~Chapter 2: The First Hesitant Steps~

To get an idea of how unique it was for Pietro to be standing still, one has to remember Pietro's complete and utter abhorrence towards anything that forced him to slow down or-- even worse-- stop. He drove all his teachers nuts (when he attended class, that is) by his constant fidgeting. For Pietro, it just wasn't *natural* to pause like that.

But he stopped. And thought.

He went over what had just happened with Evan, analyzed every moment, contemplated Evan's intonations, all in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong. And in the end, he didn't know what Evan had been thinking. He didn't know Evan well enough to say.

Which wasn't the right answer to all his reflecting. He'd gone to school with Evan for nearly all of his school years; they'd grown up in each other's hair even if they'd never actually gotten along. And now they were at Bayville High together, both a little older and (possibly) more mature. Coupled with his crush that had developed not long after the... incident that had landed him with the Brotherhood, he should *know* more about Evan. He certainly obsessed enough.

So... a new challenge, something a little different to try: get to know Evan better. If he played his cards right, he might even get to "know" Evan in the more Biblical sense. And he could start by dropping by the help desk to *thank* Evan for his *gracious* help in retrieving his paper.

Pietro grinned as his normal determination to beat a challenge settled into place. Should be interesting.

He sauntered over to the little room in the corner that had been delegated to the help desk. Taking his time to do things bothered him less when he wasn't feeling impatient. And sauntering showed off his physique quite well, even if the librarian was the only one around to enjoy the show. Hell, she probably needed some excitement (derived from getting to watch him) in her life.

Upon reaching the door, Pietro grasped the knob and ever-so-slowly turned it. He didn't want Evan to have even the slightest warning that someone was entering. He managed to close the door behind himself without any noise as well.

So it was a bit disappointing when he turned around to see Evan reading while nodding his head in time to whatever music he heard coming out of his headphones. It was inconsiderate of Evan to make his efforts wasted like that. Pietro let out a put-upon sigh and plopped his butt on the desk, jerking Daniels out of his reading.

Pietro waited until Evan had removed the headphones to speak. "Hi." A simple, but effective, opening gambit.

Evan just glared at him.

"I thought I'd keep you company until your time here was up."

Evan replaced his headphones and went back to his book, effectively blocking out Pietro. Which wasn't the way this was supposed to go. Evan should be grateful for his company. Of course, Daniels might still be tweeked about their previous encounter. Burn me once, shame on you; burn me twice, shame on me-- or something to that effect.

Pietro slid off the desk and turned to face Evan. A peace offering was in order, he thought. He would sacrifice some of his hard-earned money for the challenge; after all, he could always steal more. He rapped his knuckles on the tabletop and called Evan's name, vying with the music for Evan's attention. It took a full seventeen seconds for Evan to look up at him.

"Would you like a soda?" Pietro asked.

Pietro had to remind himself that patience was a virtue and that not everyone was as fast as him while he watched Daniels remove the headphones. He was beginning to hate the things.

"What was that?" Evan asked.

At least the angry glare was gone. That was something, right? "Would you. Like. A soda."

Evan blinked in surprise. "Sure."

Pietro zipped out of the room, headed for the machines in the cafeteria. It was late enough in the afternoon that students shouldn't be wandering the halls. After getting the cans-- Caffeine Free Coke for him, Orange Crush for Evan-- he zipped on back. Evan hadn't even put his thrice-damned headphones back on yet. With unnecessary flourish, Pietro presented his gift to Evan.

"Thanks, man," Evan said, popping open the soda. "How'd you know this was my favorite?"

"Well--" Pietro took a gleeful swallow of his own soda and saw Evan watching him rather intently. Just to tease, Pietro closed his eyes and tipped his head up so that Evan could watch him swallow. After he opened his eyes, he continued speaking. "--if you're not drinking milk, you're drinking that, so...."

Evan nodded, accepting the answer as is. He never had been one for questioning much.

Ah well. Made it easier for Pietro, since he didn't have to explain his motive just yet.

