Ah, Friday. A day full of irresponsibility and slacking, especially for those who didn't give a shit in the first place anyways. Pietro had grabbed a chair from the library as well as a stack of books and was now lounging in the help room waiting for Evan. The bell had rung five minutes ago; Evan was being slow on purpose.

He'd figured out yesterday that since Scott had a confidence of Evan's to betray that it meant that Evan *was* susceptible to his charms. Because no one ever confessed to being straight. That was stupid. Pietro shifted so that his legs were draped over one arm of the chair while he leaned back against the other.

When Evan finally rushed into the room, he didn't spare a glance towards Pietro; he was too busy putting his books down, going out the room, coming immediately back in, grabbing something off the desk, going back out, et cetera. If it weren't for his own mutant abilities, Pietro's head would be spinning from the dizzying display of motion. As it was, the spectacle amused him.

Evan finished up his duties in getting ready to help the technologically incompetent and sat behind the desk. Pietro wondered if the seating choice was because Evan didn't want to get in trouble for sitting on the desk or if it was a deliberate move to separate himself from Pietro.

"It's your show now, Pietro. What do you want to do?" Evan asked defensively.

The desk thing looked to be deliberate now. Dammit. He'd been right about it being wrong to give Evan so much time to think things over. It would've been nice to be wrong in this instance. The burden of being perfect, he supposed.

"I don't know. Talk? You seemed really into that book you were reading yesterday."

Evan leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands. He looked kind of... coy sitting like that. "Something must be wrong with my ears. It sounded like you just said there was something you didn't know," Evan purred.

What the...? Had Evan gotten some special discount on giving out mixed signals yesterday? But Pietro could adapt and go with the flow on this, definitely.

"Oh, there aren't many things I don't know." With most of his unlearned knowledge involving Evan and sex. "But for those few things, I'm quite the-- eager student."

"Really? Anything I could help with?"

Now *that* brought some fun ideas to mind, but Pietro thought an answer with subtlety would be best. He still didn't understand why Evan was acting like this.

"Stop hiding behind that desk, and I'll tell you."

Evan stood and made a move to come around when he was stopped by the sound of the door opening. A girl their age, with her long hair braided to the side, bounced in. She looked oddly at Pietro before focusing on Evan.

"The computer I was working on froze, and I want someone else there with me before I do anything else. That way, I'm blameless if it breaks any further."

She smiled toothily. Already Pietro didn't like her. She was too happy and bubbly-- probably up to something. After all, he'd come in just yesterday with a plan to lure Evan into his clutches.

Evan walked around the desk and gentlemanly held the door open for the girl. After they'd gone, it slammed firmly shut.

It clicked in Pietro's brain why her act set off so many alarms. She was planning to seduce Evan as well! Bitch! Evan was *his* to seduce.

Pietro ran out of the room at Quicksilver speed, picked up Evan, ran to a hidden-away hallway that was used by maybe five people whose lockers were there, and set Evan down.

Pietro, in his upset, forgot to slow his speech down so that people other than him could understand it. "I don't believe her nerve. Of all the low down things to do, trying to steal another man's man has got to be on the top of that list. I mean, really! She's got no right to you Evan, no right at all--"

"Whoa, man," Evan cut in. "The only thing I caught in all of that was my name, and I'd like to know what you're saying about me."

Oh, um. Pietro thought fast. Evan wouldn't be pleased if he knew what was really said.

"She was so cheery that it was an obvious act, and I wanted to get you to safety."

Evan smiled. "Thanks for the thought, Pietro." Whew, Evan bought it. "But I doubt she had anything evil planned for me. If you had slowed down a bit when you grabbed me, you would've noticed that her computer really had frozen." Evan laughed. "Sometimes I wonder about you, man."

Evan threw his arm around Pietro's shoulders, and could Pietro really be blamed if he leaned into the embrace? The blond had nice muscles. Strong. Protective.

"Let's get back to where I'm supposed to be, 'kay? Hopefully that girl won't report me for running out on her."

Pietro nodded, and they started back. As they walked, Pietro could almost imagine that'd he'd already won over Evan and that they were an affectionate couple since Evan still had his arm around him. Evan used their contact as a way to guide Pietro along.

They'd just gotten to the corner when the girl from earlier came around it and nearly crashed into them. It was only Pietro's speed that was able to move both him and Daniels out of the way in time. No way would he be seen sprawled across the floor like an undignified buffoon. That was Toad's job.

The girl smiled once more, that wide open smile that showed all her teeth-- even the molars.

"Wow, Evan. I don't know how you managed to miss me; you must be really fast."

Pietro had forgotten about the deviousness of this girl, letting Evan's clinch act as a refuge. But now she was back and trickier than ever. Why, it was only his speed that had kept her from getting a chance to grope Evan. And now flattery? What better way to get to a man than by stroking his ego?

...Okay, there was something *else* she could stroke that might have faster results, but she couldn't do that in school.

Evan slipped his arm off Pietro. "Sorry I had to run out on you like that. He--" Evan jerked a thumb at Pietro. "--wanted a private discussion with me. And he's not all that patient, and you looked like you were doing all right, so...."

"It's cool. I was getting frustrated anyways, so I just rebooted the computer and left."

