off the bus before him and makes her way to Archie who was predictably waiting outside. Now distracted, Bay makes his move. 

"Hey...breakfast?" Lena says as she routinely pulls the stud from her face. Archie takes a moment to reply. The sight of Bay hurrying as if on a mission, catching his eye. "Archie, are we going for breakfast or not?" Lena guides his gaze to hers with a hand to his face. 

"Yeah…. Yeah, let's go." He takes one last look over his shoulder, before draping an arm around Lena's shoulder as they head inside for food. 

***

With nowhere else to go, Bay heads straight to the classroom. He pushes open the door, the room empty as he makes his way to his desk. As he takes a seat, he places his bag on the table and uses it as a pillow to rest his head. The troubled sleep he had been having was now playing catch up. As his mind begins to drift, it is brought back by the sounds of someone else entering the room, then footsteps approaching his table. "You didn't have to skip your breakfast for me." He begins as his eyes stay closed, expecting the presence of the other to be the boy whom he had left without a word at the bus stop. 

"I ate at home." Comes the reply. 

The voice was not who Bay was expecting as he pings open his eyes and sits up to see ...."Mark?"

"I thought I'd find you here." He says as he pulls back Archie's chair for him to sit on. 

"Are you stalking me now?" Bay says, but surprises himself at the mild thrill he felt that the other male was there, taking the time to find him. 

"You weren't with Archie at the canteen and you weren't in the library. It doesn't take a genius." Mark rests his face on his upturned hand. He smiles at Bay, causing Bay to look away. 

"What can I do for you Mark? More pretend maths problems? Checking to see if I've exposed your secret?"

"I trust you Bay." Mark sits up a little straighter in the chair as he turns towards Bay. "I want to prove to you that I'm serious about what I said. I get that you don't want to be more than friends." 

"You don't need to do that…"

"I do. I want to be friends with you at leaat. Real friends. Nothing more I swear." 

Bay sits back in his seat as he exhales. "Just friends?" He looks at Mark who now is deep in thought. 

"You like video games right? I have video games at my house, or we could watch tv?" 

"So you want it to be just us again?" Bay asks, not too sure whether there was that hidden agenda."

"That's how it is with you and Archie isn't it? Just the two of you?"

"Yeah but that's …"

"Bay?" Both boys turn to see Archie by the classroom door. "Can we talk?"

Mark turns back and looks at Bay, determined not to move until he was sure their talk was over. Bay looks at Mark, the look alone giving him the message. He pushes himself away from the table, with the action a little defeatist he says, "let me know yeah?" Looking back at Bay one last time. 

Bay gives off a small nod, just a quick look as his eyes want to turn back to Archie. He watches the interaction of the two other males, as Mark walks across the classroom to leave. He can see Archie's eyes trained on Mark's, eyes focused as if to work something out, Bay wasn't too sure what. 

Soon it is just the two of them, as Archie goes over to the seat and quickly sits down. "What did he want?" He questions, getting into Bay's face a fraction that Bay felt the need to comply with the truth. 

"He wants me to go to his house to play video games, that's all."

"So you're not teaching him maths?" Archie frowns. "Are you two friends now?" 

"Yes, no… he wants us to be friends." Bay smiles weakly. 

"Do you want to be his friend?" Archie fires yet another question, but this time Bay has a moment to contemplate the response. 

"What's with all the questions? I didn't interrogate you about Lena. So what if he wants to be my friend? We have a lot in common." 

"Lena is different. She's a girl." 

Bay laughs out loud. "What has that got to do with anything?" 

"I think he's using you." Archie quicky replies. 

Bay leans forwards. He looks Archie in the eyes. "Are you jealous?" 

"Of course I'm jealous! Video games are our thing!"

"And so is breakfast together!" 

"I waited for you." Archie points in the vague direction of the canteen. "You walked straight past me and why didn't you message me over the weekend?" 

"I was ill." Bay lies. 

"Then that makes it worse. I would have come over if you had said." Archie ruffles the top of Bay's head. 

"Don't do that." The request for him to stop was only half meant. Bay didn't realise how he now craved the touch. 

Archie however retracts his hand. "I'm going back to finish my breakfast. Wanna join?"

"Ok." Bay forces a smile, as he gathers his bag. For the first time in a while, things felt like they used to. But it was short lived….