Nice Guys Finish Last

"No problem," Ethan shrugged, beginning to walk. He looked at Scott curiously, then said, "You know...your hair really shines. You ever notice?"

"Uh, no, not really... but thank you for pointing that out for me?" Scott asked, falling into step beside Ethan. "So... how come you've been staring at me lately?"

Ethan shrugged, staring up at the ceiling, "Is that a problem? Most people would be flattered at my interest in them, ya know." he ran his fingers through a few strands of Scott's hair, watching as the blond locks shone in the bright florescent lights as he released them.

Scott gasped and jerked his head away from the deliberate touch. "Don't touch me," he grumbled, batting the other's hand away. "And I'm not most people, so I'm not flattered."

Ethan placed his hand in his pocket with a small, unconcerned grin. The bell rang, and, quickly, he grabbed Scott's wrist, kissed the top of his head, then ran off toward his next class.

Almuerzo.

Scott sighed, and noisily dropped his lunch tray beside Kai's. He plopped down on the lunch bench, then turned toward his friend, "Kai, you'll never guess what happened."

"No, do tell me," Ethan gasped, shoving someone aside to sit beside Scott. He placed his tray on the table, then turned to look at Scott with faux-interest.

"Oh, you should know, pervert! Since it was your doing!" Scott shouted, whipping around to face the rockstar-wannabe. "Just shut up and go away, or else I'm going to shove your lunch down your throat. With my hands, not my tongue, like you so desperately want."

Ethan shrugged, twisting his Oreo until it was in two. He held out one half in each hand and said, "Your pick." with a smirk.

Scott rolled his eyes, and grabbed the half without any of the stuffing. "I don't like the cream, in case you wanted to add that to your fact book about me," he said, and then ate the cookie. "So, tell me, why are you sitting over here?"

Ethan popped the creamy half into his mouth, biting back a retort about Scott's dislike of "cream". After chewing thoughtfully, he swallowed and said, "Well, it's always you and your cousin eating alone, and I had nothing better to do anyway. Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem?" Scott repeated sarcastically, crossing his arms. "Uh, yeah, there's a problem! You are the problem. Besides, I'm perfectly fine with it just being Kai and me. He's the only friend I need."

"Don't hide your pain from me," Ethan smirked, grabbing the smaller boy around the waist, "Hugs make everything better."

"There is no pain to hide!" Scott growled, shoving the other boy away. "Look, if all you wanted to do was sit here and tease me, then consider it mission accomplished."

"Fine, excuse me for caring," Ethan grumbled, turning to his sub. He looked down to hide his expression from the other boy, not wanting to show that, maybe, his feelings were just a little bit hurt.

Scott, thankful that the other would finally leave him alone, began to eat his lunch. After a minutes, though, the heavy silence became unbearable."Oh, what's your problem now? I thought you wanted to 'care', but you're just sitting there moping."

"I thought you wanted to be left alone, and I want you to be happy, so there you go. I won't bother you, I'll just eat and leave." Ethan shrugged, taking another bite.

"Just stop your little guilt-trip, thing," Scott sighed, drumming his fingertips against the table. "Fine, don't leave me alone. Talk to me. Start some sort of conversation. That'll make me happy."

"Ok then," Ethan smiled, putting down his food, "So, what do you like to do for fun?" he rested his head in his hand as he looked at Scott with interest.

"For fun?" Scott asked. What did he do for fun? "I... Well, I like to play all my instruments, and sing sometimes, too. And then I like to hang out with Kai, or my creepy neighbor, Tara, or sometimes my mom and I sit together and talk, and play with our cats. That's all I can really think of." He shrugged. "How about you?"

Ethan bit back a chuckle. "Instruments? You're the one who answers every single question during music class, right?"

"Of course," Scott snorted. "See, I have so much talent, that it's only natural that I share it with the rest of the class! Granted, music is the only thing I'm good at... And besides, all those other dimwits in class don't even have a general appreciation for music. It's not like they even care about it."

"Mm, like me?" Ethan snorted, leaning back in his chair, "I never really got what was so special about remembering a bunch of notes and pressing buttons to make them play."

"It's not just pressing stupid buttons and remembering notes! It's a lot more interesting than the way you described it," Scott told him. "Let's see... It's about savoring the beautiful sound an instrument makes when you play it. It's kind of like some sort of euphoric feeling. And they're not just a bunch of notes. To me, they're just as important as the alphabet."

"The alphabet ain't so special either," Ethan muttered, twisting apart another Oreo. He held the non-creamed side up to Scott's lips expectantly, smirking.