Pietro cut into the conversation. He wouldn't allow himself to be ignored that easily. "And what are you doing *here* then? No one ever comes down this hallway unless it's to make out." He had her there; now she'd have to admit her plan for Evan.

The girl finally looked at him. "You're standing in front of my locker." The "idiot" at the end of the sentence was clearly implied by her tone of voice.

Evan grabbed Pietro's shirt and started pulling the speedster down the hall and away from the girl. "Since he won't ever say it, I will," he called over his shoulder. "Sorry again. He's a freak, so please don't mind him." As the pair walked, they could just make out the sounds of a lock being turned.

The walk back to the room left plenty of time for Pietro to think about how he could have handled the situation better. For one, just because the girl was creepy beyond belief didn't mean she had some nefarious scheme ready for action in her head. For another, even if she *had* a nefarious scheme, that didn't necessarily make it the same as his. After all, some people were mentally deficient and didn't realize how delectable Evan was. And with the way she kept smiling, something had to have gone wrong in her head.

So okay. Pietro could admit to himself (but no one else) that he was wrong. But his reactions to the girl shouldn't have been rude enough to get Evan upset. Except, looking at how Evan was acting now, they were.

Evan had apparently decided to wait until they were back in the room to talk. He'd released Pietro's shirt and stalked off, obviously expecting Pietro to follow. Pietro did one better than that and ran back to the room.

Damn, damn, and double damn. Things kept seesawing from good to bad to worse. Maybe he could put the talk Evan was obviously itching for off till later. Give them both a chance to cool down, clear their heads, that sort of thing. And he still had that stack of books he'd brought, so he could try and bring about that "companionable silence" he'd planned from the beginning.

Good plan. Pietro sat down, picked up a book and began to read, lingering over the words so as not to finish in a few seconds.

Evan slammed the door when he entered.

"*What* was that about, Pietro? I-- I don't get it. I know you're paranoid, but when'd you become a raving lunatic?"

Pietro kept his eyes trained on the printed words. Better to let Evan blow off steam than to respond. Stupid Daniels didn't understand the first thing about him. Though Evan's use of his first name, despite the blond's anger, sent a little thrill through Pietro. He hadn't caused irreparable damage.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me? I *asked* you a question."

Pietro didn't respond until Evan threw a spike at him, spearing his book. But he still kept the conversation away from what Evan really wanted to yell and scream about.

"That was a library book," he said indignantly.

"I'll pay for its replacement," Evan growled, stepping closer to Pietro. "Just give me a straight answer for once." Evan grabbed the arms of the chair, effectively narrowing Pietro's world down to just Evan standing before him with flared nostrils.

Pietro waved dismissively. "Don't bother about the book. It's a good addition to my delinquent image."

Evan violently pushed himself away and paced. On occasion, he paused long enough to give Pietro a withering glare but then started pacing again immediately. "Can't you do one simple thing, Pietro? I ask for an answer, something that *shouldn't* be difficult, and all you give me is a bullshit roundabout answer! You say you want us to be friends, but you sure as hell aren't acting like it. So before I give this whole experiment up as a bust, tell me the truth."

Pietro opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Evan turned to point an accusing finger at him.

"And not the sugar-coated version you keep feeding me, either!"

The old adage that just when things can't get any worse, they do had just proved itself true. Pietro couldn't tell Evan the truth, but Evan wouldn't settle for anything less. And he somehow knew that Pietro had been twisting his answers before, so he couldn't continue doing so.

In some suicidal corner of his mind, Pietro wanted to give Evan his answer by throwing the blond onto the desk and treating him to the quickest, dirtiest fuck he'd *ever* get the pleasure of experiencing. Strong emotions were a heady aphrodisiac, and Pietro very nearly fell under their spell. Luckily-- or perhaps unluckily-- for Evan, Pietro possessed a great deal of willpower.

"You couldn't *handle* the truth," Pietro teased.

Evan sat on the desk, unconsciously mimicking Pietro's pose from yesterday. "Try me."

Evan had called his bluff. And, just like that, the mood of the room shifted away from potent sexual tension to something quite a bit more awkward. "Yes, well-- It's like this you see...."

Evan let out a whooping laugh. "I don't believe it. Pietro Maximoff, biggest mouth in existence, lost for words."

Pietro crossed his arms. "You don't have to rub it in."

"Because this is so amusing, I'll tell you what. We can read for what's left of the afternoon-- I'm assuming that's what you intended to do with all those books-- and you can give me an answer on Monday."

Evan could be truly benevolent sometimes, which Pietro alternately loved and hated depending on the circumstances. Today he loved it.

"That way you can stew all weekend long over the right words."

Only Evan wasn't being benevolent today; he was being a sick sadist for making Pietro wait rather than just getting it over with, the latter being much more Pietro's style. And Evan knew it.

"And don't forget that it's got to be the truth-- the *real* truth."

Pietro bobbed his head. "Sounds good." Ugh, he sounded nervous to his own ears despite the reprieve. Disgusting.

Evan heaved his book bag to the top of the desk and began his homework. Pietro didn't plan on doing his anyways, so he grabbed another book and started reading. It almost passed for companionable silence.

~End Ch. 4~