Parker had spent that morning helping William look for an affordable daycare for Nate, and the two of them had gone around to check out a few places. Turned out, it was difficult to find daycares within their price range that also met their high expectations. They both realized that in their current financial state, they had a lot of readjusting to do. On the way back, Parker had gotten stuck in traffic and was late to class, a first for him. He promised himself it would never happen again.

That night when he got back from work, he walked through the apartment complex expecting to run into Kell again. Or had he been hoping to run into him?

No. Why would he want to run into him? He didn't want to see him any more than he had to. The hours they'd have to spend together working on this project was enough time to be spent around him. Parker just didn't like getting close to people if he didn't have to. It was just... too much energy. Energy that he could be spending on other things, like his work.

Still, Kell wasn't like everyone else. He'd stood out to Parker from the first time they'd had a class together when they were both freshmen. His work was amazing; that was what'd initially drawn his attention. But the more Parker had observed Kell, the more he noticed other things about him. At first, he found his face to be irritatingly naive looking, and it seemed to always hold an expression of either daft wonder or nervous uncertainty. But after a while, he began to find it oddly charming. Irritatingly charming. Parker noticed that when Kell painted, he would wear this look of intense focus, his eyes becoming penetratingly serious, and that had charmed him too.

Kell was interesting. It was more than he could say about anyone else in the program. And it wasn't that there weren't many other skilled and hardworking artists in the class, Kell just had something different than all the others.

He didn't expect anything to come from this sudden partnership with Kell. It would be a good opportunity to see what the guy was really made of, to see if he could actually exceed his own limits. But aside from that, and potentially producing an amazing piece of work to turn in, Parker wasn't expecting anything to happen between them, certainly not friendship. It didn't matter that Kell was the only omega he'd ever met who'd actually made him... feel something.

Nate was on the floor of the living room, which also doubled as Parker's bedroom, doodling in a coloring book. William sat on the couch, which also doubled as Parker's bed, frowning at his laptop. They both looked up when Parker came inside, and Nate bounced up and ran over to him to greet him as he always did.

"Hi, Uncle Parker. Look, I'm doing drawings."

He took the coloring book from Nate and looked at it. "Very nice job," he said, and passed the book back to him. "Keep it up, kid." Nate hopped back to the floor and continued to doodle.

Parker set his bag down in the corner and dropped onto the couch next to his brother. "Any luck with the job hunt?"

"Sent out applications to a few places," he said, shaking his head. "I'm now realizing how unhireable I am. I don't really have any skills."

"Just keep applying," Parker said. "You can develop skills on the job."

William sighed and rubbed his temples.

Parker's phone buzzed in his pocket. To his surprise, his heart actually skipped a beat when he saw that it was a text message from Kell. Attached were several images of mockup sketches for their project.

KELL: Hey. Came up with these, what do you think?

Parker scrolled through them. He snorted.

PARKER: This is what you did in five hours?

KELL: Yup.

PARKER: These suck.

KELL: ... Wow.

PARKER: Sorry. They could use some work.

KELL: What's wrong with them???

PARKER: Too much to say over text.

He glanced at the time—it was only seven.

PARKER: Why don't we meet? I'll drive. I know a good place.

Kell's response was delayed.

KELL: K.

PARKER: Meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes.

He slipped his phone back in his pocket. William was eyeing him.

"Anything interesting?" he asked.

"Not really," Parker said.

"I don't believe you. You laughed at something."

"It's nothing. That guy, Kell. He and I got grouped together for a class project. I'm going to meet with him to talk about it. You should see the samples he just sent me. Makes me question his abilities."

"Oooooooh," William cooed.

Nate looked up from his drawing and giggled. "Oooooh," he echoed.

"You're going to meet him, huh? Group project? It's a sign. Are you going over to his place?" William grinned at him.

"Hell no," Parker said, scowling.

"But he lives here. Why not?"

"I don't want to make this any more personal than it has to be."

His brother gave him a look. "You're funny, Parker."

Parker ignored him. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Bye, kid." He ruffled Nate's hair, grabbed his backpack from the corner and headed out the door.

Kell was standing in the parking lot, looking slightly annoyed. "So," he said. "Tell me why my work sucks."

Parker sighed. "I said, I'm sorry."

"Apology not accepted, jerk," Kell said, a playful defiance in his tone. "So, where are we going?"

It was strange--hearing that provocative sort of response from Kell was oddly exciting. He'd always seemed so passive in class, so to see this other side of him... He liked it.

"Send Noods," Parker said, and Kell looked at him quizzically. "It's a ramen restaurant," he added, quickly.

"I know," Kell said. "I've been there before."

"Oh. Well, good. I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm starving."

They walked through the parking lot towards his Bentley, which stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the other cars surrounding it.

"Fancy," Kell said, and Parker, for what might've been the first time ever, felt a slight burn of self-consciousness.

He unlocked the car and they got inside. Kell sank into the leather seat and looked around the car with wide eyes.

"I'm thinking about getting rid of it," Parker said. "Getting something a bit more practical."

