Time worked strangely that weekend. It moved too quickly and not at all. Sped and crawled and halted altogether. For the most part, Alex's memory of that next Saturday was a complete haze. He mostly remembered sitting in the lounge with Matthew, in comfortable silence. It was like there was an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn't leave the other alone for long. Alex knew that if left to his own devices he would constantly be going to that memory of Friday morning. That he would devolve back into worrying and overthinking within minutes. He had a feeling the same was true for Matthew, so they kept each other relatively sane with their presence.
Halfway through Sunday the teachers on watch duty came through the halls to let everyone know they could leave their flats but not the dorm building. Less than five minutes later someone was knocking on their door. Alex was a little surprised to see it was Jack, and it must have shown on his face.
"Why do you look so shocked?" Jack said, lingering in the doorway. "Didn't you hear? We've been freed from our enclosures."
"You just don't usually bother to knock," Alex answered.
"Hm. Fair point."
"That Farrow?" Matthew called from his perch on the sofa's armrest.
"It is. Do you mind if he comes in?"
"I suppose it's fine."
"You two alright?" Jack whispered not very quietly as he came in.
"As we can be, I think. You?"
"Fine, fine. Mostly just stir crazy." Jack glanced at Matthew like he wanted to ask him something. Matthew wasn't paying attention to him, busy scribbling what looked like music notation in a notebook.
"You can talk to him," Alex whispered. "He won't bite."
"Don't make any promises for me Allie," Matthew interjected.
"Allie?" Jack looked at Alex with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell happened with you two?"
"Just ask him what you want to ask him," Alex muttered, lightly shoving Jack towards Matthew.
"Yes, how can I be of service to you, Mr. Farrow?" Matthew said without looking up.
"Um, well, I was wondering if you had Eloise's number? For her room? I... I wanted to call to check in with her on Friday when I... Well, I know they were friends and I... You know what? Never mind. It's stupid. She probably doesn't want me to have her number anyway. "
Matthew looked up from his notebook for the first time. He looked Jack up and down for a second before getting up. "I swear to God," he said as he walked over to a novel on the dining table that had a bunch of sticky notes inside it, "if you abuse this power, I will punch your teeth out."
"Scout's honor. Thanks, Montoya. Have you guys talked to her?"
"She was here on Friday, actually," Alex said.
"What? Really?"
"She snuck out. Well, kind of. Coach Sanders noticed but let her go."
"That's good. That she wasn't alone."
"Here," Matthew said, handing over one of the notes from his book. "And again, if you bother her or she tells you to beat it-"
"Understood. Completely," Jack said as he took it. "Thank you. How, um... How was she?"
"Oh, peachy," Matthew said, his voice dripping with something a little sharper than sarcasm. "Why wouldn't she be?"
"Matthew," Alex gently chided while Jack winced.
"No, it's alright," Jack said. "Dumb question. Sorry. And... sorry."
Matthew closed his eyes and sighed. "Fuck. No. Alex is right. You're just worried about her. Sorry, Farrow."
"It's fine," Jack said slowly, his eyes flitting between the two of them. "So, are you guys like... friends now?"
"Something like that," Matthew answered.
Jack looked at Alex. "Did he punch you in the face too?"
Alex suppressed a chuckle. "Something like that," he decided to say.
Jack shook his head. "So fucking cryptic," he muttered, heading for the door. "I'm gonna go try to call Ellie. Be back later."
"Good luck," Alex said as he left. Once Jack was gone, he walked back to Matthew, who was back to work on his music sheets. "Thank you."
"Huh? For what?"
"For listening to me. And apologizing to Jack. I know you don't like him very much."
"Like I said, you were right. I shouldn't have snapped. Though yes, he is very unlikeable."
"He doesn't like you much either."
"Well, I don't know what his problem is. I am delightful and charming."
"You know you two are a lot alike."
"Wow. I can't believe you would just insult me to my face like that."
"Hey, it's only an insult to you. I like Jack just fine."
"Hm. Like a brother, huh?" Alex paused at that, forgetting for a second that he had told Ellie about that on Friday. That Matthew had been right there, and Alex suspected he hadn't been fully asleep. Matthew read his silence as an offense. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just didn't want to ruin your guys' moment."