After a minute of standing in front of the desk and watching Evan enjoy his soda, Pietro couldn't take it anymore. It was *way* too quiet-- time to get chatty. But he didn't want to have some stiff, formal conversation which was what would happen if he continued to stand in front of the desk like a dork. And since there weren't any extra chairs in the room....

Pietro sat in the same spot he had vacated not two minutes prior-- the desktop.

Evan looked at him with something that was-- hopefully-- akin to fond disdain and not simply disdain. "What *is* it with you and refusing to sit in chairs?"

All right, progress; Evan had started the conversation this time. "Do you see any other chairs in this room?"

"Coulda gotten one from the study tables just beyond that door," Evan said, waving one arm towards the only exit from the room and grinning.

Smiling, happy Evan made Pietro's insides melt that much more than angry Evan. And Evan really was too genial of a person to stay upset for any length of time. "What? And deprive you of my presence for those few seconds? That wouldn't be nice."

"You've never been interested in being 'nice' before."

Oh, that hurt. But, Pietro mused, it *was* warranted, since he *hadn't* ever done anything nice for Evan before. Anyways, the important thing was that he was making amends now. "I bought you that soda."

"Yeah. I guess you did." Evan mused over that before continuing on. "Pietro...."

Pietro interpreted that as an invitation to lean over and get up close into Evan's personal space. After all, what sort of person wouldn't want to be near his beauty? Only a crazy person, that's who. And Evan had used his first name, so they weren't enemies anymore. But Evan scooted his chair away, putting distance between them, and Pietro moved back in response.

Things weren't going as swimmingly as he'd thought.

"You can't start acting nice out of the blue and just expect me to accept it. What's your ulterior motive?"

So much for Evan not being one to question things. "I'm not acting," Pietro protested, choosing to ignore Evan's question. Perhaps Evan wouldn't notice his evasion.

Evan looked at Pietro, brows drawn together and suspicion clouding his exquisite features. "You didn't answer me."

So maybe evasion hadn't been the best response; now Evan was even more suspicious, probably thinking that it was all some elaborate ruse designed for humiliation. Time for a prettied-up version of the truth. (Pietro doubted Evan would be pleased to find out that it was all part of a plan to get into his pants, even if there was more to it than just that.)

"No ulterior motive," Pietro said, giving Evan his most sincere look. "I just thought we could give being friends a try rather than enemies." Damn. His sincere look wasn't working; Evan's lips pressed together, and he seemed... angry in general now. Pietro changed tactics and dropped the sincerity, letting his more arrogant self shine through. "We've known each other longer than anyone else in our circle of various acquaintances, and we hardly know each other. That's stupid and ignorant on our part, and I *hate* being ignorant." Pietro paused for a second to brush his hair back into place and collect himself after his impassioned speech. "It's counter to my perfection."

Evan let a tiny smile poke through his anger. "I almost believe that. But--" Evan pointed at the clock on the wall. "--it's five o'clock, so I need to be getting back to the mansion now." Evan stood and began collecting his things.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. Evan was leaving, and Pietro wasn't any closer to his goal. If anything, he was further away than when he started. Pietro hopped off the desk and grabbed Evan's shoulders, forcing Evan to stop and look at him directly. For a microsecond, Pietro forgot himself. It was a rather heady feeling being able to stare into Evan's dark brown eyes like he was doing.

...Oh yeah. He should be talking. "Wait wait wait wait wait. Don't I even get a chance to prove that I'm *not* lying?" Pietro released Evan and hissed slightly in anticipation of the word he was about to say. Damn, but he didn't like using it. "Please?"

Although that seemed to do the trick since Evan was smiling and nodding whereas, when Pietro had grabbed him, he'd just been incredulous.

"I tell you what, man. I have to be in here tomorrow and all of next week. I'll give you that much time for you to show me that you're being honest."

Pietro nodded once sharply and offered Evan a "Later," along with his most charming grin before running out the room.

~End of Ch. 2~