Quinn shot awake to music blasting at a volume that felt like it was trying to murder him. The walls trembled, his bones vibrated, and his heart went into full panic mode. He rolled off the bed and hit the floor hard on his back before his brain could even catch up.
A sharp, pain-filled groan tore out of him. "Bloody hell!"
The music volume suddenly started dropping as if someone finally realized the speakers were murdering the entire building. Quinn blinked up at the ceiling, rage already flooding hot through his veins.
Of course.
Of course.
He turned his head and found Sebastian standing beside the built-in speakers, poking at them, then hitting them like a caveman troubleshooting technology.
Quinn shot to his feet, freckles flushed, hair a mess, his eyes burning. "Are you fucking insane?!"
Sebastian froze at the sound of Quinn's voice, his shoulders stiffening. Then those cold charcoal eyes snapped toward him.
"Control your fucking tone," Sebastian fired back. "I am fixing the speakers. What, you want an apology?"
Quinn dragged a hand through his hair, his jaw clenched so tight it ached. He was not and never a morning person. And the past two weeks at Crestwood had been nothing but nonstop classes, endless assignments, late nights in the club, finishing the car for the incoming test run.
He was exhausted. His brain hurt. His eyeballs hurt. His soul hurt.
Meanwhile Sebastian, in his stupid tank top, sweatpants, and sneakers, looked like he had already gone for a jog, hit the gym, and maybe bench-pressed a small car.
Morning person. Demon spawn. Same thing.
Sebastian muttered something and hit the speaker again.
The music blasted to life. Louder than before.
Quinn didn't even think.
He shoved Sebastian away from the speaker hard enough that Sebastian stumbled back and fell on his ass. Quinn stepped over him without hesitation, grabbed the bundle of wires, and ripped them straight out of the wall.
"Isn't this better?" he snapped, shooting Sebastian a murderous glare before storming back to his bed.
He lay down, flopped onto his pillow and of course, sleep refused to come. Not when he could feel Sebastian boring holes into his spine with pure hostility.
He kept his eyes shut anyway. For about three seconds.
Then heavy, approaching footsteps.
Quinn barely had time to brace before strong arms grabbed him and slammed him back against the wall. The air rushed out of his lungs as Sebastian glared at him, face inches from his.
"Look, Fairy," Sebastian growled, his voice disturbingly calm. "I'm trying to act logical with you here. But if you're not on Team Logical, I might actually break your neck. Okay?"
Quinn's lips curled into a cold, delighted smirk. "I dare you."
And before Sebastian could react, Quinn yanked forward and slammed their foreheads together.
The crack echoed.
Both of them dropped immediately, groaning, hissing, clutching their heads like idiots.
"What was that for?! Come on!" Sebastian barked, rubbing his forehead like Quinn had hit him with a brick.
"You threatened to break my neck," Quinn spat through clenched teeth, rubbing his own skull. "And I need a fucking coffee."
He pushed himself upright, shoving past Sebastian as the other boy cursed under his breath. Quinn headed for the kitchen, yanked open the cabinet, and started making coffee like he wasn't seconds away from committing arson.
Behind him, the bathroom door slammed shut.
Typical.
For the past two weeks, they had barely seen each other. Different courses, different years. Sebastian was always at the gym, on the circuit, or running off to whatever modeling job required a brooding, tattooed race prince to smolder at a camera.
Quinn buried himself in schoolwork and engines, drowning himself in caffeine and noise so he didn't drown in his own thoughts instead.
Sebastian usually came back at midnight, long after Quinn passed out in a caffeine-induced coma. And sometimes, he stayed for breakfast.
Sometimes Quinn actually wondered if Sebastian was avoiding him on purpose.
But then again… they had always avoided each other.
Because the moment they didn't?
They ended up like this. Headbutting each other into brain damage.
And the punching?
Yeah, that was mostly Quinn. He threw the first hit. And often the last one.
But Sebastian always gave him a reason.
Downing a full mug of bitter black coffee, Quinn dragged himself back into the room, already exhausted. He checked his phone.
7:30 a.m. On a weekend.
He should've been unconscious, drooling into his pillow. Not dealing with Sebastian's early-morning insanity.
A few minutes later, his phone chimed.
[Niko: Hey, Quinn. Are you up for a party tonight?]
A party?
Terrible idea.
Niko?
An even worse idea.
[Quinn: Sure. Is it a campus party?]
The response came instantly and made Quinn's pulse skip.
[Niko: No. No. I will pick you up.]
Quinn actually smiled. And of course, that was when the bathroom door opened.
Sebastian strutted out. His tattooed skin on full display, a towel slung dangerously low around his hips, damp black hair brushing his shoulders. He crossed the room to grab a hair dryer, muscles flexing with infuriating ease.
Quinn hated noticing how hot he was. He hated even more how much he compared himself.
He was gay. Everyone who cared enough knew. He came out two years ago. His mother reacted with disgust, Mathieu barely blinked, and Quinn was left wondering if it just gave them more excuses to pretend he didn't exist.
Sebastian, on the other hand… Quinn had seen him with girls.
But guys looked at him too. Like that creep from the cafeteria who tried getting close to him just to get close to Sebastian. It wasn't new. Back in high school, guys had pulled that same pathetic stunt more times than he could count.
Did Sebastian… like guys? Did he like dick?
Before Quinn could spiral deeper, those dark charcoal eyes met his. Pinning him. Catching him staring.
"What?" Sebastian snapped. "You want to headbutt me again?"
Quinn opened his mouth, closed it, and returned to his phone with a huff.
[Quinn: Is Seb going to be at this party?]
[Niko: No.]
Quinn snorted. "Liar."
Still… wouldn't hurt to go. Right?
Sebastian raised a suspicious brow. "Who are you texting and smiling at?"
Quinn gave him a dead-eyed stare. "Go away, Seb."
"Cook us breakfast, Fairy," Sebastian ordered, already turning to dig through his clothes.
Quinn grimaced, but got up anyway and headed for the kitchen.
Because unfortunately, somehow, he always ended up feeding the idiot.