"No, it's... It's fine."
"For what it's worth, I got a feeling Farrow thinks of you the same way." Alex was about to express doubt about that when Matthew held up a finger to stop him. "And because I know you won't believe me; I'll tell you a secret. He cornered me at Ellie's party. Before it went to shit. He told me that if I kept messing with you, he was gonna kick my ass."
"Really?"
"Reminded me of when I told the same thing to some kids in my sister's grade that were bullying her last year."
"Didn't you say your sister's six?"
"Uh-huh."
"You threatened a bunch of primary school kids?"
"Yup. And I'd do it again."
"I think I want to rescind my prediction that you'll make a good paediatrician."
Matthew bit back a smile and smacked Alex's shoulder. "The point," he said, "is that I know Farrow wasn't fucking around. He would step up for you the same way I would step up for my sister. So don't feel insecure about thinking of him like a brother. He thinks of you like one too."
Alex still wasn't sure about that, but he figured it wouldn't do any good to say it. "I'll have to take your word for it," he said. "Is that why you were more neutral the past couple of weeks?"
"Um, no," Matthew scoffed. "Farrow doesn't scare me."
"Mm-hmm."
Matthew frowned. "Don't take that sceptical tone with me, Allie. I could crush Farrow in a fair fight. I've taken on guys way worse than him."
"You've been in a lot of fights? My... my uncle mentioned something about your disciplinary record, but I wasn't sure if he was exaggerating."
"Yeah, well. My neighbourhood back home is a little rough. And wyverns aren't the only ones who think they can get away with messing with the little guy. Plus, humans are still hostile to same-sex relationships, and I never attempted to hide my preferences. Maybe it would have been smarter of me to at least try. It got the worst my last year of middle school, but by the time I was a freshman most of them learned not to mess with me. And I'll bet Farrow has never had to deal with someone who wasn't holding back before. Even humans would be scared of his last name."
"I suppose you have a point."
"Hell, I bet even you could take him if you tried."
"I don't know about that. But I appreciate the confidence."
"Don't let it get to your head; my position is mostly informed by my lack of confidence in him."
"Right." Alex looked down at the papers in Matthew's notebook. He noticed that the bars for his sheet music had been hand-drawn into regular blank pages. Notes that Alex vaguely recognized from his brief stint learning piano danced up and down the page. Some had been half erased and then drawn over and erased again. "Well, I should let you get back to that. It looks complicated."
Matthew tapped at a particularly chaotic-looking portion of the page. "Eh," he said with a shrug. "It looks messier than it should because I'm indecisive. I'm trying to help my dad with his anniversary gift for my mom. I've hit the same block he did. I've mostly been fiddling with it cuz the French assignment was pissing me off... You were serious about offering to help?"
"Yes. Of course. I've never tutored before, so forgive me if I'm not the best at explaining things."
"Forgive me for being grossly incompetent."
"You're not that bad," Alex insisted as Matthew got his things from his book bag. "Especially considering your only teachers were foreign films and stale bread."
"Thank you. I think so too."
"I'll... I'll say something. The next time Madame Montgomery picks on you."
"Don't worry about it, Allie. Not your job to tell off a grown-ass woman for bullying a child. Here, help me with this passage. I thought I understood what it was about, but these comprehension questions make no sense."
The two of them worked on assignments for the next few hours. Matthew did have a better understanding than about half the students in the class. His pronunciation needed the most work, a product of him already being bilingual. When they finished with Matthew's French, he helped with Alex's Spanish readings from his tutor. Though when he wasn't translating difficult vocabulary Matthew was mostly making fun of Alex's horrid pronunciation. Then they worked on Chemistry since they both had the same worksheet from Professor Baxter. Alex was astonished at how quickly Matthew breezed through his. It took Alex so long to finish that he had to swat away Matthew offering to let him copy his answers. Twice. Just as Alex was writing out his final formula, their flat door swung open, and Jack popped in.
"Alvaro and some other professors are going around the floors telling everyone that classes are on tomorrow," Jack said as a greeting. "I tried to ask if that meant they knew what happened, but he didn't answer. The campus will still be closed, though. And any students that don't attend classes won't have the absence count against them."