I'm just saying that because I'm embarrassed, he thought.

"I could straight up live in this car," Kell said as Parker started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. "I always thought that you lived in some giant mansion somewhere. Your parents are rich, right?"

What kind of question was that? "Yeah, something like that," Parker grunted.

"Sorry," Kell said. "I didn't meant to be rude."

"Why are you always so damn jittery?" Parker asked. "Just relax."

"Sorry," Kell said quietly. He breathed out a sigh and looked out the window. "I get worked up easily."

"Obviously," Parker said.

"You especially," he said. "I get nervous around you."

"Well, don't."

"You can't just say 'well, don't,’" Kell said. "I can't help it. I'm not used to your attitude. And... and, yeah."

"And, yeah?"

"Nothing. That's it."

He eyed Kell. He was still looking out the window, kneading his hands in his lap. Parker reached over and grabbed Kell's wrist. Kell looked over, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Uh..."

"Cut that out," Parker said, letting go of his wrist. "It's irritating." It was strange to admit it, but he felt a slight thrill touching him like that. He'd felt it earlier in the day, when he'd pushed Kell back and grabbed him when he was about to fall. It wasn't a feeling he would've ever thought he'd associate with Kell, but there it was. He liked touching him. He liked feeling Kell in his hands.

"Sorry," Kell mumbled.

As much as Kell's submissive personality annoyed Parker, he was beginning to find that it equally turned him on.

He pulled into the parking lot of Send Noods, and the two of them went inside and got a table in the corner. It was a weekday night, and the restaurant was fairly empty. They ordered their food, and Kell pulled out his sketchbook.

"So, this is what I was thinking," he said, opening his sketchbook. "The assignment says it's for a demographic of betas aged twenty-five to--"

Parker stood up. "I can't see a damn thing." He went over to Kell's side of the table and sat down next to him, leaning over to look at the sketches in the book. His shoulder touched Kell's. "Alright. Continue."

"Uh, okay. Well... It's, um. It's for a demographic of betas aged twenty-five to forty-five. So I was thinking..."

Was Kell blushing? His face had definitely taken on a slight shade of pink. Come to think of it, he'd gone red after that moment in the studio, too. Did touching him get him embarrassed?

Parker sat quietly, listening to Kell's reasons for the decisions he'd made for the mockup sketches, their shoulders still touching. When Kell finished, he took the sketchbook from his hands and pulled out a pencil.

"Do you mind?" Parker asked.

"Go for it."

He drew next to Kell's sketches, taking the elements he thought worked and adding his own. He worked quickly, loosely, the pencil flying across the paper. In five minutes, he had a new mockup done at the same level of rendering detail as Kell's. "What you did works on a general level. But once you look at the type of designs and ads that betas in that demographic actually respond to, you'll learn that this type of composition isn't very attractive. Simpler is better." He turned the sketchbook back to Kell. "Something like this."

"That's amazing," Kell said. "You did that so fucking fast. It took me an hour just to come up with one of these..."

"I told you, it's experience. I grind through hundreds of these types of drawings every day for work."

"Sounds brutal."

"I guess you have to take what you can get as an artist, sometimes. Anyway, what you did was good for our class. Professor Young would've given it an A, and it would've been better than everyone else's work. But..."

"We don't want to do something that's just good for class," Kell said.

"Right."

The waiter came over with their bowls of noodles, and Parker stood up and went back around to the other side of the table. He felt a strange feeling the moment their shoulders separated. He could feel the lingering warmth of that tiny point of contact where they'd been touching, and he actually longed for more. He was startled by the feeling but didn't let it show through. Kell quickly packed away his sketchbook, looking flustered.

They both ate in silence, and Parker found himself taking occasionally glances at Kell as he sucked down the noodles. Weird thoughts were going through his head.

I don't like him like that, he thought. Or maybe I don't want to like him like that. But it's fucking weird. I've never felt this way before.

But in the end, it didn't really matter. Nothing was going to happen between them. He sure as hell wasn't going to do anything, and he knew for certain that Kell wouldn't either, even if he did feel anything for him. Kell was too timid for that. And besides, Parker knew that Kell thought he was a dick. He knew he didn't really like him very much.

That was fine. All that mattered was getting this project over with and making something they could both be proud of.

The two of them walked through the apartment complex, and Kell stopped in front of a door. "This is my apartment," he said.

"Oh, alright. I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah."

Kell's pulled his keys from his pocket and dropped them on the floor. "Oops," he said, scooping them up. Parker smiled to himself before turning to leave. The guy was cute.

"Uh, hey," Kell called to him.

"Hm?"

"Maybe, next time... We could just meet over here? I mean, it doesn't really make sense to keep driving. I'm alright with it, if you are."

"That's fine," Parker said. "Goodnight."

He walked away, playing it cool, but his heart had started pounding fast. He told himself to calm down, he didn't know why he was getting excited... But there was something exciting about Kell inviting him over.

Maybe Kell's dislike for him wasn't as great as he'd thought.