Alan quietly waited in Nicolette's bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed as he stared into nothingness, dazed after what transpired. His body was still shaking as he sat, replaying the entire incident at the studio in his head on a constant loop in his mind. It was as if Thomas's hands were still on his shoulders, the grip he had on them having been strong and tight. Thomas's expression was much different from before. He had seen Thomas annoyed and angry, such as earlier in the day. But this instance was far different from any other time he had experienced it, and it frightened him deeply.

Why... did I let him do that to me?

"You have no idea what I went through when you decided not to return , and what I did to make that situation better."

Alan stared down at his hands, resting palm's up on top of his knees. He gazed at them blankly, his mind trying to search for an answer.

What... did he mean by that?

"Alan?"

Alan jumped in fear at the sound of his name being called, looking over towards the door to see Nicolette standing there, the door closed behind her. He kept his eyes on her, as if trying to figure out if she was indeed physically there. "Nikki?"

"You alright?" she asked, her face full of worry.

Alan tried to speak, but his voice caught in his throat, before he shook his head to show that he wasn't and without warning, he started to cry.

"Oh shit, did he hurt you and I didn't notice?" Nicolette asked, rushing over to Alan quickly. "Because if he did, I'll grab that damn bat again and beat the shit-"

"No, Nikki, he didn't...." Alan quickly stated, trying to catch his breath. "I'm just... relieved..."

He felt her arms wrap around him tightly, pulling him into a warm embrace, which was helping him calm down slowly. "How... did you know... I was there?"

Nicolette moved to sit down next to him on the bed, a hand resting on his back gently. "I was taking the trash out to the curb, and I saw you running into the bushes behind his house. I was shocked and thought that it couldn't have been you. But, you're hard to not notice with the way you look now..."

Alan couldn't help but crack a smile at hearing this information, a shaky sigh escaping him. "I really have to thank Daniel for this makeover then..."

"Why in the hell were you there, Alan? What is going on?" Nicolette asked, her tone pensive, but concerned.

"I'll try... to explain it the best I can..." Alan stated, wiping his face clean with his hands, gathering his thoughts before he spoke.

-

Without sharing any details of the fact that Daniel could turn into a frog from an ancient curse, Alan recalled how Daniel received his number, which then led to the confirmation of Daniel being gay and Thomas figuring it out with just small details. He then went on to explain that in order to keep this information private and the entire school from finding out, he agreed to do whatever Thomas wanted, explaining the 3 requirements that Thomas requested he complete.

"So, that's why you were at the studio..." Nicolette spoke, surprised.

"It's... what I agreed to." Alan stated with a sigh as he rested back onto her bed, gazing up towards the ceiling.

"It's pretty damn admirable that you would take this kind of heat just to protect the fact that Daniel Lang is gay." Nicolette replied, looking over towards him as she lay chest down next to him.

"Well... I know how it feels to have something very personal out there that you didn't want everyone to know..." Alan stated with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't want Daniel to experience that."

"Cause... you like him and want kiss his face." Nicolette stated with a smirk, only to see Alan blush madly and glare at her in annoyance. "And he's GAY? This is fucking amazing."

"Don't you tell a soul, Nikki. I'm the only one he's told and now Thomas knows and so do you. That's already too many people." Alan stated, concerned.

"Why would I tell anyone? I'm not like that, you should know that by now." Nicolette replied. "Besides, he's gonna help me with Manny, so I'm not telling anyone."

"I just... don't know what to do about Thomas. It doesn't hurt him if he shares this information with anyone else. It's just one less person that will be around me..." Alan proclaimed in frustration. "Especially since I didn't keep my end of our deal by leaving tonight."

"Oh, he's not going to bother you anymore, Allie. I can guarantee that." Nicolette stated with a smirk, sitting up on the bed carefully. "He wouldn't fucking dare based on what I know."

"Actually... none of that made any sense to me." Alan said, looking up towards her as he continued to lay on her bed, a frown coming to his face. "What did you mean that you could 'crush' Thomas?"

"Oh, I have proper evidence to prove something that he did and said back in the 8th grade after you stopped coming to school. It was before you transferred out." Nicolette spoke, sitting crossed legged on the bed. "Something that could fuck up his entire life."

Alan couldn't help but sit up himself, his interest fully peaked as he stared back at her in confusion. "What... do you have on Thomas? He looks so damn clean on paper that absolutely no one would think negatively of him."

"That's because he knows how to not get caught." Nicolette stated with a huff. "But that asshole didn't expect someone to record him confessing his actions."

Alan's eyes widened in shock. "You... have a recording of Thomas?"

Nicolette smiled brightly. "Correction: I have a confession of Thomas admitting that he broke Jonathan Ramos's arm and that he is gay."

Alan blinked several times, as if he didn't completely understand what Nicolette stated. "I'm sorry... I'm not... I'm not sure I heard you..."

"You heard me." Nicolette spoke with a laugh. "He admitted to breaking Jonathan's arm and that he is, indeed, gay."

"Wait a fucking minute.... Thomas has been gay all this time?" Alan almost shouted, but had to catch himself as he was in Nicolette's home.

"Oh, it gets better, Allie." Nicolette stated with a grin. "He admits that he lied to you in the locker room that day. The only reason he didn't admit it is because he knew Jonathan was there."

"He... he fucking lied to me..." Alan spoke softly, a mixture of emotions flowing through him. He didn't know if he should be incredibly sad or horribly angry. "He... let me confess that in front of him, knowing that Jonathan... was there the whole time..."

"And he was certain that Jonathan would tell the entire fucking school about it, because Jonathan hated you with a burning passion." Nicolette stated calmly. "For the stupidest fucking reason..."

"What... was the reason?" Alan asked, having never really heard the purpose for why Jonathan was so aggressive towards him.

"He thought you were 'turning' Thomas gay, like the fucking moron he was. Oh, and I got that on tape too." Nicolette stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Wait, the fuck?" Alan stated. "That makes no sense!"

"There's so much you don't know, Allie. There's a lot that happened when you stopped coming to school and moved districts." Nicolette spoke calmly.

"Explain, please. This is... all new to me," Alan replied with a deep sigh. "I'm trying to piece this all together, but I'm... so mentally exhausted."

"I've been wanting to tell you this for quite some time. But I told Thomas I wouldn't say anything unless he kept up his end of our deal. But obviously asswipe couldn't do that..." Nicolette proclaimed with a slight grumble. "Be ready for an entertaining, but pretty upsetting story."