"Suppose that's mostly for our benefit," Matthew muttered.
"You two should take the day. You both look like shit."
"Thanks, Jack," Alex said. "I'm sure there wasn't a more tactful way to say that."
"You gonna tell me I'm wrong?"
"I'm going to call Ellie," Matthew said. "If she's going then I will too."
"And if she doesn't?" Alex asked.
"I'll figure it out tomorrow, I guess."
"Oh, and I ran into Warren, too. He's making ramen in his dorm. Said it helps cheer him up when he's feeling rotten. Invited us to take his leftovers off his hands. You can come too, Montoya. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Who's Warren?" Matthew asked.
"Warren Himura," Alex said. "He's friends with that Scottish boy named Connor, I think."
"Oh, him. Yeah, alright. He seems cool. You two can go now if you want. I'll head over as soon as I finish talking to Ellie."
"His flat is two floors above us," Alex said, getting up. He didn't realize how stiff his legs were until then. "16-D."
"Got it. See you there. Don't let Farrow eat it all."
"I make no promises," Jack answered as he turned to leave. Alex hesitated for a moment before following.
"How was your talk with Ellie?" Alex asked as he and Jack made their way to the stairwell.
"Hard," Jack said, his voice quiet and sincere. "I didn't know what to say, but I felt like I had to say something. I hope I didn't make her feel worse."
"I'm sure you didn't."
"We gonna talk about how you and Montoya are besties now?"
"That's a strong label."
"What would you call it then?"
"... Colleagues?"
"What are you, thirty?"
"Flatmates. We're flatmates. In a neutral sense."
"Hm. He better keep it that way."
"He told me you threatened him at Ellie's party."
"Tsk. What a fucking rat."
"Would you try to fight him on my behalf?"
"Try? I'd crush him."
"He didn't think so."
"What? I have a foot and a half on him!"
"He's not that short."
"I can't believe he thinks he can beat me," Jack grumbled as he opened the door to the stairwell. He was so absorbed in his complaining he almost let it swing shut in Alex's face. "Now I wanna kick his ass just to prove him wrong."
"I don't know, Jack," Alex said, his mind going back to the party. To the fighting stance, Matthew had taken before Malcolm Greene had changed. He looked like he knew what he was doing. "He sounded pretty confident."
"Not everyone is as shit at bluffing as you are, Al."
"... Fair enough."
"Are you going to classes tomorrow?"
"I think so. If only because I don't think I can take being cooped up any longer. You?"
"As much as I would love a free pass to ditch, it would feel a little fucked up taking advantage of these circumstances. Besides, I have a feeling the air gonna be a little weird out there. Feel like I should do my best to keep people from starting shit."
"I didn't think about that... Jack?"
"Hm?"
Alex paused at the second to last step before Warren's floor. "Do you think they're ever going to tell us what happened?"
"They've got to make a statement at some point, right? Otherwise, rumours will keep spreading and mutating."
"Thomas didn't even want it on the record that Malcolm started a fight. If the police find evidence that... that someone else was involved in Baptiste's death, he'll try to cover it up, won't he? My whole family will."
Jack looked down at Alex, his face set in a grim expression Alex had never seen on him before. Silence echoed in the stairwell for a few seconds before he turned and opened the door to Warren's floor.
"Come on," he said, holding the door open but not looking at Alex. "I'm getting pretty hungry."
That means yes, AJ clarified as Alex's body felt so heavy that he struggled up those last couple of steps. In case you were wondering, mate.
Dinner at Warren's flat was a bright spot that weekend. He did a good job of avoiding talking about what happened without making it feel forced or awkward. Matthew got to his flat just as Warren finished making his food. The two had seen each other around but never formally met, and they bonded quickly over jazz musicians and television shows so obscure that even Jack didn't know what they were talking about.
Warren habitually gave everyone a soup spoon and chopsticks to eat the ramen with. Alex was decent with them. Matthew was very good. Jack was absolute shit, but when Matthew made fun of him for it, he dug in his heels.
"I have forks, Jonathan," Warren said after the noodles slipped between his utensils for the fifth time.
"No," Jack said through clenched teeth, stabbing at the noodles again. "I got it."
"Oh, you almost got him that time, Ahab," Matthew said with a cheeky grin.
Jack clenched his teeth harder and shot him an icy glare that just made Matthew's smile widen. Alex had a feeling if he wasn't sitting in between them Jack would have hit him. After two or three more minutes of struggling Jack gave up on the chopsticks, but he was still too proud to get a fork. So, he just tipped the bowl like a big cup and drank the broth and noodles.
"Mm," he said after a particularly loud slurp. "This tastes great, man, thanks."
"Please use a fork next time," Warren begged. Jack responded by slurping even louder.
They left Warren's room around ten to try to make sure everyone got adequate sleep for the day ahead of them. Alex's brain didn't want to let him, though. It was torture, not being able to stop his thoughts from racing despite how exhausted he was. He kept thinking about Jack's grim expression. His silent answer to the question that had crept into Alex's head soon after the possibility of murder had. He kept hearing his father's frantic voice, convinced something sinister was going on. Something that would go on to kill someone else, because no one would do anything to stop it.
He cares more about himself than those children, Utkarsh had said. He will do nothing!
He meant Thomas. Alex knew he did. Of course, Thomas Conrad would try to cover up something like a murder under his watch. Any Conrad would. He only cared about saving face. About convincing parents that students were safe. He had no interest in protecting them. Especially if they were students like Baptiste.
Stop, Alex begged his paranoid subconscious. You don't even know if it was a murder.
But if it is, AJ cut in, you'll never know it, will you?
Shut it, prick, Alex thought back without contesting his point. AJ noticed, but he didn't call him out. He must have been too tired too.
At some point in the night- well, early morning, really- Alex was able to close his eyes for long enough to get something that could potentially be classified as sleep. For a whole hour. When he was woken by his alarm, he felt more tired than he did before.
Alex got dressed and brushed his teeth in a grumpy haze, then went to the lounge to collect his things. He was jolted into a slightly more awake state when he saw Matthew already sitting on the sofa's armrest, fiddling with a small box that had bulky headphones attached to a wire. He looked up from it when Alex walked in.
"Morning," he said. He was already dressed in his uniform, and a newly empty coffee mug was on the table in front of him. He looked like he got even less sleep than Alex.
"Good morning," Alex said back. "You're going to class?"
Matthew nodded. At Warren's, he had told them Ellie was taking the day, but he hadn't decided if he would too. "Don't feel like wallowing today. I was checking to make sure this thing still works before I headed out."
Alex took a closer look at the box, a silver and blue rectangle with buttons on the side and a brand name common enough for Alex to feel like he recognized it. "Is that a cassette player?"
"Yeah. My dad's old Walkman. He gave it to me as a parting gift."
"Hm. So you had a way to listen to your music as loud as you wanted without being a menace this whole time. Interesting."
Matthew bit back a smile. "In my defence, this thing is a little janky. But also, yes. And sorry. Again."
"It works?"
"Most of the time. Sometimes the sound comes through a little warped, but it makes some songs funnier. I was gonna head over to McAvoy and lend it to Ellie. It's got a mixtape my mom made me a long time ago. Always cheers me up at least a little bit. I figured... It's not stupid, right?"
"No," Alex said without having to think about it. It helped that he was too busy thinking about how Matthew's bashful smile was making his stomach flutter. "I think she'll appreciate it."
"Thanks," Matthew said, standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "I should head out. See you out in the fray."
"Yeah. Um, good luck," Alex said, wincing afterwards. God that felt stupid. A slight flush of embarrassment was halted when Matthew smiled. It was genuine and grateful and one of the most beautiful things Alex had ever seen.
"Thanks. You too, Allie."
After he left Alex stared at the spot he had been standing in as his heat crawled back in. Not from embarrassment, this time. From something he couldn't pin down. Didn't want to pin down.
Hm, AJ mused. I think he was easier to deal with when he hated you. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were starting to
"Don't," Alex commanded, grabbing his head as if that would keep the thought at bay. "Don't you dare say it?"
Yup. Easier when he hated you.